Greene Township moves forward with desired school corporation switch

GREENE TOWNSHIP, Ind. -- Greene Township is moving forward with plans to cut ties with the South Bend Community School Corporation.

Families say education is the number one reason residents want to leave SBCSC and join John Glenn Community Schools.

Greene Township Trustee, Sandra Ort says the switch is for the future of the kids.

“There are a lot of issues with behavior problems, busing problems, but mostly it’s the education,” Ort said when contemplating problems in the district.

When the Focus 2018 Plan forecasted that Greene School would shut its doors, Greene Township neighbors got the ball rolling on efforts to secede from the South Bend Community School Corporation.

“We’ve had meetings and meetings, and we’ve spoken at the school board meetings, and they just ignore us,” Ort explained the timeline events of the process.

Now the only township in the county without a school in its boundaries is showing SBCSC it’s serious about leaving.

A petition program and social media page is up, and legislatures have been contacted.

Ort says requests from the school board to move the process along have been met.

“They told us we needed to have our attorney to talk to their attorney, we’ve done that. We’ve had public meetings to show that support is here, and the support is here,” she said.

The township is even pursuing a legislative route.

Lindsey Tropp and her husband went to South Bend Schools and still live in the district; she sends her 3rd grader to a school in John Glenn School Corporation.

“If we were to go by our South Bend district, it would be a 90 minute bus ride each way. We might as well send them to Chicago because that’s the equivalent of the commute they’d be making,” Tropp said.

Tropp says quality education is the most important thing for her kids, and the other parents on her street who send their kids to John Glenn Schools as well. 

"I think for Greene Township, the residents want their money to be going to something that makes sense for their children, and also for our property value," Tropp explained the impact switching districts would have on the entire township, including the change of property value and taxes.

School board representative for District 3, Leslie Wesley, has previously attended a one-on-one meeting with the township and listened to the concerns of the residents.

Wesley emphasized the importance of listening to families’ worries as their representative.

After doing some homework, she will meet with the township again next Monday at 6:30 with answers.

“Right now I’m very excited because now we’re having the opportunity to have dialogue and hear their concerns. So, I think that their concerns are very valid as a parent, it’s just a matter of what’s going to be best for the students,” Wesley said.