The contract between Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools and the new Hub & Spoke operation looked to be a high priority for the school board and administrators over the past several months. It has taken months to get the contract language right. Purdue Polytechnic, the City of Fishers and Purdue University would all combine with Hub & Spoke to provide new educational programs for high school students.
A total of 71 students had signed up for the program in the upcoming school year. All was ready to go.
Then the novel coronavirus descended upon the state of Indiana, presenting a serious public health challenge, but also bringing most economic activity in the state to a virtual halt as lockdowns and social distancing were necessary. Although the state is slowly opening up, Governor Eric Holcomb has instructed state agencies to expect a 15 percent cut in funding.
That means state support for public schools, which is sizable, can expect a substantial cut as well.
What does that mean for the proposed contract between HSE Schools and Hub & Spoke? School board members decided Wednesday night to delay any contract with Hub & Spoke until sometime in the spring of 2021. Board members were greatly saddened by the news, and regretted not being in a position to move forward.
Hub & Spoke is a new operation on 106th Street near the Nickel Plate Trail, focused on the building trades. Training high school students in the building trades was part of the planned contract with Hub & Spoke.
Superintendent Allen Bourff told the board school administrators’ jobs are already being combined in an early effort to cut costs. Bourff said if the state cuts support to schools by 10 percent, that would cost HSE Schools $15 million. But if the cut is the same as state agencies at 15 percent, that would cost the local school district $20 million. That’s 8 percent of the district’s 2020 budget of roughly $250 million.
Governor Holcomb has not indicated how much local school districts would be impacted by much-lower-than-expected state revenues this year.