Wisconsin · Edgar · Marathon County · CESA 09

Edgar School District

District briefing, fall 2026: enrollment, achievement, finances and property taxes.

On the ballot · November 3, 2026

Edgar School District: one referendum question

Shall the School District of Edgar, Marathon County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $1,400,000 per year for five years, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year and ending with the 2031-2032 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of facility maintenance and operational expenses?

Source: sample ballot

Enrollment
606
2024-25
Revenue-limit members
568
2025-26 funding count
Enrollment, 5 yr
−2.3%
headcount change · peers −1.1%
Forward ELA z
+0.55
last 3 tested years
Cost / member
$17,658
2024-25
Mill rate
6.21
statewide K-12 6.90
Home value
−1%
5-yr avg vs. 13 nearby districts
Teachers staying
86%
2025-26
Enrollment

606 students in 2024-25, −2.3% over five years while the regional peer median moved −1.1%.

Achievement

Forward Exam results average +0.55 (ELA) and +0.56 (math) on a z scale over the last three tested years, where 0 is the average Wisconsin district. ACT composite: 18.8 against a statewide median of 19.2.

Spending

$17,658 total cost per member in 2024-25, above the regional peer median of $16,762 and below the statewide median of $18,324.

Taxes

The school tax rate is 6.21 mills (2025-26), against a statewide K-12 median of 6.90; the 2025-26 levy is $2.4M, 0% of it referendum-approved debt.

Revenue limit

$14,534 per member under the state revenue limit, against a statewide K-12 median of $13,575; voters have decided 8 operating questions, passing 3, most recently Apr 2022 (non-recurring, passed).

Edgar enrolled 606 students in 2024-25 (September membership). Since 2009-10 its enrollment has fallen 13%; the median regional peer shrank 0% and the median Wisconsin district shrank 12%. The chart indexes each series to its 2009-10 level. Private schools inside the district's boundaries enroll 7.6% of school-age children (2024-25), against 9.7% in the median district.

EdgarRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
1061009488822009-102013-142017-182024-25

Students, 2025-26

Student group2025-262020-21Median WI district
Students with disabilities17.6%17.4%16.6%
English learners0.9%—2.4%
Economically disadvantaged29.3%28.2%36.7%
White93.4%95.8%85.3%
Two or More2.9%0.9%3.9%
Hispanic2.8%1.9%6.8%
Black0.7%0.2%1.0%
Amer Indian0.2%0.7%0.4%
Asian—0.5%0.9%

Community (ACS 2024)

MeasureEdgarMedian WI district
Median household income$73,333$77,317
Poverty rate5.4%8.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more16.2%25.4%
Households with children24.0%25.9%
Residents 65 and older18.4%20.5%
Median home value$210,800$241,800

Home values against nearby districts

Across the five most recent Census releases (2016–20 to 2020–24), the median owner-occupied home in Edgar averaged $178,340, 1% below the median of the 13 districts within 25 miles ($180,180). That ranks 8th of 14 in the area and at the 27th percentile of Wisconsin districts (state median $205,920).

ACS 5-year releaseEdgarNearby medianDifferenceWisconsin median
2016–20$154,900$156,700−1%$172,200
2017–21$158,100$162,200−3%$182,750
2018–22$172,500$179,000−4%$210,250
2019–23$195,400$191,500+2%$227,050
2020–24$210,800$209,000+1%$241,800
Five-release average$178,340$180,180−1%$205,920

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, median value of owner-occupied homes (table B25077), in nominal dollars. Consecutive releases share four of their five survey years, so the average is a smoothed level rather than five independent years. Nearby districts are those whose NCES office address lies within 25 miles of Edgar's: Marathon City (6 mi, $229,000); Stratford (10 mi, $222,740); D C Everest Area (18 mi, $202,980); Mosinee (15 mi, $198,780); Athens (10 mi, $194,580); Auburndale (21 mi, $184,900); Marshfield Unified (21 mi, $180,180); Spencer (20 mi, $174,560); Medford Area Public (24 mi, $173,960); Wausau (17 mi, $169,800); Colby (17 mi, $153,020); Merrill Area (23 mi, $146,820); Abbotsford (18 mi, $137,080).

Enrollment and the funding count

Wisconsin's revenue limit, which caps what a district may raise from general state aid and the property tax combined, is set per member using a three-year rolling average of membership: each September's full-time-equivalent count plus 40% of summer-school FTE. Edgar's revenue-limit membership for 2025-26 is 568.

School yearEnrolled studentsRevenue-limit membershipPer enrolled student
2020-215865600.96
2021-226255640.90
2022-236325740.91
2023-246285870.93
2024-256065790.96
2025-26—568—

DPI revenue limit worksheets (three-year average membership) and DPI September membership. Years without a membership count show a dash.

In spring 2025, 62% of Edgar students met or exceeded Forward standards in ELA and 66% in math, against 54% and 57% in the median Wisconsin district.

On a z scale, which puts every year on the same footing across the 2023-24 rescaling, Edgar averaged +0.55 in ELA and +0.56 in math over the last three tested years, against −0.12 and −0.12 in its first three years on file.

EdgarRegional peers (median)Average Wisconsin district (0)

ELA

+0.90+0.41−0.09−0.59−1.092015-162019-202024-25

Math

+0.79+0.42+0.04−0.33−0.712015-162019-202024-25

Wisconsin rescaled the Forward Exam in 2023-24. Z-scores standardize each year's result against every comparable district that year (0 = the average district; +1 = one standard deviation above), so years on either side of a test or cut-score change can be compared. Testing was canceled in spring 2020.

Attendance, ACT, college-going and discipline

MeasureEdgarRegional peersWisconsin medianYear
Attendance rate93.8%94.6%94.3%2024-25
Chronic absenteeism14.0%10.0%10.9%2024-25
ACT composite (grade 11)18.819.019.22024-25
Enrolled in college the first fall100.0%100.0%100.0%2024-25
Suspensions and expulsions per 1,00022.636.333.02024-25

DPI WISEdash files. Chronic absenteeism = share of students missing 10% or more of enrolled days.

Edgar's total cost per member was $17,658 in 2024-25, against $16,762 for the median regional peer and $18,324 for the median Wisconsin district. Local property tax paid for 16% of revenue, against 38% statewide.

EdgarRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
$19,287$16,801$14,315$11,830$9,3442006-072010-112014-152018-192024-25

The revenue limit allows $14,534 per member for 2025-26, above the statewide K-12 median of $13,575 and above the regional peer median of $13,263. The limit counts general state aid and the property tax together, so state aid changes move the levy rather than total revenue. Voters have decided 8 operating questions, passing 3, most recently apr 2022 (non-recurring, passed).

EdgarRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
$15,283$13,348$11,414$9,480$7,5462005-062009-102013-142017-182021-222025-26

Total district cost per member and revenue shares: DPI comparative cost data. Revenue limit: DPI revenue limit worksheets; statewide comparison is K-12 districts only.

The district's 2025-26 levy is $2.4M, at a rate of 6.21 mills per $1,000 of equalized value (statewide K-12 median 6.90). 0% of the levy repays referendum-approved debt (Fund 39).

Levy yearTotal levyGeneral fund (Fund 10)Referendum debt (Fund 39)Mill rate
2020-21$2.5M$1.3M$1.1M10.30
2021-22$2.4M$1.1M$1.1M9.46
2022-23$2.4M$1.8M$0.5M8.73
2023-24$2.0M$1.5M$0.3M6.24
2024-25$1.7M$1.6M$0.0M5.08
2025-26$2.4M$2.2M$0.0M6.21
EdgarRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
12.2710.288.296.304.312006-072010-112014-152018-192025-26

The median residential property-tax bill inside the district, all governments, was $2,144 in 2025 (statewide median $2,766). The full bill on the median home comes to 2.5% of median household income, and the school portion on that home ($210,800) is about $1,071.

Property tax on the median home, by taxing authority, payable 2026

A home at Edgar's median value, about $291,000 at the current assessment, owes roughly $3,470 in property tax for taxes payable 2026. The school district's part is $1,810 (47% before credits); the rest goes to the county, the city, village or town, the technical college district and special districts such as sanitary and lake districts, less the state's school levy tax credit. That bill is $310 less than the average regional peer's median home.

Taxing authorityEdgarRegional peers (average)
School district$1,810 47%$1,830 45%
Technical college$300 8%$250 6%
County$1,020 27%$1,140 28%
City, village or town$490 13%$660 16%
Special districts$210 6%$240 6%
State school levy tax credit−$360−$340
Total$3,470$3,780
Median home value$291,000$261,000

Each column is the tax on that district's own median home; peer columns average the districts in the group. The percentage is each authority's share of the bill before credits.

The same $291,000 home at each group's tax rates

Holding the house constant separates tax rates from home values. Taxed at Edgar's rates the home owes $3,470; at the regional peers' rates it would owe $4,270 on average.

Taxing authorityEdgarRegional peers (average)
School district$1,810 47%$2,040 44%
Technical college$300 8%$270 6%
County$1,020 27%$1,290 28%
City, village or town$490 13%$760 16%
Special districts$210 6%$280 6%
State school levy tax credit−$360−$380
Total$3,470$4,270
Tax as a share of home value1.19%1.47%

Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Town, Village and City Taxes, 2025 levies (taxes payable 2026): each taxing body's levy over the full value it is spread on. The school rate is the district's own levy over its equalized value; county, municipal, technical college and special-district rates are averages over the towns, villages and cities the district covers, weighted by its value in each, so a home in any one of them pays somewhat more or less. The school levy tax credit is the state-paid credit DOR spreads by municipality; the lottery and gaming credit and first dollar credit, applied per parcel, are not included. Median home value: Census ACS 2024 5-year median for owner-occupied homes, brought to January 1, 2025 values by the change in the district's TIF-out equalized value since 2022. The parcel-based median bill above runs lower because it covers every residential parcel, including vacant lots, condominiums and smaller homes, and is net of the per-parcel credits.

Levy by fund and equalized value: DPI and Department of Revenue. Typical bill: parcel-level residential bills inside the district boundary; school portion applies the school mill rate to the ACS median home value and is an estimate.

Voters have decided 15 referendum questions since 1994 and approved 5.

ElectionTypePurposeAmountYesResult
Apr 2022Operating$950,000 for 5 years for non-recurring purposes consisting of facility maintenance and ...$4.8M63.4%Passed
Apr 2021Operatingthree-year for recurring purposes consisting of facility maintenance and operational ex...$0.8M48.4%Failed
Feb 2020Operatingthree-year for recurring purposes consisting of sustaining educational programming, ope...$0.7M46.1%Failed
Feb 2010Capitalcost of remodeling existing physical education facilities for use as performance center...$7.6M52.8%Passed
Jul 2005OperatingNA$0.3M62.6%Passed
Apr 2002Capitaladding band room, art room, choir room, remodel cafeteria, install wheelchair lift$1.4M39.1%Failed
Apr 2002Capitalimprove athletic facilities including adding restrooms, concession stand, press box, bl...$0.3M42.0%Failed
Apr 2001Capitaladditing and auditorium; remodel gym entrance and acquire and improve land for baseball...$2.3M36.2%Failed
Apr 2001Capitaladding classrooms; remodeling; renovate/improve facilities including football fields an...$1.9M48.4%Failed
Apr 2001Operatingrecurring purposes$0.1M51.8%Passed
Sep 1998Operatingexceed revenue limits, 3 years, start 1998-99$0.2M48.1%Failed
Jun 1997Operatingrevenue limit$0.2M46.1%Failed
Apr 1997CapitalNA$0.2M40.5%Failed
Feb 1997OperatingNA$0.2M—Failed
Feb 1994Capitaladd classrooms to K-12, new gym & shop$1.8M55.5%Passed

DPI referenda file, 1993 onward.

86% of Edgar's teachers stayed in the district into 2025-26, against 91% for the median regional peer and 91% statewide; 9% left Wisconsin public schools. Average teacher salary was $58,493, against $55,772 for the median peer and $61,273 statewide.

EdgarRegional peers (median)Wisconsin (median district)
97%92%88%84%80%2016-172018-192020-212022-232024-25

Staff by role, 2016-17 to 2025-26

RoleHeadcount, firstHeadcount, lastChangePeer median change
Administrators35+67%+33%
Teachers5053+6%+6%
Aides/Paraprofessionals1418+29%+47%
Pupil Services38+167%+20%
Other48480%+5%

DPI All Staff files: distinct people by role. Peer median change across the regional peers.

DPI All Staff files, person-level, linked year to year.

Wherever this briefing sets Edgar beside other districts, it uses the group below. A group figure is the middle value across its members (the property-tax tables on the median home use the average instead), each counted equally, so one large member cannot dominate it.

Regional peers 12 districts

The 12 Wisconsin districts of the same type most like Edgar on four measures: distance and CESA (30% of the weight), total cost per member (30%), the Census child poverty rate (25%) and locale, meaning city, suburb, town or rural (15%). Districts under 400 students are not eligible.

DistrictCountyCESALocaleMiles awayEnrollmentCost per member
Marathon CityMarathon09Rural7707$16,981
StratfordMarathon09Rural8806$16,234
AthensMarathon09Rural10494$17,324
AbbotsfordClark10Rural15842$15,699
ColbyClark10Rural161,044$19,176
SpencerMarathon10Rural18667$17,606
AuburndaleWood05Rural21782$16,458
Merrill AreaLincoln09Town262,301$16,468
Owen-WitheeClark10Rural29467$16,821
Rib LakeTaylor09Rural32531$16,703
Antigo UnifiedLanglade09Rural432,141$15,976
PrenticePrice09Rural44414$18,785

“Wisconsin median” is the middle value across Wisconsin districts; property-tax and revenue-limit comparisons use K-12 districts only, because elementary and union high school districts overlap the same territory.