Milroy public school: end of an era
Proud school that dates back to 1898 approaching the final bell
Editor’s Note: This is Part I of a series reflecting on Milroy’s public school, which is closing after this school year and consolodating with the Tracy Public School District.
IN A SHORT THREE MONTHS, THE SCHOOL BELL AT MILROY PUBLIC SCHOOL WILL RING FOR THE LAST TIME.
None of the students leaving for summer break will be coming back in the fall.
The decision to close after this school year — the district is consolidating with the Tracy Area Public School District — wasn’t an easy one, but because of the declining number of students and expensive building maintenance, the school board, staff, and Milroy community are slowly getting used to the changing future.
Milroy, with a population of just over 250, has been the home of the Milroy Spartans for over a century. Located just outside Milroy, Independent School District no. 95, Redwood County, opened its schoolhouse doors in 1898. Six years later, a four-room schoolhouse was built within city limits. Though it has gone through many different buildings and expansions, the little town’s support for its school hasn’t wavered.
Milroy High School saw its last graduating class of 11 students in 1989, and since then, the building has seen grades Pre-K through eighth grade, and more recently just Pre-K through sixth grade. The year of the high school closure, students in grades 9-12 were already being bused to Tracy for many of their subjects, making the eventual transition easier. The district had partial tuition agreements with both Marshall and Tracy, but the majority of students chose to attend Tracy at the time.
School secretary Robin Hauger says nowadays where families decide to go depends
‘ You knew everybody, you were all neighbors anyway. It was like graduating with your family.
— MIKE WELU, MILROY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1980 on where they live within the Milroy district.
A HALLWAY OF THE MILROY PUBLIC SCHOOL tells some of its history through the faces of high school students who graced the halls before consolidation with Tracy in 1990. Photos / Sophia Gaul
“We are centrally located, so depending on where our families lived was where they went.” Hauger said. “Either Wabasso, Redwood, Marshall or Tracy.”
However, Hauger said the majority of Pre-K through sixth-grade students will now attend Tracy because of the consolidation agreement and other factors.
“Currently, most of our sixth-graders will go to Tracy after graduating already, and plenty of younger students also have older siblings who are in Tracy as well,” Hauger said. “The transition shouldn’t be too difficult for any of our kids.”
While there have been plenty of transitions over the past decade at the school, you wouldn’t know it from the outside.
Beginning in 2005, kindergarten through fourthgrade students transitioned into a charter school because of the statutory operating debt the school had. Eventually, the school managed to pay off the debt and transitioned back to a complete public school in 2018. At this time, both the charter school and the public school were operating simultaneously out of the same building.
“If you walked in here when we were part charter school you wouldn’t be able to tell,” said Hauger.
And currently, Hauger said staff try their best to teach as if the class sizes are normal.
“We run our school just as if we’re a regular public school,” she said, referring to the school’s small class sizes.
With only 12 staff members, some adjustments do have to be made. Hauger has been with the district for 16 years, and her title doesn’t begin to describe all she does for the school and its students. Whether as an administrator or lunch lady, she is always looking out for the kids.
“We think about our students first,” Hauger said. “And consolidation is the best option for them.”
For many in the community, some of their best childhood memories feature the blue and white walls of the school.
Mike Welu, Milroy High School Class of 1980, remembered how close his small graduating class was.
“You knew everybody, you were all neighbors anyway,” he said. “It was like graduating with your family.”
While Welu understands the reasoning behind the closing of the school, he said he had to throw sadness in with the mix of emotions he is feeling.
“Going back into the school for events brings back nostalgia,” he said. “I’m happy it lasted as long as it did.”
As it got more and more difficult for staff to teach such small classes, and harder and harder to organize special events and outings for students, Hauger said this decision will allow current Milroy students to have great school experiences like those who came before them.
“People want a school here,” she said. “The closing is not because of any lack of support in the community. It’s simply gotten to be unrealistic to continue to stay open.”
Tracy Area Public Schools is also planning to put together an area within their school to honor the history of the Milroy Public School, including sports trophies, yearbook photos, and other historical artifacts, in order to “bring the TMB together.”
