As educators and mandated reporters, our duty is clear. We listen, we protect students, and we report appropriately. What happened here raises serious concerns. Police should have been contacted immediately. School personnel should never contact their own investigation involving sexual allegations or ask a child to demonstrate sexual behavior. Safety plan should have been created. Special education staff should have been involved immediately. Teachers, security staff, and all relevant personnel should have been included in the investigation process. Most concerning, the parents were not notified until the child arrived at home. The parents contacted police first. According to records, the incident was reported to the Department of CH Child Safety instead of law enforcement. Even though this was a student on student sexual allegation that falls under police jurisdiction, as a clinical social worker, I am deeply concerned about the apparent lack of understanding regarding mandated reporting laws. >> Unfortunately, we're out of time.
And is it sustainable? >> So, again, if it's a one-time if it's a staggered approach, then it's a one-time cost. We have contingency funds to to handle one-time things that that are not uh recurring revenue levels that we can spend every year. These would be like a savings account that we could handle, you know, this staggered approach over, you know, a one to threeyear period of time to get us to where this program is sustainable. >> Um, we absolutely can afford it. There's we're not going to sacrifice any ongoing programs or people. um we would use our one-time contingency funds for this contingency. >> So then what would we want? Does it then come back to like what do we want to do? We want to do one year, two year, three years because it sounds like three years is about the max, right? Before we need to be at that 425 and the $2.
So, the kids are dying to get there every day. They're they're latching on to them. We're dying to kick kids to them every day. So, it's it's working out perfect for everybody. So, thank you for that this week, Savannah. We appreciate it. Dr. Brown, congratulations again. Kind of just your leadership's been tremendous. We appreciate it. Uh again, we kind of go back. So I've always looked up to you a lot as a leader. So thank you for everything you've done for our school corporation. >> Thank you. >> And then the next time we meet, graduation will be done. So graduates, congratulations. Good luck. I know this is our first one. I'm getting ready to go through with my daughter. So >> yeah, >> we'll have tissues. Dustin, >> that's right. There you go. Thank you. >> What do they come home from college for the first time?
Um, but there was one other item brought up uh loose end from a previous discussion. Um the uh subcommittee would like to ask the full committee to charge us with creating a transportation replacement schedule. And aside from that, our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 18th at 11:30, uh remote and in person, and it will be a budget update meeting. >> I actually have a question about that. So, um, since I have been here, just one time did we work together with a business manager that was on a capital project or maybe twice. Um, so in general, I guess maybe for the superintendent. Um, if you're doing procurement of something, doesn't that happen under the school? Or maybe that's for Andy. We I know that we worked together um on the energy recovery units, but your general practice for ju just so we can say it out loud for like if you're hiring somebody for or you know I guess purchasing cars maybe that's off the bid list but what have we done in the past >> either one of you >> um I can tell you that uh when the first landscaping contract came up I I did find and I know the discussion that occurred And I apologize.
Um, I can tell you that uh when the first landscaping contract came up, I I did find and I know the discussion that occurred. I apologize I wasn't at the subcommittee meeting. Um, but it was conducted by the then city procurement officer. She did I actually have a copy and it was I'm imagining quite honestly that the contract because she did everything by docuign. So I'm imagining that in a docu sign account somewhere is the signed contract that whether whether the city procurement office has either her access to the docuign because I found in my email from then her name was Laura Phelps a notification that you know the docuign contract for the landscaping you know please sign that and would go through the docuign process of superintendent signing it me signing as business manager and her signing it as the one that conducted the bid itself.
Thank you. >> Proper procedures. Since I am out of time, I will submit this to you because I presented for three minutes. Thank you. >> Thank you. Holly Elena. Good evening, governing board members. We are Holly and Maxelina and we are here tonight as a parents of a special needs student. We are deeply disturbed by the superintendent's recent letter describing our daughter's reported sexual abuse incident as mutual physical displays of affection and stating that the behavior does not require a duty to report because every high school has this happening and Combmes does not call home about it. The characterization does not align with the facts. First, our daughter immediately sought help from a school social worker and expressed that she felt violated and unsafe. students do not seek out mental health professionals because of mutual affection. Second, despite initially questioning our daughter's credibility, a district social worker ultimately contacted DCS.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. >> But that would then change, right? If that's currently at 425. So, if we're talking about three years from now, then we would have to do a whole another analysis, right? 425 probably won't be >> the the student lunch. If we approved the student lunch to be the 50 cent increase, it would be 425. >> If we staggered the breakfast for three years. >> Oh, I'm sorry. My apologies. The breakfast. So, if we stagger the breakfast um for $2, will we be I would assume that we would be looking at a different cost then. The cost of living and things will have changed. So, >> that's what I asked him and no, he's we've got a period of time where it stays about the same and this is more than what that would be in a few years. If I if I if uh if I may, I think a simple solution was let's come up with an alternative recommendation approval and then um spring of next year, we'll re-evaluate all of our labor costs and we can see where we're at and we can we can see what the next step of that staggered approach is and just kind of take it one year at a time.
>> Yeah, that's right. Um just went, you know, Dustin sort of said it. you run out of things by the time it gets to here. So, uh, Savannah, great job. We're gonna miss you. Just like everyone else has said, thank you to Deputy. Congratulations to Dr. Brown. Uh, she loves getting up there and center of attention. Um, I threaten her with some spotlights and everything else uh to go along with that. So, she loves that kind of stuff. Um, but I do want to say something to the seniors. Uh, everyone always gets excited uh, as it gets closer to graduation. I can remember my grandfather telling me when you're sitting down there on the floor at graduation, just take a second and look up. Look at your family. Uh, because it only happens once, you know. So, do take the time, take a breath, Savannah.
I wasn't at the subcommittee meeting. Um, but it was conducted by the then city procurement officer. She did I actually have a copy and it was I'm imagining quite honestly that the contract because she did everything by docuign. So I'm imagining that in a docuine account somewhere is the signed contract that whether whether the city procurement office has either her access to the docuign because I found in my email from then her name was Laura Phelps a notification that you know the docuign contract for the landscaping you know please sign that and would go through the docuign process of superintendent signing it me signing as business manager and her signing it as the one that conducted the bid itself. So not that understanding when people change anything but it is it was done by procurement uh the city procurement officer the regarding energy recovery units you had contracted out with our firm because you didn't have a procurement officer.
So not that understanding when people change anything but it is it was done by procurement uh the city procurement officer the regarding energy recovery units you had contracted out with our firm because you didn't have a procurement officer. So since I'm MCPPO certified you asked for me to act and do the request for qualifications for the engineer firm. So we did that but we did that because in a sense I'm acting on behalf of the city not the school and then when it came time that then seems to be the rule of thumb has been for capital related projects because capital is a responsibility of the city the city procurement officer would handle that even if it was a capital project for the school when we did I the when we came in here and even regarding the leasing of the vans uh at the time that the when they procured the vans.
That action alone demonstrates that a trained professional believed there was enough concern to escalate the matter. It is difficult to reconcile that with the district's statement that there was nothing to report and no reasonable suspicion of harm. Third, the forensic detective assigned to this case brought forward charges of forcible fondling. Although the county attorney declined prosecution, that does not mean the allegations lacked mer lacked merit or that the conduct was mutual. Prosecutors declined cases for many reasons, including the difficulty of securing a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. What matters is that trained law enforcement professionals believe the evidence warranted criminal charges. Additionally, the other student himself acknowledged in writing that he groped her, [clears throat] that he touched her inappropriately, that he touched himself, and that he tried to get with her. And those are his words, not ours. We are also deeply concerned that our daughter's cognitive disability appears to have been minimized in evaluating what occurred.
That might be a simple solution. >> Yep. >> Thoughts, Mr. Owens? >> All right. That turkey sandwich is sounding good right about now. >> You know, I could totally go for a turkey sandwich. >> Um, >> so I don't know. There's laws around what we can and can't do outside of sitting up here, right? >> Um, I haven't talked to anyone about >> No, I have not. uh where you know what everyone's thinking on this, right? So, let's make a deal. >> All right, >> let's negotiate what you >> All right. So, um and this math, Mr. Harmon, is not specifically on here. >> Okay, I got you. >> All right, good deal. But I can kind of I think I can figure this thing out. Okay. So, let's start with breakfast. What do you all think about a dollar? Okay. I I'm not I'm not asking for a >> right >> a poll, right?
Look where you're at, >> you know, because everything's getting ready to change and stuff. So, soak it all in. Enjoy it. remember it. Uh because I can remember my graduation like it was a year ago just because I took that time to do that. Uh the board will conduct a work session on Thursday, June 4th, 2026 at 400 PM. The work session will be held at the Growing Mind Farm. Once again, the work session will be held at the Growing Minds Farmtop on 602 West Main Street, Madison, Indiana. I repeated that for myself as well. Okay, that Pam will remind me. The next scheduled meeting of the board of school trustees will be held on Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. And that's right after my birthday. and it made me remember happy belated birthday Mandy and stuff from earlier this week. So I'll turn it over to Dr.
So since I'm MCPO certified you asked for me to act and do the request for qualifications for the engineer firm. So we did that but we did that because in a sense I'm acting on behalf of the city not the school and then when it came time that then seems to be the rule of thumb has been for capital related projects because capital is a responsibility of the city the city procurement officer would handle that even if it was a capital project for the school when we did I the when we came in here and even regarding the leasing of the vans uh at the time that the the when they procured the vans. Laura Phelps took over doing that. When we actually looked at when COVID started and we were looking at air purifiers, Laura Phelps took over the that for the the schools for seeking out the air purifying contracts.
Laura Phelps took over doing that. When we actually looked at when COVID started and we were looking at air purifiers, Laura Phelps took over the that for the the schools for seeking out the air purifying contracts. when we were going to do the federal street elevators. Uh I had put together specifications for request for qualification for an engineers firm and then city engineer George Vanderinder told me that is that that I for all intents and purposes was out of my responsibility and that it was the city's responsibility. And then we had the meeting regarding those energy recovery units where it was Laura Phelps, then city finance director Schindler, myself, uh, Marlo, the DPW director, and it was all agreed that the city was going to handle, you know, that being since it was a capital project and capital is a responsibility of the city operational related procurement, by all means, I'm willing to and will do that.
The district stated her disability was considered only for supportive measures, not in determining whether the interaction was welcome. Finally, the district appears to rely heavily on incomplete video footage while discounting a student. >> Unfortunately, you're out of time. >> Yeah, >> thank you. >> Noah James Markham. Aloha, Miss President, and to the rest of the Combmes board. I would like to talk about that we need to make sure that we are talking about DEI in our public schools here. Diversity, equity, inclusion. Even if the Mormons don't like it at school, the Mormons need to learn that DEI matters at school. Also, I want to make people with disabilities get their accommodations at school and should never be refused just to be able to learn at school as a person with a disability. I know what it's like to have a disability my whole life and hear my mom complaining to me while I went to Gilbert public schools that the teachers just never listened to her and she had to fight for accommodation just to learn at school.
>> Okay. A dollar for breakfast. And I'm with Miss Coutree or President Coutree. I hate being the highest in the >> In the cost. Yep. >> Could we do a a dollar for breakfast for the next year and $4 for lunch? Mr. Harmon, would that if if I'm kind of doing my math right and I may have to go back to Mr. Marcus or uh Mr. Mitchell, sorry, >> class. >> Yeah. And and join his math class. >> I I mean, I already did the math on a quarter if you want to know what it is. >> Or you want to you want to take a stab at it? >> 120. It's it's it's going to cost us about $57,000. And it's it's based on how many meals we serve. We serve about 220,000 meals or something. So 25% of that cost. >> Um so I I think it's a great compromise.
Brown. >> All right, so lots going on this time of year. First of all, we did open the Lydia Middleton playground this morning. Was a beautiful morning for it. Um there was just so much joy. I watched from the preschoolers to the fourth graders as they came out and every single one of them were equally excited, very joyful. Um they all were touching the turf. They couldn't quite figure out why it wasn't feeling like grass. Um, and they were very anxious to play on their new playground today. It was really fun to watch. So, I want to congratulate them on getting that done today. So much excitement. We did receive then news this morning that uh we have another grant from Bethany that we were awarded today for Anderson and uh they already have their designs picked out and they'll start their construction this summer.
when we were going to do the federal street elevators. Uh I had put together specifications for request for qualification for an engineers firm and then city engineer George Vanderlander told me that is that I for all intents and purposes was out of my responsibility and that it was the city's responsibility. And then we had the meeting regarding those energy recovery units where it was Laura Phelps, then city finance director Schindler, myself, uh, Marlo, the DPW director, and it was all agreed that the city was going to handle, you know, that being since it was a capital project and capital is a responsibility of the city operational related procurement, by all means, I'm willing to and will do that. But it seemed to be capital and then for some reason the landscaping because I know then I found the email from Alan Schmidt, a former former former school uh facilities director where he tried to go out and seek and do the quote solicitation bid process for the landscaping and then again Laura Phelps took that over.
But it seemed to be capital and then for some reason the landscaping because I know then I found the email from Alan Schmidt a former former former school uh facilities director where he tried to go out and seek and do the quote solicitation bid process for the landscaping and then again Laura Phelps took that over. >> So I'm just I just want to say thank you for saying that. My understanding has been since I took over that really was the projects and I sort of assumed that for all operational that if there was a contract for something operational within the schools that they you would you would be doing that. Okay. So I I think it was important to bring that up because you were sitting here wondering what the answer was and I actually did not know that we had done the procurement on that to begin with and it does sound like it's past due or due again.