- Matthew joins MCCSE with 24 years of teaching experience and holds a master's degree in education from
- Eastern Illinois University. He will serve as assistant athletic director, physical education teacher,
- and head men's basketball coach. Tyler Kelp, administrator assistant principal, Summit Elementary School.
- Tyler joins MCCSE after serving as a special education resource teacher and department chair at Clark
- Pleasant Community Schools. He holds a master's degree in urban educational leadership,
- and policy from Indiana University. Kimberly Osborne, assistant principal, Fairview Elementary School.
- Kimberly joins MCCSC after serving as an assistant principal for eight years at the Metropolitan School
- District of Lawrence Township. She holds a master's degree in administration from Ball State University.
- Sally Spice, assistant principal, Benford Elementary School. Sally continues with MCCSC after serving
- in corporation as an English as a new language teacher.
- She also served as a general education elementary teacher prior to that. Sally holds a master's degree
- in curriculum and instruction from Purdue University. We have a few administrator changes of status
- to announce to you this evening to draw your attention to in the personnel report. Tyler Abel will be
- moving from principal at Summit Elementary School to assistant principal at Tri-North Middle School.
- Dr. Tim Dowling, our director of early learning and enrollment
- is also going to be serving as the interim principal at Marlin Elementary School in addition to his
- other responsibilities. Stephen Marshall moves from principal at Childs Elementary School to principal
- at Summit Elementary School. Aaron Ritter moves from principal at Marlin Elementary School to principal
- at Childs Elementary School. In addition to that, I'd like to draw the board's attention to two certified
- staff retirements.
- Mr. James Callahan. Mr. Callahan retires after 29 years of dedicated service to MCCSE, having served
- as a fine arts teacher at Bloomington High School North. In addition to that, Harold Green. Mr. Green
- retires after nearly 26 years of dedicated service to MCCSE, having served as a social studies teacher
- at Bloomington High School North most recently.
- Altogether, our retirees presented this evening represent a combined total of 55 years of service to
- our school community. And on behalf of MCCSC, I would like to extend a special thank you to these individuals
- for their many years of dedicated service and wish them well in their next adventures. At this time,
- I would request that you please approve the recommendations as presented in your board packet in the
- personnel report. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Are there any comments from the board?
- want to congratulate those who retired and I would also say thank you to everyone who has shifted around
- taken on new responsibilities and service of the corporation especially dr. Dowling thank you for jumping
- in to serve in this regard any other comments from the board all those in favor of approving the personnel
- report signify by saying aye aye any against
- abstentions. Motion carries. Dr Henderson. Do you want to invite anyone to the podium tonight? Yes.
- Thank you, President Cooperman. At this time, uh, before we move on to the next agenda item, I'd like
- to invite three individuals up to the podium this evening to address the board. We'll start this evening
- with Matthew Britain, assistant athletic director, P. E. Teacher and new head basketball coach at Bloomington
- High School North. Mr Britain.
- Thank you, Dr. Henderson. It's an honor to be here. I'm excited to be joining the North Cougar family
- and serving our students when they arrive on August the 5th. I would like to thank our Board of Education,
- Dr. Winston, Dr. Henderson, Ms. Harmon, North Principal Matt Stark, and Athletic Director Andy Hodson.
- Everyone has been great and made our family feel very welcome. Looking forward to get started. This
- will be my 25th year in education, 23rd year coaching,
- And I can truly say I'm just as excited about the start of this school year as I was year one. So ready
- to serve our students the best of my ability and get started. Excited to be a part of the North Cougar
- family. So thank you all again very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Britton. Next, I'd like to invite
- up Stephen Marshall, new principal at Summit Elementary School. Mr. Marshall. Good evening.
- Thank you, Dr. Winston and President Cooper and members of the board. I'm extremely excited to have
- the opportunity to lead at Summit. I've been lucky enough to have the last couple of days in the building
- and everyone's just been extremely welcoming and kind and supportive and I know we're gonna have a great
- year. And I'd be remiss to not express my gratitude to the families, the students, the teachers, the
- faculty and staff, the childs.
- really great 14-year run there. But right now my mindset is just to continue making some at the great
- school that it is and we're looking forward to welcoming all of our students on August 5th. So thank
- you again for the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Marshall. Finally I'd like to invite Aaron Ritter
- principal at Childs Elementary School up to the podium. Mr. Ritter. Thank you. Good evening board. Thank you.
- Thank you, Dr. Winston, Dr. Henderson. It's just extremely honored to be principal at Childs Elementary,
- looking forward to getting started. I'll echo some more thoughts. I appreciate the kindness and welcoming
- that I received at Childs and looking forward to welcoming in students and meeting even more of the
- staff in person. And I would also like to thank my previous MCCSE homes, Marlin,
- where I was principal for the last five years and prior to that Tri-North where I was assistant principal
- for three years. So again just can't wait to get started seeing students and families and continuing
- forward the great work already taking place at Childs. Thank you. Thank you.
- So welcome to new faces and thanks again to those who have taken on new responsibilities and welcome
- to those communities. Thank you. Other comments from the board? All right, then we will move on to contracts.
- Do I have a motion to approve the contracts and quotes as presented? Do I have a second? It's been moved
- by Ross and seconded by Asia that we approve the contracts and quotes as presented.
- Mr. Irwin? Yeah, thank you. All contracts have gone through our normal process and they're set for your
- approval. I do want to highlight the agreements that continue the expanded arts programming at Fairview
- and just the multitude of ways that that referendum funding is supporting student experiences that families
- value. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Irwin. Are there comments from the board?
- I just want to explain my vote. I'm going to abstain from this vote because there are actually several
- of these contracts that benefit my children's school and my family directly. So I'm going to abstain
- from this vote. I just wanted to explain that before we take it. So all those in favor of approving
- the contracts and quotes signify by saying aye. Aye. Against. Extensions. That's one. That's me. Still
- the motion carries.
- Next for our consideration are the meal prices for 2026-2027 school year. Do I have a motion to approve
- the meal prices for 2026-2027 as presented? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by
- Ashley and seconded by April that we approve the meal prices for 2026-2027 as presented. Dr. Henderson?
- Thank you, President Kuperman. Dr. Winston, members of the Board of School Trustees, as you're all familiar,
- federal regulations govern the pricing of all meals and snacks in the USDA child nutrition programs.
- And the paid lunch equity tool that's issued by the Indiana Department of Education is what's utilized
- to determine the need for price increases to secondary lunches. The price increases this year impact
- middle school lunch and high school lunch with an increase to each of 20 cents per lunch price.
- I want to highlight that we're pleased to continue offering free breakfast and lunch to all students
- at the following schools through the Community Eligibility Provision Program. That's Arlington Bloomington
- Graduation School, Clear Creek, Fairview, Grandview, Highland Park, and Templeton. With that, we'd like
- to ask that the board vote to approve the meal price changes as presented. Thank you, Dr. Henderson.
- Are there any comments from the board?
- I mean, no one ever likes raising lunch prices. We know that it's something that has to happen occasionally.
- I do appreciate that we've tried to keep the impact in places where perhaps it might be easier to manage.
- But I also want to remind people who are out there listening, all four of you, not including who are
- in the room, but a lot of you are here because you have a vested interest in what's happening tonight.
- you know, donations to like lunch funds can be made. And so I do just want to continually sort of remind
- people that that exists. And if that's something that you feel like you want to do or can do that we
- encourage you to do that, especially as we see this like small bump in, in lunch prices. I think that's
- a great point, April. There's a lot happening at the national level too, that's going to make lunches
- less accessible for a lot of our students. And so I think it's a good time to remind people that we
- have that opportunity to provide lunches for our students.
- Any other comments from the board? All those in favor of approving the meal prices for 2026-2027 as
- presented signify by saying aye. Aye. Against? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Next for our consideration
- is the clear title to real estate. Do I have a motion to approve the clear title to real estate as presented?
- by the second. Second. It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Ashley that we approve the clear title
- to real estate as presented. Attorney Bunker. Yes. Dr. Winston, President Cooper and members of the
- board. This involves a parcel, one half acre parcel in Benton Township. This particular parcel was identified
- in 1913 as a school property and eventually
- adjacent property owners have accepted it out of the chain of title as schoolhouse. In the consolidation
- of the Monroe County Community School Corporation, all township properties became properties under the
- ownership of the MCCSC. This particular property is identified as schoolhouse, has no ownership to it.
- It actually belongs to the MCCSC. In order to clear that title,
- We need the authority and what we're asking is the resolution authorizing us to file a lawsuit, setting
- out exactly what this property is. It's historically been set aside as a schoolhouse property and we
- would believe the consolidation, which says it's property of the MCCSC, which would result in an order
- saying we own this one quarter acre property that's on, I'm trying to think, it's on North Tunnel Road.
- There's nothing on it. It's just an unimproved half acre of ground.
- Thank you Mr. Bunger. Are there questions or comments from the board? What do we need to do next? You
- approve the resolution. This authorizes us to file a lawsuit on behalf of the school corporation to
- claim the property. Clear the title. So it looks like we need to, we just need to vote.
- Well, is there a resolution? I don't see a resolution. Because I actually don't see a resolution attached
- to this. A motion, a plain motion authoring us to file suit to clear title of property on North Tunnel
- Road will work. Yeah, so the motion was to approve the clear title to real estate as presented, which
- will authorize Mr. Bunger to to file the necessary paperwork. Exactly. So we don't need a formal resolution?
- No, we don't need a formal resolution. Okay, okay, great.
- All those in favor of the motion to approve the clear title to real estate. All those in favor of the
- motion to approve the clear title to real estate as presented signify by saying aye. Aye. Against? Any
- abstentions? Motion carries. We'll proceed. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Banger.
- Our final item for consideration is resolution 2026-07, recognizing the collective bargaining rights
- for certain classified operations employees. Do I have a motion to adopt resolution 2026-07? So moved.
- Do I have a second? Second. It's been moved by Ross and seconded by Ashley that we adopt resolution
- 2026-07. Dr. Henderson?
- Thank you, President Cooperman, Dr. Winston, and members of the Board of School Trustees. Resolution
- 2026-07, recognizing collective bargaining rights for certain classified operations employees. I recommend
- that the board adopt this resolution, which approves the following. The collective bargaining rights
- of classified operations employees shall be coterminous with teachers under Indiana Code Chapter 20-29,
- but shall not be subject to the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board jurisdiction
- or such related processes. Policy 8910 is replaced with Policy 8910 attached as Exhibit A and incorporated
- by reference herein. This resolution and amended Policy 8910, upon adoption following second reading
- of the policy, supersedes all prior resolutions or policies regarding or related to bargaining rights
- of employees.
- This resolution and policy 8910 will be effective upon adoption of the policy following the second reading
- by the board. However, with regards to the current collective bargaining agreement with the exclusive
- representative of the classified operations employees, this resolution and policy 8910 will be effective
- upon expiration of such collective bargaining agreement. I so recommend. Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Are
- there comments or questions from the board?
- Yes. Okay, so we have a resolution and but then we also have the policy for which we need a first and
- second reading. Tonight will be the first reading. But the resolution resolves to do this thing and
- so then it would thus be resolved tonight even though we have to have a first and second reading of
- the policy.
- I think that's a little confusing to me. So as I understand it, the resolution is to put forward the
- new language for the policy. It doesn't bind us to vote yes or no for those changes to the policy. Mr.
- Bunker, is there anything you can add to that? OK. OK, so this will be effective upon adoption of the
- policy following the second reading by the board.
- Can I ask why we would have a resolution ahead of a policy reading? I guess I don't think that we typically,
- or it's not always done that way. And so I'm curious, like, why the resolution before the policy, why
- not just the policy change? If I may, I think that the policy just speaks to the fact that we continue,
- although there are no requirements or obligations for us to engage in bargaining,
- It just speaks to the fact that we have a continued and ongoing commitment to continue to support our
- bargaining groups and ensuring the rights of them are upheld. And so this resolution asserts that. And
- it doesn't take a position one way or the other in terms of the importance or the significance of those rights.
- It's not without precedent. We've certainly passed resolutions to either write policies or change policies,
- and then the language has been brought to us. I think maybe what's a little bit unusual here is that
- we're getting them both at the same time. Yeah. I think that's what, for me, it throws me off. Typically,
- we don't see them both in the same meeting, like, at the same time. And so that, I think, was just –
- it was maybe just a little confusing for me. Sure. I understand that.
- I do want to say, and I mean, I may, I don't know, I'm just gonna say something and then we'll proceed
- as however we proceed, right? I am pretty staunchly and strongly pro-union. I actually do believe in,
- you know, sort of,
- empowering people to bargain wherever there is space and room to do so. And I do also know that the
- teachers bargaining has been sort of truncated, their rights have been stripped truncated in many ways
- as a result of the legislature of the state. And so those things were somewhat out of our control. And
- I do understand
- the impulse or desire then to kind of in the sort of effort toward, what would we, I guess, fairness
- or equitable policies and processes to sort of align what can be bargained for. I will just say that
- from my perspective at this moment, I don't know that I fully
- agree with the desire or the decision to remove bargaining rights that are available to people as there
- are no laws stripping or governing what can or cannot be bargained. I'll also admit that it probably
- does make bargaining more complicated. And when you have more to bargain for, the process can take longer.
- Maybe resolutions are not reached as sort of efficiency or efficiently or in a timely manner. So I am
- not totally sure how I feel about this. I just, you know, I know it's here. I know we have to vote on
- the resolution. If the resolution isn't binding until after the second reading, then I'm more inclined
- to say yes to the resolution and work through the first and second reading of the policy. But I don't
- know, there's a chance that I'm
- I may find myself on a kind of opposing side of this particular perspective. I guess I just want to
- ask a question. I don't know if you even have an answer, and if not, that's OK. But I wonder, has any
- of this in the rewriting or the sort of, has MCEA had any input or perspective on this? This policy,
- if I, I mean this,
- resolution does not impact MCA in one way or any other way. Mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. So I think the answer
- to that is probably no. Yeah. Other questions or comments? So I will just kind of a question to maybe
- and maybe give it April, or member Hermosia, a level of comfort. If this resolution passes tonight,
- and upon the second reading of the policy next board meeting, that is voted down, the resolution basically
- goes away. Is that the correct understanding? I wanted to put that out there for your level of comfort.
- That's what I understand at this point, too, having read that language.
- I would say that I share some of your concerns and certainly I share your support for unions in general.
- I think one of the most important factors to me is that it does align the collective bargaining rights
- of our teachers and our other staff. That feels equitable to me. And I think that, as you noted,
- without some limit without those two things being aligned. There is there are extra complications and
- extra time in bargaining with one union over the other union. And for those reasons, I'm and I'm not
- going to commit to voting yes or no for the policy at the next meeting. But I am probably leaning towards
- voting in favor of the policy change to bring those two things into alignment myself.
- Other comments before I call the vote? All those in favor of adopting resolution 2026-07, recognizing
- collective bargaining rights for certain classified operations, employees signify by saying aye. Aye.
- Aye. Against? Against? Me. As I know. Yeah. And I may very well be swayed by the end of this process.
- Fair enough.
- Any abstentions? Okay, so that's one against one abstention and three in favor. Motion carries. Next
- is the first reading of the policy mentioned in resolution 2026-07, policy 8910, appropriate bargaining
- unions, the units of employees. Dr. Henderson?
- Thank you, President Cooper and Dr. Winston, members of the Board of School Trustees.
- Policy 8910, appropriate bargaining units of employees. Revisions have been made to incorporate changes
- in the law over the past few years and aligning the bargaining rights of all bargaining units within
- MCCSE so that classified staff rights are in alignment with teacher rights. The policy will be presented
- for second and final reading at the August 25th meeting.
- Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Any comments from the board? As this is the first reading, no action is required.
- As mentioned, this will be brought back to the board for the second and final reading in August. Next
- on our agenda are district updates. Tonight, Dr. Winston will introduce the first presentation
- sustaining excellence in MCCSE for the 2026-2027 school year. Thank you, President Cooperman. We are
- very excited about opening our new school year in just a few days. And as you know, one of the things
- that we continue to build upon is the tradition of academic excellence, artistic excellence, athletic
- excellence in MCCSE schools. This evening, we really want to share with you a few highlights of what's
- new for 26-27
- and how we're going to continue to keep the main thing the main thing, which is academic excellence
- as we continue to stay the course. So I'd like to invite Alexis Harmon to provide a brief overview of
- some key priorities and key considerations for how we are maintaining academic excellence. Thank you,
- President Comperman, Dr. Winston, and members of the board.
- As Dr. Winston already said, I want to walk you through our plan for sustaining excellence in the 26-27
- school year. This is work we've built together over the last several years and where that work is taking
- us next. I want to start with excellence and instruction because everything else we do as a corporation
- rests on what happens in the classroom every day. You have seen this slide before. Just want to kind
- of, again,
- keep a focus on, we're really thinking about we're one team, we're one plan, we're one model, we want
- to align the work that we do so that we can align the supports we do as well. To start, I'd like to
- introduce our MCCSE instructional model. I want to be clear, this isn't a new initiative. It's a way
- of naming and organizing the work that many of you have already seen taking shape in our school over
- the past several years.
- What this model gives us is clarity, a shared definition of grade instruction, a common language, a
- set of expectations that holds true in every MCCSE school. It also gives us a consistent way to monitor
- our progress for collecting and reflecting on data so we can honestly assess how we're doing and hold
- ourselves accountable to that as well. At its core, the model exists for one reason, to make sure every
- student in every classroom in every one of our schools
- receives high quality standards aligned instruction from a certified teacher. We believe instructional
- quality and protective instructional time are two of the most powerful levels levers we have for improving
- outcomes for kids. Within this model is the work the way it is designed to we should see stronger literacy
- and numeracy foundations across every subject, growth for every group of students, narrowing of achievement gaps,
- and schools where kids feel a genuine sense of connection and belonging. This slide lays out our theory
- of action. So how we believe the pieces of this work connect each role in our corporation and the conditions
- we create, the practices we expect to see, and the outcomes we're working toward for students. The model
- rests on five core components.
- what we should expect to see and actively foster in every MCCSE classroom, which is guaranteed and viable
- core instruction, number two, small group differentiation and individualized instruction, three, database
- decision-making, four, strong collaboration among educators, and five, of course, a welcoming and inclusive
- learning environment. And they are not prioritized in area. They are equally important, all of them.
- Each of these carries two set of expectations, one for our teachers and their data tape work, and we
- call those our teaching and learning expectations, and one for corporation and building leaderships
- and the instructional leadership they provide. With that foundation in place, I'd like to turn
- to programming. While the state and federal government may make changes in funding and support for programs,
- MCCSE continues to invest and commit in core areas that reflect the values in our community.
- and I'd like to highlight some specific investments that will define this coming school year. Our programming
- work this year is organized around our six priority areas, early literacy and numeracy, the arts, academic
- alignment to college and career opportunities, student mental and behavioral health, and support for
- students with diverse learning needs, as well as Accelerate 7. I'll walk through each, why it matters
- and what's new.
- Of course, early literacy and numeracy. We know reading well by third grade changes the trajectory of
- a child's education. Strong readers succeed across every subject, not just English. The same holds true
- in math. Early number sense predicts long-term success. And the gains kids make early tend to stick.
- This year, we've adopted a new K through eight English language arts curriculum. We are entering year
- two of our K through eight math curriculum. And we've introduced new progress monitoring in reading and math
- pay-through rate so teachers can quickly identify where each student needs support and respond in real
- time. We're also reducing screen time in favor of more direct teacher-led instruction and we're giving
- teachers additional collaboration instructional preparation time particularly at the elementary level.
- We'll be increasing our instructional prep time minimum requirement from 200 to 225 and we also are
- rolling out an initiative for an increased collaborative time for grade level
- teams and special area teams throughout the school year. So they'll have more opportunities to plan,
- review student data together, and refine their teaching as a team. The arts. The arts are made a vital
- part of a well-rounded MCCSE education. Students with strong arts participation are more likely to graduate
- and enroll in college. Schools that intentionally integrate the arts see stronger student engagement
- and school climate. And music education in particular has been linked to gains in executive functioning.
- We're continuing our rich tradition of arts programming at every level, including band and strings at
- our elementary schools and continuing community partnerships like Lotus Blossom, along with field trips,
- the IU Musical Arts Center, Eskenazi Museum, our community partnerships with theater programs as well.
- For our academic alignment to career and college opportunities, real world experience improves outcomes
- for students. It increases engagement and strengthens academic and career readiness,
- AP and dual credit coursework build college readiness, and dual enrollment is consistently linked to
- higher rates of college enrollment, persistence, and degree completion. This year, we're expanding the
- strategic resources we have for students to help them identify internships and work-based learning
- opportunities, as well as expanding our community partnerships to support those work-based learning
- opportunities and partnerships with our industry. Student mental and behavioral health
- We know student well-being isn't separate from academic excellence. It's foundational to it. School-based
- mental health services improve access to support, and high-quality social and emotional learning improves
- both behavior and achievement. Students in evidence-based SEL programs have shown gains equivalent to
- 11 percentile points in academic achievement. Belonging itself acts as a protective factor for our kids.
- This year, that means we're going to expand Community in Schools, which is a national organization we
- partner with to provide meaningful wraparound supports for students and families. And we're adding registered
- behavior therapists in our schools and deepening our already existing community health partnerships.
- I want to take a moment to talk about acceleration. This is a new system of work this year. It's a system
- of support we're calling Accelerate 7, focused intentional commitment
- to move the needle where the need is greatest, grounded in our own student achievement data. Accelerate
- 7 is built around seven commitments for every classroom every day. And those are daily principal
- instructional leadership with immediate feedback, evidence-based instructional strategies, accelerating
- literacy and numeracy skills, personalized learning plans for every student, innovative, agile scheduling
- that protects time for intervention, coaching cycles tied directly to student outcomes, and increased
- time for teacher collaboration and planning.
- It's guided by three goals, strengthening core reading and math instruction, delivering timely
- and data-driven intervention and enrichment, and developing our principles as strong instructional leaders,
- and by our core priorities of building literacy and numeracy foundations, closing achievement gaps,
- and supporting student mental and behavioral health. Ultimately, this work is rooted in the simple belief
- that students with the greatest need deserve our strongest systems, our most consistent support, and
- the greatest access to high-quality teaching.
- In programming, finally, I'd like to talk about sports for supports, I'm sorry, for students with diverse
- leading needs. These are happening across every one of our schools. But in particular this year, we're
- focusing at the middle school level with two initiatives, including on-site professional development
- and support for co-teaching and collaborative instruction, and an innovative case manager model designed
- to strengthen how we coordinate and deliver support to those students.
- I'd like to make a moment to talk about engagement and excellence engagement, because excellence instruction
- and programming only matters if our community is alongside us in this work. Last spring, we had our
- Strong Schools Strong Community process reinforce something we already knew. Our community wants and
- deserves real engagement with its public schools. So this year, we're building on that with a few specific
- efforts. An ambassador program will bring community members into deeper understanding of how our schools operate
- Our MCCSE Voices podcast will give the community direct insight into the work happening across
- the corporation and help build broader public understanding of our schools. Our CFO Corner will share
- clear, regular information about our finances, reinforcing transparency and fiscal stewardship. And
- this year will also begin Facilities Master Planning, which is engaging parents, students, staff, and
- community members in shaping the future of our buildings.
- So every student has access to 21st century spaces for learning, athletics, and arts. And that's my
- brief update. Thank you. There's just so much to share. Thank you, Ms. Harmon. Are there comments from
- the board? How are people selected for the ambassador program? So yes, we've been posting information
- seeking and kind of doing like an all call. And so we've had a number of individuals reach out and submit
- an application. We also know that from our Strong Schools, Strong Community effort back in the spring,
- we were only able to accept a certain number of individuals at that particular point in time. So we
- wanted to be able to also reach back out to those folks who wanted to be a part of Strong Schools, Strong
- Community to invite them to be a part of the ambassador program as well. So we're trying to,
- to consider a variety of ways of bringing all of those voices together. The program will kick off in
- September. Nice. Love it. Very excited. Other questions or comments from the board? I have one more
- question. Sure. Does a podcast have a regular host, or how does that work? Yes, it does.
- You're looking at her. Hello, podcast host. That would be me, yes. All right, cool. So we'll have our
- first podcast of School Voices that will release next week. Can't wait. And we will have opportunities
- for board members to also be invited guests. I can't wait for that. Maybe you should.
- I have a question also about community engagement. My question is about the CFO corner. Is that going
- to be a part of the podcast or is that a separate thing? I think a little bit of yes of both. I think
- there'll be some times we're all going to be a guest on the podcast and then there'll be a regular occurrence
- of communication through me as it relates to just education on school finance and timely topics that
- relate to things that are going on around the school corporation. But they didn't like put you in a corner.
- I will I hopefully will not be in a corner. I have an office that is a cube so it's not a corner. I
- feel good about that. Okay well that's good to hear. Great questions. We're so excited about providing
- additional avenues for members of our community to learn more about our schools and to learn more about
- the people making decisions and teaching our children and supporting our children. That's an exciting
- opportunity as well to to really
- humanize our educators so that folks get a better understanding of what brings us to the table to take
- on this kind of work and the passion that comes with it and an opportunity to showcase all of the amazing
- things that happen in every one of our classrooms and every one of our schools each and every day. So
- a lot of excitement. We're open to hear some of your thoughts and suggestions and ideas as well. And
- I certainly want to give kudos, a well-deserved kudos, to
- Sarah Deweese for the work that she's doing in helping us to design all of these avenues to communicate
- more effectively and more clearly. I know this was just the beginning, but I think there were a lot
- of exciting things that Ms. Harmon presented, including the Accelerate 7, which I'm excited to learn
- more about. It feels like we're sort of in a place now where we are feeling more optimistic about our
- finances and so have
- the flexibility to start focusing on what we're doing with the resources that we do have. And I think
- that's really going to be an exciting thing that's coming this year. I would absolutely echo the focus
- and the emphasis on our academics and really sticking to the main thing being that main thing
- and acknowledging that there are still headwinds out there in the financial front. And I know that
- Um, as we move forward, Matt Irwin is going to speak on some of those, but making sure that we are well
- prepared to respond, um, from a position of strength. Thank you. And, uh, this isn't the first CFO corner,
- but, uh, but we are moving on to our financial update. Uh, so Mr Irwin, would you like to provide that?
- Yeah, thank you. All right. We'll start where we normally start, just talking about the education fund.
- And I try to always give those a little bit of just some
- broad monthly specifics and then talk about some outlooks and some things of that nature so from a from
- a monthly perspective the actual revenue was above projections expenses below projections and in the
- world projections for me that's pretty ideal tuition support we started the new fiscal year so july
- is the start of the new fiscal year 27
- And with that, that means the new budget year for the state. So this is the second year of the state's
- budget. And so that starts that new funding formula piece. The state puts out what's called an IDOE
- form 54. So it's the state's aid's projections of revenue to be received. Mine projection that I had
- in our cash flows was within a couple hundred dollars of the projection that they put out.
- definitely very comforting in that world to make sure that those things are aligning and backing one
- another up. So that was something that I wanted to make note of. The other piece that I have in there
- in the outlook is that the NESP programming as far as the expenditures of that programming is getting
- pushed back into the education fund. The NESP programming for non-English speaking programming is part
- of the tuition support grants. So there's specialized grants within tuition support and NESP is one of those.
- And so it makes sense to bring that back out of a special fund and track it within the fund of which
- the revenue is coming from the state on that anyway. So we push that back into the projections that
- you've seen. That was something that dates back to when it wasn't in the tuition support formula. So
- we're pulling that back in together. The outlook of the year end is pretty similar to what you've seen
- in the past month.
- like I told you before we're making great strides in progress and where we're at in the education fund
- and getting back to a position of health and a position of strength so that we can weather
- those uncertainties as they come. So we'll move to the 22 referendum. That one we talked last month
- about the expectation for property tax revenue received from the county that matched up to exactly what
- we expected it to be for the month of June as you would expect
- Our expenses were below projections, but across line items, again, very accurate, which means that the
- projection looks a little bit better than what you saw last month. And from the standpoint of the long-term
- outlook, it still looks the same as far as the expectations of the impacts of SEA 1, but I have that
- third bullet point down there because right now, as we continue to monitor what net assessed value is
- going to do, you guys know that we continue to partner with Policy Analytics to get regular updates.
- as it relates to the expectations of what's going to occur with legislation and how that impacts our
- tax base. And so right now, there's some belief that the net assessed value won't drop as much as what
- they're projecting, which that again, obviously has a huge impact on our referendums and the revenue
- that they provide to support those initiatives. So that's something that we're continuing to monitor
- as we get closer to budget time, which we're about to start that process in the upcoming months,
- we'll be honing in on what it is that that will actually be as those net assessed values get certified
- so that we're planning off of those through the budgeting process. But those are things that we're monitoring
- and watching. For the referendum 2023, again, revenue matched the expectations for June. June expenses
- below projections, again, accurate. That's what we want to see. The fund balance does project to be
- up for the year right now.
- And again, I've got those same pieces on there with bullet point two as it relates to continuing to
- monitors net assessed values and their impact on the revenue that the referendums generates. The third
- one is one that I want to continue to highlight because I don't want it to get lost in the shuffle.
- But you see a larger projection for partner providers in the upcoming school year.
- And that's because we're continuing to navigate a time where during the last budget cycle, the state
- reduced CCDF vouchers and On My Way Pre-K funding, which was critical funding that allowed families
- to get reduced costs for early childhood to make it more accessible for families. When that funding
- is reduced, that means more people need access to the referendum funds in order to be able to have affordable
- early childhood.
- not to mention as you look around the state there's a lot of centers that have closed there's a lot
- of schools that have cut their programming to early childhood and because of the referendum we're not
- in that situation they kind of put some more numbers and specifics to this as i thought this was interesting
- data for you guys to to hear as we talk about and for people to understand just how important this has
- been to our parents in our to our community is that during the 24 25 school year we collected
- just under $342,000 in CCDF funding. During last school year, it was less than 22,000. And on my way
- pre-K funding, during the 24-25 school year, that funding from the state, we received just over 452,000.
- Last year, we got less than 12,000. So that's just MCCSC. That's not what our partner providers have
- experienced in all the families in our community.
- So I say all that to say this is very critical and important to our family. So it's just that continue
- to express that gratitude for that support because we're in a position that other communities quite
- frankly aren't in as it relates to our childhood programming. So that's something that I wanted to make
- note of. In the operations fund, revenue was above projections. We did make that planned taxable general
- obligation fund transfer.
- That's that reimbursement of past capital expenditures that we've been talking about month after month
- after month. It finally occurred. And so you saw that in the register of claims for this board meeting
- as well. And then also in debt service, we made that transfer from debt service to operations, which
- is a part of that approved transfer in last month's board meeting. We made the first half of that transfer.
- We'll do the second half in December when that second half of property tax disbursement comes in.
- And that lines up with what you see in your cash flows. The payroll and benefits and miscellaneous expenses
- are very accurate. Our June services and supplies were below projections. And that had to do, again,
- a lot to do with the timing of invoices. I think that's one of the hardest part to nail down on projections
- is that invoices don't always fall in the same month, depending on the timing of when they're received.
- And so that's part of the process is continuing evaluating what's the difference between this year and
- last year. And what does that go back to? As well as one of the things that we needed to do was to make
- our Child Nutrition Fund whole, which is a federally funded programming that that fund 0800. We had
- to pull that back into the positive. That was a requirement from the DOE that ended up being less than
- what we had originally expected. And that has a lot to do with the work of our Child Nutrition staff
- and our director and Child Nutrition.
- with Gretchen Hunter, she's doing a great job. And so I've appreciated her partnership and working through
- that as well. And the outlook piece for the operations fund, the fund balance is projecting up right
- now. I do have in there the 21st century grant closeout. Our 21st century grant is federally funded
- programming. I'm gonna talk about this in a little bit in a couple of slides, but that grant has run
- out. And until recently, we didn't know whether that
- funding opportunity would even come back because that's a competitive grant. But the home of the programming
- that's supported through 21st century is extended day. It's adventure camp that helps with the cost
- of those programming. The home of it is the operations fund. And so with that grant expiring, I've moved
- that back into the projections of the operations fund. And it's something that we'll continue to have
- to look at as we move forward into making sure that
- It's able to sustain those program. We're not saying we're not taking away extended day and we're continue
- with adventure camps. I don't I don't want to cause any fear of worries there. But that 21st century
- grant right now is going away and I'll talk about that here a little bit. The debt service fund revenue
- matched expectations again that form 22 is just the
- local term for what you would expect from the county as it relates to the document that we get that
- says how much revenue to expect and where to deposit it. All of our debt payments were made on time.
- The outlook of the fund is almost identical to what you saw last month and again I talked about the
- second half of that approved transfer is set for December when the second disbursement comes. The last
- piece I'll talk about is some federal grants updates. I know just talking about headwinds that
- That graphic probably looks familiar to you from past presentations. And I thought it was spitting because
- it's kind of it comes back into some of those things of the continually changing dynamics from which
- we work on and work through. But our title one grant we were notified that we were reduced by a little
- over three hundred and sixty two thousand dollars for this upcoming school year. We are using rollover
- dollars from previous year's grants to help fill that gap for this year.
- and that sure is up our staffing levels for this year. But that's something that we're going to continue
- to have to monitor and that we're at the whim of understanding what that's going to do. I can't predict
- what that's going to do in future years right now. But that's close to a 15% reduction in the grant
- allocation that we received from the previous year. That grant supports intervention staffing at our
- seven title one schools. Um, but again, I wanted to make note of that.
- We're using those rollover dollars to keep staffing levels at a place where we know that we can continue
- to serve needs for this coming school year, but that's the short term. And so we'll continue to work
- through that as that comes forward. And then the second point is the 21st century grant. Again, that's
- federally funded grant that's passed through the IDOE. That's $300 or $300,000 annually that we receive that is,
- right now going away, we did just recently get notified from the DOE that they have opened up another
- cohort application. But again, that's a competitive grant that we're not guaranteed to that funding.
- So that is something that we will apply for, but it's not guaranteed. So we'll continue to keep you
- updated on where we're at with that. And again, that's why that programming costs and those things have
- to come back into the operations fund right now because it's not guaranteed and we don't know whether
- or not we'll continue to get it or even if we do,
- get accepted, whether or not we continue to get the same level of funding. And then the last piece on
- there is just clarifying that that helps with expenses related to extended day and adventure camp as
- well. So just an update on some of those pieces that range from our five major funds, but again, talking
- about some of our federal grants and some of those headwinds that we talked about in the past, but those
- things come to fruition and then we work through those as they come.
- Sometimes not always do you get the notice as quickly as what you want, but we're continuing to work
- through them nonetheless. So with that, that's the end of my report. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Erwin.
- Are there questions or comments from the board? I throw a lot at you every time, so I apologize.
- It's good. It's very comprehensive. I think as a result, we have no questions. So thank you, Mr. Irwin.
- That means you made a good presentation. That's right. Left no room for a question. So next, we have
- committee reports. We don't have a specific committee report this month. But are there any board members
- that have reports that you would like to share?
- I would just like to say that the newly formed policy committee has not yet met, but we do have an official
- date to meet. People have just been, it's summer, traveling, busy, whatever. So we will meet ahead of
- the August meeting. So we'll likely have at least something to report as having come of that meeting.
- Great. Other reports? All right. Thank you, April.
- Next we have superintendent comments. Dr. Winston, do you have any additional information you'd like
- to share with us tonight? Just a couple of items. The start of the 26-27 school year is quickly approaching.
- I don't think there's anyone more excited in this community than our parents to be able to send their
- babies back to us. And I think we're probably a little bit more excited than they are because we are
- so happy to have our children back in our schools and in our classrooms. Everyone will return on Wednesday.
- August the 5th in terms of our students our teachers are back in many ways they often never leave but
- they're officially back on Monday August the 3rd. So we're really excited to have our teachers back
- in our classrooms our support staff. Everyone is getting ready and there's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement
- and we talk a lot about everybody getting their new hairstyles done their new school outfits for back
- to school including folks in this room.
- To help our families prepare, we have our enrollment and resource information available on our website,
- and it's located under the families tab, so I just want to provide a friendly reminder to our families.
- The information page provides details on educational programs for our learners of all ages, from six
- weeks old, yes I said six weeks old, all the way through adult education. You'll also find valuable
- information on extended day programs, transportation,
- MyPayments Plus to pay for meals, free and reduced lunch applications, and many other additional helpful
- resources. Our team has been working diligently to ensure a smooth and welcoming start to the new school
- year. At MCCSC, as you know, we are committed to our promise to sustain excellence in all that we do.
- We are grateful to our families for the trust that they place in us to educate and care for their babies.
- We look forward to seeing our students back in our classrooms learning growing and thriving. So mark
- your calendars on Tuesday August 4th from 3 to 4 p.m. Elementary schools will have meet the teacher
- all MCCSE elementary schools will host a special time for students and families to visit the school
- and meet their teacher for the new school year. Additional information about school open houses is available
- on our website and we've been communicating that over the last several weeks.
- On Saturday August 29th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. our parent university title preparing for high school
- and beyond is one of our most popular annual events. Registration for the event will open in early August.
- So please join us for our very first parent university mini conference of the new school year. I'm excited
- to begin the new school year with our students with our staff and with our families. And here's to an
- excellent school year ahead. That concludes my report.
- Thank you, Dr. Winston. Any comments from the board? You can definitely count me amongst the parents,
- who is very excited to send my babies back to you. I also find this a really exciting time of year.
- So I'm looking forward to a new teacher orientation and the first days of school. It's my favorite time
- of the year. It really is. For lots of reasons.
- Any final comments from the board? All right, the next regularly scheduled board meeting will be held
- on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026. With that we are adjourned.