The Lake Central School Corporation plans to dip into its education fund to help cover the cost of textbooks. School districts in Indiana are no longer allowed to pass along textbook fees to parents, but school officials don't think the state set aside enough money to fully make up the difference.
"I have not personally heard of anyone who's not being shorted," Lake Central Director of Business Services Rob James told the school board Monday.
And he said Lake Central's textbook fund is already in the hole, due to past unpaid fees.
The school board agreed to transfer up to $1.8 million dollars from the education fund, which is where teacher salaries are budgeted — although James stressed that he didn't know what the exact amount will be.
Similarly, board members authorized the transfer of $4.2 million from the education fund to the operations fund — a common practice since school budgets were restructured in 2019.
The 2024 budget adopted by the school board Monday totals more than $127.2 million, including a $67.5 education fund and a $25 million operations fund. It now goes to the state for final review.