Doing more with less has earned West Clark Community Schools recognition as having two of Indiana’s “Best Buy” high schools.

Henryville Jr.-Sr. High School and Silver Creek High School are among 135 public high schools in the state that made the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s annual list of Indiana’s Best Buys, which is to acknowledge those schools that give taxpayers the most value for their money.

A total of 357 schools were examined, comparing ISTEP pass rates, graduation rates, the number of students taking the SAT, average SAT composite score and the Advanced Placement passing scores, according to the chamber. That created a school performance index for each school.

That was then compared to each school’s total revenues per pupil to determine “Best Buy” schools.

Superintendent Monty Schneider, with West Clark, said the district usually has one of its schools on that list.

“It’s a good thing for West Clark and for West Clark taxpayers, because we are funded considerably less than the state average,” he said.

Henryville and Silver Creek each receive $9,573 per student in revenue, according to the chamber report. The statewide median is $10,179 per student.

Schneider said one way the district saves is by having larger class sizes. He said it takes skilled teachers to manage those classes and keep students achieving. He said taxpayers should be pleased with how much the district is doing for students while keeping the tax burden low.

“We’d like to have more money, because we feel like we could do even a better job,” Schneider said. “But I anticipate we’ll have a ‘Best Buy’ school again, because our teachers, teaching assistants, principals, all of our school personnel do a good job and our kids are working hard, which helps, too.”

Chamber President Kevin Brinegar said taxpayers should be excited to have a “Best Buy” school in their area.

“All of the ‘Best Buy’ schools are getting the utmost out of their taxpayer dollars by, in turn, delivering high-quality education to their students,” he said. “This balancing act of limited funding while realizing a varied and competitive education is no easy task.

“Businesses and communities in these areas should be very proud of what their schools are achieving and how their students are being readied for further education paths and a competitive job market.”



SO YOU KNOW

• Revenues per student are calculated at a district level by dividing total revenues by the 2008-09 student enrollment. Previous “Best Buy” reports focused on expenditures.

However, some districts noted that some of that money was double counted, because of moving dollars between funds. Therefore, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce now focuses on revenues per student.

— Indiana Chamber of Commerce