On Saturday there will be a community conversation on the Brown County school referendum that will be on the May primary ballot. The conversation is being hosted by the League of Women Voters and will occur from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Barn Burner, 185 S. Jefferson St.
Brown County School District representatives have been invited to speak on the panel to discuss the referendum. The panel will cover how the either decision will impact the schools. Shari Frank, President of the League of Women Voters Brown County, said they will discuss how the school will make cuts if the referendum is not passed and what could end up on the chopping block.
“It is only school representatives (on the panel),” Frank said. “We figured if people are in opposition they can be in the audience and ask their questions.”
The conversation is open to everyone and will be taking public comments.
Some people support the referendum, but there are others like Brown County Commissioner Blake Wolpert who have concerns about taxes.
“It’s (school referendum) like everything else,” Wolpert said. “We can’t keep breaking taxpayers down. They (school board) keep saying they want to compare with Hamiliton, Marion or Bartholomew counties but those counties have more revenue. Anytime you want to keep up with the Joneses, you are going to lose. If you go to the store and want to buy something but you don’t have the money for it, you don’t buy it. It’s like that,” Wolpert added.
“The school board does not need to run everyone’s budget, like here’s how much money you get and that’s that. They way I see it, they have all the resources they need and school enrollment is down so I don’t know why they are trying to compare to Carmel or Fishers.”
Frank said that people can visit the school district’s website at browncountyschools.com to calculate how much the referendum will cost them.
There are other people who said they don’t know much about the referendum or have seen different perspectives online. Brown County Commissioner Ron Sanders said that he does not have an opinion on the topic and is trying to listen to both sides.
Frank said the community conversation is the perfect event to attend if you, like Sanders, are trying to gain more perspective on what the referendum is and what it will mean for your tax dollars.
