Future of Oakfield School District May Hinge on Feb. 21 Referendum

UPDATE: On February 21 (2006), voters in the Oakfield School District approved a four-year $2.1 million operating referendum, staving off some immediate cuts to programs and staff.

The following article was written by Paul Helm, head negotiator for the Oakfield Education Association.

By Paul Helm
The Oakfield School District is just one of many smaller districts in Wisconsin hit hard by revenue caps and a shrinking enrollment. The village of Oakfield is located eight miles southwest of Fond du Lac. The district is approximately 36 square miles and is bordered by the Fond du Lac, Lomira, Waupun and Rosendale school districts. The district was established in 1888 and has a long and rich tradition.

Paul Helm is the technology education instructor at Oakfield High School. Helm said he enjoys the feel of the small district he has been a part of for 22 years.

"When I was first hired after graduating from UW-Stout, I had only planned on spending a few years here to get some experience and then move on to a larger district. After a short time working in Oakfield I began to realize the benefits of being part of a small school. The work ethic of the students and the small town atmosphere are more than enough reason to stay put here in Oakfield."

Helm and other elective teachers are particularly concerned about programs being cut due to a budget crisis. Many smaller schools like Oakfield have only one teacher per department.

"When school board members have to make hard decisions and make program cuts, they are not going to look at the core areas like math and science. The elective programs such as tech. ed, business, music, family and consumer ed. and art will be the first to go. With only one teacher in each of those departments, the number of years of seniority becomes a moot point."

The village was in the national spotlight in 1996 when an F5 tornado leveled a great deal of the town. Two churches, a canning company, many residences and farms, as well as the middle school were totally destroyed. Thankfully no lives were lost. The people of the village rose to the challenge and in short order rebuilt the village. The middle school students were housed for two school years in temporary, modular classrooms while a new facility was constructed.

The district currently has an enrollment of 563 students. Students in the district live in either the village of Oakfield (population 1,000) or in the surrounding townships of Lamartine, Fond du Lac and Byron. Many of the residents are employed in agriculture, and a large number are employed at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac.

Oakfield is one of the smaller districts in the area, and the students and parents derive a great deal of pride from the fact that its students have always held their own competing with schools with much larger enrollments. The girls softball team has made six trips to the state tournament in the last 12 years.

The district currently employees 42 teachers, three administrators, as well as support staff. The district went to referendum last year in hopes of passing an operating referendum that would simply maintain the status quo. The referendum was defeated and consequently the district was forced to non-renew seven teachers and one administrator, among many other cuts including support staff.

The school board has once again decided to go to referendum this year on February 21. If the referendum does not pass it means even more cuts to an already streamlined staff. With all the attention given recently to Florence and the possibility of dissolving the district, the administration and staff of Oakfield are quite concerned that very same possibility may not be far off.

In an effort to be proactive, many of the residents of the village as well as employees of the district have formed a committee with the goal of doing what is necessary to help pass the referendum and save the district. The majority of the residents in the district do not have children in the schools and have a hard time seeing the benefit of voting for the referendum. What many of them fail to realize is that if the worst-case scenario were to happen and the district were to be split and divided to the surrounding districts, they would still be paying property taxes and there is a good chance that the taxes would increase.

Wisconsin has always been and will always be a state that prioritizes, and believes in the value of education. It is a sad day when these small districts have to close their doors and begin busing their children to larger districts that may not offer the same opportunities found in the smaller schools.

Oakfield tech. ed. students show off the benches they recently built in Paul Helm's construction class.