La Crosse Schools superintendent, Dr. Aaron Engel, joins to discuss the process of closing three elementary schools, a hiccup in the sale of the Lincoln building and what kind of funding public education is seeing as the state budget is being crafted.

We began the show talking quick about how often Engel and neighboring school districts communicate and what they get done with those talks. Then we moved to state budget, as the Joint Finance Committee appears to not be coming to the middle on negotiations for things like special education funding — for public schools, at least.

After that, with the Hogan Administration building coming down and a new elementary being built, Engel spoke about the process for the three elementary schools that will close in the next two years and what might be done with those buildings. 

The district had already gone through this process with the Lincoln Middle School building that was sold in January of 2024 but there appears to be some hiccups in that transaction. Engel talks about possible grant funding not coming through for the company that's going to build affordable housing there and the entire process will be delayed.