The Indiana School Board will make two major decisions tonight during their monthly school board meeting.
One item up for approval will be the district’s budget for next year. The Budget looks to top out at $56,671,371 for the 2019-2020 school year. That is roughly $140,000 less than what was anticipated last month. Property taxes for the 2019-2020 school year come to 15.36 mils, which holds the line on property taxes.
The other decision tonight will be what route the district will take concerning renovations at the district’s elementary schools. Over the past few months, the board of directors has been examining all four options at the buildings, grounds and transportation committee meetings. The four options include
- maintaining all four elementary school buildings, and performing additions and renovations to each building
- closing Ben Franklin and make renovations and/or additions to Eisenhower, East Pike and Horace Mann
- build a new Ben Franklin school, close Horace Mann and renovate or add to Eisenhower and East Pike
- renovate Ben Franklin, Eisenhower and East Pike, and close Horace Mann
At the meetings, citizens voiced their displeasure with the third option, which was similar to an option two years ago that triggered a protest of the project and election of several new board members. This time around, citizens have also protested the closure of Horace Mann Elementary, saying that the neighborhood schools are very important to the district’s identity.
Tonight’s meeting will be held at the District Office at East Pike starting at 7:30 PM.
