BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR

On July 1, 2023, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released an estimate of the general school aid amounts each school district in the state could anticipate receiving for the 2023-24 school year. Wisconsin statutes require the figures to be published by July 1 each year. General school aids are the largest form of state support for Wisconsin public schools, offsetting local property taxes under state-imposed revenue limits, a release from DPI said.
According to DPI, Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) received $18,253,545 in general aid for the 2022-23 school year as of the Oct. 15, 2022, general aid certification.
For the 2023-24 school year, MAPS is anticipated to receive $17,642,664.
That’s a decrease of 3.35% and more than $600,000 … $610,881 to be exact.
The current estimate is based on the biennial budget as passed by the Wisconsin State Legislature and pupil count data reported by school districts to the DPI, the release said.
This data was released prior to the finalization of the state’s 2023-25 biennial budget and is based on budgeted data as opposed to audited data. “This means the estimated amounts are subject to change by the time the DPI certifies general school aids for 2023-24 based on audited data by October 15, 2023,” the release said.