Stratford School Board OK’s tentative tax levy of $4.3M
The Stratford Board of Education last week approved a preliminary budget for the 2025-26 school year consisting of a $4.3 million total tax levy with a mil rate of $7.32 for each $100,000 of equalized property value.
State law requires school boards to approve a preliminary budget 10 days before the district’s budget hearing and annual meeting, which will be on Monday, July 28, in Stratford.
School boards will finalize their budgets for the 2025-26 school year at the end of October after they have received additional information including the third Friday count of students, property valuation and state aid.
Superintendent Nathan Lehman told the board that the staten’s new biennial budget recently signed by Gov. Ton Ever will increase primary special education categorical aid from 35 percent to 42 percent in the first year and from 37 percent to 45 percent in the second year.
At the same time, however, Lehman said the United States Department of Education has announced it would be withholding approximately $72 million from Wisconsin in funding for certain federal education programs, but this amount could still change.
Lauren Lucius, the district’s business manager, said she is estimating that the district will have a total of 722 students in the 202526 school year, compared to 760 students this past school year. Stratford’s graduating class of 63 students was much larger than the incoming kindergarten class this school year.
Other business
■ The board accepted donations of $20,000 from A & B Process Systems/JBT and $9,375 in fundraising from the Stratford Quarterback Club toward the cost of buying new, thicker football goal posts that won’t bend. The board also authorized the district to spend $5,000 toward the goal post project.
■ Board members approved the resignations of Travis Skroch as middle school boys basketball coach, Troy Bargender as high school girls basketball assistant coach and Kane Krummel and Joe Schwabe as high school assistant wrestling coaches.
