Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District

The Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District faces significant financial challenges that we must address soon to ensure our students continue to have access to an exceptional educational experience. These challenges are largely due to factors outside of the district’s control and tied to the state’s school funding system.

All Wisconsin schools are subject to a revenue limit, which places a cap on the amount of money that can be raised through state aid and property taxes. At the same time, costs are on the rise for things like technology, bus transportation, and heating and cooling our schools.

The needs of our students have also increased dramatically, especially in the areas of special education and mental health. These are expenses for state and federal-mandated services for which the district receives inadequate funding.

For the 2024-2025 school year, MDIH faces a projected budget shortfall of $390,108. The district can absorb this year’s impact, but future budget deficits are not sustainable. Rising costs will continue to deplete district resources and force MDIH to cut programs and services for students. Due to the state’s fixed revenue limit for public schools, which does not keep pace with inflation, the district needs to find a long-term solution to increasing future budget deficits.

It is also important to note that our district is not alone in facing these challenges. Increasing numbers of school districts statewide are turning to operational referendums to meet their revenue needs. In the last five years, Wisconsin's 421 school districts have proposed 311 operational referendums to their communities.

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, our community will vote on a recurring $1.75 million operational referendum.

If the referendum is approved, the district will leverage these critical funds for the following purposes:

• Maintain a budget that keeps pace with inflation and rising costs

• Keep class sizes as low as possible and retain programs for students

• Ensure we can keep up with facilities maintenance to prevent the need for large capital projects in the future

• Preserve our small community feel and enable MDIH to continue to be a top-tier destination school district for families and staff

This referendum would eventually replace the non-recurring measure voters approved in 2019 that is set to expire in 2029.

We believe a new operational referendum is the best option to address our financial needs and ensure students continue to have access to the exceptional educational experience our community has come to expect from our schools.

An approved referendum would have an estimated tax impact of 10¢ for every $1,000 of equalized property value. This would amount to an increase of around $40 per year for a home valued at $400,000.

Yes. In April 2019, voters approved a 10-year, non-recurring operational referendum for the Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District. That measure provides $980,000 in additional revenue per year, through the 2028-2029 school year. That referendum will expire in June 2029.

Historically high inflation since 2020 resulted in increased costs that have outpaced support from the district’s 2019 operational referendum. The current referendum request seeks to provide both short and long-term solutions to these funding challenges.

If the proposed 2024 referendum is passed, the district will use the funds to pay debt rather than levy for debt until the 2019 referendum expires in 2029. Then the proposed referendum will take over, thereby minimizing the impact on the taxpayers. To demonstrate its commitment to this solution, the school board has approved a policy to ensure good fiscal management of referendum funding should it pass. That policy can be found here.

The referendum proposed for November 2024 would be a recurring referendum that would provide an additional $1.75 million per year toward our district’s general operations. If it is approved by voters, this referendum would have no expiration date.

Yes. If voters approve the measure on the November 5, 2024 ballot, there will be two operational referendums in effect for MDIH starting in the 2025-2026 school year and ending in the 2028-2029 school year. From 2025 to 2029, the district would use these new referendum funds to pay off its scheduled debt rather than levying to pay debt. This will ensure the impact on taxpayers remains minimal. In June 2029, the non-recurring referendum that voters approved in 2019 will expire, leaving only the recurring referendum (on the ballot this November) in place after that.

While the non-recurring referendum voters approved in April 2019 has been critically important, much has changed in the past five years when it comes to rising costs and a continuing lack of support from the state level. We must keep our budget on pace with inflation and make up for inadequate increases to state aid over the past several years.

As we move forward, we endeavor to maintain our small-community feel while remaining a destination school district for both families and staff. Additionally, we must continue investing in our facilities so that we can avoid the need to return to voters with another capital referendum question in the near future.

Thanks to the investments our community made through the 2019 non-recurring operational referendum, we have:

• Been awarded the National Blue Ribbon School (2020), a distinction received by less than 0.36% of schools in the country

• Ranked in the top 10% of all Wisconsin school districts on the State School Report Card

• Achieved and maintained Significantly Exceeds Expectations on the State Report Card (since 2018-2019)

  • Ranked 23rd overall out of 421 school districts in the state, up from a ranking of 106th in 2017-2018

  • Ranked in the 98th percentile in the area of Growth among all districts in the state

As a result, when asked how likely they are to recommend MDIH to a friend or family member on a scale of 0 to 10, MDIH parents respond with an average of 8.63 (92nd percentile for comparative school districts).

The operational referendum voters approved five years ago has been critical to maintaining the exceptional educational experience our community has come to expect from MDIH. We aim to ensure this positive trend continues for the long term.

A research study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that for every dollar spent on public schools in a community, home values increased by $20, demonstrating the strong relationship between educational investments and property values.

In the last five years, Wisconsin's 421 school districts have proposed 311 operational referendums to their communities. Neighboring districts in southeastern Wisconsin that are among the 311 that have proposed and passed operating referendums since 2018 include:

• Fox Point-Bayside - 2018 & 2022

• Glendale-River Hills - 2019

• Maple Dale-Indian Hill - 2019

• Mequon-Thiensville - 2020

• Milwaukee - 2020 & 2022

• Nicolet - 2021

• Shorewood - 2019 & 2023

• Despite the fact that MDIH shares many services with neighboring districts and strategically bids out contracted services, we have been unable to keep pace with the inflationary pressure impacting our budget. Ongoing expenses necessary for the operation of the district, such as technology, transportation, and heating our schools, continue to rise.

• MDIH has a history of disciplined and forward-thinking fiscal management. Prior to requesting this referendum, the board created and approved a policy outlining its plan for competent referendum fiscal management. Funds would be used in the following ways:

  • Priority 1: Our community unequivocally values small class sizes, breadth of course offerings, and academic reputation. The district will use referendum funds to maintain operations while ensuring long-term fiscal responsibility.

    • No more than $800,000 may be used for Fund 10 as long as this policy is in force.

  • Priority 2: A healthy fund balance ensures a strong credit rating, prevents the need for short-term borrowing, and replenishes emergency funding. The district will maintain a fund balance consistent with board policy 662.3.

    • Additional funds will first be used to replenish the fund balance used to offset the 2024-2025 budget.

  • Priority 3: Since passage of the 2019 referendum, a capital improvement plan was created to maintain the investment made by our community. The district will continue to support the 10-year capital improvement plan to limit further requests for additional funding from taxpayers.

    • The district endeavors to commit a minimum of $200,000 annually to Fund 46, the Long Term Capital Improvement Trust Fund.

  • Priority 4: Paying debt early prevents taxpayers from paying future interest and shortens the length of time taxpayers pay off debt.

    • The district will continue to make payments on 2019 debt bonds in an effort to reduce interest expense and long-term debt.

If the November 5 referendum is not approved, the district may need to make cuts to ensure a balanced budget in the coming school years. We would seek to first make cuts as far away from student programs and services as possible.

Below are the potential cuts that would need to be made in future years without additional funding support through this recurring operational referendum:

• Reduction/elimination of capital improvement projects: MDIH would cease many small projects that keep our buildings and grounds in working order. Projects that are not an immediate need would go unfunded. This would diminish the impact of the $16 million investment the community made in our buildings in 2019.

• Capital improvement savings: MDIH would stop saving money annually to offset large capital expenditures. This will likely result in the need to seek a large capital referendum sooner than if we had offset these costs year over year.

• Potential salary freezes: This may cause some staff members to leave and result in lower morale, preventing MDIH from being competitive in the job market.

• Decrease Fine Arts Offerings and Intervention Services: We would need to consider reducing fine arts offerings (i.e. music, world languages) and intervention services (i.e. EL services, etc) at certain grade levels or across both schools.

• Reduction of district administration: Access to the superintendent (80%) and business services (80%) would decrease, as will the oversight of the School Board.

• Reduction of building administrators: Access to principals (80%) would decrease, as would timely evaluation of staff and ready support for staff and families.

• Increase class sizes for core offerings: We would likely need to increase class sizes, contradicting the community’s request to maintain the small-community feel and current class sizes.

• Additional impacts may include reducing secretarial positions, combining elective classes, and reducing athletics/co-curriculars.

It is important to note that no decisions have been made regarding the budget reductions we would need to make if a referendum is not approved this November. However, the list above includes the items the board and administration would need to consider.

No. The proposed operational referendum is a recurring referendum. It would eventually replace the non-recurring measure voters approved in 2019 that is set to expire in 2029.

Yes. As a result of the state funding formula and the lack of financial support from the state legislature, Wisconsin school districts are increasingly turning to their communities to help address the financial challenges they face. In fact, in the last five years, Wisconsin's 421 school districts have proposed 311 operational referendums to their communities.

A review by Baird Public Finance has found that since 2000, Wisconsin school districts have placed more than 1,400 recurring or non-recurring operational referendum questions on ballots. In April 2024 alone, 63 school districts proposed operational referendums to their communities due to the same funding challenges we are experiencing in MDIH.

Further, in the upcoming Wisconsin election, voters will weigh in on 137 local school district referendums across 120 districts. These referendums address both non-recurring and recurring increases in school districts’ revenue limits and borrowing requests. This year a record total of 146 school districts will have gone to operating referendum, which far exceeds the 2022 record of 92.

In short, MDIH is just one of many school districts across the state that have found the need to address these financial issues.

Voters will see the following question on their ballots on Tuesday, November 5:

Shall the Maple Dale-Indian Hill School District, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $1,750,000 beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, for recurring purposes consisting of expenses related to maintaining small class sizes and ongoing educational and operational expenses?

Election day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024. This is the general election date in the state of Wisconsin.

District residents can cast their ballots at their usual polling location on Tuesday, November 5. For more information on requesting a mail-in ballot, visit https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/VoteAbsentee.

Yes, voters may request that an absentee ballot be mailed to them for any reason. However, you must be registered before you can request an absentee ballot.

If you are registered, you can request an absentee ballot by visiting https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/VoteAbsentee. Note that you must provide a photo ID with your absentee ballot request.

Eligible voters can register up to election day, and can even register at the polls.

The deadline to register by mail is October 16, 2024. The deadline to register in person at your city or village hall is November 1, 2024.

To learn more about registering to vote, visit https://myvote.wi.gov/register-To-Vote. Additional information on registration and other deadlines is available at https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Voter-Deadlines.