How Crawfordsville Schools are Weathering Fiscal Storm

As state-level property tax measures and funding formula changes reshape the financial landscape for Indiana and its public schools, for Crawfordsville Community School Corporation, a small district already operating with one of the lowest assessed property values per student in the state, the impact is both immediate and long-term.

Superintendent Rex Ryker has concerns, starting with a projected 19.1 percebt reduction in the district’s operations fund, a cut that translates to nearly $1 million lost by 2028. For a district like CCSC, where every dollar is already stretched, this is no minor setback.

Ryker is candid about the gravity of the situation. While the state increased funding to the general education fund, which schools may use for the classroom, supports and curriculum, legislators reduced operations funding with levy changes.

“Our operations fund levy is based on our district’s assessed value,” Ryker explains. “We are a small, low assessed-value district in comparison to our student population, so our operation funding was already limited.” It requires the corporation to use educational funding to cover operating expenses, such as utilities, transportation, building maintenance, custodial services and support services.

The looming cut comes at a time when costs are rising across the board. Transportation expenses alone have jumped 35 percent in the last five years, and custodial wages have climbed by 40 percent since the pandemic. These are not luxuries, but necessities — buses must run, buildings must be cleaned and students must have safe, welcoming spaces in which to learn.

The district’s unique structure, with three elementary buildings organized by grade levels (K-1, 2-3, and 4-5), requires all buses to run to each elementary building and then to run a secondary route for the middle and high school routes. The elementary organization does not allow the corporation to rely on students walking to school. 

“We’re not going to ask kindergartners to walk further,” Ryker says. “We have to bus over 1,800 students to and from school every day.” These are not costs that can be easily trimmed without putting student safety or access at risk.

To meet this challenge head-on, CCSC is planning a comprehensive audit of all operational expenses. Ryker and his team are determined to find every possible efficiency, but he is realistic about what that will mean. “Even if our budget stays flat, costs are not going to stay level. That’s the reality we face,” he says. The district will have to make tough choices, weighing the needs of students against the limits of the budget and looking for creative solutions wherever possible.

There are, however, some bright spots on the horizon. In recent years, CCSC has completed major renovations to each of its school buildings, addressing critical needs related to safety, roofing and student spaces. This means that, at least for the next five years, the district does not anticipate any significant capital project needs.

“We are lucky in that we have finished the basic renovation and deferred maintenance on every building,” Ryker notes. “So, we don’t have a huge capital projects plan coming up.” This is a rare bit of good news, allowing the district to focus its limited resources on day-to-day operations rather than major construction.

In the classroom, the situation is less dire than it could be. The state’s education fund, which covers teacher salaries and classroom expenses, saw a modest increase in the most recent budget. As long as enrollment remains stable, CCSC will be able to maintain essential educational services without significant changes to classroom staffing or offerings.

“Our scale currently starts at $50,000, so the starting pay does not raise concerns,” Ryker says. “We are dedicated to providing at least 65 percent of our education budget to teacher salaries and benefits.”

This commitment has allowed the district to continue supporting strong programs in the fine arts, with band enrollment so robust that an additional band teacher was recently hired.

Ryker is quick to point out that these successes are the result of careful planning and a willingness to adapt. When the district noticed that families were seeking virtual charter schools, it responded by launching Athens Virtual Academy, which has retained nearly all of those students back in CCSC.

“We are proud that we have a positive transfer rate for transfers in versus transfers out,” Ryker says. “We have had very few students leave for an in-person charter school.”

Still, Ryker knows that the challenges ahead are daunting. “Saving $1 million for one year is possible,” he says. “Making it our new normal? That’s the existential challenge.”

As the district braces for the coming storm, its leaders are committed to transparency, collaboration, and a relentless focus on the needs of students. The road ahead will not be easy, but if there is one thing that defines Crawfordsville, it is the determination to weather any storm — together.

Next week, we’ll continue our interview with Superintendent Ryker.

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