Pike Township Schools seek $14.5 million referendum during May 7 election

Pike Township Schools is asking voters to increase taxes to help sustain school programming and staffing made possible by the influx of pandemic relief dollars in recent years.

Pike Township is pursuing an operating referendum for the first time ever, asking voters to approve a tax rate of 24 cents per every $100 of assessed property value. If approved, the referendum will last for eight years.

District officials estimate the annual revenue from the referendum rate will be around $14.5 million.

The bulk of the money would go to sustain programming made possible by the $36.9 million of Covid-19 relief dollars Pike received, most of which it has spent. School districts have until September to spend those funds or risk losing them.

“Even though the funds are going away, there is still a need,” Pike Superintendent Larry Young told IndyStar. “There's still more work and more support that I believe we need to provide to our students and to support our staff.”

What Pike wants to spend referendum dollars on

The district wants to spend around $4.5 million on supporting an estimated 57 staff positions that have been funded with relief dollars, including certified teachers, academic interventionists, counselors, social workers and mental health therapists.

This tranche of funds would also help support the district’s 1:1 technology policy that ensures every student in the district has a laptop.

Another $9 million would go towards teacher and staff pay to retain and attract staff.

“If we can’t pay our teachers and educators at a competitive rate, then we’re not going to be able to sustain the best and the brightest for our children,” Young said.

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The third pot of funds, estimated to be around $1 million, would go towards school safety measures, such as hiring more school resource officers or purchasing new equipment like AI weapons detection systems.

What this referendum will cost taxpayers

A Pike Township taxpayer who owns a home with a gross assessed value of $200,000 would have to pay around $19.76 more per month, or $237.12 more per year on their taxes if the referendum passes.

The district estimates that an average home value in Pike Township is around $237,200, meaning they would pay around $295.15 more per year if the referendum was approved, according to a district presentation on the referendum.

Voters can look up what the referendum’s impact would be on their taxes on the district’s investment calculator.

The last time Pike went to voters with a referendum question was in 2010 when voters approved a $21.4 million capital referendum to fund construction projects in the district.

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If the new operating referendum passes, Pike would become the first school district in Marion County affected by a new law that requires school districts in Marion, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh and Lake Counties to share revenue from operating referendums with charter schools.

The law states that any student living within Pike Township’s borders attending a charter school would have the chance of receiving those dollars, but Young says it's hard to say at this point how much charters would receive. Charters could take as much as $400,000 of the referendum funds, he said.

Other school referendums around the state

Two other school districts in Indiana are seeking school referendums on the May primary ballot.

Brown County Schools are asking voters to renew their 2016 operating referendum at a slightly higher rate of 10 cents per $100 of assessed property value for eight years, raising the current rate by two cents.

The district estimates that this rate would generate around $1.9 million in annual revenue.

Blue River Valley Schools in Henry County is seeking its first operating referendum to help make their teacher pay more competitive.

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The district is asking voters to approve a rate of 19 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years, estimated to bring an annual revenue of around $359,000.

Early voting in Indiana has started and lasts until noon Monday, May 6. The election is May 7.

Indianapolis voters can find a sample ballot for the May 7 primary election at indy.gov/activity/find-a-sample-ballot.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. 

Report for America is a program of The GroundTruth Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local newsrooms. Report for America provides funding for up to half of the reporter’s salary during their time with us, and IndyStar is fundraising the remainder. To learn more about how you can support IndyStar’s partnership with Report for America and to make a donation, visit indystar.com/RFA.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: School referendums on the May 7 ballot. What you need to know.