Muncie High School Consolidation
Oral History Project records
MSS.D.003
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit
July 17, 2015
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Alexander M. Bracken Library
2000 W. University Avenue
Muncie, Indiana, 47306
765-285-5078
libarchives@bsu.edu
Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Table of Contents
Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3
Historical Note............................................................................................................................................... 4
Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 4
Administrative Information .........................................................................................................................5
Related Materials ........................................................................................................................................ 5
Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................6
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements..................................................................................7
Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 8
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Summary Information
Repository
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Ball State University. Center for Middletown Studies.
Creator - Interviewer
Usdowski, Rich
Creator - Interviewer
Vander Hill, C. Warren, 1937-
Title
Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records
Date [inclusive]
2014-2015
Extent
0.1 Cubic feet Digital files (98.5 GB)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records, Archives and Special Collections, Ball
State University Libraries
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Historical Note
In 2013, in response to declining enrollment and increased financial troubles within the district, Muncie
Community Schools began investigating cost containment solutions that would involve changes or
reductions in several operational areas including facilities, personnel, technology, extracurricular
activities, and transportation. Public town hall meetings were held on August 14 (Southside High School),
August 27 (Northside Middle School), September 11 (Wilson Middle School), and October 8, 2013
(Central High School) to give community members an opportunity to provide suggestions and feedback
about the future of the school district.
At a special meeting of the Board of School Trustees held on November 18, 2013 the board voted 4-1 to
consolidate Muncie Central and Southside High Schools into a single high school, with the student body
of Southside joining that of Central in the current Central High School building. The board also voted
to convert the former Southside High School building into a middle school (Southside Middle School)
and to close Wilson Middle School and place the building on the Indiana Department of Education list
of closed, unused, or unoccupied school buildings until 2016. These actions were to become effective
beginning with the 2014-2015 academic year. Board members Tony Costello, Debbie Feick, Michael
Long, and Robert Warrner voted in favor of the recommendation, while board President Beverly Kelley
voted against it. The stated reasons for the board's decision were that the proposed recommendations
would result in significant cost savings, provide more educational and extracurricular opportunities for
all students, and that Muncie Central was the only facility capable of accommodating all 9-12th grade
students in the district.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains born-digital videos and transcripts for twenty-five oral history interviews with
Muncie Community Schools Board of Trustees members, community leaders, and members of the
community at large about the consolidation of Muncie Southside High School and Muncie Central High
School in 2014. The interviews were conducted between September 2014 and June 2015 by C. Warren
Vander Hill and Rich Usdowski for the Center for Middletown Studies and highlight perceptions of
the process that led to the consolidation and the initial impact of this change. The interviews also help
to contextualize the consolidation within the broader scope of Muncie's economic and social history.
The Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project was directed and supported by Ball State
University's Center for Middletown Studies and funded by The Community Foundation of Muncie &
Delaware County.
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Ball State University Archives and Special Collections
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State
University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to
Archives and Special Collections.
Custodial History
This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation from Jim Connolly,
Director of the Center for Middletown Studies, on 07/06/2015.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2015/07/17 by Brandon Pieczko. EAD finding aid created 2015/07/17
by Brandon Pieczko.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital materials from this collection are available online in the Ball State University Digital Media
Repository:
http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/MncHSCnsOHP
Related Materials
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Related Archival Materials
Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Archives and Special
Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie IN:
MSS.346: Muncie Community Schools high school consolidation records
SC.734: Kay Rankin opinion article on the Muncie high school consolidation
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
• Muncie Central High School. (Muncie, Ind.)
• Muncie Community Schools.
• Muncie Southside High School.
Genre(s)
• Digital file formats
• Transcripts
• Video recordings
Geographic Name(s)
• Muncie (Ind.)--History--21st century--Sources
Subject(s)
•
•
•
•
•
High schools
Oral history
School boards
School management and organization--Indiana
Stoeckel Archives of Local History
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Digital file formats include Quicktime (MPEG-4) Video (.MOV), MPEG-4 (.MP4), Microsoft Office
Open XML Document (.DOCX), and Adobe Portable Document Format (.PDF).
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Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records MSS.
Collection Inventory
Digital files 2014-2015
MSS.D.003: Muncie High School Consolidation Oral History Project records, 2014-2015
[http://libx.bsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/MncHSCnsOHP]
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