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- In the 26 school districts where voters prioritized lower property taxes over more school funding, their decisions spell brisk change.
- Leaders in at least 11 districts have shared plans for cuts since the election, and those from three other districts are considering closures.
- Several are preparing to put another referendum on the November ballot, or hoping state legislators allocate more funding to K-12 public schools.
- The pace of the sweeping changes highlights how district leaders rely on referendums to balance their budgets — and how, for many, the ask to voters was a final effort before resorting to significant changes.
Parent Jackie Lindsey voted in favor of the Fond du Lac School District’s $30 million referendum earlier this month because she thinks past budget cuts have created a poorer classroom experience for her two children. So when voters shot down the proposal, she ached with frustration.
Now, just three weeks after Election Day, district leaders said they’ll close two schools and cut 30 more employees. Lindsey worries the resulting larger class sizes will leave teachers even less equipped to help struggling students, like her seventh and ninth graders who have disabilities.
“We’re going to see a lot of worn-out teachers who are doing their very best with what they’re given, but have such a high workload that it’s going to affect them mentally and physically,” Lindsey said.
In the 26 districts that, like Fond du Lac, failed to pass referendums, school leaders have quickly turned to hacking away at their budgets. They’re cutting staff, making plans to close schools and shutting down programs after residents rejected their pleas for more revenue. At least three of these districts are considering closing altogether.
The swift pace of the sweeping changes highlights how districts are relying on referendums to keep their budgets balanced — and how, for many, the ask to voters was a final effort before resorting to significant changes.
Many Wisconsin district leaders have bemoaned the state’s public school funding as inadequate and are increasingly solving budget imbalances with referendums, which ask voters whether school districts can increase property taxes beyond the limits set by state law to generate more revenue.
“With the cost of everything, and the fuel prices going up and all of that type of stuff, I think it just played a kind of a perfect storm to put our community in a spot where they just had to say no this time around,” Augusta Area School District Administrator Reed Pecha said. “Hopefully that’ll change next time.”
In districts where voters prioritized lower property taxes over more school funding, their decisions spell brisk change.
Several school districts are already drawing up plans to put another referendum in front of voters, or hoping lawmakers will bail them out by designating more school funding.
“If this stuff doesn’t change, the funding formula doesn’t change, state aid doesn’t change, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Ellsworth Community School District Superintendent Brian Nadeau said. “(Cuts are) going to become an annual thing that we have to deal with until something changes.”
Rocky paths forward
Over $1 billion in referendums from 73 school districts were on the ballot earlier this month. Districts had the tall task of appealing to voters who are increasingly weary of increased property taxes. Ahead of the election, a Marquette University Law School poll warned that a record high 60% of registered voters said they would rather reduce property taxes than increase spending on public schools.
Voters approved 37 of 63 operational referendums, which ask to raise taxes to fund the cost of running schools, such as educational programs, salaries and transportation services. The 12 other proposals asked for revenue for capital construction projects, like building upgrades, nine of which passed.
At least 11 of these districts have shared plans for budget cuts since the election. For example, Monroe School District cut 22 positions. Southern Door County School District plans to slash 16 jobs and freeze pay. The Necedah Area School District will cut staff and put off purchasing new school buses. Dodgeville School District will lay off 13 people.
Nadeau, the Ellsworth leader, said the district already had cost reductions ready to go in case its $8.7 million referendum didn’t pass. Now it’s rolling out the changes, including cutting roughly 15 staff and redesigning its 4K program. The changes must total $1.9 million to plug next year’s budget hole.
“It’s getting to the point where it’s extremely painful,” Nadeau said.
Several other districts are drawing up budget cuts or presenting them for a vote at upcoming school board meetings.
That includes the Augusta Area School District, where voters rejected a $750,000 proposal. The western Wisconsin district is now drawing up cuts to staff, and officials plan to announce reductions in academic programs and extracurricular activities in spring 2027.
“It was a fairly modest ask, but with the community not supporting that, it definitely means that we have handed out non-renewal (notices to staff),” Pecha said. “We are reducing staff and trying to absorb positions as people have resigned, but we don’t have a lot more to cut.”
No way forward?
Without much more to whittle from their budgets, some school districts are considering closing altogether.
After its $3.75 million referendum failed, Hustisford School District in Dodge County lacks “sufficient funding to continue operations beyond this school year,” leaders wrote in a letter to families. The 240-student district canceled its upcoming summer school classes.
Hustisford could partner with a local district to provide classes next school year while it works to fully dissolve by the following year. The school board will make a final decision by July 1.
Leaders at Gillett School District in Oconto County find themselves in a similar predicament. District Administrator Nathan Hanson said the district’s budget deficit will deplete its savings by the end of this school year.
The district is already understaffed. Cutting any more to lower expenses would create class sizes of over 40 students, Hanson said. Schools generally aim to keep classes under 30 students.
“Cutting enough positions to break even next year would be beyond what we believe would keep a viable education for our approximately 549 students,” Hanson said.
Hanson has reached out to the state’s education department and the school attorney to learn more about closing or merging with another district. He confirmed the district will remain open through at least the 2026-27 school year, but would need to “borrow money and pay interest to keep our doors open.”
“We are learning what we need to know regarding the process of dissolution and consolidation,” Hanson told Wisconsin Watch. “These are not options our board wants to use, but our board is committed to finding the best possible solution for our community’s children.”
If at first you don’t succeed …
Some leaders already have their sights set on the next election cycle, eager to ask voters for more revenue and secure a different outcome.
School District of Winter Superintendent Craig Olson asked the school board to return to voters with another referendum this November.
The four-year, $8 million referendum voters rejected earlier this month was Winter’s first operational referendum since at least 2000. Olson attributed the failure in part to a short preparation period that left many residents unaware of the district’s financial situation.
Olson said the district runs an annual deficit of about $1 million. Without a successful referendum, the district could run out of funds within a year and face the risk of closure. He hopes the voters will approve the next referendum if the district has more time to communicate the details with them.
Hanson also said Gillett’s school board will be “very strongly looking at running another operational referendum in the near future.”
Data indicates districts might have better luck next time. In the 20 districts that went to referendum this year after voters rejected their proposals, 16 passed.
Several district leaders said they’re hopeful the Legislature will help ease their financial woes.
“I’m just hopeful that our community can see the importance that our schools have,” Pecha said. “And I’m hoping that the state can maybe come through with some funding and hopefully give a little bit of a reprieve to some of us.”
Data reporter Hongyu Liu contributed to this report.
Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagramand Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.
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