SOUTH BEND â The South Bend Community School Corp. could see new competition for students after its Tarkington Elementary School closes this year.
Just shy of 7,400 students within South Bend district lines enrolled in charters and nonpublic schools this year, according to state data, and a new school opening in a building Tarkingtonâs size could mean a loss of over 300 more students and $2 million in per pupil funding.
With multiple charter schools interested in the Tarkington space, that loss is looking more likely.
South Bendâs Career Academy and the Indianapolis-based Paramount Schools of Excellence submitted formal interest last month to take over the Tarkington building under a state law that allows for the lease or sale of unused school buildings to charter schools for just $1.