001school district budget for Monday, October 27th, 2025 to order. Um, again, our notice is we are live streaming as well as members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings. I will have uh Nicole do the roll call and verification of quorum, please. >> Miss Bushman >> here, >> Miss Mercer >> here, Mr. Kowalsski >> here. >> Mr. Pope >> here, >> Mr. Libre >> here. Miss Furler >> here. >> Miss Potter Nelson >> here. >> Mr. Summers >> here. >> We have a quum. >> And um we have one member who's on the way and should be with us momentarily. So we will move into the uh public hearing portion and we will be having a presentation of the budget overview by Mike. Welcome to the 202526 budget hearing. Um the presentation I'm
002about to give is 20 slides. I'm going to try to do 20 slides in 20 minutes. So we're gonna some of them will go through a little faster than others, but just keep in mind I'm trying to keep up that pace. The budget book that you have is the meritorious format that Tom provided you a couple years ago. I'm using that same format. It does have four sections. There's a a lot of stuff in that book, a lot of good stuff, but there's a lot. So, as we go through this presentation, I will refer to page numbers. I'm going to just put it in the bottom left corner of each slide um if you want to look back in the budget book, but otherwise you can follow along in your board packets as well. Let's
003get to the first slide. Um if you look at the first slide, you can see this is on page 10 of your budget book if you did want to follow along using that book. But again, you don't have to. So if you look at the top table, so we'll just start there. We have all the different funds going down the left hand side. Get rid of that. Um, and then we have an expenditure column, a revenue column, and a tax levy column. So the revenue plus the tax levy equals the total revenue, which is down here. And that total revenue for all funds is 151,326,417. The total expenditures for all funds is 153,517,567. So the total expenditures are a little bit more than the total revenue and you'll see why that is as we continue
004in the presentation. The tax levy for 2526 is 50,84,840. That is a 16.39% increase. This year's equalized valuation is 7.2 billion. That's a 7.2% increase. Now, the state average is 8%. So, we actually are a little under the state average in equalized valuation increase. The 2526 levy rate is $6.94. That's up 54 cents from last year, which is an 8.44% increase. U note that the referendum levy estimate was $6.96. So we're still a couple cents below that estimate. Okay. So why is the levy the tax levy going up? There are three main reasons. The first reason is and I keep hitting this button as I'm pushing this [laughter] mouse around. Uh the first reason is a reduction in state aid. So if you look at the table over the last decade, we've seen an increase
005in state aid for each year on average of 5.13% per year. In fact, in the last two years, state aids increased by 8.53%. Then this year, we're actually seeing a reduction, a loss in state aid of 1.03%. Or $577,689. [clears throat] So that's one of the reasons why the tax levy's going up. Another reason is private school vouchers. So for this year's budget, the private school vulture levy is almost $3.8 million. That's an increase in 13 of 13.8% or $459,352. So, if we combine the reduction in state aid to the increase with the increase in private school vouchers, oops, back up. With the increase in private school vouchers, we we're up to almost a million dollars right there. And then if you really want to think about it a little bit, if we would have
006got an increase like we got last year, last year's increase was about $4.4 million in state aid. And if you combine that with our reduction in state aid and our private school voucher increase, we're talking about 5.4 million million dollars. So obviously the uh state aid reduction and the private school vouchers is impacting our levy. The third reason why the tax levy's going up is the operational referendum. So this is the first year of the full impact of the operational referendum. Um even with state a going down though the actual impact is less than the projected impact. >> So running Jim >> Benito [laughter] goes slower than Nick. [laughter] >> Okay. So for 2425 the projected mill rate was $6.83 83. By the way, when I say mill rate, that's the levy rate. Sometimes I'll
007say one and not the other. Sorry about that. I don't want to confuse you, but it's just I just do that sometimes. Um, but the mill rate was projected to be $6.83 last year. It ended up being $6.40, so it was less. The mill rate for this year was projected to be $6.96. It's ending up being $6.94, so it's a little bit less. Um the impact on a $100,000 home over those two years um was projected to be $91. The actual impact based on what the current mill rates came in at is actually $24. So again, even though we saw a loss in state aid, which was big, uh the actual impact is less than what we projected with the mill rate. I did take some strategies to reduce the levy. Um, we applied $341,000
008of interest that we had earned in our debt service fund, fund 39. We applied that to reduce the levy. We also applied $428,000 of fund 80 fund balance. That's our community service fund to also reduce the levy. So, combined, we were able to reduce the levy by $769,000. Okay, let's take a look at the actual budget. So, we'll start with the general fund and we're going to focus on the 2526 budget column. The other columns are the actuals, but we're looking at the budget. [clears throat] So if you look at total revenues for the general fund and total expenses for the general fund, they match. So we have a balanced budget. But we also are committed to rebuilding our fund balance. So what we did is we proactively budgeted $1.5 million to fund balance. So
009it's actually in an account. So instead of waiting to see how things shake out at the end of the year, we budgeted in an account so that we can really work on that. So that 1.5 million is part of these expenditures right here. Okay. Then we have the special projects fund. That's fund 21 and fund 27. Fund 21 is primarily donations. Fund 27 is our special education fund. Those that fund is balanced. Then we have our debt service fund. This is fund 38 and fund 39. Fund 38 is non-referendum approved debt. Fund 39 is referendum approved debt. And if you look at the revenue and expenditures for that fund, you'll see that revenue is less than expenditures. The reason for that is because we use some interest to help uh levy a little bit less.
010That worked. All right. Then we have the capital projects fund. That's our fund 46. So that's the fund that supports our 10-year capital improvement plan. Um that fund we have more planned expenditures than what we have in revenue. Um we do have fund balance to cover those planned expenditures. Um but we do want to maintain that fund. So that's something we have to think about as we move forward. um trying to maintain that fund for future projects. >> And that fund does get reimbursed at half. Correct. >> It gets what? >> Reimbured. So we spend it and we get reimbured from the state. >> Not that fun. That's kind of like a savings account. >> Oh. Which which fund do we get reimbured for spending for capital projects? I thought there was a building fund
011we got reimbured for. >> No. >> Uhuh. >> Oh, okay. >> No. But I mean, you do to some extent, Alex, because when you when you spend money, it's aided by the state, so you get that state reimbursement in the next year. So maybe that's what you're >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Uh food service fund, that's our fund 50. That fund, the revenues match the expenditure, so that one's balanced. The trust fund, we no longer have that fund. It's it's only in here because there's part of it's in another part of the budget book. So it's on that same page. Um, I think this is page 11 of your or page 12 of your budget book. Um, the community service fund, that's fund 80. On this fund, you can see that revenues are less than
012expenditures. And again, that's because we applied some fund balance to try to reduce the levy. So, that's the overall picture of the budget. We can go into a little more detail. Um, I'm going to go through these slides kind of fast. There's a lot of uh lot of detail here. Um so this is revenue by source. So source is where the money is coming from. Okay. So on this slide we have all the source um keep clicking that all the source uh codes on the left. We have their descriptions next to them. So again this is telling you where the money is coming from. We have the funds going across the top and then the totals in each column for each fund at the bottom. And so that total for all funds again is 151
013million 326,417. That's the same as that first slide or that initial slide. Um which is really actually the third slide in the presentation, but that's the slide that we're going to come back to at the end. All right. Next, expenditures by object. So, this is set up the same way. So, here are the major objects going down the left side. Object is telling you what you're spending the money on. And so, 100 objects are salaries, 200 objects are benefits, etc. Across the top are the funds. Again, the totals for each column are at the bottom. So for each fund and then the overall total for all funds 153,517,567. We can also give expenditures by function. So function is where the money is being spent. So for example the 120,000 function that is your regular curriculum.
014So 124,000 is actually mathematics. So, if you are buying a pencil, pencils in mathematics, you're going to use 124,000. Here are the descriptions for each of those different functions. Again, that's where the money is going to. And then we have our funds going across top, our totals for each column on and each fund on the bottom. And then our grand total is 153,517,567. And in case you haven't noticed this, this is page 38 in your budget report book. All right. So next we move on to the revenue limit worksheet. The revenue limit worksheet is how we determine the So this is the first page of the revenue limit worksheet. What's important to point out here are these numbers. These are your three-year uh rolling average. So, your FTE for students. Um those numbers are important
015because that determines our revenue limit authority. However many students we have times the revenue limit, remember gives us our revenue limit authority. And that's going down. So, we are experiencing declining enrollment. We're down 67 FTE in those three-year rowing averages, which means our revenue limit authority is going to be decreasing over time if we continue to decline. Okay, in the first year, we get saved a little bit. There is a declining enrollment exemption here. And I know this is really small, so you might want to use your packet to be able to see some of this. Um, but there's the declining enrollment exemption. That's good for one year. After that, it's gone. Okay, then we go on to the second page of the revenue limit worksheet. This is the one that's really fun. There's lots
016of calculations on this page that determines um our So, let's just start at the top. I'm going to actually go to line three at $12,57425. That's our base revenue per member. Okay. Then that's carried over from the previous year. So that means that our referendum from last year is in that. Okay. Then we add on the $325 and we get a new base membership of $12,899.25. We take that times our three-year rolling average and that gives us our revenue limit with no exemptions. Okay. Over here we have our exemptions. These are our recurring exemptions. We have a little bit of transfer of service and then we have our referendum for this year, the five and a quarter million. Those are totaled right here. That gets added into the revenue limit with no exemptions and now
017we're at about 96 million. Then we take our nonrecurring exemptions. That's these here. So, in the non-recurring exemptions, you can see line H and I, those are our um private school voucher amounts. So, we don't have any control over those amounts. That's just what they are. Okay? And so, then we get our we add those in and we get our revenue limit with all exemptions. From there, we're going to subtract out state aid. State aid is added over here. So, here's our state aid certification that came out October 15th. That's the amount that's 1.03% less than last year. Okay? And then we have some exempt computer aid and some personal property aid that also gets added in. We subtract that from our revenue limit with all exemptions. We get the revenue [snorts] limit less general
018aid here. Okay. These are our levy amounts in red. So our fund 10 levy is 43,97,298. And then we have our nonreferendum debt of two 2,70,100. Those total is 45,977 up here. Okay. Then we have our other levies. We have our fund 39 referendum approved debt levy and again that's lower than what it would have been because we used some interest. We have our community service fund levy again also lower because we use some fund balance there. And then we have our prior year chargebacks. And so that gives us a total levy of 50 million 84,840. That's even getting small for me to read. Um that then gives us our levy rate of $6.94 per thousand. So that's how the levy is calculated. Now the way the levy is distributed to municipalities has to do
019with equalized value. Okay. So this table gives us the equalized value from last year compared to this year and the percent change. Okay, so we know our equalized value went up by 7.2%. That's for all of our municipalities, but by municipality it varies. So some municip municipalities went up more than 7.2%. If that happens, they're going to have a larger share of the levy. Some went up less than 7.2%. They're going to then have a smaller share of the levy. Um, Lighting actually went down 10%. So, that's the only municipality where equalized value went down. The next section has Who There we go. Sorry about that. Okay. The next section we have the change in in levy by municipality. So we have our 2024 levy 2025 levy the levy change and then the percent change.
020So the overall levy was 16.39% but depending on equalized value municipality may pay a little bit more than that or a little less. So this table shows the change in levy by municipality from last year to this year. Okay, here's that screen again. This is just showing the total levy. Uh I put this on here just to kind of talk a little bit about how we get that. So this levy is determined by the revenue limit worksheet. That's what we went through. And then from there, the levy is uh portioned among the 18 municipalities within the school district according to each municipality's percent of equalized property value. And this process ensures equal and fair distribution of levy among all parties. That's the purpose of using equalized value. Um it's also important to note that the
021voucher levy is included in this total levy. So in this column here the voucher le levy is also in there. Brings me to the next slide which is the voucher levy by community. So our v voucher levy is about 3.8 million that's divided up by municipality again by using that those equalized values. Um of our total levy 7.6% 6% of it goes to vouchers, not to the school district. And again, the voucher levy increased this year by 13.8%. Okay, we're coming back to one last impact slide. So this time I I took a $200,000 home. And so you can see that for the $200,000 home, the mill rate of $6.94 has an impact of $108. So double what the $100,000 home had. Um, one of the other things I wanted to show you on this
022slide though is that from 2223 on, we've had a levy rate less than $7. Prior to that year, we've been over $7. We've even been in the $8 uh range. So, we've managed to keep the levy rate below $7 and it's going to stay below again this year. Okay, looking ahead, um we want to keep thinking, we want to be mindful that we are experiencing declining enrollment. So, we want to be thinking about that as we move forward. So fully utilizing our revenue limit authority allows us to offset future challenges while protecting core programming. We also want these funds to last. So we have to continue our ongoing evaluation. Um we've been doing that and this year we identified 811,000 in savings for 2526. We anticipate further reductions as we continue to evaluate program usage
023information. So, this proposed budget reflects strong stewardship of community resources with a a focus on students and also in maintaining these funds for a really long time. And that brings me back to that first slide, the tax levy summary. That's the slide that had a lot of information on it. Um, it's where we started. It's where we're going to end. Um the total levy again is 50,84,840. The levy rate is $6.94. [clears throat] That rate is a little bit less than what we had projected with the referendum. And that's the end of my presentation. >> I I feel like we need a clap or something. >> [laughter] >> So, I'm just going to remind members this is the public hearing portion and so this presentation was to us but it was to the community. Um
024and so um we are now going to move into the public comment portion of this. And do we have any email comments? No. And do we have anybody signed up with comments tonight? Is there anybody here this evening who would like to speak about the budget to the board? There is no one. So I will now be looking for a motion to adjourn >> the public hearing. >> Second motion and a second. All those in favor with I. >> I. Any oppose with nay? Motion carries. Now we'll move into the special school board meeting agenda. We're noting again that public access to meeting is streaming as [clears throat] well as anyone from the community can be present for our meetings. Um we need a meeting opening and roll call please. Miss Bushman >> here. >>
025Miss Mercer >> here. >> Mr. Kowalsski >> here. >> Mr. Pope >> here. >> Mr. Libre >> here. >> Miss Earler >> here. >> Miss Potter Nelson >> here. Mr. Summers, Mr. Lee, >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So, we're moving into item four, approval of the 2025 2026 budget and levy. Um, I would look for a motion on that and a second and then we can have discussion as a board. >> So, motion to approve and a second. So, motion by Jen, second by G. Um any discussion, questions from members of the board with
026respect to the budget that is in front of us tonight. Can I ask these numbers now are for this school till July 1st. So we're our the whole purpose is to hit those numbers if we can. It's a guy, >> right? So, it doesn't mean we will or not, but >> Right. >> And Mike will continue to provide his monthly updates at business services where he gives us a projection on where we're at, how we're doing, where are some places that he might be concerned about, places that we're under spending, overspending. So, this is this is our goal and hopefully we'll be able to to meet the expectation. Well, and the reality is G the state aid we're going to be provided with the state aid as the state they've told us the number and
027we are going to levy the amount or if if we approve this we are going to be levying the amount that Mike is proposing >> and then we will be working with this budget over the course of the remainder of this year um to be efficient about what we're spending dollars on to try as administration with with Mike's help last year did to bring us in under budget at the end of the year so that we again continue to have that ability to move forward as you said Mike especially with the declining enrollment that we're seeing. So this is no longer the numbers are wrong. This is wrong. This is actual. >> Is there any way to gauge the effect of the government shutdown as it moves on? Is there any way to gauge the
028money that's available to us throughout the year from the federal? >> Sure. So I'll speak to that and then I'm going to turn it over to Mike. So, what we've learned to date is that this year will not be affected because those dollars were already allocated to the Department of Public Instruction for release to districts. But starting in June, July of 2026, there could be some potential impacts. So, we don't know what that will be yet, but we know that there could be some potential impacts. >> But as sure as we can be because money has been called back that was already allocated. So, I just want I I know it's impossible to say. >> Yep. Yep. >> For this year, we're feeling good about it. For next year, we're not sure. >> That's what
029I was going to say. >> Thank you. >> And and Corey also is going to this week >> provide an email out to the board. We've had some questions about food share, about how families can access resources. Um, we've had some questions about the fund that um the district has put together to allow families to support our kids who can't afford um our lunch or breakfast programs. And so Corey's going to put an email out to all of us with information as well as get an email out to all of the families in town. Um, nonprofits have recently kind of pulled together what their projections are, what contact numbers are, um, information that that we will share out to families. But I think the reality is if their families in this community struggling um and
030they have any questions whatsoever um they should reach out to to Corey to the district to see how we could help. >> Absolutely. >> Um do you want to talk a little bit about the food pro the backpack program? >> Sure. So most of our schools um have a backpack program where they send food home with with families in need. Um that's in cooperation with a lot of other community organizations like Boys and Girls Club, Woodlands Church, um and and families that just donate to each school to provide food for those backpacks. We've received a wealth of information from the community on resources where people can go um and we'll include that in the email out to families and to the board. So that what we know is the food shares program ends at the
031end of this week. So, it's they're not affected through October, but starting November 1, families will be affected, >> but any money currently on the card will still be available to use because there was news articles out that said they wouldn't be able to use that money. If that money has been allocated and it's on your food share card, that's money still accessible. Just >> Correct. >> Yep. Correct. >> Okay. And and I I will say we still have community members that are donating to our money for meals program. Um so students that may have a negative lunch account balance, we've got individuals and community members and businesses that are donating to that account to help pay for those negative food balances. And we appreciate that greatly. If anyone wants to continue to donate to
032that, they should contact the business office. >> Okay. I have some questions. >> Yeah. Okay. Um, so looking at the budget again, right now we have 60% of our budget going to staff and faculty. While I understand the staff and faculty of course are our bedrock, 60% is a high percentage rate going to faculty and staff. Right now we're looking at um 3 to 4% for um inflation rate. >> CPI. >> What? >> CPI. That was the word. Um, thank you. Inflation was all I could come up with, but um, so with that in mind, how are we budgeting for future staff and faculty when already 60% of our money is going to staff and faculty? >> Can I ask you before we do that, how are we compared to other school districts? >> We
033would have to pull that information, but I would venture to guess that we are not far off from other districts. In fact, I've seen districts that have been up to 80% of their budget >> salary for salary and benefit. Yeah. At the top. >> Could that be given to us? >> I think it would be helpful, but I know that [clears throat] it's always high, but with another potential 4%. >> How are we budgeting for that? Look, based on these based on the numbers that we're potentially voting on tonight, >> um because I want to make sure that we're not shooting ourselves in the foot or um being fiscally unwise or whatever. So, I have three questions, but that's my first one to >> Sure. So, the money for salary and benefits for this year
034was already budgeted for once the board made the decision to give the salary and benefit increases last spring. >> Okay? >> So, those are accounted for. So any potential going forward, the board would take action on that in the spring. Again, once we find out the CPI, which happens in January, I believe, and then we would make a decision there, whatever the board decides would then again be accounted for then next year. >> Okay. A and and with the ongoing budget evaluation and looking at the programming and looking at enrollment, I mean hopefully we're staying on par with if enrollment sadly continues to decline, FTE would then follow suit. Am I >> correct? And that's what we've identified up to this point and I think Corey would account for that in the salary proposal that
035she pulls together and brings to the board in April too. So we would keep a close pulse on those numbers. Well, and and to of course to add to that, we are looking at the current study that we're working with consultants with respect to our enrollment projections. that information we're looking at November >> potentially to be able to bring before the board in November um to begin a look at that a look at how are not not just the enrollment projection I mean what happened this year but what are we going to be seeing within the next five years within the next 10 years um and how can we best align our district to be able to be fiscally responsible about that reality. >> Um so I believe the superintendent has indicated that um she
036is expecting our board to be bringing forward some decisions related to that and that data is going to be crucial. Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Um, so how much do we get per pu or how much spending do we all lot per pupil? >> So like some So I know that we were at 11,000 or something, right? Is that >> Yeah, it's on. >> I saw it someplace, but I didn't remember where it was. [clears throat] >> Next one, I think. $12,89 >> 1289 >> 25. >> Give me one second. Oops. I know. I'm sorry. >> I don't [laughter] >> I know it's a jaring experience for all of us. Um, but I'm looking at the three-year rolling average, which I think is on the previous slide. Mhm. >> I'm looking at the 20. So 22
03723 24 25. So 22 to 23 was a reduction of 34 FTE. 23 to 24 was a reduction of 38. 24 to 25 is 129 reduction. >> Um in that reduction are we talking 4K 5K across the board? >> Go ahead. >> Yeah. >> That's the biggest reduction we've seen since >> co. So it was a big reduction that has me a little bit worried about declining. >> So 1.664 million. >> Yeah. And uh um so you're right, it's going to affect our revenue limit authority. Uh what happened is what's happening and it's happening in a lot of districts, but we're graduating larger senior classes that are getting replaced with smaller kindergarten classes. And when you look at that, you can see it moving through like these smaller classes coming through and these bigger classes
038going moving out. >> That's really Can you give us a breakdown of the numbers in the class? >> Well, that's what the consultant's doing. >> Wait for that. Well, and what I what I have learned ultimately what what what what we are looking at seeing is both districtwide what our projections are. They're taking a look what our current classes are, what grades they're at. They're looking at those numbers, and they're also taking a look at it specific to individual buildings within the district. >> Right. And what I have learned over the last decade in the state of Wisconsin, on average, the percent of declining enrollment is about 7%. We're at about four. So, while we are declining, we're not declining at the rate at which the average Wisconsin schools are declining. >> So, I mean,
039it's it's a concern, but it's not >> 7% concern. >> What will happen next year? It's possible that I mean, we could bump back up a little bit. You never know. That's what happened to us after CO took a big drop. We came back and then we slowly declined. Did you? >> Yeah. I would think it'd be what you're saying that scenario of larger graduating classes than smaller incoming can be easier to deal with >> because if it's across the whole district uh evenly I mean if if you've got say 400 kids coming in and 500 graduating for example it's a lot easier to just say okay we just don't need that many kindergarten classes >> right >> that's a lot easier to address than >> you know five kids per class across the district
040right how do you adjust that >> right and don't forget we are also digging into our open enrollment out and open enrollment in and Sarah's planning to bring some information on what we've learned from families there as well which was a little bit eye openening you know we thought students were leaving at different grade levels than what they really are um so what we're learning is students and families are not even stepping foot in our district they're going elsewhere right from the start so we need to do a better job of you engaging with those families from birth to age five. >> Okay, one more question. Um, so we projected a levy rate of 6.96. Um, I understand that while it's all guessing, what was our projection for next year? Because we projected two years
041with this past referendum. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Do we have some sort of >> We didn't at the time of the referendum, we didn't project out 2627. >> So, we only went to 2526. Um, I do have some uh projections. See, no, I don't. I was going to say I have some in the budget book, but those are more it's kind of a projection, but it's it's basically based on all performance for the general fund and the other funds. So, I don't have a projection for that. I don't know what it's going to be. My guess is that we're going to kind of hang around that $7 amount. Um, that's what I would think is going to happen because we're not going to see as big of an increase in our levy next year as
042we're seeing this year because the referendum is now included in that base revenue. Um, we're also going to get state aid on the money that we spend. So, I'm suspecting that we're going to get more state aid next year than what we got this year, even though it's being held at zero. And hopefully when I think about all these school districts kind of reaching up and trying to grab state aid, hopefully we're spending a little more than them in some ways so we can grab a little bit more. So that's what I'm hoping has happened. But I don't have a projection for you. Well, and we will be in the second year of the bianium and you know again about what three three quarters or four fifths of the increase is that is our second
043year of referendum coming in. But then the other portion really is the fact that the state did not allocate any additional dollars to state aid and and and it's going to be the same next year. I mean, we we're in a bianium where we are not at this point anticipating additional state aid. Um we are I mean if we look at a little of a bright side we are looking at um it's some certain but we're looking at some additional dollars for special ed that the legislature did allocate that that may at the end of the year be beneficial to us in terms of how much we're going to have to transfer out from our general fund to state aid. But but but we don't h we don't know how much that's going to be
044because again it's a some certain amount distributed across districts throughout the state. >> Would not see that yet. >> Other questions for Mike? >> I would just like to ask again like what Alex mentioned about a percentage of our budget that goes to salary and benefits compared to other schools. Also, it's been helpful in the past when you give us a comparison for total cost per student where we stand uh state average or our five comparable schools. It's very helpful when we know where we stand with everybody. >> Sure, we can look into that. Mike would have to go into every one of those districts revenue limit worksheet, which we can do to find those costs per student comparables, and then we'll look at the salary and benefits piece to see if we can't get
045additional information out. >> Thank you. >> Yep. And Mike, you'll be able to fairly soon we will be able to get information from our surrounding districts about their tax rate >> about their tax rates. So that might be helpful. >> Get it on Friday. >> Right. So if we could if the board could get that so we have a sense where we are in relation to >> I will say we are probably going to be higher than our comparables >> because of the referendum >> the referendum >> and a couple districts had um debt that expired too correct Mike >> superendfield had debt that expired last year >> okay >> um so then they're working off a smaller number these last two years so that's kind of pushed their hotel. They also passed a referendum,
046>> but it was it was a building referendum. So, >> Right. >> But that has a lesser impact. >> Sure. [clears throat] >> Well, Mike, I just want to say thank you. I know this was your first budget hearing. He was very nervous and stressed about it, but he's done an incredible job. He put in a ton of time. learning the new software program with the with the budget book was was a a different hitch that he had to learn. So, he's done an incredible job. Thank you, Mike. >> Thank you. >> Well done. >> It was only 22 minutes. >> Didn't quite hit 20 minutes. >> No, he didn't quite >> It was perfect. [laughter] Well done. >> So, do are there any other questions from board members with respect to the proposed budget?
047Yes, >> I see that 12,000 8.999 per student. >> Is that truly what we spend per student? >> Regular ed students, not not high need special ed. Okay, that would be something different >> because I I thought sure I heard a number of north of 15 that we were spending per student and at we were talking about that at one of our schools that that's how much gets spent. Mike, do you want to talk about that? >> Yeah. So, what you're looking at is revenue that we receive per student, but we do get it revenue from other sources, too. So, when you combine all that, our spending per student is probably more than that. Probably 15 is probably more accurate. >> Out of curiosity, I see now the amount of money that we're losing from
048our budget for the vouchers has increased. Do you have any projection where that's going to go? >> It's going to go up. Well, all right. So, first of all, uh it used to be 9% >> of enrollment. >> That was last year. Uh that's how they determine how many vouchers they can give out. They take 9% of your district's enrollment. That's how many give out. This year it was 10%. >> It went up by five 6%. It all depends on grades. So K through eight is less than 9 through 12 for example. Um I'm I think it's set to expire the cap. >> The cap expires next year for next enrollment. So in February that there is no cap. >> Yeah. So then they can give out >> unlimited vouchers. There is a bill I
049think that's running through to try to stop that. >> But I don't where it went. I doubt that it'll come out. But >> Ted, we are I'm curious about this voucher um information and I've done some digging with the DPI and the Department of Revenue. Like we're able to figure out where our kids are going, but we're not able to find out or they won't release the kids that reside in your district and and who they are or where they live. So, I'm I'm working [clears throat] with the the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Revenue just for transpar I've been asked the question. I can't really answer the question if I don't have the information. So, more to come on that. Hopefully, we'll be able to to gather some more information. >> Okay.
050Thank you. >> And and dollars per voucher have increased. Correct. And I >> And but they're still less than what this than what we get. So, just they're more No, they are not. >> Yep. They are. It depend. You're right. It depends. >> They're not. >> So if you look at 9 through 12 for fiscal year 26, so that's this fiscal year. >> The v voucher amount for 9 through 12 is $13,371. >> Can you say it again? >> It's $13,371. But the voucher amount you write for K through 8 is $10,877. So, it really depends on the grade. Um, the special needs scholarship program voucher is $16,49. So, just to give you an idea, >> I I I think I think there's I think there's also a little bit of a misunderstanding in the
051public. I mean, when vouchers first came into Wisconsin, vouchers were directed towards people who who couldn't afford another option for their child and wanted their other that another option for their child. Um, that's how the the program was initially formed. But the way the program currently is, if you enroll a child as a young family in kindergarten, first grade, and you qualify for the voucher, you are then entitled to have that voucher for the remainder of the time that that the child is in school totally irrespective of what the family's financial picture is. And again, it's just sometimes the way things start out aren't necessarily the way things end up. And um and I I person I mean, as a personal board member, I have a little bit of of of a struggle with with
052that. Um I also um frankly have a real I have a real struggle that the tax bills that people within our district receive do not tell residents of our district how much of that tax bill is going I mean is going to pay for vouchers. Um one thing to keep in mind though some of these vouchers that are being paid for um these students may never have been in our school district. they may have been in a in a private school district from day one. So, [clears throat] it's it's not necessarily that they're leaving us to go there, you know, once they hit third grade or fourth grade or 9th grade. They may have always been in that school. So, I think that's important to note as well. >> Any other questions or comments with
053respect to the budget? Hearing none. We do have a motion on the floor because it's the budget. I'm going to ask and hold the all the roles. >> Miss Mercer, >> yes. >> Mr. Kowalsski, >> yes. >> Mr. Liebreick, >> yes. >> Miss Potter Nelson, >> yes. >> Mr. Summers, >> present. >> Mr. Leak, >> yes. Miss Bushman, >> yes. >> Mr. Pope, >> yes. >> Miss Erler, >> yes. >> Motion carries. All right. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mike. >> Um, I'm looking for a motion to adjurnn. >> So, second. >> All right. All those in favor I >> and