Wa-Nee Community Schools school safety referendum

What a vote means

A yes vote

Our computation: about $56 a year more than today for the $250,000 median home at the full $0.10, since the expiring levy is $0.0515.

A no vote

The 2018 levy ends after 2026, and the median home pays about $58 less (our computation). The resource officers and counselors it funds would lose that source.

On the ballot

The question as it is printed, word for word.

Shall the Wa-Nee Community School Corporation increase property taxes paid to the school corporation for no more than eight (8) years for the purpose of funding improvements for the safety, security, and well-being of Wa-Nee students by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.10 and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $1,750,000. If this school safety referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $250,000, the property's annual property tax bill would increase by $114 per year.

In full

Wa-Nee is the only Indiana district with a school safety referendum on the November 2026 ballot. It asks for up to 10 cents per $100 of assessed value (the legal maximum), up to $1.75 million a year for 2027-2034, to pay for five school resource officers, five mental health counselors, alternative education and behavior support, and safety equipment and training. Voters approved a smaller safety-purpose levy (up to 9.59 cents, about $1 million a year) in 2018; it ends after 2026, and SEA 1 limits referendums to November of even years, so this is the district's only chance to keep the funding without a gap.

What is being asked for

Most it could charge

$0.10 per $100 of assessed value, the most the school safety law allows (IC 20-46-9-5). The board's resolution proposed $0.1017; on July 8, 2026 the district's counsel reduced it to $0.10 under authority in the resolution ^[1][2][3]

Most it could raise a year

$1,750,000 ^[1][2]

For how long

8 years

What it replaces

Wa-Nee's November 2018 referendum (an operating referendum under IC 20-46-1, max $0.0959) was for the same stated purpose, 'improvements for the safety, security, and well-being of Wa-Nee students'. DLGF certified it could be levied through 2026, so it expires after 2026 taxes. Because it was an operating referendum and this is a school safety referendum under a different chapter, the 2026 question is legally a new levy, not a renewal ^[1][4][5][6]

On a median home

$250,000 (Elkhart and Kosciusko County auditors; Elkhart median homestead $240,400, rounded up as required) ^[7] — Ballot figure: +$114 a year at the full $0.10 rate (net assessed value $113,400 after 2027 deductions) ^[1][7]. Net change vs. today (computed by us): the expiring 2018 levy was certified at $0.0515 for 2026, about $58 a year on the same $113,400 net value, so if the new levy replaces it at the full $0.10 the median home pays about $56 more than today ^[6][7]

If it passes

• Ballot figure: +$114 a year for the $250,000 median home at the maximum rate; net vs. today about +$56, because the expiring 2018 levy costs that home about $58 at its 2026 rate (our computation) ^[1][6][7]
• Levy of up to $0.10 per $100 and $1.75 million a year for 2027-2034, about $740,000 a year more than the 2018 levy collected in 2026 ^[1][6]
• Eight-year spending plan, Year 1: five school resource officers $600,000; five mental health counselors $420,000; alternative education/behavior support $350,000; school safety equipment, resources and training $380,000 (total $1,750,000). Salaries rise each year (SROs $789,559 by year 8) while equipment money shrinks to $13,438 in year 8 ^[2]
• The approval would bar Wa-Nee from seeking a general operating referendum until November 2030 (IC 20-46-1-8(d)) ^[3]
• Safety-fund money can be transferred to the Education or Operations fund only to pay for the listed safety purposes ^[3]

If it fails

• Timing: the 2018 levy ends after taxes due in 2026, so referendum taxes leave bills starting in 2027 (about $58 less for the median home at the 2026 rate; our computation) ^[5][6]
• The resource officers, counselors and alternative-education costs now paid from the 2018 levy would lose that source; the district's plans for that case were not found in the sources reviewed (the district website was not reachable)
• Wa-Nee could not bring another safety question for 700 days (350 with a petition), and in practice not before the November 2028 general election, so at least two years (2027-2028) would have no referendum funding ^[3]

How it got on the ballot

• June 22, 2026: with all seven trustees present (Christina Eshelman, Curt Flickinger, Trevor Hershberger, David Kauffman, Don Lehman, John Payne, Brian Topping), the board adopted a referendum resolution under IC 20-46-9 finding that 'a referendum levy should be imposed for measures to improve school safety'; the tally is not shown ^[2]
• The resolution proposed a $0.1017 rate and $1,750,000 maximum for 2027-2034; on July 8, 2026 counsel lowered the rate to $0.10, the statutory cap ^[1][2]
• The Elkhart County Auditor (Tiara Jackson) and the Kosciusko County Auditor certified the $250,000 median home and +$114 (homestead file as of June 26, 2026) ^[7]
• DLGF received the resolution July 8, 2026 and approved the language July 8, 2026 (No. 26-026-REF) ^[1]
• InkFreeNews (Indiana Capital Chronicle report) noted Wa-Nee is 'the sole district pursuing a school safety referendum' among 38 districts filing for November 2026 ^[8]

The district's own numbers

• Enrollment (IDOE): 3,060 in 2018-19 and 2,813 in 2025-26 (-8.1%) ^[14]
• Fall 2025 transfers (IDOE): 2,743 state-funded resident students; 351 transferred in, 218 out, 64 Choice vouchers; net +69 ^[15]
• Charters: 26 resident students attended charters, mostly virtual. Mandatory sharing of safety levies applies only in Lake, Marion, St. Joseph and Vanderburgh counties (IC 20-46-9-22), so it does not apply to Wa-Nee; the resolution says no distribution to charters is planned ^[2][3][15]
• Net assessed value (both counties): $1.37 billion (2022) to $1.96 billion (2026), +43% ^[6]
• 2026 certified school tax rate $0.9348 per $100: Debt Service $0.4515, Operations $0.4318, Referendum (2018) $0.0515 ^[6]
• Circuit breaker losses, 2026 (Elkhart portion): $1,129,657 of the $6,463,884 Operations levy (17.5%) ^[16]
• SEA 1 (2025) LSA estimate: Elkhart portion -$596,340 (2026), -$618,240 (2027), -$710,200 (2028, -5.2%); Kosciusko portion -$141,720, -$157,470, -$171,130 ^[17]
• Wa-Nee does not have a general operating referendum; its only referendum levy is the expiring 2018 safety-purpose levy ^[6]

What came before

• How Indiana's school safety referendum works: created by P.L.272-2019 (IC 20-46-9). A board may ask voters for a levy 'for measures to improve school safety', capped at $0.10 per $100, for up to 8 years. Money goes to a separate school safety referendum fund and may be spent only on: school resource officers; a school safety office; threat assessments; safety plans; emergency response systems; safety equipment for buildings, grounds or buses; safety capital expenses; programs addressing youth mental illness, addiction, anger management, bullying and violence; and safety training for staff (IC 20-40-20-6). Spending must appear in the school safety plan, and local law enforcement must take part in the plan and in choosing capital items. Ballot form and timing follow IC 20-46-9-9 and -14 (general elections only) ^[3]
• Consequences built into that law: a defeated question cannot return for 700 days (350 with a petition) (IC 20-46-9-19); and if a safety referendum is approved, the district may not place an operating referendum on the ballot for the next three years (IC 20-46-1-8(d)), which on the even-year election calendar means no Wa-Nee operating referendum before November 2030 ^[3]
• Nov 6, 2018 (before the safety law existed): operating referendum, up to $0.0959 per $100 for 8 years for 'improvements for the safety, security, and well-being of Wa-Nee students'. PASSED: Elkhart County results 2,979 yes, 1,383 no; the Goshen News reported 2,977 yes, 68.33% ^[4][9][10]
• Before that vote, ABC57 reported the district had one school resource officer for five schools and paid for safety with a $50,000 annual grant; then-Superintendent Scot Croner described a 'one million dollar operating referendum' to hire mental health counselors and resource officers and make the half-day alternative education program full-day ^[11][12]
• After passage, ABC57 reported a second resource officer, four mental health counselors and HD cameras districtwide, funded by the roughly $1 million-a-year levy ^[13]
• DLGF estimated the 2018 levy at about $1,121,716 in 2019 and authorized it through 2026. Levied rates fell as values rose: $0.073 (2022), $0.063 (2023), $0.0595 (2024), $0.0535 (2025), $0.0515 (2026), with collections of about $1.0 million a year ^[5][6]

What each side says

Other people's words and claims, not ours, each with the page it came from. Where we found no organised campaign on a side, the page says so rather than inventing one.

Questions worth asking

• How many resource officers and counselors does Wa-Nee employ today with the 2018 levy, and how many would it have under the new plan?
• If the question fails, which safety positions would end in 2027, and could any be paid from other funds?
• Why seek a safety referendum rather than a general operating referendum, given that passing it bars an operating referendum until 2030?
• What does the district's school safety plan include, and how is local law enforcement involved?
• How will the declining equipment budget (from $380,000 to about $13,000) cover camera, door and radio replacement over eight years?

What we could not find

• The district website (wanee.org, including its referendum page) blocked access from the research network; no current district FAQ or superintendent statement was read
• Kosciusko County portion of the 2018 vote not found (Secretary of State listing shows Elkhart County only)
• Goshen News 2026 coverage is paywalled; only free lines used
• Board vote tally on June 22, 2026 not shown
• Current superintendent's name not confirmed from a readable source

Sources