The mood at this week’s Manitowoc Public School District Finance Committee Meeting was as you would imagine upbeat after taxpayers gave their blessing to a three-year operational referendum Tuesday night.
Superintendent Mark Holzman told Seehafer News that the vote was incredibly important for the Board of Education to move forward.
“Prior to the referendum passing or failing it was difficult for us to manage a budget,” Holzman explained. “We prepared a preliminary budget for 2021-22 and now we know we have the $4.3 million we can keep in our budget moving forward.”
This gives the District $4.3 million annually above state-imposed revenue caps to keep and maintain the status quo for costs.
Holzman says they will also get an extra boost from COVID-19 Federal Stimulus money, explaining that, “Many of the stimulus dollars we had back 2020 went for 2020 expenses including buying masks for everybody, hand sanitizers, floor scrubbers, and advanced special units to spray down classrooms quicker. We are still doing all these things plus adding nurses and custodial staff to clean but we’re getting back to normal.”
The leader of the Manitowoc Public School District thanks everyone for believing in Public Education and trusting them with these funds and in Holzman’s words “do the best we can to allocate the money where it’s most needed to enhance student’s progress and give them the best education possible.”
Spending updates will be available on the District’s website or by calling their office during normal business hours.
