WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Wausau voters will be considering two school funding referendums on the April non-partisan election ballot, five months after voting down two similar proposals in November.
In a sit-down interview with WSAU News, Superintendent Dr. Keith Hilts said board members hope more information and a few tweaks to the plan will close the gap this time around. “We went to our PTOs (Parent-Teacher Organizations), we went to some of our community leaders and said ‘hey, why do you think this thing failed?'”
He says the responses included a lack of information about the proposals and the potential to close some schools. Others were turned off by the dollar amount.
That led to the district scrapping plans to close some schools, meaning the new referendum will not involve changing district boundaries. The new building proposal was also slimmed down a bit to just over $148 million.
Hilts says roughly one-third of that price tag includes fixing up wear and tear on things like HVAC systems, roofs, windows, and doors. Ten million would also be spent to renovate Grant Elementary, which had been slated for demolition in the previous proposal. West High School would also get a $10 million facelift, and seven million would be spent on district-wide projects.
John Muir Middle School would get over $31 million in work. Most other schools in the district would see between $4-7 million in upgrades.
Bob Tess, the district’s Chief Finance and Business Services Officer said if the building referendum were to fail and another one isn’t proposed it would take more than 50 years in today’s dollars to complete all the building improvement projects, not including $100 million in major upgrades.
The $4 million operational question would allow the district to hire 36 additional student services positions with a focus on student health, social work, and behavioral intervention specialists. Hilts says that would help students of all backgrounds and abilities to succeed. “Whether they are struggling students or gifted students, how do you make sure they get what they need? These 36 staff, we think that is our key strategic action.”
When asked how much a typical homeowner could expect the school portion of their property tax bill to go down if the referendums fail again, Hilts said the amount could be $2 to $2.50 per $1,000, but also admitted that it’s difficult to pin down. Tess said that formula includes things like state aid, student comp, and the state budget.
“Generally speaking when spending goes down, state aid goes down and the mill rate goes up. We would also have the fluctuation of the mill rate and levy going down as the result of a failed referendum, then aid goes down. If aid goes down, our mill rate bounces back up, and levy bounces back up. We’re trying to avoid that.”
Hilts added that a yes vote for the referendums would keep funding near current levels due to retiring debt from previous referendums, while also adding 36 staff members to the district and completing numerous projects at nearly every district building.
“If we maintain this level of investment, the schools are going to be in really good shape. The support that our students get is going to be fantastic, and the community won’t have to worry about the schools degrading.
“They will always have safe, comfortable, modern schools,” he added.
RELATED: School Leaders Make Their Case for April Referendum Questions
There are also unknowns such as the assessed value of property and the state’s lottery tax credit, which can fluctuate from year-to-year.
Board members did not pass the referendums unanimously. Ka Lo, who was the lone vote, said she feels the district’s focus needs to be on managing the pandemic. She also said the district should respect resident’s no vote in November, and instead should wait until at least 2022 before trying again.
Lo also blasted those who said they voted no in November to simply get back at the board for voting to begin the school year virtually instead of in-person, saying she feels that shifts the punishment to the students instead of the board.
The final vote for the $4 million operating question was six yes, one no, and two abstentions. Those came from board members that have spouses who work for the district. The approval for the $148 million building referendum was 8-1.
The vote to put the questions on the ballot mirrored that of the operating referendum.
Diana White, the district’s Coordinator of Communications & Marketing, said they are planning a grassroots information campaign that could include mailings and school-specific videos to better inform the public on what projects will be completed.
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