Plymouth school officials are working to maintain a positive outlook, despite the failure of last week’s property tax referendum. It would have raised taxes by up to 19 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, to help with “student safety initiatives, mental health support and programs, and attracting and retaining teachers.”
Superintendent Andy Hartley says the result of last week’s vote is that the school corporation won’t have the funding to add the safety personnel and social workers it was hoping to add. He says it will also make the goal of consistent salary and wage increases less certain, depending on what funding increases the school corporation gets from the state in a given year.
During his legislative report to the school board Wednesday, Hartley said the funding increase approved during the recent legislative session may not do a whole lot for Plymouth. “We’ve seen the headlines that there were historic increases for education,” he said. “We’ve dug in and analyzed the potential impact for Plymouth, combined with our enrollment projections. At this point, we’re projecting to only see about four-tenths of a percent increase in next year.”
He told board members that school officials continue to evaluate everything from an efficiency perspective. “I intend to communicate some recommendations to you that would show how we can absorb some things through attrition at next month’s meeting, in order to still make sure that we’re being fiscally responsible,” Hartley said.
Representatives of the Plymouth Education Association called last week’s referendum a disheartening loss, but said it showed how well teachers, administrators, and board members can work together for the same purpose. School Board Vice President Melissa Christiansen commented that everyone worked very hard.
