Dr. Andrew Jackson Named District VIII Superintendent Of The Year

Winners are selected by other superintendents in their district.

Andrew Jackson. Photo provided.

INDIANAPOLIS - Dr. Andrew Jackson, superintendent of Sunman-Dearborn Community School Corporation, has been named 2022 Superintendent of the Year for District VIII by the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents (IAPSS).

District VIII includes Bartholomew, Brown, Dearborn, Decatur, Clark, Floyd, Franklin, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, Scott, Switzerland and Washington counties.

Winners are selected by other superintendents in their district who consider the qualifications and accomplishments of area colleagues and their instructional leadership in a time of limited resources.

Jackson has been the Sunman-Dearborn superintendent since 2015.

When Jackson became superintendent, Sunman-Dearborn schools had a general fund cash balance of less than $25,000 and a rainy day fund of about $1.5 million. The district had experienced deficit financing in the general fund for six of the past eight years. Jackson’s goal was to correct the pattern of deficit funding while protecting programming. The goal was accomplished, and the district’s financial health quickly improved. Balances in the general (education) fund and rainy-day fund increased every year, with the combined balances increasing from $1.5 million in June of 2015 to $6 million in June of 2021.

At the same time programming for students improved. The district added a tuition -free preschool, a full online option for all K-12 students, a full-time social worker to support the social and emotional health of students, and an additional full-time counselor for the elementary schools.

The district has community partnerships to provide a social worker and mental health support for students, along with multiple community partnerships for youth sports.

In 2019-2020, the district accomplished its goal of becoming the first in its southeastern Indiana to increase its annual starting teacher pay to $40,000. The most recently approved collective bargaining agreement will increase staring teacher pay to $45,000 for the 2022-2023 school year.

Sunman-Dearborn is one of 20 school corporations in Indiana accredited by Cognia (formerly AdvancEd.). The 2016 on-site visit provide priority recommendations that were the starting point for a new five-year strategic plan adopted in 2017. The strategic plan has been a guide for many improvements in the district. A broad-based committee will begin meeting this school year to adopt a new five-year strategic plan.

The district is currently in the middle of a three-year, $54 million building project. The project scope encompasses nearly all aspects of each of the five schools. The project was planned and financed in a way to stabilize the tax rate. The 2021 school property tax rate for Sunman-Dearborn was the second lowest in school history. Jackson said, “This was possible through vision and prior planning of the board. We have invested in our facilities, our staff and our programming. It is an exciting time to be at Sunman-Dearborn. As we like to say, Watch. Sunman. Dearborn.”

Jackson earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, and his master’s, Ed.S. and Ed.D. degrees from Ball State University.