In addition to the the presidential, congressional, and state legislative races on the ballot the Tuesday, voters in the Madison Metropolitan School District will be asked in two separate questions whether to allow the district to raise its revenue limits by more than $600 million.
Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard, in his first full academic year at the helm, made the case for yes votes in an interview on the 365 Amplified podcast.
One question addresses the operational budget of the district over the next four years, while the other would provide for capital improvements to 10 school buildings.
The operational budget referendum seeks the ability to increase revenue limits by about $100 million for the next four years. That does not necessarily commit the district to spend that much, but allows the possibility. It could increase the property tax on the average-value home by about $40 next year and by about $1,000 by 2028.
The additional funds would support staff salaries and benefits, which district officials said takes up about 81 percent of the district’s annual spending. The Madison school board recently reached an agreement with Madison Teachers Inc to increase wages by 2.06 percent; if the referendum passes, staff would receive an additional 2.06 percent raise.
Listen to the full interview on today’s 365 Amplified podcast:
The school board last week adopted two separate budgets for the 2024-25 school year, one to take effect if the referendum passes, and another to take effect if it doesn’t.
Neither budget would require immediate cuts to services, but both would require dipping into the district’s savings – a pot of money intended for one-time emergency expenditures.
“In either case, this is important for people to understand, we have a structural deficit, so we are spending one time funds to balance our budget for this school year,” Gothard said. “No cuts have been introduced, because that budget (approved last week) is for this school year, not the future. Following Tuesday, we will begin working on our 25-26 budget. And even with the passage of a referendum, we are going to have to make some strategic decisions. There are going to be some expenditures that we are not able to continue, because we cannot continue to deplete one time funding in our fund balance.”
The budget adopted if the referendum passes would reduce the fund balance by $22.4 million, resulting in a balance of $92.3 million; the non-passage budget would reduce it by $45.7 million, leaving a balance of $68.9 million. Additionally, Gothard said deeper cuts to programs and services would be required in future years of the referendum is not approved, though he could not say specifically what cuts could come.
The second question asks for an increase in revenue limits of about $500 million over the next 23 years to make significant capital improvements to 10 of the district’s aging school buildings. It could raise the property tax on the average home by about $324 per year over that period.
Gothard said the school district currently allocates about $5 million per year just to keep up with maintenance on buildings that are over 60 years old, with outdated heating and electrical systems.
That keeps the buildings functional, Gothard said, but “it doesn’t really allow us to get inside the school and dramatically change the learning environment for our students. And that’s what this question is truly about. Yes, it’s a big question. It’s a big amount, but the transformation opportunity for what students can experience in those 10 schools in our community is historic, and it will make a difference for the next 50, 75, 100 years in those identified buildings.”
Next week’s referenda follow a similar capital needs referendum approved in 2020 that helped renovate five high schools and South Side Elementary.
“The transformation to our high school spaces is incredible. These are buildings that I know intimately well,” he said, as an alum of Madison schools and longtime teacher and principal in the district. “I walk into those spaces, and what I enjoy doing is just watching others enjoy those new spaces, and be really proud of what this community has done to support us.”
Gothard said a lack of state funding is largely to blame for the district’s structural deficit. He said about 90 percent of district funding comes directly from property taxes, which is unusually high; in other states, as much as 80 percent of school district revenue comes directly from state aid.
Gothard noted that the population of Madison is projected to grow by as much as 100,000 in the next 25 years, and the district needs to be ready.
“The best workforce I know of is right in our 53 buildings right now,” he said. “These are children who we have the ability to reach and help them reach their full potential, and think about careers they never thought they’d have. … I don’t want 100,000 added folks in this community if we’re not taking care of our children … I want to make Madison a destination school district … we need to do this very strategically right now with our teams … to capture as many students as possible who want to make Madison their school district community.”
