By ANASTASIA PENCHI
DE SOTO, Wis. – The De Soto Area School Board will ask voters to approve a $3.6 million referendum this November.
The board unanimously passed a resolution on Aug. 17 to ask voters to exceed revenue limits by $500,000 in 2026-27; $1.4 million in 2027-28; and $1.7 million for 2028-29 for non-recurring purposes of “maintaining facilities, instructional programs, student services and updating security and network technology systems.”
The three-year non-recurring operational referendum would cover the district’s budget deficit and eliminate all but 30 percent of its fund balance – keeping only enough to prevent short-term borrowing in the fall before tax payments come in. It also includes money to replace the district’s phone system to a cloud-based system and update its security system and cameras at the Middle & High School.
Superintendent Tim Fergot provided the board with a $210,000 estimate he received to replace the district’s phone and security camera systems. He cautioned the bid is not exact as prices are “very volatile.”
Board Treasurer Marc Stevermer, who “(does) this for a living,” said he thought the estimate was high and vague. He said the district will need to determine exactly what it wants a security system to do before it goes back out to bid.
Board member Tony Walker said it was still good to have a “ballpark figure” to work with as they finalized referendum amounts.
Fergot said the district is also exploring federal grants, which may end up covering some of the security costs, but “these are needs we have to meet.”
De Soto is among 82 percent of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts with declining enrollment, according to the district’s financial advisor Baird Public Finance. During the last decade, 301 Wisconsin districts (71 percent) have had operational referendums: 267 (63 percent) were approved; 154 (37 percent) were denied.
The De Soto Area School District’s 2025-26 mill rate of $5.66 was the third lowest among the districts in the Cooperative Educational Service Agency # 4, which is made up of 26 school districts in west and central Wisconsin.
This is the district’s fourth try at a referendum in the past three years. It’s previous ones failed: $4.8 million in April 2024; $5.5 million in November 2024; and $4.2 million in April 2025.
The board has since completed an Enrollment Study, a Facility Study, an in-depth budget monitoring report and has surveyed residents. It has also made budget cuts of $750,000 and created a 33-member Community Stakeholder Committee that recommended the district consolidate its elementary schools and relocate them to the Middle & High School campus in De Soto.
The board has not yet acted on that recommendation, but has discussed it as it has been planning the operational referendum, which will be held during general elections on Nov. 3.
The Marketing and Communications Committee also provided the board with two postcards it plans to mail voters soon during its regular August meeting. Committee members are working with Fergot to set up times for him to meet with the community.
The next step for the committee is to develop a communication strategy, said Stevermer, who serves on it with other board members, teachers and district staff. It will likely involve social media and maybe even yard signs. The district has only eight weeks to make its case.
“I think we’ve made a lot of good progress,” added Stevermer. “We’re taking this serious.”
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