Colfax school district loses $415,000 in state aid to open enrollment and private school vouchers
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The School District of Colfax was supposed to receive nearly $2 million in state aid but actually received only $1.6 million for the June state aid payment.
Right off the top, before Colfax even received any state equalization money, $414,911 was taken out for open enrollment expense and private school vouchers, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s June 17 meeting.
The June equalization aid amount was $1,993,607, according to information Yingst included in the school board packet.
The revenue Colfax received from students open enrolling into the Colfax school district was $596,584.
The expense Colfax paid for students open enrolling out of the Colfax school district was $981,816.
The school district is “upside down” on open enrollment by $385,232, Yingst said.
In addition, another $29,679 was taken out of the school district’s state aid for the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program.
According to www.schoolchoicewi.org, “The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (WPCP) is a statewide private school voucher program enacted and launched in 2013. The program allows students whose families meet certain income qualifications and are not assigned to the Milwaukee Public schools or Racine Unified school districts the ability to attend a participating private or religious school of their choice, tuition free.”
Family income must be at or below 220 percent of the federal poverty level. The student must meet one of the following prior year attendance requirements: a public school student in grades K4 to 12; a student who was not enrolled in school the previous year, including attending a homeschool; a private school student in grades K4, K5, 1, 9; or a student who participated in the MPCP or RPCP the previous school year. The total program enrollment cannot exceed 7 percent of the local school district’s enrollment, according to the website.
The voucher for the 2024-2025 school year will be $10,237 for grades K to 8 and $12,731 for grades 9 to 12, the website states.
For a family of four, 220 percent of the federal poverty level would be an annual income of about $70,000. For a family of three, 220 percent of the federal poverty level would be an annual income of about $58,000. For a family of six, 220 percent of the federal poverty level would be an annual income of about $94,000, according to www.home.mycoverageplan.com.
Other revenue
In addition to the $415,000 the Colfax school district loses to open enrollment out of the district and for private school vouchers, another $700,000 is lost to homeschooling, Yingst told the Board of Education.
The Colfax school district also pays $1 million per year out of the general fund to make up the difference between state and federal aid received for special education and the actual cost of Colfax’s special education program, he said.
Colfax receives $173,495 in special education aid and receives $8,050 for early childhood special education, according to information in the school board packet.
All together, counting the money for open enrollment, private school vouchers, homeschooling and special education, that amounts to $2.1 million that is not available to the Colfax school district for other expenses.
Uncollected lunch money
Toward the end of the 2023-2024 school year, there was $13,500 outstanding in uncollected lunch money, Yingst said.
The school district sent out a letter to parents, and by the last week in May, the school district had received $9,768, he said.
A number of families had outstanding uncollected lunch money of up to $1,000. There were four who had $500 and there was one just under $500, Yingst said.
The problem of uncollected lunch money is not just at Colfax, he said.
One school district in the middle of Wisconsin has outstanding lunch debt of $30,000, Yingst said.
Fund 46
During the June 17 meeting, the Colfax Board of Education approved the long-term investment plan for 10 years for Fund 46.
The Colfax school district started Fund 46 in 2015. State law requires school districts to put money into a Fund 46 for five years before the money can be spent.
Money in Fund 46 comes from leftover funds from a school year budget. Instead of putting the money into the general fund, the school district can put the money into Fund 46 for capital improvements.
The school district can only spend Fund 46 on items that are included in a plan for spending the money.
The amounts on the list are “place holders,” Yingst said.
Ken Bjork, school board member, asked about the balance in Fund 46.
The fund currently has about $200,000, Yingst said.
The school district is not required to complete all of the projects on a list in any given year, but if the projects are not on the list, then the school district cannot use the Fund 46 money to pay for them.
The list for 2024-2025 includes Security system upgrades/doors for $35,000; repaving the elementary and high school bus area for $60,000; boiler replacement for $110,000; LP buses at $115,000 each for $136,000; carpeting and ceiling tile maintenance in the elementary, middle school and high school for $80,000; an upgrade from pneumatic to direct digital control thermostats in the middle school and high school for $165,000; and technology upgrades for $50,000.
Buses
The Colfax school district currently has 11 liquid propane (LP) buses, along with three diesel buses and four to six gasoline buses that are used as spare buses, Yingst said.
The LP burns very clean, and the quality of the buses is very good, he said.
Because the LP buses “run clean” there has been little engine work that needs to be done, and maintenance has tended to be something like a wire harness rubbing on something that needs to be replaced, Yingst said.
“So far, they are holding up well,” he said, adding that the LP buses have air brakes that are very reliable and safe.
The school district receives some money back through Synergy Cooperative, too, which supplies LP to the school district, Yingst said.
The LP buses cost $115,000 each while the first electric buses that were available cost $375,000. The cost for an electric bus is now down to $300,000, but that does not include the charging stations the school district would have to install, Yingst said.
This summer, the Colfax school district will be doing a demonstration on LP buses for other school districts, he said.
