Phalen Leadership Academy

The non-academic needs of 3,700 students at a dozen Far Eastside schools are the target of a new $7.5 million program between City of Indianapolis, Marian University and Indianapolis Public Schools.

The Far Eastside of Indianapolis has faced years of social disadvantage as it struggles with poverty and violence. But a community leader hopes that will change with the opening of a new arts and cultural center. But there’s only one thing still preventing it from opening: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charter school operator Phalen Leadership Academies released an open letter to Mayor Joe Hogsett that accused him of failing miserably to protect families. Students say they feel abandoned by city officials.

Indianapolis Public Schools Board on Saturday approved plans for three former schools under state intervention, in anticipation Indiana officials will agree next week to return the schools to district control.

Indianapolis Public Schools granted its first renewal for an innovation network school and delayed a vote on approval for another operator.

The center will house a youth theater program and STEM-based opportunities.

Indianapolis Public Schools paid a charter school company management fees and start-up costs and will continue making payments into mid-2020.

School 103 on the Far Eastside was the first failing IPS school restarted under a controversial law allowing the district to partner with outside groups to independently run a school. Only 4.6 percent of students passed both portions of ISTEP exam in 2016 -- a five point drop from when when IPS ran the school.

Indianapolis Public Schools saw drops in ISTEP scores at the vast majority of schools. Scores fell across the state, but the situation was worse in IPS, where the passing rate went down by 4 percentage points to 25.3 percent in 2016.

The state Board of Education has scheduled five public hearings for schools in Indianapolis, Gary, East Chicago and Evansville that have been placed in the lowest category of school improvement for five straight years.