We Told You So

The Indianapolis Public School Board voted 4-3 Monday to approve Superintendent Eugene White's contentious plan to reassign administrators at 12 schools.

The plan is identical to one the board rejected on Jan. 25, except for changes that affect administrators at Northwest High School. Those changes were enough for board member Michael Brown, who voted no in January, to vote yes Monday.

Brown said he had been concerned that removal of an assistant principal at Northwest would have caused unnecessary turmoil for the school's freshman center.

"I had specific concerns," Brown said. "He (White) addressed my concerns, and it deserved a yes vote."

Last month's rejection of the plan, aimed at cutting costs and meeting federal grant requirements, had exposed sharp divisions on the board and prompted an angry White to demand the board buy out his contract.

Member Samantha Adair-White, who voted against the plan with Annie Roof and Diane Arnold, noted during the meeting that Brown's son attends Northwest.

"All the changes were to pacify board member Brown," she said.

Roof had harsher comments: "This is adults taking care of adults," she said. "(This is about) people's self-interest, nepotism, politics and favors."

The compromise that gained Brown's vote was reached after a closed-door meeting on Jan. 31. Board members Elizabeth Gore, Mary Busch and Marianna Zaphiriou also voted in favor Monday.

"This is not a contest," White said. "We have to work together in order to do things to serve our children."

The moves mean eight schools will have new principals by the start of next school year.

This is part of an overall plan that trims $560,000 from the IPS budget. The district still needs to cut $15 million from its budget for the upcoming school year.

The reassignments of principals at Arlington, Northwest and Howe high schools are a response to rules in the No Child Left Behind federal education law and the district's desire to seek federal grants for those schools.

The district had to take corrective action because the schools' students have recorded six years of subpar test performance. The federal rules require officials to "reconstitute" underperforming schools by removing the principal and at least half the teachers.

The changes allow IPS to seek federal grants to help improve the schools.

Another change under the plan calls for a promotion and $13,000 raise for White's son, Reginald White, the behavior dean at Tech High School. He becomes an assistant principal, raising his pay to $92,000 from $78,606.

Eugene White has said he played no role in the decision to promote his son. He noted Monday that despite the raise, his son's hourly pay rate actually decreases because he goes from working 10 months a year to 12 months a year.