001I'll call this meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> That's crazy. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much. Please be seated. Welcome to the Ritland Bean Blossom Community School Corporation regular schoolboard meeting for uh December 16th, month of December, 2025, which is in um let the record be that all board members are present. Were there anyone was there anyone who wanted to speak uh in the public? Okay, since seeing no visitor comments, we'll go straight to the Mustang moment, which we're excited to have Edgewood Intermediate School, Dr. Sanders. >> Yeah, I'm going to have Mr. Schul come up here and introduce
002the group. But uh in the spirit of what we're trying to do here at Edgewood Schools, you know, we have uh several studentrun businesses at the the high school and uh we've learned how uh really effective it is to have our students uh do things like run a coffee shop or run our marketing program. and I don't know how many years ago that the the students took over doing the yearbook uh at EIS, but they've just done a tremendous job and so they're here to present about that tonight. Mr. Sch. Yeah, it was uh three or four years ago, I think, when um Jen and Mariah and I think Meline and some different people were um looking at our yearbook that we had had over the course of I don't know, probably similar to when
003we were in in school. There hadn't been a lot of evolution in the in the area of elementary yearbooks. I mean, it was a few pictures. They came in one day, took pictures of all the classrooms, everybody's head shot in there, and and that's about it. So, I brought one of our old ones. Um but had this idea um because it's one of those things in Edgewood is like if we see something where we can do better, we do better. Um and students often do better than than adults sometimes when they're creating these things. So I also brought last year's yearbook. This is one of the new iterations of students um yearbook that they have created um with photographers and you know having some features in there about some different things that are happening throughout
004the year. There's a section on the renovation and Lynden Roxan's retirement and um just some really cool things that are in there. Um and so I want to invite them up to kind of talk [snorts] about the story of how that yearbook has changed and photography and and how that's been involved. So I'll bring them up at this time. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for having us. I won't speak for too long, but just to um reiterate what Mr. Schul was saying, it was three, this is our third year with the yearbook being studentrun. It was a passion project of Mrs. Barretts. Um in addition to just having students be more involved, we really had a goal of making sure we had new students, students that maybe weren't a part of another group or club
005be ha have an opportunity to shine. And uh we wanted to make it as inclusive as possible. So not only are do we have one group that stays after school to do the editing piece, but we have one piece of the group, half the group uh actually gives up their wonder time to be in this group, which eliminates the need for transportation. It eliminates um a need for parent involvement, although you know that's that's a wonderful piece too. So, um it has evolved over the years. Um where the first year we had some very clunky cameras that uh didn't really take amazing pictures and then u Mrs. Barrett was able to find funding. So, we have three very nice um professional cameras that the students spend some time. Nora will be able to show it
006to you uh later. one of them um the high quality and um they have they have a little bit of a robust um education at the beginning of how to treat it carefully and so that it can stick around for a while. Um but yeah, we have a lot to be proud of and so with that I'm going to bring up Willow who's going to talk a little bit. Again, as I said, we have two parts. We have the photography group that's in charge of um getting the photos and then we have the editing group. So, I'm going to bring up the photography group first, and Willow is going to talk a little bit about the three parts of the photography group. Hi, my name is Willow Dimmick and I'm a part of the photography
007club. I'm going to tell to you about the three jobs that we have. We have the photographers, the security, and the editors. The photographers run roam around the school and take pictures of anything that seems that could catch catch their eye. It is really nice to have the cameras to take the pictures that will that will hopefully stay and last forever or almost forever. But they take pictures of many things that they can find. They take pictures of the students, the staff members, and anything else that they find. The securityities, the security officers will follow the photographers and make sure that if anyone comes running up while the photographers are taking pictures to stop them immediately and ask them to wait. The editors will stay in the classroom and edit any pictures. They will name
008[clears throat] the f the pictures, delete any pictures that they don't think would suit the yearbook or are too blurry. They help with finding what could be good for the yearbook and not as well. They will name and delete pictures and they try and do what's best for the yearbook. Nice job, Willow. Very thorough. Wow. >> The only thing I else I would like to add to that is they rotate. So, if you are um the photographer one week, you are the editor of those photos the next week. And if you're the security one week, you get to be the photographer the next week. And we just rotate that way. Everybody gets a turn in each of those roles. >> Great job. Hi, my name is Nora Wade and I'm a part of the photography
009team. When the photographers go to take pictures, there are three of us able to take pictures because we have three cameras. They look like this. These cameras were able to be purchased thanks to the help of Mrs. Barrett. When we find out take what wait when we are out taking pictures, we like to find a balance of everyday school activities and special events. Some of the special events we've gotten to photograph so far are our fifth grade choir program singing out singing at our Veteran Day program. Then we try to take everyday pictures of EIS students students like students doing homework in Mrs. Orhorn's class also recess students building Legos together or other games like Twister. My personal favorite part of being a part of the yearbook club is taking photos because I love seeing
010what's going on in other classrooms. And I also like to see students excited to be a part of the yearbook. >> Very nice. >> So Nora did a great job there of talking about some of the pictures that they've taken. She picked some that the photography team have taken. So you can see the Veterans Day program and some of the pictures around the building. Um, and then I'm going to talk a little bit about editing team. I'm Liz Dixon. This is my second year sponsoring the um, editing team. Anna Dunn is helping me out this year, too. And she's been our Ready Schools person for our grade level for the last couple years. And so she is a great addition because we work a lot with the online programming of taking these pictures. We use
011the Justins website and we have a 48page yearbook that we're in charge of putting together then. So, um, a lot of the pages are portrait ones that you can see as the yearbook comes around and those are photography, like just the normal picture day. Those photos get put in, but the kids get to make a lot of decisions about what else fills those pages and then what do we do with the extras that we have a full 48 pages. Um, I don't want to give too much away of what they're going to talk about because there are some other fun decisions that they get to make as well. Um, I will say we have Caleb and Harper are going to talk to us and I want to make sure I don't miss anyone, but Charlie
012and Luke and Owen are here from the editing team as well to represent us. Um, I'm going to let Caleb come on up and talk a little bit about editing team first. >> Hi, my name is Caleb Newton. I will be explaining how we advertised our sales in the editor's club. When we worked on our advertisements for the yearbook, we all worked on our on our advertisements and on some of them we worked together. We spent the whole meeting that day working hard to get our flyers done. This will hopefully get us more sales and inform people of the good deal we are providing. I will also be explaining how we decided on our cover. Our school did a majority vote on the yearbook cover. The process we did to choose the cover was quite
013simple. First, all the editors went through 200 some covers and wrote down some they like. Then we all got another note card to write down our very favorite. These covers then go to a Google form and then it is posted on Google Classroom. [clears throat] That's when the fifth grade students choose their favorite covers. Then we add each one up and that's how we decided on the yearbook cover. I think this is my favorite one ever. >> They picked a good one. They picked a great one. Yeah. >> So neat. >> It does look so cool. >> Hi, my name is Harper Pervvis and I'm part of the editing team. I will be telling you about what we will be adding to our yearbook this year. First thing is that we will be have we
014will have a page all about the changes in our cafeteria. We now have ice cream for $1 each on Monday and Fridays, which has been a really big hit. Another new thing we will be showcasing in our yearbook is that we have an afternoon snack of fruit and veggies on Mondays and Wednesdays. To help students try new foods and order foods in order to decide what to include in our yearbook, we evaluated a list of things that were most exciting for the students. So, overall, thank you guys for letting us come and share about our club. These kids do amazing work. Um, they are the ones that have all the big ideas that make the yearbook possible. I know that we wouldn't be able to come up with some of these ideas on our own.
015So, they definitely lead the charge. Um, we're in the middle of our season right now. We have January and February that we really start putting the book together. So, um, they're just getting everything ready. We've got our cover. We've got some great pictures taken and we're excited to hit the ground running next semester and really put that book together and they are hard workers because of it. So, thank you guys for hearing about us. >> Thank you. [applause] >> I tell you the the uh difference in the yearbooks is quite amazing. Mhm. >> Um you you all do so such a wonderful job of taking the pictures, selecting which ones to use. I I just am so excited that uh to to see the work that you've put together. I know you worked really hard
016for this >> and I'm sure Mr. Axiom at the high school is looking forward to these guys coming up and joining his yearbook staff, too. >> Yes, we hope so. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> We actually created a new journalism pathway at the high school because these guys are starting to come up through and guess what they're getting hit with u Mrs. Aaron Junior High and we have 40ome kids involved there in journalism not to mention the yearbook but then uh the yearbook class at the high school is part of the journalism pathway. So we're creating it all the way up through. So you guys have lots of opportunities if this is something that you really enjoy and want to continue to pursue. So amazing job. >> Excellent. >> Okay. Great job, guys. >> Thank you
017very [applause] They were there. >> Oh, we know how to take the kids out. >> Kind of the way it goes. Well, that's >> they were day one. >> That was a great presentation. Um, thank you. >> We'll uh get down to business for the evening. We'll start with the consent agenda. This would be approval of minutes for the October 18th uh regular board meeting and also the October 18th work session. It includes the financial the treasures report for November 2025. And Mr. Dural the claims please. >> Thank you sir. For gross wages, mini payroll on November the 6, 2025, 2388.884. For gross wages on November the 7th, 2025, $871,9190.95. For gross wages on November 21st, 2025, $866,894.81 81 for gross st wage stipens on November 28, 2025, $498,770 for a total in that area
018of 2,329244,60 for vouchers from 11 pre-claims from November 1st through November 30th, 658,34.71 for claims regular vouchers for 1216 2022 for 1,323 $7129. 19 for a total in that area of1,981,746.90 for a grand total of 4,220,991.50. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Um, next we have personnel resignations, retirements, non-renewals, leaves and terminations C1 through 28 and personnel appointments and transfers D1 for 18. Um, and after we vote on this, we'll Dr. Sanders does want to mention a few folks. Um, and also excited that we have a donation of $25 to Ready Schools Initiative uh from Patricia McCafferty and David Nickens. So, do we have a motion? >> I'll move approval. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Oppos? Motion carries. Dr. Seniors. >> Yes. I just want
019to recognize a couple people. Uh Kim Ford uh has been an uh EECC [clears throat] instructional assistant for 19 and a half years and she's resigning, retiring uh to take care of her new grandchild. So that sounds pretty exciting. And then uh Bobby Wampler uh who's been uh a custodian for RBB for 38 years uh and he is retiring and uh he's such a good guy and we're going to miss him. Uh so I just wanted to recognize those two folks. >> I want to add add to Mr. Wampler. He's >> he's one of the few people that he's worked third shift for 38 years. >> Well, not quite. >> Okay. That's what he was bragging to me about. He started out on second shift when I started. >> Okay. >> He and Sam were
020second shift and so they [laughter] they kept me going in the auditorium when I started. >> Okay, I got you. Yeah, he liked that third shift. >> He chose third shift. Yeah. I I doubted him doubted his sanity. >> He liked the quietness of what he said. >> Well, what he said was he liked he liked it because he could go hunting anytime he wanted. [laughter] >> That's That's Bob. Great guy. Great guy. >> Thank you. Um we do have one supplemental personnel report. Uh Dr. Sanders. >> Uh yes. So uh we uh typically do the supplemental personnel report when uh we do a background check and and sometimes there there are items that that are on that background check that we want to bring before the board's attention and uh so we've done that.
021Um, and uh we recommend uh Barry Allen uh to be uh one of our new maintenance employees. Uh and you just approved Garrett Ramsay who will be the other maintenance new maintenance employee. So I just recommend your approval for Barry Allen. >> I'll move approval. >> I second. >> Move. Second. Any discussion? >> All those in favor say I. I opposed. Motion carries. Welcome to RBB. Um consideration to approve the 2025 2026 teacher appraisal plan. And Jennifer Bareric will turn this over to you. >> You had a copy of this in uh your board packet. This is the 2526 teacher appraisal plan. Uh this has been a work in development here over the last few months. We kept waiting for the state to come out and say, "We need a copy of this. Let's get
022it submitted." Um, nothing has come out in terms of that. So, we're going to bring it to you later than normal, but um, still definitely put together. I have to give tremendous kudos to Megan Scott on this. Megan has worked tirelessly, hours upon hours upon hours. Um, the teacher appraisal plan is very similar to what we did last year. It's the new um the new pieces that we put together that took the place of the modified rise. Um but where I want to draw your attention and why this took as long as it did is um the rubrics that are at the end of this you would have seen rubrics related to school psychologist um physical therapist OT SLP. Um, the reason that that took so much time is in the past we had generic
023rubrics that would tie to each of those uh, professions that of course we have here at RBB. Um, but this year what we did was we took those um, each of those uh, professions and we took their standards of practice and then related that back to the rubric and tied our professionalism and the other pieces to it. So now when we look at a teacher and we're looking at NASAD or new art and science of teaching, we're also now as a physical therapist looking at their standards of practice. As um an SLP in the corporation, we're looking at their standards of practice. So now we have rubrics that actually um tie to the work that they are specifically doing with students in the district and making sure that um we are evaluating them on what
024they actually do versus uh maybe a generic rubric that didn't necessarily fit them. So I'm excited about this. I think it's a good step forward um as far as making sure that we are looking at each of of our professionals in the district um through a lens that is appropriate for them. So, I ask for you to approve the 2526 um educator appraisal plan for all of our certified staff members. >> I'll move approve. >> I'll second. >> Move and second. Any discussion? >> I just appreciate all the work that went into this and it was it was quite a slow getting through all of the >> I bet. Yeah. all the the the different forms. But uh yeah, I I I just see this as another building block in getting to the high reliability
025schools. And I just think it's really important >> for sure. And I if you had seen the uh the shared document and how many comments Oh. >> and suggestions were on there from uh you know Cara Glasscock or Carolan Grieve or um you know Stephanie Pal as a literacy coach. the teamwork that went into building these and making sure that they fit um each of those professionals was phenomenal. That's true. So, I actually got as much joy out of seeing that as I did the final project. So, very collaborative in how it was put together. Yeah, I I too was very impressed with just over how the process worked over the last year of uh the teachers and the administrators working together on this project and the broadbase input that that came about >> and
026I think in the end we we got a very good product. >> I think so too. I've u been hearing well we're starting to get requests from other corporations to come and present to them on what we've created here because now they are looking for um an outside of the box growth and development model for not just their teachers but as I said other professionals who work in their district um and now that we're seeing the guidelines for the TAG grant that have come out coaching and mentoring and all of these other pieces are very much a part of that and if you don't have those in place you aren't eligible for certain uh levels with the TAG grants. So, somehow, I don't know if it was intentional. I can't say it was intentional. Somehow,
027we were ahead of the ball game on this. Um, and it's it's come out to be a really positive thing for our corporation. >> Any further discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I oppose. Motion carries. Thank you so much. Um, next is consideration to approve the playworks contract. >> The next one you have here is uh it's a fun little contract. Um, this one is for $3,350. We're looking at providing this uh professional development to our before and after school care employees. Um, what we are finding is that um our programming isn't quite up to the level that we would like for it to be before and after school. Um we have high expectations for our students as soon as they step on site whether it's at 6:30 in the morning or they're
028staying until six o'clock in the evening. And so um most of our employees who are before and after school care um are IAS or they are high school students. And so we want to make sure that we're providing professional development in terms of how to manage groups of students like this, how to provide a playful environment for them, but a safe environment for them before and after school. So, uh, we're looking at implementing this, like I said, in February, um, with your approval of this, uh, this agreement. >> I move approval. >> Second, >> moved and seconded. Any discussion? >> Sounds like a great idea. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> Opposed? Motion carries. So, next is the deal with policy update. We're up to volume 38 and this is
029number one of that volume. This is a first reading so it's justformational. Uh Dr. Sanders. >> Uh yes. So this is uh uh as Mr. Kerr mentioned a first reading. Uh Christine has already uh reviewed the policy and made some revisions. Uh we also have the policy being reviewed by uh specific people uh appropriate people in the corporation uh to get their input. Uh and if there are any changes that are made, we will definitely get that before the board. Uh but these are uh recommended by uh Niola and uh they uh have a team of attorneys that review uh state law, review uh case law and provide uh recommendations for revisions to our policy and then we go through that and make sure that that the policy uh is what we want for Edgewood
030schools. Uh some of the the policies uh relate to uh board business uh teacher appreciation grant purchasing digital content and several nondiscrimination policies. So uh take a look at those over the next month. If you have any questions, uh please let me know and we'll bring that back to you in January for your approval. >> Speaking of the uh legal aspects, we uh did have the ISBA uh law seminar and um several several went on uh to to that. It was online uh because of the uh snowstorm. So, um next we have the consideration to approve the 2026 school board meeting calendar. >> Uh yeah, this is a an annual request. every December basically we set uh the uh board calendar dates uh for 2026 and uh you saw that in the board packet uh
031the uh just so the board's aware coming up on uh Tuesday January 6 we'll have our board uh organizational meeting uh we'll have uh the board of finance meeting on January 20th and our regular board meeting on January ruary 20th and then we always meet the third Tuesday uh of every month. And then when we get into September and uh October, we have uh board meetings that are uh focused on our uh next year's budget. Okay. Do I have a motion? >> Approval. >> I'll second. >> Moved and seconded. Any discussion hearing? None. All those in favor say I. >> I oppose. Motion carries. And our last action item is consideration to approve contracts for three individuals. And Dr. Walk us through that. >> Yes. So we had uh usually the uh teachers uh begin
032the year with a status quo contract. Uh and there were uh three teachers that uh uh for whatever reason were missed and uh so we we're bringing them to you uh tonight. Uh this will be 2025 2026 contract for Amy Arllian Carrie Coh Cenauour and Carolyn Lang Greb. >> I move approval. >> A second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Motion carries. Next we'll move to the business manager report and we have Paul Feder for that this evening. >> Good evening to everybody. Um at least it's warmer today. So >> yes, >> I uh wanted to point out in the cash flow to you um not a lot of changes there. We're now 11 months into the year. So this time uh in January about this time a
033month we'll look at 2025 see exactly where we ended. I think it's going to be pretty close to what we predict probably about a four to$4.2 million cash balance in the education fund and the operations fund is probably going to be up a little bit compared to last year about three million. Now, I attached a third page that I I want to spend some time with because this is this is kind of a first, at least in my dealing with u with this. Um, this is this is your budget. This is a 1782 notice. This was the second page. I didn't bring you the whole thing, uh, but I I penciled in there what what it was in 2025, the budget numbers for the debt service, the education, and the operations. And so you can
034see in 2026 that the budget went up in in debt service by about a half a million. Uh, the budget in education went up two million. And I think I I recall that I told you that I felt like the budget in 2025 was really too low >> and it it really was. And so we upped that to 22 and that's what they approved. That's what we asked for and they approved that. So that should take care of the issue with the appropriation going forward into 2026. Then uh the operations fund was funded at 9.1 million. It was 8.9 and that's what I want to spend a little time with. You You have to start to understand that budget and cash are two different things, very different. And it's easy to get them confused and
035and tied to each other when they really aren't in some ways. As you know, that the the homestead credit thing took place now. You're going to lose $900,000 next year in that operations fund. $900,000 almost to the dollar. But yet they they funded the budget we asked for. That 9.196 is what we asked for and they gave it to us. So how are they funding that budget when they're keeping 900,000? They're doing it out of your cash balance. So, if we spend that budget 9.1, which we probably will, you're going to lose $900,000 in your cash balance by the end of next year. And you'll start to see that in the cash flow of 2026. Now, that's not going to be a problem in 2026. It's beyond that when it hits in 2027 and most
036certainly by 2028 where you're simply out of money because your cash balance is not going to continue to support that kind of cut every year. I've been told that 2027 is going to be a more severe cut than 2026. I don't know what that number is, but if [clears throat] it's more severe, then getting through 2027 could be a problem. So, we'll handle it in 2026, but I want you to understand that's how they funded your budget. That's the change right now in Indiana. It's all due to the Homestead Credit Act. And uh so we we deal with what the what we're given. And uh so keep that in mind and we'll certainly keep you informed as the year goes on next year. Paul, just um for those who may be watching at home on
037this, this isn't just something that RBB is is dealing with as far as the effect of the Homestead Act and what this is doing to our operations fund. This is something that every school across the state of Indiana is going to see this impact. Is that correct? >> It's statewide. It's statewide. It's >> every It does affect school corporations differently. I was at one last night that I worked with and they're losing $33,000. I mean, you know, it it has a lot to do with it's tied to your AV and it's tied to your your levy. And if your AV is really high and your levy's pretty high, obviously your tax rates up there. And and so in a in a case like you where you're drawing in um eight. I think it was about
038six million in in property tax money. You remember your transfer is paying for some of this. But when you're into six million in property tax money, then then this kind of sits on that your your tax rates above a dollar. And that's what I'm seeing is tax rates are a little higher. They get after the that more so than the school corporation where I was at. the tax rate 79 cents. Yours is a dollar three dollar four. I don't I'd have to go back and look, but it's above a dollar. And that's kind of what that's setting on. I that's what I see. Not that you're way out of line. It's just that's the way the act hits that program. So, >> so with our transfers from the education fund, we just have to continue
039to transfer more and more. >> Well, we we had an interesting meeting today and yes, we're going to look at that because you can transfer up to 15% of your budget and uh you're transferring at about 10 or 11%. So, we're going to have to look at that transfer to offset that 900,000 loss. And we can offset some of it, but we certainly can't get it all. There's no way. Now, you you also I didn't say and probably should say that this you have one taxup supported fund that they can really get after and that's operations. Debt service is debt service. If you take on debt, you're they're gonna you're gonna pay it. Even if we screwed up the budget, they would make it right and pay your debt. They're going to do that. But
040in operations, it's the only other fund. And so that's the one they went after. You tell me in operations what gets cheaper. Your utilities, your insurance, all that stuff that pays for custodial care, the custodians, the the supplies for that. There is nothing in that fund that goes down. It all goes up [clears throat] and every year it tends to go up. And that's why you're grant you were granted 4% increase in that fund every year in property taxes. They've also taken that away. Right now it's projected in 2027 to be zero. No increase in that fund. And they're taking $900,000. So, it's it bears watching and we're it's going to be a challenge. >> Yes. I've um read articles about schools across Indiana. Um some schools that weren't as healthy as we are are
041having severe issues uh not being able have no idea how they're going to be able to provide transportation. You're blessed in having a cash balance is sufficient to cover 2026 >> and into 2027. So, >> but keep doing that. That's what makes us a shame is that we work really hard to put our school corporation in a good spot and the state comes along and now we're having to to consider uh cuts in our expenses that ultimately uh focus in on our services for students >> and uh 90% of parents in the state of Indiana send their kids to public school. We need our parents to to start uh notifying their state legislators that uh they need to take care of of uh public schools so that we could take care of our community students.
042>> One of the things I've noticed about your education fund and it's it's really healthy uh but it's a fund that's driven by enrollment. Simple as that. And so people have questioned me in other places about, well, why do you have such a big cash balance in your education fund? And it it was almost $6 million at one time here. It's dropped some, but you have that because of enrollment. I mean, you never know from one year to the next whether your enrollment's up or down. And if it's down and you've gotten into teacher negotiations and done the right thing with teacher salaries and all of a sudden you lose 50 kids or 100 kids, do the math again. And it gets real scary if you don't have that cash balance. It's kind of like
043what you're talking about in the operations fund. These schools that don't have a sufficient cash balance, they're already in trouble >> and and it's happening. So, >> and we'll be in trouble soon enough. >> Yeah. >> Paul, on that on that 15%, what is most across the state of Indiana? Are most of them doing the 15%. >> What do what do you see in your dealing the state? >> Yeah. So, well, they're closer and they may not be doing exactly. >> We're at 11. Right at 11, >> but the ones I'm dealing with are doing 13 14%. That's pretty close to it. >> 15% is the that's a law statute. that. >> Well, >> You can't go above 15%. Now, there's talk right now about raising that. >> But again, you better have a very
044healthy education fund if you're going to start transferring more money than you have been into that fund. >> It's kind of a shell game because then you you move more things into operations as far as positions and so forth. >> Absolutely. See, the state can give us a little bitty raise in the education fund and say, "Look what we're doing for schools." >> And then they cut our operations in half and then say, "Okay, well now you'll have to take that little bitty increase and put it in operations because you got to start filling that gap, right?" And >> so you really didn't get anywhere. >> And in in total, we're very it's very negative. Um, I hope that there's some action groups out there that are gathering, [clears throat] you know, the uh to
045to to to try to fight this because it is a direct stab at public schools. >> Oh, absolutely. You know, they they I I wasn't aware until just a couple weeks ago when I talked to Debbie today about it. Uh they've already moved CVIT and FI the financial institutions tax out of debt service and moved it. So you they're now instructed to put that into the operations fund. Okay. How do you build up your cash balance in debt service? In debt service, if you've got five million in debt, that's what you can raise. So, how do you ever get a cash balance in there if you're going to take those miscellaneous taxes now and move them to operations? And I think they did it to kind of help offset what we're talking about here in
046the loss, but it's not a lot of money. If they get into excise tax and do that, we want to watch that because excise tax is a bigger number. And so then debt service is really tied down to almost to the dollar of what you raise and you got to have money to pay your debt. So there there there's you talk about the shell game. Here we go, >> right? >> What are we doing? And uh >> I but we need people to talk about this. Yeah, >> we really do. >> We'll we'll weather 2026, but beyond that, >> all bets are off, I think. Okay. >> Well, thank you for bringing >> all and then to add too, you still have the curricular mandates that you're you're asked to change certain things like with
047the pathways >> Without additional funding and not allowed to charge families anything, >> an unfunded mandate. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Scary. Yes, it is. >> Okay. Um, next we have the assistant superintendent report. >> Well, I love following Paul because [laughter] he always brings the the wonderful news and I get to bring the even better news. Um, while Paul is talking about funds that we are losing, I'm talking about funds that we're gaining. So, I have some good news here. Um month or two ago I talked about a a grant that we applied for another mental health grant um that you know there's no way the US DOE is going to fund us again. Uh but we received word last week um that they did. We received the seeds project grant. This
048is strengthening early childhood emotional development in schools. This is a PK through2 grant. Um essentially what we're doing here is we are looking to get down into those lower grades as low as we can get three, four, five year olds um and start addressing some of those um emotional dysregulations, things that um I know it sounds crazy, but we have three and four year olds who come to us with significant trauma um that they are trying to process in their tiny little brains. And so we're we're going to get some help down into EECC, additional help um at EPS. Uh this grant starts funding January 1 and will last through December 31st of 2029. Uh you can see there the amounts um roughly over $700,000 each year for a total of just uh just over
049$2.9 million. Uh this is a continued partnership with IU's school psychology department. Um, and we're looking at hiring two licensed school psychologists and up to three school psychologists in training. We'll be able to provide schooling. It's a four-year commitment for those school psychologists in training. Um, so five additional personnel uh down there with our PK through2 students. In addition to that, um, apparently the DOE was in the mood to give out money. Um, we received a an email saying that not only did we receive a continuation on our smart grant, which is a current grant that we have, but they also allotted an additional $700,000 to us in this grant. Um, so this is great news. We were trying to figure out how we were going to absorb uh three employees who were on the
050smart grant um in 2027. The nice thing is we now can put that off and kick that can down the road until 2028, which makes me really happy given the news that uh Paul had for us this evening. Uh we also received a continuation of the Indiana Department of Ed career coaching grant. This is through ROI. This is the grant that funds Susan Harrington's crucial position. She's the career coach at EHS. Um, so this funding is January 1st through June 30th of 27. Um, again, this is a a position that has become absolutely uh crucial to the work that we're doing with the new diplomas, the new pathways. Um, and the work that Susan does there is just phenomenal. So, um, that's exciting. Those are some good updates about u money that's coming into our
051corporation. Um, and we're looking at then how we can sustain those positions even into I can't even believe I'm saying this, but even into 2030. We have some ideas about how these positions can be absorbed. Um, and we're kind of planning ahead. We have school uh psychologists in our corporation currently who are kind of in that four, five, sixyear timeline for retirement. Finding a school psychologist, Noah Dix Dixon can tell you, is uh not the easiest position to fill. And so what we're essentially doing is training our own employees who are interested in that field, but don't necessarily have the funds to be able to go back and provide uh schooling for that as far as a masters go. We're setting ourselves up to be able to backfill those positions. So, uh, we're looking ahead
052down the road and I'm excited about what this could offer to, um, our students and and our community here in the, um, I say near future, but four, five, six years down the road. In addition, we have 23 teachers so far who have applied for the TAG grant. Um, the final date for applications is January 9th, and we'll be able to give a total of 2627 $3,500 awards. The reason I can't give you the exact amount is um of course turf and FICA will come out of those as well. So, um right now if we don't have another person apply, every single one of those teachers would receive a $3,500 grant. So, um I can't wait for that day for those names to be drawn and those teachers to be celebrated. Uh we hosted our
053first off-site leadership meeting for Boston Scientific on December 9th. uh they actually brought about 45 managers, directors, corporate personnel on site to EHS. We had presentations from uh studentr run business managers from the coffee corral um from the ILC Mustang marketing our sack students who came and presented to us um a month or so ago gave their presentation tweaked that a little bit and um it was one of the best collaborative days I've seen in a long time. I think that our students learned a lot from uh their leadership team, but I think more than anything their leadership team learned a lot from our students in terms of how we approach problems, how students at that age approach problems. Um it was absolutely phenomenal. Um so we were we were really pleased with how that
054day went. Um on top of that, we're going to be starting our HRS level two surveys on January 5th. So, it's time to step into that next role. Um, we've paid out of title two to get that started. And so, uh, ready or not, here we go on on round two, level two. So, exciting stuff happening in all of these aspects. And you know, despite what's happening at the state level, um I'm excited that we're continuing to move forward as a district and look ahead and and continue to think about how we're servicing our students at the highest level we possibly can. Um and so I think that's what makes us Edgewood and I'm I'm proud of our team for that. >> And do want to point out that these grant funds are for specific
055things. Yes. They're not just, hey, here's some money that you can boost your education. >> They were, Mr. Very specific. >> They are very, very specific. When we write this budget, it is incredibly specific about what we are writing it for. When the grants are introduced, it's very specific in terms of what the what we can write for. Um, so yes, I I wish that we could spread these out and take care of some of the deficits. I wish we could spread it out across operations fund, but unfortunately that is not how this works. Anytime we make any change to this, I have to go through a ton of paperwork to get approval um for any type of change to that budget. So, um no, unfortunately, we can't uh we can't fill in any gaps
056there, but um the the important piece is that we are filling in gaps that we have identified. Um, and I would say this is how Edgeway goes above and beyond. Um, I don't know many school corporations that are focused on their three, four, and five year olds. Um, and to say that that is a focus for us in our preschool. I challenge another school in the state to say that that's an area that they are are pouring millions of dollars into. And I know that that by doing that, those students are going to be more ready, more prepared going into kind kindergarten, first and second grade, which we know then impacts them from that point forward. So, >> no, you're right. Very specific, but um man, it's an exciting piece for those guys as well.
057>> Yeah, it's uh I just wanted people at home to realize that doesn't fill any >> any gaps. Doesn't fix any problem. No, not at all. >> And this is a federal grant, correct? >> Yes, both of these these first two uh seeds and smart are federal grants, federal funds. Um, and going back to what Mr. Kerr said, it's actually really difficult for us if we get behind on these grants in any way to be able to spend this money because it is so specific. um the grant that will start January 1, the seeds grant, even though it starts January 1 and we can start pulling funds at that point in time, we actually won't hire the people for this grant until the start of next school year. So, we essentially start behind the game
058um before we ever take our first straw on this. So, it's a tough one. Yeah. I I did not realize when Jennifer Anderson left and she uh passed mental health over to me just how much time I would be spending on this side of of the work that we do. Important work. Um but I did not understand just how much time would be spent on it. >> So in year one if you don't aren't able to spend all that because >> just hiring them do you lose? >> We do not. it goes into carryover funds. >> Um, and at that point, for instance, now what I'm looking at doing with carryover funds on SMART is we're looking at hiring additional personnel for K2 and 35 to to finish out the rest of this grant. There's
059no reason not to. And um, that's kind of where we're at with this. So, uh, Jordan Turax just interviewed uh, a backfill position for Luke Roman who moved into a kindergarten position. Um, and in those interviews, we found another person or two that we would love to hire and use some of these carryover funds for for the next couple of years. >> Okay. Thank you. >> We can't you cannot use these funds. Like if we have to cut back on staff and because of our budget, we can't use this to backfill it. >> I sure wish we could, but we cannot. >> So, we just cut the people, but we're still replacing. >> I understand what you're saying. Yes, as long as these um these people are still on as long as we still have
060the funds for smart grant, we can still utilize those for personnel. I can't go ahead and take our RBB personnel. Well, I I take that back. I could take our RBB personnel and move them over. >> The problem with doing that is at some point in time I would need to move them back over into education fund or operations fund, wherever they might be coming from. The problem with that is yes, we would be using those carryover funds now, but we would need to leave room in the education fund to be able to move them back in in two years. So, yes, it might solve a problem now, but it creates a problem in two years. And we've considered that. Is it worth going ahead and doing that and using some of these carryover funds?
061My fear with that then is the issues that we're already having and experiencing with education fund. Um I don't want to create another issue in two years and basically be kicking a problem down the road. So keep those people where we have them on on education fund. um make sure that we carve that out, make sure that we can protect that and provide the additional support while we can right now with no promises for what will happen. The positions that we've posted with the smart grant, um we've made sure to say this is for the life of the grant. There is no promise beyond that. Um and we've had some great [clears throat] applicants who say, you know what, give me the experience. Give me the three semesters, four semesters, whatever that might be. um
062not knowing what that would look like um after the grant expires, >> but then they could reapply for using these funds. >> They could reapply if we had openings and seeds grants, if we had a a guidance counselor opening. Um a lot of a lot of options there. >> Okay. >> It's hard to predict what two years down the road might look like. Uh for instance, we just brought Jessica Sigllin who was on the smart grant. We moved her from a K2 position. She backfilled Dennis Faustst. So, we were able to move one person off of that grant a little early, move into the education fund where Dennis was being funded. Um, and then what we did was backfill that position for a short period of time. So, we're doing a lot of juggling here
063is basically what we're doing and trying to use the funds wisely but not create issues for ourselves down the road. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you very much. And now the superintendent report. Dr. Sanders. >> Yeah. I don't know if the board realizes it, but our average time for ending a school board meeting is 7:30. So, the way I figure it, I have [laughter] >> 35 minutes >> for my report. >> No, >> you don't get this as a blank. [laughter] >> Uh, I want to give a few shout outs. Uh, first of all, I just want to thank Paul. We did have a it was a challenging conversation today and uh it's a it's challenging we're facing a challenging time over the next few years and uh it's just nice to
064have somebody like Paul to to guide us and direct us and uh so I just want to say thank you Paul. I also want to >> just to back up on that uh too is that we are going to have to do something and so we are looking going to be looking into what we have to do but we have to do something we can't absorb this hit we have to do something >> right >> so something will be coming don't know what >> but something will >> serious serious conversations ahead I also want to really They're not here, but if you see one of our uh maintenance crew um led by Arnold Caldwell, who by the way, Arnold became a grandpa today. >> Oh, so congratulations to Arnold. but they've been really knocking it
065out in terms of uh clearing our our lots and sidewalks and they came out Saturday evening uh I think around 6:00 and uh uh really worked hard to to get everything ready for Tis the season performances. We had to postpone that Saturday nights to uh Sunday night and and they came out and and knocked that out and I just really appreciate that. Um, uh, first on my list, I, uh, and this is what I, the shot I intended to begin with, uh, but I really enjoy every December, uh, going to see the the different programs, whether it's first, fifth grade, tomorrow night is second grade. Danny, you going to that? Putting you on the spot? >> I hope so. [laughter] >> There's a work meeting. >> Oh, okay. Well, um, we had the band and
066and choir, uh, programs at the junior high and just listening like to the band, these junior high band students. It's no wonder we win a state championship every year because I'm listening to those band junior high band students and thinking, "These guys sound great." I mean, very talented. And then of course uh our TIS program that we had uh Sunday uh afternoon, Sunday evening that takes a lot of hard work, not just our students who are very talented, very dedicated, but also to Brian Pollson and his crew and our parents, uh dad crews who who come out and um it's a lot of hard work. Uh but uh it really puts a good light out there for uh Edward schools. So I just want to recognize them. And you know uh we we do a
067podcast every month. Um and uh Gracie Turner uh she created this little logo that kind of brings a little more attention to the podcast. So I appreciate that. Um, but I want you to if you have a chance to listen to the last uh podcast that I did, I I spoke about the highlights of the year 2025. Uh and if you listen to that um especially someone from the community uh pro a prospective parent uh from the community uh you listen to that it really tells our story uh and tells what amazing things that our students are doing. And so I wanted to uh point that out to the board and the community tonight. uh update on the biomedical life sciences uh training project. Uh is the board uh was notified by Jennifer Barrett that
068uh we did receive uh state approval for ready 2.0 funds. Uh that's $500,000 that will go towards the project and a meeting I'm excited about excited about coming up on January 6. We have uh David Rogers who's with IU Health and IU. Uh he's going to meet with Lancer uh architects uh on on that date. Uh and David is uh he works with uh hospitals, educational organizations all across the country on developing uh sim labs. and uh we want to get his input as we're thinking about and meeting with the architect on uh designing these biome medical labs. He's going to sit down with our architect and give him some direction, guidance on what that room needs to look look like. And so I'm very excited about that meeting. And then uh I didn't put
069the dates down there, but the high reliability schools uh institute is uh January 11th through the 14th. Um, we will be taking 11 teachers, one counselor, and three administrators uh to the conference. Uh, and I'm going to be going uh this time. Um, and the exciting piece about this trip to San Antonio is we'll have some very dedicated, hardworking people from uh, EIS, the junior high, and the high school will be going and be they'll be recognized for their level one certifications. And I already got my applause already for that. So, um, exciting times. >> Yep. Sure is. Sure is. Um, now we have RBBE a comments. >> Time begins. >> Good evening. Um, we don't have a whole lot today. Just um saying that uh we're looking forward to hearing the um legislative priorities
070that ISA has to give us for uh this upcoming year. and just wanted to telegraph that um days of action are going to be really important to us this year and trying to get um as many people up and mobilized as possible. >> Thank you very much. Um now we have board member comments and I'll start with uh Angie Jacobs. >> Well, I am concerned about what's going to be happening with our corporation um over the next few years um as well as the whole state of Indiana. So, you know, reiterating that um folks need to really hit our legislators um and pushing that, you know, we've we've got to be able to take care of our kids. Um and taking these funds away is very concerning. Um, I'm very excited about the the grants
071that have come in. Um, that's extremely exciting. always starting with littles um that come starting their young little lives um with much trauma and beginning with them at the those young ages is um is going to give them two or three steps forward than what they would have had um without these implementations of um you know personnel. So I'm very excited to hear that. Um, and um, I love obviously always seeing our students come in and show us what they do. They're so amazing. I'm I just it's unbelievable um, at their age of the things that they are accomplishing and um, that those highlights are what we need to continue to put out um, to our, you know, county um, showing what our kids are doing. um because not every school's doing that and we
072have a lot to offer um children at our school. So, I'm I'm very happy to see them. Um thank you for the donations. We always need donations um anytime that we can get them for our um classrooms and um I hope everybody has a wonderful holiday season and we'll see you next year. >> Mr. U ditto what Miss Miss Jacobs said and again I'm I have some great concerns about where the state's going with our budget and Mr. McInness I hope the ISTA has a very loud voice this year at the legislature because it's going to take those pockets of groups to get those the attention of the legislators. It's not going to be one person calling a legislator. It's going to be a a massive a massive people in a group to to chat
073with them about our concerns. Um, administrators, thanks for all you guys do. I know you had a long, long first semester. Thanks for coming out tonight and thanks to all the teachers. Um, as well, I had two epiphies over the weekend and really made me feel good about what what we do here. Well, one of them I got in trouble on. We have some we have some problems, Dr. Sanders, with our scales at the Cookie Corral or whatever it was called at the where you buy it by the by the pound. I bought a pound. I got home, my wife questioned me and I weighed threequarters of a pound. So something h something happened between here and home. I'm not sure what. [laughter] But but the second thing the second thing and this one really
074hit home was when I was walking around the corner of the building. It was stinking cold Sunday afternoon and there was one of our maintenance staffs out shoveling the sidewalk. And I said introduced myself. I said, "I've not met you before." He goes, "Well, I was here and I left. I went to a bigger school corporation and I came back. I said, "What? I'm just curious. Why would you come back?" He goes, "Because here I'm a person, not a number." And that and that just hit home and I I think that's what's great about our school system. Uh, every kid is a person and we try to treat and help every kid that they send us. So, happy holidays, >> Mr. Der. >> Thank you, sir. Yes, t the season was great, but the highlight
075of the evening was these 12 days of Christmas and our friendly superintendent had five or six, seven, eight really pretty good jokes and he got [laughter] he >> would he would he would get on to say, "This is your friendly superintendent at 5:00 in the morning." Little did he know that this morning >> Yeah. >> he [laughter] would get a five o'clock call from me for our situation. But it was really nice. I really appreciate it. I uh I knew this was coming, Paul. I I figured it because the town is going through very similar things. You know, they're they're just they've tore us up on our budget and we can't replace people now and and um you know, it's really sad. So, hoping something turns in our direction for too much longer. >> Thank
076you, Mr. President. >> Uh Mr. McInness, I hope you will keep in communication with Mr. Brewer and myself on your uh on because we're we're also planning on doing some days of action. So, and uh we have we have some people that we can call on. So, uh and it is going to be and and I think we have evidence that making enough noise makes a difference with what happened with red redistricting last week. Um I I do want to object that once again Dr. Sanders got more laughs than I did during the 12 panes. And and but I also he he told me before the meeting that he didn't he had forgotten that the lights go out when I get to the 11th day and so he thought something had really gone wrong. It
077was it was my doing. But uh uh thanks to everybody. Uh the uh I was so encouraged the the looks on the inter intermediate students faces talking about the yearbook. You could tell they were engaged and excited and really into it and I think it's going to make payoff uh down the road. So I'm I'm looking forward to it and happy holidays to everybody. >> Thank you. Um I of course echo whatever wa said. Um, I do ask that people do whatever you can talk to your uh representatives and senators and and let them know that you know the schools are taking a hard hit and they've got to do something to to uh turn that around. So, um, the louder said the louder we shout and the more that shout the bigger chance we
078have of making an impact. So, we asked you to do that. Um, again, something that we don't want to do is change who we are. And so, you know, we're going to have to look at other choices um of of how to uh fill this gap that's going to be there. Um, and they may usually when you do that, there's never a great choice there. It's always you know, something that some people won't like. So, we don't know what it is at this point, but um hopefully the legislature will change uh so we don't have to take those kind of steps. So, um that would be great. Um I uh you know Eduate intermediate students um it is always a joy to have the students come and and talk to us and and to see
079the joy that's on their faces. You know that they're engaged. They're they they do enjoy what they're doing that they they uh the work that they showed from the yearbook for last year was phenomenal. I mean that's that's great. I'm pretty sure it's better than any high school [laughter] yearbook I was ever in. But um I was a ways away. Um but uh but again, I appreciate them and uh I just uh you know, thank everybody in the school corporation for doing what you do and and and keeping the school going each and every day and keeping the students engaged each and every day. And it takes everyone in the corporation to make that happen. So, we appre appreciate all of you and uh I uh want to give a shout out to Christine. Thank
080you for for being with us and and guiding us and keeping us uh uh in inside uh our lane, so to speak. Um and I thank Catz for coming out and and being with us tonight. And uh I do wish you all a merry Christmas, a happy new year, and happy holidays uh as well. So this meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music]