The Fort Wayne Community Schools board approved the elimination of about 20 jobs in the district, in advance of an expected loss of funding from the state.
Proposed state legislation is expected to cost the district $3 million annually over the next six years, or $18 million cumulatively. Superintendent Mark Daniel said when looking where they could make cuts, the district looked at any place that wasn’t a school building.
“We had to go about ‘what are you going to do if you’re going to receive that kind of reduction in funding?’" Daniel said. "And we made a pledge to keep it as far away from the classroom as possible.”
All of the positions targeted are from the district’s central office, but one of those positions is the current English Language Learners program director, which currently has about 4,500 students. Daniel said they’re restructuring some of the positions, so while that title is going away, it shouldn’t affect that program.
Earlier this month, Daniel called on the community to support public school funding ahead of Indiana Senate Bills 1 and 518 being discussed in front of the Ways and Means Committee at the Indiana statehouse.
Northwest Allen County Schools Superintendent Wayne Barker visited the statehouse and testified in front of the committee in opposition of SB 1, the property tax relief bill, which could prohibit the district from moving froward with a planned referendum for the November 2025 ballot.
Daniel said he doesn’t believe FWCS can “cut” its way out of the funding troubles, but instead needs to “grow” its way out, by strengthening programming and increasing enrollment over the coming years.
