District budget update: unaudited 2023–24 shortfall shrinks to $73,000 after deferments and transfers

Platteville School District business administrator Demetri Andrews told the board on Sept. 11 that unaudited results for the 2023–24 fiscal year (ending June 30, 2024) show a general fund deficit of $73,000, a substantial improvement over a previously projected $1.4 million deficit.

Andrews and other administrators said the improvement resulted from several one-time and deliberate actions: unfilled positions (notably special education aides), deferred maintenance and technology purchases, reduced professional development expenditures and targeted budget reductions. The district emphasized that many of those measures are not sustainable long-term and warned that deferred maintenance and technology backlogs present operational risk.

The district also transferred $2.3 million from Fund 10 into Fund 27 to cover special education expenses for 2023–24; administrators had projected a $2.7 million transfer during budget planning. Officials noted that Wisconsin reimburses roughly 30% of special education costs, and that special-education services cannot be reduced without violating legal requirements or risking safety in high-need cases.

Administrators said the district's summer programming contributed positively: summer minutes generated an additional 23 FTE toward the district's state-aid three-year average, which the meeting described as roughly a $20,000 benefit in the district's aid calculation. The business office flagged that these figures are unaudited and that the formal audit typically finalizes numbers in November or December.

Board members and administrators reminded the public that an operational referendum is on the Nov. 5 ballot; staff said the district still needs operational revenue in 2024–25 and beyond and cautioned that the one-time deferments cannot be relied on as an ongoing budget strategy.