September 17, 2025 MSD of Warren Township Regular School Board Meeting

001I don't know. with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you so much. And the first thing we're going to do is hand it over to the superintendent. >> Good evening, board. Um, good evening community. Some brief announcements um before we get our our meeting started tonight. I'm going to start it at the bottom of my announcements. I can't believe we're two and a half weeks away from our fall break, but just a reminder that our fall interession break is October 6th to the 17th. I don't need to remind any of our staff of that um or students probably. Um right before that, we have our parent teacher conferences on Thursday, October 2nd, the evening of. And then just a reminder that Friday, October 3rd, there is no school for students. We do utilize that

002morning for additional um time for our parents and caregivers to meet with our teachers. I want to highlight a couple um high school performing arts uh coming up uh next week. Our performing arts department students will be um presenting Chicago the teen edition. Um our kids do an amazing job. So if you get a chance to go see them, please do. The show is a little different this year. They're doing a Friday, Saturday at 7 p.m. and a Sunday at 2 p.m. And uh tickets can be purchased online. Tomorrow is our uh performing arts fall choir concert. And just a reminder for um staff, if you show your ID, you get in for free and that is at 7:00 p.m. I want to thank the Warren Township PTA Council for an outstanding homefest this year.

003Um it was a beautiful night. Um it was great to see everyone out there and our our boys football team did fantastic. Um I want to thank our leadership team. Um we are continuing to do the strategic plan presentations around the district. We just have a couple schools left. Um he is not here this evening, but I do want to recognize uh Steve Rogers was nominated or was selected as the 2025 Indiana Association of Career and Technical Ed Administrator of the Year this year. we will recognize him um at the October board meeting. And with that board, I'd like to allow the rest of my time um and call up Miss Bin Denton to the podium. [Applause] >> Yes. Hello, Warren Township. >> Is there a button? There's a button there. Green button. >> Can

004you hear me? Oh, much better. Okay. Hello, Warren Township. Thank you for having me this evening. My name is Bren Denton and I'm the chair of the awards committee for the Indiana School Counselor Association. It is my pleasure to be here with you this evening. Sorry, I'm reading notes off my phone. My printer broke earlier. Um, today I'm thrilled to join you to honor a special school counselor in Indiana. When nominated for elementary school counselor of the year, nominator Kathy Hench shared the following. Brooke Tapper brings heart, professionalism, and purpose to her work, and it shows in everything that she does. She understands that supporting students extends far beyond individual counseling sessions. It's about building a culture of care, opportunity, and resilience. One of Brook's most visible and transformative accomplishments is the schoolwide career day,

005an event she's built from the ground up and has continued to enhance over the past three years. Thanks to Brook's thoughtful planning and tireless coordination with families, community members and staff, the Liberty Park K through4 students have the opportunity to envision themselves in a wide variety of future careers. This is one of the very many reasons why Brooke has been selected as the elementary school counselor of the year for Indiana. Congratulations, Brooke. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Sorry. There we go. [Applause] picture, please. >> We're going to bring the board down, too. >> Perfect. >> The whole board down. >> I'm going to shift this over here. We're going to shift. >> We don't have any light right here. We're going to get underneath. >> Tell us how you want us. >> However you want. >> So,

006here's my center. Right here's going to be the center. Work right here in the center. Yes, please. Yes, please. >> Work right there. >> Got the blue. >> Thank you very much. >> But eventually I learn. >> Okay, everybody can see me. Ready? On the count of three. One, two, three. >> Got it. [Music] [Applause] I'm gonna hold these. Look at all your people out there. >> Thank you. The good news does not stop there. It is my pleasure to also award, I hope I say this right, to Miss Laura Butright, the administrator of the year from Indiana School Counseling Association. [Applause] [Music] D. Hold on. I lost my place. Sorry. Hold on. Under Laura's leadership and guidance, every school counsel, every school in Warren Township had obtained carrying the torch status this past year,

007which demonstrates they have a comprehensive and accountable school counseling program aligned to Indiana school counselor and student standards as well as American school counselor student standards. This is a feat that no other district in Indiana has accomplished. [Music] Her [Applause] nominator, Kristen Brown, writes, "Laura leads by example and with compassion. Her dedication to supporting our professional development as a team consistently goes above and beyond. Laura's ability to lead with vision and compassion has inspired a culture of excellence and collaboration among us. Laura loves to highlight all the wonderful counselors in our district, shining a light on the important role we serve in schools. Today, it's your turn. Congratulations, [Applause] >> my entire family. >> We'll do that out there. >> I don't know how we do this. >> Do same things as last time. >>

008Same thing. Congratulations. >> Here. Okay, here we go. Ready? One, two, three. >> Got it. >> Thank you. >> She didn't have her. >> My entire That's okay. >> Thank you. >> Sorry, there's a lot And because the joy never ends, I'm also very very proud to share that um this Monday at the Indiana School Board Association state conference, our very own Gloria Williams won the region 8 outstanding board member award. [Applause] Okay, >> one more time. They're around Gloria here in the middle. >> No. >> Okay. >> Well, I have to break up the color so you know. >> Oh, yeah. Got the blue working. So, >> together. >> It's perfect. Here we go. Ready? One, two, three. >> Got it. >> There we go. [Music] [Applause] She shows up. >> Okay. Okay. And

009now that we have had all of the revalry, we are going to have some more and we're going to move on to our spotlight which is the um Warren Central group that went to Bise. [Applause] >> You have to wait for your prize, I guess. >> Okay. She wants everyone to be able to see it. trade places. >> Can y'all hear me? >> Okay. Um, I'm Miss Dixon. >> I'm Miss Bryant. And we have with us three of the students that traveled with us to BISE this summer. We have Chance and Ni and Tessa that came to join us. And I just want to say start out by saying how proud we are to represent Walker Career Center. No one from the career center has ever taken a group of students abroad before. So, this

010was a first for us. And it was really scary, but as the students will share with you, it was an amazing experience for Miss Brian and I for sure, but the kids, it was it was absolutely not to overstate it, but I think it was lifech changing for them. >> Yeah. So, um, we put together a little slide presentation just to kind of show you what we did. And I figure you want to hear from the students more than you want to hear from me. So, I'm going to turn it over probably to Chance because the other two don't like public speaking. And let me just say about Chance though, Chance, when I tell you he probably would move to BISE in the morning if he could. He embraced everything that we wanted the students

011to get out of the ch the trip. chance got out of the trip. He became one with the island. He came one with the islanders. He participated in their cultural dances and their drums and everything that he could do to to immerse himself in the Bise culture. He did it and it was so at the risk of sounding corny, but it was so beautiful to watch because he really really loved it. So, I'm gonna let Chance talk to you a little bit. >> Okay. um chance. >> Um when I first heard about the trip, um it was our sophomore year, my sophomore year and we had about 30 people that was supposed to go and I was just glad to be going cuz I had opportunity to spend more time with Miss Bryant. She's a

012great teacher and Miss Dixon. So, it was just like a okay, I don't know where we're going. I don't know anything about it, but I trust Miss Bryant. So, we're gonna go sign up. We had visited a hot sauce shop. I didn't know where I was what I was going into, what I was looking for. We had pulled up and I'm like, "This is a hot sauce factory cuz it looked like old and it just didn't look like it didn't look like an indust industrial industrial type of place, what we're used to." But I also knew we're in a different type of place. It's a third world country, so everything is going to look different. So, I also went in there with an open mind and I can say it was a great place. Like,

013I probably learned so much in just the hour that we were there. I mean, we tried peppers. We seen how they fertilized. They used cow manure. We even got to top off some of their hot sauce just for the fun of it. And they were teaching us. It was they they don't one thing about Bise they don't have air for real like you have to find it where you can find it or you're going to be hot >> even the fans are hot it doesn't blow cold air but it is a beautiful place the people are so nice um do you have anything you want to add about the hot sauce place >> we even we tried the hot sauce the hot sauces are amazing they have like jams homes. They have regular runny hot

014sauce. I mean, it was just amazing. Something you wouldn't like know about. When we went there, their dollars, they're actually changing it from Queen Elizabeth. They recently really just got independency for their money and for their government. So, they're kind of in the middle of changing all their dollars to their leaders and people who are very strong to them. and how the money works for them. A dollar for us is two Blelesian dollars. So, a lot of things were actually a lot cheaper than you would think. I had before this trip, I went to Jamaica and everything was so expensive. Like, our money is more over there, but like a hoodie would be $90 in their currency. So, it was like, oh my goodness. When I got here, it was a relief that everything was

015just so cheap. I had so much money to just dibble and dabble in the things that they have and and really experience their culture. We got to do clay pot. That was like one of one of the favorite things that I was able to do. >> Best chance. >> It was my first time doing it. I was not the best. I think the best could go to Chris who was playing the drums and the third bottom pitcher cuz he did amazing the first try. But it was a new experience. I went into it thinking I was gonna be good. He made it look easy, but it was not. It was not. The worker made it look easy. It was totally hard. But I would recommend you to do it because it's amazing thing. It was

016a new experience. And it's how they make their money. Like if um I didn't want my pot, they could have kept it and sold it to make some money. They could have kimmed it and painted it and sewed it to one of the locals, but I wanted it and they allowed me to carve bise into it. It did break, but it was still amazing. >> Tell tell them about what was this? What was this called? >> We got to plant a orange tree. This is like the main reason I have to go back because we got to plant a tree. We called it the warrior way tree and it was beautiful. They taught us about they they have um limestone. They cut up limestone into powder and they put it into the citrus tree. The

017oranges down there are so different. Like it's not orange. It's kind of greenish. They say our oranges are sprayed. And when I say the orange juice was like amazing. It's It was like tropical punch 10 times better. And they say they don't even add sugar to it. It's just how it is. We also got to play some drums. We kind of got the flow of it, the gist of it. They were teaching us. We did it kind of as a whole class. They had so many drums out there. We were just drumming together. It was just all happy time, happy moment. >> This is where Chance became one with the island. >> Chance is going to join their hospitality department because he can sit on the island. >> If they had the videos like we

018had an amazing time with just dancing. We all like took our shoes off because they had like sand and we was just dancing to the rhythm of the beat. They had a young man out there that was doing the tribal dances and he was just teaching us and like just helping us. It was like it was like a family event, like a family reunion. Y have y normal songs y'all dance to. It's like they welcomed and and opened their arms to us like we were family. This was >> the worst part of the trip. We went scuba diving, but you could tell we were heavily unequipped or like unprepared. We didn't know what we were doing. We were just having a good time. We several we went with a different trip or different two different

019groups. Several of us caught seasickness, was hyperventilating, and this is when like everybody came together >> like >> when I say like it was over. When we first got there, it was fun. We was having a great time going underwater. They were teaching us about everything. Like we was like, it was amazing. Like we got all of >> all of a sudden I think it just spread like wildfire. One person got sick and then boom, we need help. But it was a truly um amazing trip. Like I said, when we first started, we were supposed to have about 30 people. We actually ended up going with 11. But I wouldn't want it any other way. Like the people I've known most of these people, but we connected differently when we went on a trip. It

020reminds me of we were supposed to go on a trip. I went to Crestston. We were supposed to go to DC and it got cancelled due to um co. It reminds me of that because it's just the connection. Like it opened my eyes up to so much things. And then I'm with people that I see every day and I get to know them on a different level other than just school. Even though we think we know these people because we're with them eight hours a day more than our family, but when you go somewhere out of the country and it's like a survival mode, but you're also learning. It's like a you know them on a different level. So I wouldn't want it any differently. It was a truly amazing trip. >> Can I add

021one thing? So one thing I want Chance to tell you about is what was their attitude? They have much but what was their attitude? What did you take away from >> the smallest thing it could be some grass they are happy over anything like waking up in the morning we every morning we sung a song called good morning belie that was the whole energy and the vibe of the trip we might not have been in the hotel we want like the first I when I tell you these people did not like the hotel. Oh my god, it's bugs. It's bugs. It's bugs. We don't want to be there. >> Like the first night it was like a lot of them didn't like this is our first time out of the country so we didn't know

022like oh my goodness we are going to have to get used to these lizards, these bugs, >> the sounds like every minute is something crawling on me. It was like it was just but it was funny. It was funny and it was like I'm going to love it cuz it was just like a new experience. But the people of Bise, they love everything. It's like someone who comes from nothing. So they just take everything. Like if you give them a penny, they're going to cherish the penny for the rest of their life. You give them a smile, they're going to cherish the smile. They're going to remember your face. Cuz our our tour guide, what was his name? >> Herby. Herby, he loves us. like just for us like even the ups and downs, he

023loved us. Everything even if we felt like we didn't like something, he's what do you want? We got you. We got you. We got you. What do you We We going to make it happen. We're going to make it work. You don't like the You don't like the burritos, get you chicken tenders. We know you love chicken tenders. That was everybody's like a lot of people's food like it was chicken tenders. And he picked up on it quick. Every other after the first day, he's like, "Who all wants chicken tenders? We gota what sauce you want?" like it was it was amazing. It was um it was just a new experience and she didn't overcut it or anything. It truly was life-changing. When you get to go to a new place and you experience things,

024it's like you really take um you realize what you take for granted. I mean, the air was the first thing that we realized we take for granted in America. Like it was so hard. >> I love the USA so many times when we were over there. It made them it made them appreciate so much. Can I can I can I one thing um we'll wrap it up because they're kind of in a hurry. >> Sorry guys, >> he gets carried away. Um be watching for another request because we're going to go to the Dominican Republic next if if the school board approves it. So we have our paperwork filled out. So please be on the lookout for that so we can do this with another group of kids. And Dr. Hansen asked for one thing

025when he okayed this trip was to bring him back some sand. made these travel shirts to so we wouldn't lose each other in the airport. Made one for >> Thank you all so much. >> And thanks for having us. >> Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity. >> I want to say I am so excited. I think that taking kids, you know, on trips is so educational and uh I thank the teacher for her vision and I am so happy that you guys decided to go. I am so thrilled. It was just like I was on that vacation with you when you were explaining it. But I encourage you to continue to travel because you know you learn so much. So thank you so much for your presentation. just made me feel good. Let's everybody go.

026[Applause] >> You just Thank you guys. >> Thank you for my goodies. >> You're welcome. >> You had to wait for the whole >> Thank you guys. Thanks for coming. >> Next up on our agenda, we have Miss Sydney Snarks. Starks. I said that wrong. I apologize with city announcements. Alrighty. Good evening everyone. I hope everybody's doing all right tonight. Um I have a few different announcements. So um with different dates and times and stuff, so I'll be very specific. So starting off um the Marian County Public Health Department is having back- toschool immunizations. Um, so the first one is in the Northeast District at 6042 East 21st Street. That'll be on September 20th, which is a Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon. Um, and then on an another note, the um public health department

027is also hosting healthy cooking workshops. So, basically, it's an adult nutrition um class. They're all free. Uh, re registration is um recommended, but not necessarily required. um and they're partnering with the Indie Public Libraries. Uh so that's on their uh website with different information, but something fun to do and look forward to as well. Um and then stated at the last meeting. Um so the Office of Public Health and Safety, they're still doing the food and transit. So their last uh day for that is September 23rd at 400 PM at the Transit Center. They're still doing the good good food popups. So, the next one is September 20th at the Indianapolis Parks and Rex, 2420 East Riverside Drive. Um, and then there's also a few other dates for that as well. Um, I spoke briefly

028about the AES uh rate review. So, um, there's a rate review timeline. Um, so now we're on the community openhouse phases. I have recommended um my neighbors to definitely go tune in. Um, so the next upcoming date is on a Tuesday, September 23rd, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and that's at the Julia Carson Government Center. Um, they also have another one on that Thursday, um, September 25th, 5:30 to 7:30 at the Wayne Township Center. So, a couple different dates for that as well. Um and then also for um IMPD, they um are having a recruiting event uh coming up on October 1st, which is a Wednesday. That'll be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at 9:01 North Post Road. Um they do require registration. And they're also doing um a joint IMPD um week with a

029series of events um multiple different events and they also have that publicly posted but if you want to get with me after the meeting I also have that information here as well. Um and then something exciting is the Indie Arts Council has a grant opportunity. So, um, artists and organizations in Marian County, if you have any public facing art ideas for like a park or a library or community center, um, they're providing project grants. So, the deadline is September 30th, but the funding ranges from 2,000 to $10,000. Um, so the project window is from November of this year um to November of next year. So, more to come with that as well. And then Indie Parks also has their free concert series. Um, so the next one is at the Tagert Memorial Amphitheater at Riverside

030Park on Thursday, which is tomorrow, September 18th at 7:30 p.m. Um, Monumental Concert Series. It'll be George Ben and Friends. And then they also have one on Friday as well. Um and then at the Mallister Amphitheater at Garfield Park, they have one sat Saturday, September 27th from 4 to 9 as well. So, still a fun series that's still going on um until the beginning of October, I believe. Um but more information to come on that. And then Indie Go is also having a transit takeover. Um so you can have it's on Spark on the Circle. um interact with bus drivers, learn more about the historical transit um with Indianapolis September 19th from 3:00 to 7 pm. Um and then I also the last thing I do want to announce is the Warren Township Trustees Office

031is still promoting their thrift shop. So it's open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 400 pm. Um so it's called 501 Thrift. They're still promoting it. Um, it has clothing, outwear, shoes, accessories. Um, definitely a really good tool in the community. Um, another great resource for clothing for people as well. Um, do I have any questions on anything that I went over? I know it's a lot of information. >> Do you have information on how to subscribe to your newsletter yet? >> Yeah. So, I'm working on a distribution list. Um, how I'm going to have it basically, um, I'll have my card I have my card with me. Um, if you send an email just stating, I want to subscribe to your newsletter, I'll add you to the new the distribution list to that.

032But, um, I plan to send it out at the last uh, week every month to my neighbor. So, >> email address. >> Yeah, I can give that right now. It's Sydney. So, s y dystarks s a r ksy.gov. And what was that you were saying that is due by September the 30th that you can >> Oh, the Indie Arts Council grant. So, >> um what they're doing is so it's a grant that's open um public facing art ideas. Uh it could be at your park, library, community center, or even like a neighborhood green space. Um open for creativity. Um so the funding range is 2,000 to 10,000, but I will say the deadline is the end of this month. Even though the project you have uh a year from November of this year to next

033year, >> anything dealing with art. >> Yes. The creative expression. There might be specific stipulations, but they're really just trying to get people to know about what's going on in the green opportunities. So, >> thank you. >> You mentioned uh you mentioned something about the um uh I guess the 25th Thursday on the 25th there's some u the AES town hall sort of thing. >> Yes. So they're doing >> Oh yeah, sorry. They're doing the community open houses now. >> Um so on the 25th they have one at the Wayne Township Center. Um but the first one is that Tuesday um the 23rd at the Julia Carson Government Center >> and they're they're going to be discussing this AES and >> yes the raises the hikes and all that kind of business. Mhm. So, they

034had the um the period beforehand with the public field hearings and now they're doing community open houses. Um I believe after they're still doing um hearings and then there's a phase one and then another phase as well. They've been trying to keep us in the loop. Um a lot of neighbors have had questions on it. So, I've definitely been encouraging people to attend these meetings. I know um councelor Andy went to um a meeting and I had a great feed feedback from that. So um definitely will be in attendance. I will be at the Wayne Township Center one. So if you want me to report back anything that I hear, I definitely can do that as well. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you so much for your time. >> All righty. Thank

035you. Our next item on the agenda is our school showcase with Natalie Reutder discussing adults and continuing education. >> Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen and the whole school board. Thank you guys so much for the opportunity this evening um to talk more about Warren Township's adult education program. I'm Natalie Rutder. I'm the director here at the Warren Adult Ed program. And I just wanted to start by sharing a little bit of information about our great program and then um I have the pleasure of introducing our student spotlight. So, the first thing I want to talk about is just give you an overview about adult education at Warren Township. Um, we are the biggest in the whole state of Indiana. So, we serve more parents and community members than anybody else in the whole state,

036which is over 2,000 people last year. Um, and right there we have a list kind of of the different categories of um types of programming that we offer, but I'll go into more detail. Uh, one of the biggest accomplishments that our students can achieve is the Indiana stateisssued diploma. And last year we had 269 individuals earn this diploma. This is a huge credential for them. Um, research shows that by earning this credential, your income goes up $10,000 annually. That's a lot of bills. That's a lot of school supplies. That really can change your whole life. Um so we're all very thankful that we get to do that for all of our parents. Another thing that we offer is um not only do we get to increase their income with their stateisssued diploma, but we also

037at Warren Township Adult Ed offer career certifications. All these certifications are in high demand jobs um and high demand certifications. So, that's a list of the different ones that we offer, but just to explain what they are, you're talking about things like welding, clinical medical assistant, um, CDL. These are good jobs where you can go from making $12 an hour to 25 more. $25 an hour means, you know, CDLs are they're way up there. Um, but this is another category that we're really proud of the hard work of our entire team. Um, again, Warren Township's program offered um and had more students achieve a career certification than any other program in the state of Indiana. There's a theme here I'm trying to get to. Um, and then another part of our programming that we don't

038always talk and um, brag on, but I thought if I'm going to brag, I might as well keep going. Um, we also work with Warren Central High School closely and we also work with the Warren online academy and in that what we do is we offer evening programming to seniors. So if somebody's a senior and life happens um they have a child, maybe they work full-time to support their family, they can come in the evening and earn credits towards our graduation. Um, and then another pathway that we have for our seniors, um, Dr. Hansen worked hard to pass pilot legislation to allow Warren Township seniors to also have another pathway where they get if they're if they have extreme extreme credit deficiency. Here's another pathway where they can get their HSC and it also helps

039the graduation rates for the school. So, thank you for your guys' support so that we can be so good. Um, but on to the more interesting part. Um, is let's see. So, Delila Cruz. Um, Delila began her adult education journey in 2012 and then she took a little break and came back in 2023. Um, she attended over 220 hours of class to prepare to pass her stateisssued diploma and then she earned it on May 21st of 2024. Um, but she didn't stop there. She continued going to classes and she took another uh 50 hours of class to prepare and pass for her career certification, which was the pair professional certification. Um, but I'm going to let her take the microphone and tell you guys about her time at adult ed and what she's doing now.

040I just get emotional. Um, hi, my name is Delila Cruz and as you know, I worked very hard to get my GED. It took me a little while to realize that I needed it and that I needed to work hard. But coming to um edu um I found not only uh teachers that care for you but um people that encourage you to do better to get you in the pathway of becoming successful. I am pretty proud to say that um that I was very lucky to pass driving one day by edu and to find out that they were enrolling and first I was very nervous. I was I had headache for a few days because I was thinking I need to start studying but then when I started going to edu that really changed my

041um my life and I am proud to say that I worked really hard to get my GED but not also not but my per my par profofessional right now I'm currently enrolled in IvyTech trying to get earn my uh my pathway to be a teacher at Low Elementary. [Music] So, I'm currently working as a ML assistant at Low Elementary and I am very proud that in 2029 I'll be an ML teacher. So, >> thank you so much to EDU for the opportunity and everything that they did to me and the school board for providing these services for adults. I am very very very thankful for everything. Thank you. [Applause] >> Did you guys have any questions for us? Um, I just want to say it's going to that graduation every year is definitely a big

042highlight of mine just to see um, people of all ages finally get that certification and just seeing the families and it just gives you all the warm feels. I just want to say I am so proud of you and all your accomplishments. And I just thank the teachers and the director for working so hard, you know. Let's give them another hand. >> I wish you the best. >> Thank you. >> I'd say you you picked the right school because it's where everybody is somebody special. And you are definitely somebody special. >> Yes, I am. [Applause] Thank you so much. >> Congratulations. >> Keep up the great work. >> Thank you for the >> congratulations. Always >> as you should every time. And we are going to move on to board comments starting with Miss Williams

043this month. Well, hello everyone. You know, like the kids saying, I'm on cloud nine. This is starting off to be a great meeting. Uh I have enjoyed everything thus far, all the presentations and awards. Uh it just speak volume to us here at Warren Township. And that's why, you know, I might be like a kid, but I have to go woo, you know, just like I am at a at a game because I am so proud of Warren and the things that we do here. And everybody works so hard. So I am so happy and I just want to give kudos to my board members and superintendent tonight. I am so excited. First of all, I want to thank the Lord for his many rich blessings upon me. And I want to thank the Indiana

044School Board Association for developing this new award this year uh recognizing board members in their regions. And I want to thank Howard so much and all of our board members for just seeing something in me, you know, to recognize me and and allow me to win this uh prestigious award. You know, uh we all work together. so much and you know we have been in uh we have been lucky to win uh ex uh extraordinary board exemporary board okay we have been exemporary board for the last three years and we're hoping that we do it again that so hopefully it'll be our fourth time but that's because we work so well together we don't always agree but we always come to a great solution and we work so well together um And I just thank

045each one of you. We I feel that we're a great team. We are a great village and we are blessed to be the pride of the east side. Thank you again so much. And I want to thank all of you out there for your love and support. You come to these board meetings, you're here, you're supporting us, and we couldn't do it without you. So, thank you. I I just want to say hello and uh you know uh welcome to the board meet. Uh I'm I'm I'm really glad to see uh see you all. Uh we're into the second second month and still pretty early. We're in the second month of the of the beginning of the year and uh a lot of energy and a lot of things have been have have taken place

046and and we enjoyed some of those today when uh we announced the things that were going on. uh that trip to Bise, I know those kids were excited and new experience and uh um maybe we can continue doing that sort of a thing. So, exposing our kids to a lot of other places than just, you know, Indianapolis, but uh and not a lot of a lot of more places than just the United States. Uh as as as some of you know, I'm on the development association board here and uh you know, we do a lot of looking around and and and approving uh the development of things in our in our u uh community. Um I'm going to give you an update on u a VA community-based uh outpatient clinic uh that's uh that's going

047to be up and running here pretty soon. Uh I'm not sure when they're going to be breaking ground, but uh you know, they made a presentation back in May of uh 20 uh yeah, May of 25 uh when they when they said to the Far East Side Council that they were going to bring this thing on board. And so it looks like it's it's making some headway. Uh it's going to be located at 9402st Street, uh right, you know, ground central, I guess, Warren Central, Warren Township. And uh it's going to be a a very good uh opportunity for u uh veterans who don't want to necessarily run downtown to always uh go to a clinic. It's going to be local. Um and uh we're really really looking forward to it. Again, I don't know

048when we're breaking ground, but it's going to be it's going to be it's going to be awesome uh opportunity for folks who are veterans to not have to travel very far. uh the Wahwa ery that uh you've been hearing about. Uh we don't know where that's at right now. Uh you know, you got you got 5050 um 50% of people are saying it's a wonderful thing and 50 50 other 50% are talking about it's just a gas station. Well, it's more than just a gas station, and you'll see that when uh uh we finally get that thing here. But it's a growing organization that's providing a lot of u u entertainment, hospitality, and things like that. Um, we just got back from the cube uh uh NSBA cube u uh organization that uh had their

049u meeting in uh Los Angeles and I just want to say that uh it was it was really interesting to to go to all Los Angeles and it was interesting to meet Colon Kaepernick. He was one of the guest speakers and uh you know he's most most folks know who he is. the ex uh former uh quarterback for the 49ers who uh uh is doing a lot of good stuff uh there in the community and uh he's got a youth organization that's really taking off and so he spoke on that and it was very refreshing to hear what he had to say and to see the growth that those kids are making. So I just thought I'd mention that to you. Um it was a it was a it was a good trip. It was

050a good trip overall. Um, and so I'm going to going to pass it on. >> Excuse me one moment, Rachel. Um, I would like to make sure that I emphasize our superintendent. And I say board, you know, sometimes you guys just think about just the regular board members, but I consider him part of our board, uh, our superintendent, Dr. Tim Hansen. And I want to thank you for being so supportive. Thank you so much. >> Okay. Hey, I' I've seen um billboards on that Waw Wa place. So, we'll see. It's on billboards on that Waw Wa. >> Yeah. Yeah, we got some in the community. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um my favorite topic right now, the safety and health fair. Um it is coming right along. right now. If you are a parent and you

051have children in your car and you do not have car seats or if you have car seats but you would like to make sure they are in properly, um that is one thing you can do at our fair. Um there will be very shortly information coming out about that. You that is a pre-register event. So you'll have to pre-register for that. Um also we are having a blood drive. Um, so if you want to um get a lot of information from us and have a lot of fun and activities and you want to give back to your community, you can do that by attending our blood drive as well. That will also be a pre-register, but you can also walk in. Um we are having um a senior citizen zone, the golden safety zone, and

052we're going to have the YMCA there that will be helping with um exercises and um slip and fall information and um I think they're doing blood pressure checks and sharing information on their silver slippers. Um, we have Touch a Truck with a fire truck, a police car, and hopefully an ambulance we're still working on. Um, we have the drug-free, the Decatur Township Drug Free Coalition that is going to have a truck there. Uh parents over 21 can go through that or anybody over 21 can go through that and and see a kid's bedroom and um find out things about your child. You know, um some mental health things and you know if they are into drugs, you can find out locations. It's just a lot of a lot of good information that you can get

053there. Signs to watch for things like that. Um we have um LSAN is not here tonight but her um therapeutic uh animal husbandry um thing. So there will be animals there for the kids to see and such. Um we are having all kinds of stuff. So I encourage you to all come out. We're still working on bicycle helmets. Keep your fingers crossed we find some bicycle helmets for you. Um, but we have uh all kinds of stuff and uh we have the Indie Peace Group coming, Indie Champions on Domestic Violence and Indie uh conflict. We have the police police athletic league that will be there sharing information on uh their athletic information for kids. Um the office of public safety will be there with food tenant information and behavioral health information. Um, I want to

054thank um LSA. She's going to be there with her um Marian County Youth Violence Prevention Group um as well. And um James Taylor from MCRC, he's been very instrumental in helping me with things and he's going to help push out some advertising for me. and um just everybody who has um put a hand in there somewhere. Thank you very much because this is a task that it takes a lot to make it work and you all are very helpful with that. So, thank you. And it's October 25th, 9 in the morning to 12 at noon at the high school door 25. Mr. Hungry Good evening everyone. I'd like to also congratulate all our recipients for all the awards that were presented today and the outstanding work that we do in the public and for the

055community. And also as to piggyback on what everyone else has stated, we uh did attend a conference uh last week in LA and we also had one the last two days downtown. So, we've been busy. um learning, trying to improve and do more and learn more and it's always refreshing to um see what others are doing and across the state. And I was impressed by a few stories and testimonies and one that was given just the other day downtown. Our mother spoke about u the love and dedication and appreciation she has for educators because you give so much to children. And it's uh the classic um unspoken word and the the true heroes that nobody knows what you do and all the work you put into it. So that was a really touching story how

056you personally touched not only her child but her family and his life and his future for all the work that you always do and that's that's just who you are and the kind of people you are. So that was really appreciated. So, I won't take too much more time, but uh everything is appreciated. We love it and we're going to keep this thing going and this is the way we do it out here. Warren, >> good evening everyone and again congratulations to all of the lovely awards and especially to our kids who got to go to BISE. Hopefully, you know, that's our goal is to give kids experiences that are outside of the classroom. That is key. Um, piggybacking, I also went to Cube. Um, I will tell you it puts I feel like I've

057seen almost everybody on this board every day for a week. Um, more than I see them probably in two months. But, um, great collaboration. It's interesting. We've been a state with vouchers and, um, going there and hearing other districts from other states saying, "Oh, we just got vouchers. What do you know? What can you tell us?" Um so that was always good conversation. Um the speakers were amazing. Brought back some um information that hopefully um will be used in our classrooms. Um saw amazing responses to literature that was different than inside the classroom where um kids get to respond um by creating their own voice. Um Kevin went to a workshop which I wish you would have talked about the artificial intelligence and that story is amazing. So if you get the opportunity talk to

058Kevin um and then Monday morning back at conference again um Gloria congratulations with your award. But it's always great to talk to people across the country and then really collaborate with your neighbors here in the state um because we're all facing the same issues and trying to fill those gaps. But um professional development is why we're here and also to serve. So thank you for everything and your support and teachers as we get ready for break and students enjoy the break relax and just breathe easy. Um, we're all very long-winded this evening and I'm unfortunately not going to not be longwinded. So, there we go. Um, I wanted to really discuss the school showcase um, pretty quickly here. Um, Natalie has an amazing program. Um, we are the largest and I think without any doubt

059the best program in the state and she is currently doing it with significantly less funding than she has in previous years. um she has received major cuts in both state and federal funding um to this program which we see the positive results of each and every day in Warren Township. Um Delilah was here speaking. We now have an excellent employee at LOL who's going on to and is working on getting her um teacher teaching credential as well that is currently in the classroom that has graduated. um they are teaching adults who do not speak English each and every day. They are working on making sure that students have those high school credentials each and every day as well as other credentials so that they can get jobs so that our neighbors and the people in

060our community can have better lives. And she's doing it with less and less support on the state and federal level. And so it's just really it I feel it would be remiss to discuss the program without discussing the cuts that have been allowed to occur. And so if you get any chance out there, we are always asking you to advocate for things. But I arguably our adult education program is one of the strongest programs we have in this district and it is one of the most worthy and best ways to invest a dollar um whether it is state money or federal money. And so if you can be out there and to talk to people, other elected officials, and express your support for the program and for what it does and for the funding that

061it needs, because teachers do not magically grow on trees, and they also have to get enough money so that they can work and eat and lead decent lives. And credentials are not cheap. They don't just appear one day with all of the welding equipment and all of the sterile tubing that you have to have in order to learn how to do phabbotomy and all of those things. Um it's just it's a really important program that is getting that is under attack. And so I just wanted to support it and to really encourage others to do so when they get the chance. And with that we'll be shorter at the end I promise. Do we have any board correspondents? >> No, we do not, Madam President. >> We do not. Do we have any blue cards?

062>> No, we do not. >> See, we can get through things. Um, next is the consent agenda. Um, this evening on the consent agenda, we have the approval of minutes, various financial reports, human resources reports, um, field trips, permission to accept gifts and grants, change orders, contracts, use of school property. Um, do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Julie has made a motion. Is there a second? >> I second. >> And Gloria has seconded it. Is there any discussion? Hearing and seeing none. Do you believe the votes going to be open? My computer went out, you guys. Come on. And the motion carries. Um, we are going to move on to our reports beginning with Miss Park. All right. Good evening, um, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. I'm excited tonight

063to just share a little bit of an update regarding our dual language and multilingual learner programming. I always look forward to this every year and being able to provide um some updates regarding our program. Um this again these both of these programs really target the the schoolboard goals as well as your strategic plan as far as investing in academic excellence and student achievement as well as just investing in people within our district. And um I really appreciate um all the opportunities that we have with these programs. Um to get us started, I want to say happy Hispanic Heritage Month. I feel like our dual language program is a great um highlight to kind of kick off um that month. Um again, our dual language program right now is at Pleasant Run Elementary as well as

064Stonybrook. Um this gives you kind of an overview of what our numbers are um by grade level for 1 through 8th grade. Um we do continue to remain pretty constant with our population. Um and it's great. I mean, it is awesome to see our students um being bilingual. They're using both English and Spanish on a daily basis. Some of these pictures really highlight that them being able to stand up and present as well as um write stories in both languages and even share those with their families. Um and also just even being able to celebrate um just all the different um places, countries. I love that we targeted that earlier today with a presentation from BISE. But even being able just to look at a variety of other countries and you know being able to

065say that's where I'm from, that's where my families are from. And so I think that it's just a great opportunity for our students. Um, one thing that I'm really excited about for our dual language program this year, especially with the adoption of the CKLA through Amplify, um, our K5, um, students also were able to have an opportunity to work with the Caminos, which is a companion Spanish language arts program. Um, so this does match, um, the CKLA portion that a lot of our English classrooms are working on. And so um this one again it has knowledge which is kono simeto as well as skills which is the leto escura and so our students are doing that in both languages. So our teachers are having an opportunity to collaborate with one another um really trying to

066target those um skills in both knowledge and the skills that they need in both English and Spanish. Um even this summer we were able to spend some time together to allow the teachers to plan and collaborate together. Um, and I think that that was very powerful for them to be able to do that. So, real excited that we can have that addition to our program. Moving on to our multilingual learner program. Um, again, this is a great overview of just our population growth. Um, again, you can see that we continue to grow. Um, right now we have about students in our district that are part of our program that are receiving services on a daily basis, K through um, K through 12. Um, we also have a population of students at our early childhood center

067that we're not necessarily targeting with specific services, but we have bilingual assistants that are there with them. So, we have a lot of students that are getting support on a daily basis. This gives an overview of the languages that are represented in our um district. We are up to 47 languages um which I'm sorry, wait, let me change that. 41 languages. I apologize. Last year we had 37 languages, but this year we're up to 41 languages. Um, this graphic illustrates all of the languages that are in Warren right now. Um, I did list the top five. I always like to do that every year. Spanish continues to be our number one language, followed by Haitian Creole. And then the new one this year is Swahili. So, we've actually grown to 21 students in our district

068that speak Swahili. And these numbers do represent students that are receiving services as well as students that have maybe exited our program or maybe that didn't qualify for services upon um enrollment into school. But it at least gives you an idea of kind of the numbers. But it's great to see just all of the languages that are represented here in Warren. Speaking of the languages, what does that look like for home and school connections? Um that's a lot. Um and really again I loved having um Dalia up here earlier because she represents um our staff that we've invested in. So we are fortunate to have a lot of bilingual instructional assistants as well as ML teachers that are bilingual. Um we have teachers that speak Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French that are in the district.

069Um we also have um the parent square app that we use that is able to send and receive messages. um parents can, you know, get messages in the native language of their choice. Um we also have invested in pocket talks and translate live devices to try to help support our office staff with communicating with families. And then probably the one that is utilized the most is our LTC language solutions or interpreting services. Um, the LTC language solution is one that is a phone interpreting service that all classroom teachers have access to, buildings have access to that if they need to make a phone call or contact a parent, they can do so 247. So, it's a great resource that we have and they support several languages. Um, one of the other things that I think

070is also amazing is this doesn't even include all of the custodial staff or cafeteria service workers and as well as even bus drivers. I think I was at a building earlier today and we did highlight like we have bus drivers that speak Creole that will jump off the bus to help support with family communication. And so I just love seeing that that we're able to to really support one another in that. The other highlight that kind of goes along with our um thinking of our amplify adoption as well as our CKLA is the language studio that we've been able to adopt as well. Um so language studio is a English language development program that goes along it's a companion with the CKLA knowledge portion that our K5 students are receiving. And what's great about this

071is it's an opportunity for students to have 30 minutes of really targeted instruction to support their English language development. Um that does go along with what they're learning in class. So it is a support that's a tier one support that is there to help them learning the language and the content simultaneously. What I love about the language studio program is that it does do some preview of a lesson that they're going to receive with their classroom teacher. It does a review of a lesson that they're going to rece or a review of what they've already learned with their classroom teacher. They might target specific vocabulary that they're learning. Um they may be looking at language like really digging into like some grammar that they need to work on. Um but probably my favorite is that

072they're getting to swirl. So every day they're getting to swirl and that is speak, write, interact, read, and listen on a daily basis. Um, and that is what's most important when we look at really trying to push our kids to proficiency. They need to be able to do all of those things. And I feel like Language Studio has been a great addition um to help us with that. So what are some of our teachers saying about that? I love the pictures because I feel like they illustrate a lot of that swirling that is happening on a regular basis. But here's what some of the ML teachers are saying. You know, the students are interested because they're learning content and they're talking more. They said it's been helpful with building vocabulary, reviewing some things that they

073may have struggled with. Um the content is connected to what they're learning in the classroom. Um so the students are more engaged. um the students are talking about what they're learning with their classroom teachers. So, they're really trying to make those connections and then they also really see the impact in the speaking, writing, and vocabulary development. So, they're seeing kids move forward with their English proficiency, which is what the goal is of our program. And lastly, it's really thinking about what are the classroom teachers saying. Um, and these are lengthy and I apologize for the length of them, but I I wanted to include all of it and I'm going to read them because I think this is probably where um the biggest um love comes for me is hearing what the classroom teachers have

074to say about the program. So, one first grade teacher said, "I've noticed that the students are participating more because they understand the lesson. For example, I asked the students if anyone knew how many bones are in the body. One ML student was able to answer the question correctly. When I asked her how she knew that, the student replied, "The teacher in the other classroom way down there told us." I love that. A second grade teacher, "I've been so pleased with the confidence my students have developed with Language Studio. Having the CKL lesson front-loaded allows one of my very shy students to feel more confident to raise his hand and participate more frequently in class discussions. The smile on his face is heartwarming." a fifth grade teacher. A student was excited to tell me what they

075were learning that day. She was familiar with because she had seen the information ahead of time. As the classroom teacher, it made me very happy for a few reasons. Number one, this student doesn't talk about academic things and it was wonderful to hear that from her. She made a connection. Number two, I know research shows that if a student has more exposure to academic material, they are more likely to retain it. This is a win-win for all of us. And finally, another second grade teacher. The students are excited to share what they've learned about each lesson before I begin to teach it. One of my ML students actually took over the lesson on calligraphy and was correctly telling the other students about it. So, I love these examples because I feel like this is great

076to see that feedback coming from our ML teachers as well as our classroom teachers. And we're still early on. We're only in the second month of this. There's definitely growing pains and we're learning and we're pushing through it, but I'm excited to to see some of this feedback coming forward and I'm looking forward to seeing just the growth our students are going to make in their language development. So, I'll take any questions that you guys might have either about our dual language program or our EDML program. >> I think I'm going to enroll in your class. >> Thank you. Always happy to have visits. Yes, >> I think we're good. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Next report, the 2627 redistricting update. Mr. Clinton. All right, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the

077board, and to our Warren community. Uh, with the brief time I have this evening, I want to provide an update on our enrollment management and redistricting plan. And before we start, everybody take a deep breath. All right, we're going to get through this. And you know, the reason why I'm so optimistic about this is um you know, the the word is out and we're already starting to have some great conversations with staff uh with our students and you know, I'll touch on that a little bit. Um obviously, we've had some some very high level conversation amongst each other over the past couple months and that's the way it should be. Um, the great thing about serving this community and and working with all of you is that we're not afraid to do big things. We're

078not afraid to take big challenges on. And we're also pretty good at involving our community and and guiding them through as we have these these challenging conversations. We know this is one of those few things that we do um every 10 to 15 years, right, that it touches every single family in our community. And I know we don't take that that obligation we have for granted. Also, I want to make sure that as we navigate these conversations that we understand our school board goals and our strategic plan focus, this is our guide. This is our guide. And what I mean by that specifically, if you just allow me just to touch on that, when we talk about invest in academic excellence and student achievement, our enrollment management plan aims to balance enrollment across all schools.

079We know we have some imbalances in some buildings. And this will help us this will help us ensure that every student has the same access to high quality education and provides opportunities to achieve academic excellence as it states there. Additionally, by providing equitable access to programs like high ability, which I'll touch on, we directly support the district's goal of maximizing student achievement. When we talk about the the the second area of meet the needs of the whole child, understand that we've had a lot of conversation just around how this will better prepare our students academically. But we can't focus exclusively on the academic needs because as we know redistricting impacts things like school start times and that's something that we're taking a look at as well, the social emotional well-being. um by understanding and dissecting

080and breaking these things down, we'll be able to uh create the supports that we need during this transition and afterwards. So again, it's it's academically focused and driven um as we try to put our students in the the best positions possible to be successful, but also there it's about the whole child and and looking at all those needs. Um, and ultimately, as we said, specifically as it relates to our fifth grade students, by moving our our fifth grade students back to elementary schools, we focus on creating more supportive educational um environment um as part of their journey during a critical development stage. We're invested in our people. We understand that we talk a lot about the movement, potential movement of students, but this also includes adults, right? and we haven't talked a lot about that,

081but we will um we've already received a lot of feedback through our surveys um from adults and just how they will be affected by that. So, as we look at the formation of our committees, we will have a committee that specifically focuses on the movement of teachers, administrators, support staff, and understanding that um we want to ensure the district can effectively invest in our people by providing them with the supports that they need and the resources they need as they make this transition. As already spoke about, we are already engaging, involving our community in this process. Um, it is essential that we receive feedback and that we collaborate with our community. A week ago, Dr. Hansen sent out a survey as part of his his Wednesday message. We already have 200 respondents. All right. So,

082um, we're this is this is something that's different, which we know it is, and we're going to have more respondents. It's only been out a week. We have 200. And what's so neat about this, you know, the survey and getting it out there, it's not just about the feedback, but it's the type of feedback that we have because we have student feedback, which I think is amazing. We have uh staff, faculty feedback, we have community feedback, we have administrator feedback. Okay. And we're already disagregating and breaking that information down as we go. And then finally, operationally, how can we be more effective? And then also um making sure that we um align that with our our safety initiatives as well. Um how will this transition allow us to be more fiscally responsible? How will it

083allow us to ensure the safety that we're committed to each and every day for our students? So again, I go through our strategic plan focus and our board goals because as we shape and mold this conversation, this is it. This is our commitment. This is our focus. So I encourage all of us again as we have these conversations to truly focus in on um and align our conversations around our focus. Again, a reminder to all of us is we have to have our elevator speech ready, right? We have to remind everyone, why are we doing this? How many of you have been asked that question? Well, well, why? Well, why now? We've had that conversation amongst each other. And when we engage our community starting next Monday and Tuesday, Monday at Crestston, then Tuesday and

084Wednesday, um that's going to be one of the questions that we have to to answer. So every time we engage in this conversation um we have to be prepared for that. So I just want to kind of you know touch on some of these things which you know we talked about enrollment management that is the term that we're using because that is the process again we know we have some imbalances. How can we better balance our schools? We understand what what the the action that was taken around this process 15 years ago. there were some factors that were unique and specific to that time period. Well, it's 2025 now and we understand that our challenges in our district, some are similar yet there are others that are different. So, we have to make sure that

085we account for that. But when we look at enrollment um management at our elementary schools, this initiative aims to ensure that every child has access to quality education in a manage manageable school environment. Overcrowded classrooms can hinder personalized instruction while underutilized schools may mean resources aren't allocated efficiently. Balancing enrollment will lead to smaller, more engaging classroom where teachers can provide individualized attention. And for parents in the community, that fosters that the sense of trust and pride the district's com district's uh commitment to fairness and excellence. As I mentioned before, um, one of our, I would say, key initiatives of this process is how do we re reintegrate the fifth grade students back into the elementary schools. All right. And I just want to give a brief history. How many of you were a part of

086this township? Okay, Rachel. >> Pre994. >> All right. So, Greg. Okay, Katie. All right. So, those of you that attended school prior to 1994, you do remember when our elementary schools were K through six. You guys remember that? Our elementary schools were K through six, our middle schools were 7, 8, nine, and our high school was 10 through 12. Well, that all changed in 1994 when we opened up Raymond Park. And strategically because of the shift we had some movements because now the ninth grade went to the high school. You remember that Rachel? >> I was not part of that. But >> but after me got to be >> Kate was. Greg was. All right. Greg, you you that old? >> That was me. >> All right. We're gonna put your picture up. All right.

087We got you. >> We graduated. >> We didn't know you. Yeah. You're famous. >> The construction. They got the actual building. So in 1994, the ninth grade left the middle schools, went to the high school. So now our high schools were 9 through 12. As a result, the sixth grade, which was originally in the elementary schools, moved from elementary to the middle schools. So then our middle schools were six, seven, eight, which left our elementarymentaries K through five. That was the case until we we showed up, right? >> And we messed everything up. Now, well, we changed things in 2010 based on the circumstances we had at the time and the challenges we had. And at that time, that's when we moved the fifth grade from the elementarymentaries to the the creation of our intermediate

088schools, which leaves our current configuration of K through four at the elementary level. All right. I share that history and provide that perspective because not only have we made big decisions in the past, not only have we had actually K through six at our elementary schools and I we have a lot of our elementary principles here like yeah I don't know about that but um but we understand and again same buildings we understand that these things can be done but we have to survey we have to research We have to go through that process of what does that look like today? And it's just not about space. All right? When we talk about the demographic study, we're talking about space, right? It's about not just space, but it's about programs. It's about transition. It's about

089all those things we laid out in our strategic focus. We have to make sure that all those things fit. We have to make sure that again, we're accounting for what's in the best need of the whole child. We have to ensure a stable consistent learning environment. And what do we mean by that? We have to be consistent. A stable and consistent environment is crucial to the strong educational experience especially well I would say for all students but especially for our high ability students. And I and I and I pull our high ability students out because if you look at our current model of what we have right now, we offer high ability at the elementary school at three elementary schools, which means that our other six elementaryaries, we have they have to actually be transported

090to those schools in order to receive that high quality instruction. All right. Now, those of you that have that are parents that have had students that have had to um either be transported or part of that process, that is a loss of instructional time. Imagine going to school, going to your home school, and then waiting for another bus to pick you up to transport you to a second school. And sometimes, as you guys know, buses have challenges, you know, just depending on what's going on, right? So, sometimes we but we have to ensure we get them there on time. And then in order to make sure that they don't miss their bus at their home school, we have to pick them up and take them back to their home school. All right. We've done a

091tremendous job of navigating this process as best as we can, but we know we can do better. And if we're going to go through this process and if we're going to reintegrate fifth graders back, then we have to make sure that we create equitable opportunities at all of our buildings. So our mission, our commitment is to put high ability programs at n all nine elementary schools. It's important our parents understand that. And again, that's that's a focus. But as we go through this process, we're going to realize there's other things too that we need to make sure that are reflective at all of our buildings. And I know Miss Miss Williams, you talk about this all the time. Our kids need to have a the the same experience in all of our buildings, whether it's

092facilities, whether it's classrooms, whether it's uh the quality of education, whether it's our leadership, everything needs to be equitable. So, as again as we navigate this, we're going to discover some things that we need to factor in as well as we look at ensuring a consistent learning environment. And then also redesign our middle schools with a college and career focus. That's very important as well. And again, we and you know, our our um you know, Dr. Anderson, Ryan, they do a phenomenal job, you know, working with our our middle school leadership. um we know we have some challenges there. We know we have to do some things differently and they're committed to that process and they're starting with the basic fundamentals of just preparing and teaching right that's the starting point but then we also

093have to think outside the box in terms of what can we do to make ensure that our students are prepared and that we're going to help them navigate that educational journey. How are we going to prepare them for high school? How are we going to prepare them for the workforce? and how are we going to prepare them for higher education if that's what they want to pursue. Right? So, as we're having this conversations around the middle schools, we understand if we successfully reintegrate the fifth grade back into elementary schools, there's some opportunities at the middle school level. There's some opportunities at that six, seven, and eight. And this is probably one of the areas I'm most excited about. But again, it's about ensuring that um we're using this as an opportunity to to reimagine and

094recreate and continue to focus on those basic fundamentals of learning which we know that's going to help elevate our student experience. It's going to help elevate us and help us achieve that academic excellence. Some other information I want to share with you. Um, we had an opportunity to take a look at start times. Now, just putting this out there, we may go through this process. This isn't something that, you know, we're going and say, "Hey, we're definitely changing start times." We're that's that's not what we're approaching this with. We're just using this this study, this research to take a look at things. So what we did last week in starting this process, we took a look at 19 school districts around central Indiana. 10 in Marian County, 10 school districts from Marian County, five from

095Hamilton County, and four from Hancock County. And we looked at at start times and and pretty much what we concluded or what we what we discovered throughout that process is that high schools from again 19 school districts. High schools generally have the earliest start times which that's what we currently have, right? Um typically between 7:15 and 8:30 a.m. often to accommodate extracurricular activities and bus routes. All right, that's from the 19 again, those 19 school districts, the majority, their high schools were part of what we refer to as that tier one. The middle schools fall in the middle, no pun intended, with start times usually ranging from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. And then the elementary schools consistently have the latest start times, generally beginning between 8:30 and 9:20 a.m. Also, part of this research,

096I had a chance to start to speak with some of our Marian County districts. And again, just, you know, the the way I lay the question out. Okay, give me your your horror stories from redistricting. All right, the do's and don'ts. And uh two of our Marian County districts um switched their elementary to tier one six years ago. and they're still getting push back from some parents about making that move for, you know, reasons that, you know, you can kind of look at is, you know, as far as just that that early start time. Um, and siblings that, you know, they're either part of that that um middle or high school level, you know, how are they affected by that? That means they get home before the siblings do, and that can create some challenges

097for for some families. Um but again this is just and these are part of the discussions we're going to have with our committee but understand as we collect this feedback this will be some of the concerns that our parents are going to share. All right so we're you know again we're taking a look at it and as you can see this is just a sample of the feedback that we receive right now. It'll be even more interesting to hear the feedback we receive from our community because ultimately we're collaborating with our with our community as as we got go through this process and and make decisions. The last thing I want to share with you is just provide kind of an overview. And again, I I I thank the board as we're able to move

098forward with this this process um you know, with our agreement with with Walpert, which is going to play a key role in in helping us uh navigate this process. And what I just want to share with you the the four steps or the four phases of this process. And I mentioned kind of touched on this before, but one of the first things we're going to do is we're going to take a look at a capacity calculations. We have to go to all of our elementary schools and we're going to look at every single space. And part of that calculation, we have to decide what would each what will each building look like if you know we once we go through that process and reintegrate another grade level back into that building, what will that look?

099do we have the capacity? That's they're going that's one of the first steps and part of that process um you know as they as they do that is they will give us recommendations from there. Uh but this process is estimated to take about four weeks and includes the data collection and final report that they will prepare for the board. All right. The second part part of that is enrollment projections. So with enrollment projections, this is about an eight-week process and it involves data collection, some of the terms that that they shared with us before, geocoding, identifying trends in terms of our enrollment and projecting in uh projecting enrollment. And Walper will use a cohort cohort survival meth method for these projections. So before you ask me what is a cohort survival method, um I got

100an answer for you. It consists of four things. It's the calculation of historical ratios. Then they'll look at the average ratios. They project kindergarten enrollment. And then the final thing is they forecast future enrollment. why they call it a survival cohort method in part because they take that kindergarten class and historically how many are we losing or how how many are we gaining um throughout the movement of that process. All right. So again it consists of they calculate those historical ratios then they look at the average ratio they project kindergarten enrollment and with that they're able to forecast future enrollment. Okay, the third phase of that is a student potential analysis. This will take about 12 weeks and this involves a data collection analysis to develop a student yield model. This model will help forecast

101long-term student potential by by accounting for enrollment decline established subdivisions. So, they're going to take a look at all of our subdivisions and look at it from a historical perspective and say, "Okay, this subdivision, either it's a let's just say households that that that no longer have kids in school, or these are households where um the majority of these kids are going to schools outside of Warren. Maybe they're going to a private school. Maybe they're going to um a district outside of Warren. Or they'll be able to tell us, okay, this is a district that is growing. All right, this district is growing and it's located to another district that is I'm sorry, a subdivision that's growing and it's located to another subdivision that's growing. All right, so that's part of that analysis. And then

102the last thing is that attendance boundary analysis. This will probably get the not necessarily the most debate, but this is what parents want to know. What do these boundaries look like? We know what they've looked like for the last 15 years. What changes are coming? You guys know. Tell us. Well, this is what this study is going to help us identify. This is the most extensive and collaborative part of the project. It involves a multi-step process including community outreach with meetings and surveys and guide boundaries. And just understand once they go through this process they will present a report to the board and the board will have the the final say so with our community collab collaboration and feedback. You guys will have the final say so on whatever boundaries they present. They're going to

103present it based on the research and the process that they go through. But they don't make the final decision. You do. All right. Our next steps, as I mentioned, we engage in our our first um community dialogues which uh this Monday at Crestston, Tuesday at Stonybrook, Wednesday at Raymond Park. As I share with you, we've already started the surveys. We already have 200 respondents and we're excited about that. And that's we'll as we have our conversations and our updates, we'll we'll share that with you. >> Let me I hate to interrupt, but how many surveys did you say? >> We sent out the first survey a week ago, last Wednesday. >> How many participants? >> Uh as of from last Wednesday, as of today, 200 >> 200 people >> 200 respondents. >> And who are

104these respondents? >> Students. students, >> staff, our faculty members, community, parents. >> Yes, we send it out every day. >> Um, right now we're sending out the first two once we resend it out. It's out there, but we resend it out every week. that we might get a better response if you send it out every day because um you know we want to try to get as many as possible. >> Yeah, that's that's very doable. What I would say is that starting Monday and we have the opportunity to engage our community. We can ask them specifically, have you received this? What's the most effective way for you to receive this? We can take that feedback. Some of them may say you need to put it on Facebook. you may put it on, you may you

105may need to put it, you know, at the post office. That's where that feedback is going to come into play. And, you know, we'll be able to ask them specifically what is the best way to communicate and make sure that we get you the the information that you need to participate in this process. >> Now, you got 200 already. >> Yes, sir. >> And you're going to continue sending this survey out? >> Yes. And it went out again today. >> Sorry. >> And it went out again today. And this might not be a fair question to ask right now, but how many you think you'll end up? >> How many respondents do you think you'll end up? >> Well, we we let's just let's just say we hope to have over a thousand, >> Marcus.

106Can you clarify the time of these meetings? >> Six to eight. >> The survey will stay open the entire process. So, the way the survey is written, it's it's open-ended, so it's not time-sensitive. The questions are, what would you like the district to be thinking about in terms of moving fifth graders back to elementary schools? So, as we put out more information, the idea really is to collect any information up front that you know what, we didn't think about that. I'm glad we got that that input. Um, so the survey will stay open the entire process. Walpert is also going to ask some questions of our community and we'll get that out in multiple ways. We do know that online surveys don't reach all of our families. So, we will have a paper option um

107as well, but we felt it was important to open up that conversation with our families before our first in-person engagement. So, for the fact that we have over 200, we're thrilled with, as Marcus mentioned, we've already done some analysis of some of that feedback and kind of themed it. And, um, you know, look, there there are some concerns out there, as there should be. That means our folks are invested. Um, and there's a lot of questions out there and there's a lot of Yes, do that. It's out there, too. So, we'll keep you we'll keep the board updated on on numbers and the information we're hearing >> and that link will live on the website as well, our surveys and and and quite honestly um the entire process as we as we u navigate this

108we will use our our website as a a hub for um surveys and and all the information that we communicate out to families. You know, um I I loved uh when Tim always would come out with his slogan, 10 times, 10 different ways. I love that. And I just sort of stick in my mind, have we implemented it 10 different ways? 10 times, 10 different ways. Do we have Can you say that we are doing it 10 different ways? >> What >> how many ways are we doing it so far? So far, >> so far >> I probably can't speak to >> the delivery method, but >> yeah, I love my 10 times 10 ways, too. Um, >> I love it. >> We're This is one of the ways right here, right? And we have

109eight board seven board members and that's seven ways because you're going to get a lot of questions and I think being able to um respond with the information that's being provided here, direct them to the website for more information. We'll have an FAQ. We'll have um we're going to record one of the sessions. We'll have that recording online. You and I spoke earlier this week. We're using social media platforms. We are sending home paper copies, Lamara, tomorrow. So, we're sending home paper copies that have been translated into Spanish Haitian Creole. Um I saw it. It was in the Indie Far East magazine today. Thank you, Dennis. So on the back page there, you'll see that I would say we probably have one more way to do it. I know there's been a recommendation around mail.

110Um that's not reliable right now for us to to use mail. Um not to say that we won't keep it on the list of possibilities, but due to the timing of some of the things that we're wanting to do, um that is not what we've not exercised that one yet. >> And Dr. Mr. Hansen, also the way we've communicated with staff with our strategic plan meetings in the mornings. >> Yes, I think we're at 11. I think we're at 11. >> So, yeah, that that's that's 11. Yes. >> Okay. Uh what about our students? Um you know, we have student council. Uh we have our radio in the high schools. Have we tried utilizing our students? I believe in trying to get everybody involved, even our students. So, I didn't hear anything about our students.

111Can Can we get them involved? So, the students were invited to take this survey. The the interesting thing about this, not that high school kids, obviously they will be impacted by the potential start times. Most of this is K8. Um, seniors, they're like, I'm out of here. You know, it won't impact seniors because they won't be here next year. Um, so I like the idea of using this platforms that we have at the high school. You know, we're just getting started. So, I think it's going to be a long process. We're our focus right now is on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Really getting our families in front of us. Um, and I think we've done a good job of getting it out there. Um, you know, I would ask everyone in the community, put them on

112your platforms, board, if you could put it on your platforms. Um, because we also know that just because we put it out on social media, it doesn't guarantee that it's going to be seen. I think part of the 10 x 10 ways is Lamar puts it out every other day. We've asked our principles in the back to put it on their newsletters. Um, so we'll continue to do it. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of next week, we will send home phone calls during the day to remind families. Right now, phone is probably our most reliable communication platform. >> And one last thing, um, and to involve our community, you know, many of our families work through the churches and so therefore we have a lot of churches in in our neighborhood. Have you sent out any information

113to the churches to where they can have that literature and share it with parents because some of the parents that may not get it other ways, they can get it through the church. >> That's a great idea. >> We'll add that to our list. Um, I'm going to ask Lamar to correct my math here. Lamar, we have a 98% open rate on Parent Square. >> We're we're we're doing good on that on that spot. >> Great discussion. Great ideas. Thank you. Thank you so much. And with that, Mr. Humphre, yellow cards. >> No, we do not. >> Sweet. And we are going to move on to action items. And Terry is sitting there looking at me because she would like to make the motion for the first action time. Terry, would you like to read

114what that will be? >> I'm so excited about this. We are um on the floor for a motion today. Is moving the board meeting start time to 6:30 instead of seven. >> And is that your motion, Terry? >> I Terry Amos would love to make that motion. >> I I will second that motion. >> Well, maybe we should let Gloria second it. You want to second that >> so we can get out early. Okay, I'll second. Okay. So, we have a motion and a second. Do we have any further discussion? >> This was not just for the board. Um, honestly, knowing that our cabinet works all day and then they stay around late every evening for this board meeting and sometimes they can go two hours or so. Um, just being cognizant of your time

115and really valuing you as a person and making sure you have family time, too. >> Y'all like this like Do you prefer 11 o'clock p.m.? >> Yeah. And this will start at the next um regular board meeting which is in October. And everyone should have the vote. >> Yay. Oh my gosh, it passed unanimously. >> I do have to say um Gloria and her friends went to LA a little before us and they went to the prices, right? And so at dinner one night, Gloria asked me to give my best enthusiasm. She told me I wouldn't get picked, but I think after that I would. >> Um now, can I say something real quick? This does not mean you get to talk at board meetings. This This is to get it faster. Get us get

116us get us out earlier. If you talk more, they're going to have to stay longer. >> Well, don't you guys give me anything that I have to really talk about now. You all know how I am. >> Uh that that's not how that works. Okay. So, the next um kind of housekeeping thing is significantly more boring, but still a good thing to be able to do. Um the legislature legislature changed when our organizational meeting has to take place. That's the first meeting in January. It no longer has to take place by January 15th. So we've kind of always moved that one forward. And so if I could entertain a motion to move it to where it would normally fall on the calendar, which is January 21st of next year. >> So moved. >> And do

117we have a motion? Do we have a second? >> Second. >> And we have a second from Howard. Is there any discussion? Okay, let's take it to a vote. >> Watch Matt's excitement. >> We are giving you a whole extra week. >> Those finance board meetings. Well, there we go. That passes unanimously. We have given Matt a little more of his Christmas break back. With that, um, and we're going to move on to Ryan Russell and policy 2414. >> Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. Um, tonight for approval, there's two policies, and I know um I'm not going to do them together. I'll do them single. Uh but the first one up uh for action tonight is policy 2414, reproductive health and family planning and human sexuality instruction. Uh discussed it

118briefly last month with some updates just around language around um sexually transmitted infections. Um and then uh the specific content of videos that have to be played in grades four and up. and then obviously the inclusion of a mandatory consent form and the posting of what those materials are. Um, happy to answer any questions, but seeking your approval tonight. >> Oh, Ryan, I got a quick question. It's it in there where it says we have to do abstinence only. Can we also talk about other things or do we have to only be abstinence only? Do you know? Um the primary form has to be abstinence only. >> But can we we say that's the best way can we continue and >> I believe it would be appropriate to explain the reality of what that looks

119like in addition to that but the primary form has to be abstinental. >> Yeah. >> Um I just want to ask a question. I know you said fourth grade up. Did you um get parental permission? >> You have to get parental consent in grades four and up. Yeah, >> there's nothing that can be done unless there's a specific question asked by a student in under fourth grade, but there's parental consent with links to materials for all of those now that are required by this policy. >> I believe it's opt in to you, right? Parents have to opt in. They have to sign. So if they don't sign >> Yeah. Previously, previously before um uh before this new legislative update, it was an implied consent which we would tell parents. We would send home communication that

120it was getting ready to happen and if we didn't hear back within two weeks, we could go ahead and provide the instruction. Now, the only way students can receive the instruction if is if a parent or legal guardian caregiver signs the consent form. Oh, I like that because when I think about I cringe when I think about fourth grade because that's my little babies in elementary school and >> talking about that kind of stuff, you know, >> for sure. As part of this policy, our website's been updated to list the different components of what that looks like uh as required and then you can see grade by grade breakdowns of what that content is. Um, but it'll be even more specific to parents when they go out or when before that happens. We haven't started

121um we haven't engaged in these instructional uh let's just say opportunities yet this year. So as we get the uh consent forms out and stuff like that that it'll become um another opportunity to communicate 10 times 10 ways. Miss Williams. >> We don't want to give these little kids ideas. Amen. >> You know at a young I mean I mean they get enough as it is. But I am so happy that the parents have to sign and you don't just automatically give it to them because I know as a parent I would just sort of question right. They're sort of young. >> There's a little difference in the content in fourth versus older students but absolutely yeah parent consent is in uh required and it's there. >> Is there a motion? >> I will make

122the motion. Is there a second? Terry made the motion. I apologize, Cam. I've not been doing that. And Kevin seconded it. Is there any further discussion? Okay, we are good for a bit. And the motion carries. >> Okay. That's still a >> It's still not a majority though. >> Let me change that from >> Ryan. Just for clarification, this was policy update. >> Policy update based on Indiana code um that we have uh as a school corporation we have um obviously we have to follow the law. I will add that um one of my discussion policies tonight um is also related to this same topic and really contingent upon you guys approving this policy. We can obviously regroup if need be um but just for reference because it's considered mandatory curriculum in India by the

123state. >> Gloria, did you say you wanted to call the question again? >> Same thing. Okay. Um, calling a question won't change the outcome of the vote. It's going to fail because Yeah. Um, it's going to have to come back up next month when there's a because it's going to and I apologize. I was incorrect earlier. An abstension is assumed to be an A, which means it fails. It's a three to three vote. >> Okay. >> Can we go to our next policy? >> Yep. Policy 2416 um is uh student privacy and parental access information. Uh this is really in reference to surveys of students but specific surveys to students about religious beliefs, political affiliation, sexual behavior. Um none of those topics that we survey our students on currently. However, what it's saying is two

124things. One, if we do survey parent or students that uh we will get parental consent. uh if we do and it addresses any of those topics and two that we will not under any circumstances sell that student survey data to thirdparty vendors. >> Say that last part again. If we if we do survey students with parent cons consent, under no circumstances will we sell the data to that survey to any third party >> asking for your approval. >> Do we have a mo Oh, >> I apologize. Is there a motion for policy 2416? >> So moved. >> Julie made the motion. Is there a second? Second. Howard seconded it. Is there any discussion? >> And that motion carries. Thank you. >> Which takes us to Mr. Simkins, >> President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the

125board, uh last month for discussion, I brought before you and I'm seeking approval tonight uh with regard to proposed revisions to uh policy number 3220.02 regarding supplemental payments for teachers or supplemental stipens for teachers. This incorporates amendments to Indiana code as uh made by Senate enrolled act 249. It allows the school board to authorize the superintendent to approve uh supplemental payments to teachers or supplemental stipens uh for any teacher whereas before it was restricted originally to like STEM and special ed and then to difficult to fill positions but now for any uh teaching position. Um it's not subject to collective bargaining. It can be discussed with the local teacher association. Um, it also stipulates that uh the board could uh authorize for this purpose to take a percentage of the education fund to remove from

126uh salary negotiations and collective bargaining, but would have to do so by resolution before September 15th. >> Lucky there. It's the 17th. >> Yeah. Too late. >> Um, do we have a motion to approve policy? >> Thank you, Gloria. Is there a second? >> I'll second. Thank you, Julie. Is there any further discussion? Oh, sorry. Here you're saying none. We can go to a vote. I apologize for that. >> And that passes. >> Thank you. which moves us on to discussion items. And Mr. Russell, again, we don't let you sit for too long. >> Um, I'm going to start with 2221, which is what I referenced when I was just up here earlier. Uh, mandatory curriculum. So, there's two main components to this um, uh, this policy update. one um the easy one is it

127aligns policy with new Indiana high school diploma. Um it requires students obvious to take the financial responsibility course in order to graduate for high school in those cohorts. Uh the second one um which I realize we'll have to have some additional conversation on um is it updates the policy to align with the uh what was going to be the new policy 2414 reproductive health, family planning and human sexuality. The one part of that that I think it makes it a um I don't want to say easier uh but if you look at the policy specifically it really just defines what the um um uh content uh of the uh human sexuality instruction should be from both a video component um and some other specific details including references to the parent consent and including reference references

128to the consent um um information that has to be on that consent form. Um happy to answer any questions. I'm also happy to discuss this again next month when we talk about the other one together. >> Keep going. >> Okay, moving on. Student assessment uh student assessments policy 2623. Uh really this updates all things related I read three um for practices that either already are in uh in effect or things that are going on. One, it makes sure that now by uh requirement all second graders are required to take the I read3 test. Um last year was the first year the state of Indiana did that. That being said, we've been practicing that uh for now three school years. Uh we opted in earlier to that. That being said, um it also gets into um

129uh the requirement again state law uh mandatory retention and it gives the exception for again this is third graders only. Third graders don't pass I read the exceptions to what that mandatory retention can be. Prior retention uh if the student's already been retained in third grade, we're not going to retain them again. um specific special education um um if an IEP specifies it's not appropriate case conference committee approves promotion ELLL students or ML students as we refer to students with less than two years of EL services uh based on uh committee determination uh math proficiency if a third grade student fails I read three uh but passes I learn math uh they're not mandated to be uh retained ained uh then extended inter intervention student received IDOE defined intensive intervention reading for two plus years

130and was retained more than once in K2. So basically a young student who's been in um interventions kindergarten, first second grade already been retained. Uh research is pretty clear on retention in general. Um that being said double retention or multiple retentions is absolutely devastating to a child's educational career. The other thing that this specifies is that uh for if parents have questions or they want to uh talk about a retention determination, they go to the school principal. Um and it states that the school board will not hear um uh school board um my recommendation is the school board does not want to be in business of hearing parental appeals to retentions due to mandatory state law. And I read >> repeat that last segment. >> Um the state law is very clear about what retention

131is and requires and this lists the principal as the person who hears any appeal from a parent and not the school board directly. I am um happy uh to hear you make reference to not repeatedly um retaining because you know way back in the day when I was in the uh schools um we had 16 year olds in 8th grade and >> that that was just ridiculous. Uh, so we ended up having to at that particular time I was out of the classroom as a teacher and I was like a counselor and we had to end up moving that those children up, you know, they just therefore they just missed some grade levels. We just had to move them on into high school because it was ridiculous that they were getting ready to turn 17

132and they're still in eighth grade. So, uh, we're doing a disservice to them when we, you know, continually um, you know, retain them. Absolutely. >> I just want to also say I really um I know other districts have it's by state law that students if they pass the math portion get promoted. I think that's a really great thing that we have for our students. Yeah. And again all this comes directly from IDOE and state board of ed guidance anyway. Um stuff that's been in place for us for quite some time. But um the addition of the mandatory retention requirement is one that um probably caught I actually saw it on the news a little bit this summer. Um we actually Chalkby uh interviewed us um for just about our approach to that this summer as

133well. So anyway, I um pretty straightforward. Ready to move on? >> Yep. >> All right. 50 uh policy 5222. So release time during school activities mandated by law. So this is a policy um that is uh open for any type uh of um school activity that uh students could be released from uh during the school day. um to be able to um um I'm sorry um students would be able to engage in any type of I don't want to say extracurricular because be it could be curricular in nature uh instruction that's not conducted by school personnel. Um it's a general policy that really just aligns to give opportunities from any group or organization uh about the policies and procedures that would be in place for uh those students. So, some of those uh specifically as

134requirements that if a group or organization if we're releasing students to a group or an organization for release time, they have to have background checks. Um we're not responsible for the transportation. They have to take attendance. They have to communicate with the school. Um even as things as detailed as they can't come back with a whole bunch of candy and disrupt everybody when they get back in the classroom. So, um it's pretty general in nature. um that kind of um just outlines those specific procedures for that. And again, the the word of the night, it comes with a parent consent form. If that's going to happen, parents have to provide consent. Have to answer any questions about that one. >> I know it's late, but I do have a question. Um does that involve I

135know um when I was a counselor I had an afterchool group and we it consists of um you know like 20 kids you know or 20 to 30 kids starting from third through fifth grade and they would go during the school day to different schools or you know different places around town promoting nonviolence and you know self-esteem and things like that. They were a dance ramp group. Would they be able to do that now? Are you saying that they wouldn't be able to do that? Because they we were given time during the school day to go and present at different buildings. >> Yeah. Any organization would be open um for this policy. So, any organization that meets the criteria of the policy with the consent forms and everything else that goes along with that would

136be able to do that. Uh I think the key is this is not a school sponsored activity meaning that the school's not providing chaperones, a teacher's not going with the students. Uh we are releasing students in the care of another organization during the school day specifically um for that. So if a teacher goes with them, it's called a field trip. Um if not, it's called release time for school activities mandated by law policy 5222. Keep going. >> Okay. Uh, last one. Uh, last but not least, I have all the fun ones. Uh, release time for religious instruction. Um, so this policy 5223 uh is for release time, but specifically for religious instruction. Um, so some key here u part of that this was a policy previously. I think it's important to know we last looked

137at this in March of 2021. Uh but this is updating the policy to allow for high school students to keyword potentially earn up to two elective credits for that religious instruction. Um again there's a lot of correlation between the previous one and the uh previous policy and this one with the exception that this one is specifically uh for the credit bearing part of religious instruction. Um, again, it's stating criminal background checks have to be made. Uh, there has to be liability insurance. Um, credit determinations have to talk about number instructional hours. There has to be a course syllabus, how they're going to assess, uh, who's teaching, the license of that, um, teaching. Um, all decisions must be religiously neutral to order to award a credit. So, if you're awarding a credit, you can't give a

138student a credit because they quote unquote believe one thing um and not award student a credit because they believe one thing. It's a it's a syllabus that a student meets uh the definition of what meeting uh that standard would be aligned to the Indiana standards. Um schedule has to be attempted to be done at a non um what I'll say non-instructional time. So, for high school students specifically, that's lunch. Um, that being said, there's other opportunities or depending on what that collaboration looks like. Happy to answer any questions about that one as well. >> Thank you guys. >> Well, we have read you for the riot act. Thank you for your time, Miss Woods. President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. I have um I don't know how many, four or five uh maybe

139six, a number that I'm bringing to you tonight. Um the first one is uh policy 2410, audio, video, and digital recordings of meetings. Um and this one is specific to adding language that we um cannot prohibit a parent from um recording an IEP meeting. Um, just for your reference, we that has never been something we've prohibited. We've always allowed that. Um, we also record. Um, we asked the parent to give us notice, so we have the ability to record. We keep that as part of the student record. Um, so this is just putting language in there that we are not allowed to prohibit it. Um, it also extends to, um, 504 conferences, um, parent teacher conferences. Um, as long as they notify us and we record, they can also record. Um and there is language

140in here that they cannot video record um unless u a participant in the meeting um or the parent is um deaf and we have need for sign language to be able to um have everybody review that at a later time. Uh our next policy is 5200 attendance. Uh and I spoke a little bit about some of these changes when I presented um with you last month. Um there is language adding um a couple of different um exceptions for excused absences um around um serving in the armed forces, FFA and 4. Um and also release time for religious instruction that um coincides with what Ryan just shared. um the requirement to categorize unexcused absences which I shared those criteria the state um has given us and we've already made those um changes to our practice. Um

141we have to add the definition for chronically absent student. Um language that we cannot suspend or expel specifically because a student is chronically absent or or a habitual truent. Um and it changed this is one thing that I missed last month um when I um I didn't share when we talked was the um attendance prevention uh for unexcused absences has changed from K6 to K12. Um so that process where we um track the unexcused absences have to do the family and parent conference refer to the prosecutor's office um now goes up to 12th grade. Um in addition that um parent conference time has changed from the schools having to do that in five school days to 10. I'm going to pause there because that one had the most changes. You guys have any questions on

142that? Okay. The next three um really all go together. They have the same um change. So, it's policy 5600, student discipline, policy 5605, suspension and expulsion of students with disabilities. And then policy 5610, suspension and expulsion of students. Um and that is that we cannot suspend or expel because a student is chronically absent or habitually truent. Um, one addition to the just the overall suspension and expulsion of students um is that we do not notify the BMV um of s second ex uh suspensions or expulsions. Um we have elected in all of the policies not to do that. You can um revoke a learner's permit or driver's license for a student. Um the the problem comes um if a student were to leave or that to change, you have to notify the BMV to release

143that. and we don't want a student who is maybe moved or um some something on our end tracking prohibiting a student from being able to get to a job or school because we've revoked their driver's license. We've just decided to stay out of that game for now. So, I'm happy to answer any questions you have tonight or if you want to reach out um before next month, I'm happy to discuss those as well. Okay, Dr. Anderson. Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. Tonight, I bring to you two items for discussion. The first one is policy 5517, which is our anti-harassment policy. Um, this policy was primarily changed to omit the parenthetical that reads including gender status, sexual orientation and/or general u gender identity due to the interpretation of title n by

144the US department of education. So, this came from the federal um Title 9 to take that language out of policy 5517 and it also identifies our Title 9 compliance officers. We put that in the policy as well. The second policy I have for you for an update tonight is policy 5517- I'm sorry.01 1 and it is bullying. And this policy has been revised to incorporate um the language from SEA 225 education matters which went into effect July 1st, 2025. And this changed the timeline that a bullying victim and alleged perpetrators families need to be contacted. Um initially it was within 5 days. um now it is the end of the next instructional day. So it moved up the timeline um in which families needed to be notified. That was the major change in this policy.

145I will be happy to entertain any questions. Thank you so much, Dr. Anderson. And now because we are going to pull the band-aid off, my friend, I've been looking forward to this all night. Dr. Sullivan, please present to the board. >> President Burke, Dr. Hansen, board members, I'm sure everybody's looking forward to me because I'm the last person on the I'm bringing before you for discussion uh the revision of policy 5771 regarding search and seizure. It speaks to the district's obligations to balance student privacy rights and providing a safe learning environment. It also addresses if a student is withdrawn from enrollment of the corporation, the corporation will not remove student property without providing parents an opportunity to collect the property unless in some way it is an investigation uh from law enforcement. Um, it also

146speaks to um the administration uh providing uh written documentation if there is a use of dogs during a search. And at this time, I'm happy to answer any questions or address any questions between now and next month. >> Dr. Sullivan, congratulations for making the minutes next month in a way that is unrelated to your hiring. >> Thank you very much. It was lovely hearing from you. >> And with that, my friends, we are on to closing comments. Um, Terry, you can look at the clock and be happy. Kevin, go for it. >> We made it. Congratulations. Let's go home. >> Thank you everyone. Thank you for um all the reports and the homework. We definitely will be ready next time and see you in October. and most of you maybe Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. >>

147Miss Williams. >> Well, I refrain myself those last couple of people. I'm so proud. But I am so happy everyone was able to come out tonight. Have safe travels home. And we look forward to seeing you, Lord's willing, next month. Thank you. >> Good seeing you. Have a good evening. Enjoy your break everybody. Take care. in there like this.