Northwest Allen officials warn state bills could cut operating revenue, imperil referendum and CTE plans

Superintendent Dr. Binney told the Northwest Allen County Schools Board of School Trustees on March 10 that proposed state legislation would sharply constrain the district's ability to raise operating revenue and could block a planned operating referendum this fall.

Dr. Binney said she testified on Senate Bill 1 at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing and described how the bill, as drafted, would hold school operations budgets flat in year one, allow 1% growth in year two and 2% in year three. "If that's true, we're gonna go from nearly 8,400 students to 12,500 students," she said, citing district demographic projections tied to about 4,100 new homes already platted in the district.

The superintendent provided figures she said were in the board packet: the district's operations fund budget is about $13,400,000 and, under the current draft of Senate Bill 1, would be reduced by roughly $4,500,000 over three years. She also told the board the district is already underfunded by about $525 per student compared with peer districts, which she said equates to roughly $4,390,000 per year.

Board member Mrs. Schlatter reported on recent committee hearings she attended and said a range of local officials — mayors, library boards, superintendents and school board members — expressed concern that the bill would disproportionately reduce property-tax revenue for local units. She said the House Ways and Means Committee limited testimony to one minute per speaker because almost 200 people had been signed up.

Two other bills were discussed briefly. Senate Bill 518, she said, would require school corporations to share operations-fund referendum revenue with certain charter schools; the board was told the district is not yet directly affected because of its current charter enrollment but that the bill could be a "gateway" to future changes if thresholds are lowered. Senate Bill 287 would add partisan primaries and party labels to school board elections; Schlatter said hearings had drawn both supporters and opponents and the outcome remained uncertain.

Dr. Binney said a central worry is that the bill language, as drafted, would remove the district's ability to hold an operating referendum in the fall even though current law allows one. She told the board that if the referendum option were blocked, the district would likely have to scale back or delay parts of its next-decade plan, including construction and operation of a proposed career and technical education center.

The board was told the superintendent had shared written testimony in the board documents and that a House member indicated he would propose a grandfather clause to protect districts that had already planned a referendum. Board members said they will continue to monitor the bills and rely on updates from the Indiana School Boards Association.

Why this matters: the operations fund covers daily expenses such as transportation, utilities and staffing for new buildings; caps on levy growth combined with rapid residential development in the district could force service reductions or delays to planned facilities.

The board did not take a formal vote on a policy related to the bills at this meeting; members directed staff to continue monitoring legislative activity and to keep the community informed.