Wisconsin schools have highest number of referendums in 21 years
OLIVIA HERKEN
Updated
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Students at Waunakee Middle School make their way between classes in the school’s primary building and a temporary classroom structure. Waunakee is one of 81 school districts with referendums on the Nov. 8 ballot.
As school districts across Wisconsin struggle to navigate a cocktail of funding issues, more districts are turning to voters to maintain operations and to meet capital needs.
Katie Hauge, principal at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center, stops to work on math with fourth-graders as she passes through the hallway. The district is seeking to permanently exceed the revenue limit by $4.82 million a year.
Third-grade students work on a math lesson with their teacher, Ashley Maring, at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. Mount Horeb's is one of 42 operational referendums around Wisconsin put before voters next month.
Jeff Volden, head custodian at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center, fixes a broken chair in the maintenance room at the school. Volden has been working overtime each week since there is a staff shortage in his department. The school district's Nov. 8 referendum is intended, in part, to help the district pay for staffing.
Molly Aschauer works on a reading lesson with her fifth-grade students in the classroom at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. School funding "has begun to move away from the Legislature to the local taxpayers," says Mount Horeb Superintendent Steve Salerno.
Adam Pollock prepares cheese quesadillas for school lunch at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. Pollock has been filling in three days a week in the cafeteria due to a staffing shortage. If the school district's referendum fails next month, Superintendent Steve Solerno is worried Mount Horeb won't be able to afford competitive wages.
Students at Waunakee Middle School make their way between classes in the school’s primary building and a temporary classroom structure. Waunakee is one of 81 school districts with referendums on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Katie Hauge, principal at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center, stops to work on math with fourth-graders as she passes through the hallway. The district is seeking to permanently exceed the revenue limit by $4.82 million a year.
Jeff Volden, head custodian at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center, fixes a broken chair in the maintenance room at the school. Volden has been working overtime each week since there is a staff shortage in his department. The school district's Nov. 8 referendum is intended, in part, to help the district pay for staffing.
Third-grade students work on a math lesson with their teacher, Ashley Maring, at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. Mount Horeb's is one of 42 operational referendums around Wisconsin put before voters next month.
Molly Aschauer works on a reading lesson with her fifth-grade students in the classroom at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. School funding "has begun to move away from the Legislature to the local taxpayers," says Mount Horeb Superintendent Steve Salerno.
Adam Pollock prepares cheese quesadillas for school lunch at Mount Horeb Intermediate Center. Pollock has been filling in three days a week in the cafeteria due to a staffing shortage. If the school district's referendum fails next month, Superintendent Steve Solerno is worried Mount Horeb won't be able to afford competitive wages.
