001Franklin County Community School Corporation. I'll take a roll call. If you would please say present. Jessica Brennan. Present. >> Greg Burris. >> Present. Beth Foster. Present. >> Katie Holman. Present. >> Kevin Kaiser. Present. Kim Simonson. Present. Brandy Wilson. Present. I realize that you guys have all served before and you've already taken this oath of office, but if you would raise your hand and right hand and take for this 2026 session your oath of office. Should we stand? You can if you like. If you would repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Jessica Brennan. Do solemnly swear or affirm. Do solemnly swear or affirm. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. >> And the Constitution of the state of Indiana. And the
002Constitution of the state of Indiana. And the laws of the United States. And the laws of the United States. >> And the state of Indiana. And the state of Indiana. I will faithfully execute the duties of my office. I will faithfully execute the duties of my office. As a member of this governing body. As a member of this governing body. So help me God. So help me God. Thank you all of you. Thank you. Thank you. We need to elect our officers for the Board of Finance. So, I believe we've gone over the process here. I I'd like to go ahead and discuss with the board just what the plan will be around all the election of officers. Essentially, [clears throat] for each of the positions we'll ask for nominations. For each nomination, we'll need
003a second. After the second, we'll pause for the next nomination. Then we'll get a second for that nomination. Once we've established all the nominations for any of the positions, there'll be a time for discussion. Once time for discussion is over, uh we will then go through and we will vote in order in which they were received. So, if my name was the first name I'm going to give an example that's not possible. If my name was the first name listed, nominated and second, then when it's time to vote, I would be the first person to be voted upon. Once we have uh four votes for a particular position, then there's no reason to continue to vote for all the other positions. If the first name doesn't get four votes, of course, then then you may
004continue to vote for each person along the way. So, you don't get one vote for the entire category, but you would get a vote for each one with a yes, no, or abstention. Does that make sense as a process? Any opposition to that process for each of these positions? I will accept nominations for president of the Board of Finance. Do I have a nomination for president? I'd like to nominate Ms. Foster for president of the Board of Finance. Is there a second? I second. Katie seconded. Are there any other nominations for president of the Board of Finance? Seeing none, is there any discussion? We'll take a vote. All in favor of Ms. Foster for president of the Board of Finance, raise your hand. Sorry, Ms. Holman. >> [laughter] >> See you. Five. All >> [laughter]
005>> Say it There's Say that again. I apologize. I couldn't I couldn't catch get the count. >> you want to do a roll call like we did last year? We can do roll call. Ms. Brennan, yes or no? Yes. Ms. Wilson. >> No. Mr. Simonson. I'm a yes. Mr. Burris. Yes. Ms. Foster. >> Yes. Ms. Holman. Yes. Mr. Kaiser. No. Five two. We have our president of the Board of Finance. The other office for this Board of Finance is the secretary. Do I have any nominations for the secretary of Board of Finance? I will nominate uh Greg Burris again to serve in that position. Is there a second for Mr. Burris? I'll second. Ms. Wilson seconds. Any other nominations for secretary? I nominate Brandy Wilson. Brandy Wilson nominated. Is there a second for Ms. Wilson?
006I'll second. Mr. Burris seconded. Any other nominations for secretary of the Board of Finance? We're going to vote for Brandy Wilson. Ms. Brennan. Hold. Excuse me. Uh the first name given was was Mr. Burris. Sorry. Thank you. Brandy nominated Mr. Burris. Sorry. Excuse me. Thank you. Mr. Burris. Jessica. Do you accept? Yes. Ms. Wilson. You should tell her you accept so we don't have to do I'm sorry. I am voting yes. For Mr. Burris. Yes. >> Mr. Burris. No. Ms. Foster. Why did you accept it then? Yes. Ms. Holman. No. Mr. Kaiser. No. We've got our four. Four three. Mr. Burris, congratulations. You're the secretary of the Board of Finance. Amazing. Kendra. Do you want to accept? You may go ahead and take over. I appreciate Take over the investment report unless we have anything
007else there, Mr. Gary. No, ma'am. Okay. Um as you know, according to Indiana code, um requires the Board of Finance to meet annually um after the first Monday in January and and or on before the last day of January. So, we are meeting now to discuss the end of year First, I'm going to go over the investment report, which is enclosure number one. This gives um it is in your enclosures. Um I'm going to start off by talking about our checking accounts. Uh you can see we go over interest rates earned from '23, '24, and how we ended in '25. I will just reiterate to the board that interest rates have declined over the past few years, which as which is as expected. Um also with that, we have 1 2 3 4 5 6
008bond um different bond checking accounts out. Um with those proceeds, we are paying down or paying off um our bond projects, which is expected. Therefore, we are earning less interest um on each account because the overall amount in each account is going down due to paying off the projects. Uh also, we have our end of year balance. I have December of '24 compared to December of '25. Honestly, there's not a lot of change in any of them other than our bond proceed accounts going down just again due to paying off the contractors or projects that we were paying for. We did renew our Bath State Bank CD um at a million dollars. We earned the interest in '25 of just shy of $35,000. We are also continuing our Trust Indiana account. Um I'm just going
009to kind of pull this one out a little separately because we have a little over 7 and 1/2 million dollars sitting there earning a 3.78% interest, which is our highest of all checking accounts, gaining the most interest. Just a reiteration to the board of our two main accounts. We have our FCN bank account, our primary, that receives all basic grants, cafeteria reimbursements from the state, grant reimbursements, and summer school reimbursements. And from that account, we pay our payroll, health insurance, um Indiana Department of Revenue taxes, and our IRS taxes. Our other primary checking account that we have is at First Financial, where we receive all transportation expense reimbursements, cafeteria dollars from parents who make deposits into their children's accounts online. We receive our property taxes and all other revenue and reimbursements. From First Financial, we
010pay any accounts payable checks, also our Ohio Department of Revenue taxes, our bus contractors, and any of our employee voluntary deductions such as our flex account, life insurance, and etc. Any question on the investment report? Okay. Um I think that's for information only. Any discussion? Do you want to go ahead and move on to the second one? Okay. So, >> [clears throat] >> also according to Indiana code, I am um going over the fiscal indicators that are on um gateway that are available for our school corporation. Um these I will just again tell the board this is for the 24-25 school year. It is a year behind, but these are um financial indicators that the government puts out for every school corporation. And I'm required to go over these with you. Uh 24-25, the student
011count was at 1,915 students. Our net assessed value was just over um 1 billion. I'm sorry. Yes, 1 billion. >> [laughter] >> Our estimated population in Franklin County is just over 16,000. If you move on down to our average daily membership and demographics, um you can see here the last 10 years of our student count has declined. Um we ended this year, the 24 25 school year. In the fall, our student count was 1,911 and in the spring count or count was 1,881. A lot of that going to briefly go over can be due to midterm graduates. Moving on to fund balances, um you'll see that our the biggest change from 23 to 24 was our capital funds. If the board recalls, we had a bond that was a reimbursable bond that um we took
012out to reimburse us for past operational expenses. We had hit the 3-year mark and had to move those dollars into um into our operations fund, which it shows here on this graph a large jump in in bar graph, and that's why. Other than that, everything is pretty steady. Again, all of these are available on gateway if the public would like to go through these. Moving along to our annual deficit or surplus, in 24, we did have just a little bit of an um increase in expenditure over revenue. And this is as to be expected with um declining enrollment and also the way that we've been paying down our bond proceeds. Um so, we've been paying down projects. It is to be expected that we expended more than we took in that year. Um moving on
013to fund balance as a part of expenditures, um again, this is to be expected, the 53% in 2024. Um our fund balances as of expenditures, percent of expenditures. There's any questions from the board, please stop me at any time. The next is revenue by type. You can see on here that our two largest revenue sources are the um state revenue through ADM and our local tax revenue through property taxes. And finally, it does have a slide on referendums revenue, but Franklin County School Corporation does not have a operating referendum. So, you can see it's at a 0%. Any questions? Okay, that's for discussion only. The final part of the um Board of Finance meeting is a review of our investment policy. I am requesting that there are no revisions done to our current policy and
014we continue as we have over the last year. Um if there are any discussion and review, it's discussion and review only. If the board would like to make any changes, we can make them accordingly moving forward. Any discussion for Kendra? Questions for her? Without further ado, we'll adjourn the Board of Finance meeting. Thank you. Ready to go again? Uh board, just so you know, I'm going to ask for an agenda change after the roll call to bring our celebration up top by something to celebrate. >> [clears throat] >> I'd like to call the the uh Franklin County Community School Corporation first board meeting of the year to order. We'll start off with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it
015stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, ladies. Good job. We'll start with the roll call. Jessica Brennaman? Present. Greg Burris? Present. >> Beth Foster? Present. >> Katie Holman? Present. >> Katie Kevin Kaiser? Present. Kim Simonson? Present. Brandy Wilson? Present. Thank you. I would ask to the board for an agenda change. Uh just one item. Uh if you'll note the celebration item uh is item number five. I'd like to bring that up to above item number four, which is the board reorganization. I have a bit of a celebration I'd like to to bring forward. To change the agenda, I would need a first, second, discussion, and a vote. I'll make a motion to move agenda item five to ahead of item four. Thank you. I second it. Any discussion?
016All right. And can we please vote with our right hand? All those in favor? Thank you very much. Can I use my left to raise my hand? I'm all left-handed. May I May I? Yes. >> Yes. Thank you. I just don't want to mess up the I appreciate it. All right. Well, thank you for that. Um I just want to take a few moments to recognize something very important, not just on our calendar, but in the life of our school corporation. January is officially Board of Education Recognition Month in Indiana, and on behalf of our students, staff, and community, I want to say a very sincere thank you to our Franklin County Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees. Serving on a school board is not an easy role. It requires time, preparation, thoughtful discussion,
017and sometimes very difficult decisions. It often means balancing competing priorities, navigating complex issues, and doing so in a way that keeps students at the center of the work. This year in particular, our board has been asked to lead through challenges, change, and important decisions that will shape the future of our corporation. They've done so with focus on collaboration, long-term thinking, and what is best for our students, not what is easiest or most comfortable. I also want to thank them for the support they provide to our staff and our administrators. The work we do as a leadership team is stronger because of the trust, guidance, and partnership of this board. So, tonight and throughout this month, we want to publicly recognize and thank you for your service, your leadership, and your dedication. And as a crowd,
018if you would not mind, please join me in thanking our FCSCE Board of School Trustees for all they do for our students, for our schools, and for our community. >> [applause] >> But I do not stand alone in thanking you. Uh we have a couple of speakers that like to come up and briefly thank you as well. We're going to start with our high school students. Let's welcome Gina and Savannah on up. They have a couple words for you as well. Come on up. Good evening. My name is Gina Crawford, and with me is Savannah Leach. On behalf of Franklin County High School administration, staff, and students, we are privileged to recognize members of Franklin County Community School Board this evening. Dear Kevin Kaiser, Vice President Jessica Brennaman, Secretary Brandy Wilson, Beth Foster, Kim Simonson,
019Katie Holman, and Greg Burris, thank you for all you do. School board members often work behind the scenes, yet the impact of your service is felt every single day in our classrooms, hallways, and throughout our community. As someone who is very involved in the school in many ways, holding many leadership positions, I thank you for allowing us at the high school and throughout the whole Franklin County community for all your opportunities you allow students to have throughout the year. I would now like to let Savannah speak. You are an essential piece to our team. You are asked with making complex decisions that affect budgets, curriculum, faculty, staff, and most importantly, the success and well-being of these children. These decisions are made with care, integrity, and deep commitment to doing what is best for children, even
020when the path forward is not always clear or easy. Because of your leadership, our schools continue to grow, adapt, and strive for excellence. Your hope our students are supported, our educators are empowered, and our communities values are reflected in the direction of our district. On behalf of students, families, staff, and community, thank you for your service, your dedication, and your willingness to lead. Your commitment makes a lasting difference, and we are truly grateful for the time, energy, and heart you give to our schools. Please join me in thanking our school board members for their outstanding service and leadership. >> [applause] >> We now have a token of appreciation for all school board members. Thank you. All right, team. Next up, I have my my friend Dottie here from the middle school who has a a
021few words for you as well. I want to turn things over to Dottie. Go ahead, Dottie. >> [cough] >> Dear board members, I am from Franklin County Middle School and just wanted to come here tonight to thank you for spending your time trying to help our schools be better for us. We imagine that sometimes you have to spend warm summer evenings or cold winter nights like tonight in this meeting room. And there are probably a dozen other things you would rather be doing. And yet, you spend your valuable time on students. Students you've never met, students who have no idea of your existence. According to Google, the definition of a selfless person is someone who is concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own desires. It is an unselfish person.
022This is what each and every one of you are. By becoming board members, you choose to put others before yourself. We are so grateful for all of you that do our schools We We are so grateful for all that you do for our schools by helping to make them better places to be and to learn in. Thank you from all the students at FCMS. To show your appreciation, we would like to give you each a certificate for being such impactful parts of our school community. And we brought treats as well because we know we like treats much better than certificates. >> [laughter] [applause] [laughter] >> Thank you. Kind words. He spent all day making these. This is so nice. Thank all the people behind this, okay? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I do
023like treats. I'm a fan of Who makes this? No comment. Thank all the people behind this. I mean, there's tons of them that I know. Yes, thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Daugherty. There's a couple more, and then we'll turn things back to our meeting. As far as our guests, as soon as we get done with this portion, uh if you would like to leave, cuz I heard there's a football game on tonight. Um you're welcome to [laughter] um of course, but we want to do a couple more. I asked all the schools to choose something, and so each of them did, and so I would like to present to our Board of Education on behalf of Mount Carmel School, um something they put together for you to say thank you as well. And
024so, they put this together with all the classrooms and all the spaces, and so they wanted to say thank you in their special way as well. Uh so, this will be out and around for you. Let's spin real quick so that the audience can see it as well. So, Mount Carmel put this together for our board, uh and we thank them for that on behalf of the future superintendent. >> [laughter] >> Okay, very very good. Uh we'll have this out and around. A couple more things for you before we're finished. Moral Elementary School chose to put together some large-size [clears throat] art with a lot of artwork inside of it to say thank you as well. So, here is the first one, and we can pass this around as well. So, we have this piece
025here, and then a lot of student art on the inside for you. And then on the backside it says thank you as well. So, I'll show this to the crowd as well. So, Moral was able to do it in their special way to say thank you to our Board of Education as well. So, that's card number one. And then card number two from LES. Again, a lot of thank yous on the inside. And then on the back as well. And then we'll pass these around, and they'll be around for after the meeting as well. >> [clears throat] >> One more to go. >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> So, each school in their own special way was able to put something together for you. And so, Brookville Elementary is no different. So, I have a stack
026of thank you cards for each of you from Brookville Elementary for you to take home tonight and of course to enjoy them. So, um not setting any certain order. And for you. I was asked today if I knew what month it was, and I'm like, is this a trick question? >> [clears throat] >> Sorry. Thank you. Thank you. So sweet. Thank you. Yeah. And then I have one more item. Thank you, sir. Appreciate all you do. So, I think sometimes legacy is tangible. And and and sometimes in positions where you're making decisions, it's hard to see that tangible. So, I'm starting a new tradition here at uh at at our corporation, and that is that each January our board is going to have a chance to dedicate a a book for each of our libraries
027where you get to sign and dedicate whatever message you want on the inside of this, and then it will be in all of our school libraries for our students to see forever. And so, this year's book is Oh, the Places You'll Go. And so, tonight I have five copies. All of you are going to sign and dedicate according to how you see fit, either tonight or over the course course of this month at some point. Once I have all seven finished, they'll be delivered to each of the schools, and so they'll they'll be in the libraries on your behalf. And so, as a superintendent, I want to say thank you for the support that you give me um every single day. You're always a phone call away and willing to give me the advice that
028I need. Um not being from here, a lot of times I need to know that history and and also the support. And so, I could not thank you enough. And so, just a small token of my thanks to you is this new tradition for you to have a book in your name forever in each of our libraries, and we'll do this each January along the way. With that being said, how about one more round of applause for our Board of Education. >> [applause] >> All right. Any of our guests that would like to leave, you are welcome to. This is a good transition point, and we don't have any other items on the schedule. You don't have to leave. Thank you very much for our speakers. You can go. Sarah, would you like a picture
029of our speakers? Would that Would that be helpful to you? If you If you were a speaker, would you mind uh heading towards the lobby after this so that the superintendent can get a picture? Perfect. When did you start? Come on, you get the credit. Yeah, you did. She gets credit. Dottie, great job. Give credit for the card. Great job, team. Wonderful. And on we go. Thank you all for your service. I'm glad to have a moment to recognize you because you do a job that is not the easiest, and I appreciate you. Time to reorganize our board. We're going to follow the same process as we did for the Board of Finance. That's acceptable to everyone? Then we'll get started. Do I have any nominations for president? Yes, Mr. Shane. I'd like to nominate
030Jessica Brenneman for president, Franklin County Community School Corporation. >> [clears throat] >> Second Mr. Brenneman. Kevin? Is there a second nomination for president? >> [snorts] >> Seeing none, would Would you like to vote by roll call again, or would >> Want discuss it first. Would you have like to have any discussion for our single nomination? >> [clears throat] >> All right, thank you. You're welcome. Roll call. Jessica. Um yes. Brandy. Yes. Kim. Yes. Greg. Yes. Beth. Yes. Katie. Yes. >> Kevin. Yes. Congratulations, Ms. Brennan. Is there a nomination for a vice president? I'd like to um nominate Mr. Kim Simonson for vice president of the board. Is there a second? I'll second. Is there another nomination for vice president of the board? Is there any discussion for our nomination for the vice president of the
031board? Seeing none, roll call. Jessica. Yes. Brandy. No. Kim. Yes. Mr. Burris. Yes. Beth. Yes. Katie. Yes. Kevin. No. 5-2. Brings up our secretary. Is there a nomination for a board secretary? Brandy Wilson. Nomination for Brandy. Is there a second? I second. Katie seconds, Beth seconds. You choose, they were both pretty Beth got her right hand up but Katie said it out loud. Tough call, tough call. >> [laughter] >> Is there a second nomination for the secretary? Seeing none, is there any discussion regarding our sole nomination? >> [cough] [clears throat] >> We'll go down the line. Jessica. Yes. Brandy. Yes. Kim. Yes. Greg. Yes. Beth. Yes. Katie. Yes. Kevin. Yes. 7-0. Is there a nomination for the legislative liaison, the ever coveted position? I will nominate Kevin Kaiser to serve in that role again. Is
032there a second for Mr. Kaiser? I'll second. You? Any other nominations for the highly coveted position? Any discussion regarding our sole nomination? Take a roll call. Jessica. Yes. Brandy. Yes. Kim. Yes. Greg. Yes. Beth. Yes. Katie. Yes. Kevin. Yes. 7-0. Thank you for being so willing. Although I've seen people get voted in tonight that weren't as willing. >> [laughter] >> Okay. All right, team. We're going to take a small moment to take a group picture and then get ourselves reset for the remainder of the meeting. >> [clears throat] >> So, we typically done this kind of center stage here. Um is that how you'd like to proceed again? For our It's our website picture and things of that nature. Okay. Come on together. Katie. I'm just going to scoot down. I'm going to miss We're
033going to scoot I'm going to scoot. Do you ladies like to sit up front? Uh-huh. Can Yeah. Coming down? Or my seat Do you want to roll those chairs out? I can see. Put the Right by you. Oops. those little chairs in front. Watch it. Let me slide this up a little bit. Thank you. We're scooting Got to scoot down. Yeah. Let me come. Having fun? Is this your Oh, yeah, yeah. Yep. Is this your chair? Yes. Yes, yes, please. I forgot it was back there. Okay. Are you >> He's up there laughing. Oh, Kim, you got a good chair here that >> can't move very well. >> [laughter] >> that microphone down. I'm going to roll those down just so it's I'm going to first be as polite as >> [clears throat] >> Wait.
034>> [sighs] >> All right. This is my chair. No, you're I have to get Amy back down here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I'm looking for one of them for a pillow. No way. Switch seats. Are you sure? Yes. Sorry. I'm not breaking anything, I promise. Katie, I like your hair. Thank you, Brandy. She said she's a curly She's a curly burly It's curly. Guys, are you okay with Jessica's seat? Are you? Pardon me? What did you I didn't mean to. Yeah. It's got to take a good I don't think we got all this last year, did we? No. I like this guy. Sure sitting by me. Pardon me? Mhm. Put my back to the wall. That's why. I forgot. I look forward to this room. Just makes you wonder what we
035could do for that. Oh, my water. I could buy an ice and this spring ice machine. Have they talked about that? It's only 200. You don't want to see that snow cone machine. Kona Kona ice? Yeah, we can do one at each school. >> [snorts] >> My goodness, I can't believe in the >> [snorts] >> spring. All right. You are When you are ready, we are now at item four number or item four letter B. Oh. All right. You want to announce it? I will rock it. I am. Okay, so item four letter B, time, date, and place of our regular board meetings. For the board's assistant, I put out a list of of dates that are the second Mondays of each month unless the board wants to change that would represent the dates and
036times that are being recommended. Um so, second Monday of each month and then the place of course being here unless otherwise prescribed. With that list that's in your hands now and that description, I would need a first, second, discussion, and a vote. I move to approve the dates for the regular board meetings. Motion by Kevin Kaiser. Is there a second? I second. Um Brandy Wilson maybe I think was the first for a second. Uh and discussion. Any discussion? Okay. Ready for vote? All in All in favor for the keeping these board meetings the same. Raise your right hand. Or left. Now you use my left. Or left. Okay. 7-0. 7-0. Thank you. Excellent. So, moving to item 4C is the appointment of corporation treasurer, deputy treasurer, and extracurricular treasurer. The superintendent is recommending that Ms.
037Kendra Franks continue as the corporation business manager and CFO. And just for those that are watching, um this is kind of one of those logistical things that we have to do. Obviously, she's under contract to do this job already. Um but it is something we have to do each January. With that, any a first, second, discussion, and a vote. I'll move. Okay. Kim Simonson motion. Beth Foster second. Any discussion? Yeah, I just like to just thank her for all the energy and and I know she works outside of her her time and you know, it's unusual to find people like this. You're one of those special people. So, Kendra, we rely on you so much. Thank you. Excellent. Very good. All in favor. Kendra is our corporate treasury. 7-0. Great. So, now we are on
038item 4D is the appointment of the corporation attorney. The superintendent is recommending that we continue the use of the services of Ms. Amber McMillan. Ooh. I just called you Amber. That's fine. Or Roscoe. Roscoe. I didn't want to I didn't want to butcher it. Uh as our corporation attorney. With that, any a first, second, uh discussion, and vote. Is there a motion? I'll make So moved. Brandy Wilson second. >> Katie Holman. Or Kevin. Excellent. Any discussion? All in favor for Amber Roscoe. 7-0. Good. Me, too. Thank you, Tiffany. Excellent. So, we are moving along now to item four E, which is the approval of the annual per diem compensation for board members. The superintendent is recommending that the board members be compensated $2,000 as an annual per diem for 2026, which would not uh be
039any kind of change from the previous year. With that, would be a first, second, discussion, and vote. Unless there's Unless there's other recommendations. I move to approve the recommendation of 2,000 annual per diem, keep as is. Kevin Keiser, second. I'll second it. Brandy Wilson, second. Any discussion on this topic? All in favor to approve keeping our compensation at 2,000, right hand? >> [snorts] >> Or left? 7-0. Item F, approval to accept out of district students. The superintendent has recommended the school corporation continue to accept out of district students. No changes here, but I will need a first, second, discussion, and vote. So moved. Beth. I'll second. Second. Katie Holman, second, I think was. Any discussion? Excellent. No discussion. All in favor to approve accepting out of district students, raise your hand. 7-0. And that puts
040us to G, conflict of interest disclosure statements. So I'm here to help with this a little bit. According to the Indiana code, any public servant, which you are as a school board member, must disclose if you have a pecuniary interest or derive a profit from a contract with an action by a governmental entity, school, served by the public servant, you. Does anybody have any conflicts conflicts of interest that they would like to bring before to the board? I have a form for you. Good. Have you seen both of these, Miss Secretary? Mhm. I can I'll be passing them to you after we go through them. >> Uh Miss Holman has disclosed a conflict of interest here. And reading through, she states, "My husband so not my husband Katie's husband Katie's husband Katie's husband Mike Holman
041drives for an independent contractor. The contract is with Kirk Owlsby." So my understanding here is that we we as a corporation contract with bus drivers, those bus drivers those contractors hire bus drivers. Mr. Holman is one of those. So pecuniary interest in that her spouse receives money from a contract. I don't believe this is a an absolutely required disclosure pursuant to the code, but I think it's a good idea to disclose. Does anybody have um I would need a motion to accept this Miss Holman signed conflict of interest disclosure statement. If you have or I'm also open for any questions regarding Miss Holman, did I properly state your potential conflict here? So a first, second, discussion, and vote. Motion to accept the conflict of interest. I move to approve approve Miss Holman's conflict of interest.
042Very good. Do I have a second to accept? I'll second. >> [snorts] >> Any discussion for Katie's conflict of interest? We're very thankful. >> [laughter] >> Seeing no discussion, we'll take a show of hands. All in favor of accepting the conflict of interest, please raise a hand. You're allowed to vote. Yes, 7-0. Thank you. The other conflict of interest was provided to me by Mr. Burris. I bet I'm going to find a very similar thing. Okay. So in this one it's a little bit different but believe because I believe what I'm reading here, Mr. Burris, is that you are the contractor. My wife is the shareholder in the company that contracts. I'm not an officer nor shareholder in that company. >> So your wife is a contractor whom would hire someone like Mr. Holman to
043drive for you. So a step closer, if you will, in this. Um so pecuniary interest to Mr. Burris's family because he is a contractor with whom the school contracts to run a or several bus routes, depending on the year, I bet. Whatever the contracts come up with. Okay. Did I properly state that, Mr. Burris? I think so. Do I have any questions for me on that on how because that one I believe is a conflict of interest. That was one that you would need to disclose. Any questions or comments on that? Do I have a motion to accept the conflict of interest for Mr. Burris? I'll move to approve the conflict of interest for Mr. Burris. Do I have a second to accept the conflict? Miss Holman. Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll take a show
044of hands. All in favor of accepting the conflict of interest, 7-0. Amber, if we have a spouse, that wouldn't fall under the the the guidelines as I've read it. Am I correct or not? A spouse could be a It It would depend on the nature of the relationship, sir. If there were something that made pecuniary interest not uh if your spouse did not provide to you any pecuniary interest, She's just an employee. >> maybe not, but probably you should be disclosing any pecuniary interest that a spouse would have in receiving funds from the school. Okay. So based on what you're telling me, I should file one. I don't know, but I will believe you. I mean, she's just an employee. You're married to a a employee. F C C S C employee. >> Yes. Yes.
045I think that's a good idea. What if you have a child that's employed? No, because they you should I guess unless the relationship is different than usual. Right. Um they have to be either a like a spouse where you're on equal or you are their >> even if they're an adult and they're a dependent, they they would be a pecuniary interest. If they're a dependent, correct. But if they're a adult employee of [snorts] the school corporation who happens to be your child, that is not a Unless there's a weird situation, it's probably not. Does this have to be filed tonight? It should be filed by tonight. We can take a We could allow Mr. Simonson an extension of time in which to file such one if you believe it would be necessary. Now I'm remembering
046what the connection is. Yes, you should file one. Took me a second. Um Would it be prudent to allow that to happen in February, just a few weeks from now, as long as there's no action between now and then that would put him in a situation that would be otherwise? Yes. And as a board, we could operate the same process from the president's seat Correct. >> at that point. That's correct. >> Just so that not everything gets delayed as There's a There's a timeline. He's well within his timeline. That's right. That's what I was just looking up, but now I see it and we're good. Mhm. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions cuz those are good ones. Very good. Amber, thank you. You're welcome. Do you need me any more, sir? I don't think so.
047Go enjoy the game. >> mad at the president. I'm going to go watch football game. Enjoy the game. Thank you, Amber. [laughter] That was not very nice of you. I can make a motion to recess. I'm just kidding. Excellent. So I think that takes us to item five, celebrations, which we've already done. I will move to item six, consent agenda items. Uh this is minutes, expenditures, resignations, retirements, internal position changes. And with that list that the board has, I need a first, second, discussion, and vote. I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda items. Kevin Keiser makes the motion. I'll second. Brandy Wilson, second. Any discussion? No discussion. All in favor to approve our consent agenda items, 7-0. Next is F, which is our personnel new hires. There's a short list on this particular
048one. Uh we want to say thank you to these folks for joining our team, and um boy, there are some tough names here, so I'm going to I'm going to do my best. So uh we have Sarah uh Niegengard, a paraprofessional at B E S, Rachel Closterman, custodian at B E S, and Colin Walker, custodian at Franklin County Middle School. And with those three for personnel new hires, I will need a first, second, discussion, and vote. Make a motion to approve the personnel new hires. I'll second. Kevin Keiser the motion. Brandy Wilson, second. Any discussion? What did you say? Any discussion? >> Any discussion for these personnel new hires? Okay. Excellent. All in favor uh for these personnel new hires, 7-0. Excellent. Um next is personnel extracurricular. It's a much longer list. A bit of
049a list. I will uh carry through this. For L E S, we have Alan Craver, sixth grade band instructor, Crystal Vestal, webpage director, Carol Blake, yearbook sponsor, Venus Harrington, drama club, uh Christie Sheehan, student council, Matt Madden, fifth grade boys basketball. This is for next season. Rodney Ball, sixth grade boys basketball. Matt Madden, fifth and sixth grade girls basketball. Rodney Ball, Girls basketball, Rodney Ball. fifth and sixth grade girls basketball. M C S, Sixth grade girls basketball, MCS. Nathan Cable, sixth grade girls basketball. Michael Brennan, fifth grade girls basketball. Shawn Louderman, fifth grade boys basketball. FCMS, Eric Abrams, athletic director. Derek Stein, athletic supervisor. Uh Jill Stichter, basketball cheer coach. Ooh, I hope I did okay on that one. Uh at the high school, we have Terry uh Hornberger, uh MCats sponsor. Warren Smith, MCats
050assistant sponsor. Pam Gutzwiller, department chair of office of student services. She is doing that from her LES position. Um because she is certified as a counselor to watch over those other counselors um at the high school level. Alan Craver, drama assistant B. Samantha Kersey, drama assistant C. Terry Hornberger, uh we have a number of dual credit classes. Um Terry Hornberger, five dual credit classes. Katie Schneider, three dual credit classes, two AP classes. Wes Gilman, two dual credit classes. Derek Herbert, four dual credit classes. Derek Stein, three dual credit classes. Emily Miller, four dual credit classes. Uh Michael Kristof, two dual credit classes, one AP class. Tania Wertz, one dual credit class. Kim Sherwood, one dual credit class. Don Hurl, two dual credit classes. Sharon Volk, two three dual credit classes. Colleen Tincher, um two dual
051credit classes um for Spanish. Francisco, uh two dual credit classes. Adam uh Hofer, one dual credit class. Dustin Riley, varsity boys golf co-head coach. Brendan Cowen, varsity boys [snorts] co-head coach. Just a few left. Jackie Beneker, co-ed assistant track coach B. Sam Arnold, co-ed assistant track coach C. Caitlin Marshall, co-ed assistant track coach D. Ooh, with that list, I need a first, second, discussion, and a vote. I apologize. There were two that were missed. >> Okay. Um >> Did I miss them or why did I read They're right on the page >> why are you apologizing? It should not be on me. They're right on the page break. Daniel Ward, co-ed track coordinator and Nick Van Oven, co-ed assistant track coach A. Oh, where? Oh, I missed I don't see them on the break. What's
052that? Oh, they didn't print. Oh, okay. I I apologize. Um Nick Van Oven, co-ed assistant track coach A. Daniel [snorts] Ward, co-ed track coach coordinator. Sorry, I apologize. They They didn't print. I don't know why. Bring it up with our printing company. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. Um with that, first, second, discussion, and a vote. I'll make a motion to approve the recommendations. Kevin Kaiser. Brandy Wilson, second. Any discussion? Excellent. Um and a vote. All in favor to approve these. 7-0. And thank you to all of them. Certainly. Okay. I think uh H. That brings us to H, grants and donations. All right. Margaret Lake, secretary MCS, is requesting permission to accept a donation from the FC Community Foundation in the amount of $1,000 for gifts or food for families during Christmas. Chad
053Gutzwiller, teacher FCHS, is requesting permission to accept a grant from the John Burrough Foundation in the amount of $1,000 for mental health awareness. And Jackie Barricklow, teacher at FCSHS, is requesting permission to accept a donation from Delta Theta Ooh. Mm. Theta Thank you. Uh Theta in the amount of $500 from FCCLA state conference. All of those, we say thank you to those groups. But I will need a first, second, discussion, and a vote. So moved. Beth Foster. >> I'll second. Second, Kevin Kaiser. Any discussion? Do we write a thank you letter back to them? You know what? Um procedurally, that's not in here, but I think we should. Yeah. I think we should. Um I'll put a note to that. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Thanks. I'm also just so thankful that these teachers are
054willing to search for these donations, these grants, and such, and I appreciate >> takes time. >> that. >> Yes, it does. >> takes time to fill out that paperwork. That's no joke. Absolutely. Any other discussion? Okay. Let's go to a vote. All in favor raise a hand. 7-0. Excellent. Yeah. And thanks again for for all of these grants and donations. That's amazing. Um next will take us to item number seven, the financial reports. Um and Kendra, I'll let you Yep. Continue with that. The education fund balance as of December 31st, 2025 was $6,448,616.15. A year ago, this balance was $7,239,224.34. The operations fund balance as of December 31st, 2025 was $1,250,053.45. A year ago, this balance was $952,827.10. The rainy day fund balance as of December 31st, 2025 was $4,164, $641.37. [laughter] A year ago,
055this balance was $4,303,400.92. The interest earned year to date as of December 31st was $498,000, $170.43. This is compared to $677,646.33 a year ago. Any discussion? Questions? Okay, the cafeteria fund balance as of December 31st, 2025 was $185,709.07. This is compared to $291,997.72 a year ago. And the latchkey fund balance as of December 31st, 2025 was $10,706.25. This is compared to $19,000, $851.57 a year ago. Thank you, Kendra. Any discussion? This is discussion only. Okay. Um Kendra, um I saw some of the latchkey reports were down, and I guess people just didn't pay them before Christmas or Um a little bit of that, but also um if you remember, we had asked our latchkey to spend some of those dollars because they were a little high and on supplies for those students. Um this is
056it is holding steady. I have no worries or concerns, even with sometimes a little behind balances from the families, it's holding steady, and I love that they got some new supplies. I'm not concerned at all, but yes. Um Kendra, has anybody ever asked if um what kind of supplies they need and um it I mean, like they're donating grants and things like that. I'm I'm kind of sure that if that we got that word out, that people might donate to that. >> Yeah, I'm not sure. Um so, each building has kind of a coordinator for their latchkey program. Um I'm not sure if they've reached out to their PTOs, maybe, or their families um that go to their schools. I'm not sure of that communication, but I can definitely have them communicate with the principals
057for maybe needs that they may have to reach out. >> I know um some of the organizations in town >> [clears throat] >> would have $100 or whatever that they would be glad to donate >> Yeah. >> for latchkey. Absolutely. Any other discussion? Questions for Kendra? Okay. Uh that takes us to item D, permission to apply for the 2026 Franklin County Community Foundation project grants. The foundation itself requires minutes from our meeting showing that um board approval as a part of their application packet. So, therefore, Dustin Garrison, superintendent, is recommending the school corporation to be permitted to continue to participate in the FC Community Foundation project grants, which I find to be outstanding and incredible. But that is my recommendation, so I need a first, second, discussion, and a vote. Is there a motion? Make
058a motion to approve the permission to apply for Franklin County Community Foundation project grant. >> Kevin Kaiser makes the motion. Katie Homan, second. Excellent. Any discussion? Okay. Let's take it to a vote. Uh all in favor to approve um their application packet. Raise a hand. 7-0. >> [snorts] >> Next, item E, 2025 budget transfers. Every year at the end of the calendar year, um we have appropriation transfers that need to occur um with the education and operations fund to eliminate appropriations with negative balances. Um we have a small team that helps allocate appropriations to different areas within the school corporation. We learn from this end-of-year knowledge of where the need is every year. So, I am asking the board for the approval to make these transfers just so that we end the year with um
059there is nothing that is overwhelmingly negative that a positive account can't cover. So, we make these changes accordingly on the next calendar year budget. I am asking the board for the approval of these transfers. With that, we'll need a first, second, discussion, and vote. So moved. Beth Foster. Katie Homer second. Any discussion? Okay. Uh let's vote all uh in favor to approve the budget transfers. Raise your hand. 7-0. >> [snorts] >> Okay. I think uh next that takes us to item eight, which statements from the public and employees. In order to address the board, individuals must sign in prior to the start of the meeting. Individuals that have signed up are given 3 minutes to speak. A maximum of five individuals may address the board regarding the same topic, issue, or concern. Individuals are asked
060to avoid repetition and shall not be permitted to use names of individual employees or students. Uh we do have one for segment from the public. Uh Ms. Sarah Duffy. Hi, I'm Sarah Duffy. I'm your representative on the Franklin County Community Franklin County Redevelopment Commission. I've been doing this for 8 years. And I just wanted to take a minute and say, now is the time you need to think about going big because if Franklin County gets a data center that data center building, they're going to spend 1.5 billion up to 2 billion dollars for that building. And I checked and the assessed value for our entire county is only 1.7 billion. >> [snorts] >> So, if we get a data center, there's going to be a lot of TIF tax money rolling in. And that's why
061I think we really need to think about a proposal that will capture the attention and be a benefit to the schools, to community, and economic development, and go for more than the 15% that we normally get by having a really good project that ties us into something with community and data center. So, I just want to plant that seed and have you start thinking about that. Not that it has to be done today, but just start start the wheels going. And last, I want to say I'd be glad to continue to represent you on the Redevelopment Commission if you if that's appropriate. And if one of you is ready to step up and be on the Redevelopment Commission, I'm more than willing to help make that transition. Thank you, Sarah. >> Thank you, Sarah. Thanks.
062We have no other um names signed in. So, I think that concludes our statements from public and employees. Next, item number nine, old business. I don't have any. We have none. Item number 10, new business. Um so, item 10A, mowing and landscaping bids for 2026. The assistant superintendent is requesting permission to advertise for bids for the 26 mowing and landscaping weed control of all FC schools and the admin office beginning March 1st of '26 through the end of October of '26 for the mowing and the end of November for landscaping. Bids will be received until 2:00 p.m. February 5th of 2026. I'm asking for a permission to advertise for the bid. I'll bring those that final approval for recommendation in February. With that being said, I'll need first, second, discussion, and vote for the permission
063to advertise. I'll make a motion to approve to advertise bids for mowing and landscaping for 2026. >> Mr. Kaiser made the motion. Katie Homer second. Any discussion? All right. I'll take it to a vote. All in favor to approve the request to advertise for bids. Raise your hand. 7-0. Excellent. Um item 11, other. We do have a one item here, which is the appointment of the Brookville Redevelopment Commission. Yes, I just want to take a moment to have a a discussion before I give my recommendation around this position. I want to be very clear. Sarah Duffy has done an incredible job for us and she is truly a friend to the corporation and still will be. But often times, I look at things as an opportunity for when we have a board member that's willing
064to step into a space like this, one of us in that kind of type is always a good thing and and I would always ask if if we do have someone willing that we go that direction just because they are a elected official and a board member. So, is there any conversation the board would like to have with me before I make my recommendation for this type of position? Mr. Kaiser has um communicated to me that he was willing to serve in this role. If there's other willing to observe this role, it just hasn't been communicated communicated to me just yet, but that is the discussion. Any conversation before I make a recommendation? Yes. Um is this correct appointment to Brookville Redevelopment? >> [cough] >> Nope. Nope, that should be Franklin County. I apologize. Thank
065you very much. And then um Can I talk? It's just conversation. >> yeah. Okay. It's open >> [laughter] >> open dialogue. Okay, first of all, um this goes way back. I know we we've got football to watch, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. Um Sarah Pardon me? My husband appreciates that. >> I know all we all do, right? Uh first of all, I um I can't remember how many years I was on the Brookville Development and Sarah was on the Franklin County. Sarah knew so much more than I did. So, whenever I had a question, I said, "Sarah, what are we doing? I don't understand it." Well, Sarah is so um qualified for this job. She has developed her skills. She always is thinking of Franklin Schools. Um her experience with the
066board, she was on the board how many years? School board? 8 and 1/2. 8 and 1/2 years. So, she knows what um what areas that we can go to with with the money that we would get. Um second, she has been trained on TIF. She's also been um to Purdue University and the um for training on the economic redevelopment. Uh also, she's um I don't know if I Development Association. She is a um she has talked to many private consulting firms about the the redevelopment and this is really a big issue right now in Franklin County with the data center coming on. Um Sarah is always looking out for the school. She will always make sure that we get our amount. And when she'll come back and tell us well, I don't think we're getting
067what we need. But with this data center coming on guys, she didn't say million. She said billion. And so, we're talking about huge money. I don't know if we're going to get it. I don't know if we're going to do it. I don't know anything and I don't think anybody else knows. But I at this point really think that we need a person in there that knows what's going on. She knows about TIF. >> [snorts] >> She knows about the appropriations that we can get and what we can spend them on. So, I am kind of just sitting here and campaigning for Sarah. I really kind of think that we need her now this year if she wants to go, you know, the next year, that's fine, but this data center is huge. It is
068well, I don't I don't know how how to make it so huge. You know what I mean? We've never seen anything like this. Thank you. So, this is huge. >> you for that. And those are discussion points before I make a recommendation. I'm going to make sure you hear from the board. Yeah, I would just like to thank Sarah. I mean, Sarah, you and I have that we have a good relationship and we were on the board together and I know how hard you work in this situation. So, I just want to thank you for what you've done in the past. You know, you know I support you, so. But in this case, I'm going to vote for the the board member because I think it's more important to have a board member in that
069in that interest. My personal opinion, okay? Even though we we enjoy each other's conversations. I'll kind of build on Mr. Simonson. It's not about you. It in all honesty, this kind of gives us a way to have two voices. Uh you're still going to be there in your other capacity to help and provide [clears throat] input if uh someone else is nominated or approved. So, I think it benefits us in an even bigger way. I would agree with that. Okay. >> I also say Sarah, thank you so much for everything that you've done because when I first came on the the board few past years now, TIF was a foreign word to me. And when Tammy was throwing out, you know, all of these different words that I didn't understand and I was going to
070each board member saying, "What What do they mean with TIF? What do they mean with TIF?" Because I had not been acquainted with that. But you took the time to sit down with me and I appreciate that. I appreciate it because you really helped educate me in what it was going to do to our school. So, with that, thank you for being a friend of children. And I And that's the biggest compliment I can give anybody. So, thank you. I truly I truly mean that. And And my recommendation has nothing to do with the job that you've done. You've done an incredible [snorts] job. It has to do with positional thought as to what the future may look like. But you are truly a friend of children. With that being said, Dustin Gering recommends that
071Kevin Kaiser uh uh is given the appointment for Franklin County Redevelopment Commission. It is a non-voting member, but I would ask the board uh to approve, if willing, >> [laughter] >> that recommendation. With that, I need a first, second, discussion, and vote. I so move to approve Kevin Kaiser. Brandy Wilson. Is there a second? I'll second that motion. >> [snorts] >> Uh any discussion? So, in that in in that we would bring Kevin in to sit with the redevelopment. That would mean that as Kevin just said, it'd be wonderful if it was two, but it would >> [cough] >> just be Kevin. If Sarah chose to be in the audience, as I'm sure she will. This is a This is certainly a uh uh uh project for her. We would have two advocates in the
072room. I see. She would be the reporter. Yes. She would be writing for the Observer. So, she You're right. She would still be in the room. As she chooses. Kevin would be our representation officially though. >> Okay. That's what I wanted to make sure that I was clear on. >> Right. And um as Sarah had stated uh so graciously in in her her moment earlier speaking to us, that just the willingness to assist and onboard this person, which I think is very gracious of her. And again speaks to her character. >> [snorts] >> Let's take it to a vote. All in favor uh to have Kevin Kaiser as our redevelopment appointee. >> appointee. Yep. Raise your [cough] hand. Oops, wrong hand. I think that is Okay. Greg, yes? Yeah. Okay. It's a 6-1 or or
073no as for now. Is there a Is there opposition? Is there a no? Beth Foster. Okay. Uh 6-1. Thank you. 6-1. Thank you. And thank you uh Kevin for your willingness to >> Yes. take that position. All right. That takes us item 12, uh superintendent's report. I will be very, very quick. I know there's some of packing up already. >> [laughter] >> I promise I'll be very quick. I just want to say thank you to my central office team and my admin team. Chris support while I was out on medical leave with my new hip. Um it was incredible to be able to to focus on recovery and I'm recovering well. I specifically want to thank Shannon New. She did an incredible job of managing situations that she had no idea she was going to
074have to manage during that window of time and she just really stepped up into a space. Big kudos to her. She did an incredible job. I want to publicly thank my wife uh for her incredible support around making sure I had all the medication I needed and putting up with everything that I brought to the table during that period. And then of course, go Hoosiers. Excellent. That was brief. Um item 13, legislative updates. Does anybody else have any before I cuz I'm going to kind of overlap 13 and 14 if that's okay. >> Um >> [snorts] >> I think that's okay. Um I'm going to ask Kendra, we had Did we receive an update on Senate Bill 1 from our financial advisors and will we have a report Mhm. in the near future? So, we
075haven't set any date nor communication, but I have discussed with the finance committee um previous or prior to tonight's meeting. I do have a work session with our financial um advisor next week where we are going to be working 5-year look back plus 5-year look forward. Um I have also spoken with Mr. Gering um around requesting a executive session for board training to go over the um the 5-year forecast. And in that, yes, there is updates with um Senate Bill 1 and the outlook on property tax cuts and what would what to be expected. Sorry, I didn't give you a heads-up on that. That's okay. That's >> [snorts] >> kind of a future agenda request as well and I have another one when we get there. Okay. So, I think I heard Senate Bill 1
076and then item 14, future agenda requests. My request is uh our list of committees. Um We had kind of a learning curve here with committees. I would like [snorts] to formally request that every regular board meeting we have committee update reports or committee reports if they had any sort of meetings or interaction in between meetings. And uh you know, committees can decide who that voice is or how they want to go about that amongst themselves. With that, the board will notice that on their table is a is our calendar of those committees. You know, learning curve, we need to put that on paper for you. So, we got that listed out for you as well. The only the only two that are not updated because we they were elected tonight was the um budget finance
077group and then our bargaining. So, I'll update that and send it out. Excellent. Any other future agenda requests? Item 15, recognition and acknowledgements. >> Nothing special tonight. I have a >> [snorts] >> a little bit of good news at Laurel Elementary. Um I went down to the PTO meeting the other night and the ladies are just doing a phenomenal job. They have a little Christmas um store that they put on at Christmas. It's called the Elf Shelf and they sold $4,000 worth of merchandise out of there. $600 of that was profit and they used that money to buy snacks and supplies for the teachers' lounge. Awesome. And then the other little piece of good news is Kim and I went down to Laurel Elementary last month and I seen in the library there was some
078blank walls. And so, I reached out to Mr. Deeters over at the high school and he has agreed to have his art club paint some Franklin County historical scenes for the Laurel Elementary and hopefully they'll have those ready to present to us by the springtime. Wonderful. That's all. That's all. I have one thing. Um there was the need for a sign on one of our bus routes and I want to say thank you for having that sign put up because it has um already helped in not having any more passing of buses or accidents and such. >> A A road sign, Katie? Yes. It says bus stop and it was right after a curve and it was a very dangerous spot. So, thank you, thank you, thank you whoever got that going. Very good. Any
079Any other recognition, acknowledgements? We will adjourn our meeting at 7:16 >> Got it. before the game starts, I think. Our next regular board meeting, 6:00 p.m. Monday, February 9th, 2026 at the Franklin County Administration Building. I think Kevin is last month. Team, there is no hurry. Over the next month, you can sign the books. That You have plenty of time. Tonight or at the next meeting or whenever. Okay. I'll deliver once I have seven signatures. >> [clears throat] >> Michael. Thank you. Michael.