The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation (IPEC) voted unanimously at their June 22 meeting to put a referendum on the ballot this November to support Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and charter schools.

The final amount? $0.37 per $100 of assessed value, making it almost exactly double the rate for IPS’ existing operating referendum that expires at the end of this calendar year.

Now that approximately 60 charter schools will be sharing in this referendum, IPS would continue to receive a similar amount of revenue (just under $44 million) as under their existing referendum. Charter schools will split the other half, which amounts to a hair shy of $44 million.

This’ll Pay for What?

According to an IPEC board presentation, a homeowner with a property value of $150,000 will pay about $220 dollars annually to fund such a referendum, which is slated to last four years.

Should this referendum pass, it will be the first time independent charter schools receive a share of property tax dollars through a tax referendum. Innovation Network schools have already received a portion of the existing referendum (about $500 per student compared to $2,300 per student for traditional IPS schools). But independent charters have always received nothing.

Schools will have broad license to spend these additional funds in the way they see fit for their school community. Of course, operating referendums can’t be used for new construction expenses (that’s what capital referendums are for). But funds from this could be used for everything from academic programming to increased teacher pay to daily operations like transportation.

Cuts Still Loom at IPS

Zooming in on IPS for a moment, this is far from the worst possible outcome. It also isn’t the best, given originally-proposed rate options ran upwards of $0.50 on the high end. During the June 22 meeting, IPEC board member (and IPS Board President) Hope Duke Star proposed a $0.42 rate. That motion failed. But the $0.37 rate passed with full board support and will be in front of voters come November.

It’s a potential lifeline for IPS. But it’s not all carrot. There’s still some stick in here. Given the severity of their looming budget deficit, even with this referendum amount IPS still needs to cut somewhere around $20 million in operating expenses starting with the 2027-28 school year.

The possibilities for making that happen include:

• School closures and/or consolidations
• Additional staff reductions (both central office and within schools)
• The elimination of specialized programming
• Reduced transportation services

What’s more, IPS has indicated that getting to a break-even budget will also involve more cost-sharing with Innovation Network schools for IPS-provided services to the tune of $12 million. They (by which I mean IPS and IPEC) also hope state legislators will step in to help fill the funding gap that exists in IPS and charter schools for special education and English Language Learner funding. Of that happening, color me skeptical.

Too Big to Pass? Or Just Right?

As noted earlier, this isn’t the biggest referendum request IPEC might have pursued. It’s also nowhere near the smallest. As IPEC Board Chair David Harris noted during the meeting, their goal was to land on “the right number.” If by “right number” he means an amount Indianapolis residents will stomach that still meaningfully helps stabilize and shore up public school funding across Center Township, I think he’s right.

While not a perfect proxy by any means, there was virtually no opposition to a referendum during the June 22 meeting. By my count, 22 speakers were generally positive in support of a referendum while six others were basically just pro-IPS voices who occasionally disparaged charters. Nobody named a specific amount they hoped to see. Nor did anyone name a price that would be too high or cause them to vote no.

In addition, for what it’s worth, the Indy Chamber (who opposed IPS’ operating referendum request in 2023) immediately came out in support of this referendum. Compared to the contentiousness we lived through in 2023, the meeting was eerily smooth sailing.

I expect the November election to follow suit. The hard work, as they say, will start November 4.