MONROE — Why did Monroe’s operational referendum fail last week? The School District of Monroe’s Board of Education is looking to find out why. Administrators will begin the process of sending a survey to every district home, a cost of approximately $10,000 and $12,000.
“(It) can give us a view into any changes that we may need to make,” school board president Rich Deprez said at the regular school board meeting Nov. 11. “I think it’s two-factored: It will inform whether or not we take action and place something on the ballot in the spring. … and it will give the entire community the opportunity to weight in and say ‘this is why I said no.’”
With over 8,000 votes in the Nov. 5 election, Monroe’s ask for an additional $1.5 million for the next four years was denied by voters by nearly 10%, — “Yes” 3,755 (45.2%) to “No” 4,554 (54.8%).
“These were, obviously, not the results we were hoping to see,” Deprez said.
State lawmakers have pinched public school funding over the last 15 or so years. This election alone, 137 Wisconsin school districts were asked to approve increased funding, with 107 gaining approval and 30 failing. All other area districts referendums passed: Albany, Argyle, Darlington and Juda.
Board members heard a variety of reasons from “no voters” after the election — from tax and spending fatigue, to lack of information or misinformation, to lingering disdain from the $88 million capital referendum that passed in 2022 to build a new high school. Money from that referendum cannot be transferred over to pay for the year-to-year budget of the district, per the law. Monroe is in a budget hole of over $2 million this year even after cutting about $927,000 of spending this past spring.
“In a budget that through the last 15-20 years that has been squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed — there is nothing left to squeeze except people, position, programs,” Deprez said. “That’s the hard part to say out loud, because that’s the reality of the results.”
Programs that could be cut range in specialties from music, art, tech ed, business, physical education or a language, such as German.
“We’ve talked about this before, $1.5 million could be anywhere between 12 and 16 positions,” Superintendent Rodney Figueroa said.
The seven board members had a thorough discussion on whether or not to even send out a survey.
“They voted no, which tells us the answer to the question,” said board member Terri Montgomery, referencing the Nov. 5 general election. “They pretty much have said they didn’t vote for it: lack of communication (and) there’s people that are still angry about the high school referendum. I think people wanted more communication, like a community forum, a “Yes” group — and we didn’t have any of those things.”
A common theme from the board members were what they heard talking to the public over the past week. Some voters said they were uninformed on the matter, others are simply tapped out due to their personal budgets.
The reason for the survey, which will be performed by School Perceptions, is because the timeline to ask the question one more time for this school year’s budget is extremely tight.
Figueroa said School Perceptions needed to have the questions for the survey by Nov. 18 — a full week before the next school board meeting. School Perceptions then will create the question both digitally and in paper copy, then mail out the copies by Dec. 2 with a return-by date by Dec. 23. After copies are returned, School Perceptions will analyze the data and present its findings. That projected date is one week before the Jan. 20 deadline for the district to put another question on the spring ballot for April 2025.
The board and the district discussed holding additional informational and listening sessions in order to further connect with voters these next two months as well.
After all of that, the board will have to determine if there is enough evidence the vote could pass, and, if so, for what amount. If that vote fails — or if the board opts not to even put it on the ballot, the next potential election to run a referendum question won’t be for an entire full year after — in April 2026.
“Depending on the feedback we gather, whether it’s through a survey or an indication through informational sessions and feedback from the public … if there is an indication that it will have support this spring, there isn’t really much time to act,” Deprez said.
For the rest of this school year, Business Administrator Ron Olson said the district would have to tap into fund balance. However, that won’t be possible for next year, as continued short-term borrowing can turn expensive very quickly due to interest rates.
“I don’t think we could run the 25-26 school year with a $2 million-plus deficit. I don’t that that’s reasonable. We would have to make some reductions,” Olson said.
The board didn’t have to officially approve the survey, as the cost is to come under the $25,000 mark that Figueroa has to work with. However, Deprez held a straw poll, and eight of the nine board members decided to support it, so, if anything, they can get a better understanding of why the vote turned out the way it did. Montgomery voted against.
The next board meeting is currently scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25 at the Bauer Education Center.