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.