Just the facts

Some of you will remember Jack Webb, who played Sgt. Joe Friday in the old TV Series "Dragnet." Each week he and his partner would follow clues and interview witnesses as they searched for the perpetrator of the criminal act in each episode.

Sgt. Friday often reminded witnesses what he wanted, "Just the facts, ma'am. Just the facts." The following are some facts and close approximations regarding our public school corporation that readers may find interesting.

The Duneland School Corporation was created in 1969 through the consolidation of the Westchester School Corporation and the Liberty and Jackson School townships. Located in the northern part of Porter County, the corporation boundaries encompass more than 91 square miles. and include the Towns of Chesterton, Burns Harbor, Dune Acres, Porter and a small portion of the City of Portage.

The Superintendent of Schools directs a certified staff of 291 teachers and 22 administrators and directors. Classified employees, which total more than 650 part-/full-time staff, provide support services for students and staff throughout the corporation. Official enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year was 5,742 students.

Our buses transport approximately 4,600 students every school day to our nine schools. We also transport students to St. Patrick's Elementary School, vocational programs in the county and to the Porter County Education Services school facility in Valparaiso. Currently 54 shuttles are used to transport our students from one facility to another (ex. MS/HS students from an elementary school to the MS or HS and vice versa) to get them where they need to be at the beginning and end of each school day.

Food Service personnel in five operating kitchens in five separate school facilities prepare and/or deliver breakfast and lunch to students and staff in our nine schools and to St. Pat's Elementary School. Each school day nearly seven hundred students receive breakfast and more than 3,600 students receive lunch prepared by our food service staff. School breakfasts and school lunches are definitely not what they used to be!

As most readers are aware, funding for public education in Indiana has undergone significant changes in recent years that have greatly impacted the amount of money available for public school budgets. In 2008, Indiana voters voted for property tax cap legislation that prevents property taxes from rising above one percent of the assessed value of a private owner-occupied residence, two percent of other residential property and farmland, and three percent of all other property.

The impact of the tax caps for Duneland in 2011 was a revenue shortfall of nearly $447,800. As a reminder, the state sales tax was increased to seven percent to help pay for the tax caps.

The State of Indiana assumed funding for each school corporation's General Fund in 2009. A national recession, decreased property values as a result of re-assessment, more state funding for vouchers and expansion of charter schools, and the cut of $300 million a year in funding for K-12 education beginning in 2010 have resulted in less revenue and forced deep cuts for most school corporations in Indiana. As an example, the Board of School Trustees and administration have reduced Duneland's General Fund appropriations and expenditures by more than $4.5 million dollars in the last two years.

The administration and the Board will continue to make every attempt to avoid cuts that directly impact and/or affect students. However, it is important to understand and remember that most of what we do impacts students in one way or another.

This column represents the writer's opinion.