“We are spending money wisely toward our students,” said Marion School Board President Alan Beck earlier this week. “All school systems are not doing that.”
Beck and other members of the school board discussed the potential financial impact of recent state legislation during its Jan. 27 meeting.
“I’m sure Gov. Braun is listening to this meeting this evening,” Beck said. “So, for us to ‘tighten our belts,’ you can shove it, because we are tightening our belts. We cannot tighten our belts anymore.”
‘A healthy education fund’
Chief Financial Officer Kyle Mealy shared his year-end report with the Marion School Board and explained how the corporation used its education and operations funds during 2025.
According to Mealy, the corporation spent nearly $9,500 per student out of its education fund in 2025.
“What that shows you is the commitment to academics and a commitment to instruction,” Mealy said. “That’s something to be proud of.”
Salaries and benefits accounted for 82 percent of the education fund, while 18 percent was used for supplies and other needs.
Mealy said the district has a healthy education fund but might need to make future adjustments in how the operations fund is handled.
Revenue loss and operations fund impacts
According to Mealy’s report, Marion has experienced a decrease in operations revenue since 2024, and he projects these downward trends could continue.
“This is something that everyone needs to understand, anyone that’s in the community,” Mealy said. “This is everybody. This is not just a Marion Community Schools issue. Operations fund is hitting everyone. The revenue is going to be an issue.”
Last year’s report showed the district received $7.6 million in property tax revenue, with expenditures reaching $14.2 million. The corporation transferred $5.2 million from its education fund to operations last year.
“As you can see, it is not keeping up,” Mealy said. “With operations, we are really starting to feel a strain there.”
In a breakdown on expenditures, 63 percent of the operations fund was used for salaries and benefits and 27 percent on supplies and other needs, including transportation and buses.
According to the report, the five-year salary increases from 2021 to 2025 have reached 28 percent in the operations fund.
“Our salaries are going up, and our enrollment is going down in operations,” Mealy explained. “So, that’s something we have to look at, just simple budgeting that we have to keep our minds on top of.”
When asked why revenue has decreased, Mealy explained that Marion Community Schools lost $2.6 million in potential revenue last year due to circuit breakers.
Good To Know
A circuit breaker is created when areas within a school district do not yield additional tax revenue because property tax caps have been reached.
The current cap is at 1 percent for residential owners, while those who own agricultural and business properties have caps that are set at 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
Board president responds
“The $2.6 million loss on circuit breakers could solve a lot of this problem,” Beck said. “Unfortunately, there’s about 30 schools... that get really slammed by the circuit breakers and percentage of their budget, and we are one of those.”
Beck said he wished schools affected by circuit breakers could collectively share their concerns with state leadership. He also said these losses in revenue have been a problem since he has been on the board.
“The intention of it (circuit breakers) was not to smash 30 schools, but that’s what’s happening,” he said. “But when it’s 30 schools out of 400 schools in the whole state, nobody cares. So, it’s hard to have a voice.”
Beck said he does not see these trends changing in the coming years.
“It’s only going to get worse,” he said. “That $2.6 million we’re seeing this year will probably be $3 million next year and $3.5 million the next and will just continue to eat us alive.”
Beck thanked Mealy for sharing last year’s report with the board. He agreed with Mealy that Marion Community Schools is not the only district feeling the effects of tax revenue loss and voiced his concerns over Senate Bill 1 (SB 1).
“This isn’t just a Marion Community Schools thing,” he said. “This is going to happen with Mississinewa. This is going to happen with Oak Hill, Eastbrook, Madison-Grant. SB 1 is going to cripple public schools.”
Beck encouraged those in the meeting to share their thoughts and concerns about this legislation with others.
“I’m hoping people will listen and that people will start to pay attention because it’s not just Marion Community Schools,” he said. “Everybody has to get out there and talk about this. SB 1 cannot go through as is in 2027.”
Beck believes this effort should not be partisan.
“This isn’t just one side or the other,” he said. “This isn’t just our Democrats. This isn’t just our Republicans. We as a collective community that care for public schools have to stand up and stand side-by-side or we are going to be even more crippled in 2027.”