OASD approves proposed budget cuts to meet $5.5 M shortfall

OSHKOSH, WI—(WISS)— Wednesday night, the Oshkosh Area School Board (OASD) took public comment before its board meeting, where a decision about budget cuts had to be made. A tense meeting focusing on reducing a $5.5 million budget shortfall for the 2026-2027 school year turned even more fractious when one board member called for the termination of Superintendent Dr. Bryan Davis.

“ I’m hearing an overwhelming sentiment that people do not trust this district and they want to see the change in leadership,” said Board Member Kelly DeWitt. “So to end that, I will make a motion here to amend the resolution to add the following sentence to the end of the resolution. ‘The Board of Education also approves the reduction of Superintendent Bryan Davis as a budget reduction measure!’”

DeWitt’s amendment to the resolution to terminate Davis failed, with only Dr. Timothy Hess voting with her. However during the discussion, board members used the word “Accountability” often.

Accountability at OASD

“ We need some sense of accountability,” said Board Member Tim Hess.

He continued, “ We need to provide a product, a educational environment that people are excited to come to, and we’re not. The fact that people are leaving that’s what’s putting us into this budget deficit!”

Board Member Michael Ford questioned what accountability looks like. “I don’t think that it’s good for the community when we try to publicly humiliate folks. To me, that’s just not accountability…but bottom line is, as a board, I don’t think we have any agreement on what we mean by accountability!” he said.

From the beginning of the budget-cut discussions, in December, Board Member Molly Smiltneek has been vocal about wanting more information on the whys and wherefores of all the cuts. “ We need to focus on transparency, engagement, accountability! That is one of the ways that we’ll actually get our literacy outcomes to improve,” Smiltneek said. “ And I want Dr. Davis to prove that. I wanna be very clear on that.  I don’t necessarily agree that he has proven that yet. I do not want the chaos of this being a question, though.”

Eventually, the OASD Board of Education voted to approve administration recommendations to slash the budget. The resolution to make the cuts passed with a 4 to 3 vote, with Kelly DeWitt, Tim Hess, and Molly Smiltneek voting against the cuts.

“I appreciate the board’s courage to be able to move forward. Very difficult decisions. It’s been months in planning and conversations. But looking forward to being able to move forward and be able to make sure again that we’re fiscally sustainable,” said Superintendent Davis. “It’s going to be difficult work. I certainly respect all board members’ opinions. And we need to move forward collectively, for the sake of our students in Oshkosh. We’ve got 8,925 reasons why to get up tomorrow morning, work hard, and be inspired. Because it’s our obligation to be able to serve them.”

Eliminated positions

The cuts will address at least $4.6 million of the $5.5 million deficit the OASD faces in the 2026/2027 school year. The District undertook an intensive review process following community pushback on the original plan, which included reducing 70 positions, including 23 after requiring elective teachers to teach an additional class each day. 

The revised plan removes planned staff market adjustments for administrators, lowering the projected deficit from $6 million to $5.5 million.

In the new plan, the administration wants to eliminate 8.9 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions from the Central Office. At the District level, administration will cut 10.7 FTE. PreK and Elementary education departments will see a reduction of 14.9 FTE positions. And at least 9.3 FTE positions were cut at the Secondary level. Further reductions in secondary staff will occur when the district institutes 27:1 classroom ratios.

Brian Yerkey, OASD Assistant Superintendent of Operations, said that while needed, the cuts will cause pain points in the future.

“ None of these decisions are good. Whether it’s a position in central or buildings and grounds, or the media specialist, there will be a reallocation of duties. And we will have to figure out what new business looks like,” said Yerkey.

Dr. Samuel Coleman, OASD Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, said many of the unnamed FTE cuts will result from attrition.

“ Certainly, there is a possibility that current positions that exist may be reduced and there’s an unknown about that,” Coleman said. “But it is our position that the primary mechanism by which we would achieve that would be through not filling positions and attrition.”

OASD Budget revisions detail 

What’s Next?

Superintendent Davis said this will not be the last time that OASD will make tough decisions and cuts. He said until the state changes how it funds public education, all districts are feeling the pinch.

“ We anticipate over the next two to three years, we’ll have to go through a similar process to be able to work through it. And that’s essentially because the state funding mechanism for public education is broken,” Davis said. “So we’re not keeping up with our revenues and inflation. And we’re not supporting our special education students, our most vulnerable families.

“We’re not supporting them to the extent that we need to. So until that gets really right-sized at the state level – And we’ll continue to advocate that. – Oshkosh and districts around the Fox Valley are going to need to either go to operational referendum or make these significant cuts. And that’s just the context of which we’re in right now.”

Davis said the final number of FTE positions to be eliminated will not be officially known until April. He added that employees of OASD who will be affected by the cuts have already been informed.