By Rich Palzewic
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – At its Monday, May 18, meeting, the Howard-Suamico school board discussed whether now is a good time to plan for a referendum question in April 2021.
“We are doing our best to be clear, concise and consistent in our communications,” said Superintendent Damian LaCroix. “The last time we talked about a possible referendum was in February, and then the train came off the tracks in March. How do you balance the need to be future-forward when we are pandemic paused? Can we continue to think big but step small? It’s a question mark right now. We may not be able to have the same vision we did before, but regardless of what we do, we have some basic facility needs. We have some time, but there’s work to be done.”
In a referendum passed in April 2018 (which is set to expire in 2023), the district invested more than $4 million in new hires, salaries and benefits, and brought up some teacher salaries to be more in line with local markets.
That was accomplished with a 5-year operational referendum to allow the district to exceed the revenue limit by $5.85 million each year while maintaining a stable $9.19 tax rate.
At a board meeting last summer, Matt Spets, assistant superintendent of operations, said the next referendum question would need to be asked before the expiration date, so if it does fail, the district can plan to deal with required cuts.
“I think the community will at least support basic needs, but I’m not sure how far beyond that the district should go,” LaCroix said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the district will have increased costs in remediation needs, addressing trauma, preventative measures, transportation, dual programming and additional hygiene in schools.
During this past April 7 election, Wisconsin had near-record voter turnouts, with more than 80 percent of school referendum plan questions passing statewide.
Milwaukee ($87 million), Racine ($1.3 billion) and Neenah ($114 million) were some of the noteworthy areas where referendums passed.
“It was the first time Milwaukee had a referendum pass in two decades, and Racine’s passed by five votes,” said Lacroix. “Those are amazing outcomes in urban areas that have struggled in the past.”
Because the length of the pandemic isn’t known, Lacroix said the district isn’t sure how voters will feel next April.
“There’s lots of uncertainty out there,” said Garry Sievert, board vice president. “How do you prepare for it? It’s lots of work for the unknown.”
Board president Teresa Ford said the district can’t slide on operations.
“We have to renew that forever it seems, or at least until the state changes the funding formula completely,” she said. “I don’t think we should consider not asking for that. The size of asking for something else is the question. We don’t currently have enough information to answer that question, but it’s exciting other school districts passed such big referendums. The needs are not going away.”
Finally, LaCroix said the good news is interest rates are currently rock-bottom.
“Wrightstown passed a $28 million referendum, and I think the interest rate was less than 2 percent,” he said. “I don’t want to call it free money, but we may never see rates this low again. Our debt in the district is extremely low, and we’ve been financially responsible. For lots of families, it boils down to the tax impact.”
Summer school
The Howard-Suamico summer school program will take place July 6-31, with online registration beginning June 3.
There will be one-hour blocks from 8 a.m. to noon, and classes will be virtual.
Some high school courses will be six weeks long.
“Depending on the course, there will be time to connect with the teacher,” said Dr. Becky Walker, assistant superintendent of academics and innovation. “We will offer the driver’s education classroom portion online, but there will be no behind the wheel instruction. The welcome to kindergarten class will be offered, but we are still working on Lineville and Bay View and what we can offer.”
Meals and materials
More than 63,000 meals have been served in the community since schools closed in March, and work on the strength and conditioning addition and the softball and baseball renovations are moving forward.
“One positive with the pandemic is we can get a good start on our school projects,” LaCroix said.
In coordination with Lamers Bus Lines, student materials and supplies that were left at school in March are being returned.
Lamers will begin pick-up of school materials (library books, classroom textbooks, etc.) beginning the week of May 26.