An interim superintendent was selected during the MCCSC board meeting, and Childs-Templeton Elementary Schools will merge

Bloomington, Indiana – At its meeting on Tuesday, the board of trustees of the Monroe County Community School Corporation approved a resolution to combine Childs Elementary and Templeton Elementary beginning with the 2025–2026 academic year. They also named Markay Winston as the next temporary superintendent.

“This is the important work of creating an environment that is going to benefit all children,” board member Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer said about the merger. “It’s not just going to be for those less advantaged to be helped by people with privilege. When we say we’re building a big tent, which is the project of public education because there are kids that are out in the cold and in the rain, it doesn’t mean that when we bring them in, we’re gonna shove your kid out.”

The details of the elementary merging are still up in the air. The resolution gives the superintendent of the following year the responsibility of developing a plan after consulting with the Monroe County Education Association, staff, teachers, parents, and community members. The deadline for presenting the plan is December 31, 2024.

Since the board on November 14 asked current superintendent Jeff Hauswald to submit a report on a plan to better balance socioeconomic status in district primary schools, the elementary merger has been discussed. The superintendent’s initial report, which recommended combining Childs and Templeton as well as Fairview Elementary and University Elementary, was submitted to them at their subsequent meeting on December 12, 2023. Later on, the Fairview-University part was eliminated.

The initial proposal called for sending pre-K through second-grade kids to Childs Elementary and third through sixth-grade students to Templeton Elementary. Concerns regarding lack of transparency, timeliness, and transportation were voiced by many parents.

The neighborhood expressed disapproval of the sessions after they were held. In late February, the board convened work sessions to hear community concerns and brainstorm potential plans.
The timetable established by the consolidation resolution was addressed by the board and superintendent Hauswald. They acknowledged that although the December deadline would appear tight, it can be changed if needed, particularly with the arrival of a new superintendent.

“This is Plan A,” Hauswald said. “Its resolution can be changed in December, you can alter the date, there’s a lot of things that you can do. As it says, the board has broad authority. It’s just simply trying to give some timelines.”

The possibility of redistricting has hampered merger talks; the board also addressed and agreed to vote on it at this meeting. They agreed to ask a firm that specializes in redistricting for a contract, even though they did not cast a ballot.

Markay Winston, the MCCSC deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was also named by the board to serve as interim superintendent for the 2024–2025 academic year. This took over for Jeff Hauswald, the superintendent, whose contract was bought out by the board in March. Hauswald’s tenure as superintendent will conclude on June 30.

The board will begin its hunt for a new superintendent following the elections in November. They won’t begin the procedure until January, when the new board members are seated if there are any new members.

“Thank you all for the trust and faith that you clearly have placed in me to serve our most valuable community assets: our children,” Winston said. “I assume this role with my eyes wide open, very wide open, and with a very listening ear.”

On Monday, the board convened in executive session. The public was not given access to the executive session’s whole agenda, but based on the incomplete agenda item that mentioned “interviewing prospective employees,” it is likely that Winston’s appointment was decided during this meeting.