001pledge of allegiance a moment of silent meditation 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. Okay, you may be seated. Um we had an executive session tonight from 5:00 till about 6:10. Um uh as far as the roll call goes, everyone is here except for Trevor and Jessica. Um Didi is on the phone. Um Oh, I'm going to read this. Okay. Just a reminder that all or a portion of the meeting may be live-streamed, recorded, and posted on the district's YouTube channel for the purpose of public broadcast and according to board policy. The district disclaims any responsibility or liability for any defamatory or slanderous statements expressed by any member of the public.
002Any unauthorized recording or rebroadcasting of any video, audio, and/or still image of this meeting is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the board or superintendent. Okay. No uh public comments. Nobody signed up for public comments? Any We don't have any students here for our board report, so we will move on to our presentations. Um first we have uh history club students who'd like to take the floor. All right, good evening everyone. Uh I just like to start by introducing myself. Uh my name is Alexis Connor. Um I am a social studies teacher here at the high school and I'm also the history club advisor. Um I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to speak with you guys tonight. You're going to hear from the students. They're going to tell you a
003little bit more about their own experience as well. Um but before they do, I wanted to take an opportunity to share a little bit about the work that our students have been doing um both this year um and the work that we're looking forward to doing in years to come. Um this year our students have been actively engaged in something called National History Day, which is a program that challenges them to conduct in-depth historical research and present their findings through documentaries, exhibits, performances, websites, or research papers. This experience goes far beyond the classroom um helping students to develop their critical thinking skills, their research skills, their writing skills, um and presentation skills in a meaningful and authentic way. Uh looking ahead, we are especially excited about a new collaboration with our local historical society. Um
004together we will be exploring the founding of our school by digging into primary sources, local archives, and community stories. Students will then use that research to create a project. Um they voted most likely in the form of a documentary. Um that that documentary will then tell the goal or tell the story of our school's origins. Um what makes this really meaningful to us is that we are exploring opportunities to share this work publicly, potentially as a part of next year's Groundhog Day celebration. Um so that visitors and members of our community can better understand the history and identity of our school's origins. Uh in addition, we're planning another trip to Washington, D.C. This time we hope to expand it into a multi-day experience so that um students can engage more deeply with some of the
005historical sites and institutions that built our country. The goal here is to really bring to life what we are teaching them in the classroom. And of course, we plan to continue participating in National History Day in the years to come, building on the momentum that we've already started here with our new club. I'd like to note here that our club president will be speaking after me to share more specifically about what the students have accomplished this year and what kind of experiences um they've had what they've kind of meant from their perspective. Um but I'm going to take a minute to talk about National History Day again. So, this year we've had several students advance to the state level competition for National History Day. Um this is an accomplishment that reflects an incredible amount of
006hard work and dedication. Um I've spent countless hours myself with them after school um developing their projects, watching them uh pursue their academic interests, um and it's been just an incredible blessing as an educator to watch these students get out of their comfort zone and really just dive into a topic that they're interested in and go way beyond the classroom, things that um I don't yet teach in eighth grade. They and I have some eighth graders here. They are um pursuing and they're trying to teach and learn and grow. Um it's just a great blessing to watch them do this. Um in order for them to attend though, there are associated costs which include registration and lodging. We are incredibly grateful to have received a $600 donation from the historical society to go towards this
007trip. Uh in addition, it has been planned that our club treasury will be covering transportation and meal costs, which are estimated to be about $270. After these contributions, the remaining amount needed is approximately $525. Tonight, I'm request respectfully requesting district support to help cover the remaining costs so that our students are able to attend and participate in the state competition. This experience is more than just a trip. It is an opportunity for the students to represent our school, engage in high-level academic work, and contribute meaningfully to both our school community and the broader Punxsutawney community. An investment in this experience is an investment in students who are not only learning history, but who are learning how to think, communicate, and represent our community with excellence. Um at this time, I'm going to hand it over
008to our students so that they can share their experiences with you. I think you so much for your time, your consideration, and your continued support of our students. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello, I'm Natalie Buzzard. Natalie in short Buzz. And we are in eighth grade. We are a part of the PAHS history club, and we competed at National History Day Regionals on March 5th with a group of three other eighth graders as well. At Regionals, we got second place out of 12 groups, and are now advancing to the state competition at the University of Scranton at the end of April. For our project, we decided to do an exhibit, which is similar to a large trifold presentation, on the Statue of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party. Our reason for choosing that topic
009was we had been learning about it in class and wanted to go more in the depth about the history of it, and it just seemed interesting. While building and researching for our project, we learned how to use primary and secondary sources to form a historical argument. We learned that to do a project like this, you have to use critical thinking and actually comprehend the subject to be able to make a good project. By the time we figured out the competition about the competition, it was the middle of January, and the topic for this competition every year gets released around the end of summer. And that's when you start working. So, we only had about a month and a half to do our entire project. So, we really had to manage our time well while still
010participating in sports and sports and after school curricular activities we did. Even though we were on a time crunch and very busy, we still got to improve on skills like writing, editing, and presenting. We felt that our project is important to take and present at state competition because it relates to many things today, [clears throat] like how people are still fighting in our country for our rights. At Regionals, we met many people and formed many competitive relationships. It even helped us better our friendships with each other. We got to explore options for future career career plans and walk around the campus. Our judges gave us feedback for our future competitions. We learned many skills like sportsmanship and many other things. Looking at other people's exhibits, we learned about something that has very that people don't
011talk about a lot. Like one exhibit we saw was about like how history or not Sorry. How soccer was like came to be. And we were really surprised by how many people attended National History Day and how great of some people are. Being a smaller school, our students get excited about getting the opportunity to do things like this. Overall, it was just like a great experience. Going to states gives us the opportunity to learn how to understand history better and to learn more for next year's National History Day competition so we have a chance at going to states again. I think we are all pretty excited to go compete in Scranton because there are many opportunities to make new friends, and they do have a dance for the students that we are excited to go
012to. By going to National History Day competition, we represent our school in a good way by showing that we care about learning and having fun experiences. Participating in this competition really helped all of us learn new things. We would like to thank you and the teachers and staff that made it possible for us to compete Regionals and now advance to states. Thank you for listening. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Oh. >> [laughter] >> One more. Greetings, members of the board. I'm Abra Santos, the current sitting president of the high school's history club, and I'm joined here by my fellow clubmates and our lead advisor, um Alexis Conner, to make a proposal here this evening. As many of you may know, this is our year's um second year of official operation, and we've
013taken great steps and strides from what we had last year. In the winter, we were able to go through project funding to DC to experience the Holocaust Museum, to walk around the Congress Library and the Congress building. Um through all that, we were able to experience and inquire on the atrocities and everlasting effects that the Holocaust has had on the modern world we live in today and the environments we live in today. And it had a great effects on us and really our perception of what's going on right now in the world. We were tasked with um creating a creative project of some sort to express that experience, and that was what we were funded for. The trip, however, was not the only new undertaking that this club took this year. We took up competition
014as well. This year, the PAHS history club for the first time competed in National History Day at the regional level. We had many good and impressive projects, and we had been able to collect six six participants, me, these two, and then three others, who were able to qualify for the state competition. I know I'm speaking for my fellow clubmates when I say these projects deserve to be represented this evening. I am one of a handful of seniors that are part of this group who are scholars, and we truly desire to preserve and appreciate history that this town and the rest of this country has for us. Truly, the club is young and has great potential, and I wish to launch it forward into the future and into the next year with a little help from
015you guys. That can all be made possible. So, we thank you for your time. If you have any questions, go ahead. Thank you. So, you're seeking you're asking for uh $500? Is that Yes, the remaining amount is about $525 after we received um the donation from the historical society. So, Because the transportation and and meals were estimated to cost around $270. Okay. So, we have that under our field trip, so we'll we will consider your request uh on Tuesday. So, uh thank you, Abe, Natalie, Olivia, Ms. Conner. Uh appreciate you guys being here tonight. I'm glad to hear that you went to the Holocaust Museum. That is a incredible museum, a very moving experience. So, uh congratulations on your regional wins, and and best of luck to you on your state competition. Thank you for
016having us. Thank you. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> OKAY. UH NEXT, WE HAVE AN UPDATE FROM Tri-County Transportation. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. Um Jerry and I are here tonight. Bob apologizes that he was unable to make it, scheduling conflicts. We don't want to um kick it any further down the road. So, last year, it was a request to um update the board yearly of what um accidents we had the prior year. So, Jerry provided to you the accidents that occurred in 2025 so you guys could have a visual on it. Um I did separate them out to at fault and then not at fault. For your review, if you would like any questions. Um that's all I have. Um things have been going pretty well. We're nearing the end. Spring sports have kicked
017in, so um the schedule is is pretty hectic right now, but um I feel things are going pretty well. I just want to offer you guys the opportunity if you have any questions. Lot of deer. >> [laughter] >> We stayed away from the bear and the cows and the turkeys this year, so >> [laughter] >> that's a plus. You got to see any? Thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. There's any no other questions or concerns, we're good to go. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, ladies. You too. Thanks. Okay, thank you, guys. Um I don't believe we have anything under unfinished business. On Tuesday, we'll ask for approval of the March 10th voting meeting minutes. Uh moving on to the athletic report, uh Mr. Gold is asking for approval for uh budget
018transfers um for some for the track program and some uh a transfer for swim supplies. Uh item number two is to hire an individual individual as the unified sports coach. Number three is permission to advertise and distribute bid documents for the 2026-2027 athletic supplies, and number four is the coaches handbook. Uh we also have two discussion items, uh the holiday basketball tournament, and um I think the other one has been removed. We removed it. So, uh D.J., do you want to Yeah. bring us up to speed? >> you. I had a couple things canceled tonight, so I was able to come for a little bit. Um just real briefly on the holiday basketball tournament, I'm happy to announce that I have four teams per each. Um pretty much confirmed that today. So, uh for the
019girls, it'll be Punxsutawney, Clearfield, Limestone, Purchase Line, and Indiana. And for the boys, it'll be Punxsutawney, Clearfield, Limestone, Marion Center, and Clearfield. So, really four very local teams should have a nice crowd for those games. I really feel the girls tournament's going to be a very good tournament. Those those four teams are pretty uh matched up pretty well. Should be fun. The boys tournament just as just as well, so we're looking forward to that. So, was able to get the four teams each and I'm I'm happy with that till we get started and I'll be talking to um Chuck Daly Foundation and so forth for some awards and how we can help out in that part, but um just appreciate the support on that and we'll keep moving with that there at the end of
020December, so. Other than that, that's really all I had. Um I want to thank um everybody for allowing me to go to the conference a couple weeks ago. Uh that was that was uh had a good time on mine, but I also learned a lot and I really appreciate that. Look forward to doing that next year as well. I think that's a good event. I met a ton of people. Uh actually some of the things in the coaches handbook actually came from some of the folks down there asking them for some of their ideas as well, so put a lot of work in the handbook and hopefully uh it will continue to grow it, but I think we have a good step with it also. I have a question about the uh real quick on
021the handbook. I know you in there it says that you're going to you'll be counsel each coach will be counseled on the handbook annually, correct? Yes. So, already there'll be a signature page on Yeah, there'll be a signature page at the end, yeah. They're actually I was actually thinking too like there was a couple of things um like the transportation form, maybe add that to it just so they know what that is and but there'll be a signature page at the the back of that, yeah. >> Okay. We had discussed a waiver form. Was that I didn't see that in here for parents. That this is for coaches. We're going to we're still going to work our way through the The handbook is nice. Okay. Great. Any other questions for DJ? Nope, thank you. >>
022Seeing none. Thank you for your uh Yes, thank you. >> leadership on this basketball tournament too. I know it's important for there's a lot of people that were disappointed it was gone and I know it's important for uh our businesses that rely on them to come here to eat and uh patronize their their stuff, so thank you for very much for that. Um there's nothing under transportation. Does anyone have any questions for Kelly? She's here. Seeing none, we'll move on to buildings and maintenance. Um we have two items on here. Uh one is the disposal or donation to a nonprofit of uh some stoves, refrigerators, and a microwave. Uh and the second one is for the uh pervious walk bid at the uh football field. Uh there were no bids received on that, so there's
023permission to uh rebid that project out. Any questions on those two items or anything for Carmen? Uh Carmen, just curious, did you expect to not get bids? What what why? We weren't sure, yeah. But I reached out to a couple local contractors afterwards and they're interested in putting bids when we rebid here, so. Okay. Um hopefully I'll talk to them with you guys going forward this and things Is it the scope of the project is so small? I I believe so. All right. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Carmen. Uh moving on to cafeteria. Um we have five items here. It's the permission to advertise for the bread bid uh for next year. Also permission to advertise for the milk and beverage bid. Um item number three is an agreement and participation in the PRFSD bid,
024which I don't know what stands for, but uh What does that stand for, Kelly? Pittsburgh Regional Food Service Directors. Okay. It's a buying group that we we pay them every year and they do um our biggest bid through US Foods. Okay. We're we're a member through PRFSD. Item number four is a participation in the summer food service program and item number five is the proposed cafeteria fund budget uh with revenues of 1.8 million and some change and expenditures of 2.2 million. Um any questions for Lindsay? Seeing none, uh we'll move on to federal programs and curriculum. Um we have some informational item uh here on grants from Dr. Gaston. There also is going to be an addition to the agenda on here. Uh it's for a purchase order for the Dawn Enterprises uh concrete planter
025bollards, uh which are grant funded, so I'll let Dr. Gaston uh if you want to um give us some information about both of those items. Yes, so last month when when we were [clears throat] discussing some items, um there was a request to provide some information about federal programs, how they're broken down, what they um can be used for, what they can't be used for, and essentially how they operate. So, in your packet, um there's a grant reference sheet that I created for you. The first section is just federal programs. I break that down into title one, two, and four. There is a title three as well that deals with English language learners. That uh we run through a consortium, so that's not um as much in play for us currently. So, title one we
026think of as the programs fund. That primarily covers instruction and intervention, um staffing for title one programs, family and community engagement. Um so, if you think about the family literacy nights, STEM nights, that's the title one um bucket. Uh reading specialists or math specialists, that's where their um salaries come from. The second is title two. This is our people fund. Uh for lack of a better word, that's used to support effective instruction. Uh we can use that for professional development, um [clears throat] for staffing of instructional coaches. We could use that for mentors for new teachers. Um one of the eligible uses is recruitment and retention, so some grow your own programs if we felt the need for that, teacher leadership stipends. Um that also allows us to look at recruitment for hard to staff
027areas if we ever come to a crossroads where um those are slim. And the last is administrative and leadership support. We're currently using that to fund our work with Studer uh with our um administration. Title four is what I refer to as the support fund. It's the most flexible. It's we have a lot more wiggle room with how that gets used. However, there are some restrictions in the percentages that must be used for certain categories. And so, you have to see that information there. Uh well-rounded education can be used for STEM or STEAM programs, uh career and technical education supports, college and career readiness, advanced coursework. Our safe and healthy students, um that's where our school support therapists come from. Some school safety initiatives that are non-capital purchases, drug violence prevention, and our effective use
028in of technology, so our summer tech camp um comes from that pocket. So, flip that over. I included a a brief section that outlines common restrictions and where districts can get in trouble with each of these areas. Um I know one of the conversations that comes up with a lot of boards and districts is we want to use title four um project X. And you know, when you're trying to handle whether that can and can't be used, these are the areas where most of the time um people get themselves into trouble. So, as a little tip guide as you're working through the rest of the information, that can help process, okay, now I understand why perhaps we can't do um what we thought. The next section is the rural and low-income school grant. Um that
029is a a hit or miss. It's based on our poverty rate. Uh we received that this year. Um next year we just received the notice that we are not eligible. So, that means less of our population falls below that poverty threshold than in the year previous. Um so, we can rework some things and figure out where that goes. Below that, I gave you some Pennsylvania specific compliance overview. So, with federal programs, there are a lot of of requirements to make sure that we are um appropriately using the funds that have been distributed to us. So, that just kind of walks you through um the big items. Uh everything that we do needs to be aligned to our comprehensive plan. So, every cycle we go through that, that's going to help shape the direction that we
030use federal funds for in highlighting our our specific needs. Um that needs to be based on student performance data as well as the recognized need in our community. The supplement versus supplant rule, if the district currently pays for it and it is believed to be a district's um responsibility, we can't shift things to title to pay for it. If it's um had been in title, we moved it to the district, we can't shift it back. So, that's just those little pieces that get um challenging to massage whenever we're looking at at options. Um a lot of times that's where things um need to be reconsidered um whenever we're we're looking at tough spots. And there's annual stakeholder consultations that need to be held to make sure that we're meeting with parents and community to hear
031what their experience is with the needs of our students in our schools and how we're using those funds. Um stakeholder import input is important in all aspects of the school. This requires it um within those federal restrictions. A little bit about equitables equitable services, our non-public schools get a portion of the money that is provided to us. There's a formula that works out. Um we have to stay in communication with with the administration and the people who manage federal programs in those schools to make sure that they're getting what they are what they're due. And a little bit about monitoring auditing. We did not get monitored this year, but it'll be coming at some point. In the back there is the Commonwealth program. So these are still grants, but these function from the Commonwealth. Our
032ready to learn block grant is a sizable piece of money that flows directly from PDE. We use that to take care of our kindergarten staffing needs currently. And there's the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, our PCCD grants. That is broken down into tiers and specific sections, safety and security, personnel, and prevention and mental health. So that too has requirements. There are compliance issues and documentation that has to be supported to make sure that we're being good stewards of federal and state monies that are distributed to us. It's a lot, but we tried to break that down so that when you have questions, you have something you can reference to help you some of those discussions. I have just a strange question, I guess. I'll try. >> Under the common restrictions under the federal under
033title two, PDE conference travel outside of Pennsylvania. Yes. Why? I mean like Well, because the federal funds flow through the state. Okay. All right. >> They want that, but I think there's also perhaps an emphasis on making sure that federal money isn't used for a tropical vacation. Right. You know, so that there are it's two faceted, but generally because it flows through PDE, they want us to stay in the state. Okay. I don't know that there's many probably national PDE or conference travel >> are many. Are there Yeah, they're everywhere and some of them are really fantastic. >> Yeah. But [laughter] again, it's the government doesn't necessarily want us taking extraordinary trips. >> That makes sense. Yeah. Just thought it was odd under not under the Pennsylvania, but under the federal. We're looking for that
034school board excursion [laughter] to the Bahamas. No, thank you. This was one of Waikiki's. Board members used to take that quite frequently to the national school board conference. Okay. Well, well, what happened? Yeah. >> That was before I got on the board. Oh. We put it aside. >> it Yeah, COVID probably was what it You you indicated we're losing this rural and low income school grant for next year. What How much does that amount to and what programs does that affect Uh the rural and low income is interesting because we can use it for any of those categories. It can be applied titles one through three. So it's not something that we consistently plan for because we're never quite sure if we're going to get it. This year that is covering our administrative PD. So
035it's not a huge amount. >> it's not a massive amount. We'll be able to absorb PD. >> in Mhm. Yeah, it's just that um it's just that extra that the state sends us whenever our census data gets sent in and they look at our poverty rates as reported. Census data based on what when? >> That last round. So they'll take those numbers and they'll compare it to wherever they draw the current the economic information for our our school tax base. Okay. And whether that number falls under the poverty line. So they'll look at the census and those pieces to see if there's discrepancies and where the ebb and flow is. Like the census only happens every So I think what they >> the starting point. That's the comparison. Okay. I think Well, so So the
036last census, I don't know what year it was. >> Mhm. So why all of a sudden did it catch up or like That's the that's the starting point for where are populations, where is the where's the bulk of it. We get the number and that's used frequently of here's your average school aged kids. And then they track that income, that poverty threshold through that information yearly. The formula I don't I don't know. That is far beyond Oh, I understand. >> my use. I just need to know where it goes. I get it. That's the grand scheme of where all that information comes from. So but it can be adjusted yearly based Yes. I Yeah, I understand. >> I can answer that. >> I understand. So if you've ever if you mind if you've ever gotten
037a thing in the mail, they they start out by sending you a letter and then it's a postcard. It's about a community data survey that the Census Bureau does every year. And they randomly select certain people from a community and it starts out as they say, you know, you have to fill out you this survey is going to be coming. You know, you have to fill it out. If you don't, you'll get in trouble. And then they follow it up with a postcard. And then finally they send you the survey that's like 15 pages. It's very some would call it invasive. I mean they ask you, you know, how many TVs you have in your house, what source of heat you use, what They use all of that. And those survey that information that's gathered
038in that is how they used to determine a lot of this funding for communities and and school districts. So I I believe that's where a lot of this data comes from because you're right, the census is every 10 years. So if you ever get that Now, I don't know if anyone ever getting in trouble for not filling it out, but I would tell people if you see something on there that you don't feel comfortable answering because like I said, it is pretty invasive. If just skip over it, but you are required to fill it out and it does help us with funding things. It's an interesting read if you I can send you the link to the report. [clears throat] It they're interesting at to me. So what [laughter] So look at um what's reported
039back and what our what our households look like across the district and the county to just get that that comparison. Um But for whatever reason our our poverty rate is is above that line for next year. Okay. That's surprising. Yeah, it's depressing. We were surprised, too. It's it's good news. And it may not be. However, based on the amount of people that filled out a survey. That's why it's it's like it is important for people to fill out these surveys and participate in this stuff. So Well, thank you for this. I think it's probably just as it's it's a useful for us, but it's probably more useful for you when you're trying to determine what what all this stuff lines up under. Any other questions for Dr. Gaston on this? Um where the bollards go?
040These ones from from the auditorium? >> high school. Okay. That's a part of that PCCD grant for safety and security. Yeah. Um they're heavy. So it's to to help with access. Okay. Great. Moving on. Superintendent's report. We have several items here. One is conferences and field trips. We're going to remove item number two. Number three is a program agreement with the Pennsylvania's education for children and youth experiencing homelessness. Number four is acceptance of the PCCD school safety grant and the issuance of necessary bids, which will break that down here. Number five is the request from the Punxsy Alumni Citizens Band for the facility use fees of $200 to be waived. Number six are a number of board policy revisions. And there's going to be some additions on here. One is the the bid documents for
041the weapon detection services. And the second one is for the purchase of metal detectors. These are both items under that PCCD grant. Um Also the donation of a student specific piece of equipment to a student, the acceptance of a Weber grant donation of $30,000, and a request from the theater arts guild for $145 discount on their facility use request. Dr. K, I will let you fill in the blanks of everything I missed here. >> Okay. Um Let's start with the the policies that are on there. All of those are active for review and they're in you had the links there. Any of the changes are red lined so you can see what they are. Um and those are their reason primarily to bring them into compliance with school law. Um any questions on any of
042those that weren't included there. Okay. Um Number four on there, I'll point this one out. Just a few days ago, I think actually it was Monday, our PCCD school safety grant was um finally approved. Um so on there, our next step is here we this is actually related to number number four and then the two bullets on our additions are all interrelated. So because of the the cost level and because we also recently realized that there are some different vendors and companies, um we do need we can't do sole source purchasing for these, so we do need to do an RFP to make sure so we are in compliance with that. So, we have the weapon protection services and the metal [clears throat] detectors are really kind of one in the same. So, there's different
043um types of equipment. We're writing it for both so that I can present and share with you what's the better price point and also functionality. There are um I'll explain more of that in depth once all those come in. But, there are the standard Garrett type of walk-through units. There are also units that utilize some video cameras to um interface with what is detected. Um so, you don't need as many um staff to monitor those. So, for right now, we're going to ask for um the bids for those so that we can compare those. Um and then uh the other one that was already on here in the RFP was to go along with the zero eyes that we'd already presented. Uh we recently realized that there may be an additional company or two that's
044very similar. So, we can't do the sole source on that. So, they may be the only bid. We'll find out, but nonetheless, that's the process we have to do. Um and then uh the uh the student uh piece of equipment is for a student who has recently graduated out uh was part of one of our special programs. There was um a piece of equipment that was specifically for that student. Uh it is of no use to anyone else. We would like to donate to that student um that they can use it as it was originally intended. Um the Weber uh um foundation um uh graciously donated to us um $30,000 uh for uh some uh 3D printers that was requested for Mr. Cromer's room. Um and and uh that is what the nature of that
045donation is for. And then finally, the theater arts guild's um request for discount. With the 3D printers, are they metal? They plastic? Are they They would use um I believe it's um the um I [snorts] can get you all the specifications on it, but I believe it's the uh they use the plastic material to >> Yeah, okay. I was just curious cuz I thought someone said Jeff Tech had both. They do, yes. We have the plastic and the powdered metals. Yeah, okay. I was just curious as to what we were getting with that Weber. Um I have a question on five and the addition of theater arts guild. Are those something we were doing we do? Yes. The discounts? Those have a past practice for both. The uh donation on here for history club, is
046that >> [cough and clears throat] >> The under item number one, I believe, right? Uh yes, under number one, there's the chart that is in there and they aren't numbered, but it is approximately number nine on there, I think. So, I see the conference and field trip for the history club in there. And then there's a donation on here for $600. Correct. We may need to revise this chart to include the acceptance of this because that So, that's the five substance she was asking for that offsets the Okay. Yes. Wait, what? So, >> total trip is 1125. They got a donation for 600. There's a balance of 525 that they're asking for. Right. Funding is through It's it's not in here yet cuz it there's an item on there to accept the donation. So, once
047that's accepted, it'll be the the cost of this request is 525. And we're going to approve that. That's their request. And and I put it on there so that it could be requested. It's in the field trip request chart. Okay, I don't think I'm following the math, but I get it. Yeah, there's a The bottom one for me is is the district is the board being asked to approve that 525. Yeah, yes. And where is it coming from? That's going to be um we we are going to pull some uh transfer from uh curricular budget that we have not used yet. Okay. Then um that leads me to another question. Uh there's been a lot of conversation about the DECA group going to their national conference. And >> [clears throat] >> you know, them trying
048to fundraise and they requested that we It's on here. There was a request uh um Mr. Gore can maybe correct me on this, but I believe at this point um with the exception Well, the sub costs um was not uh and mileage were were two things that aren't typically charged to a club, but they have raised everything else that they need. Is that correct? Correct. Yeah. Okay. All right. So, okay. Um I think in the future we need to have some conversation about all of this kind of stuff. We're going to do that. I think that there there wasn't a a direct policy that outlines that and I think that where this was a little bit different is that the competitions were something a little bit new and they engaged them and they won. And
049so, now Right. >> we have to determine we need to be uh we need to advise on how we're going to um address that moving forward. So, >> like robotics, we pay for some of robotics, I think, and that's a club, not a class. That's where it kind of got muddy. Okay, thank you. Yeah. Yeah, we just need some clarification on you know, cuz the it's what you did for this club, but not this club. So, we just need to have some consistency and clarification on that. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> And then with regards to the um uh weapon detections uh stuff and the metal detectors, I'm sure there's some community interest in that. We will have those discussions when we do the bid or is that something you want to >> Yeah,
050we'll do that once once we have um the prices come in. Okay. Any other questions for Dr. K on any of these items? Okay. Is that all you had? Yes. Okay. So, move on to the building uh principal reports. We have uh from the elementary school, uh we have a donation. Is uh is this Richardson or Mr. So, I was asked to um fill you guys in on what I would like to call March Madness at our school. We have a lot of things to brag about at our school. Um most recently, we had a family fitness night as part of our Leader in Me program and it was a very well-attended event. It was planned by Mr. Donald and Mrs. um Robichaud. Lots of families participated in karate, yoga, boxing, walking on the track,
051and in the long jump and the high jump. Um we wanted to especially thank the hospital for coming and for the Power Up program that the ladies come to the school and put on for our kids. We also recently had fourth and fifth grade uh Bingo for Books and Student Life conferences. Again, that was very well-attended by our parents and the rest of the school will have similar events coming up shortly. Second and third grade held music concerts. I don't know if you got a chance to come. Second grade did animal-themed um songs. Third grade did the recorders. That was on under the direction of Mrs. Sun Timer. It was a really nice concert. Um again, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade are coming up in the future. On Friday, Mr. Quay held a very successful
052band day. Um this is an annual event. It included select high school and elementary kids in grades 3 through Um they got to spend their day with Dr. Jason Worbits of IUP. They practiced all morning and then put on a huge performance in the afternoon. If you didn't get to go, you should try to go next year. It was very very good. Um really big deal. We sent four teams to the IU in Clarion two different dates in March for the Interscholastic Reading Competition and all four teams came home winning. Um in third grade, the club advisor was Mrs. Clark. Team captain was Olivia Park. They won second place. Fourth grade advisors were Mrs. Martino and Mrs. Fetter. Team captain was Al Weaver and they won the entire division bringing home first. In fifth grade,
053the advisors were Mrs. Drozd and Mrs. Fetter. They uh team captain was Anna Huffman and they won third place. And sixth grade advisor was Deb Bennett. Uh team captain was Chloe Slesser. And again, they won the entire division. So, to recap, we brought home two first places, a second, and a third. All the kids came in the office with medals, wooden plaques, and I let them announce their names on the loudspeaker, which they really So, kudos to them. We had a STEM night in mid-March. Um our Title One department works tirelessly to put this on. It was hands-on science experiment. Again, if you didn't get to go, you you should try to come next year. Hundreds of parents came through and it was it was really good. Uh special thanks to the future teachers club,
054science club, and all of our Title One teachers and helpers. Youth art Youth Arts Month celebrated in a variety of ways in March. We had spirit days, wild and wacky art challenges all month long. And we did have a scheduled chorus concert that had to be rescheduled. I think that's going to be a time. We had that flex day, so we had a next time. Um if you have not been listening to the radio, you need to tune in. Our select groups in fifth and sixth grade are taking over the airwaves and they're going to the Render radio station and they are giving little snippets of their own scripts. They're on the radio three different times on Sundays on WECZ. That's 100.9 The Groundhog at 6:00 a.m. WPXC, that's 104.1 at 7:00 a.m. and Cool
055103.3 at 6:45 a.m. We're doing this all the way through May. So again, try to tune in. My own kid was on it and I slept in. But if your kids >> [laughter] >> try to tune in cuz >> [clears throat] >> they sound good. That's one thing. Um upcoming events, tons of stuff. Uh we're having Rock the PSSA game show. We do assemblies after the PSSAs, but because third grade has never taken them before, we're trying to make it better this year, get them more excited and tuned in. So we're doing a game show um coming up very soon. Bingo for books and student led conferences, fourth grades, K, 1, 2, and 6 are all coming up. Concerts with 4, 5, and 6, they're coming up. PSSAs are in 2 weeks. Um we're having
056a sixth grade only glow disco dance on May 1st. I'm especially excited about that. May 7th, we're having this outdoor fun fest, which is why we need this this $500 accepted from you guys um with the Remake Learning and kindergarten registration is happening. Pre-registration opens on the 8th. And um registration is May 13th. Just found out earlier today from Mrs. Thompson, our um art teacher, 26 of our students got selected to be in the Indiana Youth Art Exhibition. I believe that's mid-April. So again, just lots to celebrate at our school. But yeah, we need the $500 for the Remake Day. Please accept it. Great stuff. Uh when you started off saying we're in the middle of March Madness, I was afraid this could go either way. >> [laughter] >> But it sounds like all positive.
057It's just there's a lot. It's every day there's something. Great. Well, that's I I like to hear that. I know uh there's a number of donations in here um whether it's from the Weather Club or businesses. Uh a lot of student achievements here. So I think um things are really going well and we have a lot of community involvement. So thank you for your leadership. Any questions for Kelly? Uh no, but could we maybe like in board nights get a just a summary of what the reading competitions are? I've often wondered cuz it happened after my kids were in school, what they do. You know, it doesn't have to be longer detailed. reading since December and they they had about 15 books to read. And each kid is an expert on at least one or
058two books. So when they go into the matches, they collectively talk as a team. But then that team captain is the one that speaks. And they're It's like a Jeopardy type setup. And um this is word of mouth that they won this many. Everyone won. Which doesn't happen. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. So they've been reading since December. It speaks largely to our reading comprehension. Always seems to be in question when it comes to PSSAs. So that's really good news. Well, our teachers are the ones that really make it happen. That's what gets accountable. They meet with them during any spare time they get, go over questions, they make up their own questions. It's teacher led. That's a big deal. That's awesome. We'll certainly uh communicate our appreciation for everything that's that's happening at the elementary
059school. So Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, moving on to the high school report. Dr. Smelko, if you want to I'll let you run with this. Probably what I should do for everybody, but I >> [laughter] >> We have several requests for acceptance of donations for DECA, the Ag Club. We also received a $250 Remake Learning Days grant from the IU and we'd like to accept that for an employment expo in the building. And the Future Health and Emergency Services Club has been given a $500 donation for an upcoming trip they have coming in May to Pittsburgh. So those are all of our donation requests. Are there any questions regarding that? Okay. Um I'm asking that we be able to start our early credit recovery program. This is for seniors only and this would be for
060seniors that we fear are not going to be able to pass a course to get to the stage for graduation. Um typically this is a very small number of students that this happens with, but at this point the end of the third nine weeks was yesterday. Um Mrs. White is working like crazy in the guidance department to check and see who this might apply to so that we can get those kiddos registered and then help them get the class work done so that they can be ready for graduation. Um this essentially helps them get get their diploma and graduate on time. Typically we have covered the cost as a district for for these purposes for these students. Um we have a a or the approval for Timothy J to be our for our lighting and
061stage manager. Um I'm going to skip number four if that's okay because I have a handout for you regarding graduation. And then we are asking for some budget transfers. Any questions with any of that? Um how did your scheduling night go? Did you get good feedback? Good nights were wonderful. Um as anticipated our junior high night, um the sixth grade parents that are coming to seventh grade and seventh graders going to eighth grade was a little bit uh better attended than the high school night. But overall it was wonderful. We had teachers there from various departments to answer questions. Um Mr. Hospodar is one of our math teachers and he was an excellent resource and wonderful to have at our meeting. He was able to explain the Algebra 1 the Honors Algebra 1 course that
062we'll be offering for the eighth grade class next year and how that works and what that looks like. So it was it was wonderful. Um some suggestions that we had, the parents would like for us to move that up a little bit next year so that it's while the kids have the schedule papers in their hands. Um I couldn't agree more with them. I think that would be a good change to make for next year, but overall it was a very well attended event and a good night both nights. Any other questions for Sheena? I guess we have a couple informational items. One thing I forgot, we're going to um add that donation um from for the $600 to the History Club from the Punxy Historical Society on our donation list. So these donations I
063see in here for uh one for the DECA. So we have conference center. That'll come off that total too, right? What was that, Doug? So you have donations here to the DECA Club, but they're also on the conference and field trip. So the donations will come off that number for the the DECA. Off the chart. Yeah, I'm not sure if they were already accounted for or not accounted for on that chart, but Oh god, I can't read them. What are we doing here? Okay. Sorry, I didn't know if Yeah, I didn't I Go go ahead. You're you're you're up. Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry about that. So the handout that I just gave to everybody is a calendar for the month of May. We are asking that we designate June 3rd as our graduation night and
064that we have two Saturday practices to help the seniors be able to graduate on June 3rd. Um this would put us at a graduation practice on May 16th as well as May 30th. Um we can have up to three Saturday practices. However, when we started looking at the schedule and the time that we had, um as you can see, prom is May 2nd. May 9th is rather early in comparison to when graduation is and the end of the school year is. So we felt that maybe you know, that would not be the best use of that day on May 9th to have a a practice there to have our first practice on the 16th. We also decided not to have practice on the 23rd. That is the week of track states every year and that
065is also Memorial Day weekend and we know that we'll have the athletes that are traveling and and celebrating the the holidays. So we we chose the two days that we have there. As you can see, we have a a plan, a layout for when senior finals will take place starting on the 14th of May and going until the 8th or I'm sorry, the 18th with the 19th being the makeup day and the 20th being the the drop dead date for senior grades to be due. This will give time for grade verification for our counselors so that we can have class night on the 26th and then announce our top three students and all of the things that we do on class night, honor cords, all of those all of those different things. The seniors will
066take their Cook Forest field trip on that Tuesday as well. There has been a question um that we we will submit all of the proper paperwork for that obviously, but um is it okay that they have a field trip the same day that they have class night? That is a day trip where they leave first thing in the morning. They come to school at regular time and they're back by dismissal. So, it would be just the same as if they were having a regular day and they'd have more than enough time to get ready for class night. That evening. The senior class trip on the 27th is uh typically a trip to Pittsburgh and it's an all day where they don't get back until into the evening. So, that day would be taken up there.
067We would have some half day AM practices with the students and then on June 3rd they will have their final walk-throughs in both buildings. Um they will do uh final graduation practice with us and then we dismiss them and they come back that evening for graduation and the post grad party. And then the final day for all students would be on June 5th. >> [snorts] >> So, the 28th, 29th, 1st, 2nd, they only go half days those days? Yes, that's what we did last year as well. They come in in the morning, we do attendance, we do a run-through of both days of uh graduation. We do indoor and outdoor with them. And then once we get through all of that, they typically are are there for about half a day. What What is the
068um Do they all show up? Yes. It's a school day of school. And including those Saturdays. If they do not come those days, it counts as a day absent. And that would be the same thing with the Saturdays. If they're not able to attend, they have to turn in excuses just like they were absent for the day. Yep. Well, that's I So, there's two trips, two senior trips. >> Yes. Yes. >> Back in my day >> [laughter] >> one was a senior skip day. And yeah. >> Yeah. This uh this has actually been the the normal normal for the past couple of years. That Cook Forest trip um has historically been the spirit points trip for student council. Um the seniors have been winning in terms of spirit points. They think they're all threatening each
069other if they don't dress up for the spirit days that you know um they can't let any of the underclassmen win. But that typically is what that trip is and that like I said on the what that Wednesday they leave in the morning and they don't get back until later in the evening. Okay. And we would do uh capping out distribution. Um they turn in everything for their field trips, they turn in their money, their permission slips for um the post grad party, all of that that first Saturday we practice as well. So, we make sure that they're ready for all of those trips and and then of course ready for class night. We also practice for class night during the Saturday practices so that everything is good to go. Any questions regarding graduation? Um
070thank you for this. That's Absolutely. >> very helpful. And just a cool little tidbit to add on to it. I have to say it. Dr. Gaskins has heard me say this a million times in the past couple weeks and the history club kiddos laughed. We will be graduating on the 100th anniversary of the class of 1926. Wow. What have they accomplished? I think it's pretty cool. I found um an old diploma in one of our um closets and I was like that is really cool that that we're doing that. So. Barring any additional snow days. EXCUSE [laughter] ME. YOU CAN YELL AT THE PEOPLE BEHIND ME OR SOMETHING. I'M NOT YELLING. I'M WEARING A BELL. [laughter] OKAY. I think there's people that are older than me on the board though. I don't think I'm the
071oldest. Just a couple of informational things before I turn it over to Mr. Borden regarding the Marine Educators Workshop. Um since the students are not here and they will will not be able to be here next week either. Um it is variety show season and tonight they're practicing opening and closing [snorts] and Tuesday is their first run-through for dress rehearsals. So, variety show is next week and it is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We will have pre-sale tickets going on sale Tuesday afternoon during star period. So, right around 2:00 um pre-sale tickets will will go up. Um it's shaping up to be a very great show. Um from what I'm hearing, I don't have all of the numbers yet, but they have raised more money just through their uh ad sales than what previous classes have
072done. So, they've been really working hard. There's a lot of things. It's [laughter] kind of like Mrs. Richardson said March Madness uh the high school's kind of in that mode too. They're they're all doing the things and the kids are pretty well on time and so we're excited about that. >> What were the the variety show dates? The 9th, 10th, and 11th. 9th, 10th, and 11th. Yep. Yep. Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Um we have uh the DECA students are having a fundraiser on April 17th. They're having a hypnotist come in. Uh if you're interested in that, Mr. Borden can definitely help with with ticket sales for that. Um I heard the board president is volunteering. I have no interest in that. I saw there was a waiver that needs to be signed >> [laughter] >> and
073I do not have any interest in being under the uh Same thing as walking with a chicken. I have enough I have enough trouble controlling my mouth when I'm not [laughter] under Uh so, that's that >> fun. >> Yeah, it sounds like a great time. Um we um just as of yesterday, I called the Broken Comb and set up the free haircuts that we do each year and that will be taking place on Friday, April 24th. So, we will start advertising that for the students to get the permission slips signed so that that can happen. Um it's always very well attended and we're very very grateful to Brock, the owner of Broken Comb, because he does a phenomenal job and the kids love it. Um tomorrow we are having a winter celebration that is going
074to encompass all of the things that happened over the winter months. So, we will recognize all of our winter sports which include competitive spirit, boys basketball, girls basketball, indoor track, swimming, and wrestling. Um we will recognize our seniors that are planning to um play uh sport in college which if we do correctly from what I remember, I think we have 14. It'll be It's 13 to 15, yes. Seniors that have committed to play collegiate sports which is is huge um for our kiddos and we're very proud of them for that. We are going to recognize the band and the chorus as well as all of the students that participated in the musical, DECA, the history club students, our junior high athletes, and we'll have the band perform. What is that? What time is it? We
075are starting at around 9:00. 9:00. So, if you are able and would like to come in, um we'll be doing that in the auditorium at 9:00 tomorrow. Um the PSSAs and Keystones are coming up. Much like Mrs. Richardson said, the high school's a little bit different than the elementary school. We will run PSSAs at the end of April and then have a small break and then we will have Keystones in May that run typically until the end of May. So, Mrs. Ceriale and Mrs. Jewel are working very hard to get all of that information ready. Um prom is May 2nd. And I think that's it. That's all the things at the high school. So, I'll turn it over to Mr. Borden for a couple minutes and he can share his experience with you at the
076Marine Educators So, uh thinking about tonight and what I wanted to share with you. Uh you know, um Mr. Ian Fitzsimmons and I had a great experience and there was a nice article outlining, you know, that we got to uh march, we got to shoot guns, we got to go places that no other civilian has access to or the privilege of uh experiencing, trying, or even observing. Um but uh tonight I wanted to share with you from a professional development standpoint uh the value that this had uh for us as uh leaders here in the district. Um you know, and I want to start by just this this was an exercise that the commanding general did with us, uh Brigadier General uh Williamson. Uh he had us all think of a adjective to describe today's
077generation of students. And and so, I won't ask you to say that out loud, but just think about that. And then he shared this quote with us. He said, "The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, and they disrespect their elders." I want you to think about like does that kind of resonate with some of the adjectives you might have thought about today's generation? And you know, the the the catch there is he said this quote is attributed to Socrates. Mm. Okay. >> Okay. And so, he said that there's always been that view of uh you know, generations and it's repeated uh throughout history. And you know, what I witnessed in the in the the goal of this workshop was to show how this narrative is challenged with young men and
078young women uh you know, in our armed services. You see, the Marine Corps doesn't dwell on perceived shortcomings. You know, they focus on potential. Uh they see individuals not simply for who they are today, but who they can become. And most particularly, and this was most impressive to me, is how much trust and confidence they put in their systems, their training, and their leadership to bring that potential to life. And you know, I I I got thinking about like our role here as as leaders, as an organization, as as teachers, as educators. And that aligns exactly what we try to do as a school district. You know, and so when I think about bringing the educators down and having them have this experience and talking to us about leadership. Um, you know, I I would
079I would eat it up. That was awesome. Um, during their workshop, I was given the role of a guide with our platoon, which meant not only was I responsible for my job, but everyone else's job. And at one point I asked our drill instructor when she wasn't yelling at me, um, is this a punishment or a reward that I get to do this? But you know what, it was very humbling. It was a reminder to me that leadership's not just about a position. It's about responsibility, consistency, and setting a standard for others. You know, another message that resonated deeply for me with the commanding general and our leadership talks was they continually referred to recruits as their greatest treasure. You know, that they're our recruits are are our greatest treasure and the responsibility that they
080have over our greatest treasure. And he mentioned, you know, he talked consistently about the responsibility to the families who entrust them with their sons and daughters. And you know, that's a very powerful perspective and again, I think it connects to what we do here. You know, every day our community entrusts us with their greatest treasure. And you know, we owe it to them to make sure that our systems are in line and you know, that we are we are doing everything we do with fidelity. What I observed with the Marine Corps is, you know, it is an organization that's unwavering in its belief that individuals [clears throat] can grow, improve, and excel. And they're intentional in everything that every single thing that they do, even the yelling. You know, I I can remember, you know,
081talking to one of the the officers and they said, you know, the battle the battlefield is not calm, it is not quiet, and there is chaos, and you need to be able to think and perform under those conditions, and we start that on day one. The other thing that I thought was valuable from a leadership perspective is, you know, they shared that they are the shepherd and we are the sheep, and we need to recognize their voice in the chaos and respond to their commands. And so, everything that they do, they take breaks, they talk about character, integrity. You know, we noticed a whiteboard in one of the halls that was talk that had notes on it about finding a good date. I mean, so, all values of life of training of being good in
082nature and character are regularly practiced. But they do this, you know, how they build the discipline, the teamwork, how they develop confidence and character. They create an environment where high expectations are matched with strong support, and where individuals are pushed to become the best version of themselves. You know, one of the things I thought was neat was learning from the drill instructors, they all give an oath that they will not quit on their recruits. And you know, you look at some of the I mean, look at us. I mean, I Listen, I kept calling this midlife crisis camp. All right, I was there for a week. I didn't, you know, I I I have a whole new respect for our men and women who serve our country and, you know, and and and that our
083Marines and and what they go through, but you know, that transformation and that process is is deeply powerful and inspiring for all of us. You know, our students come to us from many diverse backgrounds. They have many different strengths, many different challenges. And you know, like the Marine Corps, it's our responsibility to define them by not by necessarily where they begin, but to develop them into who they're capable of becoming, you know, with that end result. And that was something that the officers and the general kept saying to us is just watch the transformation. You know, we're we're meet we're working with week one recruits, wait till you see them on graduation day. You know, as we get ready for graduation day, it's it's it's similar in that surreal moment, you know, as we push
084them out. So, with that being said, you know, I mean, like you know, there was there was a lot of a lot of fun that took place, but there was a lot of growth, I think, for us and inspiration on, all right, what do we do now? Not just from how we support students who might have an interest in the military, but what are we doing to ensure that we are producing the highest quality individuals when they leave here. So, with that, I want to thank you for supporting us to go. You know, I I will emphasize that Marine Corps pays for the hotel, the flights, the food. I mean, I didn't require a sub, but I know it put a strain on our admin team in my absence there. I hope maybe, I don't
085know. >> [laughter] >> You're like, no, it was easy. But you know, my recommendation to the district is that we could send at least two representatives each year participating in this. And and hopefully get some teachers involved, too. Uh, the only cost to us would be the subs at that point, but I will tell you this is not just the best professional development experience I've ever had, it's one of my best life experiences I've ever had. And with the price tag or lack thereof on it, we need to take advantage of this for years to come. And we've developed a really close relationship with the Marine Corps. They were in my office yesterday, wasn't yesterday? Your meeting? Um, and you know, we're already in talks to try to get the Marine Corps band up here
086to perform. And one of the dates that we set aside will be probably pretty busy for them. And and and, you know, Heather can attest, they said, no, we we hear what's going on in Punxsutawney, we want to be there. See if you can get them. That would be awesome. Our drill team would be awesome. They came here before. They did? They did. They performed in the auditorium decades ago, a long time ago. They are incredible to watch. That's awesome. Yeah, so, you know, the more we can build those connections, those opportunities, I I think the better. And you know, tonight, I said that I I just wanted to thank all of you for supporting me and allowing me that opportunity to get that experience and looking forward to how we can continue to apply
087it here within our schools. So, thank you. Thank you. Sounds like a wonderful experience. I think you should go on your trip. I was thinking Larry. >> [laughter] >> I think Larry would be a good candidate. You have to go with him to throw him over the wall in the obstacle course. >> [laughter] >> Okay, well, thank you very much. Moving on, we'll get into the financial report here. Item number one, we have the summary and financial summaries and board reports. Item number two, there's a couple purchase orders there for envelopes and a license subscription. Item number three is for a software agreement and pricing schedule. Item number four is for the purchase of new band uniforms. And item number five is our proposed 2026-2027 general fund budget. And I think at this point, I
088will turn it over to Susan. Oh, one other thing, we will award the RFP for the insurance broker and agent. So, we will get them. We'll add that Yeah, we wanted to add that to the agenda for Tuesday. Dr. Kriebel and myself did an interview with everyone who submitted a proposal. We had four proposals. We did the initial interview. We had two of them that we kind of narrowed it down to. We had them come back for some additional interviews this morning. I'll defer to him if he wants to Although you take it, you're you're on a roll. Yeah, so, actually we we sat down and discussed afterwards. We we both learned a lot about insurance and different things, and we will be recommending that we go with EHD as our broker agent of record.
089Where are they from? Cranberry Township. Can we get a list of the the four submissions and some information? Yeah. So, that will be a change? That's correct. Okay. Okay. Okay, so, with the proposed budget, you should have in front of you both the PowerPoint and then the proposed budget details. So, very similar to when we had the budget workshop. Fortunately this year, we have made no changes since then, so this will be a review for those who were in attendance. And it is our public presentation because we are required to make sure we present the proposed publicly. So, let's begin. No singing. I'm going to hold off on the singing this time. Maybe for the final engine item. We'll see what happens. So, as I as I mentioned at the workshop, we we start this
090process in July. It's just pretty much a continual process. We're closing one fiscal year, we're opening a new fiscal year, and then we're budgeting for the future fiscal year. So, everybody's involved in it from teachers to support staff to administrators. We have an electronic process that they enter their requests. Building principals and supervisors go over those requests, evaluate it, and then it goes to Dr. Kriebel who reviews it. He and I reviewed it this year. We made some initial reductions, which we'll talk about in a minute. And then, of course, this proposed budget is for you to approve next Tuesday. Again, it is a work in progress. It can be changed before the June approval. We do have to have it adopted at least 30 days prior to that. That's why we're doing it in
091April this year instead of May. The May meeting did not give us enough room before June. We have to have it available for public inspect inspection at least 20 days. So, once you approve it Tuesday night, it will be um both in PDF format and in this presentation. It'll be on our website and it'll also be at the reception desk here at central office if anyone wants to come in and review it. And if they would like copies, they can purchase copies, but it's available electronically everywhere, so the days of people buying copies has has kind of passed a little bit. One of the other reasons we like to have our our June meeting early in the month is because then we set the millage rate. That permits us to get that out to printing
092of the real estate bills. It gives the gets them to the tax collectors as early as we can and gives them more time to prepare the bills to send them out. There's a lot they have to do with making changes to the bills and pulling bills for people that have bought properties and things like that. So, the sooner we can get those to them, um the better off it is for them. Again, it is a spending plan. Um during the year, the board pre-approves travel, all service agreements, and any purchase order over $4,000. Um just because something has been budgeted does not guarantee that an individual department will will get that. Perhaps their needs will change. Perhaps we'll need to transfer that to another department. So, it is just our spending plan. It doesn't mean
093we will spend all of the money. It just means we have that available. Again, this is the same as the workshop was. Uh Dr. Kreimbacher and myself had reduced it 1.3 million prior to even presenting it to the board at the workshop. That was by going through um some things that we were able to have the federal cover instead of uh the general fund. So, we we had it kind of in both, so we cleaned that up. Some of them I like to go back and look over a 5-year period to see exactly what was spent in some of the line items. So, as time goes on, when people are putting in their requests each year, they're increasing it a little bit, um and then we look at actual spend and we pull those in
094back in closer to what what they truly are. This particular budget does and I'm I've been in the corner of each of your slides, you'll see some numbers. Like on this one says D1 and D1A. That just takes you to this detailed it'll show you which pages in your detail that have more detail and where that information comes from. I think some of you are familiar with doing that before. Um I won't probably bounce back and forth as much tonight as I usually do because you have seen um most of this information. But, page D1 does really show you a really good history of since 2021 where our budgets have been, what we have budgeted as use of fund balance in each of those years, which we have not used. That's the building there, you
095know, obviously for changes or programs, things that come up that we need, um and then the differences. So, you'll see that this particular year has changed 4.9 million over the prior year. And that's because we do have um a lot of new items and contingency items in here. We have a $3.6 million roof contingency in here. So, obviously that's making um a big part of the difference there. We have um two new teaching uh two new teaching positions in here. We have the band uniforms that we pulled from last year over to here. And it's key that we keep we keep this um a bit of a a buffer in here because the one thing we cannot do is we never want to exceed our overall budget. That's actually against school code, against the law.
096So, that's why we do we do have buffers built in there for changes or things that may come up during the year. It's interesting that as I try to look back to compare the years, we really haven't had a normal year since 2017-2018. We had our big consolidation in '18-'19. '19-'20 on was COVID and ESSERs and we've had ESSERs funding all the way up through last year. So, um we're we're kind of starting to get back to normal. So, we'll see how that goes. Um It is good to note that I went back to um '17-'18 and if I just applied a 4% increase over each year, we would still be at a $51 million budget. So, if we take out these extra contingencies that we have this year, we'd actually be running a little
097less than that. So, we're right in track. Though these numbers look high, we're right in track with where we would be under just normal um increases. And there's just some information there for you um talking about uh how much of the budget is uh salaries, payroll cost, how much is non-discretionary, and we'll look at that more closely in another slide. This slide shows you the increases that we actually had in the budget. So, um which is 5.285 million. So, you know, to get down to the only increase of 4.9, there obviously were some other areas that we had decreases and we we pulled some cost back in. So, I just want to make sure that you saw where those increases are. Naturally with wage increases, um we have different contracts. I did look at um
098like our sub wages that we have built in there and um those budgets were a little higher. Obviously with COVID and the different things we had those built a little higher. We've pulled those back. That's why the increases are um a little lower than what you typically see in a year with our contracted increases. Obviously the payroll cost and benefit that includes the retirement. We pay 33.59% to PEACERS. We pay the FICA taxes. We have our health care. Health care had a 5% increase this year. Normally our consortium is able to keep it um in the two to three range. We did 5% this year as well as a few um program program changes um insurance coverage changes. Uh and that's just to keep the consortium healthy. I believe going forward and and Jody serves
099on that on that consortium as well. The goal is that this is going to help us be able to keep the increases low um in in future years as well and not have to make any major changes. Next slide tells you a little bit about our special grants, our funding, where does the money come from? Um Dr. Gaston talked a little earlier about the ready to learn grant. Every couple of years we've gotten some of the adequacy that goes into our foundation. So, now our ready to learn grant foundation is 1.4 million. We're able to cover our full kindergarten costs with that with that grant um as well as some new cyber cost is an allowable expense for some of that adequacy. The adequacy that the governor has in his '26-'27 budget, I just budgeted
100as a contingency. Never really sure where that's going to land. All the professional groups that I belong to all say, you know, put it in there, but put it as a contingency um just to see where the final budget lands. Hopefully they will pass the budget in June or somewhere a little closer than they did last year. The facility grant for the roof that we're looking at, um we're applying for that grant. That's a 75/25 match. So, 75% would be the grant of like 2.7 and the district would have to pay the other 900,000. And our safety grants listed there. Also listed there is ACCESS and IDEA. Those are limited what we can spend those on and those go the IDEA we cover the tuition for special education students in placement and then the ACCESS
101is used for um adaptive equipment, sign language interpreter, and different things that special ed department works out for those students. So, where does the money go? Um salary and benefits is um 28,815,000. And that's without uh the athletic and transportation in there. Um if you go to the D6 detail, it has it kind of more for you and broken out a little more to show you all the things above the line on that page are more or less um non-discretionary. Those are things that 81.2% and actually without the contingency is 90% of our budget is more or less non-discretionary. That's your wages, your wage costs, your pupil transportation, our debt service, the tuition we pay to all of the outside sources to educate our students outside of our campuses, um our insurance, our equipment leases,
102and our utilities. More discretionary below that line would be the supplies, books, equipment. Discretionary to the degree that you can decide what you purchase and what you spend, but we still have to have those things to to continue business. Um travel, um athletics are down there. Yeah, those are things that we can kind of control the cost of a little more. And so, all your percentages are both shown on this slide as well as on that um D6 detail page for you. So, how do we pay for all those things? So, in the revenue, the proposed revenues without a tax increase are 50,782,623. Fortunately for our district, our unassigned fund balance is exceeds 8% of those expenses, so we are not able to raise taxes, so we will not be asking for a tax increase
103from our our taxpayers. Again, I think that goes a lot to the administration and everyone in the district working hard to control costs where they can and and to you know, be aware of of what our expenses are and how we use the funds that that we have for our students. Um the increase there is listed because again, as a contingency, I have the revenue in there to cover that, the facility grant, the ready to learn adequacy. Um and some of of the revenue is directly related to expenses such as the transportation has a reimbursement that we get from the Commonwealth as well as the retirement reimbursement and the social security. So, those reimbursements are directly related to expense. That's why you see fluctuation in those from year to year. I also wanted to show
104you um and it's on your detailed page 2A. It is one of the ones for you to look at. So, the 2026-2027 governor's proposed budget um was used to create this revenue and I I used it in full because we weren't getting that high of an increase in either the basic ed funding or the special ed funding. So, I feel confident that we can use those amounts um and if we would not get that high of amount, we we could cover that. Um as you look at the history, you'll see that our increases in basic ed funding um with the exception of 23-24 when we we did get level up level up funding um it'd be like in the >> [snorts] >> lowest schools, we we made the cut that one year um and then
105they we moved back out of it. Um we'd actually made it the year before and then they moved us out before they gave us the money and then we we made it the one year. So, that increased our base BEF. But for the most part, you see that year over year um and especially from 2025-2026 to 2026-2027, we're only seeing a 0.38% increase in our basic ed funding, our biggest funding from the Commonwealth. As well as special ed funding, we're only looking at a $66,000 increase. As you can well imagine, our special ed expenses increase um more than 2.8% per year. So, we a lot of our funding is from the Commonwealth as you saw on that other page that we were just looking at. I mean, 66.51% of our funding is from the Commonwealth
106and once the homestead farmstead moves from the local revenue to that, it'll be 70.09%. So, it's very important to us how the governor's budget falls and plays out. The next page talks a little bit about our local real estate taxes and millage rates. Once the homestead farmstead amount is announced in May, >> [clears throat] >> I will make those adjustments. It will it will provide for a tax reduction for those properties, those real estate properties that have have been approved for a homestead farmstead exemption. Um some of our local revenues will show increases, earned income. Um we do that based on history and Berkheimer projections cuz they are the earned income tax collector and we're showing those to have a little bit of an increase and they they they stay relatively level. Real estate transfers
107have been high the last couple years, they're starting to level off, so you'll see that we budgeted accordingly. Interest income is expected to stay pretty similar as it has the past 2 years. However, we probably will see some decrease because over the past several years, we've had that construction fund money that we've been using for a lot of our projects and we've spent that down now. That is gone, so we won't be earning any interest on on those funds. We don't have those funds to earn interest on. Can I pause you? Absolutely. Local uh from real estate transfers, what what do we get from that? A percentage of it? >> of it, yes. So, we get 1% unless the municipality also has it and then we get half a percent >> Okay. on all the
108sales. And there are a lot of properties that kind of just keep transferring back and forth between different owners and they pay realty transfer every time, so. We're okay with that. So, we get that full amount. That that's what the the sale price like if you buy something for 150,000, the realty transfer is 1%, right? >> Correct. And so we get that full amount unless the municipality >> And then they would take half. They get half. Oh, I didn't realize we got that. So, yeah. So, if you look at >> [snorts] >> it should be probably page D2, I believe is your revenue page. And you will see that listed is the 6153 line item. So, you can see we're running about 200 and anticipating 273,000 dollars in that category for next year. And actually,
109it'll probably run a little higher than that. I budget conservatively. Expenses, we overstate a little bit in revenue, we understate a little bit just to make sure we're covered. Again, right now the homestead farmstead, that's why it's highlighted at the top, it's shown as part of your real estate taxes until we're assured we get that amount of money. It that will then move down and become a a state revenue and you'll just see the switch in those. So, page 10 um shows what the millage rate will is will be with this current budget. You see a little bit of difference there because we are multi-county and we are required to rebalance those millages each year based on the overall STEB value. The State Tax Equalization Board comes out with STEB values for each county and
110we're required to make sure we equalize that millage uh over both of our counties. That's why even though you're not increasing taxes, tax tax payers will still see those minimal changes, but when you're talking about a mill being 1/1000, when you're clear out to the 25.2 versus 25.17, it's it's not going to make a huge difference on their their tax bill. But that's required. The gaming revenue, that's the homestead farmstead. Um last year we got 1.8 million. We were able to reduce the taxes for those approved homestead farmstead by $336. So, the gaming revenue does help. It goes directly to our taxpayers, 100% of it um has to be calculated out to each of those properties. So, it's it's based it's created as a reduction of their assessed value. So, once I apply the assessed
111value reduction, if there are properties whose assessed value is less than that amount, we go back and we take that amount that was left over and reallocate it to all the rest of the properties. So, we make sure we use all of the money that's provided to us. I do I don't expect it to go away. However, I do note every year that if for some reason it were to go away, then tax payers would not see that decrease and it would look like a tax increase even though it wouldn't be. However, I think you can agree gaming gaming funds have have been probably increasing rather than decreasing. The state funding from the Commonwealth, again, we talked about the the basic ed and the special ed. Um the ready to learn grant's been discussed and
112again, there's the the percentages that um we are funded by the Commonwealth. We also get federal funding. Federal the title programs, we have both carryover funds from the program year. And we're using increases in the school support specialist, employee training, and the tech supplies that you see the increases. Um title funds have program years that run in our fiscal year, so we're tracking both fiscal year federal expenses as well as program year fiscal expenses. So, some program years carryover into different fiscal years. That's what the carryover means. IDEA funding, um we actually have that budgeted with a slight decrease and then um access as we discussed a little bit earlier that we use for OTPT, sign language, and adaptive equipment. So, the federal revenues increased by 13.44%. Is that right? Yes, 308 yes. And you'll
113see most of that's in the title one line. And Dr. Gaston, if you want to expand on that, I think there's a little bit of an increase as well as some carryover that that added into that. Yes, as Susan was saying there, we have to keep track of of two separate >> [clears throat] >> two separate fiscal reports. So, >> [cough] >> there's the the budget year, which is what we're used to seeing and then there's a program year, which runs into the month of September from the year previous. There is I believe the number right now that we're working with is you're allowed $283,000 to transfer, roll over, carry over from one program year to the next program year. So when that doesn't get spent in one year, there's that portion of it. It's
114188 of that number that can be moved to the year ahead. How much are we transferring next year then? I I intend to transfer the maximum. That 188. And the reason for that is because you can only spend it on the plans as they were written, which was before we got here. So there's a little bit of um trying to make the appropriate use of of dollars stretch across the district. So what what do you find out tomorrow about You you said you're going to find out tomorrow about federal funding. Did you say that earlier? No. >> Okay. So we've already been >> Um I don't know when to anticipate that the state will get that to us. It used to be earlier in the year. We're kind of moving it down the year before
115we get that award notice. So I really won't know what to anticipate until it shows up in my email. Okay. So this is anticipated 13.44%. You okay? Well, we build it we build the budget that way as that's what we anticipate. And then that's why a lot of times you'll see when you look at your monthly board reports, you'll see some line items that are overdrawn. That's because we put it where Dr. Gaskin believes she's going to use it. However, once we get the money and we know what it is and we get the school year started, then we move it to where we we need it. And we will only spend it's a direct reimbursement. So we'll only spend what we get. Okay. That's the same with the access. Did the revenue is budgeted
116to match the expense that they have requested. So that's a direct offset as well. Any more questions on that? We good? So then just a revenue summary page. The local revenue, the state, and the federal just kind of in one slide for you there. I also have the next slide to give you a little bit of um revenue and expense history, which shows our actual revenue and our actual expenses. And then the budget is bottom. And just history so you have it kind of all in one one place. So this budget is proposed to be balanced by using 4.3 million of the fund balance. Yes, that is a high number. It sounds like a high number. Um and I think if you look at your page D1 uh detail as you look across the bottom,
117you'll see that annually, especially for the past several years, we typically budget the use of 2.9 and 2.6, 2.8. So I'd say about $2.8 million. Again, that's so that we have room to do the programs and everything that we need for the district. We have not used fund balance in a very long time. I actually have it pulled out here in one of your slides. If I go clear back to '17-'18, which probably would be the last time we used it, so right before we did the consolidation. So that number is in there for us to have the room. We have not used it. I I do not plan on using it this year either. Um right now we're on track to either close the year um neutral or to have a little of revenue
118exceed expenditures for '25-'26. So if you look at that, you take that typically we do a $2.8 million uh uh excuse of fund balance. This year, we have the $900,000 in there for the roof. If we do the roof project, we will spend that 900,000. That will be our 25% match. I also have in there contingency for minimum wage. I have 215,500 in there. Though a lot of talk goes on every year about minimum wage, this being a um midterm election year, a big election year, um and it being so long since it's been raised, I I do anticipate this could be the year and I want to be prepared to do that sitting in contingency just in case that would happen. Um the band uniforms, they were nice enough to step up last year
119when we were looking for cuts. They were the first ones to say, you know, we'll put off for a year. So those are in there. Athletics did the same thing with some uniforms. We've brought those forward. So those are things that are additional this year. Um this year also for the budget reserve and the transfer to capital reserve, I increased both those by 50,000. Um especially the capital reserve, I think now that the construction funds have been depleted, it's important for us to continue to to make a regular deposit into that capital reserve fund um so that we are ready for any needs in the future. We've been very fortunate over the past several years. We've and and Carmen's team taking such great care of everything. We've We've updated pretty much everything. The roof is
120our last big project as well as the the track project we're talking about um for this year. But as we know, things things age quickly and we we kind of fixed everything around the same time. So everything's probably going to start to go at the same time. So I'd like the district to continue to build that capital reserves fund for any future expenses that they need. So that's that all those things that I just listed on top of that 2.8, that brings us up to 4.1 million um right there. So that's where we're getting that that 4.9. The other couple hundred thousand are just for regular operations. Again, [clears throat] I don't anticipate using all of that. Um the roof, yes, if we have a big project like that. Um and and possibly the minimum
121wage if that. But the the other things I think we'll be able to manage as we typically have >> [snorts] >> within reason. This page is just showing you where our fund balance was coming into this year. We had 17.2 million. It shows the budgeted revenue and budgeted expenses for this year. Leaving us with our ending fund balance, anticipated ending fund balance of 14.4 million at the end of this year. Again, I don't expect to use that that proposed use of fund balance. So that should end up better than 14.4 million. Out of that fund balance, we have 3.75 committed to future repairs and maintenance. That has [clears throat] been money we have had committed for this roof project. So that is what at through board action, we will draw down from that committed amount,
122still part of your fund balance, and we will use that for the for our share of the roof project. You'll also as we go along, you'll see an assigned amount of our fund balance. That's the student auxiliary accounts. Those are the club accounts. We don't control how the students spend the money, but we do oversee them and have fiduciary responsibility over those. So that gives us our projected ending fund balance of 6.2 million. To raise taxes, we would have to be at 4.4 lower. So this is why we're not able to raise taxes, nor would we be asking for one this year. And I have a footnote there at the bottom that good good accounting practices, you should have at least three three months of fund balance to cover your expenses. So I have the
123numbers listed there without the contingencies. If I were to take the contingencies out, we would need 12.6 million dollars to have three months and we would need 8.4 to have two months of coverage. As I said, I don't expect to use um the two million that we had anticipated or budgeted as use of fund balance. So those numbers will be much closer to, you know, our fund balance will be very close to us being right at financially stable. by accounting [snorts] I did put a capital improvement slide in here for you. Um we've talked about the track replacement. I am recommending that we use capital project funds for that. The anticipated project is $300,000. And that's for the pervious walk that goes around the track, not the track, but the pervious walk. Um so I
124have the outline for you where our capital projects revert reserve balance was coming into this year. The interest we anticipate earning this year's transfer, the '26-'27 transfer, and where that fund will end up at the end of '26-'27. And then at the bottom, I have the the roof that we just talked about. The grant, the committed fund balance, and where that committed fund balance would land at the end of '26-'27. That's a lot of information in the back of your detail. I did also provide for you what our debt is. We actually have one of our general obligation bonds. We'll be paying that off in October of 2026. And that leaves us with only three general obligation bonds that we're paying on. And we'll be paying on those through 2035. Though we're paying off one
125this year, our debt is is created so that from now through 2035, it is a level debt. So that we don't have any one year where we have a spike of a $4,000 debt payment. It's going to stay relatively level from now through then. And which is really great for budgeting purposes. We know exactly what that's going to be for the next several years. Um and we don't have to anticipate any huge spikes in that. Um Yeah, so the debt's provided there for you. Um throughout there are a couple of the other slides you've seen before with the revenue to expense history, budget to actual. Um just some extra extra detail for you. And that is all we have. Do you have any questions for me tonight? Again, some of the numbers you already you
126have already seen. Um I think working with Dr. Payneback and getting it tightened up before we we came to we feel confident that we have a good budget for approval. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Where did you get a song or did I miss it when I went out? >> You did not get a song tonight. That may have been a one-time thing. I'm >> [laughter] >> My staff went and washed it THE NEXT MORNING. I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE second thoughts. It was not difficult. It was It was awesome. I appreciate it. Yeah, it was great. Well, you know, you got to try to make this interesting somehow. Yeah. I agree. I I went back and watched it cuz I missed the presentation. [laughter] Y'all told me, so I did.
127It was right up there. I'll have to have Mike pull the details. Probably the most watched >> [laughter] >> Okay, moving on. Well, thank you again, Susan, for all your work on this. Um Under personnel with Dr. Payneback, Dr. Uh we have Uh number one is additions and deletions to our substitution list. Uh number two is a request from an employee for a leave without pay. Uh number three is the resignation of a full-time head custodian. And number four is the award for the RFP for support substitute services. Uh beginning at the 2026-2027 school year. Number five is the approval of field trip volunteers and chaperones. Oh, we all will also be adding one item. Uh it's a resignation from a teacher, Blake Tonkin, um effective at the end of this school year. So Um
128any questions for uh Dr. K on on these items? Can we go to uh let me see if I can find it. I don't know which part of this the support staff substitute services. Where was that? Yeah, that's number four. Did you Yes. Okay. Don't Can I explain on number four while you're finding that? Yeah, so Yeah, I've got questions about that. I mean, I looked down there at the pay scale on that. Can you explain that what that means to me? I give give Yes. So >> Hourly wages for several different positions on there. Okay, so correct. So just to clarify um last board meeting we um Excuse me, we um um ordered the RFP for our professional subs for teachers, nurses, guidance, such. Um And we used ESS for that. Um What um
129this one is for is the same substitute service for our support staff. for all of the um descriptions that you see listed there in the um the packet. Um So in the RFP, um they uh indicated on there what their hourly billing rate was going to be. Um so that's what it's going to cost us. The um some of them Well, actually really only one of them indicated what the um the actual payment to the employee would be, which was ESS. And they they have that in their their form of proposal, which is the beginning pay rate for each of those as per the collective bargaining agreement. So there is a markup. Um And I guess I would uh get to the part that I was going to explain. The recommendation that I would like
130to make for this is to use ESS. Um Nore is uh the only one that was slightly um less. However, the one thing that um is different here is that um first of all, we're using ESS for the others. Um Uh ESS also uses Frontline, which we also use. So because we would be um no longer need Frontline because they would be we would be saving in that category as well. Um and they also indicated a detailed transition plan for >> [clears throat] >> how we will move our current uh sub list employees over to this so that they'll uh be able to participate. >> [clears throat] >> So to be clear, anybody who is in our professional uh uh categories or support staff will continue to be able to have the same level of
131access to substitute here as they did before. And their rate of pay will not change either. As a as a result of doing this, this is uh for organizational purposes for us to be able to find workers by casting a larger net using their >> Whose pay will change, did you say? The the actual employees. The ones we have here. Correct. Those rates remain the same. What if Yeah, that See, that's where I have the problem. I think that's where they're going to it's going to be problematic for some of them. If I'm not mistaken, if I look at some of these numbers here, it's This shows more than we're paying some of our staff. Which one Which one are you looking at? >> If I go to uh Carmine, you can correct me if
132I'm wrong, but the cleaners, this has the amount of $15.97 an hour. That's what we That's the billable hourly rate to ESS. Okay. So there is a markup that they charge us for the service of finding that employee and their HR functions that they perform. So in their proposal, which isn't in that packet, but it's in the one that they gave us, their um pay rate for cleaners is 1220 for next year. That's what the employee would receive, their hourly pay. I guess the question I'm asking as I go through the numbers is are we balancing the the number the dollar figure that we're going to pay through this system off of what we're paying our existing employees that we have on our payroll? Will they make the same, you mean? Yes. >> Yes. And
133not more. No. Okay. That's my concern. >> the There is an advantage to the employees though because right now if you work for us, we have to withhold the employee share which is a minimum of 8.5%. >> Right. They don't have to pay that when they work for someone else. Um Additionally, those companies you can choose to have a 401k or whatever. If you work enough hours with them, then you get unemployment. Our school districts don't do unemployment throughout the summer. We give reasonable assurance that you'll come back. >> [clears throat] >> And with the the teacher one especially, retirees will be able to go and and substitute as much as they want and won't have to worry about their PEACERS. And for the support staff, they'll be able to work for this company and
134if this company if we don't necessarily have work for them, they work with other school districts, too. So they may be able to get more work um through one employer than just staying with us. Just us. Right. Okay. Those were the advantages as I met with them the other day. Our part-time people don't pay into PEACERS though, right? >> They do. Oh, they do? >> They do. As soon as you hit that eligibility as soon as you hit that number of hours that you've worked that number of hours, you start to pay in. It's not just not just full-time. And that's the problem with that. >> they're eligible for a pension, part-time? Ev- eventually. Um but when you're in the newer program, the the later um employees, it's a defined benefit defined contribution. So in
135order to have a good pension, they would have to be able to put uh money into the defined contribution portion of it to really build a pension um with PEACERS. So with these companies, they have 401ks where they can put different types of whatever they can afford into it. And then the companies often have a match. Um That's one of the things I know some of the employees tell us when we start taking the PEACERS out, why don't I don't want it. I don't want that 8.5% taken out. >> have an option. They don't have an option. There's a process you have to go through with PEACERS. >> would What's the threshold for a part-timer to start losing their As soon as you hit I believe it's 550 hours. I'll have to double-check, but there's
136a number of hours that once you hit that, then you have to start withholding it. And you know, that's I think it's like $5 a a day if you work more than that. I think that's Yeah, what it is through PEACERS. So when if our part-time employees work an additional hour or something, we're at risk of putting them in a position where they start losing money from Peters. Exactly. Now, to to use the sub service, um the goal is not to take away hours like Lindsay has her staff fill in extra positions or extra hours. We'll use in-house staff that want extra hours first. Um this would be a sub service to cover like absences or things that get put into to Frontline to be covered, but it's not our intention to take away any
137extra hours that employees want to cover. At least that's what we talked about. >> This is specifically for subbing, not for filling positions. >> Subbing, correct. >> Yes. >> Okay. Subbing. Well, that makes a huge difference. Thank you. I appreciate that. Okay, any other questions on any of these items? Seeing none, we'll move on uh to our reports of special committees. Uh Doug Jefftech. Uh I don't have anything to [clears throat] report, but I did have a question. Did I Did I see in there for the fund balance for Jefftech in the budget Yes. proposal? Well, we have our our contribution to Jefftech in there. She hasn't given us the resolution yet for you to pass. That will come in May Okay. >> um for you to approve the resolution that talked about funding the
138fund balance and all of that. She didn't have that ready yet. She wants you folks I don't think you've voted on that yet. >> We did. That's why I was asking, but it should be Yeah, she did say it won't be here till like May, though. Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. No, I didn't have anything. Nothing else? Okay. IU 6 report, Heather. Um I know you're going to find this shocking, but there was a lot of stuff that needed repaired after last winter from ice and whatever, and those weren't voting items for us. They were just things that we had to be updated on, so I'll spare you the details of that. Um the big things were um the internet consortium [clears throat] that uh 15 of our 17 districts take part in,
139including the IU, and that of course gives us a discount um on internet, and um they also consult with the IU 4 for technology, which is nice to have all those different entities contributing um for best rates and for, you know, best use of services, etc. Um they with that, if you were curious cuz I was, it's $15,000 $15,700 a month um for an an agreement for the next 3 years. So, just an idea of how that runs and how that um purchase power works. Um they are also in the same boat as everyone else, and we had to vote on a new sub rate for our paraprofessionals um that service the IU. Um take that [clears throat] up some cuz they are having trouble finding staffing, but we're all in the same boat there.
140Um I had the privilege of sitting in on an assistant executive director interview. We did the director interviews, but um in that came a nice conversation, and I asked that if the 17 districts show up and they're giving some highlights of good things happening in their schools, could that be given to us to share? I asked again for three to five um speaking points on good things happening because of the IU, cuz there are good things. It's just hard to extract that. And everybody was on board, and all the districts represented um I think in going forward they'll give us some good news. And I said, "Even if it's not from Punxy, even if it's not Punxy good news, maybe we can build on something from Clarion Limestone or something that they're doing, but it
141would be nice to hear all the good things happening." So. Um that was pretty much it. Um just one interview. Anybody have any questions about the IU or anything? That's all the highlights. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Okay. I don't think we have anything under communications. Uh pay We will also do the payment of the bills, both the general fund and cafeteria fund. Um and we will also uh item number three is for a construction project for the um HHSD R services for the um engineering for the track replacement. Um anything under new business? I what just real quick, Susan. Um I know we always tell you about how much we appreciate you and the work that you do on this budget stuff. I'm reading the headlines from Indiana from DuBois. Uh I'm seeing significant
142tax increases. I'm seeing uh school districts faced with laying off teachers and support staff. Um looking at all this, we're in a a very good position. So, um again, thank you for for what you're doing for us. That's uh important for our community as a whole. So. Thank you, but it does take the whole district. It does. I mean, you administer to everybody. It's a it's [clears throat] a team effort, but I appreciate that. Okay. Anything else under new business? Okay. I will move for adjournment. So moved. Thank you all. Is anybody going to this?