IPS board approves 2nd funding referendum

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indianapolis Public Schools board on Tuesday night approved another referendum for the Nov. 6 ballot.

The operations referendum was proposed to raise up to over $315 million, money to be dedicated to teachers and academic improvements. 

The school board approved it unanimously.

How much it would cost you depends on your home’s assessed value. 

For a $50,000 valued home, it would be $31.38 annually. For the average IPS family home, which is $75,300, it would be $52.38 annually. For $125,000, it would be $153.75. For $150,000, it would be $204.73. For $200,000, it would be $306.71. For $500,000, it’s $918.56. For $1 million, it is $2,049.70.

Superintendent Dr. Lewis Ferebee said the increase would be capped for residents at approximately $0.28 for every $100 of home assessed value.

The school board on June 6 approved a capitol referendum to raise up to nearly $52 million. Voters on Nov. 6 will decide if they want to foot the bill for improvements that focus on school security. 

Ferebee said the school district and the board has listened to residents’ concerns, and that is why the ask dropped from the original near $1 billion dollars, to north of $600 million to the eventual total of a little more than $350 million.  

These changes could lead to more difficult decisions for IPS, even if voters approve both referendums. 

“$315 million which is half of what we were going to ask for in the first place and so it’s going to cause some painful cuts as it is,” said District 3 Commissioner Kelly Bentley.

If approved the referendums and cost-cutting efforts would wipe out the district’s $40 million deficit next year, as well as for several following years, according to data shared at Tuesday night’s meeting.

If the referendums fail in November, then some possible cuts could be freezing teacher salaries and slashing transportation costs, among other changes. 

But not everyone was sold on the referendum. District 2 City-County Councilor Colleen Fanning was one who raised concerns. She said she doesn’t understand why the district has not made a decision on what can occupy the recently-closed Broad Ripple High School. 

She has previously said she believes the district should work with Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS) and Herron High School (HHS), who both have interest in the facility for educational purposes. 

Fanning said with interested parties in the property, she doesn’t understand why the district is not acting. She had a petition with her with more than 1,000 signatures supporting action at the closed school. 

She said since the school board is not listening to constituents on this issue, she has concerns about how they’d spend hundreds of millions of dollars with this referendum.

Concern was also raised by the Indy Chamber, which is a partner in the efforts to turn around the finances of IPS. 

Earlier this month, Indy Chamber released findings from its four-month financial and operational assessment of IPS. The findings outline cost-cutting recommendations that would save the district more than $477 million over the next eight years. Indy Chamber said it believes the savings would allow the district to close its budget deficit and fund salary increases for teachers and principals with a $100 million operations referendum. 

Tuesday night, various school board members said they appreciated the efforts from the Indy Chamber but had significant concerns about some of the proposals. One that drew particular attention was the idea to close 15 IPS schools.

Numerous commissioners and Ferebee said they feared what the impact could be on those communities and that students, who could be living further from school, would not be as involved.

Bentley called the proposal from the Indy Chamber “insulting.” 

Indy Chamber President and CEO Michael Huber released this statement after the referendums approval:

“Over the last four months we’ve worked Dr. Ferebee and his team with unprecedented access and transparency to build an exciting new blueprint for IPS: Paying teachers and principals more than any other local school system, driving more resources into the classroom, and protecting taxpayers by embracing efficiency.

“We found more than a half-billion dollars in savings across IPS operations, and started with a scenario that funded higher salaries and fixed the budget deficit with no new taxes.  But we listened to IPS, and scaled back or slowed down some recommendations to arrive at our proposal for a $100 million operating referendum.

“We stand behind this plan, but have kept working with Dr. Ferebee and President O’Connor on alternatives. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to resolve the differences and remain far apart.
“We’re concerned that our numbers are so divergent. We need to study the assumptions behind the $315 million request; clearly the tax impact is significant and the task of winning voter support will be challenging.

“But even close partners can disagree, and the Chamber remains committed to the success of IPS. We’re ready and willing to continue our discussions and help the district pursue opportunities for efficiency and become an employer of choice for great educators.”

More changes could be coming to the $315 million referendum according to school officials. There will be another meeting in the next week and a half to finalize the referendum decision. In that time, IPS and Indy Chamber members will meet to collaborate and see if they can reach some common ground on other possible changes. 

We’ll continue to follow this story.