By VICKI URBANIK

The process that could lead to construction of a new Duneland School began in earnest Thursday.

About 30 members of the recently formed Duneland Key Communicator Group met to begin studying student enrollment data and projections, with an eye toward making a recommendation on whether the school corporation needs another school building. The members of the group represent Duneland School staff members, business people, and other community members.

Consultant Robert Boyd from the Department of Educational Leadership at Indiana State University said he anticipates that the committee will meet five more times before submitting a recommendation to the school board. The next three meetings are set for March 13, April 3 and April 17, all at 7 p.m. and all open to the public. The March 13 meeting will be at Liberty Intermediate School .

Boyd presented a slew of data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Duneland school enrollments that show a steady growth pattern in the Duneland Schools and Porter County overall. Boyd’s projection -- that the Duneland Schools will grow by about 500 students overall by 2015 -- is in keeping with the projection presented late last year by the McKibben Demographics consulting group.

Boyd opened his talk Thursday by saying that the Duneland Schools have now grown into the reorganized school structure created after the Chesterton High School opened and the middle and intermediate schools were established.

“While they’re not packed to the gills yet ... one wonders how long we can go without a building plan,” Boyd said.

Among the myriad of statistics that Boyd presented were the following:

•From 1990 to 2006, Porter County overall grew by 31,173 people. The 2006 population estimate is 160,105, which is already about 3,000 more than what was earlier forecasted for 2010.

•From 1970 to 2000, the four townships that make up the Duneland School Corporation grew from a total of 21,550 to 32,305, with the 2006 estimate putting the total at 36,302, or a 68.5 percent increase since 1970.

•From 1998 to the present, the Duneland School enrollment increased 450 students, from 5,491 to 5,941, or a growth rate of 8.2 percent. That was the biggest enrollment increase among all other Porter County schools, followed by an increase of 388 students in the East Porter County School Corporation during the same time period.

•New housing units built in the four Duneland townships increased 25.5 percent since 1990, compared with a 23 percent increase countywide. Statewide, housing starts climbed 17 percent during that same time period.

•From 1999 to 2007, the enrollment in the Duneland Schools has been steadily on the rise. While total enrollments decreased in 2000 and in ‘02, the other years showed increases ranging from 0.4 percent to 3.3 percent.

•From 1999 to 2007, the enrollment in the K through 4 grades increased from 1,936 to 2,120. Projections show that the elementary enrollment will hit 2,159 in 2015.

•From 1999 to 2007, the enrollment in grades 5 and 6 climbed from 807 to 890. Projections show that the intermediate schools will hit 963 in 2015.

•From 1999 to 2007, the enrollment in grades 7 and 8 climbed from 837 to 874. Projections show that the middle school will hit 1,064 in 2015.

•From 1999 to 2007, the high school enrollment climbed from 1,831 to 2,009. Projections show that the high school will have 2,179 students in 2015.

•Projections show that the overall Duneland School enrollment will climb from 5,893 this year to 6,365 in 2015. The per-grade average is now 453 students, but is projected to be 490 in 2015.

More than once, Boyd made a reference to the sticky issue of school construction costs. Increasingly, school building debt is being blamed as one of the major causes of high property taxes in Indiana. One tax proposal now pending in the Indiana General Assembly would allow new school construction only if approved by a voter referendum.

“The taxpayer will not let you overbuild,” he said.

Boyd noted that there is no proposal now pending in the Legislature that would alter the use of local property taxes for new school construction. The challenge for the Key Communicator Group, he said, will be to present a recommendation based on solid data that addresses what’s do-able in the Duneland community, both from a financial standpoint and from a political standpoint. “You may conclude ‘do nothing,’” he said.

Posted 2/29/2008