You might have heard: IPS, along with nearly 60 charter schools, is seeking a referendum this fall.
The schools are seeking a higher tax rate to help fund teacher salaries, training and academic programs, among other things. It comes during a time of upheaval for Indianapolis’ public school system.
In the last two years, state lawmakers have written laws that directed more property tax dollars to charter schools and created a new mayor-appointed board to coordinate closer collaboration between IPS and nearby charters.
That board, called the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, will soon oversee essential operations for schools, including transportation and building maintenance.
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Many questions remain about the new board as it gets off the ground and prepares to take on more responsibilities in the coming school years.
IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson sat down with Mirror Indy to talk about some of these questions and other recent headlines, including the 2026 referendum, looming budget cuts and IPS’ recent decision to break away from the city’s longtime enrollment services provider, Enroll Indy.
The conversation also touched on Rebuilding Stronger, IPS’ last big push to close and redesign schools, as well as the district’s changing relationship with innovation schools — a type of independent or charter school that contracts with IPS to receive services, like busing and building maintenance.
Here’s Mirror Indy’s interview, which has been edited lightly for length and clarity.
Regardless of whether the 2026 referendum passes, IPS will have to cut $20 million from its budget. Have you been considering what steps the district will take in both scenarios: pass and fail?
Mostly pass, because if it doesn’t, that dramatically shifts the whole conversation.
One, I think the state would likely intervene more significantly during this upcoming legislative session. And, two, it would mean a pretty substantial overhaul of the design of the district and personnel, and the provision of services.
All of those things would have to be on the table in much more substantive ways than we’re thinking about them currently.
Some residents have questioned whether this referendum is truly helpful to IPS considering the district advocated for a higher referendum rate. Others have concerns about sharing funds with charter schools. How have you responded to these questions?
There is a tightrope here. It’s not the easiest argument to say both we want to raise your taxes and also we will be making additional reductions. That is a hard message.
In terms of the sharing, it’s making sure that people understand that that’s mandated through state law, just sharing with folks the law that’s been passed made that requirement applicable not just to IPS but all school districts.
What are you considering to bridge the $20 million gap?
The first is around our ability to renegotiate some of our innovation school contracts, because those schools now will be receiving a portion of property taxes.
Then, school consolidations or closures are a second major lever. That allows us to reduce some facilities maintenance costs along with reduced transportation costs, and then some reduction of personnel.
We have made a commitment to the Indianapolis Education Association that we will not start with personnel reductions. It’s really important that we keep strong educators in our classrooms. We also understand, as do they, that if we merge school communities together, there will be some personnel impact as a result of that.
Then, we’ll continue to do what we did last year, which is trying to make sure we’ve negotiated any vendor contracts to get the best possible rates. We’ll continue to look at our central office administration to figure out where we can reduce either services or personnel and still be sure we’re supporting schools.
Rebuilding Stronger offers roadmap for future cuts
It sounds like consolidation is on the table no matter what. IPS is no stranger to closing schools. How do you ensure stability for kids during that period of transition?
There are things we learned through Rebuilding Stronger that we can replicate: The importance of bringing school communities together before a first day of school; the importance of giving school leaders and teachers the opportunity to get to know one another.
You can’t guarantee stability in a school consolidation process because you are changing that environment for families. But you can cultivate community, and you can cultivate connection for all the families who are being impacted, and that would be my priority.
I’ve heard from families who are seeing cuts to things, like expanded preschool and related arts classes, that were promised under Rebuilding Stronger, and they’re starting to consider other school options. Why, in this environment, should parents choose IPS?
IPS schools are still a premier choice for families to make because of the experience and opportunities their kids can have. They do have access to the arts. They do have access to athletic opportunities in elementary, middle and high school, unlike a number of places.
They do have access to a diverse student body where they get to be in school with people who share some of their same backgrounds and people who don’t.
In our middle schools, they have access to advanced high school courses that don’t exist in many other schools in our city. In our high schools, we have dual credit opportunities where kids are finishing with a year of college under their belt, sometimes two.
And, they do get to be a part of the legacy of IPS. This district has helped build this community and this city. To get to be a part of that legacy and that fabric, I also think is really important.
It also comes down to the people you will meet in our schools who deeply care about the success of kids, who deeply care about the community they’re serving, and I also don’t think you will find that in every building you go to either.
Related
What questions do you have about the Indianapolis school referendum?
Let Mirror Indy know and our K-12 reporter will look into it.
Do you feel like elements of Rebuilding Stronger can continue even though we’re staring down another big consolidation effort?
The experience for students will remain. How they receive that experience may look different. They may have to receive that experience in a different building or different school.
They may still get art programming, but it might be a teacher who’s supporting two schools versus one. But, the student is still getting orchestra, getting Spanish in middle schools, and getting to take algebra.
We’ve held pretty sacred that we want kids to continue to have that experience, even if the delivery of the experience has to shift to be sure that we can do it in a way that’s financially viable.
New Indy education group still defining its role
There’s a lot of strong feelings about the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, how it was created and how it’s composed. But, it’s here now. What are your thoughts on this group and its ability to work on behalf of all types of public schools in Indianapolis?
Lots remains to be seen. They have two staff members, one of whom is my former deputy, and they’ve been in the role not even two full months yet.
They are wholly focused right now on ensuring this referendum is successful. Both the IPEC board and staff understand that the stakes are high, and it’s really important that if the IPEC is going to be set up for success, this referendum has to pass.
Post-Nov. 3, they’ve got lots of work to do. There will be a lot of complexity in figuring out how to take it from what is written in statute to actual execution in real life for schools and for families.
I know they will also be focused on how to engage community and solicit feedback as they are shaping those things up, so I’m very appreciative of those efforts and their willingness to engage with me, with our team and, hopefully, with our broader community.
The law gives the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation authority over enrollment. IPS recently withdrew from the city’s shared enrollment platform, Enroll Indy. I’m curious about this decision considering IPEC could take over enrollment in the near future.
Does IPS have interest in providing enrollment services long term? Is the district interested in offering enrollment services to charter schools?
We’ll be using a PowerSchool product. A number of charter schools also use PowerSchool, so perhaps there’s an opportunity to take what we’re building out and leverage it outside of just IPS. We’re certainly open to that consideration.
Ultimately, we want to have a process in place that is easy for families to navigate, but also for our schools to navigate. One thing that I’ve heard a lot of in this process has been some of the challenges that our school teams faced leveraging the Enroll Indy platform — not necessarily the staff, but the platform — and some of those challenges our families had as well.
I think there’s an opportunity to create something better, and I think there’s an opportunity to learn from what IPS is doing.
Turning down the temperature in policy debates
People in Indianapolis are very passionate about their school choices and how their preferred schools are funded. There’s been a lot of tension around these conversations lately. How do we move forward productively in this environment?
My own personal background: I was a founding charter school teacher. I led the innovation work in the district. Now I’m superintendent.
I’ve always tried to show up with an orientation of ‘we can all win.’ That has not been the orientation, unfortunately, that we’ve collectively taken. But it’s my hope that we could.
We are in a really divisive time as a society right now. Our education system, our schools, are a reflection of our community. They do not exist in a bubble. If we want to see the worst of ourselves and the best of ourselves, you can find those things in schools.
We don’t get to be free of the overall tenor that we’re experiencing as a country and as a community, but we do get to orient ourselves in a different way to say that our kids deserve better from us.
Our kids are worthy of all of us collectively saying to our state lawmakers, to our federal lawmakers, to our local lawmakers, ‘our kids are worthy and deserving, and, collectively, let’s figure out how to be sure they all have what they need.’ That’s, at the heart of it, what I think folks are fighting for.
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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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