Fond du Lac board reviews $7.5 million referendum draft, security upgrades and possible school closures

The Fond du Lac School District Board of Education met in a special session to review community survey results and a draft ballot question for a proposed $7.5 million, four‑year nonrecurring operational referendum that staff say would prioritize staff retention, security upgrades and essential educational programming.

Matt Steinbarth, the presenter on the survey analysis, told trustees the polling and comment analysis showed the $7.5 million figure as the “most logical” option, with a weighted support estimate of about 53.8 percent. He said respondents—weighted 75 percent by community members and 25 percent by staff and district parents—ranked transparency in decision‑making, recruiting and retaining high‑quality staff, and school safety and security as the top three priorities.

“Those were the three highest vote getters,” Steinbarth said, adding that the community comments made school closure a notable outlier concern.

Why it matters: Trustees said voters need clearer language about what a yes vote would buy and how funds would be used. Board members and staff debated how specific the ballot question should be: more precise language narrows legally what the district may spend the money on, while broader…