Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools took a hit in this school year’s enrollment, losing about 400 students compared to the previous year.  District Chief Financial Officer Cecilie Nunn told the school board Wednesday night that school systems throughout the state are seeing the same reductions in student population, likely related to the novel coronavirus.

The state funds local school corporations based on the number of students enrolled, so with fewer students, HSE Schools will be facing a $5 million budget deficit.  In an effort to deal with this, administrators are forming a task force to make recommendations for the board.  The members of that task force can be found at this link.

The task force will look for actions to reduce the funding deficit for the 2021-2022 school year.  The guiding principles for the group are to look at all programs and how they are delivered, look at innovative ways to deliver the programs and conduct any required staff reduction-in- force through attrition.

The group is scheduled to have its report to the school superintendent by late February and the board will see the recommendations in early March, 2021, with action projected by the end of March.

In other school board news from Wednesday night:

–The board had a preliminary discussion on naming the new elementary school in the works for Wayne Township.  Board President Michelle Fullhart suggested naming the building “Deer Creek Elementary.”  The board discussed how to move forward and no decision was made.

–Superintendent Allen Bourff says graduation ceremonies are already being planned, but admitted uncertainty about the COVID-19 situation makes such planning difficult.  Administrators will be looking at all the options.