House legislation wants all Gary public schools to become charters

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Public school districts in Gary and Indianapolis are targets in an education bill just introduced by Indiana House Republicans.

HB 1136, titled Dissolution and Reorganization of a School Corporation, will dissolve public school corporations where more than 50% of its students living in the school corporation’s geographic boundaries, on the Fall 2024 Average Daily Membership Count date, attended a school that was not operated by the school corporation.

That scenario applies to the Gary Community School Corporation.

In Gary, the Indiana Department of Education’s Fall 2024 Transfer Report showed 11,764 school students in Gary on October 1, 2024 – the ADM count date. Of those, 4,144 were enrolled in the GCSC. The rest, 7,620 students, were enrolled in 86 schools not operated by GCSC.

The majority of those students were enrolled in Gary’s 7 charter schools.

A large number of GCSC students had also transferred to public school corporations in neighboring towns and cities.

HB 1136 calls for the dissolution of the corporation’s school board and transferring authority to a new 7-member appointed governing body by July 1, 2028.

All public schools operated by the school corporation must transition to operating as charter schools not later than July 1, 2028. In Gary, its current 8 schools (5 elementary, 2 middle, and 1 high school) will become charters.

The Governor of Indiana will appoint 4 members of the governing body.

One member will be appointed by the mayor of the city or by an executive of a town located within the geographic boundaries that has the largest population.

One member will be appointed by the president of the county’s fiscal body.

And one member appointed by the executive director of the Indiana charter school board.

The new school boards will be required to recruit high-performing charter school organizers to take over the operations of schools that must transition to a charter school.

Gary’s State Rep. Vernon Smith sees the bill as a measure that would be supported by Indiana’s incoming governor Mike Braun and his Republican Party members who favor charters and school choice vouchers.

“I guess this is their first step,” Smith said. HB 1136 authors are House Representatives Jake Teshka, Jeffrey Thompson, and Timothy O'Brien.

“If it were just Gary affected by the bill, it would easily pass,” Smith said. “Since it impacts Indianapolis and 3 rural school districts, I think there will be opposition.”

Just last week the Indianapolis Public Radio outlet, WFYI, published a letter from 6 current and former Indy officials asking the Indianapolis Public School district to work with charter schools. The letter was signed by 4 current city council members and two former Indianapolis mayors – Democrat Bart Peterson and Republican Greg Ballard.

The officials noted, “IPS faces strong financial headwinds and must consider how it can remain financially and operationally sustainable. The legislature has taken notice and seems ready to act if needed. It is preferable, however, that any structural changes in IPS are driven locally and to the benefit of our Indianapolis students and community. “

The three rural school districts impacted by HB 1136 are Union School Corporation in Modoc, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corporation in Wanatah, and Cannelton City Schools in Cannelton.

The bill prohibits the school corporations from imposing any new referendums or extending any existing referendums.

GCSC Superintendent Yvonne Stokes issued the following statement on HB 1136:

“It has only been 6 months since the Gary Community School Corporation was released from a 7-year state takeover. During this 7-year time period, there was an exodus of thousands of students from the district. Since local control was re-instated, we have been laser-focused on increasing enrollment and maintaining financial solvency, while enhancing curriculum and improving the overall educational experience for children.

“The enrollment count, upon which Bill 1136 proposes to dissolve our district, only reflects 2 months of attendance recorded at the start of the 2024-25 school year. This count does reflect an increase of more than 200 students, which is an upward trend that we are working to continue.

“Our leadership team will work with staff, parents, families, scholars and stakeholders to educate the school community about this proposed legislation and then take necessary actions on what’s best for children.”

Story Posted:01/05/2025