The staff members and consultants would help the district implement some of the chambers’ broad recommendations for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts in the coming years, including possible school closures, reduced transportation, and staff reductions.
With less than two months until Election Day, the effort to pass two referendums to increase funding for Indianapolis Public Schools is gaining momentum.
Purdue Polytechnic High School on Friday announced it was no longer considering the former Broad Ripple High School building as a site for its second Indianapolis location.
IPS is first seeking potential “civic and public uses” for the schools. But it also plans to study other opportunities, such as residential, retail or commercial opportunities.
A new application system that allowed families to apply to many schools through a single website dramatically increased the number of students seeking spots in Indianapolis Public Schools magnet programs.
The district says that, to keep its main priority on the table—raising money for salary increases for teachers and staff—it made tradeoffs that could leave it financially vulnerable down the road.
White, a former superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, was hired in 2013 to put the university on surer footing. The black liberal arts college on the city’s east side had seen a string of presidents come and go since the retirement of its co-founder in 2007.
Last school year, Shortridge had fewer than 450 students. This fall, enrollment has swelled to more than 1,000, following the closure of three of Indianapolis Public Schools’ other high school campuses.
In a letter to Superintendent Lewis Ferebee and the IPS board, nine lawmakers urged the district to quickly accept a verbal offer to lease the building for up to $8 million.
The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation announced Tuesday that it would give $7.5 million in grants to 24 Marion County schools and districts to help fund substance-use prevention.
Stand for Children Indiana will also launch a vast door-knocking campaign in support of two referendums requesting an extra $272 million from taxpayers, the group announced Thursday.
Superintendent Lewis Ferebee, who has made reducing the real estate owned by the district a cornerstone of his administration, mentioned the possibility of constructing new buildings during a media briefing this week.
The new proposal—which comes after a week of intense negotiations between the district and the chamber—passed 5-0 at a meeting Tuesday night.
This photo, taken in 1915, shows students operating printing presses at Arsenal Technical High School.
The school board pledged to continue discussions in the next week with the Indy Chamber, which released an alternative proposal last week calling for massive spending cuts and a significantly smaller tax increase.
In a plan unveiled Wednesday, the Indy Chamber is proposing sweeping cuts to save Indianapolis Public Schools nearly $500 million over eight years—and drastically slash the amount the district would seek from taxpayers in referendums.
The revelation that about 1 percent of the district’s teaching force will have its contracts canceled comes after weeks of uncertainty over how many teachers might lose their jobs.
The Indy Chamber said it has “identified dozens of recommendations that add up to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential savings” for Indianapolis Public Schools.
The building, which sits on a 1.7-acre lot at 120 E. Walnut St., has served as the district's home since 1960.
Teachers say that, beyond compensation issues, they are grappling with inadequate school funding, a lack of respect from some parents and community members, and increased school-safety concerns.
