The West Central School Corporation has begun the process of putting together its 2017 budget. The school board held its budget work session last Thursday.
Superintendent Don Street says no major changes are expected. “The basic grant for the General Fund budget is based solely upon enrollment,” he explains. “Last year, we lost nearly $500,000 because of enrollment. Currently, our enrollment numbers look pretty steady, about what we were forecasting, possibly up a little bit.”
Last year’s enrollment decline led to the removal of three teaching positions at the end of the school year. Now, Street says West Central is joining with other school corporations to ask state officials for more help. “We’re in support of a resolution to have our state legislature look at additional funding for small and rural schools because many small schools have been hit pretty hard by the financial crunch at the state level,” he says.
In other business, the school board voted to approve the corporation’s Title I grant for the upcoming school year. The program offers extra help to school corporations serving relatively large numbers of low-income families.
During last week’s meeting, the West Central School Board also discussed the use of virtual learning days, should regular classes be canceled due to weather. Street says the Indiana Department of Education gives school corporations the option to use virtual learning days. However, West Central only turns to them after a specified number of makeup days is used up.
