School board approves operational referendum

IOLA – The Iola-Scandinavia School Board has approved a revised four-year operational referendum for the Nov. 3 ballot, scaling back its financial request in an effort to close a projected budget deficit after voters rejected a larger funding measure in April.

The new proposal asks voters for $1.2 million for the 2026-27 school year and $1.5 million annually for the subsequent three school years. The district estimates the referendum will result in a property tax increase of $25 per $100,000 of fair market property value.

The district has relied on operational referendums to exceed state revenue limits since 2016. The $1.2 million proposed for 2026-27 would be the district’s lowest referendum amount in six years, compared with a peak of $1.6 million in 2020-21. Voters previously approved $1.5 million in referendum funding for 2025-26, the same amount the district is proposing for each of the final three years of the new referendum.

The April referendum sought $1.6 million in the first year and $2 million annually for the following three years but failed by 176 votes. The school board has lowered the proposed amount for the November referendum based on feedback from a community survey mailed to about 2,500 registered voters in June.

Although the June survey drew only 211 responses amounting to an 8.4% response rate, District Administrator Chris Nelson noted the sample size was sufficient to generate a statistical confidence level of about 87%. Of those who responded, 73% indicated they would definitely or probably support an operational referendum on the November ballot.

The board advanced the lower-cost option over a larger $1.4 million proposal because of higher support margins and to minimize tax sensitivity risks for older and fixed-income residents. Survey findings indicated that voters rejected the April ballot measure because of its high tax impact, ineffective communication and a perception that the district had not done enough to reduce expenses.

To deal with its current fiscal crisis, the district has already implemented about $500,000 in budget cuts for the 2026-27 school year. The cuts include the elimination of two full-time teaching positions in business and physical education, a reduction in an educational assistant position, cuts to coaching positions, a district-wide employee wage freeze and delayed facility maintenance.

Even with those reductions, Nelson warned that the district still faces an estimated $1.1 million deficit. If the November referendum passes, Nelson said the district hopes to restore the business teacher position and provide competitive staff salaries.

“The referendum ensures we can continue providing the quality education and student support services our community expects without making significant cuts to programs or staff,” Nelson said.

If the referendum fails, Nelson said the district’s deficit is projected to grow from $1.2 million this school year to $2.4 million by the 2029–30 school year. Such deficits would deplete the district’s 25% to 30% fund balance by 2028–29, forcing the district to start short-term borrowing to pay bills in the 2027–28 school year.

“The administration and school board would be forced to make some drastic cuts to staff and student programming,” Nelson said. “These may include academic and co-curricular programs, as well as student and family support services.”

Nelson attributed much of the district’s financial issues to state-level funding formulas, noting that statewide general school aid has been stagnant while operational costs and unfunded legislative mandates have spiked.

“Statewide, general aid to school districts has not increased in three years,” he said. “Meanwhile, costs like health insurance, liability insurance, student transportation, energy (gas, natural gas, electricity), cleaning supplies, technology, and food costs have seen significant increases.”

Nelson estimated that if state aid had kept pace with inflation, the district would have received roughly $2 million more in the 2025–26 school year alone.

The district plans to host public information meetings on the referendum in the high school auditorium on Sept. 22 and Oct. 21 from 6 to 7 p.m., as well as present at an Iola Lions meeting on Oct. 19. Nelson said the district will also continue to distribute information through mail, email, social media, print media and the school website.