The head of Muncie Community Schools is retiring.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, she was hired to help guide a first-in-the-state partnership between the district and a state university.

In 2019, already-veteran educator Lee Ann Kwiatkowski began working with Ball State University in a state-mandated agreement to help the struggling Muncie schools district.  That’s after a more traditional state takeover with an emergency management team.

School board president Jim Williams says the last several years have been full of progress.

“We are financially stable.  We’ve actually seen growth in our enrollment.  We’re seeing academic performance indicators moving in the right direction, and I remain convinced that Muncie Community Schools offer among the best education in the state of Indiana.”

Read More: Muncie Schools Predicts Stabilized Enrollment After Decade Of Decline

Kwiatkowski will retire in June to move back to the Indianapolis area to be near family.  At Tuesday night’s school board meeting, she said the decision was bittersweet.

“And so it’s really difficult to leave a job I love in a district full of so many talented, dedicated people.  And looking back at all we’ve accomplished since 2019, I just feel very proud of that.”

Kwiatkowski will also join the faculty at Marian University to help train future K-12 teachers as the Vice President of Klipsch Educators College and Innovation in K-12 Education.

During her time leading the district, she helped Ball State create a state-mandated strategic plan that focuses on five areas, including high-quality pre-kindergarten and social and emotional learning.

Read More: Muncie schools gives ‘largest’ teacher raises five years after being ‘financially distressed’

The district has also paid back in full a multi-million dollar state loan to replace capital bonds misused by a previous administration.

Kwiatkowski will be succeeded by Chuck Reynolds, a longtime Muncie teacher and administrator.  He’s led the band at the former Southside High School and served in principal team roles at several Muncie school buildings.

Williams praised Reynolds on Tuesday night.

“Your ability to manage a marching band,” he said to knowing laughs, “that standing alone, with nothing else, says ‘This guy can do anything he wants.’”

He will begin as MCS CEO in July.

Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host.  Contact her at slwiechmann@bsu.edu.