How will the money generated by the referendum be spent?

Per the Indiana Legislature, the school corporation must have a referendum revenue spending plan. This plan is located on the Indiana Department of Local Government website.  The Delphi Community School Corporation Revenue Plan is as follows:

Specific purposes for which the referendum levy will be used:	Estimate of the annual amounts that will be expended for each purpose:
Funding daily educational operations, academic and support programs	$500,000
Managing class sizes	$200,000
Attracting and retaining teachers	$300,000
Other educational needs of the school corporation	$199,765

If the voters decide to support the referendum, the money will be spent on people and educational programs. Specifically, the majority of the spending will be on the educational needs of the school corporation which includes hiring and retention of teachers and support staff: cafeteria employees, bus drivers, instructional aides, and custodial and maintenance staff. Currently, as the second largest employer in Carroll County, DCSC does not have competitive pay rates that attract the necessary support staff to successfully manage a school corporation.  Additionally, if to attract more families to Delphi, this area needs to have employment opportunities that allow people to support their families. 

The spending plan is split into four categories.  The category with the largest spending is “other educational needs of the school corporation.” This category is approximately 40% of the spending and includes compensation of DCSC support staff which includes bus drivers, cafeteria employees, instructional aides, and custodial staff. DCSC currently cannot maintain staffing in these areas due to our lack of reasonable pay rates. The school year already started lacking in each of these key staffing areas. DCSC is currently short bus drivers to start the year and are trying to problem solve by combining routes. A full custodial staff must be maintained to continue with deep cleaning prioritizing the students’ and teachers’ health.  DCSC  is short staffed in the cafeterias which causes less variety in the meals offered. (See additional answer) Finally, all of the instructional aides positions have not been filled; thus, it makes it difficult to meet students’ needs. DCSC must be competitive with salaries to ensure that positions are attractive to qualified people thus ensuring this community’s students have the education they desire.  

Additionally, in this category, the cost of fuel, gas for heating, electricity, technology, cleaning supplies, paper, and a variety of other necessities that the school corporation needs to run daily operations are increasing in cost. For the safety of our students, requirements regarding annual bus purchases are also increasing in cost. With the current revenue, the school corporation does not have additional funds to be proactive in their spending; therefore, at this time DCSC is just keeping the facility functioning. 

The next category is “attracting and retaining teachers.” It became quickly apparent when school corporations closed in the spring of 2020 that the majority of students learn best when in a classroom. Delphi Community Schools must attract and retain quality educators so the students can receive the best education they deserve.  Hence, 25% of the referendum spending will be to have competitive teacher salaries to mitigate the current loss of teachers to larger school corporations who are paying more for teachers. Currently, DCSC has lost multiple teachers to TSC and to the Lafayette School Corporation. A week before school, had several positions still trying to be filled. To attract and retain the quality educational staff this community has come to expect, then DCSC needs to be competitive with the salaries for teachers of the community youth.  

The third category is “managing class sizes.” Statistically, having lower class sizes at the lower grade levels cultivates a sound educational start for students and allows students success at the beginning of their educational career.  Thus, 18% of the referendum spending will be to maintain the lower class sizes created using ESSER money (funding that will end in 2024). By adding additional sections of kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, the student-teacher ratio was lowered which cultivates a conducive learning environment which allows for differentiation of instruction and meets the needs of Delphi Community school students.

Finally, the fourth category is “funding daily educational operations, academic, and support programs.” Maintaining a well-rounded education for all students includes exposure to a variety of academic opportunities, fine arts, a multiple curricular paths, and extracurricular activities. Thus, 17% of the referendum spending will be spent on educational programming and daily educational operations. The goal of school is for students to find their passion and then develop that passion so they can graduate from Delphi Community School Corporation ready to pursue their career and/or higher education. Since DCSC is a small school corporation, it is important to have the funding to maintain a variety of pathways, support programs, and accelerated learning opportunities that engage students’ interests. This includes maintaining high ability classes, fine arts, intervention programs, and having a well rounded selection of career and technical education courses. Currently,  the high school has added manufacturing to their curriculum and is looking at adding additional career and technical education classes in the future if the referendum is passed. Additionally, the school corporation needs to ensure they are meeting the students’ social and emotional needs so they can be successful.  An additional guidance counselor has been added at Camden Early Childhood Center, an “English as a second language” teacher at the secondary level, and a corporation behavioral specialist. All of these components are necessary yet difficult to maintain with the current funding.