Marion County health officials cap middle, high school capacity at 50%
Marion County Public Health Department Director Virginia Caine also recommended that high-risk teachers and students be allowed to opt out of in-person instruction.
Dylan Peers McCoy, Chalkbeat Indiana
Articles
IPS officials want to start school year with all-virtual classes
If the proposal is approved by the school district’s board on Thursday, IPS will delay in-person instruction at least until October.
Indiana educators brace to return to classrooms despite coronavirus health risks
Even in schools and districts that are offering virtual programs, it’s unclear how many teachers will be dedicated to remote instruction and whether those positions will go to teachers who are high risk.
Wayne Township delays school reopening until Aug. 12
The Indianapolis district, which enrolls about 17,000 students, will give families the option to enroll children full time in person or to sign up for virtual education.
Washington Township calls off in-person instruction for start of new school year
Washington Township will only offer virtual instruction when school begins this year, a shift in course for the Indianapolis district that had planned to open in-person and full-time with an online option.
Indianapolis students in 6th grade and above must wear face masks
In addition to requiring masks, guidance from the Marion County Public Health Department also recommends keeping students 3 feet to 6 feet apart and teachers 6 feet from students.
School police more than twice as likely to arrest Black students in Indiana
More than a quarter of the 1,217 arrests in Indiana schools in 2018-19 were of Black students, even though they made up only 14% of the state’s student population.
Indianapolis school districts to open on scheduled start dates
School districts across Indianapolis will reopen for the upcoming academic year with in-person instruction and offer virtual instruction for students who are uncomfortable or unable to return to classrooms, according to a letter shared by districts Wednesday.
Indianapolis officials wait to green-light school reopenings
Marion County Public Health Department Director Virginia Caine said she is “very optimistic” that schools will be able to reopen, and she aims to have a definitive answer by July 15.
Six ways Indianapolis Public Schools will be different when buildings reopen
With the next school year rapidly approaching, the state’s largest district is planning for the challenges it must tackle for staff and students to return safely for in-person instruction.
Ambitious plan aims to provide online access to thousands of city students
During the coronavirus outbreak, U.S. schools are using online instruction more than ever before. But a lot of students simply don’t have the reliable, high-speed internet access they need to participate.
Ex-leader of IPS teachers union sentenced to prison for embezzlement
Rhondalyn Cornett, 55, was also ordered to pay more than $154,000 in restitution to the Indianapolis Education Association and will serve two years of probation.
Fall enrollment slows at Indianapolis charter and choice schools amid coronavirus
Throughout Indianapolis, where the school system allows parents to choose where their children attend, enrollment for the next academic year is in upheaval as families and schools grapple with urgent crises.
IPS in stable financial position for now, but could be hit hard by pandemic
Noting that state revenue is “going to diminish significantly,” IPS Board President Michael O’Connor said at Thursday’s board meeting that the district must “be prepared to make some very conservative, very difficult decisions about preparing for those cuts.”
State charter board to require Indianapolis schools to use Enroll Indy
Indiana Charter School Board Executive Director James Betley said Enroll Indy gives the city’s most disadvantaged families access to school choices through a transparent lottery system.
IPS approves measures to aid staff amid outbreak, expand innovation schools
The agenda was pared down to items that staff considered urgent: It included votes on approving new, outside managers for four campuses next year—all of which passed—and a resolution to give Superintendent Aleesia Johnson extra flexibility in staffing during the current crisis.
As local districts boost teacher pay, charters say they’re struggling to compete
Following a successful school-funding referendum in 2018, IPS has doled out millions of dollars in raises to most staff. That boost in pay has been a boon for district teachers, but it has left the city’s charter schools at a disadvantage.
How shifting political tides ended Indiana’s ambitious school takeover effort
The State Board of Education’s decision to end the takeover confirmed the waning enthusiasm in Indiana for state oversight of failing schools. But it also revealed how much Indianapolis Public Schools has transformed in recent years.
Indiana ends takeover, returning 3 schools to IPS
Nearly eight years after Indiana seized three struggling campuses from Indianapolis Public Schools, the State Board of Education voted Wednesday to hand the schools back, bringing to a close a turnaround experiment that sparked enduring change in the state’s largest district.
Manual’s graduation rate plunges after state audit cuts number of home-schoolers
The graduation rate at Emmerich Manual High School plummeted to 57% last year after a state audit found the school did not have the proper documentation for many of the students designated as leaving to be home-schooled.