Purdue shows interest in Gary
Charter school hinges on district’s state control exit
Purdue University said Thursday it would establish a charter school in Gary only when the exit status of the Gary Community School Corp. from state control has been determined.
Mayor Jerome Prince released Purdue’s letter of interest Thursday, emboldening his campaign promise to open a charter high school for high-achieving students on city-owned property in South Gleason Park near Indiana University Northwest.
Prince hopes the school can open in the fall of 2022.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Eddie Melton is sponsoring a bill to ban new charter schools in the city. It received the endorsement of the Gary City Council last week. The fate of such a measure passing in a Republican-dominated legislature is unclear. Past attempts at a ban have failed.
“Our strong preference is to work in partnership with as many organizations in the city as possible. This includes the school district, following the model in Indianapolis where our original campus has a partnership with Indianapolis Public Schools,” the Purdue letter said.
The university already operates Purdue Polytechnic high schools in Indianapolis and South Bend.
The university’s letter said it opened its first Purdue Polytechnic High School in 2016 to increase the number of underrepresented minority students at its West Lafayette campus.
Melton said Prince overstated his position about pulling his charter bill ban on a recent local radio show.
“During my show, I clearly expressed my opposition to the mayor’s proposed charter school with Purdue University. I stated that I needed to see several things before I would consider pulling my legislation which would pursue a charter school moratorium in the City of Gary.
Melton said he wants to see a letter of commitment from Purdue. He characterized its Thursday release as a “letter of interest.”
He said he needs to see performance data on Purdue Polytechnic’s three schools and he wants to hear comments from Gary residents.
Melton said earlier he authored the charter school ban bill after voters approved a $72.1 million referendum in November in support of the struggling school district that’s been under state control since 2017.
“I want to reaffirm that I will not withdraw my bill and will be working to get it approved by the legislature. I have an obligation to do what is right for the community of Gary,” Melton said.
GCSC manager Paige McNulty said in a statement: “The commu
nity’s support of the referendum is an indicator of our stakeholders’ faith in the progress of the Gary schools. Further, our conversation with Purdue representatives indicates no immediate actions are in the works, so we will continue to do the work on behalf of children. They need us now more than ever.”
Prince believes a high school for high-performing students could stem the exit of students from the city to other suburban high schools.
Tony Walker, a Prince adviser and local attorney who served on the State Board of Education, said just 11% of the school district’s 10th graders were on grade-level. “They are stuck in classes where most of the teachers’ time is spent on remediation for the other 89%.”
He said 7.8% of the district’s students in grades 3-8 tested on grade-level.
He said Gary families have removed their academically achieving kids from the district and sent them to public schools in Chesterton, Portage, Merrillville and private schools.
Prince and Walker contend those students will return if there’s an option for a Purdue-run school.
“Purdue Polytechnic High School inspires students to pursue their passion through the lens of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), hands-on and project-based learning, industry partnerships and a flexible, personalized learning environment,” Prince said.