Muncie Community Schools high school consolidation records
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
- 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.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2014/12/11 by Brandon Pieczko. EAD finding aid created 12/11/2014 by Brandon Pieczko.
- Agendas (Administrative Records) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Clippings Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Financial records Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- High schools Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Memorandums Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Minutes (Administrative Records) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Muncie (Ind.) -- History -- 21st century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Publications Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- School boards Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- School management and organization -- Indiana Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Stoeckel Archives of Local History Subject Source: Local sources
- 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
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie Indiana 47306 USA
libarchives@bsu.edu