Voters in the Crandon area will be asked to raise their own taxes to support the school district in next week’s elections.
Until now, Crandon was the only school in the Northern Lakes Conference not to need a referendum to keep operating.
But that’s now changed.
Crandon already plans to freeze the pay of all staff for the next school year. But the district needs to do more, said Superintendent Larry Palubicki in a web video for the community.
“If we did nothing and we continued to budget the way that we currently have been, you can see that by 2024-2025, our fund balance would be -$4.3 million,” he said.
The referendum seeks to raise one million dollars per year for each of the next five years.
Right now, the school offers free breakfast and lunch for all students. That could go away, along with other things, if the referendum fails.
“There would be staff reductions, which would result in larger class sizes, and a reduction in elective courses offered,” Palubicki said. “We would likely see cuts to extracurricular programs and/or fees charged to participate in those programs.”
If the referendum is passed, the taxes on a $100,000 property in the School District of Crandon will rise by $70 per year.
