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Within the spring of 2024, monetary challenges at Bethel Park Elementary prompted the mayor’s workplace to stipulate choices for its future — together with a partnership with neighboring constitution college Victory School Prep.
The varsity’s board didn’t need to try this on the time, based on the college’s former principal. As a substitute, the college labored to reply to considerations from Mayor Joe Hogsett’s Workplace of Schooling Innovation, Bethel Park’s authorizer.
Now issues are coming to a head. OEI nonetheless has considerations about Bethel Park’s monetary standing and will revoke the college’s constitution subsequent month, a transfer that might lead the college to shut. However the college says it’s proven OEI that its fiscal well being is on the mend. And it seems that there’s one other huge change within the works: Victory School Prep is within the course of of shopping for Bethel Park’s constructing.
All that has thrown the destiny of Bethel Park — which enrolls about 225 college students whose futures cling on OEI’s mid-February choice — into doubt. And a few consider the chain of occasions represents an unwelcome try to power the college to merge with a close-by competitor.
“It does kind of really feel like a conclusion has already been made,” mentioned former Bethel Park principal Jennica Adkins, who mentioned there was stress from OEI on Bethel Park to merge with Victory School Prep this college yr. “And there’s not a ton that we will do about that.”
OEI acknowledged approaching Victory School Prep to “gauge their curiosity and talent to offer help” to Bethel Park Elementary.
“Constitution college authorizers have a accountability to work with faculties to anticipate points earlier than they intensify to make sure stability for college students and accountable stewardship of public {dollars},” the workplace mentioned in a press release final month in response to questions from Chalkbeat.
OEI additionally mentioned Bethel Park has utilized for constitution renewal after “years of declining monetary well being and amid months of intensifying money stream considerations.”
As an authorizer of each Bethel Park and Victory School Prep, OEI oversees faculties which were granted permission to open by the Indianapolis Constitution Faculty Board. It additionally has the energy to shutter faculties for failing to satisfy sure requirements.
“High quality authorizing practices encourage authorizers to train skilled judgment and interact in efforts to drawback resolve when wanted to make sure good outcomes for college students,” OEI mentioned in its assertion.
In response, Bethel Park’s board is taking a look at choices to buy the constructing as a substitute, utilizing an possibility in its present lease with a department of the Constitution Faculties Improvement Company that funds services for constitution faculties. Bethel Park’s present constitution expires on the finish of this college yr, however the college is in search of approval from a special authorizer than OEI to maintain its doorways open. Nevertheless, if their constitution is revoked subsequent month, state regulation would require a brand new authorizer to hunt approval from the State Board of Schooling to permit the college to proceed working.
Jade Welch, Bethel Park’s present principal, mentioned she is working exhausting to deal with the considerations from the mayor’s workplace whereas sustaining the college’s imaginative and prescient and neighborhood.
“I simply need to keep my college and do what I must do,” Welch mentioned.
Victory School Prep’s board of administrators didn’t point out whether or not it intends to take over Bethel Park, though it confused that Bethel Park’s destiny is as much as the college and OEI to resolve. The board mentioned it desires college students within the space to have entry to high-quality training, and that it was “open” to the thought of offering “partnership help” to Bethel Park.
“If our present assets and capability can ease monetary pressures that might threaten such entry for college students and households in our area, we’re compelled to take motion,” Victory School Prep’s board mentioned in a press release.
Faculty protests potential lack of constitution, citing enhancements
In Might 2023, the mayor’s workplace gave Bethel Park a discover of noncompliance — the least pressing degree within the authorizer’s efficiency enchancment framework — over its 2021-22 ILEARN and IREAD scores and its attendance price. The varsity’s ILEARN scores had been beneath these of scholars in close by assigned faculties or comparable faculties, the workplace mentioned. The varsity’s IREAD move price of 62% and its attendance price of 87.6% additionally didn’t meet the workplace’s efficiency commonplace.
One yr later, the college acquired a discover of deficiency over its money reserves and year-end deficits that the workplace escalated from “average” to “excessive” concern.
The varsity has led to an working deficit yearly since fiscal 2022, based on audit experiences the college submitted to the state. The newest audit from final yr expresses “substantial doubt” concerning the college’s capacity to remain open. And because the 2020-21 college yr, the college had not met OEI’s necessities for retaining not less than 45 days of money reserve so as to meet monetary obligations within the case of an emergency, based on OEI.
However college leaders say they’ve tried to deal with the authorizer’s considerations. And in an electronic mail to OEI final July, Bethel Park’s board referred to as the authorizer’s’s escalating considerations “unwarranted” as a result of college’s optimistic money stability, and mentioned that “the college’s monetary place is not at excessive danger.”
Its first discover of deficiency from OEI was largely as a result of bookkeeping errors which were addressed, the college mentioned in a Dec. 19 response to the authorizer. Within the first few months of this college yr, the college spent much less cash and introduced in additional income than anticipated, Bethel Park famous. It believes it would construct up 40 to 45 days of money reserves by the top of the fiscal yr.
And its enrollment of 225 this yr was above preliminary projections.
“We’ve discovered from and responded to previous monetary errors and oversight and really feel assured not solely in our capacity to complete out this college yr, but in addition to determine an ongoing monetary place which ought to encourage confidence in renewal of our constitution,” the college wrote.
Bethel Park has additionally reduce prices to shore up its funds, together with ending a $150,000 annual teaching and consulting companies settlement with the PilotED Basis, which was led by the college’s founder, Jacob Allen.
The inspiration, which ended operations in December, offered assist with grant writing, authorized help, board recruiting, and training, mentioned Adkins, the college’s former principal. The inspiration nonetheless offered six months of labor professional bono after the expiration of its contract final June, she mentioned.
The varsity’s third grade IREAD outcomes have additionally jumped to a 72% move price in 2024. Its attendance price, nonetheless, stays slightly below the 90% that OEI requested it attain by summer time 2024, and its ILEARN outcomes have been stagnant.
OEI mentioned in its assertion that even with the correction of the bookkeeping error, the college nonetheless had posted years of declining money reserves, comparatively sluggish enrollment progress, and excessive month-to-month bills.
“All through the spring, summer time, and fall, Bethel Park needed to right a number of errors in submitted monetary paperwork and failed to satisfy a number of monetary reporting deadlines,” OEI mentioned. “In yr six of a faculty’s constitution, a powerful authorizer ought to anticipate competent monetary reporting and administration.
Victory School Prep, which the mayor’s workplace described as a faculty in “sturdy monetary standing,” didn’t disclose how a lot it’s paying for the constructing. The varsity had increased charges of proficiency on the 2024 ILEARN examination than Bethel Park, and a barely increased passing price on the IREAD examination.
Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township faculties for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.