Vigo County oversight board lays out consolidation options, warns of $14 million facilities shortfall
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Summary
Mark Matheny, representing the Vigo County School Oversight Board, told the council the board’s advisers estimate the school corporation faces about a $14 million annual facilities funding gap and that bonding capacity could reach roughly $160 million; the board urged careful timing of any consolidation steps and announced public listening sessions in March.
Mark Matheny, representing the Vigo County School Oversight Board, told the Vigo County Council the board has completed initial work with legal and financial advisers and is focused on finding a financially responsible consolidation plan for the school corporation.
“We finalized our agreements with Jacob German of Barnes & Thornburg and Tim Berry of Crowe,” Matheny said, adding those engagements include fee caps to keep costs within the $100,000 allocation. He said the board has not been billed yet and is still developing financial models with advisers.
Matheny said bond counsel advised the school corporation could issue up to about $160,000,000 in bonds at current debt-service rates without raising taxes. He also said Vigo School Corp.’s tax rate—reported in the presentation as 0.9053 per $100 of assessed value—has decreased over five years and is below the state average.
The oversight board reported that the school corporation’s cash balance at the end of 2025 was about $169,000,000 but stressed much of that is restricted and not available for facilities. Matheny summarized facilities funding and enrollment figures the board is examining: current enrollment was cited as 12,444 students (down from about 21,000 in 1971), and the board described an approximate $14,000,000 gap between facility maintenance costs and revenue.
“The least expensive option…would be one high school for all of Vigo County,” Matheny said, noting that a purely finance-driven plan could consolidate to a single high school while other options endorsed by the school board would preserve multiple high schools or build a new facility east of the river combined with renovations west of the river.
Matheny emphasized that the board has not made conclusions and that timing for any phased plan will be critical: “Any consolidation plan…has to be designed in a way that helps [the school corporation] improve their cash flow as soon as possible.” He said the board will continue modeling scenarios, including the effect of state legislation the board referenced, and encouraged public participation at three March meetings, including a listening session scheduled for Thursday at 5:15 p.m.
Why it matters: The oversight board’s report frames forthcoming choices about whether to consolidate schools or pursue other capital work, and it lays out constrained fiscal options for the school corporation in light of declining enrollment and limited operating revenues. The board’s modeling and public listening sessions will inform council and school board discussions in coming months.
Next steps: The oversight board said it will return with additional findings at the next monthly meeting and will hold public listening sessions this month to gather community input.
