Indianapolis Public Schools is bracing for a difficult financial future.

Why it matters: The city's largest district appears to be facing another difficult period, which could threaten efforts to stabilize decreasing enrollment.

Driving the news: IPS is cutting $7 million from school budgets next year and weighing additional cuts to address a projected $40+ million funding gap that could drain its reserves within a year.

• "We do anticipate the extent of needed reductions to represent a new challenge," Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a recent video.

Between the lines: These significant spending cuts are what's necessary based on the assumption that voters pass a new operating referendum to replace the current property tax hike, which is set to expire later this year.

• Johnson confirmed IPS will pursue another referendum this fall.

Yes, but: It's not a decision IPS can make alone anymore.

• Starting this summer, the newly created Indianapolis Public Education Corporation will have authority over school budgets, property taxes and referendums.
• Mayor Joe Hogsett must appoint IPEC's nine members by the end of the month, and they will ultimately decide whether to place a referendum on the November ballot.

Threat level: The current operating referendum brings in about $40 million annually, much of which has been used to increase teacher salaries.

State of play: The budget gap is a product of several factors, Johnson said, including declining enrollment and changes to state school funding policies — like property tax cuts and a new mandate to share those dollars with charter schools.

What we're watching: Whether further upheaval will exacerbate financial problems by quickening enrollment declines.

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The city has installed new bollards at the intersection of Mass Ave and North College, two years after a deadly hit-and-run crash.

Why it matters: The intersection, at the heart of a busy street and booming pedestrian district, has been the focus of safe street advocates for more than a year.

• The city told Axios that more safety changes are coming this summer.

Driving the news: The new bollards were installed this month at the site of a November Safe Streets protest that urged city leaders to do more and move faster to protect pedestrians on the popular Cultural Trail, which passes through the busy six-way intersection.

• The city's Vision Zero project labels the area as a high-risk, high-injury network — streets with the most ongoing safety issues.
• The project also received numerous complaints about the "incredibly dangerous" intersection during its public input phase, which Axios reviewed.

Flashback: The intersection was the site of a March 2024 hit-and-run that killed Brandon Breedlove, a 27-year-old Indianapolis man and U.S. Air Force veteran, and injured two other pedestrians.

What's next: More safety upgrades.

• "We intend to install permanent bollards at the intersection … and shift southbound traffic away from the Cultural Trail pedestrian plaza," Department of Public Works spokesperson Kyle Bloyd told Axios. "We also plan to calm traffic on College Avenue to the north of the intersection."

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As safety advocates keep an eye on Mass Ave, an effort that has been watching over Indianapolis streets for the past four years is scaling back.

Why it matters: The crash data tracked and shared by Safe Streets Indy has provided the general public additional context in the ongoing conversation about pedestrian safety.

Driving the news: In an update shared last week, Indy Pedestrian Safety Crisis founder Eric Holt said changes are being made to reduce daily workload and take a "public-facing hiatus" from the project that has charted traffic fatalities, serious injuries and incidents involving vulnerable road users since spring 2022.

• "This isn't goodbye, but we are definitely looking forward to stepping away and decompressing from the near-daily horrors we see on the streets of Indianapolis," Holt said in a statement.

Yes, but: Safe Streets' automatic tracking will continue.

• The team is also working on launching a RideWithGPS Club to offer free, safe bike routes to anyone who rides in the Indy metro.

🏎️ Coach of the year. National champion. Curt Cignetti can add pace car driver to that list. IU football's head coach will lead to the field to the start of 110th Indianapolis 500 on May 24, driving the new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X. (via press release)

✈️ Indianapolis International Airport saw more than 100 delays and cancellations amid bad weather, spring break travel and the partial federal government shutdown, which is impacting TSA agent paychecks.

• Yes, but: The average security line wait time is still just about 17 minutes — and no more than 35 minutes. (WTHR)

🏗️ Three downtown buildings that have housed, among other things, the troubled Tiki Bob's bar will be combined into a new restaurant, music venue and bar concept. The South Meridian Street buildings will be gutted and renovated into a single structure.

• A company associated with the Simon family is behind the project, which will force the closure of Bad Axe Throwing. (IBJ)

🧬 Indiana plans to invest $1 billion to grow the state's life sciences sector over the next decade. (WISH-TV)

One hundred thirty-six years ago this week, the city of Indianapolis suffered a tragic St. Patrick's Day blaze that claimed the lives of 13 firefighters.

Why it matters: The Bowen-Merrill Fire remains the single-greatest loss of life for the Indianapolis Fire Department.

Driving the (old) news: Around 3pm on March 17, 1890, the Bowen-Merrill Co. stationery and book store at 16-18 W. Washington St. caught fire.

• Officials initially believed it was a relatively safe situation, with the fire contained to the four-story building's basement.

Yes, but: By 5pm, flames had spread throughout the structure, causing the roof and floors to collapse without warning.

• A total of 86 firefighters responded. In addition to the 12 killed at the scene and the one who died from his injuries years later, more than a dozen others were hospitalized.

Between the lines: The fire sparked the formation of Indianapolis' Board of Public Safety and led to the creation of the first statewide pension fund in 1891.

Honoring the victims