Madison Reporter

MADISON, Wis. (June 24, 2024)—At tonight’s Regular Meeting, the Madison Metropolitan School District’s (MMSD) Board of Education voted unanimously to approve two referendum questions, one for operations and one for facilities, that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Also approved was the preliminary budget of $581.8 million (net of interfund transfers). The final budget will be adopted Oct. 28.

The operations referendum pertains to the district’s day-to-day functioning and the funds it requires to run effectively; the facilities referendum concerns a select number of the district’s buildings only.

Operations

"Shall the Madison Metropolitan School District, Dane County, Wisconsin, be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $30 million for the 2024-2025 school year; by an additional $30 million for the 2025-2026 school year; by an additional $20 million for the 2026-2027 school year; and by an additional $20 million (for a total of $100 million) for the 2027-2028 school year and thereafter, for recurring purposes consisting of operational and maintenance expenses, including for educational programming and employee compensation and benefits?"

The operations question asks voters to green-light $100 million to be distributed across four academic years ($30 million in both 2024–25 and 2025–26, followed by $20 million in both 2026–27 and 2027–28), allowing the district to address staff wages immediately and continue advancing its equity projects, including Community Schools and Village Builders, increases in staff for pre-kindergarten programs (4K), and reductions in class sizes for kindergarten through first grade.

Facilities

"Shall the Madison Metropolitan School District, Dane County, Wisconsin be authorized to issue pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $507 million for paying costs related to a school building and facility improvement project consisting of: renovations; construction of school buildings or additions; air conditioning and heating improvements; STEM labs and classrooms; arts spaces; libraries; cafeterias; co-curricular activity spaces at Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Milele Chikasa Anana Elementary School, Black Hawk Middle School, Cherokee Heights Middle School, Crestwood Elementary School, Samuel Gompers Elementary School Orchard Ridge Elementary School Ray F. Sennett Middle School Sherman Middle School Akira R. Toki Middle School possible related demolition district-wide accessibility safety environmental sustainability building infrastructure improvements acquisition furnishings fixtures equipment?"

The facilities question asks the community to provide funding up to $507 million to replace several schools' buildings—Malcolm Shabazz City High/Sherman Middle Schools among them—and renovate others like Milele Chikasa Anana Elementary. These decisions were informed by MMSD's Long-Range Facilities Plan and Educational Facilities Condition Assessment.

Public education funding mechanisms in Wisconsin often compel districts to seek taxpayer-supported referenda for capital improvements. For context: on April's most recent Wisconsin ballot alone there were 92 school referendum questions—including four from Dane County districts—with about two-thirds earmarked specifically toward operational expenses.

Information about these referenda is available online at mmsd.org/referenda. A recording of tonight’s meeting can be found on MMSD Board's YouTube channel.

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About Madison Metropolitan School District

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is Wisconsin's second-largest district serving over twenty-five thousand students across fifty-two schools with more than forty-five hundred teachers/staff members dedicated towards ensuring every student graduates ready college/career/community-focused thriving environment envisioned every institution core value-centric efforts promoting learning belonging thriving visit mmsd.org further details.

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