HAMMOND — Emotions ran high at Tuesday night's School City of Hammond Board of Trustees meeting, as the board approved a resolution to eliminate bus transportation service in three years.
School districts in Indiana are not required to provide bus transportation, however, those that do must give a three-year notice if they plan on no longer providing it, according to state law.
Chief Financial Officer Eric Kurtz told board members the operating referendum — which voters overwhelmingly rejected to renew on Nov. 7 — helped fund transportation services, and the district now needed to trim down a lot of its spending with the referendum going away.
According to the CFO, cutting bus transportation would save the district around $4.5 million in operational costs.
Kurtz said even if they approved the resolution, the school city would still try to find another way to continue transportation services, and even if those services were eliminated, it would still be required to provide transportation for special education students, as well as unhoused students and those in foster care.
However, Trustee Carlotta Blake-King blamed overspending for the district reaching the point of considering the elimination of transportation. She also reminded the board of the agreement they made to bus students affected by school closures in 2019.
Superintendent Scott Miller replied that factors had changed given the referendum's defeat. He also blamed state lawmakers for making school districts more reliant on funding referendums for projects and services.
Additionally, Blake-King said she found the resolution to be reckless, fearmongering, heartless and retaliatory.
"I consider it mean-spirited," Blake-King said. "It seems the School City of Hammond is trying to balance the budget first, on the backs of our children."
Trustee Cindy Murphy said the elimination of transportation services would become a moot point if a referendum were to be approved next year.
Before the vote, resident Lissette Montanez asked board members to consider the effect that eliminating transportation services would have on students affected by the school closures and working parents given walkability issues and the lack of public transit services in Hammond.
The school board voted 3 to 2 in favor of the resolution, with Blake-King and Trustee Kelly Spencer voting against it, as the audience erupted in cheers and applauses for the dissenting votes.
The board also approved $10 million in tax anticipation warrants, or temporary loans taken out by local governments in anticipation of future tax revenue, to provide cash liquidity for the district in order to pay its bills.
While the school city has taken out TAWs annually for over a decade, Kurtz told board members they needed to strive to move away from the loans, but they first needed adequate cash balances.
The CFO was also asked to dispel rumors which had circulated on social media of the school district not being able to pay personnel due to a lack of cash balances. Both Kurtz and Miller assured the district would make payroll.
During the public comment section, several fervid speakers voiced their dissatisfaction over the decision to begin ending transportation services, as well as other issues such as teachers' working conditions, learning loss and reading proficiencies.
At the end of the meeting, Blake-King expressed her concerns about Hammond schools working with the Distressed Unit Appeals Board "behind closed doors" in creating a corrective action plan to reduce spending. The trustee indicated she would not keep confidential any agreement on corrective actions the district made with DUAB.
State statute allows school boards to discuss and approve corrective action plans in executive session, and excepted these plans from public disclosure laws.
The school district is currently working with DUAB to adjust its budget to avoid further state intervention.
The next Hammond School Board meeting is Dec. 19.
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