Mirror Indy

Thirteen-year-old Levent goes to an Indianapolis middle school that’s been celebrated for its test scores. But his mother, Shania, says he’s falling behind because the school has suspended him repeatedly. Levent has ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which his school has documented as a disability. Shania believes it drives much of the behavior that he has been disciplined for — including safety concerns like leaving campus and misbehavior like repeatedly disrespecting teachers. “Why is he getting in trouble for what ADHD looks like?” Shania said. 

Levent is a student at Paramount Englewood Middle School, part of a growing charter network. Among children of color and those from low-income families, students at Paramount often outperform their peers on state tests. On the strength of those results, supporters have urged Indianapolis Public Schools to partner with the network. But the approach comes at a cost for some students: a WFYI analysis of 2024-2025 state data shows that Paramount schools suspended students with disabilities about three times more often than the state average. Reddicks said Paramount schools work to reduce suspensions among students with disabilities, but that they’re sometimes necessary. “You know, a lot of our special education incidents typically involve safety of others or safety of the students in question,” he said.