Immigration slowdown linked to Green Bay school enrollment drop, funding squeeze, district says
A slowdown in immigration is the latest pressure point on Green Bay Area Public Schools’ finances, district administrators say, as fewer new arrivals contribute to an enrollment slide that reduces per‑pupil state funding.
Overall, the district lost 425 students between 2024 and 2025, and state data show a historically significant enrollment decline between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Because school revenue is tied to enrollment, district officials are projecting a budget deficit of up to $8 million in 2026-27 and $24 million to $32 million in 2027-28.
“Green Bay welcomes a lot of new immigrants, and we’re just not seeing those numbers right now,” Superintendent Vicki Bayer told a February community budget session. At a Feb. 9 budget meeting, she added that she expects the trend to be felt nationwide. Administrators noted that falling birth rates and expanding school choice are long‑standing drivers of enrollment decline, and said fewer new immigrants now appear to be an added factor.
The district said it does not track students’ immigration status, declined to estimate immigration’s impact on enrollment and did not make staff members available for an interview. Last January, the Trump administration removed federal protections that had prevented immigration agencies from entering schools, hospitals and places of worship.
Green Bay schools quickly issued guidance to teachers on how to respond if immigration officers arrived or families feared deportation. Nationally, net international migration slowed sharply in 2025. The U.S.
Census Bureau estimated a drop from 2.7 million in 2024 to 1.3 million in 2025, while a Brookings Institution estimate ranged from negative 10,000 to negative 295,000, which would mark the first negative net migration in at least half a century. The falloff has come as removals and self‑deportations have increased and visa and green card programs have slowed.
Humanitarian parole has ended for countries including Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, and temporary protected status has ended for countries including Somalia. Refugee programs have largely halted, with admissions largely limited to white South Africans, the report said.
Gail Cornelius, regional director of World Relief Wisconsin, said nearly 100,000 refugees resettled across the United States in fiscal year 2024; in fiscal 2025, that number shrank to 7,500. All children, regardless of citizenship status, are entitled to a free public education under the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled in 1982.
A year and a half into President Donald Trump’s term, district leaders say the longer‑term shifts in migration may carry direct financial consequences for Wisconsin school systems that rely on per‑pupil funding. Green Bay’s budget planning for 2026-27 and 2027-28 will hinge on how enrollment trends unfold.