Gary Commuity School Corp. names McNulty as interim
The school district, managed by Florida-based MGT Consulting under a state contract, announced the change Tuesday afternoon in a press release.
It included a video of Morikis discussing his impact on the district and McNulty discussing her new role. The pair was interviewed by school spokeswoman Chelsea Whittington.
The change is effective immediately.
In late 2018, Morikis succeeded Peggy Hinckley, who also served as emergency manager for 16 months.
The press release said Morikis would assist McNulty in her transition, as well as working on other projects for the district. Morikis, who moved to Gary last year, said his role was to provide assessment and stabilization to secure the district’s immediate needs.
“It’s the best job I ever had,” Morikis said in the video.
He said his accomplishments include the creation of Bailly Middle School in the city’s Glen Park section to complement the Gary Middle School in thee city’s Miller section and the expansion of an early childhood program. Morikis said he took part in the team effort that trimmed the district’s monthly deficit by 50%.
McNulty resigned abruptly as superintendent in East Chicago last August at the onset of the new school year. She served there since 2016.
In 2017, East Chicago voters rejected a $41 million operating referendum by a 4-1 margin.
When she left East Chicago, she joined the Indiana Department of Education, which placed her in Gary to improve operations of its federal programs to provide oversight of grants to ensure compliance with federal guidelines.
McNulty said she wants to increase CTE (career technical education) programming and partner more with businesses and work with teachers and principals on collaborative “transformational” classroom opportunities.
Robert Buggs, president of the district’s citizen advisory board, said the changes caught him off guard. He criticized school officials for failing to announce the opening and he said it wasn’t clear if anyone from Gary was interviewed for the job, which he said is required in the state takeover law.
“The advisory board isn’t ‘advised’ as to anything that’s going on,” said Buggs. “There’s no transparency whatsoever.”
State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, who is sponsoring legislation to assist the school district in demolishing closed schools and to make repairs at schools, said he had heard rumors about Morikis’ departure.
“I don’t know what was behind it. We have to ensure stability for our children,” he said.
He said he hopes MGT isn’t focused solely on finances, but also academics.
“I think we as a community collectively have to remain engaged to ensure transparency and accountability, so we can play a role to transition back to local control.”
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