Busing in peril in Hammond
Fallout the result of defeated referendum
A bitter divide is engulfing the School City of Hammond as school leaders began to find ways to chop about $15 million from the budget by next year.
On Tuesday a school board member criticized the administration for overspending, and a teacher complained of overcrowded classrooms and paycheck uncertainty.
Superintendent Scott Miller, who took the brunt of the criticism, said the district hasn’t been overspending.
“We gave teachers an 11 percent raise,” he said. “We invested in our employees. That’s where the money went.”
By a 3-2 vote the school board approved a resolution to alert the state that Hammond could discontinue bus service in three years because of a lack of funding.
The district hoped voters would continue to support its property tax referendum, extending it for eight years to provide about $15 million annually. Voters gave a thumbs-down, rejecting the referendum by a 71% vote margin.
Like other northern Lake County school districts, Hammond is bedeviled by the circuit breaker, a 2006 state law that caps property taxes at 2% for homeowners.
Because of multiple layers of government in northern Lake County, it’s difficult to avoid hitting the cap. Hammond schools lost $8.3 million to property-tax caps this year.
To exceed that cap, schools must seek permission from voters in the form of referendums.
All three school referendums in Lake County failed last month. Lake Station and Whiting also saw referendum bids fail.
A frustrated Miller is now dealing with the state Distressed Unit
Appeal Board that’s scrutinizing the district’s spending and calling for it to come up with a plan that sustains it.
“Talk to legislators in Indianapolis,” he said. They’re the ones who set up the game like this.”
Also on Tuesday, the board approved a $10 million tax anticipation warrant to tide it over until tax money arrives from the county and state. It’s a costly practice for cash-strapped districts with interest rates as high as 7%, said Chief Financial Officer Eric Kurtz.
Earlier, he assured teachers the district would meet its two December payrolls.
Meanwhile, Hammond is among a handful of districts that didn’t reach an accord with their teachers union by Nov. 15. The lack of a contract means the state is appointing a mediator to oversee the impasse.
Hammond Central High English teacher Juliet Dukes shared her frustration with the board.
“This is my eighth year teaching and the year has been one long exhausting debacle,” she said of the uncertainty as she lives paycheck to paycheck.
“We’re not happy. We’re not enjoying this job,”
Dukes suggested job cuts come from administration.