The Davenport Community School District has embarked on a facility planning process that has plans to CLOSE WALCOTT ELEMENTARY.  This change could happen as early as next year.  Current plans have Walcott K-8 becoming a 5-6 / 7-8 Junior High only.  Children living in Walcott in Kindergarten-4th Grade would be bused out of town to another elementary school within the Davenport Community School District. 

This is detrimental to the City of Walcott and its residents, many of whom move to this community for the K-8 school.  Walcott will fail to attract young families to move here without an elementary school that their young children can walk or ride bikes to.  Current residents with young children will move to other cities with an elementary school, either within the Davenport Community School District or to a city with a different school district. 

Davenport Community School District is projected to lose up to 200 students/year over the next 10 years.  From last school year to this school year, 40 students from Walcott alone have left the district and have open-enrolled in other districts.  This plan to close Walcott Elementary will only force more families to leave, hurting both the district and our community.

While this change significantly impacts families of Walcott, these facility changes will also drastically impact our neighboring communities of Blue Grass, Buffalo, and residents living in outlying areas of West Scott County.  The Davenport Community School District has not provided updated district maps to account for these changes, but significant changes can be expected at all 3 schools.  These 3 communities must know how the district will be redrawn before this decision comes to a vote.

Walcott, Blue Grass, and Buffalo residents in West Scott County will once again be forced to suffer the consequences of poor decisions made by the Davenport Community School District that negatively impact their communities.  These decisions will only cause more parents to consider new open-enrollment options and move their children to other districts, accelerating Davenport Community School District's rapid decline in enrollment and funding. 

We are asking folks to share this info with everyone, not just parents of school-aged kids.   We shouldn't expect others to carry the torch for us - we need to get engaged now!  We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to act now to save Walcott Elementary from closure.

More information can be found on the district's website.   Please write a comment or provide input using the following link:  https://www.davenportschools.org/district/facilities-master-planning-committee/