They knew they couldn’t keep her forever, but that didn’t stop them from trying.

Members of the Brown County Schools Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Superintendent Laura Hammack at the April 15 board meeting, effective June 30.

<a href="http://www.bcdemocrat.com/2021/04/20/moving_on_schools_superintendent_taking_new_job/20210421bc-hammack/" rel="attachment wp-att-1702702"><img class="size-full wp-image-1702702" src="http://www.bcdemocrat.com/wp-content/files/sites/3/2021/04/20210421bc-hammack.jpg" alt="Laura Hammack" width="373" height="457" /></a> Laura Hammack

Hammack is returning to Beech Grove City Schools, the district she left to become Brown County Schools superintendent in 2016. She was hired as Beech Grove’s new superintendent on April 13.

There were some tears at last week’s Brown County school board meeting, and there was some talk about cloning her using a 3D printer at the high school’s Eagle Manufacturing facility.

"I feel a great sadness that we will be losing Dr. Hammack, but I’ve always known that we wouldn’t be keeping her forever. I felt she was destined for bigger and better things from the beginning," board member Stephanie Kritzer said.

"Although she will not be with us every day, I know she will be still watching out for us. By that, I mean she will have a bigger voice at a bigger school district. She will still advocate for all school districts. She is leaving us in very good shape with good goals and has taught us well. I wish her nothing but the best in this new adventure."

All Brown County Schools faculty and families learned the news by email the night of the Beech Grove school board’s vote.

“And while this news may be welcome or disappointing,” Hammack wrote, “it is important to me to share with you that my heart is filled with sincere gratitude for every day that I was gifted the opportunity to serve our school community.”

<a href="http://www.bcdemocrat.com/2021/04/20/superintendents_corner_district_leadership_transition_under_way-2/">SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER: Leadership transition under way</a>

Hammack became Brown County Schools superintendent after David Shaffer’s retirement in 2016. She had served as assistant superintendent for Beech Grove Schools since July 2009.

She had begun her education career here in Brown County as a special education teacher.

Hammack was assistant superintendent under Shaffer from July 2007 to July 2009. Before that, she taught special education and sixth grade at Nashville Elementary before becoming principal of Helmsburg Elementary.

"Something I need you to hear is that moving to a different district does not mean I am moving to a better district," Hammack told the school board last week.

"It is just different. I use that with sincere intention, because I love this district, and leaving it is very, very hard, but what a gift to leave a place you love, because then with these transitions, we are lifelong friends. That is an opportunity and a gift."

The board is working with the Indiana School Boards Association on creating an application for the superintendent search. Board President Carol Bowden said that the application should be going out in the next few days.

"Laura checks all of the boxes for the criteria, so I guess now we’ll have to go down to fewer boxes," said board member Steve Miller Jr.

"We really do want another Laura. The next person has big shoes to fill," board member Amy Oliver said.

Brown County Educators Association President Kristi Billings also attended the meeting to offer the school board help or input from the educators association.

"On behalf of the teacher association, I wanted to extend our gratitude and appreciation for Laura," she said. "Her time spent with us has truly been an amazing experience to work with a superintendent who is so collaborative and cares about teachers. Thank you for that."

Since Hammack took over as superintendent in 2016, the school district has gone through many changes, many of them involving finances. Besides fixing the budget for food service, Hammack also led the process to open a health clinic to cut health insurance costs.

This past year, Hammack also had to coordinate the school district’s response to a worldwide pandemic. She communicated directly with parents though newsletters, email and Facebook Live chats to keep everyone up-to-date on the constant changes.

"You’ve done such a wonderful job of navigating the financial pressures that we have, and also the public. Our students and parents love you. Being able to do all of those at once it really is remarkable," Oliver said.

"You’re very modest and you don’t like to hear that, but you really have remarkable people skills as well as all of the administrative skills that we need. I don’t know what we are going to do without you."

One of her first promises as superintendent was to give teachers and staff raises using money from a referendum that voters approved.

At the same time, over the last five years she has served as superintendent, Hammack and her team have cut more than $4.5 million from the district’s struggling budget.

Earlier this year, the school board approved more cost-cutting strategies in light of declining student enrollment and funding from the state, including closing Brown County Intermediate School. This summer, it will be remade into the Educational Service Center and house the Brown County Career Resource Center and a daycare/preschool program, while the CRC’s current building will be sold.

Oliver said she knew exactly when the announcement hit social media that Hammack was retiring because she started receiving texts and seeing comments on Facebook.

"We know this is what you need to do. We know this day is coming. As much as you might want to stay here, it’s best for your career to do what you need to do. But we are just going to miss you," she said.

Hammack said she will "forever only hold wonderful feelings" about her time in Brown County.

"It is such an incredible blessing to be in this community," she said.

"I will never ever say I am going somewhere better. I am just going somewhere different."

<em>Read more from Hammack in her Superintendent’s Corner this week by clicking <a href="http://www.bcdemocrat.com/2021/04/20/superintendents_corner_district_leadership_transition_under_way-2/">here.</a></em>

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In the same meeting the board approved Superintendent Laura Hammack’s resignation, they also received the school district’s State Board of Accounts audit. It resulted in zero findings.

Financial consultant Bob Harris said the school’s audit is "unprecedented."

"I have been around this game a long time and I tell you that you do not see audits like this," he said.

Harris said that corporation treasurer Julie Smith, her team, the business office and everyone in the district who spends money should be commended, "because it shows they are not only doing the right thing, they care and that’s the big thing," he said.

The school district is audited by the SBOA every two years.

"That audit is the best audit that this district has had in the five years I have been gifted to be here," Hammack said.

"There is one reason for it, and that is Julie Smith. This audit has gone so smoothly — so much so that they made a point six times to say how quick, efficient, organized Julie is and they said if every audit could be this well run, that they would not know what to do with themselves."

The audit looks at the financial side of the district and one is also done of the district’s federal programs. This time it was the food service program, which only had two internal programmatic findings.

The SBOA also noted that the food service budget is projected to be in the black by the end of the year after running around a $300,000 deficit two years ago.

Compass Group USA Inc. through its Chartwells division now runs the food service department.

"That is a really big turnaround in just two years of time," Hammack said.

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