Indianapolis launches Local Education Alliance to assess school facilities and transportation under new state law

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance opened its inaugural meeting to begin work required by House Enrolled Act 1515, the mayor said, including a citywide assessment of public school facilities and an implementation plan for facilities and transportation to be delivered by Dec. 31, 2025.

The alliance’s purpose and immediate timeline were the focal points at the meeting, which combined a presentation from Indianapolis Public Schools and the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation with a public-comment period that highlighted concerns about funding, charter accountability and transportation access.

The mayor told the group the alliance was created by law “to conduct an assessment of all public school facilities within the IPS boundaries” and that the panel “shall submit our final recommendations and implementation plan by December 31” (the transcript identifies the law as House Enrolled Act 1515). That implementation plan, he said, should consider co‑location, shared services, consolidation and “high quality program expansion.”

Deputy Superintendent Andrew Strope and Shana Cavazos, director of the mayor’s office of education innovation, outlined the current landscape and historical context. Strope traced the system’s modern history to the 1970 creation of Unigov and said the city’s school system has been reshaped across decades. “The story of modern education in…