MCCSC board to take up pay, stipends, and financial update at first 2026 meeting

The Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) board is set to meet on Tuesday (Jan. 27) for its first regular meeting of 2026.

Karen Butcher, the executive assistant to the board and superintendent, confirmed to The B Square by email on Monday that the meeting will be held as posted. (MCCSC announced e-Learning with no in-person programs on Tuesday—due to the foot of snow that fell starting late Saturday afternoon.)

In the first week of the year, the board already held an organizational meeting—to handle annual housekeeping items like the election of board officers. Erin Cooperman will serve as president.

The agenda for Cooperman’s first regular meeting as president includes items affecting compensation, for both teachers and non-teaching staff, as well as a financial update for the district.

AFSCME labor agreement

Compensation for the district’s non-teaching staff for the next two years is up for board approval on Tuesday. Union and non-union staff have separate items on the agenda.

On the agenda for union staff is a collective bargaining agreement between MCCSC and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3995 for Jan. 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2027.

AFSCME is the union that covers support staff, including custodians, maintenance employees, food service employees, and bus drivers, monitors, and technicians. The contract has no base pay increase—that’s the same flat compensation level that teachers agreed to last year. However, each union member will receive an annual, one-time stipend for the next two years, between $250 and $600, depending on their job.

The new AFSCME contract also includes medical, dental, and vision insurance contributions and rates, which are similar to the benefits that were a part of the teachers collective bargaining agreement, according to the administration's cover memo.

Non-union support staff and administrators will have their compensation for the next two years considered as a separate agenda item at Tuesday’s meeting. According to the administration cover memo, non-union staff will also see no pay increase for the next two years, and will see MCCSC insurance contributions that are similar to those of AFCSME staff and teaching staff.

TAG stipends: Same funding, fewer recipients means increased per-award amounts

The board meeting agenda includes two items related to the IDOE’s Teacher Appreciation Grant (TAG) program—one would repeal the existing district policy on TAGs and the other would establish a new policy.

The effect of the change is that fewer teachers will receive an award, but those who do get one will see a higher amount.

The district is changing the policy on TAGs because Indiana House Enrolled Act 1001, which passed in 2025, made changes to the program. Last school year, 736 MCCSC teachers received a TAG stipend, according to MCCSC communications director Sarah DeWeese. That’s about 92% of the district’s 800 full-time equivalent teachers.

Jenny Noble-Kuchera, president of MCEA, the teachers union, said that over the last decade or so, the amount of the TAG awards given to MCCSC teachers was about $500 in the highest-paying year and around $320 in the lowest-paying year.

The amount allocated to MCCSC by the state remains more or less unchanged: $373,644 for the 2025-26 school year—only about $2,700 less than for 2024-25. What HEA 1001 changed was how schools can distribute TAG funds to its teachers.

Instead of allowing districts to give stipends to all eligible teachers, HEA 1001 only allows up to 20% of a district’s teachers to receive the grant. The bill also sets stipend levels for individual teachers. There are three tiers—$3,500, $5,000, and $7,500, all with different criteria.

If MCCSC wanted to give 20% of its teachers the lowest award tier of $3,500, that would require about $560,000, which is more than the $373,644 the state has allocated.

MCCSC, in collaboration with the union, decided that TAG stipends will be awarded to just 13% of teachers. That percentage will be broken down like this: 10% will receive $3,500 stipends, and 3% will receive $5,000 stipends.

The district also aims to distribute the funds proportionally across schools, so that 13% of teachers at each school receive stipends, if at least 13% at each school apply. According to Noble-Kuchera, MCCSC currently employs 757 full-time teachers—13% of 757 is about 98 teachers.

On Dec. 12, 2025, MCCSC sent an email to teachers with an application to apply for the grant, due Jan. 12. “TAG will no longer be awarded automatically,” the email said. The application asked teachers to provide “evidence of significantly impacting student outcomes as well as a narrative explanation.” An FAQ document attached to the email details how teachers can fulfill those application requirements.

If more than 13% of teachers apply, MCCSC and MCEA will create a lottery system to determine who receives the stipend. The lottery will be random, according to Noble-Kuchera.

Financial planning

MCCSC is almost one year into its two-year plan to reach financial sustainability. MCCSC superintendent Markay Winston and chief financial officer Matt Irwin will present a financial update at Tuesday’s board meeting. The most recent update was in November.

In addition to a financial update, superintendent Winston will speak about the district’s new “Financial Transparency Portal,” which she announced at last November's meeting. The meeting will also include an update on special education.

The board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday (Jan. 27) at 6 p.m. at the MCCSC Co-Lab, 553 E Miller Dr. The agenda can be viewed at BoardDocs. The meeting will be live-streamed on YouTube.