Dept. Of Education Meeting With Public School Communities

Photo: Makovect (flickr)

The State Department of Education is taking over five schools across Indiana despite the IPS superintendent saying his district has made improvements.

Members of the Indiana Department of Education met with community members for the first time Tuesday to talk about the state takeover of several Indiana Public Schools.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said he was disappointed in the low turnout of community members at the meeting for Broad Ripple High School but was very happy at the meeting for Arlington Community High School.

Bennett said the questions that stuck out to him all centered around making sure the state, the turnaround school operators, the schools and the community work together to help improve the performance of the students.

He says he is disappointed by the fact that high school seniors this year will not see any benefits from this turnaround process, but he says he will work to see what can be done for those students.

On Monday, the state board of education approved the IDOE’s recommendation that Emmerich Manual High School, Emma Donnan Middle School and T.C. Howe Community High School be overseen by turnaround School Operator Charter Schools USA. The department also recommended that Arlington high school be overseen by TSO Edpower.