WAUWATOSA — TMJ4 asked the Wauwatosa School District questions parents told us they wanted answered.
Several Wauwatosa parents reached out to us because they’re concerned about a school budget deficit they fear is on pace to snowball out of control.
Wauwatosa parents started contacting reporter Ben Jordan after he reported on a story about the Glendale-River Hills budget deficit. While the situation is much different in Wauwatosa, the projected shortfall is much bigger.
Parents are concerned about what could happen if something doesn’t change. Cindy Mich worries that it could lead to devastating cuts that could impact children in classrooms.
“You wanted to be a part of this story, tell us why,” Jordan said to Mich.
"Well, first and foremost, I'm a parent,” she replied. "When you have such a big budget deficit, you have to start looking where are we putting money that we shouldn't be."
Mich says the district has been open about how the annual deficit will gradually increase each of the next five years totaling $62 million. But she thinks the district spared details on how it happened.
"Anytime someone's not transparent about money, you have to ask yourself, are they working in the best interest of our children?” Mich said.
District documents show the extra costs largely fall into three buckets: Curriculum refinement, forward-facing student support positions, and employee compensation.
This year’s budget shows salaries are up 12.3 percent on average.
"I have no idea how we're going to get out of this mess,” said School Board member Michael Meier.
Meier says he only speaks for himself and not the board as a whole.
“From your perspective, where do you think they overspent money?” Jordan asked.
“Everywhere,” Meier replied. “There was no boundaries to what they spent. They got professional portraits for the board members. They've voted to provide childcare services for board members. Did we need $55,000 for that office or could we have done it with, $5,000, $6,000, or $7,000?"
Meier acknowledged he’s the only member of the board who voted against the approved budget three years in a row.
"They placed a bet with the budget and what they wagered was our reserves, our cash reserves in our fund balance and they lost the bet."
We wanted to hear the superintendent’s perspective on this. After three weeks of declining our interview requests, Dr. Demond Means eventually sat down with us.
“Is it accurate to say that spending for the district has significantly gone up over the last few years?” Jordan asked.
"We have made a stronger investment in compensating teachers, we have made a stronger investment in making sure we have a rich and timely curriculum," Means responded.
Dr. Means says the district is doing what the community wants it to do and invests in the children.
“Some parents are accusing the school board of reckless spending, spending money without knowing where it’s coming from. What would your response be to those parents.” Jordan asked.
“I would say to those parents that I share their concern," Means says. "I share their concern that the state legislature who's responsible for funding public schools has been inadequately funding public schools since 2009."
Dr. Means is talking about how the state hasn’t kept up with the rate of inflation for per-pupil funding since 2009. So far this year, more than a hundred districts have turned to referendums to fill budget gaps. It’s something Wauwatosa did in 2018.
“Given the projected shortfall, is a referendum inevitable at this point?” Jordan asked.
"I think what we've been doing, the reason why these parents are informed unlike in other school systems, the reason why they're informed is because we've been talking with our community since January,” Dr. Means replied.
“But to answer my question, do you think a referendum is inevitable?” Jordan asked.
“It's only something that may come if the legislature continues to fund us at the level that they're funding us,” Dr. Means replied.
Mich thinks the district needs to figure out how to balance its budget before going back to voters.
"Relying upon them solely and making them the sole person for fixing this isn't going to work,” she said.
It is important to note that Wauwatosa is far from alone in struggling with tight school district budgets. If you have concerns about how the state is funding public schools — or how your district is using what it gets, we would like to hear from you. Please reach out to Jordan at Ben.Jordan@tmj4.com.
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