District overview
Rice Lake Area School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
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How is Rice Lake funded and governed?
A nine-member elected Board of Education governs the district's three elementary schools, middle school and high school (about 2,200 students) in Barron County, working with District Administrator Randy Drost, who plans to retire Feb. 5, 2027. The board meets on Mondays, usually twice a month, at 6 p.m. at 30 Phipps Avenue. Wisconsin caps what districts can raise (the revenue limit), mixing state aid with local property tax. The district also runs a child care center and community pool facilities.
2026-27 levy
The preliminary total levy is $21,991,312, with a mill rate of $7.86 per $1,000, up 0.85%.
Mill rate history
$10.14 (2021-22), $9.61, $8.24, $7.86, $7.67 (2025-26), then $7.86 (2026-27), stated at the Oct. 26 budget hearing.
Committees
Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Curriculum, Policy and Legislative Advocacy, Parks and Recreation, Safety and District Administrator Observation committees report to the board.
Who decides
Keven Jensen is president, Doug Kucko vice president, Miriam Vavra clerk and Lori Zahrbock treasurer (reorganized April 27, 2026).
Numbers come from a recorded presentation; the full adopted budget was not collected, so spending per student is not shown.
Where the district stands
Stated aloud in the hearing; auto-generated captions.
Major projects
Facilities study and possible referendum
Study under wayThe board approved a facilities study in August and architects from LHB held information sessions on Sept. 29. A referendum is under consideration for spring 2027; no amount is posted.
- Board approves facilities study
- Board notes potential spring referendum and LHB information sessions
Funding
Would require voter approval
No cost estimate in collected documents.
District administrator search
Search under wayRandy Drost retires Feb. 5, 2027. The board chose WASB to run the search on Aug. 24 and a community survey was opened.
- Retirement recorded
- Board selects WASB for the search
Funding
General fund
Search cost not stated.
Recent news
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Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →Based on 84 official documents: board agendas and minutes (public Google Drive PDFs linked from the district site) and auto-captioned recordings of board meetings, November 2025 to November 2026.
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