WEBVTT

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- Welcome to the February 24th meeting of the MCCSE Board of School Trustees. We ask that you come to

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- order. We'll start with a celebration of success. This is a time set aside to celebrate members of our

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- school community. Ms. Harmon? Thank you, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, Board of Trustees, and community

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- members. It's my pleasure to share this month's excellent spotlight, and we have quite a number of people

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- to honor tonight.

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- This is a feature of every regular board of school trustees meeting, and we look forward to honoring

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- the excellence occurring every day through the dedication of our MCCSE employees, students, and volunteers

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- who make a difference in our school community and foster environments that reflect the MCCSE mission,

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- vision, and core values. For our February excellence spotlight, we are honoring Mr. William Harper,

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- Clear Creek lead custodian. We're proud to recognize Mr. William Harper, Clear Creek's lead custodian.

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- Mr. Harper collaborates daily to enhance the Clear Creek grounds and facilities, taking exceptional

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- pride in his work and in our school community. His initiative, strong work ethic, and dedication make

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- him a positive role model for both students and staff. Mr. Harper was instrumental in bringing the Clear

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- Creek Reading Hammock Garden to life. His reliability, creativity, and team-centered spirit continue

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- to make him deeply valued and inspiring member of our school community. I do not believe he was able

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- to attend tonight, though. Is that correct?

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- Thank you. In addition, we are honoring quite a number of our students tonight. In November, the Indiana

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- American String Teachers Association South All-Region Orchestra brought together for the first time

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- middle and high school string students from across southern Indiana for a full day of intensive rehearsals,

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- sectionals with instrumental specialists, and a public performance under the direction of distinguished

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- guest conductors. This experience promotes advanced musicianship

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- collaboration, and excellence in string performance. MCCSE is proud to recognize students from

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- the Bloomington High School North, Bloomington High School South, Tri-North Middle School, and Jackson

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- Creek Middle School who were selected to participate. Directors nominated students based on skill and

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- readiness for the demands of the ensemble, and these musicians represented the district with dedication

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- and artistry. We're here to recognize them tonight. From Jackson Creek Middle School, Sadie Evans,

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- Quinn Hightower, Juniper Seek. From Tri-North Middle School, Samuel Ospina-Mateus, Daniel Ospina-Mateus,

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- and Newhours Sibai. From Bloomington High School North, Aralyn Olivo, Francesca Samoroto. And

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- from Bloomington High School South, Edward Che and Hai-Yoon Him. And I believe they are here tonight

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- to be recognized.

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- Would the students who Ms. Harmon just called please come forward? Their collective faces all at the

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- same time.

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- Thank you.

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- Thank you. A couple of you come in a little bit.

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- Thank you.

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- Thank you so much. Any member who is recognized tonight is free to go unless they'd like to stay for

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- our full meeting. Thank you.

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- Earlier, I was like, there's a lot of people here. Wow. Thank you, Ms. Harmon. We will now receive our

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- quarterly update on the activities of the MCCSE Foundation from Mrs. Helm, the foundation director.

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- Dr. Demuth and other members of the school board. So we've been busy as always. The big reminder is

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- if you are graduating senior or you're a family member that wants to push them in there, scholarships

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- are open. So we have over $25,000 that we will award this spring. Application and descriptions are available

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- on our website, pretty easy mccsfoundation.org.

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- have until March 31st to complete those. There's a series of them that you apply into through an application

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- and then there's some that are selected through the schools themselves. If you see something in the

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- schools I always tell them visit your counselor and find out what the criteria is for that. All right

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- today was an exciting day because my board met at noon time and

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- They are approving our second grant cycle. So that just finished up. We changed it around a little bit

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- this time. So it closed in January. The committee met last Tuesday. And I really want to thank our building

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- reps. They do an incredible job of helping us with this, trying to make sure that faculty in the buildings

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- know about the program, help them be successful in their grant, kind of how to structure it, what the

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- committee is looking for. So I really appreciate that.

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- We had a request of funding for $35,917. We were able to award a good portion of that. We had 15 grants

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- that were awarded, and the total on those grants is $27,201. So I feel like they did a really, really,

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- really good job of doing that. And I just want to thank each one of them for putting their heart and

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- soul into making those decisions.

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- We also had a little bit of funding in a specific budget category. Donor says can only be used certain

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- ways. So we definitely honor that. And that was in our science space. So I got an email over the weekend

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- that some of you saw. And I got corrected today. There are eight Science Olympiad teams moving on to

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- the state level.

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- So I had our board approved to take the rest of that funding that would have gone if someone had written

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- a grant for it. So it totals seventeen hundred dollars and we're going to push that into those ECA counts

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- to help them make it to state. So I was told by Dr. Milks today that they're going to spread it apart.

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- Now each team's registration is paid.

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- So they don't have to worry about that side of it. I think they just got to worry about getting themselves

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- there. So anyway, we're happy to do that. And that gives us our total grant funding for the year at

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- $71,582 this year. So we're really proud of that. That's a little bit higher. That is higher than what

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- we have been doing. And we've had a very generous donor in the background on some of that. And they're

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- very excited about the work that's happening with those grants as well.

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- gems is coming up girls in engineering math and science this is a partnership between the foundation

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- and the corporation so i give that committee all the accolades because they're doing the heavy listing

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- i'm just finding the money um so i want to thank our sponsors that is cimtra boston scientific and tristar

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- those are our sponsors on that and we really appreciate them coming in so that the students who participate

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- get quite a bit of swag and it also helps

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- with some materials that are needed that day for the breakout room. So we really appreciate that. It's

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- March 28th, so registration is open if any of you on the school board want to come take a look at that.

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- It's a pretty exciting day actually. It's very exciting. It brings in a lot of women in science throughout

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- the community. It brings them in and the kids have a great day working with those to try to enrich getting

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- more students into careers in the STEM field.

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- Fundraisers we're kind of moving into that space. So I want to just give you a couple of them that are

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- that are coming in and these are some of the ones that make it possible for us to do what we're doing.

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- The duck race we launched last year. It's back and it's probably not going anywhere for a while because

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- it's really fun. May 2nd, mark your calendar. It'll be at Woolery mill from 11 AM to 4 PM.

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- The reading challenge for this begins April 1, so we'll be getting the forms out to the elementary schools

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- and we also push them into middle school for any middle schoolers that want to participate in the reading

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- challenge as well. There's entertainment that's being lined up. We get a lot of student performances

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- that come in that day. A lot of the student performances are at the elementary level, so it's really

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- kind of fun to see that. It's not usually a highly visible thing in the corporation. You usually think

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- of that more of going to

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- the high school performances, but they're all at ISMA that day. So we're finding the talent at younger

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- ages, and it's working incredibly well. There'll be games, activities, the Jeep show, food,

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- and Duck Eats. And the big way that we make the money out of this, there are sponsorships that we're

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- selling, and I want to thank Old National Bank. They're our first sponsor in, so I want to thank them

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- for their commitment to it again this year. But the Duck adoptions, you'll see that.

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- Basically, the way this works, Jim Meyer is back with us this year, and he will bring in a group of

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- STEM students. We load in ducks into the fountain. If you weren't there to watch the drop last year,

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- just imagine over 3,000 ducks dropping into the Woolery Mill Fountain. It shows you how incredibly large

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- it is when you start putting in a 2 by 2 duck. So gaming commission allows us this year to sell them

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- online. Yeah.

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- Yay, gonna simplify it a lot. So I'm working with a company now. We will be getting those forms up and

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- available online. So you can buy your duck adoptions online this year. And you can also forward it to

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- a friend to buy their duck adoptions online. There are two criteria to that though. They have to be

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- in the state of Indiana, gaming rules, not mine, gaming commissions rules, and they have to be over 18.

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- So just keep those in mind when you see that coming out. And the software does screen for that. So that's

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- why we have to use an outside company. So look forward to that. Golf will be back June 4th. Eagle Point

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- this year. That's going to be a change for us this year. Normally we are at the Bloomington Country

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- Club under construction. So we're going to take this out to Eagle Point and have a great time. A lot

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- of information coming forth for that. But keep that on your calendar for June 4th. Thank you. And that's

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- my report.

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- On behalf of the board, thank you, Mrs. Helm. I really enjoyed the duck race last year, so I'm looking

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- forward to it again this year. Now is our time for public comment. Did we get a no? OK, just kidding.

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- There is no public comment. So now for our consideration is the consent agenda that includes the following.

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- Minutes from the board meeting held on January 27, 2026.

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- Memorandum for the executive sessions on January 31st and February 10th, 2026. Overnight out of state

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- field trips, financial report, January 2026. Appropriation balance report, January 2026. Register of

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- claims, February 24th, 2026. Payroll register and payroll claims, January 2026. Request to declare as

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- surplus an authorized disposal of out of date items.

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- Do I have a motion regarding the approval of the consent agenda? So moved. Do I have a second? Second.

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- It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Asia that we approve the consent agenda as presented. All those

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- in favor of approving the consent agenda signify by saying aye. Aye. All those against say nay. Any

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- abstentions? The motion passes.

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- Next for our considerations are the donations. We have received donations of over $2,000. Thank you

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- to all our donors. Your generosity is appreciated. Do I have a motion to accept the donations? So moved.

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- Second. Thanks, Ross. I think it's been moved by Ashley and seconded by Ross that we accept the donations

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- as presented. All those in favor of approving the donations, signify by saying aye. Aye.

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- All those against say no. Any abstentions? Motion carries. Now we'll move on to old business. We will

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- now hear from Dr. Jeff Henderson on the community input on the former Herald-Times building. Dr. Henderson?

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- Good evening, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and members of the Board of School Trustees. Thank you

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- for the opportunity to share summary data this evening.

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- from public input on the former Herald-Times building. Just as a reminder, the Herald-Times building

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- was purchased in 2022 for potential future use. It consists of an eight-acre site with six usable acres, 77,000-plus

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- square feet of space centrally located within the MCCSC, approximately 170-plus

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- parking spaces and a variety of design that includes office space, storage, loading docks and large

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- span areas. And as a reminder, when this administrative team began its tenure, there was no formal written

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- plan in place for the use of the property. At the November 2025 MCCSC school board meeting, the board

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- directed Superintendent Winston to gather public input regarding the former Herald Times property for

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- the board to consider.

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- Two methods for gathering that public input were designed and implemented, the first of which being

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- a online public survey which ran from January 8th to January 30th and received a total of 404 responses.

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- In addition to that, a public forum was held on January 29th in the Bloomington High School South Auditorium.

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- There were approximately 12 community members in attendance with four public commenters.

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- During the public forum, a transcript was created and incorporated into the summary data that I'll be

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- reviewing with you this evening. Again, 404 online responses and four in-person responses for a total

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- of 408 represented in the data. Prior to the public input opportunity, we provided information to the

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- public about the building and that

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- Same information was linked with the online public survey for respondents to be able to reference prior

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- to submitting their responses. Both the survey and the forum consisted of two open-ended questions.

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- They were intentionally designed to be open-ended to allow natural themes from respondents to occur.

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- The first question or prompt that was asked

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- was what do you think would be the best use or uses for this building? And then the second one was,

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- is there anything else you'd like the board to consider as they evaluate options for this property?

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- Again, 408 responses combined between those two. On the slide before you now is the affiliations that

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- were marked by the 408 respondents.

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- And it's important to point out that a respondent could select more than one affiliation. 54% of the

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- respondents indicated that they were a parent or guardian of a current MCCSE student. 13% identified

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- as an in-district community member. 8% identified as a parent or guardian of alumni. 8% identified themselves

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- as MCCSE staff members.

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- 8% identified themselves specifically as MCCSC teachers, 4% alumni, 2% students, and 2% identified in

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- the other category. There was 1% of individuals identified themselves as out of district community members.

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- Summary of the responses to question number one, the best uses for the building.

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- 40% indicated that the best use was to sell the property. 18% indicated educational programs and services

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- should be built into the facility. 14% indicated sports facilities. 10% indicated community or social

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- services. And 7% listed administrative or operational usage, and 6%

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- indicated career and technical education. And the other responses totaled 5%, but they were unable to

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- be tightly categorized into a single theme and therefore listed as other. In the next set of slides,

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- each word cloud will utilize a linear scale with a floor of 12 point font and a ceiling of 42 point font.

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- where font size is directly proportional to the number of times each verbatim word or phrase appeared

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- in that theme's survey response, ensuring that visual differences between words accurately reflect real

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- differences in how they were mentioned, how often they were mentioned. This method was chosen for its

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- unbiased way to represent community input. So as we look at theme number one, again, reminding you that

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- 40% of respondents

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- indicated that selling the property was the best use of the property. You'll notice that the word cloud

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- is dominated by teachers, money, funding, salaries with the overwhelming number of respondents wanting

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- the proceeds directed to staff compensation and to achieve financial balance. Reminding the community

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- and the board

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- Previously presented information about the sale of the property. There are several considerations that

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- would need to be made. First and most importantly is the state code and procedure for property sale,

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- which appears on the right hand side in the in the box there. Public hearing with notice provided in

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- accordance with Indiana code. Following that hearing, the board must approve the sale of the property.

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- Property then needs to be appraised by two appraisers.

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- And then the board can proceed to sell the property either at a public auction or retain a licensed

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- real estate broker to handle the sale of the property. The money for the sale must be deposited in the

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- operations fund and cannot be used for teacher-related wages and benefits per Indiana code. This one-time

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- payment or one-time source of income would be able to assist in managing cash balances for the corporation.

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- Theme number two, centered around educational programs and services. And you'll find that the majority

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- of responses mention something along the lines of a STEM center concept with tutoring, alternative school

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- options, and maker spaces also prominent responses with regard to this particular theme. The third theme

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- that evolved from public input

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- was athletic and sports facilities, largely driven by the fieldhouse concept with indoor track and gym

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- space as the core suggestions contained in the public feedback. Theme number four revolved around community

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- or social services. And again, 10% of respondents indicated that this was their preferred use of the property.

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- It splits between a community center, a homeless shelter, and affordable housing for the community as

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- potential uses. The fifth theme that emerged from the responses revolved around the idea of administrative

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- or district operational usage, focusing on practical needs like storage, a health clinic, and consolidated

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- office and meeting space for various departments.

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- sixth theme that evolved centered around career and technical education with six percent of respondents

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- indicating this as a preference. The responses really center on the idea of expanding the Hoosier Hills

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- Career Center and vocational and technical education opportunities for students, possibly a south side

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- location to help minimize transportation.

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- That moves us on to question number two, and that was anything else you'd like the board to consider.

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- Of the original 408 responses, only 261 respondents representing 64% of respondents answered question

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- number two. Given the limited number of respondents to question number two, rather than creating a word

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- cloud around each one of these topics, the word cloud that I'll show you follows the same pattern,

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- but looks at the things that are mentioned within these six major considerations that emerged from the

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- public input. The number in parentheses next to each one of those indicates the number of times a specific

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- consideration was mentioned. So in this word cloud, again, it utilizes the same design, a 12-point floor

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- and a 42-point ceiling for the font size.

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- You'll see that it centers around the concept of money, students, teachers, community, pay,

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- selling it, staff, renting, and referendum are words that tend to jump out in this theme. Again, I'd

00:25:22.223 --> 00:25:28.670
- like to thank you for the opportunity to gather public input

00:25:28.770 --> 00:25:36.388
- and provide it for your consideration here at this evening's board meeting. Our administrative team

00:25:36.388 --> 00:25:44.006
- stands ready to take whatever next steps the board directs us to take. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Do

00:25:44.006 --> 00:25:51.852
- I have any questions or comments for Dr. Henderson from the board? I don't for Dr. Henderson directly,

00:25:51.852 --> 00:25:55.966
- but I do for Mr. Erwin. One other concern. Excuse me.

00:25:56.418 --> 00:26:03.899
- One of the concerns the community mentioned there were costs of renovation, et cetera, if we were to

00:26:03.899 --> 00:26:11.825
- choose to do something creative with that building. Would doing that limit our ability through the bonding

00:26:11.825 --> 00:26:19.232
- that we approved last fall? Would it limit our ability in the future to do the needed improvements,

00:26:19.232 --> 00:26:24.862
- maintenance, repairs, et cetera, on our existing student-centered building?

00:26:25.730 --> 00:26:32.795
- I believe it would. And I say that with this context, our debt service fund has a finite ability to

00:26:32.795 --> 00:26:40.002
- fund projects as we stay within the constraints and as we manage the ask of the community to fund the

00:26:40.002 --> 00:26:47.421
- debt service fund. If we were to do $35 million worth of renovations to a building like that, that would

00:26:47.421 --> 00:26:54.910
- delay the timing of which we'd be able to bond for in the future, future improvements of other buildings.

00:26:56.066 --> 00:27:09.407
- Thank you. Absolutely. I was just for the folks that are listening at home. I just said thank you to

00:27:09.407 --> 00:27:23.012
- Dr. Henderson because it was really enlightening to see some of the findings displayed in that manner.

00:27:23.012 --> 00:27:25.918
- So I appreciate that.

00:27:26.210 --> 00:27:33.813
- Certainly a joint effort. I'd not do this on my own. Dr. Henderson, you said, if I recall correctly,

00:27:33.813 --> 00:27:41.415
- you said about 40% of the respondents suggested selling the property and maybe another 10% suggested

00:27:41.415 --> 00:27:48.943
- that it be used for some kind of community or social services purpose. Would it be fair to say that

00:27:48.943 --> 00:27:56.094
- that 10% of community and social services are not things that the school corporation would do?

00:27:56.226 --> 00:28:03.062
- So in my mind, I'm thinking I would sort of lump those together, that 40% and that 10% into sort of

00:28:03.062 --> 00:28:10.103
- suggestions that the building be used for something not related to the schools. I would agree with the

00:28:10.103 --> 00:28:17.075
- fact that many of the items that were mentioned under community or social services are not the direct

00:28:17.075 --> 00:28:24.389
- responsibility of a public school corporation to provide. Thank you. We're not typically building homeless

00:28:24.389 --> 00:28:25.278
- shelters and

00:28:25.858 --> 00:28:35.125
- Providing housing services to the community as a part of what we do as an organization Thank you So

00:28:35.125 --> 00:28:44.393
- effectively that puts us about fifty fifty split then yeah, it seems like that to me. Yeah, okay So

00:28:44.393 --> 00:28:50.046
- if okay fifty fifty split and fifty percent said sell it and

00:28:50.178 --> 00:28:57.385
- and they want the money to go towards teacher wages, but the money can't be used for teacher wages.

00:28:57.385 --> 00:29:05.025
- Where would the money be used for? So the money would be deposited into the operations fund of the school

00:29:05.025 --> 00:29:12.233
- corporation, and it would be utilized typically one. You've heard you've heard Mr Irwin speak about

00:29:12.233 --> 00:29:17.566
- not committing one time funds to ongoing costs or recurring costs. And so

00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:24.499
- The suggestion would be that those would those funds would be utilized to help manage the cash balance

00:29:24.499 --> 00:29:31.399
- and the various funds in any operation fund Given obviously the implications of SEA one that we've heard

00:29:31.399 --> 00:29:38.168
- discussed in previous board meetings I Have a kind of follow-on question. Dr. Irwin could that are mr.

00:29:38.168 --> 00:29:44.871
- Irwin. Sorry. I mean you can be a doctor's honorary degree. That's fine. Great do Could that money be

00:29:44.871 --> 00:29:46.974
- moved from the operations fund?

00:29:47.330 --> 00:29:54.224
- into like our rainy day fund? It could, yes. I mean one of the things that we talked about with one-time

00:29:54.224 --> 00:30:00.790
- funds, Dr. Henderson alluded to this, it has the doctorate right, I don't have it yet, but would be

00:30:00.790 --> 00:30:07.618
- to put the appropriate safety nets in place to continue to do the cash balances to a place that we want

00:30:07.618 --> 00:30:13.790
- them to be as a school corporation, whether that be in our operations fund or rainy day fund,

00:30:14.082 --> 00:30:21.434
- or any of our other funds, right? One of the things that we've talked about that we want to accomplish

00:30:21.434 --> 00:30:28.644
- is have the appropriate safety nets in place in order to be able to respond to the changing dynamics

00:30:28.644 --> 00:30:36.210
- of which we operate within as a public school corporation. This was, I think, implied in Ross's question,

00:30:36.210 --> 00:30:43.134
- but I just want to make sure that we clarify. Again, I think implied in Ross's question was that

00:30:43.234 --> 00:30:52.474
- The building can't be used for most of these purposes as it is. And so we would need to use money from

00:30:52.474 --> 00:31:01.713
- our debt services fund to improve it before we could use it in any other way than it's currently being

00:31:01.713 --> 00:31:10.773
- used. Would that be correct? That's correct. And am I correct that even if we were to basically keep

00:31:10.773 --> 00:31:12.926
- it for its current use,

00:31:14.114 --> 00:31:26.035
- storage, parking, spare buses, et cetera. You require some investment just to sound. Sound, if you will.

00:31:26.035 --> 00:31:37.956
- I know there's some roof. That is correct. There are some concerns over the condition of the roof. Okay.

00:31:37.956 --> 00:31:42.270
- So, Dr. Henderson, you showed a slide

00:31:42.434 --> 00:31:48.084
- that had some steps that I take to mean there are some steps that need to be taken before the board

00:31:48.084 --> 00:31:53.903
- could make a final decision on what to do with the property. Yes. Would you like me to go back to that

00:31:53.903 --> 00:31:59.778
- slide? If you don't mind. Sure. Thank you. Yes. Located on the right side of this slide, the first step

00:31:59.778 --> 00:32:05.484
- is that there must be a public hearing and notice provided in accordance with Indiana code five dash

00:32:05.484 --> 00:32:11.134
- three dash one. And then following that hearing, the board has to approve the sale of the property.

00:32:11.746 --> 00:32:18.793
- The property would then need to be appraised by two appraisers. And then the board would have two options

00:32:18.793 --> 00:32:25.774
- with regard to the sale of the property, public auction or engage the services of a licensed real estate

00:32:25.774 --> 00:32:32.688
- broker to handle the sale. So this question is probably for our attorney, Ms. DeWees and Superintendent

00:32:32.688 --> 00:32:39.934
- Winston. Have the public forum that we held, does that meet the criteria for under step one for the statute?

00:32:41.282 --> 00:32:47.801
- It is not. OK. So in order for us to kind of have all the options on the table, we would have to post

00:32:47.801 --> 00:32:54.257
- notice that meets the statutory requirements and then hold a hearing? Correct. May I request that we

00:32:54.257 --> 00:33:01.223
- post that notice and hold a hearing so that we have all the options on the table? Absolutely. I'll certainly

00:33:01.223 --> 00:33:07.998
- work with Attorney DeWees on that. Thank you. Are there any other questions from the board on this issue?

00:33:12.642 --> 00:33:21.579
- Would our appraisal that we had done in the fall before this discussion even came up be valid as one

00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:30.959
- of the required appraisals under the statute? Yes, we do believe so. Thank you, Dr. Anderson. Absolutely.

00:33:30.959 --> 00:33:40.250
- Thank you, Mr. Irwin and everyone who helped answer our questions. Thank you. Next for our consideration

00:33:40.250 --> 00:33:42.462
- is the personnel report.

00:33:43.138 --> 00:33:50.279
- Do I have a motion to approve the personnel report as presented? So moved. Second. It's been moved by

00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:56.929
- Ashley and seconded by April that we approve the personnel report as presented. Dr. Henderson.

00:33:56.929 --> 00:34:04.140
- Thank you, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and members of the Board of School Trustees. This evening

00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:09.950
- I would like to call to your attention the following retirements. Julie Ann Olson,

00:34:10.850 --> 00:34:18.646
- Miss Olson has been with MCCSC for the last 29 and a half years, most recently serving as a grade six

00:34:18.646 --> 00:34:26.290
- teacher at Highland Park Elementary School. Wendy Tamburino. Miss Tamburino has been with MCCSC for

00:34:26.290 --> 00:34:34.162
- the last 30 years, most recently serving as a grade six teacher at Benford Elementary School. And last

00:34:34.162 --> 00:34:39.742
- but not least, Mary Wicker. Miss Wicker has been with MCCSC for the last

00:34:39.938 --> 00:34:46.451
- 40 years, most recently serving as a hearing impaired teacher at Fairview Elementary School. Altogether,

00:34:46.451 --> 00:34:52.777
- the retirees presented this evening represent a combined total of 99 and one half years of service to

00:34:52.777 --> 00:34:59.042
- our school community. On behalf of MCCSC, I would like to extend a special thank you to all of these

00:34:59.042 --> 00:35:05.182
- individuals for their many years of dedicated service and wish them well in their next adventures.

00:35:05.890 --> 00:35:13.075
- At this time, I request that you please approve the recommendations as presented in your board packet

00:35:13.075 --> 00:35:20.259
- in the personnel report. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Do I have any comments from the board? I just want

00:35:20.259 --> 00:35:27.303
- to wish Ms. Olson well. Both my kids have had her in one capacity or another, and she's a wonderful

00:35:27.303 --> 00:35:35.262
- person. And we will really miss her dearly over there. She's done a lot of really great things for our students.

00:35:40.290 --> 00:35:48.582
- I'll just echo Dr. Henderson's thank you to those retirees for their service, and congratulations. Best

00:35:48.582 --> 00:35:57.034
- of luck on their next adventures. All those in favor of approving the personnel report, signify by saying

00:35:57.034 --> 00:36:05.087
- aye. Aye. Against, say no. Any abstentions? The motion carries. We'll move on to the contracts. Do I

00:36:05.087 --> 00:36:10.110
- have a motion to approve the contracts and quote as presented?

00:36:12.258 --> 00:36:19.079
- second. It's been moved by Ron seconded by Aaron Wyatt that we approve the contracts and quote as presented.

00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:25.588
- Mr. Erwin. Thank you. All the contracts have been reviewed through our process and they're set for your

00:36:25.588 --> 00:36:31.909
- approval. There are two that I feel like are more noteworthy tonight that I wanted to call attention

00:36:31.909 --> 00:36:37.854
- to. One is an MOU between MCCSC and ID Tech to collaborate to provide dual enrollment courses.

00:36:38.338 --> 00:36:45.423
- The MOU allows direct billing to MCCSE for any fees approved for dual enrollment courses taken through

00:36:45.423 --> 00:36:52.507
- Ivy Tech and all costs are paid for through the 2023 referendum fund. So again, just a continued thank

00:36:52.507 --> 00:36:59.386
- you for that partnership with our community to provide that resource to our students. The second is

00:36:59.386 --> 00:37:06.264
- the agreement with Apple. This is for device replacement for teachers. This is a planned expense to

00:37:06.264 --> 00:37:08.190
- the 2025 lease rental bond.

00:37:08.418 --> 00:37:16.341
- as noted in the board packet. So with that, I recommend all contracts and quotes as presented.

00:37:16.341 --> 00:37:25.265
- Thank you, Mr. Irwin. Are there any comments from the board? All those in favor of approving the contracts

00:37:25.265 --> 00:37:33.022
- and quotes signify by saying aye. Aye. Against, say no. Any abstentions? The motion carries.

00:37:37.122 --> 00:37:45.864
- Next for our consideration is the early childhood initiatives, resolution 2026-05 and the provider agreement.

00:37:45.864 --> 00:37:54.289
- Do I have a motion to adopt resolution 2026-05 and approve the provider agreement as presented? So moved.

00:37:54.289 --> 00:38:02.316
- Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by Ashley and seconded by Tiana that we adopt resolution

00:38:02.316 --> 00:38:06.846
- 2026-05 and approve the provider agreement as presented.

00:38:07.202 --> 00:38:16.873
- Ms. Harmon. Thank you. It is recommended that the board adopt Resolution 2026-05, the Early Child Initiative

00:38:16.873 --> 00:38:25.745
- and the Provider Agreement as presented in your board packet. I so recommend. Any comments from the

00:38:25.745 --> 00:38:34.795
- board? All those in favor of adopting Resolution 2026-05 and approving the Provider Agreement signify

00:38:34.795 --> 00:38:36.126
- by saying aye.

00:38:36.514 --> 00:38:46.575
- Aye. Against, say no. Any abstentions? The motion carries. Next, we will consider approval to renew

00:38:46.575 --> 00:38:56.737
- the Advanced Placement Course African-American Studies. Do I have a motion for approval to renew the

00:38:56.737 --> 00:39:01.566
- Advanced Placement Course as presented? Second.

00:39:02.050 --> 00:39:07.688
- It's been moved by Erin Wyatt and seconded by April that we renew the advanced placement course

00:39:07.688 --> 00:39:13.738
- African-American studies as presented. Ms. Harmon. Thank you again. Background, the Indiana Department

00:39:13.738 --> 00:39:19.670
- of Education allows schools to offer courses that are not included on the state approved course list

00:39:19.670 --> 00:39:25.602
- by applying for a non-standard course waiver. The Board of School Trustees approved Bloomington High

00:39:25.602 --> 00:39:31.710
- School North's request for a pilot program for offering AP African-American studies in October of 2023.

00:39:32.002 --> 00:39:36.926
- Bloomington North applied and received a non-standard course waiver to offer this AP course. The course

00:39:36.926 --> 00:39:41.898
- is now up for renewal. Tonight, Bloomington High School North seeks to renew AP African-American studies

00:39:41.898 --> 00:39:46.822
- with the Indiana Department of Education as part of its elective social studies curriculum. This course

00:39:46.822 --> 00:39:51.983
- is well received by students and provides meaningful opportunities to deepen their knowledge, understanding,

00:39:51.983 --> 00:39:56.765
- and perspective. It is recommended that the board approve Bloomington High School North's request to

00:39:56.765 --> 00:40:01.310
- renew and submit the required non-standard course waiver to the Indiana Department of Education

00:40:01.570 --> 00:40:10.296
- for the continued offering of AP African-American studies at Bloomington High School North for the 27-28

00:40:10.296 --> 00:40:18.607
- school year, the 28-29, and the 29-30 school years. I so recommend. Are there any comments from the

00:40:18.607 --> 00:40:27.582
- board? Do we have any indication of whether this will be accepted or denied? We do not have any indication.

00:40:28.354 --> 00:40:36.531
- But we anticipate approval. We're hopeful for approval. OK, great. I understand this is a popular course,

00:40:36.531 --> 00:40:44.400
- and I'm glad that we can continue to offer it. Thank you, Ms. Harmon. All those in favor of approving

00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:51.960
- the renewal of the Advanced Placement Course African-American Studies signify by saying aye. Aye.

00:40:51.960 --> 00:40:56.126
- Any against, say no. Abstentions. The motion carries.

00:40:58.786 --> 00:41:06.067
- Tonight's first presentation is a human resources update. Dr. Henderson. Good evening again. Thank you,

00:41:06.067 --> 00:41:13.207
- President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, members of the Board of School Trustees. This evening, I would like

00:41:13.207 --> 00:41:20.207
- to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about how we sustain academic excellence in the MCCSC.

00:41:20.207 --> 00:41:27.838
- Specifically, we're going to discuss staffing principles, which are student-centered principles that support

00:41:27.970 --> 00:41:35.123
- our continual staffing evaluation, as well as speak to you a little bit about class size ratios as evidence

00:41:35.123 --> 00:41:42.012
- of sustaining academic excellence during our two year strategy to achieve financial balance and sustain

00:41:42.012 --> 00:41:48.900
- excellence, which you'll hear a little bit more about this evening from Dr Winston and Mr Erwin. I want

00:41:48.900 --> 00:41:55.723
- to emphasize that we are confident in implementing our strategy while upholding high quality education

00:41:55.723 --> 00:41:57.246
- across MCC SC schools.

00:41:57.954 --> 00:42:03.908
- What I'll present here this evening are two things, evidence of how we are and how we will continue

00:42:03.908 --> 00:42:10.339
- to uphold that high quality education. First, I'll share an overview of our corporation staffing principles

00:42:10.339 --> 00:42:16.412
- that we use in our continual evaluation of staffing levels. We apply these principles consistently to

00:42:16.412 --> 00:42:22.664
- every staffing decision that we make to prioritize classroom instruction and sustain academic excellence

00:42:22.664 --> 00:42:24.510
- across the school corporation.

00:42:25.026 --> 00:42:31.454
- Then I'll share evidence of how we have maintained and will continue to maintain academic excellence

00:42:31.454 --> 00:42:38.072
- by maintaining class size ratios that are at or below board approved levels. First of all, our staffing

00:42:38.072 --> 00:42:44.945
- principles. Just a little introduction to this. As we continually evaluate enrollment funding and expenses,

00:42:44.945 --> 00:42:51.372
- the principles I'll share with you here this evening help us ensure that staffing decisions are made

00:42:51.372 --> 00:42:53.918
- within a clear and consistent framework

00:42:54.978 --> 00:43:03.061
- are thoughtfully considered and aligned to our instructional and operational priorities and minimize

00:43:03.061 --> 00:43:11.465
- classroom impacts wherever possible. Grounding our decisions in these principles strengthens our ability

00:43:11.465 --> 00:43:19.468
- to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while maintaining excellence throughout the corporation. We

00:43:19.468 --> 00:43:23.070
- consistently apply five staffing principles.

00:43:24.194 --> 00:43:33.107
- They are student-centered, enrollment aligned, position-based, corporation-wide perspective, and fiscal

00:43:33.107 --> 00:43:42.191
- sustainability. We're going to discuss each one in more detail on the following slides. Student-centered.

00:43:42.191 --> 00:43:50.762
- Staffing decisions are based on the potential impact on students and families as they regulate both

00:43:50.762 --> 00:43:52.990
- through academic outcomes

00:43:53.506 --> 00:44:01.409
- student experience, as well as access to essential supports. This principle matters because it keeps

00:44:01.409 --> 00:44:09.234
- staffing focused on why the work exists, student learning, and well-being, rather than any existing

00:44:09.234 --> 00:44:17.059
- internal preferences, legacy programs, or organizational convenience. When we look at the principle

00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:23.006
- of enrollment aligned, staffing levels and positions are aligned to current

00:44:23.170 --> 00:44:30.911
- and projected enrollment, measurable student and operational needs, and fair, consistent metrics that

00:44:30.911 --> 00:44:38.500
- account for contextual complexity. This matters because aligning staffing to enrollment and clearly

00:44:38.500 --> 00:44:46.241
- defined needs ensures equity, transparency, and compliance while strengthening trust in how decisions

00:44:46.241 --> 00:44:51.326
- are made. Position-based. Our positions are designed and allocated

00:44:51.554 --> 00:44:58.872
- based on the work that must be accomplished to meet both instructional and operational goals. This enables

00:44:58.872 --> 00:45:05.984
- the district to adapt to changing needs, avoid staffing inertia, where organizational structures remain

00:45:05.984 --> 00:45:12.892
- in place because they've existed historically rather than because they are aligned to current needs,

00:45:12.892 --> 00:45:18.910
- and build roles that deliver value where the work occurs. Corporation-wide perspective.

00:45:19.554 --> 00:45:27.273
- Staffing decisions consider impacts across the entire corporation and prioritize solutions that address

00:45:27.273 --> 00:45:35.438
- needs to promote both organizational health and sustainability. This approach promotes fairness, consistency,

00:45:35.438 --> 00:45:42.935
- efficiency, and helps ensure that staffing decisions do not solve one problem while creating another

00:45:42.935 --> 00:45:47.166
- elsewhere in the corporation. And fiscal sustainability.

00:45:47.874 --> 00:45:54.813
- Staffing commitments must be fiscally sustainable over time. They must align with instructional and

00:45:54.813 --> 00:46:01.752
- operational priorities, and they must serve the needs of our community as well as demonstrate added

00:46:01.752 --> 00:46:08.968
- value. This ensures that staffing decisions can be maintained beyond a single budget cycle, do not rely

00:46:08.968 --> 00:46:16.254
- on one-time funding, and support the long-term stability and effectiveness of our organization. So those

00:46:16.674 --> 00:46:24.375
- Five principles are constantly referenced every time we make a decision about a position in the organization,

00:46:24.375 --> 00:46:31.445
- regardless of department. And we consistently apply those across all of those conversations. Next, I

00:46:31.445 --> 00:46:38.516
- want to take a little time to look more specifically at class sizes. I'll start with a recap of some

00:46:38.516 --> 00:46:43.486
- of the previously presented data, provide some comparative statistics,

00:46:43.586 --> 00:46:50.912
- and then look specifically at elementary and secondary class sizes. You'll recall at the October 28th,

00:46:50.912 --> 00:46:58.167
- 2025 board meeting, this statistic was shared and it's utilized by the Department of Education across

00:46:58.167 --> 00:47:05.635
- the state. And as in the past, I want to point out that this statistic is showing the number of students

00:47:05.635 --> 00:47:13.246
- who certificated staff, and that includes all certified staff, counselors, social workers, administrators.

00:47:13.698 --> 00:47:23.586
- The statistic is not intended to depict class sizes. It's merely a measure of the number of certificated

00:47:23.586 --> 00:47:33.475
- staff to the number of students that we serve. In comparison, when you look across the surrounding area,

00:47:33.475 --> 00:47:43.646
- as well as school corporations that are similar in size to MCCSE, we happen to be the lowest in that ratio.

00:47:44.802 --> 00:47:56.228
- Fiscally, that's not good. The lower it is, the lower that number is, the more money we are spending

00:47:56.228 --> 00:48:07.655
- per student. So in the previous slide, you saw a number of 13.4. That is this year's self-calculated

00:48:07.655 --> 00:48:14.782
- statistic after position control. You'll notice that that 13.4

00:48:15.458 --> 00:48:26.591
- is still lower than the surrounding schools and similar sized schools. So in this slide we're providing

00:48:26.591 --> 00:48:37.403
- you with comparative data from the DOE from the 2024-2025 school year, which is the most recent data

00:48:37.403 --> 00:48:44.254
- that's available on the DOE website. At that time, prior to our

00:48:45.346 --> 00:48:53.412
- two-year strategy being initiated to bring fiscal balance to the organization, we were at 12.6. So that

00:48:53.412 --> 00:49:01.168
- number was trending in the wrong direction for fiscal sustainability. So I've mentioned before that

00:49:01.168 --> 00:49:08.923
- the Human Resources Department monitors enrollment counts on a regular basis, especially during the

00:49:08.923 --> 00:49:14.430
- first few weeks of each school year and at the start of new semesters,

00:49:14.690 --> 00:49:22.338
- when transitions are most likely for families. Members of the human resources team, curriculum, instruction

00:49:22.338 --> 00:49:29.420
- and assessment team conducted physical counts in a variety of schools to verify class sizes. And we

00:49:29.420 --> 00:49:36.715
- also hold weekly meetings with our directors of special education, which include reviews of caseloads,

00:49:36.715 --> 00:49:43.230
- class sizes, current evaluations and pending enrollments. So on this slide, I want to focus

00:49:43.362 --> 00:49:50.872
- your attention by the use of some pop-up boxes that will appear on the screen as I speak to specific

00:49:50.872 --> 00:49:58.382
- items. This slide contains a lot of data, and there are three distinct points at which this data was

00:49:58.382 --> 00:50:05.892
- gathered. Those correspond at the top there. You'll see the red box that just popped up. The October

00:50:05.892 --> 00:50:12.510
- 1st, 2024 ADM date, the October 1st, 2025 ADM date, and the February 2nd, 2026 ADM date.

00:50:17.442 --> 00:50:25.722
- Inside this red box you will notice the average size of our pre-k classrooms by building across our

00:50:25.722 --> 00:50:34.001
- elementary schools. I only brought the red box up on the left hand chart but the column is the same

00:50:34.001 --> 00:50:40.542
- on all three charts just at the different dates I mentioned just a moment ago.

00:50:45.506 --> 00:50:54.172
- The next red box that you see shows the average, or the range, sorry, the range of class sizes at the

00:50:54.172 --> 00:51:02.328
- K-2 grade band. And the reason why K-2 was chosen was specifically because of the configuration

00:51:02.328 --> 00:51:10.993
- of Rogers-Benford. Rogers is a K-2 building, Benford is a three through six building, so we wanted to

00:51:10.993 --> 00:51:15.326
- be able to compare across all buildings like data.

00:51:15.810 --> 00:51:23.652
- We would typically refer to primary grades as K to three and upper elementary is four to six. But given

00:51:23.652 --> 00:51:31.568
- the configuration that we have at Rogers Benford, it was divided in this way. So you're comparing apples

00:51:31.568 --> 00:51:39.259
- to apples. So as you look down that column, you will see the ranges of class sizes that exist in that

00:51:39.259 --> 00:51:43.934
- particular grade band in each school. And that is consistent.

00:51:44.098 --> 00:51:54.260
- Again, across all three of those tables there, depending upon the dates. The next column will show you

00:51:54.260 --> 00:52:04.521
- the range of grades three through six in those buildings. And the next column will show you the average

00:52:04.521 --> 00:52:13.598
- class size, K to six. Pre-K has been taken out of that. And that average across class sizes

00:52:13.986 --> 00:52:24.623
- or across K-6 is looking at every class in that building and creating the average. And so you'll notice

00:52:24.623 --> 00:52:35.771
- next to the school name in parentheses a number. That number represents the number of K-6 regular classrooms

00:52:35.771 --> 00:52:43.646
- that were in that building at the time of this calculation. So you'll notice

00:52:43.970 --> 00:52:53.230
- If you look at the October 1st, 2024 ADM date, that chart there on the left, Arlington had 14 K-6 classrooms

00:52:53.230 --> 00:53:01.725
- at that time. If you look at the next table over staying on the Arlington line, on the October 1st,

00:53:01.725 --> 00:53:10.221
- 2025 ADM date, they had 12 K-6 classrooms. And then if you look at the February 2nd, 2026 ADM date,

00:53:10.221 --> 00:53:13.534
- you'll see that they still have 12 K-6

00:53:13.762 --> 00:53:22.202
- regular classrooms. So that will show you the number of classrooms that factor into the average calculation.

00:53:22.202 --> 00:53:29.945
- The last thing I'd like to draw your attention to is the corporation average for elementary classes

00:53:29.945 --> 00:53:37.688
- K-6 found at the bottom of that average K-6 column. It's important to point out that that is not an

00:53:37.688 --> 00:53:42.334
- average of the averages. That is taking every K-6 classroom

00:53:42.690 --> 00:53:53.501
- and calculating the average based on class size. So it's not diluted by taking the average of averages.

00:53:53.501 --> 00:54:04.209
- So the next thing I would like to do is look at this data in a slightly different way. This is, again,

00:54:04.209 --> 00:54:11.486
- looking at those same ADM count dates. And you'll notice that the ADM

00:54:12.002 --> 00:54:23.399
- K-6, the number is included there below those dates. So on October 1st, 2024, K-6 ADM count was 5,056

00:54:23.399 --> 00:54:35.354
- students. On October 1st, 2025, it was 4,942 students. And on February 2nd, it was 4,932 students. Located

00:54:35.354 --> 00:54:40.606
- in this column, you'll find the board approved

00:54:40.930 --> 00:54:50.989
- class size average ratio for a particular grade band. In the next three columns, again, I'm only highlighting

00:54:50.989 --> 00:55:00.316
- the first column, but the data is the same in the next two columns, you will see the range, the class

00:55:00.316 --> 00:55:09.278
- size range for that particular grade band, and you will then see in parentheses the average size.

00:55:09.762 --> 00:55:19.850
- that particular grade band across the district. Again that is not averages of averages that's looking

00:55:19.850 --> 00:55:30.038
- at every pre-k class, every kindergarten class, every first grade class to get that average. Next down

00:55:30.038 --> 00:55:39.038
- at the bottom you will see that 96% of all classrooms on October 1st 2024 were at or below

00:55:39.746 --> 00:55:46.608
- board approved average ratios. We know that we have outliers. We have a lot of buildings, we have a

00:55:46.608 --> 00:55:54.018
- lot of varying enrollment, and sometimes you will have a large grade of kids matriculate through a building

00:55:54.018 --> 00:56:01.017
- where there aren't a lot of classrooms in a building. The larger the building and the more classrooms

00:56:01.017 --> 00:56:08.084
- that you have that serve a specific grade, the easier it is to spread students out and the less likely

00:56:08.084 --> 00:56:09.182
- you are to have

00:56:09.474 --> 00:56:18.700
- a split grade classroom. So you can see that October 1st of 2025, 82% of our classrooms were at or below

00:56:18.700 --> 00:56:27.663
- board approved averages. Again, there are some outliers. And then in February of 2026, 84% were at or

00:56:27.663 --> 00:56:36.450
- below board approved averages when you look at individual classrooms. If you notice, looking at the

00:56:36.450 --> 00:56:39.262
- average across the corporation,

00:56:40.354 --> 00:56:47.496
- We are below the average board approved class size ratio at every grade level when you look

00:56:47.496 --> 00:56:55.415
- at the corporation as a whole. Again, we recognize there are outliers, there are unique situations in

00:56:55.415 --> 00:57:03.800
- buildings that create those situations where a large class might be matriculating through a small building.

00:57:03.800 --> 00:57:06.750
- Good question. When were those ratios

00:57:08.674 --> 00:57:19.928
- believe they date back to 2000 and 2015 slice this data a different way let's do some comparison between

00:57:19.928 --> 00:57:31.076
- straight grade classrooms at the elementary and multi-grade classrooms at the elementary and look where

00:57:31.076 --> 00:57:36.542
- we stand across the top you will see there were 21

00:57:36.898 --> 00:57:45.123
- Pre-K classrooms across the corporation. 31 kindergarten classrooms across the corporation,

00:57:45.123 --> 00:57:54.241
- straight grade. And by straight grade, I mean the only grade level of student in that classroom would

00:57:54.241 --> 00:58:03.181
- it be a kindergarten student. So the next row down, you'll see the board approved average ratio for

00:58:03.181 --> 00:58:06.846
- that particular grade. You will then see

00:58:07.906 --> 00:58:17.279
- the current average by that grade level across the corporation as a whole. And then you can see the

00:58:17.279 --> 00:58:26.652
- percentage of classrooms that are at or below the board approved class size ratio. And finally, you

00:58:26.652 --> 00:58:35.838
- will see the range of varying class sizes across the corporation at those particular grade bands.

00:58:36.834 --> 00:58:47.631
- I'll point out to you that if you look at the first grade column you will notice the corporation average

00:58:47.631 --> 00:58:58.221
- matches the board approved average ratio but we have some outliers. We have a class as small as 15 and

00:58:58.221 --> 00:59:03.774
- a class as high as 25. So that's just a little bit of

00:59:04.642 --> 00:59:12.425
- insight into how you look at this particular data and how it compares to the board approved average

00:59:12.425 --> 00:59:20.986
- class size ratios. So when you look across the corporation as a whole 84 percent of all pre-k to 6 classrooms

00:59:20.986 --> 00:59:28.847
- are at or below board approved ratios. Next let's take a little look at split grade classrooms. It's

00:59:28.847 --> 00:59:32.894
- important to note that we don't have nearly as many

00:59:33.122 --> 00:59:41.989
- split grade classrooms as we do straight grade classrooms across the corporation. And again split grade

00:59:41.989 --> 00:59:50.600
- classrooms occur likely when you have a small class size in a particular grade level or an odd break

00:59:50.600 --> 00:59:59.211
- in class sizes at a particular grade level where a grade band is then combined to create a classroom

00:59:59.211 --> 01:00:02.110
- that is closer to the average. So

01:00:02.274 --> 01:00:10.965
- Again, when we look at the class size board approved average ratio, I am looking at the lowest grade

01:00:10.965 --> 01:00:19.914
- in that band. So when you look at kindergarten through one split classroom, I'm citing the kindergarten

01:00:19.914 --> 01:00:28.863
- board approved ratio, not the first grade board approved ratio. Again, you'll notice, as I said before,

01:00:28.863 --> 01:00:31.358
- there are very few of these.

01:00:32.034 --> 01:00:42.395
- If you have any of them that are above the board approved ratio, average ratio, it has a dramatic impact

01:00:42.395 --> 01:00:52.755
- on that percentage number that you'll see below. There's one K-1 multigrade classroom in the corporation

01:00:52.755 --> 01:00:57.886
- that has 24 students in it. So 0% of our K-1 splits

01:00:58.434 --> 01:01:08.749
- are at or below the board approved ratio because it has three more students than a regular kindergarten

01:01:08.749 --> 01:01:18.965
- class. And you can see the percent at or below across the board there. Down at the bottom, you can see

01:01:18.965 --> 01:01:23.230
- the range in those multi-grade classrooms.

01:01:24.962 --> 01:01:34.079
- and 83% of all multi-grade classrooms are at or below board approved ratios. Let's move on to secondary

01:01:34.079 --> 01:01:42.932
- and focus specifically on middle school at the moment. As you all are well aware, middle schools and

01:01:42.932 --> 01:01:51.786
- high schools are not structured the same way that elementary schools are. And so we look at averages

01:01:51.786 --> 01:01:54.942
- by department, class size averages,

01:01:55.266 --> 01:02:03.713
- by department. So I didn't have any pop-out boxes on this particular slide because there's much less

01:02:03.713 --> 01:02:12.244
- data there, and it's a whole lot easier to digest. This is looking at current data, the February data

01:02:12.244 --> 01:02:21.109
- at secondary schools. So you'll notice that fine and performing arts, again, middle school board approved

01:02:21.109 --> 01:02:22.782
- ratios are 1 to 30.

01:02:24.578 --> 01:02:35.319
- Fine and Performing Arts, you'll see across the three middle schools. Bachelor is sitting at 30, Jackson

01:02:35.319 --> 01:02:45.651
- Creek at 29, and Tri-North is sitting at 22, with the all middle school average at 27. You'll notice

01:02:45.651 --> 01:02:53.630
- that all of these are at or below the board approved average ratio except for

01:02:54.114 --> 01:03:05.035
- a few at Jackson Creek that are at 33. It's also important to point out that just like we have in the

01:03:05.035 --> 01:03:16.064
- middle school or in elementary schools, we have at the middle schools and high school outliers, things

01:03:16.064 --> 01:03:24.094
- that impact the average in different ways. For example, if you think about

01:03:24.546 --> 01:03:31.984
- band, choir, orchestra, and PE classes, they typically contain more than 30 students in them. And that

01:03:31.984 --> 01:03:39.350
- is appropriate for those class sizes. Based on getting a full ensemble of students together in a band

01:03:39.350 --> 01:03:46.427
- to be able to practice and rehearse together, you typically have more than 30 students in a band.

01:03:46.427 --> 01:03:52.638
- So again, we know there are outliers, but we look at the averages across departments.

01:03:53.090 --> 01:04:02.926
- as the way in which we we judge that. Let's move on to the high schools and again broken down in the

01:04:02.926 --> 01:04:12.665
- same way by departments. All four of our high schools are represented there. Bloomington Graduation

01:04:12.665 --> 01:04:22.014
- School, the Academy, Bloomington High School North and Bloomington High School South as well as

01:04:22.210 --> 01:04:29.464
- calculations for all four of the high schools, what the averages factor out to be if you combine all

01:04:29.464 --> 01:04:36.791
- of them. And then if you separate out Bloomington High School North and Bloomington High School South

01:04:36.791 --> 01:04:44.045
- as the comprehensive large high schools, we have a one to 30 ratio at those large comprehensive high

01:04:44.045 --> 01:04:50.366
- schools. At the Academy we have a 25 to one ratio and at BGS we have a 15 to one ratio.

01:04:52.962 --> 01:05:01.925
- 75% of all classrooms at the secondary level are at or below board approved average ratios in the 25-26

01:05:01.925 --> 01:05:10.630
- school year in our February data. Again, those same comments about outliers for large class sizes in

01:05:10.630 --> 01:05:19.422
- band, choir, orchestra, some of those large ensembles, PE classes, those kinds of things. Large group

01:05:19.422 --> 01:05:20.542
- study halls.

01:05:20.802 --> 01:05:30.553
- might impact that if they're coded as other in skyward in that other category down at the bottom. If

01:05:30.553 --> 01:05:40.401
- you take another look at this data and just look at the averages across secondary combining both high

01:05:40.401 --> 01:05:48.318
- school and middle school averages, um, you can see that comparative data there in

01:05:49.794 --> 01:05:56.608
- this case you'll notice that those averages are at or below the board approved ratios for the secondary

01:05:56.608 --> 01:06:03.684
- level across the board when you look at at all departments. Next let's take a look at our special education

01:06:03.684 --> 01:06:10.825
- caseloads and as I mentioned before there are weekly meetings that are conducted between the human resources

01:06:10.825 --> 01:06:15.870
- department and the directors of special education where we monitor this data

01:06:16.098 --> 01:06:24.451
- in an ongoing manner because as you all are aware, students are tested, identified, and enter into service

01:06:24.451 --> 01:06:32.413
- in special education throughout the year. And so we constantly monitor this. 93% of our caseloads are

01:06:32.413 --> 01:06:40.532
- at or below departmental guidelines. We divided this out by mild intervention and intense intervention.

01:06:40.532 --> 01:06:45.918
- And if you look on the slide inside the red box that just popped up,

01:06:46.530 --> 01:06:55.554
- When we look at pre K to six elementary, our guidelines are our departmental guidelines that were established

01:06:55.554 --> 01:07:03.757
- through discussion with our teachers association. Um, those guidelines are 20 to 25 pre K to six is

01:07:03.757 --> 01:07:12.289
- what we try to stay within. There are 33 teachers who operate within the pre K to six mild intervention

01:07:12.289 --> 01:07:14.750
- range across the corporation.

01:07:15.362 --> 01:07:27.020
- serving those students and their average caseload is 20 and 88 percent of all pre-k to 6 caseloads are

01:07:27.020 --> 01:07:38.451
- at or below guidelines and the largest pre-k to 6 caseload is 28 just for your information. When you

01:07:38.451 --> 01:07:42.526
- look at secondary mild intervention

01:07:42.978 --> 01:07:51.425
- There are 33 teachers serving students in grades 7 through 12 plus. The guidelines are established at

01:07:51.425 --> 01:07:59.706
- 25 to 30, with an average caseload of 22, with 94% of those caseloads being at or below guidelines.

01:07:59.706 --> 01:08:07.987
- And the largest caseload is 32, so two above. And again, just a reminder that students are added to

01:08:07.987 --> 01:08:12.542
- special education services throughout the school year.

01:08:12.706 --> 01:08:20.346
- at various times, depending upon their evaluation cycle. If we move over into intense intervention at

01:08:20.346 --> 01:08:28.510
- pre-K through 6, there are 12 teachers that serve the needs of students in this category. And our guidelines

01:08:28.510 --> 01:08:36.074
- have been established at 8 to 12 for the caseload. The average caseload is 10, with 92% of caseloads

01:08:36.074 --> 01:08:42.366
- being at or below guidelines. And the largest PK to 6 intense intervention caseload

01:08:42.530 --> 01:08:52.066
- is 13. Finally, if we look at secondary intense intervention classrooms, there are eight teachers that

01:08:52.066 --> 01:09:01.417
- serve the needs of this program. Guidelines are established at 10 to 14. The average caseload is 11.

01:09:01.417 --> 01:09:10.398
- And 100% of those caseloads are at or below guidelines, with the largest caseload also being 13.

01:09:15.810 --> 01:09:22.708
- So in summary here this evening, the information that I shared with you are just a few measures of how

01:09:22.708 --> 01:09:29.674
- we are prioritizing educational quality in our schools as we work our way through our two-year strategy

01:09:29.674 --> 01:09:36.639
- to bring fiscal balance and sustain academic excellence here in the MCCSC. As you've seen, the majority

01:09:36.639 --> 01:09:43.470
- of class sizes throughout our corporation, K to 12, are at or below board approved student to teacher

01:09:43.470 --> 01:09:44.542
- average ratios.

01:09:45.154 --> 01:09:52.018
- Again, 84% of pre-K to 6 classrooms, 83% of multi-grade classrooms, 75% of secondary classrooms are

01:09:52.018 --> 01:09:59.088
- adderable or board approved ratios. And again, just a reminder that we do recognize there are outliers

01:09:59.088 --> 01:10:05.952
- and those particularly large classrooms and band, choir, orchestra, physical education. Since 2019,

01:10:05.952 --> 01:10:13.502
- the average student to certificated staff ratio in grades K through 12 is increased by less than one student.

01:10:13.794 --> 01:10:23.713
- Again, that's certificated staff to student. Our team continually examines this data and will continue

01:10:23.713 --> 01:10:33.440
- to be vigilant about class size if MCCSC moves forward in its two-year strategy to achieve financial

01:10:33.440 --> 01:10:43.166
- balance. Also, elementary average class size has increased by only one student from the fall of 2024

01:10:43.490 --> 01:10:49.877
- to the spring of 2026. As the school corporation continuously evaluates staffing at all times throughout

01:10:49.877 --> 01:10:56.143
- the year, our staffing principles that I covered at the beginning of this presentation provide a clear

01:10:56.143 --> 01:11:02.348
- and consistent framework that ensures all of our decisions are principle aligned and sustain academic

01:11:02.348 --> 01:11:08.796
- excellence in our school. This is just one measure of how we sustain that academic excellence. And you'll

01:11:08.796 --> 01:11:12.446
- hear more from Dr. Winston in her two year strategy update.

01:11:13.762 --> 01:11:23.892
- Thank you for the opportunity to present this data to you this evening. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Are

01:11:23.892 --> 01:11:34.022
- there any comments from the board? Yeah. So in some of the buildings, as we look at elementary school

01:11:34.022 --> 01:11:40.478
- numbers, some of them have some huge deltas, like from 17 to 32.

01:11:40.994 --> 01:11:49.455
- Some of them, the top number was significantly smaller than other buildings where that top number was

01:11:49.455 --> 01:11:58.249
- much larger. Is that something that is being discussed through the redistricting study as well to balance

01:11:58.249 --> 01:12:07.042
- that population per building? Well, I certainly don't want to speak for Dr. Dowling and Dr. Garman-McLean

01:12:07.042 --> 01:12:08.286
- with regard to

01:12:08.610 --> 01:12:16.640
- a report that you will be receiving in the not too distant future with regard to the redistricting study

01:12:16.640 --> 01:12:24.287
- commission. But I will say that part of what drove us in that direction and the board to ask for us

01:12:24.287 --> 01:12:32.088
- to conduct that study had to do with the efficiency of use of buildings in the corporation. And so we

01:12:32.088 --> 01:12:38.206
- are a very large geographic size as a school corporation with a large number of

01:12:38.306 --> 01:12:49.756
- schools with a large variation in the population of enrollment in those schools. And as I mentioned

01:12:49.756 --> 01:13:01.779
- earlier, the larger the building, the more efficient you can be. You gain economy of scale, so to speak.

01:13:01.779 --> 01:13:07.390
- And so you experience less range and less impact

01:13:07.778 --> 01:13:16.571
- when there are fluctuations in a particular grade level in terms of the number of kids that are enrolled

01:13:16.571 --> 01:13:25.698
- in a building at a particular time. Sure. And we also can account for population density shifts in catchment

01:13:25.698 --> 01:13:34.574
- zones based on property development. Correct. Yeah. OK. Not without changing the catchment zone. Exactly.

01:13:34.574 --> 01:13:35.998
- Yeah. Discussed.

01:13:41.314 --> 01:13:49.088
- Dr. Henderson, for our classrooms where many students are attending from out of the catchment zone,

01:13:49.088 --> 01:13:57.328
- like the ELPS program at Fairview or the multi-age classroom at Templeton, were those classrooms included

01:13:57.328 --> 01:14:05.180
- in the numbers that we saw? Yes, they are. OK, thank you. And when class sizes get larger, there are

01:14:05.180 --> 01:14:10.622
- aids added to those classrooms, correct, at certain levels? At times.

01:14:11.010 --> 01:14:24.185
- Yes. Last call for comments from the board. When there is a classroom that's identified that is potentially

01:14:24.185 --> 01:14:31.870
- on the larger side, is that remediated or how is that handled?

01:14:33.506 --> 01:14:41.585
- It depends on the particular building and the circumstances surrounding the needs in that classroom.

01:14:41.585 --> 01:14:49.904
- As you know, there are oftentimes push-in aids from special education department that are in classrooms

01:14:49.904 --> 01:14:57.823
- to provide additional supports, as well as pull-outs that occur in those classrooms for individual

01:14:57.823 --> 01:15:01.502
- remediation needs of students. So many times,

01:15:01.666 --> 01:15:08.582
- you will find when you walk into a classroom, as we did when we conducted our checks around the district,

01:15:08.582 --> 01:15:15.434
- the teacher would be quick to say, not all of my students are in here. Some of them are out in a reading

01:15:15.434 --> 01:15:22.611
- group or some of them are getting math intervention. So that class size that exists there doesn't necessarily

01:15:22.611 --> 01:15:26.526
- mean that that number of students are in that room all day.

01:15:27.074 --> 01:15:34.578
- there are pullout programs that provide additional supports to students academically that occur as well.

01:15:34.578 --> 01:15:41.867
- Thank you. President Kuperman, I just want to take a moment to give kudos to Dr. Henderson and the HR

01:15:41.867 --> 01:15:49.014
- team for the due diligence, quite frankly, that they've taken in monitoring this data. They've done

01:15:49.014 --> 01:15:56.446
- so very deliberately, very intentionally, and hopefully it is recognized that this is a priority for us

01:15:56.770 --> 01:16:02.853
- to make sure that we are managing class sizes appropriately. We recognize that with the changes that

01:16:02.853 --> 01:16:08.875
- are happening economically throughout the state and within our community, it certainly is having an

01:16:08.875 --> 01:16:14.957
- impact on us, which is why we're monitoring it as closely. So I just want to say thank you very much

01:16:14.957 --> 01:16:21.100
- to Dr. Henderson and our entire executive team for their very, very difficult and painstaking work to

01:16:21.100 --> 01:16:25.918
- provide you with the level of detailed analysis that you received this evening.

01:16:26.210 --> 01:16:32.929
- Rest assured that he has gone over all of those numbers with a fine-tooth comb multiple times.

01:16:32.929 --> 01:16:40.214
- So thank you. Very well done. I would agree with that. I wanted to ask a question to show I was paying

01:16:40.214 --> 01:16:47.569
- attention, but every time I thought of one, you answered it on the next slide. So it was very thorough.

01:16:47.569 --> 01:16:54.430
- Thank you so much for that. You're welcome. Any last-minute questions? Thank you, Dr. Henderson.

01:16:55.714 --> 01:17:03.558
- Next is the quarterly two-year strategy to sustaining excellence and financial transparency. Dr. Winston.

01:17:03.558 --> 01:17:11.180
- Thank you, President Cooperman. So exactly 12 months ago, the Board of School Trustees and I announced

01:17:11.180 --> 01:17:18.728
- our two-year strategy to achieve fiscal balance. Part of that strategy included our public commitment

01:17:18.728 --> 01:17:24.574
- to provide quarterly updates and financial transparency regarding our efforts.

01:17:24.994 --> 01:17:31.571
- The two board priorities as a reminder to our audience are one, to achieve financial balance, and two,

01:17:31.571 --> 01:17:38.084
- to sustain academic excellence. Our goals for tonight's presentation are to provide our fiscal update

01:17:38.084 --> 01:17:44.470
- and also to announce the kickoff of our two new bond-funded projects. Mr. Irwin and I have a lot of

01:17:44.470 --> 01:17:50.855
- very valuable information to share with you, and I want you to know that the key word is a lot, but

01:17:50.855 --> 01:17:54.878
- I want you to know that it's really, really important that you

01:17:55.682 --> 01:18:02.722
- capture this information and that you begin to connect the dots as we are as well. As a friendly reminder

01:18:02.722 --> 01:18:09.563
- on our timeline here, I would like just to take a few minutes to remind everyone of our journey toward

01:18:09.563 --> 01:18:16.338
- achieving balance. When I took over as interim superintendent in July 2024, although it feels like 10

01:18:16.338 --> 01:18:23.710
- years ago, just a year, 18 months ago, the board of school trustees tasked me with taking a comprehensive look

01:18:24.034 --> 01:18:30.340
- at corporation finances for the purposes of making informed decisions that would ultimately guide our

01:18:30.340 --> 01:18:36.585
- fiscal sustainability. My first action was to hire an external firm, Policy Analytics, to assist our

01:18:36.585 --> 01:18:42.891
- team. The results of our financial forecast review indicated that we needed to reduce our operational

01:18:42.891 --> 01:18:48.888
- expenses and to live within our means amidst declining student enrollment and declining revenue.

01:18:48.888 --> 01:18:53.278
- As a result, we embarked on our two-year strategy in February of 2025.

01:18:55.458 --> 01:19:02.554
- and we unveiled that during our state of the schools address that year. A few short months later, the

01:19:02.554 --> 01:19:09.511
- Indiana legislature, as you can see here with the yellow arrow, passed Senate Enrolled Act 1, which

01:19:09.511 --> 01:19:16.746
- was designed to provide property tax relief to homeowners. What we know now is that SEA 1 significantly

01:19:16.746 --> 01:19:24.190
- reduces needed property tax revenue for numerous government entities, including public libraries, schools,

01:19:24.450 --> 01:19:31.823
- and local government. Last fall, I believe it was in October of 2025, you heard a very detailed analysis

01:19:31.823 --> 01:19:39.197
- of exactly how this piece of legislation is going to impact and is impacting our corporation. Consistent

01:19:39.197 --> 01:19:46.430
- with our promise to the community, we have continued to provide quarterly updates on our finances, and

01:19:46.430 --> 01:19:54.014
- we are eager to do so this evening. The next three slides are included to assist everyone that is listening

01:19:54.274 --> 01:20:00.873
- to connect the dots at the state level and locally. SEA 1, the 2025 property tax relief legislation

01:20:00.873 --> 01:20:07.471
- is impacting local governments and schools statewide. As we look across the state, we are beginning

01:20:07.471 --> 01:20:14.201
- to see and hear about numerous examples of budget cuts and reductions across all forms of government.

01:20:14.201 --> 01:20:20.734
- On this slide, you'll see a few recent announcements that came out from Elkhart Community Schools,

01:20:21.762 --> 01:20:29.500
- They've been talking about making budgetary cuts, specifically as a result of SEA 1. Two weeks ago,

01:20:29.500 --> 01:20:37.238
- Noblesville Schools communicated that they are going to have to make staffing reductions due to the

01:20:37.238 --> 01:20:44.977
- multi-million dollar deficit caused by SEA 1. Crown Point Schools is cutting job positions and they

01:20:44.977 --> 01:20:49.310
- are making reductions to their birth to school program.

01:20:50.658 --> 01:20:57.402
- North Allen County Schools is also making reductions. So I think it's important to note I only pulled

01:20:57.402 --> 01:21:04.212
- out four examples, but there are many more than four examples across the state of Indiana where school

01:21:04.212 --> 01:21:10.889
- corporations are having to make some very difficult choices. The fact of the matter is that SCA 1 is

01:21:10.889 --> 01:21:17.765
- impacting everyone. In many ways, MCCSC has been ahead of the curve because we've been discussing these

01:21:17.765 --> 01:21:20.542
- potential impacts for several months now.

01:21:22.370 --> 01:21:29.080
- In spite of these headwinds, our team continues to keep our efforts focused on making sure that our

01:21:29.080 --> 01:21:35.790
- decisions are good for children, fiscally responsible, and ultimately sustainable. We will all have

01:21:35.790 --> 01:21:42.903
- to make very tough choices in today's financial climate. What is true, however, is our ongoing commitment

01:21:42.903 --> 01:21:49.278
- to maintain the excellence in our schools that our children deserve. What you see here locally

01:21:49.634 --> 01:21:57.036
- is that there are several examples of local government decisions regarding SCA-1 and the very real fiscal

01:21:57.036 --> 01:22:04.578
- impacts. You probably are familiar with the fact that our local libraries have had to make changes directly

01:22:04.578 --> 01:22:11.561
- as a result of the reduction in revenue for them as a result of SCA-1, and so they've had to reduce

01:22:11.561 --> 01:22:18.334
- in many ways, but one of the ways that they've reduced is to reduce their hours of availability.

01:22:18.498 --> 01:22:25.701
- their operating hours. You probably know that we have nearby towns and townships. Ellisville and Richland

01:22:25.701 --> 01:22:32.632
- township are having conversations about consolidation. That's directly in response to SCA 1. And then

01:22:32.632 --> 01:22:39.495
- our local city of Bloomington city council is looking at the kinds of budgetary changes that they're

01:22:39.495 --> 01:22:46.494
- going to have to make. So I think it's just important to connect these dots in a very explicit manner.

01:22:47.042 --> 01:22:53.958
- The fiscal climate that we are in requires that we change our practices and that we also tighten our

01:22:53.958 --> 01:23:01.148
- belts, which we have been very responsible in doing. The impacts of SEA 1 are real, and we cannot escape

01:23:01.148 --> 01:23:08.064
- the types of changes that are now required. In many ways, property tax relief means changing what we

01:23:08.064 --> 01:23:15.870
- are accustomed to and how services are provided throughout our communities. Recently, the Indiana Business Review

01:23:16.130 --> 01:23:23.402
- from the Kelly School of Business published their annual forecast for 2026. Their findings revealed

01:23:23.402 --> 01:23:31.037
- significant economic stress for our community. Specifically, this report noted comparatively weak growth

01:23:31.037 --> 01:23:38.309
- in economic activity in Bloomington since before the pandemic. This is evidenced by a number of key

01:23:38.309 --> 01:23:44.126
- indicators. On the left-hand side, you'll see a 4.4% GDP growth in Bloomington,

01:23:44.962 --> 01:23:53.343
- compared to 11.2% growth statewide during the same time period. In the middle, you'll notice that local

01:23:53.343 --> 01:24:01.401
- wages here in Bloomington have gone down by 6.5%, while the statewide wages have increased by 5.1%.

01:24:01.401 --> 01:24:09.621
- And not surprisingly, housing affordability. A home in Bloomington is approximately 18.1% higher than

01:24:09.621 --> 01:24:13.086
- the state average. Those numbers are real.

01:24:13.314 --> 01:24:21.110
- And those numbers certainly impact what happens within our community and within our schools. Weak economic

01:24:21.110 --> 01:24:28.468
- performance made Bloomington a negative outlier in a state that has recently beat the nation in wage

01:24:28.468 --> 01:24:35.754
- and real GDP growth. Despite the challenging economic environment for higher education, Bloomington

01:24:35.754 --> 01:24:42.238
- unemployment fell from 3.9% to 3.4% between August 2024 and August 2025. And we all know

01:24:42.466 --> 01:24:50.048
- the hits that have been experienced by Indiana University by more than $100 million reduction, as well

01:24:50.048 --> 01:24:57.483
- as Purdue. And if you look at the economic realities of those two communities, you'll see some stark

01:24:57.483 --> 01:25:04.919
- similarities. It's important to note that, and you may be asking, why does this matter and what does

01:25:04.919 --> 01:25:10.366
- this mean for our schools? Well, we just looked at Bloomington's economic

01:25:10.850 --> 01:25:18.618
- picture in comparison to the state on a couple of key lagging indicators. Here's why it matters. Because

01:25:18.618 --> 01:25:26.238
- when families struggle with low wages and high housing costs, some of them leave. And in Indiana, when

01:25:26.238 --> 01:25:33.636
- students leave, funding follows them out the door. That's why financial discipline is not an option

01:25:33.636 --> 01:25:39.998
- right now. It is essential. We have to be honest about the reality that we're facing.

01:25:40.418 --> 01:25:47.558
- Fewer students, less state funding, and more uncertainty from the state and federal government. Every

01:25:47.558 --> 01:25:54.559
- dollar has to be managed wisely, and our staffing and our spending have to align with the number of

01:25:54.559 --> 01:26:01.559
- students that we actually serve today. But here's what's just as important, and I don't want anyone

01:26:01.559 --> 01:26:08.560
- to miss this part. We will not cut our way to a brighter future. The very things that make families

01:26:08.560 --> 01:26:09.470
- choose MCCSC

01:26:10.082 --> 01:26:16.975
- our rich arts programs our numerous career pathways our early learning and pre-k programs our AP and

01:26:16.975 --> 01:26:24.277
- accelerated course offerings our extracurriculars and our very talented teachers and our dedicated support

01:26:24.277 --> 01:26:31.307
- staff. Those are the things that we must protect. Our schools are not just responding to this economy.

01:26:31.307 --> 01:26:38.814
- We can help strengthen it. Strong communities build strong schools. Great schools attract families. Families.

01:26:39.234 --> 01:26:46.330
- grow communities. Our schools are a vital part of the economic engine of our community. That's the role

01:26:46.330 --> 01:26:53.152
- we play. That's the role we want to play. And that's exactly what our two year strategy is designed

01:26:53.152 --> 01:26:59.361
- to do. To balance our finances so that we can sustain excellent schools for the future. We

01:26:59.361 --> 01:27:06.388
- will be responsible with what we have and keep investing in what makes MCCSC worth choosing. We're not

01:27:06.388 --> 01:27:08.094
- just balancing a budget.

01:27:08.450 --> 01:27:14.208
- we're building a future. And now I'm happy to turn it over to Matt Irwin, our chief financial officer,

01:27:14.208 --> 01:27:19.909
- to show you exactly how we are progressing on our two year strategy before I talk to you a little bit

01:27:19.909 --> 01:27:25.499
- more about our future. Thank you, Dr. Winston. I think you'll be able to click through for me as we

01:27:25.499 --> 01:27:31.313
- go through this. This is the third time that I've been able to give this financial transparency report.

01:27:31.313 --> 01:27:37.406
- Um, and again, I'm excited to see her before you and continue to update you in the public on where we're at.

01:27:38.914 --> 01:27:46.320
- This first slide builds off some of the things that Dr. Henderson and Dr. Winston are talking about

01:27:46.320 --> 01:27:54.171
- as it relates to our local demographics and our changes in enrollment and paying attention to how schools

01:27:54.171 --> 01:28:01.577
- are funded. And our number one source of funding is based on student enrollment. So what this graph

01:28:01.577 --> 01:28:06.910
- is showing you is the difference in funding because of enrollment loss.

01:28:07.426 --> 01:28:15.524
- So what it looks back to is a starting point of our October count in 2019, which was at a high watermark

01:28:15.524 --> 01:28:23.391
- of about 10,897 students. And over the course of time, our student enrollment has declined as we talk

01:28:23.391 --> 01:28:31.798
- about some of the various demographic factors and things going on around the state that ultimately obviously

01:28:31.798 --> 01:28:36.734
- affect the schools as well. And so if all else stayed the same,

01:28:37.986 --> 01:28:45.900
- and enrollment had not dropped, we would have collected almost $31 million more in basic tuition support.

01:28:45.900 --> 01:28:53.589
- But as Dr. Winston described, the funding follows the student. And so again, student enrollment is our

01:28:53.589 --> 01:29:01.129
- number one source of funding as a public school corporation. And so as student enrollment shifts, we

01:29:01.129 --> 01:29:06.430
- have to shift as well. And so when you think about some of the changes

01:29:06.754 --> 01:29:12.801
- that we've been making, the adaptations that we've been making to the way that we operate and the way

01:29:12.801 --> 01:29:18.848
- that we staff our buildings. We obviously are keeping those principles at the forefront. But when our

01:29:18.848 --> 01:29:25.014
- number one source of funding continues to change, we need to change and adapt with it. So again, that's

01:29:25.014 --> 01:29:31.239
- what this slide points to. And again, it kind of leads in as you go to the next slide. This is the slide

01:29:31.239 --> 01:29:32.958
- that you've seen many times.

01:29:33.442 --> 01:29:41.118
- And the way that I've set this up is that we've continued to talk about where we started from when we

01:29:41.118 --> 01:29:48.869
- were talking about the implementation of the two year strategy to achieve balance, right? As we didn't

01:29:48.869 --> 01:29:56.545
- make shifts in staffing and as we're making shifts now, if we didn't make adjustments, here's what we

01:29:56.545 --> 01:30:01.662
- were looking at. It wasn't an option. And so as we get out to 2028,

01:30:02.274 --> 01:30:09.436
- What you see at the top or the bottom of those individual bar graphs are the cumulative totals, positive

01:30:09.436 --> 01:30:16.393
- or negative, what was projected to happen as we move forward if we did not make any changes. And that

01:30:16.393 --> 01:30:23.282
- simply was not an option. And so at the bottom there at 2028, it's over a $30 million deficit in our

01:30:23.282 --> 01:30:30.444
- three largest funds. So with that, we move forward. Again, like I said, I like to remind us that's where

01:30:30.444 --> 01:30:31.262
- we started.

01:30:32.386 --> 01:30:38.947
- The next piece that I've continued to try to remind you of, this is an ever-changing picture. We are

01:30:38.947 --> 01:30:45.769
- continuing to keep our finger on the pulse of how things are ebbing and flowing, whether that's locally,

01:30:45.769 --> 01:30:52.460
- demographically, what it is that we expect future things to happen or the implications of legislation,

01:30:52.460 --> 01:30:59.346
- projections of enrollment, all of those things. And so when I show the next chart that shows our progress

01:30:59.346 --> 01:31:00.126
- in balance,

01:31:00.514 --> 01:31:07.256
- It reflects some of these things that I think are important to keep at the forefront. One, actual revenue

01:31:07.256 --> 01:31:13.617
- and expenses through January 31st of 2026. Certification of our February 2026 student count. Again,

01:31:13.617 --> 01:31:20.169
- our basic grant, our student enrollment is measured twice a year by the state. The second time for the

01:31:20.169 --> 01:31:27.102
- school year was this February, and so we've certified that count, which was down approximately 108 students.

01:31:29.570 --> 01:31:36.102
- We add an update to our special education grant. Within our tuition support, there are several grants,

01:31:36.102 --> 01:31:42.762
- different pieces that are a part that make up our tuition support. One of those is our special education

01:31:42.762 --> 01:31:49.231
- grant where we receive funding based on the pupils that we have as with special needs and the funding

01:31:49.231 --> 01:31:55.763
- category of which those needs fall into. So our special education student count went up from this past

01:31:55.763 --> 01:31:58.110
- December, from the December in 2024.

01:31:58.306 --> 01:32:04.029
- the funding in that specific part of our tuition support will go up. But what we recognize with our

01:32:04.029 --> 01:32:09.810
- February count of overall student count going down, that they will then reconcile that back as well.

01:32:09.810 --> 01:32:15.762
- So that's folded into these next projections. And again, knowing the demographics and what it is that's

01:32:15.762 --> 01:32:21.771
- projected for our local area and the expectations for student enrollment going forward. One of the other

01:32:21.771 --> 01:32:27.838
- things that we got notice of within the last couple of weeks is that we got notified by the Indiana State

01:32:27.970 --> 01:32:33.969
- pension retirement system was that our employer contributions towards the teacher retirement fund were

01:32:33.969 --> 01:32:39.968
- going up another one percent starting in twenty twenty seven. So in twenty twenty six we were notified

01:32:39.968 --> 01:32:45.793
- that it was going to go up zero point six percent and then now we've been notified in twenty twenty

01:32:45.793 --> 01:32:51.908
- seven it's going to go up another one percent. So in terms of just giving you a feel for what that means

01:32:51.908 --> 01:32:57.150
- for us another one percent is approximately six hundred thousand dollars of extra expense

01:32:57.474 --> 01:33:04.336
- just because they had raised that up next to continue to fund the teacher retirement fund. So that's

01:33:04.336 --> 01:33:11.131
- something that we've been notified of and we've layered into projections going forward. We continue

01:33:11.131 --> 01:33:18.061
- to talk about one-time funds because it's important that we don't let those confuse us about the path

01:33:18.061 --> 01:33:25.059
- that we're on and whether or not we are finding balance. And so we have shown the planned input of the

01:33:25.059 --> 01:33:26.078
- taxable GO and

01:33:26.306 --> 01:33:32.234
- to support fund balances in the operations fund. We've included that in there because we know it's a

01:33:32.234 --> 01:33:38.338
- one-time fund that we've actually received. And we'll talk a little bit more about one-time funds again

01:33:38.338 --> 01:33:44.442
- later on in my present part of the presentation. We continue to show and blend into this what we expect

01:33:44.442 --> 01:33:50.429
- to be the effects of SCA-1 based on the policy analytics report that you guys saw that broader update

01:33:50.429 --> 01:33:53.598
- on back in October. And then again, we are continuing

01:33:53.698 --> 01:34:00.610
- uh to assess progress towards financial balance simply by we are flatlining expenses past 2026 simply

01:34:00.610 --> 01:34:07.521
- because if if they're flatlined and we aren't showing balance obviously if i show increasing expenses

01:34:07.521 --> 01:34:14.568
- we're not going to show balance so we we're working towards that that point but i continue to make that

01:34:14.568 --> 01:34:21.547
- point as it provides context to the numbers that you see in the next graph so it could go forward what

01:34:21.547 --> 01:34:23.038
- i put with this graph

01:34:23.202 --> 01:34:30.052
- And this is laid out just like the other one. You have the individual respective fund balances inside

01:34:30.052 --> 01:34:37.372
- of the bar. You have the cumulative total of those three specific funds at the top of the bar is significant

01:34:37.372 --> 01:34:44.222
- progress. This is a much different picture as then what relates to the first graph that you saw. It's

01:34:44.222 --> 01:34:51.004
- significant progress 12 months into a 24 month strategy. And balance is not yet achieved, but we are

01:34:51.004 --> 01:34:53.086
- headed in the right direction.

01:34:53.602 --> 01:35:00.528
- We're making the right decisions. We're asking the right questions as we continue to keep at the forefront

01:35:00.528 --> 01:35:07.065
- the priorities that we continue to talk about here tonight. The next takeaway as you look at this is

01:35:07.065 --> 01:35:13.861
- that our operations fund is moving in the right direction long term. In the short term, we still project

01:35:13.861 --> 01:35:20.528
- to eat into cash this year as we're currently set up. But as you look in the long term, if we have the

01:35:20.528 --> 01:35:21.822
- ability to continue

01:35:22.114 --> 01:35:28.622
- with the MLGQ growth that they typically give us, and we look at how we are using the runway of one-time

01:35:28.622 --> 01:35:35.069
- funds, we are moving in the right direction. And let me talk about that a little bit more specifically,

01:35:35.069 --> 01:35:41.329
- because that part can be confusing when you look at this graph. The yellow and the red together make

01:35:41.329 --> 01:35:47.961
- the operations fund. But I separated out into the red one-time funds, because it's important to understand

01:35:47.961 --> 01:35:51.742
- what that fund would look like without those one-time funds.

01:35:52.258 --> 01:35:59.970
- And as you move forward into the upcoming years, the red in the previous bar is built into the yellow.

01:35:59.970 --> 01:36:07.981
- So I think it's important to make note of that, but what's encouraging is that you see that yellow portion

01:36:07.981 --> 01:36:15.843
- of the operations fund continuing to grow, which again is why I said we're moving in the right direction

01:36:15.843 --> 01:36:21.982
- long-term. The gray at the top is our referendum. We know that as SCA-1 continues

01:36:22.242 --> 01:36:28.990
- to fold in over the coming years of its effects that if our spend level and trajectory stays the same,

01:36:28.990 --> 01:36:35.606
- we will start to eat into larger and larger amounts of cash in the referendum fund simply because it

01:36:35.606 --> 01:36:42.354
- will produce less dollars. That same voter approved rate produces less dollars when net assessed value

01:36:42.354 --> 01:36:48.446
- is lowered. And then the education fund there at the bottom is fairly stagnant. It's moving.

01:36:49.058 --> 01:36:54.971
- a little bit in the right direction, but it's fairly stagnant in this picture. Again, this is a much

01:36:54.971 --> 01:37:00.883
- better picture than what we saw there at the beginning. We are making significant progress and we're

01:37:00.883 --> 01:37:06.738
- one year in to a two-year strategy to achieve balance. We're making great strides. Wanted to talk a

01:37:06.738 --> 01:37:12.592
- little bit more about some important impacts as it relates to SCA-1 and then some of that strategic

01:37:12.592 --> 01:37:15.870
- management as we continue to talk about one-time funds.

01:37:16.898 --> 01:37:24.267
- We know through that policy analytics report that we are expecting to see funding reductions in totality

01:37:24.267 --> 01:37:31.495
- across the implementation of SAI-1 of approximately $30 million. When we look at just 2026, one of the

01:37:31.495 --> 01:37:39.074
- primary drivers of what it is that we feel this year is the unfunded credit losses. That's the supplemental

01:37:39.074 --> 01:37:46.302
- deduction that property taxpayers will receive. And right now, the way that it's current legislatively

01:37:46.626 --> 01:37:52.720
- written, it would be spread across the debt service and operations fund. We know that right now the

01:37:52.720 --> 01:37:58.814
- estimate to be about $2 million loss off of our levy. Right now, currently in legislation, they are

01:37:58.814 --> 01:38:04.968
- proposing that they would move all of that loss to the operations fund, which would protect our debt

01:38:04.968 --> 01:38:11.062
- service fund so that we would, uh, it doesn't impair school corporations future ability to pay debt

01:38:11.062 --> 01:38:15.998
- obligations, which means they would move $2 million loss to our operations fund.

01:38:16.674 --> 01:38:24.878
- And with that happening, we would receive less property tax dollars in our operations fund in 2026 than

01:38:24.878 --> 01:38:32.923
- what we received in 2025. One-time funds. Effective uses, we talked about this. What they're allowing

01:38:32.923 --> 01:38:41.048
- us to do, and I showed this in the previous graph, it's allowing us that longer runway to make changes

01:38:41.048 --> 01:38:45.150
- to the way that we operate, to do it in a balanced,

01:38:45.698 --> 01:38:52.971
- and concerted effort over time. And once we achieve balance, what one-time funds can help us do is put

01:38:52.971 --> 01:39:00.316
- the appropriate long-term safety net as far as fund balances in place so that when the next legislative

01:39:00.316 --> 01:39:07.660
- change as enrollment changes, as some of these things go on, we have the necessary cash balance on hand

01:39:07.660 --> 01:39:13.662
- to not only handle the ebbs and flows of our revenue and expenses in any given fund,

01:39:14.274 --> 01:39:20.557
- but the various changes that we experience. And that's important. We and the way that we operate, we

01:39:20.557 --> 01:39:26.778
- are a huge driver in what makes this community successful. And it's important that we are operating

01:39:26.778 --> 01:39:33.061
- in a healthy place because we take care of a lot of students and we employ a lot of staff. And so we

01:39:33.061 --> 01:39:39.531
- need to make sure that we're positioned in a place of strength. And so that's another way that we could

01:39:39.531 --> 01:39:43.326
- use one time funds is to put our balances in a healthy place

01:39:43.810 --> 01:39:49.806
- so that once it's achieved and as we move forward, that takes care of one of the other pieces that we

01:39:49.806 --> 01:39:56.156
- know is essential to financial strength. And then again, account for one-time expenses. And the ineffective

01:39:56.156 --> 01:40:02.211
- use that I listed, that's pretty self-explanatory, right? The example that I used before, I guess it's

01:40:02.211 --> 01:40:07.619
- probably timely now when you talk about tax return time, as I said, hey, I get a tax check,

01:40:07.619 --> 01:40:10.206
- one-time funds, I really want this vehicle,

01:40:10.722 --> 01:40:17.464
- I know that with this one-time funds, it's going to help me get the vehicle out the door. I'm a little

01:40:17.464 --> 01:40:24.271
- unsure if I'm going to be able to continue to make the payments. And that's not necessarily how we want

01:40:24.271 --> 01:40:31.210
- to do business. And so we are being cognizant of making sure that we're maximizing the impact of one-time

01:40:31.210 --> 01:40:37.886
- funds without putting us at risk of putting ourselves in a position that we're navigating out of now.

01:40:38.562 --> 01:40:45.055
- And then I provided those same examples that I put in different board meetings. Some of those. And again,

01:40:45.055 --> 01:40:51.241
- we're not we're not counting on the one time funds or we're not showing them in projections until we

01:40:51.241 --> 01:40:57.428
- receive them. Because if we if we think that we're going to receive them and we make plans off of it

01:40:57.428 --> 01:41:03.614
- and we go and spend dollars. And then turn around and don't receive those that would be problematic.

01:41:04.066 --> 01:41:09.815
- So for example, the solar rebates, we know that we've taken all the necessary steps to receive those

01:41:09.815 --> 01:41:15.563
- solar rebates as it relates to some energy efficiency projects that we've undertaken that would make

01:41:15.563 --> 01:41:21.312
- us eligible for those rebates through the IRS. They've not come through yet. And so we're continuing

01:41:21.312 --> 01:41:27.060
- to wait on that. So we, again, don't count on those things until we know that we've received them so

01:41:27.060 --> 01:41:32.126
- that we're continuing to operate from a place of consistency and strength. So with that,

01:41:32.450 --> 01:41:38.731
- I believe that is my last slide there, and I will turn that back over to Dr. Winston. She talks about

01:41:38.731 --> 01:41:45.258
- how we're continuing to sustain excellence amidst the challenges that we're facing. Thank you, Mr. Irwin.

01:41:45.258 --> 01:41:51.416
- The second board priority that I spoke about earlier was sustaining excellence, sustaining academic

01:41:51.416 --> 01:41:58.004
- excellence. That's what we focus on every day. Our corporation has numerous examples of student excellence

01:41:58.004 --> 01:42:01.822
- outcomes. You saw many of those students earlier this evening

01:42:02.338 --> 01:42:09.745
- Assistant Superintendent Harmon introduced several of our students. Sustaining academic excellence means

01:42:09.745 --> 01:42:16.799
- we will continue to strengthen our operational efficiencies, continuing to coordinate our purchases

01:42:16.799 --> 01:42:24.206
- corporation-wide, ensuring that we are getting our best deals possible, taking a close look at the tools

01:42:24.206 --> 01:42:31.966
- and services, and paying very close to the subscriptions that we have, particularly in the areas of software.

01:42:32.610 --> 01:42:39.553
- as just one example. If you think about your own household, Matt and I kind of like to use real examples.

01:42:39.553 --> 01:42:46.496
- Think about your own household when your money gets tight. Your children still get what they need, right?

01:42:46.496 --> 01:42:53.111
- But you get smarter about how you spend. Maybe you start buying in bulk. Maybe you sit down and take

01:42:53.111 --> 01:42:59.595
- a hard look at all those monthly subscriptions and ask, do we really need Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV,

01:42:59.595 --> 01:43:01.822
- and Prime? Which ones do we keep?

01:43:04.002 --> 01:43:10.487
- I don't know, some of us probably need to rethink that, myself included. That's exactly what we're doing

01:43:10.487 --> 01:43:16.725
- though here at MCCSE. When funding gets tighter, we protect what matters most. And what matters most

01:43:16.725 --> 01:43:23.334
- is taking care of our children in our classrooms. Earlier this evening, Dr. Henderson talked about several

01:43:23.334 --> 01:43:29.263
- key principles that guide our decision making. We are living those principles every single day.

01:43:29.263 --> 01:43:33.278
- So as leaders, we're looking at how we operate behind the scenes

01:43:33.474 --> 01:43:39.012
- We're continuing to coordinate purchases across the corporation to make sure we get the best deals.

01:43:39.012 --> 01:43:44.827
- And just like you might audit your family's spending we're making sure every one of our dollars is being

01:43:44.827 --> 01:43:50.364
- used as efficiently as possible. Every leader in our organization every leader has been tasked with

01:43:50.364 --> 01:43:55.902
- being more efficient and more disciplined with how they spend taxpayer dollars. We're doing this to

01:43:55.902 --> 01:43:58.782
- protect your children's experiences in our schools.

01:43:59.170 --> 01:44:05.764
- These are the kinds of smart behind the scenes decisions that allow us to keep investing where it counts

01:44:05.764 --> 01:44:12.043
- in our students, in our teachers, and in our classrooms. Sustaining academic excellence. We believe

01:44:12.043 --> 01:44:18.323
- that it is very doable to achieve fiscal balance while also sustaining academic excellence. The two

01:44:18.323 --> 01:44:24.602
- do not have to be mutually exclusive. It may mean that we begin to reimagine how we do our work and

01:44:24.602 --> 01:44:27.742
- how we sustain excellence. It may look different.

01:44:27.938 --> 01:44:35.483
- Achieving financial balance does not mean scaling back what makes MCCSC exceptional. We will continue

01:44:35.483 --> 01:44:42.880
- to offer strong STEAM programs, musical, visual, performing arts, extracurriculars, early learning,

01:44:42.880 --> 01:44:50.425
- global learning, college and career pathways, and a wide variety of academic programs and experiences

01:44:50.425 --> 01:44:57.822
- that draw families to choose MCCSC. A few minutes ago, you did hear Superintendent Harmon celebrate

01:44:58.114 --> 01:45:05.773
- many of our students. I didn't mean to repeat that twice. But it was that important. I mean, how excited

01:45:05.773 --> 01:45:13.213
- were you to see all those children here, right? That's what it's about. So it was worth saying twice.

01:45:13.213 --> 01:45:20.800
- I meant to say that twice. In addition to the amazing students that we saw this evening, just this past

01:45:20.800 --> 01:45:28.094
- weekend, Bloomington North placed second and Bloomington South placed third in the Science Olympiad

01:45:28.322 --> 01:45:35.608
- competition regionals and they're going to state. You heard about that from Ms. Helms. Two of our middle

01:45:35.608 --> 01:45:42.616
- schools placed high enough to go to state competition as well Jackson Creek and Try North. That kind

01:45:42.616 --> 01:45:49.833
- of success that we are experiencing is not by chance. It is the result of hard work by awesome teachers

01:45:49.833 --> 01:45:56.702
- and committed students and we are committed to protecting this type of investment in our students.

01:45:57.922 --> 01:46:04.939
- We will continue to innovate and offer the kind of school experiences that do attract our families.

01:46:04.939 --> 01:46:12.167
- When resources are tight, innovation is what will carry us forward. Our team will continue to find new

01:46:12.167 --> 01:46:19.184
- ways to deliver excellent academic opportunities for our students today and for years to come. Just

01:46:19.184 --> 01:46:26.622
- a few examples of excellence in action were seen at our recent Student Excellence Awards three weeks ago.

01:46:27.458 --> 01:46:34.294
- And what you see on this slide here you see three really clear examples. Seeing the success of our students

01:46:34.294 --> 01:46:40.940
- is the best way to know if we are sustaining diverse student opportunities. On the left you'll see Blake

01:46:40.940 --> 01:46:47.460
- under music and musical and performing arts. Blake is a talented and creative force at bachelor middle

01:46:47.460 --> 01:46:53.916
- school. He earned a place in the prestigious junior all state jazz band. I mean really the junior all

01:46:53.916 --> 01:46:56.638
- state jazz band and he's in middle school.

01:46:57.506 --> 01:47:04.540
- showcasing exceptional musical ability. Blake also shines as a member of the Bachelor Television BTV,

01:47:04.540 --> 01:47:11.711
- where he produced a one-minute reel for the Indiana Association of School Principals Real Impact Series

01:47:11.711 --> 01:47:19.228
- competition. Now, how many of you have presented something for the Indiana Association of School Principals?

01:47:19.228 --> 01:47:23.710
- And Eric Gilpin may not raise his hand, because he probably has.

01:47:25.602 --> 01:47:32.296
- But he captured the energy and excitement of bachelor school-wide through a walk-a-thon and a lock-in

01:47:32.296 --> 01:47:39.187
- fundraiser. So that's Blake on the left. In the middle, we have Peter for extracurriculars, makerspaces.

01:47:39.187 --> 01:47:46.079
- Peter is a leader in every sense of the word at Tri-North Middle School. He balances rigorous academics,

01:47:46.079 --> 01:47:52.707
- athletics, Science Olympiad, I'm sure he was there this past weekend, National Junior Honor Society,

01:47:52.707 --> 01:47:55.070
- and his role as an armor ambassador

01:47:55.170 --> 01:48:02.460
- with remarkable maturity and poise. As a makerspace teaching assistant, Peter strengthens the learning

01:48:02.460 --> 01:48:09.538
- environment daily, whether troubleshooting a 3D printer, and how many of you know what a 3D printer

01:48:09.538 --> 01:48:16.829
- is or what it does? You don't have to raise your hand. Demonstrating techniques, organizing equipment,

01:48:16.829 --> 01:48:21.854
- or helping classmates one-on-one. And on the right, for STEAM, Nimora.

01:48:22.530 --> 01:48:28.718
- She is a brilliant student at Templeton Elementary whose talent, humility, and kindness makes her an

01:48:28.718 --> 01:48:35.151
- exceptional student and leader. She excels across all academic areas with ease and beyond the classroom.

01:48:35.151 --> 01:48:41.523
- She is active in Girl Scouts. She's in her second year in the MCCSE Strings program. And she is leading

01:48:41.523 --> 01:48:47.895
- the way as a founding member of Templeton's first ever Robotics Club. These are just three of the many,

01:48:47.895 --> 01:48:51.326
- many students, almost 100 students who were celebrated,

01:48:51.618 --> 01:48:59.134
- at our awards ceremony a couple of weeks ago. And we have hundreds more that are just as deserving.

01:48:59.134 --> 01:49:06.800
- We are also sustaining excellence by the promises that we've made to the community as a result of our

01:49:06.800 --> 01:49:14.315
- referendum. An important thing you should know is that we are, in fact, following through on all of

01:49:14.315 --> 01:49:15.518
- those promises.

01:49:19.170 --> 01:49:25.219
- We have a 2022 referendum that helps pay for teachers, staff, and learning. We also have a 2023 referendum

01:49:25.219 --> 01:49:30.985
- that expands families access to early learning. As two quick examples that you see on here, more than

01:49:30.985 --> 01:49:37.091
- 500 families are benefiting from high quality preschool and pre-K. That's more than double what we provided

01:49:37.091 --> 01:49:43.253
- prior to the referendum. We wouldn't have been able to do that prior to the referendum. And school supplies.

01:49:43.253 --> 01:49:46.814
- Families don't need to buy them. The referendum provides them.

01:49:47.810 --> 01:49:55.055
- We just opened enrollment for our preschool and our pre-K program, was it last week? And we still have

01:49:55.055 --> 01:50:02.230
- spaces available so more families can join our preschool and our pre-K programs. 100% of our enrolled

01:50:02.230 --> 01:50:09.898
- students attend pre-K for free or half price or less for the 25-26 school year. Our three-year-old preschool

01:50:09.898 --> 01:50:16.510
- program, the majority of our enrolled students, approximately 75%, attend for free this year.

01:50:17.730 --> 01:50:27.850
- referendum funds will continue to be used in this manner. In spite of the economic challenges that I

01:50:27.850 --> 01:50:37.870
- highlighted a few minutes ago, it's important for you to note that MCCSE is ahead of the class when

01:50:37.870 --> 01:50:45.886
- it comes to teacher salaries. The average teaching salary for MCCSE is $69,770,

01:50:46.466 --> 01:50:55.067
- which is 12% higher than the statewide average. And our minimum starting teacher salary for those coming

01:50:55.067 --> 01:51:03.259
- right out of college is $57,750, nearly 28% higher. In looking at some of the informal data that we

01:51:03.259 --> 01:51:12.188
- can put our hands on, it appears as if we are in the top 15% of salaries for all Indiana school corporations

01:51:12.188 --> 01:51:15.710
- in terms of our starting teacher salaries.

01:51:15.938 --> 01:51:22.775
- And that's something to be proud of. That's something that we can certainly leverage in the economic

01:51:22.775 --> 01:51:29.611
- climate and economic reality within our community. When we see that economically, salaries and wages

01:51:29.611 --> 01:51:36.448
- are going down in Bloomington, then we are certainly at the forefront in terms of our ability to pay

01:51:36.448 --> 01:51:41.118
- our employees, our teachers, and our support staff better than most.

01:51:43.874 --> 01:51:50.677
- We are one year into our two year strategy and the results are clear. As you heard from Mr. Irwin a

01:51:50.677 --> 01:51:57.548
- few moments ago, the future is brighter because of the disciplined approach that we have taken up to

01:51:57.548 --> 01:52:04.691
- this point in time. We cannot slow down. We need to continue to be disciplined in our approach. In spite

01:52:04.691 --> 01:52:10.270
- of those successes, our work is not complete. There's a lot more work to be done.

01:52:10.658 --> 01:52:16.218
- in order for us to achieve the fiscal balance, which is this board's number one priority. There are

01:52:16.218 --> 01:52:21.889
- numerous headwinds that we must face every day. We do not know what course or direction will be taken

01:52:21.889 --> 01:52:27.616
- in the area of federal dollars. Those federal dollars are essential for us because they supplement the

01:52:27.616 --> 01:52:33.288
- types of programs that we provide for our students. But we will continue to monitor state and federal

01:52:33.288 --> 01:52:39.070
- impacts. We will also continue to identify operational efficiencies that will allow us to work smarter.

01:52:39.554 --> 01:52:46.215
- And we will continue the practice of aligning our staffing to the moving target of student enrollment,

01:52:46.215 --> 01:52:52.811
- as Dr. Henderson showed us this evening. We must and we will operate within the dollars that we have.

01:52:52.811 --> 01:52:59.471
- Last month, we were excited to be able to share with you our new financial portal, Every Dollar, Every

01:52:59.471 --> 01:53:07.102
- Student. I encourage you to stay updated on our two-year strategy in our financial portal on our corporation website.

01:53:07.682 --> 01:53:14.433
- This is a place for both information, but we also see this as educational as well, so that everyone

01:53:14.433 --> 01:53:21.252
- in our community can see how we're spending every dollar on behalf of every student. The second part

01:53:21.252 --> 01:53:28.003
- of what we wanted to share with you this evening has to do with our bond projects. Tonight marks an

01:53:28.003 --> 01:53:35.902
- important milestone for our corporation. We are launching our designing and building to sustain excellence projects.

01:53:36.482 --> 01:53:43.821
- Bond projects investments that protect learning environments steward community resources and position

01:53:43.821 --> 01:53:51.448
- our corporation for the next generation of students. Transparency is truly not an optional consideration.

01:53:51.448 --> 01:53:58.643
- It is an expectation and it is a norm for how this board of school trustees and this administrative

01:53:58.643 --> 01:54:06.270
- team does our work. This evening we will share our first projects. We will explain how bond dollars work.

01:54:06.562 --> 01:54:12.821
- And we will outline how the board and the public will be kept informed every step of the way. So there

01:54:12.821 --> 01:54:18.899
- are three goals for what I'm going to share with you over the next few moments to officially launch

01:54:18.899 --> 01:54:24.429
- our latest bond program to explain how dollars work the bond dollars work and to commit to

01:54:24.429 --> 01:54:30.506
- ongoing transparency. The bond dollars the purpose of our bond programs is really to make sure that

01:54:30.506 --> 01:54:35.550
- we are continuing to invest in our schools so that we have the kinds of facilities

01:54:35.970 --> 01:54:43.081
- 21st century classrooms, accessible spaces that make students and families want to attend our schools.

01:54:43.081 --> 01:54:50.053
- Our bond dollars are restricted by law to only address capital improvements to school facilities and

01:54:50.053 --> 01:54:57.026
- they are dedicated to the systems and spaces that make teaching and learning possible. This slide is

01:54:57.026 --> 01:55:03.998
- important because we wanted to make sure that everyone would understand how bond dollars can be used

01:55:04.354 --> 01:55:11.227
- and how they cannot be used. On the left, you'll see several examples of how bond dollars can be used.

01:55:11.227 --> 01:55:17.899
- I'm not going to read all of those for you, but you can see that we can utilize them for safety and

01:55:17.899 --> 01:55:24.771
- security. We can use them for buses, roof repair, HVAC system, that's our heating and cooling systems,

01:55:24.771 --> 01:55:31.444
- technology enhancements, and so on and so forth. But I think it's equally as important for folks to

01:55:31.444 --> 01:55:34.046
- know that you may not use bond dollars

01:55:34.242 --> 01:55:44.085
- for teacher or staff salaries. You may not use them for classrooms, textbooks, educational programs

01:55:44.085 --> 01:55:54.124
- or daily operating costs. I think it might be helpful for you to understand also how do we select the

01:55:54.124 --> 01:56:00.030
- projects that are funded by bonds. We select these projects

01:56:01.122 --> 01:56:07.587
- in a manner that allows us to be responsible stewards of the dollars, that we prioritize safety and

01:56:07.587 --> 01:56:14.117
- health, and we're looking at long-term sustainability. So those are probably the three biggest areas

01:56:14.117 --> 01:56:20.776
- that we think about as we try to prioritize what projects are going to happen first, what are the next

01:56:20.776 --> 01:56:27.242
- projects, so on and so forth. At the end of the day, our goal is to preserve community assets while

01:56:27.242 --> 01:56:29.246
- also controlling future costs.

01:56:30.978 --> 01:56:38.164
- Some of the categories I've already mentioned to you deal with transportation, facilities, equipment,

01:56:38.164 --> 01:56:45.421
- safety and insecurity enhancements, mechanical aspects of our buildings, so on and so forth. Recently,

01:56:45.421 --> 01:56:52.537
- we've completed a few projects. We recently completed our Bloomington South soccer field back in the

01:56:52.537 --> 01:56:58.878
- fall. Very excited about that. We also completed the Bloomington South gymnasium seating.

01:56:59.138 --> 01:57:05.416
- the completion of the Templeton playground with the basketball court and the outdoor learning area.

01:57:05.416 --> 01:57:11.694
- And we also completed our Clear Creek and Highland Park interior wall covering. So those are just a

01:57:11.694 --> 01:57:18.348
- few examples of recent projects that were funded by bonds and were important contributions for our school

01:57:18.348 --> 01:57:24.877
- corporation. It's exciting to be able to share with you some of our newest projects, which will include

01:57:24.877 --> 01:57:28.958
- a bus canopy and retention pond. And that's going to allow us to

01:57:29.218 --> 01:57:37.201
- provide appropriate charging areas for our final remaining EV buses. And even more exciting than buses

01:57:37.201 --> 01:57:45.261
- would be the Bloomington North parking lot, soccer field, football stadium, and restrooms. I know there

01:57:45.261 --> 01:57:53.244
- are some folks here who are particularly excited about the restrooms at the football field. Concession

01:57:53.244 --> 01:57:59.134
- stands and lockers. And so we're very, very thrilled to be able to do that.

01:57:59.746 --> 01:58:05.939
- It's long overdue. It's necessary. And we do think it's going to be of benefit to our students. So a

01:58:05.939 --> 01:58:12.070
- question you should be asking is, how will you as the community stay informed? And the board should

01:58:12.070 --> 01:58:18.263
- be asking me, how are you going to keep us informed? Well, there are four ways that we are currently

01:58:18.263 --> 01:58:24.394
- planning on doing that. Providing quarterly updates at public board meetings so that everyone is in

01:58:24.394 --> 01:58:29.054
- the loop. Providing monthly and bimonthly dashboard updates on our website.

01:58:30.370 --> 01:58:36.041
- There will be school-specific communications that will go out to the faculty members and the employees

01:58:36.041 --> 01:58:41.657
- and the families of our schools where we, for example, the North Project, I know Mr. Stark is already

01:58:41.657 --> 01:58:47.272
- beginning to communicate with members of that community. And then there will be 24-hour access on our

01:58:47.272 --> 01:58:52.778
- website on information so that you know exactly what we're spending, what we're spending it on, and

01:58:52.778 --> 01:58:58.449
- then the status of those projects. So we're very, very excited to be able to continue to keep everyone

01:58:58.449 --> 01:58:59.550
- involved and aware.

01:59:00.738 --> 01:59:08.031
- Here are just a few frequently asked questions that I think are important for folks to know.

01:59:08.031 --> 01:59:16.029
- Most importantly, will referendum funds be used to pay for facilities projects? Thought brevity would

01:59:16.029 --> 01:59:23.949
- help here. No. Can education funds be used to pay for facilities projects? No. Will operations funds

01:59:23.949 --> 01:59:27.870
- be used to pay for these facilities projects? No.

01:59:28.450 --> 01:59:34.399
- And will these projects take money away from our teachers? Absolutely not. There may well be other questions

01:59:34.399 --> 01:59:39.912
- that folks have. And as those additional questions come forward, we will be sure to add those to our

01:59:39.912 --> 01:59:45.588
- website as well. So to learn more about our designing and building to sustain excellence and our school

01:59:45.588 --> 01:59:51.319
- finances, please go to this website. You're going to see more information about our bond-funded building

01:59:51.319 --> 01:59:56.777
- and renovation projects, what's been completed, what's in the queue, what's coming up next, and all

01:59:56.777 --> 01:59:58.142
- of our current projects.

01:59:58.498 --> 02:00:07.287
- Thank you very much for this opportunity. Every dollar, every student, it shows how we spend every dollar

02:00:07.287 --> 02:00:15.743
- to care for every one of our students. Thank you. Our next update will be May 2026. That concludes my

02:00:15.743 --> 02:00:21.630
- update. Thank you, Dr. Winston. Are there any comments from the board?

02:00:28.226 --> 02:00:38.947
- not one thank you it is a lot of information i'm just teasing you i definitely i appreciate this level

02:00:38.947 --> 02:00:49.355
- of transparency and um i know we've talked about this before but um i would extend that not only to

02:00:49.355 --> 02:00:52.894
- this presentation but i think the

02:00:52.994 --> 02:01:00.191
- Um, new portal for understanding school finances is, um, I am, I continue to be really thankful to,

02:01:00.191 --> 02:01:07.604
- uh, Sarah DeWeese and to you, Dr. Winston, um, Erwin, everyone who contributed to that. I think that's

02:01:07.604 --> 02:01:14.944
- a really important part of our, um, strategy to be transparent. I'm also glad that you mentioned the,

02:01:14.944 --> 02:01:20.414
- um, where we are in teacher salaries that were in the top 15% of the state.

02:01:20.610 --> 02:01:26.672
- I know every time we ask the community for feedback, there is a focus on making sure that we are providing

02:01:26.672 --> 02:01:32.508
- for our teachers. And I'm actually really grateful to the community for keeping the focus on teachers,

02:01:32.508 --> 02:01:38.230
- because I think everyone here knows how important that is. So I'm glad you highlighted that as well.

02:01:38.230 --> 02:01:44.009
- Thank you. Thank you for saying that. And one thing that I think is equally as important for everyone

02:01:44.009 --> 02:01:50.014
- to be aware of, our teachers are still not paid enough. I think it's important to know that while we are,

02:01:50.242 --> 02:01:56.224
- One of the best employers in the state and we pay better than most. I don't believe it's enough given

02:01:56.224 --> 02:02:02.147
- the work that we're asking our teachers to do each and every day. And I am eager to get to the point

02:02:02.147 --> 02:02:08.188
- where our salaries can continue to increase on behalf of our teachers and all of our employees. That's

02:02:08.188 --> 02:02:14.228
- a priority for all of us. And I think with the fiscal discipline that we're showing now, in the future

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- we will be better positioned to be able to do that.

02:02:18.018 --> 02:02:25.649
- Thank you for saying that. I think that's right. Thank you. Other comments from the board? Thank you,

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- Dr. Winston, again. Tonight, we will provide our community with a short yet important update on the

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- current Indiana legislative session. This report is going to be provided by Board Secretary Pirani.

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- Would you like to begin? Yes. Thank you, and good evening. The target completion date for the

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- Indiana General Assembly is this Friday, February 27th. We are monitoring numerous bills that impact

02:02:55.110 --> 02:03:02.548
- public education. I have three that I will highlight to you all this evening. The first one is Senate

02:03:02.548 --> 02:03:09.839
- Bill 78. This is Bell to Bell cell phone ban. This bill will prohibit the use of cell phones during

02:03:09.839 --> 02:03:15.454
- the school day and will require school corporations to do one of two things.

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- One, prohibit students from having a cell phone in their possession during the day, or two, establish

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- a storage policy to eliminate student access to their phones. There is also a provision that could allow

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- school corporations to charge a $25 storage fee for the purchase of storage of devices. The second one

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- is House Bill 1360.

02:03:41.986 --> 02:03:49.519
- The amended bill allows a public agency to create an electronic portal for receiving public records

02:03:49.519 --> 02:03:57.128
- requests, but permits an agency to deny any public records requests, whether received electronically

02:03:57.128 --> 02:04:04.736
- or otherwise. Sorry, lost my spot. There we go. That agency suspects to be data scraping or phishing

02:04:04.736 --> 02:04:11.742
- activity. Additionally, the bill allows a public agency to deny a request for public records

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- if the request is made by a person who is party to a pending or ongoing litigation and is duplicative

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- of a discovery request made by the person in the pending or ongoing litigation. This bill moves to the

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- floor of the Senate for a second reading. And then last but not least is House Bill 1242, Education Reports.

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- This bill calls for the Department of Education to conduct efficiency studies on public schools in three

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- areas, operation efficiency, decreasing costs, and improving student outcomes. In addition, a second

02:04:57.521 --> 02:05:05.718
- study is requested that will examine per student operational costs in public schools. As always, you

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- can go to our website under the Board of School Trustees tab.

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- And there's a link that you can see our legislators that you can contact on any of these bills or others,

02:05:19.528 --> 02:05:28.369
- as well as our monthly updates. Thank you. Are there any comments from the board? I just want to highlight,

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- we talked about Indiana statistics, and I just want to point out the abysmal voter turnout rates for Indiana.

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- I'm going to echo that and say that if you are going to be 18 by the time of the 2026 elections, so

02:05:59.027 --> 02:06:05.822
- that might be for any students,

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- You can register to vote any time prior to then, so please do just keep that in mind and do that so

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- that you can take part in your civic duty. But yeah, we need everybody out there voting. Thank you,

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- Secretary Prani, and thank you for the encouragement to vote, Erin and April.

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- Are there any reports from other committees or final comments from the board? I can just say that I

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- did attend the MCCRB Foundations board meeting today. There's no need for details. She was here today

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- and gave an overview. Thank you, Asia. I appreciate that.

02:07:01.346 --> 02:07:07.147
- And finally, Dr. Winston, do you have any additional information to share with us tonight? Just a couple

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- of items. Black History Month. As you know, this month, our country celebrated Black History Month.

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- And throughout this month, many of our schools have engaged our students in a number of meaningful and

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- relevant learning experiences that uplift black history, culture, and voices. Student athletes. We're

02:07:23.998 --> 02:07:29.689
- winding down the winter athletic season with so many of our teams and student athletes achieving great

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- things. Girls wrestling.

02:07:31.458 --> 02:07:37.815
- Bloomington South placed fourth in the regionals with five student athletes competing at state. Bloomington

02:07:37.815 --> 02:07:43.877
- South girls basketball won sectionals. Bloomington South girls swimming competed at state. With Hadley

02:07:43.877 --> 02:07:49.822
- Laughlin placing fifth in the girls one meter diving competition. Boys swimming and diving. Swimming

02:07:49.822 --> 02:07:55.708
- and diving state preliminary prelims begin this Friday. And state swimming and diving will conclude

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- on Saturday. Both north and south will be represented at the state.

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- Boys Wrestling, Bloomington South's wrestling team was sectional and regional champions, and had one

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- wrestler advance to state, and boys basketball. Sectionals begin next Tuesday, March 3rd, with South

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- playing Martinsville, starting at seven, and then on Saturday, March 6th, North will play Terre Haute at 6 p.m.

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- The games will be played in Martinsville. Muffins with Markay. This semester's Muffins with Markay listening

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- event will be held on Wednesday, March 4th,

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- It will be held at Grandview Elementary and I hope that those who are able can join me at 9.30 a.m.

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- for a conversation and as always a delicious muffin. And last but certainly not least, spring break.

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- In case you weren't aware, spring break is right around the corner, March 16th through the 20th. Classes

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- will resume on March 23rd. Everyone enjoy your time off. That concludes my report.

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- Thank you, Dr. Winston. That did remind me that over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the

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- poster, the Black History Month poster competition sponsored by the city. And shout out to Fairview

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- Elementary for having the most elementary entries for the poster competition. And Bloomington High School

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- North had the most high school entries for the competition. I learned a lot about black leaders at the

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- competition.

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- All the posters were amazing and those two schools in particular really showed up. Any other last-minute

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- comments from the board? All right. Thank you again Dr. Winston for your remarks. The next regularly

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- scheduled board meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 24th. We are adjourned.