IPS Admin Recommends No Schools For 'Restart'

Indianapolis Public Schools staff and leadership have recommended none of the seven schools that received a review in 2018 be “restarted” next school year.

A restart is when an underperforming school is handed over to a third-party to manage, often done to avoid intervention from state officials.

The IPS commissioner board is slated to vote on the decision next week.

The district conducted reviews of seven struggling schools, to provide feedback and recommendations on whether a restart should be considered.

The schools selected for review:

• Stephen Foster School 67
• Eleanor Skillen School 34
• Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School 15
• Ignite Achievement Academy @ Elder Diggs 42
• Kindezi Academy @ Joyce Kilmer 69
• James Russell Lowell School 51
• Louis B. Russell Jr. School 48

These seven schools all fell within the bottom quartile of proficiency scores in the district.
IPS official Andrew Strope says when the district evaluates underperforming schools it considers more than test scores.

"As we are determining what those supports and interventions might be, we do not want to rely solely on quantitative data," Strope said at a November school board meeting. "The SQR provides some great qualitative data."

Several charter school management companies expressed interest in taking over a restarted school, including the PATH School and two well-established charter operators in the city – Tindley Accelerated Schools and Phalen Academies.

In 2017, the IPS school board unanimously voted to restart two struggling elementary schools.