By Chris Spangler
Fort Atkinson High School students staged a brief walkout Monday morning in an apparent protest of school funding woes following staffing reductions of approximately 45 positions districtwide, including, more recently, the announcement of preliminary nonrenewal slips sent to 16 certified staff members.
An estimated 75 students gathered outside the front entrance for “a moment of silence” from 10 to 10:18 a.m.
During the walkout, members of the media were contained within a cordoned-off area, making any student remarks difficult to hear.
School District of Fort Atkinson administrators were aware of the planned walkout and had sent a letter to students’ families. Signed by District Superintendent Rob Abbott, the letter — a copy of which was provided to media — stated that “our understanding is that the protest is in response to the issue of public school funding.”
On Thursday, the board of education approved issuing preliminary notices of nonrenewal to 16 teachers in the wake of the failed April 4 operational referendum. Affected staff were Heather Balsamo, Stacci Barganz, Penny Bright, Holly Dow, Peter Finnegan, Meghann Green, Sarah Horwath, Ronald Hribar, Tracey Koeppen, Dana Linde, Therese Okray, Lisa Perkins, Jennifer Rank, Nicholas Thom, Samantha Tres and Kim Westby.
Earlier, the board had approved staff reductions through retirements, attrition and resignations for both the current school year and that of 2023-24. Those brought the total number of staff cuts in the past year to 45.
“While we respect our students’ First Amendment right to express their opinions, we must balance this with the safety of our schools and ensuring we limit disruptions to the learning process,” Abbott wrote in the letter to families. “The district does not endorse the protest. However, school and district administration are working with students to ensure any activities remain peaceful and positive.”
The superintendent indicated that during the walkout, the school day would continue as normal. Students planning to join the walkout were asked to have their parents notify the attendance office, as absences not excused by a parent might be treated as unexcused.
“We also must ensure that we respect the rights of all students — including those who wish not to participate in the protest,” the letter continued. “With that in mind, we will do everything we can to minimize disruptions to the learning process.”
Abbott concluded that the district sees this as a good learning opportunity for all students, “whether they elect to participate or not. We encourage our students to be engaged citizens who have tolerance for the viewpoints of others, including those with whom they may disagree.”
Meanwhile, in an email to staff, high school principal Leigh Ann Scheuerell wrote that the reasons for the protest “may include, but are not limited to: the failed operational referendum, in support of nonrenewal employees and/or to make our local politicians aware their learning is impacted by lack of budgets.”
She said officials also had called for extra police presence “to simply ensure safety of students and monitor for anything other than peaceful protest.”
In addition, Scheuerell noted that a message had been sent to all spring athletes who might be impacted “to proactively remind them of the athletic code of conduct and the policy for having an UNV (unverified absence) during the day and the consequence that has on their practice and/or competition time.
“As school district employees, we must remain neutral in our opinion of whether or not we support this demonstration,” she continued. “Inevitably, students will ask you your opinion on if they should participate or not, but please encourage them to make their own choice.”
She wrote that should they be asked about who the local politicians are, staff members could remind them of state Sen. Steven Nass (Sen.Nass@legis.wisconsin.gov) and state Rep. Scott Johnson (Rep.Johnson@legis.wisconsin.gov).
The April 4 referendum had sought to exceed the state-allowed tax levy by $3 million annually beginning the next school year into perpetuity and by an additional $5 million on a non-recurring basis for four years ending in the 2026-27 school year.
However, the measure failed by 950 votes, with 3,463 “no” votes and 2,513 “yes” ballots. That left the district with a $6.8 million spending gap that district officials said must be closed over the next five years.
During Thursday’s board of education meeting, District Director of Business Services Jason Demerath outlined budget cuts to date, stating that the work to “right-size” staffing starting a year ago when preparing the 2022-23 budget.
Coming into the current fiscal year, seven full-time positions across the district were eliminated through attrition, totaling $539,652. They included a full-time elementary classroom teacher, elementary math interventionist, high school math teacher, high school technology education teacher, middle school technology eduction teacher, middle school library media specialist and a library support position.
Another 16.5 positions were reduced through attrition and restructuring for 2023-24 to save another $1.2 million: a special education teacher, two elementary teachers, a high school Spanish teacher, a middle school physical education/health teacher, a middle school English/language arts teacher, an elementary art teacher, the district director of communications, an elementary media specialist, a high school technology education teacher, a high school math teacher, a high school counselor, a middle school math teacher, a middle school math interventionist/coach, the middle school dean of students and 1.5 FTE paraprofessionals.
To cut another $2.1 million from the budget, the board on Thursday reduced 21.16-plus full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions: an elementary classroom teacher, an elementary music teacher, an elementary physical education teacher, two elementary library media specialists, an elementary literacy interventionist, an elementary math interventionist, a middle school business education teacher, a middle school social studies teacher, a high school at-risk teacher, a high school English teacher, a high school science teacher, an orchestra teacher, a multilingual teacher and the gifted and talented coordinator.
Also cut were a half-time speech and language pathologist, half-time 4-year-old kindergarten coordinator, half-time custodian, 2.66 FTE administrative assistants, multiple elementary paraprofessionals, stipends for the middle school athletic director and high school assistant athletic director, reduction of some extra teacher contract days, taking advantage of some athletic/activity program efficiencies.
The overall 45 staffing cuts will “save” more than $3.8 million per year.
No programs will be cut, officials have said, though some might be restructured. All certified staff will be teaching more during the school day, resulting in a portion of preparation time and professional collaboration time moving outside of the school day.
“The bottom line is this: Even by cutting over 45 positions totaling more than $3.8 million over the past 12 months, we’re still looking at a $3.1 million deficit for next year and over $5 million the following year,” Demerath said during Thursday’s meeting. “We might be hard-pressed to find a better illustration of how the public school funding system in Wisconsin at the state level is broken and how it is up to the people in this room and this community to decide through a local referendum whether or not their local public schools are funded.”
He noted that the district still will need to hold an operational referendum next year.
Meanwhile, in addition to the letter to families, media this morning were provided a copy of a story today published by Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) regarding the staffing cuts in Fort Atkinson.
Written by Corrinne Hess, it reported that in April, 69 school districts across Wisconsin sought exceeding the state revenue limits to increase taxes via operational or building referendums.
The WPR story noted that Gov. Tony Evers has proposed boosting per-student spending on public education to $350 for 2023-24 and $650 for 2024-25.
It also quoted Wisconsin Policy Forum Vice President Jason Stein as saying that the request likely will be cut by the Republican-controlled Legislature, but he does not think “the GOP will continue to completely freeze revenue limits, given inflation and federal pandemic relief dollars expiring.”
The full WPR story is here: https://www.wpr.org/staffing-cuts-fort-atkinson-illustrate-wisconsin-school-districts-dependence-referendums.
Some 75 students gather near the entrance of the Fort Atkinson High School as part of a staged walkout held Monday. Chris Spangler photo.
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