Voters give some Wisconsin school districts a financial lifeline, others face dire cuts

Voters in Sawyer County kept the small, rural school district of Winter alive by passing an operational referendum in the November midterm election. District leaders were preparing to dissolve the district if voters had rejected the tax levy increase. Other districts that failed referendums are facing the same threat , as more and more schools turn to local taxpayers to fill the gaps not met by state funding. Wisconsin voters approved 44 of the 79 school referendums on local ballots across the state last week. Understanding Wisconsin, Together. WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter. Facebook This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Email Subscribe Winter’s four-year, $6 million operational referendum passed with 68 percent of the vote, and school board president Greg Ripczinski told WPR’s “ Wisconsin Today ” that the district may have closed if the referendum had failed. “We had a ‘Plan A’ of, if the referendum goes through, how we’re going to start accounting for these dollars that the taxpayers are giving us,” Ripczinski said. “‘Plan B’ was, if it doesn’t pass, we’re going to vote to do the dissolution. We’re going to send it to DPI [the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction]. We’re going to see what other kinds of funding cuts have to be done, and if we can have a sustainable school after those cuts.” Winter had also put a referendum question on the April ballot, but it failed with only 40 percent approval. When the district asked voters for funding again in the November election, the warning was more dire. “It was having those conversations with stakeholders on the community level, and saying, ‘Hey, folks, this is it. There isn’t going to be another attempt at this. We have to do this, or we will dissolve the district.’” Ripczinski said. By the end of the school year, the Winter school district projects it will have just $69,000 in its fund balance. The tax levy increase will allow it to rebuild that balance and address maintenance issues it had put off due to budget challenges. Like many districts across the state, Winter has struggled with state-imposed revenue limits and declining enrollment, which now includes about 200 students across 660 square miles. If it had to dissolve, the existing district boundaries would be absorbed by one or more surrounding districts, and residents’ property taxes would go to those schools instead. That process is already happening in the Hustisford School District in Dodge County after voters rejected its referendum in April. Wisconsin public school district to dissolve for first time in 3 decades A failed referendum for the School District of Gillett in Oconto County last week has local leaders fearful of a similar path. Voters rejected a three-year $5.7 million proposal. District Administrator Nathan Hanson told “Wisconsin Today” that his district already has the lowest staff compensation in Northeastern Wisconsin, and this was its seventh attempt at a referendum in the last 12 years. “We certainly have learned a lot about dissolution — more than any of us ever wanted to learn — and know that’s something that the board has to consider as we go forward,” Hanson said. “We’re worried what our school district looks like if we make $1.5 million in cuts.” In the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s equalization aid formula, the state matches a portion of Gillett’s local spending on a sliding scale. Hanson said that also means that every dollar the district cuts can reduce how much state aid it receives, which forces them to lean on local taxpayers even more through referendums. “Our property owners are tired of going to referendum and having to foot this bill the way they have,” Hanson said. “Our biggest hope is that we’re going to be able to switch from talking about some stuff like dissolution as a state, to talking about funding reform and getting school districts the money they need to to stay open.” Related Stories Wisconsin public school district to dissolve for first time in 3 decades Some rural school districts face dissolution if November referendums don’t pass Failed referendums trigger school cuts, closures and new funding pushes across Wisconsin