April 7, 2025 – School Board Meeting Recap

Subtitle: When $80 million doesn’t stretch far enough, but excuses still do.

🎤 Opening Act: The Usual Roll Call Fumble

A classic slow start—people can’t tell if they’re voting or just showing up. Half of them sounded like they wandered into the meeting looking for the free cookies.

📢 Superintendent Report: Delays, Absences & “We’ll Get to It Later”

• The much-hyped Four Corners and student updates? Postponed.

• One teacher was sick, so a bunch of reports got punted to next week.

• Overnight field trips? Approved. So hey, somebody gets out of town.

🧨 Budget Time: The $80 Million Mystery

Now we get to the “fiscal fire drill” part of the show, where Business Manager David See takes the mic—and taxpayers take a deep breath.

“Your taxes are going to go up… unless the state saves us.”

Excuse me? You’re sitting on an $80 million dollar budget, shrinking student population, and still can’t make it work? Meanwhile, See’s solution? Blame Milwaukee, inflation, property values, the weather, probably Mercury in retrograde too.

Here’s what taxpayers are hearing loud and clear:

• “We’re broke.”

• “It’s not our fault.”

• “Give us more money or brace for cuts.”

Translation: We’re mismanaging funds, but we’ve prepared a very informative PowerPoint about why it’s not on us.

🚨 And the locals? Not buying it.

Frustration with See is reaching terminal levels. Many believe he’s no longer just a bearer of bad news—he is the bad news. Spreadsheets, vague justifications, and kicking the can have turned into a credibility crisis. The phrase “we’re fiscally responsible” is starting to sound more like satire than stewardship.

🔧 Cuts, Chaos & Cop-Outs

See laid out a financial horror show:

• Up to $1.5 million drop in equalization aid.

• Property values up? Taxes go up too—because logic is dead.

• Enrollment’s down, but hey—have more babies or shut up.

And the killer quote?

“If something doesn’t change, your taxes are going to go up.”

They’ve said this for years, and now voters are asking: Why hasn’t anything changed? Where’s the accountability? Where’s the innovation? Why is a district with more money than some third-world nations still shaking a tin cup?

🏈 Fundraisers or Full-Time Jobs?

Parents are burned out. Sports and clubs are nickel-and-diming families into oblivion.

• Kids are now part-time telemarketers.

• Fundraisers are relentless, redundant, and regressive.

• Some sports are running deficits—while the district still claims to be “fiscally responsible.”

🧠 Handbook Drama, Teacher Workdays & Token Holidays

Some minor handbook tweaks were discussed, mostly around teacher flexibility and whether principals get to own teachers’ time like a late-stage cult leader.

Oh, and they tossed staff two new holidays—the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and MLK Day—as if that’s gonna hush the growing discontent over compensation, workload, and insurance.

🧾 Title IX: The Bureaucratic Bungee Cord

Thanks to legal flip-flops, the board now has to revert back to the 2020 Title IX rules. Tons of work down the drain, morale in the toilet.

📚 Literacy Update: Good Intentions, Zero Funding

Curriculum Director Crystal Hintzman updated the board on Act 20 compliance and literacy training. Teachers are doing the work. The state? Not paying a damn cent of the promised $50 million support fund.

📌 Final Thoughts

Here’s the real talk:

• The district has an $80 million dollar budget and still can’t keep the lights on without begging.

• Teachers are grinding. Parents are paying. Kids are hustling.

• And David Seee keeps standing at the mic like a man allergic to solutions, saying, “Well, it’s complicated.”

“We’re fiscally responsible.”
— A phrase that now comes with a side of rage and an eye roll.

Taxpayers are no longer amused. They’re organizing. They’re watching. And they’re asking the one question the board hasn’t answered:

👉 Where the hell is our money going?