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.
Indiana lawmakers have advanced a bill that would give a new governing body power over buildings, buses, and taxes for Indianapolis schools, after adding key dates for when these changes would happen.
But questions still remain about how the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation would gain control of buildings, and how the accountability system it’s tasked with designing would be used to close underperforming schools.
HB 1423, which the House Education Committee advanced Wednesday, adopts most of the recommendations from the state-mandated Indianapolis Local Education Alliance in December that would drastically change how Indianapolis schools operate and reduce the power of the elected IPS school board. Power over buildings, transportation, property taxes and school accountability for district and charter schools would go to the new mayor-appointed corporation. The bill does not give the corporation power over schools’ staffing and academics.
Under the bill, several of the new corporation’s duties would begin in the 2028-29 school year, in part because the bill’s architects are still determining how the new board will take control of buildings that are debt financed. HB 1423 author Rep. Bob Behning, the Republican chair of the House committee, has said his intent is for the new body to manage buildings immediately and eventually own them too.
“These are all onions that have to be peeled, which is why we’re asking for an additional year … to begin,” said Michael O’Connor, the facilitator of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance.
Here are some key dates in the latest version of the bill:
- No later than March 31, 2026: The mayor shall appoint nine initial members of the corporation to staggered terms beginning upon appointment and ending in 2029, 2030, or 2031. Each future member’s term will be six years.
- Before April 1, 2026: Any debt, liabilities, or obligations incurred by IPS or a charter school before this date would remain the responsibility of the district or school that incurred them.
- After March 31, 2026: Any debt incurred after this date would be the new corporation’s responsibility.
- After March 31, 2026: Key powers over budgets and referendums shift to the new corporation. However, referendum revenue will continue to flow to IPS and charter schools. And operating referendums approved March 31 or before will continue, with the funds distributed to IPS for the same purposes and term for which it was originally approved.
- April 1, 2026: Beginning on this date, the bill limits charter authorizing within IPS boundaries to the mayor’s office, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which has expressed interest in becoming an authorizer.
- July 1, 2026: The corporation assumes control of IPS’ debt service fund. The corporation also assumes control over the regular property tax levy for assessments beginning in January 2027.
- Aug. 1, 2026: The corporation board must submit to state lawmakers a progress report on creating an accountability framework, including information “related to the progress in the plan to close inefficient school buildings.”
- Nov. 1, 2026: The corporation board must submit the final school performance framework to the legislative council.
- Nov. 30, 2026: The corporation board must submit to state lawmakers a progress report on creating a unified transportation plan and a feasibility study to determine the best approach for managing school property.
- November 30, 2027: The corporation board must submit the final transportation plan and property management feasibility study to the legislative council.
- 2028-2029 school year: The corporation begins to control the management and operation of school property, oversee the provision of transportation, implement its school performance framework, ensure that property is made available to participating schools, and other powers.
Questions about Indianapolis buildings, accountability to be determined
The bill specifies that the corporation will work with the nonprofit organization leading the transportation and centralized school facilities pilot in Marion County on plans about those issues.
Lawmakers amended the bill Wednesday to provide the corporation no more than 3% of the property tax revenues used for operating expenses — or around $3 million — to pay an executive director, staff, and consultants, Behning said.
But further financial details will likely have to be added in future legislative sessions, he said, like how much the corporation could spend on a new transportation system before distributing the balance of the available revenue to district and charter schools.
It also remains to be seen how exactly the corporation will gain control of debt-financed buildings. Some buildings in the Indianapolis education landscape are also privately owned, or built with philanthropic funding.
Democratic lawmakers asked who receives the revenue when a building is sold — especially since provisions of the bill would exempt IPS from a state law requiring school districts to give unused or underutilized school buildings to charter schools for the sale or lease price of $1.
The bill also says that lawmakers will review the corporation’s unified school accountability framework in 2026 and 2027. This framework is to be based on multiple measures and will include a requirement to close chronically low-performing schools
This language has led to questions from lawmakers about who will have the final say about which schools close.
Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney proposed an amendment that would require the corporation to first consult with the Indiana Department of Education, and to hold a public hearing, before it may close a school.
But Behning rejected the amendment over concerns that it would effectively neuter the new corporation before it has a chance to set its own performance benchmarks.
“The question I think long-term is what happens if there’s a low-performing school and they just refuse to operate along the performance metrics they’ve all agreed to?” Behning said.
Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
