The General Assembly agreed to defer state loan repayments of $20 million so the Gary Community School Corp. can repair or demolish schools as the session was winding down late Wednesday.
House Bill 1065 (http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1065) creates a pool of money for a school improvement fund by the suspension of the district’s approximate $500,000 in monthly repayments in state school loans for 4 ½-years.
It will allow the district to make repairs or demolish vacant buildings without impacting its debt service levy.
Even though the language grew from a Senate bill proposed by state Sen. Eddie Melton, a Gary Democrat, Melton said he couldn’t vote for it because of an amendment allowing charter schools to share in referendum money received by traditional public schools.
“Still, despite the positive impact this bill will have for Gary, the referenda language that was included in this bill poses a threat to public schools all across the state,” Melton said in a statement.
While the bill’s language said traditional schools “may” share referendum money with charter schools, many Democratic lawmakers predicted fallout while debating the bill Wednesday.
Gary loses more students to charter and private CHOICE voucher schools than any district in Indiana. State money follows those students leaving the traditional school district struggling to stay afloat under state control.
Nearly half of the school children in Gary, or 5,770, attend charter schools, costing the district about $60 million.
If Gary wanted to share referenda money with a charter, the bill is unclear over how that would happen.
“In a community that has multiple charter schools, I can’t in good conscience vote for this legislation, although it would yield some fruit,” Melton said on the Senate floor.
In the debate on the House floor, state Rep. Chris Chyung, D-Dyer, called it “deeply divisive” legislation that came in the 11th hour without public input.
House sponsor Jeff Thompson, D-Lizton, said a Gary referendum could win more widespread support if parents from charter schools backed it, knowing their charter would benefit.
State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, said since Gary schools were governed by the state Distressed Unit Appeal Board, it could dictate whether a charter school receives referendum money or not. She opposed the bill.
Melton said the deferring of school loan payments were essential to addressing the city’s critical needs.
“Not only will it allow us to begin improving the learning conditions for our students who deserve a safe, clean environment to study, but the improvements will help make our city safer and increase the property tax values in our community,” he said.
The bill is now on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for action.
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