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School battles budget cuts

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Prairie du Chien School District battling budget cuts, discussing possible revenue limit referendum

By Ted Pennekamp

 

Because of a shortfall in the projected revenue for the state of Wisconsin, the 2015-2017 budget submitted by Governor Scott Walker has public schools across the state being cut again, this time by $127 million dollars. The math is very simple, said Prairie du Chien District Administrator Drew Johnson, it is $150 per child that is being cut. In the case of the Prairie du Chien Public School system, it is a cut of $166,800 for the 2015-16 school year. 

There are many legislators that are speaking out that this round of cuts is not feasible, on top of the cuts that the public schools have sustained over the last few years. Public school funding has been cut by $600 million over last four years and this budget, if passed, would continue that cycle. 

Prairie du Chien has made many cuts in staff and benefits over the years to keep the budget in balance. Johnson noted that the changes in health insurance coverage are probably the most publicized statewide change that came out of Act 10, also known as the Budget Repair Bill that was passed in 2011 and which took away much of the power of the teacher’s union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). Act 10 allowed school districts to choose the health insurance company for their district in order to save money. Before Act 10, there was a feeling among many legislators that the benefit packages for school employees were too rich, said Johnson. For most schools, the days of great insurance packages are long gone, he said.

To keep the books balanced, the Prairie du Chien School District has eliminated any contributions to vision and dental insurances; employees can voluntarily purchase plans on their own. For health insurance, Prairie du Chien school employees have choices of health plans that have $2,000 or $3,000 deductibles for singles and $4,000 or $6,000 deductibles for families. All of these plans have a partial Health Reimbursement Account backbone. 

Johnson stated, “We are in the process of switching insurance companies again to give employees better coverage at a lower price.” Interestingly, the switch is going to be back to the WEA Insurance Company that was in place before Act 10. Johnson said, “WEA freely states that they are not the same company. They had to change their whole structure to get back to being competitive. We chose WEA for next year as they had the best product at the best price point.” The Prairie du Chien School District has held the district insurance costs flat for multiple years now as they have adjusted plans. Employees now pay 5.5 percent of premium costs.

To keep balancing budgets with less dollars has been difficult. Vicki Waller, the Prairie du Chien Public Schools bookkeeper said, “We are on track to be in the range of breaking even this year. But, to cut more out of the budget is bordering on impossible. Much of our costs are basically fixed in bussing, facilities, and staffing.” Superintendent Johnson said, “There are no simple solutions. For example, we cannot just cut teacher pay as we need to stay competitive on pay levels to attract and keep staff. We have a great staff at Prairie du Chien Public Schools, and we want to attract the best quality people possible to Prairie du Chien.” Johnson noted that the district uses the Wisconsin Education Career Access Network (WECAN) system to hire staff. The system shows that teaching certifications are in very low supply, said Johnson. To compound this shortage, the baby boomer generation of teachers is retiring. WECAN is a unique full-featured, internet hiring environment for K-12 Wisconsin schools and a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) contracted Professional Development Plan platform for K-12 re-licensure. WECAN is a nonprofit venture supported by fees from school employers set to cover expenses.

In the face of continuing funding cuts to public education, the Prairie du Chien School Board has been discussing a possible referendum to increase the revenue limit in the spring of 2016 and is exploring consultant options to help with the process. Johnson noted that the school board has been fiscally prudent and has held mil rates at historically low levels for more than a decade. However, because the district has not gone to referendum for operating funds, the district’s revenue limit per child keeps sliding down compared to the rest of the schools in the state. Johnson stated, “We are getting a bit out of balance on the operating side of things, as we are now in the lowest 5 percent of schools in available revenue limit per child.” 

Wisconsin DPI data shows that Prairie du Chien is projected at a $9,200 revenue limit per student for the next school year. In comparison, Seneca is projected at $11,202, River Ridge $11,137 and Wauzeka-Steuben $11,354. All three of these schools have passed referendums to increase their revenue limit.

In 1992, the mil rate for the Prairie du Chien School District was $18.55. The mil rate then steadily dropped and reached a low of $9.88 from 2006-2011 as pledged by the school board at that time. For the past three years, the mil rate has held steady at $10.66.

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