Referendum

Oshkosh currently receives and spends less per student than both the state average and the average of similar-sized districts. If Q1 funding is not renewed, the District would need to cut $7.95 million from the operating budget over the next four years. Renewing this funding will result in no tax increase while it:

• Continues current academic programs and support services
• Advances community-developed strategic plan
• Combining two previously approved referendums into one eliminates the need for and cost of repeatedly returning to voters

For a list of the reductions that were prepared and unanimously approved by the OASD Board of Education in 2016, CLICK HERE.

Funds would help enable the district to continue to advance its community-developed strategic plan, while following its guiding principle of students first by sustaining academic programs, technology for learning, and student support services. There will be no tax increase, since this simply renews funding voters approved previously before it expires.

The district would lose funding that will expire in June 2021, requiring the district to make $7.95 million in budget cuts over the next four years. Cuts would impact academic programs, staffing and class size levels, classroom materials and other school and district supports. OASD would fall even further behind in the funding it receives and what it spends to support student learning, as compared to the state average and similar sized districts.

If voters approve Q1, there is no tax increase, as it simply renews previously approved funding before it expires.

School districts must maintain their buildings, just as homeowners do. Similar to a home, when a building ages the cost to maintain it often increases. With nearly three-quarters of Oshkosh schools built before 1970, the district recognized it needed a long-range facilities plan to ensure it could properly maintain its schools for the future. 

As surrounding school districts invest in their facilities, it puts the Oshkosh community at a disadvantage. The district’s facility needs are not going away: doing nothing still represents a significant cost to taxpayers as district facilities are among the oldest in the state and require upkeep or replacement. Some facts about Oshkosh school buildings:

• Average age of the schools is 66 years old 
• The oldest building was built in 1880
• Only two schools were built in the 21st century
• Last time there was a capital funding request was in 2012 to build the new Oaklawn Elementary School; prior to that, it was 1999 to build the new Jefferson Elementary School
• Oshkosh schools are older than most neighboring districts 

The facilities planning process began in 2017 to assess and address Oshkosh schools, with a goal to provide:

• Safe and accessible buildings
• Flexible and collaborative learning spaces
• Cost-effective buildings that maximize taxpayer investment

From 2017 through 2019, various groups worked on a comprehensive facilities review, culminating with the work of the community-based Facilities Advisory Committee. The committee presented a four-phase long-range facilities plan to the Oshkosh Area School Board in February 2020, which the Board unanimously approved. The plan is designed to:

• Allow the district to provide the appropriate level of academic and support services for students by having staff and resources more easily accessible
• Create modern and flexible spaces that will help deepen the level of learning
• Allow the district to not only keep pace with but exceed surrounding districts and make Oshkosh a destination community for people to live and work

The district would implement phase one of its community developed long-range Facilities Plan,  investing the $107 million as follows:

• Safety / Security Projects - $8,990,000
• New Elementary at Webster Site - $35,480,000
• New Middle School at Merrill Site - $53,200,000
• District-Wide Infrastructure Projects - $9,330,000

The projects would take place over the next four years, with the following results:

• Reduced number of schools to maximize use and efficiency
• A new middle school and a new elementary school
• Closed three aging / outdated facilities
• Support for school safety and security
• Addressed infrastructure and maintenance needs
• Focus on equity: east side schools, which would be improved, are among the oldest and serve our most diverse children

More details on the specific facilities plans are in this PowerPoint presentation from the June 24, 2020 Board meeting.

If Q2 capital funding is not approved, delaying the facilities plan would still result in a cost to taxpayers without the benefits of upgraded facilities. OASD facilities are among the oldest in the state, and continued maintenance of aging - and in some instances failing - buildings simply puts a bandaid on buildings that are currently limiting the educational experience of students. Construction costs are projected to increase 4% per year, and every 0.5% increase in interest rates would increase total costs by $6.5 million.

This funding request comes from a long-range facilities plan that was developed by the community-based Facilities Advisory Committee. The committee reviewed documents, data and community input before bringing its full recommendation to the School Board, where it unanimously approved in February 2020.

The last capital funding request was in 2012 to build Oaklawn Elementary School; prior to that, it was 1999 to build Jefferson Elementary School. Key facts about Oshkosh schools:

• Average age of the schools is 66 years old
• Nearly three-quarters of the schools were built before 1970, so are more than 50 years old
• The oldest building was built in 1880

If voters approve Q2, the estimated tax increase per $100,000 of home value will be approximately $4/month in 2021, $6/month in 2022 and $7/month for the rest of the bond term. 

Q1 asks voters to renew existing voter-approved funding that is about to expire. Funding will allow us to continue offering current academic programs and student support services and advance the community-developed strategic plan. If these funds are not renewed, the district will face $7.95M in budget cuts over the next four years. There is no tax increase if voters renew this funding. 

Many reasons led to the decision to put the capital request on the November 2020 ballot: 

• Q2 addresses priority infrastructure, maintenance and building needs that are well beyond the scope of the annual capital budget.
• The funds would address phase one of a long-range facilities plan that was developed by the community-based Facilities Advisory Committee and unanimously approved by the School Board in February 2020.
• Consolidating buildings also consolidates staff and provides some savings and efficiencies.
• We are currently seeing extremely low interest rates and a competitive construction market.
• This plan addresses community facility concerns with a cost and many benefits, compared to sinking millions of dollars into outdated facilities which still has a cost with limited benefit.
• This work helps Oshkosh be competitive with surrounding communities that are continuously improving their facilities while improving chances that people will choose to live, work, and play in Oshkosh.
• It addresses equity concerns by improving east side schools, which are among the oldest and serve our most diverse children.
• Facilities improvements will take years to implement - the longer we wait, the longer it will be until we have modern, safe, consolidated and efficient schools.
• An investment in schools is an investment in our community's quality of life - the School Board and district leaders are bringing their best judgment to the community, it’s now the community's decision. 

The district would lose funding that will expire in June 2021, requiring $7.95 million in budget cuts over the next four years. Cuts would impact academic programs, staffing and class size levels, classroom materials and other school and district supports. OASD would fall even further behind in the funding it receives and what it spends to support student learning, as compared to the state average and similar sized districts.

Delaying the facilities plan would still result in a cost to taxpayers without the benefits of upgraded facilities. OASD facilities are among the oldest in the state, and continued maintenance of aging buildings simply puts a bandaid on buildings that are currently limiting the educational experience of students.

Because Q1 simply renews existing funding that is about to expire, there is no tax increase. Q2 will have a phased-in tax impact: for every $100,000 of home value, the monthly increase would be $4 in 2021, $6 in 2022 and $7 in 2023 through the rest of the bond term.

Our schools are currently much smaller than most of our comparable sized districts. The plan to build a new 450-600 student elementary school and an 850-900 student middle school puts Oshkosh right in line with comparable sized districts. There are also efficiencies with staff in these size schools, and they offer the ability to provide more robust programming and student support options. Having more classrooms per grade level provides more flexibility on class sizes, often resulting in smaller classes than at smaller schools. It also offers an efficiency of scale, by enabling us to have more student support services all in one building - rather than asking staff to move between buildings with less consistent support provided.

We have been maintaining our buildings as best we can with the limited budget available for capital repairs. However, our capital budget cannot keep pace with the growing needs of buildings that average 66 years old. Capital referendum requests are how school districts fund larger infrastructure, maintenance and building needs.

The 2018 Facilities study determined there are $104 mllion in maintenance costs districtwide. This includes more than $20 million in maintenance needs at Washington, Merrill and Webster that should be addressed in the next several years if the buildings are not taken off-line as planned in the long-range facilities plan.

We will always need buildings for in-person learning, as we don't anticipate schools will stay in virtual mode once the pandemic is contained. This pandemic has reinforced the importance of having modern, flexible schools - for health and safety reasons and the ability to collaborate and learn in different ways and different group sizes.

Print Pieces (Informational Resources)

Fact Sheet - OASD November 3, 2020 Referendum

Referendum at a Glance - OASD November 3, 2020 Referendum

Poster - OASD November 3, 2020 Referendum

Sample Ballot - OASD November 3, 2020 Referendum

News and Presentations

Press release on School Board decision to go to referendum (07.15.20)
Referendum PowerPoint presentation to the School Board on July 15
More information about the facilities planning process
 

The Oshkosh Area School District’s two referendum questions will be on the November 3, 2020 ballot. Polling locations will be open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. You can also vote early by completing and mailing or delivering an absentee ballot so it arrives by Election Day. 

• Find out where you vote, how to vote absentee, what is on your ballot and how to register to vote at My Vote Wisconsin or the Wisconsin Elections Commission. 
• Request an absentee ballot here; you can also learn more about absentee voting and request a ballot here.
• Depending on where you live, you may be able to do in-person absentee voting before election day. Click on the city or township where you live for more information about what is available for you:
  • City of Oshkosh; election FAQs
  • Town of Algoma
  • Town of Black Wolf
  • Town of Nekimi
  • Town of Oshkosh
  • Town of Utica
  • Town of Vinland

To ask a question or learn more, please email referendum@oshkosh.k12.wi.us or call 920.966.0343.

ESOL Summarized - Referendum at a Glance

SPANISH - Referéndum de un vistazo

HMONG - Referendum at a Glance

SWAHILI - Kura ya Maoni kwa Nuru

ARABIC - لمحة سريعة عن الاستفتاء