Following strong opposition from families, Bayfield School District will not move Wolverine Academy, the district’s project-based alternative high school education program, back into Bayfield High School.
The district announced in an email to families sent in mid-April that it would be moving Wolverine Academy from its campus at 110 E. South St. back onto Bayfield High School campus at 800 County Road 501.
Budget constraints largely drove the choice, according to the email.
Superintendent Dylan Connell announced the decision had been reversed during a Board of Education meeting last week, saying feedback from families had a large influence on the district’s change of heart.
“I’m really grateful for the feedback from the community and students ‒ especially the student voice,” he said. “Myself, the assistant superintendent and the high school principal have all really taken that to heart.”
A district document shared with the board at last week’s meeting described safety concerns due to lack of staff at the alternative high school being another driver behind the original choice to move the academy back onto the BHS campus.
In an email sent to Wolverine Academy families in early May, Bayfield High School Principal Jason Wayman said a revision to the budget allocation by the district finance committee will allow an additional staff member to join the Wolverine Academy team for the 2026-27 school year – a paraprofessional who will provide additional support and oversight and serve academy students with Individualized Education Plans.
“While this still represents a reduction in overall staffing, the added support will allow WAC to remain at its current location and continue providing its project-based learning environment for the upcoming school year,” Wayman wrote.
Though Wolverine Academy on the whole will remain in its own building, the Transitions Program will still move to the BHS campus for the next school year.
Wolverine Academy’s project-based learning model will continue, with the academy divided into two STEM and humanities content areas, Connell said.
Discussion surrounding how to operate both the academy and Bayfield High School adequately amid budget struggles and staffing constraints is ongoing, he said.
“I do think that it would be imprudent of me not to point out that there are significant personnel costs in order to be able to run a good program at both places, so there’s a lot of critical thinking still going on to make sure that there’s not significant disruption to the high school or the Wolverine Academy,” he said. “They’re working through all those details to make sure the students at both places get the full program that (we’re) striving for.”
Reader Comments