The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Board of Education adopted two budgets for the 2024–25 school year: one that takes into account the passage of the district’s operations referendum and one that does not.
Both budgets see MMSD drawing from its General Education Fund (Fund 10) to account for items such as wages, equity projects, and health care cost increases. The passage budget would reduce the fund by $22.4 million, resulting in a balance of $92.3 million; the nonpassage budget would reduce it by $45.7 million, leaving a balance of $68.9 million.
If the operations referendum is not successful, an additional 2.06% increase in staff wages — negotiated over the summer between the district and Madison Teachers Inc., the union that represents approximately 4,175 members of MMSD’s workforce — would not materialize. Collectively, that pay raise would amount to $7.1 million.
Further, the board would need to begin considering cuts to programming, services, and personnel for the 2025–26 school year, as the district’s revenues would not be capable of supporting its current expenditures. Employee compensation comprises 81% of MMSD’s operating expenses, by far the district’s largest annual expenditure.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. To register to vote and find a polling location, click here.
