District overview
Duneland School Corporation
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How Duneland schools are paid for and who decides
Duneland School Corporation teaches about 5,800 students in Chesterton, Porter, Burns Harbor and nearby townships at five elementary schools, two intermediate and middle school campuses (Liberty and Westchester), Chesterton High School and an online school. Indiana pays for teaching through a per-student formula, so money rises and falls with enrollment. Local property taxes pay for buildings, buses and debt, and voters renewed an extra operating referendum tax in November 2025. A five-member elected Board of School Trustees sets the budget and policies and hires the superintendent.
Per-student state money
The 2027 budget plans $46.7 million in the education fund, which the state formula pays for based on the number of students.
Referendum tax
Voters renewed the operating referendum in November 2025. It is capped at 39 cents and about $13 million of it is budgeted for 2027.
State tax changes
A new homestead credit and tax caps cost about $2.2 million in 2026, and leaders expect property values to keep falling through 2031.
Elected board
Brandon Kroft (president), Alayna Lightfoot Pol, Beth Mehling, Jocelyn Hibshman and Kirk Redman. Superintendent Robert McDermott took over in summer 2026.
Test scores are strong (94.8% passed IREAD in 2026, well above the state), and the district reports an AA bond rating, so money pressure has not meant weak schools. This page relies on auto-captioned recordings rather than approved minutes.
Where the district stands
Education $46.7M, operations $24M, debt service $15.25M, referendum $13M.
Up from $18.73M to a maximum of $19.86M; debt service levy down 4.69%.
Compared with about 500 seniors the year before; the state funds 5,774 students.
State rate 88.7%, as reported by district staff.
$5.03M in 2027, $5.43M in 2028, $4.76M in 2029.
Major projects
Chesterton High School baseball and softball turf
under constructionTurf and new fencing for the varsity baseball and softball fields, with backstops and tennis fencing added later. The fieldhouse renovation was put off for budget reasons.
- Base bid of $3,595,000 awarded to Goff Inc.
- $290,500 in alternates added
- Concrete change order approved
Funding
2025 general obligation bond
2027-2029 building repair plan
plannedRoofing, parking lots and concrete districtwide, new Chesterton High School gym bleachers ($1.3 million), a high school chiller and new boilers at four elementary schools.
- Board allows the plan to be advertised
- Public hearing
- Scheduled adoption
- Bleacher replacement and summer 2027 work begin
Funding
Operations fund and property taxes
Recent news
Auto-captioned board meeting recordings from the district's YouTube channel @DSCBoard (November 2025 to October 2026), plus budget, capital plan, calendar, notice and teacher-contract PDFs posted on www.duneland.k12.in.us, read in full.
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