IBJ reporter Samm Quinn talked with Superintendent Aleesia Johnson about how returning has gone so far and other impacts COVID-19 has had on the state’s largest public school system.
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Indianapolis Public Schools’ younger students headed back to classrooms Monday to resume in-person learning for the first time since March.
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The plan is based on improved coronavirus data in Marion County. The city’s average positivity rate—the percentage of people who test positive for the coronavirus—has hovered near 5% for several weeks, according to state data.
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IPS struggled with the shift to remote instruction in March, but officials said they were taking steps to mitigate problems this time around.
Read MoreWithout data to paint a picture of academic success or failure, Indianapolis Public Schools will likely delay for a year renewing the contracts of four privately run schools under its supervision.
The board faces a host of challenges, including how to cut the district’s spending, how to fulfill its commitment to racial equity, and how to stem the learning loss wrought by school closures during the pandemic.
The vigorous campaign pitted well-financed supporters of the current IPS administration against opponents who are critical of the district’s collaboration with charter schools.
Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson on Wednesday pushed new initiatives to promote equity and called out Indiana decision-makers for asking district officials to accept scarcity and to “do more with less.”
With four seats on the seven-member board up for election, the outcome could easily shift the balance of power in the district.
A candidate for the Indianapolis Public Schools board resigned from his position as president of the Indiana Young Democrats this spring amid a controversy over his unauthorized withdrawal of $3,800 from the group’s account.
Deep-pocketed political action committees have thrown their support into four races for Indianapolis Public Schools board seats, helping candidates who back partnerships with charter schools to far outraise their competitors.
The additional funding—$24,000 from the city and $64,000 from the Mind Trust—will keep three of the 14 community learning sites open through the fall semester.
Four seats on the seven-member board are up for election Nov. 3. Advocacy groups have drawn the usual battle lines between candidates who back innovation schools and those who are skeptical of the strategy.
Districts where the vast majority of students are white are more than three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for some in-person learning, according to an analysis conducted by The Associated Press and Chalkbeat.
In 1983, a chess team from IPS School No. 27 took on an elite private school from Manhattan in the National Elementary School Chess Championship—and won.
Marion County Public Health Department Director Virginia Caine also recommended that high-risk teachers and students be allowed to opt out of in-person instruction.
If the proposal is approved by the school district’s board on Thursday, IPS will delay in-person instruction at least until October.
In-person classes and remote learning will now begin on Aug. 17, instead of the previously planned Aug. 3 start. Families can also reconsider whether they want full-time virtual learning when school starts.
Two Indianapolis school leaders warned Thursday that the costs to reopen schools in the fall will likely exceed what their districts received in federal aid to pay for additional safety precautions against the coronavirus.
Marion County Public Health Department Director Virginia Caine said she is “very optimistic” that schools will be able to reopen, and she aims to have a definitive answer by July 15.
With the next school year rapidly approaching, the state’s largest district is planning for the challenges it must tackle for staff and students to return safely for in-person instruction.
Rhondalyn Cornett, 55, was also ordered to pay more than $154,000 in restitution to the Indianapolis Education Association and will serve two years of probation.
Throughout Indianapolis, where the school system allows parents to choose where their children attend, enrollment for the next academic year is in upheaval as families and schools grapple with urgent crises.
The owner of WISH-TV Channel 8 and WNDY-TV Channel 23 on Monday announced an agreement with Indianapolis Public Schools to produce and broadcast academic lessons to students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
