LWV Wraps Up School Series with North Montgomery

In the Indiana of 2025, school districts like North Montgomery are remembering 2009 when then-Governor Mitch Daniels cut $300 million from Indiana’s 351 districts, just shy of a cool million each, if it was equitable. At the time, Daniels called for cuts to non-classroom expenses like health insurance for teachers and staff, as well as procurements, according to Indiana Economic Digest.

This year, all three of our counties’ districts are staring down the future, largely thanks to the state property tax bill that the Republican-dominated state legislature and governor passed in the 2025 budget session. Meant to cut property taxes, the bill hits each district differently. While its effects will be most dire for the city of Crawfordsville, if left as is, the bill will cut just over a million dollars a year from North Montgomery by the time its full effects are in place.

In previous columns, we’ve covered the immediate impact on Southmont, CCSC, and now we turn to NMCSC. Superintendent Colleen Moran put the northern half of the county’s school district into perspective.

With Indiana’s new property tax relief legislation — that is, SEA 1 — the coming five years will challenge the North Montgomery school board and Moran to balance essential operations and infrastructure to confront fiscal pressures. The new reality is that every school will struggle to fund basic operations, including building and campus upkeep and transportation, elements that keep our local schools effective and competitive.

Like all our districts, NMCSC faces a stepwise reduction in property tax revenue that supplies the Operations Fund — dollars dedicated to buses, buildings, maintenance and transportation. The cuts are both immediate and increasingly steep:

• 2025: Loss of $90,000 in operations revenue.
• 2026: Estimated $270,000 lost.
• 2027: Projections climb to $499,000.
• 2028: Anticipated $861,000 reduction.
• 2029: A projected $1,007,100 loss.

These annual shortfalls, while part of a statewide projected $744 million decrease for schools by 2028, land heavily on essential capital needs.

“Our three-year plan includes only the essential projects that must be done — replacing chillers, paving, seal coating, roofing, replacing buses, etc.,” said Moran.

Prudent financial planning leaves North Montgomery with healthy cash balances in its Operations and Rainy Day Fund for now. But by 2028, these cushions will be stretched thin. “If this law remains unchanged in three years, we will look at borrowing,” she warns. Or worse, the district may need a referendum, which puts pressure on families in the district. These can lead to localized increase of taxes, if passed, or cuts in services and staff, if they fail.

Every local district and civic office faces local revenue declines due to SEA 1. It tends to favor industry at the expense of public services that benefit citizens. In an education-related meeting, CCSC’s board learned from financial advisors that the top 10 taxpayers in the community, across all industries, will receive increasing tax breaks on their property’s assessed value, decreasing what the city and schools receive for services. Left unchanged, the city will likely be forced to decrease the fire, safety and emergency services it has extended into the county, and schools will have to take on debt, seek more referendums and seek increases in local taxes.

Like all public school corporations, NMCSC’s Education Fund — which flows from state dollars — is tightly tied to student headcount. Despite gradual declines, North Montgomery keeps enrollment stable over 1,740 for K-12 and 1,850 including preschool. Any drops would trim the “Basic Grant” from the state further.

Another legislative change bundled curriculum materials into the Basic Grant. “To say that schools are receiving an increase is true, but part of that increase is to be used only for curricular materials. That’s about $275,000 for North Montgomery,” Moran explained. The result is that so-called funding increases are modest, as mandated expenses offset any gain.

With fewer dollars for these core functions, prioritization for essentials will be the mantra. Maintenance is largely handled in-house to reduce costs, and NMSC is extending technology lifespans — for example, keeping K-2 iPads two years longer. Teacher equipment upgrades, like desktops, are paused. Site improvements will be strictly “needs only” — a practical but unsparing approach necessitated by falling revenues.

Before SEA1 became the headline concern, the expansion of Indiana’s Choice Scholarship already posed a potential threat to the counties’ corporations.

New laws funneling property tax dollars to charter schools could compound these challenges. As noted in previous columns, the county doesn’t have competing charter schools, aside from some students attending virtual charter schools, but Moran advocates for public schools because no district is guaranteed cushioning from the expansion of using state dollars for private and charter schools.

With the laws now, from 2028, school districts must share a portion of operation funds with charters, drawing further on already diminished tax bases.

“Funding for schools that are not traditional K-12 public schools takes away from the coffers of the state budget to fund our schools. It’s confounding,” Moran says, noting the irony of calls to consolidate public districts even as more small schools proliferate through policy.

Notably, our local districts learned from 2009’s surprise and budget for what economists call a “shock” event— in part, Daniels took a saw to public education budgets because of the shock of the 2008 recession and financial crisis.

For its part, NMCSC benefits from diverse revenue streams — but these, too, are in flux:

• Federal aid for teacher training, afterschool and English language programs narrowly survived a $90,000 federal grant cut (reinstated in July 2025).
• Alternative education grants suffered a loss; in 2026, North will receive $5,000–$6,000 less.
• Early learning faces a looming $200,000 loss in CCDF and “On My Way to PreK” support, forcing tuition adjustments.
• The Non-English-Speaking Program will see about $1,000 less in 2026.

Despite these, student support investments triggered by pandemic relief — such as increased social worker and counselor staffing — have been preserved by integrating them into recurring local budgets.

So, there won’t be cuts that affect student experience right now.

Despite fiscal strain, NMCSC is intent on shielding arts, drama, choir, band and sports from the budget axe. Commitment to student opportunities remains strong, though further revenue decline could force tough choices down the road.

While resources tighten, NMSC, like all three of our districts, remains committed to quality education. Moran said the district will provide ongoing professional development on trauma-informed practice and differentiated instruction, a reflective curriculum, and intention in library and classroom materials selection. In a small district, relationships are the lifeblood; understanding each student’s circumstances is core to helping every child succeed academically and personally.

The rub remains. As Superintendent Moran notes, the future hinges partly on legislative action. Lawmakers are starting to realize the unintended consequences of SEA 1, and there’s hope — though no certainty — that pressure may reverse or amend some of these cuts. For now, North Montgomery, CCSC and Southmont all need parents, students and staffers to advocate fiercely. Tell the world via the channels where people increasingly turn for their news and advocacy, and also at the Statehouse. These days more people get news from reels on social media, and tend to listen to peers or local voices.

If current law holds, by 2028, every school in our county will face choices that bind us all to debt. They will likely be forced to borrow to sustain facilities and operations, as non-debt revenues continue their downward slide. The crux: North Montgomery and all our districts ask us all to engage in a steady, collaborative approach to ensure we demand resources for competitive, relationship-driven, quality education.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, multi-issue political organization which encourages informed and active participation in government. For information about the League, visit the website www.lwvmontcoin.org; or, visit the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, Indiana Facebook page.