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Muncie Community Schools high school consolidation records

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-346

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of records documenting the strategic planning and events leading up to the consolidation of Muncie Southside and Central High Schools between 2013 and 2014. The records were maintained by the Superintendent of Muncie Community Schools, M. Tim Heller, and include Board of School Trustees meeting minutes and agendas; community Town Hall meeting minutes and comment cards; Athletics, Curricular, Leadership, Organizational Staffing, Technology Transition, and other committee records; merger reports submitted by the high schools to the Board of School Trustees; financial statements and reports; agreements; memoranda and email messages between Muncie Community Schools officials; letters and email messages between school district officials and community members; school calendars and standardized testing schedules; school building floor plans; presentation slides; articles from The Star Press and other local news media; "One Muncie" campaign promotional materials; essays written by local high school students about the anticipated effects of the proposed consolidation of the two high schools; and historical and statistical information about public schools in Muncie.

Dates

  • Creation: 1990, 2013-2014

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections. In the case of news articles and other published material, literary rights, including copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their legal heirs and assigns. All requests to publish or quote from such material must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections. The publisher must also obtain the permission of the copyright holder.

Historical Note

In 2013, in response to declining enrollment and increased financial troubles within the district, Muncie Community Schools began investigating cost containment solutions that would involve changes or reductions in several operational areas including facilities, personnel, technology, extracurricular activities, and transportation. Public town hall meetings were held on August 14 (Southside High School), August 27 (Northside Middle School), September 11 (Wilson Middle School), and October 8, 2013 (Central High School) to give community members an opportunity to provide suggestions and feedback about the future of the school district.

At a special meeting of the Board of School Trustees held on November 18, 2013 the board voted 4-1 to consolidate Muncie Central and Southside High Schools into a single high school, with the student body of Southside joining that of Central in the current Central High School building. The board also voted to convert the former Southside High School building into a middle school (Southside Middle School) and to close Wilson Middle School and place the building on the Indiana Department of Education list of closed, unused, or unoccupied school buildings until 2016. These actions were to become effective beginning with the 2014-2015 academic year. Board members Tony Costello, Debbie Feick, Michael Long, and Robert Warrner voted in favor of the recommendation, while board President Beverly Kelley voted against it. The stated reasons for the board's decision were that the proposed recommendations would result in significant cost savings, provide more educational and extracurricular opportunities for all students, and that Muncie Central was the only facility capable of accommodating all 9-12th grade students in the district.

Extent

1.2 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged in the following series and subseries:



Series 1: Strategic planning books, Apr. 2013-Oct. 2014



Subseries 1.1: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 1 (2013 Apr.-Aug.)

Subseries 1.2: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 2 (2013 Sept.)

Subseries 1.3: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 3 (2013 Oct.-Nov.)

Subseries 1.4: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 4 (2013 Dec.-2014 Jan.)

Subseries 1.5: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 5 (2014 Feb.-Mar.)

Subseries 1.6: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 6 (2014 Apr.-May)

Subseries 1.7: Strategic Plan 2013-2014, Book 7 (2014 June-July)

Subseries 1.8: Strategic Plan 2014-2015, Book 8 (2014 Aug.-Oct.)



Series 2: Board of School Trustees and Town Hall meeting minutes, 2013 Jan.-Nov.



Series 3: Publications, 1990-2014



Custodial History

This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a records donation from M. Tim Heller, Superintendent of Muncie Community Schools, on 2014/10/22.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Existence and Location of Originals

Original records were transferred to Archives and Special Collections in three-ring binders (Books 1-8), photocopied, and returned to the donor. The records in this collection are photocopies of the original documents maintained by M. Tim Heller, Superintendent of Muncie Community Schools.

Related Archival Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie IN:

MSS.D.003: Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records

SC.734: Kay Rankin opinion article on the Muncie high school consolidation

Processing Information

Collection processing completed 2014/12/11 by Brandon Pieczko. EAD finding aid created 12/11/2014 by Brandon Pieczko.

Title
Muncie Community Schools high school consolidation records
Status
Completed
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Stoeckel Archives of Local History Repository

Contact:
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA