The Monroe County Community School Corporation discussed community feedback it received on how to use the former Herald-Times building and gave a financial update at its board meeting last night.
The corporation purchased the Herald-Times property in 2022 for $2.9 million. At the time, the former superintendent said potential uses could include a family welcome center, a health clinic, meeting space or bus parking. The building is currently used for equipment storage and bus parking.
Jeffry Henderson, MCCSC assistant superintendent of human resources and operations, said the options are selling the property, postponing future renovation or renovating it. Renovations could make the building into something like a welcome center, a district-wide event space, or an employee health and wellness center.
A corporation survey gathered 404 responses. About 54 percent of respondents identified as a parent or guardian of a current student,13 percent identified as a community member in the district and eight percent a parent or guardian of an alumnus or alumna. MCCSC teachers and staff, MCCSC alumni and MCCSC students were among the respondents.
Forty percent of respondents recommended selling the property, 18 percent favored using it for educational programs and services with a focus in STEM and 14 percent advocated for a sports facility, with a fieldhouse, an indoor track or a gym space.
Some proposed using the building for administration or operations. Others proposed using the building for community and social services, such as affordable housing or a homeless center.
“Many of the items that were mentioned under community or social services are not the direct responsibility of a public school corporation to provide,” Henderson said. “We're not typically building homeless shelters and providing housing services.”
Board members acknowledged the need to improve the building. Even if the corporation were to continue using the building for storage and parking, the roof would need repairs.
If the corporation were to sell the building, Henderson said there would need to be a public hearing and notice per Indiana Code. Following a hearing, the board must approve selling the property.
Superintendent Markay Winston said she will work to post notice and find a date to hold a public hearing on all options.
Financial update
The board also presented an update to the corporation’s two-year plan to balance the budget. One year after announcing the plan, the corporation said it’s making progress.
Last year, Senate Enrolled Act 1 cut education funding, which forced the corporation to make money-saving changes, including cutting 61 health aides, food service and custodial staff, and not raising teacher salaries. A Policy Analytics report from October found that MCCSC will see a funding reduction of over $30 million in the next five years.
A recent Indiana Business Review Bloomington Forecast reported that Bloomington is lagging behind the state in GDP growth. Winston also noted a part of the report that said workers in Bloomington earn 11.9 percent less per hour while homes cost 18.1 percent more than the state average.
“Here's why it matters, because when families struggle with low wages and high housing costs, some of them leave and in Indiana, when students leave, funding follows them out the door,” Winston said.
The corporation is also experiencing declining enrollment.
“In spite of these headwinds, our team continues to keep our efforts focused on making sure that our decisions are good for children, fiscally responsible and ultimately sustainable,” Winston said. She added, “We will all have to make very tough choices in today's financial climate.”
Irwin said had the corporation not made changes to save money, MCCSC would have been projected to have a deficit of over $30 million. But now, he predicts MCCSC will have a positive cash balance of just over $28 million by 2028.
“It's important that we are operating in a healthy place, because we take care of a lot of students and we employ a lot of staff,” he said.
Amid these changes, MCCSC teachers won’t be receiving a base salary raise for the next two years. The next update to the board will be in May.
Bond projects
Winston announced a bond program that aims to build and sustain MCCSC schools. Bond dollars can be spent on things such as safety and security improvements, construction and renovations and technology enhancements. Bonds cannot be spent on teacher or staff salaries and classroom supplies.
The corporation previously used bond money to renovate the Bloomington South soccer field, South’s gymnasium seating and Templeton Elementary’s playground.
The corporation’s latest bond project will put about $8 million toward improving athletic facilities at Bloomington High School North, including renovations to the parking lot, soccer field and football stadium restrooms, concession stands and lockers. Construction begins in March and is expected to be completed by fall 2026.
“It's long overdue, it's necessary, and we do think it's going to be a benefit to our students,” Winston said. “At the end of the day, our goal is to preserve community assets while also controlling future costs.”
Another bond project includes building a bus canopy and retention pond this spring at North.
The next board meeting is March 24.
