FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation’s chief financial officer will become its assistant superintendent later this summer.
Chris Smedley will make the transition on July 1, the district said this week.
In a statement to the Daily Reporter, Smedley said he was motivated to pursue the assistant superintendent position because he felt it would allow him to make a direct impact on instruction and learning for students and staff.
“Mt. Vernon is doing a lot of outstanding things in classrooms across the district,” Smedley continued, adding he’s excited and grateful for the new opportunity.
Maria Bond, director of community relations for Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation, said in an email that the assistant superintendent position has remained open since July 2018 after the departure of Tim Long.
Smedley has been Mt. Vernon’s CFO since September 2017. He and Heather Noesges, the director of elementary education, served as interim co-superintendents from June through December 2018, before Jack Parker started as superintendent. Parker was hired after a six-month search to replace Shane Robbins, who resigned in May 2018 to take a job in South Carolina.
Parker called Smedley an asset to Mt. Vernon and said he is goal-oriented, practical, professional and ethical.
“His significant experience of 17 years as an administrator has prepared him for this district leadership opportunity,” Parker said. “He has been commended in previous positions for his positive leadership and implementation of best practices in curriculum and instruction.”
Before coming to Mt. Vernon, Smedley was the principal at Madison-Grant Junior High School and then Madison-Grant Junior/Senior High School from 2012 to 2017. During that time, he was awarded the Middle School Principal of the Year for District Six from the Indiana Association of School Principals.
Smedley was the assistant principal at Madison-Grant High School throughout the 10 years prior, during which he also coached varsity basketball.
He began his teaching career as a business teacher at Bluffton High School in 1996 before starting at Madison-Grant United School Corporation in 1999.
Smedley anticipates completing his School Administration Educational Specialist degree in 2020 and earned a Master of Science in School Administration from Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in 2004. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Finance in 1994 and then his teaching license from Ball State University in 1996.
Mt. Vernon will post the CFO opening on its website with the goal of having a hire in place on July 1.
