Muncie Schools hires new CFO
MUNCIE, Ind. — Bob Coddington resigned as Wayne County auditor on Tuesday to take over as the latest chief financial officer at deficit-ridden Muncie Community Schools.
"We are going to have the best school system that Muncie Community Schools can afford," Coddington told school board members after they approved the hiring.
A memorandum of understanding calls for Coddington to receive a "vendor payment" of $550 a day, including payroll taxes, etc. Central office administrators at MCS work 260 days a year, and Coddington was hired into a full-time position, so his payments would total $143,000 annually. The new CFO also would be entitled to travel expenses or use of a school corporation car.
The corporation's previous two CFOs, Deborah Williams and Bruce Perry, both made annual salaries of $113,864. Williams resigned in January, and Perry was hired to replace her the same day, and then Perry resigned two months later.
Coddington was employed as business manager for Richmond Community Schools from 2005 to 2014. He gained management experience during a long career in the health care private sector, where he rose to senior vice president of NovaCare Rehabilitation, a physical therapy service provider based in King of Prussia, Pa., and also served as regional vice president at Basic American Medical, Indianapolis.
Coddington holds bachelor's and master's degrees in speech pathology from Ball State University.
He provided financial consulting to MCS in 2014, uncovering many of the irregularities that eventually resulted in the school corporation being taken over by the state's Distressed Unit Appeals Board, school board President Debbie Feick told The Star Press.
Coddington is the school corporation's fifth CFO in four years, succeeding Mark Burkhart, Chip Mehaffey, Deborah Williams and Bruce Perry.
Projected enrollment at MCS in the fall of 2017 is 5,300, Superintendent Steve Baule told the school board on Tuesday. The permanent workforce is expected to total 528, a 13 percent reduction compared to the current school year. The projected workforce includes 365 faculty, also a decrease from this school year.
The administration is also projecting a negative cash balance of $9.3 million on Dec. 31, 2017, compared to a negative cash balance of $11 million on Dec. 31, 2016.
MCS continues to reduce the number of administrators. The board approved the resignations of Northside Middle School Principal Jackie Samuels and two assistant principals at NMS.
The school board has voted to close Mitchell, Storer and Sutton elementary schools after this school year. NMS will remain open at least for a year. The school corporation has until Aug. 1, according to Delaware County Clerk Mike King, to seek a referendum next fall asking voters to approve a tax increase to keep two middle schools: NMS and Southside Middle School. If the referendum fails, NMS would be shuttered.
Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.