Teacher Layoffs Announced At Superior School Dist. Amid Budget Cuts
25 teachers are being laid off, and an unknown number of support staff will follow.
SUPERIOR, Wis. – Twenty-five teachers at the Superior School District have been notified their positions are being eliminated, as the district deals with a significant budget deficit for the 2024-2025 school year.
“It is never easy to make cuts in education. Any cut that we need to make has a direct impact on our students and our families. And so, we were trying to maintain programming as best we can with less staff in some of our spaces,” explained Amy Starzecki, superintendent of the Superior School District.
The layoffs were not unexpected. It was part of a year-long public discussion about the serious budget constraints the district is facing –not only next year, but years to come.
Starzecki told FOX 21 on Wednesday that there are three main financial impacts affecting the Superior School District and districts across the state.
1) $5 million dollars in federal ESSER Covid relief funds end in 2024.
2) State funding has not kept up with “extensive inflationary costs,” like gas, salaries and utilities, according to Starzecki.
3) Declining enrollment. The district has 500 fewer elementary students than it did before the pandemic, according to Starzecki.
“There’s not as many school-aged kids coming into our community. I mean, I think that’s the reality. I look at some of our apartment complexes and some of the new housing that have been built in Superior. We aren’t getting any new students from those from those complexes,” Starzecki said.
Beyond the teacher positions being eliminated, an unknown number of supportive staff will also be getting laid off in the coming weeks. And next school year, Lake Superior Elementary will be closed to help cut down on costs and operate more efficiently, according to Starzecki.
Starzecki said the loss of new students means a loss of state revenue. And she said state funding isn’t keeping up with inflation. So as a result, a long-term solution may mean the need for an operating referendum.
“We’re one of the only school districts in the state of Wisconsin that doesn’t have an operating referendum. And so, you know, does the Board want to go to the community in future years or future months and say, hey, do we want to continue cutting or do we want to invest more in our public schools here? And so, those are some questions that we’ll have coming up, you know, decisions that we’ll have to make as we talk about long-term planning,” Starzecki said.
Right now, 80 percent of the district’s expenses come from salaries and benefits, which is why Starzecki says teachers and staff are being laid off to reach a balanced budget for next year.
