Oshkosh residents voted in favor of $115 million in funding for the Oshkosh Area School District to build two new schools and maintain educational opportunities for its students.

The ballot contained two school referendum questions: an operational referendum to renew educational operations, and a capital referendum to build a new elementary and middle school along with an increase of safety and security. Both referendums passed by over 5,000 votes.

The first referendum question asked residents to renew $7.95 million in annual funds that were already approved in two previous referendums passed back in 2014 and 2016.

The second referendum question requested $107 million in capital funds to begin the OASD’s long-range facilities plan that includes building a new elementary school where the current Webster school is and a new middle school adjacent to the current Merrill middle school.

Wording on the ballot questions can be a bit ambiguous, so here are five things you need to know about the two school funding referendums that just passed.

The operational referendum consolidates funding from two previous referendums.

The first referendum question asked residents for a renewal of $7.95 million in annual funds that were already approved in two previous referendums passed back in 2014 and 2016.

The two previous referendums were a part of the school district’s “Learning Without Limits” plan that involves “retaining educational opportunities, protecting academic programs, providing staff with technology and security improvements.”

The 2014 learning composition referendum that implemented the “Learning Without Limits” plan approved $3.95 million in annual funds while the 2016 referendum approved $4 million in annual funds.

These referendums were set to expire in the 2021- ‘22 school year and 2022- ‘23 school year, but the OASD referendum that passed this election consolidated the funding from the two into one stream and pushed the expiration date to the 2029- ‘30 school year.

The operational referendum will have no additional impact on taxpayers.

The operational referendum was simply asking for a renewal of the two previous learning composition referendums.
This means that the property tax increase needed to support these referendums were already apportioned into residents’ annual taxes from when they passed in 2014 and 2016.

The 2020 operational referendum alone will not cause any additional increase to Oshkosh residents’ taxes, however, with the passage of the capital referendum will slightly increase property taxes.

The capital referendum will cause an increase in Oshkosh property taxes.

The second referendum question requested $107 million in capital funds to begin the OASD’s long-range facilities plan that includes building two new schools.

To support this facilities plan, residents will experience a property tax increase over the next 20 years.
Taxpayers will spend an extra $48 in 2021 per $100,00 home value. The tax hike will then jump to an extra $70 per $100,000 value in 2022 and then to $85 per year for 2023 until 2040.

The capital referendum will fund the construction of two new school buildings.

The biggest project of the capital referendum is the construction of a new elementary school and middle school for the Oshkosh school district.

The OASD will now begin plans for building a new elementary school where the current Webster K-8 school is located. The current school building will be removed and replaced with a $35 million school that can fit 450 to 600 students.

The district will also construct a new middle school on the land adjacent to the existing Merrill K-8 school. The new middle school has a budget of $53 million and can house between 850 and 900 students.

The new schools will transfer students into fewer buildings.

The first step of the OASD’s long-term facilities plan is to build the new middle school that is adjacent to the Merrill middle school. Once the new middle school is completed, students from Merrill and Webster middle schools will be transferred to the new building.

The next step in the plan is to transfer the students from the existing Webster elementary school to the Merrill elementary school for one year while the new Webster elementary school is being built.

Once the new Webster elementary school is finished, students from the original Webster school, as well as the Washington elementary, will transfer to the new elementary school.

This will allow the school district to consolidate the students from five different schools into just two.