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The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation would not have the direct authority to close public schools, and charters could keep control of their school buildings, according to a bill amendment lawmakers will consider Thursday.
Under a proposed amendment to House Bill 1423, charter authorizers and Indianapolis Public Schools — not the proposed corporation — would maintain the power to close schools. But if they fail to do so, the corporation could appeal to the state board of education to close the school. The state board would ultimately have to approve the school closure.
In addition, the amendment — introduced by Rep. Bob Behning, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee — would allow charters within IPS to opt into or out of a facility management plan overseen by the new corporation. IPS, however, would still be required to cede authority over their school buildings to the corporation.
Behning said the amendment comes in response to concern from charter schools that paid for their buildings with private dollars. Since charters have not historically had access to property tax funding for such expenses, they have relied on other funding resources to acquire facilities.
The proposed changes to how school closures work and who controls buildings is part of a broader plan to change key aspects of how public schools work in the city and shift some resources from IPS to charter schools. Under HB 1423, IPS would ultimately lose power over buildings, transportation, and the ability to collect and levy property taxes.
The amendment clarifies that both charter authorizers and IPS must agree on a universal performance framework that could be used to determine which schools must close.
IPS has closed several school buildings in recent years, while a large share of charters have shut down over the last few decades.
Within district borders, over 20 charter schools owned their buildings in the 2024-25 school year, while another 19 leased space and 12 operated in IPS buildings as part of the district’s Innovation Network, according to a report from the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation.
The amendment allows charters that lease or own their buildings to decide whether to give control of the facility to IPEC. But if charters do opt out, they would not receive property tax dollars for capital needs.
Behning told Chalkbeat that it would be disadvantageous in the long term for charters to opt out, particularly if the state stops funding charter school facility grants in the future as charters get access to more resources.
“The advantage to the authority is that they are now going to get access to the debt service and capital project levy, so they’re going to be at complete parity with the traditional public schools in terms of funding,” he said.
The carve-out for charters runs counter to the district’s demand that any requirements to participate in the new corporation involving either transportation or facilities be shared equally by district and charter schools.
“Indianapolis Public Schools will continue to work to ensure that the rules apply equally to all schools,” the district said in a statement on Tuesday before Behning filed the amendment. “If there is proposed language that exempts charter schools from participation, we would expect and strongly advocate for that same option to exist for Indianapolis Public Schools.”
In theory, the new corporation would ultimately own all district buildings, Behning said. But there could be legal challenges to transferring ownership of buildings with remaining debt attached to them. The bill directs the new corporation to complete a feasibility study to examine building management by Nov. 30, 2027.
This story will be updated.
Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.
