“Everybody is stretched to try to make the budget work,” Fields said. “We are about the worst-funded school district per student in the state of Indiana. That makes it tough on us, also.”

Given state revenue, Fields said, “for our school system, I don’t think (Daniels’ proposed budget) sounds too bad, but you just never know.”

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Looking ahead

State education funding is now largely based on school district enrollment, with each child representing about $6,000. Here are projected 2011 enrollment figures for local districts, along with the amount of increase or decrease compared with 2009.

Anderson: 8,655, -5.5 percent

Alexandria: 1,438, -4.5 percent

Daleville: 674, +1.5 percent

Frankton-Lapel: 2,412, +1.7 percent

Elwood: 1,618, -5.7 percent

Madison-Grant: 1,440, -2.7 percent

Shenandoah: 1,354, -0.1 percent

South Madison: 4,054, +2.8 percent

Source: Indiana State Budget Agency