IPS Prepares for New Transportation Model - Indianapolis Public Schools

Post published:May 1, 2018

Indianapolis Public Schools is doing transportation in a new way. The Board of School Commissioners recently approved a new Two-Tier Transportation Model for the 2018-19 school year that is expected to create more efficient bus routes and improve overall use of district transportation funds. The unanimous (7-0) vote comes after months of community engagement with our students and families, and is shaped largely by the feedback received from the broader IPS community.

The new two-tier model will address the district’s resource constraints, improve the quality of overall service, and maximize the use of buses and bus drivers — all while implementing the new All-Choice High School model that supports a student’s decision to attend any IPS high school regardless of the geographic location.

2018-19 Transportation Model

Along with new bus times comes new start times for some IPS schools. Nearly 80 percent of the district’s schools will have a shift of 10 minutes or less in bell times. In addition, high schools and middle schools will experience a 10-minute adjustment to their p.m. bell time.

2018-19 School Bell Times

Bell Time	School
7:20-2:10	Arlington Middle School
Crispus Attucks High School
Harshman Middle School
Henry W. Longfellow Medical/STEM Middle School
Newcomer Program
Northwest Middle School
Step Ahead
Graduation Academy
Arsenal Technical High School
George Washington High School
7:20-2:55	Indiana School for the Blind
Indiana School for the Deaf
7:20-3:20	Washington Irving School 14
7:20-4:00	Ignite Achievement Academy at Elder Diggs
7:30-2:20	Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School
7:35-2:10	Lew Wallace School 107
7:35-2:15	William Penn School 49
7:40-2:15	SUPER School 19
Phalen Leadership Academy at George H. Fisher School 93
Meredith Nicholson School 96
William Penn School 49
7:45-2:30	Kindezi Academy at Joyce Kilmer 69
7:50-1:30	McFarland (Homebound, Off-Campus Instruction, ROOTS)
8:20-4:20	KIPP Indy College Prep Middle School
8:25-4:00	Global Preparatory Academy at Riverside 44
9:00-4:00	Cold Spring School
Phalen Leadership Academy at Francis Scott Key 103
9:00-4:15	Wendell Phillips School 63
9:15-4:00	Shortridge High School

Bell Time	School
9:20-3:55	Arlington Woods School 99
Eliza A. Blaker School 55
IPS/Butler University Laboratory School 60
Francis Bellamy Pre-School Center
Raymond F. Brandes School 65
Anna Brochhausen School 88
Brookside School 54
George S. Buck School 94
George Washington Carver School 87
Center for Inquiry School 2
Center for Inquiry School 27
Center for Inquiry School 70
Center for Inquiry School 84
Charles Warren Fairbanks School 105
Clarence Farrington School 61
Stephen Foster School 67
James A. Garfield School 31
Jonathan Jennings School 109
George W. Julian School 57
Robert Lee Frost School 106
Rousseau McClellan Montessori School 91
William McKinley School 39
Paul I. Miller School 114
Christian Park School 82
Francis W. Parker School 56
Theodore Potter School 74
Ernie Pyle School 90
Louis B. Russell Jr. School 48
James Russell Lowell School 51
Sidener Academy for High Ability Students
Eleanor Skillen School 34
Floro Torrence School 83
Ralph Waldo Emerson School 58
Daniel Webster School 46
James Whitcomb Riley School 43
Carl Wilde School 79

As the district continues to offer more autonomy in all of our schools, it is also looking at public transportation as a viable option for students. Starting, May 1, 2018, IPS and IndyGo will start a two-month pilot program with Shortridge High School. For all of May and throughout the month of August, 500 participating students will ride IndyGo buses as an alternative to their normal school buses. Each student will receive a pass that, along with their student ID, allows them to ride IndyGo buses anywhere in the city. The program aims to shorten commutes and make it easier for students to maintain after-school employment and babysitting duties – responsibilities students overwhelmingly stated were important to them when surveyed.

IndyGo has also offered participating students a two-month summer pass to increase their familiarity with riding public transportation. Participating students will be surveyed weekly and qualitative feedback from parents will also be collected.

A recap of all data will be presented to the Board of School Commissioners at a yet-to-be-determined Board meeting.