GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Changes are on the horizon for the Green Bay Area Public School District as the school board considers plans to close and repurpose schools, as well as open some new ones.

A facilities task force has come up with seven different scenarios of what could happen.

Across all the plans, 18 schools are being considered to close, including Webster Elementary, Washington Middle School, and West High School, just to name a few.

Of these eight schools, the district is considering repurposing seven of them, including McAuliffe Elementary and East High School.

Some of the plans also consider building an addition to Southwest High School and adding a new elementary school and high school.

Chuck Holden, an education facility advisor on the task force, explains why the school district is considering these updates.

“If we have excess classrooms and, in this case, of Green Bay public schools, some debt falling off, an opportunity to make some changes, and to increase learning possibilities for students by improving some of the facilities,” Holden says.

The district is also taking the public’s feedback into consideration. After the task force’s meeting Wednesday, March 8th, the school district will be sending out a survey to get a sense of how the public is feeling.

Holden says, “The school board does not want to go down one track and then find out late in the process that the public and different people just hate that idea. [They want to] get a good pulse and sense for what makes sense for the school district.”

While some parents may be concerned about what this means for their children, Holden assures this is a step in the right direction.

“It’s an opportunity to really improve the facilities. The public doesn’t want to be paying for excess space that isn’t being used. That money is so much better used for teachers and for improving facilities and technology opportunities for kids,” Holden says.

The public is allowed to attend the task force meeting on Wednesday at West High School at 6 p.m., but the school district says the survey is how the public should voice their concerns.

The school district also says these proposals are not the only options.

They are encouraging the public to remain patient as they figure out the next steps.