Northern Ozaukee schools need a yes vote

It’s time for the naysayers to come to the aid of their struggling school district.

The referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot for residents of the Northern Ozaukee School District will be the third attempt get voters’ approval for the district to exceed the levy limit to pay operating expenses.

The NOSD referendum last April was defeated by a margin of 107 votes. Some of those no votes will have to change if the district is to avoid a budget deficit that could threaten the quality of the education provided in district schools.

There are good reasons for district residents who voted against the last referendum to reconsider. For one, the consequences of a referendum defeat have worsened. Without the approval of a levy limit exception, the district is projected to have an $800,000 budget deficit by the end of this school year.

The shortfall would require using reserve funds to pay operating expenses, reducing the savings account balance to less than recommended by the state for fiscal stability and adversely affecting the district’s credit rating.

Tapping savings would be short-term relief. When the available money in the fund is spent, the district would have to borrow to pay bills and likely be forced to cut staff and programs.

Voters should also note that the new referendum authorizes total revenue over four years of $4.4 million, down from $6.8 million in the spring vote.

Many Wisconsin school districts will have operational referendums on their Nov. 5 ballots, but very few, if any, will come with the taxpayer protection available to NOSD voters: A yes vote will give the district the financial lift it needs with no increase in the school tax rate.

The levy limit approval is needed to allow NOSD to use tax revenue it had been allocating to debt prepayment for operating costs instead. That change would keep the district solvent without raising taxes.

The two failed referendums similarly would have had zero effect on the tax rate, yet opponents contended without evidence that revenue made available by the referendum would not be spent for education essentials, but for lavish administrator salaries and athletic improvements.

Administrator pay and the athletic budget in the NOSD are not out of line with comparable districts.

Some voters may have been misled by a flyer mailed throughout the district just before the April 2 vote that was rife with distortion and false information. The fact that it was anonymous—lacking the disclaimer required by law to indicate who authorized and paid for a mailing meant to influence an election—was a telling sign of dishonesty and malicious intent.

Spending authorized by the current referendum would go mainly toward maintaining faculty levels to support teacher-student ratios and class sizes that meet accepted educational standards.

Northern Ozaukee’s cash squeeze is directly related to a state aid formula that has failed to keep pace with the rising costs of education. Limits on how much revenue can be raised by local taxes were set in 2009 and have not been adequately adjusted for 15 years of inflation. It explains why NOSD is one of at least 120 Wisconsin school districts that are holding referendums on Nov. 5, the majority of which are for operational spending.

In the April referendum, the largest percentage of no votes in communities within the district was recorded in the Town of Saukville. One frustrated School Board member said of the town voters after the April referendum defeat, “I don’t think they know Northern Ozaukee exists.”

Some NOSD taxpayers in the Town of Saukville live more than seven miles away from the district’s schools in Fredonia. According to officials, the town has few families with schoolchildren.

The NOSD is an oddly configured school district, and it is apparent that some of its taxpayers feel unconnected with its schools. That’s understandable, but it doesn’t change the fact that school districts are created according to the tenet that adequate funding of public schools is the responsibility of all who live within district boundaries.

The elected members of the School Board are once more asking for that support. Their request is straightforward and transparent. There are no frills, no hidden add-ons. They are simply asking for permission to make spending changes to ensure that Northern Ozaukee schools do not regress, for lack of operating revenue, from the admirable standard to which they’ve risen in recent years.

How can any voters, regardless of where they live in the district or how they voted in the last referendum, say no to that?