SUPERINTENDENT’S

Operation referendum will be on April 5 ballot

As many may already know, the Ellsworth Community School District will hold an operational referendum as a part of the upcoming April 5 regular election. This referendum asks voters for the ability to exceed the state-imposed revenue limit by $1.3 million per year for four years.

The current operational referendum allowing the district to exceed the revenue limit by $1 million per year for four years expires at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Due to this, the district must again approach residents to reauthorize the ability to exceed the revenue limit to maintain ongoing operations of the district that include technology upgrades, curriculum offerings, staffing, co-curricular programs, and maintenance.

This current operational referendum question to be presented to the voters is unique in that there is no projected tax increase for the local school district tax levy from the 2021-2022 school year due to a variety of factors that are based in both state level and local budgetary factors.

An important role of any school district holding a referendum is to provide quality information to residents about the purposes and rationale of the referendum. I encourage residents to visit our referendum page available on the school district website at www.ellsworth.k12.wi.us as we have placed an initial grouping of information to review.

We will continue to provide more information in the coming weeks that dive into many of the specifics of the referendum, uses of referendum funds, and tax impact projections. Updates will range from added information on our website to videos discussing specifics of the referendum and social media posts with many topics to be covered.

I also encourage residents to connect directly with me about any questions about the upcoming referendum. I can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at the District Office at 715-273-3900.

BY ELLSWORTH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT BARRY CAIN