Mayor's education alliance to meet Wednesday amid IPS parent concerns over busing, closures

Parents and community members are raising concerns about longer bus rides, school closures and a lack of transparency as Indianapolis Public Schools prepares for potential major changes.

Those issues surfaced during a series of public meetings earlier this month, where IPS leaders gathered feedback on how to share resources with charter schools before a mayor-led board meets for the first time Wednesday to consider the feedback.

The community conversations follow the passage of a new state law that will require IPS to share local property tax revenue with some charter schools. Historically, most city-authorized charter schools relied on other funding sources to pay for facilities and transportation.

District leaders say the shift will be financially devastating and could force them to close schools. The new funding structure begins in 2028 and will be fully implemented by 2032.

Lawmakers also created the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, or ILEA — a new board tasked with planning how to possibly share IPS transportation services with charter schools, managing related debt, and coordinating facility improvements for all public school students in the district. The alliance includes both traditional public and charter school parents and advocates, and is chaired by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.

The ILEA's first public meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday at the City-County Building on Wednesday, Public comment will be taken.

The IPS community conversations were meant to inform future decisions by both the IPS board and the ILEA.

Laura Pickett, an IPS parent, said she wants more opportunities for open discussion.

“I think scope and scale is always an issue, but we have to start somewhere,” Pickett said last Wednesday at William McKinley School 39. “This felt like a real, authentic conversation.”

During the four meetings, parents raised concerns about how shared busing might affect students. Some worried that routes could be longer if more stops are added to accommodate charter students, which could impact attendance. Others said they were uncomfortable with young children riding the bus alongside older students.

IPS officials said it’s unclear how transportation could change, but they plan to begin exploring options this fall.

Parents also emphasized the need for accountability and transparency. Hogsett requested that lawmakers exempt the ILEA from Indiana’s Open Door Law, which requires public agencies to meet openly and allow the public to attend.

Many parents expressed concern about that decision and urged the alliance to consider IPS’s history of segregation and how boundaries between the district and surrounding townships were drawn. They called on the district to involve families in decision-making and to improve how it communicates changes and opportunities.

Former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, a member of the ILEA, attended the fourth community meeting. Peterson, a longtime charter school advocate and former CEO of Christel House International, said the event gave him a broader perspective.

“I have a very open mind,” he said. “I really want to be a sponge and really soak up as much information as I can from the experts, as well as the people whose lives are affected directly by this.”

The ILEA will hold other public meetings on July 23 and Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. But not all meetings will be public. Hogsett asked lawmakers to ensure ILEA is not subject to the state’s Open Door Law. The law requires certain entities to meet in a public setting and allow members of the public to attend.

The alliance must produce a plan by the end of the year.

WFYI education reporter Sydney Dauphinais covers Marion County schools. Contact her at sdauphinais@wfyi.org.