IPS superintendent retiring

After almost eight years as Indianapolis Public Schools superintendent, Eugene White has announced his retirement.

IPS Board of Education President Diane Arnold said the newly elected board might have been part of the reason.

“People anticipated there would be change based on the changing composition of the board,” she said.

White’s contract originally wasn’t set to expire until June 30, 2015, but Arnold said White didn’t ask the board to extend it in 2012.

Arnold said the board will look for someone to serve as interim superintendent until a permanent replacement can be found through a national search.

She said there most likely won’t be any major projects started during the remainder of White’s time as superintendent and hopes the interim can keep the system running smoothly.

Although she said she wishes White would have collaborated more with the board, his leadership helped create new positive initiatives.  

“I think there was a lot of progress made in a lot of different areas,” she said.

White will be paid about $800,000, which covers the last two years of his contract. Arnold said there was misunderstanding surrounding this issue and that the payment is a contractual obligation.

According to an IPS press release, White helped implement a full-day kindergarten program in the district, decrease the dropout rate in the Indiana Public School system from 36 percent in 2007 to 18.2 percent in 2012 and increase the graduation rate from 44 percent in 2005 to 65 percent in 2012.

“It has been a privilege to work on behalf of IPS students and to partner with our parents, community and school staff,” White said in the release. “We have accomplished much in the last seven years, and I am proud of the progress we have made.”

White was once recognized as Indiana Superintendent of the Year and the 2007 National Association of Black School Educators Superintendent of the Year.

- Sydney Murray