The Monroe County Community School Corporation’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution merging Childs Elementary and Templeton Elementary starting in the 2025-26 school year and appointed a new interim superintendent, Markay Winston, at its meeting Tuesday.
“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.”
There’s no solid plan for what the elementary merger will look like yet. The resolution tasks next year’s superintendent with creating a plan based on discussion with the Monroe County Education Association, teachers, staff, family and community members. The plan must be presented before Dec. 31, 2024.
The elementary merger has been on the table since the board requested a report from current Superintendent Jeff Hauswald on a strategy to improve the balance of socioeconomic status in district elementary schools at their Nov. 14 board meeting. At their next meeting, on Dec. 12, 2023, the superintendent presented his original report, which suggested merging Childs and Templeton, as well as merging Fairview Elementary and University Elementary. The Fairview-University portion was later dropped.
The original plan proposed sending students to Childs Elementary for pre-K through second grade and to Templeton Elementary from third through sixth grade. Many parents raised concerns about transportation, timeline issues and lack of clarity.
The community came out in opposition in following the meetings. The board held work sessions, where they heard community concerns and discussed what a plan could look like, in late February.
The board and superintendent Hauswald discussed the timeline set by the consolidation resolution. The December deadline may seem tight, they said, but the date can be altered if necessary, especially with a new superintendent coming in.
"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.”
Merger discussions have been complicated by the prospect of redistricting, which the board also discussed and promised to vote on at this meeting. While they didn’t vote, they did agree to request a contract from a company specializing in redistricting.
The board also appointed Markay Winston, the deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction for MCCSC, as the interim superintendent for the 2024-25 school year. This filled the vacancy left by the board’s buyout of superintendent Jeff Hauswald’s contract in March. Hauswald will remain as superintendent until June 30.
The board will start the search for a new superintendent after the November elections. If there are any new board members, they’ll wait to start the process until January, when the new members are seated.
“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.”
The board met in an executive session Monday. The executive session’s full agenda wasn’t available to the public, but this session is likely where Winston’s appointment was decided, as the partial agenda included “interviewing prospective employees”.
