Chalkbeat

Zombies help an Indiana teacher bring civic lessons back to life

2026-10-08T20:15:28+00:00

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Jared Kempton sized up the plastic buckets outside his classroom like a teacher grading a quiz.

His sixth graders had only gathered enough kindling to fill each bucket halfway — not nearly sufficient to build the fires that would keep the zombies away. And they were running out of time.

The firewood was for a class known as Tinker, an invention of Kempton’s. The location: across the street from Crothersville’s school building in a former church, where the large rooms and old furniture are well-suited to serve as a compound for survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

The topic — zombies — was chosen by the students themselves.

Tinker functions as a semester-long project in which students choose a theme and Kempton adapts lessons to it, like an exercise in improv. This semester, Kempton used the transmission of a zombie virus to teach them about microbiology, and the construction of zombie-proof armor to teach engineering.

That morning, students were due to begin discussing how to rebuild a zombie-stricken society, using the foundational documents of the United States as a template for how to weigh questions of safety against guarantees of liberty. The lesson was inspired in part by CREATE 250, a Ball State University initiative incorporating the nation’s 250th anniversary, that helps teachers build the confidence to bring civics and civil discourse into their classrooms.

The students were also supposed to build fires — the kind of off-beat, hands-on experience that defines Tinker.

As 25 students shuffled into the church, they immediately wanted to know: When were they getting to the fires?

Kempton offered them a deal: If they worked hard on rebuilding society during class, they could spend the last few minutes scavenging more wood for their fires.

Kempton originally started a cross-curricular program covering subjects like business, social studies, and math as a teacher at Madison High School. When he moved to Crothersville, he brought Tinker with him, to fight back against what he saw as a slow decline in interest in learning in middle school.

Tinker doesn’t replace required classes in science or civics, but it reinforces the concepts students are covering across the street through projects that revive a love for learning.

“By late elementary and junior high, even the smart kids quit caring,” Kempton said. “If a class isn’t dual credit or AP, they won’t take it. The places you see a kid care are shop, art, and music.”

Students debate rights and safety as zombies swarm

The sixth graders broke into groups to resume reading a story Kempton had created with AI to serve as a starting point for students’ discussions.

A debate quickly broke out among the students as the story delved into the plight of the survivors, whose leader had confiscated their food and weapons and instituted searches of their homes, while throwing dissenters in prison. They sat up to argue their positions, while Kempton sat back and let them discuss.

“It’s a little privacy-invading, but we’re trying to survive,” said one student.

But another disagreed: “If they’re confiscating weapons, how are we going to survive?”

Eventually, Kempton asked students to consider the Bill of Rights that had been delineated in the story, and pick which amendments they would most want to keep in their post-apocalyptic society.

The Second Amendment’s right to bear arms was popular, for zombie-fighting reasons. But not all students initially chose the First Amendment. So Kempton asked them to consider what it means to speak their minds without the possibility of prison — both in the zombie-apocalypse scenario, and in real life.

“Can you say mean things about Donald Trump?” he asked. The students thought about this before one of them brought up a sign outside of town that featured a negative sentiment about the president.

“And were they arrested for that?” Kempton said of the people who put up the sign. “No.”

Indiana teachers have warned about recent efforts in the state to restrict what teachers say about history and politics.

But Kempton said it doesn’t serve students to skip the current events they see and hear about every day, and that educators “have a commitment to teaching the Constitution and our rights.”

“As civics teachers, we can’t just avoid this stuff,” he said. “We need them to have civil discourse and if you bypass it, you’re not going to get that.”

Kempton said his experience with CREATE 250 has given him the confidence to broach these discussions. The initiative seeks not only to help teachers incorporate more civics lessons into their curriculum, but also to help them navigate the potentially challenging conversations that might come of it.

In monthly professional development sessions, teachers who are part of the CREATE 250 initiative share how they mediate classroom discussions, and communicate with parents and administrators to preempt any concerns, said David Roof, director of Ball State’s Center for Economic and Civic Learning, which oversees CREATE 250.

“So many students think of civics only as … voting and jury duty. I think it’s helpful for them to gain a wider domain of what civic engagement means — listening to others, talking with others, that’s part of the process,” Roof said.

Kempton said he hopes to one day make Tinker an all-day experience for students they could take to meet the requirements of their core classes, like civics.

The school purchased the church building three years ago for Tinker. What’s needed now are more teachers, he said.

Two Crothersville seniors who are on the school’s teaching pathway assist with Tinker classes. One of them, senior Bella Riley, said teaching a Tinker class is not like teaching in any other class.

“I have students tell me they wait all day for this class,” she said. “It’s so much more freedom and fun.”

She hopes to incorporate Tinker’s project learning style into her future classroom.

Riley’s group of students in Kempton’s class eventually chose the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, as one of their highest priorities.

Jared Kempton tells his sixth grade students the plan for the day: civics first, then gathering firewood.

Satisfied with their discussion, Kempton gave the students a few minutes at the end of class to conduct their own searches — for more firewood. It paid off. They collected enough to light fires the next day.

After that, the sixth graders left the building, and silence filled the old church nave for the first time in more than an hour.

It wouldn’t last. The next period was a Tinker class for seventh graders, who were using the Pythagorean theorem to make solar ovens.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS seeks power to charge Innovation Network schools more money amid budget crunch

2026-10-05T20:48:30+00:00

Indianapolis Public Schools will seek changes that allow it to charge Innovation Network charter schools more for services like transportation, food service, and facilities support, as the district confronts a budget crunch.

As part of this process, the district expects its Board of Commissioners will vote to provide notices of termination of existing contracts with these Innovation schools, which receive some services from IPS but operate independently when it comes to instruction and staffing.

However, IPS will not end or interrupt contracts with Innovation schools this school year, and it has not sent any notices of termination, the district said in a Friday statement to Chalkbeat. IPS said sending those notices would be “a necessary legal step to explore more fiscally responsible arrangements.”

The district said it wants to continue the Innovation partnerships, but at the actual cost of the services it provides. Currently, Indiana law caps what it can charge. The district said that it will seek changes to that law during the next legislative session, which starts in January.

The statement from IPS is another sign that the district is trying to exert more control over its future in the wake of political upheaval. Last month, IPS officials decided to leave a universal enrollment platform that has served district and charter schools, a move that the school board declined to reverse. The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a new oversight body with members appointed by the mayor that began meeting over the summer, has assumed control over certain aspects of how public schools are run in the city and diluted IPS’ power.

IPS has signaled for some time that it would reevaluate its contracts with Innovation schools Last month, the district told its teachers union that it would reconsider Innovation Network agreements before resorting to district-wide educator layoffs to trim $20 million from its budget.

The district noted in its Friday statement that under a new state law known as SEA 1, IPS is getting less property tax revenue, and that the district must also share that money with charter schools within its borders.

“Put simply, the pie is getting smaller and is being cut into many more pieces,” IPS said.

It’s not clear which Innovation Network schools would be affected by any such changes to contracts, or when the school board could vote on sending notices of those contract terminations. There are a total of 30 Innovation schools.

IPS said it has been meeting with Innovation Network partners about the new fiscal landscape, but did not specify which schools it has met with.

Some Innovation schools are charter schools, but not all. Each has an agreement with the district that specifies an end date and outlines what services the district provides.

At Monarca Academy, which is co-located at Northwest Middle School, IPS provides custodial and food services, as well as transportation, and will continue to do so as the school expands to include high school grades, according to a June district presentation about the agreement.

But at Global Prep’s new building, the school will manage its own facility, IT, custodial, and food services, while IPS will coordinate transportation at a cost to the school.

A list of IPS Innovation Network schools can be found here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

The Lilly Endowment is pouring millions into Indy school buildings. What does that mean for students?

2026-10-02T21:09:45+00:00

When Herron High School students put on a performance, there’s a challenge: The school doesn’t have a theater.

Instead, students create one inside the technical theater classroom, by moving stacks of costumes and props to other parts of the school, behind partition walls used to create separate classrooms.

The school has long improvised space in its historic building, a former art museum. But school leaders say they worry about how this shortchanges students.

“We have always been short on space,” said Janet McNeal, the president of Herron Schools, a charter network that includes Herron High and two other schools.

But construction is set to begin on a new theater adjacent to Herron’s main buildings. The project is funded by what school leaders describe as a once-in-a-generation $25 million donation from the Lilly Endowment.

The theater is one of several projects being funded in 19 school districts and charter schools by final phase of the endowment’s Marion County K-12 Public Schools Initiative representing $348 million in spending.

It is a historic infusion of money from a single donor to build and renovate public school buildings in Indianapolis — an undertaking that would normally require state or taxpayer approval, and would likely be out of reach. It’s provided tangible and significant benefits to schools that often struggle to fund such projects, while raising questions about oversight and the responsibility to fund schools.

The Lilly Endowment has become a key player in education funding in Indiana, putting up the bulk of the funding for the state’s shift to the science of reading in 2022. Overall, the endowment gave $1.2 billion to K-12, higher education, and youth initiatives in the state in 2025, up from $456 million the year before.

On the one hand, the endowment’s approach allows schools to fund buildings without leaning on taxpayers, especially during an election season in which schools already are seeking tax increases for basic operations, Christopher Lubienski, a professor of education policy at Indiana University and Director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy.

The risk, he said, is that donors “start funding things that lawmakers should — they supplant that public funding. Is that a good thing? It saves taxpayers money, but they also lose democratic control.”

In response to questions from Chalkbeat, the Endowment says it intends for its “funding to be complementary to the support that schools receive from other sources, including public funding.”

(The Lilly Endowment is a Chalkbeat funder. Learn more about our funding here.)

Unclear if Lilly Endowment will fund IPS projects

Indiana has turned to donors to support education programs before. After cutting state funding for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in 2025, Gov. Mike Braun announced the program would be donor-funded. The fundraising campaign reached 90% of its goal earlier this year, but Braun’s office has not disclosed how much it has raised.

One notable absence from the list of districts receiving the initiative’s funding, at least so far, is Indianapolis Public Schools.

Late last year, the endowment said it was delaying a decision about paying for IPS projects until after an Indianapolis-based task force released its recommendations about changing control over local public schools, including their buildings. Those recommendations led to the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which has the power to take control of some school buildings, including those funded by private donors, although the process behind that is still in the works.

Indianapolis Public Schools must share its facilities under the facilities plan IPEC will eventually create.

It’s unclear if IPS said in its application for endowment funding that it would use the money for buildings. But the changes in governance create ongoing uncertainty about whether the Lilly Endowment would be willing to fund buildings for IPS that are subject to IPEC’s rules and could be shared with other entities.

The endowment said last month it still has not made a final decision about IPS projects. (Private schools in Marion County are also receiving endowment funding through a separate initiative.)

Charter schools are not required to participate in IPEC’s facilities sharing plan, and Herron likely won’t. McNeal, who also sits on the IPEC board, said the school is not counting on IPEC to provide a building for its growing enrollment.

As part of this latest grant, Herron will need to match about 20% of the project’s costs costs of the project — or around $5 million — through fundraising.

With 961 students, Herron High School in 2026 enrolled more than twice as many students as it projected when it first opened in the basement of the Harrison Center in 2006. That’s led to a squeeze on space beyond theater productions.

The school uses every classroom every class period, said Katie Dorsey, senior vice president for academic affairs. A handful of Advanced Placement classes have spilled over to the administrative building across the street. Students also take a four-minute walk to the Harrison Center for gym and dance classes.

Even after the expansion, the school will not have a gym. But it will have a larger kitchen, new science labs built to be labs rather than art galleries, and the new theater, which will double as a gathering space — something the school has long needed, McNeal said.

“We weren’t able to be a community in the way that we wanted to be, and this is going to allow that,” McNeal said.

School districts use funding for career-focused facilities

The Metropolitan School District of Perry Township received the largest grant from the Lily Endowment’s public schools initiative: $40 million. The bulk of that funding, $30 million, will pay for a new building earmarked for the district’s entrepreneurship pathway that will teach broadly applicable business skills.

Construction began on the building last month on the University of Indianapolis campus. When it opens in the 2028-29 school year, it will be the first high school career center located on a college campus in Indiana.

Dr. Patrick Spray, superintendent of Perry Township schools, speaks at a groundbreaking for the district's innovation pathway building on the University of Indianapolis campus on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026.

“The secret sauce to this is that when we focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, it crosses so many different industries and careers,” Perry schools Superintendent Patrick Spray said. “Kids will have a lot of different opportunities to pursue their passions.”

A dedicated building for the pathway would not have been possible without the grant, Spray said.

Similarly, the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township is using its $30 million Lilly Endowment grant to expand its middle school career education offerings from one career preparedness class to new career classrooms on every middle school campus.

Although the funding doesn’t come from a tax measure approved by voters, the centers address feedback from the community that the district should give students more opportunities to explore careers and graduate with credentials and certificates, said Ryan Russell, associate superintendent of academics, assessment, and achievement.

The grant is unique in the district’s history, Russell said.

Through the grant, Warren will renovate old career technical education spaces — clearing out drill presses and bandsaws that have sat inactive for years — into new more-flexible career classrooms called Journey of a Graduate Centers, Russell said.

“Career paths will change, and middle schoolers will work in fields that haven’t been created yet,” he said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana releases ILEARN results for individual schools as state preps new accountability system

2026-09-25T17:11:25+00:00

Indianapolis-area charter school students performed slightly better on the ILEARN in 2026 than students at schools directly run by Indianapolis Public Schools, according to data released by the state Friday showing school-level state testing results.

Around 15.3% of students attending Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools within IPS boundaries were proficient in English language arts and math, according to a data analysis from Chalkbeat.

Charter schools within IPS borders posted a higher proficiency rate than district-run schools, with 16.7% of charter students scoring proficient in both English language arts and math, compared with 13.8% of students in district-run schools.

While around 42% of Indiana students were proficient in English language arts and 43% were proficient in math in 2026, scores varied widely at individual schools and between different student demographics. Statewide in 2026, around 31.5% of students were proficient in both English language arts and math.

The significance of ILEARN scores is changing, because they will be a primary factor in the letter grades that schools are set to receive in December of this year under the state’s new accountability system. For elementary and middle schools, both ILEARN proficiency and student growth on the test factor into the number of points each student earns, which is then averaged to calculate a school’s total.

This year, all students took a new, shorter version of the ILEARN, along with checkpoint tests throughout the year. The checkpoints are meant to give teachers and parents data on student progress, but only the results of the final test are reported publicly.

State education officials cautioned against making comparisons to past years’ ILEARN scores given changes to the test.

Just 29% of students who received subsidized meals — a federal measure of poverty — scored proficient in English, compared with 53% of those students who didn’t.

Math performance declined in upper grades. While just over half of Indiana third and fourth graders were proficient on the math section of the ILEARN, only around 34% of eighth graders passed the math section.

Around 41% of third graders were proficient in English language arts, which remained consistent through middle school before rising slightly to 44% for eighth grade.

Below, see how your school performed on the 2026 ILEARN:

This story has been updated to include scores from Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools within IPS boundaries.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS board declines to reverse superintendent’s decision to leave Enroll Indy website

2026-09-25T03:13:09+00:00

Board members for Indianapolis Public Schools declined to vote on whether to maintain the district’s association with the Enroll Indy platform Thursday, despite previously planning to do so.

The move preserves Superintendent Aleesia Johnson’s controversial decision in early September to withdraw the district in favor of an in-house registration system run by PowerSchool. IPS said the move will cut costs and help families. But critics, including several in the charter school community, said it would create confusion in the public school community.

Enroll Indy enables families to enroll in most IPS schools and charter schools in the area on one platform. The board’s decision not to overturn Johnson’s decision means families will no longer be able to review and enroll in those schools in one place.

On Sept. 11, Johnson announced the district would move its application, lottery, and registration to PowerSchool, which she said IPS families are already familiar with. According to IPS documents, the district paid up to $21,730 a month to Enroll Indy from September 2022 to June 2023.

IPS spokesman Marc Ransford said the change would save more than $300,000 in the first year.

The district’s contract with Enroll Indy ended in June, Ransford said, and the change will take effect for the 2027-28 application cycle, which begins Nov. 5.

Just a few days after the announcement, Enroll Indy said it would drop the fee charged to charter school authorizers and IPS for one year. Despite this, IPS pressed forward with the change.

On Tuesday, however, board commissioners passed a motion to vote on the Enroll Indy decision during their Thursday meeting. Some cited a desire to discuss a potential departure with the community before making a final decision.

Johnson said she was surprised by board members’ decision to hold a vote. And board Vice President Nicole Carey noted that the switch to PowerSchool was part of Johnson’s plan to follow the board’s directive to increase enrollment.

But on Thursday, Carey said that after consulting with IPS’ general counsel, the board determined that any attempt to vote on the matter violated its bylaws. The bylaws dictate that while the board decides general policies, the superintendent is responsible for implementing the board policies, she said.

“The board decides the what. The superintendent decides the how,” Carey said.

Parents on both sides of the debate spoke at the meeting.

Several parents said leaving Enroll Indy would especially harm immigrant families, for whom technology can pose just as much of a barrier as language.

Others said Enroll Indy makes it easier for families to compare schools.

“For me, Enroll Indy was not just where I applied; it was how I discovered what was available,” said Sunshine Quinn. “Because parents are just trying to answer one question: Where can my child grow and succeed?”

Other families applauded Johnson’s decision.

Megan Hise, a member of the IPS Parent Council, argued that Enroll Indy isn’t truly accessible. She cited a family who tried to register their child at Arsenal Tech High School using Enroll Indy, only to be told there were no spots available. However, when the family called the school, they were told there were many spots still open.

The debate about the site comes amid significant tensions between district and charter schools. This year saw the controversial creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which now manages transportation, facilities, and more for charter and IPS schools. IPEC also reduced the power of school boards, although they retain control over day-to-day decisions.

At this Indianapolis middle school, student mediators help drive down suspensions

2026-09-22T17:00:03+00:00

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Sixth grader Jocelyn Montiel had her phone stolen. She said her friend, Esteban Gonzalez, was to blame.

Gathered around a table in educator Grover Edwards’ classroom, the two students discussed the situation with two of their peers who were serving as mediators.

Jocelyn shared her sense of betrayal when she turned around to find her phone gone. Esteban described the injustice of being falsely accused.

The two mediators restated the issue and asked Esteban directly if he stole the phone.

They redirected the students when they started raising their voices and helped each reflect on what they could have done differently.

The fight over the phone was only a simulation — in fact, Jocelyn and Esteban serve as mediators too. The conflict resolution methods the students were practicing are part of a decade-old peer mediation program at H.L. Harshman Middle School, which enrolls about 500 students on the near eastside of Indianapolis. Through the program, students learn how to help their classmates settle disputes before they escalate, leading to a better school climate. School leaders say it has contributed to fewer fights and suspensions, even as statewide out-of-school suspension rates hover above pre-pandemic levels.

Student mediators say friends and classmates seek out mediation as an alternative to fighting. In mediation, students put their feelings into words in a supportive environment.

“Talking to an adult, you may be getting in trouble,” said Isabell Gonzales, an eighth grader who has been part of the program since sixth grade. “When you’re talking to your peers there’s less pressure.”

What issues does middle school peer mediation tackle?

The program is supported by a $1.2 million grant from Indiana University Health that places Peace Learning Center trainers in IPS and Lawrence Township classrooms to teach mediators how to resolve middle school conflicts. Similar approaches have been used in New York City schools and elsewhere.

Harshman leaders contacted the Peace Learning Center about starting a peer mediation program in 2016, but the program took off after the IU Health donation and when the school hired Edwards, said Tim Nation, executive director of the Peace Learning Center. Edwards has been leading the program for six years.

Peer mediation is meant to address conflicts before they turn into physical confrontations that require adult intervention. Students most commonly seek mediation for fights between friends or conflicts over relationships, the mediators said. Those kinds of conflicts can be trickier to resolve than determining who took a phone, they added.

“When it comes to relationships, it’s harder for people to take accountability for what they did or said,” said seventh grader Camille Hynes.

One of the hardest parts of learning how to mediate is helping their peers find the words to express how they feel, said Jocelyn, whose older sister also served as a peer mediator.

“Sometimes people will agree with what we’re saying just to get it over with,” Camille said.

Still, it can be easier to express feelings to a peer than a teacher or administrator, Jocelyn said.

More than 100 students applied to be mediators this year, but only about 25 to 30 were selected after an interview process, said Edwards. They train for three weeks after school before stepping in to mediate conflicts.

“They want to be a part of something, building something stronger,” he said.

Harshman students can seek mediation by filling out a form in Edwards’ classroom, where posters about peace line the walls and cloth drapes dim the fluorescent lighting.

Edwards said he has seen a significant drop in the number of fights breaking out in Harshman hallways, as well as subsequent suspensions.

Discipline data from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation shows that Harshman’s out-of-school suspension rate began declining in 2016 before spiking shortly after the pandemic.

Since 2023, the share of students with out-of-school suspensions has declined from a peak of 26% to 8% in 2024-25.

Across IPS, the out-of-school suspension rate has remained around 10% since 2022, lower than before the pandemic. About 6.5% of students statewide had an out-of-school suspension last year, slightly higher than before the pandemic.

Over the last school year, peer mediators handled about 25 peer conflicts, Edwards said.

Edwards also facilitated conferences with students focused on restorative practices, which are alternatives to traditional discipline focused on repairing harm.

Students and teachers must trust the process

When a conflict is resolved, both parties sign an agreement not to discuss their argument further outside the room. That helps build trust in the mediation process and mitigates feelings of embarrassment, the mediators said.

“Talking about it after can become a further issue,” Camille said. “The situation may be small but that can make it bigger.”

The program also requires buy-in from adults at the school, Principal Amy Moore said. Administrators have to trust that the peer mediators can resolve a conflict using the skills they’ve learned.

The principles of peer mediation have had an effect beyond Edwards’ classroom, she said.

Moore said she sees students in the hallways using conflict resolution language with each other. They say in jest: “That’s not the Harshman way,” she said.

“They’ve internalized it,” Moore said. “It’s become woven into the fabric of the school.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis teachers union will support proposed tax increase after talks with IPS about layoffs

2026-09-21T21:30:41+00:00

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The Indianapolis teachers union will support a property tax referendum to fund the city’s district and charter schools, after initially voting to oppose it earlier this month.

In a statement on Friday, the Indianapolis Education Association said its members had voted overwhelmingly to support the referendum, which is expected to generate around $95 million in annual revenue split between Indianapolis Public Schools and around 60 charter schools that have opted to participate.

Key to this decision were discussions about the extent to which the district’s future budget cuts will lead to layoffs. IPS expects to make about $20 million in cuts even if the referendum passes — a sticking point that led to the union’s earlier opposition to the referendum.

IPS leaders said the district’s “current reduction plan does not include a district-wide reduction in force for educators,” the union said in its statement.

“Our responsibility was to ensure that educators would not be the first solution to the district’s financial challenges,” said Ronald Swann, IEA’s president, in the statement. “The conversations with Superintendent Johnson and IPS leadership demonstrated that our concerns were heard and that protecting educators, classrooms and students must remain central to the district’s financial decisions.”

IPS confirmed to Chalkbeat that it’s not planning on district-wide layoffs as part of the $20 million in spending cuts.

“While the district aims to avoid RIFs regardless of the outcome, individual schools may still face selective staffing adjustments to manage enrollment declines,” IPS said in a Monday statement. “Those decisions will ultimately depend on specific student needs, localized enrollment, available funding, and existing commitments.”

If the referendum doesn’t pass in November, the district expects to make more-drastic cuts of about $40 million.

The district has already taken steps to trim its budget, including $17 million in central office cuts in May that eliminated 28 positions, and $7 million in school-level budget cuts in March that cut 36 teachers and 23 classified staff.

Earlier this month, the district also left the Enroll Indy universal enrollment platform in part to cut costs.

The union’s statement said district leaders agreed on other approaches to manage costs rather than eliminate teaching positions, including advocating for increased special education funding from the state and evaluating school mergers and consolidations.

The union and district leaders also discussed evaluating the district’s current agreements with its Innovation Network schools, where IPS provides services like transportation but the schools have control over instruction and staffing.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Students at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired make coding more accessible

2026-09-21T11:00:00+00:00

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Arabella Zink softly touches the keys of her laptop, leaning forward to listen to the voice coming from the computer speakers.

The seventh grader is building code, dragging and dropping elements on a screen to turn the educational technology known as micro:bit into a die. The small piece of educational technology, which connects to the computer in the shape of a chip, encourages students to learn to block code — a highly visual activity.

Arabella, however, does it without vision.

She’s one of seven students at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired who helped develop a new accessibility feature for the micro:bit, expanding coding to blind and visually impaired students.

The accessibility initiative began last year, after the Micro:bit Educational Foundation reached out to the school’s media specialist, Shawn Humphrey. The foundation was seeking blind students who could read Braille to give input on screen reader compatibility and the accuracy of Braille instructions for visually impaired students, Humphrey said.

Arabella and her peers got to work, editing Braille materials and testing whether the screen reader could read what the computer was showing in a way they could understand within the Microsoft MakeCode program.

The project — developed with the foundation and the educational open source coding tools Microsoft MakeCode and Blockly — makes the micro:bit compatible with computer screen readers that tell students what is on their screen.

The micro:bit tool is used in 85 countries to bring coding to the classroom, with lessons that include how to program the tool to play games like rock, paper, scissors, or clap to turn on its lights. And now, with input from ISBVI students, coding is accessible not only to visually impaired students who use the Microsoft MakeCode platform, but all other coding programs built on Blockly’s software.

On a recent September afternoon, Arabella was learning how to make the micro:bit tool into a die that would light up with a number ranging from one to six when shaken. Students could identify which number it landed on by the number of beeps the micro:bit emitted after a shake.

Humphrey recalls seeing Arabella light up when she was told that she was one of the first students in the world to try a particular coding lesson using the accessible version of micro:bit.

“It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard in education, having our students have that opportunity,” he said. “It has opened up coding for visually impaired students.”

Maddilyn Peters, a seventh grader with a penchant for horror stories who also helped develop the accessibility feature, has an interest in coding in order to make robots. Specifically, she said, she’d like to make animatronics like the ones in the horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” come to life.

“But not hostile,” she clarified. “I’m just going to make them not attack people.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana school voucher use has flipped from low-income families to more high-income families using them

2026-09-17T17:17:55+00:00

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Enrollment in Indiana’s Choice Scholarship school voucher program slowed in overall growth for the second year in a row last school year, new data from the state shows, but the number of higher income families using the program increased.

For the first time, more vouchers went to families making more than $100,000 than less than $100,000 this year.

This change has drawn criticism from public education advocates who say vouchers benefit families who can already afford tuition. But some choice advocates say the criticism doesn’t take large families into account. Around 72% of Indiana families participating in the Choice Scholarship program have a household size of 4-6, according to the report.

The program saw a slight uptick in the number of students who previously attended a public school before receiving a voucher, or around 2,000 students. But the majority of students in the program have never attended a public school, as in past years.

Around 4,000 additional students received a voucher in 2025-26 than in 2024-25, bringing total enrollment to approximately 80,000. In 2024-2025, the program added about 6,000 students, and in 2023-24, the program saw a sharp increase of nearly 17,000 students after 2023 legislative changes made vouchers available to nearly all Indiana families.

The 2025 legislative session approved vouchers for all Indiana families regardless of income, but those changes didn’t take effect until July 2026. Any affect on enrollment won’t be evident until the next school year.

To qualify for a 2025-26 voucher, a family had to have an annual household income limit less than 400% of the amount used to qualify for subsidized school meals. That was around $238,000 for a family of four.

Approximately 7,000 students from families making more than $200,000 received a voucher in 2025-26, compared to around 5,400 in 2024-25 and 3,700 in 2023-24. More vouchers were also awarded to families in the $100,000-$150,000 and $150,000-$200,000 income brackets than in past years.

The number of vouchers given to students from families making less than $50,000 dropped from 16,000 in 2024-25 to around 12,000 in 2025-26.

The state awarded $548 million for Choice Scholarships in 2025-26, according to the report, up from $497 million in 2024-225. The 2024-25 amounts were adjusted slightly because some students transferred out of their choice schools before the end of the year. The actual payments were around $491 million, according to this year’s report.

Most students in the program do not receive the full tuition and fees charged by their private school, but rather an amount that is 90% of the per-pupil state funding for their assigned public school district. Around 20,000 students received the full tuition and fees, and that number that has steadily declined since 2023-24.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS left Enroll Indy. Then, the enrollment system cut fees, but the district didn’t reverse course.

2026-09-16T22:54:13+00:00

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Enroll Indy dropped its fee to charter school authorizers and Indianapolis Public Schools for one year after the district said last week it was leaving the enrollment website shared by IPS and most charter schools in the city.

But in a statement Wednesday, IPS doubled down on its decision to leave Enroll Indy and move its process internally, starting with enrollment for the 2027-28 school year, which begins Nov. 5.

“While we appreciate that no organization will bear costs for one year, our decision to move enrollment to PowerSchool has always been driven by multiple factors, including cost-savings, operational improvements, and a commitment to providing a better experience for families and staff,” IPS said in its statement.

For roughly a decade, families have used Enroll Indy to enroll in the vast majority of both IPS and charter schools within Center Township. The nonprofit aims to streamline enrollment with a common application, information about each school, and enrollment specialists to help families.

IPS’s decision to leave the enrollment system only applies to schools directly managed by IPS, as well as Innovation Network schools that aren’t charters, and not charter schools in the city. Innovation Network schools are part of the district but independently operated, and many of them are charters.

The change will save the district more than $300,000 in software/service costs to Enroll Indy in the first year, IPS spokesperson Marc Ransford said. The district is facing $20 million in budget cuts, and even more if voters reject a tax measure on the ballot in November.

Enroll Indy charges an annual fee to IPS and charter authorizers based on the number of students served.

“On Monday, the Enroll Indy board voted unanimously to operate (the) unified enrollment system at no cost for the 2027-28 enrollment cycle,” Patrick McAlister, the organization’s interim executive director, said in a statement Wednesday.

Instead, Enroll Indy will use its cash reserves, per the nonprofit.

The Enroll Indy board is made up of representatives from IPS, and two charter school authorizers: the Office of Education Innovation at the City of Indianapolis, and the Indiana Charter School Board. IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and COO William Murphy are board members, per the Enroll Indy website.

The IPS decision comes as a new mayor-appointed board, the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, takes over key responsibilities for IPS and charter schools from school boards — including the elected IPS board — in an effort to share resources more efficiently between schools. The vast majority of IPEC board members have charter school ties.

IPS’s decision to leave Enroll Indy sparked criticism from the nonprofit’s board and charter school leaders on Friday who said the change would create “confusion and instability” and questioned if IPS had the power to make such a move. The state law that created IPEC says the organization has the power to “manage a unified enrollment system applicable to all participating school students.”

In the district’s Wednesday statement, IPS reiterated its Friday reasoning and said its new enrollment system will offer a simplified experience for families, have in-person and multilingual support, and provide personalized support to families in the event of school closures and other changes. It will also be accessible all year.

And in its FAQ online, IPS said, while the law gives IPEC the ability to manage a unified enrollment system, it doesn’t name Enroll Indy so “until IPEC designs, establishes, and formally launches that process, IPS retains full legal authority to manage its own application and enrollment systems.”

Ransford previously said the district’s contract with Enroll Indy ended in June.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

To help Indianapolis School 14 improve, its leaders target what families need

2026-09-16T11:00:00+00:00

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In the front office Washington Irving Neighborhood School 14 — home of the Hornets — a photo mural of dozens of community partners shows the “swarm of support” the school enjoys.

In the hallway, Assistant Principal Melissa Rowe stops a student before he darts into the bathroom so she can bend down to tie his shoelace.

And in art teacher Terren Muhammad’s classroom, students sing along to a song about loving themselves.

Three years ago, leaders at this school on the Near Eastside sought to bring stability to a school experiencing its third change in administration in less than a decade. It’s challenging work in a community where school leaders estimate as many as 1 in 5 students experience housing instability. And for years, School 14 was among the lowest-performing schools in Indianapolis Public Schools. But the Near Eastside Innovation School Corporation tried a different approach.

Starting in the 2023-24 school year, the corporation — a nonprofit tapped by the district to turn around the school, utilized community service providers to assist students and their families outside of school, while emphasizing personalized learning, supporting students’ mental health,showing the kids compassion. It’s a model the corporation, also known as NEISC, first began using at Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School 15.

The nonprofit took over School 15 in 2017 through the district’s Innovation Network of autonomous schools that School 14 also belongs to. The organization was built on a partnership with the nearby John Boner Neighborhood Centers. Today, it also runs School 14 with the same strong community focus.

“The undertone of a lot of the staff that we were able to retain was that they wanted to support the kids in the neighborhood,” said Principal Brandon House. “They were very connected, and what we found here at Washington Irving is that relationships matter.”

The school appears to be making some improvement, particularly when it comes to reading, although its recent scores on the state test in English and math show just how far there is to go for School 14 to reach its goals.

School 14 model emphasizes academics and family needs

In 2018, IPS selected a charter operator, Urban Act Academy, to run School 14 as part of the Innovation Network. After Urban Act departed in 2023 and NEISC took over, the new school leaders embarked on staffing their new building.

House said he was also looking for teachers with grit in addition to a strong commitment to the community.

“We wanted to have teachers that were ready to focus on a certain level of instructional integrity,” he said.

The corporation ended up keeping about half the previous staff. That still left the significant and difficult work of academic improvement in key areas.

In 2023, 64.9% of the school’s third graders passed the state’s IREAD literacy exam, just above the IPS average of 60.6%. But just one student was proficient in both English and math on the state’s ILEARN assessment.

In response, the school created daily 40-minute intervention blocks in which students break into small groups to tackle areas of reading and math they are struggling with.

And in 2024, the school dropped its middle grades as part of the district’s Rebuilding Stronger plan. That allowed leaders to focus solely on helping elementary students.

Beyond academics, as the second NEISC school, School 14 families are eligible for affordable housing units provided through the Housing Stability for School Success program operated by John Boner Neighborhood Centers.

Other changes beyond school walls have taken place in the last few years.

In 2023, John Boner Neighborhood Centers and the Edna Martin Christian Center launched the Indy East Promise Neighborhood, an initiative that uses federal grants and other funding to boost resources for students and families at 11 eastside schools.

The initiative funds attendance incentives, an after-school program, and a food pantry. It also supports two staff members who help connect the school to the broader community and help families navigate assistance for rent, utilities, and similar financial challenges.

This year, roughly 82% of School 14’s third graders passed the IREAD, higher than the district-wide pass rate of nearly 74%. That improvement from 2023 also outpaced the increase in the average score in IPS.

But ILEARN results from 2025, the latest available, showed that just five of the school’s students reached proficiency in English and math. That was technically an improvement from two years before, but was still only about 5% of the school’s population.

As the corporation continues to help students and families beyond the school’s walls, those are the results staff are focused on now, House said, so that “they can go out and continue to live great adult lives.”

Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect that roughly 82% of School 14’s third graders passed the IREAD.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Court order: Lindsey Cornett is back on the ballot for IPS school board

2026-09-12T00:31:20+00:00

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After a court order, Lindsey Cornett is back on the ballot for the Indianapolis Public Schools Board of School Commissioners election but without a political party affiliation.

“I am really excited to get to move forward and head to November,” Cornett said, adding that she’s not worried about no longer having a Democratic affiliation, saying she’ll make her thoughts and ideas clear to voters.

Marion Superior Court Judge John M.T. Chavis II ordered the ballot change on Friday.

Cornett faces Democrat and incumbent Chris Bultman in the race for District 4, representing the southwestern part of the school district. She was running as a write-in candidate after being removed from the ballot. Five of the seven of the IPS school board seats are on the ballot this November.

Voter guide 2026: Meet the 15 candidates vying for 5 seats on the IPS board

Cornett was previously on the ballot, and the Marion County Election Board decided to remove her in August after a successful challenge to her party affiliation. Cornett filed a judicial review shortly after that decision.

The challenge against her alleged that Cornett didn’t meet the requirements to run as a Democrat because she hadn’t voted in two Indiana Democratic primary elections, as she thought she did and indicated on her filing paperwork.

Due to a 2025 law, school board candidates have the option to include a party affiliation on the ballot this election. To do that, candidates can either have voted in two party primaries or seek approval from the county chairman of that political party.

Bultman also faced a challenge to his party affiliation, saying he needed to vote in the two most recent Indiana Democratic primaries in 2026 and 2024 to qualify. Bultman’s most recent primary votes were in 2026 and 2020.

However, the election board decided that Bultman met the requirement to run as a Democrat because he had voted in at least two Democratic primaries, but Cornett had not and should be removed from the ballot.

The board cited guidance from the Indiana Election Division and interpretation from the author of the law on partisan school board candidates and pointed to state law about candidates running for office in its decision.

Cornett, however, argued that the law was unfairly applied and the board should have used a state law that points specifically to school board candidates. She said she and Bultman should both be on the ballot, but neither should be listed as a Democrat, and asked the court to review the election board’s decisions on the challenges against her and Bultman.

In his Friday decision, Chavis wrote that the election board’s reading of state law and decision to remove Cornett was incorrect for a party affiliation challenge. He agreed that the state law around school board elections should have been used and added that the guidance from the state election division is “advisory only” and not binding.

The only time state law says a school board candidate can be removed from the ballot is when the candidate moves outside the district and fails to withdraw, per the court order.

Chavis did not revisit the election board’s decision about Bultman, saying the issue was not properly filed with the court and the deadline had passed.

Chalkbeat Indiana reached out to Bultman for comment, but didn’t immediately hear back.

The court decision comes just as ballots are being printed. The election board said it will now print ballots and mail absentee ballots next week.

The District 4 IPS school board seat is on the ballot following the resignation of board member Allissa Impink. She resigned after winning the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 46. The winner of the IPS District 4 race in November would serve the remainder of Impink’s term until 2028.

Election Day is Nov. 3 and early voting starts Oct. 6. Voters can apply for absentee ballots by mail at vote.indy.gov.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

IPS to stop using Enroll Indy, drawing criticism from charter school leaders

2026-09-11T21:24:55+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools is leaving Enroll Indy, upending the one-stop school enrollment website shared by IPS and most charter schools in the city.

The district is moving its “application, lottery, and registration into PowerSchool — an existing platform our parents already know and use,” IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a Friday statement, in which she also said the move would save money for the district. But other education leaders quickly criticized the move, and some said it might run afoul of state law.

Families use Enroll Indy to enroll in the vast majority of both IPS and charter schools within Center Township. Enroll Indy, a nonprofit, launched about a decade ago and aims to streamline the enrollment process with a common application, information about each school, and enrollment specialists to help families. The district’s decision means families will no longer have one place to both review and enroll in district and charter schools.

The change will take effect for the 2027-28 application cycle and applies to schools directly managed by IPS, as well as Innovation Network schools that aren’t charters, according to IPS spokesman Marc Ransford. (Innovation Network schools are part of the district but independently operated, and many of them are charters.)

The lottery for the 2027-28 school year opens Nov. 5. Ransford said the district planned to send a message to families about the change on Friday evening. He also said the district’s contract with Enroll Indy ended in June.

The IPS decision comes as a new board appointed by Mayor Joe Hogsett, the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, takes over key responsibilities for IPS and charter schools from school boards — including the elected IPS board — in an effort to share resources more efficiently between schools. The vast majority of IPEC board members have charter school ties.

In a Friday statement, Enroll Indy’s board, which is made up of IPS and charter representatives, expressed disappointment that IPS is ending its relationship with Enroll Indy after working collaboratively “to build a coherent system, regardless of school type.”

“While this decision creates confusion and instability during a major transition for education in our city, we remain focused on our charge: to give families more efficient, equitable access to enrollment at the city’s highest-quality schools,” the Enroll Indy board said.

Charter leaders at the Indiana Charter Innovation Center, a statewide group, and The Mind Trust, an influential Indianapolis charter incubator, also criticized the move and called on IPS to reverse it.

“IPS’ decision will take us back to the days of a disjointed, difficult to navigate system that can easily be gamed,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust, in a Friday statement.

The Mind Trust helped launch Enroll Indy and has supported it, giving the nonprofit $575,000 in 2025, per tax forms.

However, Johnson said the district’s priority was “making the enrollment process as simple as possible for IPS families.”

“We’re creating a one-stop experience that allows our team to directly support families at every step of the enrollment process,” she said.

Johnson also said the move “allows IPS to redirect cost-savings back into our classrooms.” According to IPS documents, the district paid up to $21,730 a month to Enroll Indy from September 2022 to June 2023.

Ransford added that the change will save more than $300,000 in annual software/service costs in the first year.

The district expects to make $20 million in budget cuts, and even more if voters reject a tax measure on the ballot this November.

In addition, the Indiana Charter Innovation Center and Brown at The Mind Trust argued that IPS lacks the power to leave Enroll Indy because power over enrollment management lies with IPEC. The state law that established IPEC says the organization has the power to “manage a unified enrollment system applicable to all participating school students.”

Ransford said in an email that “state law does not prohibit IPS from using a different enrollment platform at this time” but didn’t elaborate as to why.

IPEC didn’t respond to questions about the district’s legal authority to leave Enroll Indy.

Shaina Cavazos, director of the Office of Education Innovation in the mayor’s office, wrote in a Friday email to charter school leaders that all OEI schools must keep using Enroll Indy.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton contributed to this article.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Your guide to 2026 school board elections in Marion County

2026-09-11T11:15:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Update, Sept 11: This guide was updated to reflect that Lindsey Cornett is now on the ballot for IPS school board and not a write-in candidate.

This November, more than 50 candidates are on ballots across Marion County for 31 seats on 10 district school boards. And it’s the first time that school board candidates can opt to include a party affiliation on the ballot.

Winning candidates will start their terms in January 2027.

As school board members, they will set and enforce policies for students and staff, approve budgets, and set goals. One of the biggest roles of a school board is to hire and oversee a superintendent. Board members vote on decisions collectively, and individual members can’t make decisions for the district on their own.

School board members can be paid a stipend that is up to 10% of the lowest starting salary of a district teacher.

In Marion County, the number of members per school board varies, as does whether they are at-large or represent a specific area of their school district. School boards in the county are elected, except for Speedway Schools, where the school board is appointed by the town board.

How can I learn more about school board candidates in Marion County?

Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI partnered to send candidate surveys and publish voter guides on each Marion County school board election. Read each guide:

Additionally, Chalkbeat Indiana and WFYI are co-hosting an IPS school board candidates forum at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, at the Indianapolis Public Library, Central Branch. RSVP and submit questions here.

How many school board candidates picked a political party?

In the first year for partisan school board candidates, more than half the candidates in Marion County picked a party. Twenty-one are Democrats, eight are Republicans, and seven are Independents. Twenty candidates didn’t select a party. Marion County bucks statewide trends for party affiliation; the vast majority of Indiana’s partisan school board candidates are Republicans.

Most of the school board members whose terms are ending are running for reelection, and nearly half of all the school board candidates in the county are incumbents.

In six districts — IPS and Decatur, Franklin, Pike, Warren, and Wayne township schools — all the eligible incumbents are running again. Washington Township schools is the only district where no current board members are on the ballot.

Additionally, most candidates are facing at least one opponent, and in three races, there are four candidates running for a single seat. Two of those elections are for IPS school board and one is for Franklin Township schools.

The district with the most candidates overall is IPS, with 15 candidates for five seats. Next is Decatur Township with eight candidates for three seats.

In four districts — Beech Grove as well as Perry, Washington and Wayne township schools — all the candidates are unopposed.

How can I vote in school board elections?

School board elections are not included in straight-ticket voting. Even though school board candidates can now include a party affiliation, candidates of the same party can run against each other.

Voter registration is underway and ends on Oct. 5. Marion County residents can check their voter status and register to vote here.

Early voting begins on Oct. 6 at the Indianapolis City-County Building at 200 E. Washington St. Additional early voting sites open on Oct. 24.

On Election Day on Nov. 3, Marion County residents can vote at any of the county’s voting centers, which can be found online. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Beech Grove school board voter guide 2026: Meet the 3 candidates

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Three school board seats are up for election this year in Beech Grove.

The district of nearly 5,500 students sits on Indianapolis’ southeast side.

This year, Beech Grove administrators are pursuing a tax referendum that would replace the district’s existing referendum tax rate. Candidates reached by Mirror Indy say they support continuing the referendum, which provides funding for bus services, building maintenance, and school resource officers.

Candidates elected this year will take their seats in January and serve four-year terms ending in December 2030.

3 candidates running at large

Three candidates are running to keep their seats this year.

Board members Brian Downard and Madison West did not declare a party affiliation.

Jannis King, who is president of the Beech Grove board, is running as an independent. This is the first year candidates in Indiana could declare a party affiliation when filing to run for a school board seat.

All three positions on the ballot this fall are at-large seats. That means Beech Grove residents can choose candidates for all the school board openings regardless of where they live in the district.

Election Day is Nov. 3. In-person early voting begins Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. Additional early voting centers open across the city Oct. 24.

You must be registered to vote by Oct. 5. You can check your voter registration status and find the polling location closest to you by visiting indianavoters.in.gov.

Brian Downard, At-large

Brian Downard, 40, is running with no party affiliation. He works in aerospace engineering and has two children attending Beech Grove schools — one is elementary-aged and the other is middle-school-aged.

Downard was appointed to the Beech Grove board in January 2024 to fill a vacancy left by former longtime member Rick Skirvin. Skirvin retired from his seat early following allegations he falsely accused three Black teenagers of stealing from a local convenience store.

The Beech Grove board chose Downard to serve the remainder of Skirvin’s term, which ends this December. Downard is now running to keep the seat for the next four years.

Beech Grove school board candidate, Brian Downard.

You can learn more about him through his campaign’s Facebook page.

Downard answered questions about his vision for the Beech Grove school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Priority one is the educational quality, academic experience, safety, and well-being of our Beech Grove students. Priority two is maintaining accountability to the parents, students, education professionals and community that I serve on the school board. Priority three is to strengthen Beech Grove City Schools by continuing to build our financial health, creating opportunities for student growth and programs, and to make BGCS better than I found it.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Beech Grove City Schools faces overwhelming impacts from the legislation and tax base that determines school funding in Indiana. I support the 2026 operational referendum for Beech Grove City Schools that will allow us to continue vital services for our school community, such as facilities maintenance, custodial services, repairs and transportation. I also advocate for continuing to improve operational efficiency through financial stewardship, strategic resource allocation and improving revenues wherever it is possible.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

There is important work to do in improving foundational literacy and math skills, but my passion is in the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) opportunities for students to have access to education and careers that shape our future. I want to encourage our students to pursue vocational callings that can be life-changing for the next generation of our community.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Beech Grove City Schools has done an amazing job of doing more with less, achieved through financial discipline, strategic reductions in district leadership, deliberate resource decisions, and identifying revenue sources. There is more work to be done in this space, but an immediate focus is to successfully navigate this year’s operating referendum with our community, focusing on the commitment of only asking for what we need and to be transparent and trustworthy with the tax dollars we receive from the people of this city.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I am always willing to discuss any topic concerning our school system with the community. I am available to listen to any concerns and appreciate any feedback of what I can do better to represent our community in school district decisions.

Do you support the district’s effort to pursue a renewal of its operating referendum at a rate not to exceed 57 cents? Why or why not?

I absolutely support the 2026 operating referendum for Beech Grove City Schools for the sake of our students and community. The school system operates on an extremely thin budget for operations due to legislative funding formulas and a fixed tax base — all disadvantages for small community school corporations like Beech Grove. The referendum will allow us to continue providing essential services to our community and students. The proposed referendum rate was carefully decided to limit impact to our taxpayers and to only ask for what we need to operate our schools. I am proud of what we can do with these limited funds to make such a significant impact on our ability to support our students in their educational experience.

Jannis King, At-large

Jannis King is president of the Beech Grove school board. She’s served on the board for more than a decade and is running as an independent.

Mirror Indy attempted to reach every candidate in this district. King did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Madison West, At-large

Madison West, 32, is running with no party affiliation. West very recently joined the Beech Grove school board. She was appointed in July to fill a seat vacated by Rob Challis.

Challis resigned this summer after being hired as the district’s new school safety coordinator. Indiana law prohibits school employees from serving on their district’s board.

West works in government affairs and has three young children. One is a third grader at South Grove Elementary, another is a kindergartener at Hornet Park Elementary and the third is starting preschool.

You can learn more about West by visiting her campaign website.

West answered questions about her vision for the Beech Grove school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Beech Grove school board candidate, Madison West.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Advancing student achievement through support for students and educators, ensuring fiscal responsibility and long-term financial stability, and providing collaborative, student-centered leadership.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing Beech Grove City Schools is ensuring long-term financial stability while continuing to provide every student with a high-quality education. Like many school districts across Indiana, Beech Grove is faced with the difficult decision of pursuing an operating referendum to address immediate funding needs and avoid cuts that could impact students, teachers and classrooms. While the referendum is an important short-term solution, we must also continue working toward a sustainable, long-term funding model. My approach will be to make fiscally responsible decisions, maintain open communication with our community, and collaborate with state leaders to advocate for lasting solutions. Our students shouldn’t have to wait for long-term policy changes to receive the education and opportunities they deserve.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

One area I believe we should continue to focus on is ensuring every student builds strong foundational skills while also expanding opportunities that prepare them for life after graduation. That means strengthening early literacy, supporting academic growth at every grade level, and providing students with pathways to college, careers and skilled trades. Every student should graduate with the knowledge, skills and opportunities to succeed in whatever future they choose.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Affordability and fiscal responsibility must remain top priorities. Beech Grove has made significant progress over the past several years, and I commend the superintendent and school board for making difficult, but necessary decisions to strengthen the district’s financial position, while keeping students at the center of those decisions. My approach will be to build on that work by making thoughtful, transparent financial decisions, ensuring taxpayer dollars are used responsibly, and continuing to advocate for long-term funding solutions at the state level. Every budget decision should support student success while protecting the district’s financial future.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I believe effective leadership begins with listening. I will engage with parents, students, teachers, staff and community members by being accessible, attending school and community events, and encouraging open, respectful dialogue. Community feedback is an important part of the decision-making process, because those closest to our schools provide valuable perspectives. While every decision must ultimately be based on what is in the best interest of all Beech Grove students, I am committed to ensuring our community feels heard, informed and represented throughout that process.

Do you support the district’s effort to pursue a renewal of its operating referendum at a rate not to exceed 57 cents? Why or why not?

Yes. I support the district’s efforts to renew the operating referendum at a rate not to exceed 57 cents because it provides critical funding needed to maintain the high-quality education our students deserve, while avoiding unnecessary impacts on classrooms, teachers and essential student programs. Like many school districts across Indiana, Beech Grove is facing financial challenges that cannot be solved by local efforts alone. While I believe we must continue advocating for long-term improvements to the state’s school funding formula, we also have a responsibility to address today’s needs so our students are not left behind. Supporting this renewal is a fiscally responsible step that helps provide stability as we work toward sustainable, long-term funding solutions.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.

Voter guide 2026: 4 candidates are running for 3 seats on Pike Township school board

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Four candidates are running for three seats on the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township school board in the November election.

The northwest Marion County district enrolls around 10,640 students. About 60% are Black and 27% are Hispanic, and 47% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Pike leaders are navigating several issues central to the district’s operations. On Sept. 9, the board released a letter that alleged some staff feared district leaders and described their leadership style as dictatorial and authoritarian.

In July, the home mailbox of school board president Terry A. Webster Sr. was vandalized. Webster, and other board members, said they would not be intimidated and would work only to do what was best for the district. The incident happened as some in the community were frustrated over the hiring process for a new co-director of athletics.

The board is also overseeing a complex financial landscape following voters’ 2024 approval of a $14.5 million property tax referendum. Most of those funds are going toward teacher pay. The district is also one of the first in the state to share those ballot-approved tax funds with charter schools that enroll students who live within the district.

Candidates who win in the election will be sworn in as board members in January and serve four-year terms ending in December 2030. School board members oversee district policies, goal setting, and budgeting. They also hire and oversee the superintendent.

4 candidates running for 3 seats

Three incumbents — Alonzo Anderson, Wayne Moore, and Terry A. Webster Sr. — are seeking new terms. Sherie Latoya Scott is running as a challenger.

All four candidates filed as Democrats. This is the first year Indiana school board candidates could declare a party affiliation when filing to run.

The three seats on this year’s ballot are at-large, meaning all Pike Township voters can choose among all the candidates. The winners represent the entire district rather than a specific area within it.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting starts Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., and additional sites open across the city Oct. 24. Voters must be registered by Oct. 5; registration status and polling locations are available at indianavoters.in.gov.

Candidates answered questions in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Alonzo Anderson, At-large

Anderson, 49, is running as a Democrat, and is Pike’s board vice president. He is a firefighter and previously spent 15 years as a financial banker. Anderson studied at Vincennes University. His daughter graduated from Pike High School in 2026.

Anderson said his social media campaign will begin in September.

Pike Township school board candidate, Alonzo Anderson.

List your top three priorities if elected.

1. Maintain Fiscal Responsibility — Protect taxpayer dollars through responsible budgeting, financial oversight, and long-term fiscal sustainability. 2. Evolve an Already Excellent Educational Experience — Build on our district’s strengths while continuously improving academic achievement, innovation, student opportunities, and educational standards. 3. Expand Community Engagement and Transparency — Create more meaningful opportunities for families, staff, students, and the broader community to participate, provide feedback, and stay informed about district decisions.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

With state education and fiscal statutes constantly evolving, Pike must remain nimble and prepared to adapt. My approach will be to ensure that changes in state law are implemented responsibly without compromising Pike’s high-quality educational experience our students and families expect. Just as importantly, our community deserves to understand how these changes may directly or indirectly affect our schools, students, staff, and taxpayers. Transparency should not come after a decision is made — it should be part of the process from the beginning. I would expand opportunities for proactive communication through community town hall meetings, legislative-session podcasts hosted through the district website, informational updates, and other accessible communication platforms.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Pike will always adhere to the educational requirements established by the State of Indiana while continuing to look for innovative opportunities to expand what we offer our students. College is one pathway, but it is not the only pathway to a successful future, I myself can attest to that.

We should continue exploring and strengthening opportunities for students interested in skilled trades, technical careers, education and teaching, entrepreneurship, and other workforce pathways. I believe we should also explore opportunities to strengthen financial literacy, helping students understand budgeting, credit, saving, investing, debt, and responsible financial decision-making before they enter adulthood.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Pike Township Schools has a strong public history of responsible financial stewardship, and we must continue to protect that reputation. As a board member, I will remain committed to responsible budgeting, accountability, and careful oversight of taxpayer resources.

Some members of the Pike Township community have been frustrated over communication around the hiring of a new co-athletic director. How would you make sure the administration and board handle staff hires when the community has a high level of interest?

As a community member myself, I understand the frustration many in our community experienced during what was a difficult Co-Athletic Director hiring process. I also understand that, from the community’s perspective, a lack of information can create uncertainty and frustration. In addition, our Human Resources confidentiality requirements prohibited the Board from sharing certain details of the hiring process. While those requirements are important and must be respected, the experience reinforced the importance of finding better ways to communicate with our community while protecting the confidentiality of applicants and employees.

This experience provided the Board and administration with an opportunity to evaluate and develop a more streamlined and equitable hiring process. Transparency does not mean compromising confidentiality. It means being as open as we can be, explaining what we can, and continually improving the processes that serve our students, staff, candidates, and community.

Wayne Moore, At-large

Moore, 64, is running as a Democrat and is a current board member. He is pastor at Olivet Baptist Church. Moore has a bachelor’s degree in theology from Central Baptist Theological Seminary and a master’s degree from Simmons Bible College, according to his biography on the Pike website. He has three children.

You can learn more about Moore through his Facebook page.

List your top three priorities if elected.

1.) A continued support for public education. 2.) A continued support for students and parents. 3.) A continued support for teacher staff and support systems that make the district run effectively.

Pike Township school board candidate, Wayne Moore.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Fiscal responsibility, and strong elected school board members … Who understand the constituency in which they are accountable to.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

English, math, reading and give the community a greater understanding of the proficiency of our students, not just graduation rates.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Holding the superintendent and staff accountable for finances and communicating it to voters as often as possible.

Great question. Many of the stakeholders in the community are not familiar with the hiring process in Pike Township. This is one of the main issues as a board member I think the hiring process needs to be reevaluated and revisit it. At this point, the community is not aware that HR does not have the control of the hiring process. This is something that I think is problematic. If elected, one of my goals will be to make HR more transparent as it relates to the hiring process and give the community more understanding about how it works.

Sherie Latoya Scott, At-large

Scott is a longtime educator who held positions in Pike Township and at the Indiana Charter School Board, and was a founding principal at Global Prep Academy, according to her LinkedIn profile.

You can learn more about Scott through her campaign’s Facebook page.

WFYI attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Scott did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Terry A. Webster Sr., At-large

Webster, 65, is the Pike school board president and is running as a Democrat. He is senior pastor of Nu Corinthian Baptist Church. Webster studied at Newburgh Seminary, according to his biography on the Pike website. He has three children.

Webster said he does not have a campaign website.

Pike Township school board candidate, Terry Webster.

List your top three priorities if elected.

School safety, academic improvement and student retention.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The district faces the challenge of raising the current percentage of scholars with low test scores to being college ready by graduation. The approach will be to set District goals that will help reflect improvement yearly by measurable outcomes.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Math and reading continue to be focused areas of improvement for our scholars. These areas are a national focus.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

District finances should continue to be monitored by board/administration and be fiscally responsible, with state budget cuts the district must be prudent and prepared for the unknown.

Continue to explore the best options available or introduce new options.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.

Voter guide 2026: Franklin Township school board race has 7 candidates for 3 seats

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Seven candidates are running for three seats on the Franklin Township Community School Corporation board in the November election. The most competitive race is the at-large seat in which the incumbent faces three competitors.

Enrollment in the southeast Marion County district grew by 48% in the past 20 years. Today, nearly half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch because of their family income. Of all students enrolled, half are white, about 20% are Asian, and 14% are Black.

The district recently received two major philanthropic investments for academic programs. Last year, the Lilly Endowment gave $29.5 million for the district to build a 38,617-square-foot health sciences facility to teach students in pre-nursing, emergency medical services, and other areas related to biomedical sciences. In 2024, it received a $1.5 million grant from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation toward increasing college enrollment.

Candidates elected this year will be sworn in as board members in January and will serve four-year terms ending in December 2030. School board members oversee district policies, goal setting, and budgeting. They also hire and oversee the superintendent.

7 candidates running in 3 races

Franklin Township’s five-member board includes one at-large seat and four seats tied to geographic quadrants of the township. This year, three seats are on the ballot: the at-large seat and the northeast and southeast quadrant seats. The northwest and southwest quadrant seats are up for election in 2028.

Franklin Township voters can cast a ballot in all three races, regardless of where in the district they live. Board members elected to quadrant seats represent their specific areas of the township, while the at-large member represents the entire district.

This is the first year Indiana school board candidates could declare a party affiliation when filing to run. The opportunity led to one of the more diverse groups of candidate affiliations in Marion County: three Republicans, one Democrat, one independent, and two candidates not declaring a party.

Zachary Smith Howard, the board’s current president, is running unopposed for reelection in the northeast quadrant seat.

Southeast quadrant incumbent Larry Walker faces a challenge from Matt Morgan.

The at-large race attracted three challengers against incumbent Dawn Downer, who is seeking reelection: Komal Chohan, Antonio Key Sr., and Tim McVey.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting opens Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., with additional sites opening across the city Oct. 24. Residents must be registered by Oct. 5; voters can confirm their registration and find their polling location at indianavoters.in.gov.

Candidates answered questions in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Komal (Komal Kaur) Chohan, At-large

Chohan, 31, is running as an independent. She is a mental health therapist at Salam Therapy and mental health hub director at Umeed-Hope. Chohan holds a master’s degree in social work and graduated from Franklin Central High School. She said seven of her cousins graduated from the district between 2009 and 2013, and younger relatives are now enrolled in the district.

You can learn more about Chohan at her campaign’s Facebook page.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Komal Chohan.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

If elected, my top three priorities are: first, expanding on-site mental health and early intervention supports so students get help before reaching a crisis point. Second, driving fiscal transparency through resource audits that keep funding centered on classroom tools and competitive educator pay. Third, restoring true community collaboration by giving parents, teachers, and township residents a meaningful voice in district decisions.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing Franklin Township is that as our community grows, the complex needs of our students are outpacing our current support systems. When you have worked on the frontlines of our schools, you see firsthand that you cannot separate academic success from emotional well-being. To address this, my approach centers on three practical strategies. First, we must expand our on-site mental health infrastructure and early interventions so students get support before they are in crisis. Second, we need rigorous budget transparency by auditing our expenditures to ensure resources are actually reaching the classrooms and the frontline staff who support our kids every day. Finally, we must build true partnerships with parents, local organizations, and businesses, moving beyond just giving district updates to actually solving problems together. By anchoring our decisions in fiscal accountability and whole-child support, we can build a resilient school system for every family.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

The district needs to expand our definition of academic success beyond a narrow culture of test-prep. While standardized tests and AP courses are vital pathways for many of our students, treating them as the only barometer of success creates a hollow metric that traps classrooms in memorization loops. We need to shift our academic focus toward real-world problem-solving and critical thinking. That means giving our educators the instructional freedom to teach students how to think, not just what to think. By prioritizing genuine capability alongside traditional metrics, whether a student’s next step is a university, a trades apprenticeship, or a career, we ensure they graduate not just with a test score, but with the practical resilience to navigate whatever future they choose.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

My approach to district finances is rooted in absolute transparency, fiscal responsibility, and equity-driven resource allocation. Taxpayers and families deserve to know precisely how their dollars are utilized and whether those investments directly impact student success. To achieve this, my financial strategy focuses on three core pillars: conducting rigorous, open-book audits to eliminate administrative bloat and direct resources to schools based on actual need, actively pursuing state and federal grants alongside smart community partnerships to stretch our budget further, and prioritizing direct classroom impact by protecting frontline educators, keeping class sizes manageable, and investing in sustainable long-term tools rather than short-term fixes. By filtering every budgetary decision through how it supports our students and educators, we can build a fiscally resilient district that honors both our taxpayers and our children.

Franklin Township received a $29.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to construct a Health Sciences Academy. While the grant covers the initial implementation and construction, how will you approach the long-term operational budgeting to ensure the academy remains fully funded without diverting resources from existing programs?

While the $29.5 million Lilly Endowment grant provides an incredible foundation for constructing the Health Sciences Academy, relying on one-time funding without a sustainable operational roadmap is a financial trap. We cannot build state-of-the-art facilities at the expense of our most valuable asset: our educators. My approach to long-term operational budgeting for the academy is built on strict fiscal accountability that protects existing classroom resources and educator compensation. First, we must bake recurring state funding streams, such as Career and Technical Education per-pupil weights, directly into the academy’s baseline model to offset ongoing costs. Second, we need to establish formal industry partnerships and equipment-sharing agreements with regional healthcare networks that benefit from this direct talent pipeline, helping subsidize specialized operational expenses. Finally, we must subject non-classroom expenditures to rigorous audits while treating educator compensation as a non-negotiable fixed line item. We cannot celebrate state-of-the-art facilities while failing to properly pay the educators actually running them.

Dawn Downer, At-large

Downer, 60, is the board’s at-large incumbent and did not declare a party affiliation. She is a project manager in early childhood education. Downer previously was state director of Indiana’s First Steps early intervention program and chief of staff for Indiana’s disability services agency. She is a graduate of Franklin Central High School and Purdue University, and the parent of a district graduate.

You can learn more about Downer at her campaign website.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Dawn Downer.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

1. Fiscal Responsibility: Maintain a balanced and sustainable budget while making thoughtful investments in student achievement, competitive and equitable staff compensation, and the resources our teachers and staff need to be successful. 2. Academic Growth: Continue improving student achievement by supporting effective curriculum, innovative learning opportunities, and pathways that prepare students for college, careers, and life after high school. This should be accomplished in partnership with teachers, staff, parents, and students, whose experience and expertise are essential to making these efforts successful. 3. Safety and Student Well-Being: Maintain safe, supportive learning environments for students and staff. This includes addressing physical safety concerns as well as behaviors that interfere with learning. Students and staff should feel safe, respected, and supported in our schools.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

One of the most pressing issues facing FTCSC is maintaining financial stability while continuing to meet the growing needs of our students and staff. A strong school system depends on having the resources to attract and retain excellent teachers and staff, provide reasonable and supportive working environments, and give educators the tools they need to help students succeed.

As a board member, I would continue to support a balanced and sustainable budget while looking for opportunities to maximize existing resources, pursue outside funding and partnerships, and advocate at the state level for fair and equitable school funding.

Fiscal responsibility and support for our employees should not be viewed as competing priorities. We need to make thoughtful decisions about where resources can have the greatest impact, including competitive and equitable compensation, appropriate staffing, manageable classroom environments, and the resources necessary for teachers and staff to do their jobs effectively. The district must remain proactive rather than waiting for financial challenges to force difficult decisions.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

FTCSC has a broad range of academic opportunities, and I believe we should continue strengthening both foundational academics and pathways that prepare students for their futures. At the elementary level, continued emphasis on reading literacy is particularly important. Like many districts across the country, FTCSC experienced declines in reading achievement in recent years. The district responded by fully implementing a new reading curriculum, and we are seeing encouraging improvements in student achievement. We need to continue monitoring the data and supporting our teachers and staff to ensure those gains are sustained and expanded.

At the secondary level, I support continuing to expand Career and Technical Education, Health Sciences, dual-credit, advanced coursework, and other pathways that allow students to graduate prepared for college, careers, Armed Services, work or additional training. This achievement should be both on campus, as well as an increased collaboration through our partnership with Central Nine Career Center. Our goal should be to ensure that every student has a pathway to success after graduation, not just one definition of success. None of this can happen without our teachers and staff. They are the professionals working directly with students every day, and their experience and input should be part of decisions about curriculum, instructional practices, classroom needs, and student support.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

FTCSC has demonstrated a strong commitment to financial responsibility and has maintained a balanced budget for more than a decade, despite significant changes and reductions in state funding. Going forward, I believe we must continue to live within our means while prioritizing investments that directly support our strategic goals and student outcomes. That means carefully evaluating programs and expenditures, maximizing available revenue, and making sure taxpayer dollars are producing the greatest possible benefit for students and families. At the same time, responsible budgeting must include our teachers and staff. Competitive and equitable compensation is important to retaining experienced educators and attracting the high-quality employees our students deserve. We also need to consider staffing levels, classroom sizes and workloads, professional development, and the resources employees need to do their jobs effectively.

I support pursuing additional funding opportunities and partnerships, maximizing the value of existing tax resources while remaining within Indiana’s property tax limitations, and continuing to explore innovative opportunities such as expanded online learning. Growing and strengthening programs that meet the needs of more students can also help keep students within FTCSC while strengthening the district’s financial position. Financial responsibility does not simply mean spending less. It means making thoughtful choices about where resources can have the greatest impact, including investments in students and the people who educate and support them, while protecting the quality of education our community values.

The Health Sciences Academy is viewed as a long-term investment in our students and community, not simply as a grant-funded project. The ongoing academic and operational costs associated with the program are incorporated into the district’s long-term financial planning and annual budgeting process. I support closely monitoring enrollment, staffing, operating costs, and student outcomes to ensure the program remains financially sustainable and delivers the intended educational benefits. This includes ensuring that the academy has the appropriate staffing and resources to provide a high-quality program without creating unreasonable demands on teachers and staff.

We should also maximize opportunities to leverage Career and Technical Education funding and develop partnerships with health-care providers, higher education institutions, and other community organizations. As the program develops, there may also be opportunities to serve students from outside the district when capacity allows, creating additional revenue while expanding access to the program. Most importantly, the academy’s long-term success should not come at the expense of existing programs, students, or staff. The board’s responsibility will be to evaluate the academy as part of the district’s overall budget and ensure that it remains sustainable alongside the educational needs of all FTCSC students and the staffing and resources necessary to serve them well.

Antonio Key Sr., At-large

Key, 48, filed to run as a Democrat. He is CEO and owner of Pacers Behavioral Services LLC, and works as a mental healthcare professional and psychology professor. Key holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a master’s degree in community psychology from Martin University. He is the parent of two Franklin Township students — a son in eighth grade and a senior daughter.

You can learn more about Key at his campaign’s Facebook page.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Antonio Key.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

1. Student Achievement and Opportunity — Strengthen academic outcomes while expanding college, career, trade, dual-credit and workforce pathways so every student graduates prepared for their next step. 2. Student Mental Health, Safety and Support — Invest in early intervention, behavioral and mental-health resources, and strong school environments where students feel safe, supported and ready to learn. 3. Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency — Protect classroom resources, support and retain quality educators, pursue outside funding and partnerships, and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and transparently.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

I believe one of the most pressing issues facing our district is making sure every student has a real opportunity to succeed, regardless of where they start. Academic achievement matters, but we also have to address the barriers that keep students from reaching their potential — mental health, attendance, behavior, family challenges, and whether students truly feel connected to their school.

My approach would be to listen first — to teachers, parents, students and staff — and then use the data to identify where students are falling through the cracks. I believe in early intervention rather than waiting until a student is failing or in crisis. We must strengthen academic support, mental health resources, family engagement and accountability while giving our educators the tools they need to do their jobs. Every child may not start at the same place, but our responsibility is to make sure every child has a fair opportunity to reach the finish line.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe our academic focus should be on strong foundational skills while connecting education to real life. Reading, writing, math and critical thinking will always be essential, but students also need to understand how what they are learning connects to college, careers and adulthood. I want us to continue expanding career and technical education, dual-credit opportunities and partnerships with colleges and local employers while making sure students who are struggling with foundational skills receive intervention early. Success should not have only one definition. For one student it may be a four-year university. For another it may be a trade, certification, apprenticeship, military service or entrepreneurship. Our job is to make sure a Franklin Township diploma prepares students to have choices.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

My approach would be fiscal responsibility with the classroom as the priority. Every dollar belongs to the taxpayers, and the board has a responsibility to make sure those dollars produce the greatest possible benefit for students. Franklin Township also faces a unique funding challenge because approximately 85% of our property-tax base is residential, which limits local revenue compared with districts that have larger commercial and industrial tax bases. That means we have to be especially strategic with the resources we have. I would support transparent budgeting, regular review of expenditures, aggressive pursuit of grants and partnerships, and long-term financial planning rather than short-term fixes. At the same time, fiscal responsibility cannot simply mean cutting. We must protect effective classroom programs, retain quality educators and make investments that improve student outcomes. My standard would be simple: Is this necessary, is it sustainable, and does it benefit our students?

The $29.5 million Lilly Endowment grant is an incredible investment in our students, but responsible leadership means planning beyond the ribbon cutting. Before permanent operating expenses are absorbed into the district’s budget, I would want a clear multi-year sustainability plan showing the academy’s projected staffing, maintenance, equipment and program costs. I would also pursue a diversified funding model that includes healthcare partnerships, higher-education partnerships, additional grants, workforce-development opportunities and other outside funding sources wherever appropriate. Organizations that benefit from a strong pipeline of future nurses, technicians and healthcare professionals should have an opportunity to invest in developing that pipeline. Most importantly, I would not support building an outstanding new program by quietly taking resources away from successful programs our students already depend on. The Health Sciences Academy should expand opportunity in Franklin Township — not redistribute scarcity. We have been given an extraordinary opportunity. Our responsibility now is to make sure it remains an asset for students not just when it opens, but for generations.

Tim McVey, At-large

McVey, 46, is running as a Republican. He works in executive management and graduated from Franklin Central High School in 1998. McVey has two sons currently attending the district.

You can learn more about McVey at his campaign’s Facebook page.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

1. Student safety 2. Partnering with state and local elected officials to find better alternatives to funding our schools without raising property taxes. 3. To bridge the gap between the constituency and school administration by being a voice and resource for the community.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Tim Mcvey.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

There is a large staffing shortage in our school system that impacts the quality of education for our students. While a referendum is not the answer, the school system is at a breaking point for being able to afford the influx of new students from the dense population in the township. Partnering with state and city officials to allocate more funding to our school district must be a priority.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I think it’s important to focus on practical “life skills” to prepare our children for the professional world. I think providing a wide array of options for areas of study, but we need to teach skills that are useful for life after high school.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

I plan to be a conduit between the community and state and city government to find ways to allocate more of their budgets to the local school systems.

I think it’s important to maintain a long term relationship with Eli Lilly by creating internship programs beyond high school to the mutual benefit of both Franklin Township and Eli Lilly. Just because Lilly makes an initial investment doesn’t mean they will discontinue investing if it’s beneficial to them.

Zachary Smith Howard, Northeast quadrant

Howard, 38, is the board’s current president and is running unopposed for reelection as a Republican. He is director of state relations for Indiana University. Howard has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Missouri State University and a master’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University Indianapolis. He does not have children.

You can learn more about Howard at his campaign’s Facebook page.

List your top three priorities if elected?

1. Ensuring FTCSC remains the Best CHOICE for Franklin Township children and families; 2. Putting students first and preparing them to succeed in our AI-driven world; 3. Recruiting and retaining quality educators.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Zachary Smith.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing FTCSC is maintaining excellence in student achievement and programmatic offerings due to the makeup of how school funding works in Indiana and the long-term effects of SEA 1-2025. Franklin Township is over 85% residential, meaning the mix of property tax funding received from the district is primarily from homeowners (1%), versus a larger rental (2%) and commercial (3%) mixes of other districts in Marion County. Maintaining and growing student enrollment is essential to the success of Franklin Township Schools, which is why having strong educators and quality facilities are crucial to sustaining student success in the township.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

FTCSC needs to continue to focus on its Science of Reading implementation, with the goal of exceeding the district’s 90% IREAD passage rate. Franklin Township Schools are implementing the Indiana enVision Mathematics curriculum for grades 4-8 this academic year and hopes to see student achievement growth because of this change. Franklin Central High School has a 98.64% graduation rate, so maintaining pathways is essential for all FC graduates to continue to be successful in enrollment, enlistment and/or employment post-high school.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Franklin Township Schools continues to navigate their finances with a balanced budget, while working to grow educator and staff salaries. Understanding school finance can feel overwhelming, but FTCSC is working to make it easier for the community to understand where school funding comes from and how it impacts students at tinyurl.com/flashesfinancials. Continuing to get more dollars to the classroom and the staff who make student achievement possible is reflected in all my 2026 campaign priorities.

The Franklin Central Health Sciences Pavilion is a game-changer for FC students and the Franklin Township community writ large, as it will offer students the ability to earn multiple health science stackable credentials while in high school. These credentials will lead to immediate employment in the healthcare field and can seamlessly allow for higher credentials with additional training post-high school. Offering these opportunities at Franklin Central allows students to have the full academic and extra-curricular experience without leaving the building and additional Career and Technical Education and performance funding from the State to sustain these programs.

Matt Morgan, Southeast quadrant

Morgan, 46, declared as a Republican. He owns and operates a handyman business based in Franklin Township. Morgan graduated high school in 1998 and attended two years of community college. He has two children in Franklin Township schools, a sophomore and a fourth grader.

You can learn more about Morgan at his campaign’s Facebook page.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Finding additional revenue in lieu of funding cuts set to take effect after the recent legislative session. Addressing the current atmosphere of athletics and coaching within our High School. Fully supporting all front line and support staff as they’re the “fuel” that runs the proverbial engine.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Matt Morgan.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Like any other school district, funding and spending as wisely as possible to eliminate or significantly delay the need for a referendum.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I would like to see the high school explore avenues for pathing students that aren’t interested in attending college. C9 is a great option but I feel there are more things that all schools could be doing to prepare our children for life after school.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

I need to learn the intricacies of the school finances, funding, vouchers and many other aspects of finances before I can speak on a plan. The numbers I’ve seen are so in depth that I’d like to educate myself better on them.

I believe the district needs to implement a plan to explore use of facilities by outside groups and the income that can be generated from that. We have amazing facilities and a field house about to come online. Attracting high level events to the township would benefit both the schools and local businesses as well.

Larry J. Walker, Southeast quadrant

Walker, 79, is running as a Republican for reelection to the southeast area board seat. He is a custom home builder, realtor, and land developer. Walker is a graduate of Franklin Central High School. Walker says two nieces, a nephew, nine great-nieces and great-nephews, and a younger sister and brother all attended and graduated from the district.

Walker’s comments during a public school board meeting in 2024 were the subject of a Mirror Indy story.

You can learn more about Walker at his campaign’s Facebook page.

Franklin Township school board candidate, Larry Walker.

List your top three priorities if elected.

(1) Continuing safety first for our students and the entire Franklin Township Community Corp. (2) Continuing for a balanced budget, (3) Continue to oppose any referendum.(4) Open door policy for parents concerns.(5) Also our new health science academy which is exciting for Franklin Central High School students.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Housing explosion in Franklin Township and to make sure we have the facilities for the students to get a good education and opportunities.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Reading and math. We deal with those two items daily in life. Also our new health science academy to make sure it is properly staffed with quality people. Health care is our future in education.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Keep trying to draw commercial and industrial uses in the right areas of Franklin Township.

Working with our school superintendent & COO and working with local hospitals and health care facilities for donations . Btw, the health science academy is a 1st for Central Indiana and I am really excited about it for our students and community.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.

Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township: School board election voter guide

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Three of the five school board seats are up for election in the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township on the southwest side of Marion County.

The new board members will serve through 2030 and steer the district — which last year enrolled roughly 6,500 students — through potential fiscal challenges incurred by the state’s recent property tax reforms. The district recently changed school start times to help offset rising transportation costs, but it still estimates losing $3 million annually from those tax reforms.

Decatur Schools are asking voters for a property tax increase in November, but will be replacing its existing rate with a lower one. If passed, the referendum would be a tax increase from the base amount through 2034.

Who is running and how to vote

Eight candidates — four nonpartisans, three Republicans, and one independent — are vying for three at-large seats, which are filled by voters throughout the entire district.

Early voting begins on Oct. 6. The general election is Nov. 3. Find out how to register to vote in Marion County here, and find polling locations at https://vote.indy.gov/.

Candidate survey responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity.

Randi Berryman, at-large candidate

Randi Berryman, 42, is running as a nonpartisan. She has a child who does not attend a school in the district. Berryman has a bachelor of science degree, and works as a scientist.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Responsible decision making, data-driven change, positive school culture.

Decatur Township school board candidate Randi Berryman.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing our district is underperformance. When I compare our schools to neighboring districts, it’s clear that Decatur Township is falling behind academically. To address this I will take a comprehensive, data-driven approach. I will conduct a thorough budget analysis across all departments and reallocate resources to directly impact students and teachers. I will also review our curriculum against neighboring and top performing schools so we can adopt evidence-based instructional practices.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

The district needs to focus on Math, Science, and Language Arts. These are the foundational subject areas where our students underperform compared to state benchmarks and neighboring districts. Strengthening these core subject areas is critical because they form the basis for all future learning. By focusing our resources, professional development, and curriculum improvements in these areas, we can make measurable progress in student achievement and close performance gaps that currently exist.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

Community engagement will be the foundation of my leadership. I believe strongly in creating continuous feedback loops with all parents, teachers, staff, and students because they are the ones who experience the direct impact of our decisions. If parents and teachers are not seeing meaningful improvement, then we are not doing our job. This feedback is essential. Without it there is no way to know whether the changes we implement are truly creating the outcomes we intend.

I plan to hold regular listening sessions, create accessible channels for ongoing input, and report back transparently. Your voice matters. My commitment is to actively listen, thoughtfully respond, and make data informed decisions that reflect the needs and priorities of our community.

Do you support the referendum? Why or why not?

Yes, I support the referendum. Investing in our children’s education is an investment in our community’s future, and adequate funding is essential to providing the resources our students need to succeed.

However, funding alone is not enough. We must also elect leaders who will use those additional dollars wisely, strategically, and transparently. If we don’t have a clear plan for how funds will directly improve students, even increased revenue will not create the impact our district needs. That’s why I’m committed to ensuring every dollar is allocated effectively toward proven programs and competitive teacher salaries that truly support learning.

The district recently changed school start times to reduce costs. As school districts across the state face increasing financial pressure, what other suggestions or ideas do you have on ways that Decatur Township could save money?

While I understand schools are facing financial challenges, I have serious concerns about the recent changes to school start times in Decatur Township schools. Research consistently shows that age-appropriate schedules are critical to student health, development, and academic performance.

Students must come first, even when making tough budget decisions. Cost savings should never come at the expense of what we know is best for kids. That said, I’m committed to finding smarter ways to reduce costs without compromising student outcomes. If elected, I will conduct a comprehensive budget review to identify inefficiencies and compare our spending to districts across the state. I’ll prioritize investments that directly impact the classroom while scrutinizing administrative overhead, vendor contracts, and operational expenses. I’ll also explore what neighboring districts have done to reduce costs. I believe in reviewing the data behind what works, implementing proven strategies, and placing students first.

Teresa A. Burns, at-large candidate

Teresa A. Burns is running as a nonpartisan.

Chalkbeat Indiana attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Burns did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Judith Collins, at-large candidate

Judith Collins is a Republican incumbent who has served on the board for two decades.

Chalkbeat Indiana attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Collins did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Dale Henson, at-large candidate

Dale Henson, 69, is a Republican incumbent who has served on the board for two decades. He is a graduate of Decatur Central High School and the National Fire Academy and does not currently have children attending district schools. He retired as Decatur Township’s fire chief in 2014 after 35 years, and also previously served as the executive director of the Indiana Fire Chiefs Association.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Maintain a 95% graduation rate or higher. We achieved our highest graduation rate in 2025 of 97.48%. IREAD-3 passing rates meeting state average with a goal of 95% or see proficiency and achieve a 3% increase from previous year. We want to see our scores increase by 3% for Language Arts and Mathematics on our ILEARN assessments.

Decatur Township school board candidate Dale Henson.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

I want us to continue be fiscal responsibility to the community. State funding & legislative decisions that continue to decrease our funding each year. Safety conscious for our students and staff.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

As a current board member have always been open to listen to any community member. I attend many events throughout the year besides our monthly board meetings.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Reading, reading, every student needs to be able to read to be successful as they go through school and as they graduate. This continues to be our top academic focus.

Do you support the referendum? Why or why not?

Yes, I support the referendum. I support because of changes made for funding of schools through legislation. We have seen a 3-million-dollar reduction in 2026 as a result of legislative changes.

We are always looking at ways to reduce cost across the district and the new school start times is a way we will reduce fuel costs with reduced miles traveled daily. We are the only Marion County School Corporation to reduce our total budget in 2026 by half million dollars.

Steve Jacobi, at-large candidate

Steve Jacobi is running as a nonpartisan.

Chalkbeat Indiana attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Jacobi did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Patrice Johnson, at-large candidate

Patrice Johnson, 36, is running as a nonpartisan and has a daughter who graduated from Decatur Central High School. Her son attends school online. She has a bachelor of science in public health education and works as a community service provider.

See her campaign Facebook page here.

Decatur Township school board candidate Patrice Johnson.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Transparency, student success, and building a stronger school community.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

One of the biggest challenges facing our district is rebuilding trust while balancing increasing financial pressures. Families want to understand not only what decisions are being made, but why they are being made.

My approach is to ask questions, listen to all stakeholders, review the data, and make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions. I believe school board members should communicate openly with the community, hold the district accountable for measurable results, and ensure every dollar is spent with students as the priority.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

Community engagement shouldn’t begin and end at board meetings. I plan to remain accessible through regular communication, community events, social media, and by encouraging conversations with parents, teachers, students, and taxpayers.

Feedback is an important part of good governance. While no single voice can determine every decision, listening to different perspectives helps identify concerns, improve policies, and make better-informed decisions that reflect the needs of the district as a whole.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe we need to continue strengthening foundational academic skills, particularly reading and math, because they impact success in every other subject area. We should regularly evaluate student achievement data, identify where students are struggling, and support evidence-based strategies that help close learning gaps while also challenging students who are ready for advanced coursework.

Academic success should remain our primary mission, and we should continually look for ways to improve outcomes for every student.

Do you support the referendum? Why or why not?

I believe the referendum deserves thoughtful consideration rather than a simple yes or no answer. My responsibility as a board member would be to ensure the community has a clear understanding of why additional funding is being requested, how the money would be spent, what accountability measures would be in place, and what alternatives have been explored.

I support transparency and informed decision making. Taxpayers deserve complete information before being asked to make an important financial decision, and I believe the district should clearly demonstrate responsible stewardship of existing resources alongside any future requests.

Before asking taxpayers for additional funding, I believe we should continually evaluate opportunities to improve efficiency. Some areas worth exploring include:

* Reviewing operational expenses to identify unnecessary or duplicate spending.

* Evaluating contracts and vendor agreements to ensure the district is receiving the best value.

* Pursuing additional grants and partnerships when appropriate.

* Regularly reviewing programs to ensure resources are aligned with measurable student outcomes.

* Looking for operational efficiencies that reduce costs without negatively impacting classroom instruction.

My priority would always be protecting student learning while ensuring taxpayers can trust that every dollar is being used responsibly.

Chase Lyday, at-large candidate

Chase Lyday, 39, is a Republican incumbent who has served on the board since 2023. He has no children in the district. He graduated from Decatur Central High School and attended Ivy Tech Community College. He previously served as the police chief for Avon Community Schools but resigned in 2022 while under investigation by the Hendricks County prosecutor, who alleged Lyday lied about past disciplinary actions against him. No charges were filed.

Decatur Township school board candidate Chase Lyday.

Lyday called the allegations against him “patently false” and “baseless.”

“I would encourage anyone evaluating my candidacy to look at the totality of my record, the people I have served alongside, and the impact I have made on students, schools, and my community,” he said. .

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Continue comprehensive approach to school safety, increase literacy test scores in early elementary students, solidify fiscal plans in light of budget deficit created by tax code revisions.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing the district is taking care of our teachers and procuring the additional resources necessary to provide students with critical supports like literacy specialists, mental health counselors, school resource officers, and coaches. These services are at risk of being cut if we do not close the gap in funding created by recent legislation.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I love coffee meetings and lunch with community members to discuss needs of the district. I take calls at all hours to be responsive to needs and concerns. My passion is serving and I am confident anyone who has interacted with me in regards to the school district sees that. When a concern arises, I direct that issue to the appropriate administrator and follow up to ensure it has been addressed.

I serve as a representative for the community. Their input is highly valued in how the school district operates.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Literacy is the key to all education. Our early elementary students must pass the IREAD test by 3rd grade to continue on to 4th grade. We have to focus substantial resources on our rsrly elementary students reading at grade level and ensure older students have access to every literacy resource available to be proficient.

Do you support the referendum? Why or why not?

Yes I support the referendum. The referendum is necessary for us to continue providing the quality of education and services like mental health support, school resource officers, and child nutrition workers. These supports are necessary to maintain and improve our ability to provide a high quality education.

The district has done an excellent job at saving and executing an efficient spending plan. Our team will continue finding ways to eliminate inefficiencies and increase savings. Our focus with finances will be to let our data direct spending decisions and focus on external sources of funding such as grants and local partnerships.

Kristyn Stoddard, at-large candidate

Kristyn Stoddard is running as an independent.

Chalkbeat Indiana attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Stoddard did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Corrections and Clarifications: This guide has been updated to reflect Randi Berryman’s child doesn’t attend Decatur schools.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Voter guide 2026: Here’s who is running for Washington Township school board

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Two candidates are running unopposed for two school board seats in Metropolitan School District of Washington Township on the November ballot.

The district, in the northern part of Marion County, enrolls around 11,325 students — 46% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Around 40% of students are Black and 22% are Hispanic.

The district is also asking voters to renew a property tax increase in the election as new state tax reforms combined with existing property tax caps stress the district’s budget. If approved, the referendum would generate a maximum annual revenue of $24 million, with most funds going toward retaining teachers and staff. If the referendum fails, the district could reduce staff and increase class sizes, according to its referendum presentation.

Candidates elected this year will be sworn in as board members in January and serve four-year terms ending in December 2030. School board members oversee district policies, goal setting, and budgeting. They also hire and oversee the superintendent.

2 candidates running

Two newcomers — Leslie Bowles and Jocelyn Sisson — are seeking seats on the five-member board. Neither declared a party affiliation. This is the first year school board candidates in Indiana could choose to declare a political affiliation for an election.

Incumbent board members Kristina Frey and William Turner did not file for reelection.

Both board seats on the ballot are at-large seats. That means all residents living in the district can vote for candidates, and the candidates represent the entire district, regardless of their own residence district.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Early voting opens Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., with additional sites opening across the city Oct. 24.

Residents must be registered by Oct. 5; voters can confirm their registration and find their polling location at indianavoters.in.gov.

Candidates answered questions in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Leslie Bowles, At-large

Bowles, 47, is running with no party affiliation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Marian University and a master’s degree from Indiana University in public affairs. She is managing director of development partnerships for the League of Conservation Voters, a national environmental and voter-engagement organization. Bowles is a North Central High School graduate and has three children enrolled in the district.

You can learn more about Bowles through her campaign’s Facebook page.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

The top three priorities I will be focused on are shrinking the achievement gap in our district; ensuring our district is well-funded so that every student who enters our schools has equitable access to both rigorous academics and resources; and every family in this district feels seen, supported, and represented.

Washington Township school board candidate, Leslie Bowles.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing Washington Township is the achievement gap, and it is one I have been focused on since I moved back to the district in 2021. I believe every student is capable and full of potential, and that no students’ access to the programs and resources they need to excel should ever be determined by race, the side of town they live on, or their family’s income.

As a school board member I will continue to explicitly name the achievement gap as a priority, require disaggregated data by race and income at board meetings, ensure the data is shared more widely with parents in a way that is visible and transparent to our school community, and hold district leadership accountable for measurable progress. I will also be focused on ensuring our district has the resources to continue the progress we have made to continue investing in the programs and interventions that work and centering the voices and experiences of the families most affected.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

The district must continue to focus on the achievement gap, reading literacy, math proficiency and advanced placement courses for students. As a parent I know reading is our students’ foundation to excel in other courses they will take.

Equitable access to advanced placement courses is also important because it exposes our students to college-level thinking, writing, and problem-solving while they are in high school. Offering AP courses also ensures our district is competitive with other similarly sized school districts across central Indiana.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances? Do you support the district’s referendum? Why or why not?

As a parent in the district, homeowner affordability is at the top of my mind. If elected, I will work to ensure the district continues to be diligent in using our resources to support our diverse student body.

I support the operating referendum renewal for Washington Township schools because it is not funding buildings, but protecting what we already have. In 2022 I co-founded the Washington Township Parents in Support of Public Education PAC, dedicated to protecting our high-quality, diverse public schools. I have seen, up close, the growing efforts to privatize and defund public education — efforts that put our schools, our teachers, and our children’s futures at risk. This year we are working to educate parents and help pass the operating referendum renewal in our district because it will ensure the district is able to keep counselors, teachers, and support staff our students need. About 300 positions depend on the referendum and ensuring our schools are properly staffed will help maintain academic programs and support services our students deserve.

Washington Township has historically faced significant academic achievement gaps between student groups. In 2025, 20% of Hispanic students and 22% of Black students in grades three to eight passed the math and English Language Arts position of the state exam — compared to 54% of their white classmates. What specific performance metrics will you use to hold the administration accountable for closing the gap, and what board-level policy changes do you believe are necessary to achieve improvement in student outcomes?

As a Black parent I am focused on eliminating the achievement gap between white students and Black and Brown students in our district. As a school board member I will continue to explicitly name the achievement gap as a priority, require disaggregated data by race and income at board meetings, ensure the data is shared more widely with parents in a way that is visible and transparent to our school community, and hold district leadership accountable for measurable progress. I will also work to ensure funding for wraparound support including counseling, mental health services, and family engagement support. I will also review enrollment data in the district’s advanced placement and high ability classes, which is disproportionately accessed by white students even in a diverse district like ours. As a school board member I will advocate for the outreach, identification practices, and support structures needed to ensure that Black and Brown students are fully and equitably represented in every opportunity the district offers.

Jocelyn Sisson, District 2

Sisson is running with no party affiliation. She taught English for 35 years, including 25 years at North Central High School, before retiring. Sisson graduated from Brown University and has a graduate degree from Harvard University. She continues to tutor students at North Central’s Learning Center. Her two daughters graduated from the district in 2014 and 2017.

You can learn more about Sisson through her campaign website.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Increasing and/or creating support systems to maximize all students’ achievement. For Middle and High School students, this would include encouraging a wider participation in Honors and Advanced Placement classes of under-represented students. Ensuring high standards for student achievement, grading policies and teacher instruction. Aligning Washington Township’s curriculums from Kindergarten to Senior year to expand all students’ eligibility for the Enroll Honors Seal diploma.

Washington Township school board candidate, Jocelyn Sisson.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

My number one priority is this year’s referendum that will continue the existing property tax assessment. Unfortunately, the ballot statement is misleading. It implies an increase when in fact if passed, the referendum will not raise taxes. Given the funding changes passed by the state legislature, the passage of this referendum is especially important if Washington Township is to continue to hire and retain teachers, staff and administration.

I am working with the Washington Township referendum committee to share accurate information about the referendum with the Washington Township families who have students attending our schools as well as with those residents in our district who do not have students attending our schools.

Good schools benefit all. When schools maintain their funding, they continue to provide excellent education to their students. Good schools also maintain property values for all, including those who do not have children attending Washington Township schools.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

As a former teacher of 35 years, I know from experience that student mastery of skills depends on teachers having high standards for their students while also holding students accountable. At the high school, the trend toward mid-term and semester exam eliminations and exemptions impairs students’ college readiness and skill mastery. For teachers, without the data that exams provide, class instruction cannot be improved, nor can assessments be revised. Exams provide important information for teachers in terms of how well students understand the class material taught, and for students, exam grades reveal how well they have mastered class materials.

The district needs to ensure academic alignment from kindergarten through grade 12. By doing so, it is more likely that all MSDWT students will earn the Enrollment Honors Seal — one seal on the new Indiana diploma.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increasingly become a shortcut for students. The result: a decreased ability to read texts accurately and write convincingly. Washington Township must develop and implement a district-wide policy regarding AI that preserves students’ skills.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances? Do you support the district’s referendum? Why or why not?

I absolutely support Washington Township’s referendum. Public schools are a bastion of democracy: we teach all children. The passage of the referendum ensures that our schools continue to educate and serve all who enter their doors. As indicated above, the language on the upcoming ballot is misleading. The referendum implies that there will be an increase in the property tax rate. This is misleading as the referendum merely continues the existing tax rate without any additional burden on taxpayers.

This question highlights the need for a data-driven education policy for all students from Kindergarteners to 12th graders. I would carefully consider data from Washington Township and the results from national educational research. I am particularly interested in these influences: foundational reading and math skills, attendance patterns, the current number of non-white students enrolled in the middle schools’ and high school’s honors-level and Advanced Placement classes.

We should learn from any state or district that has a track record of success. As an example, I am interested in how we can replicate the steps that Mississippi took to improve 4th grader reading literacy from 49th in the nation to the top 10.

Our district is committed to all students earning the Enrollment Honors Seal — one seal on the new Indiana diploma. With the knowledge gained from the data I indicate above, Washington Township can develop programs that ensure that all students meet grade level markers and that all our students have access to and are prepared for success in the AP and honors-level classes required by the Enrollment Seal.

I was the director of the cohort program. As director, I asked middle school teachers to identify under-represented students who they believed could succeed in at least one honors-level class at the high school. These students were then placed in special homerooms that provided academic support and guidance. Due to the current political environment, this program was terminated. However, I would like to see a similar program renamed, revised, and reestablished.

Sept. 12: Corrections and Clarifications: This article has been updated to reflect that Jocelyn Sisson is running for the District 2 seat.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.

Voter guide 2026: Here’s who’s running for school board in Wayne Township

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Four school board members are running uncontested this year to keep their seats in Wayne Township. The district of about 15,700 students sits on Indianapolis’ west side.

This year, Wayne Township administrators are pursuing a tax referendum that would replace the district’s existing one with a new, slightly higher rate. Candidates reached by Mirror Indy say they support the referendum, which will be used to recruit and retain teachers and support school security.

Candidates elected this year will take their seats in January and serve four-year terms ending in December 2030.

4 board members running to keep seats

Four incumbents are running to keep their seats. Brandon Bowman, Mikeal Gordon, and Raimeka Graham are seeking reelection as Democrats. Benjamin Wakefield did not declare a party affiliation.

This is the first year candidates in Indiana could declare a party affiliation when filing to run for a school board seat.

All four positions on the ballot this fall are at-large seats. That means Wayne Township residents can choose candidates for all the school board openings regardless of where they live within the district.

Election Day is Nov. 3. In-person early voting begins Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. Additional early voting centers open across the city Oct. 24.

You must be registered to vote by Oct. 5. You can check your voter registration status and find the polling location closest to you by visiting indianavoters.in.gov.

Brandon Bowman, At-large

Brandon Bowman is running as a Democrat.

He is currently president of the Wayne Township school board. He was first elected to the board in 2014 and is seeking his fourth term.

Mirror Indy attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Bowman did not respond to multiple emailed requests to complete the candidate survey.

Mikeal Gordon, At-large

Mikeal Gordon, 55, is running as a Democrat.

He was appointed to the board in December to fill a vacancy left open following the death of longtime member Mike Nance.

Gordon is a purchasing manager with the sheet metal fabrication company Newjac Industrial, based in Lebanon, Indiana. His wife, MiChelle, is the secretary of McClelland Elementary School.

The couple has seven children, including a daughter who graduated from the district’s THRIVE Program for students with cognitive and developmental needs.

Gordon ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2020. He told Mirror Indy last year that he opted not to run again in 2022 or 2024 out of respect for current members of the board.

He is an active volunteer in Wayne Township schools and works as a Santa for public and private events.

Gordon answered questions about his vision for the Wayne Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Wayne school district candidate, Mikeal Gordon.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Fiscal responsibility, teacher retention and student test scores.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Fiscal issues. We are starting with the referendum this fall on the ballot. The legislature has made it tough on schools. So, finding ways to cut back without hurting our students will be key whether the ballot question passes or not.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I would love to see the district continue to focus on the whole student. Continue to be strong in the basics with math, English, history and science as well as the arts. Teaching each student holistically where they are at.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Find a way to use what we have been entrusted with from our voters. Being newer on the school board this year, I still admittedly have a lot to learn on the finance side, but I believe that is the key to keeping this district strong in the coming years.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision-making?

This is my strong suit. I love being out in the community and volunteering, whether that be at schools during their events, during local community events, or even just being social walking through the store. With my beard, I am easily recognizable and hope everyone stops to say hi and have a conversation as long as it is appropriate.

Do you support the district’s effort to pursue a continuation of its operating referendum at a rate not to exceed 70 cents? Why or why not?

Absolutely. With SEA 1, many schools in this state have been put into a very difficult situation. I think it is prudent to get back on the right track and show that we can do so responsibly. If we were the only district looking to get a referendum passed, it would be easy to say we are not doing that, but I think two things show differently. First, there are over 30 school districts seeking to pass a ballot measure and many more that will struggle with the decision in the next few years. Second, when we allowed the 2015 referendum to expire without seeking another one, we showed that we were only going to take what we truly needed to run this district because that was our commitment to our voters. If this ballot measure passes, the 2019 referendum will be zeroed out and we will once again just have the single referendum. We understand that strong schools are important for a vibrant community. Wayne Township is not a community with massive businesses to help carry it. As a school district, Wayne Township must be a strong presence with our community, our families, our educators and staff, and our students. This is how we continue in that way.

Raimeka Graham, At-large

Raimeka Graham is running as a Democrat.

She is principal of Deer Run Elementary School in Pike Township and is a past president of the Wayne Township school board. She was appointed to the Wayne Township board in 2020.

Mirror Indy attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Graham did not respond to multiple requests to complete the candidate survey.

Benjamin Wakefield, At-large

Benjamin Wakefield, 42, is running with no party affiliation.

He is the lead pastor of Lynhurst Baptist Church and a past president of the Wayne Township school board. He was first elected to the board in 2018 and is seeking his third term.

Wakefield has three children attending Wayne Township schools.

Wakefield answered questions about his vision for the Wayne Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Strong schools: Ensure every school has the resources needed to provide an excellent education. Supported teachers: Give teachers the tools, support and respect they need to help students thrive. Successful students: Help every student discover their strengths and graduate prepared for the future.

Wayne school board candidate, Benjamin Wakefield.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue is meeting the diverse needs of our students while ensuring every school has the opportunity to thrive. My approach is to listen first, collaborate with educators and families, make data-informed decisions, and keep students at the center of every decision.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe our district is already doing many things well. My focus is helping students become lifelong learners by strengthening critical thinking, technology, and career readiness while continuing to value the arts, skilled trades, and the well-rounded education that prepares students for life.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

I recognize that costs are rising for families and for our schools. We must be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, balancing resources wisely while ensuring students have what they need to succeed. Great schools carefully manage every dollar and advocate for the investments that make a lasting difference for students.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision-making?

I believe the best decisions are made by listening first. I’ll seek input from students, families, educators, staff and our community, because every perspective matters. Their feedback will be an important part of my decision making, along with data and a commitment to always put students first.

Do you support the district’s effort to pursue a continuation of its operating referendum at a rate not to exceed 70 cents? Why or why not?

Yes. I support continuing the operating referendum because our students deserve well-funded schools. At the same time, I recognize the financial pressures facing families, so we must be transparent, accountable, and thoughtful stewards of every taxpayer dollar while ensuring our schools have the resources they need to succeed.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.

Perry Township school board voter guide 2026: Meet the 3 candidates

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Three of seven school board seats are up for election this November at Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, a district of around 16,000 students located on the south side of Indianapolis.

Just three candidates are running for those open seats. Incumbents Lee Shively and Chris Lewis are running for re-election, while newcomer Brianna Bible is running for a seat currently held by Hre Mang, who is not seeking re-election.

In the last election in 2024, there were just two candidates running for four seats, in addition to one write-in candidate. One incumbent held his seat as outlined by Indiana law when there aren’t enough candidates.

Over the last two years, Perry students have improved their proficiency on the IREAD, the state third grade reading test. The district also has recently been recognized for its work on English instruction for English language learner students, who represent nearly one-third of the student population.

The next Perry board will oversee the construction of a new, grant-funded building on the University of Indianapolis campus to provide more career education opportunities for district students.

The district passed a $154 million operating referendum in 2022.

Who votes and how to vote

Perry’s school board is made up of at-large seats, meaning all voters can vote for any candidate. Each Perry board member is elected to a 4-year term.

Early voting begins Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 1 at the Perry Township Government Center, 4925 Shelby St. #400, Indianapolis. Additionally, early voting is available at the Indianapolis City-County building, 200 E. Washington St., Indianapolis, from Oct. 6 to Nov. 2.

Voter registration information can be found at the Secretary of State’s website. Voters must register by Oct. 5 to vote Nov. 3.

Marion County voters can find their polling place here.

Meet the candidates

Shively, Bible, and Lewis each filled out our referendum guide questionnaire. Their answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Brianna Bible, at-large candidate

Democrat Brianna Bible, 42, is a step-up housing navigator, working to secure housing for individuals leaving incarceration. She also founded Impact Her Behavioral and Mental Health Services, which supports girls and women with mental and physical health needs. She is a Perry parent and community member. Her campaign can be found on Facebook.

Perry Township school board candidate, Brianna Bible.

List your top 3 priorities if elected.

Strengthen student achievement through high-quality academics and individualized support.
Support the whole child by expanding access to mental health resources, counseling, and community partnerships.
Build trust through transparency and collaboration by engaging families, educators, students, and community stakeholders in meaningful dialogue.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

One of the most pressing issues facing Perry Township is ensuring every student has the support they need to succeed both academically and personally. Many students face challenges outside the classroom, including mental health concerns, food insecurity, housing instability, and family hardships. These challenges directly impact learning.

My approach will be to use my expertise in community engagement and outreach to strengthen partnerships between our schools, families, community organizations, and local government so students have access to the resources they need. I also believe in listening to educators, using data to inform decisions, and ensuring district resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe Perry Township should continue strengthening literacy and career readiness while ensuring students receive the individualized support they need to succeed.

Strong reading skills are the foundation for success in every subject. At the same time, students should graduate prepared for college, careers, military service, or skilled trades. Expanding career exploration, workforce partnerships, and real-world learning opportunities will help prepare every student for life after graduation.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

Taxpayer dollars should be managed responsibly, transparently, and strategically. My approach is to prioritize classroom instruction, student services, and teacher support while carefully evaluating spending decisions.

I also believe the district should actively pursue grants, partnerships, and other funding opportunities to maximize resources without placing unnecessary financial burdens on taxpayers.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

Community engagement is ongoing, not limited to election season. I plan to attend school events, hold listening sessions, communicate regularly through social media and community meetings, and remain accessible to families, staff, and students.

Feedback is essential. While school board members must make decisions that serve the entire district, those decisions should be informed by listening respectfully to diverse perspectives and considering what is in the best interest of all students.

What would you like to see the district do to attract and retain teachers and staff?

Teachers and staff deserve to feel valued, respected, and supported. I would like to see continued investment in competitive compensation, diversity, professional development, mentorship opportunities, wellness resources, and safe working environments.

Equally important is ensuring educators have a meaningful voice in district decisions. When teachers feel heard and supported, students benefit.

Lee Shively, at-large candidate

Independent Lee Shively, 42, is a teacher at Beech Grove schools, as well as an alum of Perry schools, parent to 4th-generation Perry students, and a current board member.

Perry Township school board candidate, Lee Shively.

List your top 3 priorities if elected.

1. Maintain competitive compensation levels.

2. Develop K-12 articulation for innovation and entrepreneurship.

3. Maintain fiscal responsibility that provides ample opportunities to our students while also respecting the budgets of Perry Township taxpayers.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Even though Perry Township has maintained a fiscally responsible outlook since I first joined the board (fall 2019), the passage of SB 1 last year has made school funding, at best, complicated for both Perry Township and every public school system across the state of Indiana. In order to continue to offer the best possible education to Perry Township students, we need to maintain competitive compensation levels to maintain and attract talented educators. I have every confidence in the people who create, monitor and maintain our budget but will be sure to regularly attend Finance Committee Meetings and check in to see the extent to which the aforementioned goal is realistic to maintain.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I look forward to building a robust program as part of our recently announced partnership with UIndy to build an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (thanks to generous support from the Lilly Endowment). Even though that is a high school specific program, I know innovation and entrepreneurship is not something that starts when students show up at PMHS/SHS and will want to see how we can make those priorities a K-12 focus. Knowing the world into which our students are graduating, innovation and entrepreneurship are probably the two most important skills we can develop in our students from the earliest age possible.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

As mentioned, I have every confidence in the people who create, monitor and maintain our budget but will continue my commitment to attend Finance Committee Meetings to ensure we’re walking the walk of fiscal responsibility.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

This shouldn’t be terribly difficult in my mind since, as a parent, I am regularly attending and/or volunteering at many school related activities. While I welcome interactions with community members in those scenarios I would also continue to ask all stakeholders (students and staff) to feel welcome to attend a school board meeting and make public comment. As I often share with people who brave the podium at a meeting, we can’t help make change on issues or concerns we don’t know about!

What would you like to see the district do to attract and retain teachers and staff?

See above answer related to compensation.

Chris Lewis, at-large candidate

Republican Chris Lewis, 49, is a Perry parent and current board member. He is an analyst at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. His campaign can be found on Facebook.

Perry Township school board candidate, Chris Lewis.

List your top 3 priorities if elected.

Student achievement
School funding and teacher salaries
Updating and maintaining facilities.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

I believe the most pressing issue facing the district in the near future will be school funding. My approach will be to ensure the funding available is being prudently spent for the needs versus the wants the district is requesting.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I trust district leaders, principals, and teachers are constantly collecting data to identify and address student needs.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

With the passing of SEA 1 in 2025, schools are going to have to do more with less. It will be important that available funding is going towards items that are going to make teachers and students successful.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I believe the best way to engage with the community is to attend community events. I love talking to community members and listening to their concerns and suggestions for making Perry Township schools better.

What would you like to see the district do to attract and retain teachers and staff?

As a member of the board, I would like to help and work with administrators to find ways to provide teachers with the tools and resources necessary to educate our diverse population and help see to it that Perry Township Schools continue to offer competitive salaries for teachers.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Warren Township school board voter guide 2026: Meet the 6 candidates

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy, and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Three school board seats are up for election this year in Warren Township.

The district of about 11,500 students stretches across Indianapolis’ far east side.

Warren Township leaders this year are gearing up for a major effort to move fifth-grade students, currently placed in intermediate buildings, back to the elementary schools. Some students’ elementary school building assignments could change as a result. The transition is expected to take place in time for the start of the 2027-28 school year.

Candidates reached by Mirror Indy say they support the change and want to provide students with the resources they need to have a smooth transition.

Candidates elected this year will take their seats in January and serve four-year terms ending in December 2030.

6 candidates vie for 3 seats

Six candidates are running for seats on the Warren Township school board.

Three current board members will run to keep their seats. Three challengers are also running.

Five candidates, Terri Amos, Rachel Burke, Jerry Crites, Samantha Douglas, and Kevin Humphrey Sr., did not declare an affiliation with a political party. Steve Tutsie, a challenger, is running as an independent. This is the first year candidates in Indiana could declare a party affiliation when filing to run for a school board seat.

All three positions on Warren Township school district ballots this fall are at-large seats. That means district residents can choose candidates for all the board openings regardless of where they live within the school district.

Election Day is Nov. 3. In-person early voting begins Oct. 6 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. Additional early voting centers open across the city Oct. 24.

You must be registered to vote by Oct. 5. You can check your voter registration status and find the polling location closest to you by visiting indianavoters.in.gov.

Terri Amos, At-large

Terri Amos, 55, is running without a party affiliation.

Amos serves as president of the Warren Township board. She was first elected to the board in 2014 and is running this fall for what would be her fourth term.

Amos is a teacher in another school district. Her three children attended Warren Township schools for kindergarten through 12th grade and are now graduates.

Amos answered questions about her vision for the Warren Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Warren township school board candidate, Terri Amos.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

As a school board member, I would advocate for increased state funding by working with state legislators and collaborating with other school districts to push for a more equitable funding formula. I would prioritize responsible budgeting to ensure teacher salaries remain as competitive as possible, helping our district attract and retain high-quality educators. I also believe in being transparent with the community about the district’s financial challenges, and explaining why referendums may be necessary to maintain strong academic programs, safe facilities and student services. By focusing on fiscal responsibility, advocacy and open communication, I would work to ensure Warren Township schools have the resources needed to provide every student with a high-quality education.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

One of the most pressing issues currently facing Warren Township schools is the challenge of inadequate state funding. As the cost of educating students continues to rise, many school districts are struggling to provide competitive teacher salaries, maintain programs, and meet the diverse needs of their students. Low teacher pay makes it difficult to recruit and retain high-quality educators, placing additional strain on schools. At the same time, many districts have been forced to seek voter approval through referendums to secure the funding needed for essential operations and improvements. These financial challenges highlight the need for more sustainable and equitable state funding to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education without placing an increasing burden on local taxpayers.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

Warren Township schools have made steady progress in student achievement over the past three years. IREAD scores have continued to improve, with more than 83% of third-grade students passing the assessment. This success reflects the district’s commitment to strengthening early literacy skills and supporting student learning. While celebrating these gains, the district is now focused on improving ILEARN math scores. As a school board member, I would support evidence-based instructional practices, provide teachers with the resources and professional development they need, and monitor student achievement data to ensure we continue making progress in mathematics while maintaining our success in reading.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

As a school board member, I would approach district finances with a focus on transparency, accountability and long-term planning. I believe every dollar should be spent wisely to maximize student learning while being respectful of taxpayers. I would carefully review the district’s budget, prioritize funding for classroom instruction, student support services, and competitive teacher salaries, and look for opportunities to improve efficiency without sacrificing educational quality. I would also work to build community trust by clearly communicating financial decisions, and ensuring that any requests for additional funding, such as referendums, are supported by a demonstrated need and a clear plan for how the funds will benefit students.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

As a school board member, I believe strong community engagement is essential to the success of our schools. I would make it a priority to be visible and approachable by attending school events, community meetings, and district activities, while listening to the concerns and ideas of parents, students, teachers, and community members. I would encourage open communication by providing regular updates on board decisions, and being transparent about district goals and challenges. By building relationships, seeking feedback and ensuring every voice is heard, I hope to strengthen the partnership between our schools and the community and make decisions that reflect the needs and priorities of Warren Township families.

The district anticipates moving fifth graders back into elementary schools by fall 2027. What do you believe is needed to ensure a smooth transition? As a board member, how would you help?

As a school board member, I would support a thoughtful and well-planned transition as Warren Township moves fifth-grade students back to the elementary schools. A successful transition will require clear communication with families, staff and students, careful planning for staffing and classroom space, and ensuring each school has the resources needed to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of fifth graders. I also believe it is important to create a unique experience for our fifth-grade scholars by providing leadership opportunities, age-appropriate extracurricular activities, and programs that prepare them for middle school. By working collaboratively with district leaders, teachers and families, I would help ensure this transition is a positive experience that supports student growth, strengthens school communities, and sets our scholars up for future success.

Rachel Burke, At-large

Rachel Burke did not declare a party affiliation.

Burke is a past secretary, vice president, and president of the board seeking her fourth term.

She was born and raised in Warren Township, attending Warren Central, Heather Hills, Lakeside, and Stonybrook schools.

She is a mom to three children who have attended the district. She has volunteered with robotics and Science Olympiad teams as well as school parent-teacher council groups.

In June, Burke was elected as the National PTA’s vice president of advocacy. You can learn more about her by visiting her campaign website.

Mirror Indy attempted to reach every candidate in this district. Burke did not respond to multiple emailed requests to complete the candidate survey.

Jerry Crites, At-large

Jerry Crites, 62, did not declare a party affiliation. Crites is a retired facilities director for Warren Township schools. He doesn’t have students currently enrolled in the district. He is running for what would be his first term on the school board.

Crites answered questions about his vision for the Warren Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Warren township school board candidate, Jerry Crites.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Improve student outcomes: Raise test scores and strengthen the curriculum through targeted instruction, tutoring/intervention, and clear progress monitoring.

Support and retain staff: Offer competitive salaries and professional incentives for both certified and classified personnel to attract and keep high-quality employees.

Evaluate and upgrade facilities: Conduct a thorough facility review and prioritize repairs, safety upgrades, and learning-space improvements based on need.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

One of the most pressing issues facing our district right now is the impact of federal cutbacks on feeding programs and the broader safety net that supports kids outside of the school day. As a board member, my approach would be to safeguard these programs in our own budget priorities, build stronger partnerships with local food banks and nonprofits to help close the gap, and advocate at the state and federal level for their continued support. A child who is hungry cannot focus on learning, so protecting these programs means protecting our ability to educate every child in this district.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe the district needs to prioritize technology and digital literacy, ensuring students build real skills in areas like coding, data literacy, and responsible use of emerging tools like artificial intelligence — not just access to devices. In a rapidly changing job market, this is essential for preparing every student for future success, and it’s especially important for closing equity gaps for students who may have less exposure to technology outside of school.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

My approach will be to work collaboratively with the board and chief financial officer to make responsible, transparent budget decisions — reviewing spending, identifying efficiencies, and maintaining accountability to taxpayers. Above all, every financial decision should keep students and the quality of their education first.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I will make myself accessible by responding directly to those who attend board meetings and by making sure my contact information is available through the district website for anyone unable to attend or who needs to reach me at another time. I also plan to attend community events to stay connected and support the district, and I will remain open and available to answer questions at any time. Community feedback will play a real role in my decision making, since the board’s decisions should ultimately reflect the needs and voices of the families we serve.

I believe a thorough evaluation of facilities is needed to ensure our elementary schools have adequate classroom space and capacity to support this change. As a board member, I would meet regularly with district officials to track construction and renovation progress, ensure timelines stay on schedule, and make sure teachers and staff have the training and resources needed to support fifth graders in a new setting.

Samantha Douglas, At-large

Samantha Douglas, 36, did not declare a party affiliation.

Douglas is a community advocate and president of the Far Eastside Community Council. She is running for what would be her first term on the Warren Township school board.

Douglas is a mom to a fourth grader at Brookview Elementary School, an eighth grader at Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School, and a junior at Warren Central High School. Her oldest graduated from Warren Central in the spring.

You can learn more about Douglas by visiting her campaign website.

Douglas answered questions about her vision for the Warren Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Warren township school board candidate, Samantha Douglas.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Strengthening school and community connections. Schools should be the heart of our communities. They should be community hubs where students, families and neighbors can find not only a quality education, but the resources, relationships and support that help everyone thrive. I’ll build stronger partnerships between our schools, families, nonprofits, businesses and neighborhood organizations so students have the support they need both inside and outside the classroom. I’ve spent 10 years cultivating relationships that continue to help build a better community. I want to bring those relationships to Warren.

Supporting the whole student. Student success goes beyond academics. I’ll advocate for policies that strengthen families, support teachers and staff, increase parent engagement, and ensure every student has the opportunity to thrive. Schools are so much more than ABCs & 123s, and I want to help build more opportunities for our kids to be successful inside and outside of the classroom.

Leading with collaboration and accountability. I’ll bring thoughtful, transparent leadership that values collaboration, uses data to guide decisions and prepares Warren Township schools for the changing future of education. I want all our families, students and staff to feel like they are a part of what’s happening at Warren schools and that they’re being represented well.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

I believe the most pressing issue facing Warren Township schools is ensuring we remain the first choice for families. Warren has long been known as the “Pride of the Eastside,” and we should live up to that reputation by offering an exceptional educational experience that prepares every student for success. Rather than focusing on competing out of fear, we should focus on being so innovative, supportive, and connected to our community that families choose Warren because it’s the best place for their children to learn, grow and thrive.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

It’s difficult for me to choose just one academic area because every year Warren serves nearly 12,000 unique students, each with different strengths, goals, and needs. My priority is ensuring every student has access to the academic support and opportunities they need to succeed. That means maintaining strong literacy and math instruction, while also investing in STEM, the arts, career and technical education, and other pathways that prepare students for whatever future they choose. Success isn’t about one subject. It’s about helping every student reach their full potential.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

I believe every financial decision should begin with one question: How does this improve outcomes for students? My approach would be grounded in transparency, fiscal responsibility, and long-term planning, while recognizing that we can’t simply cut our way to excellence. We should be thoughtful stewards of taxpayer dollars, invest strategically in what helps students and educators succeed, and seek partnerships that expand opportunities without placing unnecessary burdens on families.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

At the most basic level, I am elected to represent this community. That means listening first and ensuring my decisions are informed by the perspectives, values and priorities of the families I serve. I also recognize that effective representation requires transparency and communication. My goal is to provide information, access and education that helps residents understand the issues before the board so they can engage in meaningful dialogue. While I won’t always be able to make every decision everyone agrees with, I will always strive to make decisions with the community, not just for the community.

I support this transition because I believe decisions like this should always be guided by what’s best for students. A smooth transition will require thoughtful planning, clear communication with families, well-prepared staff, and ensuring our elementary schools have the space, resources, and programming needed to support fifth graders. As a board member, I will ask thoughtful questions, listen to the experiences of families and educators throughout the process, and ensure the district has the resources and accountability necessary for a successful implementation. Change is most successful when the people it impacts feel informed, supported and heard.

Kevin Humphrey Sr., At-large

Kevin Humphrey Sr., 64, is running without a party affiliation.

Humphrey served in the U.S. Marine Corps. and is a retired postal worker. He serves as vice president of the Warren Township board. He was first elected in 2022 and is seeking his second term this fall.

Humphrey is a longtime volunteer in youth sports. Children in his family attend the Warren Early Childhood Center, Grassy Creek Elementary School, and Creston Intermediate Middle School.

Humphrey Sr. answered questions about his vision for the Warren Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Warren township school board candidate, Kevin Humphrey.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Continue academic growth, increasing teachers’ salary, and increasing ADM. (ADM stands for average daily membership, a term used in education to refer to a school’s student enrollment count.)

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The new budget cuts. Must work with legislators to reevaluate things.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

It’s a matter of policy changes. New regulations and changes in policy keep moving the goal post.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

To stay fiscally disciplined.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

In every way possible. The voice of the community is key to our decision making.

The space is being added to accommodate another grade. For the students, it’s just a matter of another year in their buildings. For some teachers, it will be transitioning to a new building. As a board, we will give the teachers all the support they need.

Steve Tutsie, At-large

Steve Tutsie, 60, is running as an independent candidate.

If elected, Tutsie would serve his first term on the Warren Township board. He is an assistant head football coach at Marian University and held multiple stints coaching at Warren Central, including the 2006 state-championship-winning Warrior team.

He does not have family currently attending Warren Township schools. You can learn more about Tutsie on his Facebook page.

Tutsie answered questions about his vision for the Warren Township school board in a short candidate survey. Responses have been lightly edited for grammatical purposes.

Warren township school board candidate, Steve Tutsie.

List your top three priorities, if elected.

Student achievement, student retention and recruitment, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

What do you see as the most pressing issue currently facing the district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

Student retention and recruitment at our middle schools. Sending fifth graders back to the elementaries in 2027 is one vital strategy. Another critical component that needs to be explored is establishing paths for student success.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

This needs to be addressed from three different lenses. Regarding the elementaries, continue the upswing in reading and math scores. The middle school strategy must focus on better identification of academic and extra curricular needs of each student. This will aid in retention. The high school focus must be the successful navigation of the new state graduation requirements.

Affordability and finances are top of mind for districts and voters. What will be your approach to district finances?

We must be responsible stewards of taxpayers’ dollars with accountability.

How will you engage with the community, if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I will be visible and present at as many school activities as possible. It is critical that you listen and encourage feedback. No one has better information than people with boots on the ground.

Engage with the teachers, parents and students affected by the transition. The best way to ensure a smooth transition is to anticipate and avoid possible pitfalls before they take place. That is where my experience as an educator for all three grade levels and 12 years of service for Warren Township schools will pay dividends.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.

Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township: School board election voter guide

2026-09-11T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana, Mirror Indy and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Two of the five school board seats are up for election in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township on the northeast side of Marion County.

The new board members will shepherd the district — which last year enrolled roughly 16,700 students — through its massive building improvement plan. They also will guide the district through any potential fiscal challenges incurred by the state’s recent property tax reforms. The district has never asked voters to increase property taxes through an operating referendum, and several of the candidates stress fiscal responsibility and transparency as among their top priorities.

The district’s pay for administrators, which according to self-reported data has been among the highest of Marion County’s 11 school districts in recent years, has been a point of contention recently among board members.

Who is running and how to vote

Two nonpartisan candidates are vying for one at-large seat, which is filled by voters throughout the entire district.

Another two nonpartisan candidates are competing for the District 2 seat, which encompasses the northeast corner of the district.

The new board members will serve through 2030.

Early voting begins Oct. 6. The general election is Nov. 3. You can find out how to register to vote in Marion County here, and you can find polling locations at https://vote.indy.gov/.

Candidate survey responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity.

Maria Bertram Cartagena, at-large candidate

Maria Bertram Cartagena, 49, is running as a nonpartisan for the at-large seat. She has a master’s degree in business administration and has children attending district schools.

Lawrence Township school board candidate Maria Bertram Cartanega.

Cartagena has previously worked as an engineer and owns a local business advising and capital investing company. She serves as a board member of the Lawrence Township School Foundation.

Her campaign website is https://www.mariabertramcartagena.com/.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

• Creating Opportunities: Empowering every student to flourish through strong schools and diverse academic pathways designed for long-term success.

• Family Engagement: Strengthening the partnership between our families and schools to ensure every child has the community support they need.

• Fiscal Transparency: I will insist on fiscally prudent budgets and make sure that we dedicate sufficient resources to improve classroom learning and student services.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

SB 1 & SB 518 Property tax relief results in reduced school district revenue.

I think my approach to addressing this issue is going to be to work side by side with the other board members and to bring to state legislators our concerns with these bills and the ways these bills are affecting our students and district in general. I will work with state legislators on both sides of the aisle to be of influence for our students. My approach is one of collaboration, with our students in mind.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

32% of the student demographic in MSD of Lawrence Township is of Hispanic origin. ESL is always going to be a challenge for our district. Although we focus on all our students and all levels of academic advancement and achievement, I think additional focus must be placed on our ESL students to help them be successful academically and pass the State exams. I do think we already do a great job helping those students with tutoring and extra support in each school. Our School Vision is “The district of destination where excellence empowers everyone to reach their full potential.”

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I would like to create one or more Parent Advocacy groups if elected. For example, I would like to create a forum in Spanish where parents of LT students feel welcome and can ask questions about the district. As another example, I would visit the communities where most of the Hispanics reside in our district to connect with them in that way since some of them lack transportation. Community feedback is something I will bring immediately to our Superintendent and other board members to be evaluated. I will value and consider all feedback.

Administrator pay has often been a point of contention between school board members. What are your thoughts on the amount the district spends on administrators, which includes principals and assistant principals, and how would you strengthen public trust in district administration?

Teachers, administrators, and staff are all important for student success. My parents were teachers first and later became administrators of their own school. They lived and breathed for the profession whether serving as teachers or administrators. I saw firsthand their sacrifice, their hard work, and how that reaped benefits in having great staff and amazing school workers that stood with them for 20+ years. My parents valued loyalty and hard work and because of that they incentivize the employees for it. Great administrators support and develop teachers and staff. If elected as a board member I will work with the other board members to show our community that we have the finances to support our administrators’ raises. Transparency is key at all levels. People need to know. If we don’t, then we need to provide reasons for not passing raises.

Jessica Dunn, at-large candidate

Jessica Dunn, 54, is running as a nonpartisan for the at-large seat. She has a bachelor of arts from Indiana University and a master’s degree from Butler University, and she has children attending district schools. She has served on the board since 2023.

Dunn is the director of English as a new language for Indianapolis Public Schools. Her campaign website is https://www.jessicadunn4msdlt.com/.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

My platform centers on three interconnected priorities:

First, driving academic achievement and investing in our educators. That starts with collaborating with the board and superintendent to set transparent, measurable goals. We must continue strengthening our graduation pathways while ensuring we recruit and retain top-tier teachers to lead our classrooms.

Lawrence Township school board candidate Jessica Dunn.

Second, delivering exceptional district programs through responsible fiscal management. I am committed to making sure taxpayer dollars are used efficiently, living within our means while expanding community partnerships, and maintaining robust before- and after-school programming for our families.

Third, supporting the safety, health and well-being, and culture of our schools. We will continue prioritizing safe physical environments, actively measuring the impact of our mental health support systems, and listening to our parents and staff through annual survey feedback to continuously improve school climate.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing our district is maintaining long-term financial stability and academic excellence in the face of reduced state educational funding.

My approach is to maintain strict fiduciary oversight so the district lives within its means.

(MSDLT) has done a phenomenal job of balancing the operational budget without asking homeowners for an operating referendum tax increase. I will continue to prioritize strategic budgeting, protect our classroom dollars, and ensure we maximize every state dollar before ever considering turning to our local taxpayers for additional funds.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

To drive real student achievement, our focus must center on growth at key transitions: building strong early literacy foundations and ensuring 9th-grade pathway completion.

Indiana’s updated accountability model aligns perfectly with this goal by looking beyond single test scores to evaluate continuous progress, attendance, and true post-secondary readiness. By equipping educators with early, data-driven interventions and broadening high school career pathways, we ensure no student falls through the cracks between kindergarten and graduation. With strong existing programs and continued investment in state-of-the-art facilities at the McKenzie Center for Innovation & Technology, MSDLT is primed to lead the way.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I view community engagement as an ongoing conversation. My role is to represent the people who place their trust in our school system, which requires proactive outreach to students, parents, teachers, district staff, and taxpayers.

Feedback from our stakeholders serves as the foundation for the board’s three primary responsibilities: maintaining strong fiscal accountability, shaping responsive district policies, and holding district leadership accountable to our shared goals. Before voting on major policy updates or financial decisions, I prioritize seeking out diverse perspectives, especially from those most directly impacted, so our school board reflects the community it serves.

When I first joined the school board, I questioned administrative compensation. But through my experience on the board, my perspective has evolved because I’ve seen the reality: you get what you pay for.

Our principals, assistant principals, and district leaders don’t work 40-hour weeks. They are in our buildings long before the first bell, navigating complex student needs, supporting teachers, and spending countless evenings and weekends managing athletics, fine arts, and community events. Compared to executive leadership roles in the private sector requiring similar hours and levels of responsibility, public school administrators earn far less; yet they hold the safety and academic future of thousands of children in their hands.

However, maintaining competitive pay requires maintaining public trust. We strengthen that trust by focusing on radical transparency. We must communicate clearly with taxpayers about how administrative oversight protects our more than $200 million operational budget, keeps our schools safe, and prevents costly operational mistakes; all while maintaining balanced budgets without asking property owners for an operating referendum.

Larry Brown, District 2 candidate

Larry Brown is running as a nonpartisan for the District 2 seat. He has a master’s in business administration from Indiana Wesleyan University, and has children in the district. He works as an implementation coordinator with Elevance Health.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

Lawrence Township school board candidate Larry Brown.

1. Student Attendance 2. Safety in school 3. Fiscal Transparency

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The biggest challenge facing our district is student attendance. When students are not in school, they miss valuable instruction, fall behind academically, and are less likely to reach their full potential. Improving attendance must be a priority because every day in the classroom matters.

As a school board member, I will support policies that focus on identifying and addressing the reasons students are absent. That means strengthening communication with parents, partnering with community organizations to help families overcome barriers such as transportation, health, or other challenges, and ensuring our schools are safe, welcoming, and engaging environments where students want to learn.

I also believe in using attendance data to identify trends, intervene early, and hold ourselves accountable for measurable improvement. The board’s role is to provide oversight, support effective strategies, and ensure resources are directed where they will have the greatest impact.

My goal is simple: remove barriers, build stronger partnerships with families, and help every student be present, engaged, and prepared for success.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I believe the district’s biggest academic priority should be improving literacy while closing the achievement gaps that exist across our schools. In an urban district, many students face challenges outside the classroom that can impact learning, but every child still deserves the opportunity to read, learn, and succeed at a high level.

I will support early literacy programs, targeted academic interventions, and resources that help students who are behind catch up. I also believe we must invest in our teachers by providing quality training and the tools they need to be successful in the classroom.

Academic success doesn’t happen by schools alone. We need strong partnerships with parents, community organizations, and local businesses to support students both inside and outside the classroom.

As a school board member, I will advocate for policies that use data to measure progress, invest resources where they are needed most, and hold the district accountable for improving student outcomes. Every student, regardless of their ZIP code or background, should graduate prepared for college, a career, or military service.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

If elected, I will make it a priority to be visible, accessible, and engaged throughout the Lawrence Township community—not just at board meetings. I plan to regularly attend school events, PTO meetings, neighborhood association meetings, faith-based gatherings, and community events to hear directly from students, parents, teachers, and residents.

I believe the best decisions are made when leaders listen first. Community feedback will play an important role in my decision-making by helping me better understand the needs, concerns, and ideas of those we serve. While I know every decision may not satisfy everyone, I will always be transparent about how and why decisions are made and ensure every voice is heard and respected.

As a school board member, I will be committed to building trust through consistent communication, visibility, and accountability. My goal is for the community to know they have a representative who is present, approachable, and committed to putting students first.

I understand that administrator compensation is an important issue for many taxpayers and families. My understanding is that Lawrence Township’s administrator salaries are generally comparable to those of similar school districts in our region. To attract and retain strong principals and district leaders, we must offer competitive compensation while also being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

I believe the focus should not be solely on how much administrators are paid, but on the value they bring to our schools and the results they produce. The board should ensure that compensation is tied to performance, accountability, and the district’s goals for student achievement and operational excellence.

To strengthen public trust, I will support greater transparency by clearly communicating how compensation decisions are made, how administrators are evaluated, and how district resources are being used to improve student outcomes. I believe trust is built through openness, accountability, and consistent communication. Taxpayers deserve to know that every dollar is being invested wisely, and I am committed to ensuring that district leadership remains focused on serving students, families, and the community.

Craig J. Willey, District 2 candidate

Craig J. Willey, 46, is running as a nonpartisan for the District 2 seat, and has children attending district schools. He serves as an associate dean and professor for the Indiana University Indianapolis School of Education.

Willey has a bachelor of arts in Spanish and a bachelor of arts in actuarial science from Butler University, as well as a doctorate in curriculum studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Lawrence Township school board candidate Craig Willey.

Please list your top 3 priorities if elected.

If elected, my priorities would be to 1) continue the work with families to maintain schools that are welcoming and help all kids thrive; 2) advocate for Lawrence schools and community, especially when it comes to educational policy; and 3) sustain Lawrence’s efforts to attract and retain exceptional educators and leaders.

What do you see as the most pressing issue facing your district? What will be your approach to addressing it?

The most pressing issue facing school districts today is making sure that there are adequate resources to support the programs and educators that students need to be successful. I would do this by carefully monitoring the implications of SEA 1 on school district budgets and explore solutions to any shortcomings that surface.

The other piece of this is making sure we teachers are properly supported to meet the student achievement standards set by local and state policy.

What area of academics do you think the district needs to focus on and why?

I am confident that the district will continue to lead in compliance with respect to reading and foundational mathematics instruction, as well as providing robust opportunities for STEM learning and career and technical education.

We also must continue to provide focused services for multilingual learners and exceptional learners. This combination of focusing on foundational skills while continuing to update programming to be future-ready will ensure that Lawrence graduates continue to lead in the community and beyond.

How will you engage with the community if elected? What role will their feedback have in your decision making?

I am a person who is available and accessible. I would invite community members to weigh in on the issues facing MSDLT. It is important to me to bring this feedback forward when considering solutions to the challenges that come up.

Because of my decades of experience as a teacher and collaborator with school districts, I understand the roles administrators play in leading successful school districts. Attracting and retaining leaders that help keep MSDLT functioning at the highest level is crucial, and this involves appropriate compensation. At the same time, our students deserve the best teachers in front of them on a daily basis.

It is no secret that teachers give endlessly of themselves for our students, and they deserve to be properly compensated and supported. Teacher retention matters. We can do both in MSDLT: pay administrators competitively and provide teachers what they need and deserve.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Irvington data center poses health concerns for school community — and could also impact enrollment

2026-09-10T20:44:30+00:00

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It’s quiet in the back yard of Irvington Community Elementary School, which sits along the Pennsy Trail on the east side of Indianapolis.

Inside, students are writing in notebooks — a break from screens in an effort to limit technology instruction. Yet hundreds of feet away, a digital infrastructure company hopes to build a controversial data center that the close-knit Irvington community is now fighting in court.

The charter school is in the crosshairs of a data center battle being fought in neighborhoods across the country. In Irvington, residents have voiced concern over the potential noise from the maximum 31 generators that the DC Blox company is proposing for its two-building, $2 billion data center. They’re also worried about construction kicking up potential contaminants from the property, once home to a Ford Motor Company car manufacturing plant.

School leaders have echoed these concerns and worry about the impact on students. The proposed facility also comes at an already challenging time for one of the city’s oldest charter schools, risking student enrollment as public schools statewide grapple with a decline in students and increasingly tight budgets.

Irvington Community Elementary in Indianapolis sits just north of the proposed DC Blox data center. According to a lawsuit challenging the project, the proposed data center campus would be about 850 feet from the school.

While families may be deterred from enrolling their children hundreds of feet from a data center, school leaders are focused on keeping the roughly 300 elementary students safe. The school is one of several plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last month to stop the data center.

DC Blox did not respond to requests for comment.

“The fears about it from the general public are a given,” said charter network CEO Rachel Maldonado, of the proposed data center’s proximity to the school. “We don’t have enough research. And that’s, I think, the biggest issue.”

Commitments aren’t enough to quell concerns from school

The site at 305 Fintail Drive — which the lawsuit states is 850 feet from the school — is now classified as a brownfield, a designation given to many former industrial sites that could contain hazardous substances.

Activities on the former Ford site included coal storage, hazardous waste storage, wastewater treatment, and wastewater sludge burning, and some contaminants remain in the soil and groundwater, according to documents filed with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM). The school opened next door about a decade before Ford ceased operations.

The data center won approval from the Metropolitan Development Commission just before the city enacted a moratorium on new data center applications through 2027, as the city crafts zoning regulations for these facilities. That leaves the DC Blox site as one of three that could continue as approved.The company plans to complete construction on the first building within two years.

DC Blox must test for or mitigate any contaminants in the air through a vapor mitigation system. The site must also include a two-foot soil and vegetative barrier in areas not occupied by buildings, parking lots, or sidewalks.

The company has listed a set of binding commitments, in accordance with state law — including the requirement to share generator testing schedules with the school. A sound study must show that sound levels at the edge of the data center campus do not exceed 65 decibels, which is roughly the level of a normal conversation or a business office.

Across the country, thousands of schools are less than a mile from an existing or future data center, according to an analysis reported by the 74 Million. Yet research on the effects on students is limited.

“We have kids that have asthma, and we have kids that have health conditions,” Maldonado said of the potential for soil contaminants to enter the school’s ventilation system. “We don’t know what the impacts of that would be yet.”

Past construction on the former Ford site was already enough to kick up dust toward the elementary school, documents show. In 2022, the principal reported that concrete demolition placed a dust film on staff cars, according to an incident report filed with IDEM.

School leaders visited a DC Blox center in Atlanta earlier this year, but that did not quell concerns.

Irvington Community Elementary, one of the city's oldest charter schools, is one of multiple plaintiffs in a lawsuit to stop the DC Blox data center.

Maldonado could hear the hum of the generator kick on from 700 feet away, she said, and the construction noise was loud enough to “potentially prohibit a conducive learning environment.”

“We’re only getting a snapshot,” Maldonado said. “And we’re getting the snapshot that they want us to see.”

Data center makes financial struggles even harder

As community members launch fundraising efforts for the legal battle against the data center, Irvington Community Schools faces a financial challenge of its own.

The network, which consists of three schools at locations throughout Irvington, ended with a $2.85 million deficit last school year due to declining enrollment, Maldonado said at a board meeting last month.

This year, the network also struggles to meet its projected enrollment of 817.

In response, the network has launched a three-pronged sustainability plan, including cutting programs like prekindergarten and their staffs, and seeking alternative sources of funding like grants.

But the backdrop of a data center could make increasing enrollment even harder.

Katie Welch, principal of Irvington Community Elementary in Indianapolis. Welch said parents have expressed concerns about the impact of a data center slated to be built near the school.

“I don’t know that the data center is hindering,” Maldonado said of DC Blox’s impact on enrollment. “But long term, it’s not helping.”

Principal Katie Welch has heard concerns from parents and staff about dust and noise.

“They have questions,” she said. “How will this impact learning? Will it impact my students’ health? They just want some answers.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Voter guide 2026: Meet the 15 candidates vying for 5 seats on the Indianapolis Public Schools board

2026-09-10T11:00:00+00:00

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This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana and WFYI as part of a collaboration ahead of the 2026 school board elections.

Update, Sept 11: This guide was updated to reflect that Lindsey Cornett is now on the ballot for IPS school board and not a write-in candidate.

The majority of seats on the Indianapolis Public Schools Board of School Commissioners are on the November ballot in the first election since the creation of a new board appointed by the mayor to manage key aspects of city schools.

The election is the first for partisan school board candidates, which led to one IPS candidate being removed from the ballot, but then added back.

Fifteen candidates are vying for five seats on the seven-member school board. All five incumbents are seeking re-election.

While three seats - districts 3 and 5 and one At-Large - were regularly scheduled to be on the ballot this year, two more are also there due to resignations earlier this year. The District 2 and District 4 seats were filled with appointed members until the election.

IPS school board members oversee district policies, goal setting, and some financial decisions. They also hire and oversee the superintendent. The new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation or IPEC took over key responsibilities for IPS and charter schools in the city from school boards including managing school buildings and transportation and the ability to put a tax measure on the ballot.

The outcome of the November tax measure, or referendum, will also determine potential budget cuts. Officials have estimated that the district will need to make around $20 million in cuts even if the tax measure passes.

Also new this year is the option for school board candidates to be partisan. A vast majority of IPS school board candidates are running as Democrats, a stark contrast to the rest of central Indiana and the state.

What to know before you vote for IPS school board

Voters living anywhere within IPS boundaries can vote for the one at-large seat on the ballot. For the four district seats, voters must live in that district to vote in the race.

Three of the districts on the ballot represent the northern half of the IPS district boundaries: District 5 to the west, District 3 in the central portion, and District 2 in the east. And District 4 represents the southwestern part of the school district.

The most crowded races are four candidates each in District 3 and for the at-large seat. There are three candidates in District 5 and two in District 2. District 4 has two candidates.

Chalkbeat and WFYI sent survey questions to each of the candidates to help voters learn more ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Chalkbeat and WFYI will host a candidate forum on Oct. 19 at the Indianapolis Public Library Central Branch, 40 E St Clair St. RSVP here.

How can I vote in school board elections?

School board elections are not included in straight ticket voting. Despite school board candidates now having the option to include a party affiliation, candidates of the same party can be running against each other.

Voter registration is underway and ends Oct. 5. Marion County residents can check their voter status and register to vote here.

Early voting begins Oct. 6 at the Indianapolis City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. Additional early voting sites open Oct. 24.

On Election Day Nov. 3, Marion County residents can vote at any of the county’s voting centers, which can be found online. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Update, Sept 14: Daqavise Winston’s photo was updated.

Contact WFYI Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Support tax increases for schools as the cost of living rises? Indiana voters face a tough choice.

2026-09-03T11:00:00+00:00

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Lindsay Bohney stares at her house’s property tax bill. There’s one figure she has trouble swallowing: roughly $4,000 for the school district.

That’s in addition to the roughly $18,800 she says she already pays in taxes to the district for the farmland in Lowell she co-owns with her mother.

As a fourth-generation Lowellian, she’s held on to her family’s farmland even as she’s watched the town’s agricultural spaces give way to new housing subdivisions, a data center, and — ironically enough — a future John Deere factory. Bohney, a single mom, works multiple jobs to make ends meet.

And if a proposed tax increase from the local Tri-Creek School Corporation passes, she estimates it will cost her nearly $4,000 more on her farmland alone. But if it doesn’t pass, Tri-Creek will eliminate school buses. Bohney would have to drive her daughter to and from school and lose about an hour of pay.

Lindsay Bohney, a fourth-generation farmer in Lowell, Indiana, hopes to keep her land in the family. But rising property taxes present an affordability problem. "I just want to preserve what my family has worked for generations," she said. "And I don't want it to end with me."

“I feel like it’s a lose-lose. Either maybe I can’t pay some bills because of it, and then what if I were to lose my house?” she said. “Or what if it doesn’t pass, and then the kids suffer anyway?”

She and her neighbors face a tough choice. They can vote to raise property taxes as they grapple with the rising cost of living. Or they can vote no, and cuts to student services will follow. And this year, voters in a record number of Indiana communities are facing essentially the same decision.

If Tri-Creek’s proposed tax increase fails, the district will also eliminate K-8 extracurricular activities next year — and cuts to high school sports could be next. In Gas City, the small Mississinewa Community School District also plans to eliminate bus services in 2027 if a ballot question fails. And thirty miles north of Lowell in Whiting, the school district estimates it will run out of money altogether by 2032 without a mix of cuts and voter-approved tax increases.

From now until the November election, school districts are trying to educate the public about state property tax reforms lawmakers approved this year that significantly reduce the local revenue available to schools. In order to compensate, districts say, voters must approve new local tax increases.

But getting voters on board will take more than yard signs, T-shirts, or pamphlets, said Andrew Larson, superintendent of the Tri-Central Community Schools in Sharpsville that is also seeking a property tax increase.

“It’s going to be individual conversations with people that live in these communities,” he said. “They need to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

It’s not an easy task: Lowell voters rejected a tax increase proposed by Tri-Creek schools in 2023. So did Whiting voters. And some say schools should have to make tough financial choices just like voters.

“The cost of living is affecting Hoosiers all across the state,” said Cody White, deputy state director for the Indiana chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group opposed to such tax increases. “It’s a real problem, and everyone’s tightening their belts.”

School districts battle mistrust, rising cost of living

The state property tax changes under State Enrolled Act 1, or SEA 1, ultimately aim to reduce the assessed value of land and reduce taxes.

The state already limits how much property can be taxed, and restricts how much the tax revenue can grow from the previous year.

Plus, Indiana’s strong school choice environment and an ongoing decline in student enrollment leave many districts scrambling to keep the students they have.

“When we lose enrollment, we lose money, and so the problem exacerbates,” Andy Anderson, Tri-Creek’s superintendent, said at an August town hall meeting on the tax measure, which would raise about 17 cents per $100 in assessed value. “It’s like the bottom will fall out.”

Elementary school students get off the school bus in front of their home in Lowell, Indiana, on Aug. 19. The Tri-Creek School Corporation encompasses a large area for school buses to cover, stretching across three townships and 179 square miles.

After voters rejected a tax increase in 2023, the roughly 3,300-student Tri-Creek district eliminated 10% of its staff — including 14 teachers and 10 classroom assistants.

“We are at a bare-bone minimum,” Anderson told Chalkbeat. “Our class sizes are near capacity or have exceeded capacity. There are really no other positions that we can eliminate to make up the nearly $3 million deficit that we need to maintain status quo.”

Bohney attended the town hall and listened to Anderson’s arguments. She still has questions about how the district spends money — did Tri-Creek need to issue new iPads this year, for instance?

“It’s a lot,” she said of the district’s funding. “We’re talking millions and millions and millions of dollars in multiple accounts. Where does it go?”

District leaders fear public education is being devalued

After a roof collapsed on the middle school side of Whiting Middle/High School in 2024, incoming Superintendent David Verta knew it was time for action.

The School City of Whiting’s three school buildings are over 100 years old and haven’t had major renovations in over 40 years, he said.

Whiting is making a particularly big bet: It’s the only district in the state asking for two tax increases, one for capital costs and one for operating expenses. But it will be a tall order: Like Lowell, Whiting voters also rejected a tax increase for operating costs in 2023.

“For some reason public education is not valued anymore, and I don’t know why,” he said. “We’ve been taking hit after hit after hit, slap after slap.”

Tri-Creek School Corporation Superintendent Andy Anderson talks with residents and the district's August town hall on a proposed tax increases. Anderson stresses that the district's financial challenges are due not to local mismanagement but changes in state law.

In Sharpsville, the Tri-Central district — which educates under 1,000 students — is eating into its reserves, Larson said. The district is also “hemorrhaging” students in part because of school choice.

“They’ve pitted school districts against one another because you can move around, so districts send buses into other (districts) to pick up kids,” he said.

Schools are also competing with other government entities looking for extra cash — including potential wheel taxes for roads in communities like Lowell.

And there will be organized resistance. Americans for Prosperity plans to train residents who want to actively oppose these tax measures.

School tax measure could hinge on social media

In Lowell, arguments over the referendum have proliferated on social media.

“It’s dividing people,” Bohney said. “No one can just have a healthy discussion.”

Local organizations that could help set the tone for debate haven’t so far. The Lowell Chamber of Commerce told Chalkbeat it won’t take a stance on the measure. Lowell’s town council is still weighing whether to support it.

Jason Sickinger, who owns a local jewelry store, understands the hesitation about giving the district more money.

“People always have this bad taste in their mouth about the way money is handled around here,” he said.

Some may be wondering why the district couldn’t use funding for its new buildings to save transportation, Sickinger said — although such a move is prohibited by state law.

Others may worry about administrative bloat. Yet Anderson said that even eliminating all the district’s administrators would still leave a deficit of over $2 million.

Still, Sickinger plans to vote yes. His son still has four years left in the district.

Andrea Blandford, a Tri-Creek bus driver for 13 years, is concerned about what will happen to the school district if the proposed tax increase doesn't pass in November.

Andrea Blandford, a bus driver for the Tri-Creek district, also owns 56 acres of farmland in Lowell. When the district proposed a tax increase in 2023, she did not vote. But this time, with her job on the line, she plans to vote in favor.

She’s worried the measure won’t pass.

“The state might just step in and see what the issues are, and hopefully they’ll figure something out if this referendum doesn’t pass,” she said. “I don’t know what other options there are.”

Correction: Sept. 11, 2026: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect Andrea Blandford’s voting history in the 2023 referendum for the Tri-Creek School Corporation.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Guide: What to know about the public schools tax referendum in Indianapolis

2026-09-02T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This November, Indianapolis voters will decide a question that’s make-or-break for the city’s public school district.

If the property tax referendum fails, it will likely mean deep cuts and state intervention at Indianapolis Public Schools. If it passes, $95 million annual revenue will be shared between IPS and many of the city’s charter schools.

This change is a result of new state laws that created the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation — which assumed IPS’ taxing powers — and require districts to share more property tax funding with charter schools. The referendum comes as more districts than ever are asking voters to approve tax increases to offset other changes in state law.

Leaders of both types of public schools say the referendum revenue is a critical source of funding for staff, programs, and transportation. The election holds particularly high stakes for IPS, which expects to make budget cuts in the next year even if the referendum passes, and could face state takeover if the referendum doesn’t pass.

But the laws that created IPEC and mandated sharing have been controversial. Critics of the referendum say it raises taxes without protecting district schools from cuts.

What does it mean for voters? Below is your guide of what to know before heading to the polls:

What is the referendum?

Generally, a referendum is a property tax increase that local voters approve to support schools.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation is asking for an operating referendum expected to generate around $95 million in annual revenue for staff and programming.

Why is IPEC asking for a referendum?

First, the district’s 2018 referendum expires this year. For IPS, this is a critical source of revenue that pays for staff and programs.

Other key state laws also affect the district’s financial picture.

In 2025, the state made sweeping changes to property taxes, limiting the future property tax revenue that districts could expect to raise.

Lawmakers also limited referendums to the general elections, when turnout is higher and referendums are less likely to pass. The time constraint is one reason there are more referendums this year than in years past, as districts whose referendums are set to expire in 2027 seek renewals.

One of the biggest sources of financial strain at the district is the cost of special education services, which the district is required by federal law to provide. Officials have estimated that the district has incurred a $24 million deficit from special education costs.

What will the money be used for?

Around $63 million of the funds will be used for programming, including programming for students with disabilities and those learning English, according to the spending plan submitted by IPEC.

The remaining $32 million will be used for staff retention and professional development.

IPEC is planning to launch a spending tracker for the money.

How much will it cost homeowners?

The referendum will cost homeowners 37 cents per $100 of the home’s assessed value. The ballot language approved by IPEC estimates that voters would pay around $221 more on their annual tax bill for a $150,000 home.

The referendum will last four years rather than the typical eight. The IPEC board decided that was enough time to stabilize the district’s finances and allow IPEC to begin operating a transportation system for the city, as well as a buildings plan.

Officials have also pointed out out that the language on the ballot — which is prescribed by state law — does not clearly articulate to taxpayers that their annual increase is likely to be less than $221. The statutory language does not take into account the rate that taxpayers are already paying that was imposed by IPS’ 2018 referendum.

According to a calculator on the district’s website, taking into account the 2018 referendum means an increase of around $100 for a typical homeowner in 2027.

What does the ballot language look like?

“Shall the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation increase property taxes paid to the Indianapolis Public Schools (“IPS”) and participating charter schools for no more than four (4) years for the purpose of funding teacher and staff retention, professional development, and advancing academic programs and opportunities by imposing a property tax rate that does not exceed $0.372 per $100 of assessed value and results in a maximum annual amount that does not exceed $95,000,000? If this operating referendum public question is approved by the voters, for a median residence of $150,000, the property’s annual property tax bill would increase by $221 per year.”

Is there a referendum right now?

IPS voters approved a referendum in 2018 and have been paying that rate of 19.6 cents per $100 of assessed property value ever since. That’s about $116 per year on an average $150,000 house.

The 2018 referendum expires this year and would be replaced by the 2026 referendum, if approved. The 2018 referendum was expected to raise $27.5 million annually for IPS, but raised around $40 million annually due to rising property values. The district shared a portion of this revenue with charter schools.

Who is asking for a referendum?

IPEC is an appointed board created this year by a new state law. It was given taxing powers, as well as oversight of buildings, buses, and accountability for IPS and Indianapolis charter schools.

The Yes for Indianapolis Public Education Campaign is campaigning for the referendum’s success. The campaign is funded privately and will be co-chaired by:

Diane Arnold, former IPS board president
Marianne Glick, chair of the Glick Foundation’s Board of Directors
Bart Peterson, former mayor of Indianapolis
William Shrewsberry, former deputy mayor of Indianapolis
Morgan Snyder, an IPS parent

The campaign also includes 10 advisory committee members who represent community groups around the city or have a connection to Indianapolis schools.

The Indianapolis Education Association voted against supporting the referendum because it would still require IPS to make cuts. The group has appealed to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett for a reallocation of the referendum revenue to keep IPS whole.

Which schools will get the referendum money?

The referendum revenue will be split between IPS and around 60 charter schools that enroll IPS students and have opted to participate.

IPS voluntarily shared referendum revenue with some charter schools before a 2023 law that mandated that districts in certain counties — including Marion — share operating referendum revenue.

Around half the revenue will go to IPS. The other half will be split among the charter schools based on the number of students that they enroll whose residence is within IPS boundaries, a formula specified in state law.

What happens if it passes?

IPS still expects to make around $20 million in cuts even if the referendum passes, which is on top of $24 million in cuts already made.

But Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said the referendum revenue would protect the district from drastic cuts and state intervention.

“It is absolutely necessary for our district’s financial survival,” Johnson said at a kickoff event for the referendum campaign.

The revenue will be spent largely on staff salaries and retention. A portion will also be spent on programming, especially for students with disabilities and those who are learning English.

At some charter schools, the funding will also support transportation — something charter advocates have long advocated for. But in other charter schools, it’s not publicly clear how the money will be spent.

What happens if it fails?

Without referendum revenue, IPS expects to need to make drastic cuts of around $40 to $45 million, leading to staffing freezes and program closures, and the possibility of state takeover, in which appointed managers would handle the district’s finances.

The failure of the referendum would have less of an impact on charter schools, which currently receive only a limited amount of property tax funds, and rely primarily on state tuition support and other grants earmarked for charter schools.

Where do I find out more?

Chalkbeat’s previous coverage includes stories about the IPEC meeting where the referendum was approved, support and opposition to the referendum, and how charter schools plan to spend their share of referendum revenue.

Community forums, such as this one from the African American Coalition of Indianapolis, have also featured IPS, IPEC, and charter school leaders discussing the referendum.

Both IPS and the Yes for Indianapolis Public Education campaign have information on their websites about the referendum.

Who can vote for the referendum and when?

Voters in Indianapolis Public Schools boundaries can vote on the referendum. Find your polling place here.

Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting is available at the Indianapolis City-County building from Oct. 6 to Nov. 2.

Voter registration information can be found at the Secretary of State’s website. Voters must register by Oct. 5, to vote in November.

Correction: This story has been updated to include the revised revenue amount for IPS’ 2018 referendum.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Why the Indianapolis teachers union opposes a proposed tax increase for city public schools

2026-08-28T19:18:09+00:00

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A who’s who of Indianapolis community and education leaders gathered Tuesday at the Shepherd Community Center for a campaign kickoff event in support of a tax referendum to raise money for the city’s public schools.

But the absence of Indianapolis Public Schools on the campaign signs at the event served as a reminder that this referendum is like no other.

For the first time, IPS is not in control of the push to ask voters for a tax increase to support schools. And unlike with past ballot measures, the district would receive just half of the expected $95 million in annual revenue.

The Indiana General Assembly gave taxing powers this year to the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC, a new school oversight body. If voters approve the tax increase proposed by IPEC in November, the revenue will be split between IPS and roughly 60 participating charters.

Should it pass, the referendum revenue would be enough to keep IPS from reaching a level of financial insolvency that could lead to state takeover, said Superintendent Aleesia Johnson. But even if it passes, IPS expects to make around $20 million in further cuts — a step that has spurred opposition to the measure, including from the Indianapolis Education Association. That unusual stance taken by the local teachers union could make it harder for the measure to pass.

Opponents like IEA say it’s unfair to ask voters for a tax increase while their neighborhood schools face cuts anyway.

“We’ve already seen one round of cuts that have hit classrooms and programs and it’s scary to know that we could be going through another set that could be even worse than the last,” said IEA Co-Vice President Monica Shellhamer. “It’s hard to support something and say you’re OK with being cut.”

According to the tax measure’s ballot language, the owner of an average Indy home worth $150,000 could expect to pay around $221 more per year in property taxes. The referendum would last for four years.

Opponents seek a reallocation of revenue

Opponents of the referendum hope to persuade IPEC to allocate more referendum funding for IPS in order to reduce the need for further budget cuts.

Shellhamer said one of the key arguments in favor of creating IPEC was that it would stabilize district finances.

“IEA wants to support a referendum that would positively affect the schools, I don’t think this one does,” said Shellhamer, whose union supported the 2018 referendum.

IEA has appealed to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office for help in convincing IPEC to change the allocation of the referendum. Hogsett appointed the members of IPEC.

Newly appointed IPEC Executive Director Karega Rausch said IPEC has not received a proposal to reallocate the funding. He said such a change wouldn’t be possible because the distribution formula is specified in state law and based on the number of students who live within IPS boundaries and attend each participating charter school.

“All we can do is follow what’s in state law,” he said.

But Rep. Ed DeLaney, a Democrat who represents Indianapolis, said a standard per-pupil allocation doesn’t make sense when the cost of educating every student isn’t equal.

To solve this, DeLaney said, IPEC could allot additional referendum revenue for every student who receives special education or transportation services, for example. That could benefit IPS, which educates a greater share of students with disabilities, and has a large deficit related to those services.

If the IPEC board believes its hands are tied, it could agree to “go back to the legislature for a more rational allocation,” DeLaney said.

“If every kid in every school is the same, then maybe this idea that you put your tuition in your backpack and walk into the school of your choice makes sense,” DeLaney said. “But not every kid is the same, and not every building is the same.”

Supporters: Tax measure would prevent deeper IPS cuts

Rausch said the actual average increase paid by homeowners would be less than what the ballot language says. That’s because the language doesn’t take into account that taxpayers are already paying for the tax increase for IPS voters approved in 2018.

The IPEC board approved the proposed referendum unanimously in June. The measure has the support of a number of community groups such as the Indy Chamber, and IPS leadership, even though district leaders had hoped for a higher tax increase to address budget woes.

The 2026 operating referendum “isn’t a luxury” but a necessity for the district’s financial survival, Johnson said Tuesday.

“If it were not to pass, I would expect there would be some additional state intervention or oversight of our district,” Johnson said. “We will have to continue to do further reductions even with the successful passage of this referendum, but ultimately we want the future of our district to be in the hands of our community.”

Speaking at the Vote Yes for Indianapolis Public Education kickoff event, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson praised the growing cooperation between school types that had led to more options for Indianapolis students than ever before. The referendum is a key next step in that process, he said, supporting transportation, buildings, and teachers at all schools.

“If we do all of those things, we will give real high-quality options to every single family,” Peterson said. “We’ve made great progress but we’re not there yet, and we’re going to go backwards if we don’t pass this referendum.”

Asked how $20 million in cuts would affect the quality of IPS-run schools, Peterson said he believed the district would determine how to make the reductions, and that every organization must manage its budget.

“This referendum will give them the opportunity to make the budget changes they need to make and also deliver the highest quality education,” he said.

The election is Nov. 3. Check your voter status and register to vote here.

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the full name of the Indianapolis Education Association, as well as Monica Shellhamer’s title with the IEA.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools reverses no-zero grading policy

2026-08-27T23:22:12+00:00

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Indianapolis Public School students can receive a zero on assignments again, but only if they make zero effort to complete them.

The IPS school board updated the district’s grading policy to remove the district’s no-zero grading policy for students in first through 12th grade in a unanimous vote on Thursday.

The change comes about six years after the no-zero policy was implemented and is largely due to teacher feedback, said Lela Simmons, IPS chief learning officer, during the school board’s agenda review session on Tuesday.

Now, students can receive a zero on an assignment if they make no attempt to complete it after getting multiple opportunities and support from the teacher. How that works is up to the teachers and will depend on the student and their grade level, Simmons said.

If students make a good faith effort, they will earn at least 50%, Simmons said. Anything 59% or lower is an F, while other letter grades are about 10 points each. For example, anything 90% or higher is an A and grades between 80% and 89% are a B. Earning at least 50% on an assignment makes it more likely students will pass the class.

She said the aim is to continue to give students opportunities to do better and try again.

The no-zero policy was approved in July 2020 and meant that the lowest score students could receive was 50%.

“The intention of that shift was because it is incredibly hard for students to come back from zeros in their grades,” Simmons said.

She said the change was also in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to students learning virtually and missing assignments for related reasons such as quarantine.

The policy had multiple critics, including some IPS staff and parents who said it was difficult to implement and to identify students who needed support. Simmons told the board that teachers said the change didn’t prepare students for college.

Based on that feedback, Simmons said the new policy is a “happy medium.”

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Former Tindley charter school network CEO, 2 others to pay nearly $1 million in restitution for fraud

2026-08-25T19:34:02+00:00

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The former CEO of the Tindley charter school network and two other individuals must pay nearly one million dollars in restitution to the school system after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

Brian Metcalf will also serve over a year in prison. His fraud began just months after the Tindley network consolidated its five Indianapolis schools into three in 2019 amid financial struggles and low enrollment. The network enrolled 1,000 students in the city last year.

The judgment against Metcalf in federal court last week ends a fraud case based on Metcalf’s time leading the charter network, as well as his time as a Chicago Public Schools principal and as an employee for the nonprofit City Year Chicago.

Federal prosecutors claimed Metcalf used his positions in these organizations to defraud them with the help of two other defendants, Kimberly Maddox and James Darnell Campbell. Campbell and Maddox submitted invoices for services that were never delivered, and in turn would give Metcalf a portion of the funds, prosecutors alleged.

Metcalf was CEO of Tindley from July 2019 to December 2022. The fraudulent activity concerning the charter network took place from October 2019 to August 2022, according to court documents. The grand jury indictment against Metcalf, Maddox, and Campbell was unsealed in December 2023.

Metcalf pleaded guilty to two of the nine counts of wire fraud counts against him. He admitted in a plea agreement last year that he used some of that money to pay his credit card bills, mortgage provider, car loan, a casino that hosted his family reunion, and a company that fixed his roof.

Maddox pleaded guilty to one of the four counts of wire fraud against her and was sentenced to two years in prison last month. Campbell also pleaded guilty to one of the five counts against him and was sentenced to a year and one day in prison.

An attorney for Metcalf declined to comment. An attorney for Campbell and Maddox also declined to comment.

The Tindley network is due a total of $939,800 in restitution.

Metcalf and Maddox must collectively pay $539,800 in restitution to the Tindley network. Metcalf and Campbell must collectively pay the network another $400,000, according to court documents.

Metcalf and Maddox must also collectively pay $88,500 to Chicago Public Schools and $70,900 to City Year.

Restitution is due immediately, according to a spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District Court of Illinois.

Tindley leaders did not respond to requests for comment on how it plans to spend the restitution.

Prior to leading the Tindley network in 2019, Metcalf served as an interim principal and later as a chief of schools in Chicago Public Schools, according to CPS. He was also the managing director of impact at City Year Chicago, according to court documents.

The Tindley network has since adopted new vendor policies and procedures, CFO Sandra Tresselt told Mayor Joe Hogsett’s charter school office in December 2024 as the charter for the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School was up for renewal.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

The Marion County Election Board took her off the ballot. Now, she’s challenging that decision in court.

2026-08-21T20:08:39+00:00

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Lindsey Cornett is asking the Marion Superior Court to put her back on the ballot for the Indianapolis Public Schools board of commissioners after she was removed for not meeting criteria to list her party affiliation. She’s also filed as a write-in candidate.

The Marion County Election Board voted to uphold a candidacy challenge against Cornett and remove her from the ballot on Aug. 10 because she wrote on her candidate forms that she’d voted in two Indiana Democratic primary elections when her voter records showed that wasn’t the case. Voting in primaries is one of two ways school board candidates can include a party affiliation on the ballot, something that’s new, but not required, this election.

The election board decided to remove Cornett from the ballot instead of only removing her party affiliation based on guidance from the Indiana Election Division and the bill author’s interpretation of state law. However, Cornett argues the law is being applied incorrectly.

Cornett was one of two candidates for IPS school board District 4, representing the southwestern part of the school district. Typically, the District 4 race wouldn’t be on the ballot until 2028, but former school board member Allissa Impink resigned earlier this year after winning the Democratic primary for State Senate District 46, prompting her IPS school board seat to be on the 2026 ballot. The winner will serve the remainder of Impink’s term.

Chris Bultman, who is currently the only District 4 candidate on the ballot, was appointed by the IPS school board to fill Impink’s seat between her resignation and the election. His party affiliation was also challenged, but the election board rejected it and kept him on the ballot as a Democrat.

Cornett’s petition for judicial review asks the court to examine the election board’s decision to both challenges. She argues that neither candidate should have been removed from the ballot, yet both didn’t meet the standards for including their party affiliations. The review asks for the court to agree, putting Cornett back on the ballot.

“I’m very hopeful about the judicial review process,” Cornett said, adding she’s determined to stay in the race to give voters choices.

Bultman said he trusts the election board’s decision, and his “focus now is representing Dist. 4 to my best ability.”

A ruling is expected no later than Sept. 11, according to court documents. And timing is tight: the first ballots are printed in mid-September. Cornett also filed as a write-in candidate and said she did so to “cover her bases.”

Write-in candidates are not listed on the ballot, and only those who filed will have their votes counted and certified, per the election board.

No other Marion County school boards have candidate challenges or write-in candidates. The deadline for both was noon today.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Work first, college degree later: Indiana wants students to consider a new postsecondary model

2026-08-20T11:00:00+00:00

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Driving a school bus allowed Carly Kendall to see her daughter off to school every day, while balancing her service in the National Guard.

But once her daughter was older, Kendall wanted to start a career. She found one via an apprenticeship program for veterans at First Merchants Bank that allowed her to leverage her military experience in HR. This month, Kendall was promoted to a role overseeing the bank’s apprenticeship programs, including a new one led by the Financial Services Academy that’s rolling out in 20 Indiana high schools this fall.

Kendall said banks are well-suited to guide students through apprenticeship pathways because they offer a variety of roles and departments, as well as room for growth.

“You expect that you’re going in there to deposit your checks and get money out,” said Kendall, who’s also pursuing associate and bachelor’s degrees. “With the apprenticeships, the goal is that they’ll see there are so many different opportunities.”

Training on the job is also the foundation of Indiana’s new vision for postsecondary education. The state’s goal is to help more students land high-paying jobs without debt in fields that are projecting workforce shortages, such as manufacturing and healthcare.

Instead of going directly to college, the state wants more students to immediately enter the workforce through apprenticeship and internship programs that they begin in high school. Their employers would not only pay to train those students for entry-level jobs, but also possibly for continuing education, like credentials or training that could lead to promotions. Degrees would come later — as a means of advancement, rather than a prerequisite for employment.

Indiana is considered a national leader in this approach, as more employers seek workers with specific skills and training, said Taylor White, director of postsecondary pathways for youth at New America’s Center on Education and Labor.

But the state’s vision requires buy-in from students, families, and employers. While there’s bipartisan support for apprenticeship, in practice, these models have struggled to attract the thousands of students they promise. And not every industry is prepared to hire students who don’t have college degrees.

Indiana officials think the state can do better. This school year, schools and employer associations will launch the first Indiana Career Apprenticeship Programs, or INCAP, to train high schoolers and adults for jobs in fields like banking, construction, and advanced manufacturing.

This launch dovetails with a new mission for Ivy Tech Community College that will focus on workforce development and growing more programs that are paid for by employers.

To support these initiatives, the state is also pursuing a new framework to ensure that students who get workforce training can go to college later — akin to passing a baton in a relay race, said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

“How can we ensure we’re not dropping as many batons as we’re dropping today?” Jenner said. “What does that handoff look like so that students can … be on a path that makes sense for them?”

First, help students graduate directly into the workforce

Since the state approved new graduation requirements in 2024, Indiana high schools have been ramping up programs that allow students to earn work experience.

INCAP adds to those offerings through paid two- and three-year apprenticeships in which students spend several days every week training on the job with an employer. The curriculum is developed by one of INCAP’s Industry Talent Associations, which are made up of businesses in fields like construction, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare.

“The big differentiator for these INCAP programs is that they are developed by industry, and so they are reflecting what Indiana employers say that they need today and think they’re going to need down the road,” said Claire Fiddian-Green, president and CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, which is funding and leading the development of INCAP.

Students who complete the INCAP high school pathway will earn the state’s new Employment Honors Plus seal on their diplomas, as well as the INCAP Apprenticeship Program credential

— which INCAP envisions as being transferable not just to other employers, but to state universities, much like advanced coursework.

In the banking pathway, high school apprentices will earn a retail banking certificate, allowing them to immediately compete for the same jobs that a recent college graduate is applying for, said Chris Fisher, CEO of the Financial Services Academy. (Kendall oversees INCAP at First Merchants Bank.)

After graduating high school, students can also stay in the INCAP pathway and earn a degree that’s equivalent to a four-year college degree, said Fiddian-Green.

These new degrees will derive their equivalency from the Indiana Qualifications Framework, a forthcoming system that will categorize every degree and credential program in the state into levels that show what skills students have.

The framework is Indiana’s answer to questions about how students who enter apprenticeships and career-training programs will get recognition for their skills from other employers, or transfer them to colleges and universities later.

“We want to make sure that we’re not creating a pathway where there are dead ends,” Fiddian-Green said.

Nationally, more employers are touting this kind of skills-based hiring, said White of New America.

In some industries like healthcare or advanced manufacturing, that’s relatively straightforward, White said. But in industries where skills are less technical, the transition has been less smooth.

“Companies say that’s a great idea, and we’re on board, but the data says they’re hiring people with bachelor’s degrees anyway,” White said.

Later, help workers get a degree without debt

Starting work first likely doesn’t mean skipping college entirely.

Under Indiana’s plan, students could earn a degree later — and their employers might pay for them to do so.

A good degree pathway for older students would give them credit for work experience, said Beth Doyle of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. Without that, returning students can find themselves in classes for skills they already have, potentially adding years to their education and making it more difficult to earn the credential.

Tuition paid upfront by an employer also helps with costs — the biggest barrier to higher education for many students, Doyle said.

“As things accelerate technologically and in other ways, people are going to need ongoing training, and we can’t assume that they’re going to leave high school knowing what they want to do for the rest of their life,” Doyle said.

White, of New America, said research suggests that young people are increasingly skeptical of a four-year degree, but more open to shorter courses of postsecondary education.

“None of us think you don’t need any college at all — that’s naive,” White said of researchers studying the future of work. “Apprenticeship, when linked well, can be a sort of different route into postsecondary education that allows young people to get different skills before they’re asked to make very expensive and consequential decision.”

A new mission for Ivy Tech Community College could play a role alongside INCAP’s apprenticeship credentials.

Earlier this year, lawmakers codified Ivy Tech’s role as the “workforce engine” of the state.

College leaders say that means aligning existing programs to employer needs, as well as expanding Achieve Your Degree programs, in which companies pay upfront for their employees to take approved courses that can lead to a degree from Ivy Tech.

The program is not new — Cook Medical, a manufacturing company, has sponsored more than 500 Ivy Tech students through its AYD partnership since 2016, with around 127 earning credentials. But college leaders see more students taking this path as a way to make postsecondary education more affordable and meaningful.

“I don’t think the future of college is necessarily this linear pathway of two years, then four years. I think it can be students wanting to get those stackable credentials, get into the workforce, make some good wages, possibly continue on at Ivy Tech with an associate’s degree, and then somewhere down the road, a bachelor’s degree,” said Martin Pollio, Ivy Tech’s president.

At least some schools with a college preparatory focus are trying to balance both.

Herron-Riverside High School, a college preparatory charter school in Indianapolis that focuses on classical education, is launching a workforce training partnership with Vincennes University in fields like aviation, welding, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing. The school is also part of the Riverside Education District, which is in the midst of a $137 million investment in career training and literacy.

Head of school Emanuel Harper doesn’t see career training as contrary to the school’s classical education philosophy of helping students to understand culture and history in order to become productive members of society, Harper said.

“One of the ways to do that is to go to college to continue to deepen one’s understanding of self and society,” said Emanuel Harper, Herron-Riverside’s head of school. “Another even more immediate way to be a productive member of society is to go to the workforce to apply those skills … in the career field.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana charter schools could receive over $49 million in new revenue from proposed tax increases

2026-08-18T11:00:00+00:00

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Indiana charter schools have tens of millions of dollars at stake in the upcoming ballot questions this November. But it’s unclear in many instances how they officially plan to spend that potential influx of revenue.

State law requires districts in four counties to share revenue from property tax increases approved by voters with charters enrolling students who live within those districts’ boundaries. This year, only districts in two of those counties, Marion and Lake, are seeking those tax increases in November. Nearly all the revenue would go to charters in Marion.

Eight school districts running referendums have reported to the state that they will share that revenue with about 60 charter schools. Altogether, the referendums have a maximum annual total of nearly $200 million, and an estimated $49.5 million of that would go to charter schools.

The potential funding represents the largest amount charters could receive from ballot questions in state history. And one charter can benefit from multiple ballot measures.

Yet only four of the eight districts have included referendum spending plans for individual charter schools in documents submitted to the state. And of the $49.5 million, nearly all of it — $48.7 million — is not accounted for in those official spending plans, although several charters did discuss their plans for the money with Chalkbeat.

Generally, funds from these ballot measures can be spent on day-to-day operations, such as staff salaries, academic programs, and transportation.

State law requires districts to submit spending plans from charter schools that would benefit from the tax increase to state government, alongside their own plans.

Yet there is little oversight of this process. Some charter officials say districts did not ask them to submit a spending plan, while some districts have said certain charter schools failed to provide them when asked.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which is floating a ballot question for Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools that could provide the most money, did not include charter school spending plans in its documents submitted to the state. But the corporation plans to track spending of future potential referendum dollars, its acting director Michael O’Connor said.

The estimated funding for individual charters is tied to the number of a school’s students who live in the district asking for a tax increase.

Christel House Academy South stands to gain an estimated $2.5 million — the highest amount for a single charter school — if voters approve all three referendums it’s participating in. Most of that funding would come from the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation’s ballot question. Over 90 percent of its 975 students lived within IPS borders last spring, according to state data.

Christel House Indianapolis CEO Emily Masengale anticipates spending much of that funding on staffing and transportation. Christel House Academy South provides transportation to over 450 students, and in recent years its transportation costs have increased by 28%. Transportation costs for both the South and West campuses within the Christel House Indianapolis charter network amount to over $1 million annually, according to the network.

“Transportation and staffing are always really big expenses,” she said. “We wanted the best teachers in front of our students, so we always strive to ensure that we have comparable pay to districts.”

The charter networks with the most to gain include Phalen Leadership Academies, which has six schools eligible for ballot measure funding through IPEC and the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township. Phalen could receive up to nearly $6 million. And Paramount Schools of Excellence, which has four schools eligible for funding across four districts, could gain $4.1 million.

KIPP Indy could get up to $3.6 million in new revenue if voters approve referendums for IPEC and the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township pass. The charter network plans to use funding for professional development and initiatives to increase student attendance, among other things.

“Because the referendum funding would represent a significant new investment in our schools, we want to be thoughtful about aligning those dollars with the strategies we believe will have the greatest impact on students,” the charter network said in a statement.

At Purdue Polytechnic High School, which has two Indianapolis campuses that could gain roughly $2 million, CEO Keanna Warren said the network would use the money on “competitive teacher compensation, transportation, and student support,” she said in an email.

The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting starts on Oct. 6.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana school district referendum guide 2026: What to know about your district’s requested tax increase

2026-08-17T11:00:00+00:00

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This article was co-reported with WFYI.

A record number of school districts are asking voters to approve higher property tax rates this fall as recent tax reforms compound with the state’s existing property tax caps to bring financial stress to districts across Indiana.

Nearly all of the 38 school districts seeking referendums are doing so to cover operating expenses, such as transportation and teacher salaries. But the impact on taxpayers can vary based on a community’s assessed property values and whether the district already has a referendum in place.

Many districts attribute the need for a ballot question to Senate Enrolled Act 1 from 2025, which will bring property tax relief to homeowners by phasing in new property tax deductions and creating new property tax credits — changes that at one point were estimated to cost districts a collective $744 million.

But districts also face a multitude of other challenges, including rising operational costs, declining enrollment, and a competitive school choice landscape that, for the first time this year, will include private school vouchers for every family regardless of income. Districts are also now restricted in how often they can ask voters for a referendum to the November general election, which are held every even year.

Chalkbeat Indiana and WFYI have compiled a referendum guide to help you understand your district’s ballot question.

What to know about referendums at the polls

If voters in your school district have recently passed a referendum, the new ballot question is likely asking them to replace it with a higher tax rate — not charge the new rate on top of the existing one — to offset revenue the district expects to lose under property tax reform.

Yet some school districts are warning voters that the ballot question does not clearly explain that distinction.

State law requires ballot language to describe a referendum’s cost as if a district currently has none. In Westfield, for example, the ballot question lists an $873 annual increase for a $450,000 home, based on a maximum rate of $0.3941 per $100 of assessed value. But Westfield Washington Schools already collects a rate of $0.17 per $100 under a referendum voters approved in 2023.

If voters approve the measure in November, the new tax rate would replace the existing $0.17 rate rather than be added on top of it. As a result, the owner of a $450,000 home would pay closer to $494 more a year, not $873, according to the district.

Five districts are seeking a property tax increase for the first time: the Metropolitan School District of Shakamak, Mississinewa Community School Corporation, Shelbyville Central Schools, Tipton Community School Corporation, and Tri-Central Community Schools.

State law previously required that districts in four counties — Lake, Marion, Vanderburgh, and St. Joseph — share their operating referendum proceeds with charter schools enrolling students living within their boundaries. But beginning in 2028, all districts statewide must share with charter schools that enroll students within their borders.

This year, only districts in Marion and Lake counties have stated that they will share their potential revenue with charters, which is estimated at over $49 million for about 60 charter schools, according to documents districts submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance. Spending plans and amounts for charter schools were submitted by districts, although these plans may not include all of the charters eligible to receive money.

Statewide, the requested tax rates range from an extra $0.9912 per $100 of assessed value for the River Forest Community School Corporation to an additional $0.09 for the Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation.

Search for details on your district’s ballot question below. Figures in district spending plans and charter school amounts are estimations.

The general election is on Nov. 3, and voters can register to vote, check their sample ballot, and check voting locations at https://indianavoters.in.gov/. Early voting starts on Oct. 6.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.

Indianapolis Public Education Corporation to pay executive director $285,000 salary

2026-08-12T22:13:57+00:00

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The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation will pay its executive director a salary of $285,000.

In a unanimous vote, IPEC members approved the salary for Karega Rausch, who was hired in July. His start date is Sept 17.

IPEC and Mayor Joe Hogsett announced last week that Andrew Strope would join as executive vice president. IPEC chair David Harris said Wednesday that the board was “extraordinarily fortunate” to have both staffers on board. It’s unclear if IPEC will hire more employees in the future.

Rausch comes to IPEC with a background in charter schools, similar to a majority of the IPEC board members, while Strope spent the last four years as deputy superintendent for Indianapolis Public Schools.

Strope helped to lead the district’s high school redesign, the reopening of schools after COVID-19, and the Rebuilding Stronger initiative. He was a finalist for the IPEC executive director role.

The duo will work with the IPEC board as it creates plans for an accountability system, transportation, and buildings for IPS and city charter schools, as required by state law adopted this year. IPEC is responsible for putting a property tax referendum on the November ballot to provide revenue to both IPS and charters and for creating its own budget.

Rausch’s compensation package includes a cellphone allowance, city benefits, and paid time off in line with city executives, acting executive director Michael O’Connor told IPEC members. However, other details such as vehicle use, specific holidays, and incentive bonuses are all things for the board to consider in the future, he said.

O’Connor told the board Wednesday that Strope’s compensation is not final, but his salary will likely be in the $250,000 range, and he is expected to start between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1.

Per state law, IPEC’s funding for an executive director, staff, and consultants comes from property tax revenues used for operating expenses for IPS and participating charter schools.

O’Connor’s contract with the city is through the end of the month. He originally started to lead the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, a precursor to IPEC, through brainstorming sessions in 2025 at a rate of $40,000 a month. His contract was renewed twice since then at the same rate, he said.

IPEC is not expected to meet in September and will meet twice in October, O’Connor said. Those meeting dates are not set.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

How did Indiana students do on a revised ILEARN this year?

2026-08-11T17:05:25+00:00

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Around 42% of Indiana students were proficient in English language arts and 43% were proficient in math in 2026, according to state testing data released Tuesday.

While pass rates on the state test, the ILEARN, were similar to scores from past years, education officials cautioned against making comparisons, because there have been significant changes to state standards and to the test itself in recent years. The 2025-26 school year was the first in which all students took three ILEARN checkpoints throughout the year, followed by a shorter, end-of-year test.

The change marks another chapter for the ILEARN, which replaced the ISTEP in 2019, and which was canceled in 2020 during the pandemic.

From 2021 to 2025, Indiana students’ proficiency in English language arts on the ILEARN remained essentially flat, while math proficiency increased around five percentage points.

Beginning this year, the new ILEARN scores — along with SAT and IREAD scores — will be a factor in the A-F grades that schools receive. Officials also presented IREAD and SAT scores at the Tuesday meeting of the State Board of Education.

The ILEARN is administered in grades 3-8. The state counts proficiency rates as students who scored proficient or above proficient on the test.

In 2026, just over half of Indiana third and fourth graders were proficient on the math section of the ILEARN. That rate declined in middle school grades, with around 34% of eighth graders passing the math section.

Around 41% of third graders were proficient in English this year. That share remained consistent throughout grades 4-7, increasing slightly to 44% for eighth grade.

“The difference is in math, that if you have cracks in your foundation early, the ripple effect that that has on all other skills is harder and harder to recover from,” said Ana Shults, the Indiana Department Of Education’s chief academic officer, about the difference in the subject score trends.

A breakdown of the scores by student groups also revealed persistent gaps in proficiency.

For example, just 29% of students who received subsidized meals — a federal measure of poverty — scored proficient in English, compared with 53% of students who didn’t.

The state did not make school-level ILEARN data available on Tuesday, but officials did not say why. The state board approved new passing scores for the ILEARN at the meeting.

Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said the test aligns well with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test administered by the federal government.

“We have a very tough assessment, tough standards,” Jenner said.

Officials: ILEARN scores not only measure of knowledge

Education officials framed both the ILEARN and the SAT as measures of a student’s progress toward college readiness. But that might not be the only measure of success for all students, they said.

“We’ve talked to many employers, we’ve talked to the military. The SAT is not a score that they necessarily have interest in,” said Paul Ketcham, assistant secretary of education.

Both tests will inform the state’s new A-F grades for schools, with elementary and middle school students assigned points for both growth and proficiency rates in ILEARN English/language arts and math.

SAT proficiency is a standalone indicator worth 10% of a school’s grade, but more weight is given to the share of students earning the state’s new diploma seals.

All Indiana juniors take the SAT, which serves as the state’s high school assessment to meet federal requirements.

This year, 52% of students met the college-ready benchmark in reading and writing on the SAT, and 26% of students did so in math. Another 9% were approaching the benchmark in reading and writing, and 22% were approaching the benchmark in math.

52% of students scored below the college-ready benchmark in math, and 39% scored below the benchmark in reading and writing.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana third grade reading scores surpass pre-pandemic levels on IREAD test

2026-08-11T14:54:25+00:00

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Indiana’s literacy rates exceeded pre-pandemic levels for the first time this year as the share of third grade students reaching proficiency on the state reading exam inched up to 88.7%.

The fifth consecutive annual increase in IREAD proficiency rates comes after years of state support and reforms, including an increased number of chances to take the test, mandated literacy training for certain elementary educators, and an infusion of state and philanthropic funds for tutoring and early literacy instruction.

While the latest reading scores released Tuesday are an increase from the 2019 pass rate of 87.3%, the overall proficiency rate is still well short of the goal officials have for 2027, when they hope to have 95% of all Indiana students pass the exam. It falls just below the state’s highest pass rate of 91.4% in 2012-13, the first year of the test.

Unlike in previous years, officials released the IREAD results alongside statewide ILEARN and SAT results for 2026 at the State Board of Education meeting.

Scores improved since last year across nearly all racial and ethnic groups, as well as for students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, for students with disabilities, and for English language learners. The overall pass rate — representing nearly 72,000 of over 81,100 third graders tested — includes students who passed the test in second grade during the 2024-25 school year, and includes students at both public and private schools.

Proficiency rates for Black students increased from 76.1% in 2025 to over 80% in 2026, an 18-percentage-point increase from their pandemic-era low of 62% in 2021.

That figure is well above the 2019 proficiency rate of 74.2%, and within one percentage point of the highest rate for Black students in Indiana’s history, Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said.

Hispanic students’ proficiency rate jumped nearly eight percentage points to 76.1%, but the figure is still just below the pre-pandemic rate of 78.1% in 2019.

And 84.1% of students receiving free or reduced-price meals reached proficiency this year, compared with 82.6% in 2025.

Proficiency rates for second graders also increased from 48% in 2025, the first year all second graders were required to take the test, to 62% this year. Those students’ scores will be counted toward next year’s IREAD results.

It’s unclear how many third grade students will be retained in the 2026-27 school year. Last year, 3,040 students repeated third grade after failing the exam, out of 84,000 students tested. The department has not released the demographic data of the 3,040 students retained last year.

IREAD increases follow historic investments, new mandates

Students now have up to five chances to pass the test throughout second and third grade, including summer school retest opportunities.

State officials once again reported that schools in the Indiana Literacy Cadre — an initiative that provides instructional coaches to schools to improve reading instruction — posted greater proficiency gains than schools that didn’t participate. The cadre began as an opt-in initiative, but state law requires lower-performing schools — this year, those with a pass rate below 75% for three consecutive years — to participate.

Indiana’s IREAD improvements come after a flurry of policy changes sparked by a nationwide shift on how reading is taught, as well as concern over the pandemic’s effects on literacy.

Many changes started in 2022, when the state announced over $100 million for phonics-based reading instruction, funded largely by the Lilly Endowment. That year, the department launched the Indiana Literacy Cadre, which has since grown from 41 to 770 schools.

The department that year also launched Indiana Learns, a grant program that allowed qualifying families to purchase English and math tutoring from approved providers.

In 2023, the state required school districts to adopt curriculum aligned with the science of reading. And in 2025, the department partnered with the Mind Trust nonprofit to replicate its Indy Summer Learning Labs — which provide summer academic enrichment — at schools across the state for free or at a low cost.

In 2022, second grade students were also allowed for the first time to take the IREAD if schools opted to administer it. By the 2024-25 school year, all second graders were required to take the test.

Second grade students who pass the test are counted in the following year’s IREAD scores and are not required to take the test in third grade.

A state law passed in 2024 also mandates that elementary and special education teachers who teach a content area involving literacy must earn a literacy endorsement, which requires them to undergo training and pass a Praxis content exam.

At Parkside Elementary in Columbus, Principal Chris Smith attributed the jump to a 96.1% pass rate to the staff’s focus on research-based instruction.

He described a student who, as a second grader last year, posted the lowest possible score on the exam. But with consistent data collection and “a lot of direct, explicit, and systematic instruction,” Smith said, the student passed this year.

“Now she loves to read graphic novels for fun, and feels capable as a student in all subject areas,” Smith said. “This is what she said yesterday: ‘It just feels good to be able to read.’”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Marion County Election Board removes Lindsey Cornett from IPS school board ballot after challenge

2026-08-11T01:25:03+00:00

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The Marion County Election Board removed Lindsey Cornett from the Indianapolis Public Schools school board ballot on Monday because of her voting record but allowed her opponent Chris Bultman to remain in the race, saying his record met the requirements.

Cornett and Bultman, who recently was appointed to the IPS board, were the two candidates running for District 4, representing the southwestern part of the school district. The District 4 seat is on the ballot this year because of the resignation of board member Allissa Impink.

Both Cornett and Bultman filed to run as Democrats and faced challenges saying they didn’t meet the criteria to have the party affiliation listed next to their names on the ballot.

For the first time, thanks to a 2025 law, school board candidates are now allowed to list party affiliation on the ballot, but only if they have voted in two primaries held by that party or have gotten permission from the county party leader. Registered voters can challenge those party affiliations.

The outcome of those challenges is determined by the county election board. The Marion County Election Board’s decision could be one of the earliest decisions by an Indiana elections board regarding partisan school board candidates, setting a precedent for future challenges. Board members cited guidance from the Indiana Election Division as well as the interpretation from the bill author in making their unanimous decisions to remove Cornett but keep Bultman on the ballot.

The challenge against Cornett, filed July 1 by registered voter Bryan Regules, says that it’s questionable that she “voted a democratic primary ballot two primaries.” A Chalkbeat review of her voting history shows that she voted in one democratic primary election since moving to Indiana in 2019.

Cornett conceded that she voted in only one primary, but said she didn’t realize it until after filing her candidacy paperwork. She and her attorney, Nabeela Virjee, argued that while that was grounds to remove her party affiliation from the ballot, she should remain on the ballot because of how Cornett and Virjee interpret state law and that listing her as a Democrat would fulfill the law’s goal of giving voters more information.

Attorney Brad Boswell, who was advising the election board, said the law around school board candidates says what to do in the case of an unsuccessful challenge to party affiliation, but doesn’t list the appropriate step after a successful challenge. And in that case, the state election division said it would defer to the part of state law that’s about candidates in general, which says to remove the candidate from the ballot.

Kate Sweeney Bell, the county clerk and a member of the election board, said the additions about party affiliation for school board are “as clear as mud” yet impact “real issues with real people.”

Cornett also faced challenges around the timing of her filing and the number of signatures she received. However, since the board voted on the party affiliation first, it did not make a determination on the other challenges.

Cornett said after the meeting that she was disappointed and frustrated and felt the law had been applied unfairly. She said she’s still committed to running in November.

Anyone who disagrees with the board’s decision has 30 days to seek judicial review of the outcome. But the timeline is tight, as the first ballots are printed in mid-September.

Cornett plans to file a judicial review and is also looking into being a write-in candidate. The deadline for write-in candidates is Aug. 21.

Which primary elections meet the candidate qualifications

The challenge to Bultman’s candidacy, filed July 24 by registered voter Isaiah Tworek, argues that the interpretation of the law is that the candidate should have voted in the last two primaries held by the party as stated in the school board portion of the law, not voted in any two of that party’s primaries, like the broader law and election division says.

According to Indiana Code regarding nomination for school board office, as well as Senate Enrolled Act 287 from 2025, the law that allows partisan school board elections, the candidate must have voted in the two most recent primary elections held by that party.

A section in Indiana Code regarding local and state candidates overall says the candidate must have voted in two primaries held by their party without voting in another party’s primary in between. That same language is on the Indiana Election Division’s CAN-34 form, aka the Petition of Nomination and Consent for School Board Office, and is the interpretation by the state election division.

In Bultman’s case, voting records show he voted in Democratic primaries in 2026 and 2020, fulfilling the latter interpretation, which the county election board agreed with.

Bultman said he was excited to move forward with his candidacy and noted his respect for Cornett. He added that the challenges show there’s a need for clarity around the new law.

The winner of the district 4 race in November would serve the remainder of Impink’s term until 2028.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

‘Have a great day’: School 51 welcomes students to the new year with cheers and high fives

2026-08-10T21:10:31+00:00

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From the moment students stepped off the bus at James Russell Lowell Montessori School 51, they were met with cheers from waiting adults.

School and district staff, along with others from the nearby Edna Martin Christian Center, lined the sidewalk to the doors, waiting for the students’ arrival.

“Come on down, get excited!”

“Hi sweetheart, have a great day!”

The cheers and well wishes were punctuated by barks from MJ, the school’s therapy dog, as students gave high fives and hugs on their way in the doors.

“The first day is always exciting, it’s great to be here,” said School 51 Principal Christine Rembert, adding that staff at the Martindale-Brightwood school had prepared all summer for the students’ return. Roughly 350 students are attending the prekindergarten to fifth grade Montessori school this year.

Students from James Russell Lowell Montessori School 51 are greeted by teachers and staff with high fives on the first day of school in Indianapolis.

Students across central Indiana are returning to class this month, and Monday marked the first day of school for Indianapolis Public Schools. The new year marks one that will likely bring significant changes for schools within IPS boundaries as the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a mayor-appointed board, begins overseeing buildings, facilities, and some finances. The board is also putting a tax increase to fund schools on the November ballot, while IPS faces budget cuts regardless of the outcome.

Rembert acknowledged that there is a lot happening in the city overall, as well in the personal lives of staff and students. Students pick up on adults’ emotions, she said. “When grown-ups feel unrest, kids feel it too.”

That’s why inside the school walls, she said, the focus is on creating a place of belonging.

Parents want to know that the school is filled with adults who care for their students and will help them develop the confidence and agency to choose who they want to be later in life, Rembert said.

School 51 focuses on literacy from first day

The first day of school also lands the day before state test scores for last year’s ILEARN and IREAD are expected to be released. At School 51, Rembert said she’s excited for the scores to be unveiled, and the school will use a $25,000 literacy grant from the United Way to maintain and expand its literacy focus, especially for the school’s youngest and oldest students.

The school’s literacy focus has been on students in first through third grade, but the grant will help expand that work to pre-K, kindergarten, and older grades, she said.

In the early learning classrooms, building community and literacy skills are at the top of the agenda for the first day.

Students ages 4-5 work on spelling their names during the first day of school at James Russell Lowell Montessori School 51 on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in Indianapolis.

Pre-K and kindergarten students in Melisa Alkire’s classroom started the day by spelling their names. Students matched letters written on clothespins to the letters in their names written on a card.

The activity helps students learn to spell their names while also strengthening the fingers they use to hold the pencil, Rembert said.

Next door, early childhood teacher Mary Haste said her students will practice writing their names to build literacy skills. She also wants to build a love of reading early with books in her classroom that students can see themselves represented in.

Haste said the first week of school is her favorite. It builds relationships with students that last all school year, she said, adding that hopefully means fewer tears too.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Voting records show IPS board candidate Lindsey Cornett did not meet requirement to run as a Democrat

2026-08-07T20:47:22+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools board candidate Lindsey Cornett has listed herself as a Democrat on the ballot, but has not met the state voting requirements to do so, Marion County voting records show.

The voting record for Cornett, who is running as one of two candidates in IPS District 4, shows she has voted once in a Democratic primary in Indiana, in the May 2026 primary. Under changes to state law that go into effect this year, candidates for school board elections can list a party affiliation. But in order to do so, they must have voted in two of that party’s primaries in the state, or get permission from the county party leader to identify with a party on the ballot.

Cornett’s voting record, which Chalkbeat obtained from the Marion County Board of Voters Registration, indicates she has voted only once in an Indiana Democratic primary in Indiana, in May of this year. She also voted in general elections.

In a statement Friday, Cornett said that at the time she filed to run, she believed that she had voted in the last two primary elections in Indiana, but added that, “I have since learned that while I had voted in the Democratic party primary in 2026, I had not voted in the 2024 primary. Because I believed I qualified as a Democrat, I did not seek certification from the county chair.”

Cornett added that she was a proud Democrat, but would run as an unaffiliated candidate if necessary.

Both Cornett and the other District 4 candidate, Chris Bultman, have had their listings as Democrats on the ballot challenged this summer.

Bultman, who currently represents District 4 on the IPS board as an appointed member, has voted in multiple Democratic primaries as well as general elections, according to county records. But the challenge to his candidacy hinges on an interpretation that his voting history still does not entitle him to list himself as a Democrat.

What happens next is likely up to the Marion County Elections Board. At the end of last month, the board opted to postpone hearing the challenge to Cornett’s candidacy after subsequently receiving a challenge to Bultman’s candidacy.

The outcome could be one of the earliest decisions by an Indiana elections board regarding partisan school board candidates. This is the first election cycle in which the law about partisan school board races will be in effect.

Bultman’s voting record shows that the two most recent Democratic primaries he voted in were in 2026 and 2020. The challenge to his candidacy from Isaiah Tworek hinges on whether that is sufficient.

According to the new law that allows partisan school board elections, the candidate must have voted in the two most recent primary elections held by that party, in order to affiliate with that party on the ballot. Tworek’s challenge to Bultman’s affiliation is based on this language.

But the Indiana Election Division interprets the new law to mean that candidates must have voted for the party with which they seek affiliation in the most recent primary elections they voted in — not the most recent overall. That same language is on a form that candidates must fill out to run for school board.

If the elections board strips a candidate of their party affiliation, it’s not yet clear if they could stay on the ballot without a party affiliation. Candidates without that affiliation are placed at the bottom of the list of candidates for their race on the ballot.

In a previous statement to Chalkbeat, Bultman said his record “meets the standard detailed by state election leaders who are charged with implementing the law and creating the form we all used to file for office.”

IPS District 4 includes the southwestern part of the school district. Bultman and Cornett listed themselves as Democrats and indicated they met the voting requirements to do so on their filing paperwork.

The challenge to Cornett, filed by Bryan Regules, also disputed the number of signatures she received and the timing of her filing.

Once the county election board makes a decision, anyone who disagrees has 30 days to seek judicial review of the outcome, attorney Brad Boswell — who’s advising the elections board — told the board last month. However, the timeline is tight: The county’s first ballots are printed in mid-September.

Cornett and Bultman were both finalists to fill the District 4 vacancy on the IPS school board following the resignation of board member Allissa Impink. The school board voted in June to appoint Bultman, who will serve until the newly elected school board member is sworn in.

The winner of the District 4 race in November will serve the remainder of Impink’s term until 2028.

Corrections and clarifications: A previous version of this article misspelled Cornett’s name in one reference.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her ataappleton@chalkbeat.org.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

What do you think about your school district’s ballot request for a property tax increase?

2026-07-30T11:00:00+00:00

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A record number of Indiana school districts are asking voters to approve property tax increases this November.

We want to know: How will this impact you?

Indiana’s school districts are facing financial strain on multiple fronts. Enrollment, which influences how much state revenue they receive, is declining. The costs of running a district, officials say, are increasing. And lawmakers last year passed property tax reform that is expected to cost districts millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Under state law, property taxes are capped at 1% of a home’s gross assessed value. But districts can seek out revenue beyond that by asking voters to approve a referendum on the ballot.

Those referendums ask voters to provide additional funds to schools for a specific need, such as operations, construction, or safety. The funding is on top of property taxes already allocated to schools along with state and federal funding.

Starting this year, districts may only ask voters for these increases during the state’s general election in November.

We want to hear from residents about what they think of school referendums and the impact it may have on their household budget. Your answers may help shape our future reporting on this year’s elections. Share your thoughts on questions below:

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Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Confusion on partisan school board law puts two IPS candidates’ spots at risk

2026-07-27T23:00:06+00:00

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This story was originally published by WFYI.

A new Indiana law that lets school board candidates run under a political party is now threatening to knock the only two candidates for an Indianapolis Public Schools board seat off the November ballot.

Both candidates running for the District 4 seat — Lindsey Cornett and Chris Bultman, who already holds the seat after being appointed in June — are now being challenged, in part because they both filed to run as Democrats.

One challenge filed against Cornett on July 1, argued she should be disqualified for various reasons, including questions about her ability to run as a Democrat on the ballot.

Bultman is also now facing a challenge, filed late Friday afternoon, that similarly centers on his eligibility to run as a Democrat.

The concerns around party affiliation for school board candidates all stem back to a 2025 state law that now allows school board candidates to run as a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or choose not to affiliate with any party at all.

The Marion County Election Board was set to hear arguments on Cornett’s challenge during its Monday meeting. But once the second challenge against Bultman was filed, the legal counsel for the election board advised them to consider both challenges at the same time.

Brad Boswell, an attorney with Faegre Drinker advising the election board, also explained that conflicting language in state election law and the language in the new school board candidate law complicates both of these challenges.

The main issue lies in the fact that the new law concerning school board candidates identifying with a political party says that if the candidate wants to affiliate with one of the state’s major political parties, they must show that they voted in that chosen party’s last two primary elections “held by the party with which the candidate claims affiliation.”

However, the state’s candidate guide says that a candidate must have voted in the chosen party’s primary in the “two (2) most recent Indiana primary elections that the candidate voted in.”

Both the new law and the state’s candidate guidance also allows for candidates to get approval from their chosen party’s county chairman to earn affiliation with the party.

After explaining the conflicting language, Boswell advised the election board to delay consideration on both candidates’ challenges until further guidance is given on how to interpret the new law.

If the Marion County Election Board determines that the candidate’s party affiliation should be judged by the law’s stricter standard, both Bultman and Cornett could be disqualified from running.

Voter registration records for both candidates, obtained by WFYI, show they’ve only ever voted in Democratic primaries in Indiana and only in the 2026 primary; neither voted in 2024.

That raises a bigger question the board will have to answer: If both candidates are found ineligible to run as Democrats, are they removed from the ballot entirely, or would they remain on the ballot as unaffiliated candidates?

Indiana’s Election Administrator’s Manual states that if a candidate is successfully challenged based on their party affiliation, the county election board can remove them from the ballot. However, school board candidates who choose to affiliate with a minor political party, or claim to be an independent or choose not to affiliate with any party, can’t be challenged based on their party affiliation.

Boswell said that the Marion County election board is likely the first board in the state that will have to make decisions for candidate eligibility under the new law.

“First, thank you General Assembly, because this seems clear as mud,” said Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell during Monday’s meeting.

The three-person election board agreed unanimously to delay considering the candidate challenges.

According to records from Indiana secretary of state’s office, around half of the 1,034 school board candidates that have filed to run in the November general election haven’t listed any party affiliation.

Bultman and Cornett are currently the only candidates filed to run for the District 4 seat, which was previously held by Allissa Impink, who then resigned from the position after winning the primary race for Indiana State Senate District 46.

Bryan Regules filed the challenge against Cornett. Isaiah Tworek filed the challenge to candidacy and notes it’s only about party affiliation and not eligibility to be a candidate.

Aug. 21 is the final day to challenge any school board candidates who have filed to run through the normal process. Ballot language and candidates must be confirmed for the ballot by the middle of September.

A date has not been set for the Marion County Election Board’s next meeting.

The general election is Nov. 3.

Contact WFYI Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org

Here’s how far an Indiana Choice Scholarship voucher gets you at Indianapolis private schools

2026-07-24T11:00:00+00:00

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Some Indianapolis families that use private school vouchers could still get a bill upwards of one thousand dollars to cover the remaining cost of their tuition.

The median gap between tuition for private schools within Indianapolis Public Schools borders this upcoming school year and the voucher amount is $1,694, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of tuition rates. The analysis uses the estimated $7,455 each student living within IPS boundaries will receive from the Indiana Choice Scholarship program, and includes five virtual schools.

Families could get the remaining cost covered through other means, such as discounts and scholarships. But the gap underscores that even as more voucher programs nationwide become universal, they don’t necessarily cover all the costs for families that use them. For the first time, Indiana’s vouchers will be available to all families in the upcoming school year, regardless of income.

Critics of the voucher program, which Indiana launched in 2011, argue that it’s deviated from its original purpose of helping low-income families leave struggling schools for a better education. Supporters argue the program helps give families more options and the freedom to choose a school that best fits their child.

The gap between the cost of tuition and the voucher amount does have an effect on educational opportunity, said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, whose research has found that vouchers or voucher-like programs disproportionately benefit wealthier families in Indiana and other states.

“These programs often times don’t provide enough money for low-income families to afford the types of private education they might want,” Valant said. “For a lot of families, even a couple thousand dollars is a lot to cover in a year to actually bridge that gap.”

Private schools in the area said they bridge the gap for many families through scholarships or other structures that ease the tuition burden.

Chalkbeat’s analysis covers 21 of the 31 voucher-accepting schools in IPS borders that published their latest tuition rates or provided them to Chalkbeat. The remaining 10 schools did not respond to requests for that information. Not all private schools in the area accept vouchers.

Many Catholic schools also offer lower tuition rates for parishioners or families that are part of the archdiocese. Chalkbeat’s analysis used rates for non-church members.

It’s unclear whether the gap between vouchers and tuition for those Indianapolis-area schools has grown recently. But as Indiana’s nominal spending on vouchers increased from $15.5 million in 2011 to $497 million in 2024-25, the gap between per-student Choice Scholarship funding and average private school tuition per pupil also grew.

In 2016-17, the state reported that almost half of all voucher students had their full tuition and fee amounts covered by the voucher. By 2024-25, that figure had dropped to 28%.

For many schools, Chalkbeat’s analysis excludes additional fees — such as those for field trips or technology — which vouchers can also cover. It also excludes other financial aid that families can receive, such as scholarships offered by the school or discounts for enrolling more than one child.

Indiana Choice Scholarship funding is limited to up to 90% of the amount the public school district in which the student resides will receive that year in state tuition support per pupil. That means the voucher amount varies based on where a student lives.

Indiana’s voucher program was initially reserved for students in a household making no more than 150% of the amount needed to qualify for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program (in addition to other requirements). In 2011, that was about $60,000 for a family of four, Education Week reported at the time.

Over the next 15 years, lawmakers gradually expanded eligibility for vouchers. Beginning in 2023, for example, families earning up to 400% of the threshold to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch were eligible — meaning that in 2025-26, a family of four could earn up to $237,910 and still receive vouchers.

By 2024-25, over 76,000 students received Choice Scholarships, compared with just over 3,900 in 2011-12.

Within IPS borders, some private schools tap other financial resources so that families don’t pay the full remaining tuition amount, or offer sliding scales to reduce the tuition burden.

Providence Cristo Rey only admits families making up to 250% of the federal poverty guidelines — or a maximum of $80,375 for a family of four. The school is part of the Cristo Rey network, which offers private, Catholic education for underserved families.

The school’s tuition for 2026-27 is $27,900 — meaning the gap between tuition and the Choice Scholarship award for IPS students is over $20,000, the largest such figure in Chalkbeat’s analysis. But the school estimates family contributions will range from only $365 to $2,100. The rest is covered through various scholarships and corporate work-study funding for students.

The Oaks Academy, a network of schools founded in 1998 by a coalition of churches to provide a racially and socioeconomically diverse education, also has a sliding-scale tuition rate based on household size and local median income.

The network relies on funding from Indiana’s tax-credit program — in which individuals make donations to scholarship-granting organizations for private school tuition, in exchange for a tax credit — to fill in some of the gap left between the voucher and tuition cost, said Oaks Academy CEO Andrew Hart.

The voucher program has allowed the network to serve about 800 more students than it would have served otherwise, he said. When Oaks Academy began, the only tuition subsidies available for lower-income families were from philanthropy.

Only about 15% of families pay full tuition, Hart said, while 50% pay a “very small fraction” — some as low as $100 a month.

“Our families have benefited significantly [from] the voucher program,” Hart said. “And now of course starting this year, all of our families will benefit.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

IPEC board member Edward Rangel joins The Mind Trust as chief program officer

2026-07-23T15:00:49+00:00

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Edward Rangel, a charter school founder and board member of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, will join The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based charter incubator, the organization announced Thursday morning.

Rangel will be chief program officer, overseeing several programs such as the tutoring initiatives Indiana Learns and the Indy Summer Learning Labs, according to a Mind Trust news release.

The hire solidifies IPEC’s ties to the charter school sector in Indianapolis. The founder of The Mind Trust, David Harris, chairs IPEC’s board. Rangel serves as one of three community members on the board, along with three district and three charter school representatives. IPEC members were appointed by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Rangel will serve out his term on IPEC’s board, according to Kateri Whitley, vice president of communications at The Mind Trust. Board members have staggered term lengths from two to four years, and Rangel’s is two years.

Rangel, the founder and CEO of the charter operator Adelante Schools, also leads the IPEC working group tasked with creating a school accountability system. IPEC will use that system to determine whether to reassign school buildings when they’re underenrolled, as part of its work overseeing buildings, transportation, some finances, and accountability for Indianapolis Public Schools and charters.

On Wednesday night, IPEC voted unanimously to confirm a new executive director, Karega Rausch, who currently serves as president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. The Mind Trust applauded the move.

The Mind Trust also announced the hire of Cold Spring School CEO Cody Stipes as chief administrative officer on Thursday.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPEC chooses charter school policy leader to guide its work

2026-07-22T22:22:10+00:00

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The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation has chosen a new leader with an extensive background in charter schools both in Indianapolis and nationwide as the board’s work ramps up on creating a new accountability system for schools.

The board on Wednesday unanimously approved Karega Rausch as executive director following a recommendation from Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

Rausch has spent the last decade as president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers. He will lead IPEC’s work as the board drafts an accountability system for Indianapolis Public Schools and city charter schools and works to pass a property tax referendum that will be shared between IPS and charters this year. IPEC also has key powers over transportation and buildings for schools.

Rausch was chosen from a pool of 36 candidates and a list of six finalists that included school district leaders, charter school policymakers, and elected officials. His hiring further tips the balance of experience of IPEC members — which includes charter school and district leaders — toward charter schools.

He served as the education and charter schools director under Indianapolis Mayors Bart Peterson and Greg Ballard, chaired the Indiana Charter Schools Board and led Stand for Children, a nonprofit education advocacy group, in Indiana. Rausch also led a push for IPS to offer preschool, IPEC chairman David Harris said.

In comments at the meeting, Rausch characterized himself as a bridge builder.

“I’ve sought to listen carefully, communicate clearly, and build consensus around meaningful outcomes for kids and families,” Rausch said.

The board also extended its contract with acting executive director Michael O’Connor to Sept. 1.

Neither a start date nor a salary have yet been determined for Rausch, according to O’Connor, because the board first needed to approve the hire. Those details will be negotiated by board chair Harris — and posted — in the coming weeks, O’Connor said.

The salary range for the executive director position was listed as $235,000 to $325,000.

How a new accountability system informs school closures

During Wednesday’s meeting, the board also heard an update from the group developing a draft of the new accountability framework for schools.

The framework will apply to both types of schools under IPEC’s purview — IPS and charter — and will be based on factors such as academic results, student growth, enrollment, and finance and governance.

The system will enable IPS and charter authorizers to address chronic low performance, according to the group’s presentation.

IPEC board member Edward Rangel, who led the group, emphasized that only those entities — not IPEC — will decide if a school can continue to operate. But the accountability framework will allow IPEC to reassign underenrolled school buildings.

“A school’s existence is not our discretion,” Rangel said. “Resource allocation does lie with IPEC.”

Rangel said the board expects to lean on external experts as it considers which buildings are underenrolled.

The law that created IPEC — HEA 1423 — allows it to appeal to the State Board of Education if a school operator chooses not to close an underperforming school.

There will be no summative score on the framework, in part because that could be confused with the state’s new school accountability system, Rangel said.

An update on this system is due to lawmakers on Aug. 1, with a final draft due in November 2027. The board expects to host stakeholder engagement meetings throughout August. The system is expected to take effect in the 2028-29 school year.

IPEC meets again on Aug. 12.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the date that IPEC must submit a final performance framework to lawmakers.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPEC is about to pick its executive director. See the list of finalists.

2026-07-17T17:29:22+00:00

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Two current Indianapolis Public Schools leaders, and two former architects of the city’s charter school policy are among the candidates for a top job overseeing key aspects of both systems.

Along with a current IPS school board member and a former state legislator, they are in contention to lead the work of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a newly appointed board responsible for decisions about IPS and charter schools’ finances, buildings, and accountability.

On Thursday, the board announced six finalists for the job, which is expected to pay between $235,000 and $325,000, according to the job listing. The board’s working group chose the finalists, but Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett will make the final recommendation for an executive director, which the board will then vote on.

The executive director will oversee the work of the board during its pivotal first year, which includes passing a tax increase that would be shared between the district and charter schools this November. The board is also due to submit an update on its development of a school accountability system for city schools to state lawmakers by Aug. 1. A final version is due Nov. 1.

The finalists are:

Karega Rausch, the current president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, who previously led charter school policy in the Indianapolis mayor’s office.
Andrew Strope, currently the deputy superintendent at IPS and board member at Teach for America Indianapolis and Enroll Indy.
Zach Mulholland, who currently serves as the executive director of operations at IPS.
Deandra Thompson, a current member of both the IPEC board and the Indianapolis Public Schools board, and the founder of a STEM-based pre-K program.
Carolene Mays, a former state legislator, former executive director of the White River State Park Development Commission, and co-host of Community Link on WISH-TV.
Patrick McAlister, the former director of the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, whose projects since his tenure in the office include the Preschool Choice Alliance.

IPEC will meet again July 22 at 4 p.m. in room 260 of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Building.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Record-high number of Indiana school districts ask voters for property tax increases

2026-07-17T17:26:38+00:00

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A record number of Indiana school districts are asking voters to increase property taxes for various expenses this fall as reforms passed by state lawmakers last year take effect.

At least 38 districts are requesting to place a referendum question on the ballot in November for one of three reasons allowed by state law: to pay for operating expenses, capital needs, or security projects. The majority of districts are requesting an operating referendum, which covers everyday expenses such as transportation and curriculum.

The surge in ballot questions seeking property tax increases reflects the rising financial pressure on school districts due to recent changes in state law. Last year, lawmakers changed state law so that districts may only place referendum questions on the ballot during general elections, which fall in November of even-numbered years, instead of every year. Plus, lawmakers passed a sweeping property tax relief bill that by one estimate would cost school districts millions of dollars in lost revenue.

A final list of all ballot questions won’t be available until at least Aug. 1. But the number of districts listed on the department’s website just a few weeks before the Department of Local Government Finance finalizes the questions already represents a record for districts seeking tax increases in a single election and calendar year.

Half of the 38 districts are requesting to renew their operating referendums, even though their existing voter-approved tax increases do not expire this year. Five others are seeking an operating referendum for the first time, according to an analysis of historical referendums from the Indiana University Center for Evaluation and Education Policy. Many districts cite the recent property tax reform legislation as a major factor in asking voters for more funding.

Several expenses covered by operating dollars, including transportation and utilities, are growing far faster than the rate of inflation, said Indiana School Board Association Executive Director Terry Spradlin.

The 2025 changes, combined with the state’s 2008 property tax reforms — which capped property taxes for homeowners at 1% of gross assessed value —will end up costing school districts across the state about $5 billion in tax revenue over roughly two decades, he said.

“For the 38 districts pursuing the referendum, it’s not really for program expansions — new programs, new expenses,” said Spradlin, who expects about a dozen more districts to file ballot questions ahead of the deadline. “It’s really to maintain status quo.”

So far, just one district is requesting a capital referendum, and one is requesting a safety referendum.

Most Indiana districts have never sought a referendum

Although the number of ballot questions has reached a record high, it is not extraordinary given that two years’ worth of ballot questions are now being squeezed into one, experts say.

Historically, school districts that have successfully passed a referendum have a greater chance of winning another one, said Larry DeBoer, a professor emeritus at Purdue University who has extensively studied tax referendums.

And districts that have tried but failed to pass a ballot question still have a higher success rate on subsequent attempts than districts asking voters for the first time, he said. Of the 38 listed so far on the department’s website, seven have previously floated a referendum that voters have rejected.

“Even if you’ve lost before, your chances of winning this time are better,” DeBoer said. “And I suppose that’s experience.”

Some districts may be asking voters to renew a referendum years before an existing one expires so they have multiple opportunities to try and pass a ballot question, Spradlin said.

Others are seeking a referendum early because their current operating referendum no longer generates enough revenue due to property tax reforms, he said.

The property tax caps first implemented in 2008 — known as “circuit breakers” — have collectively cost school districts statewide over $4 billion in lost revenue since their inception, according to historical figures from the Legislative Services Agency. The latest tax reforms will cost school districts statewide roughly $744 million from 2026 through 2028, according to a state analysis last year.

Still, 88 of the 144 school corporations that have floated a referendum have succeeded in passing one, according to Spradlin.

“It might be (that) the publicity will cause voters to say, ‘I guess this is a normal thing now,’” DeBoer said. “But it’s still the case that more than half the school districts have never tried a referendum. On the whole, it’s not that common.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect the number of school districts that have passed a referendum, per Terry Spradlin.

15 candidates for 5 seats: See who’s running for school board at IPS and other Indianapolis area districts

2026-07-15T20:32:18+00:00

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Update, July 15: Tiffani Flick, Jayia McCray and Christopher Williams have withdrawn from their respective school board races since this article was published.

Update, June 26: This story was updated to reflect that Lindsey Cornett was added to the ballot as a District 4 candidate for IPS school board.

Fifteen candidates are running for five seats on the Indianapolis Public Schools board this November, including an influential charter school advocate and an Indiana Democratic Party leader.

Candidates had until noon June 18 to be on the November ballot, and the list is a first look at who could lead IPS during a time of change for the city’s schools. This was the first time candidates could include their political affiliations.

Of the 59 candidates competing for 31 seats on 10 school boards across Marion County, more than half decided to list a party affiliation, with 23 Democrats and 9 Republicans. Seven candidates are Independents and 20 chose to be nonpartisan. For IPS, 13 listed Democrat and two are Independents.

This election is pivotal for the IPS school board. After two resignations this year, five of the board’s seven seats are on the ballot. It’s also the first election since state lawmakers created the mayor-appointed Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

IPEC holds key powers for IPS and charter schools in the city including including the ability to ask voters for a tax increase to provide additional funds to schools. The elected IPS board previously had that power, and this year’s possible referendum comes as the district faces critical financial challenges. Per state law, three of the nine members of IPEC are also IPS board members.

Of the five races for IPS school board, the most crowded are for District 3 and the at-large seat with four candidates for each. The District 3 race is especially notable with Hope Duke Star, the current IPS board president and a member of IPEC, and Derek Redelman, who is considered an architect of the state’s 2001 charter school law, both on the ballot.

Alexander S. Nyirendah, the vice chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, is running for an at-large seat and Chris Bultman is running in District 4. Bultman works at Concept Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization and was recently appointed to join the IPS board.

The IPS board members who have terms ending in 2026 are all running for re-election.

School board candidates statewide were previously nonpartisan, but they now have the ability to list a political party affiliation, identify as an independent, or be nonpartisan. Because there are no primary elections, multiple candidates can have the same party affiliation.

Here’s a look at who’s on the ballot. Incumbent candidates are noted with an asterisk.

Candidates for IPS school board:

See the map of school board districts here.

District 2

Bryan Duarte, Democrat
Hasaan Rashid, Democrat*

District 3

Loren Eugene Heger, Democrat
Hope Duke Star, Democrat*
Derek Redelman, Independent
Daqavise D. Winston, Democrat

You’re invited: Hear about the changes for schools this election and what they mean

District 4

Chris Bultman, Democrat*
Lindsey Cornett, Democrat

District 5

Nicole Carey, Democrat*
Yuri Smith Sr., Democrat
Pearl Taylor, Democrat

At-large

Heather Houston, Independent
Angelia Lois Moore, Democrat*
Alexander S. Nyirendah, Democrat
Sacha Nicole Sharp, Democrat

Candidates for school boards across the Indianapolis area:

Beech Grove City Schools

Three at-large seats are on the ballot.

Brian Downard, nonpartisan*
Tiffani Flick, Democrat
Jannis King, Independent*
Madison West, nonpartisan

MSD of Decatur Township

Three at-large seats are on the ballot.

Randi Berryman, nonpartisan
Teresa A. Burns, nonpartisan
Judith Collins, Republican*
Dale Henson, Republican*
Steve Jacobi, nonpartisan
Patrice Johnson, nonpartisan
Chase Lyday, Republican*
Kristyn D. Stoddard, Independent

Franklin Township Community Schools

At-large

Komal (Komal Kaur) Chohan, Independent
Dawn Downer, nonpartisan*
Antonio DeWayne Key, Sr, Democrat
Tim McVey, Republican
Christopher Williams, Republican

Northeast District

Zachary Smith Howard, Republican*

Southeast District

Matt Morgan, Republican
Larry J. Walker, Republican*

MSD of Lawrence Township

At-large

Maria Bertram Cartagena, nonpartisan
Jessica Dunn, nonpartisan*

District 2

Larry Brown, nonpartisan
Craig J Willey, nonpartisan

Perry Township Schools

Three at-large seats are on the ballot.

Chris Lewis, Republican*
Brianna Bible, Democrat
Lee Shively, Independent*

MSD of Pike Township

Three at-large seats are on the ballot.

Alonzo Anderson, Democrat*
Wayne Moore, Democrat*
Sherie Latoya Scott, Democrat
Terry A. Webster, Sr., Democrat*

MSD of Warren Township

Three at-large seats are on the ballot.

Terri Amos, nonpartisan*
Rachel M Burke, nonpartisan*
Jerry Crites, nonpartisan
Samantha Douglas, nonpartisan
Kevin S. Humphrey, Sr, nonpartisan*
Steve (Coach) Tutsie, Independent

MSD of Washington Township

At-large

Leslie Bowles, nonpartisan
Jayia McCray, nonpartisan

District 2

Jocelyn Sisson, nonpartisan

MSD of Wayne Township

Four at-large seats are on the ballot.

Brandon Bowman, Democrat*
Mikeal Gordon, Democrat*
Raimeka Graham, Democrat*
Benjamin Wakefield, nonpartisan*

Speedway Schools is not included in this list because the school board is appointed by the town board, not elected.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

5 takeaways from Chalkbeat’s panel on Indiana’s changes to school board elections and referendums

2026-07-10T17:42:59+00:00

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The upcoming election season will ask Indiana voters to make critical decisions about how schools are funded and who sits on local school boards.

Shaping these decisions are new laws taking effect this year that allow school board candidates to run under partisan labels, and change how districts seek property tax referendums.

To explain how these changes may affect the makeup of school boards and future funding for schools, Chalkbeat hosted a panel at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis on Wednesday featuring three experts:

Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association.
Ashley Thomas, District 1 IPS commissioner, and member of the IPEC board.
David Roof, associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Ball State University’s Teachers College and Director of the Center for Economic and Civic Learning.

Here are five takeaways from the discussion.

Half of school board candidates choose party affiliation

Beginning this year, under a new state law, school board races in Indiana will shed their nonpartisan label and allow candidates to declare a party affiliation. There are no primary races for school board, meaning more than one candidate in a race may be a Democrat or Republican. For this reason, straight-ticket voting won’t include school board races.

Candidates can also choose to remain nonpartisan, or label themselves independent.

Of 1,044 school board candidates who have filed for office statewide, 524 have chosen a party affiliation, according to data from the school boards association shared by Spradlin. Around 72% of that number are running as Republicans, 6% are running as Democrats, and 7% are running as independents.

There are a number of reasons candidates may have chosen a partisan label, the panelists said. For example, listing a party puts a candidate higher on the ballot, Spradlin said. Not listing a party might make voters think a candidate has something to hide, Roof said.

Another 516 candidates chose to remain nonpartisan, according to ISBA data. Approximately

60% of school board races have just one candidate, in line with previous years.

Effect of partisan labels remains to be seen

Supporters of the law previously said partisan labels give voters key information to make a decision. But panelists said that might not be the case in school board elections.

For one thing, there can be considerable differences between members of the same political party, Thomas said.

“Someone could be a Democrat and they could have completely different views on some really strong points compared to someone who sits in that same party,” Thomas said.

Plus, it’s not clear how much party affiliation matters for the responsibilities of school boards, which primarily focus on governance decisions, rather than legislative ones, Roof said. School boards are primarily responsible for hiring superintendents, approving budgets, and adopting policies. No school board member can make these decisions alone, Spradlin noted.

“One of the worries I have is that people will begin to see those decisions through a partisan lens and interpret the decisions that are made — the governing decisions — through a kind of partisan framework,” Roof said.

The years of heightened political tensions at school board meetings during COVID seem to be simmering down, panelists agreed.

At the same time, the 2025 Civic Health Index indicates Hoosiers appear less willing to discuss potentially divisive political issues or attend public meetings. That affects young people’s first experiences with civic engagement, Roof said.

“Our students are paying attention to adults and whether or not we can disagree respectfully,” Roof said.

Three dozen school districts — and counting — seek referendums

Indiana districts can ask voters to raise their own property taxes to help fund schools. Districts typically seek referendum funding for either capital or operating expenses. While capital referendums fund construction or renovations, operating referendums fund expenses like teacher pay, programming, and transportation.

So far, around three dozen districts plan to seek property tax referendums in the fall, and ISBA expects the final number to be around 55. Spradlin said that while the number seems higher than in the past, it reflects the changes lawmakers made to limit when school districts can seek referendums.

This year, districts are asking voters to consider these tax increases in a time of increasing household costs, creating some uncertainty about whether the referendums will pass.

But districts are grappling with rising costs, too, Spradlin said. The majority of a school district’s operating fund goes to insurance, transportation, and utilities, he said, and energy rate hikes are outpacing inflation.

“What districts are pursuing are not really expansive revenue requests to add new programs or build new buildings,” Spradlin said. “These requests are simply to maintain the status quo, to continue to have enough funding for the momentum that we are seeing in our classrooms across Indiana.”

Thomas said districts should be transparent about how they’re spending referendum dollars. In Indianapolis, she said she has recommended an accountability ticker for all schools — including charter schools — that benefit from a referendum to explain how they’re spending the money.

Could sharing tax revenue with charters displease voters?

This year, Indiana lawmakers passed sweeping legislation requiring public school districts to share more property tax revenue with charter schools. Members of the audience wanted to know why they should support referendums if they fundamentally oppose this change.

Thomas said she heard from a constituent with this concern. She said she believes the economic climate will be more of an issue to voters than which schools would benefit from referendums.

“Any disruption that may happen for a referendum that doesn’t pass could be to the detriment of kids, no matter the school type,” she said.

Sharing the revenue means districts have to seek a higher rate, Spradlin said, which could make passing a referendum more challenging.

The next statewide budget could end referendums

Our audience also wanted to know: Is there a piece of legislation that could put an end to districts’ consistent need for referendums?

Spradlin said the next state budget could provide enough state funding to reduce the reliance on referendums.

“That’s the vehicle that we hitch our wagon to every two years and ask for adequate funding for public education in Indiana,” Spradlin said.

With talk of ending property taxes altogether, ensuring an adequate stream of funding is critical, he added. Over the next couple of years, the state will free up another $1 billion after paying off the teacher retirement fund liability — money Spradlin said should be reinvested in public education.

Thomas suggested that lawmakers reverse a 2025 law that made school vouchers open to all in order to ensure more funding is available for public schools.

In addition, providing special education services for Indianapolis students in both district and charter schools has left IPS in a multi-million dollar deficit, Thomas said.

Roof added that lawmakers could tackle specific initiatives, like the recommendations from the Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission, or proposals to implement universal preschool.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

This Decatur Central teacher’s marketing class helped launch rebranded district logos

2026-07-02T16:53:51+00:00

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When the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township unveiled its rebranded logos last school year, it turned to an in-house marketing firm: Jessica Sandvold’s Strategic Marketing and Digital Marketing classes at Decatur Central High School.

Sandvold designed a curriculum in which students treated the district as a marketing client. She said the project pushed students to think about “what would resonate with a broader audience, which is a critical mindset in marketing.”

While students learned marketing strategy and practiced collaboration, Sandvold said the project also gave her a new perspective on structuring assignments and teaching concepts to students new to marketing.

Sandvold became a teacher four years ago after encouragement from a mentor. Now, she hopes to inspire her own students by helping them discover potential career paths.

“I get to help them explore who they are, what they’re interested in, and how that can translate into a career,” she said. “That sense of purpose, helping students see a path forward, is what drives me every day.”

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How and when did you decide to become a teacher?

I didn’t originally set out to become a teacher. I started at Decatur Central as an administrative assistant to Christine Mullis, who also leads the EDGE Academy small learning community. My daughter had just graduated in 2022, and at the time I was returning to the workforce after staying home with my three young children. Initially, I was looking for a role that aligned with my family’s schedule and allowed me to explore a new career path.

A few months into the job, a business teaching position opened. I was honestly unsure if I could do it, but Christine saw something in me before I fully saw it in myself. Her mentorship and belief in me played a huge role in my decision to take that step and in the teacher I’ve become.

I chose to teach marketing because it’s where my background and passion align. I have a bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in marketing, along with master’s degrees in Public Administration and Marketing Project Management. More importantly, though, I’ve always been someone who connects well with people. Building relationships is one of my strengths, and that’s at the core of how I approach teaching.

What’s your favorite lesson to teach and why?

One of my favorite lessons to teach is our semester-long small business project, where students develop their own realistic business from the ground up. Entrepreneurship is something many of my students are genuinely interested in, so this project gives them a chance to turn that interest into something tangible and meaningful.

Throughout the semester, students take on the role of business owners. They create a brand identity with a logo and slogan, decide what products or services they want to offer, define their target audience, and think through how they would actually market and operate their business.

It’s not just a creative exercise; it pushes them to think critically, make decisions, and problem-solve in ways that mirror the real world.

What I love most is seeing students take ownership of their ideas. They start to realize that building a business takes more than just a good idea. It requires planning, adaptability, and persistence.

How did you approach working with the students on the district rebranding?

We began working on a district logo launch video, and then expanded into developing concepts for how each school’s new logo could be introduced. I used my prior experience with marketing and rebranding to build out a structured process for students, essentially turning a real-world brand launch into a guided curriculum.

Students worked through planning, content creation, and editing while collaborating in teams. They also took on leadership roles, presented their ideas, and operated under real-world expectations, meeting deadlines, following guidelines, and even signing confidentiality agreements. We treated it like a true client-based project, which elevated both the level of professionalism and student investment.

How did you make the project a real-world work experience for students?

Students approached the district rebranding as if they were working for a real marketing client. Over several months, they collaborated in teams to plan, create, and refine content that would introduce the new district and school logos in a way that felt engaging and authentic to our community.

Their work included brainstorming campaign concepts, identifying target audiences, scripting and storyboarding videos, filming and editing content, and presenting their final ideas. Throughout the process, they had to think critically about messaging, audience perception, and how to build excitement around a brand, skills that directly mirror what professionals in the marketing field do.

The experience was intentionally designed to feel as close to real life as possible. Students worked under deadlines, followed project guidelines, signed confidentiality agreements, and treated each phase of the project with a high level of professionalism. They also participated in group collaboration and took on leadership roles, which added another layer of accountability.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received is that teaching is like “building the plane while you’re flying it.” At the time, I didn’t fully realize it was advice, but it has become something I rely on every day.

That mindset has been incredibly important because teaching requires constant flexibility. You’re navigating new students, evolving expectations, and shifting systems, all while trying to make content meaningful and engaging. There isn’t a perfect moment where everything is fully “built”... you have to keep moving forward anyway.

I’ve learned to give myself grace in that process. Some days don’t go as planned, and that’s part of the job. What matters is staying adaptable and continuing to show up for students.

I also bring that mindset into my classroom. I talk to my students about handling uncertainty and making the best decisions with what they have in front of them. They’re going to face similar situations in their future careers, where things aren’t perfect or fully figured out. The goal isn’t perfection … it’s learning how to adjust, problem-solve, and keep going.

How do you take care of yourself when you’re not at work?

I try to be intentional about self-care whenever I can, whether that’s something small like getting my nails done or trying out a new recipe in the kitchen. I also have three daughters at home, and being their mom is one of the biggest ways I recharge. Spending time with them fills my cup in a way nothing else can.

Over time, I’ve learned that you can’t pour from an empty cup. I used to feel guilty taking time for myself, but I’ve realized it’s not optional … it’s necessary. When I take care of myself, I’m able to show up better for my students and my family.

I also enjoy traveling and spending time with friends and family. Those moments help me reset and come back to work with more energy and perspective.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

More Republicans than Democrats file for school board races in central Indiana

2026-07-01T11:00:00+00:00

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A plurality of school board candidates in central Indiana did not declare a party affiliation ahead of the general election in November, when school board races across the state will be partisan for the first time.

But those who did declare a party tended to declare themselves Republican, with about one-third of candidates identifying with the GOP in candidate filings.

In the nine-county region, about one-third of the 211 candidates are Republicans, while roughly 13% are Democratic and 9% are independent. About 45% of candidates did not declare a party affiliation. Incumbent candidates were more likely to identify as Republican or not have a party listed. Only incumbents in Marion County identified themselves as Democrats.

The filings for central Indiana could shed light on how political partisanship affects school board races. In Marion County, Democratic candidates outnumber Republican candidates. Yet in the more conservative counties that surround the state’s capital, Republican candidates outnumber Democratic ones.

State lawmakers approved partisan school board races last year despite significant opposition from educators and advocates who argued that partisan politics would disrupt inherently nonpartisan activities left to the school board, like selecting a superintendent and approving an annual budget. But some Republican lawmakers who backed the legislation said it would help voters support candidates who align with their values.

The new state law allows candidates to include a political party after their name, leave their political affiliation blank, identify as independent, or state that they do not identify with a party. But candidates who identify as Democrats or Republicans could gain a key advantage.

Under a state law adopted this year, the party whose candidate received the most votes in the county in the most recent election for secretary of state will be listed first on ballots. The party with the second-highest number of votes for that office will be listed second, followed by independent candidates or those affiliated with parties that did not have a secretary of state candidate. Finally, candidates who do not disclose any political affiliation will appear last.

That means in Democratic-leaning Marion County, for example, Democratic school board candidates will be listed before their Republican opponents. But elsewhere in the state, Republican school board candidates will be first on the ballot — which some research suggests could give them an advantage over other candidates.

The move toward partisanship comes as national political polarization has begun to affect state and local races that have typically been less partisan, said Michael Wolf of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne. In K-12 education, this shift has fueled divisive debates over book bans and mask mandates.

The change could have upsides and downsides, Wolf said. While fewer candidates may be interested in running in partisan races, more voters may cast a vote for school board candidates if they’re aware of the candidate’s party.

“One of the benefits, certainly, of partisan elections is that you probably would have more participation at least in people not skipping that race when they’re voting,” he said.

Party affiliation could bring ballot advantage

Some incumbents say voters have often wanted to know what political party school board candidates belong to.

When Zachary Smith Howard knocked on doors in his first bid for the Franklin Township Community School Corporation board in 2018, the most common question people asked him was his party affiliation, he said.

“I would tell people, ‘This is a nonpartisan race, but I identify with the Republican Party,’” said Howard, who is on the board of the Indiana School Boards Association but spoke to Chalkbeat in his personal capacity. “Most people don’t do the homework on the school board elections, they just don’t.”

Howard is seeking his third term as the sole candidate for the northeast portion of the district. But this time, he filed as a Republican.

Howard considers his Republican affiliation as just another piece of information for Marion County voters in Franklin Township to consider. But he also wishes voters would do more research on what candidates stand for, he said, because there’s more to a candidate than a partisan label.

“My fear is that people will just look at the label and that’s how they’ll make a decision,” he said.

In Westfield, the partisan school board law spurred Gabriel Crawford-Paree to run as a Democrat for the at-large seat on the Westfield Washington school board — even though he opposed making school board elections partisan.

“Filing as a Democrat is my shorthand way to signal to the likely many voters I won’t be able to reach during my campaign that I do support public education,” he said.

His opponent in Hamilton County, Republican incumbent Amber Huff Willis, said she’s seen voters struggle to understand why the school board races are nonpartisan when she’s run for her seat in the past.

Although she declared a party affiliation, she said lawmakers shouldn’t have introduced political partisanship into school board races because it shouldn’t matter.

“I would say nine out of 10 times if you’re involved in a community, you probably understand who does what and who falls where,” she said.

The general election is on Nov. 3.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools board taps Chris Bultman to represent District 4

2026-06-26T01:07:53+00:00

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Chris Bultman will be the newest member of the Indianapolis Public Schools Board of Commissioners. He will represent District 4, the southwest part of the school district.

The IPS school board voted 5-1 on Thursday to appoint Bultman, the regional director of external affairs at Concept Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization that works with Indiana Math and Science Academies. The board interviewed him and finalist Lindsey Cornett in a public meeting on Wednesday.

Bultman will serve through January, when the newly elected District 4 representative will be sworn in.

Both Bultman and Cornett are running for District 4 in November. Bultman’s appointment means he will have some time on the board ahead of the election, unlike newcomer Cornett. He’ll also have to balance joining the board and campaigning.

Bultman is on the ballot for November. Cornett will be added, said the Marion County Clerks’ Office on Thursday. She was originally denied due to what she said was confusion about whether she met the deadline to file.

Board president Hope Duke Star said she voted for Bultman as a decision aimed at the future, adding that “a year from now, we will need some stability on the board.”

The District 4 seat became vacant when former Commissioner Allissa Impink resigned earlier this month after winning the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 46. During public comment on Wednesday, Impink spoke in support of Cornett.

IPS board members Star, Angelia Moore, Deandra Thompson, Ashley Thomas and Hasaan Rashid voted for Bultman. Board member Nicole Carey voted for Cornett.

Carey said she is concerned about the professional conflict Bultman could face as an IPS board member who also works for a charter organization that aims to enroll students living within the IPS district boundaries.

Star said that even when there is a gray area, she expects all IPS board members to prioritize IPS when they are in their board seats, including Bultman.

Bultman joins the board at a critical time, with five of the board’s seven seats on the ballot in November. It is also the first school board election since the creation of the mayor-appointed Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which holds key powers for IPS and charter schools.

Voters will also be asked to decide whether to approve a tax increase, or referendum, that would provide funding for IPS and charter schools that opt in.But even if it passes, IPS is still expected to make $20 million in cuts by the 2027-28 school year.

In his Wednesday interview, Bultman said has experience working with students facing challenges outside of school and with helping families make decisions about where to attend school.

He said his priorities would be improving student outcomes and the district’s financial health while also making IPS a destination for families. Bultman said the referendum is also a key challenge facing the district. He also called for collaboration across Indianapolis’ school types with a focus on improving student outcomes.

Bultman will be sworn in during the school board’s next agenda review meeting at 6 p.m. July 28 at 120 E. Walnut St.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

IPS school board approves Cold Spring School’s bid to be an innovation charter school

2026-06-26T01:04:09+00:00

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The Indianapolis Public Schools board reversed its decision from last year and approved Cold Spring School’s request to remain in the district’s Innovation Network as a charter school.

The board also approved two new innovation schools: a second campus for Global Prep Academy and a new Monarca Academy high school. Both schools are already in the Innovation Network.

Innovation schools are independently run but receive some services from IPS such as transportation, food service, or building space. While many innovation schools are charter schools, some are not. Those schools rely more heavily on IPS for student services such as special education and English learner support.

The changes are all for one year, as contracts for Cold Spring, Global Prep, and Monarca are all up for renewal this year, according to Ricky Ritter, IPS director of innovation schools.

IPS superintendent Aleesia Johnson told the board that she expects more clarity around the district’s future and finances ahead of the renewal votes.

Here’s an overview of the changes.

Cold Spring School will become a charter school

Cold Spring School, which serves grades K-8, is an innovation school that wants to become a charter innovation school. Last year, the IPS school board rejected that request, saying the city’s education policy landscape was in flux.

This year, the board approved an amendment to Cold Spring’s innovation school contract that allows it to be a charter school.

Cold Spring Chief Operating Officer Cody Stipes told the school board that becoming a charter school would allow the school to access about $1.8 million more in state funding along with opportunities for federal and grant funds. The school can expand programming and academic offerings with the added money.

With the change, Cold Spring will contract with IPS for custodial and food services, while IPS would continue to provide transportation and the school building. As a charter school, Cold Spring will take over services for students with disabilities and English language learners from IPS, saving the district more than $800,000, per Stipes.

Global Prep Academy splits into 2 campuses

Global Prep Academy is expanding from one building to two to free up space at its current location at Riverside School 44. The existing campus will serve students through fifth grade, while a new location, Global Prep at the Monon, will serve grades 6-8.

The IPS board approved a one-year innovation school contract for the new school and amended its contract with Global Prep at school 44 to reflect the grades served at that location.

Global Prep owns the new building and will manage IT, custodial services, and food services. IPS will provide transportation for the schools. IPS will also save more than $96,000 a year by removing a modular classroom from school 44.

Monarca Academy adds high school

Monarca Academy, which is co-located at Northwest Middle School, is splitting into a middle school and a high school but remaining in the same building.

The IPS board approved a one-year innovation school contract for Monarca Academy High School and amended the existing contract for Monarca’s middle school to reflect the grade changes.

IPS will continue to provide custodial services, food service, transportation, and building space for both schools.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

IPS school board interviews 2 applicants for District 4 vacancy

2026-06-25T00:39:15+00:00

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In public interviews, two applicants to be the next member of the Indianapolis Public Schools Board of Commissioners stressed their experience working with students and a desire to engage families and the community with the district.

On Wednesday, the IPS school board interviewed Chris Bultman and Lindsey Cornett to fill the District 4 vacancy ahead of a Thursday vote. The interviews were also a preview of the upcoming campaign season as both finalists said they are running for the District 4 seat in the November election.

The seat representing the southwest part of the school district is vacant after former Commissioner Allissa Impink resigned earlier this month. Impink, who won the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 46, resigned from the school board before the general election, so the IPS District 4 seat would be on November’s ballot.

The appointee will serve until January, when the newly elected member is sworn in. That person will serve the remainder of Impink’s term through the end of 2028.

Bultman is the sole candidate on the ballot, but Cornett said she plans to run as well. She is currently considering appeal options or running as a write-in candidate after her candidate paperwork was denied due to what she said was confusion about whether she met the deadline to file.

Whomever is selected in the meantime will join the school board at a critical time. Five of the board’s seven seats are on the ballot, and voters will also decide whether to approve a tax increase, or referendum, that would provide funding for IPS and charter schools that opt in.

The IPS school board used to have the power to put a tax increase on the ballot, but that’s now under the purview of the mayor-appointed Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which was created by state lawmakers earlier this year.

This week, IPEC members decided to ask voters for a property tax increase of 37 cents per $100 of assessed value. Even if it passes, IPS is still expected to make $20 million in cuts by the 2027-28 school year.

Meet the applicants for District 4 IPS school board member

Chris Bultman

Bultman is the regional director of external affairs at Concept Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization that works with Indiana Math and Science Academies. He previously worked as a teacher and on the culture team at Indiana Math and Science where he worked with students facing challenges outside of school.

If appointed, he said his priorities would be improving student outcomes and the district’s financial health while also making IPS a destination for families. He also noted that the referendum is a key challenge facing the district.

Bultman said this moment calls for strong collaboration across Indianapolis’ school types and that disagreement is OK as long as the main focus for all schools working together is improving student outcomes.

Lindsey Cornett

Cornett, a writer and editor for congregation engagement at Englewood Community Development Corporation, described herself as a fierce advocate for IPS. She’s also a former Florida public school teacher and mother of three IPS students.

If appointed, Cornett said she would do her part to get the referendum passed and “offer stability, representation, and camaraderie with the residents of our district” during IPS’s time of transition.

She added that channeling the community’s energy and love for Indianapolis and individual IPS schools is a great opportunity for the district. The biggest challenges are finances and holding IPEC accountable, Cornett said. Going forward, she said the focus needs to be on data-driven decisionmaking for student outcomes and making sure schools have the resources they need before new ideas are launched.

Impink attended the meeting and spoke in support of Cornett during public comment.

This is the second time this year the IPS board has filled a vacancy due to a resignation. Hasaan Rashid was appointed to the board in March.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Marion County school board elections: Tell us what you want to know

2026-06-24T17:36:29+00:00

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The 2026 elections could be critical for school districts across the Indianapolis area and the state.

It’s the first time school board candidates can declare a political party affiliation on the ballot. It also could bring a record number of requests from school districts to increase property taxes, as schools across the state struggle with declining enrollment and a loss in revenue from property tax reforms that state lawmakers implemented last year.

And school districts continue to navigate other challenges such as how to implement artificial intelligence in schools and a bell-to-bell cellphone ban for students.

The people elected to school boards will help guide these key decisions including what budget cuts may be necessary if voters reject a proposed property tax increase on the ballot.

We want to hear from Marion County voters about their most pressing issues and questions for prospective school board candidates in the 10 districts across Indianapolis with elected school boards. What do you want to know from the candidates? What challenges do you want to see them address?

Your answers will help shape our upcoming voter guide for Marion County school board elections in partnership with Mirror Indy and WFYI. Let us know what you’d like to know from your candidates below:

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Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis voters will consider a tax increase for the city’s schools this fall

2026-06-22T23:36:03+00:00

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Indianapolis voters will decide whether to approve a tax increase this fall to support the city’s district and charter schools following a Monday vote by the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

The newly-created board that oversees key aspects such as finances of local schools voted unanimously to place an operating referendum of 37 cents per $100 of assessed value that is projected to generate around $90 million in annual revenue on the ballot. It will mean asking voters to cover around $221 more on their annual tax bills on a typical $150,000 home at a time of increasing living costs.

But it could be a lifeline for Indianapolis Public Schools to avoid significant cuts to staff and programs or even a state takeover. The revenue will also benefit charter schools that enroll students living within the IPS district and choose to participate in the referendum.

Half the referendum revenue, or $43.9 million, will go to IPS and $43.9 million will go to around 60 charter schools that have signed up to participate in the referendum.

IPEC acting Executive Director Michael O’Connor acknowledged that the referendum won’t be enough to cover the district’s budget deficit, and will likely require Indianapolis Public Schools to make $20 million in cuts by 2027-28, in addition to the $24 million in cuts already announced this year. The board is also counting on more cost-sharing with the district’s innovation schools, as well as an increase in the state funding IPS receives for special education and English language learner education, to shore up the district’s budget.

In a statement, IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said that though the board’s referendum rate was less than the district sought, she urged voters to support it.

Referencing the further cuts, Johnson said, “We will approach these difficult decisions with thoughtfulness, intentionality, and open communication with our community. Those considerations will begin immediately because we know our students, staff, and families are counting on us.”

The body had multiple referendum options to choose from, including renewing the current referendum at 19 cents per $100 of assessed value or a much higher rate of 55 cents, but ultimately chose a middle ground, said O’Connor.

“We heard from people who are on fixed incomes and who worry very much about what any tax increases would mean to them. We heard from owners of property who worried that their renters couldn’t afford an increase in taxes,” said David Harris, chair of the board in opening comments. “At the same time, we heard from a lot of people who were very worried that we make sure our kids have the resources that they both deserve and are entitled to.”

Board member and IPS board president Hope Duke Star publicly proposed a higher 42 cent referendum to save IPS from more drastic cuts, but the proposal was voted down.

“The amount will be too high for many, too low for many others, but will allow the education system we are tasked with overseeing the ability to operate, make decisions about right-rizing and streamlining in an orderly fashion,” O’Connor said.

Indiana lawmakers this year created the mayor-appointed IPEC to manage referendums, transportation, and accountability for these schools, shifting power away from the elected IPS board.

The fall referendum is the body’s first significant act. It will last four years, rather than the typical eight years. O’Connor said this move would be “best for all,” allowing IPEC to implement a transportation system in year two and a facilities plan in year three. The IPEC board will also set an operating levy in October to fund operating expenses, like transportation, O’Connor said. The sharing of this funding between IPS and charter schools will be rolled out incrementally per state law.

Comments from the public — and especially from charter leaders and advocates — were largely supportive of passing a referendum.

“The outcome goal is all children,” said Felicia Glinsey-Butler, assistant principal at Vision Academy at Riverside, a charter school.

But speakers also expressed frustration that the power to levy a referendum was taken away from the elected IPS board. They asked the IPEC board to ensure transparency for the tax revenue.

“We need a place we can go to see where every single penny of this referendum is going,” said Monica Shellhammer, an IPS third grade teacher.

The referendum will likely be one of several dozen proposed to voters across the state this year, as school districts grapple with caps on property tax revenue and changes to the referendum process.

The next step is for IPEC to send its ballot question to the state Department of Local Government Finance. The department then has until noon Aug. 1 to decide if it’s approved.

IPEC is scheduled to meet again on July 22.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

A network of public microschools wants to expand across Indiana. Is it collaborating or competing?

2026-06-22T11:00:00+00:00

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Jen Shipley would have never considered public school for her rising third grader, whom she had homeschooled since kindergarten.

In public schools, she said she saw cuts to recess and enrichment, an overreliance on screens, and not enough time to give each student individual attention, she said.

But a 2025 meeting with Indiana Microschool Collaborative CEO George Philhower and Nature’s Gift microschool leader Erin Wolski changed her mind. They painted a picture of a public school located in the woods in Hancock County that would emphasize parental involvement and a flexible schedule, while drawing from Montessori and classical education to allow students to move at their own pace.

Over the next school year, Shipley’s daughter excelled in math where she had been struggling at home. It was hard to leave their full-time homeschooling community, but Shipley said it was worth it.

“I love that she can learn from teachers who love teaching reading and math,” Shipley said. “Sure I could teach my child a science experiment, but not with the same passion behind it.”

Nature’s Gift’s, which just wrapped up its first year, is the Indiana Microschool Collaborative’s first microschool. But the collective plans to open five more sites with spots for hundreds more students across eastern central Indiana. Planned sites in Richmond and New Palestine already have waitlists for admission, a sign that parents’ interest in microschools continues to grow.

The collaborative’s approach is distinctive — and not just for its education model. In fact, the Indiana Microschool Collaborative, or IMC, could be a harbinger of how emerging models for schooling in the state will increasingly blur traditional lines.

It’s a network of microschools, which operate with a degree of independence, but it’s also classified as a single charter school in terms of state funding. And it doesn’t just draw on resources and services from a traditional school district — its CEO, Philhower, is also that district’s superintendent.

Eastern Hancock Schools, a rural district serving around 1,200 students across three schools, provides administrative support to Nature’s Gift through a shared services agreement. However, the charter school is an independent entity and authorized by the Indiana Charter School Board.

Philhower envisions Indiana microschools working collaboratively with their local districts to offer families an alternative to leaving the public school system altogether. For families, this opens up possibilities like learning at home some days and learning in a classroom on others, while districts still earn some revenue from providing facilities or administrative support.

“At a broader level, the goal is not to create separation between schools but to create more connected and flexible public learning opportunities for families,” Philhower said.

Not everyone is so taken with the idea. Some Indiana superintendents have spoken to the collaborative about bringing microschools to their districts, said Jeff Butts, of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents. But the collaborative’s Richmond site has been criticized by the superintendent of the local school district, who said losing students to IMC would lead to district funding cuts and staff reductions.

That kind of financial crunch would hit rural districts especially hard, said Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, president at Indiana Coalition for Public Education.

Then there are broader concerns about whether such arrangements are appropriate or fair. Fuentes-Rohwer questioned how Philhower can promote both the district and the collective and serve both well.

“Charter schools are based on the idea that the public schools are failing to provide something for kids. Your job as a superintendent is to fix that, and provide what’s needed so that every student can be the best that they can be,” Fuentes-Rowher said. “If it’s about smaller class sizes or individualized attention, why is that not provided to all kids at the district?”

Philhower said he believes in school choice, and that all students should get to attend “a school that feels like it was designed for them.”

“Nothing is stopping us from providing that. One benefit to Eastern Hancock is we get to learn from these sites,” he said. “And these sites get to learn from us.”

Funding and operating microschools throughout the state

Indiana’s microschools have operated mostly as small private schools, although in 2023, Purdue Polytechnic High School opened the Lab School, a microschool within a public charter school serving around 20 students

The microschools’ approaches share an emphasis on small environments and personalized instruction. But with small staffs, there are some tradeoffs.

At Nature’s Gift, parents pick up and drop off every day. The school can incorporate some special education goals into small group instruction, but other services for students with an Individualized Education Program might be offered virtually, school leaders said. That format might not be appropriate for every student.

Each IMC site serves between 60 and 100 students, and will have “its own educators and identity that fits the local community,” Philhower said, though there is collaboration with districts “around professional learning, systems, curriculum design, and student experiences.”

Under Indiana law, IMC could be eligible to receive local property tax revenue from multiple districts. Philhower said IMC has not discussed participating in a referendum, and would only participate if its partner districts wanted the school to do so.

For state funding purposes, IMC is one big charter school, Philhower said. That also means the new locations are not subject to an Indiana law that requires charter authorizers to hold public hearings before granting charters to new schools.

That left local education leaders in one county blindsided.

Wayne County superintendents were not included in IMC’s plans to open a microschool on the campus of Indiana University East in Richmond this fall, said Mike McCoy, superintendent of the local district, Centerville-Abington Community Schools.

Philhower said the school works with its authorizer, the Indiana Charter School Board, on hearings. The board did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, IU spokesman Mark Bode said IU East shared initial information about the new school in late March, followed by a meeting with the superintendents in April.

If he had been asked for input, McCoy said he would have suggested a model within a district that would allow students to stay with their peers while also taking classes at the university. His district already sends some students to IU East for a teaching pathway and other college courses.

Enrollment in Centerville-Abington, which has about 1,700 students, has fallen in the last several years due in part to local demographic changes, McCoy said.

Philhower said it makes sense for districts with declining enrollments to work with IMC schools instead of merely losing those students. After dipping slightly during the pandemic, enrollment in Philhower’s Eastern Hancock district has recovered to where it stood a decade ago.

But McCoy said a loss of even 10 students to a microschool could force his district to cut a teaching position.

“Schools in Wayne County, we’re working together more than we ever have,” McCoy said. “It’s unfortunate that we’re going to lose students.”

What teaching and learning at a microschool is like

On a recent Friday, Nature’s Gift students boarded an Eastern Hancock school bus for a field trip to the Conner Prairie museum.

The school paid Eastern Hancock schools for the gas and the cost of the driver’s time for the field trip, said Wolski, the school leader. Two Nature’s Gift teachers planned the outing. (Eastern Hancock does not provide daily transportation to and from the school.)

Teachers at Nature’s Gift don’t typically spend the whole day with just one group of students; Wolski is the licensed teacher for the middle school, but might also pull aside a group of five second graders for additional reading instruction, she said.

“I don’t feel like I’m on an island, and my whole career, I felt like I was on an island,” said Wolski, who previously spent 16 years teaching in both general education and special education roles.

Wolski said IMC hopes to add a special education coordinator in the future to be able to offer more services — like identification — in-house, rather than relying on Eastern Hancock.

The group instruction at the school is based on skill level, so it’s easier for students to move at their own pace, Wolski said. A first grader recently joined her math group for third to fifth grade students.

These learning groups might include approximately a dozen students at a time, though the school comes together in larger cohorts to work on Project Lead The Way curriculum.

Some students attend in-person only part-time, and complete the rest of their instruction at home. The flexibility allowed Shipley’s daughter to attend Nature’s Gift in person three days a week, leaving time to attend a wilderness school program while completing schoolwork at home.

“We are always thinking about outside the box ideas,” Wolski said. “When you work closely with parents, you have that partnership, and you can problem solve a lot easier.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS seeks applicants to fill vacant District 4 school board seat

2026-06-16T19:33:38+00:00

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Applications are open to fill a vacancy on the Indianapolis Public Schools Board, with the board selecting an appointee next week.

The school board’s District 4 seat, which represents the southwest part of the school district, is vacant after Commissioner Allissa Impink’s resignation took effect June 15. Impink won the Democratic primary election for Indiana State Senate District 46 in May. She resigned before the general election so the school board seat would be on November’s ballot, reducing the time an appointed member will be on the board.

The appointee will serve on the board until January when the newly elected member is sworn in. That person will serve the remainder of Impink’s term through the end of 2028.

The November election is a critical one for the IPS board, with five of seven seats on the ballot. It also comes as the district faces financial challenges and after the board lost some authority to the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. Established by state lawmakers earlier this year, IPEC now holds key powers over district and charter schools, including school accountability, buildings, transportation, and some financial matters.

To qualify for appointment to the IPS board, applicants must live in District 4 and have lived within the IPS school district for at least a year. They also must not have a felony conviction unless it was pardoned, reversed, vacated, or set aside.

Applications and resumes are due by 5 p.m. on June 23, and the school board will meet in executive session that day to select three finalists.

Finalists will have public interviews at 6 p.m. on June 24 at the district central office, 120 E. Walnut St. The board will vote on an appointment during its action session at 6 p.m. on June 25, and the appointee will be sworn in that evening.

It’s possible that whoever is appointed could also run for election in November. Potential school board candidates have until noon on June 18 to file. As of Tuesday afternoon, no candidate has filed to run in District 4, according to the Marion County Election Board’s candidate list.

Due to resignations, school board seats representing District 2 — which is now represented by Hasaan Rashid, who was appointed by the board in March — and District 4 are on the November ballot. Also on the ballot are three IPS board seats slated for election: District 3, currently represented by Hope Duke Star, District 5, represented by Nicole Carey, and an at-large seat held by Angelia Moore.

See the application for IPS District 4 commissioner here.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana wins federal education funding waiver from Trump administration

2026-06-16T15:01:14+00:00

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The Trump administration is giving Indiana new flexibility in how it spends some of its federal education funding.

But the waiver from the U.S. Department of Education is not nearly as expansive as what Indiana requested last year, when it sought a waiver from some provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the main federal law governing K-12 education.

The approved waiver will merge five federal funding streams to the tune of around $50 million over the next four years, according to U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who spoke at a news conference with Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday.

This strategy for federal education funding, often referred to as a block grant, is popular among conservatives championing fewer regulations. But others have criticized it, saying it could weaken accountability for the money and ultimately hurt certain students.

Indiana is now the third state after Iowa and Louisiana to receive a “Returning Education to the States” waiver from the Trump administration, which has also sought to close the Education Department. The flexibility the department provided to Iowa was also more modest than what the state originally sought.

McMahon and Jenner said the move will save Indiana an estimated $20 million in compliance costs over four years associated with administering the grants separately.

“As states, we have significant control over education. We set standards, choose our curriculum, and design assessments. When it comes to federal funding, our hands have always been tied, until now,” Jenner said.

The waiver will also allow the state to use its newly approved school accountability model as the sole accountability model for state and federal purposes.

At the state level, the waiver will merge the following funding streams:

Title I, Part B grants, which cover assessment.
Title II, Part A grants, which cover professional development.
Title III, Part A grants, which cover education for English learners.
Title IV, Part A grants, which cover enrichment.
Title IV, Part B grants, which cover 21st Century Learning Centers.

The federal funding for these grants will not change under the waiver.

The waiver does not grant all Indiana districts similar flexibility to spend the money they receive from the state, as the state originally requested in its waiver application. Instead, it allows the state to create a pilot program for up to 15% of local education agencies that will allow them to merge Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A funds.

The waiver also does not address Indiana’s request to redirect School Improvement Grant funding away from schools identified as low-performing. That request would have potentially diverted $25 million in annual federal funding to other schools, like charter schools and microschools.

Education advocates had expressed concern that this move would have hurt students who have to stay at the schools identified as low-performing.

Similarly, critics have also said that merging dedicated federal funding streams for specific student needs into block grants risks losing the guardrails that ensure the funding reaches those students.

Denise Forte, president and CEO of The Education Trust, an advocacy group that tracks the status of state waiver requests, said in a Tuesday statement that the Trump administration “has abandoned” commitments to supporting students and schools and to publicly reporting important education data.

“Instead, the Department of Education will allow Indiana to rewrite its accountability system in a way that will mask student performance and move millions of dollars in dedicated funding away from students who need it most,” Forte said.

Indiana officials on Tuesday rejected such arguments.

“Our funding formulas … direct a certain number of dollars per student to every school. That money will continue to flow,” Jenner said. “Now the money will be able to be deployed exactly how they need it in a timely manner.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Why this Indianapolis-area district is changing the start and end times for school days

2026-06-15T17:14:27+00:00

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When students in Decatur Township head back to class this August, they’ll start and end their days at new times.

The changes, which come with benefits for students and staff such as more sleep for middle school students and time for teacher professional development, are also in part, due to financial pressures schools face.

Changing start and end times means going from six different schedules to three, allowing for fewer bus routes and more savings to the district. School leaders said they are still implementing changes, but expect “impactful savings” to the district’s roughly $6.7 million transportation budget for this calendar year.

The priority is always how to best support students, said Scott Collins, superintendent of the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township. Additional benefits to the time changes are for high schoolers to end their day earlier and to align schedules for grade levels.

Yet, Collins also acknowledged that the money aspect can’t be untangled from those decisions.

Decatur Township schools are not alone in responding to less property tax funding due to changes at the state level and wanting to show fiscal responsibility to voters ahead of a potential tax increase, known as a referendum, vote in November.

School leaders in Decatur anticipate $3 million less in property taxes this year due to property tax reform. And additional state changes also mean the district is considering putting a tax measure on the ballot a year earlier than planned.

“We’re trying to save dollars now so we don’t have to ask for as much money in the future,” Collins said. “We want to be good stewards.”

And a big part of that for Decatur is busing – a key service that more than 70% of students in the district use daily during the school year. Plus, more than 1,100 of the district’s roughly 6,500 students use the bus each week for after-school activities like athletics, band, and clubs, Collins said. He added that buses are crucial for Decatur schools due to limited access to public transportation and limited ability to have walk zones for students.

Currently, the district uses a portion of its referendum dollars to pay for transportation costs, including salary and benefits for bus drivers, monitors, and mechanics. Without referendum funds, Collins said the district would have to consider additional busing changes such as walk zones and cutting after-school buses.

The district is considering a tax measure rate of roughly 27 cents per $100 of assessed value that would replace the current rate of roughly 29 cents starting in January if approved by voters.

In order to be on the ballot in November, the school board must approve and send the ballot question to the state Department of Local Government Finance no later than July 22.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Teacher merit pay in Indianapolis charter schools gets millions in new aid from philanthropies

2026-06-12T14:47:08+00:00

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Courtney Buuck thought there was some kind of mistake.

When she learned that she received a $40,000 bonus payment on top of her base teacher’s salary last fall, she was in shock. Like other staff at United Schools of Indianapolis’ three charter schools, she was eligible for a bonus based on her year-end evaluation score.

She just didn’t think she’d come out on top.

“I am just really hard on myself as an educator,” said Buuck, who teaches kindergarten at the Avondale Meadows Academy K-4 school. “And then once the shock wore off, I was just really proud of myself.”

Buuck plans to save her bonus to help her purchase her first home.

Buuck’s bonus comes from the $12.5 million Vigilance in Teaching and Learning — or VITAL — Trust, which launched in 2024 and pledged to support performance-based bonuses for staff at the charter network for 25 years. In the first year of awards, she received nearly $16,000.

Now, another venture with essentially the same name is expanding merit bonuses to 11 more Indianapolis charter schools this year in an effort to attract and retain high-quality educators. In April, the philanthropic VITAL Foundation awarded roughly $1.3 million in its first round of grants for teacher bonuses at high-needs schools that could range from $1,000 to $10,000.

The two initiatives differ in a few respects, but both are a substantial investment in merit pay in Indianapolis, where dozens of charter schools and multiple school districts compete for educators. The federal government has promoted the concept over the years through billions of dollars given to states to create performance-based pay systems, which the Trump administration also embraces.

The big question: Will it work? Research suggests that it could, if implemented in certain ways. But other studies suggest that narrowly focused merit-pay systems don’t deliver particularly well. And there are concerns dating back years that merit pay in general has little effect on student performance.

VITAL Foundation head Kelly Herron understands that money alone can’t solve the educator shortage. Instead, she said, the grants are part of a broader system to retain teachers.

“You have to create a culture in which this can work,” said Herron, who studied each school’s culture prior to awarding grants through school visits, staff focus groups, and surveys. “You can’t go into a school that already has a broken culture, and think that this is the magic wand.”

Merit pay hopes to address charter hiring challenge

Roughly 15 years ago, President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top initiative incentivized states to adopt merit-based pay structures.

But today, state law does not tie teacher pay directly to student performance. Instead, school districts can bargain differentiated pay based on a teacher’s evaluation. The state Teacher Appreciation Grant also gives money to up to 20% of a district or charter school’s teachers using specific performance criteria.

Charters and district-run schools can face different challenges when it comes to hiring and keeping teachers. Starting salaries can vary based on the schools. And charters don’t have to adhere to collective bargaining.

In the hiring game, charters may have the upper hand in at least one key respect. Charters received nearly twice as many applicants per opening as traditional school districts, according to a 2025 paper from the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Educational Research, or CALDER. The center analyzed teacher applications for 43 districts and charter school organizations nationwide using the Nimble application platform — a common hiring tool in Indiana.

But charter leaders can also have distinct hiring challenges that Herron, a former executive director of the United Schools of Indianapolis network, has experienced firsthand.

Some may struggle to keep up with the competitive base pay of nearby districts, she said. Others may have longer hours than traditional district-run schools or lack traditional districts’ name recognition.

The VITAL Trust bonuses, entering its third year, is based on a staff member’s numerical evaluation rating. The top 30% of performers receive an award that is weighted based on their score. In the program’s first two years, awards have averaged $10,000, with the top performer earning the $40,000 maximum. All staff members, not just teachers, are eligible for an award.

The new VITAL Foundation grant operates a bit differently.

Charters were awarded $3,000 per certified teaching position, and can only give bonuses to teachers designated as effective under the school’s performance system. How much each teacher receives also depends on their exact numerical evaluation score.

Schools that applied for the grants provided the foundation with their performance rubrics, which may rate teachers on academic outcomes along with other measures.

Neither the VITAL Foundation nor the VITAL Trust discloses its donors.

At Enlace Academy — which was a pilot school for the VITAL Trust that received $5,000 per certified teaching position — 40% of teacher evaluations is based on student academic outcomes. The rest is based on school-wide goals such as staff attendance and professional practice measures, such as response to feedback from teaching coaches.

Longer hours and lower pay is a challenge when it comes to recruiting teachers, said Katie Dulay, executive director of the Neighborhood Charter Network that operates Enlace.

“But the people who do well and are at Enlace for the long haul are here because they’re amongst peers who deeply care about their community and deeply care about getting strong outcomes for kids,” she said.

How can merit pay for teachers be successful?

Researchers suggest that there are two ways that merit pay could improve the existing teacher workforce.

“Pay would induce people to work harder or to get invested in themselves in ways that make them better,” said Dan Goldhaber, the director of CALDER who has studied teacher pay systems. “And it could also change the quality of the workforce by encouraging the right people to stay or come into a system.”

Some research suggests that certain merit pay structures — like one-time bonuses tied to year-end test score increases — don’t work well, Goldhaber said.

And merit pay like the state’s Teacher Appreciation Grant has fostered competition rather than collaboration, said Indiana State Teachers Association President Jennifer Smith-Margraf. Some districts declined the grant because of those tensions, she said.

Ultimately, Smith-Margraf said pay for performance is not what motivates teachers.

“What motivates them is wanting to be good at their job for their students,” she said. “And what keeps them from being focused on that is having to take care of doing two to three and four jobs instead of focusing on the one job of being an educator.”

On the other hand, a 2020 meta analysis of merit-pay systems found a positive effect of merit pay programs on student test scores.

Systems like those in the VITAL initiatives that distribute bonus amounts based on a teacher’s relative performance to others are more likely to have a positive impact on test scores, the analysis found. And those competitions did not appear to generate unhealthy competition.

Successful performance pay structures base teacher evaluations on factors beyond just student achievement, Goldhaber said. They also make the bonuses permanent by increasing base salary after multiple positive evaluations, for example, he said.

Matthew Springer of Basis Policy Research, an author of the meta-analysis, said it’s important to look at the “continuous quality improvement of the program and its design, as well as the overall effect of what the program is having on the system as a whole.”

How merit pay can change the teaching pool

At the United School of Indianapolis, administrators say they’re already noticing a difference two years into the VITAL Trust award program.

“I definitely think that the type of people that we get is becoming different,” Ciara Jones, principal of the Avondale Meadows Middle School within the charter network, said of the hiring process. “It’s the people (who) want to be recognized and have opportunity to work hard and receive something.”

Teacher retention rates dropped across USI schools since the first round of the VITAL Trust awards from 2023-24 to 2024-25, according to data from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. But leaders say they expect to see retention rates fluctuate from year to year while they focus on retaining high-performing teachers.

Damien Plaza, a social studies teacher at Avondale Meadows Middle School, was the recipient of the top $40,000 VITAL Trust prize in its inaugural year. "I think for all the people who received different levels of this award, it validates the feeling of excellence as a teacher," he said.

In the first two years of awards, 98% of bonus recipients returned to a USI school the following year, the network noted.

Damien Plaza, a social studies teacher at Avondale Meadows Middle School who won the $40,000 award in its first year, said he’s seen teachers increasing their level of commitment in response to the award.

“I think for all the people who received different levels of this award, it validates the feeling of excellence as a teacher,” he said. “Teachers working here have a big lift on their shoulders. The receipt of this award is just a rubber stamp of, ‘You’re going in the right direction.’”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

You’re invited: Hear about the changes for schools this election and what they mean for students

2026-06-09T19:44:27+00:00

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School board elections won’t look the same in Indiana this year.

At the ballot box, voters could see new partisan labels for school board candidates. More voters than usual could be faced with a decision on whether they should approve a tax increase, known as a referendum, for their local schools. And before Election Day, candidates and school leaders also have decisions to make about their campaigns.

The outcomes in November could have a lasting effect on students and schools.

Join us on Wednesday, July 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center for a panel discussion on these issues.

We’ll dive into the changes around school decision-makers and school funding to ask: What’s at stake for students and families across the state?

Moderated by Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton, the panel includes:

David Roof, director of the Center for Economic and Civic Learning at Ball State University
Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association
Ashley Thomas, member of both the Indianapolis Public Schools board and the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

The event is in partnership with the Indiana Historical Society and is free, but RSVP is encouraged. Get your ticket here.

Doors open at 6 p.m. The panel starts at 6:30 p.m. Food and childcare will be provided. Free parking is available in the Indiana Historical Society lot off of New York Street.

Update, July 1: This story was updated to clarify that parking will be free for panel attendees.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

What different potential tax increases would mean for Indianapolis schools and homeowners

2026-06-03T20:03:13+00:00

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How much money should Indianapolis schools ask taxpayers for this November?

That’s one of the questions facing the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, and IPEC is having two public listening sessions to share information and gather feedback.

6-8 p.m., Thursday, June 4, in the media center of Arsenal Technical High School.
Noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at a location to be determined, likely in the northwest part of the area served by Indianapolis Public Schools.

IPEC members are expected to decide at their June 22 meeting if they want to ask voters to approve a tax increase known as a referendum. These local property tax increases are for specific needs and last for a limited period of time, unlike annual property taxes that fund schools and other services.

Here’s what to know about the options that IPEC is weighing:

What is the current referendum rate?

Voters approved an operating referendum for Indianapolis Public Schools in 2018. The current rate is 19 cents per $100 of assessed value, and the annual revenue to the district is about $49 million.

Charter schools that are part of the IPS Innovation Network receive some of that funding, but independent charters do not.

How is the process for this referendum different?

There have been multiple changes since 2018. The power to put a tax measure on the ballot went from the elected IPS board to the mayor-appointed IPEC. And all charter schools that enroll students living within the borders of the IPS district can opt into receiving money from the tax measure.

Officials at the May IPEC meeting said the charter school change means the number of students supported by referendum funds would essentially double and said the rate of 38 cents per $100 of assessed value is essentially parity in terms of funding to the 2018 tax measure.

What are the rate options?

At the May IPEC meeting, presenters suggested rates from 19 to 55 cents. IPEC can also decide not to seek a referendum, or pick a rate not presented.

Depending on the rate, IPS might have to make cuts in addition to the ones previously announced that could include school closures and consolidations, ending Innovation Network agreements, and cuts to instructional programs, transportation, or staffing.

Lower rates could also put IPS at risk of a state takeover and lead to families and employees leaving schools, while higher rates would provide stability during a transition period, IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson told IPEC.

Johnson said 27,000 students, including those at district schools and some charter schools, rely on IPS services that could be affected.

Below is a look at the various rates and their impact on schools, based on presentations to IPEC by Johnson and Andy Seibert, CEO of TogetherEd, as well as Susan Preble, the Indy Chamber’s vice president of state government affairs. The cost to taxpayers is the cost instead of the current referendum cost, not in addition to it.

What else does IPEC need to decide for the tax measure?

If it opts for a referendum, IPEC will also need to decide how long the tax measure should last and what the money should be used for. Typically, referendums are eight years, but Johnson and Seibert recommended four years to IPEC.

The funding would help with services for students with disabilities and English language learners; teacher and staff retention and compensation; student opportunities including work-based learning, postsecondary pathways; and maintaining current instructional models across schools, according to Johnson and Seibert’s presentation.

It’s possible state lawmakers could increase funding for students with disabilities and English language learners, but that won’t be determined until after the vote on the tax increase.

IPEC’s next meeting is 5 p.m. on Monday, June 22, in Room 221 of the Indianapolis City-County Building.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

From 19 to 55 cents: IPEC hears options for a possible tax increase

2026-05-29T01:58:47+00:00

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Changes are coming to Indianapolis schools, but how many and which ones depend on a potential tax increase and if it passes, speakers told the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation on Thursday.

The mayor-appointed IPEC board was created by state lawmakers earlier this year to oversee key aspects of district and charter schools in the city, including transportation, buildings, school accountability, and some finances. It lessened the powers of city school boards, including the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board.

One of the first things that IPEC will decide is whether or not to put a tax increase, or referendum, on the ballot in November, something previously decided by the IPS school board.

Tuesday’s meeting, IPEC’s second, largely centered on the possibility of the ballot measure and also included electing officers and updates about the corporation’s accountability framework for schools.

IPEC members listened to a presentation from IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and Andy Seibert, CEO of TogetherEd, and one from Susan Preble, the Indy Chamber’s vice president of state government affairs.

A vote on the tax measure is expected at the corporation’s June 22 meeting ahead of a July 22 deadline for the ballot question to be sent to the state Department of Local Government Finance.

Speakers during public comment expressed support for IPEC and the need for equitable transportation, as well as the need for the referendum to focus on students, equity in schools, and voter transparency.

Referendum possibilities for Indianapolis schools

School districts, and in this case IPEC, can ask voters to approve tax increases for specific needs such as operating costs, construction, or safety measures. These dollars are in addition to the local property tax dollars that schools receive along with state and federal funding.

IPS last passed an operating referendum in 2018. Charter schools that are part of the IPS Innovation Network currently receive some referendum funding, but independent charters do not.

Since then, state lawmakers made a change that also allows charter schools that enroll students living within the borders of the IPS district to opt into receiving money from the tax measure. This year is a key one for the future of IPS, as the current operating referendum is expiring and the district faces a budget deficit.

Presenters to IPEC laid out options from no referendum to tax measures at the current rate of 19 cents per $100 of assessed value up to 55 cents. Estimated impact on homeowners could range from $169 annually if the current rate is renewed to $475 at 55 cents.

Johnson said the lower amounts could lead to a state takeover of the district as well as more widespread changes for students such as school closures, ending Innovation Network agreements, and cuts to programs, transportation, or staff. She stressed that the vote outcome will determine the level of stability or disruption for students and families.

While the current referendum was for the typical eight years, Johnson and Seibert said they support four years for the next one.

They said that is long enough for long-term planning and resource stability as things change with the addition of IPEC. Funding would help with services for students with disabilities and English language learners as well as teacher and staff retention and student opportunities around work-based learning and postsecondary pathways.

Preble said the popularity of referendums across the state reflects that “we are not funding public education in an adequate way.” She said she believes state leaders know this, especially when it comes to students with disabilities and ELL students, and could address it in the upcoming legislative session, but that wouldn’t start until after the referendum vote.

IPEC members asked presenters for additional data around costs, referendum funds and enrollment. They also asked questions about funding for Pre-K while acknowledging there wasn’t enough time to include it in this referendum.

IPEC approves posting for executive director, discusses accountability

IPEC also made several personnel decisions: It staggered terms for board members, and corporation officers and approved a job posting for an executive director. The job will be posted Friday on the IPEC website and the Indianapolis City-County Council’s job board. The salary range is $235,000 to $325,000 annually.

Deandra Thompson was elected as the vice chairperson, and Patricia Castañeda as the secretary in unanimous votes. Board terms were also announced, per state law:

Hope Duke Star, Dexter Taylor, and Eddie Rangel each have a two-year term.
Ashley Thomas, Janet McNeal, and John R. Hammond III each have a three-year term.
Thompson, chair David Harris, and Castañeda each have a four-year term.

IPEC members also heard updates around the accountability framework. Priorities are to gather more feedback from the community and IPEC members, O’Connor said. A progress report is due to state lawmakers on Aug. 1.

Presentations from Tuesday’s meeting will be posted on the IPEC website. The corporation’s next meeting is 5 p.m. June 22 in room 221 of the Indianapolis City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. IPEC’s July meeting was changed to July 22.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Cambridge-backed courses are expanding in Indiana. Here’s how schools are using them.

2026-05-27T11:00:00+00:00

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Before 2024, students at Whiteland High School seeking advanced curriculum could already choose between Advanced Placement and dual credit courses.

So when school officials considered adding a new curriculum backed by the University of Cambridge in 2024, they wanted to address the needs of a specific subset of students: the community’s growing population of non-English speaking students, who represent around 14% of the district and speak 64 languages.

They found that the essay-based test in Cambridge courses allowed students to demonstrate their mastery of advanced content while they were still learning English, said assistant superintendent Cassandra Shipp.

“We don’t want to limit our students who we know are bright,” Shipp said. “Regardless of whether they’re taking AP or Cambridge, our students have to be global competitors.”

Indiana wants more schools to offer Cambridge STEM courses through $500,000 in grant funding earmarked in the latest state budget. The long-term goal is to create another way for students to earn an advanced diploma that leads to automatic college admission. Schools can apply for grant funding that will help pay for teacher training and program fees.

In February, the state’s department of education awarded six schools — including Whiteland — funds to introduce courses like Thinking Skills, Computer Science, Biology, and Chemistry. Now, it has opened another round of funding to allow up to 16 more public and private schools to start offering these classes.

What are Cambridge Courses?

Cambridge courses come from the University of Cambridge in England through its nonprofit Cambridge International Education.

Though the courses are new to Indiana, and less common nationally than Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, they’re offered in approximately two dozen other states and 160 countries.

The offerings from Cambridge are a little like both IB and AP programs: Like IB, Cambridge offers programs that begin in elementary school and go through high school; but like AP, it also offers standalone courses.

Passing an A-level Cambridge course in an Indiana high school is equivalent to passing one in the U.K. or Singapore and indicates that a student is ready for college-level coursework, said Mark Cavone, the North American regional director for international education at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. While not necessarily aimed at multilingual students, some features make the courses a particularly good fit for them, like the incorporation of Global English, a neutral form of English.

While most Cambridge courses are aimed at students going to college, the organization also offers some career-oriented courses, such as in marine science and travel and tourism, Cavone said.

“The thing that keeps us up at night is that we want kids to be college and career ready by the time they graduate high school,” Cavone said.

How can Indiana students use Cambridge courses?

Through the expansion, more Indiana schools will be able to allow students to earn the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education, or AICE, diploma, Cavone said.

The AICE diploma is one of the ways that students can earn an Honors Enrollment Seal in the state’s new high school graduation requirements, which guarantees students admission to any of the state’s public universities. Students can also earn this seal by earning an associate degree, IB diploma, AP Scholar with Distinction, or other advanced pathway. And schools receive a $2,495 bonus for every student who earns an honors enrollment seal.

Cavone said Indiana’s diploma redesign and education choice policies made it a good fit for the organization’s expansion.

Currently, Cambridge courses are available mainly in traditional public high schools, Cavone said, along with some charter and private schools. The first round of grant funding from the Indiana Department of Education was awarded to four public high schools, one charter school, and one private school:

Whiteland Community High School at the Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation. The district also offers Cambridge English courses in middle and high school that are not backed by the grant.
North Central High School in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township
Terre Haute South Vigo High School at the Vigo County School Corporation
East Chicago Central High School at the School City of East Chicago
GEO Next Generation Academy
Al-Haqq Foundation Academy

Schools interested in applying for the IDOE grant should fill out the application before July 17.

Corrections and clarifications: This article has been updated to include the correct name for Cambridge International Education.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

How this robotics teacher gets students interested in a challenge

2026-05-26T11:00:00+00:00

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As a student at Arsenal Technical High School, Isaac Adams did the minimum amount of work needed to pass.

That changed when he took a physics class with Mark Blachly in 2007.

“I discovered a passion for the mechanics of the world and how math can be used to explain everything from basic moving objects to thermodynamics,” Adams said.

Adams was struck by the creative tactics he used in his teaching. For example, he created a website and database where students could turn in their homework.

“I know that sounds mundane now, but in 2007 it was crazy,” Adams said. “He just took everything to the next level and expected nothing but the best from every student.”

Blachly was able to be “incredibly kind” but firm, Adams said: “It was incredibly intimidating going in, but I knew that he wanted the best for me and would push me to do what I needed to do.”

That experience in physics class inspired Adams to become an educator. He now teaches engineering, digital electronics, and robotics at his alma mater. He also coaches the Indianapolis school’s robotics team, which for the first time this year competed in the VEX Robotics World Championship. He started teaching at Tech in 2017.

“If I could sum up Tech in one word, it would be ‘legacy.’ It’s an incredible campus that is rich with history,” he said. “I was given the chance to come back to Tech and step into Dr. Blachly’s shoes. I didn’t know at the time that I would end back up with engineering and also step into the role of a robotics coach, but I’d like to say that I’m beginning to establish myself and build a similar reputation on campus.”

Adams has helped grow the robotics team, which began with a tough first season in 2022-23. “We competed twice and got our butts kicked,” Adams said.

But this year, the team took seven awards from nine tournaments — the most in the school’s history.

Adams spoke with Chalkbeat about engaging students in academics, COVID learning loss, and his biggest challenges in being an educator.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was the most challenging moment in time for you as an educator, and how did you overcome it?

It’s hard to point to a single time, but teaching hybrid during COVID was definitely tough.

Our students go through a lot in their personal lives and the challenges of virtual/hybrid teaching brought a lot of those issues more clearly into the light. I spent those years trying to focus on the future. I began writing grants to build a makerspace and that effort is what led me to the engineering lab that I call home today.

Arsenal Technical High School teacher Isaac Adams, right, with members of the 7410X robotics team at the VEX Robotics World Championship.

Over the course of months, I was able to secure over 30 3D printers, a (computer numerical control) machine, and a laser cutter. We also procured thousands of dollars in tools and robotics components that get used daily by engineering and robotics students. However, as any engineer will tell you, the work is never done, so I continue to refine the space and try to make it more useful. I may have started building during COVID, but I’m still working on it.

How have you addressed pandemic learning loss?

In second-year engineering, I typically reserve time to do math boot camps to make sure they have the skillset for a given design challenge, such as trigonometry.

The best thing you can do is to let them get their hands dirty. You can’t just tell them about a concept, let them play around with it and struggle.

What advice would you give to educators who coach an academic extracurricular?

If you can get the students to buy in, they will take over and make it so much better. My robotics teams have grown this organization to a point where we have met all of our goals year after year. Get them excited, give them ownership, and let them drive.

What part of your job is most difficult?

I think the biggest challenge in my role is that it’s not one dimensional. I’m not just an engineering teacher; I am also a small-scale designer and manufacturer. I’m not just a robotics coach; I’m also the chair of the Arsenal Tech Faculty Musical committee. I never have a day that looks the same as the day before. That’s a challenge, but also incredibly gratifying.

If I had to pin down one thing, it would probably be the most challenging part of being an inner-city teacher: all the stuff outside my lab. My kids come in with some really challenging home situations. There are a lot of attendance-related issues and financial struggles that I can’t do anything to help with, and they have a huge impact on my classroom.

My lab is a place where we can build things and focus on what matters in the room. We rarely talk about the looming changes to IPS or the political shifts that will impact education. In our space, we focus on what we can control and how we can make the greatest impact on those around us. That’s how we’ve framed it, and I hope it can continue to be that space for students and for me.

What was your biggest misconception that you initially brought to teaching?

You don’t have to be the Dr. Blachly all the time. Sometimes kids will just remember you as the guy they knew they could come talk to when they need someone. Or, they need someone they know they can count on to be ready for them with something crazy when they walk in.

What’s the best advice you’ve received about teaching?

Kids need teachers who will kick their butts in the nicest way possible. They need to know that academics are rigorous, but they also need to understand why it’s hard and have the support of their teacher and their peers as they navigate it.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Believe Schools pivots from second location in Pike to serve credit-deficient, non-traditional students

2026-05-21T11:00:00+00:00

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Believe Schools is changing its plan to open a second Indianapolis high school in Pike Township to instead launch a small school for students who school leaders say are underserved.

The Believe Accelerator school, which plans to launch in the fall, would begin with a target of 35 students and three staff members and serve three types of learners: multilingual students aged 16 to 19 who may be credit-deficient; other credit-deficient students aged 16 to 19 who don’t thrive in a traditional school model; and motivated, independent 15- to-16-year-olds who want to graduate high school early.

The model comes in part from the experience of leaders at Believe Circle City, which launched in 2020. The school’s graduation rate dropped from 90% in 2024 to roughly 82% in 2025. Staff have been examining why students have been dropping out.

One major reason, they found: Students need to work to support their families.

Believe Accelerator’s goal is to serve students who are not interested in traditional school.

“A lot of things have changed post-COVID, as we all know. Education does not look the same as it did pre-2020,” Believe founder Kimberly Neal-Brannum told Chalkbeat. “The three profiles come from our lived experience and what I not only see locally as trends with kids, but also nationally.”

The plan is a shift from the charter operator’s pitch to open a location in Pike Township — a proposal that faced vocal opposition from charter critics there when the Indianapolis Charter School Board approved Believe’s second school in 2022. The charter board approved the school before the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which will determine which charter and traditional schools have access to school buildings while creating a transportation plan for both school types.

The model, based off of a similar Believe school in St. Louis, is an attempt to fill a need rather than fight to stay in a community opposed to a new charter school, Neal-Brannum said.

“We are not interested in just opening schools for the sake of opening schools,” she told the charter school board earlier this month. “We want to make sure that what we’re doing is in lockstep with what the community of Marion County needs.”

Believe Accelerator plans to serve about 100 students on the second floor of the Believe Circle City High School building located just off Fall Creek Parkway near the Crown Hill neighborhood. The size is smaller than the intended Believe Pike Academy, initially proposed to open in 2024 or 2025 and grow to 270 students.

The change in plan does not require any additional action from the Indianapolis Charter School Board, according to the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation that houses the charter board. Charter schools with substantive changes to their original application instead return to the board to convey those changes.

OEI will still determine if it would evaluate the school based on alternate academic metrics, said OEI director Shaina Cavazos.

The Accelerator is also modeled off of Believe’s Middle College school in St. Louis for students who previously dropped out or were at risk of not graduating. The school there also launched with a small cohort.

“We only started with 12 kids — we’re up to 50 now, in one year,” Neal-Brannum said of the St. Louis school. “That showed us that the demand for that type of model was high, and we’ve had great success with the students — high attendance rates, kids invested. And with that particular population, getting kids to just come in the building is half the battle.”

Believe Circle City, which opened in 2020 with 54 students, has since grown to 307 students and emphasizes earning free dual college credits or various certifications in high school. More than 90% of the school population is Black or Hispanic, and roughly 73% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, according to the latest state enrollment data.

Believe Circle City became the most recent charter to join the Innovation Network of autonomous schools within Indianapolis Public Schools, giving the school access to IPS transportation.

School leaders say they are still working on a transportation plan for Accelerator students.

IPEC will ultimately assume responsibility for transportation and buildings for district schools and for charter schools, although schools can opt out of giving up control of their buildings.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana charters edged traditional public schools in academic gains after COVID, study says

2026-05-20T11:00:00+00:00

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Indiana’s charter school students have experienced greater academic growth in the years following the pandemic than their peers in traditional public schools, according to a new preliminary analysis.

The study from eight researchers posted through Brown University’s Annenberg Institute also found that the gains were particularly pronounced for Black and Hispanic students, and for those who were among the lowest-performing and economically disadvantaged.

The findings could hold important lessons for how schools can recover from learning loss, and have sparked researcher interest in what tactics charter leaders adopted to do that. While there are many studies examining the impact of charter schools on student outcomes, the authors note that there has been almost no research on charter school performance since the pandemic.

The findings tracked students from 2017-18 to 2023-24, focusing on how ILEARN test scores improved from their baseline levels during the pandemic in 2020-21. They have prompted researchers to examine how certain schools responded in the years immediately following the 2020-21 school year.

“What really matters is, what is it that these schools were doing?” said Joseph Waddington of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame, one of eight authors of the study. “We’re not so much interested in telling a story of how did this sector (perform) versus the other sector — we want to understand why. We want to understand the variation.”

The analysis, which is undergoing peer review, examined students who stayed in brick-and-mortar charter schools and in traditional public schools throughout the entire study period.

Charter students were matched with traditional public school peers who most closely resembled them based on a variety of factors, including their socioeconomic status, geographic location, and their 2021 ILEARN test score.

Most of the state’s charter schools are in Indianapolis, but the study also examined all counties in which charter schools are present. The analysis included few rural students, Waddington said, because of the lack of charters in those areas.

During the 2020-21 school year, charter students performed the same as their traditional public school peers in math and modestly outperformed them in English, according to the study. But after 2020-21, charter students outperformed traditional public students in all years in English, and nearly all years in math.

The difference was modest in 2021-22, but grew in 2022-23 and 2023-24, according to the study.

“The findings in this analysis suggest a shift occurred during the pandemic and its aftermath,” the study concludes. “Not only are students in Indiana’s charter schools experiencing more accelerated test score gains than their (traditional public school) peers, but these impacts appear to be growing over time in the post-pandemic period.”

Chronic absenteeism and instructional delivery — whether in-person or virtual — did not account for the differences in achievement, the study found. Charter schools were more likely to offer virtual learning for more of the 2020-21 school year than traditional public schools.

In Indianapolis, charter schools as a whole have posted higher rates of Black and Hispanic students reaching proficiency in both math and English, compared with those run by Indianapolis Public Schools, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of the 2025 ILEARN results.

The study’s authors are examining what could contribute to the differences in outcomes between charters and traditional public schools by surveying school leaders in both sectors across Indiana, Waddington said.

The changes could be attributed to additional instructional time, or differences in instructional type, such as having students spend more time in smaller pull-out groups, he said. He also said some schools may have added certain types of staff, or utilized certain partnerships to bring in tutors.

The study’s findings mirror broader research on charter school students’ performance that finds positive impacts for Black students, those from lower-income households, and the lowest-performing students, Waddington said.

But the researchers are hoping to learn more details from survey results about how schools responded to COVID learning loss.

“There may be something in the story about differences in how the sectors responded to the pandemic that can actually be illustrative for all sectors going forward in terms of best practices associated with learning loss recovery,” he said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Allissa Impink to resign from IPS board, leaving 5 of 7 board seats up for election on November ballots

2026-05-19T23:00:00+00:00

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Allissa Impink will resign as an Indianapolis Public Schools commissioner in June, teeing up a November election where a significant majority of the IPS school board seats are on the ballot.

Impink, who won the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 46 earlier this month, announced on Tuesday that she plans to resign from the school board effective June 15. Tuesday is also the first day that candidates can file to run for school board this November.

With Impink leaving her seat early, five of the seven seats on the IPS school board will be up for election on Nov. 3. It is shaping up to be a key election for the board as the district faces financial challenges and a loss in power due to the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation or IPEC.

Impink called serving on the school board “one of the greatest honors of my life,” and said resigning before the November election allows her to ensure “the community retains its voice” in who replaces her on the school board. It’s highly likely that Impink will be unopposed for state senate.

Impink, a former IPS teacher, was elected to the school board in 2024 to represent IPS school board District 4, the southwest part of the district. The IPS board has seven members who serve staggered four-year terms.

If a board member resigns, the board must appoint someone by majority vote within 30 days to fill the position until the next school board election. Voters will then select someone to finish the term if needed.

By resigning ahead of the election, Impink ensures her seat will be on the ballot in November, shortening the time for an appointed board member to a few months and an elected replacement would serve until 2028. If she waited to resign until after the November election, the appointed member would serve until 2028, the next school board election year and when Impink’s term was slated to end.

“As a strong supporter of the democratic process, I am encouraging qualified, passionate community members to file to run for school board so that IPS families have a direct say in who leads them through the remainder of the term ending in 2028,” Impink said.

Impink is the second IPS board commissioner to resign this year. Gayle Cosby, who represented District 2 and was also elected in 2024, announced her resignation in March, citing ongoing health challenges. The board appointed Hasaan Rashid to fill the vacancy until this year’s election.

This means both District 2 and 4 will be on the ballot in November along with the three IPS board seats already slated for election in 2026: District 3 currently represented by Hope Duke Star, District 5 represented by Nicole Carey, and an at-large seat represented by Angelia Moore.

Guide: How to run for school board

The election comes at a time when the IPS board is navigating a substantial loss in power under a new law that created IPEC, which has key powers for district and charter schools including school accountability, buildings, and transportation as well as some finances. Three members of the IPS school board are also members of IPEC, per state law. Those are Star, Ashley Thomas, and Deandra Thompson.

This year is also the first year that school board candidates can add their party affiliation to the ballot if they choose to do so. Potential school board candidates have until noon June 18 to file.

Impink won the primary election for state senate handily with 68.46% of the vote in a three-candidate race, per election results. No Republican candidates ran in the primary election. However it is still possible for a challenger to file to run in the general election.

District 46 includes downtown, the near eastside, and southern parts of Indianapolis and is currently represented by Andrea Hunley, a former IPS principal, who is running for Indianapolis mayor in 2027.

Impink said she looks forward to using her “strong and passionate voice for IPS and public education throughout Indiana at the state level.”

“I will use every tool available to me to protect and strengthen public schools across Indianapolis and the state of Indiana,” she said.

Voter registration for the November election is open through Oct. 5. You can register or check your status here.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Arsenal Tech’s band program helps students form close friendships — and go to college

2026-05-18T11:00:00+00:00

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Joshua Camero stumbled upon the trumpet in fifth grade.

He had to choose an elective class, and although he was unsure about performing in front of people, his mother encouraged him to sign up for band.

“I started playing it, and I just really liked it,” he said. “I was quick to pick it up.”

By his junior year of high school, he would be among the few students at his school to qualify for the Indiana State School Music Association’s state competition. By his senior year, he would earn two gold ratings in the contest for solo trumpet performance.

Camero plans to earn a degree in music industry at the University of Indianapolis with financial aid he earned in part through his trumpet skills. He hopes to focus on artist management, while also “keeping the music very close.”

Arsenal Technical senior Joshua Camero will attend the University of Indianapolis to study the music industry. He earned a gold rating in solo trumpet performance at the Indiana State School Music Association this year.

Arsenal Technical senior Tennia Gleplay, who plays the cello and percussion, will attend IU Bloomington to study forensic science.

Cassietta Lewis, a senior at Arsenal Technical High School, hopes to become a therapist after attending IU Bloomington to study psychology.

Roseneika Saint Jules moved to the United States from Haiti as a teenager and graduates from Arsenal Technical this week. She plans to attend IU Indianapolis to study nursing.

Nick Saunders, who plays the saxophone and guitar, will study Japanese at IU Bloomington. He hopes to stay involved in music through the college's pep band.

This week, Camero is among roughly 1,200 Indianapolis Public Schools students graduating from the four district-run high schools as families across Marion County celebrate the Class of 2026 in May and June. The seniors are part of a graduating cohort of students that has grown statewide over the last three years: Last year, the state’s graduation rate was roughly 92%.

Camero is part of a tight-knit group of students in Arsenal Tech’s band and orchestra community. He’s one of five students in advanced band who will go to college in the fall with tuition fully or nearly fully covered through financial aid.

“I feel like no matter how big the school is, it’s really all about your happiness,” said senior Cassietta Lewis, who plays the clarinet and tenor saxophone at Arsenal. “I gained my friends here, and I still have them, and hopefully I still have them forever.”

School’s music programs became a pathway to college

Arsenal’s band program has recently become more of a pathway to graduation and college, as band director Josh Goodman has encouraged students to use their talents — musical and otherwise — to secure scholarships.

It began, Goodman said, with student Mercy Makanjuola, who joined the University of Notre Dame’s band in 2023 after learning to read music and play the saxophone at Arsenal.

“That was kind of the impetus for how everything happened — we just had to get one kid into a really great program, fully covered,” he said. “And then ... all the other kids were like, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’”

Not all of Goodman’s college-going students attend specifically to study music. But the success of students like Mercy have served as inspiration for the students who follow, Goodman said.

Last year, four band students attended Indiana University through the Groups Scholars program that offers aid for first-generation college students or those with financial need, Goodman said. One even gained entry to IU Bloomington’s Jacobs School of Music after starting the trombone in band as a freshman in high school.

Arsenal Technical High School band members practice on Monday, April 27, 2026 in Indianapolis.

This year, the Arsenal seniors are part of a band that is the first in the district’s history to win the All-Music Award from the Indiana State School Music Association. The recognition is for schools who earn a gold rating in marching band, solo performances, ensemble performances, jazz, and concert band.

Lewis plans to study psychology at IU Bloomington, where she will be with her other bandmates, Tennia Gleplay and Nick Saunders.

Gleplay, a first-generation American whose parents are from Liberia, will study forensic science. But she still hopes to stay involved with music.

“I really do love it, and it takes up so much of my time,” she said. “I’m in so many bands here, I don’t know what I would do with myself if I didn’t play music.”

Saunders, meanwhile, has his sights set on studying Japanese and playing in a jazz group for non-music major students.

Camero, the trumpet player headed to the University of Indianapolis, now loves performing.

“You get so nervous and jittery,” he said. “But it’s what keeps you alive.”

He credits his elementary school teacher, Michele Pickard at Edison School of the Arts, with helping him start on his musical path. He’s looking forward to playing in concerts as part of the university’s pep band.

Nick Saunders, a senior at Arsenal Technical High School, plays the saxophone during a band rehearsal.

Roseneika Saint Jules, who plays the saxophone and percussion, will study nursing on a full scholarship at IU Indianapolis.

She arrived in the United States from Haiti as a freshman, and has had a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. She has seen her grandmother struggle with knee issues.

“In Haiti, it’s difficult to go to the doctor,” she said. “I want to be the person to help out my grandma. I want to be the person to help others who are in need.”

To younger high school students, Saint Jules suggests finding the right support group when times get tough.

“Life is like a ball of problems,” she said. “Just find somewhere you belong. Just like we’re in band — that’s where we belong. We have a family. Just find a family like that.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Building Corvettes and caring for cattle: Indiana’s push to reinvent high school gains steam

2026-05-14T17:50:58+00:00

Adam Harmon and Raj Jain were designing rockets.

The two juniors in Brent Schulz’s aerospace engineering class at Center Grove High School worked on computer-aided design software that Schulz’s students begin learning as freshmen. For them, this lesson during a school day last month wasn’t just academic: After school, they put their knowledge to the test at a paid internship with Speedway Composites, where they manufacture parts for the C8 Corvette.

“Racing is aerospace engineering upside down,” said Schulz, who connected the students to the company when the latter was looking for interns.

While their goal of studying engineering in college is still more than a year away, the juniors in Indiana’s Center Grove school district see the value of starting internships now.

“In engineering, it can help a lot, because every internship you have builds on itself, and that helps you get a job way easier once you get done,” Harmon said.

Harmon and Jain are not alone. More high schoolers are preparing for work, and more schools and employers are helping them find work opportunities, as Indiana shifts to a high school model that emphasizes career experience.

In a makerspace in a South Bend charter school, students operate Bend Manufacturing, taking machining and 3D printing orders from local businesses. And on a farm at Indian Creek High School, students care for a cattle herd as part of Creek Cattle Company.

The ultimate test of whether every Indiana student can access some kind of work-based learning if they want it is coming up. Thousands of students beginning with the Class of 2029 will need the hours of career experience required for the top-tier enrollment and employment diplomas. Under the diploma seals adopted by the state in late 2024, many will also need career and technical education courses, and paths toward earning technical certificates.

That means that over the next year, they’ll need programs and employers able and willing to train and hire them. In preparation, schools, businesses, and other organizations have been expanding career education capacity at a rapid pace by growing existing programs and adding new internship opportunities. They’re also offering support for student-run businesses.

They hope to provide a greater variety of opportunities that students can use to meet the new graduation requirements — not just the hours of work experience, but also skills like communication and collaboration that they can take into any field.

“It’s not about going into farming as a career,” Indian Creek High School Principal Luke Skobel said of Creek Cattle Company. “It prepares them for life, for whatever it is they’re going to do.”

The efforts so far have earned Indiana national recognition as a leader in bridging high school and the workforce — something other states are pursuing too. At a March State Board of Education meeting, Indiana received high marks from XQ Institute, a nonprofit organization advocating for high school transformation.

“High school is not the end of childhood, it is the bridge to adulthood,” XQ CEO Russlynn Ali told the board. “If we get it right, it is a launchpad. If we get it wrong, it becomes a sorting mechanism.”

Where students are finding career education opportunities

Indiana students begin making postsecondary plans in eighth grade with the help of their counselors, insight from tools like the Indiana Career Explorer Assessment, and input from their families.

Schulz, the Center Grove engineering teacher, said that in his experience, most students already have an idea by freshman year of whether they’ll be pursuing college, a career, or a mix of both after graduation.

Center Grove offers different paths to these goals. A sequence from Project Lead The Way, a national organization that provides curriculum in career and technical education, usually leads to college. A manufacturing pathway at Central 9, the career education center serving Johnson County, puts students on track to careers. And a new advanced manufacturing track allows students to earn an associate degree from Ivy Tech while interning with local businesses.

Around half of the nearly 3,000 students at the school take Project Lead The Way classes in engineering, computer science, or biomedical science. By senior year, some will have taken five engineering courses, and will spend their final year working on their own ideas for capstone projects, like AI-enabled sensors that help sort recycling, Schulz said.

Enrollment in the program is increasing as a result of the new diploma requirements, said Project Lead The Way President and CEO David Dimmett. That’s in part because the courses are developed with industry input, and help prepare students to jump into a career.

“Students build a lot of technical knowledge in those pathways,” Dimmett said. “Probably more importantly, the skills they’re building transcend those pathways. They’re learning how to solve problems and identify problems. … They understand design principles and how to work together as a team.”

Cold calling and cattle wrangling at student-led businesses

There’s growing interest in student-led businesses as a way to help students meet the new diploma requirements, said Nioka Clark, senior director of workforce strategies at Ascend Indiana, which has launched a coalition of these businesses.

Indiana already has several examples of student-led businesses embedded in schools, like Bend Manufacturing at the Career Academy Network of Public Schools, a charter school in South Bend, and Creek Cattle Company at Indian Creek High School.

At Bend Manufacturing, students use the school’s makerspace to machine and 3D print parts for the many manufacturers in northwest Indiana. The business began in 2024 as both a response to the state’s push for work experience and a natural offshoot of the school’s entrepreneurial philosophy, said Jeremy Lugbill, the network’s CEO.

One niche they’ve found: They can deliver prototype parts faster than larger labs.

“They’re learning the value and importance of living up to commitments and timeliness,” he said.

Students typically spend 60 to 90 minutes of the schools’ extended school day at Bend Manufacturing. The school is considering how what they do as part of the business could be used to satisfy some of their academic course requirements, Lugbill said.

At Indian Creek High School, juniors directly build career experience by acting as CEO, CFO, and head of grounds at Creek Cattle Company, which began in 2017 and doubles as a source of fresh beef for the school cafeteria. Agriculture is important to both the school and the community, Skobel said, and students are building agricultural science knowledge while caring for the herd of five.

But they’re also developing business and communication skills they can apply to other jobs by ordering feed, calling contractors, and selling beef to the local community, Skobel said.

The success of the student-run enterprises has both schools considering what other businesses their students could run. Clark said the first step for a student interested in starting a business of their own would be to talk to a teacher, who can help guide them to the right courses or to an employer who’s willing to sponsor them.

The Career Academy Network is considering how students could lease the school’s facilities to local organizations for events. Indian Creek students also operate the Creek Design Lab, a printing business, and are considering growing lettuce for the cafeteria.

“It has opened our eyes to the things we can do here on campus to provide students these authentic experiences that help students grow in the way that sitting in a classroom doesn’t,” Skobel said.

Career training opportunities outside of school

Some students are finding work-based learning opportunities beyond what’s offered in their schools.

Indiana in 2023 established Career Scholarship Accounts, giving students a stipend to help with the costs of career training outside of schools.

And employers and other organizations are increasingly offering alternative models of work-based learning, like projects that students can complete to solve a problem for a business, or summer programs that expose students to a variety of careers and job skills.

These options help students as well as employers who may not have the capacity to hire or train students, said Sally Saydshoev of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

During the Edna Martin Christian Center’s Summer Works program, Indianapolis students spend three weeks learning job skills and touring colleges, and another three weeks at an externship in a field of their choice, like early education or medical assisting.

The center also follows up with support — like gas cards — to ensure they can continue in the tracks they started over the summer, said Jamie Scott-Massie, the center’s senior director of community family initiatives.

The paid program is complementary to the career pathways that already exist at Arsenal Tech and KIPP Indy High School, where most Summer Works students attend school.

“There are more students than all of us can individually support,” Scott-Massie said.

It was Edna Martin Center staff who told Brooklyn Lawrence about the Summer Works program in 2024. Lawrence chose the Certified Nursing Assistant track, inspired by her grandmother, a nurse.

Now a psychology student at Ivy Tech, Lawrence said the support and structure in the program helped her define her path after high school.

“If I didn’t do it, I don’t know if I would have gone to college,” Lawrence said. “I wouldn’t have felt so motivated.”

How students can graduate into the workforce

One of the goals of the new diplomas is to give high school students a path directly into the workforce. Saydshoev of the Indiana Chamber said the organization helps show employers how they might invest in training high school students and graduates to meet their future employment needs.

“When you put a help wanted sign on your door, you’re expecting the right talent to show up at your door,” said Saydshoev. “It can work and it has worked, but we’re trying to help employers think about (hiring) as talent development.”

Building a talent pipeline is one of the reasons that Ardagh, a glass and metal packaging manufacturer with plants and offices in Indiana, decided to sponsor Project Lead The Way programs at Indiana high schools in 2020.

In 2024, the company also started a high school internship program, said Sean Cosgrove, global head of education programs at Ardagh, alongside its existing college internship program.

The company has also recently started to hire high school students with significant manufacturing experience into full-time production roles after graduation, he said.

For employers to do this on a larger scale, it may take a policy shift from requiring a certain degree to recognizing the skills that students have developed in high school.

“A lot of high schools have those industry certifications or skilled trade programs,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of great students come out of there that I think are quality employees from day one.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana wants more students to pursue cybersecurity careers after high school. Here’s how.

2026-05-13T18:35:31+00:00

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Indiana wants more students to pursue careers in cybersecurity by expanding access to a new pathway that includes advanced technology classes and military mentorship.

Launching in June, the cybersecurity pathway’s direct connection to the Indiana National Guard makes it unique both in Indiana and in the nation, allowing students who take it to potentially earn any of the state’s new diploma seals that lead to enrollment, employment, or enlistment.

While there has been some overlap in the state’s new diploma requirements for enrollment- and employment-bound Hoosier students, the enlistment pathway has stood apart with an emphasis on JROTC and the military aptitude test, the ASVAB.

By taking AP or Project Lead the Way cybersecurity classes, along with work experience opportunities in the cybersecurity sector, and mentorship from the Indiana National Guard, students can earn any one or more of the diploma seals, education officials said. They can then pursue a college degree in the field, a job in the industry, or a cybersecurity specialty in the military.

The pathway will be the nation’s first “military aligned cybersecurity pathway,” according to the state’s presentation.

The announcement of the new pathway comes in the week after a cyberattack affected a learning management system used at schools like Indiana University. Both education and military officials highlighted a growing need for cybersecurity professionals across industries.

Speaking to the state board, Lt. Col. Brent Nelson of the Indiana National Guard said cybersecurity is important not just to national security but in academia, industry, healthcare, and utilities too.

“We can have a cyber attack occur from half a world away and it can affect every member of the population in Indiana and across the nation,” Nelson said. “It’s imperative we have a pipeline of strong leaders able to take on that role.”

The state’s plan includes expanding access to AP and PLTW cybersecurity classes, which are currently offered at 69 schools to around 560 students, to 200 schools and 4,000 students, respectively, over the next three years. The AP Cybersecurity classes are part of the College Board’s new AP Career Kickstart courses, which were piloted for the 2025-26 school year, and also include AP Business with Personal Finance.

Schools that are interested in participating should contact indianacyber@collegeboard.org.

The cybersecurity pathway will officially launch with a presentation at the Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C., in June, said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools transfers unused land to Habitat for Humanity

2026-05-12T11:00:00+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools will give seven unused properties to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis to build up to 16 homes as part of a broader push to make affordable homeownership possible for IPS employees.

The parcels near existing IPS schools are mostly vacant — although one parcel by William McKinley School 39 has a playground and another has an old athletic field. The locations of the properties range from the west side of the district to the Martindale-Brightwood and Fountain Square neighborhoods.

The transfer is a rare contribution of unused land by IPS that comes at an increasingly challenging time for affordable homeownership in Indianapolis. The school board’s approval of the initiative last month accompanies another partnership that the district will launch with the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, which will provide finance and homeownership education for IPS employees seeking to buy homes. The group will also offer affordable lending opportunities.

IPS employees often cite housing costs as a reason for making early withdrawals from their retirement accounts, according to district officials.

“We’re really grateful when people present opportunities like this for collaboration,” said Abri Hochstetler, Habitat for Humanity’s vice president of development and communications. “It really is an all-ships-rise scenario, to bring in both INHP and Habitat to this conversation and to try to utilize community resources.”

Although the Habitat houses won’t be reserved exclusively for IPS employees, some could be eligible for homeownership through Habitat’s criteria.

IPS to partner with Habitat

Habitat preliminarily plans to build up to 16 houses across all the properties at a rate of roughly five homes per year for the next three years.

Habitat homes are available to families making no more than 80% of area median income, or roughly $88,560 for a family of four in the group’s 2025-26 cycle. Habitat homeowners must complete financial and home ownership courses and provide 200 volunteer hours, which could be spent building their home or the homes of others. Habitat then sells the home to the homebuyer, and currently offers mortgages with a 0% interest rate.

Vacant land at 2352 Columbia Avenue will be given to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis to build a home directly across the street from the now closed Francis W. Parker Montessori School 56.

“The goal of this would be to really proactively seek out qualifying IPS staff and teachers, particularly if they’re located near those school communities, and connect them to the Habitat process, ” Zach Mulholland, the district’s executive director of operations strategy, told the school board last month.

The parcels sit near George Washington High School, Matchbook Learning at Wendell Phillips School 63, School 39, and the now closed Francis W. Parker Montessori School 56.

IPS previously acquired the land to either support a previous building project or plan for future buildings, Mulholland said. Now, they are no longer needed for current or future projects.

The district’s transfer of mostly undeveloped land is a rare one for Habitat. Before 2018, 74% of Habitat’s land was donated, according to Hochstetler. But in the past two years, only 4% of the group’s lots have been donated — and since 2018 Habitat has seen a 324% increase in land costs.

“This land donation from IPS is really wonderful, because it’s allowing us to partner with a local organization and then also eliminate one of the earliest barriers to our work, which is land acquisition,” Hochstetler said.

IPS will also partner with the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that helps people with low or moderate incomes achieve affordable homeownership.

The nonprofit will offer homeownership and financing education classes to groups of at least 10 employees at designated sites throughout the district. These classes cover successful renting, budgeting, and how to understand credit.

The group can also offer one-on-one advising on how to reduce debt or save for a down payment.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools announces $17 million in central office cuts for 2026-27

2026-05-12T00:17:52+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools announced $17 million in cuts to central office for next school year as the district grapples with a looming financial shortfall exacerbated by declining enrollment and changes to state law that will restrict property tax revenue.

The cuts, announced by Superintendent Aleesia Johnson on Monday, are in addition to the $7 million in school-based budget cuts the district announced in March. Those previous school-based reductions ultimately cut 36 teachers and 23 classified staff, while newly announced cuts to central office eliminated roughly 28 positions, Johnson said in a video.

In total, the positions represent roughly 2% of the district’s overall workforce of 3,709 employees.

“This is the hardest part, because these cuts represent people,” Johnson said. “Our teammates and our colleagues who have dedicated their work to serving our district and our students.”

The cuts come as IPS faces a broader existential challenge. Property tax reform lawmakers passed last year is expected to bring a loss of millions in property tax revenues to IPS and districts across the state. State lawmakers also created a new appointed body that will assume key financial powers previously reserved for the elected IPS school board.

The new nine-member Indianapolis Public Education Corporation board, appointed by the mayor, must tackle key resource questions to place district and charter schools on an even playing field. The board will have the power to set property tax rates for residents in IPS, as charter schools gradually receive more property taxes for operating expenses. The board will also take control of IPS buildings and transportation for the benefit of both district and charter schools.

But perhaps IPEC’s most pressing task is to decide whether or not to put a property tax increase to voters that could keep the district afloat.

Johnson said in Monday’s announcement that the reductions are a “proactive step in our advocacy” to IPEC board members.

“As we move toward a referendum, it is vital that we demonstrate to those decision makers — as well as to our broader community — that we’re committed to responsible and deliberate fiscal discipline,” Johnson said. “We want to ensure that what we ask of our taxpayers is balanced by clear evidence that we are tightening our own belt and managing our financial reality with integrity.”

Cuts include reductions in extracurricular buses, athletics

The central office cuts announced Monday include reductions in vendor contracts.

Johnson said that athletic offerings will remain intact, but the district will change how some athletics are offered in elementary and middle schools.

“This includes a shift toward elementary-level clinics and expanding our partnerships with community athletic organizations at the middle school level to ensure high-quality coaching instruction and continuity,” Johnson said.

The district will also no longer offer buses for extracurricular activities on Friday afternoons — including transportation to practices and tutoring.

But the district said in a statement that it will continue offering transportation to games and competitions that occur on Fridays. The district said cuts will not impact the number of extracurricular and internship opportunities for students.

Johnson also announced an increase in pre-K prices for next school year, citing the state’s “lack of educational funding for our youngest children.”

The pre-K tuition increase comes as the district reduces its number of pre-K sites by six. IPS began charging for pre-K this school year after the state cut preschool funding.

“For more than a decade, we’ve worked to operate efficiently — closing and consolidating buildings, reducing costs, improving how we provide goods and services, streamlining transportation and central office functions,” Johnson said. “Taken together, these decisions reflect a broader effort to examine everything we do and ensure every dollar is aligned to what matters the most: our students.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

How to run for school board in Indiana

2026-05-11T11:00:00+00:00

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With primary season officially over in Indiana, attention is turning to the November general election. For schools, the most important offices on the ballot may not be at the top.

School boards across the state will have seats up for election in November 2026, and for the first time they’ll be partisan races due to a new state law.

School board members vote on important issues affecting their school districts, including the hiring of a superintendent, and the district budget. The latter responsibility carries even more weight at a time when property tax caps could pressure districts into budget cuts.

Over the last few years, spending on school board campaigns has increased significantly in some communities. There have also been rising tension over policies about school choice, and curriculum. At the same time, school board races sometimes don’t have enough candidates to fill every seat that’s up for election.

“School board used to be the sleepy quiet board where you could get your toe in the waters in terms of running for office and serving,” said Patricia Russo of the Campaign School at Yale University, a nonprofit, issue-neutral organization that helps women prepare to run for office.

“Now it’s become very contentious. As a result of that, you need to be prepared and know what the issues are.”

School boards alums in Indiana include Republican Gov. Mike Braun, who served on the Greater Jasper school board.

Chalkbeat has compiled a list of common questions and answers about running for school board ahead of the filing deadline at noon on June 18. Here’s what candidates need to know before seeking a seat.

How do I run for school board in Indiana?

The first step for a would-be candidate might be one they’ve already done: figuring out whether public service is a path they want to take. One of the best ways to do that is to work for a campaign first before running, Russo said.

Once they’re sure, the next step is to determine what school district they reside in, as well as whether the open seats on that board represent a specific region within the district, or represent the district at large.

Then, they’ll need to fill out a petition of nomination for school board.

What forms do I need to fill out to be a school board candidate?

That petition is also known as a CAN-34, which can be found on the secretary of state’s website. This form has space for signatures — a school board candidate usually needs 10 signatures from voters in the district to run, though the rules can differ slightly for some districts, according to the Indiana School Boards Association. In a metropolitan school district, for example, a candidate needs 10 signatures from voters in the board district that the candidate is running to represent.

This petition of nomination must be filed with the county voter registration office and needs to be accompanied by a statement of economic interests, or a CAN-12. This form essentially asks a candidate to disclose how they make their money. It’s also available on the secretary’s website.

Candidates can start filing petitions of nomination on May 19 and must do so by noon on June 18.

Are all school board races partisan elections?

As of July 2025, all school board elections in Indiana are partisan, meaning candidates must do one of three things: declare a political party affiliation, declare an independent candidacy, or elect not to declare any affiliation. This information will appear alongside a candidate’s name on the ballot.

This controversial change was championed by conservative lawmakers and other advocates as a way to give voters more information about who they’re voting for. But critics fear it will invite partisan politics into school matters. The November 2026 election is the first time school board races will be partisan.

To declare affiliation with a major political party, the candidate must have voted in the two most recent primary elections in Indiana held by that party. If not, a candidate needs to seek approval from the county chairman of that political party before they can claim affiliation — and that certification must be filed with their candidacy.

Each county party will have their own process for candidates to seek chair approval — the Marion County Republican Party requests that candidates reach out here, for example, while Hamilton County Democrats ask that requests be emailed to chair@hamcodemsin.org.

A good starting point to find other contacts would be each party’s county directory, which can be found here for Democrats, and here for Republicans.

A candidate’s party affiliation could be challenged if they did not vote in the two recent primaries or obtain certification from the county chairman.

Multiple candidates with the same political affiliation can appear on the ballot because there’s no law establishing a primary process for school board candidates. That’s why straight-ticket voting still won’t include school boards seats.

Can I serve on the school board as a teacher, or if I don’t live in the school district?

A teacher or other school district employee can’t also be a school board member of the same school district. But they can run for a seat, as long as they leave their job before assuming office.

Candidates must also be residents of the school corporation, and if they’re running to represent a certain district on the board, they must be residents of that district for at least a year before the election.

Others may be excluded from running due to the partisan nature of the election. Federal employees typically can’t run in partisan elections under the Hatch Act.

How much money does it cost to run for a school board seat?

There is no filing fee for school board candidates. The costs of running might include campaign materials like yard signs and pamphlets, said Terry Spradlin of the Indiana School Boards Association.

But school board races have increasingly attracted large campaign contributions, especially in high-profile races where issues like school choice spur donations from political action committees.

Candidates who do raise or spend more than $500 have some additional requirements. They must file a Statement of Organization to establish a candidate’s committee that will make expenditures and take contributions for their campaign. More information about forming these committees and filing campaign finance reports can be found in this manual from the secretary of state.

What do I need to do during the campaign season?

Most candidates can rely on their county political parties for help with the traditional hallmarks of campaign season, like going door-knocking, or even finding a part-time campaign manager, Russo said.

But it’s important for the candidate themselves to knock on doors and meet voters in person, she said.

“That’s where your votes are,” she said.

In a guide for candidates, the Indiana School Boards Association suggests that a candidate use this time to share the “background and the skills you have that make you a good school board member.”

However, candidates will need to be careful about campaigning on school grounds, which most districts prohibit.

What should I do if I win? Will I be paid?

First, bask in your victory. Then, look for an orientation session for new school board members put on by the district, or by the Indiana School Boards Association.

Each school board member’s primary duty is to vote on important matters like hiring a superintendent, and requests to ask voters for a tax increase. It’s important to note that no school board member can make decisions for the district on their own.

Boards also approve policies for the school district that affect students, staff, property, and technology. The Indiana General Assembly has given school boards more direct power over what’s taught in classrooms in recent years, like through a law specifying that all sex ed textbooks and curriculum must be approved by a district’s board.

School board members are typically paid a small stipend for their service, up to 10% of the lowest starting salary of a district teacher.

How can I learn more about running for school board?

For more information, the Indiana School Boards Association holds free webinars throughout May and June ahead of the candidate filing deadline.

This story has been updated with the time of the filing deadline on June 18.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS plan for becoming a charter school authorizer focuses on enrollment, discipline, test scores

2026-05-07T18:11:56+00:00

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In its plan to become a charter school authorizer, the Indianapolis Public Schools board wants to use growth on state assessments, discipline, and enrollment targets to judge charters.

The school board submitted that information to the Indiana Department of Education last week. It’s the first step for IPS to become an authorizer, which has the power to allow charter schools to open and to close them.

Becoming an authorizer would give IPS more power over charters at a time when the school board is losing authority. Although state lawmakers limited the number of charter authorizers in IPS, they also created the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which will manage transportation and facility needs for both district and charter schools while also taking over the school board’s power to raise property taxes.

State law allows the IPS school board to become an authorizer. The board made an attempt to authorize charter schools after Indiana passed its charter law in 2001, but never authorized any. In a statement in December, the board said the move would be a “step toward unparalleled local accountability” that it said has been inconsistent among the state’s multiple charter authorizers.

In its authorizing plan, IPS also wants to draw on its work with the Innovation Network, in which the district grants some schools a greater degree of autonomy than traditional district-run schools while letting them use certain IPS resources.

Charter schools seeking authorization by IPS would begin the application process through a letter of intent submitted every March.

New charters would undergo a roughly eight-month application process that would require a mission plan, financial projections, and evidence of community support for a school. Existing high-performing charters could apply under a roughly four-month application timeline that includes an audit of their academic and financial history.

The district would have a standardized rubric to evaluate charter applications, which also would be reviewed by a panel of academic and external experts, the district said in its registration. District officials would also interview members of the school’s leadership team.

State law gives the State Board of Education 60 days to register the IPS school board as a charter authorizer. The district estimates opening its authorizing office in August.

IPS prioritizes academics, discipline, enrollment in charter evaluations

IPS plans to evaluate charter schools using the same academic, financial, and governance metrics it uses for its 30 Innovation Network schools, and which existing authorizers also frequently use to evaluate schools.

IPS created the Innovation Network schools, most of which are charters, after state lawmakers created “innovation” schools in 2014 as a way for autonomous and district schools to work together.

“We have built over a decade of relationships with charter schools with our Innovation partnerships,” Rachel Santos, director of external affairs for IPS, told the school board last week. “Our strategic vision is to say that we are continuing that work. We are well equipped to do it, with our office that already oversees 30 relationships.”

In the 11 years of the network’s existence, IPS has not renewed three schools — two of which were charter schools — citing concerns with academic performance. A fourth, Kindezi Academy charter school, closed after failing to agree with the district on a renewal agreement.

According to the information it submitted to the state education department, the district would consider proficiency in English and math on the state ILEARN exam, while also accounting for students’ year-to-year growth on these tests and how 10 specific student subgroups perform compared to their peers. These subgroups include Black and Hispanic students, as well as English language learners and students with disabilities.

The district does not specify exact ILEARN proficiency goals. Authorizers often compare a school’s performance to nearby schools with similar demographics.

The district would also aim for its charter schools to have a 90% pass rate on IREAD.

IPS would also set a 95% attendance rate target, and monitor suspension rates to “reward equitable discipline.”

The district would measure a school’s financial health by assessing the days of cash on hand, among other financial metrics. It would also assess schools on whether they reach at least 95% of their budgeted enrollment each year.

IPS would rate charters on their governance model based on compliance with the state’s Open Door Law, which deals with government transparency, and laws concerning students with disabilities. The district would also assess leadership stability and the charter school board composition to ensure that members offer a diverse set of skills.

Charter renewals would last up to 5 years

Although state law allows for authorizers to renew charters for up to 15 years, IPS would only offer charter terms for up to five years.

The deputy superintendent for IPS would oversee the district’s charter schools alongside the existing director of Innovation schools and director of strategy. The district projects that for those staffers, 30% of their work would be dedicated specifically to charter authorizing, IPS said in the information it submitted to the state.

The district projects an annual authorizing budget of $561,000 that would already be part of the district’s general fund.

IPS said it would implement an authorizing fee, which charters pay to their authorizer usually determined by a percentage of per-pupil state funding. But the district did not specify what percentage would be. State law allows authorizers to charge a fee of up to 3%.

Correction: This story was updated to accurately reflect the district’s history as a charter authorizer.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indy’s Crispus Attucks High School to receive new healthcare lab and gym via $44 million expansion

2026-05-06T19:35:19+00:00

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Wearing a photo of his grandmother around his neck, Crispus Attucks High School freshman Jahleil Thurton received a white coat at a Wednesday ceremony— a symbol of his entry into a healthcare fellowship at the school.

His grandmother’s work as a certified nursing assistant who emigrated from Belize inspired him to enter the three-year fellowship.

“I can fulfill the bigger things that she wasn’t able to do being an immigrant,” said Thurton, who hopes to become a neurosurgeon.

Thurton and his peers will soon have more resources to help them realize their aspirations. Crispus Attucks will undergo a $44 million campus expansion that will bring an additional gym and a new health lab. They’re due to open in 2028, just over 100 years after the Indianapolis school first opened its doors.

The project builds on the school’s existing healthcare pathway for students and its partnership with Indiana University Health, which will donate $25 million toward the project. IPS has set aside roughly $20 million in bonds to supplement IU Health’s $25 million gift.

The healthcare fellowship, which IPS and IU Health launched in 2021, seeks to diversify the healthcare profession by focusing on a school that is roughly 65% Black and 28% Hispanic. Crispus Attucks students apply to the program their freshman year, and if accepted, they enter a three-year fellowship that includes earning a certified nursing assistant and a certified medical administration assistant credential. This year, 40 students were accepted into the fellowship at a school of roughly 1,200.

Officials announced the addition on Wednesday after celebrating the school’s sixth cohort of students to enter the school’s healthcare fellowship, which provides students with internships and healthcare certifications throughout high school and concludes with job offers to be medical assistants or patient care technicians at IU Health after graduation.

Rising Crispus Attucks High School sophomore Seydi Oliva Mendez accepts her white coat from Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and certificate from IU Health CEO Dennis Murphy, far left, on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at Crispus Attucks High School.

These students, who are currently freshmen, will be among the first to use the new building.

“This investment reflects how much we believe in you,” Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson told an auditorium of students and family members. “How much your community believes in you, believes in your potential, believes in your leadership, and, most importantly, believes in your future.”

The investment is a boon for Crispus Attucks, which opened in 1927 as a high school for Black students at a time of segregation, when the Ku Klux Klan had a powerful hold on local politics. The school was thrust into the national spotlight in the 1950s, when its Tigers basketball team became the first all-Black team in the nation to win a state championship.

Today, though, the school is the only IPS high school with just one gym. An atrium and commons area will connect the original building to the new addition on the south side of the school campus.

A rendering of the upcoming addition to Crispus Attucks High School that includes a new gym and lab space.

The new academic spaces include new lab rooms and a new technology lab. The new gym will meet Indiana High School Athletic Association standards and seat roughly 2,400 people. It will include home and visitor locker rooms, indoor concessions, and a weight room.

The IU Health gift is part of the medical system’s ongoing work with the Indy Health District, a nonprofit that seeks to improve quality of life in an area that runs from the northwest part of downtown up to Crown Hill Cemetery.

“To this community and to the people who are part of the Indy Health District: this is a continuation of IU Health’s pledge to invest in places and people who make Indianapolis Stronger,” said IU Health President and CEO Dennis Murphy.

Thurton, the freshman, said the bigger gym and healthcare facilities will inspire his classmates who care about school.

“For the people that want to go to school, I feel like that’s so amazing that they have the opportunity to be able to do that,” he said.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana State Senate District 46 primary election: IPS board member Impink wins

2026-05-06T03:22:43+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools board member Allissa Impink is the unofficial winner of the Democratic primary for Indiana State Senate District 46, which could likely tee up a vacancy on the school board.

Unofficial election results with 100% of vote centers reporting showed that Impink had 68.46% of the vote, Sam Glynn had 12.02%, and Clif Marsiglio had 19.52% in the Democratic primary. Results are unofficial until May 15, after provisional and military ballots are counted. The Marion County Election Board will certify the results on May 18.

In a victory statement, Impink promised to focus on community voices, including “parents who are juggling their jobs, childcare, and paying their bills.”

“As I’ve said from the very beginning, the challenges we face are not separate issues. They are deeply connected,” she said. “And for far too long, families have been left to navigate systems that don’t work together.”

No Republican candidates ran in the primary election for the seat that includes downtown, the near eastside, and southern parts of Indianapolis. But it is still possible for a challenger to run against Impink in the November general election. If she wins that race, it would create an opening on the IPS school board. Impink’s current school board term ends in 2028. Board members would appoint a new member to finish her term, and the seat would be up for election in 2028.

Board members recently did the same process to fill the District 2 seat after Gayle Cosby announced her resignation in March. The board appointed Hasaan Rashid to fill the vacancy.

Impink, also a former IPS teacher, was elected to the school board in 2024 to represent District 4, the southwest part of the district. She previously told Chalkbeat that if elected in November, she “will be still carrying that baton of valuing public education.”

On her campaign website, Impink said she supports a moratorium on new charter schools and fully funding public schools, as well as supporting educators and making sure “every student has the opportunity to succeed.” She added that she wants to make sure that IPS is “fully reimbursed for transportation, facilities, and special education services provided to innovation schools.”

Transportation and facilities for district and charter schools are within the purview of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. The new body appointed by the mayor will provide state lawmakers with an update on plans for both in November before fully taking over management of transportation and buildings in the 2028-29 school year.

State Senate District 46 is currently represented by Andrea Hunley, a former IPS principal, who is running for Indianapolis mayor in 2027.

Four seats on the IPS school board are up for election in November: Hope Duke Star’s District 3 seat, Nicole Carey’s District 5 seat, Angelia Moore’s at-large seat, and the special election for District 2 represented by Rashid.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis high school students spend school day as poll workers during Primary Election

2026-05-05T20:17:28+00:00

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Cuylen Roberson slept through his 4 a.m. alarm on Tuesday — but he had three more set, just in case.

The Lawrence North High School senior woke up excited to serve as a poll worker on Primary Election Day, despite the rain that fell as he and four other students made their way to the high school to set up the voting site in the gym.

“I was nervous about it, but I was also excited,” Roberson said, recalling the legal aspects of the training he completed. “It just felt nice to do something to help where I’m needed.”

State law allows 16- and 17-year old high school students to serve as a clerk for an election, and lets minors with a GPA of at least 3.0 to do so, with the permission of their school principal and a parent or guardian. Like adult poll workers, these students also get paid for their time and can earn up to $180 for the day in Marion County.

Election offices across the state have used the law to help fill critical election roles. As a poll clerk, students can help set up voting sites and check voters in to receive their ballot. The job is a civic-minded way for students to get paid.

At Lawrence North, senior Alia Massey waved residents through the check-in process with the confidence of someone who has been working elections for years. She credits her civic engagement to her mother.

“Every chance that I get, my mom always pulls me in her room or she just stops and talks about something,” said Alia, who plans to join the military after graduating in May. “She’s like, ‘Okay, you need to watch this, because you need to actually know what’s going on.’”

Though Alia and most of the other student workers at the high school are already 18, they found out about the opportunity to work a poll site through a visit from the League of Women Voters to their school.

At the other end of the check-in table, Lawrence Central High School junior Jameon Gibson listed acceptable forms of identification to voters who trickled in.

“Is it going smoothly?” one woman asked him as she showed her identification.

“It is,” he said.

Lawrence North senior Kylie Atkinson said she wanted to experience what it would be like to assist in the voting process. Often, she said, it feels like she and her peers can’t be politically involved because of their age.

“If I get the experience myself, I can explain it to other people and explain how to do it to other people,” she said. “But I think it’s really important that you have all demographics represented in any kind of democracy.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Meet the 9 appointees who will control buildings and transportation for public schools in Indianapolis

2026-04-27T10:00:00+00:00

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Inadequate transportation. Declining enrollment. An impending financial cliff.

These are the challenges that the nine-member Indianapolis Public Education Corporation must tackle as it creates an educational ecosystem that gives district-run and charter schools equal access to resources while holding them to the same academic standards.

The new corporation has assumed key financial powers previously reserved for the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board. This includes the power to determine property tax rates for both IPS and charter schools beginning in 2027. In 2028, IPEC will assume responsibility for transportation and buildings for both district and charter schools.

The state law establishing IPEC gave Mayor Joe Hogsett the power to appoint all nine members. The law required three to be community members with certain expertise, three to be charter school leaders, and three to be members of the IPS school board.

Common themes connecting IPEC’s members include a history of working in or supporting charter schools, and promoting the importance of testing and alternatives to traditional school governance.

The IPEC board includes four charter school leaders, including one who founded the prominent Mind Trust nonprofit that has helped grow the city’s charter school sector. It also includes a prominent Republican lobbyist involved in a contentious suite of education policy changes adopted nearly 40 years ago that expanded Indiana’s power to take over underperforming schools, among other changes.

The board also includes IPS school board members elected with the backing of school choice supporters, and a founding board member of a charter school serving a large population of English language learners.

Asked about the new board’s connections to the charter school sector, Hogsett said through a spokesperson that he selected the members after an “extensive review process.” He said the most important factor in his decision to pick them was their focus on “the best interest of all the families and children living in the Indianapolis Public Schools boundary, regardless of the type of public school those families choose.”

Below are key facts about each member.

Patricia Castañeda, community leader

Patricia Castañeda has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of the city’s public institutions and the communities they serve.

She is a vice president at KeyBank’s Community Banking Group, and is a founding board member of Enlace Academy, a K-8 grade charter school on the northwest side. Currently, she is a member of the Goodwill Education Initiatives Board, which oversees the The Excel Center adult high schools.

Castañeda was born in Lima, Peru. She briefly attended Ben Davis High School before graduating. Her two sons graduated from Shortridge High School.

Patricia Castañeda, vice president of Key Bank, is sworn in as a member of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation at its first public meeting.

In 2000, Castañeda became the first Hispanic services coordinator at the Marion County prosecutor’s office — a role built largely on direct outreach.

Castañeda also co-chaired the Indianapolis Race and Cultural Relations Leadership Network during the multiyear dispute over “E Pluribus Unum” — a commissioned sculpture of a freed Black slave planned for the Cultural Trail near the City-County Building. The project drew widespread objections and was eventually cancelled in 2011.

“That’s really where you learn,” Castañeda said of debates about the sculpture. “So sometimes it comes with a lot of ire, yes, and it’s OK, that’s how we grow, and that’s how we heal and grow together.”

She later worked for the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority.

Castañeda said her role on IPEC is to share community perspectives. She wants to ensure schools are safe and accessible for all students.

Castañeda said the new board’s credibility will rest on what it does, not what it says.

“Actions speak louder than words,” she said. “If we’re saying we’re going to be transparent, then we want to make sure that we are transparent.”

John R. Hammond III, community leader

John R. Hammond III helped former Gov. Robert D. Orr push a sweeping education overhaul through the Indiana General Assembly in 1987. The package known as A-Plus required student achievement exams and created a new accreditation system based on school performance.

Hammond said that sort of experience can inform his work with the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation. He also believes IPEC can bring stability to all city schools.

“This is really the right approach to really begin to get our hands around some of the issues that have created some of the financial concerns,” Hammond said, “so that we can really serve these kids, no matter where they come from or what school they’re served in.”

John Hammond, partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm, attends the first IPEC meeting virtually.

Hammond served as Orr’s senior executive assistant for legislative affairs and education policy from 1981 to 1988. He was later a partner at Ice Miller and is now a partner at Taft’s public affairs strategies group. He represented Indiana on the Republican National Committee for 12 years and is a founding board member of Herron Classical Schools, led by fellow IPEC member Janet McNeal.

Hammond has lived in the IPS district for 36 years. His wife, Diana Hamilton, served on the IPS Foundation in the early 2000s.

“I feel committed to the Center City,” Hammond said, “and that’s what we’ve made our home and our living.”

David Harris, charter school leader and IPEC board chair

David Harris is the CEO of Christel House International, a global nonprofit school operator that’s the umbrella organization for Christel House Indianapolis, which runs three charter schools and an adult charter school network in Indianapolis. Those schools provide their own transportation and include two schools and an adult high school that operate in an IPS-owned building.

When Harris worked in Mayor Bart Peterson’s administration as an assistant deputy mayor, he supported the state’s charter school law that gave the mayor the power to authorize charter schools. He then served as charter school director for the city, a position known today as the executive director of the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation.

Harris later founded the influential Mind Trust nonprofit in 2006, which has helped launch most of the city’s charter schools and recruit many charter leaders.

David Harris, CEO of Christel House, is sworn in at the IPEC's first meeting. Harris serves as chair.

Harris left the Mind Trust to help found the City Fund, a national education organization that raised millions to promote school reform in several major cities, including Indianapolis.

Harris said the city’s quality of education has improved over the past few decades, but that it’s “not anywhere near as good as it needs to be.”

“This is an opportunity for all schools to get better,” he said.

Harris said IPEC’s work will allow all schools to focus their energy on education without having to be “consumed with operational challenges that are a headache.”

Janet McNeal, charter school leader

Janet McNeal, president at Herron Classical Schools, knows what it’s like to work in different kinds of schools.

After a short stint teaching in South Korea, she spent 10 years as an English teacher at a public school district in southern Indiana. She worked for another 10 years at Cathedral High School — a private, Catholic school near Lawrence.

After that, she helped launch a new classical arts charter school in 2006, Herron High School, working closely with Harris of the city’s charter school office.

Herron High School quickly cemented itself as a top academic performer in the city, though the school has historically served fewer economically disadvantaged students and English language learners than other IPS schools.

Janet McNeal, president of Herron Classical Schools, is sworn in at the first IPEC meeting.

In 2016, McNeal started a second high school, Herron-Riverside. The school, located in the former Heslar Naval Armory, serves a student body more demographically and academically similar to IPS than Herron High.

The charter network opened its first K-8 school, Herron Preparatory Academy, in 2021.

Students attending Herron High and Herron Prep Academy get to school primarily through parent drop-offs or discounted rides with IndyGo. Herron Classical Schools has offered limited transportation in recent years to Herron-Riverside students.

McNeal is considering whether to opt her schools into a shared facilities system like one IPEC could create, though it’s unlikely the charter network would want to relinquish its buildings. Herron Classical Schools owns all three of its school properties.

“We did not build our buildings on taxpayers’ dollars,” McNeal said. “We built our buildings on fundraising.”

Eddie Rangel, community leader

Eddie Rangel, founding CEO of Adelante Schools, listens during IPEC's first meeting.

Eddie Rangel is the founder and CEO of Adelante Schools, which took over Emma Donnan Elementary and Middle School as a part of an IPS plan to improve chronically underperforming schools.

School choice shaped Rangel’s life trajectory as a child in California. His parents found a way to enroll him into a different district school — which had a strong music program — than the one he was zoned for.

Rangel became the first in his family to graduate college, where he studied music education and performance. He came to Indianapolis in 2012 through Teach For America and taught at Key Learning Community School in IPS.

He later became a principal in the Tindley charter school network.

Rangel was also a fellow in the Mind Trust’s Innovation School Fellowship, launching Adelante in 2020 as a charter operator that would take over Emma Donnan. As an IPEC board member, he hopes to draw on his experience building back the trust of the Emma Donnan community.

“It’s important to approach this work with humility, which is something that we leaned heavily into as we embarked on leading Emma Donnan,” he said. “For the IPEC role, it’s important to recognize that no single model or perspective will have all of the answers — especially in a system as complex as Indianapolis.”

Hope Duke Star, IPS school board president

Hope Duke Star was elected to the school board in 2022, serving an area that represents core Indianapolis neighborhoods from Meridian-Kessler to Martindale-Brightwood. She earned the backing of Stand for Children Indiana and RISE Indy, which have supported charter schools.

Star grew up in the area she now represents. She attended the district’s former Northwest High School and was the first in her family to graduate college with the help of the Association for Loan Free Education, which focused on helping first-generation college students.

Hope Duke Star, IPS board president, sits with members of the IPEC board at the group's first meeting.

She later worked for that same organization and served as a dean at North Central High School and a counselor at the KIPP Indy charter network.

Star’s past few years on the board have featured numerous battles between supporters of charter schools and IPS. During her tenure, the school board has also called for a moratorium on new schools.

As she serves on the IPEC board, she hopes that the city’s education leaders are willing to do what’s fair.

“I’m hopeful that we won’t continue to open schools while we try to clean up what we’ve already created and make what we have make sense,” she said.

Dexter Taylor, charter school leader

Dexter Taylor is the director of Paramount Schools of Excellence’s K-8 Brookside campus, one of five Paramount schools in Indianapolis.

He worked for the Carmel-Clay school district for about five years before joining the Paramount network of charter schools in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile. Taylor eventually became school director in May 2019.

The network is known for its rigorous academics. Paramount Brookside consistently reports strong math and reading test scores. But parents have raised concerns about school discipline.

Dexter Taylor, director of Paramount Brookside, is sworn in as a member of the IPEC board at the group's meeting.

A recent WFYI analysis found that last school year, Paramount schools suspended students with disabilities at a rate about three times higher than the state average.

School leaders told WFYI last fall that suspensions are lower than past years due to increased training for teachers.

Taylor was not available for an interview before the deadline for this story.

Paramount currently operates buses for just two of its Indianapolis campuses — Andrew J. Brown Academy and Girls in STEM Academy. According to property records, Paramount owns all but one of its buildings that fall within the IPS boundary.

Its Englewood school shares space in the PR Mallory Campus on East Washington Street with Purdue Polytechnic High School.

Ashley Thomas, IPS school board member

Ashley Thomas serves as the District 1 IPS commissioner, where she represents portions of the far east and southeast sides. She was first drawn to advocacy more than a decade ago when her son’s IPS school was targeted for a major overhaul.

After several years of failing grades from the state, George H. Fisher School 93 was converted into an Innovation charter school — a type of school still in the IPS system but run by its own board.

Ashley Thomas, IPS board member, speaks during the first IPEC board meeting.

To learn more about that change, Thomas started attending workshops organized by Stand for Children. It wasn’t long before she began facilitating workshop discussions

“Our school felt like a forgotten-about school,” Thomas said. “I got to see the picture of what it looks like when parents, students, teachers and leaders all work together collaboratively.”

Thomas then spent almost eight years as an organizer with Stand for Children. She worked for another two years with RISE Indy before running for IPS school board in 2024.

Thomas was endorsed by Stand for Children. Campaign finance records show she accepted donations from Stand, RISE Indy, and several high-profile leaders in the charter sector.

“Stand’s endorsement committee were all parents that had kids in different schools from different public school types,” Thomas said. “I’m honored to be endorsed by parents.”

She also chairs the board’s legislative committee and runs an education consulting business. Her children attend Believe Circle City High School and Paramount Brookside.

The single mom of three said all of these experiences will inform her work on the new IPEC board.

Deandra Thompson, IPS school board member

Deandra Thompson is an IPS at-large school board member and founder of A Learning Bee Academy, an early learning center.

She previously served on the founding leadership team of Providence Cristo Rey High School, a private Catholic school. She also served as national director of enrollment for the Phalen Leadership Academies charter school network.

Deandra Thompson, one of three IPS board members appointed to the IPEC board, listens during the first IPEC meeting.

Thompson, who has a third grader in public school, was elected to the school board in 2024 with the backing of Stand and RISE Indy.

Thompson has said that she sees the value in having appointed members of a public board who can offer expertise in areas such as business or finance. The three IPS school board members on the IPEC board, she said, will ensure that the community is involved in the corporation’s work.

“I think we have to trust the people that were voted for, for one,” she said of IPS school board members on the new corporation board. “And trust that we can come together and make sure we bring community along with us.”

Correction: This story was updated to include the correct email addresses for Janet McNeal and Hope Duke Star.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her atcarley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X@carleylanich.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at@ericweddle.

How an Indiana counselor helps students turn ‘I want to go to college’ into a plan

2026-04-21T11:00:00+00:00

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In the quest to prepare for life after high school, students at the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township have an edge: a coach who knows the ins and outs of getting into college.

After 30 years in admissions at the University of Indianapolis, Ron Wilks now serves as the College Success Coach at Perry schools, helping students figure out a postsecondary plan sooner rather than later.

He encourages all students to pursue some form of education after high school — whether that’s a traditional bachelor or associate degree, or a short-term certificate. That’s in line with new high school graduation requirements that require students to plan ahead by earning college credits, technical certificates, or other credentials that indicate they’re ready for post-grad opportunities. These rules go into effect for the Class of 2029 in Indiana.

While not all students will choose college, programs like IU Indianapolis’ seamless admissions initiative — which offers automatic admission for central Indiana students in 31 high schools who have a 3.0 GPA or higher — help make the college conversation easier, he said.

“There are people on both the high school side and college side who will help,” Wilks said. “[Students] just need to raise their hand and say, ‘I want to go to college, can you help me figure that out?’

Here’s more about how Wilks helps students approach the college admissions process.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What led you to become a college success coach?

I retired after 30 years in admissions from the University of Indianapolis and Perry Township had an opening for a Fairbanks Grant-funded College Success Coach position. The position fit perfectly with where I was and allowed me to continue fulfilling my calling of helping students transition from high school to college. Having the college admission experience has also been very helpful in my role.

What does a typical day in your role look like?

I typically will meet with seniors who are interested in college or unsure and may not understand the college admission process. I listen to what they tell me their goals are for after high school and then we work together on a plan for them to execute. I also lead a six-week program for sophomores in the spring that focuses on developing a plan earlier in their high school career.

The program is called SOAR, or Strengthening Opportunities and Academic Resilience. We cover topics around enrollment and employment pathways after high school and take a deeper dive into what skills are needed for careers, how to develop skills and experiences and convey them into strong resumes and applications. We also do goal setting and assess their current situation and target opportunities for improvement.

I talk to many seniors who have a goal of college but either don’t have a plan or are unsure how to make a plan. The goal with the sophomore group is to make sure they don’t come to a person like me as a senior without some type of plan for education or training beyond high school.

How do you talk to students who might be unsure about college?

I encourage them to strongly consider some type of training or education beyond high school. We talk about everything from one semester certificate programs, to associate and bachelor degree programs. We then go over the process of making it happen and I then track their progress. I even help them fill out an application if they want and follow up when they need more encouragement or nudging.

What role do programs like IU Indianapolis’ seamless admissions play in these conversations?

It’s a great hook for many of them. Especially for those who are unsure or intimidated by the process. Knowing that admission is guaranteed makes the conversation easier. Once they complete the application I can see the confidence they have gained in making college one step closer to becoming a reality.

A lot has changed in Indiana when it comes to college and career readiness. How do you help students and their families navigate new requirements and opportunities?

To me it’s about listening to what they would like to do after high school and helping them understand the different pathways and processes for getting to where they want to go. I also talk with them about the power of information and provide them with information and resources through my college connections that they can use during the process. Then I check on how well they are navigating the process and help them overcome any hurdles they encounter along the way.

What’s your best advice to students and families preparing for college?

I tell students that one of the best things they can learn is to ask for help. Especially if they want to do some education or training beyond high school but are unsure or intimidated by the process.

Can you share a success story you’re particularly proud of helping a student with the college process?

Last year I worked with a student who wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to college or not. After several conversations assessing different options he determined he wanted to go to IU Indianapolis — where we were able to get him in the Groups Scholar program at the last minute. The Groups Scholar program is an IU program that supports students the summer prior to enrollment and throughout their college career.

At the end of the year he asked me to sign his yearbook saying I was an important part of his high school journey. I then saw him on the (IU Indy) campus in the fall during a visit and he saw me and sought me out to tell me how well he was doing. That was a proud moment for sure.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

An Indiana district turned to voters to fund more preschool seats. Here’s what happened next.

2026-04-17T16:31:16+00:00

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When Pete Hinnefeld and his wife started looking for a preschool for their daughter, they hoped to send her to the same school her brother attended, which was just down the road from their house and offered Spanish-language immersion.

To do this for Lydia, then age 3, they were prepared to pay the $600 monthly cost.

But after voters approved a property tax referendum to fund early learning for children living within the Monroe County Community School Corporation, the family’s preschool bill was cut by more than half. Nearby preschool cut down time spent commuting to their parents’ house for babysitting, and helped Lydia build social skills.

The family are one of hundreds now benefitting from the 2023 referendum, which has more than doubled the number of children attending 3- and 4-year-old preschools in the district.

“For us, this is why you pay taxes,” Hinnefeld said. “It’s important for young kids to have access to school and if parents need to work, it’s an opportunity to let them work.”

The referendum put forward by the district, located in Bloomington, is a first in the state, offering all families tuition support on a sliding scale based on income, no matter whether children attend a district preschool or a partner provider.

It represents a local solution to problems with accessing and affording early learning that have left thousands of Indiana families waiting for help. Indiana in December 2024 froze its Child Care and Development Fund, or CCDF, and On My Way Pre-K dollars, which provide funding for early learning for income-eligible households.

A $200 million funding increase for CCDF approved by the State Budget Committee this week will allow Indiana to begin issuing vouchers again in May to around 14,000 more children, for a total enrollment of around 57,000. Those funds will last around one year.

Still, around 20,000 children will remain on the waitlist, and families may have fewer options for where to use their vouchers as hundreds of providers have closed since the freeze was announced, according to early learning advocates in the state. In a recent survey of early childhood educators in Indiana — which includes those working in a variety of settings — 90% of respondents said families are struggling to pay tuition.

A statewide universal preschool program is unlikely, Republican leaders have said. Instead, a legislative proposal this year would have let cities and counties — not just school districts — ask voters to fund preschool seats. It failed to get traction, but its advocates expect it to return.

The political climate isn’t especially promising for local tax increases: A new Indiana law has placed caps on property tax revenue that are already affecting local budgets. Lawmakers also recently restricted when schools can place referendums on the ballot.

Still, a new local revenue stream could be a boon in some Indiana communities, such as those with high demand for preschool, existing programs, and high social cohesion, said Sam Snideman, vice president of government relations for United Way of Central Indiana.

“There are going to be communities where this makes a ton of sense,” Snideman said. “The increasing challenge for an entity that goes before the public for a referendum is making a very clear value case. What is the common good and what is in the community interest is very important.”

School district’s pre-K enrollment doubles after referendum

Before Monroe schools brought the referendum request to voters, the district conducted a study that showed there were not enough early learning seats to serve children in the community, said Timothy Dowling, director of early learning and enrollment at Monroe schools. And families couldn’t always afford the seats that were available.

But the district also knew that research links quality early learning improved later academic outcomes, Dowling said.

“We wanted to do everything we can to help our students get the benefit of early learning, because we know it pays off in huge dividends,” Dowling said.

The referendum equated to around a $50 increase yearly for a home with an assessed value of $250,000, according to the district website, and also paid for instructional supplies for K-12 students. It passed with 55% of the vote; Dowling said the community study and transparency about how the referendum funds would be used were key to its success.

As a result of the successful referendum, all families in the district qualify for at least $4,000 in tuition assistance for preschool for 4-year-olds, whether their children attend a district school or at one of seven community providers.

Around 76% students in the district’s program attend for free based on their family’s income, Dowling said. Families in the lowest income tier who send their children to community providers receive $8,000 in tuition assistance.

The program also offers tuition assistance for 3-year-old preschool based on income and where the student attends school. For families making 225% or less of the federal poverty level, preschool is free at district programs. Often those families struggled the most to afford child care, even when state child care vouchers were available, Dowling said.

In 2024-25, the year after the referendum passed, the number of 4-year-olds attending preschool doubled from 184 to 378, with 64 of those children attending preschool at outside centers. This year, the district expanded preschool for 3-year-olds, based on the timeline laid out in the referendum. Enrollment jumped from 78 to 123, with another 33 students attending community child care centers, Dowling said.

With multiple types of providers, families have options, said Kelly Sipes, the executive director for Penny Lane Childcare Centers, which is a partner provider with the district. Those who need transportation might choose a district-run preschool, she said, but those who need year-round care during school holidays can choose a center like Penny Lane instead.

Her centers are usually at capacity, Sipes said, and child care needs in the community persist. When CCDF funding was cut, some of her families turned to the funding from the district instead.

“It’s awesome for the families,” Sipes said. “We should be all in this together as a community.”

Pitching child care: ‘We live in a society’

Replicating referendum-funded preschool might work well in communities where school-based providers already exist, and where there’s a sufficient tax base and steady demand for child care, Snideman said. It would also be an incentive to attract working families.

But it could be a harder sell in rural districts, where there are fewer families and less demand.

Generally, school referendums pass in districts that are wealthier, and in areas with less farmland, said Larry DeBoer, a Purdue University professor emeritus of agricultural economics, who has studied school referendums in depth. One of the biggest predictors of success is whether a school district has tried to pass a referendum before — even if they’ve failed, a second referendum is more likely to pass, DeBoer said.

Monroe schools had previously passed an operating referendum the year before its 2023 preschool referendum. As a county, Monroe has a slightly lower per-person income than Indiana as a whole, and has more students than the small and medium-sized districts most likely to propose successful ballot measures. It’s home to Indiana University, and tends to vote Democratic in a largely conservative state.

A legislative proposal this year, HB 1430, would have given the power to levy preschool referendums to counties and cities, potentially casting a wider net for both family demand and child care providers.

The bill did not receive a hearing, in part because Indiana legislative leaders are usually reluctant to consider bills with a fiscal impact in even-numbered years where they don’t pass a state budget. And the most recent state budget passed in 2025 was tight, with cuts to spending and programs due to a revenue shortfall.

The bill’s author, Rep. Blake Johnson, a Democrat, said that conversations about the bill have been fruitful, and that he expects the idea to return in a future session.

Given budget concerns, a locally funded solution that communities can tailor to their own needs may be more successful than a statewide one, said Patrick McAlister, who leads the Preschool Choice Alliance, a statewide group.

“This is an economic development need. Here’s the tool and the option to exercise it or not,” Johnson said.

A successful referendum would be a boon to working parents who struggle to afford the cost of early learning, said McAlister, who used to be the director of the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation. But even for non-parents, a preschool referendum could have a positive impact on property values and in other ways, McAlister said.

Ultimately, it would be one part of an “all and above strategy” addressing care for children from birth to age 2.

“We live in a society,” McAlister said. “There are certain things we hold true and caring for children is a value many people share.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana to resume child care vouchers after 15-month freeze, but thousands will remain waitlisted

2026-04-16T21:21:56+00:00

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Indiana will begin offering families help with child care costs again in May after a 15-month freeze on Child Care and Development Funds, a program that provides subsidies for income-eligible families.

The Family and Social Services Administration will be able to process around 3,000 new child care vouchers per month, its representatives told lawmakers on the State Budget Committee, who reviewed the agency’s request for $200 million more in funding for the program and approved it Thursday.

Republican Gov. Mike Braun announced the additional funding on Tuesday in order to add around 14,000 more children to the program, for a total enrollment of around 57,000.

The move seeks to address the freeze on the program and the waitlist implemented by the state after the end of pandemic aid. Early learning advocates say these moves have contributed to the closure of hundreds of child care providers in the state, exacerbating families’ challenges with accessing and paying for care.

Around 20,000 children will remain on the waitlist even with the additional funding, though not all of those children will end up being eligible for the program, FSSA officials said. But more families may apply when they hear that the program has reopened, meaning the full demand for child care subsidies is not clear.

To fund child care vouchers for all children enrolled and on the waitlist would cost the state approximately $350 million per year, said Mitch Roob, FSSA secretary.

The additional $200 million will last one year. FSSA officials told committee lawmakers Thursday that they will ask for the additional funding to continue in the next biennial state budget, for a total request of around $239 million.

But it’s not a sure thing that the budget will include this funding, creating uncertainty for providers and families.

“The parents and the providers are … prone to think of this as a long-term benefit, and so we’re going to have to decide if they’re right to expect a long-term program that’s a real benefit or not,” said Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis.

Priority for new vouchers will go to the siblings of children currently in the program, as well as infants. There are just three infants in the program because the program has been frozen for so long, Roob said. Next priority will go to toddlers and preschool-aged children, with money set aside for children with disabilities, children in foster care, and other groups.

The additional funds will not address the cuts to the rates paid to child care providers — another step FSSA took last year to cut costs.

“There are other ways we could execute this, this is the one we chose,” Adam Alson, the director of Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning at the FSSA, told lawmakers on the budget committee.

During Thursday’s committee meeting, Republican Sen. Chris Garten asked a philosophical question: Why fund the program at all?

Roob cited the historical context of federal aid to mothers and children, which shifted to prioritize child care for workers instead.

“We as a society concluded that work was important and we should be paying for child care to get people to work,” said Roob.

More information about applying for a CCDF voucher is available here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPEC just met for the first time. Here’s what the new Indianapolis schools board discussed.

2026-04-14T22:02:18+00:00

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The new governing body for Indianapolis schools met for the first time Tuesday and discussed asking voters for a property tax increase in the fall.

Placing an operating referendum on the ballot is one of the key duties of the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which has also been tasked by state lawmakers with overseeing transportation and buildings for district and charter schools. In addition to the referendum discussion, IPEC on Tuesday appointed an acting executive director, approved a funding request for its work, and discussed the process of hiring a full-time director.

While it’s not certain if IPEC will pursue a referendum, passing one could be critical to the Indianapolis Public Schools’ long-term stability. The district faces a budget deficit, and its current referendum expires this year.

But first, the corporation must undertake a series of steps, including gathering information on student enrollment and giving charter schools the opportunity to opt into the referendum. All of these steps need to happen before IPEC votes on a resolution to place a referendum on the November ballot. They did not take action on a referendum on Tuesday.

Board members largely asked logistics questions such as what their role would be.

The corporation will have to answer two critical questions: how much to ask for from voters and how many years the referendum should run,Michael O’Connor of Bose Public Affairs told the members. O’Connor also facilitated the meetings of the body that preceded IPEC, the Indianapolis Local Education Association. His contract to work with the new board was extended through May.

The corporation would also be involved in advocating for the referendum to pass.

During its first meeting, the corporation also voted to request for funding for itself from the Marion County Treasurer, as allowed by the state law that created the body. It will seek 3% of the property tax revenues used for operating expenses for IPS and participating charter schools in order to pay an executive director, staff, and consultants.

The meeting lasted approximately one hour at the City-County building, where a handful of protesters had gathered outside with signs to oppose the unelected board taking some powers from the elected IPS board. About two dozen people attended the meeting, including IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson, and there was no public comment period.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett appointed the nine members last month and swore them in at the Tuesday meeting. The board includes three IPS board members, three representatives of charter schools, and three experts in areas relevant to the corporation’s work as required by state law.

The corporation is chaired by David Harris, the charter schools director under former mayor Bart Peterson. Harris and Peterson co-founded the Mind Trust, an influential nonprofit that helps launch charter schools. One of the expert appointees, Edward Rangel, is also a charter school leader, tipping the board in favor of charter schools when it comes to decisions, including those about buildings — an ongoing point of contention in Indianapolis’ school choice ecosystem.

O’Connor was also appointed acting executive director of IPEC while the corporation waits for Hogsett to choose a full-time director. The hiring process — including creating a job description and determining a salary range — begins immediately, and the goal is to hire by mid-May, O’Connor said. IPEC will vote on the candidate the mayor selects.

Harris said he would poll the members of the corporation to appoint a vice chair and secretary.

Both a website for IPEC and email addresses for IPEC members are forthcoming, O’Connor said. On Wednesday, IPEC launched its website.

The corporation will next meet on May 28, time and location to be determined.

Member Ashley Thomas asked that some future meetings be held in the evenings to allow more people affected by the work of the board to attend.

This story has been updated with IPEC’s website link which was announced Wednesday.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Education Corporation announces date and location for first meeting

2026-04-10T20:54:35+00:00

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A new governing body for Indianapolis schools will meet for the first time on April 14.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC, will govern key aspects of public schools in the city. It will oversee buildings and transportation for charter schools and Indianapolis Public Schools. The corporation will also have power to ask voters for funding for schools through a referendum, and will create an accountability system that could be used to decide which schools close.

IPEC will meet at 4 p.m. April 14 in Room 221 of the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington Street, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office announced. An agenda was not available on Friday.

The nine members of the board, appointed by Hogsett, were announced by him late last month and include three IPS board members, three representatives of charter schools, and three experts in areas relevant to the corporation’s work as required by state law.

One of the appointed experts is also a charter school leader. Additionally, David Harris is the board chair. Harris was the charter schools director under former mayor Bart Peterson, and the duo co-founded the Mind Trust, an influential nonprofit that helps launch charter schools.

IPEC’s creation by state lawmakers means less power for school boards in the city, including the elected IPS board. However, school boards will still have power over day-to-day tasks including setting budgets, curriculums, and hiring and firing the superintendent or school leaders for charter schools.

IPEC was formed following the December 2025 recommendations of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which was a state-created task force. The corporation’s powers will phase in with key powers over finances and referendums starting this year and powers over buildings and transportation in 2028.

The April 14 meeting will also be livestreamed on Channel 16.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Why there are no education elections on your primary ballot

2026-04-07T18:50:17+00:00

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Early voting is underway for the Indiana primary elections, but there are no education-specific items on the ballot.

In previous years, referendums — where school districts ask voters for extra funding through property taxes — could appear on primary ballots. But lawmakers changed that last year. Lawmakers also changed school board elections from nonpartisan to partisan but didn’t add primary elections for those positions.

Here’s what’s different at the ballot box and what to expect:

Partisan school board elections don’t include primary races

After years of attempts to make school board elections partisan, lawmakers approved the change that allows candidates to have a party affiliation but didn’t include primary races.

Instead, school board candidates will choose if they want to select a political party, identify as an independent, or be nonpartisan in the general election. School board elections are not included in straight party voting, and multiple candidates could have the same affiliation.

The change faced opposition from people who said partisan politics would be a distraction from the school board’s duties. Supporters countered by saying politics already influence schools.

While there aren’t any primaries, a candidate’s affiliation can be challenged and removed from the ballot if the candidate didn’t vote in the last two primary elections or get written certification from the county party chairman that the candidate is a party member. Candidates across the state can file to run from May 19 to noon on June 18.

This November will be the first for partisan school board elections. School boards statewide, including in Marion County, will have seats on the ballot. Each school board determines the number of seats and if the seats represent areas within the school district’s borders or are at-large. For Indianapolis Public Schools, four seats are up for election, including one special election to fill a seat after a board member resigned.

Fewer opportunities for schools to ask voters for tax increases

School districts can ask voters to approve tax increases for specific needs such as operating costs, construction, or safety measures through referendums. These dollars supplement the local property tax dollars that schools receive along with state and federal funding.

In the past, school districts could ask voters to approve increases during the primary or general election of any year. In 2025, lawmakers changed the rule to be only the general election of a statewide election year after the November 2025 election.

There could be more referendums on the ballot this November given the limits on timing as well as funding constraints on districts, including property tax reform and sharing those funds with charter schools.

Whether or not to put a referendum on the ballot is determined by school districts, except in Indianapolis where the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation will decide. IPS’s current operating referendum expires this year, and without that funding, the district could be out of money by next year, per IPS documents.

School boards must send their ballot questions no later than July 22 to the state Department of Local Government Finance. The department then has until noon Aug. 1 to decide if it’s approved.

What to know about voting in 2026 Indiana election

Early voting for the primary elections started on April 7 and ends at noon on May 4. Primary election day is May 5, and polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.

For the general election, voter registration opens on May 19 and ends Oct. 5. Early voting starts Oct. 6. On election day, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6 a.m .to 6 p.m. local time.

You can check your voter status and register to vote as well as look up polling places and sample ballots at indianavoters.in.gov.

This article was updated to include deadlines for putting referendums on the November ballot.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Why the Classic Learning Test, which embraces Aristotle but spurns calculators, has caught Indiana’s eye

2026-04-03T11:00:00+00:00

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A test that relies on classic Western texts and bans calculators for math will soon play a role in assessing how well Indiana students and schools are doing.

Since February, Indiana has expanded the use of the Classic Learning Test in two key ways. First, a new law requires state colleges and universities to consider CLT scores to the same extent that they would consider SAT or ACT scores for admission.

Second, under a new state accountability model that gives schools an A-F grade based on points students earn for proficiency, the Classic Learning Test is one way high school students can earn bonus points for their schools’ grades. The Indiana State Board of Education approved the use of the test at the last minute when adopting the new A-F model in March. It was not part of previous drafts of the model.

The Classic Learning Test’s expansion is part of a multi-pronged push in Indiana and nationwide by conservatives to counter what they see as an education system that leans too progressive by providing alternatives they believe are more rigorous and in line with Western tradition.

The elevation of the CLT follows state leaders’ decision in 2024 to mandate “intellectual diversity” in Indiana higher education, a move seen by many as a boon to conservatives on campuses, as well as previous years’ efforts to change history instruction that could make students feel guilt or blame for the past. This year, lawmakers also required higher education leaders to explore alternative university accrediting options — in line with other conservative states.

Supporters of the CLT say they like the test because it assesses students’ reading skills with texts that are foundational to the country’s history. That also aligns with a U.S. Department of Education campaign to foster “a shared understanding of America’s founding principles” on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

But there’s also practical reason to welcome the CLT, supporters say: It shakes up a long-standing testing establishment that gave students just two options for college readiness testing — the SAT or the ACT. That reflects the school choice environment that includes a growing number of classical schools.

“The CLT is the first newcomer since Eisenhower was president,” said Michael Torres, director of legislative strategy for the CLT. “We offer an opportunity for our students to prove they’re ready for college based on the curriculum they use.”

But critics counter that there is not enough evidence to say a CLT score is on par with a score on the SAT or the ACT — especially when the scores are used for high-stakes decisions about school accountability and college admissions.

“It especially matters to make sure that kind of mathematical relationship between the scores is stable and well-founded when there are any consequences in how these tests are used,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, senior vice president for College Readiness Assessments at the College Board, which administers the SAT.

Indiana could eventually decide to let students using vouchers to attend private schools take the CLT instead of the ILEARN state exam that voucher students must now take. A private school leader raised that idea during the legislative session, and CLT officials would support it, Torres said.

But that could make it harder to compare how private school students are performing compared with their peers in public schools. Indiana officials have not discussed this idea publicly.

As Indiana expands the use of the CLT, the state should want to ensure the test it’s well-suited to its academic content standards, measures for school quality, and its goals for students, said Chris Domaleski, executive director of the Center for Assessment. The state advisory committee that focuses on required assessments did not weigh in on including the CLT for school accountability because it’s an optional test, Indiana Department of Education officials said.

“The more it’s used, the more we need to seek evidence that it’s useful, that it has reliability, validity, and fairness, for all student groups, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners,” Domaleski said. “All those kinds of questions we’d ask for any assessment used in a consequential way.”

How do Classic Learning Test scores stack up?

The CLT for juniors and seniors is a two-hour, 120-question test developed in 2015 by founder Jeremy Tate, who “saw there might be interest in a third option that proved students are ready to go to college but didn’t force schools to embrace the Common Core,” Torres said, referring to the state standards that some conservatives came to distrust. Classic Learning Initiatives, the company behind the test, also offers a CLT for grades 3-8 and a 10th grade test.

The CLT uses passages by a bank of Western writers from the ancient to the late modern times — the most recent listed is author Toni Morrison — as well as contemporary nonfiction texts.

Sample questions on “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” for example, ask students to determine based on the passage the reason that caused the gods to flood the land, and determine which lines in the poem support the argument.

Critics say this focus promotes a narrow vision of culture and society — and that the test offers an advantage to students familiar with the pieces. Still, classical schools and educators say these works are fundamental to all students’ understanding of history.

“When we talk about college readiness, what are we talking about? Is it the use of AI? Is it being able to critically think, look at passages, look at historical text?” said Kylene Varner of the Indiana Association of Home Educators, who supported the bill to require colleges to consider CLT results like SAT and ACT results. “If we can’t understand the culture and history ... and the writing of our Constitution, how do we learn?”

There are also differences on the math portion of the test, where the CLT does not allow calculators; Torres said that means students must show they are “independently numerate.”

And around 15% to 20% of test-takers utilize a remote option not available on the SAT or ACT, Torres said. This option is important to home-schoolers who may not have access to other tests, Varner said.

But what makes the CLT stand out has in turn raised questions about whether comparing scores from the test to results from other exams can be misleading.

The CLT has published a table showing the equivalency between CLT scores and SAT and ACT scores. Torres said the study behind that table relied on a sample of about 4,500 students and produced reliable results. He noted that in addition to self-reported scores, the company received some scores from the colleges that accept CLT, SAT, and ACT scores.

But representatives from the ACT and SAT cast doubt on the validity of such a comparison. To establish that one score on the SAT reliably correlated to a score on the ACT, the College Board and the ACT jointly examined the scores of more than 500,000 students who had taken both exams, said Colin Dingler, ACT’s chief policy analyst.

In addition to a smaller, less-representative sample size, there are two other key issues with CLT’s score comparison, Rodriguez said: The students’ SAT scores were self-reported, and that sometimes years had passed between the two tests.

Ultimately, it would be unfair if two tests had different passing scores, and one was easier to pass than the other, but some students only had access to the harder test, Dingler said.

“It’s very important from an equity standpoint to have some scientifically established tool to go from the scores of one assessment to another assessment,” he said.

How the CLT factors into school quality, college readiness

One of the primary uses of test scores is to indicate that a student is ready for college.

A handful of private colleges in Indiana — along with around 300 nationwide — already accept the CLT scores, and the U.S. military academies soon will too.

But few K-12 schools offer the test right now, state education officials said, and most public universities in Indiana don’t require any test scores for admission, although Purdue University is a notable exception.

Supporters of the CLT, including leaders of private classical K-12 schools in Indiana who testified in support of it earlier this year, said the test is just as good as traditional standardized tests for measuring students’ college readiness — or even better.

Not everyone agrees. Iowa in 2024 recommended against the use of the CLT for admission to its public universities, citing insufficient data about the academic performance of the students who took it.

A key question for assessing college readiness is whether a test based on a prescribed curriculum is gauging students’ knowledge of that curriculum, rather than their general readiness for college-level classes. Even in subjects like science, the ACT is written so that students without a familiarity with a specific scientific concept can figure out the question, Dingler said.

“I don’t think that philosophically, there’s something wrong with assessments that are anchored in content or a specific reading list,” Dingler said. “But I do think that using the results of that test to generalize that any student is ready to succeed or to do well … that’s a really different matter.”

Torres said that while classical schools have embraced the test, familiarity with the texts is not a prerequisite for success on the CLT.

“It merely uses those texts to test reading comprehension and grammar,” Torres said. “We find that to be a rigorous measure of college readiness.”

Test scores also play a role in assessing Indiana school quality.

Students’ SAT proficiency will make up 10% of a high school’s letter grade on the state’s new A-F accountability model. But the state’s decision to let schools earn accountability bonus points through student scores on the ACT or CLT might lead schools to push students to take the CLT, “where it may be easy to get a score that looks high compared to the ACT or the SAT but maybe actually isn’t,” Rodriguez said.

In a statement, the state education department said the school accountability system approach to the CLT balances “personalized pathways” with elevating “real opportunities for students.”

The test’s supporters like that flexible approach, which could play a role if Indiana considers letting students using private school vouchers take the CLT instead of the state’s standardized test.

“Allowing schools to use nationally normed assessments like the CLT that are also rigorous … objective, and publicly reportable, this respects both accountability and also educational diversity,” said Rachel Oren, head of school at the Classic Academy in Indianapolis.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library now available to children in all 92 Indiana counties

2026-04-02T15:35:34+00:00

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Children in all 92 counties across the state can now get free books in the mail through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Indiana.

The announcement from the state on Wednesday comes nearly a year after state lawmakers approved the 2026-2027 budget that cut funding for the program. Gov. Mike Braun tasked First Lady Maureen Braun with fundraising to keep the program alive.

In a Thursday news release, the state touted the expansion of the program to all counties in the state as a “a major milestone for early childhood literacy across Indiana.”

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides books for children from birth to age 5 in the United States and four other countries. The organization mails the “high-quality, age-appropriate books” at no cost to families each month.

To provide the books, the library partners with local organizations that help secure funding for the books. Before the budget cut, the state of Indiana and local partners split the costs of books. The program received $2 million in the 2023-24 state budget and $4 million in 2024-25.

Griffin Reid, press secretary for Gov. Braun, said via email that there were no lapses in book delivery since the cuts.

As of August 2024, children in 85 counties had access to the program, and in Marion County, only two ZIP codes had access to the program. Now, all ZIP codes in the state are covered.

The Imagination Library in Indiana is a partnership between the state, the Dollywood Foundation, the Hoosier HOPE Foundation, and local partners, per the news release. The release did not say how much money was raised. In March, Maureen Braun announced she was at 90% of a two-year fundraising goal for the program, but didn’t specify amounts.

To sign up for the Imagination Library, visit www.imaginationlibrary.com

Update: This story was updated to include further details including no lapses in service since funding cuts, all ZIP codes are covered, and fundraising goal progress.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana colleges and universities eliminate or merge hundreds of degrees

2026-04-01T19:07:35+00:00

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Indiana’s public colleges and universities will eliminate or suspend 210 degree programs due to low graduation rates, higher education officials announced Wednesday, as part of a state-mandated review of degrees that don’t attract enough students.

The Commission on Higher Education and all seven public universities in Indiana reviewed more than 1,000 degree programs that failed to graduate enough students as defined by a 2025 law. Almost half of these programs will be allowed to continue while they build enrollment.

But 210 programs will be eliminated or suspended, and another 370 will be merged or consolidated into similar degree programs as part of the process prescribed by the law, HEA 1001. The goal is to align programs to student interests, officials said.

“We all know that students have been voting with their feet since the Great Recession,” said Matt Butler, senior associate commissioner and chief academic officer, who presented the degree recommendations to the commission.

The number of students affected by the changes is relatively small. In total, the 1,056 programs officials reviewed enroll only around 4% of Indiana’s college students. The nearly 600 programs targeted for suspension or elimination enroll just 0.6% of all students in Indiana.

Programs were targeted for review based on a three-year rolling average of their number of graduates. The threshold was set at 10 graduates for an associate’s degree, 15 graduates for a bachelor’s degree, seven graduates for a master’s degree, and three graduates for a doctorate.

Students who are currently enrolled in programs targeted for suspension will be allowed to complete their degrees, but the programs must stop enrolling new students. Programs are typically eliminated after these teach-outs are complete.

See the list of all degree programs affected by institution below.

The vote on Wednesday builds on a voluntary decision last summer by state universities to eliminate, suspend, merge, or consolidate around 372 programs — a process that Butler described as “clearing the cobwebs.”

In total, since June 2025, universities have taken some kind of action on 1,279 programs — most of which were under-enrolled. By the end of the 2026-27 school year, 661 programs will be streamlined, according to the presentation to the commission — around 58% are mergers or consolidations, 26% are suspensions, and 17% are eliminations.

Indiana’s public universities will still offer around 1,700 degree programs after 2026-27, officials said.

“Students and their families invest significant time, money, and trust into postsecondary education, and they deserve confidence that programs are viable, aligned with student interests and workforce needs, and positioned to deliver real outcomes,” Education Secretary Katie Jenner said in a release. “By right‐sizing degree pathways across the state, we can continue to strengthen higher education in Indiana through increased transparency and improved alignment with student interests and real career opportunities.”

The review of programs with few graduates is separate from a forthcoming review of low-earning programs in Indiana as mandated by legislation adopted this year, SEA 199.

The state expects to begin that review after finalizing the enrollment review. But the timeline depends in part on when the federal government provides a list of programs that fail to raise graduates’ earnings above those of a typical high school graduate’s. The state expects that list in 2027.

Jenner — who oversees both K-12 and higher education in the state — said she expects the commission to allow some low-earning programs to continue after that review.

Many of the low-earning programs flagged by the U.S. Department of Education will come from for-profit institutions in Indiana, which the commission does not oversee, she said.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that 210 degree programs were eliminated or suspended.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

What does a school board do, anyway? The answer is changing for IPS and charters — here’s your guide.

2026-04-01T14:54:39+00:00

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Big changes are coming to Indianapolis Public Schools and the power of its elected board.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC, is a new public entity with a nine-member board announced on Tuesday. The corporation will have the power to determine property tax rates on behalf of both IPS and charter schools. It will also eventually be responsible for running transportation and managing IPS buildings for both school types.

But the IPS school board — and the school boards of more than 50 charters within district borders — will still retain some powers over the day-to-day operations of schools.

While the IPS school board manages traditional district schools, charter school boards oversee one school or multiple schools that are part of the same charter network. Charter schools that are part of the district’s Innovation Network are run by their charter school board and not the IPS school board.

Lawmakers created IPEC to manage key aspects of both school types.

State law dictates the roles and responsibilities of the IPS and charter school boards. Below is a breakdown of their major responsibilities, how board members are selected, and what rules may change with the creation of the new corporation.

Who can serve on school boards and IPEC?

The IPS board is a seven-member board elected by residents who live within IPS borders, with two at-large members and five members who each represent a district.

Charter school boards — including those in the IPS Innovation Network — are not elected. Charter schools typically list their founding proposed board members in the application they submit to the authorizer, which must include a governance plan. Each charter school may have its own rules on board composition, including the number of board members, their term length, and the process for filling a vacant board seat. (The five Innovation schools that are not charters also have their own unelected boards.)

Charter school boards are ultimately accountable to charter school authorizers, which approve new charter schools and have the power to revoke or not renew the contracts that allow charter schools to operate.

Beginning in April, the only entities that can authorize charter schools within IPS boundaries are the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which has expressed interest in becoming an authorizer.

An Indiana law adopted last year also requires charter schools receiving property taxes — nearly every charter in the city, excluding virtual schools and adult high schools that do not qualify for such funding — to have one member appointed by the mayor.

Mayor Joe Hogsett’s Office of Education Innovation told Chalkbeat last year that Hogsett tapped existing members of the city’s charter school boards for those appointments.

State lawmakers created IPEC earlier this year. It has a nine-member board appointed by the mayor. Three members come from the IPS school board, three come from the charter sector, and three are experts in areas related to the corporation’s work, such as facilities, transportation, or working with vulnerable students.

What are the financial responsibilities of school boards and IPEC?

The IPS board sets and approves an annual budget, and is required by state law to approve contracts above $75,000.

But the new IPEC board will assume control of key financial powers previously held by the IPS school board.

Most notably, the IPEC board will set the tax rates for residents living in IPS boundaries beginning in 2027, taking into account funding needed for charter schools as well.

That means that future district budgets will need to be crafted based on the funding that it receives through IPEC’s formula — a funding source that IPS had historically exclusively controlled.

And beginning this year, the IPS school board loses the authority to put a referendum for additional property taxes on the ballot. Instead, the IPEC board assumes that authority.

The county auditor will then distribute property taxes to both district and charter schools through formulas that are both dictated in state law and created by IPEC.

IPEC will also assume the responsibility of issuing debt to fix school buildings throughout the district, a power previously reserved for the IPS school board.

Although charter boards are also responsible for their school’s finances, they are less affected by the creation of IPEC than the IPS board. Charter boards approve and oversee the school’s annual budget, and control the state and federal funds the charter school receives. The charter school board can also apply for public or private grants, and also must submit an annual audit to the state.

But because charter schools have historically not received property tax funds, charter school boards do not control property tax rates.

What else are school boards and IPEC responsible for?

The IPS board selects a superintendent to run the day-to-day operations of the district. The superintendent, in turn, makes employment recommendations to the board, which approves the hiring or firing of employees.

The IPS board also sets policies that help guide the district, the superintendent, and IPS employees in their daily operations. These policies can include rules on transportation, homework, field trips, and athletics, for example.

Similarly, charter boards can hire or dismiss school leaders and approve policies that help the school function on a daily basis — such as a hiring policy or a policy on electronic student devices.

IPEC, meanwhile, will assume responsibility for transportation and buildings for district and charter schools in the 2028-29 school year. Charter schools can choose not to cede control of their buildings to IPEC, although they would forfeit a portion of property taxes by doing so.

What powers will the IPS board keep, even with IPEC?

The IPS board will still retain authority over many day-to-day district operations.

For example, the IPS board will still set an annual budget for the district based on its state and local property tax funding. The board will also still retain control over the superintendent, oversee hiring and firing of employees, and set the policies that establish how schools run on a daily basis.

When and where do school boards meet?

Both the IPS board and charters are subject to the state’s Open Door Law, which requires the posting of every meeting at least 48 hours in advance at the district’s main office.

The IPS board typically meets at district headquarters at 120 E. Walnut St., and has a calendar of upcoming meetings on its website. Many charter schools also post their upcoming board meetings on their website.

The IPEC board is also subject to the Open Door Law, although information on its meeting schedule and location has not yet been made public.

Correction: This story was corrected to reflect that the county auditor distributes property taxes.

This story was also updated to reflect that IPEC will set property tax rates for IPS and charter schools, and that both state law and IPEC will determine how property taxes are distributed by the county auditor.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Education Corporation members announced by Mayor Hogsett

2026-03-31T21:48:42+00:00

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Mayor Joe Hogsett announced the members of the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation on Tuesday.

The nine-member board represents a significant change to education in Indianapolis. The corporation will oversee buildings and transportation for district and charter schools, while also assuming the power to collect property taxes. The board will also create a system of accountability that officials could use to decide which schools close.

These changes diminish the power of school boards including the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board. School boards will still have power over day-to-day policy decisions like setting their budgets and curriculums, and they’ll maintain the power to hire and fire the superintendent or school leaders for charter schools.

The corporation’s members are:

Hope Star, IPS board president.
Ashley Thomas, IPS board member.
Deandra Thompson, IPS board member.
David Harris, president and CEO of Christel House International.
Janet McNeal, president of Herron Classical Schools charter network.
Dexter Taylor, director of Paramount Brookside charter school.
Patricia Castañeda, vice president of Key Bank.
John Hammond, partner at the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm.
Edward Rangel, founding CEO of Adelante Schools charter network.

Harris, who served as charter schools director under former mayor Bart Peterson and later helped found the Mind Trust nonprofit that helps launch charter schools, will serve as the IPEC board chair.

The board was created by state lawmakers in this year’s legislative session following recommendations issued by the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, or ILEA, which met in the second half of 2025. The state law establishing the corporation says that three of its nine members must be charter school leaders, three must be IPS school board members, and three must be experts in areas related to the corporation’s work, such as capital planning or transportation.

The board would assume key powers over finances and referendums beginning this year, and would begin managing school property and transportation in 2028.

“These dedicated leaders possess the expertise necessary to ensure our schools are able to operate efficiently and serve our students equitably,” Hogsett said in a statement. “I believe in their combined ability to make the difficult – but important – decisions that will create a sustainable public school system in Indianapolis for years to come.”

The city also extended its contract with Michael O’Connor of Bose Public Affairs, who led the ILEA through its brainstorming sessions last year. The original contract, paid for by the city with a maximum cost of $340,000, allowed the city to renew its agreement with O’Connor to help implement the ILEA’s recommendations. The extension runs through May and allows for an additional maximum of $200,000.

The date of the corporation’s first meeting has not been announced.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools board approves cuts in 2026-27 budget, with more looming

2026-03-27T02:21:00+00:00

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With a financial shortfall looming, the Indianapolis Public Schools board approved a roughly $490 million operating budget for the 2026-27 school year on Thursday that includes $7 million in cuts to schools.

The vote came after criticism from parents and teachers over what they called a lack of transparency from the district, which communicated budget cuts in a video earlier this month after weeks of rumors.

Next year’s budget is a turning point for IPS as it confronts declining enrollment, recent property tax reforms, and a requirement to share property taxes with charter schools. Lawmakers recently created the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which will assume the power to levy taxes and request referendums instead of IPS.

To cut costs, some schools will share “specials” teachers — those teaching art or P.E., for example. The district already implemented that strategy at some schools for this year, and which parents opposed.

IPS is also listing fewer prekindergarten sites for next school year. At least five schools that offer preK this year aren’t on the list for 2026-27.

In public comment on Tuesday, teachers affected by the cuts expressed frustration with the district’s communication and its decision to remove them from their schools and students.

Emily Schunke, who said she was displaced from her school as a specials teacher last year and will be left without a job at her current school next year, said that she felt reduced to a number after 15 years of service.

“My parents taught me if I was professional, had integrity, and was loyal to my employer they would take care of me,” she said. “IPS has proven my parents wrong.”

Jamie Thompson, a prekindergarten teacher at Clarence Farrington School 61 — one of the sites that have dropped prekindergarten for next year — said that she’s received no guidance from her principal or the district since being told in late February that she won’t have a job at her school next year.

“Having neared 40 years of experience and dedication to this district, I still find it hard to believe that my time and commitment can be ended with, ‘We don’t need you next year,’ claiming it’s in the students’ best interest,” she said.

The 2026-27 budget includes the last portion of the voter-approved tax increase passed in 2018, estimated at $24 million, according to district financial documents. If voters don’t approve another such referendum this November, the financial situation will worsen. IPS said it hasn’t modeled financial plans to consider if a November referendum doesn’t pass.

Even with the $7 million in cuts, IPS still anticipates ending the 2026-27 school year with a $5 million dollar deficit. If voters approve the referendum, it could be used to fill the projected hole, according to the district.

In a mid-March video announcing plans for those cuts, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson alluded to additional future reductions.

“As for district-level budget reductions, you can expect to hear more from me and my team about tradeoff conversations and the strategies we will deploy as we move through the next couple of months of this school year and beyond,” she said.

The district hasn’t announced any additional cuts.

Charter schools receive property tax, referendum dollars

Charter schools, which enroll about 40% of students living in IPS borders, will receive roughly $13 million in local property taxes in 2026-27, according to district estimates.

Charter schools that are part of the district’s Innovation Network are projected to receive $2 million for next school year from the 2018 operating referendum — part of an agreement the district approved in 2021 to give these schools $500 per pupil from that funding source.

Marion County charters enrolling students who live in IPS boundaries will receive a collective $11 million next school year through a state law passed in 2021.

Budget anticipates decrease in tax base

The budget assumes minimal growth in state funding while both enrollment and year-over-year property values decline.

Property tax reforms that lawmakers approved last year curb the growth in property values to bring relief to homeowners. But that change will also affect government revenue.

The budget accounts for state funding at $8,370 per pupil including the base amount given to every student and the Complexity Grant for students from low-income households or in foster care — a 1.3% increase over last year.

CFO Weston Young has said that state per-pupil funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation. Adjusting that funding for inflation would put the amount at about $10,000 per pupil, according to the district.

Transportation, other costs increase

Next year’s budget projects $42 million in transportation costs, up from the $41 million the district projected spending for this school year as of February. Administrative support costs will increase from the $30 million the district anticipated spending this year to $31 million for next year.

But the district said in a statement that the budget appropriation for administrative support doesn’t take into account future budget reductions.

The district estimates spending $112 million on general education costs that include the recently approved teacher and support staff raises, compared with the $110 million projected for this year, and $48 million on special education compared with $47 million projected this year.

The new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation must certify a referendum for the November ballot by August.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools board taps Hasaan Rashid to fill vacant seat

2026-03-27T02:11:19+00:00

Indianapolis Public Schools board members tapped Hasaan Rashid to fill the vacant District 2 seat on the board in a 4-2 vote on Thursday.

Rashid, who founded a music festival on the northeast side to benefit high school students, will serve on the board until the November election. Rashid has expressed interest in running for the seat at that time.

Rashid and education professor Bryan Duarte were the only two applicants for the District 2 seat previously held by Gayle Cosby, who stepped down earlier this month. They represent two sides of a major divide in the Indianapolis education landscape. Rashid drew support from school choice advocates, while Duarte was backed by traditional public school supporters.

In interviews this week, both applicants said they would prioritize student outcomes over school type.

Board members Angelia Moore, Ashley Thomas, Deandra Thompson, and Hope Duke Star voted for Rashid, while Allissa Impink and Nicole Carey voted for Duarte.

Rashid ran for the seat in 2024, receiving support from groups supportive of school choice. Cosby won.

In his interview with the board on Tuesday, Rashid stressed his relationship with the community as an asset.

“People know me. When I go to the grocery store, they know who I am,” he said. “I still get questions about, ‘Hey are you going to throw your hat back in the ring?’”

In his interview on Tuesday, Duarte noted his interactions with the IPS Parent Council. The group formed in support of traditional IPS schools during a heated legislative session last year in which lawmakers required the district to share more funding with charters. In public meetings over the last year he questioned the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which is taking significant power away from the elected school board.

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How this Indiana teacher makes her AP personal finance class click for students

2026-03-25T11:00:00+00:00

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In Kristin Lidstrom’s business classes at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, the finance lessons quickly become personal.

“They begin thinking about their own spending habits, future goals, or even what they’re seeing at home,” Lidstrom said. “Concepts like interest rates or debt suddenly carry weight when they realize how long it can take to pay something off or how quickly costs can grow.”

Not every student will pursue business after Lidstrom’s class. But all of them can apply the lessons they’ve learned from business class in their future career paths, she said.

And Indiana wants all high school students to start thinking about what those paths will look like beginning in high school. The state will have new requirements for graduation in 2029 that emphasize career learning and financial literacy.

Lidstrom’s own career journey started with studying marketing at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. But she found the path she wanted to pursue through volunteering in schools, and combined it with her passion for business to become a teacher.

Now the business department chair at Hamilton Southeastern with 22 years of experience in the district, Lidstrom has been piloting an AP Business with Personal Finance class this year, which is open to grades 9-12. The course, which is set to roll out nationwide in the 2026-27 school year, has the backing of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and local employers.

Read more below about Lidstrom’s class at Hamilton Southeastern High, and the projects that students complete pitching business ideas and putting together a realistic budget.

These answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What does a typical day look like in AP Business with Personal Finance? How is this class different from other AP courses?

A typical day in this class is very active and hands-on. The course is intentionally designed with a project-based learning approach, so while there are occasional moments of direct instruction, most of the time students are learning by doing, working through real-world scenarios, collaborating with peers, and applying concepts in meaningful ways.

What really sets this course apart from other AP classes is that it’s less about memorizing content and more about developing skills. Students are consistently engaging in problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication, which mirrors how business actually works outside the classroom.

One of the anchor projects in this course is an entrepreneurship business plan that students build from the ground up, centered around solving a real problem.

Students start by identifying a need — something they’ve observed in their own lives, school, or community. From there, they develop a product or service to address that need and work through the full business planning process. This includes defining their target market, analyzing competitors, creating a marketing strategy, and building out basic financials.

What makes this project especially meaningful is that it’s not hypothetical in the traditional sense. Students are expected to make realistic decisions, justify their choices with data, and adapt as they encounter challenges along the way.

The project leads to a presentation where students pitch their business as if they were seeking investment. It’s a great example of a real-world scenario because it requires them to bring together everything they’ve learned.

The culminating project in the course is a financial-adviser simulation, in which students take on the role of advising a client through real-life financial decisions.

What makes this project impactful is that students have to think holistically and justify their recommendations based on the client’s situation. It pushes them to apply what they’ve learned in a realistic context and communicate their reasoning clearly.

Have you seen any moments where the material “clicked” in a real-world way for students?

One of the biggest “click” moments is around things like compound interest or saving for the future. When students see how small, consistent decisions can significantly impact their financial situation over time, it changes how they think. They start asking better questions, making more intentional choices in simulations, and connecting it to real-life decisions they’ll be making soon.

It’s in those moments you can tell it’s no longer just a class, it’s something they see as directly relevant to their lives.

Kristin Lidstrom, business department chair at Hamilton Southeastern High School, is piloting an AP Business with Personal Finance class this year.

What do your students hope to do after high school and has taking this course changed the way they think about money, entrepreneurship, or next steps?

My students have a wide range of plans after high school. Some are heading to four-year colleges, others to community college or trade programs, and some are eager to jump straight into the workforce or start something of their own. What this course does is give all of them a stronger sense of direction and confidence in those next steps. While not all students will pursue business after high school, they all come away with an appreciation for how business acumen can support them in any career path.

How does the course support students in meeting Indiana’s new diploma requirements?

This course directly supports Indiana’s new diploma requirements by fulfilling the Personal Finance requirement, ensuring all students graduate with a strong foundation in money management, credit, and financial decision-making.

As an AP Career Kickstart course, it also helps students begin building a purposeful pathway early in high school. It encourages them to pursue additional AP coursework, putting them on track toward earning Honors and Honors Plus Seals. By starting that progression earlier, students are more prepared and confident as they move into more rigorous AP classes, while also developing practical, real-world skills that connect to both college and career opportunities.

If you could adjust one thing about how business or personal finance education is taught nationwide, what would it be?

If I could adjust one thing, it would be to make business and personal finance education more consistently rooted in real-world application rather than theory. Students don’t just need to know what a budget, credit score, or interest rate is, they need to actively use those concepts in realistic scenarios. When students are making decisions, experiencing the consequences, and reflecting on those choices, the learning sticks in a much deeper and more meaningful way.

I’d also push for this type of learning to happen earlier and more consistently across grade levels. By the time students are making real financial decisions, they should already feel confident navigating them, not encountering the concepts for the first time. Ultimately, the goal should be to move beyond exposure and toward true readiness, so students leave school not just informed, but capable.

What’s the best teaching advice you’ve ever received, and how have you put it into practice?

The best teaching advice I’ve ever received is to never do for students what they can do for themselves. In practice, that’s shaped how I structure my classroom in a big way. Rather than stepping in with answers, I focus on asking questions, creating space for productive struggle, and designing experiences where students have to think, decide, and reflect.

It can be uncomfortable at times (for both the students and me) but that’s where the real learning happens.

In a course like this, it means students aren’t just learning concepts, they’re applying them, making mistakes, adjusting, and building confidence along the way. Over time, you can see them become more independent, more thoughtful, and more willing to take ownership of their learning, which is ultimately the goal.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS school board interviews applicants for vacant District 2 seat

2026-03-25T00:29:12+00:00

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An assistant professor and a community advocate have applied to fill the vacant District 2 seat on the Indianapolis Public Schools board.

The board interviewed Bryan Duarte and Hasaan Rashid at a meeting on Tuesday ahead of its vote on Thursday to fill the seat. Former board member Gayle Cosby announced her resignation from the seat earlier this month, citing health challenges.

The board is expected to select the new member at its action session on Thursday.

The new board member will serve until the next general election in November, when the seat will be on the ballot along with three others.

Duarte is an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at Purdue University. In public meetings held over the last year, Duarte has advocated for a fully elected school board to maintain control over public schools and has questioned the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which lawmakers established earlier this year to oversee certain aspects of public schools’ operations. (Duarte has stated that his comments or desire to apply for the seat are not reflective of the university).

Rashid is the founder of the annual Brendon Park Live Music Festival, which offers scholarships to graduating seniors. He also ran against Cosby for the District 2 seat in 2024. In that election, he won the endorsement of Stand for Children Indiana — a parent advocacy group that has supported expanding high-performing charter schools — and RISE Indy, which runs education-focused programs for district and charter schools and has connections to prominent school choice advocates.

The newest commissioner will join the board at a particularly fraught time for the district. IPS, which already projects ending the year with a $40 million cash deficit, will run out of money without an additional property tax increase that voters must approve on the November ballot.

Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, whose members will be appointed by the mayor, will assume control over buildings and transportation for district and charter schools. It will also assume many powers historically reserved for the elected school board — including the ability to collect and levy property taxes and control school buildings.

Both applicants said they would consider running for the District 2 seat in November.

At the interview Tuesday, Duarte stressed his experience as a former teacher and his educational research background. Rashid, meanwhile, emphasized his connection with District 2 as a community leader.

Both said they would set aside differences between school types — a divisive topic as relations between advocates for traditional and charter schools have soured in recent years — and focus on student outcomes.

Asked about the district’s current financial challenges, Rashid said property tax caps that lawmakers implemented in 2010 have limited the district’s revenue.

“Some things are going to have to be cut and we have to be clear and concise on what is best for the students,” he said.

Duarte said IPS has been good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and also said state legislation has adversely impacted the district. The district needs to ensure it does not exacerbate inequalities in any potential budget cuts, he said.

“I’m unwilling to compromise on meeting the needs of the people who have historically been left out of choice,” he said.

The school board will vote at 6 p.m. on Thursday at 120 E. Walnut St.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools announces proposed $7 million cut to school budgets as deficit looms

2026-03-13T19:26:03+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools plans to cut $7 million from school budgets next school year as it faces an impending financial shortfall.

The cuts could impact anything from staffing to school supply budgets as the district projects ending the year with a $40 million cash deficit that will grow in the coming years without additional voter-approved funding. The school board will vote on the budget for next school year on March 26.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a video on Thursday that the proposed budget cuts would affect each school differently, as principals made “tough budget choices” for their schools over the past several weeks.

“Because every school is unique and factors like academic programming, enrollment, and student needs shape a school’s budget, there’s not a one-size-fits-all summary of changes happening across our schools for next year,” Johnson said.

Johnson didn’t list specific cuts in her announcement, and the IPS board won’t vote on the proposed reductions until March 26. But at least two schools have already notified parents about how they are planning to change staffing for next year.

The IPS website is also listing fewer schools for next school year that offer prekindergarten than offered it this year. Johnson did not mention cuts to pre-K services in her Thursday announcement. The district did not respond to requests for comments about whether there will be fewer pre-K sites next year.

The announcement comes as IPS faces increasing financial pressure from a variety of factors: Recent state property tax reform, and a requirement to share property taxes with charter schools, will result in less funding. The district will run out of money if voters don’t pass an operating referendum in November. And like districts nationwide, IPS is grappling with student enrollment declines that affect budgets, which are heavily reliant on per-pupil funding from the state.

Certain teachers to be shared across IPS schools

Before Johnson’s announcement Thursday, some schools announced that they would share teachers designated as “specials” or “studio” — those teaching art or music, for example — with another school next school year. The district adopted the move last year at some schools despite parents’ protests.

Principals at Butler Lab School 55 and Center for Inquiry School 27 told parents over the last few weeks that the specials split would affect their schools next year due to declining enrollment.

“While the minutes of the time your children are in Studio class would not be different from this year, it will be different in timing (days of the week),” Butler Lab 55 Principal Sarah Clark said in an email to families last month.

Clark said the school would also share its English as a New Language teacher with another school in the district, since the number of students identified as English language learners has decreased in the last two years.

The family and community engagement liaison, she said, would also become a part-time position.

Center For Inquiry School 27, meanwhile, would share its specials teachers with Sidener Academy for High Ability students, Principal Hilary Duvall said at a parent-teacher-student association meeting this week.

Johnson said that she will share district-level budget cuts at some point in the future.

“Please know that as we consider decisions to meet our budget, what will remain my number one priority is our students’ access to a high-quality and robust student experience,” she said.

List of IPS prekindergarten sites grows smaller

At least five schools that offer prekindergarten this year are not listed on the district’s website as offering prekindergarten for 2026-27.

The district’s prekindergarten population dropped from 836 last school year to 691 this school year, state enrollment records show. Expanding prekindergarten sites was a core tenet of the district’s Rebuilding Stronger reorganization proposal.

Only one site expanded under Rebuilding Stronger — Garfield School 31 — is not listed as a prekindergarten site for next year, according to an analysis of the district’s published list for next school year and the schools that currently offer prekindergarten.

The district began charging for prekindergarten this school year, citing changes to state funding for prekindergarten and legislative changes that have affected the district’s finances.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools board seeks applicant for vacant District 2 seat

2026-03-13T17:56:19+00:00

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The Indianapolis Public Schools board is accepting applications for people interested in filling the vacant role of District 2 commissioner on the IPS school board.

The effort to fill the vacant seat follows the resignation of Gayle Cosby, who said this week that she would step down on Friday due to ongoing health concerns.

The board said on Friday that it is accepting applications, which are available online, until 5 p.m. on March 20.

The appointee selected by the IPS board will serve in the seat until the next election on Nov. 3, when state law dictates voters must choose a new District 2 commissioner to serve until the term ends in 2028.

Three other seats will also be up for election in November: Hope Duke Star’s District 3 seat, Nicole Carey’s District 5 seat, and the at-large seat currently held by Angelia Moore. Those terms will end in 2030.

The election will be the first since lawmakers passed a law to allow partisan school board elections and since the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

The corporation will oversee buildings and transportation for district and charter schools while also assuming the power to collect property taxes — changes that significantly diminish the elected school board’s power. The IPS board, however, would still retain the power to hire and fire the superintendent and oversee other day-to-day policy decisions, such as selecting curriculum or crafting its own budget.

Candidates for the appointed seat must have lived in District 2 — which encompasses parts of the Near Eastside and the Far Eastside — for at least one year, the district said in an announcement. They must also not have any felony convictions unless those convictions were pardoned, reversed, vacated, or set aside.

The board will select three finalists in a closed-door session on March 23 and will interview finalists in a public session at 6 p.m. on March 24.

The board will vote on the appointee on March 26.

Interested applicants can contact board administrator Leslie-Ann James with questions at boardofcommissioners@myips.org or 317-226-2056.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis charter school switches authorizers, avoiding potential closure

2026-03-12T17:40:05+00:00

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An east side charter school successfully switched authorizers on Thursday and avoided a looming decision that could have led to its closure.

The Education One board approved Rooted School Indianapolis for two separate charters. One charter gives Rooted the green light to continue operating its 7-12 school within Eastern Star Church in the Arlington Woods neighborhood. The other gives Rooted permission to launch a K-6 school, starting with sixth grade in 2028.

Thursday’s decision is a lifeline for the school of roughly 150 students, which aims to give students a path to financial freedom with high-wage careers. The approval comes just weeks before Education One will lose its ability to authorize schools within Indianapolis Public Schools borders.

Authorizers grant charter schools permission to open and operate, and can revoke or not renew their charter at the end of its term for various issues.

The approval came despite concern from its current authorizer — the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, or OEI — that the school was trying to change authorizers in order to avoid accountability. In a letter sent to Education One last month, OEI Director Shaina Cavazos said the office was preparing not to renew the school’s charter, a decision that could have led the school to shut down.

Education One director Emily Gaskill took a different view.

“The proposed transfer to another authorizer should not be interpreted as an effort of the school to avoid accountability,” Gaskill said at the meeting. “If anything, when someone moves to us, there is going to be an automatic increase in accountability.”

Rooted’s founder, Ma’at Lands, told Chalkbeat last week that the school had been considering a change in authorizers since October and was attracted to Education One’s support systems and frequent in-person school visits.

Education One disputes concerns about Rooted charter school

The charter school and OEI haven’t seen eye-to-eye on a variety of issues.

In 2022, for example, OEI put Rooted on notice for failing to comply with laws for English language learner students, including providing a teacher of record for English language learner students. The office also took issue with the school’s teacher licensure rate of 50%, which is below the state law requiring a 90% rate for charter schools.

Lands said the school later addressed the teacher-of-record requirement, and OEI later confirmed with the school that it boosted its teaching licensure rates.

OEI also took issue with the school’s enrollment, noting that Rooted missed enrollment targets for 2022-23 and 2023-24 by over 10%. The school has grown from 58 ninth-grade students in 2020 to 153 this school year, according to enrollment records.

In a letter to Education One, Cavazos also noted concerns about Rooted’s academic outcomes.

Roughly 21% of Rooted’s seventh- and eighth-graders reached proficiency in English on the state’s latest ILEARN exam and roughly 10% reached proficiency in math — although other schools in OEI’s portfolio show lower results. The most recent SAT results indicate that just 1 of 20 students met the state-designated benchmark in both the English and math sections.

But at Education One’s Thursday meeting, Gaskill noted that the school met or exceeded most standards, based on a recent site visit from OEI. And she said the office was only looking at enrollment targets the school filed in their application, not the figures the school based its budget on.

“They are so strong financially that it’s very clear that whatever their enrollment is currently, it’s serving itself on an organizational and an academic playing field,” Gaskill said.

Cavazos told Chalkbeat that OEI does consider how a school’s actual enrollment compares to what it budgeted for.

And the school’s launch during the pandemic means there is only a few years’ worth of data by which to measure academic progress, Gaskill noted. She also pointed to an increase in proficiency on the ILEARN from last year.

“It’s reflecting that academic improvement is there, rather than stagnation or decline,” she said.

Rooted’s current charter school will switch to Education One beginning next school year. The board approved its second charter for the planned K-6 school with a few conditions, including that the 7-12 school meets Education One’s standards for growth.

The existing school must also demonstrate full compliance with laws related to special populations, including students with disabilities and English language learners.

New law restricts charter school authorization in Indianapolis

A new law that overhauls control over resources for district and charter schools in IPS restricts charter authorizing to OEI, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which has expressed interest in becoming an authorizer.

Schools authorized by other authorizers like Education One before April 1 of this year can continue operating through the term of their charters. But after those charters expire, the new law requires the schools to seek authorization with one of the three approved entities.

Education One had objected to losing its power to authorize schools in IPS borders, arguing that high-quality authorizing is not determined by the location of the authorizer or its type.

Trine University is located over two hours away from Indianapolis.

This story has been updated to include a comment from OEI on how it considers enrollment in the context of budgeting.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public School board member Gayle Cosby announces resignation

2026-03-11T00:11:48+00:00

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Indianapolis Public Schools board member Gayle Cosby announced her resignation from the board on Tuesday, just over a year into her term.

In a statement at a board meeting, Cosby said she would end her service on the board on Friday due to ongoing health challenges. In her remarks, she criticized recent efforts to change Indianapolis Public Schools as it grapples with declining enrollment and a competitive charter school sector.

Her departure leaves a vacancy on the seven-member board, which will lose a substantial amount of power under a new law that redistributes resources between district and charter schools.

Beginning this year, a new nine-member board appointed by Mayor Joe Hogsett will assume critical financial powers typically reserved for the school board, including the ability to levy property taxes, request a referendum on the ballot, and issue bonds for debt. The appointed board is slated to gain control of IPS buildings and transportation for both district and charter schools in 2028.

“We must be honest about the current moment,” said Cosby, who serves as board secretary and represents the District 2 portion of IPS that stretches from parts of the Near Eastside to the Far Eastside. “We are witnessing an unprecedented and coordinated assault on the very idea of ‘public’ in public education.”

The board elected Allissa Impink as its new secretary in a split vote that also mirrored a divided vote over whether to postpone the vote for secretary.

Board president Hope Duke Star and board members Allissa Impink, Nicole Carey, and Cosby — who all rejected a motion to postpone a vote for secretary until the vacant District 2 seat is filled — supported Impink for secretary. Board members Deandra Thompson, Ashley Thomas, and Angelia Moore voted to contest the agenda and later voted for Thompson for secretary.

Cosby was elected to the board in 2024. She also served on the board from 2013 to 2016.

Cosby kicked off her second term in office with a sharp critique of efforts to dissolve IPS, including a bill that would have replaced it entirely with charter schools. Over the past year, she has shown strong support for preserving traditional district schools, backing a proposal to maintain an elected board that serves as the sole charter school authorizer.

Cosby was first elected to the board in 2012 with donations from groups that support charter schools and school choice, including Stand for Children Indiana and Indiana Democrats for Education Reform.

But in her first term, she became a critic of the district’s reform plans, which included partnering with charter school operators through the district’s Innovation Network. She did not seek reelection at the end of her first term.

Cosby ran again in 2024, this time with a $28,000 donation from the political action committee for the Indiana State Teachers Association. She defeated reform-backed candidate Hasaan Rashid, who raised about $12,000 more than her, with 54% of the vote.

In her resignation remarks, Cosby criticized the move to hand control of IPS buildings over to the new appointed board, arguing that they are not “surplus commodities to be auctioned off.”

“To see these assets stripped away under the guise of choice is a betrayal of the generations of families who built this district,” she said. “The privatization of public schools — the slow, calculated dismantling of a unified district into a fragmented market — is not a reform. It is a displacement of the public’s voice.”

State law requires that the school board appoint someone who lives in IPS boundaries to fill Cosby’s seat and finish her term, which ends in 2028. Board policy requires the board to fill Cosby’s vacancy within 30 days. Three other seats are also up for election this year, and District 4 board member Impink — whose term ends in 2028 — has announced a run for Indiana Senate District 46.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

New A-F grades are coming to Indiana schools. Here’s how they will be calculated.

2026-03-04T18:31:38+00:00

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Indiana has approved a new system to assign A-F letter grades to schools for the first time since 2018, giving students points for passing state tests — and additional points for passing other tests, like the Classic Learning Test, an alternative college entrance exam embraced by conservatives, according to a final draft of the grading metric presented Wednesday.

The system gives students points for state test scores in reading and math, according to the presentation to the State Board of Education, and assigns additional points for other skills, like work ethic as measured by attendance, diploma attainment, and work-based learning credentials. Schools are assigned a grade on an A-F scale based on the average of their students’ points.

The new grading system could form the basis for further monumental shifts in Indiana education. The state has proposed to use the new system as the sole measure of accountability in its request for federal flexibility, in order to create streamlined standards for schools. The work on the flexibility request was paused as the state “worked through the final touches on the accountability model,” Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said, but will be unpaused shortly.

The grades could also factor into the shared accountability system that the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation is charged with creating, and which could lead to school closures.

The system has been in development since early last summer after new state laws required the department to create a new grading metric. The state has not issued grades to schools since 2018, due to a new testing model, the pandemic, and then a brief shift to a school dashboard model. The State Board of Education was initially expected to adopt the new grading system in December, but the timeline was delayed.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner at the Wednesday meeting, adding that feedback on the model had come from educators, families, and business and industry leaders.

Multiple rounds of public feedback informed the process, department officials said, resulting in several changes from the second draft to the final model presented on Wednesday.

One major change from the second draft gives students more points for reaching proficiency in reading and math. Previous drafts had given equal weight to students who demonstrated academic progress — but this gave parents the impression that their students were doing better than they really were, said Ron Sandlin, chief innovation officer at the Indiana Department of Education.

High school success indicators can include the Classic Learning Test

Two other changes in the final draft were made to align Indiana with federal accountability standards as the state pursues its flexibility waiver from the federal Department of Education. First, graduation rate will now become a standalone indicator worth 10% of a school’s grade 12 rating. Schools above 95% will earn the full 100 points for the metric.

Second, proficiency on the SAT, or an alternative assessment for students with disabilities called the I AM will become a standalone indicator worth 10% of a school’s grade 12 rating, rather than an optional success indicator. Schools with 60% or more students reaching SAT proficiency will earn the full 100 points for the metric.

The bulk of a school’s grade 12 letter grade will come from the number of students who earn an Indiana diploma, honors seal, or honors plus seal, as well as the number who pass a list of other skills and tests. The state’s new diploma requirements go into effect for the class of 2029.

Because the SAT will become a standalone indicator in the model, the department has added both the ACT and the Classic Learning Test to the list of ways that students can earn additional points that indicate success in English and math.

The Classic Learning Test, or CLT, is an alternative test that assesses reading, writing, and math skills using both religious and secular texts from Western historical writers. The test, which has been linked to the conservative education movement, is gaining ground: Indiana lawmakers just passed a new law requiring state universities to consider CLT scores to the same extent they consider the SAT or ACT for admission.

Other changes to the final model include a new indicator in middle school for students who complete a graduation plan, as well as consideration for English learner students who take the WIDA, which assesses English listening, speaking, and reading and writing skills.

Schools are expected to receive their initial grades by December. The first round of grades will include some runway as schools also implement new diploma requirements and testing checkpoints: To earn an A, they must receive a minimum of 85 points, for example.

After the initial grades, the scale will more closely resemble a traditional A-F grading system, with an A beginning at 90 points.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.