One by one, on both sides of Broad Ripple High School’s auditorium, parents, students, alumni and teachers repeated story after story about their love for the school and an unrelenting passion for art.
Due to potential plans to reconfigure combined middle schools and high schools — such as John Marshall, Broad Ripple, George Washington and Northwest — the alternatives include a turn to traditional 9–12 schools, a conversion to middle schools, or a shut down altogether.
This decision is related to the fact that Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) has more room in its high schools than necessary, an estimated two seats per student according to data retrieved by media last month. But there are other factors influencing future settlements.
Reports show six of eight IPS high schools are filling only 50 percent (or less) of available classroom seats. If middle school students are removed from the high schools, enrollment will decrease even more.
To combat this, IPS may consider expanding the scope of each high school’s geographic boundaries and career initiatives.
At the Aug. 11 Broad Ripple meeting, the Recorder obtained a pamphlet survey asking, “Which of the following high school academy options do you find most interesting?” The options were: kinesiology, health and human services, information technology, business technology, urban agriculture, sustainable energy, security and law enforcement, logistics, manufacturing, military and teaching.
Superintendent Lewis Ferebee said the list was based on feedback from the community. “We’ve been using focus groups and family surveys to affirm those options and identify new options for students.”
However, multiple parents, students and teachers said they were not interested in seeing Broad Ripple, currently an arts school, shift focus to the options on the list.
One mother of a freshman said she drives 45 minutes each day to bring her son to Broad Ripple precisely because of the school’s arts focus.
“Because we don’t have anything else like this in this area, I think it would be a disgrace and a disservice to students to cancel this program,” she said. “I know for a fact he would never want to go back to the district we’re at because he wants to have an education so he can go on to music school. It would just be very sad for this program to end.”
A Broad Ripple alumnus echoed the sentiment: “This sounds like a really great jobs placement program, but I don’t hear anything about academic education.”
He said his 2005 graduating class significantly decreased in a way that disproportionately affected minority students. The speaker was white and said he appreciates the school most when it operates at peak diversity.
“I watched my graduating class go from 400 people my freshman year to 133,” he said. “And it wasn’t people with my color face who left.”
Aside from fears that adding a new academy can cut away from a school’s existing budget, another concern is that the community is not being consulted prior to these discussions, which was a problem raised earlier this year when IPS approved of a 6 percent pay raise for Ferebee.
Ferebee has noted flaws in the execution of the program during his tenure. In 2015, 75 percent of students in grades 6–8 failed ISTEP, with the biggest losses coming from schools with combined middle and high schools. Statewide, 49 percent of students passed ISTEP in 2015, placing a spotlight on the IPS schools with the highest number of failures. But there are conflicting opinions suggesting what the root of the problems are and how they can be corrected.
When the middle schools and high schools were combined between 2001 and 2007, the goal was to decrease dropout rates. More than seven combined junior/senior high schools were created under then-Superintendent Eugene White, district officials say, because the hope was to streamline the transition through grades in what was labeled “community high schools.”
Graduation rates have increased over 10 percentage points in the last decadesince the merger, but the district is now reversing course because of the damages done to middle schools.
Reconfiguring schools can be costly if results aren’t improved in the short term. In addition, needs may vary by school, so changes could create unforeseen problems, as in the case of Broad Ripple High School, where constituents are concerned that arts programs would take a backseat to new programs.
On top of that, since district leaders, politicians and communities all argue for different structures — e.g. K-8 buildings, magnet high schools and specialized middle schools — providing a varied list of options while competing with other schools could be an issue.
IPS enrollment has become a long-term problem for officials. This year, the district has 29,583 students. In 2006, IPS had 38,141 students, according to Indiana Department of Education data.
The bright spot for IPS is Crispus Attucks, the only IPS school close to meeting a 85-percent utilization goal. But many are not on the positive end of the spectrum.
From 2014–15 Broad Ripple enrolled more than 900 students but left nearly 1,800 seats empty. Similarly, George Washington enrolled more than 600 students and left more than 1,200 seats empty.
Research suggests there are reasons to believe middle school students need special attention. In the 11- to 14-year-old age range, students go through substantial physical and emotional shifts which can affect performance and social life, according to research on human development by Thomas Armstrong.
With state-funded tuition vouchers and competing schools, IPS is affected at a greater proportion by the lack of consistent enrollment. Superintendent Ferebee told the Recorder that now, more than ever, a change of course is needed for IPS.
“We’ve received lots of information and feedback concerning safety and if those schools are appropriate,” Ferebee said. “I think moving middle schools out of high schools is supported by most constituents. Our first priority is separating middle schools from the high schools.”
Ferebee also acknowledged that there has been miscommunication between the community and IPS officials.
When asked if IPS will change the arts focus of a school like Broad Ripple he said, “I think there was some confusion initially and we could have clarified that this is not a replacement program. We absolutely think academies could be added to existing programs…we are looking to offer additional options that can lead to industry certifications and careers after college.”
Ferebee reiterated the message that more thoughts will come forward before an exact plan is announced, and more meetings will be scheduled as necessary.
“I think we’ve done a good job with outreach,” he said, citing morning meetings, afternoon meetings, weekend meetings, focus groups, surveys and social media as options for busy constituents.
“You always want to get more input, which is why when people can’t physically come to a meeting we ask them to fill out a survey and have other people fill out a survey and spread the word about what happened. I don’t think we’ll ever be satisfied, but I think we’ve done a good job.”
