The new biennium state budget was completed after school was released for the summer. Public school leaders anticipated that the state’s $7 billion surplus (which existed in part due to the prior, zero increase in per-pupil funding) would see a corresponding investment in our students, classrooms and schools. Unfortunately, the promises by our representatives to improve Wisconsin funding of public education that now falls below national averages, fell to the sidelines all too quietly and never materialized.

This summer, the Wisconsin Legislature unfortunately extended its vacation of investing in community public schools and Prescott public schools among many will suffer the consequences. Despite this lack of support, internally, PSD staff did NOT sit on the sidelines and demonstrated daily heroic efforts to meet student needs in the domains of academic performance, social-emotional and behavioral well-being, along with addressing increased mental health crises.

Likewise, Prescott families and community did not sit on the sidelines; they invested in its district by approving a $15 million capital referendum (funds earmarked solely for facilities). Without the state increasing its funding, Prescott School District tapped Federal ESSER dollars for operational costs and increased its mental health staff/services in response to the COVID pandemic over the last three years. As a result of the intentional and strategic use of ESSER dollars, PSD increased academic achievement and growth, surpassing most national, state, and neighboring districts’ performances and trends portrayed in national headlines.

Why is this so important? Over the summer the WI legislature built a state budget for the next two-year cycle of funding for FY23 and FY24. It looked at its $7 billion surplus (amassed on our taxes from payroll, property and sales taxes) and decided on a meager $325 per pupil increase for the upcoming academic year - too small a band aid to cover the lack of prior funding, let alone the ending of Federal ESSER aid. Divide $325 across the last three years and it amounts to a little over $108 dollars per student increase. This is not an investment. This is not a commitment. This is not support for public education. It does not even fill the hole of the departed federal ESSER dollars. I won’t insult readers referencing inflation and higher costs on everything from buying eggs to health care. Schools are not immune to the increased costs community members are also experiencing.

Here is the new reality for PSD as we begin the upcoming school year and budget building for the future. We must subtract $900,000 of revenue that was in place with federal dollars (ESSER). Funds which were used to support the PSD response to COVID. These expenses on academic programming, math and reading interventionists to regain knowledge lost during the pandemic, and pay staff competitive wages has allowed Prescott to beat the odds.

The disparity doesn’t stop there. It is well documented that the pandemic and other societal challenges have wreaked havoc on student mental health. According to NAMI, one in six have a mental health condition (Student Mental Health). Our legislative representatives approved $31 per student for districts to provide mental health support. For Prescott, this will be just shy of $40,000. The reality is that Prescott School District will lose $104,000 of Mental Health Funding this year that we had for FY 2022-23. Our student mental health needs have not disappeared, only equitable funding to public education.

You can’t call financial funding that is losing ground a win - unless you are part of the WI Legislature promoting its altered perception of financial support. You can’t underfund public education for two years, remove federal money and then attempt to back fill that revenue and call it good. This is an equation that does not add up positively for public school students or staff.

The legislature’s recent biennial “funding” falls far below PSD’s standards and reasonable expectations. Our students and staff deserve better. Prescott, WI deserves better.