Kenosha district cites roughly $22 million shortfall after failed referendum; staff, teachers and community press board to protect classrooms

Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told the Kenosha Unified School District board on March 20 that the failure of a recent referendum has created “difficult budget decisions” for the coming school year and left the district facing a projected shortfall of about $22.4 million for 2025–26.

That deficit reflects a scenario administration presented that counts planned projects and security upgrades the referendum would have funded; with the ballot measure defeated, administrators are reclassifying or zeroing out items that had been counted in the ask. “We only had 3 and a half million dollars of revenue identified,” the district’s budget presenter, Mr. Hamden, said during the board’s budget update, adding that the district would still need to find about $4.4 million in reductions after removing referendum-funded items.

The funding gap has put a range of district proposals on the table: delaying or reducing a technology “refresh,” cutting or restructuring some nonclassroom and centrally funded positions through attrition, pausing nonessential facility projects and reconsidering curricular material purchases. Administration’s recommended short-term reductions include restoring only $500,000 of an originally proposed $2 million curriculum request and leaving staff…