State budget ends a $155-per-student textbook grant; district cites grant loss and enrollment decline in a $1.5 million annual shortfall

What happened

Stifel consultant Chad Blacklock told the oversight board that a 2023 state law barring Indiana public schools from charging families for textbooks came with a grant — about $155 per student — to help schools cover the cost in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, but the state's 2025 budget eliminated that grant while leaving the no-charge rule in place. 2023 law bars charging families for textbooks, 34:11 $155-per-student grant, then removed, 34:44 Grant removed in the state's 2025 budget, 35:17 A Vigo County Schools administrator said the change, combined with the district's declining enrollment, amounts to a net loss of about $1.5 million a year. District puts the net loss at $1.5 million, 35:45

No vote was taken on the presentation; the board moved to public comment and adjournment after the briefing. Board moves to adjournment after the presentation, 1:16:41

Also known as: textbook funding grant · $155 per student textbook grant · Vigo County Schools textbook costs · education fund textbook expense