Latest news with #MCCSC
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MCCSC to offer flexible online school for 2025-26 school year
Monroe County Community School Corp. will launch an integrated online school program for the 2025-2026 school year. The free online school will offer synchronous and asynchronous virtual learning options for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Enrollment applications will open in late July, and online school will begin on Aug. 6, the same day MCCSC schools start classes. The program will be open to all K-12 students in Indiana, regardless of if they're districted within the corporation. The MCCSC school board unanimously approved the online school program during the July 8 board meeting. Administrators hope the online school will improve flexibility for students with medical, mental health and travel needs and will boost student numbers as the corporation faces enrollment decreases. More: MCCSC to slow hiring, introduce cost-cutting measures in the face of enrollment declines 'We know that there's a demand for online learning options,' said Tim Dowling, MCCSC's director of early learning and enrollment, during the July board meeting. Online school to provide flexible asynchronous options, in-person participation MCCSC's online school will be hosted by online provider Edmentum's EdOptions Academy. Edmentum is College Board- and NCAA-approved and is currently used by school corporations across the state, including programs in LaPorte, Michigan City and Mitchell. MCCSC says the online program will offer over 300 courses, including AP classes at Career and Technical Education programs. Students in the school will learn from Indiana-accredited teachers and can choose from classes with flexible synchronous and asynchronous options. MCCSC says students will have weekly check-ins with teachers and that students can request live help from teachers regardless of if they have in-person classes that day. MCCSC says it will offer hybrid options for high school students who want to take courses like chorus and band, and that online students can still participate in sports and extracurricular activities at the corporation's schools. Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship Principal Angie Evans will serve as the online school's head administrator, and online students will be students of The Academy. Academy faculty and staff will assist families with registration, monitoring student success and answering parents' questions about the program. Interested families can learn more about MCCSC Online at Families can fill out an online interest form and will receive an email when the enrollment application opens. Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@ Follow him on X/Twitter at @brianwritesnews. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: MCCSC opens Online School for Indiana students with synchronous, asynchronous options Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major east-west thoroughfare in Monroe County to be completed in August. What you need to know.
An east-west thoroughfare that includes a new 500-foot bridge is scheduled to be completed in early August, though an unexpected amount of rock removal is making the project more expensive than expected. Here's what you need to know. What's the thoroughfare that's being completed? It's the long-planned connection between West Gordon and West Fullerton Pike. When will the Fullerton Pike project be finished? Lisa Ridge, director of the Monroe County Highway Department, said via email she expects the project to be largely completed by Aug. 4, just before classes start for Monroe County Community School Corp. 'We are meeting weekly on this project due to the time crunch,' she said. What else does the project include? The roundabout at the Batchelor/Clear View/Gordon Pike intersection. A raised median measuring between 6 and 10 feet. A 10-foot multi-use path on the north side. A 5-foot sidewalk on the south side. Will work at the roundabout be completed in time for the start of school? 'We expect most of the roundabout to be completed, but there will still need to be some work on the west portion of it after it opens,' Ridge said. 'Opening it to the library and school is the main focus.' How much will the project cost? Ridge said total cost has risen to $19.5 million, in part because of an additional $481,000 in unexpected expenses related to rock removal. Construction crews ran into more rocky terrain than they expected. Ridge said removing rock, rather than soil, is more difficult and expensive because rocks have to be broken before they are hauled away. Ridge said crews excavated 9,165 cubic yards of rock, or nearly five times as much as expected when the project began. Local officials in 2023 estimated construction costs near $17 million, though Ridge raised concerns at the time about inflation pushing bids so much higher that the project might have to be simplified. Who is paying the additional dollars for the rock removal? The county. Commissioners approved the expenditure last week. Ridge said she has asked the Indiana Department of Transportation to cover 80% of that extra cost, but said Tuesday 'there is no extra funding' at this time. The county may use funds from its major bridge fund, which contains about $10 million, though that also is earmarked to pay for bridge replacements on Dillman and Mount Tabor roads and to help pay the debt on the Fullerton Pike extension. Who is paying for the total project? The project is being paid mostly with local funds, including $8 million the highway department borrowed, additional funds from the local road and street fund and about $3 million in federal dollars. Why did local officials pursue the project? Local officials have discussed the connector for more than 30 years, and they have said they hope it will provide easier access to and from Interstate 69 and spur development in that area. Many people currently use I-69 and the Ind. 45/46 Bypass to get from east to west. The new connector would give them a direct east-west route. Ridge also has said the project will make it much easier for people to head from the city's southwest side into Bloomington, including to Batchelor Middle School and the southwest branch of the public library. In the other direction, residents will be able to more easily access Monroe Hospital, Leonard Springs Nature Park and neighborhoods west of I-69. What are local officials saying about the project nearing completion? Monroe County Commissioner Julie Thomas said, "We are grateful to the area residents for their patience and their input throughout this process." Thomas thanked Ridge and the highway department for making sure the work is completed before the school year begins. Ridge said she is "thrilled" to see the project coming to fruition. "When I took this position in 2015 Fullerton Pike Phase I was getting ready to be built, so seeing it to the end and (making) the final connection to (Interstate 69) is something I'm very proud of that I was able to get it constructed and funded," she said. Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@ This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Major east-west thoroughfare in Monroe County to be completed in August Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MCCSC to slow hiring, introduce cost-cutting measures as part of new financial plan
Monroe County Community School Corp. will start to reduce staff and explore other cost-cutting measures as the corporation braces for decreased enrollment and revenue in the coming years. The reduction in staff is just one of several strategies MCCSC will ultimately employ to reduce costs as part of a two-year, five-phase strategic financial plan. The plan was announced by MCCSC Superintendent Markay Winston during February's school board meeting. Winston said the corporation will 'carefully reassess' whether to backfill the positions of people who resign or retire this spring. MCCSC said approximately 80-100 teachers and 250-300 support staff retire or resign each year. The strategic plan comes in direct response to a November recommendation by a demographic consultant for MCCSC to consider closing or consolidating schools in the face of local and statewide population decreases. While Winston and board members did not discuss closing schools during the meeting, Winston said multiple approaches, including 'resource optimization' will be used to achieve financial stability as the gap between MCCSC's costs and revenues widens. 'There are not enough one-time fixes to address our structural imbalance,' Winston said. Winston said slowing population growth and enrollment rates have cost MCCSC approximately $17.2 million in 'lost revenue' since 2020, a trend that's expected to continue in the years and decades to come. MCCSC's enrollment has decreased by 835 students, or 7.66%, since 2020. The Indiana Business Research Center projects Monroe County's school-age population (ages 5 to 19) will decrease by 1,053 children, or over 4%, in the next decade. Across the state, all counties outside the Indianapolis metro area are expected to see population decreases in the next three decades. Winston said the rate at which MCCSC has been hiring and adding new positions in recent years is 'unsustainable," especially after MCCSC increased teacher and support staff wages with the 2022 referendum. 'While there is no one who would dispute the fact that our teachers are deserving of salary increases, the reality is that our current staffing levels do not meet the current student enrollment levels,' Winston said. At the same time, families in the district have enrolled their children in more charter and private schools since 2020. From the 2021-22 to 2024-25 school years, the number of students in MCCSC's attendance zone who started attending outside schools increased from 1,158 to 1,637. In the 2024-25 school year, 38% of those inside the attendance zone who didn't attend MCCSC schools went to charter schools, while 36% attended private schools. These enrollment changes come at a time when the Indiana Legislature is weighing two bills that could further impact MCCSC's finances. Senate Bill 518 would require public schools to share local property tax revenue with charter schools, while Senate Bill 1, a tax relief bill, could limit how much school corporations are able to collect in property taxes through referendums. In November, MCCSC's demographics consultant said it would be unwise for the corporation to redistrict students without strongly considering closing some schools first. His report included 14 scenarios for potential redistricting, five of which included closing or consolidating Childs Elementary. Winston didn't offer many concrete actions beyond the plan to strategically reevaluate staff vacancies that open up this spring. A webpage for the strategic plan references 'establishing a revised financial management plan that optimizes revenue generation, resource optimization, reserve building, operational efficiency, and strategic staffing' that will be implemented, in phases, over two years. Tim Dowling, director of early learning and enrollment, said MCCSC will create a 'redistricting study commission' that will meet for the first time in March. Dowling said information will go out in the next week about who can participate and how community members can get involved. Winston said she and her team will provide quarterly updates on the strategic plan during board meetings. Winston, Dowling and MCCSC communications director Sarah DeWeese did not immediately respond to questions about whether the strategic plan would include discussions of closing or consolidating schools. More information about the strategic financial plan, including a PDF and video recording of Winston's presentation, is available online at Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@ Follow him on Twitter/X at @brianwritesnews. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: MCCSC financial plan calls for smaller staff cost-cutting
