From the Evansville Courier & Press:
Indiana schools will continue to have to do more with less, Superintendent for Public Instruction
Tony Bennett said Tuesday.
Caps on the amount of property taxes school districts can raise, combined with a major cut in annual state K-12 funding in 2010, have forced school districts to become creative.
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. officials say the property tax caps alone will cost them about $2.4 million in anticipated revenues for this year. Last year's shortfall due to the caps $1.7 million.
The EVSC's general fund budget for 2012 is about $153 million — about $5 million less than 2009.
"It's a new normal," Bennett said of the financial challenges that EVSC and public school systems statewide are facing. "Money isn't always the solution. It's about how we spend our money."
EVSC Superintendent David Smith said it's too soon to know exactly what this year's shortfall will mean for the district, but it was larger than anticipated.
He said the district will prioritize classroom-related expenses and student programs, and some of the shortfall could be covered from areas such as transportation.
"We scrutinize any expenditures, as well we should," Smith said. "These are just difficult financial times, but they are for everyone.
"We'll certainly have to do everything we can to align expenses with new levels of revenue."
Bennett credited EVSC for managing its spending well in the recent past.
"This is a community showing us how local units of government and local schools can work together to maximize efficiencies and get the most bang for their buck," Bennett said.
...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/apr/17/no-headline---ev_bennett/
