Editor,
The Zionsville School Board, at its latest meeting, passed a resolution admonishing voters to vote in favor of the reorganization. This is unfortunate because it gives the impression that the reorganization would benefit education in Zionsville. It would not.
Zionsville is synonymous with excellent schools and one of the benefits of the first reorganization is that it made the town limits and the school district lines nearly concurrent with each other meaning that almost the same electorate voting for the school board was also voting for town officials who have power over economic development. Therefore, the development goals could align more with the needs of the schools.
For example, the town could get commercial and light industrial development which would contribute to the schools’ revenues without putting additional students in the system. The first reorganization also tied the identity of the town and school district closer together. This second reorganization which is on the ballot this year would cause us to lose these benefits. Perry Township is part of the Lebanon Community School Corporation and it would continue to send its students there while no property taxes from the township would go to our schools.
Residents of Perry would sit on our economic development boards and a Perry resident could become mayor, but they would not have a vested interest in promoting economic development that would help our schools.
While the judge ruled against the reorganization, it is still on the ballot and her decision could be overturned on appeal. Therefore, it is still important for voters to vote “no” on this referendum.
Jay Neel
Zionsville