SACS looks to add more workers; urges residents to vote renew a nearly 40-year-old referendum

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Leaders and some parents with Southwest Allen County Schools are asking for residents to vote in favor of a referendum that’s been in place since 1985 in that district.

“This is how our community makes up for our school being in the bottom five percent of the state for a per student basis (for funding),” Parent Tommy Martin said.

Martin is the chair of the group “Yes for SACS.” He says that renewing the referendum is crucial.

District leaders say since the 2015-2016 school year, Southwest Allen’s student population has grown by 727 students. However, they say they haven’t had any new positions added since then. Those positions include teachers, guidance counselors and school resource officers.

“I think we need to think about the cost here as being about people,” Superintendent Park Ginder said. “We’re in the business about attracting and retaining the best teachers and individuals for our students.”

Renewing this referendum would mean retaining 46 positions and adding 26 new jobs, but it’s no secret that it’s been difficult for districts to hire amid a nationwide worker shortage. Ginder says that shouldn’t be a problem.

“I think that if we get into the pool early, we can find new students coming from nearby schools and all over the country who want to teach at Southwest Allen and also people moving in and creating new careers with us.”

If you live on the southwest side, how much more would you have to pay in taxes to keep this referendum going? It depends on the value of your home. Leaders say for most, it would be less than $9 a month. Even with inflation, tthey say they believe it’s worth it.

“For most of our voters in southwest Allen county, it will be an increase of less than a couple slices of pizza,” Martin said.

Martin and Ginder say before election day, they’re planning to have community meetings to answer questions about exactly what you could see on the November ballot. We’re told the first community information meeting will be this Thursday at 7 pm at the Aboite Fire Station in the community room.

Copyright 2022 WPTA. All rights reserved.