Danielle Rush, Kokomo Tribune Staff Writer

Kokomo-Center School officials have implemented several cost-cutting measures, in addition to school consolidation, to deal with funding losses of $3.6 million this year.

Superintendent Chris Himsel presented his recommendations for cost savings, and measures already in effect, at a recent board work session.

Board member Harold Canady asked if there had been any discussions of consolidating the Howard County Schools, suggesting Gov. Mitch Daniels is trying to force the issue by cutting $300 million in state funding to schools in 2010.

“It almost looks like the state is going to bring us to our knees,” Canady said.

Himsel said he would be willing to discuss the idea with any other superintendent. He said, while state officials have suggested there would be cost savings in consolidating schools on the administrative side, it’s not as easy as it sounds on the surface.

He said, for example, if Kokomo consolidated with Eastern, which has a much smaller percentage of its students receiving free and reduced lunch, Kokomo-Center would actually lose significant funding. School funding is based partially on enrollment, but also on a complexity index, which factors in students who will have more educational needs.

“It’s complicated,” he said. “There are more factors to look at than at the surface.”

Himsel said local superintendents are working together to pool resources and get better prices by buying items together, getting a volume discount, and are looking to see if there are more areas where they can go together to save money.

He said school employees are not being allowed to go to out-of-state conferences unless they are grant-funded, and staff development is being provided through grant funding instead of general-fund money. He said nobody attending a conference is being approved for hotel accommodations less than 90 miles from Kokomo.

Himsel said he plans to drop his membership in the national superintendent’s association and recommends dropping the board’s membership in the National School Board Association. He added he is recommending retaining state-level association memberships.

He said overtime now has to be pre-approved, and it is being monitored. The school is also using grant funding to pay for substitute teachers when teachers are away for professional development.

He said the board also is approving fewer waivers of payment for groups using school facilities, and fewer waivers of custodial fees when groups use school buildings.

Himsel said plans are in the works to lease or sell unused buildings. He said while the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library is paying only $1 per month to lease the Columbian School building, it is also paying for utilities, so the school corporation does not have that expense for a building it is not using.

The Wallace and Washington buildings will be empty at the end of this school year, and the Lincoln building is already empty, since the special education cooperative moved to Central Middle School. Himsel said original plans were for the cooperative to have offices at Darrough Chapel Early Learning Center, but after receiving a Head Start expansion grant, there is not room at Darrough Chapel. He said school officials have not yet decided where the alternative program or the special education cooperative offices will be permanently housed.

He said, though, there will be no changes in what elementary schools will close in the fall, because that decision was made nearly two years ago and there is no time to make a change.

He does not know how much the consolidation will save yet, but said there will be a reduction in administrative and classified staff. There will be eight principals instead of 13, and even if some schools need assistant principals because of larger enrollment, there would still be cost savings.

He said, with building closures, there will be fewer teachers needed. He hopes most of the reductions can be accomplished by not replacing teachers who retire or resign, but said it is possible there will be layoffs. If teachers are to be laid off, he said, those who are tenured must be notified by May 1, and non-tenured teachers must be notified by June 1.