Kenosha Unified adopts budget with $17.8 million structural deficit

The Kenosha Unified School Board adopted its 2026–27 budget Oct. 27, with a projected $17.8 million structural deficit inside an $18.8 million general-fund gap, WLIP reported. The structural deficit is part of the larger gap, not an additional amount on top of it. The $1 million difference between the figures is not a separate deficit.

For students and families in Kenosha, the adopted budget sets the district’s 2026–27 spending plan, while any referendum remains a separate, unresolved decision. The board also approved $3.24 million in budget carryovers and directed that the property-tax levy be delivered to municipal clerks by Nov. 10. WLIP did not state the levy’s final amount.

Enrollment fell below last year and the district projection i

Kenosha Unified reported a final third-Friday enrollment count of 17,029. That is 770 fewer students than the 17,799 counted in 2025–26, a decline of about 4.3%. The count also came in 442 below the district’s February 2026 projection of 17,471, or about 2.5% under that estimate. WLIP reported this was the second consecutive year enrollment had fallen by more than 700 students.

A survey presented to the board included 400 residents interviewed from Sept. 30 through Oct. 13, with a stated margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. WLIP reported that 83% rated education quality favorably, 60% said the district was inadequately funded, and 80% supported maintaining existing programs. Those are responses to separate survey questions, not a vote on a referendum. WLIP also reported that board members questioned aspects of the survey, including its political representation.

April referendum options have not been decided i

No referendum was approved at the Oct. 27 meeting. As of Oct. 31, whether to pursue an April referendum remained undecided. WLIP reported that a Dec. 3 committee-of-the-whole meeting could offer an opportunity to consider possible April options; that is a potential discussion, not an approved ballot question.

WLIP also reported that a staffing study was expected at a November board meeting. The Nov. 10 levy-delivery deadline is the next specified date related to the adopted budget.