Honors Students Generate Funding For Schools
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw Community High School students who graduate with honors diplomas are doing more than earning recognition for themselves - they're also earning money for the school corporation.
For several years, the Indiana Department of Education has given grants to individual school corporations according to the number of honors diplomas each year. The going rate per diploma is $925, up from $800 last year.
According to state records, Warsaw Community Schools has added $250,200 to its general fund in the last three years because of the number of honors students graduating from WCHS.
Since the school and the state DOE don't know how many students will earn honors diplomas until graduation, the grants are given for the previous year.
For example, the breakdown, according to state financial records, is: $65,600 in 1998 for 82 honors students who graduated in 1997 at $800 per student; $73,600 in 1999 for 92 graduates in 1998 at $800 per graduate; and $111,000 this year for 120 1999 graduates at $925 per student.
The grants come in a lump sum payment to the school corporations and apply only to graduating seniors, said Arlene Holland, associate director of program development for the DOE.
It's up to each school board to determine whether the funds go to the school district or the individual honor students, she said, with some schools in the state electing to give the money directly to the students.
But that's not how the program was intended by the state legislature, said Rande Thorpe, business manager for Warsaw Community Schools.
"The bill was intended to reward school corporations with academic honors students," he said. "It's part of the whole state funding formula."
Schools with a high number of academic honors students usually have more expenses, he said, such as additional teachers and programs. The $250,200 would pay for approximately eight teachers, he said.
The $111,000 WCS received this year for last year's graduates was included in the total state grant of approximately $15.8 million, Thorpe said.
Is the grant money tracked to ensure that it goes directly to the honors program?
"No, it's not, nor is it intended to be," he said.
The money is a benefit for school corporations with honors programs, he said.
"If they take it away, schools that are on the line won't be able to afford honors programs," Thorpe said.
Some parents of honors students see it differently, thinking that even part of the per-student amount could be used by the kids as a kind of scholarship.
"If they get $925 from the state, they could give the kids $500 and keep the rest," said one parent, who asked that her name not be used. [[In-content Ad]]
Warsaw Community High School students who graduate with honors diplomas are doing more than earning recognition for themselves - they're also earning money for the school corporation.
For several years, the Indiana Department of Education has given grants to individual school corporations according to the number of honors diplomas each year. The going rate per diploma is $925, up from $800 last year.
According to state records, Warsaw Community Schools has added $250,200 to its general fund in the last three years because of the number of honors students graduating from WCHS.
Since the school and the state DOE don't know how many students will earn honors diplomas until graduation, the grants are given for the previous year.
For example, the breakdown, according to state financial records, is: $65,600 in 1998 for 82 honors students who graduated in 1997 at $800 per student; $73,600 in 1999 for 92 graduates in 1998 at $800 per graduate; and $111,000 this year for 120 1999 graduates at $925 per student.
The grants come in a lump sum payment to the school corporations and apply only to graduating seniors, said Arlene Holland, associate director of program development for the DOE.
It's up to each school board to determine whether the funds go to the school district or the individual honor students, she said, with some schools in the state electing to give the money directly to the students.
But that's not how the program was intended by the state legislature, said Rande Thorpe, business manager for Warsaw Community Schools.
"The bill was intended to reward school corporations with academic honors students," he said. "It's part of the whole state funding formula."
Schools with a high number of academic honors students usually have more expenses, he said, such as additional teachers and programs. The $250,200 would pay for approximately eight teachers, he said.
The $111,000 WCS received this year for last year's graduates was included in the total state grant of approximately $15.8 million, Thorpe said.
Is the grant money tracked to ensure that it goes directly to the honors program?
"No, it's not, nor is it intended to be," he said.
The money is a benefit for school corporations with honors programs, he said.
"If they take it away, schools that are on the line won't be able to afford honors programs," Thorpe said.
Some parents of honors students see it differently, thinking that even part of the per-student amount could be used by the kids as a kind of scholarship.
"If they get $925 from the state, they could give the kids $500 and keep the rest," said one parent, who asked that her name not be used. [[In-content Ad]]