De Pere School District drops 2024 referendum amount by 80% after not seeing enough community support

DE PERE — After gauging there isn't enough community support, the De Pere School District is proposing a much lower facilities referendum for next year.

Originally, the district wanted to put a $206.6 million capital referendum on the ballot to build a new high school and address overcrowding. It still plans to put that on the ballot but not until 2026.

The district is now proposing a $22 million capital referendum for next fall solely for maintenance, such as replacing roofs, HVAC systems, electrical and plumbing. The district's annual maintenance budget is $1.3 million, which isn't enough to tackle those large projects.

The school board is also still planning to put a $23.75 million operational referendum on the April ballot, which would give the district an additional $4.75 million a year over five years. With federal pandemic relief funding dropping off next fall and state funding not keeping pace with inflation, many districts in Wisconsin are facing budget deficits, including De Pere.

The district is projecting a $5 million budget deficit, on average, for the next five years, if no operational referendum passes.

Operational referendums allow school districts to add money to their operating revenues through property taxes, and capital referendums allow districts to borrow money for capital improvement projects like building new schools.

What did the community say about $230 million in referendums?

The district issued a communitywide survey last month and about 2,300 people responded. Of those, about half (52%) had students in the district and 48% did not.

Overall, the community was in support of a capital referendum, but when they were asked about a $206.6 million price tag specifically, only 38% of the community was in support.

If the capital referendum were placed on the ballot now, it would likely fail. The district plans to reduce the amount to $22 million to tackle maintenance and then go to referendum for the new high school later on.

More: De Pere's schools are getting full. The district plans to build a new high school.

For those who said they wouldn't support the capital referendum, residents overwhelmingly said it was because of the cost and tax impact.

The school district's tax rate for this year is $5.67 per $1,000 valuation of property. On a $300,000 home, that equates to $1,701 in taxes. The $206.6 million capital referendum would have added $2.84 per $1,000 valuation of property to the tax rate. That equates to about $852 more on that same $300,000 home or a 50% increase.

Of those who answered the survey, just over half were in favor of the operational referendum giving the district an extra $4.75 million per year for five years.

Ultimately, it's possible the operational referendum would pass, but just barely. About 53% of the community is in support, and the survey had a margin of error of 2.1%.

What will happen with the new high school?

Since there isn't enough community support to pass a capital referendum for a new high school now, the district plans to wait until spring 2026 to put another another referendum on the ballot.

Superintendent Christopher Thompson wants to wait so the district isn't causing "referendum fatigue" among voters with many referendum questions back-to-back.

"I would rather create a positive perception of the school district with having referenda items that pass where we are in sync with the community's viewpoints regarding spending," Thompson told the Press-Gazette.

Going to referendum a few years down the road will help ease the tax impacts of a new high school, Thompson said.

The district wants to get the project done by the completion of the South Bridge Connector, which is expected to be done in 2029.

The connector will have an effect on enrollment, according to Thompson, pushing already full schools beyond capacity if nothing is done.

Foxview Intermediate is over capacity, De Pere Middle School is at its recommended capacity, and De Pere High School is almost full. Enrollment projections show De Pere will have more students soon.

Thompson said the district is expected to continue to grow by about 50 to 100 students each year, but when schools are at capacity, that growth isn't manageable with its current facilities.

More: Why De Pere School District says it needs $230M: overcrowding and a budget deficit

Until a new high school is built, the district will continue to close off open enrollment, which allows nonresident students to attend school in the district. But with open-enrollment students comes additional funding. Closing off open enrollment this year resulted in a loss of $400,000 in revenue for De Pere, making its budget constraints even more acute.

A community task force recommended in September that the district build a new 1,800-student capacity high school. That would house about 300 more students than the current high school to address growth and overcrowding.

Before the district brings the referendum to voters, it will complete a traffic study with the city of De Pere to see how a new high school would affect traffic on Chicago and Merrill streets. The proposed high school location is between the current De Pere High School and Dickinson Elementary.

The district will also look at selling district property on Bower Creek Road and Diversity Drive.

It plans to conduct another survey in September 2025 to gauge community support for the new high school and see whether cuts need to be made to the project costs.

How will the referendums affect taxes?

The $23.75 million operational referendum would add about $1.34 to the tax rate, which translates to an additional $402 on top of the $1,701 a resident would pay on a $300,000 home.

Even if voters approve the operational referendum, the district would still have one of the lowest tax rates in the county at $7.02. Green Bay's is $8.15 per $1,000 for the 2023-24 school year and Howard-Suamico's is $8.19.

The district's tax rate overall has decreased by almost 50% from $11.37 in 2011 to $5.67 this year.

If the $22 million capital referendum passes, it would add 40 cents per $1,000 to the tax rate, which likely wouldn't hit taxpayer bills until 2025. That would add $120 to the taxes on that $300,000 home.

The De Pere School Board has yet to approve putting either the operational or the capital referendum on the ballot, but is expected to in the coming months.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: De Pere School District recommends 80% lower 2024 referendum amount