June 18, 2025 MSD of Warren Township Regular School Board Meeting

001Not a problem. maybe. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm going to call the meeting to order and we're going to begin with the pledge of allegiance. If everyone could rise. Thank you everyone and welcome. Thank you for making it out on such a lovely evening and we will hopefully be out of here before the next cell of storms hits. Um, and with that, I'm going to begin with Steve Horton from the Indiana School Board Association. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. So good to be here. It really is a pleasure to be here. Uh my purpose in being here tonight in representing the Indiana School Boards Association uh is to make official uh a status that we have uh conferred upon the board here in Warren Township. Uh

002and this is actually the third consecutive year that this board has achieved this. Uh at the Indiana School Boards Association, we concern ourselves with individual school board members and um the way in which they go about their work. Our our work is to support them, but more importantly, it's about how these board members work as a governance team. Uh which makes all the difference in the world for the corporation. They have an impact on everything. I often tell boards that, you know, officially they're in charge of nothing, but everything they do has an impact. Uh, so it's it's an extremely important position. And one of the things that we do is as we do our uh professional development support work, um, board members have the ability to earn what we call EGA points. It stands

003for exemplary governance award. And as board members earn points that also uh accumulates for the board itself. But there is also a list of criteria that we put out there make uh make available for boards to actually complete on an annual basis. And they are those things that effective board governance teams do on an ongoing basis. Uh and this board made the decision three years ago that they wanted to work through that list. um that all gets submitted to us and um if they indeed do those things that are um not just expected but so important for the work of governance for the school corporation then they can earn what we call the exemplary board award but it requires all of the board members to have an accumulated number of the individual EGA points as

004well as that criteria of work uh that they submitted and this board has actually done that and I'm so proud proud to be here, like I said, for the third year. There are five boards in Indiana that have achieved our level of exemplary uh governance. And so with that, uh I just wanted to be here to officially present this to the board and say congratulations for work very well done and we hope to do this again next year. [Applause] You want me at this angle? [Applause] I do want to quickly comment that it would be very remiss um Gloria Williams isn't here this evening but she is the person on the board who really strives every year for us to check all the boxes and do all the things and make sure that we have

005everything done in order to be able to continue earning this certification. So I want to make sure she is recognized for her very very hard work on that because uh she runs with it and we are happy to let her do it. Um, and with that, our next spotlight this evening is going to be the girls lacrosse team, Mr. Mr. Good evening, everyone. Um, I think anytime I was talking to Miss Amos earlier, anytime you get the opportunity to just right up there, yeah, to uh recognize um the hard work that our kids, our student athletes um do on on a night in and night out basis. U we should take that opportunity. And tonight we have the opportunity to recognize a couple of of um awesome groups um couple awesome group of groups of

006ladies and and talk a little bit about their accomplishments and and uh just show our appreciation for them. Tonight we have our our girls lacrosse team. Let me just read a few things. Uh they had a team record this year of 10 and six. Uh they reached the sectional championship game for only the second time in school history. Uh unfortunately they lost a hard-fought game to to Fisers. Uh but here's some other accolades. six allsectional players. We had one player that was an honorable all state honorable mention player and then um Hannah Nicholas Hannah step forward. She is Warren Central's first ever um all state first team all state player. So that's a huge accomplishment for her for our program. [Applause] Stay up there. Stay up there. Pick on her a little bit more. And

007then this year she broke the uh school record for scoring. She scored 160 goals in her career at Warren Central. So again, a great accomplishment for her. And if anybody knows Hannah, she's a very humble young lady. She would she would first say, "Well, I couldn't do it if it weren't for my teammates, if it weren't for our coaches." So that's, you know, obviously the kind of young lady she is. Um, also want to recognize our coaching staff led by by Gary Roberts here. Um, what an amazing coach. We did get him to he's going to coach soccer this year, this coming year, too. So, we're excited about that. Uh, David's here, David Nicholas is here. Also, Ryan Ble, Ashley Bell, China Jackson, and Leticia Gatewood. Um, they do a tremendous job with our girls.

008They they're great to work with from the athletic department stance. Um, and we're really proud of everything they do and all their accomplishments. and we just look forward to uh he's he's got his work cut out for him. How many seniors graduated? >> 18 seniors graduated. So, it's a lot of that's a lot of uh minutes that need to be uh picked up by some of the younger girls, but I know they will um if I know uh know this group. So, again, just want to recognize our our girls lacrosse team. You guys did an amazing job and we look forward to next year and seniors that are up here. Good luck next year with everything you do. Thank you. All right. Awesome. >> Hey, you'll have your time. Awesome. Another group uh that we'd

009like to recognize tonight is our our girls tennis team. So, if our girls tennis team come on up, um, I coached football, high school football for 30 years and I I'm a pretty intense person and this year I went and watched our girls play in the sectional uh, tournament over at Franklin Central. And for all intents and purposes, the section sectional championship game was their first round match against Franklin Central. and it came down to the number two doubles and it went to a tiebreaker in the third set and it might have been the most nervous I had ever been in my life. I like I had to walk away. I had to pace. Um I I looked at uh somebody and said tennis is not supposed to be this intense but it was and

010and fortunately our girls prevailed and we we won a sectional championship this year for the first time since I think 2007 2008 something like that. But let let me uh let me talk about these young ladies. First of all, they had a team record of 19 and4. Uh they finished second in the Mick tournament. Uh we had three all Mick uh players. Uh Somaya Smith, McKenna Aenatrillo, and Carson Asher were all all Mick players. Uh they were Whitland Invitational champions and like I said, they won the sectional championship over at Franklin Central. So uh just want to congratulate congratulate the team on on a great uh great season. Um, and the coaches, uh, John Patterson and Daryl Whitley, they did a tremendous job. So, I just want to give them a round of applause there.

011And, and do want to recognize one individual. Uh, Somaya, step out. Somaya is Warren Central's first ever singles tennis state champion. [Applause] During her tournament run, uh, Somaya defeated players from Green Castle, Franklin High School, University, Monster, and Westfield. Those individuals had a combined record of 109 and two. So, it wasn't like she was playing, you know, me. U, she she was playing some very, very good players. And uh now those uh girls have um I think six losses. Um in the championship match uh Somaya defeated Westfield's Alexandria uh Grillio by a score of 26. We were a little nervous after that first that first set and we're like oh okay could be a long day and it was but Somaya came back. She won the second set 6-1 and the third set 6-2. Uh

012like I said to become uh Warren Central's first tennis state champion. She was also the first public school player from Indianapolis since 1997 to be a state champion. >> Um Somaya finished her season undefeated at 28 and0. Um and let me say this um and she'll be the first to say 100%. the at the the environment which the girls had to play in for the state championship at University of Indianapolis was to to be honest was brutal. Um it was at their bubble in their bubble at the tennis center. It had to have been 100 degrees inside that uh bubble. We had ice on her head, her neck, her hands u just because it was it was awful. And it was that way for all the girls. But the one thing, and I'll say this

013about Somaya, um I knew I knew she was going to win in the third set because of her of her her mental toughness. Um she was just a lot tougher than the other girl. I don't want to take anything away from her because that girl was pretty good, too. But Somaya broke her mentally and it was it was really fun to watch uh her win, to watch her teammates get excited for, but also to see Daryl and John uh the fruits of their labor as well. So again, just want to congratulate Somaya and also the entire team. It was so much fun to to to watch it and be a part of it. And you guys, you know, kids from the from the far east side, man, they made us proud that day. So just

014want to say congratulations. >> Derek, quick question. >> Yeah. >> Right here. Yes, ma'am. >> Um, what grade is Somaya? >> Somaya's 11th grader, so she she's or she's going to be a senior, so she's going to hopefully repeat next year. >> All right. >> And I know the girl from Westfield was a freshman. She wants to play her again. >> But bud, be careful what you wish for. Thank you everyone. And now it is June which means it is our time, our annual time to recognize our retirees, >> Mr. Simpkins. >> Good evening, uh, President Berg, Dr. Hansen, members of the board community. Yes, it is June, so it's time to honor and recognize our retirees for the contract year that's about to wrap up here. Um, as usual, uh, we have a wide

015variety of folks, uh, retiring, uh, from all different types of roles and backgrounds, both instructional and operations, classified, certified, and they have a combined years of 620 and a half years of service to Warren Township, when we appreciate uh, their loyal service uh, for those years and are here to recognize them. Um, uh, we have a representation of folks that are here tonight. And so, uh, as I call your name, please approach and, uh, meet with Dr. Hansen. And we want to congratulate you. But, uh, on behalf of the Metropolitan School District, Warren Township, uh, we do want to congratulate you on your retirement and wish you all the best for a happy retirement. Uh I know people have come from all back kinds of backgrounds and walks in life and I happen to get

016to meet a lot of folks as they get ready to retire and I know a lot a lot of you have plans and a lot of exciting things to look forward to. So congratulations and uh here's to a happy retirement and a great retirement. And uh with that let's recognize some of our retirees that are here this evening. I don't know if Terry Andrews is here. I don't I don't see her. I don't know if she could make it. Um but we'll go with Matt Apple. I saw you, [Applause] Tiffany Campbell. [Applause] We'll do a two for the the goals. Kevin and Missy Gole. [Applause] Surely good. Come on down. [Applause] Dennis Jarrett. [Applause] Sandy Padet, [Applause] >> Chris Presley. [Applause] You know what? >> And Christy Rudder. [Applause] Well done everybody. Congratulations to our

017retirees. [Applause] I'll be back. Okay, here we go. [Applause] >> Again, I want to echo. Thank you so much to all of our retirees for all of their hard work for the district. We love and will miss all of you. Thank you. And with that, the superintendence report. >> Good evening, board. Um congratulations again, board, for your recognition for my SBA. Um you guys work hard. It's it's good to be recognized for that. Congratulations to our retirees. Um our student athletes, our coaches, our families who supported all of them. Couple quick announcements. Um board Um, as you know, we're in the Lily um, grant cycles. Uh, we worked in coordination with them this week to to release our media release. So, I shared that um, we shared that publicly today through a couple different avenues

018and I gave you a hard copy of that. Um, believe it or not, we are enrolling for the next school year. So, open enrollment is open for both in district and out of district um, students. If our families need support, they can um go to MCRC now through July 3rd, Monday through Friday, but not tomorrow. Uh 9 to 2 o'clock, and we have registars there to support. Um we started something this summer called schedule a tour. Um we know we have families moving from 4th to 5th, 8th to 9th, and any new families that are coming to our district. We're offering the opportunity for them to reach out to our schools and our principles will schedule an opportunity for them to come in and and tour the tour the building and and meet some staff.

019Want to give a uh kudos to um the Waif Foundation and the Rotary Club. Uh we were supposed to have our golf outing last Tuesday, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Um but under Britney and Sandy, I think who already left, um they were able to pull off a pseudo golf outing at Topgolf. Um it was a lot of fun. Um not the same but um still a lot of fun. But what I've shared with you in the past um Ransburg is going through a re-imagine process um to identify ways that they can um a be more efficient with their services to the community um and also rethink uh the services that they provide. Um so we are continue to meet with them. Um they did push back the deadline to late August for us

020to propose to the greater association board um ideas that we are having to to keep Ransburg. We we definitely want desperately need to keep it um on the east side and we have some YMCA folks in the house tonight who are shaking their head. Yes, we want to do that. Just a reminder, tomorrow is Junth. Um, all of our district offices and programming is uh cancelled for tomorrow and will resume on Friday the 20th. We finished our last commencement last Thursday, so that officially wraps up the 25 20 24 25 school year. Um, all of our our staff and and students did an amazing job. I had the opportunity to attend the Indiana Girls High School All-Star game last Saturday. If you remember, um, our very own coach Stacy Mitchell coached in that game. Unfortunately,

021we lost in double overtime to Kucky's girls. Um, but he did a great job and just a proud moment for us in Warren. Congratulations to Somaya again. And just a reminder, board and community that next Wednesday, a week from today, our very own 16th Street Soul will be singing the national anthem at the June 25th Indianapolis Indians game. Although discounted tickets are no longer available, you still can buy tickets on the Indians website. Thank you so much, Tim. And with that, we're going to move on to board comments. Kevin, >> again, I'd like to congratulate all our athletes. Our young ladies have doing definitely doing a great job representing Warren and we're so proud of all our young scholars to come up with all the things they've do and congratulations to our retirees as they're

022start their next phase of life and we definitely appreciate all the service that they have put into us and our children and how we continue to grow and bless others. and we've got through our graduation. So, it's been a really good time that uh and a lot of success we have through. So, we're looking forward to the next year and start things off fresh. >> Thank you, Kevin. I first want to apologize for my tardiness. We had to hustle and get all the animals back in shelter when the tornado storm, whatever it was, hit. So, we had some frightened animals. So, it took a minute. So, um please forgive me for my tardiness, but I'm here and we're all safe. I'm glad everyone is safe. Um our retirees, I think most of them have left,

023but congratulations to them. It's been a great year of accomplishments with Warren. um cabinet, I hope you get a break, just a small small break. You guys work very hard to um alongside our superintendent to make sure everything is running smoothly. So, we I would be remissed we would not to acknowledge all the hard work that you do, all of our student accomplishments, graduation was wonderful. Um and I think that's it. >> Good evening everyone. Um, I just really want to congratulate our retirees for their years of service, dedication. Um, they shared generations with our students and probably left many memorable leg meaningful legacies in our schools and touched so many lives. Um, I thank you for everything you've given. Your impact is lasting and will be deeply missed. Um, love celebrating our student athletes

024and our coaches. Congratulations to our girls lacrosse and tennis teams. And a special shout out to Somaya. That was incredible. Um it's just to think that it's been so many years and then the first one ever for a public school is amazing. Um thank you again for being here tonight as we celebrate our achievements and honor the people who help us make our schools such a vibrant, supportive community. Oh. Um, all the things they said. Um, the graduations, adult education, graduation, of course, commencement. U we really appreciate the the gra the u the retirees. Of course, my mind is on what I did this morning. And uh so the things that they said, plus I had a chance to go to uh Camp Edterbury and was there to get there fast enough or get there

025early enough so that I had a chance to do PT with those guys in the morning. So you got to get very early. Okay, those guys don't eat breakfast until like seven and so they're up at 5 and I'm trying to blow myself down to Adterbury at six in the morning. And that's when I got there and we did that. Hey, I I still got it. Okay. I still got it. And the only thing I didn't do was the repelling. I said, I've done that a thousand times. And uh I I I just did to get to do the repelling, but they had competitions down there. Um Juan and Nor and Orga uh with our joint or the JRTC uh organization uh had some folks down there. We had like four kids in every one

026ABC, B, C, and D uh company. And they were we paired up two two girls, two boys like that. And I had a chance to meet them. Uh I had to find them because it was a you gota you got to understand this was a whole county worth of folks down there. And um it was it was a lot of people. So had a chance to meet some of those kids. Shook their hands and said, "Hey, you know, hang hang in there." They've been there since Monday uh doing this. Uh I was considered a VIP so I went on Wednesday and uh we had some uh we're supposed to do some helicopter work but uh the weather was bad for flying. Now normally soldiers don't have problems with weather and helicopters. Okay, but these was

027kids. So when it was start to sprinkle a little bit, hey, all bets are off. We're not flying. We're not put any putting the kids in the helicopters. And so we didn't do the the helicopter thing. But the weather broke and we did all the other things. They had calisthetics to do. Uh they were in the the in in in the the the lake there doing the river uh the rubber boat uh practice sessions how to recover from a a tipped over boat. Uh they had to race. Uh so they were doing all these practices because they're going to the competition is going to be on Thursday and all of them are going to compete and then they'll have prizes and awards and things of that nature. But I really had a a nice time

028uh seeing those kids working. Uh the repelling went real well, very safe. Uh all of that was just great time for everybody. So now I had to leave early because I had to come here and u and that's what I did. So I I beat feet from Adterbury, came home, uh got myself prepared for my board meeting, but it was a great time this morning. So I thought I'd just share that with you. Other than that, um um hey, let's have a great board meeting. Howard, I would have skipped the calisthenics and would have done the repelling myself. You would have >> um congratulations to our uh high school athletes and our retirees once again. Um and I will um also reiterate what U. Lanna said, cabinet, enjoy yourselves. take some time to breathe because

029it's all going to start back up again shortly. Um, thank you for everything you do. And, um, I'm going to to Rachel. Uh, finally, as always, I want to thank Natalie Reutder for inviting us to the adult ed graduation. That is always one of my favorite days every year, and this year did not disappoint. Um, it is definitely a way to get the waterworks going. It is just so meaningful all of the work that they do there. Um, as well as of course our big high school graduation, although do we still have until October. >> So, we will maybe have another little one later hopefully. We like to graduate people here. It's really strange. Um, thank you so much to all the retirees. I I know a lot of the names on the list and

030um you guys have done a lot of really wonderful things for the district and so we always appreciate everything that all of our staff does with us um does for us um particularly as we get to see them move on and do same things for themselves which is always wonderful. And with that, Kevin, do we have any blue cards? >> No, Madam President, we do not. >> Excellent. So, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Um, this month, the consent agenda consists of the approval of minutes, financial reports, the human resources report, field trip requests, permission to accept gifts and grants, change orders, contracts, and the use of school property. Do I have a motion? >> I will second. >> Julie made the motion and Terry seconded. Is there any discussion hearing? And

031seeing none, we will go to a vote. The wrong thing's up for the vote. Not a problem. I mean, I would like to be at the end of the meeting, but Kim's like, "Look, we're really going home now." >> I don't have one up. >> Yeah, I think you might have to resend it. >> Oh, yeah. Still Julie, still Terry. Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I get it now. >> There we go. and it passes unanimously. Um, and I do want to thank the YMCA for all of their hard work. Their contract for before and after care was in this month's packet. And so, thank you for all that you do, and we appreciate all of your help taking care of our kiddos before and after school. [Applause] And with that, we have a

032Lily update with Ryan Russell. Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. I'm gonna Sorry, it's hard to Oops. All right, let me try this again. Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. Um, tonight I'm giving an update specifically to Lily phase 2. Uh, more specifically, uh, one of the components in there was the creation and development of a um, comprehensive K mathematics RFP. Uh, I remember originally having conversation about this mathematics RFP. I think um it was probably earlier in February before we submitted phase two when we went over the plan um specifically what we were trying to do and accomplish. So tonight you just approved um a uh a contract um for this process which I want to provide some context and some details of what you can

033expect out of this work through this presentation. Uh board goals um and strategic plan focus areas. Uh this is really all about student achievement, investing in academic excellence and student of achievement. Obviously invest in people when it comes to some of the professional development services that will come uh alongside us with this work. Uh but just being very very specific, this is really targeting uh to increase math scores on iLearn in grades 38 um for for this work. So um as I mentioned part of Lily phase 2 was the creation um what we really wanted to do was to develop a comprehensive K8 math framework specific obviously to our context here in Warren. This was really modeled or I say birthed after our similar approach that we did to literacy achievement. um our rise specifically

034in Ire 3 achievement can really be um if you take a picture in context of where we were as we were identifying um some achievement challenges we were having really as far back as 2018. Um, we knew that we certainly needed to help develop the capacity of our staff to be able to uh move the needle and um we identified an external expert with that to come alongside of us to work with us. And you're going to hear me say that several times tonight. Um because um working side by side or as I'll say shoulder by shoulder is a key aspect of this work. not just someone to come in and tell us anything but the work that developed the capacity in ourselves as leaders in our instructional staff and our teachers as well. Uh

035we developed a literacy framework and that's the whole concept of this math framework where we really really get specific on researchbased practices and things that certainly will uh move that needle. And then we had a deep focus on implementation. there's a lot of things that you can do, but if it's not a structured approach and we're not really targeted to what success we're trying to achieve, um we found at least again with our literacy work that that was a good um potion for success. So we we modeled that RFP after that to look for some support with K8 math specifically. So with that, we wanted framework development. Um we wanted professional development and we were just very specific in targeting out as we um wrote that RFP. Uh we're looking for support in increasing student

036achievement, accelerating student growth with iLearn math. Um so the RFP itself uh was created and drafted. Um and really I don't want to be uh overly repetitive here uh but there are a few main components that we were looking at the development of a math framework and obviously this is specific to K8. Uh what does that mean? Uh curriculum architecture um our shift to standardsbased uh instruction um really has required a lot of support uh for our instructional staff. Um, so we want to make sure that our curriculum architecture has appropriate learning progressions align obviously with Indiana state standards and the appropriate assessment frameworks around there or around them. Instructional design uh which is researchbased strategies, differentiation guidelines for diverse learners and then intervention and enrichment protocols and then resource alignment uh support with evaluating

037instructional materials. um intervention and program alignment guidelines just to make sure that everything that we're working on or every tool and resource uh that will be at um that our teachers will have uh works in unison together and they don't compete in any way, shape or form. The other the other part about that again is just big uh focus on implementation and timeline support. So we're really looking for the approach of how do we build a foundation, how do we implement and then how do we sustain um ultimately for that. So I mentioned that um we originally had the concept or we originally put the concept in the initial Lily phase 2 application. Um by the time we drafted that RFP uh obviously submitted uh everything we needed to submit the Lily and all that.

038So, in the month of April, um, we had the RFP, uh, written, uh, we had some advertisement and posting, and then we had what I, well, what's commonly referred to as pre-bid meetings. We decided to go through an RFP process here because we wanted people to put their best foot forward, both from what the package, quote unquote, would contain and then the pricing would be within it. We also realized that we wanted them to target very specifically Warren needs and our context with that. We thought the best approach would to be have would be to have a pre-bid meeting which really was an opportunity for any interested people um uh or or companies uh to attend a controlled meeting with myself and some team members to be able to ask any clarifying questions on the

039RFP. um context of Warren, anything you're specifically looking for that's not necessarily in the fine print within the RFP. Um we had 34 companies from over the United States join that pre-bid meeting. Uh which was amazing. Uh which was amazing and we had a lot of opportunity to clarify, get specific, talk about everything from current curriculum that we're using to current support structures that we're using to how many students are in our buildings. I mean just yes some really basic level of information that I guess in theory they could look up uh but really diving into some of our systems and structures already in place so they could tailor their proposals for that. Um proposals were due on May 1st. Uh we have been really working from a timeline of June 18th which happens to

040be today because we wanted to be able to award the RFP uh on the June board meeting. We wanted the proposals in by May so we had an adequate or more than adequate amount of time to review and evaluate them and then obviously bring in finalists for interviews or whatever component that would look like. Uh we had 15 formal proposals submitted uh which um from a professional services curriculum point of view is outstanding. uh 15 proposals from people all over this country. Um we had small shops, big shops, shops in between. Um people that um just about any type of uh organization that you can think of that had um uh well they would claim any organization that had any type of proven track record in doing this work. Um so in those 15 proposals

041were about 700 pages of documents uh to review um to go through that. So we needed that time really from May in the month of May to carefully review and consider go through our scoring rubric and really narrow that list down. From that 15 uh we narrowed that down to seven. Um some of them uh were eliminated because they didn't meet the criteria of the proposal. Um and then from that seven, we had a formal committee look at those and narrow that seven down to two. Uh from that two, uh we invited two finalists to come in for in-person, um I would I say presentation slashins. We gave them an opportunity to present their proposal in a more formal fashion and then we had the opportunity to um press them on some things or anything

042else with that. Um once that had happened, we certainly through our rubric process identified uh the one that we were going to make the recommendation for the award to u then negotiated a contract then brought it to you and then after your approval tonight uh which you just did um we'll have that project kickoff in July which I'll get into more details about what that looks like. Um so anyway from February to today a lot of work into select this partner I think with is the main point I was trying to make. Um, ultimately you may ask, okay, I get it, Ryan. Who are we going with? Um, the Achievement Network. Um, the Achievement Network is a company based out of Louisville, Kentucky. Um, and then just some high level things about them. Um, 20

043years, um, 20 year 20 years in this industry. Um, rich history of supporting thousands of schools. uh key highlight for us and I know one thing from a background perspective including working in some major metropolitan areas like New York City public schools, Atlanta public schools um and the school district of uh Philadelphia um really focus on building inclusive instructional systems. And then um again I just want to reiterate this their focus on partnership and collaboration uh with us with our community with our families as we go through this work. I want to give you a little bit and these are um directly from them in terms of this was part of some of their presentations and things we uh have been working on. Um but this is kind of a four-step real high level view

044of kind of what this framework development process will look like. Um again it all starts out with system diagnosis and goal setting. Um we need to do a deep analysis of side by side with them of current tools, student data, gather insights from uh our teachers, our students, our families just about what's been successful and not and then really identify where how that goes um what the immediate next steps are for them. Um, again, part of that is really engaging in people about the framework and what that's going to look like to be able to clarify that uh vision for everyone. They're going to over or I'm going to overutilize the word collaboration. Um, again, continue to define and add clarity to what that framework looks like. And then obviously capacity building launch which isn't

045my favorite word um but um the professional development, the investment in our staff, the development of our instructional staff, our leadership staff to be able to fully support what this looks like ultimately. Um now tonight you approved um the first year of the contract with them and as the RFP specifically called for um we're really entering the first year with a sense of urgency to build a foundation um to make sure that we do it right. You'll again see a lot of things like co-create shoulder byshoulder and things contained within this uh but really aligning um their instruct or their aligning their expertise in this field to our systems and processes that are here to be able to provide um a more specific um uh support for not for our instructional staff. foundation building, deepening

046practice and then sustainability for that ultimately is what uh the work is founded out founded off of. Ultimately, yay obviously they won the RFP. Um but uh when talking to the evaluation team and ultimately about uh what gave us confidence to make this recommendation uh for this contract um proven record of partnerships and improving student outcomes. Um when you work in major major metropolitan areas and you have um certainly reference data and student achievement data that suggests that your impact helped make that difference. Uh that was meaningful for us. Um this is their line. uh but one that stuck with me shoulder by shoulder, no assumptions, no templates. Lily would have afforded us the opportunity to buy a math framework from someone. We didn't want to buy a framework. We wanted to co-create and invest

047in our people to help in the development of what it looked like. Again, similar to the literacy process, shoulder by shoulder, no assumptions, no templates. Let's roll up our sleeves together. And that was meaningful for all of us. co-design every step of the way um or every step of the work to reflect Warren's context and strengths. Um prioritization of authentic engagement with educators, families, and the community. And then obviously the focus is to build lasting internal capacity. We want this work to impact Warren Township for the next 10 years, not just the next three years, then they leave. Um, a big part of any grant cycle or an endowment is going to be how do we sustain the work. Uh, this is work that we can build upon that will live forever. Um, or at

048least a long time. And, uh, we're excited about that. So, again, this was just a uh brief overview of what to expect as we give more updates as this project gets kicked off. Um, you'll certainly get more updates, but we're excited to uh address this and our math needs that we have. But happy to answer any questions at this time that you may have. >> You just did. >> Great job. >> Thank you. Okay, Kevin, do we have any yellow cards? >> No, Madam President, we do not. >> Thank you so much. And with that, we are going to go into our um secondary school project. And I'm gonna have Matt start us off. >> Good evening, U board. Dr. Hansen. Uh we've got an exciting couple of items to talk through this evening. Um

049often when I'm presenting to you finance things, their compliance. Um, tonight we're talking about things that directly impact the student experience. Um, they have a direct impact on the way that we advance learning for our students. Um, so we're going to go through two different public hearings this evening pertaining to bond issuances. And then board, we're going to ask you to take action on our 2025 general obligation bond. Um, so procedurally, we need to to open um a hearing. So, President Burke, I'd ask you to open the secondary schools project preliminary determination hearing. Yes, I'll be opening the 2026 2028 secondary schools project preliminary determination hearing. >> Thank you, Rachel. Uh, so we're going to talk briefly about the 2026 to 2028 project. That's the larger of the two that we're going to be discussing

050this evening. These are first mortgage bonds. Um, the action on these will be in July. So, this is the first of two hearings. Uh, I'm going to invite our bond council, Jeff Quac and Bbush, to come up and join us. Um, Jeff's going to talk us procedurally through what we're doing this evening. We'll cover the first mortgage bonds and then we'll do the same with the geo bonds. >> Thank you, Matt. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board. Dr. Hansen, it's a pleasure to be with you again this evening. So, this process is very similar to the process that you all have gone through on several other projects over the last several years. So, I will just hit the very highlights of that and then answer any questions you may have. As uh Matt

051said, this is the first public hearing that we're having on the preliminary determination for this project. During the presentation and public hearing, he will present to you information about the projects, the scope of those as well as the financing terms that will be maximum parameters. You may remember that we will have maximum parameters set that we cannot exceed. Uh we hope that we will come below those and on many occasions when you've done your financings in the past, we've been able to come in under those maximum parameters. And the reason we set those high is because we don't want to have to repeat this process again and put further time into the process and therefore delay the ability to do these projects. The second public hearing will occur in July. And then after that public

052hearing, you will be presented with a resolution that will summarize both the scope of the project as well as the financing parameters that are in Matt's presentation tonight at and and in the July meeting. If you approve that resolution, then we would publish the notice of plumary determination for that project and the financing parameters. And then that would run for 30 days at the end of which if we don't have any requests to go through the referendum process, then we would actually start the formal design process of those projects. And because of the scope of those projects, that's why we're starting those so early as opposed to waiting. It will take a long period of time to do that design. So, even though Matt will be talking in connection with not issuing any bonds for

053any or all the project until sometime in 2026, as you may remember when we went through the last big series of project financings, that took over a year to design that. We don't anticipate it taking that long in this case, but it will take some time to go through those buildings, do some analysis of the infrastructure and the needs, and then also to do the design work. Um, we will authorize this to be done primarily as first mortgage bonds through your building corporation that you've established and that you control, but we will allow for also there to be the ability to do general obligation bonds should you need to issue a little bit of bond proceeds to do some of the preliminary financing costs, some of the architectural design costs, the construction professional costs, and

054wait and do the long-term larger bond issue as a first mortgage bond. This is by no means the step tonight. The only step that we will be coming before you there, as you may remember, there will be multiple times we come back before you for approval of both the financing and then Matt and his team and Dr. Hansen will be coming forward with you on the actual construction contracts and projects related to that and get your approval at that point. So, these are merely prelim preliminary in nature and will be refined as you go through the end of 2025 and into 2026. Um, as I stated, these will be primarily issued as first mortgage bonds. You may remember that you have a three member building corporation that you control as the board of uh education.

055So those members serve as volunteers in the community. They receive no compensation and they merely serve as the financing vehicle when you want to do these larger projects instead of using your general obligation bonding capacity. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have regarding the process or any of the other items that I've touched on. And if you don't have any, then I'll turn it back over to >> Matt. Yes, sir. I did. I I brought a sidekick this evening. Uh Jackson Stevens is a summer associate that uh says he is interested in working in public finance. It shocks me that someone in law school even knows about public finance. So, I'm very impressed by that. Uh when I first started and at Barnes and Thornberg, they told me I wanted

056to do bonds. I thought that meant I was going to be chasing people around the country who had not shown up for court and would be bail bonds. Uh that's not the case. But yes, Jackson is a first year law student, just finished his first year successfully at IU Bloomington and will be returning there and we hope he'll be returning to us next summer and in years to come. So, thank you. >> That's right. Exactly. Yes. Right. Any other questions? All right. With that, I'll turn this back over to Matt for the two presentations. Okay. So, board, we're going to walk through high level discussion of the project. And I want to reiterate a piece that that Jeff just hit on, which is that this is one step of several in this process as a

057very next step. After tonight, we'll come back to the board again in July um and ask the board to declare a preliminary determination the need for the projects. Uh, and then we're going to go through the timeline of what this looks like between 2025 and 2026 and the years beyond, but we'll be coming back to you again for um approval at the bond sale time, similar to what we're doing this evening with the GEO bonds. Um, so board, like I mentioned, to me this is one of the more exciting things that we get to discuss because of the way that we impact students with the projects that we take on. Um, board among our priorities, this is a chance to invest in academic excellence and student achievement. Invest in the war and student journey and

058meeting needs of the whole child. invest in safety and operational excellence. So, I do want to talk about Senate Rule Act One. We've covered this at at more than one board meeting, but it's relevant to all of our construction conversations, and it's going to remain relevant in the years ahead. Um, so this evening, we're going to discuss projects that are in the planning phase, and for that matter, they're in the fairly early planning phase. Senate and Rolled Act One, like we've discussed, made substantial changes to um the way that property taxes occur in Indiana. and specifically as it pertains to construction um it cretailed the amount that school districts can issue um in terms of bonds or debt without triggering new types of controls. We're starting from a really good place board community as you

059know um we've managed our our debt service rate and our debt projects to where we leave ourselves with capacity to take on this work but we're cognizant of the impact that this uh this act had on our plans. Um, we anticipate selling these bonds in 2026, most likely fall 2026, but to be determined. Um, and we're going to ask, um, for your approval in July for up to $75 million in principle. It's possible that the final amount is going to be less than $75 million. It's possible, too, that it's going to be that amount spread out over multiple issuances. So, in terms of the construction projects themselves, we've really broken them down into two distinct focus areas. Focus area one is our intermediate middle schools. Focus area two is Warren Central High School. So again,

060the maximum principle that we're going to ask the board to approve is $75 million. And again, this is the the piece that really excites me. Our aim with this round of construction in particular is to positively and directly impact the student experience. Among the items we discussed tonight are items impacting academics, classrooms, career and technical education, athletics, performing arts. We're going to meet students where they are in a variety of different places. So, we'll begin by talking about focus area one, the intermediate middle schools. The architect that we've identified for this scope of work is Schmidt Associates. Schmidt is relatively new to to our school district. Um, they are working on a project for us at Warren Central. Um, our boiler and cooling tower replacement project. Um, this is going to be the largest one

061they've taken on for us. Um, right now we're in the process of conducting a facility assessment at our three intermediate middle schools. And there's an important tie-in with Lily phase 3 that I want to make sure we cover. So a big piece of what we submitted um in Lily phase three. And just a reminder for board and community, Lily phase 3 is a project up to 37.5 million. 30 million of that potentially being grant supplied. Um about half of that, close to half of that would go into what we're calling jog centers at our intermediate middle schools. So, if approved, what we would anticipate doing at our three intermediate middle schools is converting a portion of that building location to serve as career and technical education hubs at the intermediate middle school level. Building upon

062a lot of the brand equity that we have at Walker Career Center and consistent with our strategic plan, getting that type of of focus down into into lower grade levels. U the outcome of Lily phase three is going to have an impact on what we choose to do. You know, ultimately we're going to get to the end of this and we're going to find ourselves with a menu of things to choose from that's going to tally up even with this piece more than $75 million. If we're approved for Lily phase 3, clearly we move forward with the jog centers. If we're not approved for Lily phase 3, the programmatic portions of that continue. We're committed to um CTE focus at the middle school level. Uh what that actually looks like from a building perspective, I

063think we'd have some decisions to make. Other things we're going to be discussing at the intermediate middle schools, classroom improvements, floors to ceilings, and I mean that literally. Everything from carpets to walls, um, to what's in the ceiling grid, um, HVAC at at least two of the three buildings, roofing, and then investments in building longevity. Um, these are buildings that we intend to have last for generations to come. Um, so board, I want to just do a brief overview on each of the three intermediate middle schools. Um so Crestston is um our oldest middle school constructed in 1964. Last went through significant renovation in 2007 board. You'll recall over the last couple of years we've really poured into Crestston um in the classroom spaces specifically. Um we've new LBT flooring in all of the class

064spaces, paint, uh window film, um new classroom furniture for the students. Classroom wise, it feels like a much more modern building than it did as recently as two years ago. Um but it's of course um a building especially if we receive Lily um phase three that we know is going to get a lot of of emphasis. Um Raymond Park is our newest middle school. Sounds kind of funny saying that for a building that's 30 years old. Um but it distinctly does feel like the newest one um when you walk in it relative to the other two intermediate middle schools. Original construction 1994, last renovated uh 2003. It's the biggest of the three buildings. Um and then the last middle school that we're going to discuss immediate middle school is Stonybrook. Um, Stony Brook constructed in

0651972, last renovated in 2008 for significant renovation. Um, so again, at the intermediate middle school level, we have Schmidt assisting us now with facility assessments and beginning to build out feasibility for what we could do. Um, I would share that the early returns on that work would seem to indicate Stony Brook is probably the candidate for the most extensive work. Um, in terms of the classrooms themselves, it's the one that that, you know, I think is showing its age at a level that's probably beyond the other two. Um, especially if we receive Lily phase 3, what I'd say is there's going to be work at all three buildings. Even if we don't receive Lily phase 3, we would anticipate some level of work um at all three buildings. And again, the early returns or the

066early information is probably that Stony Brook's going to be our prime candidate at this level. I'll pause there for a moment before we transition on to focus area 2. Is there any conversation or or questions about the intermediate middle schools? >> Yeah, I got something I'm circling right now. As a matter of fact, I got a question about something here and it's your well construction manager. You don't have determined who they're going to be yet for Warren and also is >> uh well to be determined on the middle school level. It'll be some combination of the three buildings. Um high high school level will be Warren Central. Uh and you're correct uh Howard that we've identified the architect at both the intermediate middle school level and the high school level. We went through an RFP

067process brought in competition had five different architects who interviewed ultimately selected these two to proceed with and we're going to follow a similar process on the construction manager side. Uh >> how far are you in determining where who the construction manager going to be? What what what are you doing? >> The the current stage we're in is we're building out the request for proposals with the two architect teams. Um so that's a collaborative effort with with us and then um cso for the high school work schmidt for the intermediate middle school work. Um one thing that we're going to do differently this time relative to our previous construction projects all of our previous larges scale construction projects have been CMA. So construction manager is advisor. Um under the CMA model the school district holds the

068contracts. Say we go through a project that has 12 trades. That's pretty common for us. We wind up holding 12 different contracts. So general trades and HVAC and you know roofing and so on. We're going to procure these as construction manager as constru constructor contracts CMC. Um so the key difference is the construction manager is going to hold the contracts themselves. We're required for a CMC process to go through a formal RFP. Um timeline wise we anticipate that we're that's going to go to the newspaper um in July. We think we're going to have proposals in and most likely interviews late in July. Um, and be ready to identify that partner or those partners most likely in the the first part of August. >> Um, what I what I'd like to do is you got

069these construction managers you haven't figured out yet. I'd like to before you actually, you know, say, "Hey, you're the guy." Could we see those guys? Can we know that before they do that? I mean, I don't mean I don't want to slow down your process, but if you haven't got a construction manager yet, I'm interested in the composition of that organization. >> Sure. Yeah. I think we can figure out a way to, you know, to have that kind of collaboration. I mean, ultimately, and this is true even with with Schmidt and CSO, um, at the stage we're in right now, we we've identified that we intend to work with those firms. We have to go through a formal contract process that involves board approval. Um, and this is common in this in this um, you

070know, in construction. a lot of the preliminary work is established. The fee that the construct that the architects and the construction managers ultimately charge depends upon the the breadth of the scope that we land on. Um and at this stage because we don't have kind of that defined level of idea, we haven't we're not in a position to bring a contract. Um the same will be true of the CMS. But yes, absolutely we'll find ways to to bring the board in and make sure that that you know you all can have insight into that process with us. >> You got some momentum going. I mean, your your horse is galloping and moving forward. I just want to make sure I don't want to slow that your process, but I do want to know who those

071guys are. >> Sure, we we can make that happen. >> Yeah, we'll make that happen. >> Any problem with that? >> As long as we're going through, >> we good with that? >> I mean, so long as we go through the formal RFP process, I think we're good. >> I don't think that's going to be any any problem with the process. RFP process, right? >> I just want to make sure, you know, Okay, we're fine. We're going to do that. Good. Good. Good. It doesn't slow your progress. >> No, we'll be okay. >> Slow your progress. >> We'll be okay. >> Okay. >> We'll be okay. >> Okay. >> Any any any any any any hint on how how soon that might happen? >> Uh in in the month of July. Uh we're we're working

072on um you know, one thing that's worked out nicely is the the two architecture firms that that we're partnering with happen to be two firms that worked at, you know, another pure school district. And so we're taking a lot of the components of an RFP that they worked with recently and we're able to replicate that for, you know, for our project purposes. So, um, you know, they've been great. Honestly, those two firms are competitors. Um, and we ended up splitting the work, um, which is different from what we've done in the past. We've, we've had one firm in the past and we split the work among two. In spite of the fact they're competitors, um, they've been willing to collaborate on building that that RFP, which is, you know, we asked them to do and

073that's in the interest of the school district to have have that kind of relationship. So, >> yeah, I feel like full full confidence that that's going to be cool. >> Yeah, sounds good. Uh, anything else on the intermediate middle schools before we move on to the high school? Okay. Um, our second focus area is on Warren Central High School. So, the architect for this one is going to be Cso. Um, CSO's name board is likely familiar as they've been our primary architect on most of our renovation projects in recent years. Um, so we're same way we're doing a facility assessment on the campus of Warren Central. Um, the work that we're going to do at this at our campus at the high school is going to complete is going to follow the completion of Warren

074Central phase three. Um, so for the community sake, for for the board, I do want to do just kind of a a retrospective on on what we've done in the last few years at the high school. It's been a lot of work. Um, so phase one began right around the time, I guess, just before COVID hit. Um, phase one board, as you'll recall, um, was a lot of infrastructure work on the high school campus itself, site improvements, drainage, parking. That's when we expanded the parking lots the west the high school. It's when we built the roundabout, moved pick up and drop off um to the west side of the building. Um performing arts construction of um the field on 16th Street. Uh phase two is when the Warren central administration office was built up on

075the north side of the building. Did the same thing on the Walker Career Center administration office. Counseling office moved into the former high school administration office. Uh phase two is when we renovated the performing arts center. Um again, more parking expansion or parking renovation in phase two. You know, this is an area where I know as I've had folks that I I work with that come in and see our high school who have seen our high school in years past. When people walk into the commons area today, I think we really open a lot of eyes. Um, and people are thrilled to see what our high school looks like today. It's something we can all be proud of. And a lot of that key work happened in phase two. Uh, and then phase three is

076when we're really getting into the classrooms themselves. This is the phase that we're in right now. We're in the latter stages of it. All of the classrooms up and down the G&H hallways, those are the two main academic corridors in the main part of the high school, um are being renovated. Industrial Drive at the Career Center um and the career center classrooms in the rectangle. Um a lot of HVAC work was part of high school phase three and then roofing. So board, as you'll recall, um we're working on a roofing project. We anticipate bringing to you this fall. the last piece of what's phase three um roofing work at that at the high school campus probably in the neighborhood of $3 million perhaps three to4 million dollars. So that brings us to um the scope

077that we're getting ready to enter into and again this is an exciting time because of the way that we're going to be able to impact the student experience uh during the next round of construction or renovation at Warren Central High School. We anticipate modernizing the fieldhouse. Um so board is you'll recall the fieldhouse at this point is 20 years old a little over 20 years old and it's showing its age. Um there's areas in there when we talk about the the traction on the track um the the surface at the uh of the flooring um that we need to modernize it for um for PE purposes for athletic purposes. We're going to be taking a look at art classrooms and the connector between the main high school building and Walker Career Center. CTE classrooms. Um

078really importantly, a key aspect of this, the dome that's on the northeast part of the high school. If we were having this conversation 10 years ago, we even then probably would have said that building has outlived um its projected life. It's it's well past the life that we expected it to have. Um so this next round of renovation, we anticipate tearing down the dome and replacing it with some sort of new indoor multi-purpose facility. Um we're going to have an impact on athletics. Um, we're looking to have a space for JOTC, um, beyond, you know, kind of the the informal structures they have in place today. We're going to do more HVAC work at Warren Central. It's a million square foot building. There will always be heating and cooling work to do. Uh, and then

079investments in building longevity. Are the questions about the high school before I move on to the timeline? Yes, sir. >> Yeah. Yeah. This timeline right here, summer 25. Maybe I got it out of whack and maybe I'm just confusing myself, but I'm I'm I'm I'm concerned about this construction manager procurement. Could you explain a little bit more about that? >> Sure. So, so for the construction manager procurement, um because we're doing a CMC, um we're required to go through a formal RFP. Um so, we'll advertise it twice in the newspapers in the Star and the IBJ. Um we'll give those biders a couple of weeks to put together, you know, their proposals. They'll submit them to us. We'll bring in all or a subset of um those groups to to interview and then we'll have

080a defined set of criteria that we'll we'll measure them against. Um and then ultimately we would be bringing to the board at some point further down the line a recommendation to approve a contract um with the either one or two construction managers. It could follow one of two kind of streams. So similar on the architect side, we told the architects we may pick one and we may pick two. We landed on two. I would say the same is true of the construction managers. It could be one construction manager firm. It could be two construction management firms. >> Thanks. >> Got it. Um so on the timeline this summer, we're doing the facility assessments at the middle schools with Schmidt, the high school with Cso. Um we'll do the construction manager procurement. Preliminary determination hearings. We're

081doing the first of those tonight. The second one we'll do next month. Uh in the fall, we'll refine the scope. We'll go through preliminary design with the architects. Um, in the winter of 2025 through 2026, we'll finalize design. It's at that point, too, that we'll be looking to make decisions around what the final scope is going to be for the work that we take on. Um, factoring in what we think that we can um we can, you know, handle in terms of, you know, the impact from Senate ruled act one and trying to maximize the impact on our student body. Uh, in the spring, we'd anticipate going through the bidding process. that will look fairly similar to what we what we've done on prior rounds where again we'll have to bring the the bid results

082to the board for approval. The key difference being that the um the construction manager will hold the contracts as opposed to the school district. Uh and then finally most likely in the fall we'll sell the bonds and go through construction and construction we're anticipating going through we set aside two years 2026 through 2028. Uh, I've got one other piece I'm going to briefly go through as it pertains to the finances themselves, but I'd be happy to pause here and answer any questions about construction or the process. Okay. Um, so I do need to, you know, as part of our our hearing process, we do have to cover the finances portion of this. Oh, you know, it's a it's a fairly short piece anyway. Our our colleagues at Baker Tilly, our municipal adviser, um, prepared this

083for us. Um so board and community for for your awareness this slide shows the schedule of our existing um debt service payments um laid out over the next 15 plus years. Um the key pattern that I think makes this a really relevant conversation is um I think we can all see what happens in 2027 and 2028. We we've for several years now had annual debt service payments in the neighborhood of $20 million. By the time we get out to 2028 we'd be a little bit over 11 million. So, that's our room that we've got to take on um construction work um within a debt service levy that's familiar to, you know, to the board and to our community. Um this is a schedule of all of the existing debt debts that we have um outstanding

084that have funded our construction projects. Um this is a summary of our proposed financing information. So, um, maximum borrowing amount, anticipated m maximum interest expense, we think that's been set conservatively high, but anticipated maximum interest expense, maximum annual lease rental payment of $1 million. Um, and then finally, board and community, this is what our debt service schedule will look like based upon the information that we have today if we sell a full $75 million in 2026. But again, I want to emphasize that we're probably a year out from making that final decision. Um, and board, we'll have to come back to you for approval on those final dollar amounts before we do. But I guess the key thing we want to emphasize is even selling at this amount in 2026. We anticipate within just a

085few years having a lower debt service levy than we do today. One final piece I want to call out, I'm going to kind of blend two hearings. Um, we do have called out on this in the the sort of maroon color, the geo bonds that we're going to talk about in our next hearing. Um the geo bonds we have slated right now for an anticipated three-year payback. That doesn't have to be finalized until we sell them in the fall. Um but that's built into the to the estimates we're looking at today. Um so board, I'd be happy to answer any questions on the finance piece of it. >> Okay. Um President Burke, I think at this point we we have to open it up for public comment. >> And that is exactly what we're going

086to do. We're going to open up the secondary school project preliminary determination hearing for public comment. >> Okay, seeing none, I'm going to close it for public comment. >> And are we completed with this hearing? >> We can close that hearing and we can open the next. >> We are going to close this hearing and we are going to open the 2025 GEO bond hearing. >> Uh so board, this is the we're going to go through one more public hearing, a shorter one. And in fact, I didn't even prepare a presentation for this one because we did the the key steps for it last year. But we are going to ask the board to take action afterward. And I'm going to invite Jeff to come back up and talk through the purpose of this hearing.

087Um, and also to cover the the two resolutions we're going to ask the board to adopt. >> Thank you again, Matt, Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Hansen. So, this uh process began began back in March of 2024. Uh we went through two preliminary determination public hearings back in the spring of last year and you might remember that we authorized up to $12 million of general obligation bonds to be used for improvements at facilities across the district as well as to purchase vehicles, buses, curricular materials, all sorts of equipment that you need to operate your facilities and to educate your students. Last year after we went through that preliminary determination process, we we received no request for any sort of petition remmonstrance or referendum applying to th to those financings or those projects. And

088so you then proceeded to issue $6 million of the $12 million authorization and then have implemented that money in various improvements across the district over the last year. Now, we are coming to you to ask for approval of the remaining 6 million of that general obligation bond approval that was done back in 2024 for additional facility improvements, vehicle purchases, equipment purchases across the district. Um, this would be for a term not to exceed five years, but as Matt said, we are anticipating that to be less than that based on interest rates. The reason we set five years is because we're assuming a 5% interest rate right now and interest rates right now on those bonds would be around three and a half%. But since we're not going to sell those until later this fall, we

089just don't know where that's going to land on those. So we want to again assume the maximum interest rate possibility. So we don't have to repeat the process again. As Matt showed in that one graph, this is tax rate neutral under the current assessed value system. So this will not change your tax levies or tax rates from what you're currently levying or or you're imposing for your community. So this is very consistent with your methodology and approach that you've had to date. Um these we do anticipate selling these bonds later this year through steif as a negotiated sale and then the bond proceeds would be available to be uh spent over the course of the next 12 months or 18 months, however you need it for various projects as you move forward. The first resolution

090that's in your board packet tonight approves those financial parameters and the authorization for the issuance of those bonds via negotiated sale with Steve. The second resolution that's in your board packet is the appropriation resolution. And while we're approving a principal amount of $6 million, we need to approve an appropriation that's higher than that. And so like last year, we set that appropriation at $8 million because we have to include not just the bond proceeds, but the interest earnings that you will obtain over the course of the next year to 18 months as you spend that money, you will actually earn interest on that. While I don't think you will earn $2 million worth of interest and if you do, I want to know what kind of investments you're using because I want to invest in

091those as well. uh we do want to set that artificially high because we don't want to have to repeat that process again down the road if in fact your interest earnings come in higher than what we actually estimate and more importantly if you spend money above an appropriation that violates certain Indiana laws so we just want to set that artificially high then once you spend all the money that you have the remaining amount of that appropriation just expires or goes away by statute so it doesn't hurt anything to have that artificially high it doesn't imp impact any of your reporting requirements performance or anything like that. So that's why that amount is is set higher than your bond principal amount. Um and that is permitted by state law. So with that, I'd be happy to

092answer any questions regarding the presentation or regarding the two resolutions that you'll be considering after the public hearing. >> Um the uh the governor the governor has sent out some information. I think we all had a chance to review some of that in an article that talked about u we're going to get a substantial amount of money or some nice nice monies in the next couple years for the next couple years. But it talked about how uh tax uh yeah homeowners taxes was going to be an issue. Does any of that stuff affect our bonds and and and and what we're doing here? Because you mentioned about a tax levy or so. >> Sure. The the >> there is there some effect there that's going to affect that >> uh over time. It could be

093the possibility as the assessed value in across the state is reduced based on some new deductions that are being put in place and phased in over the next five years that you could see your tax rates go up from where they currently are. just because even if you levy the same amount of money, if you're now levying that on a smaller amount of assessed value, that means your tax rate could go up. And so that's why we're really underscoring now that your tax levies are not going to go up, but your tax rates might in the next few years depending on how growth and assessed value goes over the next several years as well. In addition, um even though your tax rates will go up, an individual's tax bill will not go up because your

094tax levies will not be going up and their tax bill will only go up if their assessed value itself goes up over time. So where we are seeing is that we believe that while there may be a small decrease in tax bills in the next few years as this assessed value system gets further implemented that within the next several years you'll be back right at the same tax bills that people are seeing today uh based on current data. But that's still to be determined over the next several years. But this has no impact on your ability to do the borrowing and to receive the revenue sufficient to pay the debt service on these bonds. >> Okay. So, our bonds are not uh >> they're not in jeopardy. They're not vulnerable in any way, shape, or

095form. Yes, sir. >> Thanks. >> You're welcome. >> If there are no other questions, then I'll turn it over to Matt to go through a little bit of highlight on the presentation. >> I just want to thank you, John, for all you do for us. We appreciate it. >> You're very welcome. My pleasure. >> You always give us good information. We appreciate it. So board, like I said, for this one, um, I want to talk just really high level about kind of the theme of the projects that we've taken on with 2025 bonds and that we're going to take on with 2026 bonds. I'm going to invite Mr. Quackbush to come back up. Um, if he doesn't mind to actually walk through the resolutions themselves, just to take us through the adoption process. Um, so

096board, you'll recall when we did this last year, really the theme that we laid out was school buses and service vehicles, um, HVAC and energy efficiency, and then classroom work. And that's consistent with what we're going to do with our 2025 bonds. With our 2024 bonds, um, we bought school buses, we bought service vehicles, and that's how we financed the boiler um, replacement and cooling tower replacement at Warren Central High School. With the 2025 bonds, we anticipate buying school buses, buying service vehicles, um, and then HVAC work at various campuses. We're all but certain that we're going to replace the chiller at Highlander Park, um, which services both adult education and Warren Online Academy. Um, we're almost certainly going to take on boiler work at Lakeside, although I'll tell you that we do have an

097engineer taking a look at all of our boilers around the district um, to make sure we hit the one that's highest need. Um, and then some internal electrical work most likely at Crestston and Renaissance. Um, and then pieces of of it still to be um, allocated most likely for HVAC retro commissioning work. Be happy to answer any questions about the bond projects. Okay. Uh, Jeff, would you mind just >> I'm sorry. Public public comment. >> I was about to get in there. So, with that, do we have any public comments on the 2025 geo bond project? hearing. And seeing none, I'm going to close the hearing. Yes, close the hearing. Thank you so much. >> And with that, we're going to move on to action items, which perhaps not shockingly, we are going to begin

098with a resolution regarding our 2025 geo bond issuance. >> President Burke, if it's all right with you, I'll let Jeff take it from here and and guide us through these two resolutions. >> Of course. Thank you. >> All right. So, the first resolution that's before you this evening is the same resolution that you approved for the 2024 bond issue, merely to change the dates and the and the and this and the name of the series from 2024 to 2025. So, this should look very uh familiar to what you approved in the spring late spring of last year. As I stated, the maximum principal amount of the bonds to be approved is $6 million is to be for the projects as presented by Matt uh regarding equipment, vehicles, buses, uh, and capital improvements for a term

099not to exceed five years, an interest rate not to exceed, uh, 5% and to be sold via a negotiated sale with Stiffl. Um, and we anticipate that actually to be for a three-year term based on interest rates. This also then authorizes Dr. Hansen and Matt to execute any and all documents as well as the board president and the board secretary as necessary. There are many closing documents and bond documents and as long as we don't exceed those maximum parameters, they're authorized to do that. So that's what that resolution does. I would recommend that you uh approve that resolution as presented in your board packet, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding it. >> Excellent. Do we have a motion? >> So moved. >> Julie's made the motion. Is there a

100second? And Terry has seconded it. Is there any discussion? Good. >> Okay. Hearing and seeing none, we'll go to the vote. and the bond issuance passed which then will bring us to the next resolution resolution 644.25 which is the additional appropriations. >> Thank you. So this resolution just like in your budget process you have to approve the appropriation of expenditures before you can actually incur those expenditures. So, that's what this resolution does and why it is separate from your bond resolution. As stated before, this is for an amount not to exceed $8 million because this includes not just the bond proceeds, but also any interest earnings on those bond proceeds. And it then authorizes Matt and Dr. Hansen to file reports with the Department of Local Government Finance in connection with that appropriation and to

101execute any and all of the documents. With that, I'd recommend you uh consider approval of the resolution as presented in your board packet. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve resolution 644.25? >> So moved. >> Julie made the motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Kevin seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing and seeing none, we'll go to a vote and the motion carries. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Have a great evening. >> And Jeff, I apologize for calling you John earlier. I know a John Qual. >> It's not a common enough last name that I I switched it in my head. That is all my fault. So, I apologize. >> Um, and with that, we're going to go to policy 5111, the determination of legal settle settlement and eligibility

102for enrollment of students without legal settlement in the corporation. And um, Dr. Anderson is at a conference and so Dr. Hansen will be taking it over. >> Yeah. Thank you, President Burke. Just a reminder, Marcus and Tierney are both at conferences. Marcus is at the Indiana School Resource Officer um conference and Tyranny is at the AVID conference board. This is one of those policies where practice proceeds policy as you know um we accept non-legal um settlement students in Warren. Um, this policy, which Tierney brought to you for discussion last month, um, reinforces that our non-legal settlement students are eligible for due process just as our legal settlement students are, and that we cannot charge um, transfer students tuition. >> Can I have a motion to accept policy 511? >> Thank you. Terry made the motion.

103Is there a second? >> Second. >> And Leon has seconded it. Is there any further discussion? >> Hearing and seeing none, we'll take a vote. And the motion carries. I apologize. We seem to have an angry speaker in the room. Hopefully online sounds okay. And we're going to move on to promotion, placement, and retention. And Miss Woods, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board, um here tonight about the promotion, placement, and retention um revised policy 5410. And this is uh adding language on um when students may qualify for a good cause exemption. um which um if you recall for I read three if they do not pass after um multiple attempts through their third grade year um then um the new law states that we would have to retain them in third grade. Um

104if students meet certain criteria um they can get a good cause exemption which means that they would not be retained. they do still have to take the I read um assessment until they pass um or through their sixth grade year. So um it doesn't stop them from having to take that test. Um it just stops that retention piece. I'm happy to answer any questions. Okay. Can I have a motion to pass policy promotion placement and retention? >> So moved. Julie made the motion. Is there a second? And Terry seconded it. Is there any further discussion? Hearing and seeing none, it will go for a vote. and the motion carries. Next up, everyone's favorite yearly topic, the student success handbook. Um, hopefully you all have had a chance to review this. Um, I want to highlight

105a couple of changes since I was here last or things that I had referenced. Um if you look at the newest um copy, we have added QR codes in for all links. Um so if parents have the PDF version, they can click on the link. Um but if not, they can scan the QR code to access that link, hoping to uh make it a little bit more user friendly. Um I mentioned last time I was waiting to hear back from our attorneys on some revised bullying language with um some changes in legislation. They reviewed and said that we do not need to update anything in our handbook. um that really the changes in legislation are going to be based on our practices our administrators have to take um and so what we have in our

106handbook um is fine. Um a couple of um changes um just today that I want to highlight are um in the um the student discipline codes. Um uh previously um under dis um disruption of unau or distribution of unauthorized materials um we had a statement about gambling in there um which didn't really seem to make sense. So we moved it um under general disruption. And so you'll find that in both the 58 and the 912 um behavior uh codes. Um and then also a statement in the transportation section about um parents not being allowed to board a bus um without um permission from transportation um which we do have some scenarios for students um in wheelchairs or that might need assistance where transportation does give permission um but in general parents are not allowed to

107board the bus. So, um there's a couple other um word and language changes, but I think that those are kind of the two big additions. Um I'm happy to answer any other questions if you guys have them. >> Seeing that didn't work. Seeing no questions, do we have a motion to approve the student success handbook? So moved. Julie made the motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. Kevin seconded it. Is there any discussion? >> I just want to compliment you for the QR codes. I think that is definitely a useful tool for our parents. >> Dr. Hansen's great idea. So, I just put them all in the I just made them. I think it will be helpful though. >> It's still an 89 page handbook. Thank you so much for all you do. >>

108It is. And you know what? >> Let's not underestimate how big the thing is. Um, Kim Asbury needs a big thank you there because she's the one that actually goes in and does all the the hard work to make it look so nice. So, thanks Kim. And that carries. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Our last action item for the evening, woohoo, is uh resolution 645.25, the East Side Flatwoods. Um, so if you remember several months ago, we had a public comment regarding the woods outside of Hawthorne Elementary School that it was one of the, in fact, the largest um, unprotected woods within Marian County. Um, Dr. Hansen and I attended a meeting with the property owners as well as um, our city council members and some other organized some other interested parties.

109Um, and one of the things that came up is that in order to it there there seems to be a desire among the residents of the east side to protect that woods. And in order to do that, we would need the city council to purchase that woods. Um, and in order to help encourage the city council to make that decision that a letter from us requesting that they do so would be helpful. And so, um, it went around earlier today as well as having been posted here is a letter, um, stating that we would support that the city council would purchase the woods. So, that's important that it's not obligating us to purchase it because we certainly don't have that sort of money sitting around, but encouraging the city council to p to purchase the

110woods so that um, it can be turned into parks areas for the community and obviously also for Hawthorne and our other schools to enjoy. Any questions? Okay, seeing none, do we have a motion to >> Lanna Trip would move that we accept the resolution. >> Thank you so much, Lanna. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> And thank you, Howard. Is there any discussion? Okay, hearing and seeing none. We're going to go for a vote. Oh, it's right there. and the motion carries. Thank you so much. We will get that sent off to the appropriate folks. And with that, we are at discussion items. Home stretch. >> Good evening. Tonight for discussion, I bring to you policy 5500. Um 5500 is titled student conduct, but specifically the purpose for this revision, it's really updating

111language uh within definitions of student conduct um to update the definition of academic dishonesty to include the inappropriate use of artificial intelligence. Um, within this policy specifically, it prohibits uh the use of AI if it's used by a student as the sole source of um work submission. It does permit students to use AI tools with teacher approval for certain aspects like research assistance, data analysis, language translation, basic writing assistance, and accessibility. um requires that when students use AI proper citations are applicable um and then um the actual definition that uh of academic dishonesty um as incorporated with AI is presenting the results so the product of artificial intelligence platform as one's own where the use of AI was not specifically allowed by the teacher as part of the assignment. Um so again it allows for

112some flexibilities for teachers to uh promote and use for their students but strictly prohibits when um quite frankly it choose to cheat. So happy to answer any questions but I'll bring this back for approval in July. >> How would a teacher know a kid AI? >> Well I mean there's a lot of ways I guess Mr. Dorsy. I guess the teacher could use AI to see if the student was using AI um as one. In all seriousness, I know there's some monitoring tools that uh look for specific um Mr. Shorter, it would be better to reference some of these, but I know with Brisk um has the ability to look through Google Docs to see if there's large chunks of text that has been pasted in there instead of written in there. So, there's some

113auto detection that can go in there. um certain things uh let's just say some students submit clearly they don't they don't write um and teachers have a key eye for that um and um I don't think there's any perfect way to identify that um I'll go back to some previous comments I made a few weeks ago through that but part of this is teaching the appropriate use of it so a student knows legitimately that there are appropriate uses these are some ways we can appropriate use but um if you say write me a five paragraph um you know something I can turn into my ninth grade teacher about Romeo and Juliet. That's probably not the most appropriate use of AI >> and a kid shows up with 30 pages of information. >> Yeah. >> Absolutely.

114Yeah. >> And everything's spelled perfectly and you know so >> but no >> I guess it's a matter it's just a matter of the teachers got to know their students know what the students performance are and you can easily readily see >> absolutely it's the same thing of how does a teacher know when someone else writes a paper for a student >> right key to every successful teaching relationship or teaching um is a relationship and if you truly know who you're working with and you have a better idea. Nothing's perfect, but that's certainly a big part. >> Thank you so much. And we have three more policies that are going to be shockingly similar in their content. >> Good evening, President Burke, Dr. Hansen, members of the board. Yes, what I bring to you is

115going to rhyme with what Ryan just uh brought you. Uh I will go out of order a little bit. Um uh scroll down here. So I'll start with policy 7504.09 which is a new policy on artificial intelligence. It's not a very long policy. It basically just gives discretion to the superintendent to authorize the use of artificial intelligence in the district. Um but recognizing that it may have a potential positive impact. Um but many of the things that uh Mr. Russell brought up, it also uh outlines that um you know there can be disciplinary action for misuse of it. And it's really about providing a uh a framework of responsible AI adoption for the district. And I mentioned that first because it is then referenced cross referenced in the other two policies. One for student uh

116acceptable use and staff acceptable use. And again, it it talks about many of the things that Mr. Russell spoke about, including the categories of use, and both call out the need for the teacher to give permission to the students to use AI in a responsible, ethical manner. Um, I was going to go further, but Mr. Russell stole a lot of my thunder tonight. So, I'm happy to answer any other questions you may have about these three policies. That's rule fine. >> Do we have any questions? >> Okay. Hearing and seeing none. >> Thank you. >> We are at closing comments. Howard, we will begin with you. >> Uh be careful out there. Tornadoes are hiding behind every bush. >> Um I hope all the power has come back on. I know the power at my

117home was out. I don't know about you guys, but I almost canceled and said I wasn't coming. Was afraid to go out into the street, but I got my nerve back. And so here anyway, uh just just tons and tons of uh pride for the kids who performed so well in their athletics. Just about it. Thanks. >> I'm going to be brief. Have a very nice evening everybody. >> Kevin, >> well we made it also u proudest over all our achievements. And with that that is a good note to end it on. Have a good evening. In closing, I would like to shout out to all of our student athletes. I did not acknowledge them initially. And I'll be brief as well. Have a great evening. Stay safe. >> Thank you all for staying. Um,

118it's been a great meeting. Thank you for the presentations and really caring about our district. Um, everybody stay safe and I know along with the storms tonight, we're supposed to be getting excessive heat. So, make sure you hydrate and stay safe. Have a good evening. >> Well, heaven forbid we just had the buildings get destroyed. Okay. Um, thank you everyone for the meeting. I will say we have a lot more energy when Gloria is here. Plus, it is June and we just got hit by a storm. It's a bad combination of things. I think I still don't have power or a way into my house. So there you go. Um I want to echo what everyone else said earlier, especially for central office folks. Take the breaks while you can. Spend some time um for

119yourselves and with your families so that we can come back in late July and do it all again. Thank you so much. And with that, I will close the meeting.