By Mark Ambrogi
For new Zionsville Community Schools board of school trustees president Shari Alexander Richey, the biggest challenge the district faces this year is clear: the pursuit of equitable state funding.
Zionsville has joined similarly low-funded school districts to form the Fix-it Coalition, whose goal is to improve school funding for the fastest-growing and highest performing districts. The idea for Fix-it Coalition came from Zionsville Community Schools Superintendent Scott Robison and Chief Financial Officer Mike Shafer.
“Our funding formula fixes do not have to cause harm to students in high poverty districts — and this is absolutely not our aim,” said Richey, who was elected as president in January. “We believe in differentiated funding, but we see first-hand that the skew of this broken formula leaves us at the bottom in state funding, an unsustainable position. Equitable funding is not equal funding for all, but our students deserve equitable support.
According to a release by Robison, in 2015 Zionsville Schools will receive $800 less than the state average in funding per pupil. That amounts to $5 million annually (equivalent to 80 teachers’ salaries).
Richey said the board members have gone to the legislature to meet with the area representatives.
“We want to make sure the message is clear and the message is resonating,” said Richey, who has already attended several meetings on the issue this year. “I think the awareness of the broken funding formula has sunk in as good as ever in terms of getting the message across. There is certainly discussion on how they might rectify that situation.”
Richey, who had been the school board secretary the previous two years, replaces Jim Longest as president. Jane Burgess is in her third year as the board’s vice president.
Burgess agreed that finding an equitable funding formula is the most crucial issue the district faces. Another objective, she said, is to support excellence and innovation in educational programming for the district’s students.
“ZCS continues to explore Performance Qualified School District status to foster more internships and study travel,” Burgess said.
Another mission Burgess highlighted is to strengthen the partnership with the Town of Zionsville and “continue seeking ways to share in cost savings and generating new sources of revenue.”
Both Burgess and Richey praised the district’s administrators, staff and teachers.
“Our teachers, staff and administrators are doing Yeoman’s work,” Richey said. “We must do all we can to support them.”
School board cuts own pay
The Zionsville school board showed its commitment to cutting costs by voting to decrease each member’s annual salary from $2,000 to $1, the lowest amount allowed to still be considered an employee for tax purposes. That results in nearly $10,000 in annual savings for the district.
Vice president Jane Burgess made the motion to cut board members’ pay at the January meeting.
“I would support doing that in this period of time where we’re working to be thrifty and cost saving in every way we can,” she said. “It’s a way we can put forth our best interests [and show]that we also want to contribute and help.”
Although this is the first time that the board has officially cut its salary to next to nothing, newly-appointed board President Shari Alexander Richey said it’s not uncommon for board members to give their salaries back to the district through the Zionsville Education Foundation or in other ways.
