An operational referendum for the Gillett School District and a capital referendum for the Pulaski Community School District were both turned away by voters Nov. 3.
Gillett was asking voters to get $1.9 million annually for the next three years in excess of the state revenue limits. This was the second time this year Gillett asked for an operational referendum, but this request was less than the previous one where Gillett sought a five-year override with $2 million in the first year that would have increased to $4.3 million by the fifth year.
The latest operational referendum fell with 57.6% of voters saying no, 1,068 votes to 786 saying yes. Most of the precincts saw no votes, except for the city of Gillett, which had a statistical tie of 239 in favor and 238 against.
With the referendum going down for a second time, Superintendent Nathan Hanson said the outlook is bleak.
“We’re disappointed,” Hanson said. “The school board is prepared to meet and talk about what our next steps are. We’re not sure what our best options are going to be.”
Hanson said the projected deficit for the next school year is $1.4 million, and that is on top of the major cuts the Gillett School Board made to balance the current budget.
“That only increases as the years go on,” Hanson said.
One possible bright spot for the superintendent is the legislative shift from Republicans to Democrats. Liberal legislators have been in favor of funneling more state money into public schools.
“In order for the district to continue, it’s a decreasing formula, so each year we’ll have less and less money,” Hanson said. “One way or another, we’re either going to have to cut every year or talk about another referendum. Obviously, there’s talk all around the state about dissolution and about how that’s the direction some school districts are going. That has to be on the table to be considered.”
He added that any dissolution process would require over a year to be completed, so there’s no immediate threat that Gillett’s schools will be closing their doors.
Hanson said that the pocketbook issues that determined a lot of races at the state and national levels definitely had an impact on how his referendum turned out.
“We’ve seen a lot of comments about rising property taxes, rising water bills,” Hanson said. “I think if you look around the state, you see a number of referendums that failed, and really it comes down to — and I said this last time — people don’t want to fund schools this way.”
Pulaski was asking voters for $59.8 million that would go toward improving and renovating school facilities just four years after getting approval of another referendum that was $10 million more four years earlier. The measure failed by only 127 votes, with 5,752 saying no while 5,625 voted yes.
In Oconto County, voters cast 1,965 votes against the referendum, while 1,587 voted to approve. In Shawano County, 814 voters said no, while 629 voted yes.
Superintendent Allison Space did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment, and a press release from the district’s communications director, Eric Schreiber, said the district would not be commenting at this time.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 79 school districts brought referenda to voters Nov. 3.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
