New IPS board members plan community input meetings

Kelly Bentley, LaNier Echols and Mary Ann Sullivan — all recently elected to the Indianapolis Public School Board — will hold a series of public input meetings beginning next month.

The “board chat” meetings will let community members come and ask questions of the new members and discuss the district’s future. Bentley, Echols and Sullivan will start their official terms in January.

Bentley said that after the first of the year, they will try to schedule the chats more regularly — at least quarterly, and maybe monthly. She said the meetings are informal. Anyone with questions or concerns should feel comfortable to come by and share their thoughts about how to make IPS better for its students, she said.

“We hope people will come with ideas about how the district can better support schools, share money-saving ideas that could help drive more rescues to the schools (including salaries) and ideas about how schools can better serve students and families,” she said in an email.

Those who cannot attend meetings may send questions to board members via email. Here is the schedule of meetings:

Board chat with Mary Ann Sullivan, At-Large seat

Board Chat with LaNier Echols, District 5 seat

Board Chat with Kelly Bentley, District 3 seat