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Flanner House Elementary, a charter school sponsored by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard’s office, will close after allegations of cheating on ISTEP tests.
Mayor Ballard accepted the decision by Flanner House’s Board of Directors Thursday to surrender its charter and close the school.
The Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation began investigating the school after it showed “extraordinarily high gains” on ISTEP tests in 2013 and 2014.
The Indiana Department of Education conducted a follow-up investigation finding, among other red flags, an unusually high number of changes from right to wrong answers as well as adult handwriting on tests.
The DOE has since invalidated Flanner House’s ISTEP+ results, as well as stripped the school of its“A” grade and four-star school award, received for high passing rates.
The City and State are also referring information from their investigation to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, to determine whether criminal charges may be warranted.
The school will close Sept. 11 and the mayor’s office says it will help families through the transition of finding a new school for their kids.
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