Why Vote YES

Keep Great Teachers in Wayne
Stable funding helps Wayne Township recruit and retain experienced educators and the staff who support our students every day.

Protect Student Safety & Support
Funding supports the people, programs and resources that create safe, supportive schools where students can learn.

Keep Our Schools Running
Transportation, utilities, technology, maintenance and other everyday operations are essential to providing a quality education.

Invest in Our Community
Strong public schools strengthen neighborhoods, support property values and help make Wayne Township a place where families and businesses choose to invest.

Provide Financial Stability
The referendum gives the district a more predictable source of local funding as changes to Indiana's school funding and property-tax system affect local revenues.

Have Questions? Get the Facts

Referendum FAQ

  • Public schools are community infrastructure.

    Strong schools help prepare the future workforce, support neighborhoods and contribute to a community where families and businesses want to live and invest.

    Whether or not you currently have a child enrolled, the quality and stability of our local public schools affect the long-term strength of Wayne Township.

    Strong schools. Strong neighborhoods. A stronger Wayne Township.
    Quality schools are part of what makes a community desirable and helps support long-term confidence in our neighborhoods and homes.

  • Yes. Wayne Township voters approved the current $0.35 referendum rate in 2019, and that referendum expires in 2027.

    Changes to Indiana law mean Wayne Township must return to voters in November 2026 to avoid a gap in referendum funding.

    The proposed referendum replaces the existing $0.35 referendum. It does not stack on top of it.

  • Yes.

    The referendum asks voters to approve a higher maximum rate because changes to Indiana's property-tax system — including SEA 1 have further reduced the property-tax funding available to support school operations.

    Wayne Township property owners already pay a $0.35 referendum rate. The district projects a $0.60 rate for the first year of the replacement referendum, with a maximum authorized rate of $0.70.

    So when looking at the impact on your tax bill, the meaningful comparison is between what you pay today and what you would pay under the replacement referendum.

  • Yes. This replaces the 2019 referendum. It does not stack on top of it.

    The current $0.35 referendum expires in 2027. If voters approve this measure, the new referendum replaces that existing funding.

    For the first year, the district projects:

    $0.60 proposed first-year rate − $0.35 current rate = $0.25 net rate increase per $100 of assessed value.

  • The ballot establishes a maximum rate of $0.70 per $100 of assessed value for the eight-year life of the referendum.

    The district's projected first-year rate is $0.60.

    The maximum provides flexibility as assessed values, state laws, revenues and operating costs change over the next eight years. It does not mean the district automatically levies $0.70 in the first year.

  • The school board approves the actual levy through the public budget process.

    Indiana law also requires school corporations seeking an operating referendum to develop a revenue spending plan identifying the expected referendum revenue and how those dollars will be used.

    That creates public documentation of both the funding and the plan for spending it.

  • Check out the Referendum Calculator

  • Wayne Township is hit particularly hard by Indiana's property-tax circuit breaker caps.

    In 2025, the district was certified to collect $25.4 million for operations but received only $4.1 million after property-tax caps and other adjustments.

    According to MSD Wayne Township, the district received approximately $280 per student for operations in 2025, compared with a statewide average of $1,923. Making MSD Wayne 289th out 290 districts in ops funding per student.

    Those operating dollars help pay for the things that make school possible every day: transportation, school safety, utilities, custodians, maintenance, technology, insurance and other essential services.

    Learn More

  • Yes. And we want to be clear this isn't a sudden budget problem created in 2026. It's a longstanding structural funding problem that recent legislative changes have made harder.

    Wayne Township reports eliminating 108 positions, including administrative, certified and classified positions. The district has also reduced overtime, renegotiated vendor contracts, implemented energy-saving measures, extended the use of curricular materials and made other operational reductions.

    Employees also received no raise for the 2025–26 school year.

    At some point, additional reductions stop being efficiencies and begin affecting the people, programs and services students depend on.

  • The ballot language specifically identifies three priorities:

    Recruiting and retaining classroom teachers

    Student safety and school security

    Daily educational operations

    Indiana law requires referendum dollars to be used consistently with the purposes stated in the referendum question and documented through the district's referendum spending plan.

  • The existing $0.35 referendum expires in 2027.

    Without a replacement, Wayne Township would lose that existing referendum revenue while continuing to face the effects of property-tax caps and changes to Indiana's school-funding structure.

    The district would then have to address the resulting funding gap through additional reductions to staffing, programs and services.

  • Because school funding comes from different funds — and those dollars aren't interchangeable.

    For example, money designated for capital improvements and debt service cannot simply be moved into the district's operating budget to pay for transportation, utilities or other everyday expenses.

    A district can therefore have funding available for an approved building project while simultaneously facing a shortage in the fund that pays for daily operations.

  • We encourage voters to look at the information themselves, ask questions and understand exactly what they're voting on.

    MSD of Wayne Township provides detailed information about the referendum, tax impact, district finances, cost reductions and how referendum funding would be used.

    Wayne Forward is also happy to meet with voters one-on-one to demystify the referendum, answer questions and make the information easier to understand.

    Have a question? Ask us. We want Wayne Township voters to have the information they need to make an informed decision.