MONROE — Both Juda and Albany school districts will ask voters for additional money this November in order to even out their budgets for this upcoming school year. 

Juda, which had a failed operational referendum this past spring, will ask for voters to approve an additional $350,000 on a recurring basis, plus an additional $150,000 in capitol referendum dollars through the 2028-29 school year. 

This past spring, Juda voters turned down an operational referendum, 233-200, that would have added $500,000 to the budget on a recurring basis. The last time the district passed an operational referendum was in Nov. 2018 for $350,000. 

Albany is pursuing a three-year, non-recurring operational referendum for a total of $3.75 million — or $1.25 million each year.

According to the district’s website, Albany “finds itself in the same position as many other districts due to a lack of state funding, inadequate reimbursement for federally mandated programs, and elimination of federal funds provided during the COVID era.”

The increasing costs of inflation have outpaced revenue in recent years, and the school district’s per-pupil revenue caps have lagged behind by nearly $3,200 per student since 2009, including by $2,300 per student since 2012-13. That equates to about $925,000 in lost revenue for this upcoming school year.

Albany’s budget faces a deficit of $850,000 for 2024-25; $950,000 for 2025-26; and $1 million for 2026-27. 

According to the district, the referendum will not be for new facilities or any construction-related costs. An operational referendum covers regular operating costs within a district, including programs, general maintenance, and compensation.

Should the referendum pass Albany voters, the district’s fund balance will remain in the black through 2028-29, though slowly decreasing each year. Without passing, the district estimates a budget shortfall of nearly $1 million more each year moving forward, with the 2028-29 budget at $3 million in the red.

The need for additional monies is not just a local problem. Across the state, districts have faced budget shortfalls thanks to a growing lack of state funding dating back to 2009, and only exacerbated following the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB), 114 of districts in the state have gone to voters looking to pass an operational referendum since 2022. In the spring 2024 elections, there were 68 questions asked across the state — 45 non-recurring and 23 recurring, with 58.8% being approved. Brodhead passed a referendum this spring by 65 votes — 889-824.

Monroe is also looking to pass a referendum this November — a four-year nonrecurring operational referendum worth $1.5 million per school year. It’s the same amount the district had approved in 2016 and 2018, which boosted funds through the 2023-24 school year.

Monticello, which most recently passed a capitol referendum in 2022, has discussed potential operating and capitol building project referendums for either 2024 or 2026.

In its communication with schools, WASB gives information from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau Memor, which helps explain why the general school district revenues across the state lag by more than $3,300 per student since 2009 when indexed to inflation and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with changes coming from Act 10 playing a significant role. 

Among the lack of funding from the state is the reimbursement rate over time for special education aid, which is only at 33.3%. Voucher schools and independent charter schools also bleed the public funding nearly dry, as public funds are being diverted to for-profit schools. In 2009, there was just one district in the state — Milwaukee School District — that lost students to the voucher choice programs, but by 2022-23, 82% of districts had students openly transferring via the program expansion. Approximately 11% of private school dollars in Wisconsin were state funded in the fiscal year 2024, placing Wisconsin among the top six in the nation.

State funding for private school education is growing at a faster rate than for public education. According to WASB, the “mantra” from state legislators is “we can’t afford to fund schools at the rate costs are growing” all while those same legislators have created two educational funding systems and not kept state funds going to public districts at the CPI level for more than a decade. 

The state’s estimated general school aids for the 2024-25 is $5.58 billion across Wisconsin, an increase of 4.2% from a year ago, according to the Department of Instruction (DPI) on July 1.