Indianapolis, IN
IPS school board asks for a voice in legislature
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The Indianapolis Public Schools board took a stand against bills at the statehouse that could dismantle the district in a statement at its Thursday meeting, calling on the public to share their concerns with lawmakers.
But in a rare move for a board that has in recent years prided itself on presenting a united front, some board members wrote separate additional statements calling for change from the powerful education reform organizations that have faced heightened criticism since the legislation was introduced.
The board’s statement, which members took turns reading before a crowd of over 50 people, is the district’s latest response to a legislative session that could challenge the district’s future viability. House Bill 1136, the most extreme bill facing the district, would dissolve IPS and its elected school board and replace it with charter schools overseen by an appointed board. Another bill, House Bill 1501, would strip the district of its power over transportation and facilities.
A third proposal would force IPS to give charter schools what charter advocates have long pushed for: more tax dollars. These bills all come as Gov. Mike Braun advocates for property tax cuts statewide and the district faces a severe budget shortfall in the coming years.
“All together, the picture that comes into focus is challenging but clear: There simply is no scenario where the district looks in a decade the way it does today,” board member Hope Hampton read from the statement.
The board’s statement adds to the city’s increasingly politically charged education environment. Roughly 30 people spoke in public comment on Thursday, at times shouting back at the board during their individual statements and pushing for more time for public comment. The legislative proposals have not been heard in committees at the Statehouse yet, and some argued that HB 1136 is a bargaining chip to force IPS to share more property tax revenues with charter schools.
In its statement, the board said it will “show an authentic willingness to work together” as it did in 2014, when the legislature passed the Innovation schools law. But the board also nodded to a potential overabundance of schools for the district’s population of roughly 40,000 students, and said that closing or consolidating schools “can not rest only with our district.” It also said “all of our public schools must be included in this solution.”
The board called House Bill 1136 “a non-starter” that would destabilize the district’s financial foundations and strip communities of their voice. House Bill 1501 would create confusion and raise taxes, the board said. And Senate Bill 518 would shift tens of millions of dollars from the district to charter schools.
“Revenue loss on that scale — which could approach half the district’s operations fund budget — would unquestionably force us to close 20 or more district schools and cut many jobs throughout the district,” board member Ashley Thomas read from the statement.
Board members call for unity, scrutinize pro-charter groups
In individual statements, some board members took aim at the growth of the charter sector and the Mind Trust, Stand for Children, and RISE Indy — groups that advocate for their own interests and run their own programs but are also supportive of charter schools.
Stand for Children and RISE Indy have political action committees that have also donated tens of thousands to IPS school board races.
Board member Nicole Carey scrutinized the number of charter schools in the city, noting that other states have caps on charter schools.
“It is not efficient to have too many schools operating in silos, each with their own administration, each pulling from the same limited pool of resources,” she said.
Carey also called on the Mind Trust, Stand for Children, and RISE Indy to use their power at the statehouse to ensure all students get what they need.
“But that’s not what’s happening,” she said.
Board member Gayle Cosby described the three groups as “intent on destroying public education by any means necessary.” (Charter schools are public schools but privately operated.)
Through a spokesperson, the Mind Trust reiterated its support for solutions to increase access to transportation and facilities.
“The Mind Trust believes Indianapolis Public Schools remaining a strong and stable district is important to the vibrancy of Indianapolis,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “There is no truth to claims that the Mind Trust is working to destabilize IPS. In fact, the opposite is true. Our teams have worked collaboratively for years to advance outcomes for all public school students.”
In a statement, RISE Indy said it takes pride in its work to elevate Black and Brown voices in political spaces.
“We unapologetically advocate for every public school child because marginalized students exist in all school types,” the statement said.
Parents with Stand for Children, which organizes parents to advocate on educational topics, did not speak to the specific claims against the group but publicly commented on the need for support for charter schools, some of which they say offer their child a better education.
Board member Thomas called for unity, urging the public to focus on challenges students face every day, such as poverty and crime.
“While we should be fighting the real monsters, we are turning around and fighting each other,” Thomas said. “We won’t always agree with one another, but if we continue to split hairs simply to keep division moving, then we will continue to be dog-walked.”
The public voices opposition, concern on charters
Most of the roughly 30 people who spoke at the meeting Thursday were opposed to the expansion of charter schools and the dissolution of the district.
Amy Noel, whose child has a 504 plan for students with disabilities, questioned charters’ ability to serve him.
“How do we know how many charters who are going to say, ‘You know what, I don’t want to deal with this kid,’” Noel said. “What’s going to prevent them from throwing that kid out, and then that kid tries to go to another school, and then what if it happens again? There’s no fallback for those kids.”
Other parents called on IPS to change.
Vilma Hernandez said she pulled her son from IPS when he was placed on the wrong bus and dropped off far from home.
“It made me realize I couldn’t rely on the system to keep him safe,” she said through a translator. “One of the biggest inequities in our system is that families must provide their own transportation to charter schools, even when those schools offer some of the best education in the city.”
Feb. 20 is the last day for bills to pass out of their originating chambers at the statehouse.
Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.
INDIANAPOLIS – A man died in a crash on the near northwest side of Indianapolis.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were dispatched to 505 W. 16th St. around 4:15 a.m. Thursday.
There, officers discovered a vehicle had crashed into a utility pole. The driver was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
The incident remains under investigation.
Indianapolis, IN
Adam Vinatieri will celebrate on the field in Indianapolis again as Colts’ Ring of Honor member
INDIANAPOLIS — Adam Vinatieri, the NFL’s career scoring leader who was also widely considered the best clutch kicker in league history, will have one more celebration on the Indianapolis Colts’ home turf this season when he’s inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor.
Team officials announced Wednesday that Vinatieri would be honored during the Colts’ game against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 18, a little more than two months after his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Vinatieri will become the Colts’ 21st Ring of Honor honoree five years after he officially retired.
He’ll join a group that includes former teammates and fellow Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney, as well as Robert Mathis, Jeff Saturday and Reggie Wayne. Tony Dungy, the Hall of Fame coach for whom Vinatieri played; Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, who signed Vinatieri as a free agent before the 2006 season; and late team owner Jim Irsay are also in the Colts’ ring.
The four-time Super Bowl champion shocked many when he left New England as the franchise’s career scoring leader after 10 seasons and wound up with longtime rival Indianapolis. But Vinatieri was far from finished and went on to break the Colts’ career scoring mark, too.
Though Vinatieri’s stats tell one tale: He finished his career with 2,673 points and as the league’s all-time leader in field goals made (599), field goal attempts (715), consecutive field goals made (44) and 100-plus point seasons (21). But it was his penchant for making kicks in the toughest conditions and most crucial moments that stuck with him.
His 45-yard field goal into swirling winds amid snowy conditions for New England in a January 2002 AFC divisional round game tied it and sent the Patriots into overtime against the then-Oakland Raiders. He then kicked a 23-yarder to start New England’s trek to coach Bill Belichick’s first Super Bowl.
Two weeks later, Vinatieri did it again by making a 43-yarder in the waning seconds to give the Patriots their first Super Bowl title with a 20-17 victory over the then-St. Louis Rams in much more ideal conditions.
Vinatieri 41-yarder with 4 seconds left broke a 29-29 tie with the Carolina Panthers for New England’s second Super Bowl title two years later.
Vinatieri continued to excel in Indy, where he first played inside a dome stadium and later a retractable roof stadium.
In January 2007, the South Dakota State alum made five field goals in a divisional round game that featured no touchdowns at Baltimore. The 15-6 victory set up an AFC title game rematch between the Colts and Patriots, this time in Indy with Vinatieri on the opposite sideline from Tom Brady and his ex-teammates. Vinatieri’s playoff run continued as the Colts reached their first Super Bowl since the franchise moved to Indianapolis.
Vinatieri made three more field goals and captured yet another ring while finishing that postseason with 49 points and 14 field goals, both one-season playoff records, while becoming the first player to make three or more field goals in four consecutive postseason games.
Vinatieri ranks second all-time in NFL victories (242), regular-season wins (221) and postseason wins (21) and is one of five players who appeared in a game at age 46. He’s the only player in league history to make 250 or more field goals and scored 1,000 points for two teams.
The three-time All-Pro also was a three-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Indianapolis, IN
DC BLOX cuts building from data center plans near Irvington, makes environmental pledges
See video of a proposed DC Blox data center campus on Indianapolis’ east side
The site of a proposed DC Blox three-building data center campus sits Thursday, April 23, 2026, at 305 Fintail Drive in Indianapolis.
A week ahead of a key vote, the company that seeks to build a data center near Irvington has removed an entire building from its site plan in response to community backlash.
The scaled-back proposal from Atlanta-based DC BLOX consolidates three facilities into two and will feature 25 fewer backup diesel generators, a roughly 35% reduction in electricity demand, and a larger buffer zone south of the Pennsy Trail and an adjacent elementary school.
The company still expects the project to create up to 600 construction jobs and bring about $2 billion in investment — a mix of construction costs and clients’ spending on computing equipment to store data. But the new proposal will create 17 permanent jobs, about half as many as originally planned.
“These layout changes represent a proactive step by DC BLOX that addresses community feedback regarding neighborhood density, utility capacity, and visual impact,” spokeswoman Nichole Thomas said in a July 8 press release, “while maintaining the massive economic and tax-base advantages of the $2 billion tech infrastructure investment.”
The change comes a week before the company’s use variance request is set for a vote in a July 15 Metropolitan Development Commission hearing. The original plans called for three buildings spanning 410,000 square feet, requiring 56 diesel generators and close to 80 megawatts of power demand.
If the plans at 305 Fintail Drive are approved, the company says the first building, a one-story facility between about 70,000-80,000 square feet, will likely be finished within two years. The second building, a two-story roughly 250,000-square-foot center, could begin construction in 2029 and be finished by 2031. Together, they would use an estimated 31 generators and about 50 megawatts.
Community backlash prompts environmental pledges
Many east-side residents have organized against the planned data center for months, packing a June 11 meeting where the company received preliminary approval. Among their chief complaints are that the data center could bring noise, air pollution and a spike in local electricity demand within a mile of thousands of residences while creating relatively few jobs.
DC BLOX has touted the tax benefits and union construction jobs a data center campus would bring to a blighted industrial site, where more popular uses like housing or a park are prohibited by state law. They say the finished campus, at the site of a former Ford manufacturing plant, would be “among the largest property-tax contributors” in Warren Township and Marion County.
The company recently pledged 20 commitments, including to pay 100% of its utility costs, protect air quality by capturing 95% of particulate emissions on diesel generators, and to minimize water usage with a closed-loop or waterless system to cool its whirring computers. DC BLOX would also contribute $100,000 over five years to Pennsy Trail improvements and a “multi-million dollar investment … to meet priority needs of the community.”
While many residents demand a moratorium on new data centers, the city recently advanced regulations on the unprecedented developments.
A proposal moving through the Indianapolis City-County Council aims to keep the facilities at least 400 feet away from protected districts like neighborhoods, limit sound levels to 65 decibels and require detailed site plans that address common concerns like water and energy usage. Councilors plan to hear public comment on the regulations at the July 13 Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee meeting, where the proposal could be advanced to the full council for a vote in August.
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Email Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTSmith@indystar.com. Follow him on X @jordantsmith09 and Bluesky @jordanaccidentally.bsky.social.
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