Election Day Again In Hamilton County

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(FISHERS, IN) - A week after Election Day, today is election day again but this time in the Hamilton Southeastern Schools.

Hamilton Southeastern is seeking approval for a 1% property tax hike to patch a $5 million dollar hole in the budget.

Last week, voters in Beech Grove and Southern Wells agreed to help schools make ends meet, while Marion County's Franklin Township Schools overwhelmingly rejected the request.

HSE Superintendent Brian Smith says he's cautiously optimistic.

HSE's enrollment grew by 850 students this year and is expected to jump the same amount next year.

The new state budget did increase funding for the district, but its per-pupil funding went down.

HSE is preparing a lawsuit charging the funding formula violates state constitutional requirements.

Smith says that suit will go forward regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's vote.

Smith says class sizes at HSE are already too large.

He says passage of the referendum would let the school hire more teachers to bring those ratios down, while failure would force layoffs and make classes even bigger.

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