Peggy Hinckley, 2nd left, at the 2015 Indiana University School of Education Distinguished Alumni award dinner.
DUAB selects emergency manager for Gary school district
Contributed By:The 411 News
Peggy Hinckley, former school superintendent, is a "Gary girl"
It was poor finances that brought the Gary school district under state control. But at Monday’s meeting of the Distressed Unit Appeal Board to announce their choice to help the state manage the school district, the three R’s mattered more than the district’s inability to pay its bills.
Before Governor Holcomb’s signature was affixed to SB 567, the search began for partners for the Muncie public schools, another district in financial trouble, and for Gary’s public schools. The bill called for an emergency manager, an individual or a company selected by the DUAB to act as the state’s partner. Muncie’s emergency manager was named at the end of June.
MGT Consulting Group rose to the top of the 4-member panel’s list of candidates on the strengths of its services in the academic arena. DUAB member and Indiana State Examiner Paul Joyce pointed to MGT team member Peggy Hinckley, “If any team had Peggy Hinckley, that would be my academic vision. We can find anybody with financial vision.” It was a view supported by all members that a school superintendent would be the best fit for Gary’s emergency manager.
At a DUAB presentation of the 7 candidates held at Wirt-Emerson VPA on July 13, Hinckley described herself as a “Gary girl,” born in Gary and attended elementary school in the city. She has a 28-year stint as an Indiana school superintendent – at River Forest in Lake County, in LaPorte County, and at Warren Township in Indianapolis. Hinckley lives in Schererville and heads the firm Peggy Hinckley Consulting.
In 2015, Hinckley received Indiana University’s School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award. Retiring in 2012, she was Indiana’s longest serving female school superintendent.
Sen. Eddie Melton, author of SB 567 and a non-voting DUAB advisory member asked the board to consider a proposal put forth by Comer Capital Group, another of the candidates, to form a partnership with MGT. Comer is a minority-owned firm, specializing in financial services. Micah Vincent, the DUAB chair concluded that could be a possibility when negotiations start with MGT.
MGT Consulting will be at work in the Gary schools soon as negotiations are completed. August 17 is the first day of school in Gary.
Story Posted:07/31/2017
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