Schools

April Referendum Likely to Help School District's Cash Crunch

Vote would be part of short-term effort to keep district from making more more cuts.

There's a good chance that Shorewood residents will be asked to vote on two referendum questions this spring aimed at helping the school district out of a financial jam over the next five years.

The School Board Wednesday voted to move forward with plans to seek approval to refinance the district's debt to the Wisconsin Retirement System and to borrow $13 million to fund non-pension retirement benefits  for employees.

The board doesn't have to formally vote on whether to put a referendum on the ballot April 5 until February. However, the action taken Wednesday paves the way for the district to create a committees to hash out the details of the referendum. It also gives officials some time to educate residents about the need for the two measures.

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"We have a lot to do for a successful referendum," board President Paul Zovic said.

Seeking long-term solutions

Both options are a part of comprehensive plan that aims to make the district financially stable by 2016. Over the last eight years, the district has cut its budget by about $7 million, but has still been able to maintain class sizes and quality programs, officials say.

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But the district is at a point where the only way to ensure that class sizes don't increase and quality education continues is to come up with ways to increase operating revenues.

The two measures likely to appear on the ballot would do just that.

Refinancing debt and borrowing to pay retirement costs would free up more money for the day-to-day operations of the schools over the next five years, officials say.

Still, the two referendum options will only be a short-term solution to the district's financial woes. Officials are looking at other ways to boost revenue, such as fundraising, setting up an endowment and increasing enrollment,  as long-term solutions to avoid drastic cuts down the road.

"Planning for the next five years put us in a better position than we have been in before," Zovic said. "It's a smart thing to do, but it is all going to cost us more money."

There was no discussion, however, on the cost of the two referendum measures.

A third referendum question that was considered but shot down would have authorized the district to spend $1 million more than the state-imposed revenue cap in each of the next five years.

Parents to be involved in planning

The next step is to create a referendum planning committee, and Zovic said the board hopes it will include parents from every school.

The action the referendum comes at the same time that the district considering closing Shorewood Intermediate School as a way to cut costs.

Closing SIS and moving students to the district's other schools would save about $400,000 per year.


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