6 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Irvington charter school board faces backlash over CEO search, transparency
Parents and teachers at Irvington Community Schools are demanding more answers from the charter network's board after accusations of a lack of transparency and a power grab attempt by the board chair.
On Aug. 12, around 45 teachers, students and parents protested outside the Irvington Preparatory Academy, where board members were having an executive session meeting 'concerning ICS Leadership plan,' according to a public notice.
Executive session meetings are closed to the public, but must meet one of the stated reasons under Indiana's Open Door Law to hold a closed-door meeting.
The Irvington Community schools network, which is comprised of three schools – one elementary, one middle and one high school – is one of the oldest in the state, with its first campus opening in 2002.
Charter schools are governed by an appointed non-profit board, unlike traditional public schools, which are held accountable by an elected school board.
The Indianapolis Mayor's office of Education Innovation is the network's authorizer and can ultimately extend the school's contract or shut it down.
The network's last CEO resigned earlier this year, and the six-member board of governors has been searching for its next leader since.
However, at the beginning of this school year, teachers were allegedly informed that the board had landed on a final candidate: current board chair, Rashay Foster.
This angered some teachers who believe Foster is not qualified to hold the position and would prefer to see someone who has a doctorate in school administration or has at least experience being a administrator.
'This CEO position is meant to help guide our school leaders,' John Elmore, a teacher at Irvington Preparatory Academy, told IndyStar. 'So, how can someone guide a principal if they've never been a principal themselves?'
Foster was approved unanimously to be on the board in May 2024, according to the school network's board meeting minutes.
According to Foster's LinkedIn profile, she currently works for Leading Educators, a non-profit that provides training for educators, a director of content and coaching, as well as a senior manager at The New Teacher Project, a non-profit consulting company.
She also worked as a teacher and instructional coach for six years at KIPP Indy, a charter school network in the Martindale Brightwood neighborhood.
She holds a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from the Ohio State University and a master's degree in the art of teaching from Marian University, according to her profile on the Irvington Community Schools website.
Foster could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
Teachers are also accusing Foster of not recusing herself from the interview process for other CEO candidates when she was also applying for the position.
Overall, teachers and parents have been left confused by the CEO search process and are demanding that the board provide answers or risk losing teachers and families.
Elmore, who participated in one of the 'town hall' meetings to interview potential CEO candidates, said that he helped interview a highly qualified candidate who he thought could do great in the role. However, that candidate didn't continue through and the reason why was never communicated to him.
Further messages from the board about a final candidate were not communicated to teachers or families, leaving many unclear on who was going to be their next leader.
On Aug. 8, the board scheduled a special meeting to supposedly take a final vote on the CEO candidate, according to teachers with knowledge about the meeting, but once word spread that Foster was likely the choice, teachers started organizing a protest for the meeting.
The board then sent out a notice that afternoon that the meeting had been canceled to allow the board 'additional time to reflect on incoming communications regarding our public CEO search, as well as the interruption to the learning experience at our schools.'
The referenced learning interruption was an Aug. 8 mass callout by the teachers at Irvington Preparatory Academy to send a message to the board about their concerns.
'We model the behavior we want for our kids,' said world history teacher Darrell Beam on why he was out protesting on Aug. 12. 'We want our kids to be able to advocate for themselves. We want our kids to be able to see something wrong and to act for change.'
Some teachers are also accusing the board of wanting to take the final vote approving CEO during a closed-door meeting, which would be in violation of Indiana's Open Door Law.
Teachers point to board meeting minutes from their May 28 meeting that state under 'CEO Update' that the plan 'would be to schedule an executive session to vote so that we don't lose candidates.'
None of the board members took questions from reporters after the Aug. 12 executive session meeting, and it is unclear if they voted for a CEO during the meeting.
A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office of Education Innovation said their office was aware of the recent concerns surrounding the CEO search.
'We have been provided with updates about the process through regular check-ins with school and board representatives over the past few months,' the spokesperson told IndyStar. 'Although we have had discussions about aspects of the process when requested, the board is responsible for all hiring and related decisions.'
None of the board members could be reached for comment by the time of publication.
Now Irvington schools' parents like Mary Eaton are worried that if the wrong person is chosen for CEO, it could lead to major changes at the school and cause teachers to leave.
'We've watched the teachers put in their blood, sweat and tears for this school and for these kids, so anything that would change that would be horrible for everyone,' Eaton told IndyStar.
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Senior at Irvington Preparatory Academy, Brooke Schilling, said teachers and staff "uphold this school" and she's worried about them leaving.
"If this vote happens, a lot of teachers are going to leave, because none of them want to work for a corrupt school,' Schilling told IndyStar.
