Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools Dr. Lawrence Ferebee was adamant about the future of Arlingon High School at a public meeting January 14. “We have the chance to get this right,” he said of the reintegration of the school back into the IPS School District. “This is an opportunity.”
The CEO and Chancellor of Tindley, Marcus Robinson, stated that the charter school management company recognized the history of the high school. “This is an important place,” he said, referring the high school which has been part of the community since 1961. “We were not hired on to be here forever. We are meeting the goals early, and it is time for us to step back.”
In 2012, Arlington High School was taken over by the state due to consistently poor academic performance. Tindley came in to manage the school, hiring teachers and introducing its own curriculum, and has had success in raising test scores since the takeover. However, Tindley informed the state in July 2014 that it couldn’t afford to continue running Arlington. Since the announcement, IPS has been in discussion with Tindley about how best to reintegrate the school back into the district, and is now opening the talks to the community. The January 14 meeting was the first step in engaging the public in the process.
Dr. Ferebee said at the meeting that one of the issues at Arlington is that the school building is too large in respect to the current enrollment. He noted that combining the student population of John Marshall on the far eastside and Arlington was a possibility, or sharing the building would be on the table. The transition planning would begin in spring and be in place for the 2015-16 school year.
Public input on the transition at the meeting included suggestions about offering more vocational schooling options, upgrading computer systems and networks, keeping the community involved at the school, and maintaining the parental involvement in the school.
Residents are encouraged to learn more about the transition of Arlington High School to IPS and comment online at www.myips.org. More meetings about the project will be held in spring.
