Stratford ponders recurring money
By Casey Krautkramer
The Stratford Board of Education on December 21, 2022, met in closed session and it decided to create a question on the spring election ballot focusing on a $990,000 recurring operational referendum. School board members will vote on whether or not to go forward with a $990,000 recurring operational referendum at its meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. in the Stratford middle/high school band room.
The deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 25, for public school districts in the state to file a referendum question to be placed on the Tuesday, April 4, election ballot.
Voters passing a recurring operational referendum would give Stratford School District an additional $990,000 of taxpayer money past its state revenue cap each school year forever with no end. The school board said in closed session it wants to make things easy for the public by having only one number, because it felt school district voters were confused on the tax impact during its previous two failed attempts at passing an operational referendum.
The school board suggested in closed session it needs to find a group of people who have a strong presence in the community to help spread correct infor-
REFERENDUM mation on why Stratford School District needs to pass an operational referendum.
Dr. Nathan Lehman, Stratford schools superintendent, said the following after the December 21, 2022, meeting about a potential $990,000 recurring operational referendum on the April 4 election ballot.
“No final decision has been made yet on what the board will decide for a referendum,” Lehman said. “Our last two referendums asked for mil rate increases of over 40 cents a year over a three-year timeframe. The board was looking at ways to reduce the tax impact on our community, while still being able to run our schools effectively. We know that not passing a referendum is going to have a negative effect on our children and community and we have already found ways to cut over $700,000 within the last three years.”
Lehman said he has spent time talking with school district staff and the school board has been working with the school district’s leadership team to look at ways to reduce expenditures and increase revenue.
“There comes a time when we can’t make cuts anymore, without majorly affecting educational outcomes,” he said. “The board is discussing ways to get our referendum to pass and the belief is that keeping the tax rate lower is the best option. Asking for a recurring referendum for $990,000 would have a mil rate increase of 30 cents and would increase taxes on a $100,000 home by $2.50 cents a month. The board believes this is something the community will agree to, knowing that if it doesn’t, it will have a negative effect on the children in our community.”
In other news:
n The school board also discussed in closed session information it received on Stratford School District being able to hire school psychologists from CESA 9 at a cost of $800 per day and $100 extra per day if reporting was involved, or $82 per hour depending on if a student IEP is needed. School board members decided they would rather have a psychologist on staff rather than hiring someone on a daily basis.
Lehman said the following about Stratford School District’s psychology situation after the meeting.
“The discussion with the school psychologist position involves looking to the future for when our current psychologist retires,” he said. “We aren’t sure of when this will occur, but a school board member gave us information on options when this happens. It is not adding a position. School psychologists are very difficult to find, so we are being proactive and talking about our options now.”
n Lehman told the school board in open session during the December 21, 2022, meeting he is working on finalizing the signs to recognize donors of the Tigers Stadium project involving a newlyplanted grass football field with a drainage system and a new track.
“We will work with Stratford Sign Company to get the signs up at Tigers Stadium by March 31,” he said.
Lehman said community members have discussed looking at ways to raise money for a walk area, fence and concrete porch on the southwest side of Tigers Stadium at no cost to the school district.
n The school board voted unanimously to not change the school calendar to include a week off for spring break, after a survey found 59 percent of school district staff were not in favor of having a spring break.
n Lehman said the school district has used up its state allowed snow days for grades 7-12, following the cancellation of school on December 23, 2022.
n Schoolboardmembershadconcerns about questions students were asked in Marathon County’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, thus a motion to approve the results failed.
n The school board voted to approve the 2023-24 student course description booklet with some changes to the course book.
School board members discussed making some changes within the ELA portion because of its specifics on what books are read. The school board would like to review what is being taught in English 1 through 4. How and what is taught in those classes will be brought to the curriculum committee and discussed with the teachers. It is the school board’s job to adopt the academic standards used in the local community.
