Mike Wolanin | The Republic An exterior view of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation administration building in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — City officials have approved the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s annual request for funding to help support its workforce development initiatives.
Columbus City Council voted on Tuesday to authorize the Columbus Redevelopment Commission’s grant of $1 million to the school corporation. This includes $330,500 for iGrad, $267,397 for transition programs for students with disabilities, and $402,103 for STEM initiatives, said Redevelopment Director Heather Pope.
The commission previously granted the school corporation the same amount of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars — $750,000 — each school year since 2016-17.
However, in 2021-22, school officials requested and were granted a $250,000 increase to help convert elementary school STEM labs into full specials rotations and add two more iGrad coaches. The school corporation received the same amount for 2022-23 and sought it again for 2023-2024.
“Our goal with this, this entire time, has been to improve our workforce development through this unique partnership we have with the Columbus Redevelopment Commission and our school corporation,” said BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts. “And we say unique, because as I speak to our colleagues, my colleagues across the state of Indiana, this is not typical.”
Jim Roberts
As part of his presentation, Roberts discussed what the school corporation has been able to achieve in each of the three areas the commission helps fund.
For instance, iGrad, a partnership with Ivy Tech Community College – Columbus that works to raise graduation rates, was serving 623 students at the end of last school year.
“That is the highest number, I believe, that we’ve had,” Roberts said at the redevelopment commission’s August meeting. “There was 622 a few years ago. So we continue, through the dollars provided in this opportunity, to increase the number of students that we’re working with and continue, with that group of students, to see a high graduation rate.”
Seniors who participated in iGrad last year had a graduation rate of 96%, he said. This was also true for the class of 2022, according to BCSC’s presentation last September.
In contrast, the school corporation had an overall graduation rate of 81% in 2022, according to the Indiana Department of Education.
During the 2022-23 school year, about 57% of freshmen in iGrad were on track to graduate, with respect to credits, per Roberts’ presentation. For sophomores, it was 63%, and 80% of juniors were on track.
The funds requested by BCSC will help the school corporation continue to develop and expand capacity for iGrad, Roberts said.
During city council’s 2022 vote to authorize the redevelopment commission’s grant, Councilman Jerone Wood recused himself from voting due to being an employee of the school corp.
According to BCSC Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Gina Pleak, Wood is currently a teacher at Mt. Healthy Elementary.
Jennifer Wiwi with the city clerk-treasurer’s office said that she did not hear Wood abstain during Tuesday’s council meeting, so she counted him as a favorable vote.
