Diving deeper into details of the referendum
NOBLESVILLE SCHOOLS
For The Reporter
Editor’s Note: The following is Part 3 of a 4-part series written by Noblesville Schools administrators in an effort to explain their proposed 2018 referendum to voters and parents. This referendum will be on the ballot during the Nov. 6, 2018 election and, if passed, will affect Noblesville school district taxes. Each part of this series will be available on our website, ReadTheReporter.com, and on our Facebook page, Facebook.com/HamiltonCountyReporter, on the date of publication.
How is Noblesville Schools spending the current referendum money?
The 2016 referendum was about maintaining status quo for staffing/programming and was a reduction in the tax rate.
Since 2009, Noblesville Schools has lost $46.5 million in state funding.
The 2016 operating referendum funds are being spent on staff salaries and curricular programming to help Noblesville Schools maintain academic excellence.
Specifically, 2016 referendum dollars have been spent to maintain 150 staff positions and programming in art, music, physical education, STEM, media services and more. Funds are also being used to cover some transportation expenses
Why do you need more money again? We already passed a referendum before.
In 2016, the community supported a continued operating referendum at a lower tax rate to maintain the status quo for staff, programming and services. This was important because Noblesville Schools is in the bottom 10 percent in the state for state funding per pupil and has lost $46.5 million in funding since 2009. Noblesville Schools has been able to continue providing a high-caliber educational experience for students thanks to prudent financial decisions and careful use of operating referendum dollars received from the community.
The current referendum proposal is about increasing this funding beyond the status quo so that Noblesville Schools can enhance school safety and teacher compensation.
Why do you need money when the state said they would give more money to districts for school safety?
The state has provided additional funding for safe school grants to allow more districts to receive funds. It does not increase the amount of money districts can receive. Grants are not guaranteed and they are also matching, requiring the districts to spend their own funds. Noblesville Schools has received safe school grants in the past, but they are not adequate to meet the safety enhancements we have identified. Also, referendum funds would be used for more than just safety – they would support mental health initiatives and teacher compensation.
If the referendum passes, how will the additional funds be spent?
Of referendum funding 53 percent would be spent on mental health and safety staff, equipment and initiatives, while 47 percent would be spent on recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and staff.
Referendum funding would be spent as follows:
Mental health staff and initiatives
- Screenings of students for suicide, anger, trauma, etc.
- One district mental health coordinator
- Ten social workers
- Staff for alternative education program: one director, one social worker, two teachers, school resource officer
- Two deans for middle schools
- Three teachers for English language learners
- Two additional elementary school counselors
- Mentoring program
Safety staff and equipment
- Eight additional school resource officers to cover every school (50 percent of funding, City of Noblesville will cover other 50 percent)
- Funding for additional/overtime school resource officer staffing to cover security for approximately 10,000 evening/weekend/large events a year.
- One full time district safety director
- One AV/camera technician to manage security camera surveillance
- Enhanced communication technology system
- Specially trained gun detection dogs for each school
- Enhanced video systems on 100 or more buses
- Increased bus security and bus driver professional development for 100 or more buses/drivers
- Door barricading products for 1,500 classrooms and offices
- Increased facility lockdown tools for 10 schools
- Additional security camera equipment for 10 schools
- Additional teaching staff for middles/high school due to large class sizes and facility capacity
Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and staff
- Strong teachers are the most important factor in academic success and student connections
- Goal is to provide salaries that are competitive with other area districts so we can recruit and retain top-quality teaching staff
- Teachers are leaving Noblesville because of salary
- In some cases, Noblesville teachers are earning $10,000 less than comparable teachers in neighboring districts
- Teacher compensation will be bargained with the Noblesville Teachers’ Forum, the exclusive union representative of our teachers
What will happen if the referendum doesn’t pass?
Noblesville Schools would not be able to provide enhanced mental health and safety staff, products and services, including no long term funding for school resource officers. Teacher compensation would continue to lag other area districts, possibly leading to more high-quality teachers leaving Noblesville Schools and continued difficulty in hiring high-quality teachers. Other programs and services could also be impacted.
If Noblesville Schools had additional safety measures in place would they have prevented the May 25 shooting?
There are no easy answers or solutions that can promise to keep kids safe. School safety is a complex issue. It’s hard to speculate on what may have been different on May 25 with other factors in play. We’re committed to working together with law enforcement, community leaders, parents and the overall community to protect kids.
How did you come up with the specific tax rate you’re asking for?
The district carefully assessed the long-term costs associated with the needed safety and teacher compensation enhancements.
How does our referendum request compare to those of other area districts?
Several other area communities have supported referendums for their school districts. Each district evaluates its own unique budget needs and challenges, and differing factors come into play because rates are based on assessed home values in the community as a whole. Also, each district gets different funding per student from the state. Noblesville Schools does feel strongly that it needs to increase the current rate to provide increased safety services and teacher compensation.
Why aren’t we having a capital referendum?
Our current referendum is an operating referendum and we are asking that it be expanded. Teacher compensation and the majority of our safety enhancements are best addressed through operating funds. We anticipate that we will have some construction projects related to safety and we plan to fund those through a loan (bond) rather than a capital referendum. A construction loan will not increase property taxes.
Wow … a quick review of the above looks like NPS is adding 28 full time non-teacher positions to the administration. And as a bonus there will be a gun detection dog for each school. Shame on you NPS administration and trustees. BTW, the state will begin knocking on your doors or worse yet, start “Counseling / treating” your child without permission depending on how the screening for suicide, anger, trauma etc. goes. “Never let a serious crisis go to waste”.