MODOC, Ind. (10-22-26)— The fight over whether the State of Indiana can legislatively erase a single school district reaches a pivotal moment Friday, when Union School Corporation’s lawsuit against the state gets a “summative hearing” at 2:30 p.m. at the Randolph County Courthouse.

In an October 21 letter to the community, Superintendent Galen Mast laid out where the case stands — and asked supporters to show up wearing Union blue.

Mast wrote-

“The public is welcome to attend the hearing on Friday, but know that seating is limited inside the courthouse, as a show of support for our school community.”

How Union got here: Senate Enrolled Act 1 was Indiana’s sweeping 2025 property tax reform law, signed by Gov. Mike Braun on April 15, 2025. Buried in it was language dissolving Union effective July 1, 2027 — added late by amendment in the House (Union’s letter calls it Amendment 45) as the bill grew from 26 pages to over 360, with no public hearing on the closure. Union’s Randolph County territory would go to Monroe Central, its Henry County territory to Blue River Valley. The amendment was authored by Union’s own Rep. J.D. Prescott and backed by Sen. Scott Alexander — both up for re-election this November, a point Mast’s letter makes directly. Prescott has cited consolidation talks, more than half of in-boundary families choosing other districts, and poor virtual-school performance; at a tense April 2025 meeting he told residents, “The legal process was followed.” Union serves roughly 300 students in person in Modoc but about 7,500 virtually statewide — and the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association says this is the first state-mandated district closure in 50 years.

Related: Indiana To Force Local School District To Dissolve

The lawsuit: Union sued the state, Braun and Education Secretary Katie Jenner in May 2025, arguing the clause violates the state constitution’s single-subject rule and its ban on local and special legislation, and denies its students a general and uniform education. The law also originally barred Union from new obligations after July 1, 2025 — the district said that made hiring, supplies, insurance and even lunches impossible; Judge Brian Hutchison ruled in June 2025 that Union could operate business as usual while the case proceeds. Jenner has since been dismissed from the suit; Braun remains a defendant. The state counters with Union’s scores — 62% of third graders proficient on IREAD-3 vs. 87.4% statewide (Union notes its in-person elementary hit 78%), and 2% of sixth graders meeting math growth targets vs. 35% statewide.

Friday: The trial date was originally November 24; the summary judgment hearing bounced from September 15 to November 9 and now lands Friday, Oct. 23, at 2:30 p.m. Union states its case, the state responds, Union gets a rebuttal. As Mast’s letter puts it:

“If this legal practice is allowed, then many schools around the state may be in our situation very soon.”