Schools seek casino revenue

CORYDON, Ind. -- Harrison County's three public school districts are asking for county officials to provide more tax revenue from an Ohio River casino to help pay for a variety of school projects.\nCounty officials have been providing $2 million a year to the school districts in recent years since the opening of the Caesars Indiana casino down river from Louisville, Ky.\nSchools officials said they hoped the county could increase that contribution because little increase was expected in state education funding and building maintenance costs continued to climb.\nNeyland Clark, superintendent of the South Harrison schools, asked county commissioners to consider providing $5 million to the school districts this year because $6.3 million has accumulated in the gambling-tax fund earmarked for education.\nCommissioner James Goldman proposed asking the County Council to provide $2 million, after saying that a county task force six years ago had recommended that casino money be spent on a variety of educational projects, such as a countywide library system and adult training programs.\n"Nowhere does it say 'schools,"' Goldman said.\nThe three districts -- South Harrison, North Harrison and Lanesville -- have divided the money on a per-pupil basis.\n"This money has really helped us," North Harrison Superintendent Monty Schneider said. "This has been great for North Harrison."\nThe money has paid for new computers, air-conditioning projects, a new roof for an elementary school, library books, a 14-passenger activity bus and parking-lot improvements at the district's main campus, according to a report Schneider gave to the commissioners.\nCommissioner J.R. Eckart said he thought a public forum should be held for county officials to review the schools' spending and decide whether they believed those expenditures were appropriate uses of the casino money.\nEckart said the county first provided the money thinking it would be spent on one-time educational enhancements for students -- not on building projects.