All-girls charter school clears major hurdle in rezoning conflict

By SYDNEY DAUPHINAIS Before the all-girls charter school Girls IN STEM Academy can open in the former Witherspoon Presbyterian Church at 5136 Michigan Road a rezoning request must be approved by city-county officials. A dumpster sits outside a door of the building on Sunday, February 25, 2023.(Eric Weddle / WFYI) This article was co-published by Chalkbeat Indiana and WFYI as part of a partnership to increase coverage of township school districts in Marion County. Have a tip or story idea about a township school district?Email in.tips@chalkbeat.org and tips@wfyi.org or fill out this form. Organizers behind an all-girls charter school passed a major hurdle Thursday in a petition process to rezone property in Washington Township for the campus. Around 100 people showed up to the hearing at the City-County Council building for what’s& become a contentious fight& between school choice advocates and traditional public school supporters. But the hearing examiner for the Metropolitan Development Commission said all that mattered was the proper use of land before making a recommendation to approve a former church campus on Michigan Road for use by Girls IN STEM Academy. The contentious hearing was another step of a lengthy rezoning process that ends with a final...