Richland Bean Blossom School Board, August 16, 2021

001i'll call this meeting to order please stand for  the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance to   the flag of the united states of america  to the republic which stands one nation   under god indivisible with liberty and justice  for all thank you very much please be seated welcome to the august 2021 rbb csc school board  meeting and before we get into visitors comments   i've noticed that there's been some misinformation  out and so in order to make sure that information   has been corrected i'd like for dr sanders to  kind of go through a few things for us thank you   i'm going to read a prepared statement but i would  be glad to talk to anybody after the meeting also   i could state tonight with 100 assurance  that rbbcsc is focused on the following   meeting the academic mental

002health and safety  needs of all our students addressing the loss   of instruction caused by kovid 19  during the 2020-2021 school year   implementing safety measures to  address the current pandemic situation   implementing our ready schools initiative in  order to address the future of our students   community and local businesses i can  also state with 100 percent assurance   that critical race theory has not been on the  agenda or discussed by rbb's leadership team   we are implementing sel strategies in a way  that aligns with our local values in indiana   state standards social emotional learning is  about providing students with the knowledge   attitudes and skills necessary to be successful  and productive citizens in the classroom   the school and the community critical  analysis emotional awareness problem solving   conflict conflict resolution teamwork and  decision making are all examples of sel in rbb   sel

003is not instruction on human sexuality we do  provide age-appropriate lessons on human sexuality   according to indiana's academic standards students  and parents are provided an opportunity to   opt out of this instruction and be provided a  qual quality alternative lesson based on indiana   academic standards we might hear you might hear in  the public comments part of our meeting tonight or   on social media about an opt-out form please  know that this form is not board approved is   not a board-approved document legally we would not  be bound to this form however rbb already provides   students and parents the opportunity to opt out  of instruction on human sexuality per state law   more importantly we want to get to the  heart of a concern that has caused a parent   to want to complete an opt-out form as a school  corporation we

004greatly value our parents as our   educational partners as valued partners we want  to be transparent with our parents we want our   parents to know that they may contact principals  and the superintendent when they have a concern we   encourage parents to make the school corporation  their first stop instead of social media   if they have a concern we are all part of the  rbb family certainly we can all work together   for the best interest of our students  and i also have a statement about   our contingency learning and safety plan rbbcse recognizes that the monroe county health  department has the authority to close schools when   considered necessary to prevent and stop epidemics  according to indiaco indiana code 16-20-1-24 in order to do all that we can to keep our  students in school rbb csc will continue   to require

005masks based on legal advice rbb  will follow the mandates and recommendations   of the county board of health as in as is the case  with the beginning of every school year we spend   the first few days and weeks of school adjusting  our procedures overall i think we've had a very   good few days of school as i visited each of our  schools last week i could say with great assurance   that masks simply were not a problem we don't like  worry masks but they really are not a problem we   will get these balanced procedures worked out  and we will provide our students with plenty   of opportunities for mask breaks thank you thank  you um just to reiterate we at rbb uh promote uh   inclusiveness harmonious relationships  between people um we try to encourage   what i mean by that

006as lifeline skills those  are the thought kind of things that we teach   we do not want or speaking for myself  i do not want us to have materials that   promote divisiveness that are divisive  that that attack certain people   that's not what we're about we're about trying to  all be living together in a harmonious society so   i just wanted to get that out there so at this  point we will have visitor comments um if you'd   like to make a comment we ask that you come to the  podium and state your name um and mr irwin will   notify you and they'll have a timer there  for you for the a lot of time period first person is josh oh okay all right sounds good all right um good  evening my name is joshua resco i have two  

007children at edgewood primary school i'm asking  you to reconsider your position requiring that   all children wear face coverings this school  year and revert back to the original plan of   this being an optional measure for students this  restriction had previously been communicated to   parents as optional and while we understand  circumstances can change there has not been   a meaningful change in evidence that would justify  this move for children neither myself nor my wife   are conspiracy theorists or coveted hoaxers  we both know this pandemic has real dangers   we went through all the recommendations  in 2020 we got vaccinated this year   we don't take lightly that this pandemic you  know it has affected real people in the community   and we understand that we have to balance  competing needs however this latest push from   asking children is not supported by

008data science  or an objective balancing of competing needs   the cover 19 risk for children and spread  within schools is very low even unvaccinated   kids have less risk of severe illness or death  from covid than vaccinated adults a study from   the uk last month showed that kids spread at  a much lower rate than adults epidemiologist   chamez ledhani said that kids in schools have very  little capacity to infect household members public   health england's dr susan hopkins said kids don't  or shouldn't wear masks because risk is low and   it could affect their development according to  the cdc more kids died in 2018-2019 flu season   which was eight months long and considered a  moderate flu season year then have died in one   and a half years of covid still the cdc justifies  its mass guidance despite the lack of

009support from   randomized controlled trials the only rct to test  mask squaring's effectiveness against covet 19 was   a 2020 study in denmark done by bundegard at al  with 4 800 participants this rct divided people   between a mass wearing group provided high quality  three-layer surgical masks and a control group   it took place at a time when denmark was  encouraging social distancing but not mass use   the study found that 1.8 of those in the mass  group and 2.1 percent of those in the control   group became infected with covet 19 within a  month and this point three percent difference was   not statistically significant that danish study  not only had no significant conclusion about the   effectiveness of mass but also they were surgical  masks worldwide only one rct has ever tested cloth   masks it was 2015 done by mcintyre and

010it was  done in vietnam with over 1100 participants   it tested cloth mask cloth masks against surgical  masks and did not feature a no mass control group   the trial tested the protection of healthcare  workers instructing them to wear their cloth   masks at all times except when they were in  the toilet or eating across four weeks the   study found that in the cloth mask group they  were 13 times more likely to develop and develop   and influence a like illness than those in the  surgical mass group which was a statistically   significant difference showing the cloth masks  were much weaker what can we conclude from this   there's been very little research done to support  the use of cloth masks to prevent covered spread   in schools in some of the 14 rcts on record that  have ever tested the effectiveness

011of masks in   preventing the transmission of respiratory viruses  three suggest but do not provide any statistically   significant evidence that mass might be useful  the other 11 say that they're either useless or   actually counterproductive of the three studies  that provide statistically significant evidence may i continue are you just got a couple  sentences left or another two pages   i have a little bit more if i'm being honest with  you how many speakers do we have this evening   three yeah yeah we only have three  speakers this evening i would like   to continue if the board approves try to  wrap it up in the next minute okay okay not only do we have insufficient evidence that  cloth madison schools are helpful there's good   reason to believe they may be harmful according  to dr marti mccary of johns hopkins some

012children   struggle with masks kids with myopia can have  trouble seeing because the mass fog their glasses   masks can cause acne other skin problems  discomfort of mass distracts children from   learning mass can become vectors for pathogens  if they become moist or used for too long   with great airway with great airway resistance  during escalation they can lead to greater co2   in the blood a critic of that statement might  say actually studies show this isn't the case   in reality according to the nih only one  pediatric study has ever been collected uh   showing physiological parameters regarding mass  use for kids such as gas mixture and was based   on n95 respirators and not cloth masks that was  eberhardt i'm not saying that yes kids are pumped   full of co2 i am saying that embarrassingly little  research has been conducted to

013the benefit of kids   in march ireland's department of health said  they won't require mess in schools because they   may exacerbate anxiety or breathing difficulties  for some students some children compensate for   this by breathing through their mouths which can  lead to deformity in their mouth and face again   not saying that's very prevalent but neither  is covet 19 for these kids furthermore facial   expressions are crucial for human connection as  kids learn to signal fear confusion and happiness   seeing people speak is part of phonetic  development all of these risks that dr mccary   addresses individually they have a small chance  of occurrence but so does covet 19 for them   because there's a remote chance of respiratory  illness we're told to enact measures for our kids   for which no substance of research has measured  the effects still after all this

014evidence or lack   thereof we're told to follow the experts and  ask our kids should we not ask for proof that   all important considerations have been made for  that recommendation just because they're experts   being an expert in an area means are capable  of conducting research interpreting data and   making recommendations based on those results  being an expert in the field of study does not   absolve you from the responsibility to use  that research and data to make transparent   and objective recommendations nor does it make you  an expert in other areas epidemiologists are not   experts in child development and pediatricians are  not always parents we as a community elected you   the school board to make decisions based on the  educational and developmental well-being of the   students from pre-k to high school i understand  they're very difficult times right now

015a lot of   difficult decisions a lot of loud voices weighing  in but i trust and believe that you have the   students and community's best interests at heart  i urge you to reconsider this mandate you've   placed on all children and allow this measure  to be optional within the schools thank you sean davis you want three or five who's last one five sean go ahead and do  five you could take your mask off okay   okay i'm ready thank you um so i'm here  to talk about social emotional learning   um and there's there's a very specific reason um  and i've emailed all of you some concerns that   i had along with an email exchange which i do  feel like is being addressed okay sorry there   so i do feel like it is being addressed to a  degree i

016do have a meeting schedule with uh dr sanders sorry i was just drawing a blank  dr sanders tomorrow to further discuss   but what what brought me to look into this topic  was uh just an amazon wishlist for my third grade   third graders classroom um you know i've talked to  the teacher i've talked to the principal you know   she explained that you know she should have done a  better job vetting the books um you know they were   recommended by other educators i think potentially  indiana university contacts that she had so and i   you know i've got a quote from one of the books  that was titled our skin a first conversation   about race it says racism racism is also the  things people do and the unfair rules that   they make about race so that white people

017get more  power and are treated better than everybody else   racism happens in lots of big and small ways it's  all around us even if we don't always notice it   there are other things from that book that  concern me obviously um you know in a lot of   the books seem to to center around some of these  topics that are in this critical race theory   or you know in some of these social emotional  learning curriculums such as muslim girls rise   dressed like a girl julian is a mermaid which  focused on cross-dressing introducing teddy a   gentle story about gender and friendship and  pink is for boys just to name a few of them so   naturally i was concerned as a parent i don't  think that those are topics that should be   discussed with my nine-year-old child um in

018a in  a school setting um made me very angry um you know   i've talked to the to mr sanders i've talked to  mrs lee i've talked to his his teacher sounds   like that list has been pulled down you know i  challenge you as an administration to implement   procedures and processes to to better vet these  these lists these books that are entering into   the classroom and if they're being read aloud  in the classroom i have a real problem with that there needs to be some kind of procedure in place  to vet those things before they get into the hands   of an eight or nine year old child or younger for  that matter that book was recommended for three to   five year olds on amazon by the way that i gave  you that quote from children don't

019see racism   until someone teaches them it exists and that's a  fact so i looked into this second steps curriculum   that mrs lee had mentioned to me with regards  to social emotional learning and on the surface   the lesson unit titles um for the third grade  uh class were growth mindset and setting emotion   management empathy and kindness and  problem solving on the surface that   looks pretty harmless right and i looked at  the lesson plans and they looked equally as   harmless so not many resources on rbb's website i  did happen to go over to mccsc to look at theirs   had the same curriculum and then i happened to  look at a i saw a link there that said lesson   resources so i clicked on that and the topics  there were race and ethnicity a couple topics from   that

020were teaching about race racism and police  violence why teaching black lives matter matters   let's talk facilitating critical conversations  with students and discussing whiteness we had religion one of the topics  there was expelling islamophobia   ability which i think focused on disabilities no  real issue there depending on the context i think   class discussing you know social class again  don't know what's being taught there immigration   one of the topics there um 10 myths about  immigration and also walking undocumented i mean   let's let's be real here undocumented is illegal  correct i know the politicians like to spend it   a different way but you know you're conditioning  children to think a certain way you're trying to   persuade them when talking about these topics  with them and it it aligns with the political   ideology that i have a real problem with

021then we  have gender and sexual identity i'm sorry sir are   these things that you say are on our website no no  these are on the mccsc website that aligned with a   second step curriculum that i was told is what was  going to be taught here now i'm not saying it is but that book list that i had   from my teacher for my third grader kind  of makes me think that maybe you are so you know maybe you didn't know but if you  didn't you need to do a better job of vetting   who's bringing these things  into the classroom thank you jordan newenfeld alrighty my name is joe newenfeld and i have  been a member of this community for 30 years   i'm going to talk tonight in regards to wellness  wednesdays and second steps being dedicated

022weekly   to the sel curriculum i'm going to start off by  saying that our teachers are amazing they are   compassionate and generous and love their kids so  i'm curious as to why you cannot stand behind them   and trust them to make and teach fundamentals  of social emotional lessons without adopting   the castle curriculum why force them and us  into a curriculum that we have no control over   you have life skills lining your halls you teach  children about their feelings and emotions from   simply being a part of a child's life talking to  them hearing from them supporting them the way   that the teachers in this school system have done  for generations we do not need castle in rb it is   not necessary and only provides division sel is a  divider well look at us all here divided already  

023you have parents here ready to pull their  children because they've lost so much faith   in you and your decisions today i've been called  a white supremacist a racist a homophobe and a   member of the kkk because i spoke out about my  reservations against sel and honestly that should   be everything you need to know about the division  that's going to come from adapting this curriculum   why even introduce something like that something  that from the very beginning you knew would cause   an uproar now i'm no longer speaking to  you i'm speaking to every single parent   out here tonight we cannot pull our children from  this school this is our school generations of our   families have went here teachers that were  that were ours are now teaching our children   we cannot give these schools over to our large 

024organizations with hidden agendas and gray aries   areas of ethics and morality we cannot allow our  parental rights to be undermined by our government   when our government is not here we are you are  we have to stay and stand for what has always   been ours this is a public school a community  school a school for all the people and according   to indiana code 20-30-5-17 like dr sanders said  we have a legal right to choose and opt out and   consent to a curriculum that our children are  being introduced to curriculums not related to   academic instruction that attempt to affect or  manipulate a child's sexuality religious beliefs   personal analysis habits personality traits  opinions political affiliation or identities   have no place in our school and only cause more  division we are here because we are relying on   you to

025stand up for us that's what we voted you  in for for us not for the people barking down   these orders and dangling grant money in front of  your face for for controversial curriculums but to   stand with us your people your kids the ones that  have genuine concerns about this we're asking you   to trust your teachers to unite your community  we need to remove the castle curriculum from rbb   now i'm the one that submitted the opt out form  i also submitted it to my parents teachers or my   children's teachers which seems kind of ridiculous  because i never opted in to the castle curriculum   and i actually only found out about it on the  first day at the kindergarten meet and greet where   my teacher told me what wellness wednesdays  was and she's the one that said

026it was seo   we received agendas on my first day of school  for my first and third grader breaking down   second steps and wellness wednesdays  as a part of their mandatory curriculum we are requesting that we have alternate  activities provided as long as the castle   curriculum is in rb and i currently urge parents  to do the same because i just fully believe   that this is way too controversial for a public  school to stand behind especially when the   teachers have been doing such an amazing job at  uniting us and loving the kids and showing support   and showing that diversity is amazing  they've done this for generations   now cut it short and i just want everyone to  know that uh if you have questions regarding   the laws that cover our parental rights  and our children's education so please  

027talk to me personally i'm happy to  share those with you i also brought   copies with you tonight with me tonight i  appreciate for the time thank you thank you thank you all for speaking tonight um the  next item on the agenda is the consent agenda   the content agenda is for approval of our minutes  from the july 19 2021 regular board meeting   the treasurer's report from july of 2021 mr  durnell could you read us the claims please   yes gross wages 472 2021 is 547 thousand seven  hundred twenty nine dollars and seventeen cents   gross wages on july the sixteenth of 2021 is  514 987.26 gross wages on july 23rd 2021 is 27   423.77 claims and prepays from july the first to  july the 31st is four million for forty thousand   four hundred and two dollars and twenty

028two  cents uh irregular claims on h16 of 2021   nine hundred 243 dollars and seventy three cents  for forest hill vouchers on eight seventeen at   twenty twenty one at ninety thousand thirty two  dollars and thirty two cents for a grand total of   five million four hundred sixty four thousand  five hundred fifteen dollars and 38 cents   thank you mr durham um consideration donations  we have two um one uh is for mrs robbins class um   and using donors choose they're going to get  a floor cushion a right wipe big book center   and an area rug and also there is a 250  donation from superior driving school for the   student athletics here at the junior high we  also have personnel res resignations retirements   non-renewals leaves and terminations 1 through 10   and personnel appointments and transfers 1 through  28. so

029we have a motion on the consent agenda mood and seconded any questions comments   all those in favor say aye aye opposed  motion carries um dr sanders was there any   thing you want to call out and do any of our  principals have any introductions to make i think we're good mr kerr okay all right um now  we have the probably the most exciting part of   the meeting tonight is the mustang moment dr  sanders yes while they come up i just want to   say mustang moment it was a regular part  of every school board meeting pre-covid   and it was the best part of the  meeting outside of maybe my report but   we had to stop it because of kovid and we are  bringing it back this is our first mustang moment   and since we're at the junior

030high it seemed  very appropriate mr sieglin um dr sanders asked   me to talk a little bit about what we've had and  what we've been what's been going on here at the   junior high from the development we had a teacher  probably two years ago and that was one of our   mustang moments a while ago where they decided in  the classroom that they wanted to look a little   different or do some do do some things a little  different so miss jones put together this process   where kids collaborated and they developed what  they thought an ideal classroom would look like   and so they put together this flexible seating  project and from there we kind of reimagined   what our library was going to look like and how we  were going to use our library as a when we created  

031some collaboration stations in there with a grant  we got through smithville and unfortunately right   when we got everything set up in there that's  kind of when we got shut down last time and so   we're itching to kind of get in there we've used  it a little bit uh but well i've had some classes   in there already today and at the end of last year  and so you know and then we got the development of   this awesome space in here where we're going to be  able to use it for you know robotics competitions   band concerts choir concerts obviously we can use  it for athletic practices and different events   we've got this i'd call it a world-class maker  space over here where we've got the opportunity to   to use these tools to plan and then to create

032um  and then um you know we've got you know our our   um it's not franklin initiative but our teacher of  the year last year we we placed her in our media   media productions class and now we've got a tv  studio developed in one of our our classrooms now   and so we've got a lot of cool things going  on but at the end of last year when kind of   we're getting back in the groove of school  and we knew what kind of we wanted school to   to eventually be and what we wanted to  look like as i was walking down the hall   late march or late may um you know i was walking  down the hall and i was seeing kids getting   together collaborating doing things that you know  a lot of skills that you know

033as adults things   that we want to be able to do or things we want  them to do well well they've been doing it and   so today we've got um five five of our students  we've got kate noth ava norton lottie austin grace   thurman and gabe campbell and they're going to  kind of talk about one of the projects or i think   we've got two different projects that they worked  on at the end of the year and then mrs megan scott   is with us here too so they're going to kind of  go through what they've been doing in our space so i am megan scott i'm a ready schools  coach here at the junior high and i am   housed in our wonderful new space that mr  ziglin was just talking about so i consider   myself so so

034fortunate to be able to work  with students every day in this imaginative   and innovative space and see their creations come  to life so we um just a quick timeline of where we   are we just opened about six months ago um so we  have just kind of hit the ground running with this   we had classes in there before furniture was  even in there those kids and the teachers are   so excited to start getting in and getting their  hands on these materials and working together   if we can go ahead and move to the next one  so this kind of just shows the progression of   the space over time that's kind of what it looked  like up in the top left hand corner when we first   had kids in there and you can see some of  mrs grimes

035kids using this multi-purpose   room for their stem activity they were  building gliders that they were testing   and then down at the bottom we have our  stem showcase that we had in the spring   and we also had a teacher training that was for  the entire indiana uplands region that we hosted   here at the junior high as well so those teachers  are from a variety of schools all around our area   and they came here for two days of training to  learn all about all things digital fabrication so i'm going to just uh talk to you briefly  about these four projects that the students   engaged in and again this was just in  the last months of school so really neat   how they were able to pull these together and  kudos to their teachers for their imaginative   just going

036after this and not waiting  till the next school year just jumping in   and then i'm going to turn it over to the students  to tell more about these experiences so this is   mr kensick's tiny house class where they are  tiny house budget personal finance class where   students develop blueprints and budgets for  their prototypes that they built for tiny houses   this is mr stevens carnival games where  they students went through a series of   iterations of prototypes testing the probability  of their games and making sure that they created   fair games that students used at the  steam house or steam open house evening   this is miss cowden's literacy board game so her  students read novels and then created board games   that were based on central themes and story  arc elements and then this is mr gallagher's   eighth grade

037geometry class with their kite  building mr gallagher's class also did some   carnival games along with ms wells class as  well but this is the one we highlighted with his   geometry students that's a wind tunnel that they  constructed in the middle to test their prototypes   and you can see some of their blueprints and  designs that they did here too we don't have   any eighth graders or from last year here with us  tonight so we're going to focus on the first three   and then the last one i think is just kind  of i don't know if there's one more slide mr   other yeah so that's just our steam night open  house so i'm going to turn it over to these   students and have them share i'm going to ask  each of them one question and have them

038share a   little bit about their experiences okay all right  kate would you come on up first peter would you   tell us a little bit about what you did in your  classroom with your you've got to do all three   projects right lucky cake so tell us about what  you did so um in mr steven's class i was able to   make a carnival game which we called duck pong  it was made out of a cardboard box and we lined   it with tissue paper and cups which had water and  up and instead of your traditional ping pong toss   where you throw the ping pong ball into the water  we made our own rubber docks out of egg cartons   in miss cadden's class my group read chasing  vermeer and we made a game which required you   to build a

039rectangle out of pentominos in order to  like advance in the game and in mr kenzick's class   i made a tiny home which what like really helped  us with like budgeting and learning more about our would you say finances you practiced or learned  when you were doing these projects in the   newspaper uh definitely teamwork and creativity  we got to be very imaginative and we were able to   cooperate very well yeah let's see lottie are you  coming up next bloody how would you say that this   space allows you to do that a more traditional  classroom space you're just not able to do   in the same way that you could do in a space like  this um well okay so in like a normal classroom   it's kind of we have these like desks and you  know it's kind

040of small but whenever something's   like made to do a specific thing you can really  see the intention in it so in like the stem lab   is that how you pronounce it in the stem lab it's  like a it's just a bigger area and they they have   all these like these cool things like um the  outlets like hang down i don't know if you guys   have been there you probably have um but yeah they  like hang down and you can pull them and stuff and   some of the tables i forgot what side of the room  it was on uh they're like white boards yes um   and you get to drawing them which is actually  really fun uh it does stain sometimes but you know   you could clean it off um and this is unrelated  but well

041it's related but they have chairs that   they they have tall chairs and small chairs and  in the other room they have like these tables and   they have this huge like saw it's really loud but  it works really well so thanks so much thank you dave what would you tell a student who has  never been in the lab about the space if   they've never been here before sixth grade  student what would you tell them about this   space and you can talk right over here um it's  a place where you can really express yourself   and you can be very very creative and you  can it's related to your subjects but it's   still very very fun and it was honestly one of my  favorite parts of the day going to the design lab all right grace what did

042you enjoy  most about the projects that you   did and the work that you did in the  newspaper what was your favorite part   i would say i enjoyed the creative liberty of it  and getting to make basically whatever i had in   my mind that mostly worked out sometimes it  didn't work but that's just trial and error thank you so yes that is our new space we  are looking to engage these students in real   world authentic work where they can have their  imaginations go and be able to create whatever   comes to their mind and we're just so thrilled  to see them and so grateful for their their time   and thoughts so thank you thank you thank you very  much next item is the business manager's report mr you irwin should have in front of you the cash 

043flows and i just updated those again from last   week when i sent those to you uh so they've been  a little bit updated they've been updated again   since the the form 54 comes out on the 15th of  every month just starting with the education fund   the revenue side of things continue to roll in  pretty accurately i really haven't changed a whole   lot as far as projections go for what the end of  the year looks like until we start to solidify   our adm which obviously we're starting to kind of  see what that is and then we kind of see how the   school year settles in and with all of our other  grants that make up our tuition support whether   that be the cte special education or honors grant  so again numbers will move around a little

044bit as   the year progresses and we kind of i update those  projections based on what our adm ends up being   but i'll continue to do that as i normally do  with you guys every single month so we're in a   good spot there debt service there's not a whole  lot to say about it other than you know the month   of july we made all of our scheduled debt payments  no surprises which is always a good thing and we   are we expected to be and that's a good thing  operations fund it continues to follow the   projections that we have pretty closely we made  payments on the buses that we still owe leases on   we also got in money for all the buses if you  remember a few months ago we surplused a bunch of   buses when we

045were going to trade those in we were  only going to get a couple hundred dollars total   we were able to to pull thousands off of those  by selling them on the public surplus site which   was a huge benefit to the school corporation and  so we were able to get rid of seven old buses to   make room and our new lot back there as far as  buses go but also to kind of do better on the   finances there than what we're going to get on a  trade-in so we were pretty happy with that we also   received a safety grant disbursement as well so  again operations fund urine projections are right   there where we want them to be and we're staying  in good shape so with that i'll take any questions any questions current enrollment projection right 

046now come here compared to what we lost last year   seniors and incoming kindergartners coming  in uh we're somewhere in the mid 2600s right   now we ended last year in the mid 2500s as far as  total enrollment but again that number will slide   around as we finish up with you know you might  get records requests for a student that might   be leaving and we didn't know it we might get new  students that come in and then we still have a few   parents that are finishing up registration okay  thank you and what's our adm day september 15th any other questions okay hearing none um we'll go  into uh permission to advertise the 2022 budget   mr irwin yeah so i sent you guys uh quite a  bit of information and obviously i'll talk   about that over the process

047in the next couple  board meetings with next month we'll have our   public hearing and then we'll have our adoption  the month after in october but again what this   does it just sends out the notification  to the public and the taxpayers about   our estimate estimated budgets for the year i plan  to put those out on gateway on around august 26th   statutorily it has to come out at least 10 days  prior to the hearing we will well exceed that so   that will be on gateway we'll also put the bus  replacement plan capital projects plan that'll   go on gateway as well as well as our school  website so that people are able to view that   and again we're just putting this together  obviously we take into effect the new   budget that was put in by the legislature we 

048look at what the max level the max levy growth   quotient was for the operations fund which  was 4.3 percent this year which means that   our levy our max levy for the operations fund was  able to grow that amount which is about 200 000   and then we also obviously look at kind of  our av as it's rolled in here later this month   or in this month but when we actually advertise  the budget we always advertise high because   remember when we advertise the budget you can  advertise high you can always bring that down   but once you advertise that you can't go any  higher that amount so we use those dlgf uh best   practices of putting an av at 85 percent of what  last year's was and then we've worked with steeple   which had black lock and then

049paul has worked as  far as reviewing debt management and operations   and all those funds to make sure they kind of  had a second eye over everything that i did   just to make sure that we're in good shape  with kind of coming up with the coming months   so with that i'm asked for you guys  permission to advertise the budget web motion moved and seconded any questions or comments  and then all those in favor say aye aye oppose   motion carries let me advertise the budget um  now this part of our meeting is for consideration   of a project bond and so as part of that you  open what's called the 10 28 hearing so i will   officially open the 10 28 hearing for this project  and we're going to start off with jacob kong   both mckinney to go

050through the project  thanks thank you mr president so um as   you'll recall we were here last month  to talk about this process and i'll   i'll touch on the 10 28 hearing the items that we  need to address for that but maybe just high level   talk about the next five items so that it all  makes sense um so this is um this and the next   uh four agenda items are the steps necessary um  for the authorization of a general obligation bond and again this will be wrapped so there's no  increase you know in your tax rate this is for   bonds in an amount of not to exceed uh two  million four hundred thousand with a rate   not to exceed five percent and a final maturity  of not later than january 15th of 2027 as far as  

051timing we put out a couple notices after the last  meeting and that's what these hearings are about   um after this after this meeting assuming  everything passes um we'll put on another notice   that you all have determined to issue a general  obligation bond um stifle matt will put together   an offering document and we'll look to um price  the bonds i think we have a bond sale tentatively   set for late september um with closing and funds  available in mid-october so to get back on the uh   the 1028 hearing so this is for a project which  includes the improvement renovation acquisition   and equipping of the school corporation's  facilities including but not limited to   technology upgrades including computers copiers  bell paging systems and other technology upgrades   and equipment hvac upgrades and improvements  at all the school corporation facilities   the

052acquisition of new school  buses for the school corporation   school corporation parking lot construction  renovation upgrades and improvements   and other renovations improvements and equipping  and upgrades at all school corporation facilities   and again the the cost is anticipated to not  exceed 2 million 400 000 and the reason for the   hearing statutorily is when a project is going  to exceed 1 million dollars you have to hold   a 1028 hearing so with that i'll turn it  over to matt to discuss the project need so again just the need of the project and  he'd already kind of talked about some   of the the purposes of the expenditures  for the geo bond but again we had done a   large list of hvac needs in the past and that did  not cover nearly all of them at all and so we need  

053to continue to tackle that list to provide better  heating and cooling air quality in our buildings   better technology for teachers and staff to  provide the highest quality tools for their   education you kind of see some of the things that  we've been able to do with some of the mustang   moments and other things that we've been able  to present new buses to transport our students   to and from school as we're looking at here in a  couple years our contract bus routes coming to an   end and whether or not we know whether  or not they're going to renew or not   so there's a large expenditure there with school  buses updating and maximizing our safety of our   school corporation lots and taking care of  potholes resurfacing resealing striping all   of those things and as well as any other

054safety  learning environment educational opportunities   that our students need that come along with  that so those would be the purposes of it in next we have matt shoemaker from stifle who  will discuss the financing of the project and the   tax impact of the project uh good evening everyone  i know i gave this same presentation last month so   i will be brief but if we can go to the next page  so this shows your current debt outstanding you   can see from 21 to 22 your payments are currently  scheduled to be fairly level with a drop in 23 and   24 but because of the significant av growth  that you all have seen the last few years   you're actually able to add a payment on in 2022  and stay tax neutral if we go to the next page   this

055illustrates that so the blue that you see in  the bar graph that is what you saw from the last   page those are your current payments the gray  is the anticipated payments from the new bond   you will see that the payment from 21 to 22  does go up it looks like a significant jump   but as i touched on that assessed value is  growing so rapidly that you're able to pay   a higher levy in debt service and still produce  the same tax rate so the payment goes a little bit   higher the tax rate does not change whatsoever  because of the assessed value growth uh we got   assessed value numbers a couple weeks ago you  guys grew a little over nine percent again   which statewide is phenomenal so again that's why  the payment is going up in 2022

056but the tax rate   imposed on the community will not go up it still  puts you in great position moving forward you   can see that the tax rate is scheduled to drop  in 2023 and then again in 2024 put you guys in   a great position to potentially take care of  some other facility needs should they be there   this time next year the next page this shows  your current uh or your projected total tax   rate so the previous page only showed debt  service this shows debt service plus operations   as i had mentioned from 21 to 22 you will stay  right at the dollar nine and still be in position   to see some a tax rate drop in 2023 where you can  do additional projects again tax rate neutral the   last page shows the parameters that you'll see

057in  the resolutions that jacob talked about we showed   these last month but we can go over these again  so maximum par amount of the bonds 2.4 million   estimated cost of issuance 150 000 this would  be upfront professional fees the number will   likely come in lower than that but that is just  a conservative estimate at this point that would   leave two million two hundred and fifty thousand  dollars uh for the hard and soft project costs   that matt talked about estimated interest rates  four percent again a very conservative number   we're expecting this to be in the low one percents  when you actually do this uh come next month uh   should you proceed estimated interest expense 170  000 when the bonds are actually sold that number   is going to be significantly less significantly  less all of these are

058maximum financial parameters   worst case scenario estimated maximum tax rate  impact that you'll see in the resolution 0.153   which is 15 cents on the tax rate we always list  this has to by by statute this is just a statutory   formula takes the maximum payment expected on the  bonds divides it by the current assessed value   does not take into account what we've showed some  of your other bonds paying off and your assessed   value growing now that your av for next year has  been certified we know what that payment will be   next year to keep you tax rate neutral so the  net impact on the tax rate after factoring in   other bonds paying off and your assessed value  growing will be zero it will be tax rate neutral   your tax rate will not change uh from this year 

059to next year that's all i have but happy to answer   any questions that anyone may have more to have  any questions nope um this is the point of the   10 28 year hearing where we open it up for public  uh questions or comments related to the bonding   is there anyone who'd like to ask any questions  or make any comments related to the project bond hearing none i will officially close the 1028  hearing and we also have to have an additional   appropriation hearing and so i will now officially  open the hearing on additional appropriation   and again i'll call up mr jacob mcclelland for  to begin this part sure and so the background   for this hearing is um whenever you guys make  an amendment to the budget here you're making   an amendment to the budget to pull

060in the 2.4  million dollars of bond proceeds you have to   hold the public hearing on it so that's what  this hearing does is it takes comment on pulling   in the 2.4 million dollars into your budget so  i'd be happy to answer any questions but okay   um and mr irwin uh i'm going to explain is when to  explain for us how the note proceeds will be spent   much like i just stated earlier the proceeds  are going to be spent on things such as hvac   upgrades school buses technology items whether  it's computers copiers school school bell paging   systems or any other technological needs that  we need for our teachers students anything else   that improves the safety learning environment  and educational opportunities of our students   and those those are where the bond proceeds  will be spent with this

061geo bond thank you   and so this is the point of the hearing where we  can have questions and comments from the public   related to the additional appropriation  anyone wish to speak on that question hearing none then we will officially close  the hearing on the additional appropriation   on the note proceeds now in order to effectuate  all this we will need to vote on each of the   following resolutions we'll take them one at a  time first is the 1028 resolution for the project   that is in your board packets did you want to say  anything about any of these i think you guys all   get it but this one is just the approval um of  the project for purposes of the statute requiring   the 1028 hearing and it goes through what matt  showed you on the screen that

062you know there is   a tax impact except that there's not because your  ss value has gone up and other obligations will   roll off so there'll be no tax increase to any uh  any of your constituents so okay we have a motion oh second movement second any questions comments  on the 10 20 i do want to interject i had a nice   talk with mr irwin today regarding the  what the money is going to be utilized   for and i would like i would like to ask and  request that the board see a prioritized list   before that final decision is made on those  items kind of a breakdown of those items so you've asked him to prepare that yes i  did ready awesome anything further ain't none   all those in favor say aye aye opposed motion  carries um

063next is the resolution for the bond so this actually authorizes the issuance of  the bonds it goes through all the parameters   that matt provided and again it's um you know  not to exceed 2.4 million dollars rate not to   exceed five percent we think it'll be lower  than that final maturity of january 15 2027   possibly earlier and again timing wise after this  stifle will market the bonds and then we'll have   a bond sale late september with proceeds  available mid-october thank you we have   motion i'll move approval second movement second  any questions comments on the bond resolution   hear none all those in favor  say aye aye aye opposed   motion carries and our last would be the  additional appropriation resolution mr mcclellan   so this is the final action and and this  just approves the appropriation of the   2.4

064million dollars once you receive it  into your budget so that you can spend it all right move approval movement any questions  comments just to clarify that it's a maximum   of 2.4 million and that is not that's not  the actual amount but it's a maximum of 2.4   is that right correct that's a not  to exceed amount so it won't go any   higher than that it could be that  amount it could be lower thank you any further all those in favor say aye aye opposed   motion carries so thank you  very much gentlemen for coming   here tonight and explaining all this for us and  walking us through this process um so let's see   moving on down we now have a consideration  on renewal agreement with adult and child   dr sanders yes we are beginning our second year  partnering

065with the adult and child mental health   agency under the leadership of tom norris our  mental health services for students continues to   be impactful and we appreciate our partnerships  with organizations such as adult and child   this agreement is for a split therapist  position at edgewood high school so 50 of this   position is paid for uh through medicaid  and the other 50 is paid for through   lilly grant dollars uh title iv grant  dollars and also our own local budget   this agreement has been reviewed and approved  by ferguson law and i recommend your approval any questions comments all those  in favor say aye aye opposed   motion carries um considering continuing in  that theme we have consideration to approve   the contract with class yes class which stands  for connected learning assures student success   has been implemented in primarily at

066edgewood  primary school for the last several years   class utilizes research on how students learn  to provide our primary teachers with training   and best teaching practices this  agreement will allow class to provide   uh six training days for our primary teachers  at eps uh the um cost of the the uh six training   one dates is nine dollars and will  be paid for through title two this   agreement has also been reviewed and approved  by ferguson law and i recommend your approval i move approval of the class contract  a second is this another sel curriculum no because when you look up classes   i'm sorry the public comment period is over  well you just didn't explain what this was any further questions or comments i would like  some clarification from dr sanders this this is   this is different than what

067was talked about  earlier in the parent discussion about the   castle curriculum class something's been around  longer than scl has been around it was a uh i'm sorry this is the board's time   if you could just interject a little  bit more dr sanders that he probably   if he could maybe help me understand too a little  bit better that'd be great the difference between   the castle is something completely different  from class castle is a national organization   that promotes scl we actually align  ourselves with indiana standards and   so this has nothing to do with castle okay  this is just in teacher training correct okay any further questions comments all those in favor  say aye aye aye opposed and motion carries and our   next item is consideration to approve the  tim's uh grant amendment dr sanders yes so   as

068you know the iu school of psychology and  rbb uh successfully collaborated on a five-year   two and a half million dollar grant we are in  the second year of the grant the as a reminder   here are some of the details of the grant the  grant is through the u.s department of education   rbbcsc and iu school of  psychology are collaborating   on the implement implementation of the  uh of the the state-of-the-art model   a multi-tiered trauma-informed system of  mental health support for eps eis and ejhs   the goals of the grant are to increase the  number of school psychology graduate students   placed and retained in rbb schools receiving  training in trauma-informed practice   the second goal is to improve student  mental health outcomes achievement and   disciplinary outcomes through the provision of the  appropriate tier 2 and tier 3 supports the tim's  

069grant is enabling rbb to significantly increase  the number of rbb students receiving direct and   evidence-based services the amendment allows  rbbcsc to continue our partnership with indiana   university and any student who participates  must have parental consent christine bartlett   and ferguson law have reviewed and approved  this agreement i recommend your approval approval of the tim's grant now a second any  questions on the tim's great hear none all   those in favor say aye aye aye aye opposed motion  carries um there's also consideration to approve   our annual agreement with ivy tech dr samuel yes  as stated in the agenda item this is an annual   uh agreement with uh ivy tech terre haute which  enables students to simultaneously be enrolled in   edgewood high school's agricultural program and  ivy tech earning credits in both institutions   an ehs teacher provides the instructions 

070instruction students are not charged tuition   the memorandum of understanding outlines  the procedures for the dual credit program   we currently have three agricultural dual  credit courses offered at edgewood high school   ferguson law has also reviewed this  mou and i recommend your approval make a motion to approve mood and second any questions i'm just  excited about how many credits our students   can earn at the college level this is just uh one  example of that my daughter when she graduated   had almost her freshman year done so at college so  this is awesome all those in favor say aye aye aye   opposed motion carries um now we have the  consideration to approve a sycamore drive easement   you know i say this quite often because  um and it's just true we have a great   partnership with the town of ellisville

071and  uh we are partnering with them to provide   an expansion of sycamore drive  which will enable our traffic buses   cars going through that area to be able to travel  uh more safely and so would you like to share a   little bit about this my name is kip petty and i'm  the newly appointed street commissioner for the   town of beltsville public works uh i've noticed in  the last few years myself personally that sycamore   drive is pretty tight for buses especially in the  morning and the evenings both and then you got   the parents coming in and out so the town applies  for what they call the community crossings grants   every year last year we had almost a half a  million dollars awarded to us to resurface streets   in the town of limits of ellisville this year i'm 

072wanting to widen sycamore drive about another two   foot somewhere around that area and then uh  the grant probably won't be awarded till about   december so it may not be till next spring before  i get the top coat put on the whole road but i'm   proposing to widen from brees road all the way  to cedar drive and well widened to hickory drive   and then after we widen it in-house the  town of elizabeth doing it then i'll have   an outside contractor through the grant put  the top coat on the first section known if   everybody's problem i see when they come in  tonight if they come in from that direction   that we already have right-of-way there from colt  drive to hickory so we were started work there   so this is to go from cult drive to reeves  road

073on the west side and then once we're   done we'll we'll re-groom the banks where  it's mobile and and it'll look nice hopefully i want to tell you kip met with mr caldwell  arnold caldwell our director of maintenance and   matt earl and we met up there  and and talked about it and i really appreciate kip's hard  work on this and thinking of us   the easement that you're approving  is not quite in its final stages so it has been reviewed by ferguson law and shared  with the town of ellisville and christine   is here tonight she's made some revisions and  presented it back to the town of ellisville for   final approval so it's kind of up to you i guess  as a board tonight if you want to approve this   pending the final of approval of ferguson law

074or  if you'd like to table until we have the easement   completed i believe we can move forward  as long as it was approved by ferguson law   before it was signed unless there's objection  to that i i move that we approve pending   the uh approval of our lawyer who are attorneys  yes well second i also want to uh tack on to what   mr dr sanders said about kipp he he'd been working  on this for well over a year and we he and i   talked about it early in 2020 and he's just been  a real great guy to work with no doubt i gave him   a hard time but i like i like to tell him he does  a good job too so yeah i've worked with him before   too he's a great guy to work with

075three o'clock in  the morning okay um any further questions comments   i uh i know they already started today  on the stuff they're at the intersection   that's what we've got over there from from uh colt  drive to reeves road uh the property line of the   elementaries comes to the center of the road so  you might correct me if i'm wrong but if it comes   to the center of the road then the right-of-way  easement stops at edge of pavement so what we   need is just to add that extra couple foot to get  that along there and i apologize i was out of the   office this afternoon so i didn't know there was  any updates to it so i can look over that who as   well so yeah i'm sure it's formality yeah you're  good yeah i'm uh

076i'm excited about it that is   very i've got dr sanders knows i've got other  things going involved have you ever told them   do you mind if i tell them ahead go ahead i'm  looking for funding uh i kind of missed out on   the bloomington npo of getting funding  through them from for federal money   but i'm looking at putting flashing beacons  at the school perimeter properties and   at let's say seven o'clock in the morning buses  start coming in or the parents or teachers   these beacons will start flashing they'll  will not stop flashing till the elementary   routes are done and then pick up they'll  happen again in the afternoon it'll come on   they'll be wireless they'll be up i can be able  to activate them with my ipad and my truck if it's   a snow day i

077can automatically push the button  it's snow day so they won't come on for two hours   uh wednesdays they won't come on until  you know the the later start on wednesdays   so that way if they're flashing all day long like  when you come through elseville at the crosswalk   there at heritage trail you see them like they  see them flashing and you just ignore them so   these will only come on during certain times  of the day when the buses are going out i'm   also working as it's they call them a hawk system  but it's not a full-blown hawk system but it's a   crosswalk with lights here at cold drive and it'll  be a hand centered or touchless sensor sensory   so they can activate and cross the road right  there so i'm working on that i've been a

078while   working on that but i hope to get that hopefully  in the next year or so or less so it's all part   of the plan of updating the road we're going  to resurface reeves road and mustang drive   there's the top three in this area right here  we're going to try to get resurfaced up here   so that is awesome that is awesome and with  the sidewalks uh putting in as well i mean it's   really doing a great job working with the town  to keep our students safe so thank you very much   anything further from the board all those in  favor say aye aye aye opposed motion carries   thank you very much thank you thank you  kev thank you thank you kevin appreciate it   okay um our next item is consideration to approve  updated high school student

079fees uh mr irwin   yeah so we had one change uh that was made  to the high school uh student fees and this   was for an ap stats class the rental for it's  38 dollars and 45 cents for the entire year   and it is an advanced placement course the  curriculum material charge is necessary for   the materials that the students are actually going  to need to complete the class and the class was   added late because the teacher needed more time to  determine the appropriate materials for this class   just as dirk stated when we talked on the phone  about this i'm just thrilled to add another ap   opportunity for our students so i asked for  your approval of updated fees for the high   school awesome thank you make a motion i'll  second mood and segments questions comments i

080can glad to see the ap program continue to  grow all those in favor say aye aye aye opposed   motion carries and next we have uh  consideration to approve a cancellation of a   single bus contract yeah so the  circumstances of which this is   is happening under is in no way of under bad  terms between us and the contractor uh mr grubb is   is kind of in a place where some things he has  going on in his personal life doesn't allow him   to fulfill the the contract at this time um and  so he's been in direct communication constant   communication with mrs meyers our transportation  director to kind of update us on what's going   on and what kind of the needs are there so  we're going to be able to absorb the route   he is possibly going to

081look to help us out in  the future and maybe become a part-time driver   for us depending on how things go with some of the  things he needs to take care of with his family   but we'll absorb the route and be able to continue  to move along with this so it won't change the   route for the kids that actually ride it or  anything like that it's just kind of absolving   the contract and then we'll bring that technically  in-house so with that i ask for your approval   i'll move approval any questions comments  we appreciate his many years of service to   the corporation absolutely all those in favor  say aye aye opposed motion carries next is the   consideration to approve a purchase of a bus so  this kind of pairs with the one that we just did   but

082this is for the purchase of of mr grubb's bus  we've reached out to midwest transit to get a fair   market value on his bus and i provided that in  the board packet so that you guys could see that   we do have an agreed-upon purchase price with  him of thirteen thousand dollars for the bus   um and with your approval we'll move forward  with purchasing the bus and then officially   moving it into our fleet i've included it  um you know as long as you guys approve it   it's included in the bus replacement plan to go  along with what we'll put with that moving forward   so with that i ask for your approval okay i move  approval of the purchase of the bus oh second   any questions comments all those in favor say aye  aye opposed motion carries

083thank you uh next is   a consideration to approve painting services yeah  so during the summer along with all the long list   of things that are going on around here as far  as taking care of our facilities we were working   on trying to get some contractors in here to get  quoted out on painting services it's been a number   of years since that we've gotten some things  done on some of the painting services so we   had a number of things that we needed to tackle  there was only so many things that our in-house   crew with maintenance was able to do on their  own so we created a list between arnold and i and   the building principles as far as what all we  needed done and so looking at that prioritizing   it and so we brought in a

084couple of people to  come and quote out those jobs one of them that   we had the one that we ended up going with was  very reasonably priced it worked well a couple   of the others were a lot higher and we're going to  be much more expensive we went ahead and had them   complete that work as it was stuff that needed to  be done prior to students and staff coming back in   the building whether that be classrooms and some  of the other things that they were taking care of   the total completed costs of some of these  pieces were below the threshold but if you   take everything together it warrants just bringing  it for your approval just for purposes and making   sure that you're aware of how we did it but the  total came in at twenty

085three thousand eighty five   dollars for the painting that was completed which  is just a small sliver of eventually what we need   to get to but we've continued to compile that  list prioritize the list and we'll continue to   chip away on it it's something that we already had  in our capital projects planned this previous year   it's still in there moving forward and we'll  continue to take care of those things year   in and year out so with that i ask for your  approval of the painting services and invoices a motion i make a motion moving second questions comments all  those in favor say aye aye opposed   motion carries and now consideration to approve  the 40b restatement so the 403 b restatement   is something that we've been looking at for a  little while now a number of years

086i think it's   been a couple years back now the irs mandated  a certain form that they wanted in a template   that was compliant with what it is that they  they've put out they've given a certain amount   of grace time that people could catch up with  that if you didn't put it in the their template   you were responsible for putting anything  into it that they might push out from the irs   we were able to work with valik who ended up  restating our plan we didn't change anything   about our 403 b plan it just simply put in an  irs compliant template and so as other changes   that would come up that the irs might push out  they'll update the plan for us they didn't charge   us for this obviously they take care of our 403 b  services

087and they make money elsewhere as far as   providing their services but they didn't charge  us for this piece individually which was nice   a lot of other places like we went to the iasbo  conferences when you looked at different vendors   a lot of them were marketing hey we can take care  of this for you we can take care of this for you   but it was going to cost quite a bit different and  then we're going to send you a separate invoice   for that piece so they didn't charge us for that  piece but they went ahead and they put us in that   so what you saw in the board packet is the draft  ferguson law was able to look over that draft with   your guys approval i will let them know that they  can go ahead and

088finalize that draft so that dr   sanders and i can sign off on it and then we'll  have that updated in that irs compliant format   so with that i ask for your guys approval awesome  no i move approval a second any questions comments   are none all those in favor say aye aye aye  opposed motion carries thank you mr irwin um   next we'll have the there's no miscellaneous  items we'll have the superintendent's report   dr sanders yes um i'm really glad that the junior  high students were here tonight because they're   they are a perfect example of what we're doing in  rbb to grow and prepare our students so that when   they graduate from edgewood high school they  are prepared with the skills and the knowledge   necessary to be able to go out and make an impact  in our

089community whether they're going to college   a military a trade school or whatever our goal  is to be able to create a pathway from school   to employment and ready schools is going to enable  us to do that to be successful at this endeavor we   really need to develop partners in our community  and uh we just made a presentation the uh also   greater chamber of commerce does a power luncheon  uh i think about every quarter and we were invited   to present last friday and in the audience are  several uh representatives of different businesses   throughout our community and uh so uh our plan  really to uh foster and build these partnerships   uh involves connections conversations  and commitments so just like at the   power lunch inn we hopefully made some connections  we told our story about ready schools we

090told   the the community about what we're doing to  prepare students through ready schools and we   invited the businesses then to have a conversation  with us to sit down where we could go into a   little more detail about what we're doing and  the different ways that they can partner with   us as a business and then finally hopefully  get to a point where we make some commitments   so i want to tell you specifically about one  of these examples in my superintendent's report   i list different partnerships that we have  developed uh this year with the dementia mill   smithville last month we had hoosier hills credit  union here and also we're working with crane for   a a semester-long internship but a  recent conversation we had with a   german american bank is a perfect example where  we sat down and

091we talked a little bit about once   again what we were doing at rbb in regard to to  ready schools and the conversation went towards a   german-american bank maybe hosting an intern  but the conversation went further because   they shared how what their needs are in terms of  employees in terms of how this internship could   also help them as a financial institute and so we  kind of worked out a next step plan in terms of   they're going to come back  with a little do i lose my mic i promise i didn't do anything all right i guess i want me to keep going  or i'm built it out there okay uh so   so really we we were able to get to a point where  we're going to get back together and we're going   to learn how to

092take that internship program from  an opportunity for a student during maybe their   senior year to spend a semester at german american  bank but also take it uh have a pathway well don't   need to talk loud anymore thank you uh a pathway  then from that internship to actually having a   job at german american bank and we're so we want  to develop develop this as a model then for other   partnerships so i was really excited about it  so i wanted to share that with you very exciting also i wanted to just give you some updates on our  construction projects uh up at the edgewood junior   high school renovation project that will be  completed at the end of this month right now   we're working our way through a punch list and  also we had our building inspection and

093there   were some items that we needed to address from  the building inspection now we're required to have   those items done by august 24th but by the end  of the month we should have it all completed the   innovative learning center is due to be completed  end of october maybe early november right now   they're roughing in the interior walls installing  ductwork they're working on electrical rough-in   for the coffee shop and if you want to go  over and look at the coffee shop the floor   has been installed and painting is being done  and it's starting to to come to life there   the new uh preschool the addition to edgewood  primary school has been delayed because of the   lack of materials but the still finally  arrived and it's being set in place   this week the new administration building  and

094the renovation to the current uh support   services building and the transportation  lot they those are all in various stages   the whole project is due to be done  hopefully by spring break in march of 2022   right now for the new administration building  we're working through some permit issues but   that is supposed to be finished very soon they're  working on electrical work at the bus parking   lot and completing the water line tie-ins and  we are now able to park our buses back there   but there's still work to be done on the  transportation law the pool project is   estimated to be completed about mid-september  they're completing tile and ceiling work   shower installations and working on uh  pool equipment startup and we're also   arriving waiting on the arrival of our pool air  handler and i shared the board in

095my weekly review   a picture of the scoreboard which is pretty  awesome i can't wait to see that in action   once the swim season starts and  finally we have hvac projects that   are kind of ongoing we're sometime  this fall we expect that to be finished   we did have when we were moving the air handler  from the high school gym to the ceiling we did   have a heavy equipment piece of equipment fall  and caused a minor damage to the basketball court   but that is being repaired we're  waiting on delivery of air handlers   for the auditorium and commons area so that's  my report um you said the delay for the eecc   preschool is the december 31st 2021 still  the date or has that been delayed well um   that is uh still the guy the hope i hope  okay

096i'm trying to find the exact word working with these construction projects you  learn that um these dates are not written in stone   but before i meant to say one more thing i did  want to thank all the parents who spoke tonight   and i appreciate those parents who  come in and meet with me individually i think it's a testament of what an awesome  school corporation we have that we can share   our insights and our we  might have differing opinions   but we work well together and i'm looking forward  to talking to mr davis tomorrow and i invited   another parent to email me today to come in and  meet with me i feel that that's how you arrive at   the best possible decision is just trying to get  as much information as possible so i just i didn't  

097want to end the night to end without thanking them  thank you i will have our rbea comments mr ewells well good evening everyone it's august  school's back in so that means i'm a   little more tired so is everybody else but  that's okay that's a good thing i'll take it   anytime i'm just glad to be back in glad to  see the kids every day that's a huge change   all things considered it's felt pretty normal  it's just good to see them have them in and that's   going to make a big difference i don't have a  whole lot to say other than that since it's august seeing the junior high kids listening to jamie  miller who by the way is a wonderful speaker   uh mr ackman kind of put her on the spot  this morning we had this

098meeting and uh   we were in the plc meetings our  first meeting and she was there and   and if you've been around you know he was one her  to summarize and by golly she did a wonderful job   in four minutes of summarizing two years she's  she's like i said amazing to repeat myself   but what i really mean to that is that we have  a lot of options for our kids it seems like it   seems like we're starting this ramp up which i  think is exciting so i appreciate you supporting   our admin supporting us with plc initiatives the  ready school initiatives i think a lot of it still   comes down to the fact that we're not too big  to be impersonal we're not too small to not have   these options for our kids so i want to

099thank you  and all the amen admin support for us as well and   we're going to wrap this up so i can go  home and get some sleep thank you thank you the uh now we're to a board member commons and  can't remember the order i used last time i'll   just start on the far left mr tucker you know i  think thank the parents for coming this evening   i'm not going to try to pronounce the last  name of josh oh thank you for coming this   evening sharing your thoughts mr davis thank you  for the emails we the board reads every email   but dr sanders usually responds to the group  so that way you're not getting seven different   responses so i appreciate you bringing that  to our attention and thank you to miss neufeld   hope that right

100correctly so i do encourage  you to to share with the building level   administrators which you have done and then take  it to that next step to visit with dr sanders and   everybody needs to work together and try to work  through their concerns and the differences so   we've all had kids and we all try to do the  right thing by maturing the school corporation hats off to dr sanderson the group we're in our  second year of the tim's grant that's i almost   forgot about that two and a half million dollars  a year ago is pretty impressive so hopefully we'll   continue to do good things with the money that has  provided us with that in our partnership with iu   sycamore drive expansion uh is phenomenal i  made a huge mistake this morning i was going to   trick

101the traffic into ellisville i saw the i saw  that blinker thing on heritage trail i thought it   was like taking a picture of my car speeding  so i slowed down turned left up reeves road   i thought i'd just buzz right through her over  to highway 46 and it was backed up with school   traffic and it's it was there's just a lot  of stuff going on a lot of moving parts   thanks for the sros who are out there directing  traffic and i think there might have been a middle   schooler intermediate school administrator out  directing traffic to it at least they had a yellow   jacket on which is good so i didn't  hit them so hopefully that will   get smoother as parents get used to the traffic  patterns at the intermediate and primary school hats off to

102all the teachers administrators  and students for accepting the fact that we   we have to uh apply to the mandate with the health  department um mr yields made a comment every   every kid gets to see every kid every day  so far knock on wood i hope it continues   because it's it's the most important thing is just  to stay in school and keep to keep the kids here   in in this building um so continued good wishes  to all and hopefully everybody stays healthy   this is jacobs um i kind of want to reiterate to  what mr tucker said you know i've been working   i am a healthcare worker and i've been working  through this pandemic for almost two years now so while i understand where you're coming from with  the mask i can also tell you that it's

103very real   what we're going through it's very contagious and  that is on a very personal level of where i work   so we have to follow mandates we don't have a  choice in that we want to keep our students safe   that's how we feel that we can do it um i  understand though because i have children   in the corporation my kids don't want  to wear the mask either but we also have   to communicate with them and have them to  understand why we need to do this right now   and i just hope that you know we  can move through you know this year and keep in school because that's what our  students need and if it is because of a mass   then it is because of a mask i want my students  in here every single day

104to get their education   last year it was very difficult for mine  i'm sure it was very difficult for other   students if we can keep them in school as for  long as we can the better they're going to be and again like he said we do read all of our  emails the board does not interject um in   situations where you're getting a reply from  your superintendent and those sorts of things   that that's what they are doing and  i know that mr davis they've been   communicating with you and i'm i'm confident it's  going to be resolved you know with your situation   i too am a parent i've had situations that  i've been concerned with and it was resolved   and so i appreciate you doing you  know coming out here and talking to us just give your principals

105and your  superintendent the opportunity to to work through   your situation and and help provide what  you need to discuss about your children the only other thing i wanted to say is that i  just again appreciate all the donations that we   get for our corporation without them you know we  would have less and we don't want less for our   students we want everything that we can possibly  provide for their education so i really really   appreciate that and i think that's all i have  for now thank you thank you mr derno thank you   mr president uh i too am excited about the upgrade  on sycamore road there we've been working at for   a long time i also want to thank the parents for  coming in i also want to suggest if you expect a   reply from an

106individual board member then  you need to address it to the board member   because normally i let jerry or president kerr  take care of our responses we don't need five   responses going out to parents when we  need to be united in what we're thinking   and i appreciate what your concerns and i i  again i appreciate you coming tonight on a   lighter note we've got football coming up uh  bands out practicing so you know it's it's   going to be a great fall no doubt so that's all  i have mr president thank you thank you mr demons   i i want to thank ms neufeld for the nice  work she said about the teachers at rbb   i was one of those for 32 years  in the 31st year of my career   i had something happen that had never happened 

107before one of my students took his own life and um it gutted me i didn't know what i  had missed if anything i didn't know   if there was anything i could have done  if there's something i should have seen and it was coincidental with the introduction  from the state level of the recommendation that   we consider social emotional learning some of our  students need help that i don't know how to give   them and so i was hoping for the training as a  teacher that might help me to help him and i think   yeah i don't know if castle or two-step is the  best but i know that there are students that have   problems that students did not have problems when  i started teaching 32 years ago 33 years ago now   so i i appreciate your interest

108please  believe that we are also concerned about   what our students are learning and what they're  going through and i i will live with that   death forever and if there's anything we can  do to prevent the next one then then i'm i'm   all in on that and i know you are too so please  help us make it better thank you thank you um social emotional learning is about mental  health it is not about pushing any type   of political agenda the things that you  were saying on mccsc site we are not them   that is not who we are when issues  are brought to our attention that that   more political type stuff is  is is being considered or or   asked for is on an amazon list we look into that  and we take that seriously and we deal

109with it   we do not as rbb want to push  any agenda any political agenda   what we want to do is promote mental  health what we want to do is promote   students and staff and teachers to be able to have  the resources to identify when there's concerns   with our students and give them strategies  on how to cope and deal with that not the   kind of things that you were folks were  bringing up tonight is not what sel is an rb   rbb is all about the mental health and  promoting mental health of our students and so please if and i am very glad that  we have vigilant parents out there that   when they see something that they think is not  appropriate that they bring it to our attention   and i'm so glad you did and i encourage

110parents  to have open dialogues with their with their   children to find out what they're learning about  in school and things like that and i encourage   parents to have discussions with their teachers  and with the administrators and superintendent um we always talk about how we're a  community and we are a community   um and i don't think we're as far apart  as you may have believed on things um   especially when it comes to social and emotional  learning my wife is a teacher and i talked to her   about it just before i came to the board meeting  and she talked of it in terms of strategies how to   uh help students problem solve when they're  on the playground and they have a disagreement   those are the kind of things that  and she's a second grade teacher   those are

111the kind of things that  she is doing with sel it's it's not   political stuff at all it is all about the  emotional well-being of the students social   and emotional well-being how they get along with  one another how they um uh again have strategies   to deal with with issues that come up between them  and their classmates or maybe things that they can   take and apply at home to issues that they may be  having at home we're here for the students we are   not here to push political agendas that  is not who we are that's not who rbb is   dr sanders gave the list to what we're focusing  on because that is our focus it's not political   platforms that is not who we are we're community  we're a family we work together and we want there   to

112be open dialogue uh with with the our our  parents our community members you know we're   talking about the partnerships that we're doing  with ready schools with the local employers you   know getting our students a path to a a career  what no matter what that path looks like if it's   straight into the workforce if it's military if  it's college if it's trade school whatever it is   we are working to try to find ways to give  everyone all of our students a path to success   so that's what we're about is about  promoting success promoting the well-being   of our students and and that's it those other  things that's not who we are or what we're about so when it comes to the mask i i have  looked at all kinds of data myself i have   asked our experts

113i had communicated with penny  cottle there was this video that everybody   watched millions of people about from mount  vernon and i've heard rebuttals about that   and right now i think i'm willing to look at what  the cdc the indiana department of education the   indiana state department of health the monroe  county health department the majority of all   of those experts i'm looking to them for guidance  are there other opinions out there sure they are but especially when it's in a mandate position i'm  not going to encourage our school corporation to   break the law and to actually risk being closed  i'm not going to do that i want our students in   the seats one thing that last year showed us was  that the precautions we were taking were effective   at school and in stopping transmissions maybe  you'll

114say well we wouldn't have any transmissions   anyway but we didn't have any transmissions that  occur at school some friends who you know were   hanging out together and things like that  had some transmissions but what we did worked   and so that what that means to me is that we  can keep these kids in their seats this year   the only way i see that we would have to  go to e-learning is if there were so many   out that it just wasn't practical  or we didn't have the staff   that was a problem we ran in to at one  point last year that we just didn't have   staff because there was too many that were  out because they had coveted or quarantined   and so that those are the difficult things  so um and not everybody can get vaccinated   um

115you know there's there's people out there who  have medical reasons that they just can't and so   you know and they work for our school system too  so everybody deserves to be protected there um i think that's good enough for the  night i i appreciate everybody coming   and if anybody ever wants to talk to  me personally i'd be happy to speak   with them so this meeting is adjourned  and you all have a wonderful evening you