Wisconsin lawmakers increased public school funding this year and next by $325 per pupil. But that isn’t enough to pay the bills for school districts.
Because of budget deficits, some districts are considering school closures. Others are turning to taxpayers for more money.
Wauwatosa School District Superintendent Demond Means emailed parents a few weeks ago with a warning. Because of a budget shortfall, the district might have to close an elementary school in the future.
"I don’t want to close any school in Wauwatosa," Means said in an interview with WUWM. "I don’t want that to happen."
Closing a school is just one option the district's "Tosa 2075" task force is considering, as it tries to determine how the school district can stabilize its finances.
Wauwatosa is facing a $9 million deficit next year. Means says it’s the result of disinvestment from the state.
"It’s been over a decade in which the Legislature has made the decision that they’re not going to provide adequate funding to public education," Means says. "That’s the problem."
School district’s per-pupil spending authority, called revenue limits, used to be tied to inflation – giving them reliable boosts each year.
But since 2010, the Republican-controlled Legislature has stopped providing inflationary increases. In 2021, lawmakers didn’t increase per-pupil funding at all, during a time of record inflation. That deepened the financial hole for districts.
Districts also have to pull money from their general funds to pay for special education costs because the state only reimburses schools for about a third of those expenses.
"They’re squeezing the local school systems to where we are the ones who are forced to make the tough decisions," Means says.
Means says it’s especially egregious now, when Wisconsin has a record $7 billion surplus.
Wauwatosa has formed a task force to explore cost-saving options. One option is to close Jefferson and/or Washington Elementary School.
Declining enrollment and funding constraints have led other school districts to close schools or consider it — including Racine, Green Bay, Beloit, Waukesha, West Allis and Kenosha.
The Cudahy School District recently closed its Park View Elementary School, and is in the process of merging its middle and high schools.
"It’s absolutely one of the hardest things I’ve had to do," says Cudahy Superintendent Tina Owen-Moore.
Like most Wisconsin districts, Cudahy’s enrollment has declined. But Owen-Moore says funding is the main reason for the school closures.
Cudahy is projecting a $2 million deficit next year. Owen-Moore is worried that even the savings from the school closures won’t be enough.
"I think the hard part will be if we’re doing all these changes and it’s still not getting us where we need to be, and we have to cut programming for kids," Owen-Moore says. "That’s going to be devastating because people took the chance on these moves."
The only way school districts can raise funding beyond state-imposed limits is going to voter referendum to increase property taxes.
That’s what’s happening in South Milwaukee. The school board is considering a $2 million operating referendum, which would offset an expected $800,000 deficit next year, and allow the district to afford some new services for students.
Superintendent Deidre Roemer says the district has already made cuts to administrative positions. Trying to cut another $800,000 from next year's budget would mean losing staff who work directly with students.
"You don't get $800,000 out of your budget without looking at your programming or staffing," Roemer says. "We're trying to keep everything we can away from our students, and making sure our students have everything they need."
Anne Chapman, research director with the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, say she's expecting a lot of school referendums in 2024 — to pay mainly for ongoing costs, rather than new staff or programs.
"From what I’ve heard from almost every district I’ve talked to, there’s consideration [of a referendum]," Chapman says.
Tina Owen-Moore says the fact that so many districts are struggling right now speaks to a larger problem.
"This is not just happening in Cudahy, this is not just one superintendent’s problem," Owen-Moore says. "We are all facing the same thing because there’s a problem with the formula, there’s a problem with the system. Like, it is not working for schools."
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