To the March 25th meeting of the MCC SC border school trustees. We ask that you please come to order Tonight we honor the excellence of MCC SC's dedicated employees students and volunteers who make a difference in our school community miss Harmon Thank you president Hennessy dr. Winston the board of trustees and community members It is my pleasure to share this month's excellent spotlight The excellent spotlight will be a new feature of every regular board of school trustees meeting designed to align with superintendents With the superintendents 2025 state of the schools which recognize student excellence in each of our 23 school buildings The excellent spotlight will serve as a dedicated time to honor the excellence occurring every day through the dedication of MCC SC employees students and volunteers who make a difference in our school community and Foster environments that reflect the MCC SC mission vision and core values The March excellence spotlight goes to miss Lindsey Scott Lakeview and summit elementary art teacher Miss Scott is honored tonight with the March excellence spotlight award for her commitment to teaching practices that reflect and celebrate students experiences and backgrounds By integrating art lessons that connect with their identities She fosters a meaningful learning environment where every student feels valued Miss Scott encourages students to incorporate their family histories and traditions into their artistic expressions Creating and personal and enriching classroom experience. Thank you. Miss Scott for inspiring students to explore their creativity with confidence and joy On behalf of the board. Thank you. Miss Harmon. Thank you and congratulations to miss Scott for being recognized tonight We will now proceed to public comments Thank you to all who signed up and acknowledged the guidelines to speak to the board tonight Just to note that personal matters by name are not allowed as a reminder Mrs. Butcher will ring the bell once to signal you have 30 seconds remaining for your comment and five Bells to signal your time has concluded. We'll start with Ellen Sorry, so I was too short. Hello. My name is Ellen 3 8 1 9 South Claybridge Drive That's all good. I Have been a teacher for six years one year in MCC SC five years in another school district this year I am a coach. I am outside the school district We are having a problem in many schools, but specifically in Monroe County schools with moving teachers around I know that we have issues with Staffing where they're going to be having to shift one school to the other split between schools But a big problem is stability Again, it's seen in more than just MCC SC when I came to MCS MCC SC I was able to brag to my former Co-workers man. They really seem to care about the students They really seem student centric everything that we talked about with best practice Monroe County is actually doing rather than just saying I'd like to be proud and keep saying that When you have a class of Children a homeroom class of children they are going to rally around their teacher either in a positive way or a negative way as Someone who took over her first classroom from a teacher who was politely asked to leave Rebuilding that rapport partway through the school year is Devastatingly hard sometimes does not work I've watched classes go through three four teachers in a year and you cannot get that trust that level of engagement back as I stand up here. There are there are classrooms Where teachers are still moving in March of 2025? next Two weeks from now we begin. I learn these students not only have to Readjust to a new teacher with new items new rules new rapport But also we'll have to sit through a grueling standardized test that is Not made at their level and that's a whole other public comment as we know This is their school year that has now gone through at least X amount of teachers They are looking for their safe person and their safe person keeps being moved Hopefully, they will find that in an extracurricular I've seen it happen through basketball through girls on the run By the way trend is April 26 for our 5k But many of those students are going to slip through the cracks It's common knowledge in our profession that a bad teaching experience a bad year can affect student learning up to three years forward This is not the MCC SC that I'm hoping for we are past spring break these kids should expect Stability some fun field day things an end-of-year party, and I just hope that MCC SC Understands. Thank you. Thank you miss. Hello We now have Megan Nolan Hi, my name is Megan Nolan. I live at 4386 North Old State Road 37, and I'm a parent and community member My comments tonight are intended to be constructive not critical. Thank you MCC SC school board members I spent a lot of time over the last two weeks reviewing all of the published information about the two-year strategy to achieve balance I read all of the published documentations on MCC SC website and watched the linked videos. I Followed every link to supporting documentation provided After reviewing everything it does feel as if the information provided started with the hypothesis that MCC SC has too many teachers for the current student enrollment That may be true However the documentation was Bound to support that hypothesis in other words the hypothesis drove the data I have so many questions about the data provided and Even more about the data not provided But because of time constraints, I'll keep to two quick observations The first is an observation on the current and historic number of administrative staff While it's true. There has been a seven point six percent decrease in student enrollment Since the 2017-18 school year and a two percent increase in the number of teachers There was also a whopping 20 percent increase in the number of administrators in the district during the same time period The second observation is that twice in the online documentation for the two-year plan Two times it links out to a website called the 74 As validation to the claim that there's too many teachers it was 74 was supposed to back up that claim Campbell Brown the co-found Campbell Brown is the co-founder and board member of the 74 also sits on the pro student Choice American Federation for children the 74 is a pro voucher website I'm not sure why a public school district would use it to validate any position I don't have enough time to outline all the questions that I would encourage this board to ask Related to the data provided and not provided in the documentation included in the two-year strategy to achieve balance But I would be happy to discuss those questions in more detail at another time finding balance should include looking at all groups of employees not only teachers and Reducing direct service providers last Thank you very much We would like to thank everyone for their comments tonight and we will now move to our consent agenda our Consent agenda includes the following Minutes from the board meeting held on February 25th 2025 minutes for the work session on March 12 2025 Overnight or out-of-state field trips financial report from February 2025 appropriation balance report February 2025 register of claims March 25 payroll register and payroll claims February 25 Request to declare as surplus and authorized disposal of out-of-date items. Do I have a motion regarding the approval of the consent agenda? Don't a second It has been moved by Ross and seconded by Ashley that we approve the consent agenda as presented All those in favor of the motion to approve the consent agenda, please signify by saying aye. Aye Any against any abstentions? That motion carries Next for our consideration are the donations. We have received donations of over $1,000 Thank you to all our donors as always your generosity is so appreciated. Do I have a motion to accept the donations? Do I have a second It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Erin Wyatt that we accept the donations as presented All those in favor of the motion to approve the donations, please signify by saying aye. Aye Any against any abstentions? The motion carries We move on to old business tonight We have the third and final reading of the three staff ethics and professional conduct policies This is policy 1200 for administration policy 3210 for professional staff and policy 4210 for support staff I understand that the policies have been revised and with related board policies added Do I have a motion to adopt policies 1200 3210 and 4210 staff ethics and professional conduct? It's been moved by Ashley seconded by Tiana that we adopt the three policies mentioned dr. Henderson President Hennessy Dr. Winston members of the Board of Trustees It is recommended that board adopt the following policies policies 1200 administrator 4210 new policy for professional staff 4210 new policy for support staff staff ethics and professional conduct Changes to these policies were presented for first reading at the December 17th 2024 meeting of the board They were brought before the board on January 28th 2025 for a second reading at which time changes were requested and the policies were tabled Changes have now been made related board policies are cited and linked and the policies are presented to the board for a third and final reading Any prior policies relating to the aforementioned policy 1200 are hereby rescinded deemed null and void and replaced by policy 1200 administrator along with new policies 4,210 professional staff and 4,210 support staff staff ethics and professional conduct are presented for adoption on this 25th Day of March 2025. I so recommend. Thank you. Dr. Henderson any questions or comments from the board? Just thank you for taking the consideration of some of the things that were brought up to the board and Reworking some things Yeah, actually said what I was gonna say, thank you for going back and having another look at this I think it looks good. Thank you Agree anyone else Gratitude is never you know, never a bad thing, right? So, okay. Well then all those in favor of adopting policies 1200 32 10 and 42 10, please signify by saying aye Any against any abstentions that motion carries? Next for our consideration is a personnel report. Do I have a motion to approve the personnel report as it's recommended? Do I have a second? It's been moved by Ross saying it by Ashley that we approve the personnel report as presented dr. Henderson Thank You president Hennessy dr. Winston and members of the board of school trustees this evening I would like to call your attention to the following retirements Administrator retirements. This is Lisa Roberts. This is Roberts has been with MCC SC for the last 29 years Serving in a variety of capacities most recently serving as principal at Rogers Elementary School certified staff retirements include Mr. Gary Brian Bowman. Mr. Bowman has been with MCC SC for the last 33 years Most recently serving as a science teacher at the Bloomington graduation school Sheila Butler. Ms. Butler has been with MCC SC for the last 23 years Most recently serving as an adult basic education teacher at Broadview Learning Center Dana Frederick Ms. Frederick has been with MCC SC for the last 23 years most recently serving as a third and fourth grade teacher at Unionville Ramon Garcia Tamron Mr. Garcia Tamron has been with MCC SC for the last ten and a half years Serving as a Spanish teacher at Bloomington High School South Robin Langley. Ms. Langley has been with the MCC SC for the last 35 years most recently serving as a kindergarten teacher at Lakeview elementary school Kathleen Rillo. Ms. Rillo has been with MCC SC for the last 29 years most recently serving as guidance counselor at Bloomington High School North Finally, Julie Williams in certified staff. Ms. Williams has been with MCC SC for the last 23 years most recently serving as an ESL teacher at Broadview Learning Center and support staff resignations Ms. Julie Ensinger. Ms. Ensinger has been with MCC SC for the last 26 years Serving as the strings coordinator for the corporation most recently Altogether the retirees presented this evening represent a combined total of 31 and a half years of experience on behalf of MCC SC I would like to extend a special thank you to all of these retirees for their many years of dedicated service to our students Families and school community at this time. I request that you please approve the recommendations as presented in your board packet and the personnel report Thank you. Dr. Henderson and on behalf of the board I just want to extend my gratitude to all those retiring and who have dedicated their lives and their time and their energy and efforts to our Students. We are so grateful for that. Do we have any other comments from the board? I have one comment Lisa Roberts was the principal at Rogers I think that while my child was there and I think a lot of people know her in that capacity But I also had the pleasure of serving with her on the kovat monitoring and advisory council I use the term pleasure a bit liberally there I really I really respected her participation in that committee. It was a challenging role and she provided a perspective and insight that I thought was so helpful and I'm considerate and That was that was the first time I met her before she became the principal at Rogers where my child was attending at the time And I just I can't say enough about how how? How nice it was to serve with her in that capacity at that difficult time So I'm thankful for her service on that committee as well. Yeah, thanks so much for that Aaron any other comments from the board? and Okay, well then all those in favor of the motion to approve the personnel report signify by saying aye aye Any against any abstentions the motion carries? We now move to contracts do I have a motion to approve the contracts and award one bid as presented Do I have a second? It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Ashley that we approve the contracts and award one bid as presented. Mr. Kenny Good evening, President Hennessey. Dr. Winston members of the board There are nine contracts and one bid to be awarded before you tonight. I Would like to highlight five of the contract agreements collectively These five contracts are with early learning providers for the 2526 school year All five provider contracts are renewals of the four-year-old pre-k agreements from the 2425 school year Each of the five contract agreements adds language to include three-year-old preschool for the 2526 school year all terms of the agreements follow the terms outlined by MCCSE resolution 2025 - oh for I recommend approval of the contracts and bid to be awarded as Presented. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kenny any comments from the board? I'm gonna abstain and I just wanted to quickly explain why I'm just because I have a kid at one of the Early childhood centers and could benefit financially. Okay. Thank you very much Anybody else Okay, all those in favor of the motion to approve the contracts and award one bid signify by saying aye Any against any abstentions? Me yes, so we have a Sit how many people do we have tonight five five motion carries five in favor and one abstention We have the authorization to publish notice of hearings This is an item on the agenda for the board to receive information about proposed capital projects and to consider Authorizing a project hearing and a preliminary determination hearing on such and to authorize the publication of those such hearings Do I have a motion to authorize proceeding with the publications to begin the legal steps for issuing bonds to fund the proposed projects? Yes, so I have a second It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Tiana that we authorize proceeding with the publications for notice hearings. Mr. Kenny Thank you. The notice of hearings will be published in the Herald Times on April 9th This notice of hearings is for the April 22nd 2025 and April 29th 2025 hearings for the designing and building to sustain excellence projects The notice will also be sent to the Monroe County clerk and posted to the corporation's website. I recommend Providing authorization to publish notice of hearings. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kenny any comments from the board? Okay All those in favor of the motion to authorize proceeding with the publications for notice hearings signify by saying aye Aye any against any abstentions the motion carries next for our consideration is Resolution 2025 - oh five declaration of official intent to reimburse. Do I have a motion to adopt this resolution as presented? Do I have a second? It's been moved by Ashley and seconded by Ross that we adopt the resolution 2025 - oh five Declaration of official intent to reimburse. Mr. Kenny. Thank you in regards to the last notice of hearings and upcoming projects If the school corporation pays any preliminary costs related to the project prior to Receiving bond proceeds it may reserve its ability to be reimbursed from bond proceeds After the closing in order to do so the Internal Revenue Service requires that the school corporation Declare its official intent to reimburse The adoption of this resolution will reserve the school corporation's ability to reimburse itself Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Kenny. Do we have any comments from the board on this reimbursement? Okay, all those in favor of the motion to adopt the resolution 2025 - oh five declaration of official intent to reimburse, please signify by saying aye Any against any abstentions that motion carries? Next for our consideration is the early literacy achievement grant Do I have a motion to approve the early literacy achievement grant as presented? Do I have a second It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Tiana that we approve the early literacy achievement grant as presented miss Harmon Thank you president Hennessey and members of the board. I recommend you approve at the literacy achievement grant as presented Do I have any comments or questions from the board Okay in that case anyone or not anyone but All of you everyone in favor of the motion to approve the early literacy achievement grant, please signify by saying aye Any against any abstentions? The motion does carry We move on to dr. Winston, will you introduce tonight's presentation on professional learning? Yes. Thank you so very much Tonight we are having our seventh presentation on our 2021-2025 strategic plan and this is seven of eight and so tonight's focus is on professional learning and the work that's been happening in that area in support of our Administrators as well as all of our educators and support staff. So I'd like to ask miss Harmon to present that information Thank you, I'm excited to be able to present to you on professional learning as You can remember our professional learning goal Is that we will empower staff and school board through relevant learning experiences uniting stakeholders around the MCC SC vision and shared work We have two outcomes related to this goal cultivate professional learning and secure structures for relevant meaningful professional development In reviewing that just to provide a little context. This is similar that we've seen in previous presentations We define professional learning results and excellent outcomes for all students when staff and school boards are continuously immersed in professional learning cycles They have rigorous content Transformational processes collaborative inquiry and the structures necessary to provide Meaningful professional learning. So as we look at our professional learning throughout the year, this is what we're aiming for We wanted to highlight Two of our big professional learning days one is our November 5th when all staff are able to get together And we're very proud of the fact that we basically run kind of a mini conference With the many of our sessions being provided in-house by our own teachers and administrators So this year we really focused on supporting professional learning teams through professional learning related to what it means to offer a guaranteed viable curriculum have high level strategies to deliver that curriculum and to learn from each other as colleagues and so We included a quote as we always like to do from our principal who and I will read it here I've always felt our district PD day is a wonderful opportunity for staff to showcase their skill sets while allowing others to build their own I love that teachers and staff alike are able to choose options that best meet their desired area for growth And I always enjoy learning from local experts within MCC SC So we focused again that day on curriculum looking providing time for Grade level and school level content teams to get together So across the district all third grade teachers all fourth grade teachers all English teachers They had a time to work together and think about what does that look like across our district in every one of our buildings? And think about what that guaranteed viable curriculum so matter what school you go to third grade looks like this or English looks like this And then talked a lot about what are those high level and data driven strategies to deliver that and how do we offer? Enrichment for our teachers to think about their practice Increase ultimately increase student learning which is our main goal always In thinking about we always gather feedback on from our participants And you can see we asked them about was the content valuable did it allow for in-depth discussion? was the format provided appropriate and In all of those categories over 90% of our certified staff found the professional learning event effective and content discussion and format I won't read all these quotes, but we provided a couple little quotes from that feedback as well Just highlighting that our teachers and participants enjoyed that day and really Emphasize their appreciation for having time to meet across the district with people who teach like classes In them there was also an opportunity we had two different keynote presenters all of our elementary focused professionals had language and learning comprehension and Then all of our high school had a session or our secondary Sorry had a session around leading through an equity lens sessions were engaging impactful and contain meaningful content That's what they were asked here. And again, we have them agreeing or strongly agreeing in all of those categories They spoke highly of both of those keynotes events as them being meaningful To what they're and relevance what they're currently teaching In the afternoon was the time where our teachers and staff can basically they submit their ideas for Related to teaching and learning expectations. They offer a session They say here's what I can offer my colleagues around instructional design and delivery what I could offer around adopted curriculum classroom environment database decision-making and feedback technology collective teacher efficacy and Then their colleagues can sign up for these And so that's just a highlight. These are examples of things that were offered in those areas So for instance, there was instruction on accelerating learning for students with accessible and high quality instruction There was sessions on you fly, which is a reading Going beyond the basic basics to learn supplemental resources. There was prioritizing wellness for school leaders There was a session called working smarter not harder So also exploring career pathways and how we use the Indiana career explorer for students to have experiences that let them think about their college and career goals and how they might meet those and How we might build even stronger professional communities throughout the school year We had 90 breakout sessions in those sessions 45 sessions had a rating of 4.5 or higher and 83 had a rating of 4.0 or higher and the max was 5 so really well Ranked from colleagues. They really enjoy that time to learn from each other Throughout the year here these are just going to pop up these are the kinds of professional learning we've offered throughout the year in Many of these might sound familiar to you because in other presentations that we've made along these priorities We've talked about our professional learning around restorative practices around PBIS Around our instructional practices inventory these connect to what we do around school safety what we do around instruction and high-level academics for all students So we have all of those things there and With those in mind these topic areas were actively advancing and supporting every goal in our strategic plan May 6th is coming up. It's another day for professional learning It's for our middle and our high school students our elementary staff Do the professional learning time in the fall related to connecting with families and Conferences so this day is just for middle and high school certified staff and the day is breaking broken into three parts We have corporation level learning. These are things that are across the district. As you know, we've adopted a new math curriculum So we're leveraging that time for training. We have our teacher evaluation system and work again on college and career and thinking about how we're making sure we have information and Experiences for all students and thinking about what are their post-secondary plans? We also have time dedicated to building level learning where the principals are working with a curriculum office to develop a plan to work on their school improvement plan and have a school specific focus area based on what the needs of that particular school are and their professional staff coming together and Then we also provide time for develop departmental level PLC work where they can look closely at analyzing student data Refining instructional practices and just having that time together to collaborate Ultimately one of our kind of as we look towards our next steps for professional learning and MCCSE We have a plan to have a comprehensive professional learning plan right now. We're Just finished up research and needs assessment. We're identifying goal setting and prioritization and Then we'll that we talked about the importance of having systems and structures for professional learning so we'll develop that strategic design and planning and coming this fall we'll implement our comprehensive professional learning plan that we continue to tweak as we evaluate and have continuous improvement and That's that's it. Our next topic will be staff diversity on diversity goal. Number one any comments or questions I can answer for you Thank you so much, yeah, thank you so much miss Harmon And I this is I guess this is a comment but just thank you so much for the continued work that you all put into developing this This time for teachers. I know that and I've said this before Many times in the past. I think teachers and their skills have not been leveraged as professionals in their in their field and so I'm so glad to see the ways in which we continue to To let teachers take a front seat in teaching others In their buildings and across the district. So I love that. I really appreciate it And so thank you very much for that We will now receive this month's legislative update from board member Peroni Thank you All right, so this is the report for week number 11. We are slowly seeing light at the end of the tunnel of the legislative session I'm pleased to provide the monthly legislative update to you So we're all aware of significant bills that will impact K through 12 public education policy government governance and funding What happens at the Statehouse directly impacts our school districts schools and educational opportunities for our students the top three things that ISBA recommends we know about the Statehouse right now our HB 1001 which was heard by the school funding subcommittee last week The ISBA is advocating for a 2.5 increase in tuition support for each year of the biennium in addition increases for summer school English language learner and Secured school safety grants are being requested by ISBA second is SB 146 which is about increases to teacher compensation and there are two specific Provisions being discussed and supported by the legislator The first is to increase starting teacher salaries from 40k to 45k beginning July 1st of this year MCCSE starting teacher salary is already above that amount and began at over 57k The second provision is for corporations to provide 20 days of paid parental leave ISBA is supportive of both provisions but have requested that the legislator recognize that in order for this to happen Additional financial resources will be needed to achieve their teacher compensation goals in addition excuse me an additional provision is to allow school corporations to increase allowable amounts spent for teacher compensation from 62% to 65% of its state tuition support and Finally number three is HB 1681 which proposes to limit referenda and local public questions only to general elections in a given year ISBA has requested that this provision be amended to reinstate primary elections as an option There's also SB 287 which is about establishing partisan school board elections. This is currently on the schedule Hopefully third times the charm on Thursday. It was supposed to be heard yesterday and today and it's been passed off So if you are calling your legislators keep doing it because it seems to be working Which is why I'm guessing it's getting pushed off On our and finally if you want to know about any of these things if you go to our website Under the board of school trustees tab There's a link to our area legislators in these monthly updates to access the automated list of bills ISBA is tracking visit the ISBA website under the legislative services tab Thank you Concludes my report Thank You board member prani for your update. We really appreciate that And now I'll just ask in general if the board has any comments or reports that you'd like to share I'll just as a follow-up to Ashley's report. I'll just put in a plug for the Indiana coalition for public education or ICP they've been doing a lot of advocacy for public education during this legislative session and so if that's something that people are interested in I Reached out to them to find out what we could do if there was anything that I personally could do more and they said the best thing to do is to follow ICP and And they give regular updates on how to to advocate for public education Thank you so much for that remember kubernetes or vice president kubernetes That no any other comments from the board about anything in general Okay, dr. Winston, do you have additional information to share with us tonight? I do. Thank you president Hennessy We have a district 7 vacancy the Monroe County Community School Corporation school trustees and I extend our sincere gratitude to mr Brandon sure for his dedication and service to the students families staff and our community During his nearly six years as a board of school trustee Mr. Shearer held the position of vice president in 2021 and president for 2022 and most of 2023 He was a board of school trustee during the development of the 2021 to 2025 strategic plan and the passage of the 2022 and the 2023 referenda we greatly appreciate his contributions to our school community His resignation has created a vacancy in district 7 for Indiana code 20 - 23 - 4 - 30 D and to The board has 30 days to fill the vacated position residents of the district 7 area Interested in serving on the board of school trustees are encouraged to visit the MCC SC website or contact Karen butcher at 812 330 7700 she can provide more information on how to apply and verify if you live in the required district boundaries All applications need to be received by this coming Thursday, March 27th by 5 p.m Redistricting update the redistricting study Commission's first meeting will be next week on April 2nd and the Commission will meet three times in April Twice in May with additional meetings scheduled as needed community members including parents MCC SC employees and Students can still join the redistricting study Commission to join the Commission individuals must complete the interest form by March 28th this coming Friday Community members can complete the interest form and/or sign up to receive updates about the redistricting study Commission at our website MCC SC edu backslash redistricting to date. We have received more than 60 members of Our community who expressed an interest in serving on this Commission muffins with marquee on Friday March 28th. I will be at University Elementary to host muffins with marquee I hope those who are able can join me at 9 15 a.m. For conversation coffee and of course some delicious muffins community chat Hopscotch coffee and kitchen is gracious enough to host my next community chat on Wednesday, April 9th There are a few openings left for this event and those interested in scheduling an appointment Should go do so by visiting the website at mccsc.edu/superintendents That concludes my report Thank you. Dr. Winston for all of that rich information. There was a lot crammed into like such a concise update there I also do want to just extend my gratitude to Brandon. I'm sure for his time on the board You know when we start to list districts in the way that dr Winston just did it feels a little Hunger Games ish like I'm from district two, you know And and actually sometimes it feels like that when you're serving on this board. However, I will say that the work is quite meaningful And we have a really great group of individuals here who would Love to sort of begin working with someone who has you know, new perspectives new thoughts and ideas to bring to the table So if you're out there and you are thinking about applying I hope that you'll take that seriously and find that on our website into Brandon if you're listening listening We certainly will miss you in that spot, but we hope you we wish you the very best in whatever you do next Yeah, I'll just add my thank you to phantom Brandon hopefully at least here's Before I before I joined the board. He was someone that I really looked up to and admired he's one of the most principled people that I've ever met and And he'll be missed All right, if there's nothing else the next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held on Tuesday April 22nd 2025 and with that we are adjourned (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music) (orchestral music)