A Gary school board committee meeting, from 2016
Gary schools bill – SB567 – passes
Contributed By:The 411 News
Legislation strips away powers of superintendent and school board
Approval of the legislation turning over the Gary Community School Corp. to Indiana’s Distressed Unit Appeals Board came late Friday night, a few hours before the end of Indiana’s 120th General Assembly.
SB567 will get to the governor’s desk in the coming days and there is no doubt Gov. Holcomb will sign the bill that started out in the Senate as proposed legislation to give financial support to the Gary school district and came out of the House with changes that stripped away the financial and academic responsibilities of Gary’s school superintendent and school board.
The House version is headed for Gov. Holcomb’s desk.
The district will now be overseen by an emergency manager, a chief financial officer, and a chief academic officer. The emergency manager will determine the role of Supt. Cheryl Pruitt whose contract expires in 2018. The current school board will be relegated to once-per-month meetings and as an advisor to the emergency manager.
Rep. Charlie Brown (D-Gary) did get the House to accept a stipulation for the selection of the emergency manager. The DUAB must first look in Gary and northwest Indiana to fill the position.
“Next, we have to work out the transition terms with the DUAB,” said school board member Nellie Moore.
Story Posted:04/24/2017
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