Brodhead voters reject second school referendum
Brodhead School District
Referendum
No 1,255
Yes 960
BRODHEAD — Brodhead voters sent a second strong message after voting down a second school referendum Tuesday and electing two write-in candidates over two incumbents with a combined 25 years on the board.
The message from the community is to cut the budget and keep taxes down, Superintendent Chuck Deery said.
He predicts the board won’t come back to voters “anytime soon.”
“At some point, they’re going to have to come back (to voters for a referendum). The deficit will continue to grow,” he said.
About 350 more voters turned out for Tuesday’s three-year, $1.76 million referendum compared to the failed Feb. 16 referendum. That vote asked for $3.59 million over four years.
“We’ve tried it twice, I think the public has spoken,” board member Mike Krupke said. “We felt that we were obligated to try it one more time with some new numbers.”
The board will go back to its idea list, look for fresh ideas and “try to make it work,” he said. “I just don’t see a referendum in the near future.”
The board’s plan for a failed referendum is to cut one third-grade teacher, one middle school/high school math teacher, one guidance counselor, one part-time middle school English teacher, eliminate agriculture and family and consumer education at the middle school and cut those classes in half at the high school, cut the high school adventures class and drop one bus route.
The board must wait until June to see how many of the 146 students who applied to open enroll out of the district follow through, Deery said. Each student who leaves will mean a loss of $6,800 for the district, and the district may have to use money from its fund balance to make up the difference, he said.
Deery said he’s heard from some parents who say their kids will stay at Brodhead because extracurriculars were removed from the cut list for next year, but others say they’ll leave because the potential is there in future years.
The board will be back to the drawing board to make cuts for the second and third year of the referendum, Krupke said. Winning write-in candidates Allen Schneider and Paul Donovan will join the board at its April 26 meeting. They will replace Peggy Olsen and Carol Kloepping.
Negotiations on the next teachers contract “are going to take a whole different turn,” Krupke said. “Obviously we’re really appreciative of the teachers freezing their wages (next year) … What we’ve heard, what we’ve seen in the last month to month-and-a-half, we’re really going to have to take a harder look at what the teachers are getting. The money just isn’t there.”
The board next meets Wednesday, April 14, when members will have a post-referendum discussion.
Apr 8, 2010 at 7:33 p.m.
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I say good luck getting blood out of a turnip!
If Mr Donovan can hold up his end of the bargain as her promised never go to referendum and keep the same high quality in the Brodhead Schools more power to him! If he can do that then I suggest someone needs to nominate him to oversee all the schools in the state. Apparently there are a lot of schools that have been so mismanaged around that need his business sense and help!
Apr 8, 2010 at 5:13 p.m.
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babaloo1 - Other schools are NOT paying ANY of the non-teaching position insurance.
Apr 8, 2010 at 3:44 p.m.
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As far as open enrollment goes: If the family moves from the district we lose $10,000, if the family stays in the district and open enrolls we lose $6800.00 to that district. For every student we lose that is that much less in the budget. So you can see losing say 100 students to open enrollment is another loss of $680,000 to our district over and above what we already were short. We will likely see more middle school students open enroll for sports. If you open enroll by your freshman year you don't have to sit out a year.
Apr 8, 2010 at 3:32 p.m.
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There have been cuts in the non-teaching staff over the last few years. Those are cuts the board had already made. Either positions have been cut, moved from full time to part time or hours cut. The non-teaching staff also pays for part of their insurance and is not paid for summers, snow days, or any vacation days.
Apr 8, 2010 at 1 p.m.
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Sports are not the only reason one might choose to open enroll. They are cutting a math teacher which will mean dropping some math classes from the schedule. If the upper level or AP math classes are dropped or full to the point that all interested students cannot fit into the offered classes, some students, like my daughter, will have to look to another school to get the four years of math required for collage. This is one example, there or others.
Apr 8, 2010 at 12:34 p.m.
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I'm not a quitter and never have been, so I don't understand WHY or what makes a person think that it would be better to send their child to another district. Other than being angry at the school. They did not cut sports, which I thought was the previous issue. I don't believe they are teaching their children that right thing. If you don't get your way, quit. We all need to bind together, just because the people that voted yes, didn't get their way, doesn't mean they can't accomplish anything. Show your child we can overcome this issue, and quitting isn't the answer in life.
Apr 8, 2010 at 10:16 a.m.
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I think all these parents and kids who are talking about using the 'Open Enrollment" option are going to jump from one fire to another. This is becoming a State-wide issue. Going to another school that will experience the same problem is going to end up being frustrating for them.
I think consolidating is going to be the answer, IMO. And I think other publicly funded services are going to have to look at this option in the near future. Taxpayers are low on money, but high on where it's being spent.
Apr 8, 2010 at 10:04 a.m.
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I'm wondering what sort of impact the "open-enrollment" will have on funding? I'm not that well-versed in this issue, but I heard on the news this morning that at least a hundred students are attempting to transfer out of Brodhead in response to the defeated referendum. Any thoughts?
Apr 8, 2010 at 7:52 a.m.
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Martin19 - Now is the time that we put the past behind us and bond together to solve this financial crisis. We did our finger pointing and made some changes in hope of some new ideas. Let's move on to solving the issue.
biggirl - I originally thought non-teaching positions should be looked at as well. I still think SOME could be eliminated or cut back. But we do need SOME for children that require Special Needs. I think SOME with the title of "Teacher's Aides" and/or "Assistant" should be closely reviewed and considered.
I voted NO, but I think the answer(s) are going to be hard to find. I think EVERY position, program, and expense has to be closely reviewed to see where a penny can be saved. I still think sitting down one on one with each employee and asking them for their input could find the answer(s). No one knows better than the people handling it everyday.
Apr 8, 2010 at 6:51 a.m.
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Interesting, their solutions is to cut teaching and teaching staff. Why are there no cuts of non-teaching staff?
Apr 7, 2010 at 7:18 p.m.
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Congratulations to Mr. Schneider and Mr. Donovan on your victories. Now that the voters have spoke hopefully you can hold up your end of the bargain. Now maybe we can get this ship headed in the right direction that somehow got off course over the last 8 years. What a legacy our outgoing President left herself, two of HER referendums failed in less than two months and a school district that is in worse shape than when she arrived. And the best one is she can't control when she is leaving office because the public has spoke so she has no say!!!
Apr 7, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.
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Allen Schneider and Paul Donovan - I wish you the best of luck. Same to the rest of the school board members. You have your work cut out for you. Taxpayers are watching every penny being spent of their taxes. The worst part, you can't make a choice that is going to make EVERYONE happy. Do the best you can and hang in there.
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