A bill that would create a local oversight board and facilitate potential use of county funds for Vigo County School Corp. facility improvements passed unanimously out of the Indiana Senate Committee on Local Government on Thursday.
Senate Bill 382, authored by State Sen. Greg Goode, R-Terre Haute, establishes a local governance structure to oversee and guide the use of any county funds provided to the Vigo County School Corp.
Specifics as to how the county might help fund school facilities is still being studied, said Chris Switzer, Vigo County commissioner.
After the hearing, Switzer said in an interview, “We are exploring ways within local government to build new schools for our community without a tax increase. What we are looking at with our municipal advisers and this board of directors (if legislation passes) will be finding buckets of funds within the community that continue to have the same amount of dollars coming in that will support a bond for the future” used for school facilities.
“Our hope would be to get a project off the ground with no referendum,” he said. SB 382 does not allocate funding, “but ensures a transparent, accountable and collaborative process if resources become available in the future,” according to information provided by RJL Solutions.
On Thursday, several local officials spoke in support of the bill during a hearing at the Statehouse, including Goode; Switzer; Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun and Vigo County School Board member Amy Lore.
Also speaking were Kristin Craig, president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, and Andy Volkl, Saturn Petcare COO.
In Vigo County, “We have been re-inventing ourselves, we are creating new paths to innovation and economic prosperity and most importantly, we are and want to continue to invest in our children,” Goode told committee members. But aging school facilities, and particularly high schools, must be addressed. At the same time, citizens “will not accept new taxes to pay for these schools,” he said, adding, “I can’t blame them.”
Senate Bill 382 would facilitate county government in partnering with school corporations to address facility needs “with monies already in place,” Goode said.
If the county were to assist VCSC with future projects, decisions regarding those funding and financing options would remain with the county council, he said.
Lore said the bill “has the potential to foster a unique collaboration across our community, collaboration we desperately need to address the aging infrastructure in our schools.”
The district is looking for creative ways to be competitive and become a first choice for students and parents, something encouraged at the state level, she said.
Noting that the district has been losing enrollment for several years, Lore said the aging facilities “are a significant factor in our ADM decline,” which also impacts the local economy, workforce and quality of life.
A 2022 high school facility referendum failed, and since then, the school board and administration have been learning from that failure, Lore said.
After the hearing, she said the school board “has been turning over every possible rock with legal counsel, talking amongst ourselves, being as creative as possible,” to find solutions to address facilities. The board is “profoundly grateful to have a partnership across entities of local government to make something like this happen,” Lore said.
The committee passed an amendment that makes the local board optional rather than mandatory, while another amendment expanded the number of local board members to five (instead of three).
Also discussed was an amendment that would limit counties impacted to those with a single school district, such as in Vigo County.
In a statement, Mayor Brandon Sakbun said, “Failing school infrastructure is turning families away, and that ripple effect is hitting every part of our community — population decline, workforce challenges, stalled economic growth. If we don’t step up together to fix this, we’re just kicking the can down the road for someone else to deal with. And frankly, we’re out of road.”
He added, “We’re not asking the state to help us fund our problem, but help us create a tool for collaboration and transparency with an added level of accountability.”
The bill, as amended, calls for a five-member board, as follows: one member appointed by the mayor of the city or executive of the town having the largest population within the county; one member appointed by the county fiscal body; and the president of the school board.
The amendment calls for one member appointed by county commissioners and a representative of the business community, appointed by county commissioners.
Craig expressed the Chamber’s support for the bill. “ Addressing the state of our schools is not optional — it’s essential,” she said.
SB 382 now goes to the full Senate for a second reading and vote.
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