Some local School districts increase state funding, while others lose ground

RICHLAND CENTER, Wis (WRCO / WRCE) – The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) today, July 1, as required by state law, released an estimate of the general school aid each public school district will receive for the 2025-26 school year.

This estimate allows school districts to develop their 2025-26 fiscal year budget and is based on 2024-25 budgeted dollars submitted by school districts. The DPI will certify general school aid amounts based on 2024-25 actual data on October 15.

The current estimate uses the 2024-25 general aid appropriation to forecast the July 1 aid estimates. No increase in aid is currently allocated in the Joint Committee on Finance’s budget proposal for the 2025-26 or 2026-27 fiscal years. As such, the estimated general school aid used in this estimate totals $5.58 billion.

Of the state’s 421 school districts, 32.1 percent, or 135 districts, are currently estimated to receive more general aids than in 2024-25, while 65.8 percent of districts, or 277, are estimated to receive less; nine districts are estimated to have no change in aid between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years. Notably, 86 districts are estimated to receive a 15 percent decrease in general aids, which is the maximum decrease allowable under the state’s hold harmless aid provision.

This represents a 26% increase in the percentage of districts predicted to face the largest cuts in general aid funding from the previous fiscal year. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, by contrast, 64 districts were estimated to receive the 15 percent maximum decrease in aid. Some area schools estimated to receive an increase include: Baraboo an additional $170,169, Boscobel an additional $370,832, Highland an additional $82,651, and Reedsburg and additional $73,577.

Many area districts are estimated to receive less funding. They include: Fennimore Community losing $327,724, Hillsboro facing a loss of $44,507, Iowa-Grant losing $106,652, Ithaca with an estimated loss of $27,923, Kickapoo Area facing a $321,375 loss, Lafarge a $313,234 loss, Mineral Point faces losing $74,623, Richland faces a loss of $49,523, River Valley $292,857, Riverdale $114,001, Weston $188,119, and Wisconsin Heights is estimated to lose $415,769.                

General school aid is the largest form of state support for Wisconsin public schools, offsetting local property taxes under state-imposed revenue limits. Wisconsin statutes require the Department of Public Instruction to publish estimated aid amounts by July 1 each year. A district’s general aids can increase or decrease due to changes in funds available from the state as well as changes in any of the three local factors comprising Wisconsin’s general equalization aid formula: property valuation, enrollment, and shared costs.

---