CARMEL – When residents of the Carmel School District go to the polls next month to decide the fate of a school budget and elect members to the Board of Education, they will also be asked to approve an $11 million safety bond to improve security and safety throughout the county’s largest school system.
The Board of Education, amidst a budget crisis resulting from a $6 million shortfall, approved the item following discussion spearheaded by trustee John Curzio.
He explained that last fall, the board reviewed the district’s debt service schedule that highlighted the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years when debt will be falling off and Assistant Superintendent John Fink suggested the board start to consider a potential capital project and move forward with it in order to maintain the same or similar level of debt service payments.
The committee discussed projects such as safety and security, fields, the transportation facility, and climate control/air quality in the buildings.
Interim Superintendent of Schools Joseph McGrath recommended to the board to focus only on a $15 million safety and security bond capital project for the May 2024 vote. He noted that the timeline would be too rushed to complete the necessary work for athletic and transportation bond proposals.
Trustees trimmed that number down to $11 million which Curzio said, “reflects a true safety and security capital project with all unrelated items removed.”
Curzio called the money “truly well spent on the safety and security of our students, our staff, and our buildings – something that everyone in the community can champion.” He said the bond will have a tax impact that is beneficial to taxpayers “as less debt is being replaced compared to what is expiring.”
He said that is exclusive of and separate from the general operating budget.
