A resolution regarding future uses for Clay High School was tabled by the South Bend school board on Monday after WVPE reported about the item.
School corporation leaders this week were set to consider a resolution that affirmed the district intends to use Clay High School after it closes at the end of this school year. The resolution was vaguely worded and would approve Clay to be used "for purposes allowed under Indiana law including: classroom instruction for school corporation, charitable and tax exempt purposes; civic or public purposes, operation of school age care programs, administrative or school officers."
However, after WVPE asked school officials about the context around the resolutions, the school board tabled that item before Monday night’s board meeting.
In an email to WVPE, school board president Stuart Greene said the resolution was meant to provide some stability for the district as it voted last year to close both Clay and Warren Elementary.
"We need some stability at a time when we are planning for transitions at a number of schools in the corporation. Once we see how things play out across the district, we will be in a better position to have a clear plan for Clay and Warren. For now, we will talk further as a Board and postpone voting on resolutions at both schools," Greene wrote.
A big item that was yet to play out is whether the South Bend school corp. Will be able to keep the Clay building. The local Career Academy charter network has made a claim to buy the building for $1 under a controversial Indiana law.
That exact issue was at the heart of a recent lawsuit in which Indianapolis Public Schools successfully argued they were exempt from the $1 law because of a 2021 agreement to share referendum funding. The Indiana Charter Network argued that the exemption only applied to referendums that occurred after May 2023, but the judge in the case ruled the law was vague and the prior revenue sharing counted.
Based on the resolution going before the school board on Monday, it appears South Bend schools similarly believes it is exempt from that law due to a recent agreement to share referendum funds with a the Purdue Polytechnic charter network. The agreement with Purdue Polytechnic is structured similarly to the one IPS entered into.
