April Hennessey, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, Keith Klein and Jacinda Townsend Gides won the elections for Board of Trustees seats in district 2, 4, 5 and 6, respectively, for Monroe County Community School Corporation.
District 2
Hennessey has beaten incumbent Sue Wanzer in her campaign for District 2 of the MCCSC Board of Trustees. Wanzer had previously represented District 2 for 19 years.
She received around 57% of the votes, according to unofficial results from the Monroe County Elections Board.
“This school board race was the little engine that could,” Hennessey said after the election in an email to the IDS. “We knew that we were up against some challenges, but from day one, there was so much energy and excitement behind me.”
Hennessey is a former MCCSC teacher and ran her campaign on her promise to include families' perspectives in her guidance at MCCSC. Two of Hennessey’s children attend Bloomington High School North, while one attends The Project School, a chartered public school in Bloomington.
She beat opponenet Matthew Smith for the seat.
“I would like to thank everyone who supported and voted for me and to congratulate April on a well-run campaign,” Smith said. “I wish her the best and hope she does a good job for our children.”
District 4
Fuentes-Rohwer has won her reelection bid for District 4 of the MCCSC Board of Trustees. She joined the board in 2017 and currently serves as its president.
She received around 58% of the votes, according to unofficial results from the Monroe County Elections Board.
“I am thankful for the support of our community in being reelected to serve MCCSC,” Fuentes-Rohwer said in a Facebook post. “While I am very sad to see Sue Wanzer leave and so thankful for her mentorship and service to our community, I am excited to serve with newcomer April Hennessey and returning board members Jacinda Townsend Gides and Keith Klein.”
Fuentes-Rohwer, who is also the president and co-founder of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, will continue in her second term to fight for more public education funding and to guide the next MCCSC superintendent in their transition following appointment. She has four children who have either graduated from or currently attend MCCSC schools.
District 5
Klein has won the MCCSC Board of Trustees election in an uncontested race for District 5. Klein has served on the board since 2009 and is an adjunct faculty member at Ivy Tech Bloomington.
According to his IDS voter guide responses, he provided to the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, Klein hopes to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on MCCSC in the coming months. In addition, he said he is thinking ahead about the district’s superintendent search and funding cuts schools are currently experiencing.
District 6
Gides has won her reelection campaign for District 6 of the MCCSC election. She was originally appointed by the board in January of this year after Lois Sabo-Skelton’s resignation was accepted.
She received around 64% of the votes, according to unofficial results from the Monroe County Elections Board.
“I'm looking to preserve as many teacher and staff jobs as possible, and as much programming as possible, particularly in the arts: given that the arts are what is getting us all through this,” Gides told the IDS after the election in an email. “I believe we really need to keep them in the schools, particularly at the elementary level. I am also quite eager to finally start the conversation on erasing the inequity between schools in our corporation”
Gides is a novelist and parent to two children at MCCSC. During her next term, she hopes to keep teacher retention up by providing support for teachers who she says have stepped up to take on additional responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"They’re disease screeners, social workers, tech gurus, on top of being teachers,” Gides said.
She beat Phillip Eskew for the seat.
“I had hoped that my experience and knowledge would be of benefit to the school system but the voters have spoken,” Eskew said after the election in an email to the IDS. “Thanks to those that supported me.”
