Wisconsin

More than 100 Wisconsin school districts asking voters to approve referendums

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2024

More than 100 Wisconsin school districts asking voters to approve referendums

Voters in more than 100 school districts across Wisconsin will be asked to approve school referendums on Nov. 5, with educators saying the state Legislature is not adequately funding public education.

This will be the third election cycle this year with large numbers of districts asking taxpayers to approve increased funding for schools, totaling about $6 billion across the state.

At least 192 of the state’s 421 school districts have asked, or will ask, a referendum question in 2024.

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The November ballot includes 139 total referenda with 58 questions related to debt and 81 seeking recurring and non-recurring operating funds.

Approval for February and April referendums was only 60 percent — the lowest ever, indicating voter fatigue appears to have set in.

In Wauwatosa, an affluent suburb of Milwaukee, the school district is asking voters to approve two funding requests: a $64.4 million operational increase and a $60 million increase to repair aging school buildings.

If both measures are approved, it would mean about a $600 a year tax increase on a $300,000 home, according to the district.

Across the community voters have signs in their yard supporting and disavowing the proposals.

Superintendent Demond Means said Wauwatosa is a prime example of a “purple community.”

“The property taxpayers are paying more than we receive in state aid,” Means said. “I think that makes passing referendums difficult.”

School districts are funded by a mix of taxpayer dollars, state aid and federal aid. In Wauwatosa, about 44 percent of the district’s budget is paid for by tax dollars, 34 percent is paid for by state aid and 4 percent comes from federal aid, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

“ I believe that even the people who say ‘no’ to a referendum do want good schools,” Means said. “ They do want to make sure that kids are receiving the services that they want. It just disappoints me that the Legislature has placed communities in such a divisive, tension filled environment because it’s unnecessary. They have the funds to stop this, and they’ve just refused to do so.”

A business in the Wauwatosa Village has a “Vote No” sign about the upcoming school referendum. Corrinne Hess/WPR

The 2023-25 state budget included an annual funding increase for public schools of $325 per student to the state-imposed limit on revenues districts can receive in school aids and local property taxes combined.

While this provides some relief, school districts say it didn’t catch them up from a freeze in state revenue caps in the previous two-year budget, or the declining enrollment many public school districts are experiencing.

Wisconsin ended its 2024 fiscal year in June with a $4.6 billion state budget surplus. The state’s “rainy day” fund hit a record-high of $1.9 billion.

State Superintendent Jill Underly is calling on Legislators to use a portion of the surplus to fund public education.

“The news that Wisconsin has a budget surplus of more than $4.5 billion comes at a time when too many of our school districts across the state are forced to go to referendum just to keep the lights on and our teachers in the classroom,” Underly said in a statement. “Our legislature has woefully underfunded public education to the detriment of our kids and communities.”

Madison voters will be asked to consider both city and school-related property tax levies next month.

The Madison Metropolitan School District has two referendum questions on the November ballot totaling more than $600 million.

The first, for $100 million, would help the school district cover its operating costs. The second, for $507 million, would renovate and replace aging buildings.

The school referendums would be “unprecedented in size and scope in district history,” according to an analysis from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Superintendent Joe Gothard said the district does not have time to wait for “courageous” lawmakers to pass the required bills to properly fund school districts.

“Taxpayers are stressed, inflation has impacted just about everything from personal finances and households to business and most certainly school districts,” Gothard said. “I’m concerned that without any change, the taxpayers are going to be looked at time after time to do the work that our state lawmakers are required to do.”

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

Published

6 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.

Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.

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Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.

Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

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Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

Published

18 hours ago

December 23, 2025

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Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

MILWAUKEE – The FBI calls it an online crime against kids – perpetrators convincing kids to send sexual images of themselves and then blackmailing them.

Online crime against kids

The backstory:

The reality is settling in. This will be Brittney Bird’s first Christmas without her son, Bradyn Bohn, since he was born. That is because just nine months ago, the 15-year-old died by suicide, just hours after telling his family good night.

“This winter has been pretty heavy,” Bird said. “This will be a lot of first this year.”

Bird said Bradyn was the kind of kid who would always try to make you launch. The teen had a lot of friends, played sports, did well academically, and had big plans for the future.

“Definitely a kid who we were just so proud of,” Bird said. “Bradyn never struggled with or suffered from mental illness or depression or anything of that nature so immediately we knew, you know something’s wrong.”

Once police went through Bradyn’s phone, she said it came out he was the victim of the cyber crime, sextortion.

What is sextortion?

What we know:

“Sextortion is a form of online child exploitation where a child is coerced by a perpetrator to send compromising images,” said Jesse Crowe from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

This week, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sent out a public service announcement on sextortion.

Officials say suspects often pose as someone else online. While exchanging messages, they convince a child to send images of themselves. Once they have explicit images of the child, they use the photos or videos to blackmail the child into sending even more images, money or ask for sexual favors.

FBI data, change in Wisconsin law

Dig deeper:

The FBI said victims are typically males between the ages of 14 and 17, but any child can be a target.

This crime led to at least 20 suicides between October 2021 and March 2023.

In the months after Bradyn’s death, change would come to Wisconsin. Earlier in December, Gov. Tony Evers signed Bradyn’s Law. It creates a new crime of sexual extortion in Wisconsin. It aims to ensure harsh penalties for those who exploit children online.

“It will bring, hopefully statewide, eventually nationwide attention to where every family is having this conversation with their kids,” Bird told FOX6 News.

Take action

What you can do:

The Department of Justice said the best thing to do if a child finds themselves in this situation is the following:

Block the perpetrator
Report the account, but do not delete the messages
Tell a trusted adult
Do not send any money

Resources available

The Source: Information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.

Crime and Public SafetyMilwaukeeNews

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Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

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Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

President Donald Trump declared Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 to be federal holidays this year.

The Dec. 18 executive order deems the days as work holidays for all federal departments and agencies, but adds some of them will remain open. Certain offices may stay open on one or both days for “national security, defense, or other public need,” the order reads.

But, what does this mean for other federal workers and services?

Here’s what to know in Wisconsin:

Are Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 official federal holidays?

Even though Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 have been declared federal holidays in 2025, they are not permanent additions to the holiday schedule.

Legislation must be passed by Congress and then signed into law by the president for a federal holiday declaration to be official.

Who gets Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 off in Wisconsin?

Only federal agencies are set to be closed on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to USA TODAY.

Since these two days have not been designated permanent federal holidays, many businesses that follow the schedule will likely not give their employees a last-minute extended Christmas break.

Wisconsin state government and Milwaukee city offices are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will be open on Dec. 26.

Will mail still be delivered on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver mail and post office locations will remain open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to its website. Mail will not be delivered and locations will be closed on Christmas.

Will banks be open on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. Banks will follow the typical schedule of being open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Banks will be closed on Christmas.

Mary Walrath-Holdridge of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

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