The Merrillville Town Council’s Redevelopment Commission has agreed to provide the Merrillville Community School Corp. with $310,000 in grant money each year for the next five years for its student career planning and education programs.
The amount is $60,000 a year greater than originally requested, with the additional funds earmarked for trade union internships and job shadowing expenses.
“This council is very much pro-union,” said Councilman Shawn Pettit, D-6th, who recommended the increased funding.
Pettit added Tuesday that one of the town’s newest manufacturing companies, Modern Drop Forge, told him that 40 of 100 new hires live in Merrillville or Hobart. Pettit noted that the council asks companies that receive tax abatements to give at least 10 percent of their jobs to Merrillville residents.
Indiana code allows for the school corporation to receive up to 15 percent of the remaining allocation area fund coming from the town’s four tax increment financing districts after debt services are paid, provided the money is used for student job training and education.
This allows the schools to get back up to 70 percent of what it lost due to tax abatement.
The program began in Merrillville this year, with funding on a one-year basis.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lux told the commission that a high percentage of the school corporation’s student body is on the free and reduced cost lunch program, which he said is an indication of the challenges the students face.
“Our academic success is due to being able to get funding for this kind of program,” Lux said.
He said the school corporation’s graduation rate is more than 90 percent.
Lux said the money from the town comes at a needed time, as the state reduced its funding for students on the free and reduced cost lunch program to include only those who get free lunches.
The money will be used to fund two career counselors/job coaches, prepare students to take the SAT/ACT tests for college, and introduce students to college through a summer boot camp, college site visits, a college dual credit program and more.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
