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It’s a quiet election season in Indiana, but voters in six school districts will soon decide whether to support property tax measures that would fund teacher salaries, transportation, and student programming.
Avon Community Schools, Cannelton City School Corporation, Duneland School Corporation, Hanover School Corporation, Lake Central School Corporation, and Northwest Allen Community schools all have operating referendums on the ballot on November 4.
This year’s referendums are a test case in voter support at a time when Indiana is lowering property taxes and increasing how much of that funding some districts must share with charter schools.
Many expect to raise less operating revenue through taxes over the next decade as a result of the caps placed by a sweeping property tax reform law passed earlier this year — a campaign priority for Gov. Mike Braun.
That law, known as SEA 1, also restricted when schools could run referendums to only general statewide elections, rather than during any primary or general election. That’s given districts fewer opportunities to pass a referendum. However, there’s an exception for next month’s local election for school boards that passed a resolution before June 30 to place a referendum on the November ballot.
Superintendents said the results of this election will determine whether their districts can start building new buildings on schedule, and whether they need to make decisions about layoffs in May.
“No one takes joy in doing referendums, but it’s a reality for schools,” said Hanover Superintendent Mary Tracy-MacAulay.
Another new law requires school districts to gradually begin sharing operating revenue — including referendum funds — with charter schools, if at least 100 students representing 2% of the district’s population attend brick-and-mortar charter schools.
Here are the six school districts with referendums on the ballot.
Avon Community School Corporation, Hendricks County
Type: Renewal
Property tax rate: 33 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years
Total revenue: $14,334,998 annually
Highlights from the spending plan: $8.4 million for maintaining reduced class sizes, $4.8 million for instructional supports and opportunities, $1.1 million for competitive compensation to attract and retain teachers.
Avon schools saw firsthand the effects of a failed referendum in 2011, said Superintendent Scott Wyndham. Staff reductions led to larger class sizes that persisted until the district successfully passed a referendum in 2018.
Now, the district hopes to renew that referendum at a lower rate of 33 cents per $100 of assessed value, compared to 35 cents as passed in 2018, in order to maintain its smaller class sizes and continue funding student clubs and activities at Avon High School.
The stakes are high for this referendum. Without the option to run a referendum in the May primary elections, Wyndham said the district needs to know this year if it will have to make staff cuts before the next school year. If the district were to wait and fail to pass a referendum in November 2026, state law would bar them from filing reduction in force notices until May 2027. That would leave 170 positions without a source of funding.
Wyndham said he’s encouraged by the community effort to pass the referendum — particularly a group of volunteers who have been door-knocking and making phone calls.
Cannelton City School Corporation, Perry County
A spending plan was not available for Cannelton City Schools on the Department of Local Government Finance website. Neither the district — which consists of a single school — nor the Perry County Auditor returned requests for information from Chalkbeat.
Duneland School Corporation, Porter County
Type: Renewal
Property tax rate: 39 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years
Total revenue: $16,179,502 annually
Highlights from the spending plan: $8 million for maintaining class sizes, $3.3 million for attracting and retaining teachers, $2.4 million for student health and safety initiatives.
Duneland school officials hope a renewal of its operating referendum will help the district mitigate the impacts of SEA 1. A district analysis found it would lose over $1 million in 2026 alone as a result of the new law, said Superintendent Chip Pettit.
The renewal would allow the district to maintain class sizes and various activities, as well as recruit teachers, school resource officers, counselors, and nurses. If it doesn’t pass, the district will try to avoid unilateral cuts, but will have to make reductions, Pettit said.
“I feel very fortunate that the community has supported us in this way, we don’t take that for granted,” he said.
Hanover School Corporation, Lake County
Type: Renewal
Property tax rate: 29 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years
Total revenue: $5,160,173 annually
Highlights from the spending plan: $2.5 million for managing class sizes, $1.5 million for bus transportation, $759,000 for security measures.
Bus service is potentially at stake in Hanover schools if this year’s referendum renewal doesn’t pass, said Tracy-MacAulay, the superintendent. The referendum would also support teachers, bus monitors, and school resource officers.
Losing the funding would lead to difficult decisions about what cuts to make — especially as the district grapples with the effects of SEA 1, and another requirement to pay for students’ textbook fees.
“In the end, I would have to look at all positions with the board and make decisions to cut,” she said. “We can’t give up SROs, we’re not going to start cutting teachers, we could potentially take away bus service.”
Past Hanover district referendum elections have been close. A 2019 construction referendum failed by 68 votes, leading the district to try another referendum the following year that passed.
Lake Central School Corporation, Lake County
Type: Renewal
Property tax rate: 26 cents per $100 of assessed value for eight years
Total revenue: $17,772,0331 annually
Highlights from the spending plan: $12 million for retaining teachers and staff, $2 million for maintaining class sizes, $1.7 million for student health and safety initiatives.
Lake Central did not respond to a request for an interview.
Northwest Allen Community Schools, Allen County
Type: New
Property tax rate: 0.27 per $100 of assessed value for 8 years
Total revenue: $12,156,914 annually
Highlights from the spending plan: $5.1 million for attracting and retaining teachers, $2.7 million for instructional support staffing at all buildings, $2.2 million for staffing at a new Career and Technical Education facility
This year’s operating referendum is the first for Northwest Allen schools. But it’s been planned for over a year, through focus groups and community feedback about the district’s next decade, Superintendent Wayne Barker said.
One common request the district heard during that process was for more personalized learning, which the district hopes to fulfill through a new career and technical education facility on the high school campus. While the district can build the facility without additional revenue like a capital referendum, it needs the operating referendum to hire teachers and staff, Barker said.
“We do a good job preparing kids for college, but we could do a better job preparing kids for life,” Barker said, characterizing the feedback the district received.
The district hopes to put the building out to bid in November if the referendum passes, in order to open the facility in 2027.
Barker said the referendum is also meant to raise teacher salaries by $3,000 in order to make the district more competitive with neighboring districts, and to add school resource officers to meet recommended ratios.
Northwest Allen receives around $8 million less than the state average in annual funding, according to district data.
“We’ve been doing more with less for a long time,” Barker said.
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
