Muda69 Posted October 28, 2025 Posted October 28, 2025 https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/28/indiana-lawmakers-could-force-more-school-consolidation-union-mike-braun/85748032007/ Quote MODOC, IN – It’s noon at the Union School Corporation, a district of just over 200 in-person students about a half hour southeast of Muncie. High school students roam the hallways of the junior-senior high school wing on their way to lunch, past rows of blue and yellow lockers and colorful signs declaring “We Love Union.” On the elementary school side, fourth graders in a classroom shoot their hands in the air to answer multiplication exercises. Several thousand students also attend virtual school through the district. ... But Union School Corporation may have to shut its doors in the coming years after Indiana lawmakers, without public input, slipped language into the key property tax legislation of the 2025 legislative session that would require the district to shut down by July 1, 2027. Such a move would be devastating to the community, school officials and community members have said. The district filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike Braun in May to stop that portion of the law from going forward. The 11th hour legislative move could be a sign that more of Indiana's smallest school districts are at risk of closure, as Republican leaders continue to eye government efficiency amid attempts to decrease Hoosiers' property tax burden. There were 58 school corporations with fewer than 1,000 students in 2022, according to a Ball State University study. Republican lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session cited poor test scores among the reasons for the Union language in Senate Enrolled Act 1. But in a sign that lawmakers are interested in shutting down other small school districts, one Republican lawmaker filed an amendment to the property tax bill that would have required school districts or corporations in communities with less than 50,000 residents to consolidate before 2031. “I look at these small rural communities and the life blood of that community is that school,” state Rep. Chris Judy, R-Fort Wayne, said during a meeting of the House Committee on Ways and Means in March. “I would not want to see the small schools shut down, but what about when it comes to the consolidation of those school districts into a single school district in these smaller communities, so we don’t have that duplication of services?” Likewise, a spokesperson for Braun said the governor is "passionate about efficiency at all levels of government," when asked about potential interest in township and school district consolidation. But school advocacy organizations and former district leaders who went through such processes say the most successful efforts happen when the idea comes from the community where the district is located — not the Statehouse. "Doing it well requires some thought and requires some time and some study. We think that's the best course of action," said Christopher Lagoni, the executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association. "Give locals a voice." School district consolidation across the Hoosier State has been a topic at the Indiana Statehouse and in academic studies for decades. The debate over the years has centered on improving student performance with larger student populations and the potential administrative cost savings for taxpayers that comes from reducing the number of districts. The Indiana School Reorganization Act of 1959 reduced the number of school districts in the state by more than half, from more than 900 to less than 400. The idea of consolidation returned to policy discussions in a 2024 study from Ball State University commissioned by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce that found districts with populations around 2,000 students had better student outcomes than those with significantly more or less than that number. The issue also appeared in the Kernan Shepard report published in 2007 during former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration, which examined possible local government efficiency reforms in Indiana. (A spokesperson for Braun told IndyStar in August there are “a number of ideas in the Kernan Shepherd report that merit further discussion.”) For schools, the Kernan Shepard report recommended initiating joint purchasing of services, such as buses or office supplies, and reorganizing districts to achieve minimum populations of 2,000 students to cut down on administrative costs. “Significant educational and savings benefits can be gained by further reducing the number of school districts in the state,” the report stated in 2007. But consolidation is often a controversial topic – akin to a “cuss word” in the Statehouse, state Rep. Cory Criswell, R-Middletown, said during a House Ways and Means meeting in March. It's because of the central role school districts play in their communities, as they are frequently the largest employers in some areas. “You take out the largest employer in some of these communities, and what's left?” asked Terry Spradlin, the executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association. “The anchor institution is gone. The identity of the community is gone.” Advocates, like Spradlin and Lagoni, say they aren’t against consolidation or reorganization efforts for the right reasons on a district-by-district basis. They said they also would support help from the state to allow districts to study whether consolidation would benefit their communities, which have been available in the past. “If because of declining or enrollment or cost inefficiencies that they believe that's the best solution to maybe discuss consolidation with other districts within their county, then that should be pursued,” Spradlin said. ..... Sounds like a good idea to me. We need less government schools, not more.
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