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.

(MIRROR INDY) — Amber Toombs has been a resident of the Riverside neighborhood on the west side since 2014. But for a quarter of the time she’s lived there, she’s been unable to cross the 30th Street Bridge.

The historic bridge was built in 1908 and rehabilitated in 1979. Decades of use and breakdown of the limestone wore the bridge down to the point where another rehabilitation was required.

But the rehabilitation, which was scheduled to begin in 2020, experienced several delays that extended preparations and construction time by several years. Construction on the bridge began in 2022, which required the bridge to close.

Peoples’ patience for the project to be completed wore down faster than the bridge did. For many, the bridge closure resulted in them having to take miles-long detours to reach a spot 200 feet away.

“It closed forever ago,” Toombs said. “They said it was only going to be like one year, and it’s just added so much time onto this community’s commute.”

When westsiders got the chance to cross the bridge for the first time this week, some shouted “Hallelujah” from their vehicles as they crossed and others let their dogs do the celebrating by barking out open windows.

“I’m glad it’s finally open. I know it took time, but they really made sure it came out nice. So, I appreciate that,” Toombs said.

What took so long?

After years of rehabilitation, the bridge looks almost exactly the same as it did before the project started. That’s on purpose.

The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System, which was designed by landscape architect George Kessler in 2003. Crews sought to modernize it while keeping as much of the original bridge as possible.

The project used the existing foundation but replaced portions of the arches. Crews reused the original limestone exterior by reassembling them piece by piece. They also used lighting fixtures that looked like the original ones.

Toombs thinks the crews did a good job with the bridge, but she shared a sentiment felt by many westside residents during the construction.

“I’m glad it’s back up, but it feels like it didn’t need to take this long,” Toombs said.

The project experienced several major delays before construction began and at its onset, pushing back the project by about two years.

Then federally protected barn swallows made their nest on the bridge, forcing workers to wait until after their nesting season to remove the nests and begin construction.

Once work began, engineers found the bridge was in worse condition than originally believed. New parts were needed, adding about a year to the timeline. Once the parts arrived, they were found to have defects that needed repairs and modifications. That slowed down work even more.

More bridge woes ahead

The opening of the 30th Street Bridge isn’t the end of bridge-based traffic woes on the west side. Some bridge construction remains. The Department of Public Works says the entire 30th Street Bridge project won’t be complete until May.

DPW will also begin a project to extend the life of the 16th Street Bridge over the White River in June.

The pothole-covered deck of the bridge will be replaced and the substructure, the part that holds the bridge up, will be rehabilitated.

The project will require the bridge to close for about two years, during which time many residents will have to take a detour across the 30th Street Bridge.

“It’s gonna be a popular bridge,” Toombs said.

Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.

Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.