Indiana public schools losing thousands of kids to charter, private, innovation schools

Traditional public schools in Indiana have been steadily losing enrollment in the state's competitive educational market, according to two new reports from Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy that examine enrollment trends for the past 16 years.

Nearly 70% of Indiana’s 286 traditional public school corporations saw the number of students enrolled decline from 2006-2022, according to one of the IU studies.

For the most part, urban school districts have lost the most students, while nonpublic schools received just over half of student transfers in recent years due to Indiana’s choice scholarship program, the IU researchers found. The second report found that 47% of the students who left public school corporations in fall 2022 transferred to another public school option, such as a charter school.

A loss of student enrollment also means a loss of school funding, which in turn can mean fewer resources for school districts to spend on their students, said Christopher Lubienski, CEEP director and co-author of the reports.

“The question then becomes are (schools) in a position, as their financial base erodes, to make substantive changes to improve opportunities for the kids that are still in those schools who aren’t choosing to go elsewhere,” Lubienski said.

The report focused on the past 16 years of enrollment trends because that is when most of Indiana’s school choice programs were in practice, he said. The data in the reports comes from the Indiana Department of Education.

Which schools are losing students?

The Indianapolis Public Schools district lost 15,527 students in the past 16 years —or more than 41% of its student body — more than any other district in the state. IPS is one of the largest school districts in the state.

Other major urban areas like Gary Community Schools and South Bend Community Schools have also seen significant drops in enrollment.

Enrollment in Gary Community Schools dropped by 73% in the past 16 years, more than any other district.

An increase in school choice policies passed by the state legislature in recent years helped fuel this trend, Lubienski said.

“(Lawmakers) wanted to create an environment that is informed by parental choice, and at the same time there’s less of a focus on equitable funding for schools that are serving a large portion of disadvantaged students,” Lubienski said. “So it’s not surprising that families are leaving and looking for other options.”

Indiana’s funding formula for schools has shifted over the years to focus on increasing the base amount that each district receives based on enrollment and decreasing the amount of funding given to districts based on their “at-risk” populations.

From the 2021-23 school years, four Marion County districts were among the top 20 schools in the state with the greatest enrollment loss: Washington Township with 390 students, Perry Township with 380 students, Wayne Township with 257 students and Pike Township with 244 students.

Which schools are gaining students?

In the last 16 years, 14 of the 25 school corporations in Indiana with the largest enrollment growths sit mostly in the suburbs surrounding Indianapolis.

Hamilton Southeastern Schools showed the largest growth in the last 16 years, gaining 7,381 students.

Franklin Township Community School Corporation, which gained 3,394 students, saw the largest growth in Marion County.

Virtual schools increase in enrollment

Two outliers stood out among the top 25 school corporations with the largest percentage growth in enrollment. Union School Corporation and Clarksville Community School Corporation started online schools in 2018 and 2021, leading to the increase.

Union School Corporation saw a 1,420% change in enrollment growth in the last 16 years, while Clarksville Community Schools saw a 167% enrollment growth. The next largest percentage growth after that is in Westfield-Washington Schools with 75% growth.

More on Suburban school growth: Westfield Washington is outgrowing its schools; the district has a plan to fix that

Clarksville and Union School Corporation also have the highest net overall enrollment increases at 2,685 and 900 respectively. Brownsburg Community School Corporation followed with a 373-student increase.

The only Marion County school district to land in the top 20 school districts for enrollment increases in the 2021-23 school years is Lawrence Township with an additional 167 students.

Where are the students going?

The second report published by CEEP looks at student transfer data in Indiana schools for the fall 2022.

While many Indiana public school districts see their students leave for other public schools, more students overall transfer using Indiana’s choice scholarship program, or private school voucher program, the report says.

Out of the top 25 public school corporations that saw the most transfers to nonpublic schools, eight are Marion County districts, with IPS leading the way with 4,184 students.

In total, 11,364 students who live within Marion County public school boundaries transferred to a private school via the voucher program in fall 2022.

Students who live within the Fort Wayne Community Schools boundary had the most transfers to a nonpublic school in the state with 5,159

More on vouchers: Here's who uses Indiana's private school voucher program

Overall, 52,674 students in Indiana used a private school voucher in fall 2022.

In Indianapolis Roncalli High School received the most vouchers, 655 students.

The report also found that 46,393 students transferred from a traditional public school to a charter school in Indiana for fall 2022. The Indiana Connections Academy, an online K-12 charter school, received the most transfers at 5,863 students.

The brick-and-mortar charter school in Indianapolis that received the most transfer students is the Herron Charter School network's two high schools with 997 students.

But some traditional public school districts also gained students from other districts through choice programs. Lawrence Township gained 1,696 students; Wayne Township 1,294; Warren Township 1,093; Beech Grove City Schools 1,088; and IPS had 959 students from other districts.

Why families pick their schools

A recently released survey of more than 2,000 Marion County parents found that people approve of school choice. The report was produced by the Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that has helped cultivate charter schools in Indianapolis and EmpowerED Families, an education-focused parent advocacy nonprofit.

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Out of the 2,000 survey responses, 1,390 were charter and IPS innovation school parents and 810 were IPS district-run school parents, a Mind Trust spokesperson told IndyStar.

The report says that 75% of survey respondents “believe government leaders should enact policies that help parents make the best decisions for their child’s education.”

A majority of charter and innovation school parents report being pleased with their school choice and 67% said they would recommend their school to another family.

The survey also details the reasons charter and innovation parents like their schools, such as a sense of community, personalized attention, diverse staff, innovative curriculums and a safe learning environment.

Contact IndyStar reporter Caroline Beck at 317-618-5807 or CBeck@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolineB_Indy.

Caroline’s reporting is made possible by Report for America and Glick Philanthropies. As part of its work in Marion County, Glick Philanthropies partners with organizations focused on closing access and achievement gaps in education.

Report for America is a program of The GroundTruth Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening local newsrooms. Report for America provides funding for up to half of the reporter’s salary during their time with us, and IndyStar is fundraising the remainder. To learn more about how you can support IndyStar’s partnership with Report for America and to make a donation, visit indystar.com/RFA.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Public Schools losing kids by the thousands while school choice gains