Revenue Controls Put District in Fight Against Bankruptcy

By Joanne M. Haas

The threat of bankruptcy looms over the School District of Waukesha where the state's eighth largest district faces a multi-million dollar budget hole carved out by state revenue controls and declining enrollment.

"We're at a watershed," school board member Roger Danielsen said of the decision to ask voters for more money in April. "If we don't pass this referendum, this school district will begin to hemorrhage. And the problem with the hemorrhage is you can't stop it fast enough. It just continues to get worse."

The recent round of financial problems for this district of 945 teachers and about 12,800 students hit with the 1999-2000 school year. That's when spending was cut by $1 million to meet the requirements of state revenue controls. Another $3 million had to be cut for the present school year. And now the district is looking at another $1.4 million in cuts for next school year. That includes about 38 full-time equivalent positions, including the environmental education program and computer and reading specialists.

Putting hopes in referendum
Officials are trying to avoid these devastating cuts by planning a spring referendum seeking taxpayer approval to exceed the revenue limits.

"You can't cut $5.5 million out of a budget that is labor intensive without impacting kids," said Superinten-dent David S. Schmidt, nearing his third year at Waukesha.

But the deficit doesn't end there. District Business Services Director Bob Buchholtz's projections show more than $3 million in additional cuts will be needed between next year and 2006 for a total cumulative deficit of $8.5 million, unless there is a successful referendum or modifications in the state revenue control law.

The referendum will involve two questions. One seeks about $24.4 million in capital projects through borrowing, and the second seeks $4.9 million for technology needs and to restore programs and prevent cuts in the coming two or three school years.

"Without this referendum passing, we might be one of those districts that will close its doors because we don't have the funds," said elementary media specialist Linda Templin, who will be reassigned to the classroom if budget cuts for the 2001-2002 year are enacted.

Quality of education threatened

If the referendum fails and the 38 jobs are cut, the quality of children's education will be severely damaged. Among the anticipated cuts are five elementary school librarians, leaving three to cover the 17 elementary schools; three high school reading specialists; the only teacher who runs the environmental education program; and three elementary computer-math teachers.

"Morale is dwindling fast," said 6th-grade teacher Patrick Carroll, in his ninth year with the district. "We try to keep it out of the classroom. Our goal is to educate the kids so they learn to the best of their ability."

Still, resources are disappearing. Last year, Carroll said, his colleagues at Lowell Elementary School waged a penny campaign in which students were asked to collect the coins to buy computers accessories.

The campaigns didn't stop with pennies and kids. Parent Mary Finman and her Parent-Teacher Organization spent $8,000 for desks for children at Hawthorne Elementary School.

"We spent it over two years," she said. "Our parents feel we have to go out and beg and borrow and do whatever we can to supply us with the basics."

PTO is funding necessities
"We provide funds for field trips for the kids, assembly money, language arts funds. We're getting down to funding necessities," said Finman, who, with her husband, has two elementary age children.

The Finmans got involved after going through last year's budget cuts and realized the pain of revenue limits was here to stay. Fighting to save one program meant the loss of another, she said. Programs that benefited her older child no longer exist for her younger child and will likely never return.

Finman also is among those lobbying state legislators for changes in the revenue cap formula to address the cost-of-living increases, such as the increasing cost of fuel.

"Sooner or later, it is going to catch up with you," Finman said of state districts not yet hit with Waukesha's budget crunch.

But convincing the population without children in school can be a tough sell when a tax referendum is at stake.

She cited a letter from a district taxpayer who said all he expected from the public school system was to teach how to make change from a dollar.

"Let's hope he doesn't want a doctor or nurse," she said. "They (students) are the future. They will be the people in charge of this world. They will be the people in charge of us."

'Huge public relations problem'
Board member Danielsen agreed and said the referendum and budget issues posed a "huge public relations problem."

Many people do not understand that local school budgets are driven by mandates and funding policies created in Madison, Danielsen said.

Waukesha's state representative is Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen who, during his January 3 inauguration address, emphasized his goal to "lower the tax burden that punishes . hard-working families and drives so many seniors out of our state." He also pledged, in the same speech, to transform the education system to create the best work force in the world.

But Danielsen and others, who see Jensen's pledges as support for private school vouchers, also said Waukesha is already seeing parents moving into other districts where community support for public schools is greater.

"If we don't pass this referendum, we will be the cheapest in Waukesha County. Is that what we want to be known for? The schools with the least amount of support in the county?" Danielsen asked. "We can all stand around and hoard our money and have no streets, no schools, and what is going to be the quality of life?"

Eighth-grade language arts teacher Larry Nelson, a 25-year veteran of the district and chair of the local education association's political action committee, said the referendum may be a critical factor in determining the future direction of the community.

If the referendum goes down, Nelson said, so will the city's efforts to revitalize the community at large and its downtown.

"I see both the city and the district at a crossroads. If we lose and we cut all the programs, there will be an exodus from the schools," he said.

And that in turns means an exodus from the community, a loss of property values and the quality of life in Waukesha.

"Wisconsin has always been rated as having the best schools in the country," Nelson said. "Revenue caps will stop that from being the case."

Resource page on school district revenue controls

Posted February 27, 2001