The Monroe County Community School Corporation serves approximately 11,000 students in twenty-one buildings. A duly elected seven-member Board with scheduled public monthly meetings governs the corporation. Our students are our primary focus, ensuring that we provide an extremely knowledgeable, skilled, creative, and passionate staff to serve students’ academic needs. We provide a rigorous, diverse curriculum that meets and exceeds all state standards. There is a strong emphasis on citizenship, positive character, servant leadership, community projects, Indiana history, U.S. history, and global studies. We also provide counselors, social workers, psychologists, special educators, home to school liaisons, interventionist, preventionists, and extracurricular coaches and sponsors. Our staff provides a wealth of extracurricular activities for students, which include but are not limited to; history and economic clubs, robotics, engineering, world languages, athletics, music, orchestra, art, gardening, ecology, conservation, fishing, and seaperch activities. In addition, art, music, and physical education are provided for students. We have extremely functional buildings, nature walks, and nearly 300 extracurricular activities with facilities to support them.
We have one school using an Artful Learning Design and others are preparing for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) emphasis. Three of our elementary schools teach Spanish, with others to follow in the future. All middle schools offer French, Spanish and Chinese, one offers project-based sections, two offer a broadcasting curriculum and all offer Project Lead the Way. Our high schools teach Latin, Chinese, French, Spanish, and German. We have three schools completing requirements for International Baccalaureate designation while ensuring high expectations and increased rigor that meets the needs of every child no matter what age, disability, race, color, or background. We are fully engaged in cultural competency efforts. The most important component of this vast array of opportunities is that we serve ALL children. As a result, of “the fix” to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by Governor Pence, we recognize that non-public schools remain exempt from serving ALL children. In addition, we transport students to and from school and serve students breakfast, lunch and snacks.
ALL children are able to participate in each area outlined. When confronted with decreased revenues and the demands of public schools growing, patrons of the Monroe County Community School Corporation stood tall and passed a referendum in 2010 to ensure all of these opportunities continued for ALL students. We are looking at the possibility of requesting a renewal of this referendum, incurred by taxpayers, to support our children’s future. We do not need our current funding diminished after taxpayers have taken it upon themselves to pass a major referendum.
The Monroe County Community School Corporation provides quality education for ALL children. Look at our data – students show continued upward growth – for ALL students, Special Education, Title I, advanced, highly and under motivated students. Our graduation rates are at an all-time high. We are not exclusive to any student and provide services to ALL. This is not a requirement for a charter, even a public charter. I would add that the Monroe County Community School Corporation has enough schools to support ALL students in a fiscally sound manner. We do not need duplication. If an investment is going to be made by our taxpayers, make an investment in the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s and the Richland Bean Blossom Community School Corporation’s success.
For the 2015-2016 school year the Monroe County Community School Corporation will receive $5,612.00 per student through the state’s school funding formula. Losing 200 students to a charter school would result in a decrease in 2015-2016 funding of $1,122,400, or the equivalent of the salaries and benefits for 23 teachers with a master’s degree and 2 years of teaching experience. The loss of 200 students will be spread throughout the Monroe County Community School Corporation, a few students in each room, so it will not be possible to reduce the number of teachers to match the loss in funding without increasing the pupil-teacher ratio throughout the school corporation or reducing expenditures in other areas that could have an extremely detrimental impact on instruction. Approval of the Seven Oaks Classical Charter School is not in the best interest of students.
As we look to renewing our referendum to ensure the quality education and extra-curricular opportunities continue, I ask you, not to dilute the dollars provided by the State. Please do not ignore a community who came out aggressively to continue this wide variety of opportunities for students with their own dollars. Say NO to the Seven Oaks Classical Charter School in Monroe County, Indiana. Our taxpayers have spoken by a referendum vote their belief for our public schools serving ALL children with the breadth of curriculum, staff members, and opportunities afforded by their vote.
--Dr. Judith A. DeMuth
Superintendent, Monroe County Community School Corporation
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We have one school using an Artful Learning Design and others are preparing for a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) emphasis. Three of our elementary schools teach Spanish, with others to follow in the future. All middle schools offer French, Spanish and Chinese, one offers project-based sections, two offer a broadcasting curriculum and all offer Project Lead the Way. Our high schools teach Latin, Chinese, French, Spanish, and German. We have three schools completing requirements for International Baccalaureate designation while ensuring high expectations and increased rigor that meets the needs of every child no matter what age, disability, race, color, or background. We are fully engaged in cultural competency efforts. The most important component of this vast array of opportunities is that we serve ALL children. As a result, of “the fix” to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by Governor Pence, we recognize that non-public schools remain exempt from serving ALL children. In addition, we transport students to and from school and serve students breakfast, lunch and snacks.
ALL children are able to participate in each area outlined. When confronted with decreased revenues and the demands of public schools growing, patrons of the Monroe County Community School Corporation stood tall and passed a referendum in 2010 to ensure all of these opportunities continued for ALL students. We are looking at the possibility of requesting a renewal of this referendum, incurred by taxpayers, to support our children’s future. We do not need our current funding diminished after taxpayers have taken it upon themselves to pass a major referendum.
The Monroe County Community School Corporation provides quality education for ALL children. Look at our data – students show continued upward growth – for ALL students, Special Education, Title I, advanced, highly and under motivated students. Our graduation rates are at an all-time high. We are not exclusive to any student and provide services to ALL. This is not a requirement for a charter, even a public charter. I would add that the Monroe County Community School Corporation has enough schools to support ALL students in a fiscally sound manner. We do not need duplication. If an investment is going to be made by our taxpayers, make an investment in the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s and the Richland Bean Blossom Community School Corporation’s success.
For the 2015-2016 school year the Monroe County Community School Corporation will receive $5,612.00 per student through the state’s school funding formula. Losing 200 students to a charter school would result in a decrease in 2015-2016 funding of $1,122,400, or the equivalent of the salaries and benefits for 23 teachers with a master’s degree and 2 years of teaching experience. The loss of 200 students will be spread throughout the Monroe County Community School Corporation, a few students in each room, so it will not be possible to reduce the number of teachers to match the loss in funding without increasing the pupil-teacher ratio throughout the school corporation or reducing expenditures in other areas that could have an extremely detrimental impact on instruction. Approval of the Seven Oaks Classical Charter School is not in the best interest of students.
As we look to renewing our referendum to ensure the quality education and extra-curricular opportunities continue, I ask you, not to dilute the dollars provided by the State. Please do not ignore a community who came out aggressively to continue this wide variety of opportunities for students with their own dollars. Say NO to the Seven Oaks Classical Charter School in Monroe County, Indiana. Our taxpayers have spoken by a referendum vote their belief for our public schools serving ALL children with the breadth of curriculum, staff members, and opportunities afforded by their vote.
--Dr. Judith A. DeMuth
Superintendent, Monroe County Community School Corporation
Return to Seven Oaks public comments page