According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the Madison School Board approved a preliminary budget on Monday night that would set district spending at $591 million. It includes district staff pay raises and expands the district’s full-day 4K program but also cuts 155 jobs and projects.
The board will approve a final version of the budget in October, at which time the district will have a better grasp on funding sources. It currently relies on the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, which provided financial relief to schools during the pandemic, as well as the operating referendum that gave the district $33 million over four years. Both sources expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.
The district may benefit from a $1 billion funding increase for K–12 education approved by the Legislature’s budget-writing committee; the Legislature votes later this week.
