Nov. 20, 2024 11:15a; Updated 9:45p with additional context on prep time
(WGTD)---As expected, the Kenosha School Board voted Tuesday night to put an operations referendum on the February ballot.
The board is seeking authority to increase the levy beyond state-mandated limits by $23 million in each of the next five years to fund a laundry list of items, including additional 'controlled' entrances at the seven schools that don't have them and additional prep time for teachers.
The vote to approve was 5-2, with Bob Tierney and Kristine Schmaling voting no.
Schmaling expressed frustration with the lack of state support for K-through-12, but said she didn't want to burden property taxpayers.
She said that the prep time problem could be "fixed in a different way." Teachers currently work a 7.5 hour day with a 30-minute duty-free lunch. She apparently favors an 8-hour work day with a 30-minute duty-free lunch.
A recent RAND Corp. survey found that teachers in reality work on average 53 hours a week, seven more than the average working adult.
Meanwhile, Tierney said that he didn't believe the referendum as written would pass, citing an unscientific survey conducted by the district. Other board members expressed confidence that it would pass.
KUSD Superintendent Jeff Weiss has said in the past that the district would look "drastically" different without the extra funding that could be provided by a referendum.
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