Kenosha Voters Reject $115 Million KUSD Referendum in Strong Rebuke

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(File Photo By Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Kenosha, Wis. – A controversial $115 million referendum for the Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) was handily defeated Tuesday night, with voters across the City of Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, and Somers sending a clear message against what many see as years of financial mismanagement and administrative bloat.

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The referendum, which sought to address budget shortfalls and facility upgrades, was widely criticized as a band-aid solution for a district plagued by declining enrollment yet expanding high-paid administrative positions. Even in the typically left-leaning City of Kenosha, the measure failed. The unofficial vote count stood at 10,586 “NO” votes to 9,048 “YES” votes—an eight-point margin, notable for a low-turnout primary election.

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Community Outrage Over Spending Practices

For many voters, the referendum’s failure represents a victory for accountability. Andrew Schmidt expressed his satisfaction, saying, “Best news I heard today.” Jim Barrette echoed similar sentiments, adding, “Glad it failed. Need more accountability and transparency. Very shady spending. Too much administration, and bad teachers can’t be held accountable.”

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The discontent with KUSD’s financial practices was a recurring theme among those opposing the referendum. Critics have long pointed to the district’s expanding bureaucracy, even as student numbers dwindle, as evidence of poor fiscal stewardship. “This is a big-time wake-up call for KUSD!” said Joey Karls. “The silent majority has spoken once again!”

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Fear of Repeat Attempts by KUSD

Despite the decisive rejection, many voters voiced concerns that KUSD officials would continue pushing similar referendums in the future without addressing the root issues of mismanagement and overspending.

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“They’ll be back again,” predicted Robert Morgan. “Until foundational changes are made, I don’t expect anything other than more attempts to squeeze taxpayers for more money.”

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The KUSD board, which is predominantly Democratic, has not yet indicated its next steps, but opponents of the referendum remain skeptical of any genuine reforms without significant public pressure.

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Republican Party of Kenosha County Chair, Sandy Weidemeyer
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Statement from Republican Party of Kenosha County

Sandy Wiedmeyer, Chair of the Republican Party of Kenosha County, praised the referendum’s defeat, stating, “This evening, voters in Kenosha Unified School District sent a strong message. They will not continue to throw more money at a failing system. Taxpayers are unhappy with the lack of transparency, the reckless spending, and the indoctrination of our kids. KUSD needs to trim the fat. Spending has gone up while enrollment has gone down, all while results are plummeting.

I am glad the voters educated themselves and saw through the misinformation and manipulative tactics of the vote yes groups. Now on to elect two fiscally conservative candidates who will be fair, open, and honest; all while considering what is best for students of the district. Get out April 1st and vote Valerie Kretchmer and Andreas Mamalakis!”

Valerie Kretchmer

Conservative Candidates Move On to General Election

In addition to the referendum’s defeat, two conservative school board candidates, Valerie Kretchmer and Andreas Mamalakis, were also on the ballot and will advance to the general election in April.

Valerie Kretchmer expressed her enthusiasm for the outcome, stating, “I’m excited about the results and the referendum not going through! Now I know what strategy I need moving forward and I’m ready to hit the ground running!”

Running against the two conservative candidates in April are long-time liberal board member Rebecca Stevens and former board member Carl Bryan.

Looking Ahead

With this referendum’s defeat, the spotlight now shifts to the KUSD board’s response. Will district leaders acknowledge the public’s demand for greater accountability, or will they attempt another funding request without meaningful changes?

For now, the voters have spoken—loudly. And their message to KUSD is clear: No more blank checks for mismanagement.

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131 Responses

    1. Thanks for making all of the information available so people are informed and can vote accordingly. I do find it very pathetic that only 20K people voted on the referendum. Need to get out and vote in April to start to turn the school board over!

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    2. Kevin, I have an excellent teacher in my school.
      To this day, she still cares and she helps. I had a child that didn’t know how to read and in a summer she taught him how to read not only taught him how to read. He has gone up like five grade levels.
      Why can’t we see teachers like that get some sort of award or money towards their program?

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      1. I agree! Everyone keeps bashing teachers without realizing that there are great ones that work tirelessly and have integrity. They are getting treated with such disrespect! Don’t you all understand they are frustrated and scared? It’s an environment of fear and the bullies are just letting that continue. Shit runs downhill. Start with the top of administrative staff to clean house. There are too many top heavy ineffective and unproductive big wigs.

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      2. They get a reward with every paycheck, I believe the real question should be why can’t we get rid of so much administration and the constant threat of lawsuits draining the coffers?

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      1. Well, Obama said that elections have consequences, and the morons that were elected four years ago are being, “consequenced”.

    3. Ok, now what? Our kids schools have excellent teachers among the bad and horrible. I’d venture to say that most of my Kid’s teachers are good to great. So many of them are going to quit/leave.
      Time will tell. My kids have superb teachers now. I hope they stay.

        1. Sure it was, but it was never going to go for the kids. The teachers union loves to remind us over and over again that the teachers can’t take the place of parents and a supportive home. No amount of my property taxes will change someone else’s parents and home, some of that money would definitely go to the teachers but it won’t make any difference in achievement. The only way grades will go up will be if the standards are constantly lowered.

      1. That is the truth. I was astounded at the level of nepotism in KUSD after viewing the salary database.

        It’s shameful this administration wasted so much time and money trying to get this referendum passed and are likely to waste even more money on future attempts.

        Someone should be held accountable for wasting the taxpayer’s money. It’s absolutely insane they are begging for more money when some of these teachers are pulling in nearly 100k a school year.

        I would like to thank Kenosha County Eye for their work. If someone types “Kenosha news” into a google search, kenoshacountyeye.com should be the first website that pops up.

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  1. The referendum was defeated 51%-49% in the city and the heaviest no votes came out of Somers and Pleasant Prairie.

    They will be back.

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    1. Yea when they start closing schools in these areas everyone will be begging to keep them open. Not this time, time to close more schools cut admin jobs, secretaries, custodians, oh ya music programs at elementary and extra curricular at middle schools. Then the podium will be full again. But this time it won’t matter.

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    2. Hopefully Pleasant Prairie has woken up after the Steinbrink Jr. corruption and his arrest.

      Next, vote Eric Meadows in for President and Matthew Henby for Trustee#3 in PP! Let’s do what Salem did! Get rid of the corruption!

    3. Yeah…Pleasant Prairie already got suckered into an “endless” referendum recently. All the scare tactics that were used to say our parks weren’t going to be taken care of and our roads wouldn’t get plowed as much along with not having enough emergency responders.
      Pleasat Prairie fell for it and there is NO END to it. We will always have this increase on our taxes! They needed this money for the “future” residents they were “anticipating” would be moving in PP. What’s worse, is the taxes will not be lessened when the “new” people move in. They won’t have to pay any of it! It should be adjusted as new people move in and eventually gone.
      Thankfully, for THIS one, they were awake!

      1. Not accurate. Like it or not (and I voted no) the referendum clearly identified what it was for and how much it would cost.

        1. Look who runs the village enough said where is all the money from new sub divisions and warehouses? Why would anyone stay on the village board for over 30 years? VOTE ERIC

  2. Well Done, Kenosha.

    As the article stated, now comes the big question. Does the School Board pivot toward the process of substantial across the board Staff Reductions to balance the budget, or are we in for annual Referendums until the KEA gets their way?

    Large scale reductions of Teaching staff, Administrators, and ESC staff is the only solution. There are no other avenues to meaningful savings. The School Board needs to grow a spine and shut down the KEA control of their decision making process.

    Putting Kretchmer and Mamalakis on the School Board would be a terrific next step toward that end.

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    1. You are absolutely correct.And i think they need to start with getting rid of Weiss and his bloated salary as the first step

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    2. To your first question , unfortunately the latter will be their move . The chair warriors on 52nd St will have to be dragged out kicking and screaming.
      The ” it’s all about the kids” trype has been overused to the point that it’s laughable . The majority of kids can’t perform at grade level.
      We spend more per pupil than any other country.
      The results simply are not there.

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      1. This is true! If it was about the kids more of them would be able to read and write like they’re supposed to. The system failed them horribly and the schools just pass them on without a single care in the world

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  3. Kevin, Thank you for informing the public. In the future they will need to sell their message through your site. Bad ideas will need to be vetted through KCE. Thank you for looking out to tax payers. Anyone that appreciates this site should find ways to support it. KCE is truly informing the public.

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    1. No doubt, without KCE the school would have mislead the public into thinking it a do or die situation. Good schools should be funded and schools on the wrong trajectory should be challenged for real change. Teachers are not usually the problem but leadership and choices are. We need more taxpayers with common sense to commit to a term or two on these boards, then change will happen.

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  4. It is no wonder why the private schools in Kenosha County have nearly record enrollment. KUSD wants an open checkbook.

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  5. For years Educators in Administrative positions always claim they need more people for oversight and the importance of their positions. What we need is less Administrators and more teachers. The Administration doesn’t teach anyone anything but waste high amounts of money on their salaries. They hold useless meetings to say how great they are doing. When in fact are actually failing our kids. The reality is that the student are lagging behind and low test scores are the results. Time for the 52nd Street building to be reduced in positions and spend the money in the class rooms to improve student education. Get back to reading, writing, science, and math. These will improve the quality of students that leave the school system.

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  6. Music to my ears!! So glad to see KUSD didn’t bully their way into getting more money out us taxpayers. Enough is enough. Now it’s time for them to self reflect and make changes towards accountability. The majority of teachers are terrible and don’t belong teaching.

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  7. These kids education can’t get any worse than it is now!! They need to go back and teach the basic in math, reading, social studies and science. Then the parents will be able to help their kids. These kids can’t even write in cursive, can’t figure out bank accounts, and so much more!!!

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    1. Interesting viewpoint. I’m not in any way trying to support KUSD here but my two KUSD students are doing just fine. Parenting and guidance plays a huge role. You can’t just dump them off and expect the school to teach them everything.

      Maybe we should stop spending money on athletics? That would certainly help. Somehow they always find money for that. Please dont try to say that the booster clubs cover all that cost. We know that’s not true.

      Also, they haven’t taught cursive for many years. Useless skill. It’s not 1942 and we need to send Billy a handwritten letter in Normandy.

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        1. I am pretty confident they can figure out a signature without learning cursive.

          Hell most things are e-signed now anyways…..

      1. Athletics? My child plays, we buy everything. All equipment & uniform comes out of my pocket. I’m the “booster”. We do play at a very nice field, but we could also play at any of the other fields in the city without a problem. We also fundraise, I don’t get an itemized list of where that decent amount of money goes. On top of being a taxpayer. Cuts need to be made for sure and that needs to start at the bloated administration level.

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        1. So if a kid plays football for example, the parents have to buy everything? Pads, helmet, jersey etc?

          Agree there is a ridiculous amount of bloat in administration. Also maintenance. I think they have as many plows and mowers as the city.

          I always wonder also why the 52nd st building needed a fancy new lighted sign. I know that’s small potatoes in the grand scheme but decisions like this show the overall lack of fiscal responsibility.

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  8. Know what’s scary, though?

    Think of all the weirdos who voted for this and for Carlotta eats a bunch of Cox AKA Carl Bryan.

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  9. I am so glad I found countyeye.com. I’ve been reading the Kenosha News which must be written by the local democratic party and the AP. I will be checking this website every day as I don’t like what’s happening in the area. Between the governor, the state supreme court, and the unions it is beginning to look more and more like Illinois.

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  10. Now that this ridiculous referendum has been shot down for now if there were some smart teachers in the KUSD they would be banding together and demanding accountability from the school board and administration. Im sure there were teachers who saw or heard about the numerous grooming or assault cases over the past 2 years and either turned a blind eye or were scared to say something. But in that vein im sure there were ones who did report and nothing was done. This should be a clear indication that we as parents want to know what is going on while the kids are at school and we won’t piss away money for a failing system. So if the teachers want raises they need to start holding their own accountable and demanding higher standards and results for the students. Once the budgets and administration are in order maybe its time to look at alternative tax revenue besides just jacking up the property taxes.

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  11. BIG THANK YOU KEVIN!!! You thru County Eye brought all the dirt forward!! How much money did they waste trying to pass a referendum, mailing, and outside interest working for it?

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  12. Schools are about to close due to a lack of students. We are paying for undocumented students. A bunch of social workers and resources are assigned, and yet, we have teachers grooming students. On top of that, they want more money? Uncle Elon, you need to come to Kenosha and analyze how effective our system is.

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    1. All those billions of dollars that the state has send back our money.
      Record number referendums throughout the state. You think there’s a problem?

      1. Bidenflation didn’t help, but I’m not going to voluntarily raise my taxes while I’m already paying the Biden tax every time I go to the store.

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        1. Wait! We still have inflation? Trump promised everyone inflation would be fixed on the first day of his presidency. Every member of his cult believed him.

          He owns it now and all the misery that he will impose on his dim-witted supporters.

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  13. Pleasant Prairie and Somers. Little care about their kids. Cuz the elitist sent them to private schools. It’s a lot cheaper to educate a kid. Then have an adult in prison.

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  14. Speaking of blatant deceptions: in 1993 the Kenosha Unified School District was converted to the Kenosha Common School District where Kenosha, Somers and Pleasant Prairie voters get to approve or disapprove school policy at an annual meeting in late summer.

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    1. And its always the teachers who show up at those meetings to approve the items. We need to start paying attention and attending those meetings!!!

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      1. Before she ran for office, Amanda Nedweski led a grassroots effort to slash KUSD school board salaries and to cut the proposed tax levy at the annual meeting of electors in response to their irresponsible spending and outrageous government overreach during covid. Took them totally off guard. They had no idea it was coming. That meeting was epic. Eric Meadows took the gavel from Yolanda Adams. All smoothly executed while the two KEA members there and the sitting school board freaked out. Bill Haithcock was sh*tting his pants.

        The unions bussed people in from out of town weeks later to overturn the decision, but nonetheless, she organized a huge effective effort that sent a pointed message from parents. She’s NOTHING like Kerkman. Now she’s running the state DOGE committee. I bet KUSD is on her hit list.

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  15. And then they make threats:

    Dear Families and Staff,

    We are writing to share that, according to preliminary election results, Kenosha Unified’s proposed operational referendum question on the Feb. 18 ballot fell short of being approved by voters.

    As we have shared throughout this process, our budget challenges will worsen as the costs of utilities, health insurance, transportation and salaries continue to increase, outpacing any funding increases we might see from the state. We are projecting a $19+ million budget deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year alone.

    Moving forward, district leaders and board members will need to make difficult decisions regarding cuts to programs, services and staffing. KUSD will also face further budget deficits in future school years.

    We know this result does not reflect the community’s support for our schools. Instead, the proposed referendum was not the right solution at this time. We sincerely appreciate your engagement and thoughtful questions throughout this process.

    We will continue to communicate with you as we determine next steps. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support.

    Sincerely,

    Mary Modder Dr. Jeffrey Weiss
    Board President Superintendent of Scho

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    1. I told you people that Mary Modder and her husband Marv were leftist union agitators , but you didn’t listen . Mary and Rebecca Stevens are the biggest leftists on the board. We need to get rid of them ASAP !

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  16. Dr. Weiss has shown us that he is incapable of doing his job, to the tune of $228,000 a year for his bloated tax payer salary. He has failed his number #1 priority which is to protect our kids in the schools. Combined that with wasteful spending, poor decision making and underachieving test results and were supposed to hand over more money? For what??
    For me, I’ll continue to vote no on school referendums until Dr. Weiss leaves KUSD. Understandably, there’s no guarantees on his replacement, but he needs to go!

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      1. Not quite as bad as the media trying to force everyone to call Jill Biden a “doctor”.

        Or the previous Kenosha County health administrator who lied throughout covid to be called a “doctor” even though she knew absolutely nothing about medicine. Her “doctor” was in management.

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      2. Doctorate in Education. There are more than one type of doctorate degrees out there besides a medical doctorate. I can see by your comment you are well educated.

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    1. Bristol school just got rid of their shitty administrator. These figure heads give two flying fucks about our kids.

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  17. These people are crazy now this is short of threats
     

    Dear Families and Staff,

    We are writing to share that, according to preliminary election results, Kenosha Unified’s proposed operational referendum question on the Feb. 18 ballot fell short of being approved by voters.

    As we have shared throughout this process, our budget challenges will worsen as the costs of utilities, health insurance, transportation and salaries continue to increase, outpacing any funding increases we might see from the state. We are projecting a $19+ million budget deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year alone. 

    Moving forward, district leaders and board members will need to make difficult decisions regarding cuts to programs, services and staffing. KUSD will also face further budget deficits in future school years.

    We know this result does not reflect the community’s support for our schools. Instead, the proposed referendum was not the right solution at this time. We sincerely appreciate your engagement and thoughtful questions throughout this process.

    We will continue to communicate with you as we determine next steps. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support.

    Sincerely,

    Mary Modder Dr. Jeffrey Weiss
    Board President Superintendent of Scho

    1. I hope people take a good read at that letter, it’s important to realize that this clown just told everyone they didn’t know what they wanted and they didn’t want what they voted for. Guess what, they don’t want Weiss, Carl Bryant was worse than a joke last time, and Stevens has supported everything that’s going on for the last few years so she really needs to go. She’s like Yolanda Adams, if you get my drift.

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    2. The remarks should not be unanticipated. Taxpayers refused more money for KUSD and the superintendent and board president say they will make spending cuts as a result.

  18. Kevin.

    In the general KUSD board election, are there two seats to be decided? Stevens came in #1 and #Bryan #3 Kretchmer was #2 and Mama was #4. Stevens is incompetent, but she has name recognition, not accomplishment. Ray Radigans probably went out of business because Stevens was no lonbgerbeing “entertained” by former KEA president Kiriacki. and still qualify to be on the KUSD board? Conservatives need to make sure that Bryan doesn’t sneak in at #2. How is he able to hold down a full time job in Madison and do “d” shows on the weekend and still qualify to be on the board? Does he have a home and pay real estate taxes in Kenosha, or is he using his parents’ address? He’s a free spending lib. No kids in KUSD, either. As a child, he campaigned against Act 10. Unfortunately, Modder will try to push him on taxpayers. How about some negative publicity on him?

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  19. Everyone’s talking about the money, but I think a big reason this was voted down was because of all the pedos and pervs being covered up by KUSD, and exposed by KCE

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  20. Great the referendum was shot down.
    Not only the KUSD, But the whole state and country needs to rid the education system of ALL modern day Democrats, who have mot only squandered $$$, but heave pushed all the lunacy Woke DEI B.S.
    Vote out All of these Idiots!

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  21. DARRIN MANICK is a male Karen from White Caps who is scolding everyone on the nextdoor app about the no vote today.
    A review of his posts reveals that he is whinny little bitch complaining a out other’s driving, recycling, dog walking ect.
    Since Nextdoor is run my San Francisco trannies, I just wanted to say here: Fuck you Darren, get used to losing.
    Go back to MN and kiss Somali ass with the rest of the libtardss

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  22. A lot of cleaning house needs to happen at KUSD. As far as extracurricular activities….I’d rather know that students are learning. Extracurricular activities can be held via private sectors & those parents pay, not taxpayers. Also if larger than normal class sizes teachers should have an assistant. One teacher cannot properly teach 40 kids!

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    1. Relax, they can just relax the standards so that everybody’s grades stay constant and they can continue to pat themselves on the back while demanding raises.

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  23. Kenosha city and county voting residents continue to make bad decisions over and over again. America must reform its approach to education. Get the Feds out of education and diminish the states role as well. We continue to throw enormous dollars at education with decades of poor results and no end in sight. KUSD’s elected boards continue to fail us by selecting bad leadership and listening to dug in staff and power brokers. We need to take drastic action and support good staff and teachers and get rid of the rest. It won’t be easy with a complacent electorate. WHAT A DISGUSTING MESS!

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  24. 1). Cut all bussing and transportation and fund it by the families.
    2). Have sports teams fund all costs and rent facilities from the city, and pay for the league with all costs.
    3). Sell the schools closed and invest the money so the district is run on the interest and investments.
    4). Get rid of paperwork administrators at the District level. Do not pay admin extra retirement benefits or buy out sick leave for under 15 years of service.
    5). Fine Truancy and constantly late families to fund secure entrances and mental health counseling extra services. Every time a person walks in late to a class, without an excuse they pay $1/ minute late
    6). Students/families are required to get their own WiFi and buy their own chrome book and chargers.
    7). Students refusing to do work or engage do not get socially promoted to a half assed joke of a make up credit. They retake the class at their own expense. Students that fail and lack ability go through a hearing process to support needs. Not schooling by choice is funded by the parents and teenager wasting the taxpayers money.
    8). All extra curricular sports and clubs are funded by the student and the cost funds the space rental and any coach or adult unless the club provides service to the city, school or community.

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    1. Most kids don’t qualify for bussing anyway. It sucks. Bussing makes it easier for two parents to work. It helps the economy. My kids are responsible. I would love to have a bus drop them off and pick them up. It limits my job choices. I like my current job and company, but it would be nice to not have to rush out the door at 257 when i still have work to do. I’d let my kid be a latchkey kid for an hour or two in the afternoon. The lack of bussing limits economic opportunity and really makes it difficult for families that want two full time working adults.

  25. Have the district go to 4 ten hour days and close the buildings one day of the week. Maybe attendance would improve and you could save operational costs for the saved closed day in heat and light and facilities.

    Everyone saves gas and might be more motivated since attendance by Kenosha is so horrible and embarrassing for this community. All of your doctor appointments could be on that day.

    Daycare workers would make better money.

    Businesses could hire teenagers to work and gain real experience on that day benefitting the community.

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  26. KUSD has plenty of money. Most people don’t know where to look. It’s on KUSD website in their finance section. KUSD has $269,155,653.00. They refuse to touch it because of some credit ratings. We are told its for emergencies.

    Source: https://www.kusd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/adopted-budget-24-25.pdf

    Page: 38

    Explanation of all this….

    it’s common for school districts to maintain a large fund balance without using it for operational expenses, and credit ratings are a significant factor.

    Here’s why:

    1. Credit Ratings & Borrowing Costs – Credit rating agencies, like Moody’s or S&P, assess a district’s financial health when determining its credit rating. A strong fund balance helps secure better ratings, reducing borrowing costs for future projects like infrastructure improvements.

    2. Long-Term Stability – Tapping into the fund balance for recurring expenses can create structural deficits. If the district starts relying on these funds to cover budget gaps, it may struggle financially in the long run.

    3. State & Federal Compliance – Some portions of the fund balance may be restricted or earmarked for specific uses, limiting how freely the district can spend it.

    4. Unforeseen Emergencies – Having a healthy fund balance ensures the district can handle unexpected costs, such as economic downturns, declining enrollment, or emergency repairs.

    While it might seem like an easy solution to use these funds, many districts avoid it to maintain financial stability and keep their credit rating strong. If the district were to spend down its reserves, it could lead to increased borrowing costs in the future, ultimately making financial management more difficult.

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    1. They keep the slush fund to be used to pay the banks once the system crashes and goes bankrupt. Banks win, people lose

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    2. “KUSD has $269,155,653.00.”

      My bank chases after me just to open any old savings account.
      Wonder if KUSD management handles it’s own investments or contracts that out and does anyone ever check to see how KUSD investments are doing?

    3. The amount on page 38 of the budget is not fund balance. It is the budgeted General Fund expenditures for 2024-2025 fiscal year.

    1. Yes. Brain washing sessions to swallow the lgbtq agenda. No math, no history no nothing and the tax payers pay for it. F them all

      3
      1
      1. I just want to confirm that you think the schools are no longer teaching math or history? You think it’s just LGBTQ agenda class all day? Do you have children in school? Did you attend school? – because it definitely appears you did not..

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  27. Instead of all this hype, shouldn’t we be concerned that the vote was decided by maybe 1100 people?

    We need to get out the vote…..1100 people can be swayed or just not show up the next election and the results could differ.

    2
    1
  28. If you become a teacher you do it for the love of the children not money. The whole system is completely corrupt and the kids get left behind

    2
    1
    1. Do you not get expect to get paid at your job, is that not a mitigating factor in your employment.

      1
      1
  29. I think it’s time to leave some kids behind.Like the ones who don’t want to be there and do nothing but raise hell.Teachers could actually do their job

  30. We need private school voucher options for all KUSD residents, and hopefully that will become an option in the changing political climate. Give parents options regarding how their educational tax dollars are spent, and create competitiion that will force the public schools to clean up their act.

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