FUNDING FORMULA LAWSUIT
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PLAINTIFFS IN INDIANA SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA
LAWSUIT WITHDRAW THE COMPLAINT
NOBLESVILLE, IN – The plaintiffs in a school
funding formula lawsuit announced today (Thursday,
May 12, 2011) they have asked their attorneys
to withdraw the lawsuit following an extensive
review of the state’s newly adopted budget.
The budget, signed Tuesday afternoon by Governor
Mitch Daniels, includes a new funding formula
that makes significant improvements in the
allocation of state funds.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools (HSE) in Fishers,
Franklin Township Community School Corporation
(FTCSC) in Indianapolis and the Middlebury
Community Schools (MCS) in Middlebury filed
a lawsuit in February 2010 alleging Indiana’s
school funding formula lacked uniformity, was
unconstitutional and negatively affected schools
with growing enrollments.
Superintendents from the three plaintiffs schools,
Dr. Brian Smith (HSE), Dr. Walter Bourke (FTCSC),
Jim Conner (MCS) and the plaintiff parents
with children in the school corporations -
Holly Kincaid (HSE), Krista Schulz (HSE), Tricia
and Danny Reynolds (FTCSC) and Julie Whitehead
(MCS) - support today's action.
"We are grateful and pleased to announce
that we intend to withdraw our school funding
formula lawsuit against the state," said
HSE Superintendent Dr. Brian Smith. "We
believe the new formula will eventually provide
uniformity in funding."
Smith said the plaintiffs believe their lawsuit
was a significant stimulant to spark extensive
discussion and subsequent action to correct
the lack of uniformity in the school funding
formula.
"We are pleased with the leadership provided
by Governor Daniels and Dr. Bennett, as well
as the House and Senate leadership for their
guidance and attentiveness to this essential
issue. We also wish to recognize and thank
our state representatives, including Senator
Luke Kenley, for ensuring this issue received
extensive and thoughtful debate," Smith
added.
"In brief, it provides for a phased-in
process over the next seven years to achieve
uniform funding. Fundamentally, schools like
HSE, FTCSC and MCS that are growing and welcoming
more students every year will be receiving
funding that matches our growth. Money will
finally follow the child," Smith said.
"Lawmakers eliminated the deghoster and
there is no restoration grant. These were the
very things that were preventing uniformity
across the state and were the focus of our
case," said Patricia J. Whitten, attorney
for the plaintiffs.
HSE’s Chief Financial Officer Mike Reuter said
the past funding formula allowed schools with
declining enrollments to receive a restoration
grant that provided supplemental dollars to
prevent extreme losses all at once. A deghoster
continued to provide districts with declining
enrollment funds for students who have moved
to other districts. Eliminating these two components
freed up dollars to be divided among all districts
across the state.
For districts with similar demographics, that
means the current differences in per student
funding are expected to narrow.
Reuter provided the following charts to show
what the new funding formula will mean for
the plaintiff schools, in the short-term:
Hamilton Southeastern Schools
2011 - $5,379
2012 - $5,380 – 0%
2013 - $5,432 – 1%
Franklin Township
2011 - $5,627
2012 - $5,840 - 3.8%
2013 - $5,996 - 2.7%
Middlebury
2011 - $5,360
2012 - $5,623 - 4.9%
2012 - $5,774 - 2.7
Over the last 10 years, Indiana’s total student
population has experienced a five percent (5%)
increase. In that same time, Hamilton Southeastern
School Corporation’s student population has
increased 114%; Franklin Township has experienced
a 68% increase in its student population, and
Middlebury’s student population is up 27%.
State revenue, mainly from the state sales
tax, goes into the school funding formula.
This funding is intended to cover the majority
of day-to-day expenses in K-12 education. The
money distributed to schools in Indiana through
the funding formula does not pay for the construction
of new buildings, debt service on facilities
or transportation. These costs are paid for
by local property taxes.
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Overview
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN SCHOOLS JOINS FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY SCHOOL
CORPORATION AND MIDDLEBURY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS IN SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA LAWSUIT
NOBLESVILLE, IN – Attorneys for Hamilton Southeastern Schools (HSE) in Fishers, Franklin Township Community School Corporation (FTCSC) in Indianapolis and the Middlebury Community Schools (MCS) in Middlebury this morning in Hamilton Superior Court #1 in Noblesville, Indiana, filed a lawsuit alleging Indiana’s school funding formula lacks uniformity, is unconstitutional and negatively affects schools with growing enrollments.
The plaintiffs in the case are the school corporations along with parents and their children from all three school corporations. The parents include Holly Kincaid (HSE), Krista Schulz (HSE), Tricia and Danny Reynolds (FTCSC) and Julie Whitehead (MCS).
The defendants in the case are Governor Mitch Daniels, State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Chairman of the State Board of Education Tony Bennett, the Indiana State Board of Education and the State of Indiana.
“HSE is among the fastest growing school corporations in Indiana,” said HSE Superintendent Dr. Brian Smith. “Indiana’s complicated and inconsistent school funding formula distributes more money to schools with declining enrollments and less to schools with growing enrollments. This means schools like ours have to do more and more each year with less and less,” added Dr. Smith. “Middlebury and Franklin asked to join the suit because both corporations have growing enrollments as well and are suffering under the current school funding formula.”
Over the last 10 years, Indiana’s total student population has experienced a five percent (5%) increase. In that same time, Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation’s student population has increased 114%; Franklin Township has experienced a 68% increase in its student population, and Middlebury’s student population is up 27%. However, funding has not kept pace with the number of children these corporations welcome into their schools.
Years ago, the state began using an average of past enrollments in place of current enrollments to determine per pupil funding. This is referred to as the “de-ghoster.” It artificially inflates the enrollments for schools with declining enrollments. This means school corporations with declining enrollments receive funding for more students than they enroll. Fundamentally, the money does not follow the child.
“The payments we receive from the state to educate Middlebury students are among the lowest in the state,” said MCS Superintendent Jim Conner. “Our tuition support per student is hundreds of dollars below the state average. We have talked this problem to death with no productive results. Seeking reconciliation in the formula through legal means is our best option for positive change,” Conner said.
Franklin Township Community Schools is acutely feeling the pinch of the lack of equitable funding.
“We are already taking drastic action to shore up our diminishing finances,” said FTCSC Superintendent Dr. Walter D. Bourke. “We have recently eliminated 80 critical positions, 54 of those were certified teaching positions. Lack of equitable funding means we have higher student-teacher ratios, we are cutting supply budgets and eliminating curriculums.”
HSE Superintendent Dr. Brian Smith pointed out, “We are not asking for money to be taken away from other school corporations with unique educational needs. However, the funding system should be uniform where unique needs do not account for differences in funding.”
Following is how the plaintiff corporations are expected to rank in 2011 in the amount of money received from the school funding formula, according to data supplied by the Indiana Department of Education:
In 2011, Hamilton Southeastern is projected to rank 338th of 346 school corporations in the amount of money per pupil it receives from the state.
In 2011, Middlebury is projected to rank 324th of 346 school corporations in the amount of money per pupil it receives from the state.
In 2011, Franklin Township is projected to rank 309th of 346 in the amount of money per pupil it receives from the state.
State revenue, mainly from the state sales tax, goes into the school funding formula. This funding is intended to cover the majority of day-to-day expenses in K-12 education. The money distributed to schools in Indiana through the funding formula does not pay for the construction of new buildings or debt service on facilities. These costs are paid for by local property taxes.
“A political remedy is highly improbable. A lawsuit is necessary to mandate a change in the school funding formula,” said FTCSC Superintendent Bourke. “The system is broken and it needs legal help to get it repaired for the sake of all students who are part of growing school corporations in Indiana.”
“Growing school corporations are being devastated and we can’t continue to let this happen,” said HSE Superintendent Smith. “This is about educating every child in Indiana in a uniform manner as mandated by the state constitution. We are asking that growth be recognized in Indiana’s school funding formula.”
The school corporations are being represented by local counsel Riley Bennett & Egloff, LLP and the law firm of Franczek Radelet P.C. |