Randolph School District

Decades ago, the state pledged to cover two-thirds of the costs to educate students. Through a series of legislative changes, the state now covers significantly less. In the early 2000s, Wisconsin invested about $1,500 more per student than the U.S. average; today, we spend almost $2,000 less per student than the national average.

Like all districts, we are also challenged by "unfunded mandates." These are strict legal requirements from the state and federal government—such as some special education services—that we must implement without receiving the money to pay for them. For example, in the 1970s, Wisconsin reimbursed districts for about 70% of special education costs. Last year, that reimbursement dropped to roughly 30%. Just recently, the state projected a 42% reimbursement rate for this year, only to drop the actual allocation to 35% after districts had set their budgets. That single change was an unexpected $60,000 hit to our local budget.

While the state used to dedicate almost 45% of the state’s general funds to state aid for K-12 schools, they now only contribute about 30%.

The State of Wisconsin has systematically and purposefully shifted the burden of public school funding from the state to local taxpayers and there is no sign that will change in the near future.

Without this referendum funding, the Randolph School District will run out of money in two years.

The question on the ballots in April will read:

Shall the Randolph School District, Dodge and Columbia Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $975,000 per year for three years, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year and ending with the 2028-2029 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of operational and maintenance expenses, including for educational programming and facility maintenance?

A “YES” vote means that the School Board will be authorized to levy up to $975,000 more in taxes each of the next three years.

A “NO” vote means that the school board will NOT be authorized to levy any additional taxes beyond those already authorized by the state funding formula. It means that in order to avoid running out of funds in two years, approximately $1,000,000 of expenses will need to be eliminated almost immediately.

Many factors can impact taxes, such as individual property reassessments, changes to overall value of properties in the school district, and changes to the levy rates for the different entities that levy taxes on properties (schools, villages/townships, etc.). The following table provides estimates on future taxes if the referendum passes.

¹ Look for “Total Est. Fair Mkt.” near the top-right of your tax bill.
² Does not include reductions due to First Dollar or Lottery & Gaming Credits.

The District began cutting expenses leading up to the first referendum vote last year, and has continued cutting additional expenses.

Examples of those reductions include:

• Did not replace Director of Teaching and Learning
• Did not replace District Assessment Coordinator
• Reduced District Administrator position to half-time by sharing with Cambria-Friesland

Leading up to this April’s vote, the district has continued identifying additional areas where expenses can be reduced. The request for $975,000 of annual funding is insufficient on its own to balance the budget; another $235,000 must be cut going into next year.

Examples of potential savings going into next year include:

• Discontinue CESA 5 Special Education Director services ($75,680 est. savings)
• Don’t replace the 0.5 FTE of English teacher covered by the MHSP grant ($44,494 est. savings)
• Share Activities Director with another district 50-50 ($45,793 est. savings)
• Share IT Support with another district 50-50 ($45,990 est. savings)
• Share Band Director with another district 50-50 ($46,102 est. savings)
• Share Choir Director with another district 50-50 ($46,102 est. savings)
• Share Nurse with another district 50-50 ($30,643 est. savings)
• Share a Library Media Specialist with another district 50-50 ($16,194 est. savings)
• Eliminate one morning bus route—reducing to the same number of routes as the afternoon ($7,200 est. savings)

Yes! Nearly all Wisconsin school districts have had to resort to operational referendums. This map shows operational referendum history for nearby districts.