Oct. 1, 2026
By ANASTASIA PENCHI
DE SOTO, Wis. – De Soto Area School District officials are taking their referendum pitch directly to the people.
Superintendent Tim Fergot, other school administrators and board members are handing out informational fliers about the district’s upcoming $3.6 million operational referendum during De Soto’s varsity football and volleyball games.
The strategy is part of the 2026 Operational Referendum Communications Plan discussed by the De Soto Area School Board during its regular September meeting.
Marketing & Communications Committee member Nicole Johnson said “Tuesdays with Tim,” – a weekly event where community members can have coffee, donuts and referendum discussions with Fergot — “have been going great.”
Board members discussed attending upcoming football and volleyball games and agreed to have referendum information “front and center” so they can talk to people about the district’s needs.
In August, the De Soto Area School Board unanimously passed a resolution 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.”
If approved, the three-year non-recurring operational referendum on Nov. 3 would cover the district’s budget deficit and eliminate all but 30 percent of its fund balance – keeping enough to prevent short-term borrowing. 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.
This will be De Soto’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 first of three mailers that will be delivered to district residents was sent in August “to notify residents that the district would again be going to referendum,” according to the Plan.
Since that time, a “referendum Web page” has been created, and that information will be included in the second mailer, which is planned for the end of September. A final mailer will be sent at the end of October.
Visitors to the district’s website can visit the “Referendum Info” section, which is now “live”. Information will be added as questions arise, Johnson said, and the page will serve as the “central information hub.”
“Our goal between now and Nov. 3 is not simply to put out more referendum information, but to make the information easier for residents to understand and easier to find,” according to the plan.
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