IPS considers how best to right-size the district
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Indianapolis Public Schools needs to shrink.
Why it matters: However the district decides to do that — closing select schools or shrinking the boundaries, two options on the table — thousands of students and families are likely to be impacted.
Driving the news: While the city-led Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA) is working on recommendations for how best to use limited facilities, transportation and financial resources efficiently, IPS held community meetings to discuss options to right-size the district and shape the suggestions it makes to the alliance.
What they're saying: "Too many schools are competing for limited students and resources," IPS board member Ashley Thomas said.
- Fewer schools need to be operating within the IPS boundaries, Thomas said. That much is clear. How to get there isn't, and the board wants community feedback, she said.
The big picture: Eleven public school districts operate in Marion County — eight township districts, plus districts for Speedway and Beech Grove.
- IPS covers Center Township, plus some additional territory.
- It's unclear what shrinking the boundaries to Center Township, one of the most talked-about options, would mean for the more than a dozen schools and the neighborhoods they serve outside the township.
State of play: The city has more space in schools than students who attend them, driven by a combination of declining enrollment and a proliferation of charter schools competing with IPS for available students.
- The district has advocated for a pause on new charter schools within its boundaries — which hampers efforts it makes to right-size by closing schools only to have a charter open in its place — but that decision is outside the district's hands.
- It would be up to authorizers like the city or the state Legislature to put such a moratorium in place.
Between the lines: The state's new property tax law, which cuts the amount local governments can bring in, is exacerbating the district's financial woes.
What's next: The city-led ILEA, which includes IPS representatives, has to deliver its recommendations to the General Assembly by the end of the year.