By VICKI URBANIK

The proposal to use county income taxes to keep the Portage Township Adult Education program afloat has been put on hold for a month.

Porter County Commissioner President Robert Harper said Tuesday that he expected to seek approval from the other two commissioners for his proposal to save adult ed, but was told that the county could not act on any new additional appropriations until the start of the new year. The Porter County Council, which would have to approve the funding proposal, is not expected to meet again this year.

In the meantime, Harper said the county council will explore alternative funding options to save the adult ed program, as discussed at the council’s year-end meeting on Monday. He said the council might form a committee to come up with options.

When Harper’s proposal came up at the council meeting Monday, members debated whether Porter County income tax funds should be used, or if there are better options, such as seeking funding from school systems from outside of Porter County.

Harper said he still intends to make his proposal in January, unless some other alternative is found before then.

Both he and North Porter County Commissioner John Evans spoke in support of preserving adult ed.

Harper cited an email he received from Stu McMillan, president of Task Force Tips in Valparaiso. McMillan noted that 14 of his employees have used the adult ed program, and that the average salary at his business is $52,700.

Evans said it would be a travesty if adult ed ends because of a lack of funding. Virtually no one can get a decent job these days without a high school diploma at the very least, Evans noted. “It’s their last viable hope to make something of their lives,” he said of the students who need adult ed for their GED.

Evans said he’s not against using county funds to bail out the program, but at the same time believes that all alternatives should be explored. He said other school systems that use the program should be paying their fair share, just as Porter County schools contribute for the students from their districts who enroll in adult ed.

The adult ed program is expected to cease at the end of the current school year, now that Portage Township School Board has decided that it can no longer absorb the deficit of around $110,000 annually. The Portage Schools serve as the administrative agent for the program, which has the only adult high school in the area and which operates more than 20 learning centers in five counties, including the Chesterton Adult Learning Center.

Posted 12/5/2007