Education

The former president of the teachers union representing Indianapolis Public Schools pleaded guilty Monday in federal court for embezzlement of more than $100,000 from the labor group.

Rhondalyn Cornett, 54, now faces up to 20 years in prison, fines and more, according to a release from the U.S. Justice Department. 

The Carmel Clay School Board is one of the first in the state to send a referendum for school safety funding to the November ballot. The law allowing districts to fund school safety measures with voter-approved tax dollars was passed during the last legislative session.

The Carmel Clay referendum aims to bring in an estimated $5 million a year for three years. The money would fund school resource officers, teacher and staff training and mental health services for students.

Superintendent Michael Beresford says Carmel needs these additional layers of safety.

The two gay teachers ordered fired from their separate Catholic schools by the Indianapolis Archdiocese are married, their lawyer said today. One of the teachers filed a lawsuit.

Former Cathedral High School teacher Joshua Payne-Elliott also filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the Archdiocese. Payne-Elliott claims the Archdiocese discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation and retaliated against him for opposing sexual orientation discrimination, according to a press release by his attorney.

A teacher who was fired from an Indianapolis Catholic school last month because he is in a same-sex marriage reached a settlement with the school.

Attorney for the unnamed teacher Kathleen DeLaney said Tuesday the teacher and Cathedral High School resolved the situation to their “mutual satisfaction and benefit.”

DeLaney says the teacher and school thanked each other for making a confidential settlement that will help the teacher find a new job.