KENOSHA, Wis. — The Kenosha Unified School District Board of Education voted Tuesday to spend $26,000 on professional polling as it begins exploring yet another operating referendum after voters rejected the district’s previous $115 million request. Board members Bob Tierney and Sabrina Landry opposed the expenditure, while Board President Carl Bryan, Rebecca Stevens, Todd Price, Robin Cullen and Mary Modder voted to move forward.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
The previous referendum sought $23 million per year for five years, or $115 million total. Despite that rejection, the district is now formally exploring whether to pursue another referendum in April 2027. District documents say the new polling could help determine whether to pursue a referendum, how much money to request and what might be included.
Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss and his administration recommended hiring Morris Leatherman Company for $26,000 to conduct the referendum-related community poll. Polling could begin Sept. 28, with results returning to the board Oct. 27. If the board ultimately proceeds, voters could see another referendum on April 6, 2027.
Several residents questioned why a district facing serious financial problems would spend another $26,000 on referendum polling after voters already rejected its previous request.
Amanda Meyer, a KUSD parent, taxpayer and founder of Kenosha Students First, criticized the proposed spending while KUSD simultaneously warns about a $17 million structural deficit and dwindling reserves.
“This administration wants to spend roughly $42,000 for ERS services and potentially tens of thousands of more on corporate polling,” Meyer told the board.
Meyer said a quick community poll she conducted found 57% would not support the proposed expenditures without a town hall, while 42% opposed them outright.
Valerie Kretschmer also urged the board not to spend more taxpayer money on another referendum consultant.
“Every additional dollar should be carefully evaluated and prioritized for our classrooms, not another consultant to determine whether we should pursue another referendum,” Kretschmer said.
Kretschmer said KUSD had already spent significant taxpayer money on consultants and referendum planning and questioned why the district was continuing down the same path without first addressing its underlying financial and operational problems.
During the board discussion, Tierney and Landry strongly opposed immediately spending the $26,000.
Tierney said KUSD was doing the process “backwards.” He argued the district should hold town halls and listen directly to taxpayers before paying for another poll, particularly because KUSD already paid for polling before its previous unsuccessful referendum.
“We should be going out to the community doing town halls, having them speak to us here and address their issues first,” Tierney said. “Before we spend a dime on it, I think we should just start by listening to the community.”
Tierney also pointed out that KUSD already had data from its previous referendum effort and questioned why the district should spend more money before listening directly to the taxpayers who will be asked to pay more.
Landry agreed that KUSD was proceeding in the wrong order and questioned spending money on polling before addressing residents’ concerns.
“We’re wasting our money on this poll,” Landry said.
Rebecca Stevens, however, argued that the $26,000 professional poll would help KUSD identify different groups of voters and determine whom the district needed to reach.
Stevens then made one of the most striking comments of the discussion while explaining why she supported the expenditure.
“As a grandparent, I’m gonna vote yes. I know that because I have grandchildren, but how do we influence our other people?” Stevens said.
Stevens continued by explaining that polling would allow KUSD to identify different groups of voters and determine whom it needed to reach.
“If you don’t reach out to all the groups that vote, you don’t know who to reach out to if you don’t have the information,” Stevens said. She said the district needed a clearer picture of whether voters would support another referendum.
Tierney pushed against the idea that the solution was influencing or convincing reluctant taxpayers. He argued that KUSD first needed to listen to the people it would be asking to provide more money.
Bryan also supported spending the $26,000. Price called the expenditure “well worth” it, while Cullen supported pursuing multiple approaches to community engagement in addition to professional polling.
The five-member majority ultimately approved the $26,000 expenditure, with only Tierney and Landry opposed.
A KUSD parent of four told KCE after the meeting that the vote showed district leadership had not gotten the message voters sent when they rejected the $115 million referendum.
“This school board is out of control,” the parent said. “We voted down the $115 million referendum because we shouldn’t be rewarding district administration and the board members for getting us into this financial ruin. Yet they still keep wanting to spend money to try to convince people to vote yes. They’re going to keep putting this up for referendum until it gets a yes vote.”
KUSD’s own timeline shows the referendum process continuing throughout the remainder of 2026. The board is scheduled to review the polling results on Oct. 27 and continue referendum discussions in November. If the board decides to proceed, it would move toward drafting ballot language in December, with final approval required no later than Jan. 26, 2027, for another referendum to appear before voters on April 6.
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