Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 November 2002 — Page 2

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15,2002

PAGE A2

African-American enrollment down in IPS, up in townships

Continued from A1

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This is the first year of charter schools, so comparing this year’s public school enrollment with previous years is not directly comparable because some charter school students previously attended private and parochial schools which don't have to publicly release enrollment data by race and ethnicity. The decline in African-Ameri-can students in IPS isn’t directly the result of the city’s .four charter schools. Overall Black attendance at the charter schools (Planner House. 21st Century Academy. Irvington Community and Christel House) is 373. not enough to fully account for IPS’ Black student decline. Three of the new charter schools have a higher percentage of Black enrollment than either IPS or Pike, the districts with the highest percentage of Black enrollment.

Christel House Academy’s enrollment is 61.4 percent Black, 21 st Century's 64.8 percent Black and Planner House’s is 100 percent African American. Irvington char^pr school has I S.2 percent of its students who are African American. Pike Township again has the second highest Black enrollment of any Indianapolis school district with 5,583. But Black student growth in Pike markedly slowed this year. The district added only 262 Black students, up 4.9 percent. Blacks comprise 55 percent of Pike’s overall enrollment, just three percentage points below IPS’ 58 percent. Lawrence Township has the third highest Black enrollment with 4,896, up 5.2 percent or 242 students. The northeastside district is 30.2 percent Black.

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(Tor the answers, see section C3)

In a major surprise, the Warren rollment. In Perry Township, Black Township Schools had the highest enrollment jumped to the highest growth in Black enrollment, in- number since 1986. There are now creasing9.5 percent or344to 3,951. 1,673 Black students in the Perry Warren now has the fourth highest schools, up 12.7 percent or 188 Black student enrollment in the city/ students since last year. Perry’s county, with African Americans student population is 12.8 percent making up a third of its student Black, population. * Nearly the entire increase in Washington Township schools Perry’s Black student enrollment fall to fifth place in the number of came from students now living in Black students. The district has the township, not those bused from 3,934 Black students, an increase the Brightwood-Martindale neighof 100, or 2.6 percent from last year borhood. A total of459 Black stuwith 38.5 percent of its students dents are residents of Perry TownBlack. ship, an increase of 188 from last Wayne Township ranks sixth, year. Since 1999, the number of increasing to 3,736, up 310 stu- Perry’s Black students living in the dents or 9.1 percent. Over a quarter township has grown 383 percent. (26.5 percent) of the district’s stu- Black enrollment in the Decatur dents are African American. Township schools remained stagThe county’s three Southside nant increasing by six students to township districts showed some dra- 538. Decatur’s schools are 10.6 matic changes in Black student en- percent Black. But, 22 percent of Decatur’s Black students, or 118, now live in the southwestside town-

ship.

The same is true in Franklin Township. Overall Black enrollment is 420, with 40 Blacks residing in the southeastside district. The district’s schools are 6.5 percent African American. Black student enrollment in Speedway’s schools continued to increase, but at a slower rate than previous years. The number of Speedway’s Black students rose 6.3 percent to 339. Blacks in the Beech Grove schools declined by 10 to 52. Blacks now make up a fifth (20.5 percent) of Speedway’s schools; 2 percent of Beech Grove’s schools. Overall enrollment in the city/ county’s public schools increased by nearly 2,100 students to 131,836. Despite losing 811 students or 2 percent, the Indianapolis Public Schools remain the largest school district in Indianapolis with 40,515 students; though that is the lowest IPS enrollment indecndOMt » Fears that the city’s first four charter schools, three chartered by Mayor Bart Peterson and one by Ball State University, would result inadecline in IPS’enrollment isn’t completely accurate. Though total enrollment in the four charter schools is 600, a significant number of those students transferred from non-IPS schools. Total charter school enrollments are: Christel House Academy 228; Planner House 135; 21st Century Academy 125; and Irvington Community School 112. Of the township districts, Lawrence Township has the highest enrollment at 16,194, followed by: Wayne (14,088), Perry (13,033), Warren (11,304), Washington (10,208), Pike (10,146), Franklin (6,457), Decatur (5,053), Beech Grove (2,583) and Speedway (1,655). The annual Recorder survey of public school enrollment also tracks the increase in Hispanic enrollment in Indianapolis public school districts. Total Hispanic enrollment in public and charter schools climbed 23.2 percent to 6,941; an increase of 1,306 students. A majority of the city/county ’ s Hispanic students (56 percent) attend township schools. Only two of the city’s charter schools have Hispanic enrollment, with Irvington and Planner House having no Hispanics. The number of Hispanic students in IPS rose 440 or 16.8 percent to 3,061; 7.6 percent of IPS’ enrollment is His-

panic.

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