Reedsburg faces some difficult budgeting challenges

Ken Leiviska reports in District will leave no stone unturned that Reedsburg is facing some tough challenges for the second year in a row due to declining enrollment, budget cuts, and a referendum:

The school district has already made some tough decisions in an attempt to balance a budget for the 2008-09 school year. Despite cutting three custodial positions, saving $150,000; cutting building maintenance, $175,000; postponing curriculum adoption, $150,000; cutting a part-time clerical position, $2,675; changing the long-term sub pay; and cutting six extracurricular programs, the school district ultimately passed a budget with a deficit of $65,027. The district overspent its budget by $595,117 during the 2007-08 school year.



Because the three-year rolling average for student enrollment is in a period of decline; the district is in the second year operating without referendum money; and because the district is in jeopardy of losing one of the major grants it holds — the Wisconsin Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) — there are many tough decisions ahead.