- I'll call this meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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 very much for coming. Please be seated.
- I'm glad that we can laugh and joke when we get started here.
- Um, please let the record reflect that Mr. Tucker, Mr. Durnal, Mr. DeMoss and Mr. Kerr are present.
- Um, this is the July 21st, 2026 regular school board meeting of the, uh, Richland Boston Community School
- Corporation. Were there any visitors who wanted to address the school board tonight? Yes.
- Okay. Would you please come to the podium and state your name? And we'd love to hear from you. And the
- microphone is for cats only. It does not project your voice, so you'll speak loudly. Got it. Hello.
- My name is Tommy Weakley. I'm a former Edgewood graduate.
- I was an Eli Lilly scholarship recipient at Edgewood. I was the point guard for Edgewood's most winning
- basketball teams ever, including Edgewood's only boys basketball undefeated regular season. I was a
- student athlete at DePaul University, where I played college basketball in the NCAA for four years.
- In the summer of 2024, I was hired as the athletic director at Seven Oaks Classical School, which
- As we all know, it's just right down the street. We are a public charter school. I had a great experience
- at Edgewood, and I still have some incredible memories. I saw our community come together in a way that
- I don't believe has happened since. If you happen to have been around during those times, it was really
- a special community experience. I've established lifelong memories with my teammates.
- with my peers at Edgewood, with my teachers, and my coaches. I came here today to address my concerns
- about RBB's decision to ban Seven Oaks sports team from competing with RBB teams. Specifically, my concern
- has to do with the middle school Monroe County sports invitationals and tournaments. Until last fall
- of 2025, Seven Oaks middle school cross country
- and track and field teams were included in the Monroe County athletic contests. Last year, we received
- word that RBB would be banning Seven Oaks from any sports competitions at any level. And as part of
- this, we would be excluded from the middle school county contests. It was even brought to our attention
- that Edgewood refused to compete in last year's middle school track and field invite that was hosted
- by Tri-North.
- if Seven Oaks were included, these Monroe County invites have been open to literally every other school
- in the county, including private schools, including homeschool teams and including the other public
- charter school, the project school. My first concern is how this has been perceived by our kids and
- our families.
- Besides being hurt and a little confused, this has negatively impacted our middle school sports schedules.
- Having a chance to compete in the county invites allows our teams to have something to look forward
- to and to strive toward all season long. It allows our kids to compete against other kids in the area
- that they might already be familiar with. My second concern is broadly about the nature of sports themselves.
- Sports are about building community. Sports are a unifying force that bring people together who might
- otherwise be different. Sports are a unifying force that bring, that build friendships and go beyond
- our ideologies or our politics. Whether it's true or not that RBB has excluded us due to competition
- for enrollment, I think we owe it to the entire community
- and to the unique purpose of sports to allow student athletes to participate in sports together. I would
- be more than happy to brainstorm with any of you individually or collectively to figure out how this
- issue can be resolved. I brought a stack of my cards in case anybody has any questions or would like
- to reach out to me. Thank you guys so much for your time.
- Seeing no other visitor comments, we'll move to our consent agenda. First is the approval of minutes.
- We have the May 27th executive session, the June 16th public hearing, the June 16th regular meeting.
- We have the treasurer's report for June 2026. And Mr. Durnall, the claims, please. Thank you, Mr. President.
- For gross wages, many pay on June the 4th, 2026 is $3,343.37. Gross wages on June the 5th, 2026 is $1,000,000.
- $10,758.40 for gross wages, many pay on June the 17th, 2026, 2,384.88 gross wages on June the 18th,
- 2026 for $620,508.41 for total in that area, $1,630,000.
- $6,995.06 for claims and prepays from 6,126 to 6,3026 is $4,180,378.61.
- for claims and vouchers on July the 21st, 2026, $1,698,987.46 for total in that area, $5,879,366.01
- for a grand total of $7,516,361.07. Thank you, sir. We also have personnel, resignations, retirements,
- non-renewals, leaves and terminations, see one through five,
- and personnel appointments and transfers, D1 through 23. We have two overnight field trips. These are
- annual events. The Edgewood High School sophisticated ladies will be going to the Hidden Falls Camp
- in Bedford.
- and the Edgewood High School Music Warehouse will be going to Camp Allendale in Trafalgar, Indiana.
- We are happy to report there are two donations. There is $100 that is going to the Edgewood High School
- Fishing Team from Tim and Vicki Interkin in memory of Jim Wilbur. And there is also $186.88 that is
- going to the RBB Lunch from lunch
- from the Edgewood primary PTO. So do we have a motion on the consent agenda? We also have item E, the
- personnel student appointments. I just wanted to be sure that was included in the consent. Yes, yes,
- and those are not listed. I'm sorry.
- work it out because it wasn't listed, but they're not listed because your students. So I do apologize.
- Thank you very much for pointing that out. So there is a personnel student employment for educational
- purposes, but we do not list their names on the agenda because of being students. So I move approval
- of the consent agenda. Also moved and seconded any discussion. Any offer about the field trips?
- Do you have anything to offer for the trips? I would say answer any questions you may have, or give
- information about it, whichever you prefer, if there are any questions. Sure. Let's hear about it. Yeah.
- So every single year, the show fires take a overnight retreat field trip to a retreat center. We've
- gone to the falls before, and we've gone to Camp Allendale. And while we're there, we like to start
- our year doing some team building stuff. We bring our choreographers. We have dedicated time.
- to work on our shows and prepare for like tis the season and just get to know each other and get that
- team bond going. This year, both of those groups are the largest they've been in several years. So we
- have 48 girls since Fiske ladies, we have 44 members of the music warehouse. So having time together
- to get to know each other a lot better since it is freshmen through seniors has just been really valuable.
- Some of my favorite memories from high school show choir at retreats. So we just really enjoy going
- on those trips.
- Yeah, we have parent chaperones, yeah. No. No, the junior high director may come with us and help us.
- She's been invited to that, and I think she's going to check her schedule, but it is a high school trip,
- yes. All right, thank you. I've been before. It's pretty neat, and my kids loved it. Yeah, chaperone
- before. And my kids loved it. Locations are the same, too.
- Yeah, these are places that they have been to before. Thank you. Anything else? All those in favor say
- aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I believe Andy Scholl has some introductions he would like to make.
- Oh, OK. Good evening. I'm excited to introduce some people to you tonight. Our newest teachers at EIS, but
- Just as a testament, I'm gonna say this, I'm hoping Kent doesn't throw anything at me because as testament
- to how much RBB is becoming the premier school corporation in this area, I received 50 applicants for
- elementary teacher this year. Okay. Which is amazing.
- 15 or so, we're from MCSESC. I mean, this is becoming the place to be and we're getting great applicants
- and the people you see before us tonight are the cream of the crop. First off, it's Rachel Hendricks
- now. She's gonna be a new third grade teacher for us. When I hired her, she was Rachel Morris, but she's
- been married a week or so at this point in time. She has a year under her belt up at Brownsburg, but
- her and her
- husband now are going to be settling in this area and we're excited to have her. She's avid runner and
- also very active in her church.
- Unfortunately, Melissa Degraff could not be here tonight. She got COVID and I said, better stay home
- for that one, rather have you healthy in a couple of weeks. She's gonna be our new fourth grade teacher.
- She previously taught at the collegiate level of music and this has been a second career for her. She
- taught five years at Arlington Heights and was excited to come this way. Her daughter graduated this
- past spring from Edgewood and she's just been so impressed with the community, just wanted to be a part of it.
- Megan Terrell is coming to us from Southport Elementary. She has 10 years up there. Went to IU Indy,
- IUPUI, and settled there for a little while, but it was from this area and it was ready to get back.
- Tired of commuting too. Finally, Mantha Brownson. Just graduated from Taylor University with an art
- education degree. Her host teacher just
- could not be more impressed with her, the way she was able to take over the class. She's extraordinarily
- skilled with ceramics, but her host teacher even said that she's even more skilled at giving those skills
- to the kids. So we're excited to have all four of these new teachers at EIS this year. And I will introduce
- Mr. Rinsler.
- And Andy keeps forgetting to tell you guys is that when you come in and you get introduced, you're each
- supposed to give a five minute lesson. So we see what you're like in the classroom. So, yeah,
- maybe not. I will be sure to not forget the part where once we're through this part, you are free to
- leave and you don't know. Welcome. We're so glad to have you guys.
- And no, Andy, I'm not jealous of the 50 plus because for ELA, which can be difficult to fill, we had
- 25 plus applicants for ELA position. So again, we're doing something right to get that many applicants
- for for junior high. And this is a different world. So something to be said for that.
- Last month, Madison and I both missed the meeting because we were on vacation, but Madison Shackleford
- graduated down in Castle, Indiana, or from Castle High School, student taught at Jackson Creek, and
- now she's going to be teaching eighth grade English language arts for us at the junior high. So. So
- I think we did a trade. I think we got one from Taylor and we're sending
- So happy you guys are all with this and then again you can leave if you want to. So you don't
- miss superintendents report. Okay. All right. Move right along. And so we only have one
- presenter tonight, so all these will be for Dr. Sanders. First would be the Centerstone memorandum of
- understanding for the 26-27 school year. Yes, sir. So Centerstone is a regular partner of our school
- corporation, a mental health partner. They provide licensed mental health professionals
- that provide school-based counseling to eligible students. They work with families, they work with school
- staff, and this is an agreement that we ask the board to approve every year. There is no financial commitment
- on our part. They will often bill insurance, Medicaid, and occasionally
- parents might pay out of pocket for that, but it's mainly insurance and Medicaid. We are required for
- the school safety grant to have an agreement with a mental health provider, and so we just recommend
- your approval. I'll second. Any discussion?
- All right, all those papers say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we'll look at the structured
- pay scale for instructional assistant leads and interventionists. So the rationale behind this request
- comes from our
- kind of what we're about, and that's doing business better. And we have some outline positions that
- we wanted to pull together so that we can, as we consider future salary changes, rather than taking
- each one individually, we've grouped these six people
- under one category of instructional assistant leads or interventionalists. And so you will see in your
- board packet that these are folks who
- They manage classrooms and small groups independently, so there might not be a classroom teacher there.
- They plan and prepare lessons and instructional activities. They provide classroom management and maintain
- effective learning environments, and they must hold a bachelor's degree. These positions are the following.
- English language art,
- English language learner assistant position, and so we're replacing two part-time ELL aides with this
- one assistant position. Our ELL population continues to grow, and so we need that help. This is pretty
- much a wash financially.
- We have a math interventionist at the junior high. Greg Watson, he's worked with the junior high for
- several years now. He's a retired licensed math teacher. He's actually helping us
- helping us to not have to hire another math teacher, but his position is kind of one of those outlier
- positions that we wanted to put underneath this umbrella. And then we have four positions that, they're
- basically under the Ready Schools initiative where two of those positions will be
- working with Project Lead the Way and our Makerspace Labs. One of them is Andrea Andrews and she's already
- been doing that. The other person, we're not replacing Sarah Figgs, thank you. We're not replacing Sarah
- Figgs, so in place of that we're going to hire somebody to teach the PLTW
- classes for the primary school. We have Garrett Odulio at the junior highs doing the same thing and
- then Lisa Wilson at the high school. And so in the board packet also showed the scale for from zero
- years to 10 plus years. So it's like I said, it's just a matter of trying to do business better. That's
- the rationale behind this.
- Second a discussion Discussion with dr. Sanders and miss Barrett today on this I My concern was how
- many people is going to affect which we think is five. There's five people affected by this correct
- six and I want to speak
- continue to be cognizant of where we're at with our finances and our budget. The term wash makes me
- nervous when you say it's a wash because it's technically they're not always as Mr. Federal, Ms. Tate
- will tell us. We have to be very cautious of where we're at because we got grants that are going to
- expire at some point. That's still my biggest fear and I always want to make that my point. As grants
- expire, we're going to have to make some tough calls unless we get continued grants to replace those
- which I know
- optimistically, that's what we want. But I just want to put it out there on the record. And we also
- have a track record of continuing those grants. But it's still not a wash, just so you know, okay. There's
- a better word than wash. Well, and I'll just point out, you know, we had a, you know, we shared some
- information with you recently. Right. So that's just a, you know, it's just common part of our conversations
- when we're considering
- positions, we might have a need. We try to figure out how to meet that need without any additional costs.
- So your point is well taken and it's something that- Yeah, because we added a new position at EPS. We
- added a new person to help out at the office level. I mean, we still replaced it, but at a lesser value
- person, agreed? Lesser value as in financial.
- So we came out a little bit ahead but we did add an extra body. Agreed? Okay. That's what I just want
- to make sure. We're always cognizant of that. Yes. When we're talking about that because you guys are
- watching the budget and you know what we got to do. So. It's just and Debbie can attest to that. It's
- part of our regular conversation. Okay. Of hey, we have Sarah Figg who's leaving the classroom. She's
- going to be the new student success coordinator and
- And so we hire an instructional assistant who can adequately cover this teaching of the PLTW. All right.
- Thank you. Anything further? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now look to approve
- our procurement plan.
- Yeah, this is one of those items we bring to the board. We have to have a procurement plan so that we
- could show how school nutrition lunch funds that are complying with federal, state, and local procurement
- regulations. And so this must be reviewed and approved by the school board annually.
- Any discussion? All those very say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Okay. Any opposed?
- Motion carries. Next is the approval of the Robert bolting house contract. And I do want to go back
- real quick.
- quick because of the order that that was set in. I want to make sure the motion was to approve
- the procurement plan and it was a seconded. So all in favor say aye. I oppose. Motion carries. Okay.
- It may have sounded odd on the record. So I just want to clear that. Okay. Now moving on to the Robert
- bolting house contract. Yeah, this is a technicality when we when you approved Robert's appointment to be the
- principal at the high school, his contract was not included in the board packet. So we're just bringing
- that contract, the actual contract, to you for approval tonight. Any discussion? Yeah, I just thought
- you were going to work for free. It was kind of a surprise, wasn't it? Yeah, it was pretty. Okay. All
- those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?
- Motion carries. Next is our revisions to our Neola policy, volume 38, number two. This is the second
- reading, so it is an action item this evening. Yes, so like President Kerr mentioned, these policies
- were brought to you last month for first reading. And just as a reminder, every time we look at
- policy that we utilize, NEOLA, and NEOLA is an organization of attorneys that review recent changes
- to state law, court cases, and advises school corporations all across the state of Indiana that part
- of their policies may need to be revised. And so I just
- bring those to you tonight for approval. Any discussion. She told me she enjoys. All those in favor
- say aye. I oppose. Motion carries.
- Now it's consideration to confirm or revise policy 5136, which is in regards to personal communication
- devices. Yeah. So as you know, the state created a law that says that cell phones have to be out of
- sight, inaccessible, turned off, bell to bell.
- I did take our policy a step further, and my rationale for that, well, the step I took beyond the state
- law was to say that they should, that the keeping the cell phones inaccessible and turned off should
- also apply on the school bus to and from school.
- And the reason I wanted to add that is, you know, a bus driver's number one priority is keeping their
- eyes on the road and safety. But there's also kind of, to me, a hidden safety issue in terms of students
- having access to their cell phone while on the bus.
- nobody to monitor what they're looking at, who they're talking to, what they're sharing with other students,
- and it's sometimes difficult to prove. And so my rationale was that I felt like it would make a safer
- environment if we
- said that students could not have access to their phones on the bus unless there was an emergency. We
- did get some pushback from some parents on that. As I look at announcements from school corporations,
- there's a lot of people who aren't happy with that law.
- And when I look at the comments of other communities, they often blame the school for that law. And
- quite frankly, my personal opinion is I like it. I think it'll help students to be more focused and
- engaged. We also know that social media often leads to
- some behavior issues So personally I I like the law In our case, we're making those phones They were
- just saying they have to be out of sight inaccessible turned off But in our case we added we went a
- little bit further added on the bus so I wanted to bring it back before the board to see if there's
- any discussion on
- adjusting that, the part about the to and from school. Having the cell phones inaccessible. We have
- to do bell to bell, that's the law. But I wanted to bring it before because we, just to let our parents
- know that we do listen. You know, we pay attention to their views, their comments, and just bringing
- it back. What I would like for the board to do,
- So in past practice, if you look on our website, it actually is probably still on there. Under
- transportation, it states by practice that elementary students shouldn't have their cell phones out
- on the bus. Junior high and high school can under bus driver discretion.
- The current practice is it depends on the bus driver for junior high and high school. To me, I feel
- that's a little inconsistent. We ought to say that they're allowed or not allowed. But I just want to
- hear what the board has to say and if there's anybody who wants to have a conversation about it. Is
- there any buses that are monitoring?
- A few, mainly special education buses. My talk with the bus drivers was that we're not gonna tell them,
- I don't expect them to be walking up and down an aisle looking for cell phones. A driver, like I said,
- my number one priority is
- driving the bus, but they also have to monitor behavior of the kids. And so a skilled bus driver knows
- how to do that, knows the right time to be checking and seeing if the students are up and running around
- or doing something they shouldn't. And I've been told they can't monitor, really monitor whether a student
- has their cell phone out or not.
- I think that also is an argument that they can't also monitor what they're doing on their cell phone.
- And we're really giving students an opportunity, a time, not very long, but time on the bus when they
- have, they can get on their cell phones without any supervision. But I could see both sides of it too.
- The board thinks we need to just go with the state law, which is bell to bell. I'll support that.
- My thoughts, if you make the decision, you have to stick with it. But I don't want it to be a joke either.
- You know, where they say, you know, we're not, I'm on my phone every day. You know, they don't know
- anything about it. So, but I think if you made that decision, you had a reason to make that. I think
- it's a good one. And I think we should stay with it. I guess my question is, you've had a policy
- bus drivers discretion. Right. How did the bus drivers what was there? Well, that works out for you
- know, some drivers just that doesn't bother them. And they don't have an issue with it. So they allow
- the cell phones to be used. Others are probably a little more strict.
- just like teachers. So. I agree with Joey. I think whatever we need to make a decision, that's it. I
- just didn't get it. I think at least give it a semester and see how it works out after the first year
- and then go from there. I don't know about it. Things that I wonder about are like,
- So is this where only the students that would obey the rules anyway are the ones who won't have their
- cell phones out and the ones who always push the envelope are the ones that are gonna get by with it
- because they can't, it's gonna be hard to monitor. I mean, the seats are purposely high on buses for safety.
- And so it's very difficult to see and monitor. So, you know, it's kind of, to me, a perfect opportunity
- for good kids to be penalized for being good and allowing kids that push the envelope to get by with
- it with no recourse. And, you know, then I just worry about the equity in that.
- So that's something that bothers me. I don't know how that weighs. It's just a thought, you know.
- So it's, you know, I don't know. That's just something that bothers me in trying to look at the fairness
- of it. Is it really fair because they're, you know, like I know,
- Again, some good kids are going to say, I'm not going to do that, because that's not the right thing
- to do. And they won't do it. And the other kids that push the envelope are going to be sitting aside
- and getting by with it. And it's going to be frustrating. So that's a concern. To what extent is it
- making bus drivers' job harder? I'm sorry? To what extent is it making bus drivers' job harder, too?
- I'm inclined to go along with Jimmy. Let's try it.
- see what happens if we need to come back and revisit it. Maybe evaluate and get the bus drivers input
- on it. See what we hear from parents and students as well. Maybe revisit it mid semester at the end
- of the first term. Pretty much. This is really not just what happens on the bus, but this policy is
- new law and how we're implementing it. I kind of figured that
- there would be a trial and error really for a while. Some schools are saying the phones have to be in
- their locker. They're very specific where they need to be. We just made it more simple, out of sight,
- inaccessible, turned off. But when you put something in practice,
- Sometimes it looks great on paper, but Not in the implementation You should have coaches and chaperones
- well that that was my Like I said, I had reasoning whether it was good reasoning or that's the guess
- that's up to everybody, but my thinking was after school There's a greater need for you know
- a group of students coming back from a trip and they're back early or they're gonna be later, a lot
- more communication that has to happen than a ride home. And I thought, yes, that there would be coaches,
- there would be somebody other than the bus driver who would be able to monitor what a student is or
- is not doing on their phone. That was the rationale.
- I definitely don't have a strong enough opinion to do something different. I'm just glad I actually
- had the discussion out in the open. I think that's important. And I have heard out there that, well,
- the teachers ought to have to abide by this, too. That is the silliest thing I've heard. Sorry. I just
- want to put that on the record. That is the silliest thing I've heard.
- on this, 2020 was a stinking hard year, 2020. You remember why? Yes. Why was it hard? Because I retired.
- That's why we had to wear those masks every meeting. And why do we have to wear the mask? Because it
- was the county ordinance. The health department said we had to do it. So we did it, and we enforced
- it. Because that was our job, to enforce it. And the school, and I hated dealing with it, but we dealt with it.
- If the lawmakers said bell to bell, they spent a heck of a lot more time doing prepping for this than
- what we did at a school board meeting. I'm fine with going by the letter of the law, bell to bell. And
- as far as the buses are concerned, I'd be curious if you looked at the numbers, what percentage of our
- kids ride the bus to and from school every day? And those kids that aren't riding the bus with parents,
- they're on their cell phones just the same way. So you're concerned about having social
- can have from some kid riding in the back of his mom and dad's station wagon to school, takes somebody
- in the station wagon behind him. We've got enough problems to do with the school corporations for teachers
- to take on more headaches that's not governed by law. That's my thought process. I'm cool with waiting
- and revisiting this in nine weeks, whatever. After the first nine weeks, that's fine. But I have a hard
- time going above and beyond that
- because there's so much gray area on the school bus travel from point A to point B. So that's my take
- on it. And my rationale there is, and Christine could tell me if I'm wrong, but you can always be more
- strict than a law. So we can have rules that are more strict than the law. We can do that. And we chose
- not to be more strict on how it's enforced.
- with using some common sense at the last board meeting to where we're not gonna require and put them
- in a pouch or stuff them in a locker. So I think we've used some common sense. I hope we use common
- sense on this bell to bell rationale that the state has put down. Well, I appreciate the comments and
- I'll give you a kind of report from time to time on how it's going and not only on the bus,
- question, but during the school day too. From school. What's that? What if there's tricky weather to
- or from school? Well, that would say that would be an emergency. Yeah, just kind of wondering different
- things flashing through my head. That's and that's kind of I think Brad's right. You know, you have
- to apply some common sense to all this. Also, to me,
- I just worry about students. A cell phone, a student can just do just about anything and connect with
- any website, any person, and I just worry about the safety of the kids. And that was my number one rationale
- of extending it to the bus because I thought it was going to create a little safer environment.
- as you've got, they're under our two leads for about eight hours a day. So the other 16 hours a day,
- somebody else is what, are they being watched at home? That's really not our role, is to babysit the
- kids 24-7. Okay. Good discussion. I like it. I think, you know, it's a discussion we can continue with
- as we see how things play out.
- I'll just maybe in my super tends report in October November. Kind of share with you on how it's going.
- Yeah. It's just a yeah, just a discussion. We're doesn't appear to be ready to take any action on tonight.
- Okay. So next is
- the revised Ready 2.0 resolution. Okay, so back in April, I think it was, we were asked by the Indiana
- Economic Development Corporation to have a resolution approved by the board that we were going to authorize
- $2,255,500 from our 2025 construction bond proceeds for the Ready 2.0 Biomedical Life Sciences project.
- As we continue to work on the design of that project, the final cost that we were submitting for the
- grant was less.
- and we were a little worried about that because We were kind of worried that we would not qualify for
- all the five hundred thousand dollars but we got some good news in that the cost of the biomedical project
- or Working you know doing the band and choir areas and transforming that into the biomedical labs that
- that cost came down to two million and
- $101,110, and we will still get the full $500,000 grant for that. But we have to submit a revised resolution,
- so I ask for your approval for that tonight. I move to approve the revised 2.0 resolution. Any discussion?
- It's nice to get good news like that.
- Yes, it's great to receive that money and it's also great to come under what was estimated, so that's
- awesome. We're going to continue sometime over the end of fall to try to get this memorandum
- of understanding. Yeah, we're working with Christine on that. Okay, so will we have any progress with
- that? Yes.
- Motion carries. Next is the approval of a cross crop cross crop lease agreement. Yeah, so we are bringing
- before you a new agreement that we have with Nailer Farms who leases our property around the
- elementary schools and the preschool, and also down by Harmon Farms. And the terms will stay the same,
- which is $190 an acre, and they're farming 58 acres for a total of $11,210. This will go back to November
- 1st, but then Christine added some language in there to make it an automatic renewal.
- if there aren't any changes to the terms. So I wanted to bring that before you tonight. Any discussion?
- Yeah, just the 58 acres. The field that's closest to Reeves Road, is that just like fallow this year
- or are we, is he just not gonna be farming it?
- Right in front of the no, yeah, yeah. No, they're going to. He's going to mow it for us, but not far.
- OK, OK, I just noticed that he's picking up some other area. So it was pretty much a wash on the nerve.
- OK, yeah, I wasn't sure he was doing that stuff out by Herman Park because it didn't seem like anything
- was coming up. Yeah, I didn't see if it's planning or not.
- Yep. And as you think, you know, but we're going to tear down the farmhouse and the barns and the silos.
- And Scott Naylor is in the process of removing his equipment that he had left in the garage area and
- also taking down the silos. And then
- We had a test, the house tested for asbestos, so once all his equipment is removed, then we'll go through
- the process of removing the asbestos, and then we'll seek some bids or quotes on tearing down all the
- structures. What does that say? Do we have any plans for that site? Well, we've talked about, and this is,
- probably going to take a little bit longer, but the original idea was to turn it back into farmland.
- But there's some environmental work that has to be done to make sure it would still be good,
- healthy farmland. There's another outlying project out there that may give us
- of use for that property, but that's just kind of pie in the sky thinking right now, but what's that?
- Yeah, yeah, but you know, right now, it's all about the idea to turn it back into farmland. Early on
- to cancel them if need be.
- So we'd need to be forward thinking if it comes up that we determine there is a use. And I really appreciate
- Scott Naylor. He's really good to work with. He's been great. Absolutely great. He's looked over the
- agreement, the lease, and that's acceptable to him also. Anything further? All those in favor say aye.
- Aye. Opposed?
- motion carries. And now we have the 27th budget calendar to discuss. Yep. So Debbie mentioned to me
- today that she gave you these dates, but it wasn't on the agenda. So I wanted to put it on the agenda
- to make it official. But the dates haven't changed.
- The regular school board meeting on August 18th will, Paul and Debbie will be sharing information on
- education, the current status of our education fund, operation fund, debt service fund. We'll look at
- the school bus, five-year school bus replacement plan. We'll look at capital projects and we'll,
- seek permission to advertise for all those items I just mentioned. And then that advertisement will
- be August 24th, which would be 10 days, more than 10 days before the public hearing that is required.
- And that public hearing would happen on September 15th, and where the budgets will be presented.
- The proposed budget for 2027 will be shared with the board and along with the capital projects plan
- and the five-year school replacement plan. And then on Tuesday, October 20th, would be the date, that's
- also a regular board meeting, but that would be the date we would
- asked the board to approve the budget for 2027 and then we would submit the 2027 budget to Gateway.
- Okay and our last
- item for this evening, is consideration to approve the reclassification of position for Nader Erlmann,
- our Google Systems Administrator, and I believe for that we actually have someone besides Dr. Sanders.
- We have our tech director, Rick Rappen.
- So Nader's been with us for about seven years, six years or seven years, I can't remember exactly the
- date that he started, because he was a five star, then he came to RBB employee. In that role, he was
- always just a technical support specialist. I shouldn't say just. He's always been doing way more than
- just a technical support specialist. And over the last few years, his role has really changed since
- we have had the privilege to have additional tech supports in our office. And so I've really had him
- focusing more within the Google and the systems administration of the servers and the applications and
- things that take a lot of time. And that is something that is really required and needed for our corporation
- to continue moving forward with all the stuff that we're doing and propose to do in the future. And
- so when he does this, the title really does mean something to someone. And there's a lot of different
- titles out there.
- And it really made sense because he does so much in our Google administration console, and he also does
- so much on our systems, which are all the servers that we rely on to do our jobs on a daily basis. So
- I combined it and called it the Google and Systems Administration title. And so he's really well deserving
- of this because of how much he does and how much he works on keeping our network, or not the network,
- that's Ashley, our systems running. Then he also works with Ashley, which is the network's specialist,
- network security administrator to make sure that we have the security and the communications that are
- required for the servers and then for our links to all of our applications that we use on our daily
- computers. That really does make a person feel better when they have a nice title behind them and not
- just I'm technical support specialist. Also, it elevates him a little bit because his job is much different
- than the other two
- three technical support specialists we have and so they do look up to him so I think it's it's really
- deserving for him to go and be have a different title than just technical support specialist. Any discussion.
- From a teacher standpoint knowing how crucial the computer system became as I was
- And toward the end of my career, it started to settle down a little bit. And since I've been on board,
- you rarely hear other than just niggling little complaints. It's running so smooth. And I just really
- appreciate what you guys do. Thank you. How would you like position? So
- All of us came together for this. We just got done installing 1800 Chromebooks at EIS and EPS. That
- means we took 1800 out of the Chromebook carts and put 1800 new ones in the carts. So we're starting
- the new year at EIS and EPS with brand new Chromebooks. The seniors at the high school are not seniors,
- but the high school. This will be their second year with the brand new Chromebooks. We also just finished
- installing 45 brand new interactive monitors at EPS.
- Yes, plus I have more in the works, but right now we were maxed to the deal with getting that done in
- time. I was out walking the dogs and saw two highlights of Chromebooks and nobody ran. And so I was
- first, I kind of walked up, I walked up toward them just to see what they were. And about that time
- somebody popped out of the door at EIS. Those are the those Chromebooks were
- bringing them in and they were they were on top of the alarm to me we have 8. How lots of use Chromebooks
- sitting in poor Audrey's transportation building right now. Yeah, I saw Carolyn. Yeah primary and she
- was she was chasing around. So yeah, we've been it's been a very busy summer and it was all hands on
- deck. But we also had stuff behind the scenes that had to get done. We've been working on that as well.
- Right now, we're trying to determine what we're going to do. There is some value to them. And so we're
- looking at all options right now. Unfortunately, we have a lot of work ahead of us before we can even
- do anything with them or donate them or anything we want to do is we have to what's called decommission
- them from Google. So we get our licenses back. And that is a very time consuming process. So we're trying
- to figure out how we're going to best handle this situation.
- Right now I've talked to Arnold. We're looking at probably using one of the shipping containers that
- is sitting in the parking lots to get them out of Audrey's Way, put them in the shipping containers,
- and then as time allows, we'll probably pull one out, bring it into the maintenance bay or something,
- because we have to take them all out, open them up, power them on, do some key commands, wipe them,
- and then there's a lot of work to it. So we're just trying to figure out how we're going to incorporate
- this into our daily task going forward.
- I can't send them off to another school or to another anything with our license on it. It won't work
- for them. So we have to do a lot of work just to even get him out of our possession. Yeah. And you know,
- it's as we keep expanding, everything we expand has technology in it and there's
- more and more need and it just becomes more and more advanced and I I'm just always amazed at how you
- guys are able to to keep up and you know I I worry when I worry about staffing I worry about your department
- I really do because I just know that there's got to be so much that you guys are doing all the time
- So I do worry about your department in that way. Thank you. Thanks for Audrey and Arnold for all their
- help, because if it wasn't for the beautiful transportation building that we have, we wouldn't have
- a place to put some of our stuff during these transitions. And Audrey's always been very helpful with
- us getting that in and out of there. And then Arnold and his staff have helped us a lot getting our
- products to and from every building.
- It takes a while to transport from the transportation building down to EPS on a forklift. It's not a
- it's not a quick run, I'll say. So he has been and his career has been very helpful in getting all of
- this organized with us. So thanks to Arnold and Audrey, too. That's awesome. OK, anything further? All
- those in favor say aye. I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you very much. And now we have our business
- manager's report.
- And we have Debbie Tate. I gave you guys some updated reports from the original board packet that was
- sent to you. It's the revenue report and the fund report.
- I made a few corrections after I sent it to you where there were some posting corrections with the 800
- fund and a grant. So we just had to move some of that money around. And then there was a posting correction
- with the interest. It was posted in a different fund and it should have been posted in the education
- fund. So it just shows where the money is now. And I wanted to give you those totals because those are
- the totals that will be reported on our Form 9.
- and at the close of June 30th. It was different from what I had originally sent you, so I wanted to
- make sure you guys had the most current information. When we are looking at the cash flows, just looking
- at the education fund and the operations fund, one thing that Paul and I were talking about in the education
- fund, we started the year off in January
- 3.6 million of a cash balance. And at this moment we have 3.9 million. So we've increased that fund
- balance and we're just, you know, keep looking at those totals. And then in operations, we started at
- 2.1 million and we're sitting at 3.5 right now. So we're just, again, and you guys, you know, we sat
- down and showed some of you guys how those funds are being assessed
- every day between all of us. We're trying to save as much, but we're also trying to just make sure those
- funds are staying solid. We received all of our tax money that we had anticipated, so that was on track
- for those funds. One thing, and some of you, we talked about the state is changing how we are funded.
- with the operations fund. So basically we used to get 4% and we're going to get an increase of 6% of
- income into the operations and this is hopefully supposed to help that difference that we're gonna experience
- with all of the tax changes and everything happening in the future. So it'll give us some extra cushion but not
- not to use, but to just help us with that for the future. And one thing they've changed is the CVET,
- the FIT, and the excise taxes. We used to put that all in debt service, or some of it in debt service,
- and now it's all going into operations. Again, that's another place where they're trying to put money
- into the operations to kind of offset where we're gonna lose some of that money. So yeah, I think.
- I think that's all I have. Do you guys have any questions? Thank you so much. Thank you guys. The assistant
- superintendent is not here this evening and we did make sure that the superintendent knew that she did
- not yield her time to him or is she allowed to. So he is limited to his own time for the superintendent's
- report. You have like
- until 730. So the way I see it, I've got 27 minutes. Oh, it's 710, not 710. Well, this won't take very
- long. Congratulations to our High School Music Warehouse group. It's hard to believe, but they
- are celebrating their 50th anniversary. And this Saturday, July 25th,
- I just put the special concert that's going to happen at 7 o'clock, but I believe the public can come
- over at 4, and there's supposed to be some memorabilia that you can take a look at. But the special
- concert's at 7. I'm really looking forward to that this Saturday.
- Just some real brief construction updates. I know that Martin Truesdell from Skillman is often, he's
- here every other month, but there's a lot happening, so I just really wanted to share with you the roof
- projects at the EPS, EIS, and the junior high are in process and should be completed mid-August.
- Softball baseball turf project has started. And if you drive up there, you can see that they basically
- are at taking the top layer of the soil off. And it's a real interesting process to watch them install
- turf. So I would just encourage you from time to time, drive over there and see what's happening there.
- It's pretty exciting.
- I didn't tell everybody this in time. Some people found out by accident that we added some new speed
- bumps around the high school. And the idea is we're going to continue to, we'll move up towards the
- junior high next with some speed bumps. But I've observed that and it really does help slow down the traffic
- Going around the school and So I just want to let you know about that The additions and renovations
- project to junior high and high school which is involving At the high school expanding the front of
- the high school for a new band and choir area and Then where the current band and choir area is right
- now. That'll be our biomedical
- sim labs that will be have available for our students and students in that pathway and then up at the
- junior high will be expanding the high school for a new band or the junior high school for the new band
- and choir area and then where the current band and choir area is right now will be additional classrooms
- and a special education classroom
- We had a pre-bid meeting today, and the bid advertisements are out there, and one was last Friday, and
- I believe the next one is this Friday. And then on August 6th at 2 o'clock, we'll have the bid opening,
- and we're looking at probably starting that project in September.
- Believe it or not, the 2026-27 school year is right around the corner, and I just wanted to share with
- you some of the start of the year dates and important happenings that are going on around the campus.
- We sent out the Welcome Back to School letters. The meet and greet and open house dates and times are
- on our website, and have also been communicated to parents. The school calendar is on the website, and then
- if they come in on time. The goal is to have, which we do every year, we have the calendar put on magnets
- that parents could put on their refrigerators, so that'll go out on the first day of school. Principals
- and secretaries reported yesterday, and they're already busy sending me emails about new enrollments,
- and that's always good to see. And then,
- There's not a student in Edgewood schools that will go without school supplies. So that's the and we
- can say that because we have people from the community who can continue to contribute to the student
- assistance fund. Also Tri Kappa provides funds for school supplies and we also let parents know that
- There's a backpack giveaway with school supplies at Ellisville Christian Church this Saturday at 10
- o'clock, 10 to noon. And so that's open to the whole public. Registration window open today. This Thursday,
- we'll have our administration retreat. And since we have a few new administrators, that'll be really
- important for us to come together and
- The feel like it do some team bonding activities and talk about some new initiatives going on in the
- school corporation. The bus driver back to school meetings July 28th a new teacher orientation days
- are the 30th and 31st. Nutrition Service Department their back to school meeting will be August 3rd.
- And then on
- The morning of August 3rd, we'll have our back to school breakfast and meeting for staff and teachers.
- We'll introduce our new teachers, staff members, and administrators. And I usually try to give a welcome
- back to school speech. And then, so August 3rd and 4th are teacher work days. And then the first day
- of school will be August 5th. Here we go.
- Thank you so much, and it's 710, good job. Appreciate that, appreciate that. Did you have one before?
- I'm sorry? Did you have any before? Yeah, I did. All right, Mr. Durnall, RBBEA? No? Okay, so Mr. Durnall.
- I'd like to welcome the new teachers, but they left on us, but that's all right. We'll have those,
- and Tommy, thanks for your comments, appreciate you coming up, good to see you, haven't seen you forever.
- Just like to just thank the administrators who are here tonight. Thank you so much for being here. It's
- so good to hear from you. Thanks for introducing us. That's really nice. And Rick, thank you for the
- update on all of this. I saw that palette, but I didn't think much about it. Larry's more of an investigator
- than I am. He's already got more time on his hands, maybe. That's all I've got. Thank you, sir. Tommy,
- I was sitting here thinking
- Treasure the memory of when Washington. We had a full house. And Tommy hit three pointers over
- the outstretched seven footer Tyler Zeller and we ended up winning that game. Most exciting moment in
- Edgewood Hot Basketball history. I think that that's something all of us remember, but yeah, I just.
- The excitement of another school year is always something in the.
- This year's I'm looking forward to it. I think it's been just be terrific song. I can't wait until August
- 3rd and I'm hoping maybe what time do the new teachers get here on the 30th? They'll be here. Yes. Early.
- I think. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker.
- Good to see you again, Tommy. Grown up. You're grown up a little bit. That's good. That's good. So thanks
- for the discussion I had about the cell phone policy. That's something that just all these things we
- get dropped to our lap. It's all school specific. I get it too. But I'm glad we are going to follow
- the letter of the law. So I'm looking forward to some continued discussions. Yes.
- We do have good discussions, and we end up making a combined decision, and we make the best decisions
- that way. So I appreciate the board for that. Right. And I want to echo what Dr. Sanders said. There
- are so many giving groups in this community to help kids out with school supplies and so forth. So get
- out there and use them. And there's a lot of these places that have leftover supplies, and I think they
- might bring them back to you guys' buildings.
- There's always a lot of things out there to help kids out. Thank you. Thank you. I, too, want to appreciate
- you coming in and talking with us and gave us definitely something to think about. I, too, enjoyed watching
- you play. I believe that you can't remember if you were older or younger than my kids, but John and
- Rebecca around your age.
- So, it was fun to come to the games and be a part of that. So, enjoyed it very much. As always, we appreciate
- the donations that come in. And, you know, the community is always great at supporting and supporting,
- helping with the school supplies. There are numerous avenues that are available
- For new teachers, make sure they know about the teacher's warehouse and that's a great resource for
- them to have. I also believe the IU surplus this week is having a sale for teachers, like a half price
- sale on certain things. So if teachers are needing things, that might be some place they can go as well
- to look for things.
- I just want to make sure that everybody's careful as the start of school will happen before we meet
- again. Be careful with the buses out there. Give extra time getting to and from work and wherever else
- you may be going. You know, we do have a great resource officers and police departments that really
- help monitor to keep people
- doing the right things by not passing our buses with arms out. But so, you know, keep alert and watch
- out for those kiddos getting on and off the bus and walking to and from school. So be safe.
- And with that, thank you all for coming and this meeting is adjourned.