Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester Community Schools Board of Trustees heard messages of support for keeping Kyle Wieland as superintendent ahead of their decision to accept his resignation.
The board voted 5-2 to accept his resignation, with Rick Espeset and Kasy Fierstos as the no votes.
The board then voted 5-2 to create a new position, director of public relations and communication, for Wieland. Fierstos and Robert Bucher voted no.
Interim superintendent and business manager Jeff Stephens read a statement at the start of the meeting, explaining the circumstances leading up to Wieland's resignation. On Feb. 15, an audit of MCS was completed with negative findings, which are classified as audit exceptions.
"The auditors found that internal controls were lacking and they noted this twice in the findings," Stephens said.
He said that in late March, Wieland received an email request with instructions on how to pay a third installment of $396,285.09 to Hagerman Construction Corp. for the school's ongoing expansion project. This email was not from a .com site, but from a .us site.
"While the email message appeared authentic, it was in fact fraudulent," Stephens said. While this email requested the funds via electronic means, all other construction payments prior to this had been made by check.
At the time of the request, Wieland "personally and solely" wired the payment to the account as requested.
On April 27, Wieland received a message requesting an additional payment of $735,965.40. This email also appeared to be from Hagerman Construction Corporation but was not. Wieland again solely directed the payment to the account as requested.
On May 5, a genuine Hagerman representative contacted Wieland regarding payments owed for work performed on the ongoing construction project. At this point, Wieland realized he had paid over $1.1 million to a fraudulent recipient.
Following the announcement of Wieland's resignation on June 23, "to try and meet the public's demands [to retain Wieland], the board and Mr. Wieland have reached a compromise," Stephens said. Their compromise is the creation of the new position of director of public relations and communications for Wieland.
Wieland then made a statement. "I want to say sorry but also thank you. I have never experienced this level of support ... I truly feel like I'm blessed to be a part of this community," he said.
During public comments, several community members, parents of MCS students, MCS staff members and others voiced their support of keeping Wieland as superintendent.
Brooke Vanderpool, who led a campaign of support for Wieland on Facebook, was among them, along with previous MCS Board members Raju Shah and Dave Terflinger.
"Please make a motion for Kyle to rescind his resignation," said Shah. "You owe it to him and you owe it to this community."
Luke Pinkerton, father of four MCS students, spoke of the district's "eight superintendents in nine years" and how educators "desire leadership like what we currently have" in Wieland.
Following public comments, the board recognized K-9 Officer Strider, who passed away on Monday, and his partner, Officer Nate Birch. Strider had worked with Birch in the schools since 2018.
Following the approval of consent items, the board voted to accept Wieland's resignation and to create the new position for Wieland. The board also approved Stephens as interim superintendent and business manager. His position of superintendent will terminate upon hiring of a new superintendent. Stephens will be retained as business manager through January 2025.
In other business:
• The Board approved working and contracted service agreements for employees who are paid without a contract, such as an aide or a cook, or those who do not have set hours.
• Stephens is looking into funding options with the Indiana Bond Bank to acquire $250,000 to purchase two buses this year.
• The fraudulent wire transfers are being investigated by state and federal agencies. Stephens said it may take months before the district could recoup losses from the fraud.
The board will next meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 1. School board meetings are streamed live and available to view on the district's YouTube channel, Manchester Community Schools.
