Elkhorn board member urges voters to back $4 million referendum, blames reduced state support

Kyle Gordon, a 39‑year teaching veteran and a member of the Elkhorn Area School District board, urged residents to support a $4,000,000 referendum on April 1 to fund district operations, saying state funding shortfalls have left local districts dependent on voter approval.

"The state has a $4,100,000,000 surplus," Gordon said, adding that the state has placed $1,900,000,000 in a rainy‑day fund and left about $2,200,000,000 available for discretionary spending. Gordon framed that figure as a contrast with what he described as diminishing state support for K‑12 education.

Gordon traced the pressure on local budgets to a change in state policy he dates to 1993, when a per‑student spending cap was put in place. He said the state historically covered two‑thirds of annual inflation increases but stopped doing so around 2009, shifting more of the burden to local districts. "If that had not happened in 2009, we wouldn't be talking about a referendum right now," he said.

He also said that during the pandemic years (2021–2023) the state did not provide additional funding and districts relied on federal pandemic aid. Gordon said the district returned to pre‑pandemic funding levels in 2023 and cited Elkhorn's per‑student state aid as $325, arguing that high inflation during the intervening years reduced purchasing power.

Gordon placed the Elkhorn situation in a statewide context, saying of the 421 public school districts in Wisconsin, 85% have sought referendums in the past two years. He noted the board has approved going to referendum three times in the recent period and that votes in April 2023 and November 2024 failed.

Gordon closed by asking listeners to back the upcoming April 1 referendum to support day‑to‑day operations of the Elkhorn Area School District. The referendum is scheduled to appear before voters on that date; the transcript does not record a board vote at this meeting to place the question on the ballot.