Assembly bill would limit length of school referendums

Supporters of proposal say it keeps districts accountable.

A proposal from Wisconsin Assembly Republicans would rollback the number referendums from school districts that can last for an indefinite period of time. 

It’s causing uproar among education advocates about local control. 

“It’s another situation where legislatures are deciding what’s in the best interest of those people at the local level, who actually do vote on these things locally,” La Crosse Superintendent Randy Nelson said.

He understands the argument that the legislature is taking away local control, and deciding people who voted for the referendums were wrong, but supporters say it helps keep districts accountable.

Nelson says the school district has made a personal decision to never go beyond five years in a referendum. 

“We think it’s good to go back to the voters and have that conversation as a community and assure them that we’re using those dollars the way we intended to, and they are contributing positively to schools, that I think is an important part.”

Nelson says he’s not sure how the vote will go, but believes there will be fierce debate.

“It’s just kind of interesting to see how these play out on both the Democrat and Republican side because we see a little bit of that in both cases.”