Northeast Dubois School Corporation has entered its 4th year of their Referendum and the school board has released an update on what they have been able to do with the funds.
The corporation has been able to receive $600,000 a year from the referendum.
With this, staff pay has increased, no offerings for students or ECA’s were cut, and the cash balance in the education fund has risen from over $188,000 to over $1.2 million.
With the referendum, a number of service projects were able to be made, such as the renovation of the Jr/Sr High School, the preparation to house 3rd through 6th grade at the Intermediate School, an update on the pool, tennis court, and other sporting facilities.
Projects that are looking to be completed by the end of the referendum are updates to the Jr/Sr High roof, the Gym Bleachers, the parking lot at the Jr/Sr High School, and more.
When the referendum ends, the board plans to eliminate a yearly transfer of $600,000 from the Education Fund to the Operations Fund.
To do that, the corporation will need to eliminate the need for a Pension Fund. This will eliminate over half of this $600,000. The Pension Fund will expire around the same time as the end of the Referendum. Currently, the corporation is budgeting $347,000/year for Pension Bonds. This amount by law must be neutralized from another fund. The only other fund left is the Operations Fund. Thus, they are receiving $347,000 less in Operations because it is spent in the pension fund. This $347,000 will go into the operations fund starting in 2024. That leaves around $253,000 of the $600,000 they annually transfer to the Education Fund. With all the large expenses that have been taken care of these past few years, $253,000 should be able to be eliminated from an Operations budget that is $2,600,000.
To see a full breakdown of the State of the Schools Year 4 of the Referendum, head to nedubois.k12.in.us.
