Position. Regardless of whether or not the School referendum is passed in the May primary, I would support public forums in 2024-25 that will address the concerns and questions that the public has raised on the issues.
Explanation. The debate on the Referendum occurred on social media. I share this information in the following post which provide some context on my points below: Round 2- 2024 School Referendum
Process. Instead of a last-minute debate on social media, we could have had these conversations in a public forum throughout 2023 and worked through the areas of disagreement to reach a common understanding. This would have contributed to building community support. This would have also provided clarity and agreement on the math including the total amount of county property taxes provided to the school.
- BCS Referendum Documents Submitted to the Election Board
- Brown County Auditor’s Certified Percentages
- A little history – A Letter I wrote in 2016 regarding the previous referendum.
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Questions and Concerns Not Addressed. Note that there is nothing new about the concerns with the referendum being discussed this time around that was not discussed in 2022, I consider this an internal control issue.
State Policy – Teacher Salaries. From what I’ve learned about the state’s policy on school funding to include the ratio of overhead vs direct spending, I may have been able to make the case for needed changes to state legislation on funding policies, including teacher salaries. Their counter-argument would likely have been that local referendums to raise more school money have been the exception in Indiana school districts and that the majority of districts can operate within their budgets.
Referendum Zero-Sum Strategy. On the referendum strategy, given the low turnout in the primaries and the official notification of intent delayed until February – closer to the early voting date of April 9, I would expect that the School will likely mobilize enough supporters to get the YES votes needed to pass the referendum. This strategy is suboptimal, e.g., zero-sum. It is unlikely to build community support and can undermine the confidence citizens have in the school leadership which can contribute to lower enrollments.
A Way Ahead. Regardless of whether or not the referendum is passed, I would support public forums in 2024-25 that will address the concerns and questions that the public has raised. Note that on your website you identify at the top: “for STUDENTS, for PARENTS, for STAFF. This is only a subset of the school’s stakeholder community.
