At the Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Board of School Trustees’ meeting on Tuesday, October 28, the Board adopted the 2026 budget, an approximate $6.2 million decrease from the 2025 budget. The MCCSC leadership team also presented updates on various topics.
It was announced that MCCSC and the Monroe County Education Association reached a tentative agreement on a new collective bargaining contract for 2025-27.
Consultant Barry Gardner of Policy Analytics shared an analysis of how new state legislation—Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1— will reduce MCCSC funding by tens of millions from 2026-2031. The projections show losses of $3-4 million annually in referendum revenue and $1.8 million per year by 2031 in charter school revenue sharing.
SEA 1 impacts local government entities statewide, including all public school districts.
“Overall, the mechanics of Senate Enrolled Act 1 are going to increase tax rates regardless of what the school district does,” said Gardner. “And this is not just Monroe County Schools. This is all school districts across the state. These are county units. These are city units.”
Dr. Tim Dowling, director of early learning and enrollment, shared an update on how MCCSC’s 2023 referendum is expanding families’ access to early learning. Thanks to public support for the referendum, Dowling said, more than twice the number of MCCSC families now have access to 3-Year-Old Preschool and 4-Year-Old Pre-K programs — the majority attending at no or low cost.
“I do want to point out how amazing this is, especially in light of what’s happening across the state. Statewide, 25,000 families were on a waitlist for CCDF funding, unable to access early learning programs,” said Dowling. “We are protected and blessed to have this referendum. We are having very different outcomes for our children because of this referendum and for that, I’m eternally grateful.”
Dowling also provided an update on the MCCSC Redistricting Study. At the request of Commission members, the study now incorporates U.S. Census (American Community Survey) and Monroe County parcel data. Dr. Dowling is collaborating with Monroe County GIS Coordinator and Commission member Dr. John Baeten on this effort. Dr. Baeten explained that Census block data, such as household income, is helping the Commission assess socioeconomic balance across schools. The Redistricting Study will conclude in the spring of 2026.
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Operations Dr. Jeffry Henderson explained how staffing needs are continuously evaluated. Decisions about filling vacant positions are made through a rigorous analysis process between human resources, curriculum, and business office teams.
“We continue to evaluate staffing levels across every employee group as we seek balance within our enrollment numbers and our available revenue,” said Henderson.
Henderson also explained that the Indiana Gateway website cannot be used to count the number of positions in the school corporation. In Gateway, positions would appear twice when they are vacated and filled in the same year — once for the person who vacated the position and again for the person who filled it.
In addition, Henderson expressed thanks to the community and shared how the 2022 MCCSC referendum continues to support teachers and staff by funding a portion of all teacher and support staff wages and benefits.
“As a reminder and a thank you to our community … In our Referenda Impact Report that we published in May 2025, we reported $34.5 million of the 2022 referendum had been invested to date in teachers and staff through hourly and base salary increases,” said Henderson.
Information about Board of School Trustees meetings can be found under the Board of School Trustees tab at www.mccsc.edu.
