001So please [Music] Whatever you're trying to do, the Gary Schools has got you. And also think about the four E. Whether it's employment, enlistment, entrepreneurship, or higher education, we get you ready for the next chapter after the Garrett schools. Also, we are hiring. Looking for a rewarding career where you can make a positive impact on children? Then look no further than the Gary Community School Corporation. Head on over to garyschools.org to apply. Strong roots, right? [Music] You Awesome. [Music] Good evening. I'd like to call the Gary Community School Board meeting to order. I'd like to roll call to confirm that we have a legal meeting with quorum. [Music] >> Mr. Sugs present, Mr. Irby, [Music] >> and Glenn Johnson present. [Music] or so we have three members present. >> With three members present, we have
002a legal meeting. We have quorum. >> May we stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. [Music] >> I pledge algiance 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. [Music] Quickly want to apologize for our turning this today. Today just seems like we didn't have enough nothing to add it up. So I apologize for disrespecting time and not being here on the time to get started. Item number two on our agenda is approval of the agenda for tonight's meeting. I entertain a motion to approve tonight's agenda. Someone there's a motion on the floor. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Been moved and properly second. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing no discussion.
003All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> All in favor? Agenda is passed. Let's go on to item number three. Gary ready. Snapshot. Chelsea, please. Good evening, Mr. Sugs, Dr. Stokes, members of the board in this amazing community. My name is Chelsea Whittington and I am the chief of public and community relations for your Gary Community School Corporation. It's that time again, Gary Ready Snapshots, which is our opportunity to showcase great happenings that are taking place across the district. We have quite a plethora of activities that we have engaged in as well as points in which we will engage. Starting with the Michael Jackson block party. On last weekend, we celebrated our native son in grand fashion in partnership with the city of Gary. Held on the grounds of Roosevelt High School.
004Thousands returned or came to the location to celebrate Michael Jackson's birth and his legacy. It was also a great opportunity for the Gary Community School Corporation to interact with the community. And so that pictures indicate where we had a a community table. And during that time, we had an opportunity to meet parents and family members and stakeholders as well as recruit for those who are interested in working for the Gary Community School Corporation. Our superintendent headed on over to the home of Michael Jackson where a press conference was held in the eyes of the nation and the world were on Gary, Indiana. Here's what she had to say. See that happened. Boots on the ground in a Gary community school. Roosevelt and others. As I learned from Denise Williams just yesterday, we have many talented
005scholars who've graduated from G >> who've been in Gary City and Gary Community Schools. With that being said, I want to stand and represent our school board. I want to represent our staff and our students in Gary Community Schools and know that we are proud to partner with the city in such an event as this. and such a time as this, I am happy that our scholars are able to see that if they believe it, if they can see it, that they can do it. Thank you so much for coming out and we are happy to partner. Have a great day. >> And yes, with that being said, we certainly want to extend our great thanks to Mayor Eddie Melton and his entire team for the partnership. And the rumblings across the community is that
006they cannot wait until next year. So bravo on this undertaking and we were delighted to be able to interface with our community. Next on our list were our series of open houses. At the last school board meeting we had announced that we would have open houses both at our elementaryaries schools, our middle schools and the high schools. So on last Tuesday we were at all of our elementary schools after school and on Thursday at our middle schools and high school. We had parents and community organizations with whom we partnered come out so that teachers could meet the parents and scholars could give the tours of the school and let their parents know how they are adjusting in the schools. Um particularly at over at Beverage they had a little movie night where there was popcorn
007served. That's why you see the smiling faces there. The Gary Literacy Coalition was on several sites as well as the Girl Scouts of Greater Northwest Indiana, Community Healthnet, and several others. It is our way of again connecting with the community so that parents and stakeholders know exactly what's taking place inside of our schools. So, bravo to our administrators, teachers, and staff for coming together to to present these open houses. And these certainly won't be the last of the opportunities for you to come into our schools and learn more about what's happening in the district. Next, as we talk about community involvement, the announcement was made regarding a series of parent advisory and council opportunities for parents to get involved in our Gear Schools as a result of an amazing grant that we announced at the
008last school board meeting. So, we're excited to announce a series of opportunities that are aimed at fostering deeper engagement between parents and the district. And so, after the open houses, we turned our attention to parent power hour series. These are designed to provide parents with essential information and strategies to support their child's educational journey. Earlier this week, two power hours were held in person, but we also recognize that parents schedules are very busy. So, there are also virtual options coming up for parents to log on, listen, and learn more about the opportunities for them to get involved and and provide their input and feedback and suggestions on activities taking place in their schools. The first session covered a range of important topics, including our newly implemented implemented behavior matrix, updates on district policies, and tips
009for enhancing engagement within the school community. In response to our parents' busy schedules, as I indicated, each session will be offered four times, making it easier for families to attend at their convenience. We are also excited to to announce and extend an invitation to all parents who are interested in being even more involved with the district's decision makingaking process. They can now apply for the parent advisory council and or the parent partnership council. Both are designed to strengthen communication and collaboration between families, schools, and the district. If you're interested in joining one or both of these councils, which have been established at every school, please contact your child's school directly. And there is more information located on our website at garyschools.org. The next parent partnership council meeting will be held next Wednesday, September 10th. There
010also flyers located on the table behind me for you to grab and share with your networks after the meeting. Next, We'd like to remind you once again that the Gary Community School Corporation is hiring. We take every opportunity when we're in the community and when we're here at schoolboard meetings to remind you that there are positions available to work for the best school district in the world. We have degree positions. We have non-deree positions full-time and part-time. specifically a shameless plug for the openings of family and community engagement liaison. These are the individuals who represent specific school buildings with community engagement and parent involvement. If you're looking to work for that team, i.e. my team, then please head on over to garyschools.org so that you can help us be the face in the community for
011the Gary Community School Corporation. Again, all of the information is on our website and you can also scan the QR code on the screen or grab a flyer on your way out. And last but not least, we have a very special presentation. As you recall, a few months ago, we celebrated the renaming of the Westside Theater to the Mark Spencer Westside Theater. And now we are uh going to have a special presentation from my colleague and friend Shereice White to totally s sol solidify that naming process. Please welcome her as she comes. [Applause] >> Good afternoon superintendent Dr. Stokes and the Mary Community School Board. I have a presentation for Mark and I would like for Mark Spencer to come up as well as his mother Betty Berts and there are three other people. They
012don't have to say anything but they help Mark to do everything that he's done that he does. Jay Thomas, Nikki Hefield, and Adam Hman. I just would like to just share something really quickly. Mark has made a difference in the community for so long. 30 plus years and people in the community come. He's provided wonderful entertainment that you wouldn't ordinarily receive in Gary, Indiana. And Mark, we're so proud of you for everything that you have done. I used to work at Majestic Star Casino and during our 10th anniversary was Mark's 10th anniversary with the guild. And I said, u during our celebration, I wanted to include Mark. So at the casino, we set up a a big tent. We had a soldout concert. We had about 10 celebrities that flew in from Los Angeles to
013share with us. So the first night during a concert. It was a lot of fun. Then the next night we called it the taste of the guild and I had the celebrities to wear a nap and wear a apron. We had business and community leaders to serve guests and it was just awesome. So again people in the community love Mark and wanted to be supportive and we raised money for the deal as well. And then last of all the um I have I'm the founder of a seir foundation and during co um as you know our lives have changed and we weren't able to go out to visit with entrepreneurs. So Mark had designed the studio at westside turned it into a television studio and taught our students television production. So, we had the entrepreneurs
014to come to us and Mark and Jay and Adam worked so hard with our students and did such a great job that I pitched it to some national st stations and Good Morning America picked it up and I told that um producer the night before I said it's very important when you get ready to introduce it, I want you to say that these students are not from northern Indiana, not from the Chicagoland, but they're from Gary, Indiana. because I wanted people from around the world to know that we had educated students in Gary, Indiana. And I just wanted to share that. But over the past 30 plus years, in the last 10 years, we're working really hard to make sure that the theater was named after Mark and he's done such a wonderful job. So
015Mark, I want to read this plaque on behalf of the committee that works for this. Mark Spencer, NED, grandson of Henry, son of Betty, and brother to Mark. Mark Spencer, a proud product of Gary Public Schools, dedicated his life to the arts, education, and service, a founder and educator of public servant, he believed every child holds a capacity to learn when nurtured with high standards and creative purpose. From Emerson VPA's first graduating class to national stages, he championed study voices, honored Gary's cultural legacy, and built platforms for excellence. This space stands as a living tribute to his vision, leadership, and unwavering belief in young people. And Mark doesn't have children of his own, but he has made a difference in the lives of so many children in Gary, Indiana. This is dedicated to him. Mark,
016congratulations. And I know your mother is so proud of you. >> Get a shot. Come on in. Get a shot. [Music] Thank you. Giving honor to God uh to our superintendent, Dr. Stokes, board president, Mr. subs members of the board folks who are present in the audience tonight listening by way of radio and live stream just want to say thank you so much for your continued support for these many years and I also want to thank the district basically because of the vision the understanding that we're teaching the whole child and the appreciation of visual and performing arts um it's been a staple in our corporation and has sparked the enthusiasm of the likes of Michael Jackson and family Denise Williams and Emerson performing arts arts uh Saturday school, Little People's Theater, and uh a
017Westside Theater Guild. And so on behalf of uh my grandfather Henry, my mother Betty, who's been a pillar and uh a strong staunch supporter, uh my brother Calvin, uh the thousands of young people that we work with, and the staff members and our team members that are here that are working interdependently with me on a daily basis. We love you and thank you, and um thank you so much for this opportunity. May God bless the Gary Community School Corporation. Thank you, >> Mr. Sugs. This concludes my report. I will turn it back over to you if there aren't any questions. >> Thank you, Mrs. Willington. Any questions from the board? Thank you so much. I'd like to move on. >> I'd like to move on to item number four on our agenda before I'd like
018to recognize Dr. Woods who has joined us via FaceTime. So, we do have four members present at the moment. 1.5-3 Community School Corporation Board of Trustees welcomes comments from the community. As a result, the agenda for each regular meeting provides time for public expression. The period of public discretion is limited to three minutes per individual and 30 minutes total discussion time of items on the agenda or to express concerns relative to the operation of school safety, school board actions and other items of general educational interest. There remain wishing to address the board remain the amount of time person. Comments shall be directed to board, not individual board members. Statement shall not be abusive or argumented. Persons making comments shall not debate statements made by other person. It should not be permissible to poorly present or
019discuss complaints against individual employees of the community school corporation at any board of school trustees meetings. Issues relating to personnel, individual circumstances or an individual school will be referred to the building principal or appropriate administrator and attempt to resolve the issue prior to an appeal of the board. Speakers cannot transfer their remaining time to another person. Board President will enforce these rules and take actions may take actions necessary to maintain order at the meeting. Such actions may include but are not limited to interrupting the speaker if the statements too lengthy unduly repetitive or otherwise violates the rules. The president may terminate the address of any speaker who violates these rules and the total amount of time devoted to public comments. if there's a large number of people wishing to address the board or if there's
020a large agenda of the business going forward >> in Thank you, sir. in reviewing the sheet for tonight. I see no signatures. No one signed up. Um I just want to check with the audience to make sure that we did not pass anyone up by accident. Yes, ma'am. >> Please [Music] Please state your name. [Music] >> Good evening. I'm Don Jones. Um my son here is Jamie Jones. Um he's a senior at Westside Leadership Academy. And this is also Miss um Viola Wilson. We are and parents. They had the parents. We have been um with the band since um our kids have been um started at Westside. Well, actually at GMS. Um but we're coming this evening because we feel that the band is being overlooked. Um, we understand that athletics is a big part
021of high school and everything, but we feel like the band has been overlooked. They need uniforms clean. They need instruments and it seems like we can never get things done. And we have been riding with the band since the beginning. And we wanted to do sorry uh uh concession stands and everything. And we were told that we couldn't do that. that if we did that, the money had to go elsewhere. And we're just trying to figure out what can we do, what can be done so our band can be highlighted because they work hard. They work very hard under the leadership of Mr. DeAndre Teamer. And if you remember, the last two valid Victorians have come out of the band. And so we're trying to figure out what can be done so the band can
022be highlighted just as well as everything else in the school because athletics is always forefront. But what can we do to get our band to get drama and everything highlighted just as well as we highlight everything else. That is our concern and it's been a concern for a long time. And I haven't said anything. Miss Viola hasn't said anything. But when my son comes to me and says that he's tired and he don't know what else to do and he's always around the school and he's talking to everybody he can talk to, that's when mom has to step in and see what can be done. So that's what we're here for this evening. And that's all we need to say. Anything else? >> Um my um my name is Nola Wilson. My son Jaylen Wilson
023couldn't be here also wanted to say the same as Jamie. Jaylen talks to Teamer all the time. He tries to talk to Mr. Scott as much as possible if Mrs. Scott's not busy. This has, you know, taken a toll on them. Four years, we're now at senior year. Mr. Teamer is doing everything possible to give these students exposure to other opportunities to get the Gary community schools exposure. When you're trying to do things for these students who are getting ready to graduate, you're trying to afford them opportunities to get scholarships to be seen at colleges. Some of these students may not even think they can. But when you're exposing them to colleges, this now gives them the opportunity to be seen. And so, just real quickly, my son gave me something that he wanted to
024say. What he wanted to say is essentially anytime the band is needed, anytime the arts are needed, they step up. They step up. They put forth their best effort. But when it's time for things to be given and put in to those students and to those departments, we don't get seen. We're put on the back burner. It's always football, basketball, all the other sports. Now, I'm not saying anything against those students or those staff members that are helping those students. They're putting forth their best effort as well. We just want the same opportunities as everybody else. Stop putting the arts and the band on the back burner. Let Mr. Teamer do what he came to do as a teacher to help expose these children to better opportunities. >> Thank you. please. >> Hello. Um, my
025name is Jamie Jones. I am a senior at Westside Leadership Academy and I'm the rank one student at Westside Leadership Academy. My only concern is what everybody has said. Mr. Teamer has brought in the last two valatorans and hopefully the future valictorian excludator and we had an opportunity to attend the Chicago State Battle of the Bands. Now many people in demand and many of our 2026 class wants to attend at HB.CU and I feel as this being a great opportunity for not just Gary but also Westside Leadership Academy name to be recognized for their amazing performing arts at this supposed to be a performing arts school. I feel as since 2019 we have not been recognized. Me and my fellow friends and colleagues have put our blood, sweat and tears into the arts thanks to
026Mr. Mark Senator Mark Spencer and Mr. DeAndre Teamer. We have fought and bled for Care Community School Corporation and I have not felt that we've been recognized. Not one bit. I am hurt and I am tired and I would like to see something change. Thank you. [Music] >> Like to move on to item number five, our consent agenda. We'll start off with Javanka. [Music] Good evening. Good evening board members, Dr. Stokes and community at large. I am here to present resolution number 17 for your approval. The resolution is being brought forward in alignment with Senate Enrolled Act 249, which authorizes school corporations to set aside a portion of current year education fund revenues for the purpose of establishing a supplemental payment fund prior to the start of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining officially launches on September
02715th. Collective bargaining is dictated by Indiana Code 2920-29-6-4 which limits bargaining topics to salary, wages, salary or wages related to fringe benefits only. This resolution ensures that we remain compliant with formally setting by formally setting aside funds outside of the bargaining process. Specifically, this resolution authorizes the allocation of $500,000 from the education fund to a newly established supplemental payment fund. These funds will not be considered part of the current period education funds revenue for deficit financing purposes. Approval of this resolution allows for us to move forward responsibly and transparently, ensuring we are prepared for the upcoming bargaining cycle beginning on September 15th. Any questions? >> Any questions from the board? >> I don't have a question at this time. >> Thank you. [Music] I would like to entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.
028Uh items 5.1 through 5.5. [Music] >> So the chair second. It's been moved and properly second. Discussion on the motion, please. Hearing no discussion, may we have roll call for approval. >> Mr. Irving, >> yes. >> Dr. Woods, >> yes. >> I vote yes. And Mr. S? >> Yes. >> With a vote of four to zero. Motion to carry. >> Motion carries. Let's move on to item number six on our agenda, our action items. Uh, Miss Alberki. [Music] Good evening, Gary Community School Board members, Dr. Stokes, and community members. This evening we would like to have a presentation presented to you from a partnership we have started with Baker Tilly Financial. They are experts in school finance and I have actually been working with them the last two months on proposed 2026 budget. So at
029this time I would like to introduce Mr. Sean McIll to come up and um let's go over a little slideshow of uh the budget process and our proposed 2026 budget. [Music] >> Hi, good evening. >> Appreciate the introduction. My name is Sean McIll. Um I'm a senior manager and municipal adviser with Bigger Tilly. I'm very pleased. >> Sean, I apologize. Somehow you're not coming through in your microphone. >> Hello. >> Um, oh, there we go. Uh, my name is Sean McIll. I'm a senior manager and municipal adviser with Baker Tilly. Um, very pleased to be with you this evening to have an opportunity to support Gary Community Schools. Um, I I'm born and raised, continue to live in Balfo. Um, so it's always nice to be doing meaningful work uh with my neighbors. Um I
030will start this evening uh with a presentation to u go over the budget process um budget principles the proposed budget and some next steps as they relate to uh the budget. >> Sure. [Music] It's awesome. [Music] My apologies. We are sending it over so she can display it. Hold on one moment, please. [Music] while you all are getting that set up. Um, I think we're going to move on to the next one about the elevators. If you can let Mr. Richards handle that and if you can come up and talk about the elevators, we apologize. [Music] Okay, [Music] >> my apologies on that. Um, at the request of the board at the last board meeting, um, I proposed an Otis elevator contract with the remodelization of the Banaker Marquette elevator. Um, the board's request was
031to get a second quote and then get some legal advice on if we did have to go with Otis Elevator. Um, because we are contracted with them. I did receive a second quote. Um, the second quote was with BCR Elevators. That quote came in $15,000 less than the Otis elevator quote. And, um, after a legal review of the contract, um, I am making a recommendation um, that we go with BCR Elevators. Um, we've consulted with Miss Tolbert and um, if there are any other questions, I will answer them. Now, the remodelization is the exact same spec as the Otis elevator. We do need to have Mrs. Tolbert um, better give us insight regarding the actual contract that you have so we can fulfill the board's questions about if we can legally go with another company.
032So, Mrs. Toberter, if you'd be so kind. Thank you, Dr. Stokes. Um, in my review of the agreement and the contract with uh, Otis, it appears that the maintenance provisions um are limited to specific things in that contract. Uh, with them providing a proposal for what appears to be work that's outside of that agreement and the scope of the maintenance. um it does not bind you to use them for something outside of the scope of that provision. Therefore, um the request for other proposals does not violate anything with Otis in my review. >> What is the timing on the BCR proposal? Is this something a specific time frame that um or a delay? >> No, they've actually they've evaluated the elevator the longest period of time that it will take us to actually order the
033parts because they've already evaluated it and know which parts need to be ordered. Um they're ready to get started. >> Any additional questions from the board? Does does their contract come with a uh >> a guarantee? Yes, it does. 5 years. Yes. [Music] >> Thank you. Um I'll entertain a motion to approve the recommendation of the DCR elevator contract. So move. >> There's a motion on the floor, Mr. Irving. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for the second. Discussion on the motion on the floor. >> Hear no discussion. May we have a roll call for approval, please? Uh, Mr. Irving? >> Yes. >> Dr. Woods? [Music] >> Yes. Uh, I vote yes. Uh, Mr. Subs, >> yes. >> Vote is four to zero. >> Thank you. >> Vote 4 to
034zero. Motion carries. Thank you. [Music] >> We have the item 6.1 ready. >> Sure. [Music] >> Oh, no worries. [Music] All right. Um so agenda for uh today uh today's presentation is to um review the budget starting with the budget process moving into budget principles. We'll then we'll uh see an overview of the proposed budget and discuss some next steps. So moving forward, we'll start with the budget process. The budget process really is is to uh ensure that the school corporation is allocating or aligning its limited resources with those its strategic goals, be it academic priorities or the community's expectations. Uh in doing so, you determine a maximum or high water amount for spending. Uh this would be the highest amount of spending the school corporation could reasonably expect to incur while still remaining solvent.
035Uh anything after that would simply be a flood of expenditures. Uh you the budget will then be used by the state to determine the uh tax levies and subsequent property tax rates that will support this budget over the coming year. Um and upon board approval, you are essentially setting appropriations or or granting the corporation the authority uh to uh spend that within the spend those allocations and revenue streams within these specific funds uh and for the specific purposes that are identified within the budget uh which we'll take a look at uh in a few minutes. Moving on to the budget process. Uh this is aformational work session here today. Following this, the board will be asked uh to hold a hearing on the budget on October 9th. Purposes of this hearing are simply to um
036disclose the budget transparency and then gather community feedback um from stakeholders via public comment. On October 23rd, the board will be asked to adopt the budget. Uh that would be of course approving the uh appropriations, granting the school corporation the authority to make those uh expenditures uh and proceed with that spending plan in fiscal year 2026. Uh once once the budget is approved by the board, it then goes on to the state where it will be tested against certain constraints and uh either approved as is or reduced based upon those restraints. Uh the state will then after it's finished with its review provide the school corporation which with what's known as the 1782 notice uh and provide a very limited window for the school corporation to review that draft and make any changes um provide
037any comments that it has to the state based on that that notice their review. After the 1782 notice is finalized, then essentially you set your budget and that those figures will be used uh and represented in the budget order for the following year. Uh how are budgets crafted? We'll take a look at the budget cycle. So it's essentially a three-step continuous process um that starts with reviewing current year financial performance and analyzing that against the current budget. In doing so, you're able to make uh informed decisions and and craft uh intelligent assumptions for use in the following year's budget. Once you have kind of your base assumptions and and an idea of where you're going to finish the current year, um you can be begin collecting information and data from stakeholders as well as outside
038um consulting with outside organizations for uh specific assumptions, but focusing on the the stakeholders. It's important as as stewards of property tax dollars uh and representatives of the community, it's it's important to ensure that uh your goals as a corporation align with not only community expectations but the needs of its students while also setting yourself up for a sustainable future moving forward. Once the review and collection processes are complete, you can then begin drafting your budget and using those uh funding requirements to build a financial projection. that financial protection uh is really just tasting testing sustainability and ensuring that you're setting yourself up for a sustainable and solvent future. Moving into budget principles. Um it's important when analyzing a budget for a public entity, a major corporation, a school corporation, a city, a town to
039understand that that there while there are similarities to personal finance, there are are also stark differences. Uh the primary difference is that as as a school corporation, you have um oversight from the state. The department of local government finance serves as the regulatory agency. tasked with um overseeing local government finance. Uh it's basically like if you if your mom managed your checking account and and was hyper diligent and and very frugal in doing so. Um so when crafting a budget, it's important to uh analyze and project expenditures essentially planning for the worst day. You want to build in very high side uh risk protections, meaning that you're you're providing yourself with the flexibility to not only fund your plan, but also uh be able to weather any unforeseen circumstances. You know, this is a spending
040plan or a budget for an 18-month period, and a lot can change in 18 months, as as I'm sure you're all aware. Um, so in doing so, consider unknown costs, things like inflation, um, uh, increases to insurance. I don't know if how our NIPCO customers, but I am, so utility hikes, um, facility emergencies, and of course funding um, salary increases and, uh, benefit costs. So, anticipate uncertainty, plan for the worst day, hope for the best. On the revenue side of things, uh we we it's it's important to be hyperconervative on on what type of growth you're going to see in your revenue streams. Uh the primary source of of revenue to the school corporation is going to be state aid or those dollars per student that you receive from from the state. Uh that of
041course is going to be based on enrollment. So where are you projecting enrollment will be next year? uh perhaps you have an optimistic uh or target or goal, but in in drafting the budget, it's important to remain conservative in those expectations. Um I see a lot of corporations ch that expect growth just choose to flatline that assumption. Um as well as any increases in those per pupil grants um that are a part of that school funding formula in future years. This just ensures that any increases will be a benefit um but certainly not relying on those to occur in order to accomplish what you've set out to uh in the the next 18 months. Uh assessed value can can impact tax rates. Um those tax rates can impact u circuit break losses which of course
042uh limit revenue available for operations in the school corporation. So we want to be conservative in those uh assumptions as well. So that when you have your very high expenditures, contrast those to your very low expected revenues, you're still able to kind of weather that 18month perfect storm of terrible day after terrible day, which we certainly hope and expect will not occur. All right, moving into the 2026 proposed budget. Um you're setting appropriations. These appropriations are spending limits for your major operating funds, education, operating referendum, operations, and debt service. Um, each fund is represented here by a bucket because it truly is its own bucket or silo that has its its own identified re revenue streams and uh is each required to fund certain classifications of expenditures. A lot of people have this misconception that
043school corporations have a big bank have one bank account with a big pile of money in it and they can do whatever they want with it and truly nothing can be further from the truth. So we'll start with the education fund which is um pays for and funds essentially classroom instruction everything around uh that that occurs in the classroom uh including teacher salary and raises. So the revenue source for that those expenditures is going to be those dollars provided by the state which are heavily uh reliant on enrollment as they're provided on a per pupil basis. Um supplementing the education fund is the operating referendum fund. Now, not all school corporations enjoy an operating referendum fund, although I have a feeling we'll see more and more of them um doing so in the future as
044uh revenue streams are continuing to be projected projected to be uh continually constrained. Uh the operating referendum as the school corporation set out when it was approved in November of 2020 uh is for the purpose of funding teacher pay, preschool athletics, extracurricular activities, student safety, and and providing for a balanced budget. Um, this voter approved property tax levy uh supplements those state dollars for education and operating purposes and is in place through 2028 after which the current referendum will expire and the district would either have to forego that revenue or pursue a renewal or replacement of that that referendum tax rate. Next, we move into operations. operations is funded by property taxes and is essentially the sole mechanism for funding everything operating uh around the school corporation that doesn't occur in the educational fund. Um
045so everything outside of classroom instruction. We're we're looking primarily at things like transportation costs uh as well as athletics um and uh some other miscellaneous items and positions and salaries. Then we have debt service. Debt service is also paid for by property taxes. Um and that of course goes to fund payments on the school corporation's outstanding debt obligations. Um it's important when when you can go to the next slide, please. Uh it's important when when understanding these funds um and and looking at these different silos of revenues and expenditures to understand how dollars are prioritized not by the school corporation but by the state um as they as they enter into these funds. So this diagram shows how property taxes represented here on the left by the arrows flow into your referendum fund first. I
046like to think of this um if you're you you struggle with the buckets, I like to think of it as like a champagne pyramid at a fancy wedding where you pour the champagne in, it fills up that referendum glass at the very top. Anything that spills over is going to go into debt service first because bond holders need their principal and interest payments on time in order to uh buy your continue to buy your bonds and and get you a favorable credit rating. uh any remaining property tax dollars after filling up referendum and debt service are then uh put into the operations funds. The operations fund is is the sole fund that incurs all of these circuit breaker losses that otherwise would have been distributed to the referendum fund if it wasn't exempt from circuit
047breaker and the debt service fund if it wasn't protected from circuit breaker. On the right we have those state aid dollars going into the education fund. Um the state allows for up to 15% of those dollars to be transferred to operations. Um that is simply to make up for a reclassification of expenditures that were previously play paid from in the general fund. But in 2019 the state changed the composition of funds, reallocated some expenditures to operations. Uh and so that 15% is to pay for those. that is not the state supplementing um really on cost that it wasn't previously uh supporting. In the back you'll notice a very sad rainy day bucket um because that does not have any dedicated funding source. Any dollars um that remain uh in that rare instance could then be
048distributed into the rainy day fund which serves as your essentially savings account. Um all right. So now we'll move into the proposed 2026 appropriated budget. This budget um takes into uh incorporates all of the principles which I which I previously discussed. Its goal is to provide you with the maximum flexibility to uh weather unforeseen circumstances while also generating as as much revenue as you can within the constraints that that we all know are placed upon you. whether it's in the education fund or in the operating funds by limited property tax revenue. Uh the total proposed budget is 76.3 million and we'll we'll take a look at how that's broken down. The projected property tax levy is $67.3 million and that is going to result in an advertised property tax rate of $38. Now, there's a
049a stark difference here between actual and advertised. Advertised represents the budget as it's displayed. And um based upon that that very high budget, you're going to get a very high property tax levy that um is set so that you can capture every dollar you possibly plan. The expectation here is that the state when you after approving the budget when you submit it to them is going to reduce this levy substantially um in order to keep you within the constraints that are placed upon all uh local government units when determining property tax levies. as as a comparable we we can contrast this in 2025 the total advertised uh levy was uh,350,000 and the actual levy came out to 55,715,000. So that's a reduction there of um of about 1.5 million. So we would absolutely expect a
050similar reduction uh would occur. But setting these high advertising these high levies allows you to capture any any um extra dollars that you might be able to as you can always levy less than you advertise. You simply can never levy more than you've advertised. And the same thing goes with the property tax rate. As that levy is reduced, we would anticipate that advertised rate would be reduced as well uh within this budget. uh 42% of the expenditures are allocated to the education fund. The referendum fund represents 14% of the expenditures. Operations 29 and debt service although it's uh conveniently missing is 15%. Uh you can see a breakdown of the proposed budget in dollar amounts there at the bottom and then compare the advertised budget to last year's to see that the total budget is
051increasing um by approximately three $400,000. Uh but that advertised levy is increasing uh by about 10 million just to make sure that you're capturing all that you can within uh referendum and operations. Moving into kind of the composition of the expenditures as outlined in the budget by fund we see that within the education fund 73% of the uh expenditures are budgeted for salary and wages. The uh other really 24% are uh allocated to employee benefits. We have relatively small allocations. I think the highest there is going to be uh professional services and other charges at 2% or just above $500,000. As we move into the referendum fund, we see that that is um that fund is entirely allocated to supporting uh expenditures that otherwise would have been paid for in the education or operations fund.
052And then as we move into the operations fund, we can see that uh professional services represent 53% of of budgeted expenditures, utilities 15%, salaries and wages an additional 15% and then other uh relatively smaller items underneath the uh employee benefits there at 11% of those budgeted expenditures. The last appropriated fund we move into is debt service. Rather than having a pie chart, I thought it it might be more useful to show you a picture of what your payments look like on an annual basis uh based upon what you have outstanding today. Uh we can see that payments in 25 are just above $1 million and are and will stay there in 2026 unless you choose to issue something at the end of the year. Otherwise, um your your property tax levy or the dollars needed
053to support those payments would also stay the same. In 2027, you have step downs and payments actually every year thereafter, which would provide you the opportunity to either reduce that levy or to undertake a capital project finance from the debt service fund without potentially increasing that levy or increasing it less than it otherwise would have been if you had a flat repayment structure. So seeing these step downs from a a financial advisory perspective is great in that you're you're not walling yourself in and you're providing yourselves opportunity to fund needs as they may arise. Uh moving into next steps, um the board will finalize the appropriation resolution for October 23rd. Um, you will prepare a after the budget is approved and the DLGF responds with the draft budget, you'll prepare a response packet containing your
054your comments and desired changes. Um, once the budget is finalized, we will update cash flow projections based upon your certified or final levies, tax rates, and the the implications of those on um circuit breaker impact to the school corporation or loss revenue. Uh, and then you of course you get the budget cycle all over as that is just a a continuous never- ending monster but um review collect project will set you on a sustainable path um of solveny while uh continuing to serve the community and accomplish your goals I'm happy to answer any questions from the board otherwise that concludes my prepared remarks I I really appreciate your time and attention >> will we be able to uh post this presentation so that we can have it available for community members, those who want to
055kind of get a breast to the process. >> Yes, of course. Anything presented in these forums is your documents. So, absolutely. >> Yes. So, we will post on our board docs as well as our website so that our community can see. >> Very good. Very good. Happy to answer any questions that may flow into um the administration or board. Um to ask my contact information. I'd be happy to provide a response. >> Thank you. Any additional questions? >> Thank you. [Music] two [Music] such. [Music] like to draw the attention to item 6.3 to the board approval of September donations. We need to provide 6.1 first. [Music] Yeah, because we did we did your way to get the presentation on screen 6.2. [Music] >> Good evening. Yes, I am requesting approval to post the 2026 budget
056capital projects and bus replacement plan. And this will be on our website. Um each this presentation along with the form three, the capital projects and the bus replacement form. >> Now entertain a motion. >> So move. >> Is there a second? Second. >> Second. >> Been moved and properly second. Discussion on the motion. >> Hearing no discussion, may we have roll call for approval, please? >> Uh, Mr. Irvin, >> yes. >> Dr. Woods, >> yes. >> I vote yes. And Mr. SS, >> yes. >> Vote is four to zero. The vote of four to zero. The motion carries. >> Thank you. Now we'll move to item 6.3 September donations. Is there a slide for the screen? >> There is not. However, I will share. We have just one donation. It is for Williams Elementary School
057and it is basically a shoe donation for fifth grade um classroom, Mrs. Ford's classroom. The value is $1,000 and the donator is um Steel City Car Club Chris Johnson. So, >> thank you. I have a motion to approve the donation for Williams at Elementary. >> Second. >> Been moved and properly second. Discussion on the motion. >> Hear no discussion. May we have roll call? >> Mr. Irving? >> Yes. Dr. Woods, >> I'm sorry. Yes. >> I vote yes. And Mr. S? >> Yes. >> Uh vote is four to zero. >> The vote of four to zero. The motion to approve the donation has been approved. Moving on to item 6.4, approval of the second reason of the policies. >> Thank you, Mr. Suggs. If you all recall at our last board meeting, we covered what
058we called various um policies and we made it clear and we shared that there are a lot of policies that we are trying to put in place for the beginning of after takeover if you will. So with that being said, we have several policies that we brought forward to the board for the first reading at our last board meeting. We are required to then bring them before the board again. the board. You have them all in your electronic packets. Um, I will, as always, just emphasize one or two. I'm not sure if Mr. Caldwell is still in the building, but he did bring to your attention a policy in place that deals with ICE and their ability to come in. He talked about some of the policies that we had to separate out based on
059legislative guidelines. So we did emphasize those particular policies as there are all policies are important but they were extremely important because they deal with the safety and um our children being able to be taken out. Essentially he said that they would not be able to come in without proper identity and without notifying us and um where possible a parent before we would let any child leave. Is there anything you wanted to add to that Mr. Caldwell? >> No. Okay. Um, that's the only one I wanted to emphasize. The board, you have all the information at your fingertip. And with that, I turn it back over to Mr. Suggs for approval. >> Thank you, Dr. Stoopes. And item 6.7 includes the series of uh policies series 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 7,000, 8,000, and 9,000. I'll entertain a
060motion for the approval. Several double second. >> It's been moved and properly second. Discussion on the motion on the floor hearing. No discussion. May we have roll call for approval, please? >> Mr. Irving? >> Yes. >> Dr. Woods? >> Yes. >> I vote yes. Mr. Subs, >> yes. >> Vote is four to zero. With a vote of four to zero, the policies have been approved. Item number 6.5 under our action items is approve approval of the field and conference experience. [Music] So if you look inside your packets, there are several building conf experience. What we will say is that the name was changed from field trips to field experience via information from our Indiana Department of Education. Um, field experiences are those things that we believe are essential for our scholars to learn and to
061grow versus a field trip might be something that's just maybe not necessarily academic based whereas field experiences are. We have several field experiences for some of our scholars at our middle in our high school dealing with everything from cosmetology and barbering to culinary arts so on and so forth. We also have some conference experiences which are necessary to make sure that we professionally develop our leaders, our teachers um and our administrators and as well as our board. So we asked for your approval for the various field experiences and the conference experiences. >> Thank you. I will entertain a motion for the approval of the field and conference experiences. So moved. >> There's a motion on the floor by Dr. Woods, second by Mr. Irving. >> Discussion on the motion on the floor. May I have
062roll call for approval, please? >> Mr. Irving? >> Yeah. >> Dr. Woods? >> Yes. >> I vote yes. Mr. Sub, >> yes. >> Vote is four to zero. With a vote of 4 to zero, the fielding conference experiences have been approved. Moving on to our agenda. Back to agenda item. Item seven. No information items on our agenda. Administrative report. Thank you. >> Good evening again. Tonight I would like to provide you with a financial update through July of 2025. The first um item here is a summary of our three major funds. Um these are the expenses through July. Um this is our education fund and as you can see to the far left you will see the 2025 budget appropriations which are approved by the department of local government. You'll see our expenses January through
063July our year to date and then to the far right where we are actually with money left over our unexpensed or overexpensed and then our percent of our budget remaining. And as you can see in the education fund, we have 43% left through the end of December. The referendum fund far to the left, we have our 2025 appropriations, our expenses throughout, and then our budget percentage remaining at 47%. Then our operations fund, which a little bit Okay, I'm going to read it. I brought it with me. The operations fund, the total budgeted amount for 2025 is 21,939,000. Our expenses throughout our total year-to-ate expenses 13,151,74. [Music] Our unexpensed amount, our balance remaining in our approved budget is 8,787,826, which leaves us with 40% of our budget remaining. [Music] This is just kind of a um
064different view of what I just went over with you, just so you can kind of see the graph and see where we're at. The um the black is what's left in our budget, approved budget. The orange is what we've expensed out. And then the approved budget is in blue. And then here is just a snapshot of our budget versus actuals for the education fund. Just a different view for you of pie chart for our community members. One thing I did want to uh point out is that at the request of the board um and the community, we do have this presentation over here on the table for any community members um should they would like a copy of this if they can't read it because I know some of the spreadsheets are very small. And
065in addition, as always, it will be on our board docs and if we need to do another training about how to access that, we will be glad to do that. And then this is our actually our actual cash flow for the education fund. So this what I've done is I I've taken the expenditures and kind of broken it out a little bit more just to kind of show you where we're the buckets that we're actually spending on. And we leave July with a cash balance of 23,370,000. And this is in our education fund. Now I have projected our expenses through December. Um projection is that we will leave December in with 23,825,000. But of course understandably that you know things happen um you know it things change. So this could be fluctuation. This is just
066an estimate. And then we have the operations fund. This is just kind of a different view of all of the expenses, our approved budget, and our remaining. And then here is the cash flow for the operations fund for 2025 through July. Let me get to that. The operations fund the cash balance at the end of July is 7,563,137. We are projected to end 2025 with a balance of 5,886,742. And then we have a referendum fund, our expenses through July, our total referendum budgeted approved amount. And then here is our cash flow with our referendum fund. We make transfers every month into the education fund and into the operations fund. We are projected um to leave the at the end of December um 8,494,000 in the referendum fund. Any questions? [Music] >> You did provide an
067expense sheet for them that they have in their packets. So, I just want them to be aware of Yes, I did. What that is? [Music] >> Any questions? Not for me. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Music] >> No questions. >> Thank you. [Music] Moving on to item number nine on our agenda, board reports of communications. I'd like to open the floor up for board members, share comments. [Music] >> I don't have any at this time. >> I just want to piggy back on Mrs. Winningington's comments on the school system's participation in the J Jackson block party. It was great to see the collaborations between the school system, the city, and the community. Um, amazing attendance, uh, beautiful weather, and, um, I just thought it was a represented a a real nice community event, and it
068was glad to see the school system participate. And when I say participate, it wasn't just celebrating, but um all of us saw the before and after pictures of of the facilities and just an amazing job and want to thank assist with participation. Any additional comments? Let's move on to item number 10, superintendent report. Doc Dr. Stokes, please. >> Thank you. So, as you all know, um I always have the privilege of sharing what we call matters of corporation interest. And we have several things that I want to highlight. So, if we can go to our next slide, I just want to I I want to make sure that if you're in the listening audience or if you're here that I have your full undivided attention because what I want to share deals with the support
069of our students and it's very important. You often hear me say that it takes you, it takes me, it takes all of us and this is true. And what I'm sharing today is a call to that support. So I'm sharing about attendance, safety and belonging and parents focus group. And you will see how they all tie in. I will receive some help from Dr. Treadwell as well as Mr. Cwell. But I first want to talk to you about attendance. So we know that attendance matters and what I will tell you is that a good attendance means exactly what you see on the screen. elementary students moving to middle school, moving to high school, on to college, and then what I would say to careers, work and beyond. So, too many absences or unexcused absences can
070keep our students from succeeding. This is very true. And what we're saying is how many is considered too many? Well, the state has decided this for us. 10% of a school year is essentially about 18 missed days or about two a month. So, why are we talking about this? Well, I'm glad you asked because I'm happy to share. Can we go to our next slide? In the state of Indiana, Senate Bill 482, SEA482 some call it speaks to chronic absenteeism and essentially they are saying that attendance matters and because we want to inspect what we expect as legislators and I see senator is here. He knows what I'm speaking to to do that. They've come up with this Senate bill, Senate Education Act 482, which is giving us information about truency and interventions for students
071in grades 7 through 12 and our students in grades K through 12. The goal is basically to make sure that our students show up and show out on behalf of academic supports. And to do that, they got to be in school. So we are required as public school leaders to hold attendance conferences not later than 10 instructional days. It used to be five but they changed that. So not later than 10 instructional days after students fifth absence. I need us to hear that after your fifth absence. Think about that. If you are missing and it is unexcused [Music] five can come really really fast. So with that being said, we want to give a call out to our parents, to our community. If you see something, support us and say something about why our students
072are not in school. We want to make the school a safe environment. And with that, I want to pivot and have Dr. Treadwell come up and we can go to our next slide. We want to talk about safety and belonging. And before she starts, I want to remind us safety is not just a Gary Community Schools responsibility. It takes you, it takes me, it takes all of us. We have to partner to keep our environment safe for our children. So, she wants to talk to you a little bit about that. Good evening board members, Dr. Stokes community. Um, I'm Dr. Cynthia Treadwell, the chief academic officer for the school corporation. Um, and this topic here is extremely important for me because when we think about safety and belonging, there's a direct correlation to that and
073academic outcomes. If our students are not in school and when they get there, they don't feel safe. Um, it greatly impacts their ability to learn and um, succeed. So, I wanted to start by highlighting our district vision and mission where we call out our goal of how we're going to do this and the path that we're planning to take. And so I do want to call your attention to the bolded area at the bottom where it says, "At Gary Community School Corporation, we are dedicated to advancing top tier education within a safe and organized setting, guaranteeing that our learners attain the knowledge, skills, and values vital to their development into industrious, responsible, global citizens in a technologically advanced society. That's a lot. But the core of that is we want them to learn in a
074safe and organized setting. Right? If we look over to the mission, a little is bolded in white on here, it says we strive to create an environment that fosters curiosity, encourages innovation, and promotes lifelong learning. And so we believe that when we set the parameters for safety and belonging for our scholars, we know that they can perform. They can show up and show out as Dr. Stoke said, "But what we realize is this is not just about the school corporation and what we want to do. We need our parents as partners." And as you heard um Miss Winningington say earlier, we have multiple opportunities for parents to come to the table, share input, give feedback, make decisions with us about the best way to support their learners. Parents are students first teachers. So when they
075walk into the learning space, they come with skills, experiences, um, and ideas about who they are as a scholar and we cultivate that, right? And so what they bring, we add on to that. So we need parents to tell us who they are. I'm a parent myself and oftentimes I go to my own child's school to say, "This is who my student is, and this is how you can encourage that curiosity so that they can continue as a learner in in that school setting." And so we can't remove, we don't want you to just drop your child off and say bye and see you at 2:45. We actually want you to invest with us and partner with us because when we think about safety, when they come with those experiences, those ideas, in some cases,
076um, students will say, "My mama said I should do this at school." And sometimes that contradicts what our school setting is set up for. And so we need you to come to the table so we can share with you how we set up the parameters in school such as the parent power hour. At that space, parents were learning about our behavior matrix so they can give feedback but also understand how it's set up to support their child. And so we want you to partner with us to create safety and belonging as outlined in our vision and mission because we cannot do it by ourselves. So when you come up, I was talking with the parent today and I said, "Listen, we want to hear what you have to say and we want to partner with
077you to support your student, but we don't know what they need always unless you come up and tell us." And so the doors are open. Please, please, please, I implore you to come up, support, come to the parent advisory councils, come to the parent power hours because we don't want you on the outside saying what's wrong with the district. We want you to come in and partner with us to make sure that it's moving in the right direction. Okay, any questions? >> Thank you, Dr. Trey. Well, the one thing that um I was noticing as you were sharing the vision and mission is that it it's it's a great document. Um do we have the opportunity to share that to our students and our parents? Are we all aware? Because I just think it's good
078for you know to understand what you're trying to live up to. >> Absolutely. So I encourage leaders to share it in their learning space on a regular basis at our open houses and meetings with parents. Anchor them back to this. Each school has a vision that's connected to this. >> Okay? >> And then so they drill it down to be more specific to their school community. So they're talking about it. They're socializing it, excuse me, with their learning community. But I will say this, we're doing some very intentional things to connect what we do to this vision. So this year every staff member has been trained in CHAMPS which is a classroom management um support. If you remember last year several people came to the meeting saying hey they need to be trained on classroom
079management. We responded and we trained almost every staff in the district teachers um parents security um principles assistant principles so that everybody has the tools necessary to create this safe learning environment for our students to learn. Um, we've also invested in um, engaging again in those parent conversations. And believe it or not, parents are coming to the table. We want more though. We don't want to see the same. We want to invite everybody to that space to push this this work forward. We cannot, as Dr. Stokes always says, it takes you, it takes me, it takes all of us. The one thing I do want to share, if we're being fully transparent, you know, I like to be is while we work with the adults, our students as we work with them is still a
080work in progress. It I'm not going to sugarcoat. We know our students. We know our community. We love them. But at the end of the day, we do have to teach our students how we expect them to show up in our environments. But we need our parents to assist us with that. As Dr. Shedra shared, and she hears me say often, parents are our first teachers. You teach your children what you believe is important and valuable. The only thing I will say to that is if a child tells us, and we do have students who tell us, "My mom said for me to do this and my mom said for me to do that." If you tell your children to do something, we're not going to go against what you said. But what we will
081say is if it doesn't align with our student handbook, there may be a consequence that you don't expect. So that's what we have to say about it. We don't want to tell kids not to do what their parents say, but we we do need you to partner with us and to align what you tell them with our student code of conduct. >> I I certainly appreciate this effort and you know having our students, our parents, our administration and staff align with mission and vision is good, but we have advocates out there in our community whether it's organizations, nonforprofits or religious institutions. I think we should share our message. I think we should share and let folks know that we're intentional. It It's great to hear the efforts that you're making and the commitment that the
082staff is making to mission and vision. And I I just just encourage us for whatever we can do to share that message to continue to do it. >> I'll give one other shameless plug. At each open house, the principles invited all community partners and they were wrapped around to experience that. So, they weren't there just to share what they can offer. they experience the school setting so that they can hear how their work connects to our work because again it's all of us in this space to support our scholars. So, um we're going to continue those efforts um ongoing um with our new grants and things of that nature. We want parents at the table so that we can partner to best support our scholars. >> Thank you. >> If you can share some some
083information briefly here again my goal is always for us to be transparent. You know, we tell parents, call us. If you call your buildings first, if you don't get the support you need or if you feel that you don't have everything, then I've got leaders sitting at this table that you can reach out to, of which Cliff is one. >> Good evening, board. Dr. Stokes, members of the community. I just wanted to touch base on u how parents can support us with what we're doing to keep children safe, to keep students safe. And I want to touch on two recent incidents that have happened. We recently had a power outage at Westside Leadership Academy. Uh we did have a minor altercation between two students, but other than that dismissal, the staff did great, the students
084did did great. Uh the dismissal took place without any major incident, but the problem came in with the rumor mill for social media. um parents calling in uh to local radio stations with rumor mill that we had a shooting, somebody was stabbed, children were hurt. None of that happened and all that that does is cause panic in the community, cause panic throughout the schools and it sets us back for what we're trying to do with climate culture and safety. And the other one was and I want to give I want to acknowledge our security staff for what they did with the incident. um where the uh subject brought a gun onto the property. Our security officers, all of them are trained in identifying the characteristics of armed subjects. We train them extensively on that. And
085that training kicked in that day. When the security officer noticed that gentleman walking up, she noticed some of the characteristics that we train on that he might be armed. She immediately did what she was supposed to do. She notified the school resource officers and that subject was taken into custody within less than one minute of that incident by the school resource officers without further incident. >> And he was not in the building. He did not board the bus despite some things that were said on local radio, some things that were said on social media that he came in the building. He got on the bus. None of that happened. Um I'm extremely proud of the work that our security staff do. It's not easy work. It's difficult work. They show up every day and they
086do it. They support children. Uh all of them came back this school year. This is the first time all of our staff has come back and we didn't have to do major hiring. That tells me that they really want to be there. They bought into what we're trying to do. Um so my call is to the parents, to the community to support us and what we're trying to do. If you have any questions about any incidents that uh happened, I tell everybody this is not the Pentagon. This is not the White House. We will let you know. We will tell you what happened. We have to do that. You can come in and see what we do. Sign in, go through our sign in process. I'll walk you around. You can see some of the
087technology that we deploy uh in our school buildings to keep children safe. Um and there's no other school district in this region that you will find that have invested the amount of money that we have invested into school safety. We spend billions of dollars a year in this school district to keep kids safe. That's how important it is to us. Um, so that'll be my statement unless the board has any comments or questions. >> Just want to thank you for keeping our students safe. >> And I have one last topic here and that deals with coming full circle. We can go to our next slide. My call to parents. Parents, we have a focus group. We need you to come out. The first one is on Tuesday, September the 30th. And to support your needs,
088um, we will have option A or option B. Option A is during the day is from 12 to 1 and option B will be from 4 to 5:00 and it will be at the district office which is 900 Gary Street. But, you know, it's really important if you look at the flyer about why we're doing this and we'll be we'll have this on the website so you can see it. We need to influence change in supporting our stakeholders which is our parents, our community, our churches, you know, our local agencies to all help us partnership to support our students and we need to hear from you. We want your voice to be heard. Who knows your children better than you? We love them all day, but we know that they go home to you and
089you don't always know what's going on. So, we want you to hear from us and to hear from them about how we can better support our learning environment and support our scholars. With that being said, I just want to close by saying just remember, >> it takes you, it takes me, it takes all of us, and we really do need your support. And I'll turn it back over now. >> Thank you, Dr. Stokes. [Music] Um, just want to share the draft agenda for next month's meeting. >> I'm so sorry. Uh, we do have the draft agenda up. We've got several things that are going to be going on. Um, one, we'll we hope that we will be able to do something with um, bargaining. We do start bargaining September 15th. I'm not saying that we'll
090be done by the October board meeting, but it is our hopes that we might be. So other than that, it's pretty much just streamlined activities. >> Thank you, Dr. Stokes. Item number 11, I will take entertain a motion for adjournment. >> So, >> is there a second? >> Second. >> Been moved and second. All in favor say I. >> I. Thank you for your attendance. We appreciate you being here. [Music]