An Indiana Senate committee has endorsed a bill further reducing the power of the Gary school board while allowing Ball State University to take over Muncie's schools.
Both districts were previously overseen by local officials who mismanaged money. Gary is over $100 million in debt and Muncie misspent a $10 million bond.
The bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 9-4 vote Thursday would further insert the state into running the districts. The proposal previously passed the House and now moves to the full Senate.
Republicans and Democrats on the committee wanted different things from this measure, and Thursday's votes on amendments towed party lines.
"Without this opportunity to get Muncie Public School Corporation back in the hands of the taxpayers...we are doing what I believe to be something that's unconstitutional."
Democratic lawmakers proposed several amendments that would have changed or eliminated new rules for Muncie and Gary schools, now in the hands of state emergency managers. But with nine Republican members to four Democrats, those amendments failed on votes from majority members.
One proposed change would have limited Ball State University's involvement with the school district to five years, ending in mid-2023. As Democratic Senator Greg Taylor points out, the plan currently does not have an end date.
"Without this opportunity to get Muncie Public School Corporation back in the hands of the taxpayers and the people, and electing the board, we are doing what I believe to be something that's unconstitutional."
But Republican Senator Liz Brown agrees with its open-ended status.
"I would love to be able to put a sunset on it. I would love to be able to say that this will be done. But looking at the chronology in the Muncie school district, this cesspool didn't happen overnight and it's not going to be righted anytime soon."
One amendment did pass by a Republican majority vote. It makes changes to a new appointed school board. Of the five members appointed by Ball State, two would need to live within Muncie Community Schools boundaries. Two other members appointed by the mayor and the city council wouldn't stay appointed for long. After an initial four-year term, those board positions would be elected seats.
The amendment also moves Muncie's current elected school board to an "advisory board," until the members' elected terms are up. Then it abolishes that board.
