Meet the candidates running for Monroe County Community School Corp. board

Four people are running unopposed for a seat on the Monroe County Community School Corp. board. Three are incumbents and one is a newcomer.

District 4: Tiana Williams Iruoje

Tiana Williams Iruoje is seeking the District 4 seat being vacated by incumbent Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer.

Iruoje is the director of student engagement and success at Indiana University, holds a master’s degree in education from IU and is pursuing her doctorate.

Iruoje said she has lived in Bloomington for 18 years and has three children who attend MCCSC schools, one in elementary, one in middle and one in high school.

She said she has served on a parent-teacher organization, has helped in classrooms and on the MCCSC foundation board, and otherwise has been involved in schools since her children began attending.

Her husband, Omoaruke, is an adjunct faculty member at Indiana Wesleyan, teaches at IU Indianapolis and serves as campus minister.

Iruoje said her experience building communities on the MCCSC foundation board and in her job at IU have prepared her well to do similar work with teachers, students and other MCCSC stakeholders.

She said she will focus on making sure the district uses innovative approaches to teaching and that every student has access to a quality education and support, regardless of their individual circumstance.

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District 5, Erin Cooperman

Erin Cooperman, the MCCSC board’s current vice president, is seeking another term. 

Cooperman, a lecturer in the IU School of Public Health, was selected by a circuit court judge in 2021 to serve the then-vacant District 5 seat, following longtime board member Keith Kline’s death.

Cooperman said via email she is seeking another term “because I joined the board to work towards equity and we are still doing that work. We are only part way through the goals we set in the equity-focused strategic plan in 2021. I want to stay on the board to see these things through.”

She said, “Equity remains my highest priority including setting policies that move us towards greater socioeconomic balance across the district. I hope that the board will continue to focus on ensuring that all students in MCCSC have equal access to the best education possible.”

She said the board’s biggest accomplishments during the last three years have been passing two referenda, adopting a strategic plan and passing anti-racism policies for students and employees.

She also said she would like to continue to focus on health. “Faculty and staff do their best when they're healthy. This includes all kinds of health: physical, social, emotional. I'd love to see us complete an assessment of how we are addressing health in the district, something like the CDC's School Health Index, and identify areas for improvement.”

District 6: Ross Grimes

Grimes, a father of six, of whom three have graduated and of whom three are attending MCCSC, said his interest in serving on the school board rose around 2007 when the state made significant changes to how schools were funded.

The changes resulted in job cuts at MCCSC at the time, and Ross and his wife, Kelly, a teacher at Edgewood Junior High School, were serving as co-presidents of the University Elementary School PTO.

Ross said he began attending MCCSC board meetings around that time, which prompted him eventually to seek a school board seat.

Grimes said he works in automotive software and has lived in Monroe County full-time since 1985. He was elected to the school board in 2022 by the board itself after member Jacinda Townsend-Gides resigned.

Grimes said he wants to continue serving on the board because he is a “strong believer in public education” and because “there’s a lot of unfinished work.”

Beyond choosing a new superintendent, he said, the district has big decisions to make on balancing the socioeconomic status of elementary school students and paying attention to how new housing developments, including Hopewell and the Sudbury development east of South Weimer Road, will affect enrollment at schools.

District 2: April Hennessey

Hennessey could not be reached by phone and did not answer questions via email.

Outgoing incumbent says it's a 'tough time to be a leader'

Fuentes-Rohwer, the outgoing incumbent, did not reply to an emailed message, but at the last school board meeting, said it was “a tough, tough time to be a leader.”

Fuentes-Rohwer, who served as president three years ago when the search for the superintendent began, said Hauswald was a “bright light at a dark time here.”

She said former MCCSC Superintendent Jeff Hauswald, whom the board bought out of his contract this spring, led the community through the 2022 referendum which allowed the community to increase teachers’ starting wage by $17,000, to $57,000.

“In an era of teacher shortages, we are an even more competitive and desirable school district in which to work,” Fuentes-Rohwer said.

“I am grateful… and I know there are many who join me… for Dr. Hauswald's incredible vision, energy and work these past 3 years, which has helped us move the needle on educational equity,” she said. “I felt it was important to highlight this work as so much of this has not made the newspaper or social media in the positive light it deserves.”

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.