SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Voters in South Milwaukee are looking ahead to a referendum that could add a few cents to their property taxes but have a big impact on the school district.
“It's going to give me a chance to get a K12 program going for our STEM, and it's going to allow the elementary students to come in with a big bulk of knowledge that they don't have right now,” said Julie Barnett, STEM Teacher, South Milwaukee Middle School.
Julie Barnett has worked in the district for two years but has called it home for nearly ten.
In that time, she says she’s seen many positive changes, including improvements to buildings and more resources.
“Having a district that values STEM education is really important to me, for my kids and just in general, and having this ability to teach here is just amazing,” said Barnett.
Still, Barnett says her department could use some help.
“One of the big things that we have in this room is we're using a lot of technology, but this room wasn't built with like outlets everywhere and things like that,” said Barnett.
That’s where the referendum comes in.
If approved, it would increase the city’s tax levy by $2 million a year for the next five years.
It would add about 4 cents per $1,000 of property value, which comes out to about $4 a year for a property with a $100,000 assessed value.
On top of growing educational initiatives, like the STEM program, it would also cover operations, maintenance, and school safety.
Superintendent Deidre Roemer says their goal is to make sure residents understand where their money is going.
“Each one of the five years we're going to have something to show them that their investment counted and it counted for students and it counted for the children that make up this community,” said Roemer.
Jerrianne Haslett retired in South Milwaukee to live closer to her grandchildren.
While she says she isn’t directly affected by the referendum as a retiree, she does plan to vote in favor of it to support the programs she says are necessary for the community to thrive.
“The miracles that the school administration and the teachers perform by having to do so much more with so much less because the cut as a funding is just inadequate, and it gets worse every year,” said Haslett.
Alexis Lasky is a parent in the district who says she supports the referendum because of what it means for the future of the place she loves and encourages others to do the same.
“If you want a better community, we need to have better schools, and we need to be able to support our schools. Otherwise, our community will fall apart,” said Lasky.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.