Muncie emergency manager selected, Gary's next

Contributed By:The 411 News

Indiana’s Distressed Unit Appeal Board (DUAB) selected a consulting firm that has worked closely with the Muncie School System for the district’s emergency manager at its meeting Monday, June 26. The board also discussed criteria for selecting respondents to its Request for Information on School Corporation Emergency Management Services for the Gary school district.

A major factor in the board’s choice of Administrator Assistance, made up of retired and former school superintendents, business managers and teachers, over other respondents was its familiarity with the Muncie school district.

The accounting firm Crowe Horwath and Muncie’s current school superintendent Stephen Baule had also applied for the emergency manager position.

Emergency managers for both school districts were part of the 2017 legislation crafted by the Indiana General Assembly for state control of school districts that couldn’t pay their bills. Senate Bill 567 has specific requirements for each school districts emergency manager.

Muncie’s emergency manager will only be in place until the end of 2017 since its financial distress is not as severe as Gary’s. Muncie’s closure of 3 schools in the spring helped erase much of its deficit.

In the bill, state control of Gary schools was designated for 5 years. DUAB chairman Micah Vincent noted the timeframe for state control would be a determining factor for selection of Gary’s manager just as it was for Muncie. For board member Courtney Schaafsma, the short duration of Muncie’s manager benefitted “Administrator Assistance because it is familiar with Muncie’s school district and can hit the ground running.”

Respondents to the RFI for Gary’s emergency manager were so numerous, “… it won’t be as easy as Muncie,” said Vincent, adding that the board couldn’t yet discuss their number or names. “We need to start by paring the list down. A few I saw were just resumes. They didn’t seem to fit the requirements,” said board member Paul Joyce.

An advisory member on the DUAB is State Sen. Eddie Melton, one of the authors of SB 567. Melton agreed the respondents should be pared down using some criteria and reminded the board the list will have to be made public. The bill requires the emergency manager selection process include Gary residents.

At Tuesday’s Gary school board meeting, Supt. Cheryl Pruitt said the DUAB will hold a meeting at West Side High School on July 6 to announce all respondents to the RFI.

Schaafsma said her office has received many questions about the chief academic officer and chief financial officer for Gary, positions to be filled by the emergency manager. “We are tracking all these calls and will pass them on when the emergency manager is selected,” she said.

DUAB members are heads of state agencies. Vincent heads the Office of Management and Budget; Schaafsma heads the Dept. of Local Government Finance; and Joyce heads the State Board of Accounts.

Story Posted:06/28/2017