ST. JOHN | Up to 30 Lake Central School Corp. teaching positions could be cut next fall as the district tries to save money.
School leaders said the possible cuts are due to pressure on the general fund, which pays the bulk of salaries, benefits and programs as well as inequities in the school funding formula.
Superintendent Larry Veracco said Thursday there have been talks with the teacher's union about potential cuts in various programs. He emphasized the numbers are approximate, and specific teachers have not been named yet. But it could affect about 11 high school teachers, 11 middle school teachers and six to eight special education teachers. At the elementary level, an undetermined amount of support staff could be eliminated.
Last month, the School Board approved a plan that would put more high school teachers in class teaching core subjects while reducing their planning periods, Veracco said.
At the middle school level, administrators are suggesting a master schedule that will reduce elective offerings, such as consumer family science courses and a fine arts class. Veracco said students will be able to get those classes at the high school level, and eliminating them from the middle school will allow teachers to teach more core classes and "bring parity to all three middle schools."
He said fewer students are being placed in the special education program as a result of RTI, or Response to Intervention, a program that provides critical reading and math help. He said support staff at the elementary level may be cut with the objective of maintaining class size.
The middle school portion will be presented to the School Board on Monday night.
Veracco said it was the budgetary crisis in K-12 education that forced Lake Central, along with other schools across the state, to look at ways to streamline programs. He said administrators found it "a little unnerving" that Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett made no assurances regarding the next biennium.
The upcoming Indiana Legislature will pass a budget for fiscal year 2012 and 2013, along with a new school funding formula for those years.
Bennett's letter to superintendents, dated Nov. 24, only says there will be no cuts in K-12 education in 2011, compared with this year.
Lake Central School Board President George Baranowski said "unless we get more money per student, the funding formula inequity will continue."
He said the Legislature needs to address the funding formula issue. He said Lake Central is among the lowest in the state regarding the per-pupil cost, which is used, in part, to determine how much money schools get to support the general fund. Based on the general fund, Lake Central's per-pupil cost is $4,853.
Lake Central's School Board also will consider a resolution Monday to the Indiana General Assembly regarding the funding formula.
Complaints from Lake Central administrators about the school funding formula are on the heels of Crown Point Superintendent Teresa Eineman's charge of inequities in the formula. The Crown Point district held public forums last month to talk about the financial crisis and said it may go directly to taxpayers with a general fund referendum. No vote has been taken.
Three Indiana school corporations - Hamilton Southeastern Schools, Franklin Township Community School Corp. and Middlebury Community Schools - filed a lawsuit in February contending the state's funding formula is unconstitutional and negatively affects schoolchildren across the state.
While Lake Central schools wrestles with general fund issues, it also is considering a construction referendum. Last year, taxpayers in the Lake Central school community rejected a $95 million referendum. The board is currently reviewing its options.