Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Wawasee Community School Corp. Board of School Trustees approved a $48.3 million budget for 2027 Tuesday, Oct. 13, while administrators outlined academic challenges reflected in new ILEARN data and plans to address them.
Chief Financial Officer Brandon Penrod said the $48,315,914 budget includes an operations levy ceiling of $9.27 million. However, property tax caps and credits are expected to reduce collections by nearly $600,000, leaving district operations revenue largely flat despite higher costs.
Penrod said tax rates will be finalized after state review, when the district could reduce its advertised debt service levy.
The board also adopted the district’s 2027-29 capital projects plan and 2027-31 bus replacement plan. Penrod emphasized the bus plan allows future purchases but does not obligate the corporation to replace every vehicle listed.
Trustees approved preliminary resolutions for a potential $1.5 million general obligation bond, with a maximum six-year repayment period and 7% interest ceiling. Penrod explained those are upper limits, not final borrowing terms; additional steps would be necessary before bonds could be issued.
Assistant Superintendent Michelle Walden presented spring 2026 ILEARN results for grades three through eight. In English language arts, 46% of third-graders and 39% of fourth-graders scored at or above proficiency. Elementary results were generally closer to state averages, while sixth- through eighth-graders fell significantly below them.
In math, 54% of both third- and fourth-graders met proficiency, exceeding state averages. Scores declined in later grades. Walden noted Indiana revised its academic standards and scoring thresholds, complicating year-to-year comparisons. She also cited the district’s transition to new English curricula in elementary and middle school classrooms.
“We understand we have work to do,” Walden said. She said most students who did not meet proficiency were classified as “approaching proficiency,” rather than in the lowest performance category.
Walden said district leaders are reviewing classroom instruction and assessment data to better align teaching and target weaknesses.
“This is not a stagnant corporation,” she said of staff efforts to improve instruction.
"We hope to have a focus for what is needed here - policy that will help to determine what we will do three, five years from now," Superintendent Kent Myers said. "That takes a lot of work and energy, but it's good energy that will be meaningful and make a difference."
He said the corporation expects a new state accountability grade in November.
During patron comments, Curt Hursey again pressed the board for a decision on whether work sessions would continue and requested a detailed accounting of the middle school swimming pool project.
“It gets frustrating when we're asking and asking,” Hursey said.
Board member Beth Beer said they are reconsidering how to schedule public discussions. Myers promised an answer at November’s meeting. Myers said contractors working on the pool will make a public presentation then, with questions accepted through a form on the school district's website. He said the project remains below the $8.5 million figure Hursey referenced, although outstanding work remains.
Myers also reported that a boiler relocated from the former Milford school is now heating the pool. Other facilities updates included upcoming paving at Milford Elementary and continued construction of high school career and technical education spaces. Myers also outlined plans to involve teachers and residents in a strategic-planning process this winter or spring, covering academics, finances and facilities.
In other business:
• Trustees approved joining litigation against social media companies over alleged harm to students. Myers said participation would require minimal staff time and no upfront expense.
• The board renewed a Bowen Center agreement providing every student access to two free mental health counseling sessions annually and a Bashor Children’s Home contract covering seven placements, down from eight.
• Trustees also approved teacher evaluation procedures, NEOLA policy revisions and an Ivy Tech dual-credit agreement. Walden announced Michelle Cornet had been hired as director of exceptional learners.
• The meeting opened with North Webster Elementary Principal Lee Snider and three students describing their classroom lessons, which included narrative writing, ancient China and the five senses. The students, fifth-grader Zinnia Carr, second-grader Makayo Kunkler and kindergartener Callan Kovarick, also led the meeting's invocation.
