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Indiana School Consolidation 
Developments (Pg. 3)

School Consolidation (Pg. 1, incl. index) (Pg. 2) (Pg. 3, incl. 2009 bills) (Pg. 4) (Pg. 5, 2010 General Assembly)

Legislative Bills On School Consolidation (1/24/09)
Highlights from introduced Bills are provided below. For the complete text click on the Bill number located next to "Author."

• SB 502
• SB 521

SB 502; Author: Senator Delph; Referred to: Committee on Local Government (1/24/09)

Chapter 17. Reorganization of School Corporations
    Sec. 1. Before July 1, 2012, a school corporation with an ADM on July 1, 2008, of:
        (1) less than two thousand (2,000) students shall; and

             (More than one-half the school systems in Indiana have less than 
              2,000 students. The following map is reproduced from the 
              Kernan-Shepard Report. - Russ Phillips) 

                                            

        (2) greater than one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine (1,999) students may;
reorganize under this chapter.
    Sec. 2. A governing body shall hold public hearings to discuss the methods of reorganization available to the school corporation under this article and seek testimony from the public, community and business leaders, teachers, administrators, and other school employees concerning the appropriate form for the reorganization. Factors to be considered in making a determination may include the following:
        (1) Student achievement.
        (2) Geographic considerations.
        (3) Population distribution.
        (4) Transportation issues.
        (5) Costs.
    Sec. 3. After holding public hearings under section 2 of this chapter, the governing body shall determine the most appropriate form for the reorganization of the school corporation under this article and carry out the steps necessary for the reorganization.
    Sec. 4. In a reorganization under this chapter, a school corporation may, but is not required to, close school buildings.
    Sec. 5. A governing body shall submit the governing body's plan for reorganization to the state board.
    Sec. 6. This section applies if a governing body does not develop a reorganization plan under this chapter that will be implemented before July 1, 2013. After June 30, 2012, the state board shall develop a reorganization plan for a school corporation to which this chapter applies and require the governing body to implement the plan.
    Sec. 7. This section applies to a school corporation with an ADM on July 1, 2008, of less than two thousand (2,000) students. If the governing body determines, based on the factors set forth in and public testimony received under section 2 of this chapter, that it is not in the best interests of the students of the school corporation to reorganize the school corporation, the governing body may petition to the state board for a waiver from the requirements of this chapter.

SB 521; Author: Senator Dillon; Referred to: Committee on Education and Career Development (1/24/09)

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SB 521 To Consolidate Smaller School Systems Apparently Is "Dead" (Russ Phillips, 2/19/09) - The Senate Education Committee debated SB 521 yesterday including an amendment by the bill's author, Senator Dillon. A vote was not taken on the amendment because it was obvious there was not support for it. Likewise a vote was not taken on the introduced bill for the same reason. Dr. Frank Bush, Executive Director of the Indiana School Boards Association said the bill is "dead" for this session and due to procedural practices and timelines can not surface as part of another bill, at least according to years of past practice, during the remainder of the session.

Given the fate of SB 521, it is my opinion that SB 502, the other school consolidation bill, is a non-issue for this legislative session.

The Evansville Courier & Press reported Wednesday's action as follows: "...Senate Bill 521 originally would have made the smallest public school systems — those of 1,000 pupils or fewer — consolidate their administrative offices over three years. The Senate Education Committee debated it at length in a room packed with school officials. In light of opposition from small districts, committee chairwoman Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, announced she would not take a vote on the bill. Today is the deadline for Senate bills to advance out of committee, and no more hearings of the Education Committee are scheduled this week. 'As a practical matter, it's probably dead,' state Sen. Gary Dillon, R-Columbia City, said of his consolidation bill..." (more)

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The Legislature & School Consolidation: Can The "Dead" Live Again? (2/20/09)

(The following is by Dr. Frank A. Bush, Executive Director of the Indiana School Boards Association, regarding SB 521 and the concept of "school consolidation." It is reprinted here with his permission.)

SB 521 School corporation reorganization – Senator Dillon

                The Senator proposed an amendment that would require the collection of academic and other data on all school corporations to ascertain if any school corporation should be consolidated because of the results of such statistics.  It further specified a mechanism for consolidation of school corporation under 1000 and under 500.  The amendment was not accepted by the committee and the Chair, following lengthy committee discussion but no further public testimony, decided to not take a vote on SB 521.  The bill, therefore, is dead but CONSOLIDATION COULD BE AMENDED INTO ANOTHER SENATE BILL AS THE SENATE PROGRESSES TO 2^ND AND 3^RD READINGS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS.  If a Senate bill is amended and  passes the Senate with school consolidation included, it must receive a hearing in and pass the House.  If it passes the House unamended, it goes to the Governor for signature but if it is amended in the House, then the Senate must either concur or dissent making the bill eligible for conference committee.  This is a rough sketch of the pending scenario if consolidation is amended into  a Senate bill.  But if it is not amended into a Senate bill, then the bill and concept is dead for the session unless the House amends the concept into a House bill during the next few days.  So, SB 521 school corporation reorganization as a bill is dead but school consolidation as a concept will not be dead in this session for a while.  However, sincere compliments are offered to all the school board members and superintendents who presented outstanding testimony in Senate Education on Wednesday, February 11.  Your professionalism, passion, commitment and dedication was highly evidenced and did make a tremendous difference on the outcome of SB 521 to date.  

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Forced School Consolidation Affects All Of Indiana (Tracy A. Caddell, Kokomo Tribune, 2/25/09)
(Tracy A. Caddell, Ed.D, is superintendent of Eastern Howard School Corporation. The following was originally published in the Kokomo Tribune on February 18, 2009.)

    The issue of forced school consolidation is an issue that impacts all Indiana schools and communities. Recently Gov. Mitch Daniels stated, “In the interest of our children, we must reduce the number of school bureaucracies. More than 50 of our school corporations have fewer than 1,000 students, and they do not need their own central office bureaucracies. This is less about saving money, though there is big money involved, than it is about providing our kids with more and better educational opportunities. We have small school districts in this state without advanced placement courses or without a full offering of the Core 40 curriculum, without gifted-and-talented programs, and without the kind of science labs kids need today.” 
    Unfortunately, it appears Governor Daniels and some members of the Legislature have a greater interest in accomplishing their own political agenda without taking into account the facts regarding small school corporations and their success in providing a world-class education to small, rural towns and communities.
    In the Eastern Howard Class of 2008, 77.5 percent of its members earned either an Academic Honors Diploma or a Core 40 Diploma. This class had a graduation rate of 89.9 percent. Our performance on the ISTEP consistently is above the state average. During our most recent ISTEP test, 90 percent of our sophomores passed English while 91 percent passed math. Our students have other opportunities not mentioned by the governor, which allow our students to participate in dual credit programs. Our students also participate in the programs at the Kokomo Area Career Center and the Kokomo Area Special Education Cooperative. We offer a full Core 40 curriculum. We offer Spanish and Chinese at the elementary school, and Spanish, German and Chinese will be offered cooperatively with Northwestern in 2009-2010. Our academic teams have successfully participated in state level competitions, as well as our band, choir and orchestra. Our spring musical (this year, “Cinderella”) is always a highlight of our academic year and illustrates the wonderful opportunity our students have in theater and the arts. U.S. News and World Report recently listed Eastern Jr./Sr. High School in its article on “Best High Schools in the U.S.” Small school corporations can and do provide outstanding educations to Indiana students.
    There are many ways that our corporation strives to save money. Eastern Howard participates in group purchasing through the Wabash Area Education Center. We are able to provide for the continuum of special education through the special education cooperative mentioned above, which would be very costly to provide on our own. The same is true with the Kokomo Area Career Center. We are in a health insurance consortium with other school districts. We are exploring natural gas and fuel cooperatives. All of these activities are designed to protect our general fund so that our taxpayers and patrons get more services for their dollars.
    What is absent in the governor’s remarks is that people live in small Indiana communities and send their children to small schools for a reason, just as the people live in the urban areas. In our small school corporation of 1,300 students, we have very few disciplinary issues that impact instruction and the school day. In our community and school, people know one another by name. They know each other’s families and attend church and community events together. The community of Greentown is not only comfortable with its school system but proud of its accomplishments, from its schools designation as a Four Star School to an Indiana Chamber of Commerce Best Buy. Too often, it appears that rural schools and their communities are used by politicians as an example of what is wrong in Indiana.
    There appears to be this underlying attitude by Governor Daniels and many legislators that some Indiana school corporations are too small to govern themselves (fewer than 500 students), and school corporations up to 1,000 students have to prove their worth to the governor and the Indiana General Assembly through the Department of Education.
    In many small schools, there is only one certified staff member in the central office. At Eastern Howard, we have a superintendent and a technology director. If the governor and the General Assembly were interested in saving money and providing services, they would deconsolidate the largest school corporations, or break up these bureaucracies into smaller and more efficient units where the administration is closer to the classroom. These large organizations employ a superintendent, assistant superintendent for business, another for curriculum, several directors, including the transportation director, a public relations officer, a school security director, and others. In many small corporations the duties of these people are addressed by one central office certified staff employee, building level administrators, and other staff. The Kernan-Shepard report, which has been touted by the governor’s office, also states there is efficiency lost when school corporations are over 6,000 students. Yet, I hear no discussion about dismantling our largest school districts. Why not?
    In Greentown, the EHSC board of trustees believes that a locally elected school board should decide consolidation issues and other school-related matters. If the governor and the General Assembly are successful in consolidating small school corporations of less than 500 or even 1,000, is there any school system safe from forced consolidation? Further, in using the governor’s argument, if small school corporations cannot provide a quality education, why are charter schools currently exempt from consolidation in one bill under discussion?
    Now is the time to get involved. Now is the time for schools and their communities to contact their elected officials regarding forced school consolidation.

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Two Schools Consider Consolidation (WLFI, 2/26/09)
(The following was originally published February 12, 2009 at wlfi.com. Clinton Central School Corporation has 1,044 students and Clinton Prairie School Corporation has 999 students.)

Two Clinton County schools look at
options

FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) - Clinton Central and Clinton Prairie School Superintendents met to discuss a potential consolidation. They said they see the possible changes as more of a collaboration.

"We will probably still remain independent and still have our own entities," said Clinton Central Superintendent Phillip Boley.

"I'd like to reassure the public we're not going into this with a focus of losing. We're looking at it as what we might combine and make better opportunities," said Clinton Prairie Superintendent Charlie Fink.

Boley and Fink said a consolidation of the two schools could be a great advantage to the community.

"There's some things that Clinton Prairie and Clinton Central can cooperate on and do better. And provide better services at a better value for the public," said Boley.

Boley says combining certain tasks and sharing some resources could save money, and give more opportunities to students.

"Some of the back office functions like accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, those kinds of things that have to be done in both places might be more efficient if done together," said Boley. "We could go a little further by sharing some staff. For example maybe a science teacher that we both need a half a science teacher but neither one of us can afford a full one."

Fink said he thinks a consolidation could have great benefits.

"With technology today the opportunities are very prolific, it could be a matter where we could work on better opportunities for students," said Fink.

Boley said a study committee is assessing the pros and cons of consolidation and should finish up this summer. It will then present its findings to the school board, but Boley said there is no set time line for any decisions.

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SMALL SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION: Caston's Foster Relaxes, A Little (The Rochester Sentinel, 2/28/09)
(The following was originally published February 27, 2009 by The Rochester Sentinel.) 

BY CHRISTINA M. SEILER
News Editor, The Sentinel

With a small school consolidation bill apparently dead for the year, Caston Superintendent Dan Foster is breathing a bit easier.

But he's still on his guard, he said, and ready to oppose the legislation if it returns later during the Indiana General Assembly.

Had it advanced, the bill would have caused the death of 42 Indiana school corporations and put 49 more in line for merging with bigger schools if they didn't meet certain standards.

State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, said Wednesday Senate Bill 521 has not moved out of committee and does not have enough support to advance any further at this year's Indiana General Assembly. He was opposed to the bill and campaigned against consolidating small schools.

SB 521 would have required schools with fewer than 500 students to merge with other school corporations.

In addition, it would have required the Indiana Department of Education to develop educational opportunity and operational efficiency standards for school corporations. Any school corporation with between 500 and 1,000 students who didn't meet those standards would have been forced to consolidate with larger corporations. There are currently 49 schools that size in Indiana with 39,536 students, including Caston.

Foster attended both Education and Career Development Committee hearings on the bill, which was authored by Sen. Gary Dillon, R-Pierceton. "We had a lot of support. We sent a lot of e-mails and letters and such," Foster said of the opposition.

"That bill was just not right," Foster said. "It just doesn't make sense, if we're operating efficiently." His problem with the bill was that it forced efficiencies for small schools, but not bigger ones. "Why should that be different for us than schools with 1,000 students, or 2,000 or 5,000?" he asked.

Foster said he believes small schools, overwhelmingly rural, already are forced to operate efficiently because their funding is limited by a smaller tax base without large numbers of industries and businesses.

Head, who speaks here at 8 a.m. Saturday at Manitou Banquet Hall during the second Rochester and Lake Manitou Chamber of Commerce legislative breakfast, also attended both committee hearings. He said there wasn't enough support to get the bill out of committee. The committee's chairman, Sen. Theresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, decided it would not be heard, he said.

Foster doesn't believe small school administrators can let down their guard. There's always the chance the main crux of the bill could be attached to another piece of legislation later in the General Assembly process as an amendment.

"Technically, it possibly could come up, but I don't believe it will," Head said.

Wednesday was the last day the two houses could get bills passed out of their own chamber. Now they can only hear bills from the opposite chamber.

Head said he'll be sponsoring a bill from the House of Representatives that directs the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to direct funds to smaller businesses. If one examines the corporation's projects, all of them are within 20 miles of a major interstate. Indiana 24 and U.S. 31 are not major interstates, he added.

"The rural areas are not getting the economic development support they need," Head said. "We're going to try to give the Indiana Economic Development Corp. a nudge."

Head said he voted for the Senate's small township reform bill, Senate Bill 512. It keeps trustees, dissolves township advisory boards on Jan. 1, 2013, and gives the county council oversight of the township finances, he explained.

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Prairie Township Schools In La Porte County To Discuss Consolidation Mandated By Indiana Law (retitled, La Porte Herald-Argus, 6/2/10)
(This article, by Matt Fritz, originally titled "Prairie Township Schools In La Porte County To Discuss Consolidation" was first published in the La Porte Herald-Argus on Saturday, May 29, 2010. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster.) 

PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP — Prairie Township officials are going to look into the possibility of consolidating with an adjacent school district during a public meeting on June 7.

According to La Porte County Schools Superintendent Norman Kleist, the township has been required by state law that was passed by the legislature last summer to reorganize with another local school corporation.

He said two choices right now for the township are LaCrosse and South Central schools. They are the subjects of a consolidation survey, the results of which would be revealed at the meeting.

He said Prairie Township is a small, un-reorganized school district, and is part of La Porte County Schools. La Porte County Schools is made out of three independent districts including Prairie, Cass and Dewey townships.

Kleist said that if the board decides to consolidate with one of the school corporations, and there were no remonstrations from the public, all it needs to do is enter into an agreement with the chosen district. However, a public remonstration could force the issue to a vote among registered voters in the township.

(The law requiring this consolidation is IC 20-23-6-18 and is specific to Prairie Township School Corporation. - Webmaster)

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