Preparing for the Worst

With two failed budget referenda since 2011, members of the Southern Door School Board have spent a lot of time in “budget reconciliation” meetings – meaning they have been trying to find cuts to make up for budget shortfalls.

“Since April 2013, when the referendum at that time did not pass, there have been a number of steps that were taken, some based on suggestions that were provided by community members,” said Southern Door alumna and School District Superintendent Patti Vickman. “Some of those actions included freezing wages, looking at insurance benefits, finding efficiencies in our operations, completing studies to find if we were as efficient as we could be, and, of course, budget reductions. One suggestion is that we look at establishing some user fees, which primarily put some of that burden on our students and on their families.”

Those budget reductions reduced the district’s projected 2015-16 budget deficit from $1.3 million to $390,000.

“We continue to have a deficit because of the state funding formula and how it affects Southern Door,” Vickman said. “Typical rural districts would get about 53 percent of their aid coming from the state. We have about 19 percent of our aid coming from the state because, as with many of the other Door County schools, we are considered property rich and kid poor. So we have a lot of land value attached to each child. The current funding formula means we do not get as much state aid from the state, and the burden of supporting public schools falls directly back on our local taxpayers.”

The school board voted to present a one-year, non-recurring referendum allowing the district to exceed its revenue limit by $390,000 for the 2015-16 school year. It will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. The impact would amount to $37 on a $100,000 home.

“We just need a little bit more for the 2015-16 year from our taxpayers to maintain the services we currently have,” Vickman said. “This is not to grow any programs. It’s not to add programs and it’s also not to restore any of the cuts have been made in previous years. It’s really just to help us maintain the current quality and services we have here at Southern Door.”

But should the district voters decide once again not to support the budget referendum, the school board on Sept. 22 voted 5 to 1 (board member Polly Alberts was the lone dissenter) for a series of “budget reconciliation options” (see the sidebar for those options).

“From our conversations with the community after the April 2013 election, people wanted to know what was at stake and what would be possible budget cuts if a referendum was not passed, so the board has been in a budget reconciliation process for the past two years, looking at last year’s budget, this year’s budget and the 2015-16 budget,” Vickman said. “I would hope that our community will step up and become informed about the referendum.”

Asked if the recent school ranking from Newsweek magazine naming Southern Door the 6th best high school in Wisconsin and 264th out of 14,000 nationwide, or Southern Door earning a bronze ranking from U.S. News & World Report magazine based on college readiness, various proficiencies and student/teacher ratios would help with this year’s referendum, Vickman said, “It’s got to help some. We also have some fantastic things that are really locally controlled. All of our sports teams this fall are doing excellent. In the music and arts we have kids achieving and excelling. We have kids involved in the trades. Southern Door students have an excellent reputation, whether they are preparing themselves for careers or going on to more schooling. I’m hopeful we can continue to keep that going here in our district.”

What Would Be Cut If Referendum Fails

The Southern Door School District has determined a number of “budget reconciliation options” should the referendum fail on Nov. 4. The cuts, from first to last, are listed here:

• Reduction of staff in the custodial/maintenance, transportation, clerical and/or administrative areas:  Cumulative total budget reduction, $55,000.

• Reduction of costs in athletics through possible consolidation with other districts of specific sports or elimination of specific sports:  Cumulative total budget reduction, $75,000.

• Reduction of staffing in the areas of art, music and physical education affecting elementary class time, middle school course options, and high school electives:  Cumulative total budget reduction, $231,000.

• Reduction of middle school staffing eliminating courses in Family Consumer Education, Health, & Technology Education as well as the following electives: Agriculture, Computer Applications, Ecology, and Extended Studies:  Cumulative total budget reduction, $316,000.

• Reduction of high school staffing affecting electives in the areas of Agriculture, Business Education, Family Consumer Education, Spanish, and Technology Education, as well as other electives in core areas such as English, math, science, and social studies:  Cumulative total budget reduction, $409,000.