001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> I call the order of the meeting of the La Porte School Board. Today is Monday, April 13th. If uh our friends from Riley could please come forward and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please just line right here. Here we go. All right, you ready? I pledge >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you. Roll call, Secretary Batey. Roll call, Mr. Arnold. >> Present. Mr. Lauts. Present. >> Ms. Jackson. Present. Ms. Harley. Present. >> Vice President King. Here. President Sebert. Here. All right, so first order of business is a school spotlight with Riley Elementary School. Yes, so we thought we'd do something a little
002different this time. Um and um we're going to talk to you about glow art. Um we also do a glow day in January every year um that our PTA sponsors. Um, and so um this glow art will become part of it. Um, I think I sent a couple pictures of our our glow day um that we've had in January. But anyway, Mrs. Rysik wrote a grant um and uh for the court educational um foundation. Um, and >> she received that grant and it was to purchase um art supplies to create the glow art that you see here. Um and I'm going to have you guys introduce yourselves real quick. Remember your grade level? So just name your grade. My name is Hudson Collins and I'm in third grade. My name is Matt Collins and I'm
003in third grade. My name is Aubrey Poole and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Natalie Paxton and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Liam McWhirter and I'm in fourth grade. My name is Audrey Paxton and I'm in fifth grade. All right, make sure you show them your art and Sheila also did the art in the back for the month that you can see um for family and for Riley. I'm Yeah, family is on the left and Riley's on the right. Yes. So I'm going to really give it to her since it's her project. I am going to come around and give you the standards that we meet with uh the glow art projects. So and then we brought black lights. We're going to attempt to shut shut off the lights and see what
004we can do. I think those are open back there but we'll see. So go ahead. I am Sheila Rysik, an art teacher at Rising Academy and as Mrs. Rysik said, I received the grant and so I bought um a bunch of different materials cuz I wanted to ignite excitement in the art room. Even though art is super fun, I thought, "What can I do that's different?" So, I wanted to incorporate neon and fluorescent um colors, and I thought glow art would be really neat for the kids, and talking to you about it, and I used to talk about this for hours, and I got it. And um one of the standards that it really does hit is exploring with various materials. So, I bought um with the money uh neon oil pastels, uh ink dollars,
005paint sticks, neon um tempera paint, and um we each grade level created their own um different masterpiece. So, uh kindergarten actually created the peace sign, and we talked about diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines. Um first grade did gummy bears, and we talked about the history of the gummy bear, um how Haribo became or got its name and form. Uh second grade did disco balls with two We talked about 2D and 3D shapes. Third grade created lava lamps. Um we talked about organic and geometric shapes, and the history of the lava lamp, who invented the his or who invented the lava lamp. And fourth grade made and designed their own groovy vans. And they turned out just so amazing, and if you were okay, I wanted to shut the lights off to see if you could
006could really get the effect. Oh. If you guys get close to the um lights, and kind of Yeah, you can kind of just show it. Oh, that's cool. I love it. Yeah. Nice. >> Oh, yeah. I don't know if you can kind of see it in the back, too. Um third grade also made uh 3D model magic donuts with um the fluorescent ink dollars, too. But, I think I had more fun than they did because I got to experience it all week, but I had really positive feedback from the staff and the students and um, we can't wait to have our next glow art. So, they had a really great time, right? And we have student participation creating signs and things for our glow day. Now, this will just add to it. We'll be able
007to add more about around the building. Um, we can invested a lot in we had a lot of black lights um, that we used for that day. So, just something something fun and a different um, way for these kids to experience art. So, I appreciate Mrs. Reitzug doing this. Great job. GREAT JOB, GUYS. ALL RIGHT. UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE. UM, don't feel like you have to stay for the whole meeting. So, if you're a Riley student or Riley parent and you want to take off, the rest is big boring stuff. So, feel free to leave. You won't you won't be missed. Well, sure. It won't be as exciting as the glow art. I will say that. Um, public comment? No. No public comment? Okay. So, moving on to the consent agenda.
008There are five items for the consent agenda. Approval of minutes of the March 9th, 2026 school board meeting. Financials for ratification and approval. Treasurer's report. Adjustment to social worker calendar for 2025-2026 school year. Then personnel recommendations and travel requests. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Thank you, Nate. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Jen. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. So, part of the personnel recommendation package was some bittersweet news that Dr. Tonagel is resigning effective uh June 30th. So, he'll be through here through the end of the year, but uh Tonagel, I don't know if you have anything you want to say. Yeah, thank you, President Seeberg. It's uh certainly been um a reminder that for everything there's a season in life.
009And so, I'm a 1997 graduate of LaPorte High School. So, this journey has come full circle for me, which is a a really rare thing, I think. I began my career with Warsaw and continued with Fairfield uh Fairfield Community Schools. And then I was given the incredible opportunity to come to come home and serve as uh LaPorte High School Principal. And that role was both meaningful and challenging. And it was an honor to work alongside such dedicated colleagues to support our students and expand opportunities for them. Uh later I transitioned to Central Office to give me the uh chance to serve our elementary students and then gain a K-12 um perspective. And that role also was uh very rewarding and impactful. So, it's been a true honor and a privilege to serve our students of
010LaPorte in these two roles. And I'm grateful for the opportunities this uh community and this corporation has given me. And I wish Dr. Wood and our board all the best moving forward. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you so much. >> Good luck. Yes. Thank you. I think we're all very grateful for what you and the men and the kids have done in LaPorte. And we know you won't be strangers. Thank you. Okay, uh special personnel recommendations, there is none. So, the next item is the Superintendent's Report. Dr. Wood. I just have a very brief report for you this evening, and that is to share that open enrollment for out-of-district families is now open as of April 1st. Um so, this is for the 2026-2027 school year. So, hard to believe that we're already at that
011point of the year that we're taking applications for next year. So, our applications are available online on our district website and they are reviewed on a case-by-case basis based on class sizes and building capacity as they are received and any applications received prior to June 10th will receive notification within a week of submission. Um so, families are encouraged to apply soon to reserve their spot for next year. That concludes my report. All right. Anybody have any questions or comments for Dr. Wood? Okay. Uh next order of business is the assistant superintendent student student learning report, Dr. Tonic. Yes, thank you. For my report tonight, I want to recognize Kingsford Heights, Hanley, Crichfield, and Kingsbury. They're in a distinct group of schools, um four of 400 that were recognized in the state of Indiana last week
012and unfortunately with us being on spring break, we're able to participate in a special uh literacy achievement celebration at the Indiana State House. And that celebration recognized schools that uh reached the 95% benchmark on the IREAD proficiency examination. And so, uh we had two schools the year prior, so we doubled that and really proud of all our schools' effort, but we're making headway and those schools need to be commended, their principals, um their teachers, instructional coaches, and then of course the kids who work hard every day that to meet that. So, we're very very proud of those four schools. Yeah, for sure. And that concludes my report. Okay. Any questions or comments for Dr. Tonic? Yeah, that's really good work. So, make sure you pass that down to the uh the principals and staff there.
013Uh okay, next is assistant superintendent of operations report, Dr. Oni. Thank you. Uh good evening. I just have the financial update for you tonight. Um so, on the next slide you'll see our total cash balance of 8 uh {point} 34 million. Revenue for March was just above 5 million. Expenditures were 5.15 million, which uh puts us puts us at 13.8% of our cash as a percent of our budget. On the next slide, you can see the breakdown of revenue and expenditures for each of our funds. You'll notice that the ending balance for March in the operations fund is negative, and I kind of give you a heads-up on that last month that that will continue to dwindle until we get our May property tax draw. The next slide, budget status overall, we have 3.15 million
014dollars spent out of the education fund, which puts us at about 24% right on track for the year. And then the operations fund is at 1.37 million, which is just above 25% at 25.2% year to date. So, if there's any questions, the next slide just has some finance two insights for the month. Happy to entertain any uh >> question cuz cuz I'm new to finance. Uh you said we're in the red on operations, correct? Obviously, that's going to catch up, but where where does the money come Where do we What fund do we borrow money when we're in the red from? So, we can use rainy day. That's primarily where we would try to pull from cuz you don't pull from Ed. We've already done an Ed to Ops transfer, so we can't do more
015than 15%. It's good to know cuz again, it's good to know to have that money in the rainy day because again, if we need to borrow on For a little bit of more clarification, when we talk about the funds, the the funds that we talk about are really reflected only in our accounting software locally held. All of our assets are in a bank account Sure. that aren't necessarily divided up according to those funds. So, when we looked at that first slide that showed that Was it 8. total cash balance of 8.34, as long as we're keeping that number in the black, it's not really going to affect much if month to month we have one of our funds go under. We know that we catch that up by the time we come to our media
016reporting period when we get that property tax draw. So, that is it's kind of a unique thing with school finances that the funds that we talk about here in at the bank, they're not Yeah. They're not divvied up in the same way that we keep them separated in our in our software if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. We want to make sure May 30th and December 30th are in the black. Yep. Cuz for formula, but other than that Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Okay, so move to new business. So, the first order of new business is a consideration for the recommendation to approve the proposal for the creation of new administrative leadership structure for 2026-2027. We are Dr. Wood. Thank you. So, this evening I'm bringing forward a proposal for
017the creation of a new administrative leadership structure for the 2026-2027 school year. So, as we just discussed, we have some upcoming leadership transitions, specifically with the resignation of Dr. Taniguchi. And we also have the retirement of our director of human resources. So, with these two positions changing over, this provided us an opportunity to step back and thoughtfully evaluate how our district leadership is structured. So, after significant and thorough consideration of the upcoming needs of our district tonight I'm recommending a shift away from a model with multiple assistant superintendents and toward a more focused structure with specialized directors overseeing key systems within our district. So, this would first include the creation of a director of curriculum and instruction position with a recommendation to appoint Zach Huber to that role. So, this position will provide dedicated leadership
018for our pre-K through 12 curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning systems, including the continued development of professional learning communities across the district. Having a single point of focus for this work will strengthen alignment across grade levels and buildings, improve consistency in instructional practices, and ensure that our academic systems are intentionally designed to support student achievement. Mr. Huber has demonstrated strong instructional leadership as the principal of Holman Elementary, along with the ability to think at a systems level, build collaborative teams, and lead continuous improvement efforts. His experience within our district and proven ability to lead both people and systems position him well to take on this role and support our schools at a higher level. In addition to this director position, I am also recommending the creation of a director of business services position to strengthen
019our financial leadership and long-term planning. This will allow us to focus more intentionally on long-term financial strategy and investment planning, which is difficult to fully develop when financial oversight is only one component of a broader role. So, this plan is also designed to be fiscally responsible through attrition, including the elimination of two other director level positions through during the 2026-2027 school year. Along with the elimination of that assistant superintendent position, we're able to implement this new structure while reducing overall expenditures related to district leadership. So, at this time, I am requesting the board's approval of three items. First is the creation of the position of director of curriculum and instruction. Second is the appointment of Zach Huber to the position of director of curriculum and instruction. And third is the creation of the position of
020director of business services, which if approved, would be posted later this week and we'll begin a search for an individual to begin in that role on July 1st. Okay, is there a motion to accept this recommendation for the creation of the new administrative leadership structure? So moved. Thank you, Jen. Thank you, Jim, on a second. Okay, any comments or questions or Super excited. I think this is an innovative way to make some changes at, you know, a good crossroads for us and really excited about what Zach could do. I have met with Zach Heilman and heard his passion for this. I think it's going to be a great way to continue to better our schools and have more accountability and success. Agreed. I'll just add that directly to you, Zach. I just your work that
021you've done at Hailman has been apparent to the entire community. You are so so good at what you do and I'm very very excited to have you influencing all of our leadership and our kiddos. You're here. I also want to add that as our financial perspectives change, it's going to be good to have this focused leadership on that, too. So, okay. Any other comments? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Uh Congratulations, Zach. Uh Next is a consideration for recommendation for approval of a memorandum of understanding for before and after school care program partnership with LaPorte County Family YMCA. So, the next item I'm bringing forward is the approval of this memorandum of understanding with the LaPorte County Family YMCA for our before and after school care program. Currently, we operate this
022program at Boston Middle School and Crichfield Elementary. Our after school pro our before and after school program is an extremely valuable service for families. However, operating a child care program is not central to our core mission as a school district. So, a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to meet with YMCA Executive Director Scott Hill Camp and he's here this evening, as well, in order to explore potential ways to collaborate on programs that would benefit our community. So, from that conversation we developed this MOU to establish a partnership that will continue the before and after school care services that we currently provide, but under the YMCA's leadership. This approach allows us to maintain the program our families rely on while transitioning operations to an organization that specializes in child care. With the YMCA overseeing
023the program, there will also be opportunities to expand offerings and introduce additional services that are not currently possible. Our goal is for this transition to be seamless with no noticeable changes for families. The YMCA is working to keep costs comparable, and current families will be prioritized for enrollment. This also positions us to improve staffing reliability, which is extremely important for our families who use this service. Um so, at this time I am requesting the board's approval of the MOU to move forward with this partnership with the YMCA. Anyone want to make a motion to approve the memorandum of understanding? Thank you, Dr. Second. Thank you, Monica. Anyone have any questions or comments? Will there be child care between them and Boys & Girls Club at all of our schools now? Yes. So, between what what
024Boys & Girls Club is currently offering and what the YMCA program will take over from what we're currently operating, all schools will be covered for before and after school care. Great. Here we are. Okay. All in the favor of this memorandum of understanding, say I. I. Opposed? The motion carries. Uh next order business is the consideration for the recommendation to approve 20 2026-2027 academic calendar for LaPorte online school, Dr. Panos. Yes, thank you. This is a new item that we typically have had not to do because of Um, the the growth and the expansion of our uh virtual online school and rather than just kind of embed it in the old calendar, we wanted to bring it out and just kind of say up front to everybody that we are asking with your approval to
025be a little bit more flexible flexible in that virtual environment. So, the flexibility really kind of hinges around those breaks. Kids have access to their courses, to their teachers through the Ed Options program and so when you take those traditional breaks in the school system in the bricks and mortar schools, you know, teachers also are on break and administrators go home. But in that virtual environment, they're able to do more work. And so we're just asking to adopt a different calendar that still fits in the traditional 180 days. It's very similar at the start of the year and the end of the year. It's just mostly around the breaks. It gives kids more opportunities to work according to their flexible virtual schedule. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the schedule changes laid out by
026Dr. Tonagel? So, moved. Thank you, Dr. Second? Second. Thank you, Nate. Anyone have any questions or comments or discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next order of business is consideration for the recommendation for approval of the work-based learning coordinator position at La Porte High School, Dr. Tonagel. Yes, Mr. Principal and Jen Gaskins, Director of Career Technical Education, are recommending the establishment of a work-based learning coordinator position at La Porte High School. Essentially, this position is going to help students meet the new high school diploma requirements which include work-based learning. So, those are like structured positions that are embedded in industry and community business and so we need somebody to help monitor that and help the students be successful with those new graduation requirements. So, this position would support the
027diploma and students that work-based learning experiences in their graduation plan. Is there a motion to approve the work-based learning coordinator position? So moved. Thank you, Jen. Second? Second. Thank you, doctor. Any questions or comments, discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Uh the next is consideration for the recommendation for approval of the summer school compensation schedule. Dr. Thomas. >> Yes, last one, thank you. So, in the past we have not had a structured and clear, consistent um plan for compensation for summer school. And over the years I kept saying, I'm going to fix this before I leave. And so, I I want this on record. I have cleared up. But essentially um this uh includes elements of our old way of doing things, but also has some new ways
028of doing things and it's it's going to really help us from a budgeting standpoint. The state gives an allocation for summer school uh across the whole state. All schools apply for funding for their summer school program and you don't find out really what you get until long after summer school has ended. And so, it's really hard to kind of budget. Um roughly 50% of our summer school costs are covered each year. So, we end up having to spend money out of the education fund. My hope is that uh this is a little bit more clear, consistent, it's structured. Uh you're easy it's easier to implement. So, it's going more from a per diem system to more of a stipend based system. And so, I looked at number of hours, number of staff, uh how many
029days and put together stipends that are uh fixed. And so, I think it'll be easier to plan for, they're fair to our employees who are giving up their summer time. And so, uh I think this will help um stabilize uh funding in the future for our summer school uh programs. And makes it clear, especially when we're offering virtual classes and you know a teacher that's in the classroom teaching in person students versus the teacher that's monitoring online learning. There's a little bit different responsibilities there. So this recognizes a little bit higher pay rate for those in person teachers. But I put together the the chart there. I'd be glad to answer any questions about that. Is there a motion to approve the summer school compensation schedule? So moved. Thank you, Amy. Second? Second. Thank you,
030Tucker. Does anyone have any questions or comments or discussion on this? Thank you. You can cross it off your list now. It feels good, right? Okay, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, the next order of business is consideration for the recommendation to approve the the Port Committee School Corporation Food Services Department to purchase new nutritional analysis / inventory software. Dr. Ernie. Uh so our food service department uh they are requesting approval to purchase a cloud-based nutrition management software system. Right now they currently have a local server platform. Uh it is functional but it requires ongoing IT support. It's limited accessibility like you can't access it from home. Um and there are some security security concerns uh that are present with that. Um they they got two quotes one from the current
031group that we are with Heartland and to convert this over to the cloud-based they were wanting to charge us 21,000 uh and some change with 11,000 annual subscription. So uh Cindy Vadra, our director of food service found Primero Edge. It's also the state provider. Uh they came in at 11,440 dollars with uh full conversion and then 8,000 and some change for the annual subscription. Um the the department uh of Ed is constantly changing um they can serve and so tracking that is kind of be a nightmare especially for some of our students that have dietary restrictions. They have to have to the T every calorie that's that's served. So this is going to help them out tremendously by switching over to a cloud-based platform. Is there a motion to approve the food service department software
032as laid out by Dr. Roni? So moved. Thank you Amy. Is there a second? Second. Thank you doctor. Any questions or comments or discussion? Things worth noting this comes out of the food service budget. >> Correct. Yes, it is. So this is self-funded yeah, self-funded service. Just want the public to be aware of that. Okay, any other questions or comments? All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Okay, the last order of new business is the consideration for the recommendation for approval of operating procedure for unclaimed student fees and textbooks credits. Dr. Roni. So our food service department has a operational protocol that is similar to this and this is where the business department is trying to pattern it off of that. Basically any student that is no longer enrolled in the district for over
033a year and after three attempts to try to contact the parents or the student that they do have a balance of $25 or more then we would be able to roll that into curriculum textbook account so it's not just sitting in a fund stagnant not being used. So this does require the business office to make three attempts after the students have been identified past a year of no longer being enrolled in the district. Okay, is there a motion to approve the operating procedure as laid out by Dr. Roni? Thank you Jim. Second? Second. Thank you, Nate. Any questions or comments? Discussion? I want to be clear. So, this is We have We have their money. Correct. We've reached out to them three times to try to give it back to them. Correct. They're unresponsive. So,
034now we're just taking that money and putting it into the education fund to be used for whatever. Right. And that only goes with the address we have, right? Is How How are we going to contact them, I guess? >> So, I guess whatever would be the last known address, phone It So, there we've got to send out certified mail. So, there's a cost to that as well. >> Okay. Yeah. And that's also this is ending, right? Cuz if we're not doing textbook rentals anymore. So, these these have been accounts that have been on the books for a few years already. These are already pretty old accounts. >> We We shouldn't have any new ones unless there's some class fees from a student that moved out of district. Um but these textbook fees are are dwindling
035away. Any other questions or comments? Discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. There is no other business. Uh board comment. Do we have any board comment? Good. I just want to bring up real quick and you're familiar with it, but we can discuss it. On March 31st, we had the ribbon cutting for the uh the new Monon corridor from Hammond Gateway Station to to uh Munster. And that was a total of about $850 million to get that done. We've been working on that for 20 years. We had ribbon cutting and we're celebrating. Yeah, the sun was there. The sun was Yeah, I just want to say that uh this thing is up and going now. We're the last interurban railroad in the state of the country. And so, this
036is quite quite an honor. Right now, we're working on the South Bend project and South Bend Airport to tie in double track all the way well, new station, I should say. New New uh station over there first and the track. But that's for all going as well as new station in New Carlisle. So, we're up and moving on this. We have a new president. Mike Nolan was president for 11 years. And Mike just seemed it's time for him to ride on. So, we have a new gentleman for the new meeting. Dave Jack who came from South Florida, actually Miami. Three counties down there. Great young man. He continues to move the ball forward. So, I'd encourage you if you want to take a ride on the train to Chicago, do so. We got a $200
037million project going right now in the Landing Station. We have new tracks to cut down on the wait behind Metra going into our to a Landing Station. So, just want to bring that up because it's a been a project now for about 40 years. The last 20 which I think they put it together. So, Cool. Thank you. Anybody else have anything else? Okay, our next meeting is May 11th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Is there a motion to adjourn? So, moved. Thank you, Dave. Second? Second. Thank you. Doctor, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Wait. Are we allowed to have a public Uh public comment sign-up was at 6:00. 5:00. >> 5:00. 5:00. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Um Sure, come on up. >> Is that all right? All right, yep. Yes. Appreciate the time.
038Yep. Um my name is Kim McDermott. Um my husband is a 2002 grad of La Porte High School. He'd also want me to say that he's a state champion. Um we reside in the Kingsbury district where my older son Jack attends first grade. And my younger son Sam is at Little Learners. Um I'm here today to request more information and clarification around the proposed waiver to the state for the additional eight two-hour early dismissals for the 2026-2027 calendar school year. My understanding of this matter is that the early dismissal times will be used to conduct teacher development while staff are still on campus, knowing that both staff and students have a required minimum number of days to be present as mandated by the state, and that this would be an exception for the students alone.
039The eight 2-hour early dismissals equate to two full working days for staff. I'm seeking clarification on two fronts. The first being why these two days cannot be tacked onto the beginning or end of the school year so as not to disrupt students' learning. I'm assuming this request originated from the union, but I'm clear. The second is whether any consideration was given to the disruptions these early dismissals will cause working parents. While I personally am able to simply request time off from my employer and still be paid, I assume there are several parents who are working hourly shifts in this neighborhood who either don't have the time or cannot afford to take that time off, ultimately in some instances leaving students unattended unattended in the home. I ask that the school board revisit this request only
040to provide greater consideration and transparency to the parents within the district. Will you commit to providing an outline of the teacher developmental learning that trumps that of our children's? And if no other concessions can be made, to at least provide some consistency on the days off for the calendar year, for example, the last Friday of every month. Whether it's because it's less disruptive or more cost-efficient for teachers to remain on site, um knowing that there is dwindling enrollment, I would hope the board has its sights on keeping students in the classroom, and I'm happy to support in any way I can. Thank you. Yep. Okay. Does anyone want to want to make a motion to adjourn? So moved. Okay. Second? Second. Thank you, Jan. All I hear a