The Indianapolis Public Schools Board of School Commissioners will undergo dramatic transformations in the coming weeks. Three new board members will take their seats in January, and then the new board will have to find a replacement for departing Superintendent Lewis Ferebee, who is leaving the district to become chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools.
During his five-year term with IPS, Ferebee led the way on an innovation model that simultaneously became his most lauded and criticized accomplishment. The current board provided little pushback to Ferebee’s ambitions, allowing the innovation model to charge ahead at a quick pace. In the three years since opening its first innovation school, IPS has added 19 more.
But voters ousted two supporters of the model in the 2018 general election. Mary Ann Sullivan lost her At-Large seat to Susan Collins, and Dorene Hoops lost her District 5 seat to Taria Slack. Collins and Slack were both critical of the district’s innovation model during the campaign. They’ll join current board member Elizabeth Gore, who occupies the other At-Large seat, as a reliable source of what can at least be characterized as skepticism of innovation schools.
“Honestly, I feel we’ll be a little bit more scrutinizing, not so embracing of every opportunity there is for an innovation school,” Gore said of the new board.
Gore said she is “weary” of the innovation model because there hasn’t been enough time to evaluate its effectiveness in educating students. Gore said she values continuity over a major shakeup with the superintendent position, so she expects the next superintendent, who the new board will hire, to keep IPS on the innovation path. Gore added the pace of innovation growth in the district may slow down. Collins and Slack did not respond to a request for comment.
There are four categories of innovation schools: completely new schools, former traditional public schools that were struggling, previously independent charter schools and former traditional public schools whose principals wanted more autonomy. For the 2017-18 school year, nearly 20 percent of IPS students attended innovation schools, according to district data.
Asked how he views the future of innovation schools once he’s gone, Ferebee credited the innovation model with bringing the school district away from the threat of state takeover, which was looming in 2013 when Ferebee took over.
“I think that’s a representation of how we have been proactive and strategic with our schools that have struggled with student achievement,” Ferebee said at a Dec. 7 board meeting formalizing his resignation. “The challenges ahead will be different. The strategies will be aligned to those needs accordingly.”
The board also announced Ferebee’s last day with the district is Jan. 4, 2019. Aleesia Johnson, currently the deputy superintendent for academics, will serve as the interim superintendent until the board finds a permanent replacement. Johnson did not say if she is interested in becoming the permanent superintendent.
The third new board member, Evan Hawkins, was supportive of innovation schools during his campaign. Taking into account the stances of current and incoming members, Hawkins’ win for the District 3 seat secured a 4-3 majority for reformers on the seven-person board. Hawkins did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but he told the Recorder after the election he believes “innovation schools are part of the offering that we should have for families.”
For innovation leaders in Indianapolis, a change in leadership and new board members bring uncertainty.
“His departure, for me, creates concern,” Earl Phalen, founder of Phalen Leadership Academy, said of Ferebee leaving.
PLA is a charter operator that took over IPS School 103 in August 2015 to make it the district’s first innovation school. Alluding to Collins and Slack, Phalen said incoming board members are “focused on adults,” implying they’re not looking for the best solutions for students.
“I worry that the board has made a move from trying to do something for children,” he said.
Justin Ohlemiller, executive director of Stand for Children, a nonprofit advocate of school choice, didn’t directly answer how he thinks Ferebee leaving will affect the future of the innovation model, but he did imply Collins and Slack won’t remain as critical once they’re on the board.
“When you’re a board member and you represent all of IPS, that perspective is different than when you’re running a campaign,” he said. “… There are members on the board who are going to think about what they said during the campaign differently.”
Michael O’Connor, the current board president, knows there is more pushback coming when the new board comes into place Jan. 8, but he said that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for IPS.
“We don’t want a board that’s rubber stamping and acting in lockstep,” O’Connor said.
As for moving on from Ferebee’s leadership, O’Connor said the current board chose Johnson as the interim superintendent with consultation from incoming members. The search for a permanent replacement won’t begin until the new board is in place.
District parents have been critical of the board for what they say is a lack of transparency and communication, and O’Connor acknowledged as much, saying community engagement should improve.
“While the board is committed to the path of progress we’ve taken,” he said, “the board is also committed to hearing concerns and addressing concerns.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
Three new IPS school board commissioners: (l-r) Susan Collins, Evan Hawkins, Taria Slack.
