Gary Mayor: Lawmakers Need To Stay Out Of Our Schools

Indiana lawmakers will meet for a May special session, after several pieces of legislation died at the session’s regular end in March.  What isn’t clear is whether they’ll revive the controversial school finances bill.  As Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Jeanie Lindsay reports, the mayor of Gary says legislators should avoid such community-specific mandates in May.

Talk around House Bill 1315 was dominated by parts of the bill focusing on Muncie and Gary schools; some people have expressed concern about the possibility of the bill’s revival during a special session later this year.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson says provisions limiting the power of school officials in her community are bad for government.

“Fiscal difficulty shouldn’t mean that you’re throwing those checks and balances out of the window,” she says.

Freeman-Wilson also says she hopes lawmakers avoid more changes specific to her community during the special session.

“There is nothing that the Indiana General Assembly needs to do as it relates to the Gary schools. I believe that the process is working the way that it should,” she says.

For Muncie, the original bill would have allowed Ball State University to take responsibility for Muncie Community Schools.  At a Ball State University board meeting last Friday, university president Geoffrey Mearns said he didn’t know whether the full legislation would be revived.  Mearns has said Ball State does not want to be the district’s emergency manager under current law.

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has asked lawmakers only to consider a $12 million loan for Muncie Community Schools during May’s session, not the entire school financials bill.

The original bill also included ways for the state to keep watch for, and help, any more schools at risk of falling into financial distress.