The John Glenn School Board members were presented with a resolution Tuesday night that, if approved, would annex the Greene Township School into the John Glenn School Corporation from the South Bend Community School Corporation.
Superintendent Christopher Winchell explained that the idea of annexing the Greene Township School to John Glenn Schools was first developed in the early 1980s when the North Liberty Schools moved to the John Glenn School Corporation from South Bend Community School Corporation. It did not materialize for Greene Township at that time.
Winchell further stated that when the Indiana General Assembly approved open enrollment around 2010 many of the Greene Township families chose John Glenn Schools for their children. About 250 Greene Township students go to John Glenn today with about 75 students who attend South Bend Community Schools and the remaining students choose to attend other neighboring educational institutions.
In 2018, Greene Township Trustee Sandra Ort approached the John Glenn School Board about the possible official annexation process, and from then on it has been an ongoing discussion with both the John Glenn and South Bend Community School Board members, state representatives, and the Greene Township Trustee and Township Board members.
Instead of producing a bill that would address such a unique issue in the state legislature – an issue that is its own in the State of Indiana, according to Winchell – the State Education Committee suggested that it be sorted out with local control. That led to the resolution brought forth before the school board members Tuesday night.
Winchell commented there is state statute that exists to annex territories between two school corporations. With that, a timeline exists. A resolution must be approved by both school boards, followed by two publications to notify the taxpayers of the change and a remonstrance period of 30 days from the second date of publication to file a petition with the Circuit Court. If there is no petition, the documents will need to be approved by the Indiana Department of Education and the Department of Justice. It is the hope that portion of process will be complete by January 1, 2024.
Following that, Winchell said Greene Township will be known as a Special Taxing District, but will still be obligated to pay portions of bonds through the South Bend Community School Corporation until those obligations are exhausted. Greene Township will also need to pay taxes to the John Glenn School Corporation’s Operations Fund.
The South Bend Community School Board approved the resolution by a majority vote Monday night, while the John Glenn School Board unanimously approved the resolution.
Greene Township Trustee Sandra Ort thanked the school board and Superintendent Winchell for the due diligence in this process.
Ort commented, “The whole idea of this has been for the children and their education. That has always been our goal to think of the children first. With what Chris [Christopher Winchell, Superintendent] said about how you can go to what school you want to, the caring parents of Greene Township have already proven with their feet that they want to have their children educated in schools that aren’t failing.”
The school board thanked Superintendent Winchell for his hard work in the process and all involved who brought this to a resolution.
The decision by the John Glenn School Board to approve the resolution with a unanimous vote was met with a round of applause.
