Referendum: Fox Point-Bayside School District Looks to Fill State Aid Deficit

As parents pick up school supplies and kids pack everything up for the fast approaching , administrators in the are beginning to research a possible operational referendum to fill the void left by state budget cuts. 

"We lost $750 per student in 2011-12, and now this year, (the state) gave us $50 back," Superintendent Rachel Boechler said. "But basically, we’re $700 down per student and that’s our operational income."

Like many of the other local referendums, such as the this would allow the FPBS District to exceed the revenue limit and avoid additional cuts to staff salary and budgets in areas desprately in need of upgrades, like technology, Boechler said. 

While this is very much in the preliminary stages, she said, the School Board agreed at the July meeting to begin researching how this would impact the tax levy and mill rate for taxpayers. 

With roughly 1,000 students and a loss of $700 per student, Boechler estimated the district would need somewhere between $500,000 and $650,000 per year to just cover the cuts in state aid. Boechler said the district would most likely ask for funds for a 10-year period if it does move in this direction, which would bring the total to $6.5 million over 10 years. 

"That brings your operation budget back to before that money was taken away," she said. "It will also be used for facilities, technology, maintenance and curriculum instruction."

The last time the district had a referendum was in 2010, Boechler said. Money from that successful referendum was used to replace the boilers, upgrade technology equipment and for some retirement benefits. 

How do you combat the ever-deepening debt hole?

Assuming that $750 per student is never brought back to its full value for the district, how does it combat the vicious, continual-borrowing expense?

"That’s what the board is looking at right now, trying to keep the tax levy even or (with a) very mild increase," she said. 

Boechler said the board agreed to contact their financial adviser and get more information on exactly what a referendum would mean for taxpayers and this information should be presented at the Aug. 20 board meeting, which begins at 7 p.m.