Brown County High School Principal Matt Stark will be out greeting students as they start school Aug. 4, but they won’t be seeing as much of him after that.
Stark is leaving Brown County Schools to serve as the principal of Bloomington High School North. The Monroe County school board approved his two-year contract on July 27. His start date at Bloomington North had not been finalized yet, so he planned to be in Brown County for at least the first few days of the new year.
“I have 23 years of a professional career in Brown County, in a community I love and adore. This is completely a professional decision for my career. This is not anything against the board or the community or anything,” he said.
“I love Brown County and that has not changed, but professionally this is a good move in talking with some people about my professional career and what’s next for me. This became a good next step.”
Stark has been principal at Brown County High School since 2018, but this was not his first stint in that job. He was hired right out of Purdue University to teach social studies at Brown County, taught for 10 years, then was principal at the high school for another 10 years. He left the district in 2013 to take a principal job at Urbana High School in Illinois.
In 2018, he returned to Brown County High School to be principal here once again. He lives in Monroe County.
How and when his successor will be chosen has not been announced yet.
Brown County Schools also is undergoing a leadership change in the superintendent’s office; the school board hired Emily Tracy from Wabash City Schools as BCS superintendent on July 22. Her first day is Aug. 2. Interim Superintendent Jim Halik has been working here since the beginning of July after former superintendent Laura Hammack left at the end of last school year.
Stark said he would be involved at any level they wish with the transition and finding his replacement.
His hiring at Bloomington North happened quickly. After he applied, Stark interviewed on July 26 and was hired the next evening at the school board meeting.
“Up until 8 p.m. Monday night I didn’t have any idea I would be anything but the Brown County High School principal. I don’t want people to think I’ve been sitting on this. That’s not the case at all,” he said.
Stark plans to not be a stranger here. His wife, Cindy, will continue to work as an English teacher at Brown County Middle School.
The decision was still not an easy one to make, but Stark said he is excited about this next career step. “The timing is not ideal by any stretch, but that’s kind of out of my control,” he said.
When news of Stark leaving hit Facebook last week, some commenters asked why he was not hired as the superintendent for Brown County Schools. Stark said last week that he does not have his superintendent’s license. He said he is excited for Brown County Schools to have Tracy as the next superintendent.
“I think she is going to be great. Everything I’ve heard and seen so far is she’s outstanding,” he said.
Stark was confident that even without him there, school would start just fine, mentioning Assistant Principal Chuck Hutchins, Athletic Director Mark Bruner and head administrative assistant Pam Bond, along with all of the staff and support staff.
“Those people really run the show. They really do a lot. It would probably be more disruptive if Pam Bond were resigning at this point because registration is going on right now, and she runs that,” Stark said last week.
“The running of the building, it’s ready to go. The start of school is ready to go. … Teachers will teach. Buses are going to run. All of that stuff will happen, so, less panic about that.”
