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Steadily declining funds from the state for education at Warsaw Community Schools will force a tax increase, adminstrators say.
Rande Thorpe, WCS business manager, told the school board at Monday's meeting that he anticipates an increase of approximately 10 cents.
The proposed budget for the 1998-99 school year is $41,044,905, an increase of about 4 percent over last year.
Thorpe said the property tax rate has remained fairly steady over the past eight years mostly because "we've been blessed with one of the highest assessed valuations in the state."
The largest expense for the school corporation is salaries and benefits, Thorpe said, which, for the 1999 budget, account for approximately $26.5 million out of the total budget.
The proposed capital projects fund includes more than $1.1 million to complete the installation of air conditioning in elementary schools and at Lakeview Middle School, he said. It also includes more than $850,000 for new equipment or maintenance of existing equipment, mainly computers or related technology.
The budget was proposed and discussed Monday and the board will vote on adopting the budget at a special meeting Aug. 24.
The board also accepted the resignation of Patricia Deck, principal of Lakeview Middle School, and unanimously approved the appointment of David McGuire, currently principal of Atwood Elementary, to replace Deck.
McGuire, 51, has been principal of Atwood for four years and administrator of the Alternative Instructional Methods school for eight years.
The board named Jackie Brandenburg as interim principal of Atwood.
In other business:
• School superintendent Dr. Lee Harman reminded the school board that the filing period for board elections ends at noon Aug. 21. Board members whose terms will expire this year are George Klinger, District 1; Joel Scrafton, District 2; Tammy Dalton, District 5; and Gordon Vanator, District 7. For further information on school board election information, contact the school administration office at 267-3238.
• Parents Rick and Penny Thomas asked the board about athletic department policies for cutting students from teams without giving the student a definitive reason for the action. The board asked Harman to look into the situation the Thomases described.
• Harman also said the administration will make a decision on delaying the start of this school year for 4-H students involved with the Indiana State Fair. Since the school year starts Aug. 19 and the state fair continues until Aug. 23, as many as 200 students could be affected. Harman said parents of 4-H'ers who will miss the beginning of school should contact their school principals. Those students will not be penalized.
The school board's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at the administration building.
