Noblesville Schools details potential cuts, school closure if referendum is not continued

Submitted by Noblesville Schools

On Thursday, Oct. 1, Noblesville Schools announced significant reductions to staff, academics, programs, and services if the continuation of the operating referendum is not approved by voters on Nov. 3.

Superintendent Dr. Dan Hile shared the update as part of his annual Noblesville Chamber of Commerce State of the Schools presentation.

Unlike neighboring school districts, Noblesville Schools’ current referendum funding is expiring at the end of 2026.

“We’ve been sharing for several months now that if the current referendum is not continued by voters that we’ll need to make significant reductions,” Hile said. “While no official decisions have been made yet, I hope these examples will give a sense of what we mean when we say that this funding is critical to our operating budget and that its loss would set our schools back 16 years.”

Hile shared that over the past few months district leaders and principals have considered how the district would need to adjust to a 20 percent reduction in the annual operating budget. As a result of those discussions, he noted the following examples of staff, programs and services that would be most at risk should referendum funding not continue.

Staffing cuts

• Approximately 20 percent staffing cuts across employee groups. For example, this would be a potential reduction of 145 teachers, 45 instructional assistants, 24 bus drivers, 24 maintenance/custodial staff, 13 secretaries and district support staff, 12 school and district leaders, etc.
• Employee health insurance and benefit reductions

Academic, career & extracurricular programs

• Reduce or eliminate STEM and career courses like engineering, biomedical, robotics, construction, journalism, manufacturing, business, finance, criminal justice, culinary, welding, nursing, and emergency medical technician
• Reduce or eliminate workforce development student professional certifications, internship programs and resources
• Reduce or eliminate high-ability and special education staff and programming
• Reduce or eliminate librarians, literacy, and media center programs
• Reduce or eliminate elementary specials (art, music, physical education, STEAM, library)
• Reduce or eliminate athletic programs, staff, and services
• Reduce or eliminate band, choir, orchestra, music, theatre and performing arts classes, programs, staff, and services
• Reduce or eliminate elective class options not required by state law (for example foreign language, art, family consumer science, wellness)

Student care & support

• Reduce or eliminate school resource officers and crisis/threat management resources
• Reduce or eliminate bus services/routes and create walk zones
• Reduce or eliminate social workers and counselors who support suicide and bullying prevention, low-income students, and student mental health needs
• Reduce or eliminate deans and staff who manage student misbehavior
• Reduce or eliminate student mentoring

Leadership & structure

• Close an elementary school building, redistricting students from all elementary schools to rebalance the school closure

• Increased class sizes across all grades K-12, with an estimated 25 percent increase in elementary class sizes (resulting in an average of about 30 students per class)
• Significant changes to school day structure and daily schedules at all academic levels
• Reduce or eliminate academic and special education instructional leaders

“I realize it may feel scary to talk about these things, especially the possibility of a school closing, but these are the types of hard decisions that a funding loss of this magnitude would require us to consider,” Hile said.

Hile also shared that the district could face a mass departure of families and educators should the referendum fail, particularly if neighboring districts pass their referendums and have funding for academic programs, school safety and higher teacher salaries.

“Ultimately, we will respect whatever decision Noblesville voters make,” Hile said. “I just want to be very clear what a yes vote means and what a no vote means. Our schools belong to our community and there should be no surprises for the public.”

The community has approved referendum funding for Noblesville Schools since 2010 and it currently provides approximately $25 million per year for the district, which is about 20 percent of their operating budget.

For the average Noblesville home valued at $350,000, the proposal to continue funding would mean an annual increase of approximately $1.88 more a month than what residents are paying currently.

“Voters will see legally required ballot language that shows a $955 increase but that’s not accurate as residents have already been paying a portion of these costs for the existing referendum,” Hile said. “The ballot does not take into account that the current referendum is expiring and that the maximum rate noted on the ballot is not expected to be used.”

Hile concluded, “A lot is at stake with this vote and there has been a great deal of misinformation circulating online. I hope residents will reach out to me with any questions. My email is dan_hile@nobl.k12.in.us and my phone number is (317) 773-3171.”

The district is sharing factual information at noblesvilleschools.org/referendum, including a calculator that will show residents exactly what they’re paying currently and what they would pay under the continued funding. Hile is also hosting public meetings to answer questions and his meeting schedule is on the referendum website.

All Noblesville residents who live within the district’s boundary will see the referendum question on the Nov. 3 election ballot as Public Question No. 3. Visit indianavoters.in.gov to register to vote (by Monday, Oct. 5), confirm registration status, learn about early and absentee voting, or find your polling location.