Duluth Public Schools Warns of Potential Layoffs in Future

Duluth Public Schools officials are warning of potential layoffs in the future after announcing staff displacements this week.

The district is facing budget constraints following the failure of a ballot referendum last year. According to a Northern News Now report, the district needs to reduce their operating budget by $7.6 million over the next two years. Officials cited common struggles like increasing inflation and the loss of Covid-19 pandemic funding for the budget issues.

Those problems have been especially troublesome for school districts across Wisconsin in recent years. In 2024, nearly 200 school districts in the state proposed a ballot referendum.

While the majority of those referendums did pass, districts that did not get their referendums approved have struggled to prevent layoffs or the closing of schools entirely. Some, like the Shell Lake School District and Ashland School District, chose to tweak their proposed referendums and try again during the spring election.

Along with the announcement, Duluth Public Schools Superintendent John Magas assured staff that the displacements are not layoffs. However, the displacements do serve as warnings to the affected employees that they should consider applying for a different job.

Officials have notified the 41 district employees who will be affected by the displacements. Most of the displacements will affect support positions in the district. If increased funding is approved or other staff members decide to retire at the end of the school year, some of the employees who received displacement notices could still retain their position or be offered a new one.