The Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) Board of School Trustees held its regular meeting on Tuesday, November 18. At the meeting, the Board approved a collective bargaining agreement with the Monroe County Education Association for the 2025-27 contract period. Chief Financial Officer Matt Irwin also shared that Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 1 is projected to reduce MCCSC’s funding significantly — by more than $30 million from 2026-2031.
In October, consultant Barry Gardner of Policy Analytics shared an analysis of SEA 1’s financial impact on MCCSC. The corporation has since received a comprehensive projection from Policy Analytics that quantifies the total anticipated losses. The more than $30 million projected loss includes projected losses of $3-4 million annually in referendum revenue and $1.8 million per year by 2031 in charter school revenue sharing.
The financial impact of SEA 1 on city and county governments and public school districts has been widely reported in Indiana media.
“As we look at these headlines, we are seeing and hearing more and more about the numerous examples of budget cuts and staffing cuts across all forms of government. SEA 1 is impacting everyone, everywhere,” said Superintendent Dr. Markay Winston.
Irwin and Winston co-presented MCCSC’s quarterly update on the 2-Year Strategy to Achieve Financial Balance, launched in February. Irwin illustrated how the school corporation has improved its cash balance position in nine months, making progress toward financial balance. However, Irwin cautioned that uncontrollable cost increases in areas including insurance and utilities, combined with projected losses from SEA 1, will require continued monitoring.
“Significant progress has been made but we’re not there yet. We continue to monitor the ebbs and flows of the things that continue to happen in relation to public schools and our funding and our expenditures,” said Irwin. “To give another piece of context, in the Education Fund — some of the expenses in an individual month could be a little over $9 million in one month. So if you look at the numbers right now, our [Education] Fund balance at the end of the year is less than that … That’s not sufficient.”
Winston emphasized MCCSC’s commitment to student support.
“In spite of the headwinds that we are facing at this moment in time … The quality instruction in our classrooms and support services that our children deserve and our community expects are going to continue,” she said. “It will have to look different because we will have fewer dollars to do what we’re accustomed to doing, but we’re going to deliver on those promises.”
Dr. Jeffry Henderson, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Operations, shared property purchase facts about the former Herald-Times building to aid the Board of School Trustees in discussing potential uses of this property. The property includes six usable acres, a 77,000 square foot building, and space for parking.
Currently, MCCSC is using the property for storage and additional bus parking.
“When this administrative team began its tenure, no formal written plan for the use of this property existed,” said Henderson. “As we plan for the future, there are a number of decision-making considerations that need to be analyzed.”
After the presentation, the Board expressed an interest in hearing public perceptions of the property. The Board asked Superintendent Winston to provide the community, families, and employees with information about the property and to gather their feedback by March 2026.
MCCSC leadership also shared an update on the corporation’s Redistricting Study. Dr Blaine Garman-McClaine shared how research, available on the MCCSC website, has informed the study.
Information about Board of School Trustees meetings can be found under the Board of School Trustees tab at www.mccsc.edu.
At each Board of School Trustees meeting, students, teachers and staff are recognized for excellence. In November, Bloomington High School North student Rex Speer was recognized for his service and leadership. Abby Brim, intermediate inclusion teacher at Grandview Elementary, was recognized for excellence in instruction. Bloomington High School North teachers Michiko Owaki, Japanese language teacher, and Hongzhi Wang, Chinese language teacher, were recognized for awards they received through the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association (IFLTA).
