Parents and volunteers urge Center Grove board to delay Honey Grove latchkey renewal over space, backdating and procurement concerns
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Summary
Community members asked the board to table a two‑year latchkey renewal with Honey Grove, saying the contract backdated to July 1, 2025, gives Honey Grove priority for large spaces and lacks recent RFP/procurement documentation; the board approved the renewal with a 5% annual cap on rate increases and an evergreen clause.
At a Nov. meeting of the Center Grove Community School Corporation board, three community speakers asked trustees to delay approval of a two‑year renewal with Honey Grove, the district’s latchkey provider, citing space priority, alleged backdating of the contract and a lack of recent procurement records.
Nicole Teague said Honey Grove’s contract gives the provider “exclusive access to all large areas of every elementary school” and warned that a proposed evergreen clause would lock that priority in place. She said the contract was backdated to July 1, 2025, and that she could find no request‑for‑proposal (RFP) or procurement paperwork for child‑care services required under the district’s DOE latchkey assurance (transcript phrasing). “They had a 30% increase and students and families here are actually paying $700 more a year,” Teague said.
Ryan Teague asked the board to table the vote and demanded transparency about who authorized Honey Grove to operate without a written contract from July through November and who authorized any backdating. He urged the board to publish the RFP/procurement documents allegedly required by the code language Teague cited.
April McCracken, who runs a before‑school club, said her group of 159 registered children has been displaced from the gym to risers and hallways. She asked the board to require stronger contract protections so clubs aren’t pushed out; she recommended changing the contract’s current 20‑children space threshold to 30 to ensure clubs keep usable space.
District administrators responded at the meeting before the vote. Dr. Jason Taylor, the district chief administrative officer, said the district is presenting a two‑year renewal that extends terms from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027, adds a 5% cap on annual rate increases, updates AM/PM times to reflect the district’s schedule shift, and reduces the annual maintenance fee from $20,000 to $10,000 to help Honey Grove staff added morning coverage for district employees. He said the original arrangement was competitively bid in 2013 and that district staff had tried to accommodate clubs and internal needs while ensuring childcare for working parents.
Taylor acknowledged some clubs had been moved and said the contract contains a worker‑to‑child ratio provision and termination language. He said the evergreen clause is intended to avoid future gaps, but that an RFP could be pursued if the board wished. After board discussion and questions about legal review and past procurement, the board voted to approve the latchkey service agreement by voice vote.
What happens next: the contract extension takes effect as renewed through June 30, 2027; board members said they can explore issuing a future RFP and will report back if there is outside vendor interest.