Herron Classical Schools says miscalculation led to callout to parents over state budget

Indianapolis Star

22-04-2025

Show Caption
After an urgent callout to parents asking them to push lawmakers not to cut charter school funding during budget talks, one Indianapolis charter network is backtracking on its messaging.
Herron Classical Schools, a network of three charter schools in Indianapolis, emailed parents Friday telling them that the network could be at risk of losing $4 million in the next two years.
Janet McNeal, the president of Herron Classical Schools, told families in the email that the legislature was cutting funding for the Charter and Innovation Network School Grant and 'capital funding' in talks over the current state budget bill.
The email explained that even though charter schools would see an increase in funds flowing to them thanks to the passage of Senate Bill 1, which allows charter schools to have a cut of property tax revenue, that money wouldn't start arriving until 2028.
McNeal told IndyStar on Monday that after seeing news the legislature was considering a $2 billion revenue gap in this year's biennium budget conversations, the network jumped to conclusions about its funding too quickly.
'In our haste to give families a chance to advocate for funding, we calculated revenue lost if the Charter and Innovation Grant was completely eliminated, which has not happened and is highly unlikely to happen,' McNeal told IndyStar. 'That is where the $4 million figure comes from. However, the Charter and Innovation Grant is currently included in the Senate budget.'
McNeal also said they are continuing to advocate for charter school funding at the statehouse, but they have no reason to believe the grant funding will be completely removed from the final version of the budget bill.
'Republican legislators have demonstrated their commitment to supporting charter schools throughout this session, and we are deeply grateful,' McNeal said.
The callout angered some Herron parents, especially those who disapprove of SB 1 and do not believe charter schools should be siphoning property tax dollars from traditional public schools.
While the current biennium budget bill does contain funding for the Charter and Innovation Network School grant, it has been cut by $38 million over the next two fiscal years as compared to the 2023 biennium budget.
The Charter and Innovation Network School grant is meant to be supplemental funding sent to charter schools due to their lack of access to property tax revenues. In the 2023 budget there was also an inclusion of a one time $25 million fund for the Charter School Facility Grant program, which helps provide money for facility needs.
Despite this cut, McNeal told IndyStar they remain hopeful the legislature will retain the same level of funding for charter schools as in the previous budget.
The legislature is expected to make a final decision on this year's budget by the end of this week, but has until April 29 to pass any remaining bills.