Outsourcing, school closings couldn't save district from financial woes

HB 1315 aims to shatter an already broken school board

Contributed By:Nellie Moore, Gary school board president

The Indiana School Board Association (ISBA) in its guide for board members “Model of Board Governance” clearly defines the board’s role and responsibilities as stated in The General Powers Act. “School Corporations and its governing board are established by the Indiana General Assembly to exercise local educational powers that are delegated to it by the legislature.” ISBA states that “these local powers are granted through statues enacted by the legislature.”

HB 1315 makes changes concerning the Gary Community School Corporation’s Board of School Trustees. These changes dramatically shift who shall make decisions about the day to day operation of a school district.

These changes appear to place the blame for the highly distressed financial condition that Gary and Muncie school corporations find themselves at the feet of the elected members of the school boards.

We certainly have fiduciary responsibility for school finances. However, we depend on property taxes, and sales taxes for per student allocations to provide the funding needed to finance the education of the students in Gary.

Since 2009, the district has struggled to maintain excellence in our schools with not enough resources to do so. We have taken from Peter to pay Paul. The audits from the State Board show that we have juggled money to pay staff and to pay for essential services.

We failed to do the impossible task of stretching the funding to achieve the miracle needed. The board closed approximately half of its schools, cutting staff accordingly. The district eliminated cherished programs to eliminate non-essential cost. The board approved the sale of buildings and land to just about everyone who presented a reasonable offer.

It was not enough; we learned in 2012, that although we were approving payments to vendors, they were not being paid. They were not paid because there was no cash in the banks due to the fact that we were not getting the revenue needed to do so. The audits from the State Board of Accounts do not reflect theft or mismanagement for personal gain by any board member.

Board members have taken only the allowable compensation for attending meetings. Meetings have been reduced to less than a third of what they were in previous years. Board members voted to discontinue perks such as insurance and open travel to all members to attend conferences in order to save money and to put money where our hearts were, in the classroom with the students.

As President Harry Truman stated, “The buck stops here.” We want our community to have the excellent schools it deserves and what they once were, the model for our country and the world. We want involvement from the state to restore our creditability and place us back to a sound financial status.

It will not accomplish this in HB 1315 by blaming the citizens of Gary and its elected representatives. Gary voted for the seven members serving on the School Board. In a democracy, people elect their representatives from school boards to legislators and all the way to president. We do not always like the ones the majority of the people elects or how they govern, but we honor their rights to govern until the next election.

HB 1315 removes local control from the citizens of Gary taking away our constitutional rights.

HB 1315 applies primarily to Gary’s governance board in removing its authority and replacing it with an advisory committee. It seems to imply that African Americans cannot govern.

HB 1315 impugns the integrity of the present board members as incompetent and dishonest.

HB 1315 assumes that sound leadership can only be provided by an outside entity if local leadership is abolished.

HB 1315 implies that fewer meetings without compensation will somehow appease the community and assure that an advisory committee provides them with representation.

HB 1315 is a modern day slap in the face of Gary’s citizens providing for taxation without proper representation.

There are elements of HB 1315 that seems to earnestly seek to early identify and assist school districts with financial difficulties. This is a direction that we need to pursue along with how we can better finance our constitutional obligation to educate the children of Indiana.

The specific change for the Gary Community School Corporation needs to be removed from HB 1315. The board can work with the Emergency Manager in a collaborative manner with respect given and respect received.



Food service workers opposed outsourcing of their jobs at a 2015 school board meeting



School maintenance personnel appeared at a 2016 school board meeting to oppose outsourcing of their jobs



In 2016, the school board heard comments opposed to closure of Williams Annex, formerly Pulaski-Dunbar



In April 2017, state legislature approved bill for state takeover of Gary school district



In September 2017, emergency manager Dr. Peggy Hinckley at school board meeting

Story Posted:02/18/2018