Indiana DOE notice: Speedway reports 83.5% teacher-pay share but falls short of new funding-floor comparison

District staff told the School Town of Speedway board that the Indiana Department of Education has issued a notice about a new funding-floor comparison and that Speedway’s numbers fell just short of the new benchmark.

Speaker 2 said Speedway was notified that "we spend overall 83.5% of our state tuition on teacher salaries and benefits," and emphasized that the district's total share of tuition spending on teachers remains high. The board was told the shortfall on the DOE comparison stems from how the department compares 2023-24 to 2024-25 under the new rule combined with prior contract timing and staffing changes. Speaker 2 said "When we negotiated the contract back in 2022, this law didn't even exist," and described retirements and hires at different salary steps as contributors to the shortfall.

Speaker 2 told the board the district will put the required acknowledgement on the public record and update the calculation for next year. No formal corrective action or penalty was recorded in the meeting; the presenter said the district can "fix this problem," and will record the acknowledgement in the minutes and on the website.

The board did not take additional formal action on the DOE notice during the meeting.