EdisonLearning official: Lawsuit does not affect this year's funding

GARY | Officials from a management company operating Gary Roosevelt do not believe a Marion County Superior Court ruling will affect them. 

Last month, Marion County Superior Court Judge Patrick McCarty ruled against the Indiana State Board of Education, saying the state improperly counted students at four schools in Indianapolis. The ruling impacts not just funding for the Indianapolis Public Schools but also the Gary Community School Corp., which lost the former Roosevelt High School to a Tennessee-based management company.

Todd McIntire, vice president of EdisonLearning, which now operates Gary Roosevelt, said in an email Wednesday that it is the company's understanding the lawsuit will not change the projected funding for the operation of Roosevelt this year.

"We have been told that this ruling is about the amount of funds withheld from the (school) district rather than the amount allocated to the operator," McIntire said. "These amounts are not the same. The state board has approved all allocations for the 2012-13 school year for turnaround academies.

"If our understanding is incorrect or if the level of funding for Roosevelt should decrease this school year, we would naturally be required to make changes to the operation of the school."

McIntire said they knew the 2012-13 year would be a unique year for funding given the state’s use of last year’s enrollment to determine funding for the current school year.

"For 2013-14, this anomaly will be gone and we have planned our future budgets accordingly," he said.

Stephanie Sample, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education, acknowledged the ruling has implications not just for the Indianapolis Public Schools but also for the Gary Community School Corp.

Some officials say the ruling means the state shorted Indianapolis about $6 million and shorted the Gary Community School Corp. about $2 million.

Sample said the state intends to appeal the ruling.

The state took over seven schools, and management companies were assigned to five schools — four in Indianapolis and one in Gary. Lead Partners were assigned to the remaining two schools in Indianapolis.