HUSTISFORD, Wis. — Wisconsin’s School District Boundary Appeal Board has approved the dissolution of the Hustisford School District.
The entire district will transfer to the nearby Dodgeland School District after a unanimous vote from the state board, marking the first time a Wisconsin school district has dissolved since 1990.
Voters earlier this year rejected a referendum that would have provided the district funding to continue operations as it faced long-term financial challenges and declining enrollment.
“The Hustisford School District is a casualty of decades of an antiquated, broken school funding formula that has failed to keep pace with the costs of educating our children,” State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly said in a statement. “This decision reflects the difficult choices that school districts and communities across Wisconsin are having to make as they are forced to do more with less due to a lack of support from the state.”
Hustisford schools already closed this year, with many of the district’s students being educated in the Dodgeland School District under a tuition agreement or open enrollment. Hustisford School District will officially dissolve on July 1, 2027.
“While the Hustisford School District will cease to exist as an independent school district, its history, accomplishments, traditions, and contributions to the community will endure,” Interim Supterintendent Todd Bugnacki said in a statement.
The School District Boundary Appeal Board is a decision-making body within the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction that addresses district creation and dissolution, annexation or boundary disputes.
