A controversial bill that would remove financial and academic control from the Gary Community School Corp. and Muncie Community Schools is expected to move to the House floor on Thursday largely unchanged from a version approved in committee earlier this week.
Gary lawmakers opposed ceding control of the district to an emergency manager on Wednesday and were largely unsuccessful in attempts to maintain some local control and authority over academics with the school board and superintendent.
“We are getting ready for chaos,” said Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary. “We are getting ready for the biggest storm that we ever had.”
Republicans who control the Legislature say the state ought to intervene and appoint emergency managers after both districts failed to fix their problems. Some Democratic critics say the matter was largely caused by Republican-championed property tax caps and changes in education funding over the past decade.
They expect many more school districts to have financial troubles in the coming years.
The House bill, which would need to be reconciled in a conference committee before heading to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk, would strip Gary of academic control and remove grant.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick said earlier this week in a statement that she was “fully aware” of the “seriousness and sensitivity surrounding” the bill.
“We will continue to work with both school districts and legislators by providing available resources and information,” she said. “The students are our top priority.”
Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, successfully introduced a change to the House version that would require an emergency manager to give 30 days notice to the office of Gary Mayor Karen Freeman Wilson before trying to sell property or other assets.
Brown said he was “very concerned with transparency” and wanted the move “so that there can be some local participation.”
Smith said he was alarmed a provision to make the district eligible for later grants was removed.
Another concern was the authority given to the emergency manager to make changes to the district’s boundaries.
Conceivably, one could conclude “that the way to solve Gary’s problems is to dissolve it,” he said.
Smith’s amendments failed by a loud voice vote.
On Wednesday night, Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Merrillville, also failed in an attempt to introduce a bill to give the district forgiveness on its $30 million in outstanding common school loan funds.
The bill’s development has also shocked Muncie-area lawmakers who firmly opposed the bill on Wednesday and asked for a “trigger” so schools could predict if they were in danger of a state takeover.
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School officials and parents were “blind-sided,” said Rep. Sue Errington, D-Muncie.
“When Gary was declared a distressed unit, it was because they asked for that designation,” she said. “Muncie has not asked…shouldn’t there be some kind of trigger known to the public of what process is going to put you there?”
The Associated Press contributed.