When a 7-year-old boy was abused by his teacher at an IPS school this year, the administration did not inform parents until after a lawsuit created news about the tragedy. Even parents whose students witnessed the acts were not informed ahead of the media breaking the story.  

I was a parent at that school during the time this took place. I had noticed many teachers and other staff leaving the school, the quality of education declining, and one of my children had experienced bullying. So, I removed them from the school before the story broke. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew things were unraveling.  

Now, parents are concerned about an IPS middle school that is understaffed and has infrastructure problems. This is the school my son attends. I heard that for a while the PA system was broken and there was no way in any emergency situation to ensure all students and staff would be notified. I’m still unclear if this is fixed. My son tells me that he’s witnessed two fights already this school year and has heard of several others. As a mom, I’ve heard other whisperings about inappropriate behaviors in the bathrooms and locker rooms.  

But what really scared me even more than anything else recently was the threat we received on September 13 . It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. I did not know it was my son’s school that was threatened at the time, but I knew I didn’t know enough to feel comfortable sending my children to school. I decided to keep them home because the risk was simply not worth it.  

Even the communication I received from the district about the possible situation, which I am thankful was not a valid threat in the end, was confusing.  I didn’t realize until after I had already kept my children home that his school was one that was threatened because the first automated message I received stated it was a different school. I understand there were multiple threats at the same time involving different schools. Because there were multiple threats, it was the next day that parents received a message stating they were investigating the social media post students had circulated that was a threat against Broad Ripple. I still don’t understand why students who went to school were not immediately sent home.  

Beyond the widespread concerns this year from Broad Ripple Middle School and George Washington Carver 87 parents, there has also been media coverage about Thomas Carr Howe Middle School, including a very hard-to-watch video of one of fight. In that video, it’s mentioned that no one stopped the fight. Not teachers. Not the school police officer. No one.  

I could go on and on about how I am worried and the things I have heard and seen, but I just want to say this: the bottom line is that our kids aren’t safe in some of our IPS schools – especially the new large middle schools that were initiated through Rebuilding Stronger. They are scared about bullying, experiencing or witnessing violence and are subject to try to learn in buildings that aren’t updated to keep them safe.  

I can’t sit back and do nothing. I hope you won’t either.  

I helped to create this petition because I want action taken to protect our babies. We shouldn’t have to fear sending our kids to school. We already have tragedies like the one we saw play out recently in Georgia (among too many other senseless school shootings over the years) to fear. We don’t need additional concerns that should be handled to make us want to cry when we hug our children before waving goodbye and watching them walk into school with nothing but their backpacks and our prayers.  

Please sign this petition and join parents who are scared, worried and want more to be done to protect our students. Help us ask district leaders to make positive changes that protect our children. Help us ask for not only answers, but solutions.  

Parents have written a letter to the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) board, urging them to strengthen a resolution that addresses the opportunity gap in our schools. They want clear language on how the district plans to scale schools that are getting results for historically underserved students.  

Read the parent letter here:

Need more information about the parent effort for growing schools that work? Check out this timeline to see the steps parents have taken in the last 6 months:  

Since delivering a petition signed by more than 1,000 IPS community members to school district leaders this February, parents like me have steadily advocated for the growth of the top public schools for children of color – including public charter schools.  

I have personally drafted a handwritten letter to a commissioner, met with a commissioner and joined commissioners on a tour of one of our city’s best public schools for Black and Brown students, which is currently not a part of IPS now. I also spoke at the board meetings in March and May.  

During this month’s meeting, I was grateful to see a resolution responding to the parent petition was posted, but as a parent I wanted the chance to review that resolution before it was put to a vote. Luckily, IPS board members listened to my request and paused the vote to allow parents to weigh in.  

Several parents who supported the petition met this week and wrote a letter to the board. This letter contains the small, but important changes we want to see on the resolution.

Today, we are asking for IPS community member support.  

If you also believe in a more equitable IPS and want to see the growth of schools that close the opportunity gap, please stand with parents and add your name to our letter today.

When we use our collective voices, we can make positive change. I am hopeful that with enough signatures added to our letter, IPS leaders will make meaningful changes to resolution #8020 that will make it align with the request parents made in February. It is extremely important to us that data, showing evidence of supporting dramatically better outcomes for Black and Brown students, is driving the decisions surrounding which schools to grow. 

I want to see Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) close the opportunity gap by growing schools that work, regardless of the type of public school.

Watch this to learn why:

All children are capable of amazing achievement in the classroom. It comes down to the opportunities provided by our public education system.

In my last video post, I shared some of the details surrounding my journey with advocacy.

I know that a child getting a quality education can be the difference between them having a life of poverty or a life of prosperity.

Watch this short video to learn why I want to see IPS schools grow school models that are proven to close the opportunity gap. After you watch, please join me and ask IPS leaders to grow schools that work. I know that all children can thrive if given equitable opportunities to succeed.

I started advocating for the change that I want to see in our schools when my now 20-year-old daughter was in elementary school.

Watch this video to learn more about my journey and why I will always fight for education equity here: