Redevelopment commission OKs TIF dollars for schools

Jim Roberts

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. could receive $750,000 from the city through tax increment financing next school year if a recommendation by the Columbus Redevelopment Commission is approved by the Columbus City Council.

Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to grant the local school district the funding for three student programs: iGrad, STEM and transition planning for students with disabilities. The funds would be allocated for one year with an option to renew.

BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts appeared Monday before the redevelopment commission, which considered the district’s request to continue receiving $750,000 in tax increment financing funds from the city to support school programs. The district has received $750,000 in TIF funds for the past three years from the city under an agreement, which requires BCSC to report its progress on an annual basis.

Each of the three programs prepare students for the workforce in their own way, Roberts said.

“We understand our obligations, responsibility and accountability, and so we’re happy to be able to come back to you and demonstrate the things that are going on and look forward to continued growth in those areas,” Roberts said.

The school leader requested $253,825 for iGrad — consistent with the corporation’s previous requests and its average annual contribution to the program. iGrad is an embedded approach used in Bartholomew County middle schools and high schools — both in BCSC and Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. — to achieve a high school graduation rate of 100%.

Roberts said the program identifies students who are most at risk of not graduating and provides them with support through the end of their senior year to successfully complete high school and enter post-secondary education or careers.

iGrad served 562 middle and high school students in 2018-19 school year, and is expected to serve about 580 during the 2019-20 school year.

BCSC currently splits the cost of iGrad with Ivy Tech Community College. In 2018-19, it shared 40% of the cost. The district will share an estimated 45% of the cost next school year.

In 2016, commission president Sarah Cannon said that the corporation would provide the commission with various metrics it would use to measure the success of the iGrad funding, including:

Increasing graduation rates

Decreasing dropout rates

Increasing the number of students served through iGrad

Increasing iGrad personnel, including mentors and tutors

Increasing the number of iGrad participants who move on to post-secondary education.

Roberts shared those numbers with the commission Monday. Between 2011 and 2018, iGrad graduated 11% more students with a four-year general education. The program also saw a 36% decrease in the number of student dropouts.

Since the 2011-12 school year, BCSC has increased its number of students served by 82%. It has also increased its number of volunteer mentors and tutors working with iGrad by 43% from 2015-16 to 2018-19.

The percentage of iGrad students attempting post-secondary institutions upon graduation increased by 102%. iGrad graduated 98% of its seniors in 2018. Roberts said 2019 numbers have not been made available by the Indiana Department of Education.

Roberts also requested $228,778 for the corporation’s STEM initiatives. He said $72,000 would go to the development of an information technology pathway at Columbus Signature Academy — New Tech High School with a post-secondary partner, to be determined. The other $156,778 would go to the development and support of STEM labs in every BCSC elementary school.

When former BCSC Superintendent John Quick made an initial request for $574,963 for STEM programming in 2016, the commission was not on board, choosing to give $249,379 to STEM programming — less than half of the requested amount.

Then, the corporation proposed using the money for equipment upgrades and science lab upgrades. The remaining dollars would have gone toward promotion of the STEM Seamless Pathways program and professional development initiatives.

Cannon originally suggested no funding for STEM in 2016, saying she believed in an area like Columbus, it would be easy to find alternate sources to provide STEM dollars, but other commission members disagreed. Former commissioner Bob Abrams, also a former BCSC school board member, said STEM had to compete with other capital projects within the corporation for funding since most of the district’s STEM costs related to hardware.

Over the last three years, BCSC has used the money allotted to STEM programming to increase the percentage of students obtaining science credits and students enrolled in advanced science courses and increase the representation of special populations in advanced science courses.

The corporation also increased professional development opportunities in the use of physical and curricular materials to enhance content expertise and make science content accessible to all students.

In June, the corporation hosted STEM Camp, a free four-day camp for fifth and sixth graders to engage in hands-on, STEM-focused activities like culinary arts, engineering, computer science and welding. Roberts said 100 students registered and the camp had an average daily attendance of 73 students.

The commission also allocated $267,397 to the corporation’s Transition Planning program, which helps identify students with special needs’ strengths, preferences, interests and needed supports to ultimately assist and connect them with employment, community experiences, daily living skills and instruction among other things.

Since 2015-16, BCSC has increased the number of People Centered Plans to include more students with disabilities by 371% and provided ongoing support to previously trained teachers and initial training to high school special education teachers.

The corporation also increased the percentage of individualized transition goals mastered by BCSC students by 7% between 2017-18 and 2018-19 and increased the number of paid work experiences for students with disabilities.

Throughout the last three years, BCSC has created and continued partnerships with local organizations and businesses for students with special needs.

In the future, Roberts said the district will continue to use the funds to provide initial training to new special education teachers at the middle schools, provide ongoing support to previously trained teachers and provide initial training and focused support to Central Middle School’s special education teachers.

Cannon said she’s impressed to see the results from the last three years of funding.

“The results have certainly spoken wisdom of that decision on our part,” Cannon said. “I, on behalf the commission, think I can say we are pleased to continue to look at this in the future on a year-by-year basis.”

The recommendation to give $750,000 in TIF funds to BCSC must receive final approval by the Columbus City Council because it exceeds the commission’s $500,000 spending limit.

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iGrad – $253,825

iGrad is an embedded systemic approach in Bartholomew County middle and high schools, designed to increase graduation rates by identifying students at risk of not graduating and supporting them through the end of their senior year.

STEM – $228,778

STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programming uses hands-on experiences to equip students with critical thinking, problem solving and creative and collaborative skills that help them establish connections between school, the work place, community and global economy. With the money, BCSC will develop an IT Pathway at CSA — New Tech with a post-secondary partner, and develop and support STEM labs in every BCSC elementary school.

Transition Planning – $267,397

Transition Planning helps transition students with special needs into the workforce or post-secondary opportunities. The program identifies students’ strengths, preferences, interests and needed supports and assists them in making connections in the community, developing work skills and obtaining additional training necessary for employment.

Total – $750,000

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