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IPS taskforce: Close 3 high schools – Proposal suggests closing locations for 2018-19 school year

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Visiting the hallowed halls of one’s alma mater, talking with past teachers, tinkering with your old locker and reminiscing on youthful antics of yesteryear can be a memorable occasion.

For some Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) graduates, however, that opportunity may be coming to an end with the district’s plan to shutter a number of its high schools.

Five of the seven district-run IPS high schools are projected to operate at less than 50 percent enrollment in the 2017-18 academic year. High school enrollment is trending down district-wide, and the pattern is not expected to change within the next 10 years, the district says. At the peak of IPS’ enrollment (1968-69 academic year), 26,107 high school students were spread among 11 buildings. Next year, IPS expects to enroll just 5,352 high school students across seven IPS-operated high schools, utilizing only 37 percent of the schools’ combined capacity.

Those seven district-operated schools are Arlington, Arsenal Tech, Broad Ripple, Crispus Attucks, George Washington, Northwest and Shortridge. Two other IPS high schools — Howe and Manual — are state-run.

IPS hopes that by consolidating its high school population under fewer roofs, it can provide better academic opportunities.

“We believe that more students on a high school campus will give us the best opportunity to serve our students in grades 9-12,” said IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebee in an interview with the Recorder. “We believe this is an opportunity to go deeper with a larger number of students, which will allow us to improve curriculum, programming, athletics, extracurriculars … all the components that go into a successful high school.”

Consolidating the schools — a recommendation made by the Facilities Utilization Taskforce, which is a group of 16 community leaders and IPS employees — would also theoretically improve student safety, as many of the buildings currently have entire wings that are not used throughout the school day. IPS officials said there aren’t enough personnel to ensure students aren’t spending unsupervised time in these areas. 

In addition to concerns about safety, the district has cited fiscal concerns. According to a report presented by taskforce members David Rosenberg and Adrianne Slash during a board meeting on Tuesday night at Thomas D. Gregg School #15, facility upkeep is one of the most expensive line items in the district’s budget. By closing three schools, the district stands to save more than $4 million per year. 

The taskforce report notes that funds accrued through rightsizing facility expenditures will be used on a number of things, including teacher salaries and school improvements.

“With $4 million annually, we can reinvest in the success of the students, in the classrooms and give teachers and students what they need to succeed,” said Rosenberg, who is IPS deputy chief of staff.

The taskforce has not yet determined which schools will be closed; that recommendation is expected in September.

“The expectation is that once we recommend schools for closure, those recommendations will be coupled with a plan for best use for the community,” Ferebee said. “We wouldn’t close the building up and have it become an eyesore and not serve the community in some capacity. We will recommend some schools for closure and also recommend for repurpose as well.”

The IPS board will conduct a series of community meetings to solicit community input on the taskforce’s report and feedback on the recommendations.

“We are engaging the community now through discussions about why we need to close high schools and, secondly, getting input from the community on what they would like to see in the high school experience going forward,” said Ferebee. 

If Tuesday night’s meeting was any indication, those gatherings will be well-attended, as a crowd of parents, community leaders and educators filled School 15’s library to hear from the board and voice their own opinions. Public comment, which is not typically allowed at board work session meetings, was welcome in this instance due to the amount of public interest over potential school closings.

IUPUI professor and longtime educator Jim Scheurich spoke out against the proposal.

“I have to say that this report, which I have analyzed carefully, is an amateurish report, and it’s racially biased … this is a highly political document,” Scheurich said. “Nowhere in this report is race used as a word. Are we free from race and racism in Indianapolis? I don’t think so, and that has a lot to do with what we’re seeing in this report. White flight out of the inner-city is what got us into this problem.” 

Scheurich went on to state that he felt the taskforce is “stacked” and missing a “critical community voice.” 

Adrianne Opp, a resident of the Hawthorne community, also raised questions. “I don’t understand how you can expect growth in elementary grade levels and not also expect growth in the high schools,” she said. “Unless you are not expecting entrances into high school, which is a problem.” 

IPS Board Commissioners Elizabeth Gore, Venita Moore and others inquired about the process by which the taskforce got its enrollment projections and what the contingency plan would be if high school enrollment were to ever increase.

Rosenberg noted that the growth of innovation partner and charter schools has had a direct impact on the number of students the district is able to retain after grade 8. “Right now we have about 5,000 students and 15,000 high school seats. We haven’t had 15,000 students in about 25-30 years, so we don’t expect that growth in the next 10 years based on how education is changing. … We don’t think that the traditional high school will really be a viable option moving forward. It doesn’t behoove the district, teachers, students or taxpayers to hold on to those buildings to see what will happen in the next decade.” 

Valerie Garrett, a mother of three IPS students, said at Tuesday’s meeting that she feels the planned community gatherings are just a way to appease the public.

“It’s smoke and mirrors, because they’ve already made their decision,” she said, noting that she was in attendance Tuesday to “gain ammunition to fight.”

“You always have to know what your opponent is going before they do it. We still may be able to make a change.” 

The next community meeting is scheduled for April 26 at 6 p.m. at the Glendale Public Library. 

To read the complete facilities utilization report, visit www.myips.org/page/45068

 

 



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