BEDFORD – The North Lawrence Community Schools board and superintendent Ty Mungle have agreed to a buyout of his contract with the district, removing him from his position effective immediately.
The board voted 5-2 on the matter, with members Wendy and Barbara Miller, Scott King, Adam Parsley and Jeff Lambrecht voting in favor of the buyout. Board members Tracy Bailey and Kirsten Collier voted against the decision.
King spoke before the final vote, saying his previous research and discussions with various stakeholders led him to believe a separation between Mungle and NLCS was best for the district moving forward, not emotion.
“I’ve spoken to scores of teachers, dozens of community members and I spent time to make sure I could validate and verify every accusation and make sure I had multiple sources to back that up,” King said. “I don’t want you to confuse my passion and being focus for this community as being emotional, because passion drives you, emotion controls you. I’m passionate about what I’m doing and this decision I make tonight will not be an emotional one,” he later added.
Collier explained her dissenting vote, saying she felt the decision was being made too quickly.
“I’m not a pro Ty or a con Ty. I’m a pro process. I’m a pro Transparency. That was the rationale behind my decision. It’s been one week,” Collier said, referencing the amount of time this group of members have served on the school board together.
“I was on the board four years ago. Same situation. New board came in, elected themselves officers, immediately got rid of that superintendent, got an Interim – Dr. Mungle, and it’s the exact same thing and it happened very quickly,” she later continued.
Parsley commented on the speed at which the board came to this decision, saying he felt it was a matter they needed to act urgently on due to the amount of students transferring away from the district.
According to enrollment data from the Indiana Department of Education, NLCS enrollment has declined 1,068 students comparing total enrollment from 2023 to 2019, when Mungle was hired as the district’s superintendent.
“The money follows the students and those are revenues that we have lost. If that average is about 250 students a year, those are revenues that are going outside of this corporation. Our population decline is only in the 2% range per decade. We are not losing people very much, we are losing students. So, coupled with considerable trust issues, I do not believe there is anything to be gained from kicking this can down the road and delaying this any longer than we have to,” he said.
Board president Wendy Miller elaborated on her vote, saying it was one she made with the district’s student in mind as the highest priority.
“My most important facet of making a decision on this board is that this is an organization that is children-centric. It is for children, who grow up to be adults and run our society,” said Miller. “The most important thing is that we have leadership in place that is ethical and that is a wonderful example for our kids and is transparent and honest. That is above everything for me,” she continued.
The board also voted to appoint Steve Underwood as the temporary superintendent of NLCS, with Jim Halik set to take over as the interim superintendent on Feb. 1. That vote was unanimous.
Halik has served as a superintendent for two districts previously; Franklin Community School Corporation and C.S.C. Southern Hancock County, for a total of 20 years between the two roles. He also served as an interim superintendent for Richland-Bean Blossom School Corporation from 2017-2018.
Parsley said part of Halik’s responsibilities as the interim will be to aid NLCS in their search for a long-term fit for the role.
Mungle’s contract was bought out for $141,281.42. His contract was previously extended in June 2022 through 2025 in a split 4-2 vote at the time.
Assistant Superintendent Chris Tanner was placed on paid administrative leave, again by a 5-2 board vote with Bailey and Collier as the dissenting votes. Wendy Miller was given the authority to begin the cancellation proceeding for Tanner’s contract, in a 5-2 vote with members voting the same way.
The appointment of an interim Chief of Staff/Director of Human Resources, who would be Tanner’s replacement was tabled until a future meeting.
The board also voted unanimously to extend Greg Pittman’s contract as the district’s attorney for one year.
