Last month, Governor Tony Evers announced the details of his budget initiatives for K-12 education, including an overall increase of $2.6 billion. This figure includes significant investments in special education aid; increases in revenue limits, general aid, and the low revenue ceiling; and more.
The full education budget release can be found here: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/34896a0.
Over the next several months, some legislators will hold individual listening sessions to gain public input on the various components of the budget. The Joint Finance Committee will also hold listening sessions throughout the state:
• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Wednesday, April 5- Waukesha County Expo Center, Main Arena 1000 Northview Road, Waukesha
• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Tuesday, April 11– UW-Eau Claire, Davies Student Center, Ojibwe Grand Ballroom (Third Floor), 77 Roosevelt Avenue, Eau Claire
• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Wednesday, April 12– Wisconsin Dells Wilderness Resort, Glacier Canyon
Conference Center Sandstone, Meeting Room 45, Hillman Road, Wisconsin Dells
• 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Wednesday, April 26– Minocqua Lakeland Union High School 9573 State Highway 70, Minocqua
As in the past, Board of Education members will speak at one or more of these sessions in order to share information about the impact the proposed budget would have on education in our community.
We have been fortunate to have had an opportunity to share our thoughts with our local legislators at both the state and federal level at our annual Legislative Linkage. The Board of Education would like to thank the following for their attendance at our last linkage held at the HSSD District Office on February 24.
• Senator Rob Cowles
• Senator Eric Wimberger
• Representative Elijah Behnke
• Village of Howard: President Burt McIntyre, Trustee Ray Suennen, Administrator Paul Evert
• Village of Suamico: Trustees Steve Andrews, Michelle Eckert, Dan Roddan; Administrator Alex Kaker
As a member of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB), we also have the opportunity to participate in a Day at the Capitol, which took place in Madison on March 22. During this event, we were able to join with other school boards to meet with our shared elected representatives. This is a great time to share a unified message and to bring forward common requests.
We know funding is important, but how we use that funding is most important of all. HSSD has been prudent stewards of the dollars allocated to us in the past and we will continue to be so moving forward.
These advocacy efforts are an important part of the Board of Education’s work. We will continue to maintain purposeful connections, meaningful relationships, and continued communication with our elected officials in order to share the potential impact of any budget or policy decisions.
For additional information about the Howard-Suamico School District or how you can support these efforts, please contact School Board member, Vanessa Moran at: vanemora@hssdschools.org.
