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Concord referendum fails, according to unofficial results

Gemma DiCarlo/WVPE

Concord Community Schools’ request to renew its referendum appears to have failed.

According to unofficial results from the Elkhart County Clerk’s Office, a total of 2,963 voters cast ballots in the special election Tuesday. Of those, 1,514 voted against the measure, while 1,438 voted in favor – that breaks down to 51.29 and 48.71 percent, respectively.

 

The measure asked for a lower tax than the district’s current referendum – if passed, it would have levied 32 cents per $100 of assessed value, rather than 40.5 cents.

 

In an interview last week, Concord Superintendent Dan Funston said referendum dollars help offset the nearly $400 per student the district loses due to property tax caps and its comparatively low increase in state funding – about 3.2 percent to the state average of 5 percent.

 

“We had the 19th highest academic growth from 2014 to 2019,” Funston said. “We believe that the referendum played a big part in that.”

 

In a statement sent Tuesday evening, Funston said the district won’t make any immediate staffing cuts or adjustments to student programming. However, the statement says class sizes could rise if cuts have to be made in the future.

 

“The referendum funds accounts for 10 percent of our overall budget, so this will certainly have a negative impact on our funding going forward,” Funston said in the statement. “We’ll continue to weigh every decision the way we always have – by asking ourselves ‘what’s best for kids?’” 

 

The current referendum – which first passed in 2014 – expires in December.

 

“Tonight we are feeling really grateful for the support we had from those in our community who understood our mission and the funding needed to provide flexibility and opportunities for students,” Funston said in the statement. “That support is out there. We just needed more of those supporters to join us at the polls today.” 

 

Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.

 

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Gemma DiCarlo came to Indiana by way of Athens, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and certificates in New Media and Sustainability. She has radio experience from her time as associate producer of Athens News Matters, the flagship public affairs program at WUGA-FM.