Some educators say House school funding plan will hurt

Merrillville interim Superintendent Tony Lux said the projections reveal winners and losers among school systems.

"Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern would gain $9 million and $14 million respectively over two years, while Gary and Indianapolis public schools would lose almost $10 million and $15 million over those two years," Lux said, noting Merrillville could lose about $500,000.

School districts get a basic amount called the foundation base; added to that is a complexity index.

The new two-year spending plan increases funding for elementary and secondary education by $469 million. That's more than twice the education funding increase Gov. Mike Pence proposed.

At the same time, the budget proposal changes the complexity formula.

Instead of counting students receiving free textbooks for complexity, the budget calls for using the number of students participating in the federal free lunch program. Though unlike prior years, students receiving reduced-cost lunches would not count for a school's complexity index.

School districts receive a foundation base of $4,587 per student for fiscal year 2015. According to the House Republican plan, schools will get $4,984 per student starting July 1 and $5,105 in July 2016.

Lux said there is no denying funding adjustments are being made to help school systems receiving the lowest dollars per student -- which happen to be more affluent communities, at the expense of school systems receiving the most dollars per student -- which happen to be poorer communities.

“The amounts of financial gain versus financial loss are astounding,” he said.

"We can only hope the Senate budget will address these glaring issues and find a budget solution that helps those school systems that need the help without harming other school systems."

Munster Superintendent Jeff Hendrix said the House plan is a little better than Pence’s plan.

"It was a step in the right direction for our school district, but it does not fix our problems right now," he said. "I wasn’t surprised, but I was extremely disappointed."

Lake Central Superintendent Larry Veracco agreed the House budget proposal is much more generous than the original plan proposed by Pence.

"An increase to the foundation will help Lake Central," he said.

"Without the additional support of a general fund referendum at Lake Central, an increase to our funding will significantly improve our ability to maintain both student programs and competitive employee salaries," Veracco said. "We will be anxiously watching as the budget gets massaged by the Senate, but we are hopeful that a foundation increase results in some new money for all school districts."

Tri-Creek Superintendent Debra Howe said she thanks House legislators for taking the time to listen to educators. She said superintendents appreciate their courage and persistence in tackling this issue.

"It is extremely difficult to balance all the differing needs between rural, suburban, and urban districts, increasing and declining enrollment districts, and districts with high and low poverty," she said.

The House budget results in an overall increase in funding for some districts and a decrease in others. Everyone saw an increase in the foundation funding level, which is good for all schools and all students, Howe said.

"Changing the complexity results is a mixed bag. Districts with high poverty will see less in complexity while they receive more in foundation, but the overall result will be a decrease in overall funding," Howe said.

She said the switch of the complexity formula will result in an estimated loss of $618,000.

Over the two-year period, Howe estimated the decrease for Tri-Creek at a total of $697,000, with an estimated average daily membership loss of 133 students.

"If complexity had remained the same, we would have seen an overall estimated increase of $1.3 million, which is badly needed," she said.

Gary Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said the district will lose an estimated $7.2 million in 2016 and $3.4 million the following year. She said the plan hurts a school district already struggling to pay its bills, has declining enrollment and is in a high-poverty community. She said the per-pupil cost will drop to $6,637 from $7,375.

"It really cuts our budget," she said. "As we educate the community and talk about the finances, we want them to understand what's going on."

She said the district is preparing for a referendum that could generate $7.4 million a year for seven years. She noted most districts will gain funding while Gary will lose money from the state.

"We need to be able to educate our children," she said.

Duneland Superintendent David Pruis said the House plan is a step in the right direction and it's his understanding that 70 percent of the schools across the state will see an increase in total dollars.

He said Duneland will lose about $900,000 from 2015 to 2016. 

"My best guess is that once it gets to the Senate, the formula will be tweaked and massaged but we won't know exactly until it comes out of the Senate."