The West Central School Corporation has seen a mid-year drop in enrollment. Superintendent Don Street says the preliminary February count showed a decrease of about 20 students from September. “We’re still in the cleanup with the Indiana Department of Education in determining where some students are,” he says. “So we had a decline in enrollment of 20 students, which has happened before. So we’ll have to be aware of that, as we continue throughout this school year.”
While that will have an impact on the amount of money the corporation gets from the state in the future, Street emphasizes that the corporation’s finances are stable for now. He gave a recap of the 2016 budget to the school board last week. “Our board had approved the transfer of funds for the 2016 budget, and we brought those numbers back to the board to show them where we transferred,” he explains. “And we also reviewed the General Fund budget, as well as all the other budgets, and where we finished the year in a positive amount. After transferring money around, we’re okay financially.”
Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would reestablish a small school grant, giving an extra $100 to $200 per student to corporations with 2,400 students or fewer.
