MONROE - Facing a state budget stalemate in Madison, the Monroe School Board Thursday night considered postponing its four-year, $8 million non-recurring referendum.
But after discussing the matter in a special meeting, district officials voted 6-3 to keep the measure on the April 5 ballot.
The Green County Clerk's office is expected to print the ballots soon - and the board had to make a final decision Thursday.
Board member Brian Keith, who voted to postpone the referendum, said at issue was whether board members believe they have the support of the community, and can get a referendum passed. He also questioned the ramifications of a failed referendum for the district.
"I think if we go to a referendum and it doesn't pass, I think it would be worse than waiting until we had more information," Keith said.
The district has pledged to make $494,652 in cuts in the 2011-12 school year - regardless of whether a referendum is approved. With retirements, the district could cut as much as $557,090. Officials also approved cuts of 5 percent, or $24,500, to co-curricular activities at the high school.
Board member Larry Eakins said the issue was not winning or losing at the ballot box.
"You always have risk with a referendum," Eakins said. "If you win and end up having to cut some of the programs you were trying to save, then you have lost."
Eakins said if the district finds out it needs twice as much money to plug a deficit, it may be foolish to place a referendum question on the ballot.
Without a referendum, the district is projected to have deficits of about $1.6 million in the 2011-12 school year; $2.3 million in the 2012-13 year; $3 million in 2013-14 school year; and $3.6 million in the 2014-15.
Monroe Superintendent Larry Brown said he has talked with about 20 community members recently, all of whom supported the referendum. But they wouldn't lobby for the referendum, according to Brown, and other board members were aware of opposition in the community.
Even so, Brown said it was the right decision.
"There are no guarantees that if we run it and it passes that it will be enough," Brown said. "We may have to go back to our third and fourth cut lists that no one wants to talk about or look at. Our kids are the losers. We (the state) are doing things that are not in the best interest of children and the community. I don't see the benefits of this. It's tearing apart our community. It certainly blurs our message."
Board member Bob Erb supported the referendum, but voted to postpone it until the state's financial picture - and its impact on Monroe - was available to voters.
"I think it's not unreasonable to take a step away from this," Erb said. "We have a little safety net with our fund balance."
Board member Scott Schmidt, who voted to cancel the referendum, said that if it passes, and the district has to cut programs it was planning on maintaining, it reflects negatively on the board.
Laurie Genz Prien favored pushing forward with the referendum.
"We can't control Madison," Prien said. "We need to educate our kids. If we don't put the referendum on the ballot and try, we are already starting to not educate kids and we will have to make the first cuts."
The district is at the end of its four-year, non-recurring referendum, in which voters allowed the district to exceed state revenue caps by $8.3 million. The district was able to make cuts in administration and other areas over the past four years, using a little more than $4 million of the total amount authorized by the last referendum.
Monroe Business Manager Ron Olson said officials should give the referendum a chance.
"We will never have a better financial picture to present to the community than we have now," Olson said.
Olson added that he understood the state's budget negotiations could make the job tougher.
"It will be tough for the community to make an informed decision because they may not know all the details," he said.
If the referendum fails, the board has targeted $489,734 in a first round of cuts for 2011-12 and $478,550 in a second round of cuts.
"We still have a strong message over the last five years with the money taxpayers have given us," Brown said.
Brown said if the board canceled the referendum from the April 5 ballot, the district could have brought the referendum question back at any time. If Monroe would have delayed the referendum, Brown said the district could have brought the question back on next February's ballot since there is no election in November.
But after discussing the matter in a special meeting, district officials voted 6-3 to keep the measure on the April 5 ballot.
The Green County Clerk's office is expected to print the ballots soon - and the board had to make a final decision Thursday.
Board member Brian Keith, who voted to postpone the referendum, said at issue was whether board members believe they have the support of the community, and can get a referendum passed. He also questioned the ramifications of a failed referendum for the district.
"I think if we go to a referendum and it doesn't pass, I think it would be worse than waiting until we had more information," Keith said.
The district has pledged to make $494,652 in cuts in the 2011-12 school year - regardless of whether a referendum is approved. With retirements, the district could cut as much as $557,090. Officials also approved cuts of 5 percent, or $24,500, to co-curricular activities at the high school.
Board member Larry Eakins said the issue was not winning or losing at the ballot box.
"You always have risk with a referendum," Eakins said. "If you win and end up having to cut some of the programs you were trying to save, then you have lost."
Eakins said if the district finds out it needs twice as much money to plug a deficit, it may be foolish to place a referendum question on the ballot.
Without a referendum, the district is projected to have deficits of about $1.6 million in the 2011-12 school year; $2.3 million in the 2012-13 year; $3 million in 2013-14 school year; and $3.6 million in the 2014-15.
Monroe Superintendent Larry Brown said he has talked with about 20 community members recently, all of whom supported the referendum. But they wouldn't lobby for the referendum, according to Brown, and other board members were aware of opposition in the community.
Even so, Brown said it was the right decision.
"There are no guarantees that if we run it and it passes that it will be enough," Brown said. "We may have to go back to our third and fourth cut lists that no one wants to talk about or look at. Our kids are the losers. We (the state) are doing things that are not in the best interest of children and the community. I don't see the benefits of this. It's tearing apart our community. It certainly blurs our message."
Board member Bob Erb supported the referendum, but voted to postpone it until the state's financial picture - and its impact on Monroe - was available to voters.
"I think it's not unreasonable to take a step away from this," Erb said. "We have a little safety net with our fund balance."
Board member Scott Schmidt, who voted to cancel the referendum, said that if it passes, and the district has to cut programs it was planning on maintaining, it reflects negatively on the board.
Laurie Genz Prien favored pushing forward with the referendum.
"We can't control Madison," Prien said. "We need to educate our kids. If we don't put the referendum on the ballot and try, we are already starting to not educate kids and we will have to make the first cuts."
The district is at the end of its four-year, non-recurring referendum, in which voters allowed the district to exceed state revenue caps by $8.3 million. The district was able to make cuts in administration and other areas over the past four years, using a little more than $4 million of the total amount authorized by the last referendum.
Monroe Business Manager Ron Olson said officials should give the referendum a chance.
"We will never have a better financial picture to present to the community than we have now," Olson said.
Olson added that he understood the state's budget negotiations could make the job tougher.
"It will be tough for the community to make an informed decision because they may not know all the details," he said.
If the referendum fails, the board has targeted $489,734 in a first round of cuts for 2011-12 and $478,550 in a second round of cuts.
"We still have a strong message over the last five years with the money taxpayers have given us," Brown said.
Brown said if the board canceled the referendum from the April 5 ballot, the district could have brought the referendum question back at any time. If Monroe would have delayed the referendum, Brown said the district could have brought the question back on next February's ballot since there is no election in November.