2019 School District Budget Issues

This page has been archived and may not contain current information

The school district is continuing to discuss ways to meet its budget challenges for the 2019-2020 school year.

An operating referendum was proposed in January 2019, and narrowly failed to pass in the vote taken in April 2019.

In response, the School Board proposed changes in the 2019-2020 budget, and will need to plan to face the budget challenges in future years as well. A Budget Balancing Task Force was created from "a cross-section of applicants representing the many varying stakeholder interests throughout the community" with the stated goal of providing recommendations to the Board in Fall 2019.

Meetings

School Board meetings are very important to the proper functioning of the School District. This is not only because it is where the School Board conducts its business, but it is where the public (the greater School District) has a chance to participate in the process of that business.

The public has an opportunity at every Board Meeting to speak during Privilege of the Floor. You only have three minutes, and the Board will not engage in discussion, nor will it discuss anything you mention if it's not on the agenda, but it's a chance to go on the record and get in front of your elected representatives.

An effort is underway to get the Board to open up meetings to public input after presentations and discussions on the agenda, which has been a valuable way for the public to interact with the Board in the rare cases when it has happened. If this is something you would like to see them do more, please contact them and let them know!

Meetings are recorded and made available online (see the Related Links section). The materials and presentations provided are often supplied on the District web site link, but not always.

Nearly all District Meetings are held at New Berlin West High School's Commons or its Performing Arts Center (Annual Meeting). Efforts are ongoing to persuade the Board to hold at least some meetings at Eisenhower High School, which is much more convenient to a large percentage of the City's population, and it would allow the general public to be familiar with more facilities than just those at West.

Oct 28, 2019 - Board Meeting Presentations

Scheduled for this Board Meeting are:

Education Foundation of New Berlin presentation
Budget Balancing Task Force report update
Discuss / approve Original Budget for the school year ending June 30, 2020
Discussion regarding Financial Forecasting (Part 1)
...and other items

For more details, please see Meeting Minutes and Agendas

Aug 12, 2019 - Budget Hearing & Annual Meeting

The District web site contains materials presented at that meeting, as well as a recording of the entire meeting for public viewing. See Budget Hearing & Annual Meeting on August 12, 2019.

Sep 4, 2019 - Special School Board Meeting (School Closings Presentation)

Last night, September 4, 2019, the School Board held a special meeting to receive a consultant's presentation about the financial facts surrounding two options:

Closing Orchard Lane Elementary
Closing Orchard Lane Elementary AND Closing Eisenhower High School AND Closing West Middle School

For more information about the meeting and the content presented (along with video of the meeting), please see Special School Board Meeting - Sep 4, 2019

Citizen Responses

In light of these issues and the steps that the Board is taking regarding closing schools as a cost-savings measure, an open letter was composed by more than a dozen citizens who believe the costs of closing three of our schools would far outweigh any monetary savings found by doing so.

You can read the letter and consider the points contained within at: Open Letter to the Board of Education, et al. - Sep 20, 2019

Last Updated: Nov 6, 2019 - Archived on Nov 6, 2019