Whitnall Superintendent Says Walker's Numbers Misleading

At first glance at the Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s memo regarding impending state aid reductions, it appears the Whitnall School District would be in better shape than it projected it would be just weeks ago.

During a recent School Board workshop, the , but the bureau’s memo anticipates the loss being closer to $1.3 million.

Great news, right?

Not so fast, Whitnall Superintendent Lowell Holtz said.

“(Gov. Scott Walker) did his calculations on the (state) aid reductions,” Holtz said. “He should have done it on the revenue cap reductions that are mandated by his bill. … That’s the total reduction. We can’t mess with that number at all.

“(The memo) is misleading. I wish he was right; I’d be extremely happy. It’s going to be off for every single (district), I’d imagine.”

According to the bureau’s memo, Whitnall would see a decrease in state aid of $1, 320,832 million for 2011-12 should Walker’s budget proposal pass in its current form.

“(Walker’s) numbers aren’t that far off on the savings we get, or the extra contributions from the employees with their pensions and health care payments,” Holtz said. “But they are way off in the revenue reduction.

“The way I ran through it the other day is still what we’re banking on it. I still think we can do well because of the carry over of the federal jobs money.”

To see the expected impact on the Greenfield School District, .