Facing financial peril with the narrow defeat of a $1.3 million operating referendum Nov. 7, the president of the Lake Station School Board angrily called on a fellow board member to resign Wednesday, accusing her of undermining the election.

The 14-vote referendum defeat left Lake Station in the crosshairs of the state Distressed Unit Appeal Board, and is forcing planning for the halting of bus transportation in 2025 and staff layoffs.

Property tax caps have decimated the small school district of 1,200 students leaving its 2023 operating tax fund levy with no revenue.

While the wording of the referendum suggested taxpayers would incur a 46% increase, school officials argued the language was flawed and the referendum wouldn’t have raised taxes. Instead, they said it would continue the current rate for eight years, ensuring the district could operate.

School districts use the operating fund to pay the majority of expenses such as payroll and utilities.

Board president Greg Tenorio read a statement at the end of the meeting complaining that board member Karen Curtis attended a Lake Station Republican Party meeting and suggested the district was mismanaging money. She shared a single page taken from a recent State Board of Accounts audit she said showed the mismanagement of $6 million.

Tenorio said the city’s GOP members were ready to send a letter to Attorney General Todd Rokita requesting an investigation because they believed the $6 million was stolen or misused.

Not the case, he said. Tenorio said he and Superintendent Thomas Cripliver met with the GOP members and explained the wrong form was used in the audit and the state did not flag the district.

“I believe she took it to the GOP hoping they would rally around this bad information. I believe Ms. Curtis hoped they would start a ‘vote no’ campaign.”

Tenorio, who has five grandchildren in the school district, criticized Curtis’s maneuver.

“I sincerely believe her actions are harming them and other students,” he said. “In the future, we’ll have to lay off employees and cut programs.

“I believe it can all be traced back to Karen Curtis. I believe she should resign from the school board immediately.”

When the board voted on May 8 to place the referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot, Curtis abstained saying she needed more information.

Cripliver said he asked the board to vote then before a new law authorizing districts to share referendum money with charters went into effect.

Curtis, who’s been on the board for 16 years, said it was appropriate to share information on how the district was run at the GOP meeting, which she was invited to attend.

“When I went in, I remembered our bylaws that say school board members not only talk about progress, but also problems,” she said.

“The Republican Party misconstrued what I said — they saw it as a criminal problem. I did not know they misunderstood what I said. I did nothing wrong.”

Curtis insisted there are problems in the school district, citing its enrollment drop from 1,500 students in 2015 to 1,200 today.

“As a board, we have to have the courage to address that,” she said.

“Calling for my resignation is not appropriate. I believe I have the ability to resign when I want to. I also have the determination to realize I can run for reelection if I want to.”

She said the board’s bylaws call for it to have good relationships with students, staff and taxpayers “even if we don’t agree.”

Board member Kevin Music, who has four children in the district, said the dozens of boxes filled with food in the board room was a testament to the district’s connection to the community. They represented a Thanksgiving food drive organized by students, teachers and administrators.

“Taking one piece of the puzzle is not good,” said Music of the audit’s misrepresentation.

“Our audit came back and everything was in order … We need to be working together and have students in the forefront of our minds,” he said.

Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.