Jeff Hauswald, the newly-selected Monroe County Community School Corporation superintendent, said before he can determine his specific goals in this position, he needs to make himself available to the community.
Hauswald said he wants to speak with community members, leaders, teachers, students and board members and look at data regarding student performance and demographics before identifying ways MCCSC schools can be more productive.
“My first desire is to be goal-based, but for me to not dictate what those goals will be,” he said. “After listening to members of the community and speaking with our staff, I will work with the board to develop goals.”
The MCCSC Board of School Trustees announced Feb. 3 Hauswald, the current Kokomo School Corporation Superintendent, was selected as the next MCCSC superintendent Feb. 3. His three-year contract starts July 1.
Hauswald, who graduated from IU in 1997, has worked as a math teacher, assistant principal, athletic director, elementary principal, assistant superintendent and has served as the Kokomo School Corporation superintendent since 2010. As a math teacher, Hauswald said he loved building relationships with the students and seeing some students eventually choose STEM careers. As an administrator and leader in education, he said he enjoys making big-picture decisions and implementing long-lasting change.
As the KSC Superintendent, Hauswald helped expand early childhood education to six of seven elementary schools and added more career readiness courses. Hauswald said he also helped increase the number of college readiness programs available, such as Advanced Placement and dual credit courses, and increase the number of classes each student takes.
MCCSC Board President Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer said Hauswald was selected because of how well he fit the superintendent profile, which included qualities such as being accomplished, politically savvy and excellent at communicating. BWP & Associates, the company the board hired to assist with the selection process, compiled this list of qualities after conducting 16 focus groups, individual meetings with board members and Monroe County Education Association members and a survey.
Hauswald said he knew early in the interviews that the position would be a good fit for him because of how student-centered and community-based the board was.
“The questions they asked and the goals they individually articulated very closely aligned to the type of board that I love to work for,” he said.
In contrast to when Judith DeMuth was selected as MCCSC superintendent in 2011, the board did not announce a list of final candidates before choosing Hauswald. BWP & Associates suggested the board keep the candidates confidential to encourage more people to apply, especially those serving in leadership positions, Fuentes-Rohwer said. Hauswald said he would not have applied if the process had been more public because a public process could have caused undue anxiety in his current school district and created a bad relationship with the Kokomo school board had he not received the job offer.
Two weeks into the transition process, Hauswald has informally visited some schools and met individually with MCCSC leaders. He met with Paul Farmer, Monroe County Education Association president, about two weeks ago.
Farmer said although they didn’t talk extensively about school business, he felt comfortable speaking with Hauswald.
“He thinks teachers' voices are incredibly important,” Farmer said. “He felt down to earth, being able to speak person-to-person, educator-to-educator.”
In the next week or two, Hauswald will visit schools for half days to meet with faculty, staff, guardians and students. He said he is excited to continue conversations with community members, build relationships and become a part of the MCCSC community.
“I’m looking forward to really serving the students, families and staff members at MCCSC and hopefully facilitating conversations in a way that will lead the district forward,” he said.
