Chippewa Falls School Board Approves Staffing Cuts

The Chippewa Falls School Board officially voted to eliminate a number of teaching positions in the district at its meeting this week.

The decision on Monday night came as the district struggles with declining enrollment and a projected budget shortfall. The issue is an increasingly common one facing school districts across Wisconsin, and one forcing many of them to turn to property taxpayers for additional funding through operational referendums.

The Chippewa Falls School District previously passed a three year, $2.5 million per year operational referendum. The term of that referendum is set to expire this year, leaving behind a $1.7 million projected deficit for the 2027 budget. Without another referendum or other significant changes, the projected deficit for the 2028 budget could double.

District officials say enrollment declined by 170 students this year, an overall drop of about 3.6 percent. Those enrollment numbers determine the amount of state aid the district receives. A large portion of the enrollment decline also occurred at the elementary school level, which could impact that state aid for years to come.

The 6-1 decision by the Chippewa Falls School Board on Monday will result in the elimination of eight full time teaching positions and three part time teaching positions. Among those are four teaching positions at Halmstad Elementary, three teaching positions at Hillcrest Elementary, and one teaching position at Chippewa Falls Middle School.

The decision also approves a number of other cuts, including a part time food service worker position and some coaching positions. In total, those cuts will save the district over $860,000. Combined with some additional approved spending of a little over $215,000, the district will end up saving about $647,000.