Stoughton
Thursday, January 23, 2020 • Vol. 138, No. 27 • Stoughton, WI • ConnectStoughton.com • $1.25
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Budget deficits loom for SASD
Stoughton Area School District
Financial forecast predicts mounting expenses and less revenue coming in SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Mackenzie Krumme
Students record the weekly Bluegill News podcast to emphasize students voice and give parents an extra layer of communication. From left to right the podcasters are Norah Kluck, Maddie Oftsie, Rhianna Starr, Kristin Rosenberg, Mikayla Simpson-Verriden, Maggie Mechler, and Lia Tiede. Maddy Thoren, who is not pictured, is also a podcaster.
Bluegills hit the air
Kegonsa Elementary podcasters record weekly news update
STOUGHTON
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two years, gives students a voice outside of the classroom, librarian Kristin Rosenberg said. Students often To listen to the latest episode of the Bluegills talk about personal themes that relate News visit: to students and adults, in addition to rosenbergreads.podbean.com upcoming events. MACKENZIE KRUMME Rosenberg said she thought the Unified Newspaper Group and family the recent events and idea of a podcast would be a good announcements that are happening at way to reach families who get Every week, seven fifth graders use Kegonsa Elementary School. bogged down with other forms of a silver mic, audio editing software The Bluegill News, a podcast that communication from the school. and a radio voice to tell their peers has been airing weekly for the past Turn to Podcast/Page 12
While predicting budgets years down the road is difficult, no crystal ball is needed to see the Stoughton Area School District will be facing tough choices in the near future without more revenues. Monday night, school board members heard the district’s latest five-year financial forecast, and while next year’s budget is considered manageable, district director of business services Erica Pickett said beyond that, “it gets a little bit uglier.” First, the good news. Pickett said based on information from district financial advisor Baird Financial Services Company, the 2020-21 school year has a projected deficit of around $300,000; a number she termed as “very manageable,” given the district’s $45 million budget. “That’s definitely something we can manage through some minor reduction, or just some shifts in
what we might see in any given year,” she said. Then things start to get scary. Based on the Baird models, Pickett and the finance committee ran through three scenarios for the next five years: one with no increase in state aid, one with a $150 increase in revenue limit for 2021-22 and 2022-23 and one with a $150 per pupil increase in 2021-22 and another $150 in 2022-23. In a worst-case scenario, the district would be facing deficits of around $1.9 million in 2021-22, and more than $7 million by 2024-25. In the best-case scenario, there would still be deficits of around $1.4 million and $6.3 million during those years, respectively. Pickett said the financial forecast, updated every year, is a “very comprehensive tool” the district has used successfully to predict how their budgets will be a few years into the future. S h e s a i d t h e d i s t r i c t ’s enrollment decline since 2002 has been “fairly predictable” at around 50 students lost a year and is used as a starting point when estimating future budgets. One factor that could
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City of Stoughton
Feedback sought on whitewater plan Info booths, presentation, Q&A on Jan. 29 at SHS RENEE HICKMAN Unified Newspaper Group
The City of Stoughton will present a plan next week to the public to redevelop its downtown riverfront into a regional tourist destination with the addition of a whitewater park.
Over the past year, city officials have been working on a plan that would modify the Fourth Street dam, where the Yahara River runs through the city, and create a series of drops and a surfing wave for paddlers to enjoy. The city is looking for feedback to consider as the city’s parks and recreation department comes up with a final design for the park, which parks and rec director Dan Glynn said he
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expects to be constructed starting in 2021. Glynn said the surfing wave will be the only one of its kind in the region and could bring up to $30 million annually to Stoughton’s economy. The amount was determined by a 2018 economic study co-authored by Glynn and University of Wisconsin-Madison students and faculty. The meeting will take place on Jan. 29 at the Stoughton High School
Performing Arts Center, 600 Lincoln Ave. Glynn and Gary Lacy of Recreation Engineering and Planning will present the plan to members of the public, including information on what the city believes it could do for Stoughton’s economy as well as the land and water along the Yahara. Lacey and Glynn will discuss the vision for the
Inside Vikings remain undefeated in duals Page 7
Turn to Whitewater/Page 9
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