Indianapolis education alliance spotlights school facilities, funding gaps and a transportation pilot

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance on Aug. — during a public meeting at Adelante Schools — focused on school facilities, a proposed transportation-and-facilities pilot that would span dozens of schools, and the limits of existing facility funding that Alliance members and public speakers said will shape decisions for years.

Presenters included Eddie Rangel of Adelante Schools; Dr. Kiana Warren of Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS); Andy Seibert of TogetherEd, the nonprofit that submitted the pilot application; and Andrew Stroop, deputy superintendent for Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS). Superintendent Alicia Johnson and other IPS operations staff answered member questions. The meeting drew an extended question-and-answer period and a large public-comment turnout; 38 people had signed up to speak.

Why it matters: Committee members said facilities and transportation decisions will affect how public resources are shared across district-run schools, innovation-network schools and independent charters inside the IPS boundary. Alliance members pressed for common data and definitions so policy recommendations can account for enrollment trends, debt service and how property-tax funding is allocated.

Presentations and pilot details Andy Seibert, chief executive officer of TogetherEd, said the nonprofit consolidated a transportation and facilities pilot application on behalf of 54 schools representing “close to 22,000 students.” He told the Alliance the pilot aims to test multimodal transportation options and shared facility uses such as athletics, robotics and after-school programming.

Seibert: “The Indianapolis-based pilot application that we submitted on behalf of 54 schools that represent…