MONROE — Even as they celebrate a new high school going up on the horizon, the ramifications of a failed operational referendum loom large for School District of Monroe officials as they seek to blunt the impact of the cuts over the long term.
Last February, the board settled on deep reductions, including programs and student-facing staff at various levels, totaling about $1 million for a budget hole previously filled by eight consecutive years of a non-recurring, $1.5 million operating referendum.
But after passing the more than $88 million referendum in 2022 to fund the new high school and improvements to other buildings just prior to the 2024 operational ask, public sentiment had soured on spending more money, and some said the process of informing taxpayers was flawed.
Nonetheless, eliminating the German language program, bus transportation for summer school students this year, and cutting a special education teacher and two special education aides were among those outlined on Jan. 27 along with some tweaks since.
District Business Administrator Ron Olson told the board at its July 14 meeting that they knew the referendum issue would return after the last ballot question failed. And there have been no final decisions, but Olson said he wanted to work hard to keep the public informed and involved in the process deciding the next steps.
“We need to make sure we’re keeping it front and center,” he said.
Under current state law, there is a limit on the annual amount of revenue that each school district can raise through the combination of general school aid (defined as equalization, integration, and special adjustment aids.)
Even though Wisconsin boasts a huge budget surplus — about $4.3 billion — many educators, parents and activists are calling for increased state funding for K-12 education especially for key issues, such as staff shortages, special education, and mental health.
Olson told board members that they likely have 5 to 6 months to make a final decision on whether to seek the referendum, and how much to ask for from taxpayers. If they decided to pursue it, that would give them 3 to 4 months to sell or “campaign” on the idea.
According to U.S. Census data examined by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, Wisconsin’s per-pupil spending has lagged the national average when adjusted for inflation, placing it 26th in 2023.
Yet Wisconsin was projected to have a significant budget surplus of around $4.3 billion at the end of the 2024 fiscal year (June 30, 2025), according to estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau and the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
But it is not just the state that’s stressing local school districts into program cuts and other stopgap measures.
“Federal dollars at one point there was a concern…but they did not reduce Title 1 funding, right now, that’s one of the few federal dollars that was left untouched…” said Olson. “However, what they have done right now is put a freeze on the other title programs that are out there.”
The district may see a little help from the state to boost its mental health programs, and they are likely to see a more than 12% reimbursement for open enrollment students — helping reverse a trend where the district pays more out, than it gets for students transferring in from other districts.
Meanwhile, adding to the uncertainty, federal funding, and the local programs they support remain in limbo or frozen altogether, forcing local school officials statewide to scramble.
As for the district budget, Olson told the board that spending at this point was roughly in line with what was budgeted so there should not be any over significant overspending attributable the current budget year.
“So, kudos to you (Ron Olson) and everyone else on the team who are making sure that we’re not overspending and kudos to board for all the cuts we made to make that happen,” said Terry Montgomery, the board’s deputy clerk.