(This story has been updated to add new information and correct an inaccuracy.)

A teenager who went missing last weekend was found dead on Indianapolis’ northeast side March 13, police and family members say.

The body of Traevion Pirtle, 18, was found near Fervent Prayer Ministries, a church by the intersection of East 38th Street and German Church Road, multiple relatives and family friends gathered near the scene told IndyStar March 14.

According to an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report, officers arrived at the church around 9 p.m. March 13 to conduct a death investigation, though it remains unclear who initially reported the discovery. No weapons were reported at the scene, and the cause of death remains unknown.

Pirtle was last seen March 7 in the 3600 block of Cedar Pine Place, according to police, in a subdivision just south of the church. IMPD officials asked for the public’s help in finding him March 9 and said he “may be in need of medical attention.”

Relatives, including Pirtle’s aunt and two siblings, gathered March 14 in a cul-de-sac near the home where they say he was last seen a week before. Family members have traveled from out of state in recent days to help search for Pirtle, who lived with his mother in Indianapolis, they said.

What we know about Traevion Pirtle

Pirtle lived in Indianapolis with his mother and multiple younger siblings, family members told IndyStar, and was preparing to attend college in Florida this year. He previously attended Lawrence North High School but was not a student at the time of his death, Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township spokesperson Dana Altemeyer told IndyStar.

Gary Pirtle, his 22-year-old brother, said the two remained close despite the older sibling living in Milwaukee. He said his younger brother was a believer in God whose strong spirit at times felt like “too much for this universe.”

Traevion Pirtle was known to his younger siblings at his home in Indianapolis as “the man of the house,” family members said. He worked multiple jobs to help pay the bills, they said, all while pursuing his talent as a rapper.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Today will be a quiet start to the weekend before our weather turns busy in the coming days. Severe weather will be possible within a line of strong storms late Sunday.

TODAY: Mostly cloudy. A stray flurry/sprinkle is mainly possible north of I-70 this morning. High temperatures in the afternoon get into the low 50s.

TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy with a warm front lifting through the state. Low temperatures in the low 40s.

TOMORROW: Mostly cloudy, warm. An enhanced (3/5) risk of severe storms is in place for most along and south of I-70. In central Indiana, a squall line of storms will cross later on in the evening (arriving beyond 8 PM) into the overnight hours.

Damaging wind is the main concern. A few quick spin-up tornadoes are also possible within this line. Winds will even gust outside of this line up to 40-50 mph, which will warrant a wind advisory (not issued yet). High temperatures in the low 70s.

7-DAY FORECAST: Temperatures fall quickly behind Sunday night’s squall line. Scattered snow showers are possible waking up Monday morning, with light accumulation possible. Another clipper system brings a rain/snow mix on Wednesday morning before temperatures warm up to close the week.

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Indianapolis Public Schools plans to cut $7 million from school budgets next school year as it faces an impending financial shortfall.

The cuts could impact anything from staffing to school supply budgets as the district projects ending the year with a $40 million cash deficit that will grow in the coming years without additional voter-approved funding. The school board will vote on the budget for next school year on March 26.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said in a video on Thursday that the proposed budget cuts would affect each school differently, as principals made “tough budget choices” for their schools over the past several weeks.

“Because every school is unique and factors like academic programming, enrollment, and student needs shape a school’s budget, there’s not a one-size-fits-all summary of changes happening across our schools for next year,” Johnson said.

Johnson didn’t list specific cuts in her announcement, and the IPS board won’t vote on the proposed reductions until March 26. But at least two schools have already notified parents about how they are planning to change staffing for next year.

The IPS website is also listing fewer schools for next school year that offer prekindergarten than offered it this year. Johnson did not mention cuts to pre-K services in her Thursday announcement. The district did not respond to requests for comments about whether there will be fewer pre-K sites next year.

The announcement comes as IPS faces increasing financial pressure from a variety of factors: Recent state property tax reform, and a requirement to share property taxes with charter schools, will result in less funding. The district will run out of money if voters don’t pass an operating referendum in November. And like districts nationwide, IPS is grappling with student enrollment declines that affect budgets, which are heavily reliant on per-pupil funding from the state.

Certain teachers to be shared across IPS schools

Before Johnson’s announcement Thursday, some schools announced that they would share teachers designated as “specials” or “studio” — those teaching art or music, for example — with another school next school year. The district adopted the move last year at some schools despite parents’ protests.

Principals at Butler Lab School 55 and Center for Inquiry School 27 told parents over the last few weeks that the specials split would affect their schools next year due to declining enrollment.

“While the minutes of the time your children are in Studio class would not be different from this year, it will be different in timing (days of the week),” Butler Lab 55 Principal Sarah Clark said in an email to families last month.

Clark said the school would also share its English as a New Language teacher with another school in the district, since the number of students identified as English language learners has decreased in the last two years.

The family and community engagement liaison, she said, would also become a part-time position.

Center For Inquiry School 27, meanwhile, would share its specials teachers with Sidener Academy for High Ability students, Principal Hilary Duvall said at a parent-teacher-student association meeting this week.

Johnson said that she will share district-level budget cuts at some point in the future.

“Please know that as we consider decisions to meet our budget, what will remain my number one priority is our students’ access to a high-quality and robust student experience,” she said.

List of IPS prekindergarten sites grows smaller

At least five schools that offer prekindergarten this year are not listed on the district’s website as offering prekindergarten for 2026-27.

The district’s prekindergarten population dropped from 836 last school year to 691 this school year, state enrollment records show. Expanding prekindergarten sites was a core tenet of the district’s Rebuilding Stronger reorganization proposal.

Only one site expanded under Rebuilding Stronger — Garfield School 31 — is not listed as a prekindergarten site for next year, according to an analysis of the district’s published list for next school year and the schools that currently offer prekindergarten.

The district began charging for prekindergarten this school year, citing changes to state funding for prekindergarten and legislative changes that have affected the district’s finances.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.