IPS taps company to run standalone special education program, starting year fully staffed

Indianapolis Public Schools is starting off a new school year fully staffed in its standalone special education program for the first time after contracting with a national behavioral health company.

The district’s ROOTS program, which IPS is rebranding this year as the Margaret McFarland Learning Academy, serves students with the most intensive needs.

The roughly $2 million agreement for the 2025-26 year with ChanceLight allows the district to lean on the company for one of its hardest-to-fill recruitment efforts: staff for special education settings.

The K-12 program is located in the old Margaret McFarland school on the south side of the district, along with Positive Supports Academy, a program for students in grades 7-12 who need additional behavioral support.

McFarland Learning Academy has 30 students so far this year.

Unified Student Supports Officer Cortnei Flucas said this is the first year the program has started the school year fully staffed.

“You can imagine when you are serving the most intensive students, finding people that have the right skill set, the willingness, the level of care and compassion — but also having an ability to meet their pay requirements — can be tough,” Flucas said. “These are challenges that we have faced.”

A high staff-to-student ratio is necessary at the academy, which has five classrooms with one teacher and two instructional assistants each. The program also has behavior specialists assigned to each classroom, as well as two social workers and a psychiatrist to provide oversight for students with medication.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.