WAUPUN — With less than a month before a final decision is made, the Randolph and Waupun school districts are preparing to present information about the upcoming referendum.
After a petition for detachment was denied by the Waupun Area School Board in July, a community group, Concerned Area Residents for Education, filed a second petition in August requesting a referendum to allow voters in the Randolph and Waupun school districts to determine if the town and city of Fox Lake should detach from Waupun Area School District and attach to Randolph School District.
All registered voters living in the two school districts will have a chance to vote.
To present the public with general information about the upcoming school referendum, the Randolph and Waupun school districts will host several meetings before the Nov. 3 election:
■ 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Randolph High School
■ 1 p.m. Oct. 22 at Rock River Intermediate School lecture hall, Waupun
■ 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at Fox Lake council chambers
■ 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Rock River Intermediate School lecture hall
The ballot will read:
“Shall the territory located within the City of Fox Lake and the Township of Fox Lake which is presently a part of the Waupun Area School District be detached from the Waupun Area School District and attached to the Randolph School District effective July 1, 2010?”
The two school districts are sharing the cost of a financial impact study conducted by Robert W. Baird & Co. out of Milwaukee, estimated at $5,000. The study allows an outside party to determine the financial impact of the detachment/attachment for both districts.
“We got the report back, but there are some errors,” district administrator Randy Refsland said at Monday’s school board meeting. “We are meeting with them this week to clean it up. The information will be available at the informational meetings.”