IPS Superintendent Dr. White spoke to parents at Broad Ripple High School on April 6, 2011. BRHS, along with 6 other IPS schools, is facing the possibility of "Turnaround". Turnaround can mean many things including "merging with another school or assigning a special management team to operate all or part of the school". Dr. White's presentation detailed a measurement system put in place by the federal and local governments. Indiana schools have accountability to two systems, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Indiana Public Law 221. Dr. White explained that under these systems "IPS schools are punished because we serve a diverse population."

Dr. White explained how NCLB divides a school into subgroups. A subgroup is a population with at least 30 students. Subgroup examples are Poverty, Race, Special Needs, and English Language Learners. Broad Ripple has 28 of these subgroups, referred to as cells in the assessment. If any one of these cells fails, the whole school fails. Failure is classified by a test participation rate of less than 95%, less than 72.6% of the students passing the English portion of ISTEP, or less than 71.5% of the students passing the math portion of ISTEP. Failing any of those criteria will fail a cell, and any failed cell fails the school. Dr. White also explained that the percentages required for passing are increased substantially every 2 years, until the required pass rate will be 100% in 2014.

Another point Dr. White made about diversity hurting schools under this measurement system is the 162 day rule. If a student has been in a school system for at least 162 days, they must take the test for that school. This includes foreign students, who might barely speak English. Failure of the test in that case is likely, thus causing the cell to fail, and causing the school to fail for that year. "[The NCLB system] punishes schools that take in those kinds of students," said White.

Indiana Public Law 221 categorizes schools based on the NCLB data and on how much a school's tests scores have improved over a three-year period. The law allows for state intervention after a school has been in the lowest category, academic probation, for 6 consecutive years. IPS currently has 7 schools that have been on academic probation for 5 consecutive years. 2011 would be the 6th year, triggering possible state intervention.

"Broad Ripple High School is an excellent high school," said White. "There are great things going on here that they can get no where else. So, just because someone wants to label this school [as failing], they can't label the things going on here in music, in art, in academics, in athletics, in fine arts, what have you. They don't label that. One of the things you should get out of [this presentation] is how narrow the benchmarks are."

Dr. White explained that because the benchmarks are so narrow, just looking at attendance, English and math scores, the takeover organizations often come into a school and eliminate all of the other programs, like social studies, science, the arts, foreign language and other electives. By focusing on just what is measured, there is a greater probability of "success".

Another point Dr. White made was that the takeover organizations have three years to turn around a school. During that period they do not have many of the restrictions that IPS has, such as teacher seniority. "I have a teacher of a school I was in today," explained White, "for the last three benchmark tests they had, her kids have been number 1. She got RIF'd (Reduction In Force). She's an English teacher. The best in the school. But, she's only been teaching two years. Meanwhile we have an English teacher down the hall who has been teaching 22 years and is protected by seniority."

Dr. White warned that this is not just an IPS problem. There are 15 other school districts in Marion County. Of the 26 high schools in Marion County only one (Beech Grove) passed the NCLB criteria in 2010. And, as the diversity grows in the schools and as the percentages required for passing go up, school failure rates will increase.