INDIANAPOLIS — Affirming, stable, healthy, safe — these are some of the qualities Indianapolis Public Schools wants to create in its buildings.
The IPS Mental Health and School Culture Task Force aims to make these goals a reality.
“We all care about kids and what’s best for them and it would be wrong not to learn a best practice," IPS School Board Commissioner Hope Duke Star said.
The Task Force held its first meeting for the public on Wednesday.
The meeting outlined the Task Force’s collaborative approach to remaining aware of the cultural state of IPS while being proactive with trends that have potential to affect the well-being of students.
“Evaluating, looking at the culture. Looking at the services and then asking folks what’s missing? What are we missing? Where are our opportunities to serve you better?" Volunteer Chair Bwana Clements said.
The Task Force was established in April 2024.
This came during a time when there was public outrage over an incident at George Washington Carver Montessori School 87, where a former IPS teacher is accused of encouraging students to participate in a ‘fight club’ as punishment.
Clements says the Task Force wants to give folks the opportunity to talk about what they see and feel on a daily basis in IPS schools.
“It’s a three pronged approached. Surveys are the most efficient way to get information out and to receive information. It allows us to track the data, look at trends," he said.
After conducting surveys, the Task Force plans to hold focus groups and one-on-one interviews.
Bwana says their work has just begun.
They’ve yet to get feedback from members of the community, but he says that will hopefully come soon.
“I’m encouraged. I love that IPS had the foresight to say, 'hey, we want to go deeper. We want to know more,'" he said.
The next meeting will be on June 18. The public is welcome to attend and speak.
