June 2, 2026 12:45p
(WGTD)---The Kenosha School Board discussed budget-cutting options Monday night if a planned November funding referendum fails.
The options include increasing class sizes and eliminating the equivalent of as many as 40 teaching positions for a savings of as much as $10 million.
Other possibilities include eliminating middle school athletics, combining extracurricular activities across the district and having boundary schools absorb Reuther High School’s alternative learning programs. Several other options were discussed. Administration has yet to cost-out others.
Final decisions are expected in July.
KUSD Superintendent Jeff Weiss says he wants to make sure voters are well aware of the consequences of failing to approve a referendum, saying he regrets not having made a bigger push in that direction ahead of the failed 2025 referendum. "I really think it's important that we communicate with the public what's at stake," he said.
The last referendum—held in February of last year—failed by an eight-point margin.
Next year’s projected $10.7 million deficit—that’s minus any salary increases—could conceivably be absorbed by using the district’s reserve fund. But district finance director Tarik Hamdan had a few words of caution about that. "When you just cross your fingers and say you know we're going to spend down our reserves as we build up our expenses that are going to be with us forever--that's when you have a problem," he said.
The district has yet to formally approve a November referendum, much less decide on the size of the ask or the length, but some type of referendum is expected.
About 9% of the district's $95 million tax levy funds private voucher schools and independent charters.
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