District overview
Kettle Moraine School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How is Kettle Moraine School District paid for?
Kettle Moraine serves about 3,300 students in Wales, Wisconsin, including several charter schools. Wisconsin limits how much a district can raise from state aid and local property taxes (the revenue limit), and that limit shrinks when fewer local students attend. Kettle Moraine has lost students in 14 of the last 15 years, so it closed one of four elementary schools for 2026-27 and cut staffing. Open enrollment (students from other districts) brings in state money and is a growing source of income.
Budget outlook
District forecasts balanced budgets through 2030 under current law, using savings and consolidation.
Enrollment
3,292 students projected for 2026-27, down 61.
Revenue limit
Falls about $1.8 million a year over five years, even with the $325 per-pupil state increase.
Maintenance
$35 million of needs over 10 years, $14 million funded; the district is saving to avoid a capital referendum.
These are the district's own forecasts and depend on state law staying the same.
Where the district stands
Major projects
Sale of Brandybrook property
Final board vote on the June 16, 2026 agenda; outcome not in records readAn 82-acre site with a closed elementary school; voters authorized the sale in 2024.
- Annual meeting authorizes sale
- Three bids ($601,000 to $805,000) rejected
- $2.2 million offer received
- Purchase agreement signed pending board approval
- Board vote scheduled
Funding
One-time sale proceeds
Four elementary schools to three
In effect for 2026-27New attendance boundaries and staff assignments took effect for 2026-27.
- Boundaries approved (per roadmap)
- Intradistrict transfer applications open
- Transfer decisions
Funding
Savings in operating budget
Recent news
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Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Built from BoardDocs agendas, minutes and attachments (Nov. 2025 to June 2026) for the Board of Education and its charter school governance councils. BoardDocs content stops in June 2026; later meetings are on the district's Boardable site, which could not be collected.
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