Indiana schools are seeing an unprecedented increase in state funding, but rising costs and declining enrollment could lower the impact. The General Assembly increased K-12 education funding by almost $1.5 billion during this year's session.
At the Lake Central School Corporation, Director of Business Services Rob James expects to get $6,850 per student in 2024, a $1,081 per student increase from 2020. "We are using these dollars to keep up with our increased costs, to put these dollars into the classroom and into our teachers' and other staff members' salaries," James told the school board Tuesday, as he presented his 2024 budget proposal. It totals just over $127.2 million, including a $67.5 million education fund, a $25 million operations fund and a $12.5 million operating referendum fund.
James noted that school budgets are tricky: it's being put together now, but the enrollment counts that determine exactly how much tuition money the school corporation gets are still five to 12 months away. Based on recent trends, though, incoming kindergarten classes are typically about 200 students smaller than graduating senior classes, although that's offset somewhat by families moving in.
"It equates to about $800,000 more money we would have had for this fiscal year, if our graduating classes weren't just so off," James explained.
And while the General Assembly voted to eliminate textbook fees for families, the amount of funding it's providing is about a million dollars less than Lake Central expects to spend. James said the district will have to get creative to make up the difference.
"But — and this is me coming from the business side — I also don't want to take things out of the classroom that make our schools great," James said. "And why should kids be punished because they got a number wrong at the state level?"
All of this comes while expenses — like insurance and utilities — keep going up. "Honestly, the big thing is school buses," James added. "The cost of school buses has gone up about 20 percent in the last year. That's huge, especially when you buy eight to 10 buses a year."
Still, Lake Central appears to be in a strong financial position, with more families moving into the district, a consistent property tax rate and a relatively small impact from the state's tax caps.
Residents can weigh in on Lake Central's 2024 budget during the September 18 school board meeting. It will be up for the board's approval on October 2.
