WAUSAU − Residents of the Wausau School District will soon have the opportunity to make their voices heard on the district’s budget.
The Wausau School Board last week approved a contract with the Donovan Group to facilitate a survey to gauge community opinion on a possible fall 2024 referendum question on operations funding.
In late February, the board’s Education/Operations Committee received a budget presentation projecting a $3.5 million budget deficit for the next school year.
This number includes about $1.2 million in staff positions that were funded by three federal COVID-19 relief bills passed between 2020 and 2021, which ultimately sent about $1.49 billion to Wisconsin schools through a program commonly called ESSER Funds is called, or Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief. Funds.
Positions funded by these relief funds cannot be renewed, and Wisconsin state statute requires advance notice for non-renewal of non-renewing contracts, which Superintendent Keith Hilts said had not happened before the April 8 meeting.
Data collected by the Institute for Reforming Government shows that the Wausau School District received more than $10.5 million from the ESSER program and about $2.6 million, or about 25%, went to teachers, according to the analysis of the conservative-oriented think tank on how the money was spent.
Another big factor in the shortage is the “skyrocketing cost of health insurance,” Josh Viegut, assistant superintendent of operations, said at the February commission meeting. Board member Pat McKee, who works in the insurance industry, says insurance costs are rising “across the industry,” and the Wausau School District is not unique in these rising costs.
The district also passed a budget for the current school year with a $716,000 deficit. This deficit will continue into next year’s budget, and an additional deficit of $1.5 million is expected.
The district had a year-end fund balance of $27.9 million in 2019 and $33.27 million in 2022. Two years of budget shortfalls will bring the balance to an estimated $31.57 million at the end of fiscal year 2024 at the end of September.
The fund balance as a percentage of expenditures increased from 26.95% in 2019 to 29.33% in 2022 to a projected 26.72% for 2024. Expenditures increased by approximately $15 million between 2019 and 2024. Revenues from state sources increased from about $66 million in 2019 to almost $15 million. $79 million by 2024, while local revenue sources fell from over $30.6 million to just over $25 million over the same period. Federal revenue sources increased from just over $2.6 million to over $10.4 million during those years.
The discussion of a possible operational referendum comes two years after the implementation of a nearly $120 million capital referendum to fund facility upgrades, which has faced some challenges, including rising construction costs and shifting school board priorities.
An earlier plan to combine the district’s two high schools was rejected to reduce the district’s elementary school footprint.
The Donovan Group plans to have the survey available to residents by May 6 and will remain open for approximately two weeks.
More local school news: Lunch debt in the Wausau and DC Everest Area school districts exceeds $20,000. This fundraiser is intended to help.
More local school news: Wausau School District makes internal selection to serve as interim superintendent following the retirement of Keith Hilts
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA-TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Reach him out epfantz@gannett.com or connect with him on X (formerly Twitter) @ErikPfantz.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Wausau School Board considers fall referendum to address $3.5 million deficit
