- Open this meeting. 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. Please be seated. And welcome to the March 2026 regular school board meeting.
- And we let the record reflect that Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Durnall, and Mr. Kerr are present this evening. As
- my understanding, there are no visitor comments. OK. Seeing none, we'll go into our Mustang moments.
- And we have two tonight. That's the fact room. So Dr. Sanders, would you like to do the introductions?
- We'll, you know, two for the price of one. All right. You get that?
- All right, we're going to turn it over to Mr. Woody at EPS. All right. Well, some of you may know that
- relatively recently, over the last couple of years, we adopted a new reading curriculum. And when we
- adopted Amplify as the knowledge strand of our reading program during our last curriculum adoption,
- we were all curious about student engagement. While we spoke with everybody, we spoke to lots of experts
- about that curriculum, and they all assured us
- that seven-year-olds could really be compelled by units like early Asian civilizations and the War of
- 1812 and westward expansion, we were all still a little bit skeptical. But what we found is that not
- only were our students enthusiastic about those subjects once they got into them, their teachers were
- eager to learn about them and to help students make deeper connections to that new content. And starting
- toward the end of last year, our special area teachers
- started considering how they could help students make connections to those units as well. So we know
- that engaged students of course are learning students and in music, PE, art, library, at EPS our students
- have had opportunities to live out their learning and extend their comprehension of those subjects that
- they're studying thanks to the creative efforts of these amazing teachers over here and these kids.
- So they're gonna take it away. Okay, we're gonna start first with our first grade
- reading unit and how we connected it to music. And this is Eleanor and she's going to tell you what
- we did in music class and a little bit about art. In our first grade unit, we learned about fairy tales
- and folk tales. Mrs. Hudson taught us two dances that we performed for our royal ball in our classroom.
- In our class, we made castles and we also made crowns to wear at our royal ball.
- So they learned two dances and then in their classrooms, they all got to dress up and wear their crowns
- that they made and got to perform in their classroom. So I have a little video of kind of the end of
- the unit. Maybe, there you go. So just a little snippet of their end of unit celebration. Okay, and
- then in art,
- to go along with that. In art they ended up doing texture crowns to wear to the Royal Ball and then
- I connected it with they were learning castles in their fairy tales so we did texture castles and they
- learned about the different castles around the world and then they got to design their own castle in
- art. All right and then in
- arts for second grade they were learning about the Pony Express and I'm going to let MJ take it away
- from here. In our reading unit we learned about the westward expansion and how they used the Pony Express
- where is this is where the riders delivered mail by horses over long distances it was a
- hard and dangerous job because they traveled from Missouri to California. In art we learned how to make
- a convincing advertisement. A successful ad has a big picture, a big title, and important details to
- grab your attention. We created our own ads to get people to join the Pony Express. You want to show
- your examples? Here, you guys can come over here. Come over here.
- You want to show everyone? So they took paper, because back in the day, the paper, it wasn't white,
- right? It wasn't bleached how it is today. And they had to rip the edges. And what did we paint with?
- Coffee. We painted with coffee and art. And then they got to design their own advertisement and add
- their own details and make it as realistic as possible to convince people to join their Pony Express.
- And then the second grade teachers hung them throughout the hallway. So that was kind of cool to see
- everybody's take on it. They did a great job. All right. In art, or not art, I'm library. Bookworm shirt.
- Second grade teachers came to me late September and asked if I would be able to help supplement
- their books titles in each domain that were recommended readings. And I said, well, I happen to have
- pretty successful book fairs and take some of that money and it goes in my ECA account. So I was able
- to, what goes next?
- to purchase, these are some of the books that I purchased. I purchased, I think, like 15 titles, two
- books each, so that each PLC could use them throughout the week, not have to go through nine teachers
- to see where to find where the book is. And typically I kind of follow along with their curriculums
- anyway, but it was fun this year, the things that I read and their,
- Sometimes I'd hear this, they're like, we learned about that already. And I'm like, I know. So just
- hearing their little voices, some of them that you don't ever hear them talk at all, just making those
- connections was really kind of neat this year. So I'm looking forward to adding to that every year.
- So I think we're off to the Olympics. All right, I'm going to have Amos talk first and then I'll talk
- a little when he's done.
- In reading, we learned about ancient Greek, Grecian Greek mythology. We learned that the Olympics were
- first started to honor the gods and goddesses. The first Olympic games included chariot races, javelin,
- discus, and long jump. In PE class, we had our own Olympics to celebrate the end of our Greek unit.
- Our second grade Olympic games included events such as shot put, javelin, foot races, and long jump.
- This was a fun way to wrap up our reading unit.
- In the long jump, it was my favorite. I was in first place, and I got a gold medal. You did awesome.
- So yeah, we got all our second grade students into the gym, and we had five different events going on.
- And some of these events they'd never heard of, so it was really fun. We did the shot put instead of
- discus for some safety reasons. And javelin, we did. But you did it, second grade style.
- We're gonna have Amos and Archie are gonna show you how. They did it, so be aware down there. There's
- a way to do it. Remember how you stand? Yep. Ooh, that was a good one. All right, go ahead, Archie.
- Yeah, nice. All right, and there we go.
- So they did not introduce themselves, but I want to introduce these teachers before they walk away.
- Jenna Hudson, Maria Koos, Whitney Goodwin, Brittany Padroni, and Sarah Fig are marvelous special area
- teachers at EPS. And I want to go back to something that Maria said. Sometimes a moment just doesn't
- click in the typical classroom setting.
- and you get into library or you get into PE and you get into music and you get into art and you just
- hear something or get to experience something in a different way and that's when it clicks. And this
- has just been so marvelous to see our special area teachers take off with our Amplified curriculum.
- So thank you guys and thank you kids.
- great presentation. Anytime you can make connections like that for students, it just enhances the learning.
- My wife's a second grade teacher, and she just loves the curriculum and just finds it so interesting.
- And she says that the students really, really enjoy it.
- It's actually a three for one night. Junior high is bringing two things this evening. I'm gonna turn
- it over to this dynamic duo of Mrs. Callie Schlemmer and Mrs. Brittany Straw to talk about transitions
- from our elementary schools into the junior high. It's a big change for a lot of our students. And then
- once that's over, Mr. Siglin's out in the hallway and I'll turn it over to him. So up next. Awesome.
- So if you think about your life,
- when you were in elementary school, and then all of a sudden, you had seven classes a day, a locker,
- different teachers. Your parents were not contacted every week or even every day. You had to start asking
- teachers your own questions or advocating for yourself. You can see that this alone is a huge transition
- in our students' lives. Couple that with, sorry, junior high students,
- High emotions, brain transformations, puberty. These transitions from especially fifth grade to sixth
- grade are hugely important. They help our students build their confidence and keep their confidence,
- build their self-efficacy so that they know they're a part of the school. They know that what they have
- to do every day
- and they can then focus on their learning. So we're going to talk about the different things that we
- do for this transition, and then you'll hear from a few of our sixth graders about what this was like
- this year. So the first thing that we do is in March, and we invite our fifth grade students to come
- tour the school. So they hear from the junior high band, the junior high choir, they take a tour of
- the building with current junior high students,
- they get to practice opening a locker. And it's pretty hard these first few times. And then you can
- also see in one of these photos, they stand against the wall to watch a passing period. Because up to
- this point, they're walking through the hallways in lines with a teacher guiding them, whereas here
- they're on their own to make that time whatever it is they need.
- We also host something for parents because it's a big transition for parents as well. Our fifth grade
- parent and guardian night is actually tomorrow night. And so we are welcoming fifth grade parents as
- well as new to the corporation next year families to come learn about what we're like at the junior
- high. They're going to learn about expectations, schedules, different supports, and all of the activities
- that we have at the school.
- In May, we take a group of junior high students to each individual fifth grade classroom. So the fifth
- graders get a chance to ask these eighth graders typically whatever they're still thinking about. They've
- seen the school in March. What are they still wondering about in May? So that's a day where they really
- just get to make it their own. From there, Mrs. Straw.
- So from there, we transition from the idea that these students are leaving elementary and really welcome
- them into just, hey, we are now part of the junior high crew. And so we start off in August with our
- Colts Roundup. This is a pretty high energy event. Our students come over. They are engaged in a scavenger
- hunt to help figure out where different things are around the building.
- They get their schedules. They again get some time for their locker. And they leave there with a Colts
- t-shirt so that they can really feel a part of the team, like they belong. And from there, we transition
- into an open building. So we will welcome the students only for this event, two to four-ish, a few hours.
- And then after that, we welcome
- students and their families into the building for a more self paced introduction into the building.
- So it's a little bit less chaotic, a little bit less overwhelming. They can find a route to their locker,
- to their first period class. And really the hope is that when they come on that very first day, they
- know exactly where they're reporting to really minimize that first day stress.
- Once the school year gets started, we then welcome our families back for open house.
- And this is a time where our teachers are present. They talk about their goals for the year,
- their curriculum, the great things that the students have to look forward to. And they get to walk their
- students' schedule themselves and see what passing periods feel like. And is four minutes really long
- or is it too short? And I think they end up agreeing that this is a good amount of time for our junior
- high students to be in the hallways.
- Then to end my portion of this presentation, our counselors, so Ms. Schlimmer and I, we make sure that
- we meet every sixth grade students for what we call a minute meeting.
- And we do this for a lot of intentional purposes. But one of the things that it allows us to do is to
- slow down, to really build a relationship with these kids, be face to face with them, make sure they
- know how to get in contact with us as safe adults if they have questions about anything from their schedule
- or friends, whatever the case may be. We generally try to find out something fun or unique about them
- that we can use then as we're getting to know them, see them in the hallway, make sure that we reference
- whatever that
- dialogue was just again to let them know that they matter and they had our full attention for a full
- minute. So then by the time that this happens, our now sixth grade students have had five different
- touch points by EJHS faculty, staff, and student leaders. And this is in an attempt to really make sure
- that their junior high transition is based on just like that emotional security and also just like a
- physical comfort
- that will then just hopefully set up their next three years really well at the junior high. I'm gonna
- turn it over to Mishlimmer, who's going to introduce our students to talk with you. Yes, so I'd like
- to welcome up Zach Dabbart, Will Ryder, and Briella Gardner. And I know we talked about what order you
- were gonna talk outside, and I'm sorry, I don't remember what that is. So, take your spot.
- You guys go. Yeah, feel free. First, I wanna talk about my experience with Colts Roundup.
- It was a great time to come, get your schedule, check things out. And the scavenger hunt was great,
- being able to check out the school, learn your way around a bit, and figure things out. And the sixth
- grade minute meetings, it was great to be able to ask your counselor questions, any more thoughts you
- had about stuff you hadn't already been told.
- know that you can come to them if you ever need something, so yeah. Thank you. Thank you. During the
- fifth grade visits, the students could have a time to try to open the lockers and look around the building.
- I think the passing period part of it was really helpful because fifth grade students are walking around
- with their teachers around the building, and they can see what it's like to not have to do that.
- And then the first week of school is usually really stressful for incoming sixth graders because they're
- trying to figure out where all their classes are still. But the teachers are really nice and they usually
- allow a couple tardies the first week before they actually start getting serious and they are able to
- help kids with their locker combos and getting around the building. The open house was really helpful
- because of
- like it was a reenactment of what you really would do during the school day. So it allowed you to open
- your locker, walk around, just find where your classes are before school really started. Yeah, four
- minutes is a good amount of time to walk around.
- They have extra time. Okay, extra time left over. Dang, all of us in the room that had five, six, and
- seven-minute passing periods are looking at you guys like you guys are rock stars to figure that one
- out. Awesome. Well, thank you. That is what we have for you. Thank you.
- One of my boys at an orientation like that went up to open his locker and he couldn't get it. All his
- friends were helping him. They couldn't get it. I went over. I couldn't get it open. The assistant principal
- finally came over. He couldn't get it open. Here they changed the lock on paper but not on the actual lock.
- He was getting really frustrated. That was not a good start. You guys are doing an awesome job getting
- our students ready for junior high. That can be a scary event. And I really like how they stand in the
- hallway and watch how a passing period works. I never thought of that before. It is very well thought
- out process. Hi.
- What do you got there, Mr. Singh? We got some trophies over here. Just we're flexing a little bit. We
- want to recognize our eighth grade girls basketball team. As sixth graders, they came in and you kind
- of knew that they were a little bit of a special group. I think they went seven and one. The one loss
- was at Bloomfield.
- But that was obviously officiating. That wasn't anything to do with the way we did things. And then
- as seventh graders, they won their first 24 games of the season. And then that last game of the season,
- they didn't go the way that we had planned it. But this year was a pretty special season. They started
- the year with a mission, and they completed that mission. They ended the year 24-0 this year.
- So if you calculate that up over the course of three years in junior high, they ended up 55 and 2, which
- I don't know of a group that's ever finished that well. At least I know from the time I've been here,
- I know that the senior class that just graduated had a pretty special middle school group, but I think
- maybe 19 and 3, 20 and 2 maybe was the best season that they had.
- But they've accomplished something that very few people have accomplished. We even increased the difficulty
- of our schedule this year by picking up some different teams. And they rose to the challenge. So at
- the end of the year, it says a House District Declaration from House District 46. Robert Heaton,
- it says, a declaration in recognition of Edgewood Junior High School eighth grade girls basketball team
- from Ellisville, Indiana for exemplifying excellence, teamwork, and determination
- as one of the most accomplished middle school athletic teams in Indiana, bringing pride to their school,
- their families, and their entire Ellesville community. So I'd just like to recognize those girls. We
- had Carmen Fry, Maggie Johnson, Audrina Truax, Bailey Clark, Timley Jablonski, Kaitlyn Ripley,
- Kirsten Walker, Averyonna Richardson, Story Heckman, Chloe Wyckoff. And then we had two managers, Sophia
- Corbin and Emma Caudel.
- And then Jason Sims coached this group all the way through from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. And
- unfortunately, it's been an honor for him to coach for us. But after 17 years in middle school, which
- doesn't happen very often, this is Jason's last year. So we just greatly appreciate all the work that
- he's done for Edgewood Junior High School and the athletic community, and just the community in general,
- just being an outstanding coach and even a better person.
- working with our girls. So you can see we won back-to-back WIC conference championships. We won eighth
- grade county this year. We won, we went over to Owen Valley and took their trophies twice. We went down
- to Bedford and took their trophy. So this group just deserves the recognition and everything that comes
- with it. So our eighth grade girls passed.
- At one of our principal meetings, he was so excited. He just really implored us to come to the next
- game. And so I did. And I was impressed. I can't wait for the next four years. You guys, I think you're
- going to accomplish some even bigger things at the high school level. And you're such great sportsmen.
- throughout the game and very proud of all of you. And don't our students, speaking of all the students
- who spoke tonight, they just speak so well at these meetings. I get excited every meeting when I hear
- our students. They do a better job speaking in public than I do, and I'm impressed with them,
- so very good. Thanks, Tori. So nobody's going to go to the quarter already.
- Nobody's going to the portal. We can't even give them a coffee or a bubble drink in high school or otherwise
- they are exempt from anything. So we are very careful about that, right, Mr. Ackerman? We don't cross
- that boundary at all. Thank you very much. Great job. And you're all welcome to stay for the superintendent's
- report at the end.
- Thank you. Great job. Good job. Good job. They are a fun group to watch on the court. They are so athletic
- and spirited. I mean, and they're all in. I mean, they're all utilizing the court in some way, and it's
- a fun team to watch.
- I don't understand what happened. I guess when you go into a classroom, if you want to know who's going
- to be the administrators, just look in the back row. That's where they'll be. That's just a sign they
- must go to church.
- Okay, wow. What a great evening. So we now have to get down to business. And so we have the consent
- agenda. We have the approval of minutes from the February 17th, 2026 regular board meeting, the February
- 24th, 2026 special board meeting. We have the financial report.
- which is the Treasurer's Report for February of 2026. And Mr. Doolittle, the claims, please. Thank you,
- Mr. President. For gross wages on February the 13th, 2026, is $813,791.45. For gross wages on
- February 27th, 2026, $861,677.79 for total there $1,675,469.24. For vouchers pre-pay from February 1st
- to February 28th is $1,267,457.44.
- for claims regular vouchers on March 24th, 2026 is $504,229.32 for a total in that area, $1,771,686.76
- for a grand total of $3,447,156. And that's it, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Next we have personnel,
- resignations, retirements, non-renewals, leaves and terminations.
- C1 through 20 and number 22 excluding number 21. And D, personnel appointments transfers, D1 through
- 15. And donations, we're happy that there is a donation of $500 for the Angel Fund from the Reeves Club.
- And there are also two out of state and overnight
- field trips. One would be the high school baseball team to Jasper, Indiana for the Hall of Fame Classic,
- and one for the high school ELOTS, E-L-O-T-S, to Bradford Woods, May 4th to the 9th of 2026. Dr. Sanders,
- would you like to comment on those two? Sure. The baseball trip is just an annual trip to the baseball
- Hall of Fame Classic. That'll be
- May 8th and 9th, and then the ELOT students or high school students who join the fifth graders at Bradford
- Woods and provide services
- such as mentoring the students, helping supervise the students. And it just is a great, a lot of times
- a great memory for them to go back to Bradford Wood because oftentimes they were there when they were
- in fifth grade. And so it's just a great opportunity for our students and that'll be the week of May
- 4th, May 4th through 6th and then 6th through 8th. Do we have a motion?
- All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Dr. Sanders, would you like to recognize
- a few? Yeah, there's two retirees that I would like to recognize. Allie McLaughlin, who has taught for
- 32 years, is retiring. And she's just a sweet person. And I know she's probably going to be very busy
- in retirement.
- but we will definitely miss Ali. And then of course our awesome Dirk Ackerman after 39 years in education
- is retiring and really I could go on for a long time tonight just talking about what Mr. Ackerman has
- meant to thousands of students over the years. You walk over to the high school
- and he's very, he's one of those principals that's very student-centered. Especially to get a good picture
- of that would come to the overnighter where that's where you build relationships and those relationships
- lead to students enjoying being in school and leads to academic success and it all begins with teachers
- and principals who
- know the students' names and make every decision with the best interests of the students in mind. And
- so we're going to miss having Dirk around with all the history and knowledge that he has and just appreciate
- all that he's done for us over the years. Having three kids has gone through the system. I've always
- been impressed how many of the students
- Dirk remembers. I mean, you know, I'm impressed when teachers remember lots of students, but when principals
- can remember that many students, it's just, I mean, it's something special to be able to have that kind
- of relationship with a student. So we appreciate you so much. He's remembered them when they came back
- as parents and many generations. So it's one of those things that if he finds out that he had a parent
- or even not grandparents, right? Have we gotten to that point?
- Have we gotten to a point that there's a grandparent that was a former student? I don't think so. Okay.
- I would hope that we haven't gotten there yet. But it's so interesting because he always says, I know
- your uncle, or I know your mom and dad, or I know, and he always puts those connections together and
- he makes those kids feel so special in that moment. I'll say this, there were a few kids in here,
- I was just making sure. I mean, we do have really young parents sometimes, so I was just making sure.
- Not everybody has children in their late 30s, so. Okay. Next, we do have a supplemental personnel report.
- Dr. Sanders? Yes. As with any employee who comes into the
- school system, we do background checks and by state law, if there is something that we want to bring
- to the board's attention that we do that and that has been sent to the school board. But we would like
- to approve David Jobito who will be the second shift custodian at the junior high and we recommend your approval.
- Moved, seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we'll move to our construction
- progress update. And we have Martin with us tonight. Martin Truesdell from Skillman. Thank you.
- Come on up. I don't know nearly the crowd here. Construction progress.
- I guess I'll call it the previous project, the project we've just finished. We've got a few loose ends
- we're doing there. For instance, at the field house, we have to do a display case. We have to deal with
- the overhead door, a little bit of water coming in. But at this point, everything's done and functional,
- with the exception of we do have a asphalt project to do some speed humps around the building.
- And the weather's just about right that we'll be starting that pretty quickly. Future projects, I guess
- are now current projects. We have the playground project at the elementary school. We have started that.
- The first thing they did was get their fencing up and get the topsoil stripped off. They've done that.
- We're moving fairly quickly now with that.
- We'll do the hardscape stuff like the curbs, pavement and concrete flat work will be the next. We feel
- like we will probably be mid end of May finishing that project up. So we'll kind of work through the
- rest of the school, excuse me, school year on that. We've got the, all right.
- Okay, we got railings, turf. I'll wait until we get to those. So the next thing I think I'll talk about
- is we have the, I'll talk about the railing project. No, let me back up. We have the roof projects going
- on. We have had our pre-construction meeting on that. We met with the roofing contractor.
- There's a collaboration they have to do with the Mason, so we've gotten those two guys involved. We're
- getting shop drawings on that now, and we've gotten the submittals for the roof material, so we're real
- close. As soon as the architect approves the submittal, then we can go ahead and get that material ordered.
- And it's a fairly short lead time material, so we should be able
- move forward on that. Along with the roof project, we bid the mechanical project, which is the boilers
- at the junior high school and the high school. The boilers were seeing the submittals come in on that.
- They just submitted the pumps, which is the long lead time thing. So we're kind of pushing the designers
- to get that approved. We won't see any of that happen until after the
- end of the school year. We do wanna get in on the roof projects, the high bays, the taller part of the
- building, which would be the gym and over the cafeteria and over the ancillary spaces to that. We're
- gonna try to get those going during the school year because we feel like we can work up there with minimal
- disruption by not being over the classrooms. So we're pushing the,
- roofing contractor to get that going. As soon as school's out, then we're gonna hit the classroom areas.
- And the goal is to get the classroom areas at least significantly complete before school starts. We'd
- get all the tear off done. The goal is to get the tear off done, the membrane in. And then once school
- starts, we might be doing copings
- or detailing or flashings or that type of thing. And if it all works out that way, we should be able
- to get any noisy work over the classrooms down over the summer. So then I'm looking here, the next thing
- is the gym railings. We assisted you all with getting quotes on the gym railings as opposed to bids.
- Because of the dollar scope of the project, we didn't have to go through
- We picked three contractors that we knew could do the work. They worked with City Glass, which is a
- glass company, obviously, and Geiger-Peters, which will do the steel railing, and they incorporated
- that into their bid. So, Dr. Sanders, it's a complete package. They'll do the demo. They'll tear out
- what's there.
- they'll pour the floor, they'll put the railing in, paint the railing, and put the glass inserts into
- the railing, and that's all in one package. The low quote on that was Ripburger, and they were at 124.6,
- which was, Dr. Sanders, I think I had guessed 125, so we were,
- It's about what we anticipate. When we get to that item, I'll have the exact price. Okay. Move on to
- the turf project. Yeah. Baseball and softball turf project. We are asking for permission to take that
- to bid. We've gotten the contract documents from Lancer
- And we've actually already posted those with Eastern Engineering, who does a distribution. There are
- really only five contractors in this area that can do that work. It's pretty special work. And at this
- time, four of the five contractors have picked up drawings, so we're seeing significant interest. There's
- a little challenge getting more than one or two bidders on that,
- It's such a small community, they all know what their prices are and if they think they're high, they'll
- go do something else. But we're hoping to get a couple, three bids on that. And that's a full bid process
- on that. We did go through a design development estimate and then we did a final design estimate and
- we're right in the ballpark where we thought we would be
- So any questions on that? Oh, and I do want to point out we did have a, what we call a page turn a week
- ago, two Fridays ago, we came in and Arnold and. Jerry Bland. Yeah, Jerry, I'm trying to think who all
- was there. Anyway, we went through with the interested parties, went page to page and actually the,
- designers made a few tweaks to it at that time, and they've incorporated that in their drawings and
- gotten them out. So we feel like there's been a good opportunity for the RBB group to take a look at
- it and be sure about what we're putting on the street. And with that, we need to advertise. We need
- to advertise two times, seven days apart. If we get approval now, Dr. Sanders, I think we agreed
- That would be April 1st and April 8th, and then we would take the bids on April 15th. Keep moving along.
- No, you're good. Because I'm not going to talk about wellness policy. Yeah, we can move on. So if there
- are any questions on that, that's good.
- We have action items for each of those, Martin. Okay. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. We're a busy
- place this summer yet again. Okay. And speaking of the EHS gymnasium railings, that is the next action item.
- to approve the quote for those. And so Dr. Sanders. So we started on these projects for the new bleachers
- at the junior high and high school back in October. The bleachers at junior high are installed. They
- look really awesome. You ought to go up and check them out. The high school bleachers are in progress.
- So in the upper level on the side where the bleachers are mobile,
- Those new bleachers have been installed. On the opposite end where the bleachers are permanent, we've
- basically taken the old covers off, painted the bleachers, painted the floors, and the new bleachers
- are presently being installed in the upper level. So as we began into this, got into this project,
- We knew we were gonna have to do some adjustments to the railings because the current entrance from
- the lower level to the upper level is different from the new bleach, what the new bleachers will be
- like. But when we went to look into getting new railings, we found out that the code had changed.
- And that the railings now had to be, I think it's 42, 43 inches. And so that involves a lot more work
- than we anticipated. But it's still within the budget that I had set for the whole bleacher project.
- So the cost of putting new railings and new glass up is $124,600.
- You have a motion? I'll second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? There's a picture. They're kind
- of what the railings will look like. Only ours will be black metal, but that's how the glass will look.
- But you said they'd be painted black. They'll be bright. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- Motion carries. And now we will look into the advertisement to bid the baseball and softball turf projects.
- So as Martin already shared with you, we need to advertise for this project. The advertisement will
- be in the paper April 1st and April 8th, and we'll have the bid opening on April 15th. The advertisement
- was in the board packet for your review.
- Oh, second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed?
- Motion carries. Now consideration to approve revisions to the wellness policy number 8510. Yes. So this
- is a second reading. So you already had the first reading. So tonight we're asking you to approve revising
- the wellness policy 8510.
- And what it does, it's important that we do this because it's going to bring our policy up to a line
- with current national health standards. And so we asked the board to approve the revisions of wellness
- policy 8510. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.
- Now we have revisions to the food service program policy number 8,500. Right. So this policy is also
- you had last month had the first reading. Tonight we're asking for your approval. And really it makes
- our practice and our policy aligned, which you always want to do that. So that's we don't basically
- Our old policy said that we allowed students to charge, and basically we always feed students, whether
- they have the funds there or not. They get a choice of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a grilled cheese,
- or a delicious sub sandwich, and those include all the five components of the MyPlate guidelines, and
- so we recommend your approval.
- Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we have consideration
- to approve a quote for the boardroom sound system and also we're looking at the approval of installation
- of a boardroom wall display. Right.
- asking if we could do these two items together. And really I want to thank Susan Shockney, Robin May
- and Rick Routon for helping on these projects. The cost of the sound system in here will be $40,485.72
- and that quote was awarded to Howard Technology Solutions.
- I don't know about you. I wear hearing aids, but I still cannot always hear clear out the other end
- of the table, especially if we have a student up there speaking. And it's just very important for people
- to be heard. And not only will this sound system help with being able to hear better, but it'll help
- with the cats and being able to live stream our board meetings on cats.
- and make that process a lot better. And then this room is used an awful lot for events that brings the
- public in here. First of all, through CATS once again, the public gets to see what our boardroom looks
- like. We bring the business leaders advisory team in here twice a year.
- We have the champs meeting that is in here. So we want to be able to put our best foot forward. And
- so we have a logo that will go up here and pictures of each school over on the other side. We'll be
- using Green Sign Company for that. And the cost of that project will be $11,909.
- I don't know if Susan or Rick have anything they want to add to that. Or if you have any questions,
- ask them. Do we have a motion? I'm really glad that you, I know you really wanted to put the board member's
- faces across the bat, so I'm glad you steered away from that idea. I just really didn't want that, so
- I'm glad you
- you decided not to do that. And the sound system, I personally really need that. It's very hard to hear
- the people at the podium. They all think that these are sound projecting. So they talk into them really
- well. But it's very difficult to hear, especially the students. So I just smile and nod my head like
- I am hearing them, because I want them to think I am.
- Really not. But anyway, so I'm glad to get both of these. Did we indicate the vendor for each of those?
- Yes. Yeah. Howard Technology Solutions for the sound system and Green Sign Company for the display.
- Okay. We have a first and a second. Any further discussion?
- All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. Next we have approved the SMART Grant
- Amendment Number 4 with Indiana University. And we'll turn to Jennifer Barrett. This is the fourth amendment.
- You'll see another one at the end of the year. Basically at the start of every grant we sign an agreement
- with IU or whoever our partner is
- entering into the grant and the research services and things like that that they'll provide to us. As
- each year goes along, they send us an amendment for that year with the amount that we're looking at
- basically paying to them on a reimbursement basis. So this is year four of the SMART grant. We're looking
- at approximately $194,741 that we would be paying to IU for their services with the SMART grant.
- Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. The next two we have Vicki
- Coffey for and these are quotes for equipment purchase. One is for the junior high kitchen and the other,
- we'll take them separately, the other is for the Edgewood intermediate kitchen. So first the junior
- high kitchen.
- So for the junior high school are milk cases there are over 13 years old and they've been through all
- kinds of good stuff with summer feeding going in and out and that and we just need to replace them.
- We're seeing a few more repairs than what we should. So that's the first item. And of course you have
- the three quotes there.
- Total it's about $13,000. So we just wanted to bring that to you for approval for the junior high milk
- pieces That's that one first in the vendor Vendor for that one a shirt Lancaster shirt. They won both
- of the bids. Okay Pricing of course, it's the exact same equipment that went out for the three the three
- quotes and
- Oh, so it's the same equipment at both places? Actually, no. I'm sorry. The milk cases are at the junior
- high. And then the next thing on the agenda are two sets of reach-in coolers for the intermediate and
- the primary schools. So those two are the same. That's also Lancaster Shirt is who came in, the lowest
- bidder with them. Those two schools, those units there, the reach-in refrigerators are 24 years old.
- So they've done a pretty good job. But we're also seeing quite a few more repairs there at the intermediate
- and the primary school. So we'd just like to replace them, both of those sets, both schools 24 years
- old, both are seeing quite a few repairs. So when we're looking at refrigeration, we wanna make sure
- that we get those taken care of, quit putting more refrigerant,
- That's what the word used to be. I don't know what it is anymore. But in those and that, so we're just
- ready to replace those. And of course, this money of $43,000 will be coming out of the lunch fund for
- those replacements. OK. So there are $43,000 apiece? Total. So $13,000 is the milk cases, and $40,000
- is the total for both refrigerators.
- So we're looking at $53,000, sorry. And that'll come out of the lunch fund, which we're at $435,000
- right now in the bank. OK. I guess we can take them all together. So we'll move and second. Moved and
- seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much. Thank you.
- Thanks for your time. Next is consideration.
- to add the voice software module. And we have Susan Shockney for that. Hi. Hi. So CompuTrol might be
- a word that you're familiar with. We've been with CompuTrol since 1996 or 1997. I'm not sure exactly.
- And in 2018, they switched over to a company called Voice. And we've continued on with that system.
- That's a system that Debbie knows inside and out.
- as the treasurer since 2015 and a system that I've worked in for a long time. And Boyce just keeps looking
- to improve their system. For the last few years, we've been looking around to add some efficiency to
- our onboarding, add some efficiency to all of our processes with payroll and with HR and some things
- like that. And as we're looking,
- didn't look like adding this system out here. This system out here was going to bring efficiency. It
- was just going to be another system to have to enter things into and then combine it all together. So
- voice in 2024 in the fall of 2024 introduced something called the employee hub. And right now we are
- asking to bring that on as a module to our added voice software system. It's going to help us with
- Employees are going to be able to log in and see things in real time. They're going to be able to submit
- forms that we've always done by paper, tax forms, changes of address, things like that. And they're
- going to be able to log in and just submit that electronically. Some of the other paper processes that
- we have are going to be able to eventually go away also. Right now, they have it in front of you. They
- have three tiers. We're looking to add the pro tier. They haven't finalized the enterprise
- tier yet, but we're looking to add the pro tier initially and then eventually adding the enterprise
- as soon as it's ready to go. The cost of the pro tier is $15,066, also $1,500 for document storage and
- an additional $1,500 for the initial training. So I'm asking for your consideration to add that. Moved
- and seconded. Any discussion?
- Modernization, okay. Thank you. Sounds great. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.
- Okay, next is consideration to approve an agreement with Crider and Crider for the EECC playground.
- This is really a technicality. The board approved awarding the bid to Crider and Crider for the playground.
- But our policy says that we need to approve contracts. So that's what we're asking the board to do tonight
- is approve the contract for Crider and Crider. I'll second. $610,325. Read your mind. All right. So
- we have the amount. First and second. Do we have any discussion? All those in favor say aye.
- Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Next is consideration to approve Navigate 360 contract. Jennifer? I'm
- actually going to pass off to Rick and Alec. They have been working on the program for us and know a
- lot more about it than I do.
- So this has kind of been my baby that I have done a lot of research on since the start of the school
- year. We currently already contract with Navigate 360 for our ALICE program throughout the school. And
- we're missing a bunch of missing pieces for our safety across the campus. And Navigate has a solution
- for all of those.
- I tried to include as much as information in the memo that you guys received, but if you have any specific
- questions, I'm happy to answer them. One of the biggest cool, I'm gonna say coolest things that Rick
- and I are excited about is they're going to come in and digitally map all the schools. So we'll have
- all of our buildings digitally
- All of our AEDs, our fire extinguishers, everything will be marked throughout the buildings. And the
- cost of that? So it's two separate quotes. There's obviously an initial startup fee. So for the Campus
- 360, which includes visitor management, volunteer management, all the equipment needed minus the laptops, but
- Rick is going to provide those. The emergency management, which includes a panic button for staff, the
- fee to implement it, and the visitor manager, I already said that, sorry. So total fee for startup is
- $31,880.75 with the recurring cost of
- $15,975 a year. So then on the second quote, there is a tip line. So we will have a tip line system
- where students, anybody will be able to submit tips and those will be routed to the appropriate
- administrators slash SROs across campus. And those can be submitted anonymously
- Also, last year Indiana passed a law where we have to perform behavioral threat assessments and part
- of that is we have to store those documents somewhere and currently we're just storing them on Google
- Drive and so this system will house, it digitizes it and then it follows the student from elementary
- school all the way to high school.
- And the benefit of this is it's all one system that's complete. Is there a separate cost for that?
- I'm sorry, yes there is. The initial startup cost for the second quote is $11,147 with a recurring cost
- of $9,955.63.
- I think the first year subscription is included in that initial investment total. Yes. Is that right?
- Yes. OK. And how many years on the contract? It's a three-year contract. Three years. OK. OK. Anything
- you want to add? Perfect. Do we have a motion? And I'll second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
- I just want to thank Alec for all he does for the school. He devils for me a lot of things at the station,
- too, with vehicles and things like that. So I really appreciate what he does for us. In fact, he looks
- pretty good at night and he knew you. Yes, he does. Thank you. Well, and I also wanted to thank Alec
- because with our adjustments in leadership roles last year, Alec has taken on leading our school safety
- team that meets once a month.
- And just so tonight, if you could give Alec a pat on the back and a hug. His team didn't do so well.
- We got the corn huskers now. No, but I really am looking, Rick and I are really looking forward to this.
- It's going to be a great addition to the campus. Thank you.
- Next Looks like we'll bring mr. Routon back up. We have for the next couple first is a traffic circulation
- alternative study Mr. Routon, this is a combination with dr. Sanders and myself and we have brought
- in Andy and
- Matt to talk about the traffic flow issues at the elementary schools. Has anybody been around at early
- in the morning or trying to get to school in the afternoon? It's near impossible. I have actually sat
- in line for a good while to get down to EECC when it was under construction and it's like, oh, I forgot
- I should have left about a half hour earlier to get through this. So we're looking at hiring an engineering
- company to come in and help us do a study and
- give us some preliminary information to move forward with a better solution in traffic flow, parking,
- and pickup. Something that we need to do down there because we're growing and we need to get the people
- off of Reeves Road as much as we can to keep that open, not only for ourselves, but for public safety.
- That road gets blocked and it's really tight.
- And I'm sure Andy and Matt can contest to some other information about that section along with Alec.
- So the company we went with is a company that does a lot of civil engineering work. They've done other
- big projects and someone I've known for over the years. And he understands our problems and has seen
- other schools.
- is excited to work with us. This is just a small piece. We have talked about a bigger piece for the
- whole entire campus, but we're only concentrating on just the elementary schools, because we really
- need to improve that traffic flow down there. And he'll look at utilities, he'll look at the easements,
- and anything we can do to shape our traffic pattern. And this will inform us as we move forward with
- future construction bonds. And Rick said,
- We are growing, but also the area around us is growing with Harman Farms and the Barbary Homes area.
- It's just gonna get more and more traffic, so very timely. And who's the vendor and the amount? I wish
- I had my piece of paper up here, but it's G9, G and A. Let's see here.
- Okay. Wow, Rick. Christine, do you have a copy of the email? 36,900.
- What's that? 36,900 in the vendor. Oh, sorry. Sorry. What was that? Okay. All right. So do we have a
- motion? Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.
- Now there's the E rate network infrastructure upgrade.
- So every year we are part of the e-rate system that the federal government puts on. It's a great savings
- to the school corporation because we usually do 40% they paid the 60%. Last year we did part of the
- network upgrade. This year we're finishing off the network upgrade. This time it will be all the lower-end
- network switches that will go in all the individual closets that will then connect to all the
- what few PCs we have left in phones, but they're still needed to have that communication along with
- they'll make our connected to the access points consistent with everything. Our current switches are
- from what I can tell from past e-rates have gone from anywhere from 2015 to 2016. So they are a little
- beyond their end of life expectancy and they're getting harder to find parts to replace when they have failed.
- We wanted to stick with a company called Extreme, which was our first initial purchase last year. Extreme
- did not win the bid this year. They came in extremely high. So we went with the second lowest, because
- the first lowest did not have the matching equipment that was even equivalent. So we worked with our
- consultant and removed them. The second one was very compatible to the Extreme product line, and they were
- about $200,000 less than what we wanted. So we sat down as a group in our office, talked about them,
- really looked over all the equipment, and we felt that that equipment was still going to be very adequate
- and compatible with what we have. So we have went with Network Solutions as who the winning bidder is.
- Again, we will only pay 40%. E-rate will pay 60%. And they're waiting timeline
- We're hoping that, well, we don't get the e-rate money until July, so we can't really order anything
- until the USAC releases it. So we'll be ordering sometime in the fall. Thank you. So the exact amount
- for the corporation will be $79,301. The overall project, total project cost is $198,252.56.
- minus the 60% for e-rate, that's 118,951. For the district portion is, like I said, is 79,301. And we
- had that set aside in our 2023 bond that Mr. Irwin and I did. So that's where the money was already
- here marked for. I'll second. Moved, second.
- Yeah, and I looked at all the equipment list, and it all made sense to me. OK. I got your approval then.
- I approve. Come in and help them install it. Yeah, I could do that. Any discussion? All those in favor
- say aye. Aye. All those opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thanks, guys.
- Okay, our last action item of the evening is consideration to approve the contract with Indiana University
- for the SEEDS project. And Jennifer? This is the first one. So I mentioned earlier, anytime we start
- a grant, we'll sign an agreement with the partner for research services. In this case, for the SEEDS
- project, it's Indiana University again. And in this project, it's a long one.
- You will see about 3.1 down, Article 3 on payment. We are looking at paying them for this first year,
- January 1st to December 31st, 2026, approximately $285,526. Over the life of this grant, we will be
- looking at anticipated funding to IU.
- in an amount of about $1,191,959. This is reimbursement, so they invoice us, we pay them, and of course
- this comes out of the SEEDS grant, which is a federal grant, almost $3 million. So about a third of
- it is spent for the work that IU does on this grant, and they are tremendous partners when it comes
- to our mental health grants.
- and the work that they do on these. So I'm hoping that you guys will approve the SEEDS grant, the agreement
- with IU for this. Move and second. Any discussion? We just appreciate the ongoing partnership with IU
- in several different levels. So all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.
- We'll move into the business manager's reports. And Debbie Tate. Hi. I'm solo now. So I gave you guys
- the cash flows for the education fund and the operations fund. You'll notice there were some changes
- we made if you compare last month's with this month's. Paul, we were trying to work on just kind of
- condensing it and simplifying things.
- Sometimes it can be a little too complicated, and we just need to keep it simple. So you'll
- see we consolidated on the payroll and benefits. Instead of splitting it up certified, non-cert, we're
- putting all of those totals together. So that'll be kind of a difference, but if you ever need that
- information, we can always provide it. You'll see on the interest, the interest rates have gone down.
- just based on where everything is right now. And a lot of that is, you know, I try to pull as much money
- over to trust in Ian as I can when it's just sitting in the account so we can earn a higher interest
- rate, but we've actually been spending a lot of that bond money, so we don't have as much interest coming
- in now because of that. So you'll start to see that go down solely because of the rates and the fact
- that we're spending that bond money.
- You'll see in January, it was a higher amount on payroll than February, and that's just because we had
- a three-pay month in January. February, we actually were projecting $1.2 million, and we ended up spending
- $1.1. So we ended up saving about $30,000 there based on our projections. Overall, on our appropriations
- with the education fund, we projected
- 22 million and at this moment we're looking at 21.7 million. So we're hoping to have some savings there.
- And then another area is the operations with all the changes ahead of us with the funding and everything.
- I have to give a shout out to our team. I have been coming into this role in the last year. I have felt
- so blessed because we have such an incredible team.
- that we work together, we sit down, we are looking at individuals, we are looking at every situation,
- I mean in such detail and it just, it makes me love what I'm doing and I love the people that I'm around
- because it just, I feel good because we all care about everybody here.
- So when I was sitting here, I was like, I have to give a shout out to these people, like Jen and Susan
- and just Jenny Johnson and Robin, like all these people just in NOAA, just in our group that we are
- together and we're making these decisions together and not individually, because we want the best for
- everybody. So anyhow, that's all I have for our stuff. Thank you so much. That's wonderful to hear.
- And now the assistant superintendent's report. Good. Today she and I were talking because we feel like
- we don't spend a dollar in this district without talking about it. And I'm sure that we're driving everybody
- crazy. Now I'm getting paper reports from Rick every single month. And I'm looking at the same, why
- are we printing so much?
- It's gotten a little bit out of hand and we probably need to pull it back just a little bit. But just
- to give you an idea of why we're seeing this come into alignment and coming in under budget is truly
- because we are looking at every single thing that we're spending through a critical eye to make sure
- that we can bring this back into where it needs to be. And Debbie's doing a fantastic job with all of that.
- Some updates for you guys on my front. We held a joint meeting with ROI, Boston Scientific Cook Medical,
- and Ivy Tech on March 5th. It's the first time we got every single one of our partners together.
- for the Life Sciences Training Center and we made a lot of progress in that meeting that day. We were
- able to identify a smart manufacturing pathway. We discussed the option of the instructor actually being
- an Ivy Tech employee, which is a big win for us. It's going to be great for our students because we
- will have somebody who is
- well-versed in that area. John Kerr can only teach, I say this all the time, he can only teach so many
- pathways and we cannot ask him to add one more onto his plate.
- So this would be an Ivy Tech employee and they would actually come over to EHS to teach those classes.
- And we're looking at some adjustments in how we would schedule those and be able to actually open those
- classes up to our surrounding districts sooner than what we anticipated, which is awesome for our partners.
- In addition to that, we're looking at partnering with Ivy Tech to provide healthcare certifications.
- These will really be in conjunction with IU Health because IU Health is going to tell us what they need
- and based on those needs then we'll be working on funneling kids into those Ivy Tech certifications.
- Ivy Tech will provide those trainers so that we have students who are graduating with CNAs, graduating
- with certifications in phlebotomy or pharmacy tech. So we're working with IU Health.
- a little bit further down, you can see there that IU Health actually just hired a K-12 talent program
- lead for our area. This has started out of a program out of Lafayette, and through the push that we've
- had here with our Life Sciences Training Center, we were the first area to get this new hire through
- IU Health, excuse me.
- I'm so excited about it, I'm stumbling over my words. I think that Angie can attest, anybody that works
- at IU Health or in the healthcare field can attest that this has been a red tape area for high school
- students forever.
- And what's happening here is the red tape is coming down. January 2027 is when we anticipate getting
- our first high school students into the IU Health Network. There'll be job shadowing. If they are 18
- and they already have some of these certifications in hand, they will be able to work on the floors.
- They'll be able to work hand in hand with our nurses. And the cool thing is they can also not only do
- that during the school day, but they can actually have part-time employment through IU Health.
- This is a win-win for our students and for IU Health at the same time and just the healthcare field
- in general.
- We're excited about this. In conjunction with that, we're exploring Ivy Tech as our Indiana College
- core partner. Again, exploring that, there's a lot of pieces and components to that, but there are also
- some bonuses that come along with that. Our current partner is Indiana University, and they're a fantastic
- partner for us. We're just looking at, you know, should we upset that balance there a little bit, and
- if we did, and we had more Ivy Tech classes, then we have
- Indiana University dual credit classes, what benefits would that give to our students and to our high
- schools? So we're exploring that. We'll kind of see where we go from there. Just some information. June
- 13th of last year, 2025, the DOE sent a memo to schools highlighting changes to curricular materials for
- fiscal year 26. We've talked a lot about the amount that curriculum is costing our district. In fiscal
- year 2025, we spent just slightly over $600,000 in curriculum for our students. There is nobody that's
- going to say that those kids don't need that, that they don't deserve that, that our teachers aren't
- better teachers because of it.
- But it is a hefty pill to swallow when we're looking at $600,000 that used to be reimbursed by the state
- that we get not a dime for anymore. And now we swallow that into the education fund. The state realized
- mistakes were made with this. And what was happening is basically it was drowning some of our school
- districts across the state, many of our school districts.
- And so they came back and they made an amendment to HEA 1002, Section 94, and what they talked about
- here is they are now
- allowing school corporations to assess and collect a reasonable fee for supplies and materials that
- are not curricular and that supplement the instruction in a particular course of study. Some examples
- of this would be workbooks that we don't necessarily purchase through a curricular contract.
- In other words, the things that we purchase through Reveal Math or CKLA would not fall under this. It
- would be things like a German workbook
- where we don't have a contract with a vendor, and she's supplementing her curriculum with those workbooks.
- Other examples of that would be science supplies. We spend a lot in STEM supplies, art supplies, band
- supplies. With the things that the state changed, we pay for every read that goes into those clarinets
- and saxophones.
- And so it becomes really expensive for our district. We are not wanting to go back to the times when
- high school students would come in and they would get a charge of $200, $250 for their classes. What
- we're looking at and what we're exploring is keeping those fees incredibly reasonable, affordable for
- our families, but also being able to pull some of that back in and allow us to be able to compensate
- for this tremendous
- piece that we've been absorbing in the education fund for the last couple of years. We've been able
- to make some good strides. Debbie and I have been able to work through curriculum, and this year, fiscal
- year 26, we took that from a $600,000 expenditure in 25 down to $450,000. We've really been able to
- cut some of those allocations down, and we're confident that we can stay close within that range.
- It never hurts to also have a little extra cushion in there. So just to give you an idea, 2,600 students,
- if we were looking at an average of $40 a student, we would be looking at roughly $100,000. And when
- we think about $40 a student and being able to recoup that, we don't feel like that's an amount that
- is extreme for families.
- Course-free and reduced students would not fall under those same requirements, but at the same time
- would be a reasonable cost. And when you look at $100,000 in the education fund right now, $100,000
- is a couple of teachers, and that makes a big difference to us. Or four or five assistants, that makes
- a big difference to us. So when we think about these things, we truly do get down to the nitty-gritty of $40.
- but we look at that in the grand scheme of what does that mean and how does that impact our students.
- And when we start talking about teachers and assistants in that huge education fund, it does make a
- difference. So this is just information for you. Next board meeting, I'm gonna bring you some
- more information, some numbers to take a look at before we do anything with that. So just some information there.
- And then upcoming items, April 3rd is now going to be a makeup flex day for our teachers. Our kids will
- not come to school that day. And just to give you an idea of what we'll be working on, K5 is going to
- be working together. Mr. Scholl, I'm hoping that you'll allow us to use your cafeteria that day in the
- comfortable seating. But we're looking at bringing all of those teams together into one space. We're
- gonna be working on our literacy block.
- collectively, K-5 as well as vertical alignment, and so we know how important that is in those younger grades.
- And then we'll also be pulling together a K-5 special education teachers that day. And six through 12,
- we'll be working on some vertical alignment across departments. So some really good work that we're
- doing that day and it's perfect timing. We don't ever get these days in April where we still can make
- some changes that will impact the end of the year, but we're not at the end of the year and making the
- changes for the following school year. So we're excited to have this day built in and be able to utilize
- it in this way.
- Thank you. Okay, now we have the superintendents report. Yeah, it looks like I have 34 minutes, so.
- Four minutes, yeah, four minutes. Hey, exciting news. You know, last month we recognized our three Lilly
- Scholarship finalists and we knew that Haley Patel was,
- student who received the scholarship. Between last month and today, we found out that what they do is
- they award two
- the scholarship to two students, and then those students have the opportunity to accept them or not.
- And so Haley accepted hers, but the other student did not, and so that went to Bella Carson. And she's
- an awesome young lady, and we're very excited for her. Tomorrow at 10 o'clock is going to be the ribbon
- cutting at the Mustang Market.
- In case you don't know where the Mustang Market is, it's the new kitchen at the high school. And it
- looks fabulous. I wish Vicki was still here because I'd be bragging the food looks great. But tomorrow
- at 10, if you have an opportunity, come over to the high school and we'll do the ribbon cutting. That'll
- be at 10 a.m.
- The preschool enrollment is open and right now we have 159 students enrolled in the preschool and that's
- up 12 from this point last year so we'll certainly be getting more students. Next week is also an important
- week at EPS with the kindergarten welcome week and
- very important time for the future kindergartners to come in and their parents to check out the school.
- And there'll be an open house on April 2nd from 545 to 645. And really, it's the open houses that parents
- will pick a specific time to come in and tour the building. And I just wanted to let you know that
- The spring sports season kicks in next week. And I just wanted to share with you some of the opening
- competitions. Looks like they're all away, unless I missed something. But to me, when I looked at the
- counter, all these were away. But we'll have some home games and some exciting competitions and be able
- to watch our students perform on the field.
- on the court and it'll be a great spring for our students. We've done this once before, but the Ellipsville
- Chamber of Commerce will host a coffee connection, a networking opportunity
- for local businesses. And so all these businesses will come in. Representatives of the businesses will
- come in for their usual networking opportunity. But they'll do so right in the coffee corral. And that'll
- be April 7 from 8 to 9. And then many of those employers will stick around for the career and employment
- fair from 9 to noon. And then we will be having our spring Edgewood
- business leaders advisory lunch in and it'll be Thursday April 16th at 1130 and so you're always welcome
- board to come to any of those activities and I just put a little advertisement about the Mustang market
- on the back so thank you. Next is our PBEA comments.
- We have Randy Gable. Well, it was great to hear the Mustang moments in the standing room only out here.
- But I wanted to start with, I was the last class to go to Try North when it was still housed in North
- High School. And I remember for weeks just feeling that anxiety of not being able to open a locker.
- And so I want to just thank
- junior high for all that they do for families. You know, my three children went through there and just,
- you know, having that transition from elementary to junior high. And, of course, the second Mustang
- moment was close to my heart, near and dear. And, you know, it's just been wonderful. I've been there
- for a long time. And one thing that
- I just love about EPS is the way we collaborate with each other. And it's been wonderful to have that
- collaboration with special area finally having a purpose connecting that curriculum because we know
- those are the memories that they're going to take away. And I just want to thank Matt and Elisa for
- fostering that. You know, Mr. Ackerman, thank you for serving the students well. You had my three children
- as well, and I've just watched
- you, the high school, evolve over so many years. It continues to grow. And last year, I was standing
- here welcoming Matt. And I know soon there's going to be a process to replace you. But a year later,
- I just want to say it's been great to have Matt and Alisa in their roles. After Brenda leaving, after
- so many years,
- just to me has been a seamless transition and they've just, you know, been very transparent. They've,
- you know, I can't imagine what that
- that learning curve has been like, but I just thank them for everything they've done for us. And as
- far as association news, not a whole lot going on. Great to hear about those updates, but I know our
- Uniserve director, again, a lot of us are very new to these roles. She's new as well, and she is hoping
- to bring us all together, building reps and those on our committees, just to do some training so we
- can better serve and advocate for our teachers.
- Hopefully that will be coming in the next few weeks before the end of the school year. Thank you very
- much. Now we're to board member comments from Mrs. Jacobs. Well, of course, every time we have our musty
- moment, that's just the highlight of our meeting. And this was such a filled moment for us to see so
- many different students. It's amazing. They're just remarkable. We always appreciate donations that
- are coming in.
- that helps our students so much. And I'm very excited. The more and more I hear and learn about the
- Life Science Training Center, of course, that's my field. So of course, that lights me up. So I'm very,
- very excited to see how this will push our students out into our community in this field, because that's
- what we need. That's where we need to grow. So it's very exciting.
- very exciting time for us. Is that it? Well, thank you all for the wonderful corporation that you lead.
- It's amazing. I wanted to just say a couple things about Dirk. Dirk was one of the first admin people
- I met here when I moved back home in 83. Dirk, is that the time you started? Yeah. But anyway, do what?
- Watched her move through the system and it was just always nice to me when I rarely had a concern But
- when I did I could call Dirk and he'd call me in or we'd sit down to explain it to me So that's that's
- nice that that relationship we had over the years really made things run a lot easier Thank you for
- your service for us. I appreciate you so much My favorite story was when he was playing the cowardly
- line and at the tis and
- He was a little late for his cue. And Rebecca was playing Dorothy. And so she had to do some ad libbing.
- And the scarecrow said something. She told him just to suck it up. But it was cute. We were good on
- a stage together. What's that? We were good on a stage together. Yes. Yeah. So it was fun. It was a
- lot of fun. So a lot of great times.
- I so enjoyed the Mustang moments. The EPS kids, I do love the curriculum with Amplify. I think it's
- great. Again, my wife's a teacher and she loves it. She says it's kind of nice to go back and learn
- some of that stuff again for herself and just really enjoys it. And the transition,
- That is so tough from fifth grade to sixth grade and the whole tremendous change and so I love the transition
- there. I'm so proud of those girls at the junior high basketball. To only have two losses in three years
- is tremendous. I'm so happy for them.
- I think we embarrassed him a little bit with the standing ovation. So I was hoping we would.
- So that was good. I just think we're doing great things with the life sciences and doing things with
- the chamber and getting the fair here. And I just am so happy with the direction this school corporation is going.
- And it's due to all of you guys in this room and the rest of the corporation. And I think we got a great
- place. And what a wonderful people. And I thank you all for being here tonight. And this meeting is
- adjourned.