Kenosha Unified seeks $23 million-a-year, five-year referendum to plug budget shortfall and fund safety upgrades

Kenosha Unified Superintendent Jeff Weiss told residents at a town hall that the district will ask voters on Feb. 18 whether to allow the district to exceed its state revenue limit by $23,000,000 per year for five years to cover operating costs and debt service for safety improvements.

The referendum question, Weiss said, is a nonrecurring five‑year measure that would “beginning with the 2025–26 school year and ending with the 2029–30 school year” and would provide $23 million each year; after five years the authorization would expire unless voters approve another question.

Weiss said the district faces a structural funding gap caused by state revenue limits that have not kept pace with inflation and by the end of the ESSER federal aid that many districts used for ongoing costs. He said KUSD closed schools and reduced staff in the most recent “rightsizing” process, which saved about $10 million annually but that the district still faces a projected $19 million deficit for 2025–26. “Had state funding kept pace with inflation, KUSD would have had an additional $31,000,000 available in its budget and an operational referendum would not be necessary,” Weiss said.

Why it matters: Weiss and district leaders framed the question as a choice between asking local voters for temporary additional revenue and making deeper cuts to staff, programs and maintenance. The presentation listed likely consequences if the referendum fails: larger class sizes, reduced student programming, postponed maintenance and other reductions the district said would impair educational…