Addressing Financial Challenges
The State funding the District has received has not kept pace with inflation over the past decade, resulting in a significant shortfall of more than $3,300 per student, or approximately $1.18 million per year for LCSD. This gap has strained the District's budget, leading to a depletion of the fund balance (the district’s internal line of credit and funds to address unforeseen expenses) to just under 10%, less than half of the recommended 20% threshold.
The District has, over the past two years, taken significant steps to balance our budget, including right-sizing staffing levels to match current enrollment and future projections, sunsetting post-employment benefits, and evaluating and adjusting staff benefits. These efforts have resulted in more than $800,000 in annual savings, but have not been enough to close the funding gap caused by state funding shortfalls and inflation.
Without additional funding from the proposed referendum, the District faces substantial cuts to programs and staff, reducing educational offerings and scaling back or eliminating extracurricular opportunities–to what will essentially be the bare minimum for education in the State of Wisconsin.
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