On Monday at 6 p.m., the Duneland School Board will meet to continue its annual budget work, this time to make a preliminary review of the 2013 General Fund budget for the school district.

Over 90 percent of the school’s General Fund is used to pay teacher and staff salaries. Almost all of the funding, 97 percent of it, comes from the state funding formula for schools collected from income tax and sales tax.

The funding formula includes a per-pupil amount each year and in 2012 was at a five year low. Duneland received $4,771 per pupil in 2012, a rank of 23rd from the bottom out of 359 school corporations in the state.

The board at its previous meeting was given a preliminary review by Assistant Superintendent Dave Pruis of the schools’ 2013 projections of the debt service fund, capital projects fund, transportation fund and school bus replacement fund.

Early figures show that the funding slump is still in place with amounts similar to last year’s budget.

A public hearing on the 2013 budget is scheduled tentatively for Monday, Sept. 10.

Also under new business is an appointment for an assistant principal at Chesterton Middle School. A personnel report will also be given by Assistant Superintendent Monte Moffett.

Duneland Schools Superintendent Dirk Baer will also give comments to the board.

Baer at the July 12 meeting said he plans to discuss Duneland’s scores in the statewide ISTEP-plus testing.

The Indiana Department of Education said Duneland for all grades had 83 percent of students pass English, 85.3 percent pass math, and 77 percent passing both.

Scores were above the state’s average but were some of the lowest in Porter County.

The board will meet at the Duneland School Corporation Administration Center, 601 West Morgan Ave. in Chesterton.

Posted 8/10/2012