After IPS administrators split some elementary teachers’ time among multiple schools this academic year to save money, fifth grader Scout Latta noticed a difference.
Her school’s strings and archery clubs stopped meeting. Her gym and music teachers weren’t able to attend student award presentations and performances. Her art instructor, worried about a loss of prep time, left teaching altogether.
“She’s been upset by it,” Martha Latta said of her daughter. “That art teacher that left was one of her favorite people in the world.”
The Lattas protested the decision to no avail when they first learned of the changes at their school, Theodore Potter School 74 on the east side, and at least eight other IPS elementaries. Now, as the district begins planning the 2026-27 school year’s budget, parents across more elementary schools are worried their teachers could be next.
The angst is being fueled by the lack of information coming from district leaders. The IPS school board said very little about building-level proposals during a Feb. 17 budget presentation. An IPS spokesperson declined multiple interview requests from Mirror Indy about how budget decisions would affect elementary school students and teachers. Instead, the spokesperson sent a written statement saying budget talks were ongoing.
“While we do need to make choices based on current fiscal realities — just like other districts throughout the state — there isn’t anything to share on individual schools because our budgeting process is not complete,” the district’s statement read. “Once budgeting for next school year is complete, we will share that information with our families and staff.”
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IPS school board meeting
🗓️ 6 p.m. Feb. 25
📍 John Morton-Finney Center for Educational Services, 120 E. Walnut St.
🗒️ Check here for an agenda before the meeting.
Speculation, meanwhile, is high. Emily Adamson, a parent and substitute teacher at Eliza Blaker School 55 on the north side, said some teachers in her building were told in mid-February that their contracts were being discontinued at the end of the school year.
She’d heard that those teachers — primarily art, music, gym and computer science instructors — would be asked to reapply for new positions split between multiple schools.
Some Eliza Blaker parents say they’ve heard other schools could be affected and that schools were chosen based on enrollment targets. It’s unclear how many other schools, if any, are having similar conversations or whether any teachers would lose their jobs.
Administrators are setting budgets this spring after another year of declining enrollment, which is tied to state funding. The speculation also comes at a politically fraught time for IPS leadership, which has spent much of the last year grappling with state legislation that seeks to redirect tax dollars to charter schools and more recently, give control over essential services like school busing to a proposed group of mayoral appointees.
Meanwhile, Eliza Blaker parents who seek clarity from the district say they’ve been met with closed doors and vague emails.
When some parents showed up to their school last week with questions, they were told their principal was not available to meet with them. In emails, district administrators said conversations were ongoing and that more information would be shared when budgets were set.
“We should be putting more into our schools at a time when we’re under attack,” Adamson said, “Especially if enrollment is down. You need to make your school more desirable to get enrollment up.”
Splitting time between schools
It was around this time last year that IPS administrators informed teachers of certain classes — sometimes called specials, related arts or studios — that they would be asked to split time this academic year between elementary schools.
At the time, administrators said the changes would only apply to eight elementary schools and students wouldn’t lose class time in the affected subjects: art, music, gym and computer science.
The decision was being made to optimize the time instructors spent teaching, a district spokesperson said, in part, in a February 2025 statement to Mirror Indy. According to the statement, students would still receive the same instructional time and elective opportunities.
The Lattas, however, say that’s not how things happened this year.
Theodore Potter now shares some of its teachers with James Garfield School 31 about 15 minutes away on the south side. Its music teacher, for example, works in the Potter building on Mondays and Wednesdays, Martha Latta said, while its art teacher is there on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The teachers alternate Fridays and spend the rest of their time, when not at Potter, with students at Garfield. Martha Latta said the arrangement has led to challenges.
Some teachers have missed special occasions, such as Potter’s annual winter program, because it was their assigned day at Garfield. And, it’s become more difficult for teachers to organize joint lesson plans where students might incorporate both art and musical elements into their studies.
“They just haven’t been able to coordinate together like they had in the past,” Martha Latta said of her daughter’s studio teachers. “To not be able to (be there to) support the kids, they were really upset about it.”
Will more changes come next year?
Adamson said there has been no formal communication shared with Eliza Blaker families about teaching assignments next school year. Most of what parents have heard, they’ve learned through word of mouth.
After more than a week of seeking answers from their school principal and district administrators, one parent received a response Feb. 24 from Superintendent Aleesia Johnson saying IPS officials are not trying to withhold information from families.
“We do want to ensure that we give accurate and thorough information to school communities and that will occur over the next few months as budget, staffing and individual staff member decisions all proceed forever,” the superintendent wrote.
Johnson went on to say state policy changes have led the district to “evaluate our budgets and consider ways to reduce or restructure our current spending.”
“In terms of the specific impact at Eliza Blaker 55 and other schools, I know that principals will be sharing more information as our staffing and staff member decision-making processes occur in the spring as we prepare for next school year,” Johnson wrote. “My goal remains that our students still benefit from the arts experiences and exposures that we know are a part of a robust educational experience.”
Want to keep up with the IPS school board? Indy Documenters often cover these meetings. 📝 Read their notes.
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Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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