District to share referendum information

WAUPACA – Waupaca voters will see an operational referendum for the school district on the ballot this April and district officials are working to share information regarding the referendum as voting day nears.
At a Jan. 13 school board meeting, Mark Flaten, the district administrator, unveiled a slideshow with over 60 slides as well as plans for fliers and community presentations to educate the district about the upcoming referendum.
An operational referendum refers to maintaining day-to-day operations, as in utilities and salary payments, whereas a capitol referendum refers to a construction project or renovation.
The operational referendum is being added to the ballot to assist in covering the day-to-day expenses within the district.
At an Oct. 28 school board meeting, it was confirmed that the district will see a one and a half million dollar shortfall for the school year.

“What we’re really trying to focus on is reminding our community that we are a low-spending, low-tax and high-quality district,” Flaten said. “Our goal has been and continues to be making sure we are providing the background information to educate people for school funding, our financial situation and why we’re in the situation we are in.”
Austin Moore, business director for the district, agreed.
“We are a low-spending [district] and we’re getting good results,” Moore said.
The Waupaca School District is not alone in bringing an operational referendum to the spring elections as the state continues to decrease the amount of money going to education in the budget, Flaten said.
Moore said last year the district was 50/50 on funds, meaning half of their funding came from state aid and half from local taxes.
Moore said state aid was frozen and now 57 percent of the budget this year will be coming from local taxes due to the states decision.
Flaten said the Waupaca School District is responsible with their spending, with over 90 percent of districts in the state spending more per pupil.
Despite keeping the cost-per-pupil low, state test scores are still above average compared in the state, Flaten said.
At the Jan. 13 school board meeting, Flaten said they will be creating a website with information about the operational referendum as well as mailing fliers with a QR code that will take you to that website.
There are also plans of public presentation, as well as devoting school board meeting time for questions from the public.
Flaten said he wants to reach out to local municipalities within the district, as well as local businesses to get the information out there as much as possible.