Dear Editor,
Sadly, for many reasons there’s a cycle of school district referendums. Failed referendums shouldn’t be viewed as anti schools, teachers, students. ALL budgets need to be questioned just as personal households do. If expenses outpace income, then more permanent solutions are needed. To recap, since 2005 Dodgeville has passed 4 referendums (2 operational and 2 bldg). And it shouldn’t be a surprise when a district passes a building referendum, an operational referendum will probably follow. The Dodgeville school district’s 2005 $1.3 million operational referendum was ‘recurring,’ which means even though the 2026 $2.5 million referendum failed, the district does have the $1.3M annually taxing authority. Sadly, the 2005 referendum funds (to date approx. $27.3M minus aid adjustments) are not segregated so it’s impossible to pinpoint what those funds purchased as it can also go towards salaries, etc. Governor Evers gave schools $325 per student tax levy for the next 400 years so Dodgeville also has that source of annual taxpayer taxing authority, as your property taxes, or rent increase, confirmed. The state school funding perhaps does need changing, especially for districts in declining enrollment as Dodgeville (approximately 82 less students or 9% fewer since 2021). Over the years the state and legislature have convened committees to revamp the school aid formula, The very complex formula is akin to a 3 legged stool. Tweaking of one leg may help Dodgeville but hurt a neighboring district. And it’s unreasonable to think state aid can reimburse districts for ALL of their spending/expenses as every 421 Wis district would design a Cadillac school, hence no need for a budget. Until state aid changes, maybe it’s now time to rethink and revamp basic education as some states have done using less money without sacrificing good results. It has been done in the past here in the Dodgeville School District.
Nancy Mueller Dodgeville, WI