Public Board Meeting (July)

001[Music] I aliance 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. to confirm that we have a legal meeting with quorum. May we have roll call, please? >> Sure. Chairman Suggs >> present. >> Chairman Johnson. >> Sure. >> Mr. Johnson, present. All right. >> Dr. Woods, >> present. >> Let me look at Dr. Vanessa. Alan Mloud >> present. >> We have all board members present. I'm present as well. With five board members present, we have quorum and a legal meeting. I'd like to go to item number two on our agenda, approval of tonight's agenda for July 10th. I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. >> That motion, Mr. Chair, >> and I

002second, Mr. >> Been moved and properly second. Any discussion on this motion? [Music] Hearing no discussion. [Music] All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? >> The agenda has been approved. Item number three on our agenda. Gary Freddy snapshot summer activities item 3.1. [Music] Miss Chess. >> Thank you. You're trying to be like me. I'm getting down today. [Music] No worries. Good evening members of the board, Dr. Stokes, this amazing community, and those of you who are viewing virtually via Facebook and listening via WGB88.7, the voice of education. My name is Chelsea Wington and I proudly serve as the chief of public and community relations for your Gary Community School Corporation. It's that time again, Gary Snapshots. This is our opportunity when we are able to share activities and accomplishments happening across the district

003and exciting things to come. Shall we begin? First and foremost, a hearty congratulations to all of our scholars and school community members who participated in the recent City of Gary Independence Day parade on July 3rd. As you can see, our band was in attendance along with the cheerleaders. And we were also so happy to welcome for the first time WOW, which stands for Williams on Wheels. If you recall at the start of the school year, we received coverage out of Chicago in Northwest Indiana for our students who apply to school, practice safety, and get their exercise in on their way to their teaching and learning experience. We thank everybody for their participation. Did you hear about the family movie night? On a few Mondays ago, we were pleased to host more than 100 community members

004on the field of Westside Leadership Academy as we watched the animated movie Man Dog. We took that opportunity to bring families together. They brought their chairs and blankets and camped out right on the 50 yard line and in the end zone to watch a movie, enjoy the food trucks, and our partners from the Gir Library had their tech mobile on site so that students could tour the techmobile prior to the start of the movie. But most important, we were enrolling children to the district. So, we want to thank all of the families that came out. A special thanks to Crystal O'Brien who spearheaded this illustrious program and our partnership with the city of Gary who also provided the funds and resources and their support in promotion to ensure the success of this program. And it

005was also broadcast on ABC7 which led to some Chicago families crossing the state line to join us and find out all of the amazing things we offer here in the dairy schools. A round of applause for Miss O'Brien and her team. Can't do it without you. And now I invite you to feast your eyes on our enrollment commercial. It has been launched a few weeks ago, but we wanted to make sure we used our school board meeting as an opportunity to share with the community the messaging that we are pushing forward, which is couched under the theme strong roots, bright future. [Music] Planning the seed for a thriving future starts now. and school corporations continue to foster their growth and we have history to show for it. For over 100 years, Gary Schools has been

006committed to coming alongside each and every student and encouraging them to be their authentic selves, equipping and empowering the next generation of change makers, knowledge seekers, and community builders. We desire to give your child every opportunity to learn, to create, and to thrive. Gary Schools, strong roots, bright future. >> Please watch this next video of What's exciting coming up? >> Get ready for a big adventure. Touch a truck is coming soon. This interactive event lets kids and kids at heart get up close and personal with the trucks, equipment, and vehicles that keep our community moving. Bring the whole family and get ready to climb the wall. >> So that refers to our next community engagement event, which we are very big on community engagement. Yes, we like to enroll, but we want to engage our

007families so that they know their experience with us every time. We'll be positive and sometimes it's going to be fun. The field day takes place, family field day takes place on Saturday, July 19th. And one of the special features in addition to the touch truck is the dad grill competition. That's right. End of our school community will be lighting up the grills and we have celebrity guests including possibly our own superintendent to do a little tasting. Although she's probably going to say they're all winners, but we want the community to come out from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. here at Westside Leadership Academy. That's 900 Jerry Street. bring the children and you already know our enrollment our enrollment team will be there to ensure that we have um that we have all the materials there

008to enroll your children. Um we had originally asked our school board member uh counselor attorney to join us. We know you have other commitments but thank you for your response and we know you send your support. Hopefully, you'll send us a sub as a judge for that day. But please mark your calendars and we have flyers over there for you to take with you to share with the community on your way out. Next up, our partnerships with the city of Gary continue. First Lady Crystal Melton presents her second annual back to school festival. The Garing Community School Corporation will be involved in a variety of plays. It takes place on Saturday, August 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Gary Railcast Stadium. In addition to our enrollment team being on site, we'll also be

009there with our human resources, our band, and representatives from our schools through our face liaison, which stands for family and community engagement liaison. We want the children and the parents and guardians to get their first experience and touch point of who will be caring for them and their contact individuals who are in the buildings. So come on out. There'll be free haircuts, school supplies, screenings by our health providers throughout the community and lots of fun and you'll get a chance to see the team from the Gary Community School Corporation. Thank you, Mr. SS. concludes my report. If there aren't any questions, I'll turn it back over to you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Winnie. And any questions from the board? >> Thank you. >> And by the way, >> you're hiring. >> Item number four on

010our agenda, public comments. Mr. Johnson, would you read 4.1? Pursuant to Indiana code 5-14-1.5-3, the Gary 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 expression is limited to three minutes per individual and 30 minutes total discussion of items on the agenda or to express concerns relative to the operation of the school city school board actions and other items of general educational interest. If there are many people wishing to address the board, we may limit the amount of time a person may speak. Comment shall be directed to the board, not to individual board members. Statements shall not be abusive or argumentative. Persons making comments shall not debate statements made by others. It shall not be

011permissible to forally present or discuss complaints against individual employees of the Gary Human School Corporation and any board of school trustees meetings. Issues related to personnel, individual circumstances, or an individual school will be referred to a building principal or an appropriate administrator in an attempt to resolve the issue prior to an appeal before the board. Speaker cannot transfer your remaining time to another person. The board president will enforce these rules and may take actions necessary to maintain order at the meeting. Such actions may include, but are not limited to interrupting the speaker to statements too lengthy, unduly, repetitive, or otherwise violates the rules. The president may terminate the address of any speaker who violates these rules or limit the total amount of time devoted to public comments if there's a large number of people wishing

012to address the board or if there's a large agenda for other business. >> Thank you, sir. Are bugs [Music] Good evening, Dr. Sol audience. Uh the first thing I want to say is that I uh submitted a written complaint requesting a hearing to Mr. S, president of the board. I didn't know whether he had gotten it or not. So I gave him a copy today. This my fourth request. So I just like to know if the board is going to grant a hearing or not grant a hearing because I did it correctly for Indiana statute. I file a written complaint about one of the appointees. The other thing is uh the board has three appointees to the library board but no one has come and give a report >> and I would like to know

013why don't you have somebody come and report to the public what's going on at the library and the other thing is uh I'm in a play tomorrow theater uh there's no tickets ticket If somebody would like to attend this evening, the tickets are $20, I think $30 for VIP. And u Thank you very much. [Music] El Tindle [Music] been available for some time, not for the most recent graduating class, but the class prior to that. And it's beautiful and rich in color. But there are numerical errors and that raises a concern for me because we are an institution of learning. So I would expect better. As for the yearbook for the most recent graduates, my understanding is that it still is not available and will not be available until the 15th of July. Other concerns.

014Last evening I was in a meeting and our superintendent was made aware of a poorly manicured area at 15th and Harrison. This is the place where the Norton school I believe was present and recently demolished. And when I rode by this morning, the overpop populated growth had been removed. [Music] Oh, that is applause. Yes, I think so, too. Number three, where's the pool for our school? Where's the fieldhouse for our school? And when I was at Mark Spencer's auditorium for the Caesar concert. There's something forming at the ceiling that needs attention to. That's my those are my concerns uh regarding the Westside High School theater. I want to know about the third graders. I hope that will be addressed today as to how many have failed, how many are maintained, and what we're doing to

015improve the education of our children. Thank you so much for your time and attention. >> Bruce Curry [Music] Hello everyone. Uh first of all just want to uh uh say thank you. Right now I'm in um actually my second year as the uh second vice president NAACP education for northwest Indiana and I'm also the uh chairman of the by male commission for the city of Gary and one of the things I want to emphasize is education and we have a tack on education right now next week uh you see some some of my members and others will be at the national convention NAACP The thing I want to just push and I I want to thank uh the board, the staff, everyone push enrollment. Enrollment is critical. And I'm saying every day out of your

016mouth, every second, every time you see a student walking around a picnic, a family reunion, tell them to roll into the Gary school systems. Right now, if you look at population, 84% African-American and Gary, uh the other population, 10.7% is white. Uh 1.9% is other. But everybody, I mean, I'm saying go to South Chicago. We got to build the enrollment of the school. And the reason why is is basically for funding. The other thing you want to communicate to the community is with this attack on education, how do we make up the funds? talk about that early and be upfront begin when we all started young parents are very uh love education. So if we have to just step it up and and I have to say bring on another tax something for our kids.

017We got to say it up front. We don't need to hold back but we can't we got to be proactive on these education issues right now because it's up to us to educate our kids. We can't wait on federal. We can't wait on state. We got to do it here in Gary. The other thing is and I call it making up the gap. The other item is just uh I heard the pool. That's important, but it's also important for safety because right now African-American kids are dying at a very high rate for the kids. We can't swim. We just have no pools. So, just make it important and make your pool issue a safety issue. Not an issue around we need to prove because it cost too much. It's about safety and we need the

018kids knowing how to swim. So the only thing I say is keep doing what you're doing. The staff, the board, the superintendent, when you leave out of here, you should be trying to roll a student every second. I got 22 seconds. Get your student enrolled. Make phone calls. We don't need all this. Uh I hate to say charter and private. Uh I mean charter and I'm a public school person. I'll be honest. That's that's why I came through. So we need more school in Gary. Thank you. >> Lucy Saddowski. [Music] Hello. That's sad. topic called a happy lesson for my family but sad last week. I wanted to reiterate and go back to um last board meeting I had mentioned about after school programs. Then they announced they were going to have open house and

019I went to all the open houses of the schools for Joe. One school they were not happy we were there. She wasn't ready. The place was a mess and they told us to leave. But the other schools were glad we were there. And I did ask at every school if they had an afterchool program. Now I'm afraid that there might be a miscommunication. I don't mean after school program as far as the sports. I know we do that well and I know that they support that. I'm talking about after school in that instead of students that maybe would be having problems instead of them just going home and sitting on their iPad or their devices and wasting three hours until someone gets home that can feed them. if there could be an opportunity for them

020to have tutoring either in reading or in math or in the basics or help with their homework, a problem like that. I grew up in New York City and I went to public school there and we always had an opportunity the teachers I don't know if they actually brought tutors in. I know in my public school they happen the teachers just took turns and different ones would stay extra and help students with their homework, help them with their math, help them with their reading. We know we have a problem with the reading. We know we have a problem with the math and of course it's all about the kids. The sports is great. The opportunities are great. Hopefully we will get a pool. But they need to know how to read. They need to know

021their math. They need to have great basis. We have smart, intelligent children who can grow into excellent uh contributors to the city, contributors to the nation, contributors to themselves. But they have to learn. And if they need help, that's the after school program I was talking about. Otherwise, I did enjoy seeing the schools even though I didn't get to go inside of it was Westside. So, I'm hoping maybe to see that in one of the events. Thank you, >> El D. [Music] Good evening. I can't stop smiling. I'm extremely excited about our PR and our campaign to bring more students to the Gary public school system as I told um Miss Wood. Um I also wanted to concur with what Mr. Curry stated. And another thing that I don't hear us talking about are drugs.

022I say this because I have a young relative that um took something that she thought was candy. She thought it was Pebbles candy and it was not Pebbles candy. I also understand that they have um some gummies that look like candy. So, uh, when my children were in school, um, they had this program just say no, but they also talked to the children about it. I'm sure we're doing that, but um, I'm just want to make sure that we stay focused um, on the fact that that's out there, too. The candy that is not really candy. And um again I say um I'm just excited about the way we are uh working with the PR and I did speak with our superintendent um at the latest event with Miss Caesar and I've been seeing billboards.

023I saw the commercial channel 7 and I'm just excited and I want us to let the charter schools know because our money has to go to them because they're still Gary public school system. They're still considered a part of Gary schools system even though they're charter schools. But I just want them to know that when they leave the eighth grade, we have high school with degreed teachers. We want the parents to know that you're looking for a school that has teachers with degrees that has programs that can help to further your child's education. Gary school system is the place to come. And I like what I'm seeing. [Music] >> Amanda and I believe it's Bailey. [Music] Hello. Good evening to the board. My name is Amanda Bates Barnes. I am um the director for the

024special projects at Northwest Indiana Loun Charter Schools and we are here today to express support for action item 6.5 specifically in relation to the establishment of the schoolbased health center. I commend the board and administration for the thoughtful and rigorous vetting process um that has taken place in this important community initiative. I would like to voice my full support for Edgewater Health's proposal. Our organization has partnered with Edgewater Health on a number of impactful projects. Um just to mention a few with our recent grant with Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, EMHA, and our Indiana Department of Education grant. Together we have developed and implemented um many innovative mental health programs and wellness and resilience programs not only for our student staff but for our parents such as our parent circles um and so

025forth. Edgewart's commitment um to a holistic community centered care aligns um not only with our mission but the community's mission and I'm confident that their involvement in this project will continue to strengthen overall well-being for not just only one but for all of this community. Thank you for your time and dedication. We're going to move on on our agenda to item number five, consent agenda, [Music] >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes. >> I'd like to make a motion for items 5.1 and 5.7. There's a motion on the floor to entertain mo agenda items 5.1 through 5.7. Is there a second for the motion? >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second. Are there any questions on the motion on the table? >> May we have roll call for approval, please? >> Sure. Mr. Johnson, >>

026yes. >> Dr. Woods, >> yes. >> Dr. Mloud, >> yes. >> And I say yes. Um, Chairman Sug, >> yes. >> All right. Five to zero >> with a vote of five yes and zero against. The motion carries for consent agenda item number five. Moving on to action items number six. Miss [Music] Good evening board members, community at large, Dr. Stokes. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening in our first agenda item, the request to approve proximity learning. I think Chelsea mentioned it and this is going to be a common theme tonight. You know, we're hiring. We also know that there is a massive teacher shortage and we have always done a wonderful job within our school district in making sure that we have the best that we can find in our qualified

027adults who are sitting in front of our children who are teaching our children on a daily basis. However, we also know that the way that we're going to move the needle in this district is to make sure that there's high quality instruction provided for from licensed teachers who have gone through the necessary education background to learn pedagogy, to learn scope and sequence, to learn all of the things that have been researched to know to to be able to move that needle from an academic perspective. So, I'm going to introduce some representatives from Proximity Learning who are going to talk this evening about an opportunity if you so choose to approve this contract to support licensed teachers within our schools in our classrooms that will also be supported by classroom facilitators to support classroom management. And

028I'm going to again turn the floor over to the proximity learning me uh representatives, Mr. Michael Robinson and Miss Michelle Walter. [Music] Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Michael Robinson, my trusted agent and assistant Walter, my colleague. Uh, I just really want to talk to you. I know I only have five minutes, but we want to help you uh in your project here that you have Gary Public Schools. pull this up a little bit. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, you're facing a teacher shortage. This teacher is a national teacher shortage from California, Hawaii all the way in the Virgin Islands. And I'm happy to say that our organization works with Hawaii, works with the Virgin Islands, work Chicago public schools. We also work with Kansas City, Kansas schools. One of our largest clients is Shelby

029County Memphis City Schools. We actually put 100 teachers there. And I'm going to just take care of the slide. So, don't feel like you're in this by yourself. There is an opportunity for you. And I tell people right off the bat, the first and best solution is if you can get a state certified teacher to come to your district. But when you're down 600,000 teachers nationwide, that may not necessarily happen. So, you have to have different arrows in your quiver. All right. So, this is my team, of course, me, Dr. Riley Allison is our director of special education. Michelle Walter who is my right-hand person. She's strategy executive and if we do work with you, she'll be working with you very closely and myself and Dr. Alison and then the rest of our purpose. Um

030this is the agenda. Let me just go a little bit further. I'm just going to go here. Brief history of proximity. We just didn't start this. We actually started 2009 way before the pandemic. And I know when people have seamless instruction, when you blew up in the pandemic, it was it was really rough. We actually service over 500,000 students and all of our teachers have their state certification. So when I bring a teacher to this district and you need a teacher for physics, they are going to have a certification in physics from the state of Indiana. I'm going to say that again. They're going to have their certification from the state of Indiana in the respective area that they cover. There are universities that are offering education because individuals are not going into the now.

031We add the specialized areas. It just isn't taking place. I knew as we continue to talk about teacher shortages, I knew I had a solution and a partner that would be able to come in and support our district. Well, we've looked at the need um not only a district need but an international need around teacher shortages. [Music] >> Sorry. >> There are there are universities that are closing their school of education because individuals are not going into the field. Now we add the specialized areas. It just isn't taking place. I knew as we continue to talk about teacher shortages, I knew I had a solution and a partner that will be able to come in and support our district. [Music] When we looked at the need um not only a district need but an international

032need around teacher shortage, Okay. Can you just pause right there >> for just one second? I just want to talk about that Kansas City, Kansas, they have 25,000 25,000 student district. I have been working with them for four or five years. Dr. Judith Campbell, deputy superintendent. You know, Dr. St. She's actually moving to district 211, Alatine, which is Illinois, but uh I've worked with them for a long time. This is a middle school Spanish class at Lincoln School District 156 in City. So, this is what it actually looks like. Excellent with your sister at home. [Music] week. All of you guys love it. Okay, Mara. [Music] That's what we tell people. [Music] Okay. [Music] Huh? [Music] What is it? So that's what a proximity class looks like Spanish. You can see that the students are

033engaged facilitator basically modeling what the teacher needs to happen in the classroom and also that teacher is very engaging and have beautiful rapport with their students. One of the things I just want to show you real quick is you go trust all of us data. This is the data from Memphis Shelby County Schools. Uh we had 10,000 students in this sample set. This was actually done by Chicago State's education department. What's highlighted on the yellow side in Tennessee, every student has to take an ELC test which is generated by the state. If you notice like for just go all the way down to algebra, you see that the 298.44 44. That was the mean score for the proximity teacher and the non-proximity teacher is 277.40. I just want to tease out one fact how Gary

034public school is very similar to Shelby have a number of teachers on emergency license teachers who may not necessarily have all of the expertise and the pedigogy and the content to actually teach those respective classes. That's what I believe happened here. you know proximity you will get a state certified teacher who understands the content. The other thing is we just did the growth data for May uh January to May and as you can see look at algebra one there's a 35% growth and that's really what education is all about is growing students and getting them where they go but if you don't have a certified teacher in front of them and you just have someone a substitute they may not know the content. So, I'm going to stop there because I know that I have

035went well over my time, but what I want to say is we really want to work with you and help you in this particular situation. Thank you. >> I want I want to give the board an opportunity to ask questions, but I also wanted to bring a couple of other points uh to the forefront. U Mr. Robinson mentioned that many school districts are utilizing what we call emergency permitted teachers to be in front of our children. Um, this is my second year coming into the Gary Community School Corporation as the chief human resources officer. And when I started here on August 9th of 2024, we started with onethird of our teaching staff with emergency permits. We value those teachers. We value what they're doing with going back to school, getting that necessary education so that

036they have the pedigogy, the scope and sequence, and the skills that would be necessary to teach our students. However, we are also under we are at a point now where many of our emergency permitted teachers are not going to be able to be renewed because they've been under an emergency permit for a number of years. So, we need a backup. We would prefer to have someone who already has the expertise, albeit maybe on screen, and then utilize a classroom facilitator to make sure that there are classroom management expectations put into play. making sure that there's troubleshooting from a technology perspective. Making sure that our students if they have a question and the teacher who is online might not be able to get to that student immediately, there will be a classroom facilitator who is following

037along with the teacher who has that pedigogy who has that spoken sequence. And it could possibly be that those same teachers who are still in school who are trying to get that that actual license, they could be those classroom facilitators if they are unable to be renewed. And then what better coach will they have other than a live teacher, albeit maybe via a a virtual means that will be an actual model for what that pedigogy looks like, what that scope and sequence looks like. I mentioned when I started, we are hiring and I think that Mr. Robinson and Miss Walter stated at the very beginning that the ultimate goal is to have a live licensed teacher in front of our students. But the reality is we might not get there. And so these lovely people

038and this lovely organization has provided the flexibility that if we are not there at the start of the school year, they're here for us for that backup. Again, that's that flexibility that this organization is also providing for. This is not the only organization that we looked at in order to speculate on this possibility. But again, we can't keep doing the same thing that we've been doing for 7 years, which is starting staff in our classrooms that are not fully licensed. And not that we don't appreciate our emergency permitted teachers. Please understand, we are going to do everything in our power to bring back those emergency permitted teachers if they have the necessary credentials to do so. Um, but this is a backup to make sure that our students are going to get what they need,

039which is high quality instruction. >> Any questions? >> Yes. Thank you, uh, Dr. Robinson. Appreciate the presentation. Just a couple questions for myself in regards to um the um learning ratio between the online teacher and the classroom. Uh what type of ratio in relationship with that online personnel have with students there at the school? >> Miss Walters. >> And you might want to have Dr. Trey will come up because some of that is guided by our curriculum department. So if you come up, you may need assistance. >> Um I was going to speak from the proximity standpoint. It would only be the students that they enroll. All of the teachers within the contract that we're discussing would be full day with Gary. So the people that they're live streaming to will only be the Gary

040classroom according to how many students that Dr. Tre places in those classes. No more than 30. And that teacher would be there the full class period that that student was there. We wouldn't be relying on anyone else beyond. >> Correct. That teacher would be there just as the person who would come in person from 8 to 3:15. They would be their teacher streaming into each of those sections of school. >> They would also be required to go to our professional development sessions. They are essentially one of our teachers. So if we have PD, they have to go. we have you know the different sessions that support they have to go. So >> another question as an example in your demonstration here um technology is going to be a big issue here. Um what type of

041redundancy would we have or would we need as a school corporation to ensure that our uh technology matches the technology that you have so we wouldn't have blackouts or missed opportunities. Okay. Uh, so what basically everything is in the cloud as long as you have internet connection connection. Just need a laptop, usually a one to one like a Chromebook and most Chromebooks have a camera inside of it. A large screen at the front so that the teacher can be projected there and headphones if necessary. But we also have this thing called a boom mic that we sit in the middle and it's just like you're the conference and talk with the purp. >> I was also going to ask for um any of the platforms that we use to be whitel listed already to technology

042so that they would be able to go through and approve the different interactive content so that they will also have access to those. We also include and onboard walkthroughs for the students to have visually like click here depending on what the implementation would be a skyward clever that shows the kids how to log in to make that time of getting on and off their devices very seamless and we create plans prior to school year starting um with the teacher and the facilitator of what it looks like if the internet is down what what are we doing then so all of those things are intentionally thought through just like sub plans would if you were going to be out of the building. I'd >> like to open the floor up to the board if there's any

043other additional questions and thoughts. Yes, sir. Well, so I just wanted to state that I actually was at a district that was in proximity and and one thing that um I can say is that it's not like the teacher and facilitator just meet that day. They actually get together and go over the lesson plan uh ahead of time. And so it's uh that actually it works very well and having seen it in action uh I can say I definitely uh like the outcomes that were created on that. Dr. Chair, do you have anything you want to add? I know this is your department. >> So, what I would add is that I think it's a very unique opportunity given what's at stake, right? Like we are really trying to drive academic outcomes and improvement for

044all of our students. And as Joe said earlier, what we know when we have teachers that don't have the credentials, the pedigogy, the support, the college background, um there's a huge gap and often times they're learning with their students. And so we can partner with an organization that can support us in this journey. Um I think um think about every board meeting where you're like, where's the data? How are we going to get there? Right? This is one of the ways that we can get there. We know high quality teachers make the difference. Um, and so this is just one partnership that will get us on the right track to improving the academic outcomes, but really making sure that Gary is where it's supposed to be in the years to come. >> Thank you for

045the presentation. Um, board, I'll entertain a motion. [Music] >> Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to approve um the contract with Press in New York. There's a motion on the floor to approve the relationship with Gary Community Schools and Proximity Learning. Is there a second to the motion? >> Second. >> Been moved in the second. Any discussion on the motion? [Music] >> Hearing no discussion, may we have roll call for approval, please? >> Sure. Mr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Dr. Woods, >> yes. >> Dr. Mloud, >> yes. >> Chairman Suggs, >> yes. >> And I say yes. The vote is 5 to zero. for the vote of five to zero. The motion carries. Thank you. >> I'd like to move on to item number 6.1. Liz, >> did I mention that we're hiring? >> We're

046hiring. So, this next board agenda item is specifically to request the temporary authority for superintendent Dr. Stokes to be able to approve staff recommendations for hire on a temporary basis. The school board would then give the authority to Dr. Stokes in order to ensure that before the start date of school, August 4th is the first day for our teachers and our next board meeting is after that date. So without this given authority that is supported through Indiana code which allows for the school board to delegate the authority you the governing body to another individual. We are asking that you delegate the authority for Dr. Stokes on a temporary basis to approve hires so that we can assure the start of the school year has as great of a flow that we can have and and

047seamless as it could possibly be. >> Thank you. Any questions on the temporary authority for Dr. Stoves? >> Hearing no questions, I'll entertain a motion for approval. >> So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. Been moved and properly second. Any discussion on the motion? Hearing no discussion, may we have roll call for approval, please? >> Sure. Mr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Dr. Woods, >> yes. >> Dr. McCloud, >> yes. >> I say yes. and chairman Suggs. >> Yes. >> The vote is 5 to zero. >> With a vote of five to zero, the authority for superintendent so to have approval, temporary approval of hire has been approved. [Music] Dr. 6, excuse me, number 6.3, Dr. Dreadwell. [Music] Good evening again. Um board members, Dr. Stokes, members of the community. At this time, I'm

048requesting approval for uh 220 Youth Leadership um to partner with um the Gary Community School Corporation to support us again with um some academic gaps um that we're looking to support our students with. As you know, there's a new graduation requirement um on the table and many of our students will need access to um additional graduation um supports such as um personal finance. >> Thank you. Personal finance, communications, um, and a host of others. And so 220 youth leadership is an organization that can work alongside our teachers within Westside as well as our elementary schools to ensure that our students have access to the mandatory curriculums that they have to have. Um, so I'm asking for approval. So essentially, I just want to add to that. Um, essentially the 220 is actually curriculum. Yes. That

049we're asking for the board to support in light of the new graduation requirements. We needed to get started with our eighth graders who are now freshman. And some of those requirements are new, meaning we didn't actually have full curriculum to support. So, this is curriculum, a program that can give kids even some dual credits to get them started on their journey so that when graduation day arrives, they are ready. Thank you. Uh any questions on 20 20 220 leadership um curriculum from the board. >> Hearing no questions, may we have roll call for approval, please? >> Mr. Suggs, >> yes. >> Dr. Wood, >> yes. >> Dr. Mloud, >> yes. >> And I say yes. The vote is five to zero. with a vote of five to zero. Um item number 6.3 on our agenda

05020 220 youth leadership >> curriculum has been approved. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry. >> Yes. >> Was there an actual motion? >> Yes. Moving in second [Music] item number 6.4, Miss Adams, >> Miss Dixon. [Music] >> Good evening, uh, members of board, Dr. Schultz, and community members. My name is Jamila Adams and I am the assistant director of curriculum and assessment, I'm sorry. Um, and I have the pleasure to come for you today to discuss some of the updates that we've made to our community handbook and student code of conduct. Um, so just to give you a little bit of information, the handbook and the student code of conduct are where parents, staff, and students alike can find all of the information pertinent to our district from attendance to immunizations um to safety protocols

051and curriculum and so much more. Uh, and so this handbook is updated yearly um and when there's new legislation from the state. And so this is just another iteration that we have worked on but I will be focusing on the behavior aspect of the handbook. So we have come up with a new behavior matrix. Um we are moving continuing to move the district toward a more restorative approach. And when we're talking about restorative practices we are talking about focusing on building those relationships and repairing harm as opposed to just providing consequences for our students. And some of the key points I want to go over is that we worked on this behavior matrix collaboratively across the district. We had representatives from our high school principal all the way down to our prek principal. So we

052had all grade levels represented. We also had district staff um and we did a four session focus group to get this matrix done. Uh another thing that we did was we created separate matrices for prek through 2nd, 3rd through 8th and 9th through 12. So you all do have those in your folders. Uh and then we worked on making sure that the interventions and consequences were age appropriate and restorative um versus just punitive. Um and we also used a progressive discipline model so that the consequences escalated with repeated infractions as opposed to just going straight to suspension or expulsion. Lastly, this new behavior matrix directly aligns to our multi-ter system of support framework. Um, and when we say MTSS or multi-system uh multi-ter system of support, we're talking about the fact that at tier one,

053we have supports that every student gets. So, it's universal. At tier 2, we have those targeted interventions, those targeted supports. And then at tier three, we have intensive interventions. So, we can look at it as all, some, and few. But since this is we're going into our first full school year as a new leadership team, we've already taken quite a few steps and there's a lot of information on here, but we've done training to continue to shift mindsets at our district. We can't just create the behavior matrix and update the handbook without shifting those mindsets. Um so some of the things that we've done, we've had restorative conversation training for a host of stakeholders in our district. Um the keynote at our parent conference was around what is restorative justice? So, even our families were

054able to get that information. We had a 4-day restorative circle training um at the district. And then we just recently at the end of June had a 4-day leadership institute for our administrators, our principles and assistant principles. Um coming up at the end of this month, we have a two-day teacher institute. And then on August 4th, all of our staff will be together um and they will be getting restorative practices training as well. And those are some of our pictures. I wanted to just point out a couple of things with the behavior matrix. This is actually what it looks like. Um, and as you can see, I wanted to make mention that although we are moving as a district toward a more restorative approach, there will be circumstances where suspension or expulsion will be the

055first route of action. Um, and so in our behavior matrices, we created a group level system with group one being minor uh disruptions and group seven being extreme safety threats. And so when we get to those higher group levels, yes, there will be some suspensions and expulsions. Um, but as a first step for everything, we go the restorative route. So as you can see, speaking of that progressive discipline model, we have a first incident, then a second incident, and then a third plus incident. um and they escalate, but we never want to start with the most fear of consequences. Another thing I want to point out is that for prek through second, we understand that these are formative years. We understand that these are babies and they are learning to do school. They don't know

056how to um behave in school initially. And so this is something that they are being taught and trained. And so instead of having available interventions and consequences as we do for 3 through 12, we have interventions and support strategies. is our job to teach them how uh what behavior in school looks like. So you'll also see on prek through 2 that there are observable examples. So any adult working with our students knows what they should be looking for as well as initial adult response what that first point of contact what they should do as an adult. And then we have those interventions and that we can use as opposed to punitive discipline. And we have been putting together some pieces. So, another piece of the puzzle that we are um using to ensure that we're

057moving toward a more restorative culture is our district-wide behavior expectations. Um and because we are Cougars, the acronym is Pause and that just stands for we want all of our students to be prepared, accountable, wise, and supportive. This is across our district. Um, but I do want to mention that we have given our administrators at our leadership retreat that we had last month the autonomy to take pause and script out what that will look like in the different common areas, um, lunchroom recess at their individual schools, but it'll all tie back to those district behavior expectations. And we also created a bullying fact sheet for parents. A lot of folks don't know what bullying actually is. And so we wanted to make sure that it was clear what bullying is, what bullying is not for

058our families, um the types of bullying, and what they can do if they suspect bullying. And then we also created a new bullying complaint form in the handbook that coincides with this. Um and parents can report if they feel like students are being bullied, but students can also self-report for themselves or a peer. So those were a couple of pieces that we wanted to add in as we move forward on restorative culture. And before I hand it over to Miss Dixon, did you all have any questions? >> Mr. Chair, >> yes, please. >> Were there any um parents or students involved in this process or is this the point where parents and students may have had an opportunity to review or interject? So for the behavior matrix you mean? No. So um for the behavior

059matrix we open it up to school staff. So all staff, not just principles, um deans, counselors, it was opened up to everybody um through that we meet in professional learning communities. Um and so the ones that did sign up were the ones that you saw on the screen. Um but we did not have a parent focus group on the behavior matrix. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> I do have a question as well. When it comes to restorative justice, I know a lot of times an incident happens and it's approached a certain way. What are we doing as a district to be proactive in terms of alleviating some issues? >> Uh so in addition to training for our staff so that they are um more restorativeminded, um we are also working on our counselors. Um

060that'll be a group that'll be getting training this year. um consistently every month around how to a hold circles, b um deal with student issues. There'll be training around um there'll be a new crisis manual that we'll be working on. Um and then we also have we've worked with our special populations department who's going to be getting some training for the school psychologist. Um we have teacher training, administrator training. Um I think Dr. But I know I think he's going to culture and she can talk about what we're doing for culture and climate. >> So um we have a laserike focus this year to ensure that day one um we coined it in our leadership institute day one to day 180 um that we have a strong culture and climate. And so we sat with

061our school leaders first um to really outline what is an effective culture and climate like what component should be at play um what should the setup look like from bail to bail because often times there's space in the day where student misbehavior is more um more frequent because there's not a system in place. So we spent more than a day talking about the things that must be in place to ensure that safety is the number one priority. Right. Um, I shared with them that learning cannot happen in chaos. And so, we have to really think about what systems and structures we're putting within our school building, but also training our teachers, which I'll talk a little bit about later, what what does that look like in the classroom? Right? So, we put safeguards from the

062time they walk in the building, what does it look like in the lunchroom? What does it look like in the gym? And so, we gave principles the training first to really level set for them how to establish that. Um and then from there throughout the year they're going to get ongoing support on how to check and balance are we doing the right thing? How are we analyzing this data? What pivots do we need to make day in and day out? Um because I said to them if something is broken in the school is a system issue, right? And so we have to look at take a step back and evaluate where can we adjust from the admin level but then bring the teachers along that journey with them because everyone has a responsibility to keep

063students safe. And so that's proactive is thinking about it in advance putting a plan in place executing but then once we realize this plan is not working not just keeping it going really stepping taking a step back. Um, additionally, the month of September, Miss Adams is going to be walking with every school leader to do a culture and climate walk because we would have taken the first month or so of school to evaluate, put these things in place. Now, let's take a look and see if it's working. If it's not, we don't want to wait to December to pivot. We're going to pivot as soon as September to make some changes to that culture. Hopefully, that answers your question. >> It does. Thank you. I'd like to ask a question in regards to the bullion

064fact sheet. Um, is that for one, is that a sheet that is electronically generated? Is that generated by the parent? Can the student generate it? Give us some details on how that process. >> So, you're talking about the bullying complaint form. >> Yes. >> So, it is in the back of the handbook. Um, and so it's already there and yes, a parent can can take that complaint form if they feel like their child is being bullied. Um, a student also has access um to that complaint form if they feel like they themselves are being bullied or if their peers are being bullied. >> And where does the form go? >> So the form would go to the student services department um which is Miss Dixon and she'll be up next. Uh but it will go

065to the student services department because then an investigation right the principal as well because then an investigation would need to be launched to determine if it actually is >> is there a timetable um that we have to respond >> yes with the new legislation um Indiana code actually dictates things we have to do and there's even been added components where you you can't just investigate you have to actually notify both parties about whether it was actually bullying or something else. And then what's the school district's plan to support >> there is a section about so they have access it's it's a it's a handbook online also >> so it will once it gets approved >> the new one will be put put online >> right >> yeah it'll be online [Music] >> I'll add to

066one of the things that we're asking principles to do at the beginning of the school here is to really um disagregate this with their staff so that everyone is really clear about these definitions, what we're naming, what we're expecting um so that we're all on the same page. As as Adam said earlier, everyone can have a different definition of bullying. So, we want to level set looked at me, that's bullying. Well, let's let's work on having a conversation around that what was really happening. And that's where restorative conversations come in and restorative practices come in because often times um we just don't know. And so we want to make sure that everyone has a unilateral definition for what bullying is and is not and then make sure that the supports are there um so that

067we can support our students best. >> I just want to circle back uh for a moment to uh Dr. Mloud's initial question about engagement and what stakeholders were engaged in the review of the handbook whether it's parents and students and I thought I heard the determination was it was not students is there a rationale or reason why students weren't included in the process >> not a rationale um and it's not too late to be honest um I think at the time of the year when this was going on it was towards the end of the school here. Um and and actually we did ask for students to be at the table. Um there was a from the high school specifically. Um and one of the things we're working on is really increasing that engagement and

068what it looks like to come to the table to have your voice heard. Um we do have some students that are very boisterous. Um but oftent times when it's time to sit down and actually do the work, we don't always find that people want to come. And as Miss Adam said, we did it districtwide and said, "Hey, come one, come all. we want to hear what you have to say about this because we heard the complaints about it. So we wanted to fix it with all of our stakeholders. And so after today and one of the the lines that's in the handbook that this can be updated throughout the year so it's not a lost opportunity for us to bring it back to our family groups. Miss Adams meets with um our stakeholders once a

069month and we can bring it to the table there. We're also asking schools to launch parent advisory councils. And so we're really trying to find avenues where we get parents to the school um to create this space so that we can start the conversation. >> And I just want to clarify that I'm not saying I'm an advocate for the engagement, but I just want to be prepared uh to talk with community leaders and parents or students of why things happen the way they did. >> Absolutely. That's a great point. >> Yes. And um I think one of the keys is in most situations when you're trying to do something that's related to Indiana code, there are some parameters around what one can and cannot do in a school environment. Once we get kind of the

070baseline as we said about our parent advisory groups, then we can take this and we can have parents talk about how this is being supported from their perspective in the home environment and then collaborate with us about how things go on in the school environment because I will tell you from my experience you will have many parents who say well how do you get this to occur in your building and it's not occurring at home and then we can help them as well. >> Thank you. Any additional questions from the board? >> Turn it over to Miss Dixon. >> Before I turn it over, I just wanted to let you all know that we're hiring. [Music] >> Good evening, board members and Dr. Stokes and community members. My name is Miss Ferguson, Antonet Ferguson Dixon,

071and I'm I serve as the director of student services. Uh thank you for the opportunity again, board, of course, to come before you and give you more updates. Our superintendent talks about the Indiana code and the legislators have been busy. So, there are two areas I'm going to talk to you about this evening. one of them being attendance policies and the other instruction on human sexuality. Senate Bill 482, it expands truency intervention to older students. Previously board, if you remember last year, we were required to meet with parents of chronically absent students for K6. Now the law has added 7 through 12. So that is all of our students in our districts that unfortunately uh become a part of that population. And I do want to add even though last year the law only required

072K through six, we were proactive and we had a boots on the ground person, Mr. Cook, who was charged with meeting with our secondary students. So we didn't even want to wait. We felt like it was important K12. And so we are ahead of the curve. >> Yes, we are. Thank you, Dr. Stokes. under the leadership of our fabulous superintendent. That was one of the things she wanted plans for all students and we do have intended attendance improvement plans and recently that plan has been updated and added with rigor and what what will happen in this process. The bill 482 defines chronic absenteeism as being absent 10% of the school year regardless of whether it's excused or unexcused. I'll say that again. Regardless of whether it isu excused or unexcused because as our superintendent says,

073teaching and learning is a thing. If you're absent regardless, you can't learn and you can't be taught. So this presents an opportunity that we will have to conference with students K through 12 now when they have made that fifth absence. They're headed toward being chronically absent. So it's proactive and we will meet with them and we have 10 instructional days after that fifth absence. That's different from previously it was five days after. Now we have 10 days because of course you're addressing an entire population of the school district. Now this presents an opportunity uh for us to intervene earlyvention and behaviors. You hear about restoration or restorative approaches. Attendance is also restorative. We are here to support families and apply restorative approaches to address root causes of abs absenteeism before they reach that 10 days.

074And I'm excited about that being proactive. Now, the second area I want to talk to you about is Senate Bill 442. This will uh bring changes to instruction on human sexuality under this bill. It requires that the board approves all those learning materials that are associated with this for grades 4 through 12. It also mandates that they are posted publicly on our school's website. Uh even information like the gender of the instructor and whether class is co-ed. Now in this instruction it requires that things like consent to sexual act excuse me sexual activity and human growth and development during pregnancy are addressed and things such as sexually transmitted infections or STI as they are now properly called. Now in this bill the parent must give consent 442 prior to this instruction taking place. Now if

075the students are of legal age 18 or emancipated they can give consent to themselves and that consent uh will be attached to an electronic form that gives all the information about the curriculum we're using. Now this instruction takes place at the high school level here in Gary in the health education class and our curriculum that we use is an online curriculum and it's UNESCO and that stands for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and Flash. a combination of those two and this can be found in our parent section of the website and it is there and it will be posted and available uh thanks to Crystal O'Brien. And now at this time, I respectfully petition the board for your consideration and approval of the updated community handbook and student code of conduct which

076you will find in your folders uh in its entirety. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration and attention. Are there any questions? >> This Mr. Yes, please. >> Just for clarification. >> Yes. >> The parents have to sign off. >> Yes. >> on the consent form for the human before they have the human sexuality instruction class. >> So, we'll be proactive. We won't try to, you know, we're not going to have you sign it today and do it tomorrow. It's a lot of districts will put it in the information at registration and you know once the board approves you know and and part of our policy is about some curriculum materials parents can check it out if they want to if they've got questions. Some parents will say you know I want my kid

077to be a part of it and we need to know that in time to be able to give an alternative solution for that child and an alternative assignment so that they can actually still receive a a grade. >> Okay. Thank you. Any additional questions from the board? >> I will entertain a motion for a request for approval for the uh student community handbook uh update. >> So move. >> There's a motion on the floor. May I have a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second. Is there any discussion on the motion on the table? >> Hearing no discussion. May we have roll call for approval, please? >> Yes. Mr. Johnson? >> Yes. Dr. Woods? Yes, >> Dr. Mloud. >> Yes, >> President S. >> Yes. >> And I say yes. The vote

078is five to zero. >> With a vote of five yes and zero against, the approval of this updated student handbook has been approved. Thank you. >> Thank you, board. And one last important piece of information. We are hiring. >> Number 6.5 on the action items. [Music] Sick [Music] >> Good evening again board members, Dr. Stokes and community at large. There's a saying, it takes a village. We can't we can't live this alone. um it takes a community and we are very appreciative of every community partner that we have. So the next request for the approval of our school-based health center was very difficult in making a determination for which recommendation we would like to present to the board because again we appreciate all of our community partners. The school board had an opportunity to hear

079from a few of those community partners in the hopes that uh we would be fully informed uh about all options that we have for a school-based health center that would be able to operate from our school grounds. Uh after careful consideration, we are asking the board to approve Edgewater Health to be the community partner for that school-based health center. Um that will be supporting our students, our staff, and our community for both medical and mental health needs. Edgewater Health has been providing services to our district for decades, and they have been doing so from a mental health perspective. So, it's a seamless transition. And not only is it a seamless transition, but we also see it to be a cost savings because with their already involvement with the Gary Community School Corporation from the date

080treatment facility option, we feel as though it could also support our students prior to the possible need for a day treatment facility option if we have that mental and medical health option on campus. So, I do respectfully request that the board approve Edgewater Health to be our school-based health center. I also have Dr. Karen Bishop Morris who is here in attendance today. Should the board have any additional questions before they make their determination. >> Thank you for the recommendation. I'd like to ask the board if they have any questions on the request number 6.5 schoolbased health center and the recommendation of Edgewater Health. Um hearing no questions I'll entertain a motion on the recommendation motion that we approve of items 6.5 request for edge help. >> There's a motion on the floor. May I have

081a second? >> Second. It's >> been moved and properly second. Uh any discussion on this motion? >> Um I just want to um emphasize that um being the selected uh provider is is is one of our members. Um work opportunities, we will uh recuse from the vote. Um Dr. Woods. Beyond that, we can go to roll call for approval. >> Yes. Um, Chairman Suggs, >> yes. >> Mr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Dr. McCloud, >> yes. >> And I say yes. The vote is four to zero with one abstension. Dr. Woodson. >> With a vote of four yes. Um, zero no, and one abstension. Um, the motion carries. Thank you. [Music] Edgewire is our schoolbased health center. >> Typically um President SS um if the Edgewater person is here, we typically like them to come and

082just say something for a few moments. >> Certainly fine with me. [Music] our great partners. We love you, but if you could keep it to under two minutes, that would be great. >> We'll do it. Good evening to the board, Dr. Stokes, and the community. Thank you so much uh for this vote. Uh this is really a vote uh not just for Edgewater, but it's really a vote for integrated health. And so, um, as the slide shows, this is, uh, an an amazing opportunity for us to continue and expand our partnership. Health piece is so important for all of the reasons that have really, uh, been the topic of conversation this evening. When I think about uh improving access to care, when I think about um what this school-based health clinic will do in terms

083of early intervention and prevention, which has a direct correlation to Miss Dixon's uh plea for a reduction in absenteeism, I know that this is really a strong step forward and we look forward to making this step together. So, thank you. >> Good evening, Dr. Browning, chief medical officer at Edgewater. I just like to thank the board for this opportunity on behalf of Edgewater. I think that we'll be able to deliver comprehensive uh primary care and behavior health services to our >> Thank you. Uh any comments from the board? >> We appreciate you being here. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And your library. Item 6.6 on our agenda, approval of the adult and student fees. [Music] >> Good evening, Gary Community School Board members, Dr. Stokes, and community members. Um, part of our processes and

084procedures every school year will be to will will be to request approval of either student fees or um lunch fees or alle cart items. So, you'll notice in your packets that I've included several um memos in regards to these. The first one, a student meal. Of course, we are C P. So all students all students receive free breakfast and free lunch if they want a second breakfast or second lunch. This is federal and state pricing that we have to charge because we cannot request reimbursement. So I'm requesting those student meal prices. And then also for the adult meals, I want to point out that um we are offering delicious, healthy meals for a very inexpensive rate of breakfast for $3 and $6 per adult. So we encourage all staff to come to our cafeterias, get

085a healthy meal. Um these prices are within line with federal and state guidelines. Um, this will the adult meals will help sustain our food service fund as well. >> And I I need to interject. >> You go for it. >> The adult meal is not free. >> There's no free first meal for the adults. >> That is correct. Um, and then the alle cart items. I do not have a full list of alle cart items yet. I will be working with chart walls on that. But um adults or students will also be able to you know purchase you know rice krispie treats um drinks things of that nature healthy foods of course um for different ranges of prices and I will actually have that on the website once I sit down with chart walls and

086we go through the list. >> So just for clarification there are there drinks included in the first meal for the student? The milk is always included and then we always have water for them as well should they choose to have water. >> Sure. >> And then we have our technology fees. Now I do want to read one thing to you. It's um it's Indiana code 20-26-12-1. And I'm going to what it means I'm going to put it a little bit differently. Um, schools must provide curricular materials at no cost to students. Curricular materials means things like textbooks, workbooks, and core instructional content required by the school's curriculum. Schools, however, can charge a fee if a student loses or significantly damages those curricular materials. So what that's what this is in regards to. Of course this

087is at Dr. Stose's discretion as well. You know sometimes we have accidents that happen with students truly an accident and that's discretion if she wanted to charge that student. But I do need these prices approved. These prices are the actual prices that we pay for and we get discounted prices for that those uh equipment. [Music] I'm requesting approval of the fees for the student fees and for the lunch fees. [Music] >> Thank you for your request. Are there any questions for members of the board? >> Hearing no requests, I will Entertain a motion for approval, please. >> Mr. Johnson, >> entertain entertain a motion. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Been moved and properly second. Any discussion on the motion? >> May we have roll call for approval, please? >>

088Mr. Johnson? >> Yes. >> Dr. Woods? >> Yes. >> Dr. Mloud? >> Yes. >> I say yes. And Chairman S? >> Yes. Please. as the vote is 5 to zero. >> With a vote of 5 to zero, the uh request for approval of the fee scale and the um alocart prices as well as the replacement costs have been approved. >> Thank you. >> And did I mention we're hiring? [Music] I'm sorry. Let's move on to item number seven on your agenda. >> Thank you board members, Dr. Stokes and community for allowing me to talk so much tonight. So, I'm going to make this very brief. Again, we've talked a lot about our community partnerships. And so one of the things that we wanted to make sure we acknowledged and updated you on was this awesome

089community partnership with the wonderful city of Gary. We want to thank Mayor Mayor Melton for his collaboration with Dr. Stokes with bringing together a flagship mission called summer passports. Summer Passports was an opportunity for our students to participate in enrichment programs from kindergarten through 12th grade. Those programs were held both at Gary I'm sorry I apologize for that at the Glen Park Academy and at Westside Leadership Academy. The start was awesome and it grew and it fluctuated and all of our students had an opportunity to do some of the things that you see here in the pictures. We did collapse some of the programs based on attendance. Again, it would grow and it would wayne. And after the Fourth of July holiday, many of our secondary students in preparation of starting school in a few

090short weeks decided that coming to school more wasn't something that they were interested in at this point. So, we did collapse the Westside Leadership Opportunity. Um, however, we did have one student who was an eighth grader who was excited about everything that she was doing and her younger brothers and sisters were going to Glen Park Academy and she wanted to continue. So, she actually is boarding the bus every day, still going to Glen Park Academy, and she is a peer mentor to our students at Glen Park Academy and doing all of the wonderful things again that you see including art and dance and gym. So, thank you to the city of Gary. Thank you to Mayor Mayor Melton and thank you to Dr. Stokes for supporting this mission and also thank you to the curriculum

091and assessment team because without them, this would not have happened in a short time. Yeah. And I do want to add that at the K6 level, it was open to all all Gary community students, not just students who go to Gary Community Schools, but any student who lives in Gary. So we opened it up to all our secondary. It was only for um West only for our students. Yes. And again, Gone Park Academy is still going. We still have buses that are running bringing our students. We also have parents who are dropping their children off and engaged in meaningful activities on a daily basis. [Music] Thank you for the update on the summer passport program. Are there any questions from the board members? >> Thank you. >> Did I mention we're hiring? >> Yes. [Music]

092Item number 8.1, please. >> So, the theme tonight has been community partnerships, but the other theme tonight is Did we mention we're hiring? So, if everybody could stand up in the audience and show off these t-shirts that we have on [Music] Show them. Show them off, please. Uh we want to thank Dr. Stokes. She wears a lot of hats and so she has been a PR person. She has been in human resources. And when we were talking about what we could do to really push this hiring season and she mentioned, well, what about if we all wore t-shirts and maybe if it had like a some communication on the back that we could wear it out in the community and everywhere that we go, we talk about the fact that we're hiring. So, there's a

093QR code on the back of our t-shirts right now that any person can use their cell phone or the website is there as well and it could take you directly to our website and specifically to Apple which is our platform used for recruiting and hiring where you can apply directly. We're hiring for teachers even though we approve proximity learning again the main goal is to attract live highly qualified licensed teachers to be in our classroom. So just because we partner partnered with proximity learning that does not mean we are stopping our efforts with finding high-quality teachers to be in front of our students live. However, if we can't get there, we are als we've also posted four classroom facilitators so that in the event we do need a proximity teacher to support that instruction, that

094high quality instruction online, we still are going to have those classroom facilitators within our classrooms for management, technology troubleshooting, communication needs, and making sure that students get grouped or whatever other questions they might have when the online teacher might not be able to get them to might not be able to get to them immediately. I don't want to waste any more of your time to talk about the fact that we're hiring. Um, but that is the gist of the human resources report. >> Thank you. >> Any questions? >> Thank you. Item 8.2, financial update, please. [Music] >> Did I mention I won't I promise I won't do I I want to give a fun presentation like that you know other than numbers but financial updates. Um so I really wanted to have June completed today

095but unfortunately I just I did not have enough time. Um and with the form 9 and everything we wanted to make sure everything was correct. So I'm presenting your May financials today. So of course this first is our major fund expenses as of the end of May. Um as you can see in the education fund um we have a remaining budget balance of 58%. So we are right on target. I do want to point out that you will if you notice in May um under salaries and wages um and benefits. So May we distributed that second stipend that um Mr. Razer had approved back in 2024. Um so we had to pay that out at the end of May. So, I just wanted to because it looks like wow, we had four we paid out

096that much money, but it was it was due to the stipen. Um, other than that, the referendum fund every every month we transfer $100,000 um out of the referendum fund into the operations fund into the education fund, my apologies, and then $700,000 into the operations fund. And this helps support the things that the referendum was um approved for. Um that would be um balancing the budget, that would be for security, that would be for all the extracurricular activities such as the transportation, things like that. Um so that we're sitting at we actually have 62% remaining in the operations fund. Again, you'll notice um that we had a large amount distributed in salary and wages and benefits. And again, that was for staff for that second stipen payout. Um and we are actually at 62% of

097available for our operations budget. So, right now in the month of May, we are we are sustaining we are sustaining with with each of our major funds. Um, and here is just a breakdown of the education fund. To the right, you'll notice I just listed our year-to-date expenses, our total budget, and I've included our um transfer because we have in our budget, we have $8 million that we can transfer into here. Um, so I've included that um into this amount, but as you can see again, our I've done a little percentages for you. Um, 58% is remaining. We've totally spent 43% of the budget. Um, and now I've kind of listed each of the months on what our expenses have been. Next month I will probably because this might be a little too loud as

098a pie chart. So I may do it a little bit different for you unless you like it like this. So however you guys want to see the numbers. >> Okay. >> Sure. And then here is a breakdown again of the education fund listed a little bit more in detail um of our expenses. Um I did want to point out that um again our salaries for May were 3,699,000 benefits 1 million. Um I have estimated and and I adjust our our >> May was May a threemon pay a three week three time pay. What was May? May May was the stipen the the siphon payout. Our next three pay month is in October which as you can see I have adjusted that to reflect but I but I do adjust these as numbers come in to

099you know depending on what's what's going on. So I do have a projected um ending balance at the end of the year. Um but of course I I I adjust this as needed. But as you can see um our cash balance at the month of May was uh 20 million8,000 and all of the board members have a schedule of balance um within their documents that they can look at all of the funds. And then we have the operations fund and here is just another breakdown of that um percentage. Our remaining balance is 62%. um our expenses year-to date 38% and then again I've listed each of the months through May and then here is just a year-to-ate tally budget is at 21,939,000 um I will tell you in the operations fund of and I I

100think I say this actually every month I am monitoring the transportation costs we um we go out for an RFP after this next school year, but we are actually working diligently right now to um figure out how to save money and um on transportation because we have double routes, we pay overtime routes um because Gary is a 52 mile radius with the buses, we have trains, things of that nature. So um >> can I speak to that for a moment? >> Sure. So, one of the things that we are bound right now with is the contract that was set in place before by our predecessors. And in that contract, if we go over certain time frames, we have to pay overtime, 5 hours. And unfortunately, because of trains, you know, we are a city on

101trains, we often go over, which means we have to then spend money. And there's no way around it. We tried to talk about it, but it is contractual and so we have to weigh it. So with this next school year, we're trying to figure out rerouting buses or how to, you know, combine them, make them a a kind of a triple route where we're not charged for every single trip where a stopping point. So we are working on that and first student is working with us. Um, unfortunately the contract the rate for this next school year goes up and it's in the contract, but we are going out for an RFP. Um, and then here is just a breakdown, a little more detail of uh the May expenses. Um, our cash balance at the end

102of May was 7,553,000. And then I I have estimated and I've adjusted um some of the property tax that we receive in um the operations fund um and the debt fund. Um and I will speak about I will speak about the debt fund um um I estimated our cash balance uh at the end of the budget year in December to be 5,391,000. And here again, here's the referendum fund. Um, just so you can see, uh, May we have a cash balance of 3,482,000. I've estimated, um, at the end of the budget year, 6,451,000. Of course, that is depending on what property tax we receive in December. I will of course request an early tax draw in November. Um and I will be watching this diligently um just in case in the debt fund. If we

103do need to need to do a tax anticipation, Warren, you know, with requesting what has been collected at the first part of the year, I may I may do that. And here's just a breakdown of the referendum fund. Um 62% of the budget is remaining. Transfers consist of so far $4 million and our total budget for the referendum was 10 million5. So here is the debt fund. Um I requested an early tax draw in May. I I have released these are actual numbers in June even though I don't have a June update for you. I did update this one um specifically because I wanted to make sure you you knew that um I I made a transfer from the operations fund to the to the debt fund to cover the deficit. We had a deficit

104of $862,000 and that was due to um not receiving all of the property tax money that we anticipated we were going to receive. In the budget, it was written in at that we would receive about 77%. We really only received 56%. Now, what I what I want to share with you is that and I and I talked about this in a previous meeting, we had to start paying back our common school loans in January. So, what IDOE does is they deduct those common school loans from our basic grant and then what we do is we transfer the money from debt back into the education fund. So our debt fund was was sitting 862,000 in a negative. We are allowed to use operations money. this is with legal um to transfer money from the operations fund

105as long as it can support the debt fund. So I've moved that money to make it zero. But I will but I do have to tell you that I do feel in December we will probably have the same issue. So I have adjusted what we're going to receive in November and December to reflect that. So, I may also have to make another transfer in December. So, to not be in this situation, um, we have to make an appeal to make sure we can figure out ways to get the property tax in. Is that correct? >> That is correct. That is correct. >> Would a successful recruiting uh impact this? could be impacted by increasing numbers >> student body student. >> This is all property tax base. >> I understand could we >> well if the

106if we recruit more students it does help with the education fund but what she's saying is if we trans Go ahead. Okay. If I I if if I transfer money out of the education fund that should be studentbased money and only used on students. It cannot support the debt or the operations. >> So then we have to put it back which you >> That is correct. That is correct. So um I am I am starting to work on the 2026 budget. I will make sure, you know, based on my evaluation of maybe the last few years on what we what we've received in property tax money. Um, and I will adjust those numbers to reflect a lower percentage than, you know, what was anticipated. Um, nobody, it wasn't a a wrong decision. It was you

107you don't know what you're going to get. You really don't. And it's based on a rate. Um the debt we receive it at 46. It's based on our net assessed value. Um and then it's kind of a I would probably gauge a little bit lower in the percentage moving forward, you know. Um but 56% that's that's where we're at. So I we the the good thing is we have the cash to support it right now, but there's many things that have to be looked at like and that's why I say transportation. I we spend $6 million on transportation costs and I have kind of looked at it and it looks like we're going to I'm going to have to request an additional appropriation trans for operations because of transportation because the cost is so excessive.

108And just for um clarity, you know, I've had some people say, "Well, why do we have to have so much transportation? How large are we in here? We can't expect students to get to school if they don't have a way to get here without actually giving them transportation. Um we have been working u with Mrs. Dillard to find ways that perhaps city transportation can support us if kids miss the school bus. Um because as you all just heard, absenteemia matters and it doesn't matter why. So we're trying to figure out ways that if our scholars miss the school bus, how can we then get them to school? So um everything is circular and everything is connected. But we do need to figure out a way to reduce transportation cost, but at the same time we

109have to have transportation. So I said all this to say the answer is to to that we do away with it. We can't do that. So the question about transportation, do you have an idea of what percentage of um capacity we are on a particular bus as we look to increase? we would have to increase >> the number of buses or >> and and that is one of the areas we're looking at because um some of the buses maybe it's a 44 passenger bus and it is 12 students on that that's we are trying to consolidate some of that um Mr. Garcia, our my transportation director is here. >> Before he speaks though, as much as we're trying to consolidate, what I don't want people to hear is that kids are going to be on

110the bus for two hours because we don't want that either, right? [Music] >> Dr. Superintendent, right now in the high school and the junior high, the buses are packed. If they're full, they are full. >> Thank you. Sure. Sure. >> So, you said that it was it was based on net assessed value. >> Could you just explain the difference between the net assessed value and the property value? See, people are saying, look, housing prices in the area are skyrocketing. So, how come we aren't collecting more in taxes? >> That so our I brought my paper with me too just so I just so I had all the numbers here. So our net assessed value is 2,263,889,000 and we have a levy of $10,454,640. So when when the budget was actually put in and and approved,

111we estimated our property tax to be collected as 8,886,355,000. Now, that 10 10,174 was is cash and revenues is what they're saying we should have and be able to pay our debt. But our debt actually for the for the debt that is owed for that budget cycle was actually 11,327,000. >> And understand that this was a budget that was set, you know, prior to our arrival, but we have to follow it because it's it's been put into the gateway system and approved by the state. That is correct. Yeah. Thank you. Are there questions from board members? >> I I just have one question. I I thank you for the transparency. >> Sure. >> Uh and clarity of your report. I would ask one additional favor and I love this chart. >> Sure. >> But I

112would love to see yearover-year going forward just to see the differences what we're doing um as as we go through this next year at this time. I just like to see where those costs are going and of course >> if there's any trends that we should be responding to. Yeah. >> And and could you include in that >> tax collection receipt? >> Of course. Most definitely. >> Yes. Yep. We only receive a a small portion of our property tax money, which you know, >> we're working with it though. We're going to figure it out. >> Thank you. Sure. >> Thank you. >> Item 8.3 on our agenda. Dr. Treadwell support. [Music] All right. Good evening again, board members, Dr. S of the community. I am Dr. Treadwell, the chief academic officer for the Gary Community

113School Corporation. And of course, they saved the best for last, right? All right. Let's go ahead and dig in. So, um it has been a pleasure uh this last year really watching the trends um trying to figure out the button that I want to hit. Perfect. Um watching the trends of how our data is moving forward. And so I wanted to bring um our end of the year data before you and walk through it to talk a little bit about it um and definitely open for questions at the end or as we go through it. And so I wanted to start with one of the assessments that our students have taken um throughout this entire school year. So because of our status um as a district, the state mandates and I've mentioned this in one

114of my last visitations may be assessments that we must take. And so Dibbles was one of those assessments which is the dynamic indicator of basic early literacy skills. And what this assessment does, it was used for two reasons. One, as a district, we had to have an assessment that could tell us if we had students that may um have characteristics of dyslexia. And so this assessment was able to give us that information. Um I am pleased to say that we didn't have any of our students that show characteristics of dyslexia. Although the data would say they're at risk, no one after further assessment um had characteristics of dis dyslexia. And so what you're looking at, you do have this data in your packet, um is when they take dibbles, it does assess the five core

115components of literacy, which is also known as the science of reading. So phonics, luary comprehension, vocabulary, um and phmic awareness. And so there are five I'm sorry four categories that students can be um identified as well below below at grade level or at proficiency or above proficiency. So those are the four. So I'm going to talk about uh well below and then at or above proficiency for doubles. So what you see here is our beginning of the year assessment data as well as the end of the year in a comparison. And so again they take this assessment three times a year. beginning of the year, middle of the year, and the end of the year. Now, within those benchmarking assessment windows, students are progress monitor to see how they're progressing on their lowest skill. So,

116remember the five skills that I mentioned, um we would with work with the teachers, identify the lowest skill, and then they are progress monitored at a certain cadence depending on how they're identified on their level. And so just to kind of point out this data, what you see is at the beginning of the year we had a large percentage of our students identified as well below um and when they tested at the end of the year that number decreased dramatically. I won't read all of the numbers um you have in front of you but just so you can kind of point out from our kindergarten through fourth grade um many of those students we saw a decrease in the students identified as well below. And that's great information because what it tells us is that

117the instruction that they are receiving at that early literacy level is showing improvement with helping them get gain the skills that they need to be successful, right? And so some of the things that this test assess is letter naming fluency. So really a student's ability, you see a letter, name what it is. Another thing that it assesses is letter sound course um correlation. So I see a letter, I know it's a I can also tell you the sound of that letter. Then it moves to connected text where students actually have to read text. And so it moves along this trajectory. And so we want to see students moving out of that well below category because what it does is it tells us that with high quality instruction, we can really get to students being on

118grade level. Next in your packet, you have students that were identified as at or above proficiency. Again, these are the last two um identifiers when we look at bibbles. So, at the beginning of the year, we had a smaller percentage of our students um identified across all of our grade levels at or above proficiency. And when we think about at or above proficiency, that is at grade level. So, for kindergarten, there's benchmarks, fifth grade, there's benchmarks, and so on and so forth. So, we had a a a smaller percentage of our students in all of our grades that were at or above proficiency. As you look at the end of the year, we see that number increases across all of our grade levels. And while it's not yet at 50% or 75%, we see growth,

119which is a trend in the right direction that we see kids moving along those levels. Okay, so that is our double. So we looked at well below and then at proficiency. Now on average again we want to see anywhere from 75% to 80% of our students at or above efficiency and that well below number to be extremely low as well but we we're starting somewhere and we're moving in the right direction. Next in your packet and this brings me great excitement um because I think when I presented last time we our number was definitely not 246 I want to say it was about 140 but between March and June remember we had additional testing windows for I3 I am so proud to say that 71% of our scholars will be promoted to the fourth grade

120now you ask why am I excited so yes there is a new legislation in law that if students do not pass they are retained. And if this law was enacted on last year, the data was only 40 I'm sorry about 45% of those students would have been um promoted to the fourth grade. Let me say that again. Last year, this law was enacted only 45% of those students would have been promoted. This year we have 71% of our scholars that have been promoted that will be promoted to fourth grade. And I have to interject. I gave Dr. Treadwell a challenge. She and I are both uh competitive people. And I said, "Can you get me 70% at least?" And she gave me 71%. Come on, y'all can do better than that. It was hard work.

121And I will say our teachers took on the challenge. Our coaches got in those buildings, began to work with students one-on-one in small groups. And so what we've learned this year from this data point is that that small groupoup instruction is the key to our success. Right? when we do whole group instruction, it loses um some of our students, right? So, we realize that when we can really meet their individual needs um that we will see more of our students um on grade level and ready to move to the next phase. So, I'm really proud of this. >> Dr. Treadwell, does this number reflect students who were remediated during summer school? >> Yes, this is all of our third grade students. Yes. So with that, um, we know that there will be some students that

122are retained. And so what I will share with you on this slide is while we see a number of students across all of our elementary schools that will be retained, what I wanted to make sure you saw was the total number of um grade three students in their school in correlation to the number of students that were actually retained. So many of them um have extremely low numbers. In most cases, those students will fold into a class that they're currently in. Um with uh the teachers that are in the building to ensure that by the end of next year, this number decreases and we don't see an increase in the students needing to be retained. Now, we do have a plan that we have to enact to make sure that they are on track to

123being promoted in the next year. And so, um, by the Indiana code, we do have to ensure that every student that is going to be retained, um, has what is called an individualized learning plan. Now, this is not a plan that is going to be written in a back office and then the teacher just implements. We're going to invite the parents to the table because we need that partnership because what we do in the school, we need them to support at home. Um, and it's going to encourage conversations on a regular basis. And it will not be a plan that we will write in August and then we won't touch it again until the testing. Every five weeks, we're going to come back to the table using our MTSS framework to talk about the progress

124of these students, looking at their data and really course correcting along the way so that we can catch them early and get them on track to making sure that by the time they take IV3 in March again, we have students that are ready. Um, go to summer school. That is really our goal. So, we're going to use this plan. We're going to partner with the principles. Um I'm going to be um as Dr. Stokes like to say in the weeds of these plans and really holding the principal's feet to the fire about making sure that high quality instruction is happening in the class as well as small group instruction and that we're meeting the needs of every student in the classroom. What I also wanted to share with you um was our iLearn data which

125just came out July 1st. Um what I do want to note here is that we didn't get here overnight. Okay. There has been years of um what I would like to call instructional neglect that may have impacted this data along with other variables that might be out of the locus of control of the school. attendance, um, transition, truency, all of those pieces. And so I do want to highlight that we do see growth when we look at this data. Might be small, it might be incremental, right? But it's in moving in the opposite direction, right? We're not increasing um the percentages of students that are below. We're increasing at and above proficiency, which is great. But I do want to reiterate, we didn't get here overnight, but with strategic plans and support, high quality instruction,

126curriculum, professional development support, um before school, after school, tutoring, all of those things, we're going to continue to see this data change um because we realize that this is the only way we're going to um continue to support the district. And so math and literacy will be our focus. Um and as um Joe shared earlier in many of our middle schools when we look at this data um and our elementary schools some of the teachers might not yet have the credentials to really move the needle on this data and so we're going to continue providing high quality professional development um to uh build their capacity. What you see here in our math proficiency again is similar data. We see schools that are holding steady, meaning they didn't necessarily decrease, they did have increased their holding

127steady, but we do have some that are moving in four to 5% gains um in one year, which is great. Um and while there are challenges that they've had, whether it's been personnel um attendance, teacher support um we are moving in the right direction with our iLearn data and we're going to continue in that vein. But I did want to highlight, and you've heard me say this multiple times, and I do want to show you that we're standing behind what we're saying. We know the only way to change practice is to build capacity, right? We do not want to lead to chance that you have pre-ervice um education support, but that might be the last time that you've been in a classroom. And so, we're going to provide ongoing professional development. um in a few

128short weeks. We have about 90 teachers that have already signed up to come in um for two days of training. It repeats on another two days really spending time. It's to three, so they're giving up right before school comes back um to sit with us in the academic department to really work on high quality tier one planning and support. Again, you see that differentiation, small groupoup instruction. But you mentioned something earlier and we know that this is impactful to what happens in the classroom that proactive support. So we're going to spend some time looking at the cultural climate of the classroom and getting training on classroom management. And so Miss Adams is actually going to be trained and she's bringing that training right back to our teachers so that they have strategies to support students

129when they have behavioral needs so that we can really make sure that we can get back to instruction. So the board member would be interested in coming. We get to discuss that. >> Absolutely. Please come. >> So any questions, comments, um or feedback that you would like to share regarding this data? >> I I want to thank you for the the data and also um the year overyear comparison so that we can see whether or not there's some traction and growth going and I'm really looking forward to next year to see with the additional support um we can get some additional growth at the different schools. I did notice that some schools were trending more that they had a little loss as opposed to growth. So we we'll see what that looks like as well.

130>> Thank you. >> And as Dr. Sto says, I like a good challenge. So, I accept your challenge still continues to improve um this data and we're going to keep working. We have a plan and we're going to work hard today. So, thank you. >> Any additional questions, board members, comments? >> Thank you, Dr. >> Thank you. >> Move on to item number nine on >> I tell you though, we're hiring. >> Item number nine, board communications. I'd like to open the floor up to board members. Any comments? >> Mr. Chair, just one clarification. Are parents able to go to any school and register their child or is all registration for all schools taking place at West Side? >> Parents can go to any school they want to go to and register their child. But

131please be clear, I don't want your kindergartener being registered for high school. So, just make sure we know what school you're registered at. I'm just taking Okay. Exceptional care. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Any additional comments? >> I want to pass this flyer along to board members. Dr. Sto, will you take one and pass along? Um, I'm proud to announce um our mayor uh Eddie Meltton has created this year a celebration uh called the 2300 Jackson Street block party on August 29th and 30th. And I wanted to um highlight that Gary Community Schools is a gold sponsor of this event for some of our inind services by allowing the use of our Roosevelt property. But, um, I'm excited about this. We're going to have, um, Dr. Mloud, Jackie, and Marlin in town, and some

132other celebrities, including Denise Williams and Chris Tucker. So, I'd like to celebrate our Jackson family this weekend. [Music] >> Any other board, comments, communication? Dr. Stoker, let's move to item number 10 on our agenda. >> Thank you. Um, so for matters of corporation interest, Crystal, I want to talk to you about summer graduation. We are having a July 17th day at 1:00 p.m. at Westside Leadership Academy. We want to support our students who are summer graduates. We think that it is so important that it might only be 10 or 12 of them, but it is very important that we give them the same outgoings that we gave to all of our other scholars. So, for the first time in our history, we are having a summer graduation. We invite anybody out who's willing to come

133and we will celebrate the 10 or 12 students who will be crossing the stage. So, you are welcome to come and it will be live streamed if you cannot attend. Also, I want to remind us that it is July and our next board meeting will occur after, notice I said after school has started. With that being said, I want to give a shout out to our community to tell you that we cannot wait for you to come back to welcome you back. And with that being said, we want you to know the first day of school is Thursday, August what? >> Seventh. >> The 7th. Let's say it again. Thursday, August what? >> The 7th. We did not say after Labor Day. >> We did not say in September. As you just heard, attendance is

134important. We need our scholars to start Thursday, August the 7th, and we look forward to seeing you there. And we will see you at some of the activities that are occurring this summer. And if you need anything before that time, feel free to call us. But with that, enjoy the rest of your summer. We'll see you August the 7th and I'll turn it back over after I share our draft agenda. Um, and typically it is the normal agenda that we have. I do want to say we will have more items with policy under action items. And we will probably give you a recap of our graduation session and some of the back to school activities that we're having. And of course, we want to celebrate and share what happens our first day of school. With

135that, I'll turn it back over. Thank you, Dr. Stoves. I'd like to open up the floor to the board for a motion to adjurnn. So move. There's a motion on the form. Second. >> Second. Second. >> This has been moved and properly second. All in favor say I. I. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for your attendance. appreciate the meeting