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Wisconsin school districts: 2017 in review and a 2018 election preview

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January 26, 2018

By Ballotpedia's Elections Team

← 2017
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Wisconsin School
District Report
2018 elections preview
What happened in 2017?
Elections analysis: 2014-2017

Ballotpedia is covering 48 of Wisconsin's largest school districts holding elections on April 3, 2018. Across these 48 districts, 127 seats are up for election, and voters in four of these districts will decide on referendum questions for debt issuance and exceeding revenue caps on their ballots. Wisconsin has a total of 464 public school districts. Click here for more information about Wisconsin school board elections in 2018.

In 2017, some Wisconsin school districts came into conflict with the state government. A number of school districts called for an increase in education funding and for fewer requirements tied to that funding while the state's 2017-2019 budget was being created. Other districts spoke in support of a bill that would have moved the state's mandated school start date to earlier in the year. Five school districts covered by Ballotpedia put a total of 10 referenda on the ballot, and seven of those were approved by voters. One of the districts whose referendum was rejected in 2017 is trying again with a new referendum on the ballot this year. Click here for more information about election results and trends in Wisconsin school board elections from 2014 to 2017.

2018 elections preview

See also: Wisconsin school board elections, 2018

Ballotpedia is covering the 50 largest school districts by enrollment in Wisconsin in 2018, and 48 are holding school board elections.

The general election will be held on April 3, 2018. Three districts will also hold a primary election on February 20, 2018, since more than two candidates filed for each seat on the ballot. A total of 127 seats are up for election. Together, these districts served 373,603 students during the 2015-2016 school year.

To view the full list of districts holding elections, click [show] in the blue bar below. Click on the district name for more information about its school board elections. Districts with asterisks (*) next to the number of seats up for election are holding special elections in conjunction with their general elections.

The map on the right highlights Wisconsin's 50 largest school districts based on enrollment data from the 2015–2016 school year. Use the + and - buttons in the lower left corner to zoom in on the map. Clicking on a district will display its name and a link to its election coverage.

Click on the tabs "Board vacancies" and "Referenda" below for more information about those subjects in the 2018 election.

Board vacancies

Board vacancies trigger special elections

Three board vacancies in Eau Claire and Green Bay will require additional seats to appear on the ballot in 2018.

Eau Claire sees four special elections in three years

Two seats on the Eau Claire Area School District Board of Education are up for special election. One of the seats will have a one-year term and the other will have a two-year term. The seats were previously held by Carolyn Barstad and Jennifer Fager, respectively.

First elected in April 2016 to a three-year term, Barstad announced in March 2017 that she would be resigning. She said she did not have enough time to give to the school board. Barstad stepped down from the board in April 2017. Eric Torres was appointed to her seat until the April 2018 election.[1]

Fager was first elected in April 2016 to a one-year seat on the board to complete Trish Cummins' term, who resigned in 2015. Fager was re-elected to the board in April 2017 to serve a three-year term. She resigned in June 2017 to take a position out of state. Lori Bica was appointed to her seat until the April 2018 election.[2]

The 2018 election marks the third year in a row that the school district has had seats up for special election due to board member resignation. In 2017, a seat with a two-year term was up for special election, and in 2016, a seat with a one-year term was up for special election.

Green Bay incumbents face challenge in at-large race

A special election for a one-year term is being held in conjunction with the two seats up for general election in the Green Bay Area Public School District. Six candidates filed for election, including the three incumbents. The seat up for special election was previously held by Julie Jansch, who resigned from the board in September 2017 when she moved out of the district. Rhonda Sitnikau was appointed to the seat in November 2017 to serve until the April 2018 election.[3]

Referenda

2018 referendum efforts

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District referenda and tax levies will appear on the February and April ballots alongside school board elections in five of Wisconsin's largest districts in 2018. School boards in these districts are seeking funding for the construction of a new school, building improvement and maintenance, reduced class sizes, and employee compensation.[4]

February referenda

Hamilton School District

Voters in the Hamilton School District will see two referenda on their ballots on February 20, 2018:[4]

  • With a debt issuance question, the district is seeking $57.4 million for the construction and equipping of a new intermediate school and an addition to the high school.
  • With the second referendum, the district is seeking to spend $1.5 million in excess of the state-imposed revenue cap in the 2019-2020 school year and thereafter in order to pay for operational expenses for the new intermediate school.

April referenda

Chippewa Falls Area School District

The Chippewa Falls Area School District placed a debt issuance question on the April ballot for $65 million in general obligation bonds.[4] The question asks for funds to build a new elementary school and for additions and repairs at other schools in the district.[5]

Howard-Suamico School District

Voters in the Howard-Suamico School District will see one referendum on the April ballot. The district is seeking to exceed the state-imposed revenue cap by $5.85 million per year for five years, beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The total for all five years is $29.25 million and would be spent on reducing class sizes, employee compensation, and facility maintenance.[4]

D.C. Everest Area School District

The D.C. Everest Area School District placed a debt issuance question on the April ballot for $59.9 million. The funds would be used for a district-wide school building and improvement program.[4]

What happened in 2017?

School districts react to budget proposal

In February 2017, Gov. Scott Walker (R) pledged to add $649 million to the state's education funding in his proposed 2017-2019 budget. The proposal included a $200 per-pupil increase for the 2017-2018 school year and another $204 per-pupil increase for the 2018-2019 school year.[6] This proposed increase in education funding came two years after Walker proposed a cut in education funding for his 2015-2017 budget.[7]

The final budget approved by the legislature in September 2017 included an increase of $639 million for public education funding, which was $10 million less of an increase than Walker's proposal. The funding did, however, include the same per-pupil increases proposed by Walker for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 school years. Schools were also given up to $125 for each ninth grade student to pay for computers or other electronic devices.[8]

Prior to the release of Walker's proposed budget, an advocacy group in the Wauwatosa School District called on the governor to raise per-pupil funding in January 2017 in response to a surplus of state funds. The state's Legislative Fiscal Bureau released a memo saying that the state had nearly $715 million more than expected due to higher revenue projects and lower Medicaid spending.[9]

“Our kids can have big dreams about their future when they’re confident about the present,” said Stacy Racine Lynch, president of Support Our Schools (SOS) Wauwatosa. “We encourage Governor Walker to seize this unique moment and raise the revenue cap and increase state funding by at least $300 a year per pupil. We want all children in Wauwatosa and Wisconsin to be able to imagine and prepare for success.”[9]

After the governor's proposed budget was released, John Mack, director of business services for the Wauwatosa School District said Walker should be lauded. "The $200-plus (per pupil) would be outstanding for Wauwatosa School District."[10]

Wauwatosa Alderman Dennis McBride said that efforts by groups like SOS Wauwatosa helped the governor decide to add more funding for education. "Governor Walker responded to the groundswell of support for public education," McBride said. "If we had not started advocating in 2015, this budget would not have been favorable for public schools."[10]

Though he said he was appreciative of the governor's proposed budget, Mack also said it was not enough to cover the school district's facility costs from aging buildings and maintenance. "It's not a long-term solution. It doesn't give us enough operating revenue to make the necessary changes in the classroom," Mack said. "It's enough to give us operational dollars in the short term."[10]

School administrators seek flexibility for school start date

Multiple school administrators across the state spoke in support of a bill introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature in February 2017 that would have given districts more flexibility surrounding school start dates. AB 103 sought to repeal a state law enacted in 2000 that prohibits districts from starting school before September 1 unless a waiver is obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for extraordinary reasons.[11][12]

AB 103 had 24 co-sponsors in the Assembly and 11 co-sponsors in the Senate.[13] It was referred to the Assembly's Education Committee on February 27, 2017. It did not move out of committee before the 2017-2018 school year started on September 5, 2017.[14] Similar bills were introduced in past sessions but were never passed.[15]

When it was first enacted, the September 1 mandate was supported by some members of the tourism industry. A number of school administrators, however, said school calendars should be controlled by the districts in order to better plan for inclement weather days and to create optimal schedules for their students. They said starting in August would give high school students more class time before taking advanced placement tests in May and that it would help maximize learning for other students as well. Administrators said students were more ready to learn in August than they were in the spring, when teachers started seeing declining results. They also said starting earlier would help decrease backsliding during the summer as breaks could be shorter and more frequent.[11][12][16]

As some school administrators came out in support of the bill, officials with the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association, the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin, and other city and county visitor centers voiced their opposition to the repeal of the September 1 mandate and said they would be negatively affected by the change. They said they relied on student workers to close out the season through Labor Day and that August was a better time for families to vacation compared to June due to the weather. In 2015, the month of August brought in $130 million more in tourism revenue than the month of June, according to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.[11][12][16]

On May 2, 2017, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) called AB 103 a moot point and said the September 1 mandate would not be repealed. He said the state could lose sales tax revenue—and thus funds for education—if the tourism industry was affected by a school start change. “While I empathize with those who raise the issue, the practical reality is that it isn’t going to pass the Legislature," said Walker.[17]

Referenda watch

There were 10 referenda on the ballot in five school districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2017. Seven of the 10 questions were approved by voters. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction reported that 40 of the 65 total school district referenda that were on the ballot across the state were approved by voters.[18] The following table lists details of the referenda that appeared on the ballot in districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2017:

Referendum questions
District Cost Reason Voter decision
Green Bay Area Public School District $68,250,000 School building and facilities improvement plan Approved
Green Bay Area Public School District $165,000,000 over 10 years Exceed the revenue limit Approved
School District of Holmen $2,848,203 Safety and security capital improvements Approved
School District of Holmen $300,000 Stadium upgrades Rejected
School District of Holmen $900,000 High school facility improvements Approved
Howard-Suamico School District $4,000,000 Exceed the revenue limit Rejected
Verona Area School District $2,289,747 Exceed the revenue limit Approved
Verona Area School District $18,520,000 Athletic facility upgrades Approved
Verona Area School District $162,760,000 Building infrastructure improvements and maintenance Approved
West Allis-West Milwaukee School District $12,500,000 over five years Operational costs Rejected

Elections analysis: 2014-2017

From 2014 to 2017, incumbents won 65.23 percent of Wisconsin school board seats in elections covered by Ballotpedia. Incumbents took the highest percentage of seats on the ballot in 2014 when they won 76.67 percent of the seats. They took the lowest percentage of seats up for election in 2015 when they won just over half of the seats (52.94 percent). In 2016 they won 63.12 percent of the seats on the ballot. In 2014, incumbents won 61 percent of seats in the school board elections covered by Ballotpedia nationwide, while that number was 58 percent in 2015 and 59 percent in 2016.

Ballotpedia covered elections in 11 school districts in the state in 2014, 19 school districts in 2015, 49 school districts in 2016, and 50 school districts in 2017. The chart below details the percentage of incumbents and newcomers who were elected to school boards in Wisconsin's largest school districts from 2014 to 2017.

The 2017 school board elections attracted the highest average number of candidates who filed for election per seat (1.48) out of the four election cycles Ballotpedia has covered in Wisconsin. The 2014 elections attracted the lowest average number of candidates per seat (1.4). The 2017 race had the second-highest percentage of unopposed seats, with 42 percent of seats seeing no opposition. The 2014 elections had the highest percentage of unopposed seats, at 47 percent, while the 2016 elections had the lowest, at 21 percent. The table below details the average number of candidates to file per seat and the percentage of seats that were won uncontested in Wisconsin from 2014 to 2017.

See also

Wisconsin School Boards News and Analysis
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Footnotes

  1. ↑ WEAU 13 News, "Carolyn Barstad steps down from Eau Claire Area School District Board of Education," March 6, 2017
  2. ↑ Leader-Telegram, "Fager resigning from Eau Claire school board," May 24, 2017
  3. ↑ Green Bay Press-Gazette, "Sitnikay joins Green Bay School Board," November 3, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Custom Referenda Reports," accessed January 18, 2018
  5. ↑ WEAU 13 News, "Chippewa Falls Schools going back to voters with April referendum," December 20, 2017
  6. ↑ Leader-Telegram, "Walker vows big K-12 funding boost," February 5, 2017
  7. ↑ NBC 15, "Superintendents send letter to lawmakers over budget concerns," February 18, 2015
  8. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Gov. Scott Walker signs $76B Wisconsin budget with money for schools, fees for hybrids," September 21, 2017
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 WisBusiness.com, "Wisconsin Advocates: Restore funding to K-12 public schools," January 21, 2017
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Wauwatosa Now, "State budget to provide some relief for Wauwatosa Schools," February 21, 2017
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Proposed bill would repeal Sept. 1 school start law," February 3, 2017
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 La Crosse Tribune, "Educators, parents would relish chance to start early," February 13, 2017
  13. ↑ WXPR, "Assembly Bill Would Change Sept. 1 School Start Date," February 28, 2017
  14. ↑ Open States, "AB 103," accessed September 5, 2017
  15. ↑ WXOW.com, "Should local districts decide school start dates?" February 21, 2017
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 WSAW, "Wausau Schools hope to take control of annual start date," February 13, 2017
  17. ↑ La Crosse Tribune, "Gov. Scott Walker: School won't start before Sept. 1," May 3, 2017
  18. ↑ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Custom Referenda Reports," accessed January 18, 2018
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