Bill Requires Schools To Take Employees' Kids - Wherever They Live

INDIANAPOLIS — A House committee passed a bill Thursday that requires schools to let their employees’ kids attend classes there – even if they live in a different district.

Under current law, schools can permit students to transfer from other districts but are not required to allow it. House Bill 1056 – authored by Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso – mandates that districts say yes if a transfer is requested, unless they simply don’t have the space.

John O’ Neil, a lobbyist for the Indiana State Teachers Association, testified in favor of the bill.

“This is really just a common sense bill,” O’Neil said, “It helps both students and teachers in situations where it makes a lot of sense for this to be an easier mechanism for enrollment.”

Sally Sloan, executive director of the American Federation of Teachers, said that in some districts, teachers used to include such transfers in their negotiated contracts. But recent changes in state law restricted collective bargaining to salaries and benefits. Now, Sloan said, “we no longer have the ability to bargain” for transfers.

“It is something that needs to be considered. Personally as a single mom it would have been great to have had that flexibility,” Sloan said.

She also said it’s important for parents to be able to get to their children in an emergency.

“We have some school districts on a nine-month calendar and others on a balanced calendar, so if you’re not living in the district, then the children and the parent are on different schedules — it makes it really hard,” Sloan said.

Angie Stevens, a special education teacher at Clark-Pleasant Intermediate School in the Whiteland Schools District, knows firsthand how this bill could affect the lives of many families.

Stevens and her two daughters live outside the Whiteland boundaries but were able to transfer into the district.

“I’m so glad I had the option to look at other schools that had special education programs that really worked with them and helped them,” Stevens said. “Knowing that your kids can come with you to the district you work within would help some of the better teachers to come to your district to work.”

The committee tweaked the bill before passing it on Thursday. The amendment prevents students from other states from transferring to Indiana schools, even if their parents work in the district.

“It actually makes it (the bill) better, I’m very pleased with the amendment,” Soliday said.

The amended bill passed 12-0 and now moves to full House for consideration.

Katie Stancombe is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.