From left are Board Member Randy Polston and Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert.

WARSAW — As Indiana lawmakers convened in Indianapolis Jan. 8 for the latest legislative session, Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent advised the board of trustees and audience members to keep the session in mind as state educators continue to lobby for enough money to teach the state’s children.

“It’s a very important one (legislative session) for public education,” said Dr. David Hoffert at the regular monthly meeting of the school board, Monday night, Jan. 14. “As we were going through the recession, there were educational funding changes that took place in Indiana. It used to be that property taxes were the sole supporter of schools and that moved. The state of Indiana really controls the dollars that go into such things as teachers’ salaries. When that changed, there was a decline in funding, percentage-wise, that has gone toward education.”

Hoffert said that any increases that schools may have experienced over the years may have fallen short of keeping with inflation.

“Sometimes it (state funding) has not stayed up with the cost of living,” he said. “To be able to compensate for these, WCS has streamlined a number of things. We’ve tried to streamline administrative costs and have looked at job consolidations. Some people have even wondered why we looked at the solar panels and again, it gives us long-term cost savings.”

Hoffert encouraged board members, educators and school district patrons to remain aware of legislation that relates to education funding and, if necessary, to make their concerns known to those who represent the area in Indianapolis.

“It comes down to that we really want to encourage the legislative session and our legislators to consider school funding,” Hoffert said. “That is really the way to be able to impact the classroom. Education is what I consider the noblest field that is out there. And when we look at it, there’s no better investment than the classroom. Take a look at those bills. Take a look at how they impact your local schools and really advocate for public education funding.”

School board member and longtime educator Randy Polston said an organization called the Legislative Action Network shares many of Hoffert’s concerns.

“They (LAN) are also extremely concerned about what is not happening down there in Indianapolis,” Polston said. “They reached out to all the school boards in the state of Indiana. We’ve got to keep shaking the trees down there. We’ve got to keep reaching out to them (state representatives and senators) to let them know our concerns.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved the sole bid from Performance Services for a design-build contractor for a construction project to be substantially completed by the first day of the 2019-2020 school year.
• Heard from Kristine Norton with the Eisenhower Parent Teacher Organization, who thanked the board for that school’s new playground equipment, which should be installed before the end of the school year.