School Board approves placing $2.1 million referendum on spring ballot

District says cuts will be needed if vote fails

By Michael S. Hoey

Correspondent 

The Delavan-Darien School Board unanimously approved placing a $2.1 million recurring referendum for operational costs on the April 1 ballot at a special meeting Jan. 14.

Board President Jeff Scherer and board member Jim Hansen were absent due to vacations, but acting president Joe Peyer said they both had expressed support for the referendum in the past.

The referendum will read:

“Shall the Delavan-Darien School District be authorized to exceed state revenue limits by $2.1 million on a recurring basis, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, in order to support the District’s educational programs and to meet state and federal mandates?”

“We (as a district) are making significant improvements,” Superintendent Robert Crist said. “We need to maintain the momentum.”

Crist said the improvement has been because of hard work put in by staff and teachers, and it will hopefully get noticed by parents leading to fewer students leaving the district and some coming into the district through open enrollment.

“School systems attract people and businesses,” Crist said. “If we can continue to improve we will do that and property values will go up. It all goes hand-in-hand.”

“The community strongly supported the strategic plan, and we have the responsibility to go to the public and ask them to fund it,” board member Chad Kort said.

“You don’t fix a problem simply by throwing more money at it,” Kort said. “The (strategic) plan won’t improve the district, it’s the implementation of it, and we can’t do it without the funds.”

Crist said cuts will have to be made to programs, staff or both if the referendum fails. Peyer said about $2.5 million will have to be cut from the 2014-15 budget if the referendum fails. Even if it passes, the district will still be about $500,000 short, but the board believes closing that gap is reasonable. The gap could grow in future years if adjustments are not made.

Although no members of the public attended the Jan. 14 meeting, Business Administrator Carey Bradley made a presentation about the need for the referendum.

She said state revenue limits were placed on school districts in 1993 that were designed to control property taxes, not provide adequate funding for schools. The state’s position is that local residents should decide through a referendum if a district should exceed the limits for operational costs.

The problem for school districts like Delavan-Darien that were spending frugally in 1993 is that the limits locked them into receiving the amounts they were receiving in 1993. That has led to gaps between the revenue Delavan-Darien receives from the state per student compared to the amount other districts in the area receive.

While Delavan-Darien’s per pupil limit is set at $9,185 for 2013-14 some other districts are getting more than $2,700 per student more. Williams Bay receives $11,937 per student; Big Foot schools, 10,660; Lake Geneva schools, $10,475; and Elkhorn, $9.247. The only way to change that is through referendum, Bradley said.

Board member Steve Logterman asked how much the district would have to ask for in a referendum to reach the county average of $9,860 per pupil, and the answer was $1.8 million. Logterman said the district has a higher percentage of special needs and poor students than neighboring districts. The district hired six special education teachers this year and is still below the number the state Department of Public Instruction recommends.

Bradley said rising expenditures for salaries, benefits, transportation and utilities couples with decreasing state aid has resulted in the district’s “structural deficit.” The referendum can narrow the gap and lessen the impact of closing it.

Bradley said student enrollment is a factor in the shared revenue. If enrollment goes down, which has been the trend in recent years, the district receives less money from the state but many of its costs are fixed. If a class size drops from 25 to 23, for instance, the district receives less money but still must pay the same in salary and benefits to the teacher and pay the same amount to heat the classroom.

In an effort to balance its budgets in recent year, the district has not filled some positions when teachers have retired or left resulting in larger class sizes, Bradley said. Course offerings and programming have been reduced. Changes have been made to employee health insurance plans, and the district changed carriers. Pay increases have been limited. Maintenance projects have been delayed. Bus routes have been reduced because of lower ridership. Cuts have been made to supplies and materials.

Bradley said the district realized a one-year savings when Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 legislation mandated employees pay more toward their retirement two years ago, but that was a short-term gain.

“We are running out of places to go,” she said. “We have always been responsible with tax money and have had few significant program cuts. It is getting to the point where it is harder and harder to make reductions without significantly impacting the staff.”

Bradley said she has noticed a desire to improve the district but that comes with a cost. One example is new curriculum materials.

Peyer said he believes in the district’s schools, and quality schools can make a community great. He said he does not see the referendum as a choice. The only choice is in how much it should be for.

“It is time to step up and make the schools great again,” he said.

Logterman said the district is beginning to show signs of improvement. He also said marketing is very important because of open enrollment, and it is difficult to market a district that is cutting programs.

Kort said the alternative to raising more money is to make cuts that could be drastic and harmful and should be avoided.

Crist said $2.1 million is not enough to cover the district’s costs but will help the district continue to do what it needs to do and maintain its quality programs.

“We are plowing some nice ground to grow some very good things,” he said.

Increasing the district’s annual revenue by $2.1 million would add about $1.28 to the district’s mill rate, increasing the tax bill for the owner of a $100,000 by $128 a year.

Crist said whether the community can afford the increased cost in today’s economy is a concern.

“We need to continue to provide extra opportunities for the kids because of that,” he said.