After nearly a year under state-appointed management, officials say the Gary Community School Corp. has made progress on tackling its $100 million debt. However, union members who protested outside a state board meeting Wednesday said some of that came at the cost of low-level employees.
As the Distressed Unit Appeal Board, the state’s financial clearing house for the district, was set to hold a meeting at West Side Leadership Academy for the first time in several months, nearly two dozen union workers protested outside.
State-appointed emergency manager Peggy Hinckley recently announced that the district would withdraw from a contract with custodians in Service Employees International Union Local 73 and outsource that work with Alpha Building Maintenance, of Homer Glen, Ill., a move that she said would save the district more than $900,000.
Many felt the school district was using union-busting tactics as it dropped negotiations with secretaries and outsourced custodians and other wage employees.
“It’s unfair what they are trying to do,” said bus driver Denise Stewart. “All this time, they have been just doing their job and they just kick them to the curb like nothing matters.”
SEIU representative Brandon Boles said Gary schools ended negotiations on June 4, leaving the union with little recourse to challenge it.
Inside, about 100 people attended, most of whom stayed through a marathon three-hour meeting detailing wide-ranging changes in 2017-18 including curriculum development, teacher training, graduation rates, dual credit and vocational offerings, improving special education, changing up security and tacking its $100 million debt.
Several public officials and state lawmakers also attended including Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, several school board members, House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, and Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary.
Gary has made some of its biggest progress tackling million in back bills to vendors including healthcare accounts, NIPSCO, bus transportation and IRS debt. Total bills owed have shrunk to just under $4 million in May, from $16.5 million in June 2017, MGT Executive Vice President Eric Parish and CFO Leonard Moody said.
The district’s monthly deficit was $15 million in May. Its total accumulated debt was pegged at $98 million, down from an estimated $104 million in June, Parish said.
MGT managers have set up internal accounting controls, a state-required deficit reduction plan and a system that tracks year-to-year spending, Parish said. It will be able to make payroll until October, when they anticipate seeking another state loan, he said.
Gary had the worst finances she has seen in a nearly 30-year career in education, Hinckley said.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.
This year, the state gave a one-time permission for Gary to use $1.5 million in federal Title I funds to buy new textbooks, Hinckley said, in some cases that hadn’t been replaced in a decade.
Gary may regain control from the state over its food service accounts by the fall, she said. For several years, the state has also monitored its Title I spending. The goal is to also regain full control over those accounts, Hinckley said.
It is also working to reestablish formal professional development for principals and teachers, particularly at Marquette and Beveridge elementaries. Both schools are on a state warning list for five years or more of F state grades.
Students from Indiana University Northwest’s School of Education will expand their role at both schools in 2018-19, Hinckley said. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, they will work as substitute teachers to get field experience and build relationships for teacher recruitment.
Starting in August, Gary will station school resource officers at all schools, Gary Police Detective Simon Lillie said. The need was there to provide mentoring, address bullying and keep a closer eye day-to-day in schools and enforcing security procedures, he said.
Late in the meeting, the board approved a $142,000 state grant for the Gary Middle School’s new STEAM lab, called a F.U.S.E. lab that students will use twice per week, said Tanya Housing, the school’s newly appointed principal. She detailed changes there including revamping the library with new carpet, painted walls and adding technology.
This month, Gary schools put up more than 30 vacant buildings and properties up for sale. Operations and Transportation Supervisor Ronald Gordon said it was in the process of cutting grass at all properties, which has been delayed by rain this month.
Freeman-Wilson said there have been at least a half-dozen fires in vacant schools recently. Gary firefighters have asked for the school district to remove flammable items and materials left long abandoned in schools that were abruptly shuttered dating back to the early 2000’s.
Hinckley said after the meeting that Gary could look at May 2019 or later for another school referendum, but those plans were in early stages.
Since 2015, Gary has had two failed school referendums, including an $8 million effort that fell short by 2 percent in November 2016.