Administrators of Greenwood and Loyal School Districts Provide Update on Joint Board Meetings

Tuesday, January 14th, 2025 -- 12:00 PM

The District Administrators of the Greenwood, Joe Green, and Loyal, Chris Lindner, School Boards have provided an update on the happenings of the Joint Board meetings between the Greenwood and Loyal School Districts.

The letter states, “First and foremost, our boards are committed to finding ways to maximize safe and positive opportunities for our students, engage them in high levels of learning, ensure highly qualified staff are in place to support learning, and do this within a budget that is acceptable to our communities."

"Small, rural districts like ours continue to see a slow decline in enrollment but needs and costs continue to increase. This, coupled with an outdated State funding formula that requires over 80% of districts in Wisconsin to rely on local operational referendums to survive, leads our school board to continue finding ways to be sustainable."

"Recently, the Greenwood board met with the Loyal board. At this meeting, which was open to the public, both boards decided to put a question on the April 1, 2025 ballot asking residents if they support the consolidation of our two school districts."

"There are many questions that surround this question, but ultimately the boards are looking for direction from our communities on whether or not there is support for consolidation."

"If the answer is no, then we can discontinue work in that direction and look for other ways to meet the goals listed above. If the answer is yes, then our boards know to continue pursuing this."

"This advisory question is not binding, instead it will simply guide the future work of both boards. Questions about a consolidated district, including facilities, locations, colors, and mascots would not be discussed or determined until after a decision to consolidate has been made."

"Historically, this has been the stopping point for these discussions. Both boards agreed that if a consolidation decision is made, the new consolidated board would be charged with the research, community engagement, and decisions that are beneficial to all the students of the consolidated district, instead of pitting the two communities against each other."

"The boards also discussed potential savings that could be captured by consolidating and maintaining current operation while doing the research to determine the most efficient model.”

“There is no question that the bulk of savings would come from personnel or facilities. Putting the facilities aside, there are a number of positions that both districts have that could be reduced to one in a consolidated model."

"The District Administrator is an example of those positions. The boards are looking at comparable districts to anticipate potential savings. Both boards agreed to let natural attrition run its course and help with any reduction of staff that could happen over time."

"Both districts are anticipating retirements in the coming years and within a consolidated district, it is more likely to not have to replace many of those positions."

"A consolidated district may still need to rely on an operational referendum, but that referendum would likely be lower than the current needs of each district."

"If the vote is in favor of consolidation, there would be two potential timelines. At the earliest, the first year of consolidation could be the 2027-2028 school year."

"It may be more practical to consider a timeline with the first year starting in 2028-2029, as that aligns with the current operational referendums in both districts."

"Either way, we want to assure you that decisions have not been and will not be made quickly. The timeline determination would include discussion about current referendum dollars, election cycles, board seats, and sufficient time to prepare."

"Lastly, we would encourage you to ask questions along the way. There will be opportunities for discussion at joint board meetings or regular monthly meetings."

"The next opportunity is Wednesday, January 15, 2025, at 7:00pm in the Loyal High School Gymnasium. This meeting will start with a public forum. Your thoughts and ideas are always welcomed and your feedback is appreciated.”

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.