As Tosa school district responds to $4 million budget error, some board members explored partial merger with MPS

 

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As the Wauwatosa School District seeks to close a budget gap caused by what officials call a $4 million budgeting error, board members got testy at times Monday when one member revealed other board members quietly looked into a possible partial merger with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

The district's chief financial officer, Scot Ecker, detailed in a memo last week to the board how Wauwatosa's 2023-24 budget included a $4,219,646 "error in budgeting."

Ecker maintained there was no evidence of anything fraudulent happening under his predecessor. Instead, he said the 2024-25 budget was initially built with numbers based on the 2023-24 budget as opposed to what the district actually spent.

But before Ecker could get into a presentation on the 2024-25 budget, there was a tense exchange when board clerk Michael Meier revealed the board had received a legal opinion last week about whether Wauwatosa schools could enter into a partial merger with MPS.

Discussions into such a shift were prompted by declining enrollment and birth rates in both cities. Meier called for the opinion to be released to the public, which other board members first discussed during a retreat in February.

"There have been rumors over the years about some wild proposal to merge MPS and Wauwatosa schools," Meier said. "And it was always said, 'Well, that's silly.' Well, folks, we have a legal opinion now addressing the question."

Another member of the board, Lynne Woehrle, quickly noted the board had since learned such a merger, which called for changing the district's boundaries, would not be allowed.

"The legal opinion we received was that it can't, and that is something we cannot pursue," Woehrle said.

Still, the discussion renewed hard feelings that include a lawsuit Meier filed against his own board, alleging other members were violating Wisconsin's open meetings laws. Wisconsin Public Radio reported last month Meier had settled the lawsuit for $132,500.

Eventually, Meier clashed with the board's vice president, Jenny Hoag.

"Shame on you, Dr. Hoag, who has called me unethical in the past," Meier said.

Hoag responded, "And you are unethical."

At that point, board President Eric Jessup-Anger called for a "pause" before directing the meeting into a five-minute recess.

Board members did agree they should vote at an upcoming meeting to release the MPS merger opinion to the public.

"As soon as we can get that out there, I think the better we will all be served," Superintendent Demond Means said.

Late Monday night, the board scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday. The one item on the agenda was "action to approve the release of a legal opinion."

Latest on budget error, how to close gap

Ecker said the district was purchasing additional software to track spending and project it throughout the year; that way, the board can find out sooner if spending is exceeded what had been budgeted. He added the district was also looking into bringing in an outside firm to monitor the district's spending throughout the year.

Taxpayers had their first chance to sound off Monday since the error became widely known last week through Ecker's memo.

"Accounting errors have no room in school districts, and they have no room on any other board or any other board or any other business in the world," resident Kate Bertram said. "I'm asking today for a private, external audit of the accounting worksheets."

District administration has been able to come up with $2.4 million by raising employees' health insurance premiums and leaving several positions vacant. That would still leave a $1.8 million budget gap, which Ecker recommended closing by dipping into the district's reserves.

"So, we're blessed to have a healthy fund balance in our district through many years of pretty conservative fiscal management," Ecker said. "And so, we have a safety net that we'll be able to use this year, provided they approve that."

The district's long-term fiscal outlook does not offer any such relief. Continuing a statewide trend of school districts seeking additional help from taxpayers, Wauwatosa has put a pair of referendums on the November ballot.

Voters will decide whether to approve a $64 million referendum that would help fund district operations between the 2025-26 and 2028-29 school years. The other referendum would provide $60 million for facility improvements over a 20-year period at the district's elementary schools.

The referendum came up often during public comment Monday.

"How would a failed referendum benefit our kids?" parent Kristin Hagen asked. "A failed referendum will mean cuts to programming our kids enjoy."

Other speakers said they were hesitant to back the referendum until outside eyes could assure them the district's finances would be properly managed moving forward.

"It is not anti-referendum. It is calling for accountability," resident Barb Schoenherr said. "So that we spend that money responsibly."