Beloit School District hosts ‘table talk’ about denied funding referendum

BELOIT, Wis. (WTVO) — Beloit School District looks to move forward with a funding referendum that has been denied for the past two years.

“It’s easy for my staff to share the positive things, but it’s a lot better when everyone is sharing those things,” said Superintendent Dr. Willie Garrison II “And these table talks allows that to happen. With the community being a part of [the] conversation.”

Cunningham Intermediate, a school in the Beloit School District, hosted a table talk. The goal was to figure out how to move forward on a referendum that has been denied for the past two years.

The most recent coming this past April.

“We were asking for a three-year referendum for $9 million for operation and unfortunately lost about 20%, which is a little significant,” said Board of Education President Tia Johnson.

Event leaders wanted members of the community to be asked to come whether they voted yes or no. The school district is interested in the voter’s reason for how they voted and finding solutions.

“The most important thing is we have the opportunity to do in the school district is to communicate,” said Garrison II “And so these table tabletop opportunities allow us to sit down and just have we’d like to say like a dinner, a dinner chat opportunity where we could just share different ideas, share kind of what’s going on here in the school district, listen to the community as pertains to what they would like to see different and then allow us to have that in our back and forth dialog in a light way.”

Academics were also part of the discussion. Understanding where students succeed and where they need help.

This was the first table talk and something that organizers were happy to hold as it brought the community closer to the district.

“Our purpose, what we’re here for and trying to make things better for our students, for their future,” said Johnson.

To keep up with the table talk series click here .

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