Indianapolis board votes to close six schools

The Indianapolis Public School Board has voted to close six schools. The closings come as the district struggles to deal with a budget shortfall of about $25 million and steadily declining enrollment. With the schools closings, 1,700 students will be assigned to other schools. In addition, dozens of administrators have been notified they could lose their jobs. The number of administrators who will lose their jobs is expected to be around 50, but 240 employees have been notified that their jobs could be eliminated.To read The Indianapolis Star article, click here. FROM NOVEMBER 2008: Parents in Indianapolis are appealing to the school superintendent to reconsider his plans to close six elementary schools. The closings are part of a plan unveiled last month that also includes layoffs of as many as 400 teachers, deep cuts to the district's central office and boundary changes for most elementary schools. The need to curb spending arose because the district has been losing about 1,000 students a year, and the district was overstaffed this year to begin with, according to superintendent Eugene White. The district closed eight schools last summer and will close the additional six before the start of the 2009-10 school year. The 1,700 students affected would shift to other schools. To read The Indianapolis Star article, click here.

EARLIER: Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Eugene White says his plan to close six more schools next year also means as many as 400 teachers will be laid off, and thousands of students will have to move to different schools.

To read The Indianapolis Star article, click here.