Approximately $8.1 million projected in annual savings while facing state & federal funding reductions
At the Board of School Trustees’ regular meeting on Tuesday, August 26, the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) shared an update on its Strategy to Achieve Financial Balance and Sustain Excellence. Three months ago, in May, the corporation provided its first update and financial transparency report. This month — six months into the 24-month strategy — the MCCSC now projects approximately $8.1 million in annual savings but has not yet reached financial balance.
The school corporation has made this financial progress primarily through natural attrition — employee retirements and resignations — and non-classroom position eliminations.
“Our team has worked diligently and thoughtfully to minimize direct impacts on students and teachers,” said MCCSC Superintendent Dr. Markay Winston. “My number one task as Superintendent is to stabilize our budget while also ensuring our focus on excellence in all that we do. My executive team and I are responsible for keeping the needs of our students at the center of all decision-making, while ensuring that staffing levels are directly aligned to student enrollment.”
Dr. Jeffrey Henderson, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Operations, shared how the school corporation has carefully created staffing plans that preserve what matters most: Quality instruction, nutritious meals, clean and safe facilities, and comprehensive student support. Henderson also reported that the Student-Certificated Staff ratio has remained virtually unchanged each year since the 2019-20 school year.
Dr. Winston emphasized that population decline in Monroe County, and state and federal funding decreases have significantly decreased current and future revenue for the MCCSC.
- At the national level, MCCSC joins school districts nationwide in facing declining public school enrollment trends and federal grant reductions.
- At the state level, MCCSC joins school corporations across the state in facing reduced funding due to new legislation. SEA 1 is projected to reduce MCCSC’s state funding by tens of millions over the next eight years, with additional losses after 2028 when the corporation will be required to share property tax revenue with charter schools. Indiana’s Choice Scholarship participation increase of approximately 31.6% in 2023-24 has also negatively impacted public school enrollment and funding.
- Locally, Monroe County’s population decline, high housing costs and low labor growth have contributed to MCCSC’s declining student enrollment. Monroe County’s birth rate is half of the Indiana average and has been the lowest birth rate in the state for the past 10 years (2012-2022) according to STATS Indiana.
“Due to these factors, we anticipate significant revenue losses, and I am confident in our ability to navigate these impacts, as long as we stay the course,” said Dr. Winston. “We are making steady progress, but our work is not complete. The ever-changing goal posts make it difficult, but not impossible. We will need to remain nimble and flexible as we continue to adjust to known and unknown impacts that threaten our funding.”
The MCCSC has committed to quarterly updates on the Strategy to Achieve Financial Balance and Sustain Excellence and the next update will be shared at the November Board of School Trustees meeting.
