- All this meeting the order, please stand. I pledge 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 for coming this evening and please let the record reflect that
- Mr. Tucker, Mr. Durham, Mr. Demos, and Mr. Kerr are present this evening. And our visitors, would they
- like to speak now? Would you like to speak now? Talk about that. OK. All right. The way the statute
- reads is we all retain our positions until somebody else
- takes them, so I believe we can skip the election of a temporary chairperson and we can go straight
- to elections. So are there any nominations for the position of president? I nominate Mr. Kerr. I second.
- Are there one nomination made? Are there any other nominations? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye.
- And opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. I appreciate the support. Election of Vice President. I'll nominate
- Jimmy Dernal. I second. Nomination and a second. Any further nominations? Hearing none, all those in
- favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. And now for election of Secretary. We have a nomination.
- I nominate
- Larry Dumas for the secretary. Are there any further nominations? Hearing none, all those in favor say
- aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Now the establishment of board compensation, there has
- been some changes in the statute, so would you walk us
- Through to that. Sure. First of all, congratulations, Mr. President, Vice President, and Secretary.
- Appreciate you taking on those roles again. And appreciate Angie and Brad also for all the work that
- they do. At the annual board organizational meeting, you must approve a compensation amount that the
- board will receive for the calendar year. The per diem amounts are set by the state board of accounts.
- in the Indianapolis City Council. These amounts are $150 for regular board meetings and $75 for other
- meetings. The annual compensation is set by state law and the law has changed on the maximum annual
- compensation per year and you must approve this amount. The maximum compensation cannot exceed
- 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher, which is $47,000, the maximum is $4,700. Your current
- annual compensation has been set at $2,000 for several years. I would recommend an increase of $1,000
- for a teacher
- which would make the total $3,000 for the annual compensation, which is still well under the maximum.
- So that's my recommendation. I move we establish the board compensation at $1,000 plus the, or at the
- $1,000 increase, so $3,000 plus the 150 per board meeting and 75 for other meetings. I'll second. Moved
- and seconded.
- Discussion just the recognizing that the state had waited a long time before they acted It just seems
- This is not the best time to try to go to the full amount that is allowed. So I'm I'm comfortable with
- 3000 and I think it's justified because this board has not had an increase for several years and
- Public needs to know that we have, I think, one of the hardest working boards in the state of Indiana.
- So knowing all that you do for the school corporation, I think it's well deserved. It's a lot more than
- an hour meeting once a month, isn't it? Yes. Very much so. Any further discussion?
- All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is the appointment of the school corporation
- legal counsel. This is an easy recommendation for me because Ferguson Law, once again, I think it was
- Jennifer that just said the board is not just involved one hour a month and neither is Christine.
- And it's well worth the money, believe me. Just having that person that we can text, call at a moment's
- notice and get solid legal advice, it's really beneficial to the school corporation. So I would recommend
- Ferguson Law to continue as our corporation legal counsel. So moved. Seconded. Seconded. Any discussion?
- I was trying to think the other day how long Ferguson Law has represented the board and it's been, I
- know it's been almost 30 years. It's been at least 25, I know that. I can go back to 97, I'm not sure
- about before that. Yeah, and they've always been wonderful and, you know, Dave was great during his
- tenure and Christine is just amazing at keeping us on track and,
- You know, there's a lot of things that come up. You know, you've just got to find out what the best
- legal way to handle it is. And so she is very busy helping us out. So we really appreciate her. Any
- further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is the appointment of
- the school corporation treasurer.
- Yes, so we would I would recommend Debbie Tate to continue serving as our corporation treasurer as you
- know, she's taken on other additional financial related duties for the school corporation But she's
- doing a great job she continues to work with Paul our financial consultant works with Stiefel and she's
- is doing exactly what Matt Irwin did before in terms of networking with other financial people. And
- so I would just recommend that she continue in that role. I move that Debbie Tate be retained as the
- school corporation treasurer. I'll second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
- is one of the behind-the-scenes things that you really, most people don't see much of the work this
- does, but it's a great deal of work and we appreciate her. So all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion
- carries. Now appointment of the school corporation deputy treasurer. Yeah, and this role has become
- even more important with the additional duties that Debbie has taken on. And so
- Robin May has served as our Corporation Deputy Treasurer. She's taken on very willingly additional
- responsibilities. So I recommend that Robin continues as our Corporation Deputy Treasurer. I move that
- Robin May be appointed for Corporation Deputy Treasurer. I second. Moved and seconded, seconded.
- Would second too, if I could. So, any discussion? I appreciate it. Again, it's a lot of invisible work
- that's so important. Really appreciate it. Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.
- Next is the establishment of bonds
- for the school corporation treasurer, the deputy treasurer and the ECA treasurer. Dr. Sanders? Yeah,
- in the past we've set the bond amount of $100,000 for each of the three positions. I recommend that
- we continue that practice. I move approval of the $100,000 bond for treasurer, deputy treasurer and
- ECA treasurer. I second.
- We didn't second it. Any discussion? That is $100,000 bond per person including Ms. May? Yes. Okay.
- And is that what we have to do with the state, correct? Yes. Nothing further. All those in favor say
- aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is the appointment of the secretary to the board of school trustees.
- Once again, Robin May has served in that role, does a really good job of keeping us in order and keeping
- me in order, and sometimes that's a tough job. So I appreciate Robin and all she does to serve not only
- me, but the school board. So moved. I second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
- Again, she's great at what she does. We appreciate her. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion
- carries. Now there are board appointments. There are five listed. The Athletic Council, which I believe
- is currently Mr. Durnall, as well as the Oldsville Park Board, and the Monroe County Redevelopment Commission is
- Mr. Tucker is that correct? Yeah, correct and the Aliceville town representative Mr. DeMoss and Then
- the legislative liaison to the Indian School Board Association, which is mr. DeMoss So we can either
- take these together or independently as you so choose I Recommend we take him collectively Continue
- And add one more thing, I know that you have the Reorganization Committee started in Ellsville and hopefully
- Dr. Sanders will get a point into that tomorrow. And if not, I think we need to have some type of contact
- there with the Reorganization Committee as well. Okay, yeah, that is. We need to have some type of presence.
- Yeah, it's on the packet, but we need to have that ready to go.
- Second. It's a move for approval and second to remain these appointments as they are. Any further discussion?
- All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now the 2026 regular school board meeting
- calendar. Dr. Sanders? Yes, the board approved that at the December meeting.
- Those dates have been sent out to all the media. It's on our website. And so that's just informational
- for you tonight. All right. Next is the approval of corporation bylaws and policies. So throughout the
- school year, throughout the year, we often bring to you
- revisions to the Meola policy that you vote into our own policies. And we do that throughout the year.
- We have a first reading, second reading. This is just to reaffirm your approval of our policies that
- we have for the corporation. Do we have a motion? I move approval of the corporation by laws and policies.
- I'll second.
- Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is
- the appointment of the local board of finance. Dr. Sanders. So the school board, you serve as our board
- of finance for the corporation. And tonight, essentially you have to officially appoint yourselves to
- serve as a corporation's board of finance.
- The Board of Finance meeting will be January 20th at six o'clock. Does the board wish to appoint the
- board to be the local board of finance? I have approval. Okay. And I second it. Moody's seconded. Any
- discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. So we'll have that organizational meeting
- on the 20th, right?
- And then the regular board meeting will follow right after that. And so for those that need to, please
- complete your conflict of interest forms. And with that, is there any comments the board members would
- like to make? Looking forward to a grade 26? I'm sorry? Looking forward to a grade 26. Yes. Very much.
- And I would like to recognize Katz, too, because
- They come out, they take a lot of time to set everything up. All these microphones are not for in this
- room, it's for cats, and they set all this up, and after the meeting, take it down, and sometimes the
- meetings can be long, so we appreciate them very much. Appreciate Mr. Routen with technology, Robin
- May with keeping us going, and we
- our esteemed visitors this evening. Glad you could be here. So with that, this meeting is adjourned.