December 9, 2015 at 4:04 p.m.
District holds first presentation on 2016 referendum
More sessions planned over next few months
District holds first presentation on 2016 referendum
The meeting was held in the James Williams Middle School library and drew an audience of approximately 10 people.
Barring a change to the funding formula Wisconsin uses to allocate aid to school districts, School District of Rhinelander Superintendent Kelli Jacobi said residents can expect the district to ask every three years for authority to exceed the revenue cap.
"(The funding formula) does not work well for our school district," Jacobi said. "We are a high property value, high poverty school district, so we're kind of in that catch-22."
Shortfall explained
Business director Marta Kwiatkowski walked the audience through the district's financial situation and explained why additional money is needed from taxpayers. She said the revenue limit of $9,357 per student, the maximum amount of money the district can receive in both state aid and property taxes, is lower in Rhinelander than in other area school districts of comparable size.
A number of financial factors work against the district, including the historically low revenue limit the district had set by the state in the 1992-93 school year, declining enrollment and state aid, she said. The revenue limit is determined by multiplying the amount the district spends per student times a three-year average of the number of students enrolled in the district, Kwiatkowski said.
"The state of Wisconsin is not keeping up with the rate of inflation, and we are considered a property rich school district," Kwiatkowski said. "Yet many of our elementary schools have over 60 percent of their students receiving free or reduced lunches."
When the state established the revenue limit in 1992-93, districts like Rhinelander, who were fiscally responsible and did not spend as much as other districts, were handicapped going forward, she said.
"Therefore, our amount is much lower than other schools around us," she said. "The average revenue limit per student in the schools comparable to our size is $10,011."
She added that some of the districts mentioned during the presentation do not spend anywhere near the $1.5 million annually for transportation that Rhinelander does.
Despite the revenue limit, the district budgeted $12,350 per student for the 2015-16 school year, she said. The $2,993 difference is made up by state and federal grants and the money raised by the referendum that was authorized during the 2013-14 school year and expires at the end of this school year.
Because the district is a high property value district and because the legislature has shifted the burden of funding schools to the local taxpayers, Kwiatkowski said it has seen a decline in state aid.
"In 2011, Act 10 passed. We were capped at just over $500 per student. Since then our increases have been between $50 and $75 per year. This year our increase was zero," she explained.
Each year, the state designates a specific amount for state aid that is divided between all the districts in the state. Rhinelander has lost 15 percent of its state aid each year, Kwiatkowski said. The 2005-06 school year was the only year where there was an increase. The total revenue limit in the 2002-03 school year was $26,253,984, of which 46 percent was from state aid. For the 2015-16 school year, the revenue limit is $27,315,841, of which state aid is only 14 percent. This amount includes the $4 million in additional tax revenue approved in the 2013 referendum.
History of cuts made
Between the 2002-03 and 2012-13 school years, the district's board of education made over $11,550,073 in budget cuts, many times despite approval from the taxpayers to exceed the revenue limit, she said.
In recent years the board has made changes to the district's health insurance and made its buildings more energy efficient, moves that have resulted in $1.5 million in savings, she added.
Despite the cuts, the projected budget shortfall for the 2016-17 school year is $4,848,630. The shortfall is expected to rise to $5,426,098 the following year and $6,194,874 in 2018-19.
If voters approve the referendum, the mill rate will rise to $11.42 for the 2016-17 school year, up from $10.99 per thousand of assessed value for this school year, Kwiatkowski said. In contrast, the mill rate for the district in 1993-94 was $18.82 per thousand. For a home valued at $100,000, the taxes for the school district alone would be $1,142, if the referendum is approved by the voters.
Kwiatkowski said the remainder of the shortfall not covered by the money raised by the referendum would come from the district's fund balance, but noted that using the fund balance alone to cover the shortfall would only buy the district so much time before it is depleted, which would necessitate short-term borrowing to cover expenses.
"It is not recommended that the fund balance drops below $12 million," she said.
Following Kwiatkowski's presentation, a member of the audience suggested that Jacobi be part of the presentation and help answer the public's questions.
"That's why we're doing presentations, we want to make sure that we are giving community members that opportunity," Jacobi said. "We know that there are going to be questions out there that we're hoping that people who have been at presentations, even if they can't answer them, they can send them to me. They can send them to the (district) website instead of saying I don't know. We're trying lots of different ways to get as much information out to the public as possible."
Potential impact of cuts
Crescent Elementary School Principal Kelly Huseby spoke about how potential cuts to the 2016-17 budget would affect her school. The biggest impact would be if the Northwoods Community Elementary School (NCES) is closed and the students there have to be distributed to the other schools, she said.
"NCES houses students from all of our elementary schools. It's an option for families, as you know, to take part in a charter experience," Huseby said. "Should NCES close, an impact at Crescent would be increased student enrollment."
Huseby said Crescent houses 386 students in early childhood special education program through third grade.
"As I looked at numbers today out at NCES, if I were able to absorb half of the 4K through third-grade students from NCES, that would be an additional 43 students at Crescent," she said.
This school year, Crescent has been "full" at the second grade level under SAGE guidelines of 18 students to one teacher in single classrooms or 30 students to two teachers in double classrooms, she added. The school is almost at SAGE limits in first and third grades.
She noted it would be difficult to get more desks into some of the classrooms in the building.
"Space is at a premium at our school," she said. "So adding another 43 students would really strain our facilities and I don't know how that would work with our music, art or (physical education) schedules because right now, we are scheduled right up to the minute with getting kids art and music one time a week and (physical education) twice a week."
If cuts were made in either art, music or physical education, that would have a "detrimental impact" on students as well, she said.
"Some of our kids connect to art and music and (physical education), and to think of a reduction, I don't even know what that would look like," she said.
Another potential budget cut that has been identified is reducing the number of paraprofessionals throughout the district. If that should happen Crescent could lose its four paraprofessionals.
Huseby said two of the paraprofessionals help out in the 4K classrooms and the other two help monitor the playground during recesses. Another potential cut would result in Crescent losing its two school counselors who help monitor the academic progress of the students in reading and math as well as keep track of their emotional well-being.
Class size attract parents
Brenda Peltier, a parent of children who attend district schools, said she and her husband chose to live in the Rhinelander area because of the quality of the schools. They moved from St. Paul, Minn. after her husband accepted a job in Crandon. She said they considered Crandon and Antigo in addition to Rhinelander.
"I'm really happy that we did choose Rhinelander because I have been seeing a lot of good things in the district that I would like to see continue," she said, adding that the SAGE-mandated small classroom population has really allowed her youngest child to blossom since the family moved to the area, something she said probably wouldn't have happened in classes with more students.
Retired teacher Julie Bronson said the list of potential cuts the district is considering in the event of a failed referendum is extensive, but noted that this has been the case in previous referendum years.
"When people see 'get rid of all sports,' people say, 'They won't do that,'" Bronson said. "Why will we do it now?"
Jacobi said athletics are on the list of potential cuts because there are few items in the budget left to trim.
"There aren't a lot of extras left to cut," she said. "We really have cut down to the bone. (The) cuts are going to be extreme because we are looking for $5 million a year for three years. So if it's not gone in year one, this is going to continue. When we are looking at $5 million, that's a huge number of staff members. With a district of approximately 180 teachers, we're looking at 40."
With that many potential staff cuts, Jacobi said options for students will also be reduced.
"The option to be in a small class won't be available to our kids," she said.
Advanced placement classes, foreign languages and many electives will also have to be eliminated if there is a large staff reduction, she said.
"We know we can't sustain that if we're looking at a 40-teacher cut. There is just no way we can do that," she said. "Can we put 35 students in a classroom and still have co-curriculars? I don't know how we'll be able to sustain that without the referendum."
School board vice president Judy Conlin said many community members were angry at the board when it decided to close West, Newbold and Pine Lake schools in the wake of previous failed referendums.
"I wasn't on the board then, but I presume the board made a pretty good effort to inform people, but they said, 'Oh, it won't really happen.' But there was no choice, there were not enough dollars to run the schools without closing schools and reducing staff," Conlin said. "If people want to say 'Oh, it won't really happen,' all I can do is remind them of what really did happen."
School board member Duane Frey suggested the board spell out the cuts it has made over the years, including how much money was saved when the schools Conlin mentioned were closed.
"To the public, that's just a number, but the board knows," Frey said. "I think if we go down and explain what has happened, that will have a little more effect."
Cuts to be prioritized
Starting in January, Conlin said the board will start prioritizing which cuts will be made if the referendum fails.
"It won't be everything at once," she said. "What will we, as a district, look like one year into it if it fails, two years into it if it fails and at the end of three years?"
Bronson said the cuts to the district have already had an impact, driving some high income jobs out of the area. She cited her regular doctor leaving the area and companies having a hard time recruiting workers as consequences of the district paring away at the quality of its offerings due to budget shortfalls.
Although she no longer has children or grandchildren in school locally, the loss of jobs makes voting for the referendum an investment in the community, she said.
Jacobi agreed and said school choice is also hurting the district's student population as the number of students opting to attend other neighboring districts outnumber those opting to attend Rhinelander schools.
Students speak
Three RHS students also addressed the audience, sharing their thoughts on the potential elimination of electives and the impact of increased class sizes.
Emma Hjelle said the high school day could be cut from seven periods per day to six, which would lead to a decrease in the number of credits students will need to earn before they can graduate.
"Because of that, it lessens our chances of getting into certain colleges," she said. "I know for me, it's very unsettling."
Emily Ditzler, the daughter of Rhinelander High School Principal David Ditzler, said the elimination of certain electives would mean students won't be exposed to possible careers while they are still trying to decide what job they want to pursue. She also claimed the elimination of advanced placement classes, which allow high school students to earn college credits, would also handicap future students.
"I don't really want to take that chance away from the upcoming freshmen and sophomores," she said. "There are a lot of wonderful opportunities to save money in college, as well."
She noted the study and test-taking skills students learn in advanced placement classes translate into greater success in college.
Gunnar Millot said sports and clubs offer students a chance to broaden their high school experience. He said he wouldn't want to see those chances lost for future generations.
"You always hear of people after they graduate from high school or who have just graduated out of college saying 'I wish I would have done more in high school,'" he said. "Or say 'I wish I had taken this opportunity while I had the chance.' I would rather have someone say that than say 'I wish my school would have offered that or still had that as an option.'"
Charter cuts limit options
Tim Howell, co-principal of James Williams Middle School and principal of NCES, spoke briefly about how the potential budget cuts would impact his schools.
He said one of the changes that would have to be made in either the first or second year would be the elimination of the charter schools.
"What the charters do is offer an alternative for students who don't necessarily thrive in the traditional education setting. It offers them a project-based approach to receiving their education. It gives them a little more input into the path that their education follows, certainly when we get to the six-through-12 school," Howell said. "Those are opportunities that we wouldn't want to see disappear. It would be a huge loss for our students and also for our community in general."
Howell also mentioned that cutting teachers and counselors would negatively impact the middle school.
"In this building, in particular, it would probably be in the neighborhood of 10 teachers," he said.
The loss of electives, even at the middle school level, would be devastating, he added.
"Those are sometimes the kind of things that draw kids to school," he said. "The activities after school, be they athletic or academic-type activities, all of those things are things we would eventually lose. Sometimes those (activities motivate) these lower achieving students and gives them the incentive to do well in the classroom because they know they have to attain a certain level in order to participate in those types of activities."
Jacobi also said that another area that could be cut if the referendum fails is building upkeep and cleaning as custodial staff would be reduced.
As the district continues the process of educating the community about the referendum, Jacobi said administrators such as herself and Kwiatkowski are constrained by state law as to what they can do to advocate for the measure. While there will be more presentations to the community by the administration, it will fall upon parents and other concerned citizens to help drum up support, she said. In addition to meetings and the information on district website, the district will send information to parents via email.
One method the district will not use is direct mailings, due to the cost associated with that approach and negative feedback received during previous referendums.
Despite the low turnout Monday, Jacobi said she was optimistic that the district will be able to reach people who might be undecided about the referendum.
"I will continue sharing the word, sharing the schedule of presentations and the importance of people becoming informed," she said. "We have to go to referendum, we don't have any other options."
The voters will go to the polls Feb. 16, 2016 to decide the referendum.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at jtaylor@ lakelandtimes.com.
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