Lake Country School District looking at more budget cuts after one of two referendum questions failed
The K-8 Lake Country School District in northwestern Waukesha County is looking at its next steps after voters rejected one of two referendum questions on the April 2 ballot.
On a vote of 691 to 589, residents approved a $9.5 million facilities referendum question that will make improvements such as safety and security and technology system upgrades, as well as building and learning environment improvements.
However, on a vote of 695 to 594, residents rejected a $7.2 million operational referendum question that would have provided funds through increases over seven years to cover annual operating expenses.
"We're going to have to make some significant cuts to staffing and try and get a balanced budget. We're going to have to cut in the neighborhood of $800,000," said Lake Country School District superintendent Chad Schraufnagel in a phone interview April 3.Had the operational referendum passed, the district would have still had to make about $650,000 in cuts from its budget, he noted.
"A total of 4.4 staff were going to be reduced had we passed. Three teachers submitted retirement, so that meant we only had to reduce 1.4 more. We are going to have to reduce a few more positions. I don't have those numbers quite yet, so I really don't want to say anything until I have more firm numbers on that," Schraufnagel said.
Information about the referendum on the district's website said that if the operational referendum failed, the district would have to reduce between 6.4 to 7 professional staff positions. Schraufnagel hedged on that number a bit. "Potentially," he said. "It may have to be more. We may have to go more."
"Obviously, the impact is on class sizes and programming — things that you can offer," he said. "You try and make any reductions as far away from core area teaching as possible."
Schraufnagel said the sad part about the cuts is the effect on teachers' lives. He said the decisions are not easy to make.
"In other times where we did not need the operating referendum, we'd be really in a celebratory mood because we passed a $9.5 million referendum to really fix the needs of the building, and we're very thankful for the community has agreed to do that," he said, "but our excitement is a little bit tempered because we do have to make these cuts, but we understand it."
The district's goal is to make the needed reductions without dipping into its fund balance, or savings, and present a balanced budget, he explained.
"Then we're going to have to continue to short-term borrow, and the board of education and administration are going to have to sit down and plan out a future moving forward. I don't know if that means coming back to the community for an operating referendum again in '25. The board has not had a chance to meet, so there are a lot of things we are going to have to look at," Schraufnagel said.
The district said on its website it has spent its fund balance down to 5% of its overall budget, down from 19.29% of its budget in the 2014-15 school year. It said it has had lower enrollments over the last 10 years and has not had enough state funding to keep pace with continuing needs.
"Since the funding has not kept pace, the District has continued to maintain resource levels through the usage of their fund balance (savings account) to balance the budget each of the last 8 school years," the district said on its website.
Carrying a 20% to 25% fund balance generally allows school districts to cover short-term deficits without borrowing money while also setting aside dollars for long-term facility needs."At a 5% fund balance, there is little to no flexibility for covering deficits and if the District depletes its fund balance and operates in a deficit spending situation, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will intervene in the district’s operations," the district said on its website.
The district plans to work with its project partner, SitelogIQ, to finalize facility improvement plans.
"We need to do the planning and all the things that go into a capital project like that. It's going to be a big disruption to our parking lot, roof, chiller, HVAC, all that stuff. We're going to need a good bit of planning just to make sure we got everything lined up. You have to go out to bid, all of those things," Schraufnagel said.
Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Lake Country School District looking at budget cuts
