INDIANAPOLIS – Irvington Community Schools said classes will resume on Friday after a sudden surge of staff call-offs caused the charter network to close all campuses.
“We appreciate the staff’s efforts to do what is in the best interest of families and our community,” Irvington Schools CEO Rachel Maldonado said in a statement. “More hard work lies ahead.”
Irvington Community Schools cancelled classes at its elementary school, middle school, and preparatory academy on Thursday, blaming “a high number of staff call offs that prevent us from providing adequate supervision and safely operating our schools.”
Sources told Indiana’s I-Team about growing frustration over proposed cuts to educators’ benefits and reductions to school services.
“I’m extremely upset,” said Elizabeth Zike, the mother of an Irvington third grader. Zike and many other Irvington parents had to make last-minute arrangements to leave children with family members.
Zike supports teachers receiving their full benefits and doesn’t want to have to move her child. But she worried parents may be forced to consider other education options.
“A lot of it comes down to, is there even an option to change schools?” Zike said. “There’s going to be a lot of students leaving, and staff not coming back.”
Irvington Community Schools did not disclose how many staff members called off work.
Thursday closure followed a meeting of the Irvington Community Schools Board of Governors, which has struggled to address a dire financial situation.
According to the board’s Aug. 26 meeting minutes, enrollment has dropped below projections and Irvington Community Schools faced a $2.85 million budget deficit for the fiscal year ending June 30.
In her statement announcing classes resuming, Maldonado said spending adjustments were made, but the budget deficit is still more than $1.5 million.
“The fiscal challenges we face today date back to at least 2024, two years before I started as CEO,” Maldonado said in the statement, adding that COVID-relief funds, which paid for staff increases, have run out. “At the same time, our enrollment declined, diminishing our revenue further, and additional spending also continued.”
The Indianapolis Office of Education Innovation issued a notice of deficiency to Irvington Community Schools in June 2025 for failing to meet performance standards. After Irvington needed emergency financing to meet payroll, the office enhanced that notice to a Level 3 warning in October.
“We are concerned about Irvington Community Schools’ financial condition and the disruption to students, families, and staff,” Director Shaina Cavazos of the Office of Education Innovation told Indiana’s I-Team in a statement. “We continue to monitor the network’s finances and work with its board to address these concerns, with the goal of maintaining stability for students and assessing the network’s long-term financial sustainability ahead of charter renewal decisions.”
Messages to Irvington Community Schools, Maldonado, and the district’s Board of Governors went unanswered, although a Microsoft Outlook outage happened Thursday.
Irvington Preparatory Academy Principal Jana Goebel declined to comment for this story.
“We are so grateful to be able to reopen our schools on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026 to continue the important work of educating students. We appreciate the staff’s efforts to do what is in the best interest of families and our community. More hard work lies ahead, as we will continue to identify ways to address our deficit of more than $1.5 million this year so we can regain stable financial footing.
“The fiscal challenges we face today date back to at least 2024, two years before I started as CEO. Irvington Community Schools grew its staff with funding from federal COVID relief dollars – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds – and we continued at that level of staffing even as those dollars ran out. At the same time, our enrollment declined, diminishing our revenue further, and additional spending also continued. No major adjustments in spending were made until January 2026, but even those adjustments have not been enough.
“We have the opportunity to correct the course before it is too late. Solving these financial challenges will not be easy, but we are committed to finding a path forward so we can continue the important work of educating our students and serving as an anchor in the Irvington community.”
Chief Executive Officer Rachel Maldonado, Irvington Community Schools
