(INDIANAPOLIS) — The leader of the Indiana Senate is warning schools they could have their funding cut if they don’t offer in-person classes.
State law gives virtual schools 15% less money per student. Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray
(R-Martinsville) is advising bricks-and-mortar schools that law will apply to them if at least half their classes aren’t in person.
35 school districts and eight charter or private schools, including the Indianapolis Public Schools and
Bray’s home district of Martinsville, have announced they’ll start the year virtually, with no definite date for returning in person. The Pike and Washington Township Schools and Hamilton Southeastern also plan to begin the year online.
House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) calls the funding threat “reckless and
irresponsible.” Gary Senator Eddie Melton (D) accuses Bray of holding schools hostage, and says even schools who want to reopen could find they don’t have the ability to do it if an outbreak strikes their teachers.
Republican state school superintendent Jennifer McCormick says she’s “disappointed” at Bray’s letter, and warns it could warp schools’ decisionmaking on whether it’s safe to come back. Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) says the state should be helping schools reopen safely, not pressuring them.
Bray says in a follow-up statement he didn’t intend the letter as a threat. He says when he and other legislative leaders echoed Governor Holocmb in June in vowing not to penalize schools for holding classes online, the coronavirus pandemic appeared to be in decline, and no one was contemplating the possibility of conducting the entire online. He notes the funding law for virtual schools predates the pandemic, and says changing it will require legislative action regardless. He says his goal was to make sure school leaders were aware of the legal ramifications as they make their reopening decisions.
Melton says Holcomb should issue an executive order making clear schools will receive their full funding — or, if he doesn’t believe he has the authority on his own, call a special session to have legislators do it.
Democrats have already called for a special session to address other pandemic-related issues and police reform.
