Two St. Joseph County state senators Thursday filed a bill to replace the elected South Bend Community School board with one controlled by the state of Indiana.
The bill, co-authored by Republican Senators Linda Rogers and Ryan Mishler, would remove all current South Bend school board members on July 1, relegating them to an advisory board that would be abolished once their elected terms expire.
A nine-member nominating commission would send candidates to the governor-appointed Indiana education secretary, who would make the final call, similar to how St. Joseph County superior court judges now are chosen by the governor.
That local nine-member nominating commission would include people appointed by the mayor, county commissioners, the South Bend Education Alliance, which is a nonprofit that helps the school corporation; the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, the Ivy Tech state board, the South Bend Regional Chamber, the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership, the Home Builders Association of St. Joseph Valley, and the South Bend Area Realtors Association.
Rogers, a longtime home builder and a major charter schools advocate, declined to comment through her spokeswoman.
Several South Bend school board members contacted by WVPE said they wanted to defer to Superintendent Mansour Eid for comment. Eid declined our interview request, saying in a statement, “As the bill was filed today, the district is reviewing the proposal and will continue to monitor the legislative process.”
