Port Washington-Saukville School District deficit; teacher cuts coming
Port Washington-Saukville School District deficit, cuts
In the Port Washington-Saukville School District, voters just approved a nearly $60 million referendum, but it is facing the reality of a $1.2 million deficit and teaching personnel cuts.
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. - In the Port Washington-Saukville School District, voters just approved a nearly $60 million referendum.
As the district celebrates that $59.4 million referendum, it is facing the reality of a $1.2 million deficit and teaching personnel cuts.
Because of this, 13.5 teaching positions will be eliminated.
What we know:
Superintendent Michael McMahon said the referendum money is only to be used for buildings and repairs – not people. He also said the deficit is due in part to the end of federal COVID-19 money and mostly based on declining enrollment.
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"We are looking at some cuts for the next school year across the district. Our board has issued all of those notices this past week to our teachers," McMahon said. "Six years ago there were 2,600 kids in the school district, now we’re around 2,300."
The announcement of the cuts came with pushback; a Change.Org petition calls for an independent audit of the district after voters approved the $59.4 million referendum.
Dig deeper:
That money will rebuild Saukville Elementary School, and repair other schools.
"These dollars are not for personnel. These dollars are truly for facilities," McMahon said. "Every building, every district building will be impacted by these cuts."
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The superintendent said the district did offer early retirement to people this year. He said class sizes will not grow exponentially, but will be comparable to the Cedarburg and Grafton school districts.
What's next:
At Monday's school board finance meeting, an architecture firm and construction manager were announced.
"We’re ready to go," said project executive at VJS Construction Services Chris Coggins. "We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and move forward with this."
As the district is celebrating the start of something new, some parents worry about what could go.
The Source: The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.