State Sen. Kenley says state control of Muncie Community Schools 'limited'

Rep. Sue Errington D-Muncie, has called it "state takeover probation" or "a temporary state takeover."

In an interview on Thursday, Kenley, R-Noblesville, who chaired the conference committee that led to the intervention, said, "There's no question that it puts Muncie under the control of the (state's) Distressed Unit Appeals Board (DUAB), but with defined limits." In a phrase, he would call the action "limited supervision."

As it passed the House, Senate Bill 567, championed by Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, would have authorized DUAB to appoint an emergency manager with broad control over MCS's finances and academics, including hiring a chief financial officer and a chief academic officer; adopting a budget to address school financial obligations; setting, suspending and reducing salaries; hiring and firing; implementing labor force reductions; outsourcing services, closing schools, renegotiating labor contracts; closing and selling schools; and superseding the school board and superintendent.

But after the legislation was opposed by lawmakers representing Muncie, the Muncie School Board, the Muncie Teachers Association, Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler, Muncie City Council, concerned parents and others, a House-Senate conference committee scaled back some of the emergency manager's powers.

"We felt the reaction of the Muncie community at large — 'We don't want to be classified as 'distressed' like Gary, we don't like that description and we can work our way out of this' — that was a good reaction as far as I'm concerned," Kenley told The Star Press. "It told me they will marshal the assets of the greater community to deal with the issue. So they will have the opportunity to get it squared away, and I think they can. I hope they can … if the local community can face up to what many consider to be mistakes of the past. That's a better solution than if we went in there and put an iron hand on this situation."