Three Lake County school districts and two in Porter County gained enrollment through transfers last fall, according to the Indiana Department of Education’s 2024-25 transfer report.
The report, established by a 2017 state law, reflects students who attend a public or private school, other than the local school corporation where they live. The report is distributed in the fall and spring semesters.
It breaks down transfer enrollment to charters, other traditional public school districts and to private school choice schools.
“Transfer” refers to students attending a school other than their local school corporation and a transfer student may have never attended their corporation of legal settlement, the report explained.
Aquinas Catholic Community School students sing during a celebration of completion of the Merrillville school’s expansion project on Monday, June 12, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
The DOE said the report is not an examination of student mobility, but rather a look at students attending a school receiving state funding other than their home district
It’s taking on added relevance as a proposed House bill aims to dissolve public school districts if the enrollment of students in their home district falls below 50%.
Under House Bill 1136, five districts would be endangered — the Gary Community School Corp., Indianapolis Public Schools, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp. in Wanatah, Union School Corp. in Modoc, and Cannelton City Schools in Cannelton. The bill has been assigned to the House Education Committee.
The bill stunned Gary school officials who have controlled the district for just six months. It’s angered districts, too. The Portage School Board passed a resolution Monday in opposition to the measure even though it won’t impact Portage.
In Lake County, the River Forest Community School Corp., Lake Ridge Schools, and the School City of Whiting added students, likely due to uncertainty in neighboring Gary, Lake Station and Hammond, where a defeated 2023 referendum led to school closings and busing restrictions.
River Forest graduate, teacher, and author of children’s book “The Little Elephant Who Couldn’t Sit Still”, Allen Long, holds his arm out so an Evans Elementary student can touch a plush elephant on his wrist, as he speaks about his book to the school on Monday, April 10, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
In Porter County, the East Porter County School Corp. and Boone Township districts gained enrollment. The transfer shifts in Porter County, however, largely reflected students moving to private religious-based schools.
Gary has been losing enrollment and closing schools for decades. It’s just emerged from seven years under state control and is trying to regain its footing with an appointed school board and new superintendent, Yvonne Stokes.
She said earlier this month the district has added nearly 400 students since the fall enrollment count.
Gary’s charter schools are the top destination for students.
The 2024-25 fall transfer report showed Gary’s traditional public school system with 11,764 students in its settlement area, but just 35% or 4,144 of those students attend the Gary district.
The report cited 6,958 students attending charters or other public school districts while 662 selected private schools that accepted state school choice vouchers.
Gary is home to eight charters; two are adult dropout recovery schools. The report showed 1,121 students chose to attend the 21st Century Charter School and 1,064 picked Gary Lighthouse Charter School.
Neighboring public schools with open enrollment drew 1,237 Gary students. Lake Ridge Schools was the top choice, attracting 483 students. The River Forest district drew 282 Gary students.
Thomas A. Edison Junior Senior High School senior Mikaylah Baber, 17, uses a virtual reality headset as her friends Dante Taylor, left, and Aliyah Lawson look on during the “Bridging the Gap in a Diverse World” program for juniors and seniors at the school in Lake Station, Indiana Tuesday March 21, 2023. (Andy Lavalley for the Post-Tribune)
In Lake Station, voters defeated a property tax referendum in 2023 that led to the loss of school bus transportation last fall. The move cost the district 263 students, including 147 who shifted to nearby River Forest.
Meanwhile, voters approved the tax referendum in November and bus service has resumed.
“We did lose students in the fall of 2024 due to the reduction in busing,” said Lake Station Superintendent Thomas Cripliver. “We are seeing some families come back after the Christmas break. I anticipate others will come back for the next school year.”
River Forest Superintendent Kevin Trezak said in addition to having a high number of transfer students, 90% of the students in River Forest’s settlement area attend its schools.
“Our main goal is to keep our kids in our community attending pre-K-12, not just K-5 as used to be the norm. We have added free preschool, improved our facilities, added extracurriculars where kids can participate on many different teams and clubs – that is something that isn’t available to all students in the bigger schools,” he said.
Trezak said the district is promoting its image with the motto: “Small School Atmosphere, Big School Opportunity.”
In southern Lake County, where charter schools are more scarce, most of the transfer activity involved private religious-based schools.
Crown Point lost 666 students, including 211 students to St. Mary Catholic School, 157 to Crown Point Christian School and 70 to Trinity Lutheran.
The entryway can be seen in the newly-built Taft Middle School in Winfield on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
Lake Central School Corp. Superintendent Larry Veracco cited the increased state funding for school choice vouchers for the increased transfer activity.
Lake Central lost 1,034 students who chose to attend private schools with state vouchers.
Veracco said the most significant impact was at the kindergarten level where cohorts are more than 200 students fewer than its graduating cohorts.
Unlike River Forest and Lake Ridge, Lake Central is not an open enrollment district. It only receives transfers when families move to St. John Township.
“It is our goal to make sure our students have a great experience so once they attend our schools, they stay with us through graduation. Since the experience of our students is our best marketing strategy, we also place a high priority on recruiting and retaining great teachers,” Veracco said.
He also criticized House Bill 1136.
“As long as a district is right-sizing as some of their students choose a private or charter school option, it doesn’t make sense to force the students who like their schools to have to lose their schools. That is taking away choice…”
Developed in former Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration, the school choice program was aimed at providing more academic options to low income students in poor performing schools.
Since then, GOP lawmakers have embraced its expansion. State funding has accelerated and the eligibility for vouchers has become nearly universal today.
The voucher program set an enrollment record of 70,095 students in 2023-2024 at a cost to taxpayers of $439 million.
East Porter Superintendent Aaron Case said its transfer popularity is because of its reputation for academic performance. His small district gained 57 students.
“I believe it is because we are a high achieving district and the fact we have the environment of small schools. We like to think of our people and students as part of our East Porter family and our students are known for who they are as a person,” he said.
The 2024-25 transfer report is available at the Indiana Department of Education’s website, https://www.in.gov/doe.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter at the Post-Tribune.
2024-25 Student Transfer Report*
Total students Net transfers
Lake County
Hanover 3,268 -465
River Forest 1,291 +367
Merrillville 6,877 -1,130
Lake Central 10,062 -1,273
Tri-Creek 3,553 -297
Lake Ridge 1,354 +217
Crown Point 9,871 -914
East Chicago 4,735 -1,626
Lake Station 1,332 -263
Gary 11,764 -7,620
Griffith 2,262 -279
Hammond 13,108 -3,129
Highland 3,295 -165
Hobart 4,280 -272
Munster 4,025 -2
Whiting 755 +317
Porter County
MSD Boone 900 +50
Duneland 6,078 -372
East Porter 2,250 +57
Porter Township 1,379 -31
Union Township 1,382 -1
Portage Township 7,311 -840
Valparaiso 7,026 -674
*Indiana Department of Education
