State law is keeping the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. from lobbying for a ballot referendum that would make prekindergarten available to economically disadvantaged families.
The wording of the referendum itself has become a second obstacle.
Superintendent John Quick said he and his employees have adhered strictly to the rules, even though the rules somewhat tie the hands of the school district.
“It’s just another one of those structural hurdles we have to get past,” Quick said. “It does make communication tougher.”
Quick distributed a memo in June that explained to all school system employees that they could use neither school facilities nor equipment to encourage support or denial of the referendum. The memo also explained that the employees could not use company time toward those same causes.
The reason for the state law is that it would be a conflict of interest to let people who are paid with public tax dollars use facilities and equipment that also are paid for with tax dollars, according to Jenny Banks, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
Wording of the Nov. 6 referendum, which appears on Bartholomew County ballots for voters who live within the school district, follows a standard state template. It asks voters only if they would pay an extra 5 cents per $100 of their homes’ assessed values on their property taxes. It does not mention that the extra money would be used for preschoolers.
