- I'll call this meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it
- stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
- Thank you all very much. You may be seated and please, I'm pleased to welcome you to the May 2025
- regular school board meeting of RBV Community School Corporation and please let the record reflect
- that Mr. Tucker, Mr. Durnall, Mr. Kerr and Mr. DeMoss are all present this evening.
- Do we have any visitor comments? No. I am glad to see so many of you here tonight. That is great.
- And I know you're going to find this so riveting that you'll be back next month and every month
- thereafter and you know we love that we love a crowd.
- So so glad you're here. And so I'll turn it over to Dr. Sanders to start us off with our mustang
- moments.
- You know usually when they're standing room only at a board meeting that means it's it's up there's
- a problem. And it's all good tonight. So I appreciate everybody coming out tonight. We're going to
- start off with the Edgewood foodies.
- Right.
- Now that sounds like a rock band.
- I think you're going to find this be a very interesting presentation Mr. Scholl.
- Introduce some pretty amazing people. This started probably a year and a half ago when high school
- student Maya Gill came to us came to me with an idea about a group where she could help kids who
- may or may not have dietary needs to help them create
- recipes things like that. The best part about it for me was that I just had to say yes to the idea.
- And I think it's a testament to what's going on at the high school and just kind of the shift and
- how things are are going as far as being able to see a problem and do something about it.
- So I'm going to introduce Maya and her team and let her tell you all about it.
- All right. Well thank you for having us. We are the foodies club. I'm my girl I'm a junior at the
- high school and I wanted to design this club for students in grades three through six with gluten
- or dairy allergies.
- And we've been supported by Mrs. RG and Jill Cronin and thanks to Mr. Scholl we've been able to be
- mostly funded by the I.S. color run so that was great this year.
- Our purpose is to help students feel more confident in managing food and allergies.
- And to create a fun supportive space to make and try healthy foods.
- Encourage curiosity and learning about food and nutrition.
- So the reason I wanted to start this club is because I've been gluten and dairy free since I was
- seven.
- And during the pandemic my grandma taught my brother and I how to cook.
- So that's kind of how I got into that world.
- And I wanted to give back to kids who are the age I was when I started having allergies because
- this was like a sort of club that I would have loved to be able to have when I was that age.
- And so I wanted to create that for them.
- We have meetings that are held once a week during the spring season.
- Those meetings include activities like snack making label reading and discussions and eating.
- All meetings have a safe and positive environment for all participants.
- Some of our guest experts that have come are Rachel Dahlner from Indiana University who is a lead
- dining hall dietitian for students with allergies.
- Molly Osgood, the Vita dialysis, registered dietitian, supports patients with kidney issues.
- Amanda Waits, RBV culinary skills specialist, creates authentic food for Edgewood students.
- Nathan Carney and John Lark co-owners of Brightside Cafe.
- Brightside Cafe is a gluten-free, dedicated restaurant with dairy-free options.
- Feedback and impact. Enthusiastic participation from grades three through six.
- Parents and staff report increased awareness and confidence.
- Club members enjoy learning through hands-on experiences.
- I like foodies as much as I like cats.
- I didn't want foodies to end last year.
- And Lindley's quote was, "Eat, love, laugh."
- Our kind of next steps are to hopefully find some funding for foodies next year.
- And we had an idea recently of a program we could start within the school corporation
- where each school would have a stash of allergy-friendly snacks and treats
- for if some sort of celebration was going on in the school so that everyone can participate.
- And there's even been a little bit of talk of how I can incorporate this into my college experience
- and maybe have like a gluten and dairy free stand on the campus or something like that.
- So that is foodies.
- And thank you for having us.
- And especially thank you to Mr. Scholl for helping us through this year.
- And yeah.
- And we have some examples of things we've made in foodies this year for you guys to try if you
- would like.
- This is becoming -- this is an amazing thing, but I'm going to use a word that sounds kind of
- average.
- This is becoming common on our Edgewood campus.
- And by common I mean where instead of the teachers up in front of the classroom lecturing to the
- students,
- the students are figuring out real world solutions to everyday problems.
- And I'm not surprised that we have these students involved in this project.
- And I think it's an indication of what's to come down the road.
- Okay.
- Thank you very much.
- You have two?
- Can we have two?
- How many are in the group?
- Is this the complete group right here or do you have others?
- This isn't everyone.
- We have a couple more people, yeah.
- My wife and my daughter have bad food allergies.
- And so I think what you're doing is amazing.
- And it was a great idea and the fact that you took the initiative to implement it
- and involve so many students and really make a big difference in all their lives.
- So we appreciate you and appreciate all the foodies that help work with you
- to make these great treats.
- Thank you.
- It's been very fun, I would say.
- Yeah.
- All right, that's good.
- That's good.
- Thank you.
- I feel more energetic already.
- Thank you.
- So did you enjoy coming down to work with EIS?
- Sorry?
- Did you enjoy coming down to work with the EIS students?
- Oh, yeah.
- Yeah, it's been great to kind of get a different environment as well.
- Were the trees prepared in the kitchen at EIS?
- Yeah, well, no.
- We meet in Mrs. RG's classroom, so we made them during our club today.
- Thank you.
- Some of the young men and women will be at the junior high next year, maybe?
- Yeah, we have.
- We have Jasmine and another one of our members come from the junior high after school, so, yeah.
- Yeah, thank you.
- Thank you.
- Our second group tonight is from Edgewood Junior High School,
- and these are the journalism students who went to Seattle,
- and they're giving a report tonight on their trip.
- Well, good evening, and thank you for having us.
- My name is Stephanie Eyre.
- I teach English and journalism over at Edgewood Junior High School.
- This year, we had our second opportunity to go to the National Journalism Convention for student
- journalists.
- Last year, we went to Boston and took five kids.
- This year, we were able to take 12 kiddos out to Seattle,
- and, you know, it's a high school journalism conference,
- but I said this last year, and I will say it again this year.
- I am just always so impressed -- oh, I'm sorry.
- I am sorry.
- You're fine.
- So impressed with our kiddos at the junior high level.
- They just show the same maturity, actually more maturity, I would say,
- and just dedication and just focus and that just desire to learn things about journalism
- that a lot of the high school kids don't even show at the convention,
- and they are just right there, and they fit right in.
- So I'm always impressed by them, and this year is no exception.
- So I'm just going to let them kind of tell you about their experience of being out there
- and going to the conference and some of the extra fun things we got to do as well.
- I think they prepared a little slideshow to show some pictures of the things.
- There's mostly the fun things.
- We did a lot of work while we were out there, too, but yeah.
- So I'll just let them take over.
- Okay, so to start it off, we're going to show you the slideshow,
- and that's like more of the fun activities we did, but we still learned a lot at the convention.
- So after this introduction slide showing like where we went, this picture is from our hike.
- So this next slide is pictures of us starting at the Indy Airport
- and then some pictures of us on the plane to Seattle, and that is us in the tram at the Seattle
- Airport as it started going.
- Yes, please.
- And then this was our first full day there where we went to a mountain and we hiked up that.
- We had a picnic at that waterfall, and in the evening we made it to the famous Space Needle
- and to the convention center to visit different informational booths from colleges and businesses
- and the journalism field.
- But there's not a picture of that.
- Next slide, please.
- All right, so the next day we made it to the different breakout sessions at the convention.
- After almost a full day of that, we walked to the Pike Place Market and saw the gum wall.
- We made it to the dinner and had a debriefing session where we enjoyed hearing each other's
- takeaways from the day.
- On our last full day in Seattle, we went to more breakout sessions, went on a boat tour of Seattle,
- and rode on the biggest Ferris wheel on the west coast.
- And these pictures show what was just explained for the last full day in Seattle.
- And this last slide here, that's just our plane ride back from Seattle.
- And now we'll have some speakers tell us about their favorite things they learned from Seattle.
- I learned so much at the JEA Journalism Convention this year.
- The convention was really interesting and it taught me how to be a better reporter, leader, and
- overall a better journalist.
- We also learned how to increase readership and so much more.
- This trip was so much fun and I learned so much on the trip.
- And my favorite part was probably going to the Space Needle or going out to dinner every night with
- all my friends.
- For me, the JEA Journalism Convention was a great opportunity and experience.
- I really enjoyed all the sights of Seattle and all the fun activities that we got to do.
- I learned so much from the conferences I went to.
- I learned how to be a better leader in my journalism community and how we can work together to make
- our journalism and media programs more viewed.
- This convention was very useful to our journalism and media classes.
- The sessions that we went to taught us things like how to better our newspaper, how to keep a
- productive and fun environment, and how to increase readership in our newspaper.
- Not only did we learn new things about journalism, but we got to see the amazing sights of Seattle.
- We saw the Space Needle, beautiful mountains, and lots of more amazing views.
- Personally, I learned a lot from the key speaker who taught about writing reviews.
- She was a professional who had been doing it for, I can't remember now, like 30 or 40 years.
- Writing reviews is my forte, so learning about that was very helpful.
- But I learned about conducting many interviews, increasing viewership and readership of Edge Media
- and Colts Chronicles, and how to write various different pieces for the newspaper.
- My favorite part about the convention was during one of the breakout sections, there was people
- from a lot of different schools.
- It was mostly teachers, but it was all of middle schools, and that helped us see a lot of how far
- we've gone.
- I thought it was really cool to see other teachers around the country, what they're doing.
- I think my favorite part of going to the convention was being able to learn all the new things from
- professionals and being able to interact.
- Some of the breakout sessions, you got into little groups and explained about your newspaper and
- stuff, and I think being able to share connections with other people from so far away was important
- and special to learn.
- Well, I think I have two favorite moments from the convention. One, every day we would gather
- around in one hotel room and pile in there, and we would do our high lows for the day and just
- listen to the kids.
- I don't know, I think they really enjoyed that part of it. We really just talked about the good
- things and the bad things from the day that we enjoyed.
- And then my second favorite was a couple of our girls were doing an article for the newspaper on
- the convention, and we're getting ready to get up from a breakout session.
- And I look over and they had pulled some high school kid over and were interviewing her. I think
- maybe that picture was up there at some point, but interviewing her about the convention just unprompted.
- Like, that's the kind of thing that just impresses me so much about them. Like, I didn't tell them
- to do that. They just they take initiative and they've just become more confident with talking to
- people.
- And it's just it was a really proud journalism teacher moment for me to see them do that. But we
- just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts again.
- I think I sent Jen a text during the trip that said it's just amazing to be a part of a district
- that gives kids amazing opportunities.
- And, you know, just like listening to Maya to talk about her. She had an idea.
- And we just we I don't know if I want to tell this to everybody, but like we work at a yes, man
- district.
- Like, yes, if we can do this for kids and we can make it happen, we want to hear all your ideas and
- we want to make all the opportunities possible for kids that anybody can think of that's going to
- benefit them.
- As individuals and in the future. So again, thank you for allowing us this opportunity and all the
- opportunities that you give these kids in the district to do to just follow their dreams and follow
- their passions.
- So thanks a lot.
- Do you guys have any questions for them? We did. We barely caught that. That was right at the end
- of the day. And we got a video of them throwing the fish over to the gum wall. Have you heard of
- the gum wall? It's disgusting.
- It's just a huge one. I mean, we did it. We went up and put our gum on the wall. It's just nasty.
- But you probably saw my piece of gum.
- Oh, like, yeah, we got so blessed with weather. I kept telling these kids prepare. It's gonna rain
- like it's gonna rain. No, it was like 65 and sunny every day. Not a drop of rain on us. I think
- they just they knew all these kids were coming to Seattle and they ordered the weather. So yeah, it
- was it was beautiful out there.
- So all right there, she said better than I could. But I think it is pretty awesome that our kids
- get to do these things. And, you know, month after month, we sit at a board meeting, Matt and I
- were talking about this today, that month after month, we have these Mustang moments where students
- are talking about either some activity that they are involved in or a project or internship.
- And so what you're seeing tonight now we usually don't have three presentations, but but every
- month and just I'm so proud of our students for how hard they work and they're so brave to come to
- go on a trip like that and have the courage to get up and speak at a board meeting.
- Things that I never thought I could do as a kid and especially want to thank Mrs. Air and for her
- dedication and the extra mile she goes.
- She sees me come and she starts to cringe because she knows I'm asking her for money and they tried
- to tell me no last year and I think it was a miss Josephine Buckley wrote a nice long letter that
- just convinced we had to take kids and we all went so no but thank you Jen for always always
- telling us.
- If I can so yeah all right well thank you guys.
- See you all back next month.
- For our last three big kids who are going to present.
- We have our three school resource officers.
- And I talked to Alec about this because I just think it's really important for our community to
- know all that we do to provide our students and staff with a safe environment.
- And the biggest part of that effort is our three SROs and I don't know if everybody knows this but
- we write a grant through the Department of Homeland Homeland Security and the key part of our grant.
- In our program is our SROs building relationships with students and and we certainly got the right
- three guys to do that.
- And they do it very well.
- They're really the most popular people on campus.
- So I'm going to turn it over to Alec Jason and Shannon.
- Thank you. Like Dr. Sanders said he asked me to come to the board meeting and just kind of give a
- rundown of myself and then the other SROs.
- So before or some of you might not know but I've been a police officer since 2012. I've been with L.L.P.D.
- since 2014. I worked patrol until 2020 when I took the second SRO job.
- And then in twenty three I got promoted to sergeant over the SRO division.
- So speaking about the SRO program it started in 2014 with one part time guy that later that year he
- was elevated to a full time position.
- And then it was one guy from 2014 to 2020 when I was hired.
- In twenty three we were extremely fortunate to bring on the third SRO. I can't speak how great this
- is. We're able to focus on building the relationships in our own buildings versus having to cover
- multiple buildings at once.
- Obviously I do cover three buildings but I feel like I do a pretty good job of splitting my time
- between all three of them.
- We get a lot of questions about what we do and to be frank we do a lot of talking.
- We talk with of course the students but staff and the admin on a daily basis.
- When I'm at work I want people to know they are appreciated and they can trust me.
- I'm a very happy-go-lucky type of person so when I'm talking my goal is to make you smile.
- Of course there's lots of high-fives, fist bumps and hugs.
- I start every day by directing or start every starting in both my day by directing traffic
- at the corner of Reves and Sycamore to get all the parents in and out safely.
- After directing traffic I head inside and check in with my staff at EIS since that's where my home
- base is at
- and then move my way over to EIS or EPS.
- Lunches run typically between 11 and 1 so I try and be at all those lunches but the key words try.
- Sometimes I get pulled a different direction.
- I love checking in with teachers in their classrooms and getting to interact with the students on a
- daily basis.
- Some of the other things that I'm a part of, I assist the SEL teams as much as possible.
- Anytime there's a kiddo that's out of control I try and assist any way I can.
- Most of the time that's just being there with the staff while they deescalate the situation making
- sure that they're safe.
- Two years ago I created the Ride to School with Officer Alec program.
- Our parents can bid on them through Santa's Workshop, the top earners for the color run at EIS,
- and then I've even had a couple teachers reach out where they've had a student that's been
- struggling in class
- and this is like an extra thing to motivate them.
- The past couple years I've done pizza lunches with the top earners in the fund run at EPS.
- I'm an ALICE instructor for the corporation, one of the school safety specialists for the
- corporation,
- and I'm a member of our school safety team.
- I truly believe that the SRO program has done amazing things for our community and schools.
- I personally can't go anywhere without being noticed.
- Any time I go to Chick-fil-A I hear somebody over in the corner.
- That's Officer Alec and that's the police officer at my school.
- One of the funny stories I like to tell is last year I was camping down at Spring Mill.
- I couldn't even get my camper backed in and there was probably a group of 20 kids.
- That's Officer Alec, that's Officer Alec.
- But one of the highlights that I think really shows the connections that we make here at the school
- is
- there was a group of, or some sisters that would run away constantly.
- And so two or three years ago they had ran away.
- We got intel that they were in Bloomington and I went to follow up on one of those leads.
- I found the girl and when I went to recover her, she initially resisted.
- And when she looked up and saw who it was, she said, "You're the police officer from my school."
- And then all was well after that.
- And then just being involved in the community.
- I'm always in attendance at the Bloomington Touch-A-Truck.
- I attend the City of Bloomington Fourth of July Parade.
- I'm a certified car seat technician.
- So I'm extremely excited to team up with Heather this coming school year
- and do like a car seat clinic offer to check parents' car seats at the open house.
- And then just community engagement.
- I can't tell you how many times people love seeing our marked Mustang mobiles,
- is what we call them.
- So anyways, I just thought I'd bring this in and show everyone.
- My wife started this a couple or three years ago,
- but this is just all this stuff that the kids have made me over the years.
- So obviously I'm not going to get all that out, but I mean, it's just endless.
- And I just thought I would share a couple notes that some kids have left for me.
- Dear Officer Alec, so first of all, I don't know how you stand outside in the cold and direct
- traffic.
- You lighten up my day and all the eagles in this school.
- I think you are the best officer ever.
- And no, I'm not just saying this to be nice.
- It's all true.
- I really remember back in kindergarten, you gave me a sticker and I cherished it.
- I cherished it.
- I still do.
- But basically what I'm trying to say is you're the best officer ever.
- Dear Officer Alec, thank you for protecting our school.
- You are very nice, funny and cool.
- We are very thankful for you sincerely.
- Thank you for protecting us and EPS.
- And thank you for being cool, flexible, friendly and funny.
- I feel secure when I see you.
- So that's all I have.
- I'll let Jason.
- All right. Hey, my name is Jason Brown.
- I'm the school resource officer up here at the high school.
- I'll kind of keep mine a little bit shorter since majority of my accolades and certifications are
- kind of things that Alec has already said that he is as well.
- But I will just say I'm glad that he mentioned that the SRO program started in 2014 because that's
- whenever I was a student here.
- So I remember as Jared Myers at the time, I remember seeing him during the school day, whatever,
- and like I assume kids do now.
- I loved going up and talking to him just about anything random.
- It didn't have to be about being a police officer or whatever.
- He was just a good presence to have in the school.
- And I really enjoyed having him in the schools.
- As far as my law enforcement background, I've only been an officer since 2020, so I'm still
- relatively new.
- And in that time, I started in the schools in the spring semester of 2023.
- So this is my third school year, but only second full school year up here at Edgewood.
- And as I had mentioned, I'm a student, former student from Edgewood, so very invested in the
- community.
- My literal entire family is pretty much from right here, so this is my home, will always be my home.
- And I truly feel honored to be able to protect and serve the future members of Ellitsville, Indiana,
- whatever community you want to put in there.
- And this, I could not think of a more rewarding position, being able to interact with the students
- of Edgewood High School.
- I tell pretty much everybody whenever I get to talking about what I do for a living that we've got
- an absolutely amazing school.
- The students are wonderful, and that's really the most I can say about it.
- It's just, there's nothing else that I could picture myself doing where I'd get as much enjoyment
- as working for Edgewood.
- But as far as my relations with the kids, my biggest goal is just to be out, be visible.
- If they want to talk to anybody about anything, I typically always try and lend my ear first.
- If they want someone more specific, then I try and help them get to that person.
- I work very closely with our admin team up at the high school,
- whether it be sitting in whenever they talk with kids about school discipline stuff,
- or if there is anything more police-related that I need to get involved with,
- obviously they have me in on that as well.
- But I would say with the people that are at the high school right now, we all work very well
- together,
- and I guess Mr. Yules right here can kind of attest.
- I feel like I've done a pretty decent job of getting to know the students
- and being someone that they can approach and not feel scared to talk to.
- But, yeah, that's pretty much all I got on my end.
- Apparently, I didn't get the memo on what to wear.
- Hi, I'm Shannon Bunger. I retired from IUPD last summer.
- I did 28 years. Usually when I'm in a room like this, nobody has more time on,
- with a badge than me, than Insert Chief Durnall,
- and I have no desire to get to how many years he's got so he can have that title,
- but I got a phone call in January that asked me if I would be interested
- in working part-time as a SRO at Edgewood, and I said, "Sure."
- And the next thing I know, I'm hired full-time, and, well, here we are.
- I start my morning out on 46th and Smith Pike,
- educating the public on stopping for school buses.
- Mr. Irwin can attest that I probably have at least one or two customers a day.
- Yes, and so they learn real quick that we need to get stopped for that because
- protecting our kiddos is the most important thing.
- When I retired at IU, I was the Deputy Chief.
- There's a little less stress in my life right now, and I like that a lot.
- I can enjoy football game days, but it's a different stress here because
- we want our kids to be safe, and so I take that pretty serious.
- My wife is a teacher in Bloomington, and unfortunately,
- their resource officers are spread thin, and so, you know, again,
- we just want to make sure all the kids are safe.
- So I can't thank Chief Durnall enough for hiring me.
- I met him a long time ago.
- I was working a traffic accident.
- He got out, put that campaign hat on, walked up and said, "What do you need, son?"
- I'm like, "Okay, boss, here we go."
- So thank you, Mr. Rentschler, thank you for making me part of the family
- at the junior high.
- My first day, Sarge took me around, introduced me, and slapped me on the back
- and said, "Well, I'll see you later."
- And the next thing you know, we had like 650 kids running through the hallway,
- so it was kind of on-the-job training, but everybody's been great,
- not only in the building, but Dr. Sanders, Mr. Irwin, you guys have been great,
- and it is truly a family over here, and I appreciate that.
- I feel welcome, I feel appreciated.
- I wasn't really surprised about how well the kids interacted with the police,
- but it did make me feel really good that, you know, even the kids that cause us trouble
- will come up and talk to you and give you fist bumps,
- and so that tells me we are doing something right, but, you know, it is what it is.
- So I can't thank everybody enough for putting a little more fire.
- You know, I wasn't ready to fully retire,
- and I said the good Lord was going to take me where he wanted me,
- and he's got me where he wants me, and that's at Edgewood Schools,
- and I'm just glad to be a part of it, and I look forward to a lot more years.
- Thank you.
- I want you to know I am so proud of this program that we've put together.
- Alec, of course, was a big factor in getting the third officer,
- and, you know, I've watched Jason grow up and known his family all my life.
- Alec I've known since 2015, and he's always been bubbly.
- I mean, when he walks into the room, it just lights up.
- Shannon, we met, again, a long time ago, worked a lot of football games together,
- and, you know, I'm just so proud to have you over here.
- It's such an honor to have you here with us.
- So, again, I appreciate all three of you so much.
- Jason called me one day and said, "Is there any part-time stuff going on?"
- And that was in November, and we ended up hiring in December, didn't we?
- Full-time in December.
- So it worked out so well.
- I knew Jason wanted to be in the community, and so we worked that out for him.
- So we're happy with you.
- We're tickled.
- We're so proud of you.
- Thank you for coming tonight.
- So happy to be back in the building now.
- Do you guys feel comfortable with our staffing level, with SROs, to handle everything?
- You're talking like the preschool?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, no, we'll be fine.
- Good.
- What's that?
- That's one of the greatest things about Edgewood Schools is, yeah, we have different buildings,
- but we're all contained right here.
- If something were to happen at the junior high or the high school, we can skip on over
- there.
- Yeah, very close.
- Very close.
- That's good.
- When I went to my SRO school in March, there was a lot of people that was covering 19 buildings,
- one person, and it wasn't like it was one building here.
- I mean, it was like a cross town and stuff.
- So I came back and said, "We're lucky to have one in each building."
- And if something does happen, I mean, we had an allergic reaction today at the junior high,
- and if that would have been worse, I mean, all I got to do is get on the radio and both
- of these guys are going to be in my building or I'm going to be in their building just
- like that.
- So we're pretty fortunate.
- I love you talking about the relationships building with the students because I recently
- started working with the city of Bloomington and one of the areas is community and family
- resource department, and they deal with a lot of people that are scared of the police.
- And so knowing that our schools, we have police officers that these kids can talk to and respect
- and, you know, just try to take that element of fear out of it.
- So we really appreciate you guys and your willingness to interact so well with these kids.
- That's critical.
- And, of course, keeping them safe is number one, but your interactions with them mean
- a lot.
- They really do.
- I hate to give Ali any more credit for things, but we're so proud of our Mustang mobiles,
- no doubt.
- And he designed, he actually designed those for us.
- Sergeant did.
- Yeah, Sergeant.
- Yeah, he designed those.
- And he's my fleet manager for our cars.
- And he and I are like a couple little kids when we started ordering cars, you know.
- So we have a lot of fun with that.
- So, yeah, they're all great, great guys.
- So glad to have you.
- Yeah, the Mustang mobile, I won't take any more time, but that took a lot of convincing.
- I had to get a graphic in front of him, and then it was, then it was sold.
- And you might know he could sell it, so.
- Well, thank you all very much.
- Thank you, everyone.
- Now that I've heard you call Sarge.
- That's gonna stick.
- Thanks, fellas.
- Awesome.
- Okay, wow, 641.
- Let's see if we can get fast through this.
- Okay, we'll move forward quickly.
- We have the consent agenda, and that's the approval of minutes for the April 21, 2025
- regular board meeting.
- We have these treasures report for April of 2025.
- And Mr. Durnall, the claims, please.
- Thank you, Mr. President for gross wages on April 11, 2025 of $816,851.91 for gross wages on
- April 25, 2025, $118,084.78 for a grant for a total there of $1,628,936.69.
- Vouchers from April 1 to April 30, $1,190,854.04 for regular vouchers from 5/20/2025 is $555,987.33
- for a grant for a total there of $1,746,841.87 for a grand total of $3,375,778.56.
- Thank you, Mr. President.
- Thank you, Chief.
- Next, we have personnel, resignations, retirements, non-renewals, leaves and terminations, C-1
- through C-19, and personnel appointments and transfers, D-1 through D-37.
- Luckily, we have a donation this month, and it's $226.12 from Donors Choose to Stephanie
- Truax's class for classroom supplies.
- And there is one field trip, which is the Edgewood High School Marching Band to Vincennes
- University for their band camp.
- And Dr. Sanders, would you like to acknowledge Teresa Steele?
- Yes.
- So, we have a retirement that I would like to recognize tonight, and that's Teresa Steele,
- 34 years as a speech and language pathologist.
- And I don't know if you know this, but my absolutely favorite teacher that I had when
- I was a kid was my speech teacher, and Mrs. Thorpe.
- So, Teresa Steele is a very special person, and we wish her the best of luck.
- Yes, I have known Teresa Steele for many years, though she looks a lot younger than I am.
- We actually graduated together from high school and known her for a very long time, and she's
- such a wonderful person, and I know she was very, very dedicated to her work here at Edgewood
- Schools.
- Okay, do we have a motion on the consent agenda?
- I move approval of the consent agenda.
- I second.
- Moved and seconded.
- Any comments?
- I would, in addition to, you know, I agree with everything you said about Teresa Steele.
- She's been a terrific asset to the corporation.
- I also want to acknowledge the departure of Jenny Althoff, department head of the special
- ed department of high school, and I worked with Jenny for a number of years, and she's
- been terrific.
- I don't begrudge her reason.
- She's been commuting from Petersburg for the last year or so, and I know that this is going
- to be a good move for her, but, boy, we're going to miss her.
- Okay, now the assistant superintendent's report.
- Mr. Irwin?
- Yes, I'll run over the cash flows with you here real quick.
- You have the education funds sitting there on top for you.
- Revenue in April was only a couple thousand dollars different than projected, so that
- was about as close to on the dot as we could get, so that's fantastic.
- Our interest on cash in the bank was a little bit lower than projected, still fairly high,
- but it was probably one of our lowest ones in well over a year, and that was something
- that was expected we'd been talking about and not continuing to count on that, so when
- you look forward in the cash flows as it relates to interest on cash in the bank, you see that
- that number is always a little bit lower moving forward, but again, that's something that
- the last couple years have been pretty fortunate with the interest that we've earned on cash
- in the bank, but we didn't expect that to continue on for forever.
- I did update our expected tuition support based on what the legislature passed as it
- related to the school funding formula, so I recreated that in my spreadsheets, and then
- I pushed that out through the first six or the last six months of this calendar year,
- so that's reflective of that new formula.
- Those numbers are also reflective of everything being flatlined, so we took everything static
- as they were from counting day and what our current tuition support grant numbers are.
- That's what that number would be, and then along with that, built into that number is
- the curricular material appropriation.
- That is something that they just moved that into the formula.
- That's not actually new revenue, so when you look at the income pieces, you'll see
- about the fifth line down, fifth or sixth line down, there's state curricular material
- reimbursement.
- At the end of that, there's nothing there anymore because that number got pushed back
- into the monthly tuition support payment, and the difference of that is about $175,000
- as far as a downturn on year and cash balance, and mostly that's related.
- Instead of getting it in one big drop from the state, it's being built into the monthly
- piece.
- Again, on average, if everything is static, it's about 1.4% of an increase on tuition
- support based on what the legislature passed for us.
- I've already started working on 26 as far as a detailed look like this and some of those
- pieces, but that is an updated number as it relates to what the legislature passed.
- Then when you get into our expense side of things, those came in a little bit lower than
- projections, which I always like to be a little bit high on those things.
- I'd rather project a little bit high and stay on the safe side, but I did tweak some things
- as far as expenses moving forward, just trying to key in a little bit on some of our numbers
- as it relates to staffing and payroll.
- Then again, just a reminder, in years past, I've typically projected some sort of uptick
- in salary increases already at the end of the projections.
- I've not done that this year.
- Everything is static as far as it relates to what you see in the projections as far
- as the look into as far as how much cash we're eating into.
- We are in a great place cash-wise, but I would rather put it like that right now so that
- you guys are seeing that as it moves forward.
- I'd just like to remind you of that.
- That's something a little bit different than what I've done in years past, but we've
- been pretty aggressive in the raises that we've given the last couple of years as it
- relates to new money.
- That's just reflective of that as we move forward into the ongoing year.
- Again, we're in a great place with cash.
- We continue to be mindful and strategic about how we handle things moving forward, but we're
- in a good place.
- I'll move over to the debt service fund.
- No revenue into the debt service fund in April.
- You guys know that that's very typical.
- We did pay a small trustee fee, and then the DLGF released their circuit breaker report.
- They released that for essentially every county in the state of Indiana, and that circuit
- breaker report gives you an updated expectation on what to expect as it relates to revenue
- loss for numbers that are above the circuit breaker cap, so that's the money that comes
- off of your levy, and so I've updated our debt service fund based on that circuit breaker
- report, which we ended up a little bit better off based on what we showed when we did budget
- back at the end of last year versus what the circuit breaker report shows right now, and
- that's just updated numbers.
- I look back on historical trends as far as what we've seen the last couple of years as
- it relates to this report and what we've actually received, and in debt service, it's been pretty
- true.
- I mean, it's not to the dot, but it's pretty true, so it is a pretty accurate report as
- it relates to debt service, and then, you know, when you get into the operations fund, I'll
- just kind of slide off on that because that is one of the big differences in the operations
- fund is that is our other tax levied fund where we receive property tax dollars, and
- so I did update those numbers as it relates to the circuit breaker report for the operations
- fund, and that's just that top line at the top of the income section on your cash flows
- report.
- Again, we ended up a little bit better off than what the DOGF projected and what we thought
- we might see when we did budget, and so it's always good to see those numbers come in as
- far as the loss goes, being a little lower than what we anticipated, so that's a good
- thing for the fund.
- As it relates to everything else in the operations fund, you know, we are again sitting in a
- great place as we're working on, and we're going to ask for approval tonight to create
- the position for the daycare, but we're going to be ready to make hires for that here soon
- for the daycare, and so we'll layer those numbers into the operations fund.
- The daycare will function out of the operations fund, just like what our before and after
- care does.
- The preschool functions out of the education fund, so those exist and account for in two
- different fund structures as it relates to what State Board of Accounts asks us to do.
- So, with that, we're gearing up for summertime.
- We've already made our list of all the things that we want to try to get accomplished around
- campus as it relates to operational and just ongoing upkeep of the school corporation,
- and so our teams, whether that's maintenance or technology or custodial, are ready to go
- for next week when the kids aren't in the building as much.
- We're not going to have summer school, but ready to start tackling summer projects and
- gearing up for the next school year.
- So, with that, I'll take any questions.
- Do your operations fund projections include caring for the new building?
- Yes, so those are layered in.
- As far as when I created the budget back in the fall of last year, that was something
- that counted for ongoing utilities to start layering in into the budget as far as it relates
- to appropriations.
- I'll come back as we get closer and relook at those numbers to make sure that I feel
- good about what's in there.
- But that's just something that's a continual process throughout the year, as when we close
- out the month in, I'm taking a hard look at what those month in reports say and then
- looking at numbers if something catches my attention and say, "Hey, is that something
- I missed?
- Is that something that maybe happened a little bit differently than what we expected?"
- And then we just continue to roll that forward and make changes and tweaks to it as time
- goes on.
- So I feel good about where we're at.
- We're in a great place.
- And so we'll take all the curve balls that are coming our way and we'll try to continue
- to hit them out of the park.
- Now permission to create the position of a daycare lead.
- Yeah, so gearing up for that new building to open for the preschool, which will include
- a daycare for our staff.
- And so we need to create the position of a daycare lead.
- That's the only position that necessarily needs to be created because we already have
- positions for instructional assistance, which is the other position that will exist within
- the structure of that programming.
- So just asking for your approval to create this position.
- The job description and everything, pay rates, all those pieces are in there.
- And that's something that's been looked over by our administration team, by Heather Kenzik,
- our preschool director, and everyone here in central office.
- Approval of creation of the position of daycare lead.
- I'll second.
- Any discussion?
- So there will be one daycare lead.
- And then on your description, it says we need to hire three people into this position.
- Those are the people, the actual instructional assistants.
- Infants one and twos, yeah, there's three rooms.
- So there'll be a lead for each room for infants one and twos.
- And then they'll have aides that will work in those rooms at various times throughout the day as
- well.
- You have to maintain a certain staffing ratio.
- And so we'll have to make sure that we have the appropriate staffing in place to make sure that we
- have the right student to teacher ratio in those rooms.
- Thank you.
- Report to Ms. Kenzik.
- That's correct.
- Okay.
- Anything further?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- Now to renew the ALICE agreement.
- So this agreement has been reviewed by Christine.
- ALICE, if you remember, is our response protocol to violent critical incidents.
- Something that we've been implementing for the last few years.
- It's something that we've rolled out with staff and students that we train with.
- We send information out to parents throughout the year as well.
- But this is just a renewal of that agreement that allows us that access to the e-learning course,
- as well as we have a number of different people in the school corporation that are trained
- to teach the programming to staff and to people around the corporation.
- So this is recommended for your renewal.
- I move approval.
- I second.
- I move to second.
- Any discussion?
- Sarge was trained.
- Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- We're serious.
- Now to renew the Sheldon photography agreement.
- Yeah, this was something we did for the first time last year.
- And so the buildings would like to continue to do that.
- This is something that costs us no money.
- It actually generates funds back to the school.
- He donates funds back to each school based on the orders that he gets,
- as well as he provides perks to staff in the building as it relates to picture packages for staff
- as well,
- which is a nice perk for the people that work here as well that have students that go to school
- here.
- So with that, asking for your renewal of this agreement with Sheldon photography.
- On the approval of the agreement with Sheldon photography.
- Any discussion?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- Now the Ted Everett's auction agreement is next.
- Yeah, this one is that would be the first time that we're using this auction service.
- This is something that we feel was worth trying.
- We've heard good feedback from other school corporations that have used it as it relates to getting
- money back for their buses and or other equipment.
- And so Christine has looked this over.
- We're going to take two of our older buses and the old white semi trailer over there that we use
- for the band to see what type of return we get on that.
- The funds that are generated from that, they end up coming back into the operations fund, which
- funds transportation.
- So when we had listed the white band trailer old band trailer, we got zero bids on it on our old
- site.
- And sometimes that's hit or miss on there.
- Sometimes we get great traction and times we don't.
- So we wanted to try this option to see if we get a good good return.
- So asking for your approval for that, please.
- Treader over to Monrovia, right?
- That's correct.
- Yes.
- Along with two buses.
- Get over there.
- Yes.
- Okay.
- Good.
- All right.
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed.
- Motion carries.
- Now move on to the EHS Cafe Furniture.
- Yeah, so this is for the new cafe furniture for the renovations that are being done at
- Edgewood High School with the expansion of the cafeteria seating area.
- And so this is to replace all of the furniture that would be in that space, including for
- the new existing the new space that's being added.
- Some of the old furniture is definitely showing its wear and tear.
- We have seats that are falling apart.
- And so it's it's time to replace it.
- We went through a couple renditions of this plan, trying to work it into a place that
- we felt was reasonable as it relates to costs.
- The first time we went through it, we were pretty excited about it until we saw the sticker
- shock and we had to quickly go back to the drawing board.
- But we feel like we have a great option here that will create a much more welcoming environment,
- enjoyable environment for our high school students.
- The seating capacity capacity on it is well over 400 students as it relates to the entire
- area.
- And so it should be something that is a great thing for our kids in the cafe as well.
- And so this is have this has already been competitively bid is through a co-op, the omnia
- co-op, which we are a member of.
- And so it's already gone through the competitive bid process.
- I didn't notate that highlighted it in the board packet so that if it were to get pulled
- in an audit, they know that we've followed our our procurement policies as it relates
- to just competitively bid on those pieces.
- So the total quote is two hundred and forty eight thousand nine hundred sixty dollars and
- ninety eight cents.
- That does include freight and installation.
- That's turnkey.
- It is a more than what we had originally budgeted for in the twenty twenty three bond as it relates
- to that project.
- But we do have sufficient funds as it relates to just interest and where we stand in current
- budget now that this is definitely doable.
- I didn't feel comfortable coming to you to say let's buy a portion of furniture furniture
- and a brand new renovated space and then leave old furniture in there.
- That has been seen better days.
- So I feel like if we're going to do it we need to do it right the first time.
- And I think that we are in a place with that bond as it relates to interest that we've
- earned on the cash in the bank that we can do that.
- So recommending your approval please.
- The purchase of the high school cafeteria equipment.
- I'll second.
- Any discussion.
- That much.
- Yeah, about 90 grand.
- Yeah, just the furniture of any value.
- I think we'll surplus it.
- Well, you'll see that a future meeting will surplus it.
- Once we know for sure the exact timeline of when this furniture will show up and then
- we'll take whatever recoupable value we can.
- Because we could transfer to the junior high probably.
- Yeah, Kent would love to have the junior high.
- I mean, how it is the furniture?
- I don't know.
- Driving a hard bargain back there.
- Yeah, we'll see.
- You said that what we're talking about purchasing is more durable than what we currently
- have.
- Yes, that was one of the things that we talked about specifically.
- I'm glad that you brought that up is getting into the structure of the attachments and how
- they function on the actual furniture itself.
- And that's a much more sturdy setup than what we currently have.
- So they've had great reviews and great experiences from customers that have that ordered that
- furniture.
- And so we feel really good about the direction that we're headed.
- Well, I also like the idea of having a variety of seating, the chairs with tables, the booths,
- the stools.
- And it can all be moved around, you know, and so all those pieces and that'll make for
- that additional dining space that we have to be a little more flexible at times, depending
- on how the high school chooses to use it for after school activities or maybe in-day activities
- outside of, you know, lunch.
- And students will be eating in the lunchroom instead of the commons.
- Eating in the lunchroom instead of the commons.
- Sure.
- Yes.
- Okay.
- That's a good thing.
- That'll be fun policing the first week of school, I'm sure.
- If we state the full amount, I may have missed it.
- 248.
- One second.
- I'll pull back.
- $248,960.98.
- Yes.
- Absolutely.
- Okay.
- Any further discussion?
- Hearing none.
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- Thank you.
- You can take a breath now.
- Now we'll move over to Jerry and Dr. Sanders for the approval of the Cascade Golf Course
- Rental Agreement.
- So this agreement provides an opportunity for Edgewood High School golfers to participate
- in competitive team golf at discounted rates, and except for the Mustang invitation and
- the WIC conference tournaments, Cascade does not charge Edgewood High School to use the
- course, and that's for practice and team competitions.
- Athletes can purchase a membership at a reduced cost, I think it's $150, and so we really
- appreciate the partnership we have with Cascade Golf Course and the opportunities that our
- athletes have to go to a quality course, so I recommend your approval.
- Any discussion?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- Now we'll look at the price increase to school lunches.
- Yes, so Vicki Coffey, our Director of Nutrition Services, is asking the board to approve a
- price increase of 30 cents for school lunches, and it's important to note that Edgewood schools
- have not increased the cost of school lunch for the last 10 years, and we're just doing
- that by 30 cents, so at the secondary level, it'll be $3, and at the elementary, it'll
- be $2.85, and we will still be offering free lunches at the elementary level for the 25-26
- school year.
- We definitely know that.
- So I think it's pretty good how well I think we work to provide our students with healthy
- meals not only during the school year, but even during the summer, and so I recommend
- your approval.
- We move approval of the proposed price increases for lunch.
- I'll second.
- Any discussion?
- I just appreciate what Vicki has done over the years, and yeah, it's taking 10 years
- between price increases.
- It's remarkable.
- I mean, when she took over, it was over a quarter million dollars in the red, so, you
- know, she's done fantastic with it.
- Yeah.
- Definitely.
- Okay.
- Any further?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- Okay.
- Now we're going to look at the K-12's Leading Indiana Cooperative Grocery/Dairy Bids.
- Right.
- So, we have joined a co-op, it's called CLIC, which stands for K-12's Leading Indiana Cooperative,
- and so we, that's just a good way for us to get quality state approved bids, and so that's
- what we're asking for tonight, all the bids that were presented to the board in the board
- packet are coming from this co-op, and so we're asking the board to approve those lists
- of bids.
- Accept the bids for the grocery/dairy bids.
- I'll sign it.
- Then second it.
- Do we need to list any of these out publicly on the record, or?
- I could list the bids out, the companies, which would be the US Foods Premier Company, Piazza
- Produce, specialty foods, Prairie Farms, Closterman Bakery, Commercial Food Systems, Velvet Ice
- Cream, and Smart Systems.
- Now, I have those here, and they will go into the record for this meeting.
- Is that acceptable, or would you like -- Would the amounts be easy to include, or?
- Not really.
- Okay.
- It's up to you.
- Well, since we have them here, and anybody who wishes to look through them are welcome
- to do so, since they are extensive, it would take considerable time.
- Is there -- and this board, the minutes, it will be part of the minutes, right?
- So it will be posted on our website as well, the minutes.
- So -- and again, they are here tonight for those who would want to go through them tonight,
- so I believe we can move forward with that, because again, they will be public record
- and they will be available for review easily.
- It's not easy.
- It's not as easy as just stating those to you.
- Yes.
- I'm sorry?
- Individual milk gardens, yeah, well, and they are already -- the cooperative is recognized
- by the DOE and then -- They're listed on a state-approved site.
- Right.
- Okay.
- Yeah.
- I think that's the best we can do to satisfy it in a reasonable manner.
- Okay.
- So we have any discussion?
- Hearing none.
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- No.
- We'll look at the Relay Hub, LLC Service Agreement, and this is for Medicaid building services,
- billing services.
- Right.
- So we are moving to a new company for the purpose of helping us to bill for Medicaid.
- It's called Relay Hub, LLC Service Agreement.
- And so with this new company, it's going to really provide a more efficient way for us
- to connect our processes and be able to use our Harmony student information system to
- be able to help with the entry of services and then be able to record for Medicaid billing.
- The cost for this new program will be $7,500, and that'll be annual.
- I move approval.
- Any discussion?
- It is a very specific process that you must go through and extremely detailed.
- So definitely need the help with that.
- It's one of those things where you have to get it right, and it could provide significant
- funds for the school corporation.
- And most importantly, if you don't do it right, we would miss out on some significant funds.
- Have a good success with is that part of the reason we're switching?
- I'm sorry.
- The previous provider was not.
- This just provides additional services to that will make it a little more efficient.
- Help our staff who are entering that information, it'll be make a little more automatic.
- It's creating a new special programs, IEP platform that it also will connect with.
- So there's already some built in integrations that will be useful because it's a time consuming
- process.
- So I think that our providers will be thankful for something that maybe saves them some time.
- Any further discussion?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- And our last action item of the night is to consider a contract for a deaf and hard of
- hearing teacher.
- So basically we're renewing the contract with Amy Green.
- She does a really good job for us and so I would recommend approving her renewal of her
- contract and how much are her services?
- With us?
- Yes, we pay her.
- Okay.
- All right.
- It's a fairly limited amount if I, yeah, necessary but not something she's doing full time for
- us.
- Anything, any further discussion?
- All those in favor say aye.
- Aye.
- Opposed?
- Motion carries.
- And now on to the superintendent's report.
- Yes this really won't take a lot of time but I wanted to make sure that highlighted something
- special that I think occurred at the honors night last week.
- As you know every year we have a night where we honor our graduating class and we give
- out scholarships and we gave from dollars for scholars alone 78,600 dollars in scholarships
- from their efforts and Mr. Ackerman is really an active member of that organization as well
- as Dennis Faust, Brittany Tuckers on there too and really it's a year round effort for
- that but over 78,000 dollars and in total scholarships is over a million dollars.
- So a million 38,781 dollars in scholarships overall was given out last night.
- That's pretty cool, something we should be proud of.
- And the people that, if you've never been to Honors Night, each organization personally
- gives a scholarship and they do it with great sincerity and it's not, they know the students
- and they know why they're getting those scholarships and so I really appreciate all the community
- members who come out year after year and provide our students with these really important dollars
- to help them as they go off into their next career.
- And I put here a list of end of the year celebrations like some of them happened like the high
- school
- was last week and then today we had second grade awards and third grade awards but there
- are some other award ceremonies yet to come this week.
- If you have some time in your schedule I would just encourage you to come to one or two of
- these if you can.
- I know it's a busy time of the year, kind of broke my heart this morning because I could
- see one of the students who was crying and I couldn't figure out why he was crying and
- come to find out he didn't have anybody there and so it's very important that the children
- notice when there's a big crowd of people there and so if you could come out and support
- them that would be a great thing to do.
- Last day of school is Friday and of course commencement is May 31st at 11 o'clock and
- I would like to invite each of you as board members to come to our end of the year staff
- celebration on May 27th.
- There will be a sandwich station in each school to thank our teachers and our staff for all
- their hard work this year and then at 12-15 we'll have a celebration of festivities in
- the high school gymnasium where we'll recognize our retirees, recognize teachers for years
- of service and there'll be a little bit of a competition going on there too so it's always
- a fun way to end the year I really enjoy it and I wanted to invite the board to that tonight.
- And then finally the Indiana School Board Association gives out awards to school boards
- for their involvement in terms of activities and supporting legislation at the government
- level, going to training sessions, we and our board particularly visits and participates
- in the regional meetings that we have twice a year, we also have board members who attend
- the law conference that we have every year and so as a school board you guys do a really
- good job of keeping up with what's going on at the state level with the new laws, what's
- happening in the court levels and at any rate last week our school board was given the commendable
- award for 2024 and so I just wanted to recognize that, you know we used to have a plaque in
- the old building and I got that out and it's just outdated so we're going to get a new
- plaque and start brand new with this commendable award for 2024 so congratulations to all of
- you. The ILC probably can make that for us, can't they? That's a very good idea. Sounds
- great, sounds great. Okay, now RBBEA comments and we've got our team here tonight. Oh we
- made it near the end here, good evening everybody. Reflective time of year, I'll quote Dr. Sanders,
- we've got three days left. Whether it's kindergarten, first grade or I have a lot of seniors, they're
- either checked out or they're locking in. It's one of those two phrases they've been
- using a lot but it's finals time so looking forward to that and having good conversations
- with them on kind of our quote downtime as we review. Also looking at some of these names
- on the personnel list, I can't help but mention Teresa Steele, I didn't work with her, my
- wife did forever so I knew her forever. Very beautiful person without a doubt so I congratulate
- her. Obviously Jenny Althoff, geez oh Pete, an advocate for her kids. I'm sure Mr. Ackerman
- could say the same. He's had many more conversations with her than I care to want but she was
- always
- there for her kids. I can't say enough but I congratulate her on her move, she always
- said it was a difficult decision without a doubt. And also Becky Myers who is moving
- away from our SPED department as well, we have big shoes to fill without a doubt. Appreciate
- all your professionalism and all that as I'm stepping down from COPRESS. We have a more
- than capable person here. I've done this way longer than I thought I was going to do,
- it's probably Larry DeMoss's fault. But anyways, I appreciate all your help. I think good relations
- are a vital part. Like Dana Kerr always says, it's we're a family so I think that's a big
- part of it, keeping the communication going. So that's the big piece I wanted to say and
- there you go. They have to vote me in first, I keep saying that. I just want to extend
- my gratitude to Doug because yes, he has been such a support for all of us and those are
- big shoes to fill and I know he's been trying to find someone to fill that spot but it could
- be me for a while. So speaking of new people, we have a relatively new bargaining team this
- year. We had a few members step down and so with legislation things are kind of on hold.
- I know that we've submitted our first formal bargaining which is due at the end of June
- and at that time I'll start working with Nancy on future plans but in the meantime our new
- team will be and it only consists of two, I mean this will be my second year so I consider
- myself new as well but we will be attending trainings that Nancy Guyatt will be holding
- so to educate and I hope a lot of us, they're virtual so I'm hoping that the whole team
- can attend a few of those before we start meeting in July to really, really get things
- started.
- Yeah, I've got plans to hopefully have a survey to give to teachers when we get back to just
- get the ball rolling on that.
- A couple things from this evening, I had Maya Gill as a first grader when she started experiencing
- those health issues and so it's just amazing to see where she's at now.
- That was such a huge shift for her and her family as they've been good friends of ours
- for a long time so it was just great to see her up here.
- We are really excited to have the seniors walk through our building on Thursday.
- I'm excited to see some former first grade friends of mine but we've been wanting that
- for a long time so that'll be great.
- And then finally I couldn't be here last week to welcome Matt to our team but you know today
- was our--or welcoming him into our new--his new position but today was our retirement
- party for Brenda and Vicki and that was very bittersweet but I know we are just so ecstatic
- to have Matt stepping into Brenda's shoes.
- You know I was on the interview committee and again thank you Mr. Irwin and Dr. Sanders
- and Matt's interview was two hours but it was just mesmerizing.
- You know Matt is very thoughtful in what he says.
- He very eloquent in the way he speaks and his answers were so genuine, very humble,
- too humble at times I think.
- But what really hit at home for me was when someone asked how he is going to separate
- himself from Mrs. Whittaker because I think we all know they have a very long relationship,
- working and personal relationship and he said I share the same values as Brenda but my leadership
- style will be different and you know to me it takes a lot of courage to share your convictions
- of your values and those values are at the heart of what our school has, at the heart
- of our school for 18 years so it's peace of mind for me and I think everyone else to know
- that those values will continue to be held at our school so welcome Matt.
- Thank you so much, thank you so much.
- Now it's board member comments so we'll start with Mr. DeMoss.
- Well first I'll echo what Brandy said about welcoming Matt and I agree with you it was
- he is a very thoughtful person and his answers were very genuine and well thought out and
- well placed I was very impressed with him and I've known him for a long time but it
- was just it was quite an experience listening to what he had to say so I'm looking forward
- to his coming on board as the principal of EPS.
- Thanks for the donations from DonorsChoose, welcome to the other new folks including our
- basketball and wrestling coaches, goodbye to others that's always a bittersweet time
- but a lot of people are going on to bigger and better things and congratulations to Mr.
- Yules he's served with me and he was it was just so great to have him with me and he's
- continued to lead the teachers well and I'm sure Brandy will do very well but he's done
- it with a great deal of class over the years.
- On a sad note I want to mark the passing of Sarah Robinson, Sarah Bruner but she was
- Sarah Robinson to all of us who worked with her, she died on Good Friday, she was a long
- time chair of the English Department at Edgewood High School, good friend and mentor to me
- and others and she was just a very special lady and she was 89 years old, she graduated,
- she retired in 2000 which was the year that my older son graduated and I was glad he got
- to have her, my poor second son had to put up with me but anyway I do have to report
- that the General Assembly completely failed in their mission this year, they will tell
- you that they raised funding for education, that is a half truth, they raised the basic
- grant but they cut what schools can get in property taxes and that's going to be, thank
- goodness we are in better shape than many of our neighbors and it's still going to be
- painful but they did manage to find a way to give welfare to the wealthiest of Hoosiers,
- 90 million dollars so that people that are already going to private schools don't have
- to pay for it anymore so I think it's disgusting and they should be ashamed but the ideology
- of ignorance is alive and well in our General Assembly.
- I am looking forward to graduation, I'm glad to hear about the scholarships, well deserved
- and over a million dollars is great, dollars for scholars, thank you Mr. Ackerman and also
- I just want to note that Mr. Tucker was instrumental in getting that going here at RBB and so thank
- you Brad, yes and just watching the students this evening and it's as we approach graduation
- I can see the school moving to what I think I always dreamed it could be and it's just
- so exciting that it's moving in that direction and I'm just I'm so grateful to be here so
- that's all I got.
- Thank you Mr. President, Doug, thank you so much for all you've done for us, appreciate
- that, not that you're retiring but you're getting out this, I wish Mrs. Whitaker well
- as well, I didn't make it up to her party today but I'll try to get up and see her before
- she leaves, Dr. Sanders and I had several talks over the years about safety and one
- day he told me sometimes he has a hard time sleeping at night worrying about our safety
- and that's what initiated the extra SROs and then he was successful in doing the third one
- and Matt thank you for your involvement in that as well, that's all I have.
- Thank you.
- Mr. Tucker?
- Did what Larry or Mr. DeMoss and Mr. Durnall said and I would do a thank Mr. Yos for his
- leadership with the ISTA over the years, followed Mr. DeMoss' place, correct?
- They were good to work with, Mr. DeMoss you were good to work with back in the day too
- so I appreciate all you do and Ms. A well I know you'll fill the shoes well so I am
- not going to repeat what Mr. DeMoss said because I'd say something I probably shouldn't say
- so I'm going to pass on that regarding the legislature but I do want to also thank all
- the local businesses that gave back at the senior honors night.
- They give back to help these kids out and hopefully the kids take the time to thank
- them and we'll continue to grow the dollars for scholars to look for ways to help the kids
- as well.
- So everybody be safe the last week of school and administrators catch your breath this
- summer rest a little bit but don't forget you still got to hire some people too a few
- of you so have fun with that, thanks.
- >> I do agree with everything that's been said tonight, Mr. DeMoss said it very appropriately
- and I agree with him 100%.
- Matt I'm sorry I wasn't here last week out of 18 years I've only missed two or three
- board meetings but I would vote for you so I want you to know it was 5-0 you know so
- you have my support too so I just wanted you to know that.
- I just ask that there be blessings on all the staff and teachers and students and graduates
- and that the graduates you know excel at their next step in their lives and we just appreciate
- them and appreciate all of you who made them who they are.
- With that we will adjourn.
- (orchestral music)