Ball State Poised For Final Muncie Schools Vote
(Image courtesy of Muncie Community Schools)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Ball State University Board of Trustees will meet Wednesday afternoon to decide if the school will take over management of Muncie Community Schools. The first-of-its-kind in the state arrangement was approved Monday by the General Assembly during a special session. If the board resolution is approved, a new school board for the local district will be selected by Ball State and put in charge of MCS July 1. The new board, which will consist of 7 members, will start in on a two-year strategic planning process.
The university has called the takeover a "bold solution" that demonstrates its longterm interest in the community, which President Geoff Mearns has said makes Ball State "uniquely situated" to help the cash-strapped district that is facing enrollment challenges and has been under state-ordered emergency management. A criticism raised during testimony in the Statehouse involves the change from a publicly-elected board to one appointed by Ball State trustees.
The university is licensed by the state as a charter school authorizing authority and it runs Burris Laboratory School and the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities, which are located on the Muncie campus.