State Republican Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Provide Incentives for School Districts to Merge

Thursday, November 13th, 2025 -- 9:01 AM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) Legislative Republicans want to offer financial incentives for Wisconsin school districts that agree to merge, according to Corrinne Hess with the Wisconsin Public Radio.

According to the state Department of Administration, Wisconsin’s population is expected to decline by 200,000 people over the next 25 years. Schools are already seeing this decline.

There are 53,000 fewer students enrolled in Wisconsin’s public schools since 2013-14, and nearly 70 percent of the state’s 421 districts have seen a decrease in student population.

Republicans introduced a series of consolidation bills that would increase the amount of money schools receive if they merge in the next three years. Instead of $150 per pupil, which the state currently provides to districts that consolidate, schools that merge would receive a one-time payment of $2,000 per pupil in the first year of consolidation.

Only districts that consolidate in 2026, 2027 or 2028 would be eligible. State law allows two or more school districts to merge, except Milwaukee Public Schools. State Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, authored or co-sponsored all of the bills.

Nedweski’s legislative district includes single-school K-8 school districts. She said she understands people’s strong cultural and community connection to their schools but said there are a lot of redundancies in costs that could be spent in classrooms.

“As the market pressure continues to press on, how long before we have to say this goes from voluntary to not voluntary,” Nedweski said. “We’re hoping that schools make this choice on their own.”

Between 2000 and 2022, five school districts have consolidated in Wisconsin:

• Friess Lake and the Richfield Joint 1 School Districts consolidated to become the Holy Hill Area School District in 2018.
• The Herman, Neosho and Rubicon school districts consolidated to become the Herman Neosho Rubicon School District in 2016.
• Chetek and Weyerhaeuser consolidated to become the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Area School District in 2010.
• The Trevor and Wilmot school districts consolidated to become the Trevor-Wilmot School District in 2007.

Earlier this year, The Arrowhead Union School District and its seven K-8 feeder school districts discussed consolidation. Another bill being proposed would reward school districts that voluntarily pool students by grade. For example, two school districts could bring their kindergarteners together to attend school in one building.

“Whole grade sharing has been a successful strategy for providing additional academic opportunities for students,” the bill reads. “It also acts as a cost-saving measure for school districts that no longer need to duplicate administrative and academic offerings for underpopulated classes.”

The proposal creates a voluntary incentive program where any school district entering into a whole grade sharing agreement can receive $500 per pupil in a shared grade for up to four years.

The 2015-17 state budget authorized school boards of two or more school districts to enter into Whole Grade Sharing. But according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the strategy isn’t being used currently by any districts in the state.

Nedweski said it’s hard to know if a monetary incentive will prompt districts to use grade sharing. But she said sharing grades would allow districts to get a feel for each other before fully consolidating.

Sara Shaw, deputy research director at the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said declining enrollment is a real and increasingly pressing issue for school districts around Wisconsin.

Although, Shaw said, it is unclear at this time how successful these proposals would be. “It will be good for policymakers to continue considering ways to help districts effectively and responsibly manage that decline, whether through a grant program like this or otherwise,” Shaw said.

A third Republican proposal would require a comprehensive, statewide study of school district boundaries. Lawmakers said school district boundaries were not an issue during decades of expanding enrollment and rising property values, but with shrinking enrollment and population, the study will examine opportunities for future consolidation.

“This legislation empowers proactive planning, identifying where consolidation makes educational and financial sense before the state is forced to mandate it during a crisis,” according to the bill.

Another proposal would provide state aid for a consolidated school district if the tax levy is higher than the lowest allowable levy at the district that was consolidated to create the new district.

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