Fort Thomas Independent vs New Palestine Community Schools
KY · 3,170 students • IN · 3,959 students • fiscal year 2024 • swap sides
In one line
- Fort Thomas Independent spends 7% more per student than New Palestine Community Schools after adjusting for local price levels.
- Fort Thomas Independent directs 8 more cents of every operating dollar to instruction than New Palestine Community Schools.
- Fort Thomas Independent is far more dependent on local property taxes (48% of revenue vs 33%), which ties its budget more tightly to local property values.
Are these even comparable?
Establish the shape of each district before reading a single dollar figure.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Students enrolled | 3,170 | 3,959 |
| Schools | 5 | 6 |
| Grades served | PK–12 | PK–12 |
| Setting | Suburb | Rural |
| County | Campbell County | Hancock County |
| State | KY | IN |
| Local price level (US = 100) Above 100 means a dollar buys less here than the national average. | 95.4 | 95.7 |
The headline dollar
Current operating spending per student, shown three ways. The first is what each district reports. The second and third are the honest ones for comparison.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Per student, as reported | $12,843 | $12,042 |
| Per student, price-adjusted Divided by the local price level, so both figures are in the same money. | $13,467 | $12,584 |
| Per student, price-adjusted, excluding transport Transportation provision varies enormously between districts and states. Removing it compares the parts both districts actually do. | $13,392 | $11,855 |
| Capital spending per student Buildings and land, never folded into the operating figures above. It is lumpy: a district mid-build looks expensive for two years. | Locked | Locked |
Fort Thomas Independent
New Palestine Community Schools
Where the money comes from
The funding mix determines how exposed a district is to local property values, to state politics, and to federal programmes ending.
Fort Thomas Independent
- Local 47.7% Locked
- State 50.0% Locked
- Federal 2.3% Locked
New Palestine Community Schools
- Local 32.7% Locked
- State 62.1% Locked
- Federal 5.2% Locked
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Local share of revenue Mostly property tax. A high share means school budgets track local property values, up and down. | 47.7% | 32.7% |
| State share of revenue | 50.0% | 62.1% |
| Federal share of revenue | 2.3% | 5.2% |
| Total revenue | Locked | Locked |
How KY funds its districts
We have not yet written up KY's funding formula, so nothing is claimed here.
How IN funds its districts
Tuition support: a per-pupil foundation grant with complexity funding, almost entirely state-funded.
Where the money goes
The same slices in the same order for both districts, plus the differences by function — because two pie charts side by side hide exactly the thing you want to see.
Fort Thomas Independent
- Instruction 61.1% Locked
- Instructional staff support 3.7% Locked
- Student support 3.5% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 8.3% Locked
- Transportation 0.6% Locked
- Food service 5.3% Locked
- School administration 4.4% Locked
- District administration 3.9% Locked
- Other support 2.5% Locked
- Other current 5.5% Locked
New Palestine Community Schools
- Instruction 52.8% Locked
- Instructional staff support 4.2% Locked
- Student support 5.6% Locked
- Operations & maintenance 11.9% Locked
- Transportation 5.8% Locked
- Food service 3.9% Locked
- School administration 6.2% Locked
- District administration 1.4% Locked
- Other support 5.2% Locked
- Other current 3.9% Locked
What is actually different
Share of each district's operating dollar, Fort Thomas Independent minus New Palestine Community Schools. Two pie charts side by side are almost impossible to read against each other; this is the same data as one chart.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Cents of each operating dollar reaching classrooms Instruction plus instructional staff support, as a share of current spending. | 64.8% | 57.0% |
| Administration share District office plus school administration. | 8.3% | 7.6% |
| Transportation share | 0.6% | 5.8% |
What the money buys
Staffing levels are the most direct thing a budget converts into.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher This is a staffing ratio: total enrollment divided by teaching staff. It is NOT average class size. Actual classes are larger than this number in every district. | 16.4 | 17.2 |
| Students per counselor | Locked | Locked |
| Students per administrator | Locked | Locked |
| Total salaries All staff, not teachers alone. | Locked | Locked |
Who they serve
The answer to "but they serve different kids" — which is usually a fair objection.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Child poverty rate Children aged 5 to 17 in poverty within the district boundary. Used instead of free-lunch eligibility, which community eligibility has made unusable for comparison. | 4.0% | 3.7% |
| English learners | — | — |
| Students with disabilities | — | — |
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -0.2% | +4.2% |
Results, and results for the money
Stability and risk
The homebuyer’s real question: what is likely to change after I move in?
Fort Thomas Independent
- High debt burden More than 10% of total spending goes to interest and debt retirement, money that cannot reach a classroom.
New Palestine Community Schools
- High debt burden More than 10% of total spending goes to interest and debt retirement, money that cannot reach a classroom.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment change, 5 years | -0.2% | +4.2% |
| Long-term debt per student | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service share of spending | Locked | Locked |
Enrolling a child
The same checklist for both districts. Every "required" below links to the sentence it came from.
Fort Thomas Independent
We have not been able to find an enrollment page for this district, so every row in its column below says so rather than guessing at it. Ask the district's registration office directly.
New Palestine Community Schools
Registration/Enrollment - New Palestine Community Schools
Registration runs through PowerSchool. Read August 23, 2026.
Is a seat at your zoned school guaranteed?
Fort Thomas Independent
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
New Palestine Community Schools
We have no such statement from this district — which is not the same as a promise that your zoned school has room. Most districts never publish the policy in either direction. Ask the school office directly whether your address’s school is enrolling at your child’s grade level before you sign anything.
- This is the district’s own published wording, not our summary of it. Policies are rewritten between enrollment seasons and a page can be out of date the day after we read it — the school office is the only authority on whether a particular grade at a particular school is full right now.
- A warning here is about capacity, not about your address. It does not mean your child will be moved; it means the district has told you in writing that it may move them.
- Required the page says so, and the sentence is quoted.
- Mentioned only it comes up, but not as a requirement — often a sentence saying the district cannot demand it.
- Not mentioned we read the page and it was not on it. That is not the same as "not required".
- Page not read we have no enrollment page for this district.
Documents to bring
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of residency | Page not read | Required “Intent to Re-Enroll Forms must be submitted no later than May 4, 2026 and Proof of Residence must be on file with the school or uploaded to PowerSchool to guar…” |
| Proof of age (usually a birth certificate) | Page not read | Required “Birth Certificate” |
| Immunisation records | Page not read | Required “Immunization Records” |
| Physical examination | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Dental, vision or hearing screening | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Tuberculosis test | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Records from the previous school | Page not read | Required “Most Recent Grades/Unofficial Transcript (Students entering grades 1-12)” |
| IEP or 504 plan | Page not read | Mentioned only “IEP or 504 plan (if applicable)” |
| Custody or guardianship paperwork | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Parent or guardian photo ID | Page not read | Required “Driver's License or State Issued Photo ID Card with current address” |
| Home language survey | Page not read | Required “Home Language Survey (Students entering grades 1-12)” |
| Emergency contact information | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Proof of income | Page not read | Not mentioned |
| Social security number Asked for by some districts. It is not required to enrol, and a school may not refuse a child who does not provide one. We list it because districts ask, not because you must answer. | Page not read | Not mentioned |
How enrolling works
Locked 11 steps of the enrollment process — deadlines, appointments, proof of residency — are not shown. What to bring is above, and stays free.
- A blank row means the requirement did not appear on the district’s page. It does not mean the district will not ask for it — published lists are routinely incomplete, and the registrar has the final word.
- Requirements change every enrollment season. Check the district’s own page, linked above, before you gather anything.
- A district cannot condition enrollment on your child’s immigration status: under Plyler v. Doe (1982) every child resident in the district is entitled to a free public education. If a district asks for something that would reveal status, you are not obliged to provide it.
- If your family is in temporary or shared housing, the McKinney-Vento Act lets a child enrol immediately without the residency and records documents listed here. Ask for the district’s homeless liaison by name.
Comparability notes
- Cross-state comparison. Dollars below are shown both as reported and adjusted to a common price level, because a dollar buys different amounts of teacher in KY and IN.
What these numbers are, exactly
Who decides, and what it costs you
Every band above this one asks what a district spends. This one asks who chose to.
Fort Thomas Independent
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
New Palestine Community Schools
The district levies its own school tax
This district raises property tax in its own name. Who sets the rate varies by state — an elected board in some, a public vote in others — but the levy is the school system’s own, and it is the part of a tax bill that school politics moves most directly.
| Fort Thomas Independent | New Palestine Community Schools | |
|---|---|---|
| School property tax levied, per student Only for districts that levy in their own name. Blank where the county or town levies instead — see the cards above, and read the next row. | $5,860 | $3,363 |
| Appropriated by the county or town, per student What the parent government handed the schools, for dependent systems. This is a general appropriation, not solely property tax. | — | — |
| Property tax as a share of all revenue How much of the budget rides on local property values, and therefore on local votes. | 34.6% | 23.5% |
| Long-term debt already owed, per student The balance at the end of the year, for scale. Repaid over decades, so it is a commitment made by earlier boards rather than a bill arriving now. | Locked | Locked |
| Debt service as a share of spending Interest plus principal repaid this year, against total spending. This is the part of the debt that is being paid now, out of money that would otherwise reach a classroom. | Locked | Locked |
| New long-term debt issued, per student Money borrowed during fiscal year 2024. What this figure does and does not tell you is set out under the table. | $0 | $408 |
- Fort Thomas Independent: issued no new long-term debt in fiscal year 2024. That is a reported zero, not a gap in the data.
- A figure in the borrowing row is not a bond voters approved. It records debt issued, and that includes refinancing existing debt at a new rate — which changes nothing about what a district owes — as well as certificates of participation and lease-revenue debt, which in many states a board can issue with no referendum at all. To find out what was actually on a ballot, check the county election office.
- Debt is repaid over decades. A large balance per student is a commitment made by earlier boards and earlier voters, not a bill arriving this year. The debt service row above it is the part being paid now.
Who sits on the board
New Palestine Community Schools board of education
- Mrs. Laura Haeberle — Board Member
- Mr. Jon Hooker — Vice President
- Mr. Brian McKinney — Secretary
- Mr. Dan Walker — President
- Mrs. Amanda Wooton — Board Member
- Mrs. Amanda Wooton DVM — District 1
- The public may speak: “Public Participation at Board Meetings”
Read from the district’s own board page on 2026-08-24. Boards change; the district’s page is the current record, not ours.
These seats are elected, and what this board decides — the budget, the attendance boundaries, the calendar — is decided at a meeting the public may attend. The district’s own board page, linked above, is where it publishes the schedule and the agenda. We do not hold meeting dates or contact details for these people.
Funding measures on the ballot
Fort Thomas Independent
We have not read KY’s election results, so this column is empty because of us and not because of Fort Thomas Independent. Whether it has asked its voters for money is a question its county election office can answer and we cannot, yet.
Nobody has read KY’s school election results yet — that is a gap on our side, not a fact about this district. Its county elections office holds what it asked its voters for and what they answered, and that is a public record you can request. What it says is worth asking about at a board meeting.
New Palestine Community Schools
| Election | Measure | Amount | Yes | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11-02 | Operating levy operating |
— | — | Failed |
From the state’s own election file. Latest election on record: 2025-11-04.
What this state publishes: School referenda certified by the Department of Local Government Finance, November 2009 to date, from the department's four historic listings. The index states its own empty election periods, so a year with no measure is a year no Indiana school district asked. Indiana publishes the certified outcome and never the vote: no row here carries a yes-share, because the DLGF reviews ballot language and certifies levies and never sees a canvass. The ballot question and the dollar figure come from the determination filed with each referendum, and every determination before 2020 is a scan with no text layer, so most rows before then carry a district, a date, a type and an outcome and no amount.
- A vote share is not an outcome. What it takes to carry varies by state and by measure — in some states a bond needs a supermajority and a minimum turnout while a levy on the same ballot needs half, so a clear majority can still lose. Every outcome shown here is copied from the state’s own election file, and the rule that applied is stated with the coverage above. Where that file stated no outcome we show whatever count it published and no verdict, rather than working one out from the percentage — and some states publish the ballot question without ever recording a count, so a blank there is a number nobody printed.
- These are the measures a district put to its voters, not its whole tax bill. A property tax bill also carries county, city and state levies that have nothing to do with schools, and in most states a school board can issue some kinds of debt with no vote at all.
The detailed figures for Fort Thomas Independent and New Palestine Community Schools
The verdict, the headline dollar, the funding shares, who is served and every comparability caveat are free above, and stay free. What is behind the lock is the detail you would want before acting on any of it:
- capital spending per student
- total revenue and total current spending, and the funding mix in dollars (the percentage shares stay free)
- the ten-line per-student breakdown of where the money goes
- counselor and administrator ratios, and the total salary bill
- the debt behind the risk flags — per student, and as a share of spending
- the enrollment process — deadlines, appointments and proof of residency
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Compare something else
Fort Thomas Independent on its own · New Palestine Community Schools on its own