Gary residents and school leaders oppose Indiana House Bill 1136 at school board meeting

Gary Community School Corporation trustees and dozens of residents used the board's Jan. 8 meeting to hear details about and register opposition to Indiana House Bill 1136, proposed state legislation that would dissolve certain school districts and require many district-run schools to convert to charter schools if a majority of resident students attend non-district schools.

Chelsea Whittington, chief of public and community relations for the Gary Community School Corporation, presented excerpts of the bill and a chart showing the local data cited in the proposal. Whittington said the district had 11,764 resident students and 4,144 enrolled in district schools, and that the presentation’s figures showed roughly 65% of resident students attending schools outside the corporation. “This chart indicates that we currently have 11,764 students residing in the school corporation of which 4,144 are enrolled in our School Corporation,” Whittington said during the presentation. She emphasized the district had seen a recent upward trend in enrollment following the end of state control in July 2024: a fall increase of 214 students and an additional 153 students added afterward, figures…