UPDATE: Homeowners Fighting To Join Elmbrook

Despite failed attempts in previous years, a large number of homeowners in the city and town of Brookfield are fighting to be moved from the Waukesha School District to the Elmbrook School District.

They found support from the Elmbrook School Board, which on Tuesday unanimously approved two petitions representing a total of about 200 homes to detach from Waukesha and join Elmbrook.

But the same night, the Waukesha School Board voted unanimously to reject the petition, setting the residents up for a likely appeal before a state panel.

However, Elmbrook Superintendent Matt Gibson said Waukesha school officials have approached Elmbrook about the possibility of negotiating a voluntary boundary agreement that would settle ongoing disputes about neighborhoods near the district's borders.

Both school districts have an interest in making sure they don't push frustrated families into giving up on both districts and enrolling their students in private or parochial districts, Gibson said.

The homes involved are located in the Black Forest, Summit Lawn, Shire and Emerald Ridge subdivisions on the west side of the city of Brookfield and in the town of Brookfield.

Waukesha School Board President Dan Warren said in an interview that his board voted against the petition after listening to school administrators as well as public comments and testimony.

The school district is required to meet eight criteria under state statutes in order to allow properties to detach from a school district, Warren said.

"It didn’t meet the criteria – all of the criteria," Warren said about the request. "It is a very definitive process that school boards are required to follow in terms of the specific criteria, (on) which they are to base their decision."

The Waukesha School District would lose significant property tax revenue if the homes - valued at more than $41 million - began paying school taxes to Elmbrook instead of Waukesha.

Elmbrook School Board President Tom Gehl said: "This is a serious matter for them (Waukesha) as it is for us."

One petition had 71 properties in the Emerald Ridge subdivision in the city of Brookfield. The other petition had 129 properties in the Black Forest, Summit Lawn and Shire subdivisions in the city and town of Brookfield.

Maureen Murphy told the Elmbrook School Board that petition organizers obtained signatures from about 85 percent of the 71 homes and about 70 percent of the 129 properties. She said they didn't try to get 100 percent of the signatures because state detachment rules require only 50 percent of signatures be obtained.

Murphy said homeowners believe they should be part of Elmbrook because their children participate in Brookfield- and Elmbrook-related park and recreation activities, and because they pay taxes to the city and town of Brookfield, not the city of Waukesha.

"It's very frustrating to be part of a community in one aspect but not another," she said.

Elmbrook School Board member Meg Wartman said she was surprised the Emerald Ridge subdivision was not part of Elmbrook. 

"I would hope we would look more globally at which subdivisions should be part of our district," she said.