Funds to help Iola-Scandinavia school district operate
By Greg Seubert
Iola-Scandinavia School District voters have approved a referendum that will help keep the district running for the next five years.
According to unofficial vote totals, the referendum, included on the Nov. 3 election ballot in the district’s two villages and eight townships, passed 1,677 to 1,255.
Totals by municipality
• Village of Iola (Waupaca County): 456 yes, 245 no.
• Village of Scandinavia (Waupaca County): 145 yes, 63 no.
• Township of Amherst (Portage County): 10 yes, 8 no.
• Township of Harrison (Waupaca County): 81 yes, 89 no.
• Township of Helvetia (Waupaca County): 187 yes, 172 no.
• Township of Iola (Waupaca County): 321 yes, 303 no.
• Township of New Hope (Portage County): 47 yes, 28 no.
• Township of St. Lawrence (Waupaca County): 58 yes, 66 no.
• Township of Scandinavia (Waupaca County): 367 yes, 261 no.
• Township of Wyoming (Waupaca County): 5 yes, 20 no.
Under the referendum, taxpayers will provide the district with $1.25 million for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years; $1.4 million for 2023-24 and 2024-25; and $1.5 million for 2025-26.
“I was extremely excited to see the support from our school district community,” District Administrator Ray Przekurat said. “We weren’t sure on how the results would turn out just due to the fact that we didn’t get much feedback on all the information that we put out there. We weren’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but obviously, it was a very good thing. We did try to provide as much communication as possible.”
Non-recurring referendum
The district decided on a non-recurring referendum, which asks for support for a specified time period and expires at the end of the specified term.
“We went to a non-recurring referendum instead of a recurring,” Przekurat said. “The last three years of the five-year referendum, we did not take out the full amount of that referendum. We were able to reduce the taxes for our community based on that. That’s one of the reasons why we go to a non-recurring and we only go out to five years. We can adjust that amount. With a recurring referendum, you’re kind of set to that amount every single year. With a non-recurring, you can adjust that amount.”
The current tax levy rate of $11.11 will increase incrementally over the next five years to $11.21 in 2021-22 and 2022-23; $11.57 in 2023-24; $11.80 in 2024-25; and $11.91 in 2025-26.
According to figures from the district, projected total tax increases over the five-year term are $80 for a home valued at $100,000 ($1.34 per month), $120 for a home valued at $150,000 ($2 per month), $160 for a home valued at $200,000 ($2.67 per month) and $200 for a home valued at $250,000 ($3.34 per month).
The district’s existing non-recurring referendum is about to expire. Administrators will re-evaluate the district’s financial situation after the 2025-26 school year and may likely ask for continued support through an additional referendum at that time.
It continues with the programs and the funding that we needed to do what we were already doing,” Przekurat said. “Our next step is pretty much as is. This was a carry-over from our last referendum. It was a matter of continuing with the process that we already were in. If the referendum wouldn’t have passed, we would had to have been looking at some cuts and probably some programs and things like that.
“If it didn’t pass, we would have looked to go back to a referendum next year,” he said. “In the meantime, we would have had to look at some cuts. Schools lean heavily on personnel and a majority of our budget is personnel. We would have had to look at some possible cuts if this wouldn’t have gone through.”
Other referendums
Iola-Scandinavia wasn’t the only school district in the state to place a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Voters in the Clintonville Public School District authorized spending up to $37 million to add a middle school and agri-science space to Clintonville High School and convert the existing middle school into an elementary school for grades 4-5.
Meanwhile, voters in the Oshkosh Area School District passed two non-recurring referendums: $107 million to upgrade infrastructure and build a new middle school and elementary school and an additional $63.6 million through 2030 to maintain school services through 2030.
“A little more than 80 percent of the school districts in Wisconsin have to look at an operating referendum just to make sure that they’re meeting the needs of their school district,” Przekurat said.
Iola-Scandinavia’s referendum didn’t include any major construction projects.
“We’re moving forward with the personnel we have and looking at current college opportunities for our students,” Przekurat said. “We’ve looked in the last couple years curriculum-themed improvements as far as AP (advanced placement), tech college and college-level courses that we can provide to our students to get them career and college ready.”