Shorewood Schools: Budget Gap Widens to $1.9 Million Under Walker's Budget

The Shorewood School District's 2011-12 budget gap will swell from $711,000 to $1.9 million if Gov. Scott Walker's biennial budget proposal is approved, school officials revealed Tuesday.

The School Board learned of the new figure after discussing plans for the district to become financially solvent by 2016.

The district has a on the April ballot focused at addressing a current budget  gap of more than $700,000 next year. That deficit likely will increase by $1.2 million due to a 5.5 percent reduction in state aid or for the district, or $666 per student.

The district currently receives $12,101 per student and was planning on a $100 increase in that number for 2011-12. Instead, the district will receive $11,435 per student in state aid next year under the govenor's budget proposal. 

Walker has stated that his budget proposal and his budget repair bill include providing schools and local municipalities with the tools they need to balance their budget.

"The tools, if we implement as they stated ... just isn't enough," School Board President Paul Zovic said. "I'm confident, whatever it takes to close this gap, we are still going to close the gap.

"We have fantastic staff giving children a great education," Zovic said.

Shorewood Education Association spokesman Arthur Anderson said district teachers are prepared to make further concessions. Walker's budget repair bill calls for public employees, including teachers, to pay half of the Wisconsin Retirement Savings contribution, saving the district $515,000 and to pay 12.6 percent of their health plan premiums, saving an additional $136,000.

Although teachers are amenable to the financial concessions, Anderson said, collective bargaining is something they are not prepared to give up, which Walker proposes.

"These changes will provide the district with ... additional revenue," Anderson said. "In our opinion, this is what shared sacrifice is all about."

Even with teachers' concessions and if the referendum addressing the $711,000 shortfall passes, the district still does not have a balanced budget, Zovic said. With the deficit now expected to more than double, passing the referendum is vital, he said.

"Regardless of all these other things we might be able to do ... the referendum passage is still the single largest gap filler we have," Zovic said.

Walker's budget proposal includes a revenue cap for school districts and a property tax freeze. Coupled with teacher concessions, the net increase of the referendum is now less than $80 for a $300,000 home.

Anderson said it's a difficult time to be in a leadership position.

"At times you feel absolutely powerless because things are spinning out of control," Anderson said. "This is something I never thought in a million years we would have to deal with, this level of change.

"Change is inevitable, but whoever coined that term never envisioned the degree that we are starting to see," Anderson added.

Anderson said when district teachers hear they are dealing with a $1.9 million deficit, it's going to "hit them pretty hard."

A district budget meeting is planned for March 21, to discuss plans to balance the budget.