Kelton O'Connell

Ninety-nine MCCSC teachers will receive state-funded stipends of $3,500 or $5,000 under a revamped Teacher Appreciation Grant program. A new law caps awards at 20% of teachers, replacing smaller stipends that previously were distributed to almost all teachers.

On Thursday, MCCSC hosted a community forum on the former Herald-Times building it bought for nearly $3 million, outlining three options—sell, postpone or renovate. The 77,000-square-foot site is now used for storage and bus parking. An online survey has drawn 350-plus responses.

This report includes everything you wanted to know about MCCSC’s board meeting—from flat pay and stipends for union and non-union staff, to reshaped teacher grants, required fund transfers, public concerns over finances and ICE, a safety review, and approval of the 2028-29 calendar.

The MCCSC board will meet Tuesday (Jan. 27) for its first regular meeting of 2026, with newly elected president Erin Cooperman presiding. The agenda includes compensation for non-teachers, changes to Teacher Appreciation Grants, and a district financial update.

MCCSC placed all schools on a “soft lockdown” Jan. 22 after an anonymous caller told BPD he was in a school bathroom stall with a gun and would “shoot up the school.” No school was named. SROs swept all 23 buildings; no credible threat was found.