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Wisconsin school districts: 2018 elections review and district updates
April 13, 2018
By Ballotpedia's Elections Team
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← 2017
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 District Report: April 2018 |
On April 3, 2018, residents throughout the state of Wisconsin voted in general elections for 127 school board seats across 48 of Wisconsin’s largest school districts by enrollment and one district that overlaps with the 100 largest cities by population. Election data tracked by Ballotpedia showed a decrease in the number of candidates per seat in Wisconsin school board elections—from 1.48 candidates per seat in 2017 to 1.38 candidates per seat in 2018. Incumbents won nearly 65 percent of the seats up for election in 2018, while that rate was just under 70 percent in 2017.
In addition to voting for school board members, Wisconsin voters cast ballots for one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, two seats on the Wisconsin intermediate appellate courts, and municipal offices. Voters also decided on 66 school district referenda across the state. As of publication, a total of 53 of those referenda were approved, with results in four districts still unknown, for a success rate of 85.48 percent approval in known final tallies. In the state's districts covered by Ballotpedia, 100 percent of the referenda on the ballot were approved.
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Elections analysis: 2014-2018
From 2014 to 2018, incumbents won 65.05 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, incumbents won 59 percent of seats in the school board elections covered by Ballotpedia nationwide, up slightly from 58 percent in 2015.
Ballotpedia covered elections in 11 Wisconsin school districts in 2014, 19 school districts in 2015, 49 school districts in 2016, 50 school districts in 2017, and 49 school districts in 2018. The chart below details the percentages of incumbents and newcomers who were elected to school boards in Wisconsin's largest school districts from 2014 to 2018:
The 2018 school board elections attracted the lowest average number of candidates who filed for election per seat (1.38) out of the five election cycles Ballotpedia has covered in Wisconsin. The 2017 elections attracted the highest average number of candidates per seat (1.48).
The 2018 races had the second-highest percentage of uncontested seats, with 43 percent of seats seeing no opposition. The 2014 elections had the highest percentage of uncontested seats (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 uncontested in Wisconsin from 2014 to 2018:
2018 elections review
- See also: Wisconsin school board elections, 2018
Ballotpedia covered elections for 127 seats in Wisconsin's 48 largest school districts by enrollment and one district that overlaps with the 100 largest cities by population on April 3, 2018. These Wisconsin school districts served 373,576 K-12 students during the 2015-2016 school year.[1] Of those 127 seats, seven required a primary election on February 20, 2018, to narrow the field down to two candidates per seat in the general election. Incumbents ran for re-election to three of those seats, and all three advanced to the general election. The other four seats that held primaries were open.
A total of 96 of the 127 incumbents whose seats were on the ballot (75.59 percent) ran to retain their seats. Of these, 82 incumbents won their seats for a success rate of 85.41 percent. Forty-four incumbents won re-election unopposed. When facing challengers, incumbents had a 73.08 percent success rate. Success rates in 2018 were lower than the success rates in Wisconsin's largest school districts in 2017: 86.27 percent for all incumbents and 75 percent for contested incumbents. Overall, incumbents won re-election to 64.57 percent of the Wisconsin school board seats Ballotpedia covered in 2018, while newcomers took the other 35.43 percent.
Spotlight districts
West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
Four candidates ran for three seats on the West Allis-West Milwaukee school board on April 3, 2018, including two incumbents, Stephanie Emons and Sue Sujecki. Emons and two newcomers won the three seats. The highest incumbent success rate in the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District during the last five election cycles was 66.67 percent, seen in 2014 and 2015, and the lowest was in 2017, with 33.33 percent. These figures are lower than the Wisconsin and national data from 2016, in which 68.97 percent of incumbents were re-elected in Wisconsin and 82.39 percent of incumbents were re-elected in the United States.
During the election, the district faced a petition from property owners in the district who live in New Berlin to allow them to change districts and become part of the New Berlin School District. The petition came after New Berlin residents received an 18.4 percent property tax increase in 2018. A lower 12.5 percent tax increase went into effect for residents in other parts of the district.[2] Because the district decreased spending after a $12.5 million referendum did not pass in April 2017 and received additional revenue from the sale of a vacant school building and the settlement of a lawsuit, West Allis-West Milwaukee School District received $14 million more than it spent in 2017. This led to the loss of approximately $6 million in state aid after the district finances were applied to a state school aid formula. The district said it was necessary to increase tax revenue in order to make up the difference.[3]
The New Berlin Board of Education unanimously approved the move on February 26, 2018, but the West Allis-West Milwaukee Board of Education did not bring up the issue during its board meeting held on the same day. The move could not go forward without the approval of both districts. Administrators for the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District stated that they chose not to discuss the move out of fear that it would set a precedent for other New Berlin property owners to leave the district and would also have financial ramifications.[4]
Eau Claire Area School District
The Eau Claire Area School District held elections for four seats in 2018: two regular three-year term seats, one two-year term seat, and a single one-year term seat. Three incumbents, including two appointed members, sought and won new terms on the board. The district saw 1.75 candidates file per seat, the highest number the district had seen during the past five election cycles.
In 2017, the district proposed a redrawing of the boundary lines between Memorial High School and North High School to even out the enrollment figures between the two schools—during the 2016-2017 school year, Memorial High School had 395 more students enrolled than North High School. The Eau Claire Board of Education unanimously voted to accept the recommendation and to implement the boundary changes during the 2018-2019 school year.[5][6][7] The board also established a transition period during which students living within the boundary area would be allowed to remain at Memorial High School and incoming students with siblings attending Memorial High School would have the option to enroll there, too. The district estimated that the new lines would impact 36 students during the 2018-2019 school year and would balance out enrollment figures by the 2024-2025 school year. The district also promised to provide transportation for the next three years to students from both high schools affected by the change. The change was expected to cost roughly $40,000 during the 2018-2019 school year.[8][9]
Referenda watch
There were five referenda on the ballot on April 3, 2018, in five school districts covered by Ballotpedia. All five questions were approved by voters. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction reported that 53 of the 66 total school district referenda that were on the ballot across the state were approved by voters, with four referenda results still unknown as of publication.[10] The following table lists details of the referenda that appeared on the ballot in districts covered by Ballotpedia in 2018:
| Referendum questions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| District | Cost | Reason | Voter decision |
| Chippewa Falls Area School District | $65,000,000 | Debt issue | Approved |
| D.C. Everest Area School District | $59,875,000 | School building and facilities improvement plan | Approved |
| Howard-Suamico School District | $29,250,000 | Exceed the revenue limit | Approved |
| La Crosse School District | $20,875,000 | Exceed the revenue limit | Approved |
| Manitowoc School District | $10,500,000 | Exceed the revenue limit | Approved |
Governing majority
In 2018, Ballotpedia conducted a study of governing majorities in the 50 largest Wisconsin school districts by analyzing board member voting patterns available in school board meeting minutes. Due to a high rate of unanimous votes, no clear governing majority was found in any of the 48 largest school districts in Wisconsin with elections in 2018.
Two districts are highlighted below, one that Ballotpedia identified as having had a governing majority in previous election years and one that saw two of three incumbents lose their bids for re-election.
Kenosha Unified School District
One incumbent on the Kenosha Unified School District Board of Education, Mike Falkofske, filed for re-election and was defeated. Because board members voted unanimously on 98 percent of the board items from April 2017 to December 2017, a governing majority or minority could not be determined. However, Ballotpedia identified a governing majority on the Kenosha Unified Board of Education from April 2015 to January 2017. In the majority were Tamarra Coleman, Gary J. Kunich, Mary Snyder, and Dan Wade. Falkofske was not in the majority but was not considered to be part of a minority faction. Coleman and Snyder did not seek re-election in 2018, breaking the governing majority seen on the board from 2015 to 2017.
Oconomowoc Area School District
Oconomowoc Area Board of Education incumbents Donald Wiemer and John Suttner were defeated in their bids for re-election; board member Jessica Karnowski was re-elected. From May 2017 to January 2018, the Oconomowoc Area Board of Education voted unanimously to approve 92.06 percent of the 63 motions brought forward by board members, meaning a governing majority on the board could not be determined. Five votes were not unanimous, with all dissenting votes made by the two newest members of the board, Kim Verhein Herro (elected in 2016) and Dan Raasch (elected in 2017). By comparison, 100 percent of the 93 motions brought forward by board members in 2016 were approved unanimously. Following the 2018 election, four of the seven members on the board will have been elected in 2016 or after.
See also
| Wisconsin | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "CCD Membership Reports," accessed January 4, 2018
- ↑ Fox 6 Now, "Homeowners in West Allis-West Milwaukee School District complain about uneven property tax hike," December 28, 2017
- ↑ Journal Sentinel, "School taxes are up nearly 12 percent in West Allis-West Milwaukee. Here's why." December 28, 2017
- ↑ Journal Sentinel, "A $530 tax increase? One-year, 18.4% spike inspires plea to flee school district," March 1, 2018
- ↑ Eau Claire School District, "Meeting Minutes, Monday, June 19, 2017," accessed March 29, 2018
- ↑ Eau Claire School District, "High School Enrollment Differences," accessed March 29, 2018
- ↑ Eau Claire School District, "Meeting Minutes, Monday, September 25, 2017," accessed March 29, 2018
- ↑ Eau Claire School District, "Transition Timeline Action Taken by School Board on 9/25/17," accessed March 29, 2018
- ↑ WEAU 13 News, "School district to implement boundary change in 2018-19 school year," September 25, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Custom Referenda Reports," accessed April 13, 2018
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