District overview
Oconto Unified School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How is Oconto funded and governed?
A seven-member elected Board of Education governs Oconto Elementary, Middle and High schools (about 940 students) and works with Superintendent Emily Miller. Wisconsin caps what a district can raise each year (the revenue limit), mixing state aid with local property tax. To go above the cap, a district must ask voters in a referendum. Oconto's earlier $800,000-a-year voter-approved authority has ended, and the district says falling enrollment, open enrollment losses, higher costs and the end of federal COVID aid widened its gap.
Revenue limit
The 2025-26 DPI worksheet shows a base of about $11.4 million, with $8.85 million in general state aid and about $3.5 million of operating levy in 2024-25.
Enrollment and open enrollment
In 2025-26, 139 resident students open enrolled out of the district and 30 enrolled in, according to the district's Quick Facts page.
Tax rate
The total 2025-26 school levy was about $5.83 million, a mill rate of $6.48 per $1,000 of equalized value, down from $7.76 in 2023-24 (district-posted Baird model).
Who decides
The board meets the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Oconto Middle School community room. Crissy Kumhala is president, Bobbi Christopherson vice president, Samantha Routheau clerk and Sara Trepanier treasurer (elected May 18, 2026).
The documents show the district's own account of why money is tight. They do not include the full 2026-27 budget or an independent audit of the claims, and none of this means the district is badly run.
Where the district stands
30 students open enrolled in.
Major projects
Operating referendum
Voted Nov. 3; result not yet foundAfter voters rejected a $1.2 million yearly request in April, the board cut the ask to $900,000 a year for five years and placed it on the Nov. 3 ballot.
- Finance committee explains why the ask grew from $800,000 to $1.2 million
- Board places $1.2 million question on the April ballot
- April referendum does not pass
- Board places $900,000 question on the Nov. 3 ballot
- Board of canvassers meets to certify the result
Funding
Local property tax above the revenue limit
Estimated $0.20 per $1,000 of value, about $20 a year on a $100,000 home; first on 2028 tax bills.
Recent news
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Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Based on 78 official documents from the district's Meeting Minutes & Agendas, budget and referendum pages (mostly public Google Drive PDFs), from November 2025 to November 2026.
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