001Good evening, everyone. Thank you for attending uh May 11th board meeting for ACS. Um if we could have a moment of reflection, please. Okay. Please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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. Dr. Hill, if you would like to read the guidelines for public comment, please. Madam President, bear with me just a minute. We Oh, you're fine. Yeah, we got one. Thank you. Guidelines for public comments at the Anders Community School Board meetings. Meetings of the Anders Community School Board of Trustees are open to the public in accordance with Indiana's open door law. Prior to the board meeting, members of the
002public can sign up to provide public comment. During the public comment portion of the meeting, the board president will call individuals signing up to the podium one one at a time to speak. Speakers will be asked to state their names, addresses for the record prior to sharing their comments. Generally, each speaker should not exceed 5 minutes to address the board and cannot give their minutes to anyone else. Public comment should be directed at the board and not at individual board members. Shouting, loud statement, threats, name calling, offensive language, or other improper conduct is not permitted. An employee speaking on matters involving his or her own individual employment matters will be reminded that ACS has a a grievance or complaint procedure, which has been designated and established to address these type of issues. This process is
003providing more thorough opportunity with greater time allocation, which board members are involved as a step in this processes. Comments concerning individuals employment will be deferred to these processes. When appropriate, the board will refer questions to the superintendent. Some concerns may be addressed at that time. However, others may require further research and information to a ensure the information provided is both accurate and complete. In those instances, the board or a member of the administration will be the will be designated and will follow up with the individual sharing the public comment to ensure their question or concern is properly addressed. Okay, thank you. I officially call this meeting to order. Thank you, Madam President. Um board, you have received in your mailings and in your packet the agenda for tonight's meeting. I ask that you approve those
004without modification. So moved. Second. Okay, board, any questions? Okay. All those in favor to a approve the agenda, uh all those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say nay. Nay. Thank you, board. Um also in the same packet in the same mailings, you received the minutes of last month's board meeting. I ask that you approve those. Okay, call for a motion. Make a motion to approve. Second. Okay. Um let's see. So, approval for board meeting meeting minutes. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say nay. Okay, nice to have it. Thank you, board. For the superintendent's comments, I've got a few things. Uh first off, if you look at the artwork at the back of the room, that's uh students at Anderson Elementary have uh put that up
005there and I believe we're going to leave that up through the summer, I believe is what I heard. So, you'll you'll see that the next couple of months. There's some pretty good artwork back there. Um first up on my comments, I want to call up uh Maria Alexander to uh talk about the 2026 ACS Hall of Fame class announcement. So, Mrs. Alexander, the lectern is yours. All right, I will and keep it short as much as I can, but we've got some amazing things and not just Hall of Fame. So, first up is this awesome picture. I had two show choir students go with me to do our singing telegrams this week. Uh this is one kid who wanted to tell us how much he'd been working out. Um and so he wanted to fist
006bump the the show choir student, which is really kind of a cool fun thing to see them engaging. That's good. There we go. Um next up, there's a QR code up at the top. If you know any of the top 20 students or you've taught them uh or if I've been coaching them for any particular reason, there's a list on the side. We've also been highlighting them on our social media the last couple weeks. We're doing our top 20 dinner on Wednesday at the high school. And this year we're going to surprise them with some comments from their teachers. So, if there's any particular you don't have to leave a message for literally every kid, but if you've got one specific um it would be awesome. We're really excited. Actually, Mandy Webb is uh chosen
007as one of the influential edu- cators for one of the kids, which was a kind of a cool uh thing. I don't think we've had any school board members chosen before for that honor. So, we the kids all get to invite influential educators to come and celebrate with them. Um Mr. Harrison's also coming, I think. So, there's some really cool uh things going on this week. We've been busy. I can get it. Oop. Sorry, guys. Oh, man. It's going to be a day, isn't it? Okay. All right. Uh this is another uh one of our grant things that we just put in place at Southview. It's kind of a interactive wall. Um there's $43,000. Again, we did this past year in grants, which is kind of cool. We're at over 275 uh 200 Oh my
008gosh, 275 orders for classroom closet and over 13 and 1/2 grand to cover student educational costs for different things uh as well as the other programs that we do. If you want to follow us on Facebook, there's a QR there. Donate to support because we could definitely use that. We've been really busy. Uh these were just adorable pictures I wanted you to see. Uh Southview, uh there's there's so many, but these were some of the cutest ones. Uh Olivia Willard was chosen uh by one of the teachers for a grant to do uh artist in residence program for a whole month, I believe. And so she came in and worked with the kids on doing different self-portraits. And the kids have been apparently obsessed with art ever since. And so now they're doing a lot
009more art in their classroom and and begging for more projects like that. So that's kind of a cool thing we were excited to support. We're looking for new board members. Uh the deadline for your application is May 15th. If you know anybody, and these do not all have to be um people connected with the schools. We actually have lots of different people from the community, not just school people, on our board. We love business people who have connections there. Uh people who like to do fundraising. That's always exciting. Um so if you know anybody, or you're like, "Hey, you might work on this board." We have so much fun. Brad's our president. He can tell you I I think we have a good time. So. Come on. Uh trivia night, we raised over $1,500, which
010was really fun. Uh we laughed really, really hard. Um but these are you can see some of the the pictures of different school teams that came, as well as different people from the community. Um my husband was actually on the winning trivia team. He's in the front row. It was very big blow to my ego, but it's fine. Uh Southview preschool festival, you can see my arms are all sunburned. That was from Saturday. Uh we got to hand out free books to preschoolers that are incoming to ACS, and just talk about how we're excited to support them all the way from preschool to graduation. Um Miss Muir did a really amazing job with the festival. There were bounce things. She actually was looking right at the camera and smiling, and then she saw the bounce
011house behind me, and then we couldn't get a picture with her looking at us anymore, because bounce houses are way cooler than me. Uh these are another more pictures of the singing telegrams. And now for our Hall of Fame. So, if you want to hit the QR code at the bottom, you could definitely donate or get tickets. Um we'll be having those out and about. It's October 24th, but we're really, really excited cuz we have a very good class. This year, we're doing eight people instead of 15 because it's a long day otherwise. So, first up we have Ashley Davis, and she actually her mom works at Anderson High School. So, that's kind of a really cool thing about her. She was the first black person to win two Indiana State Tennis um competitions. She's
012currently the vice president of a medical company and a co-owner of a surgical company. So, she's doing some amazing things. She's in Georgia, but she's going to come up for the celebration, and we're excited to have her. This is Michelle Jackson. She's the one holding the thing. We surprised her at a restaurant over in Fishers. She lives there now. Um she runs She's helped with over 500 international and special needs adoptions. She founded the Global Orphan Foundation to research causes of trafficked and exploitation of children. Um that same foundation opened a village to help out with foster families in Africa to teach skills, community building. Um they provide health care, education. She's actually leaving for Africa in a few weeks for another trip there. Um but she was super excited. Jay Maldonado, who is on
013our board, got to she's in a class with her in high school. So, she So, we organized the surprise, and she was very, very shocked. We'll play the video this week on social media. If you want to watch for that. Mary Teshara is the president at St. Vincent and Ascension. Um she actually helped found the Anderson Center. If anybody's familiar with the Anderson Center, she was one of the main people behind that. She also worked on establishing the first uh gambling addiction program in the state of Indiana, as well as a lot of other things. If you see her out and about in the community, she's a very humble person, but she's behind the scenes of a lot of amazing work. This is Anthony Harris. He's the pastor over at Church Upon the Rock. He's
014been the pastor there for 17 years. Um some cool things about him is he works with um at-risk youth um both in uh prison and addiction work. Uh he does a lot for his community pro bono just to help out. Um he was He was really fun. We got to surprise him at their Bible study and I brought some chips because apparently that's a thing he enjoys. So, he laughed quite a bit about that. Um he also got the James Warner and the NAACP award and he um he served as a deacon uh before he was a pastor as well. This is Jody Walker Pierce. Her granddaughter's nominated her um and we we gave her an orchid cuz that's what she liked. Um she has won the Mitch Daniels Leadership Award for Distinguished Hoosier. Um
015she also has done a lot with She worked at Delco Remy and then ended up doing leadership roles in the community not just with that with Leadership Academy, which I'll talk about in a second. Um she works with Soroptimist now and then she's been a professor at both Purdue and Ivy Tech uh campuses for several years. So, she was excited and very surprised that her granddaughter has nominated her. Darlis Lee, if you've been out in the community, you've probably seen or touched something that Darlis been involved with cuz she's everywhere. Um she re- She brought back the Gaslight Festival. She's the owner uh co-owner of The Toast and Finley's Irish Pub, which she just recently opened up. She works as the executive director at the Anderson Symphony Orchestra. She's done stuff with the Paramount. She
016She and her husband run Circa So Le, which is a lot of um fundraising for um They've done it for the ballet, for Mainstage, for the Animal Protection League. She's everywhere and um yeah, if you've If you've seen Darla, you know that. So, that's kind of exciting to have her there. When we surprised her at Finley's, um we got to surprise her with her family. So, that was fun. Let's see. Come on. Brooks Townsend, uh he he was our he's our our just most distinguished uh in the oldest class of eight Anderson High School 1958. Um so, I actually got to meet with him this past week. Uh Mr. Landis actually was the one who nominated him. Um and he if you've driven past the Soap Box Derby Downs, that's a lot of him. It's
017now named the Townsend Hill is named for him now. Uh he created several different pieces of Soap Box Derby Let's see if I can get this right. Soap Box Derby engineer design that is still used internationally for like the starting at the top of the hill. He also has worked on things that are still used on the US Olympic bobsled teams sleds, which is kind of a cool thing. Um but what he really was excited about is giving back to his community. He runs the the class of 1958 reunions and all that. And so, he's just very excited to be part of the ACS community. And that was kind of a fun thing. Jason Williamson, uh he was nominated by his sister who works at Anderson Intermediate. Uh you probably will see him in the
018paper soon if not um if you haven't already. Uh he is actually going into Suborbit next year, uh which is kind of a cool thing. But I wanted this paper article he sent me. He said his mom is more excited about him being nominated for Hall of Fame than him going to space. Um I told him it was probably because she gets to go to that ceremony and he won't float away. Um so, this is actually a newspaper article that one of his classmates wrote about him in high school when he went to space camp. And actually it will be in the newsletter for AEF that I'm sending out tonight. Um just so teachers remember like the things that you plant in seeds when they're young, you have no idea what's going to happen in
019decades. Like, he was just so blown away that it came as a full circle moment for him. So, who knows what astronauts will have um he's really excited about hopefully um pairing with us to do some school things even maybe when they're on the mission. So, I'm really really excited about that opportunity and see what we can do there. So, that's again the picture for the full group and you'll see this graphic all year long, I'm sure, but save the date October 24th, get your ticket. We're also looking for sponsorship, so if you know any businesses that would be willing, definitely hit us up. You can also get a table for eight of your friends, well, yourself and eight and seven more people uh for $250 and we'll get your name on the table and
020everything, but it'll be a packed house because we've got a great group. Uh another thing upcoming is the classroom rummage sale. This year we're doing something to kind of help out teachers. How many of you are teachers who have stuff that you're like, "I don't really care about this thing anymore and it can go to somebody else." Anybody? All right, yeah, they're all nodding, you can't see, but they're they're nodding. Um and then how many of you know new teachers who are looking for new things? Yeah. So, we're trying to solve that problem while also raising money for AEF. You can rent a booth for $20 uh Eastside Elementary School will have tables out. We're inviting the new teachers coming into the district as well and I'm going to let the retiring teachers know that
021they can definitely rent a booth too, but hopefully we'll have a good way of sharing some of those resources around while also making some money to pair back into you guys, so I like the win-wins. Dine to Donate again, nobody wants to cook these days because we're all exhausted. It's the end of the school year. May 28th, head over to Applebee's anytime during the day. You can use the doin' good code and um and some of the money goes back to us. We've been trying to work those a little bit more. And this is something I'm really excited um June 2nd, if you are an Anderson Community Schools alumni, you know an alumni, or if you're a Leadership Academy of Madison County alumni, we're going to be doing a joint breakfast to just talk about
022what our two groups are doing. Moving forward, we're working on a program with Leadership Academy to be able to help send an ACS staff member through the program at no cost to them as well as perhaps maybe a teenager that wants to do the program. We often times get requests from community members who want to do Leadership Academy and can't front the funds, so we're working on trying to make that happen. And finally, thank you to all of you, but also Cultured Exchange Club of Anderson donated 124 items to our classroom closet. Tissues, cleaning wipes, and dry erase markers. You guys know those fly off my shelves, so we were really happy to get those donations. So, I think that is all I have to say. Any questions from anybody? I flew through fast, so.
023All right, thank you guys so much. Thank you, Mrs. Alexander. Next up, I'll have Mr. Scheimer come up to the podium, talk a little bit about where he's at with the discipline matrix review process. Members of the board, Madam President, Dr. Crock, appreciate your time. Wanted to give you a quick update on some things that we've been doing to work on that handbook and some possible exploration of some changes that could come about. Um The information in front of you is some things that I wanted to cover briefly. Understanding the discipline matrix, consideration of changes. There are a lot of uh opinions of how matrixes should work and what goes through the process. There's a lot of positives, but our goal is to explore the possibility of creating a more consistent fair environment that could
024influence the way we look at the 7th and 8th graders that balances accountability with support. Current data data does show that the system we have in place is working, but we continue to desire to be as effective as possible. Positives about the matrix obviously predictability, the comfort the conversations we have with our kids and parents so they understand what's in front of them so they know exactly what to expect. Transparency parents and teachers both have a clear road map for consequences and making sure that they understand those consistencies and what will happen with those students. And data driven components basically helps identify patterns to see certain groups or behaviors need different interventions. It also allows us for some deep data dives and what I mean by that is looking into where we need some of
025the supports that are available to us through situations like TBRI making sure that we understand that maybe certain teachers need more supports, maybe a certain group of students need more supports. So that's one of the major issues we're looking at. There are some negatives that go along with the matrices. Rigidity data shows the corporation can't ignore the why which I believe we do not do. I think we do a great job with our TBRI and what goes on in that world and the trainings our teachers go through to make sure that we don't ignore that because we don't want to for those things to reoccur. If you look at our current data right now we are doing good things and I think part of that is because not only the training of our teachers through
026TBRI but also our students understand what's happening and they get it because they get that TBR training training as well in the classroom. Each area each level actually goes over that information. Over referencing or over excuse me over reliance on punishment. That's one of the things that a lot of people have problems with when you look at a matrix. I do not believe that that to be the case because I'll be honest with you. Again, you go back to that TBRI training. I think we do a great job of basically informing people, informing students, informing teachers of the tools that they have that are available to them. Um parents have the understanding because we inform them of what's going on. Um the next slide, noncompliance first defiance. The the reality is one of the things
027that has happened here recently is I met with a group of parents. They had a major concern with understanding of compliance first defiance. Um noncompliance, the won't, that's a little bit different than the challenge, okay? And what I've done here is define those two things. If you look into a multitude of references, a passive failure to follow direction, that's the definition of the won't. If you look at the challenge definition of defiance is an active often public rejection of authority. Our TBRI training is doing a great job of helping our teachers understand the variation between those two things. If if we're talking about noncompliance, we believe the training we're giving our teachers, we can help them work through that. So those those kids stay in class, our referral rates go down, it's a major positive
028all the way around. The challenge, obviously, active or often public rejection of authority, we have to train our students and teachers on students, teachers, and parents on that as well because the kids need to understand what's going on if those things happen. But the reality of the whole scenario is that the parents don't understand it, they can't support what we're trying to do. So we make sure those things are going on as well. Um major components of TBRI training is supporting our staff in each building with tools on how to de-escalate the situation that would involve these types of responses. That's directly from our TBRI trainings that our teachers go through, and we want to communicate those things um to our parents as often as possible. One last thing that I want to cover, um
029there There some discussion on our form 16 or PCEA. Um what we've done is we've reviewed that situation. We've looked at some of the school board associations um definitions of certain scenarios. What we have decided to do is once a student does graduate from our alternative program and they've had some major positive scenarios that they can benefit from. They've been taught some of those um tools that they need to be successful in the classroom, that PCEA now will go away. In the past, we've actually had that for the entire semester. We've decided to remove that once they've graduated that program and that's being implemented now. So that was a very brief, very quick description of the situation. Can I answer some questions? What does PCEA stand for? Uh that's a great question. That is a
030Provisional continued education Thank you. Provisional continued education agreement. Basically, what that is The the whole idea behind a PCEA is that the parent and the child and the individual that is going to write that agreement all agree upon the fact that they understand it is a waiver of due rights. And when they sign that sheet, they understand they can't do anything else that could get them suspended or expelled. So one of the reasons that there was concern about the process processing of the PCEA was students were graduating our program, they were still going back into the classroom and still under that umbrella. Well, a lot of the districts in the state are utilizing that and not keeping that umbrella over the student once they've graduated. So we've decided to go back to that as well.
031Mr. Scheimer, you're um still reviewing matrix changes to present in a in a future board meeting before we >> That is correct. Yeah. >> finalize the handbook. That is correct. We're we're looking at that 7-8 possibility of a matrix. Okay. looking at data. We've also spoken with other corporations that have that in place. There are some benefits to that. Um the key to that whole scenario is making sure that we teach the prospect of what can happen with that matrix. There are some um there's some data that shows often if you do implement that matrix, it can increase the amount of referrals that are seen. Um so what we would have to do if we do that is make sure that we're educating our teachers and our parents and students on how that process would
032work. I again at one point I talked briefly about the um possibility that we overemphasize the responses to those behaviors. Um we need to make sure that we're still putting in place the supports in the classroom through that TBRI training. Okay. Mr. Scheimer. >> Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Oh, you can call me either. >> I I thought so. >> Um first I'd like to thank you for um the time you're taking and being open and listening to not only our constituents, but to people in the community and our parents to really take a look at how we can improve our student discipline handbook. Discipline is important. Um fairness is important. And I just encourage you as you're look as you're moving forward to make sure that you are looking and incorporating maybe some community members
033who might have already reached out to you and having some one-on-ones with them. Um they've shown the interest and they've shown um that maybe they'd like to have a conversation. My second question is I I love the fact that you're using um data to help formulate some of some of the policies. What is your response to teachers in any given school who say I don't bother to send a referral because nothing will happen. Therefore, your referral rates are down, but can you comment to that? Is Is that affecting discipline or is Sure. How's that affecting? Uh what what I would tell you is if you look at the overall corporation's data, uh there may be a few of those individuals that are challenged and don't believe that we're doing certain things the appropriate manner. Um
034I hope that's not the case, but if those individuals do exist, um what what we can show them is that data and how it has decreased. Um we can talk about that matrix that being put in place, it being consistent, and therefore showing them the positives of how it's acted or how it has done uh beneficial things. One of the things that I always go back to, which I think's just a great piece of data, those individuals that get suspended that that first time, 60% of them don't have any other infractions that can get them suspended the rest of the year. In my opinion, that that in itself is a huge component to showing success in reducing those numbers that we have seen in the past. Over the last three three years, our data shows
035that we're making great strides. Can we get better? Absolutely. One of the reasons is, you know, making sure we talk to our constituents and make sure that they they buy into what we're doing. One of the reasons we're talking about this 7-through-8 matrix is because of the uh concerns that are out there, and we want to make sure we're we're getting everything in line to get the support from the community as well. Because if you get buying from everybody involved, you're going to have positive results. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Any other questions? Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Scheimer. I just have a couple more things. One, graduation for Anderson High School is June 6th, 11:00, one ceremony inside. Um moving on with Anderson High School, I believe we have a video that's
036coming up next. It's a Anderson High School band's uh preview for their summer show. Uh fresh off the press. So, um as soon as it starts up here, we'll learn a little bit about what the Anderson High School marching band's summer show is going to look like. Maybe. There we are. >> Just so you don't get your hopes up, Mr. Geisler said there are no tigers involved in that particular production. So, I was disappointed. Madam President, that completes my comments. Okay, thank you. Um next up is Board President's comments. Um I have worked with uh Brad Meadows to come up with a small presentation um in regards to stakeholder input for the superintendent search. And uh I'll begin by saying um during the process of extending Dr. Cronk's contract last fall through June 30th, 2027,
037the ACS Board of Trustees vowed to solicit input from community members, parents, excuse me, and staff during the process of hiring the next superintendent. To help guide the superintendent search process, the ACS Board of Trustees is working with the university search team. The university search team is composed of professors representing several Indiana universities. They specialize in working with school boards on hiring superintendents. Okay, stakeholder input. We have a survey. The university search team has developed a survey reviewed and approved by the board that will be distributed to key stakeholders. The purpose of this survey is to collect important insight, thoughts, and opinions for the ACS Board of Trustees to consider when interviewing candidates and ultimately selecting our next superintendent. This survey will be released this evening, Monday, May 11th, 2026, and be open through next
038Friday, May 22nd, 2026. Okay, town hall meetings. Following the survey, the ACS Board of Trustees will be holding a series of town hall meetings for key stakeholders. Parents and community members. We have tried to hit all uh sections of our school board um districts. Sorry. Um so, first one is for the South District, Thursday, July 16th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. I do want to note that this is for anyone who wants to attend. You do not have to just be in the South District. Uh that will be held at D26 Career Center. Monday, July 20th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. Uh will be at Anderson Elementary School. Monday, July 27th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. Uh that one will be at Highland Middle School. And for staff, uh again, staff, you can come to the community members,
039uh but we wanted to maybe get some uh specific questions from you. Um so, for staff, Monday, August 24th, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. held at Anderson High School. And Thursday, September 3rd, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at AIS, Anderson Intermediate School. Okay. These dates, if you did not get them all written down or put in your calendar in that short time frame. They will be on our website. They will be put out on all social media platforms. Uh I believe Mr. Meadows has copy of uh dates on his table. Um and then of course you can also call and ask uh for the for a copy of the dates. And in conclusion, Dr. There's been some questions come through because of the survey and things like that. Dr. Kronk is our superintendent through June 30th, 2027.
040We are starting this process early and using this time to be thorough and inclusive. It is so important to each of us that we get the community's feedback. Stakeholder input and transparency is critical to this process. We will continue to keep key stakeholders informed. The information shared this evening about opportunities to provide stakeholder input on the superintendent search, uh as stated before, will be communicated on the ACS website, social media, and also through Parent Square. Um and again, there are also handouts here this evening. Um we do have some flyers for the survey that will be released this evening. We have QR codes um that has the survey available in English and in Spanish. And then we also have another flyer uh for our town hall meetings that will remind you of the dates and
041I do believe uh the QR code is to possibly register um for which one you would plan to attend. Um but correct me if I'm wrong, that's not that's correct. Um but if you don't register, you can still attend, right? I mean, we would prefer to know what the crowd will look like. However, if it's a last-minute decision, please still come. We need your input, okay? Um So, with that, Brad, thank you for helping me come up with this presentation. I do want to close by saying Excuse me. Uh by saying This is so important. We need your input. We have tried to give as many opportunities as we could um in regards to our schedules and places. Um We need you to show up. So, please, please, please attend, okay? We cannot do this
042without you, nor do we want to. So, that's all I have to say in regards to president's comments. Did anybody else have anything to add? Madam President. >> Yes, ma'am. I would like to concur with what you said. We truly, truly need the community to help us. We need your input. We want your input. We are trying desperately to find all different avenues for you to participate, whether it's survey, whether community meetings. If you cannot attend one of the three community meetings and you have questions, please reach out to us. We We We truly are trying to make this superintendent search, which is very difficult, a community affair. While the decision lies with the seven of us up here, we want it to be inclusive of what the community wants. So, thank you, Mandy, for
043helping to lead that charge and making sure this is really open and transparent. You can take the survey and come to the meetings. Yeah. Yes, yes. We need we need both of those completed. And then I also, before I forget, wanted to add a a quick thing, too. It was important to not only myself, but my colleagues up here that if for some reason you're having issues taking the survey or you don't have a way to take the survey, please reach out to Mr. Meadows or to someone here at the administration building and we will help you do that here, do that survey here, or come up with some other alternatives that that that may that may work for you. So, we're we're really trying hard not to cut corners and to make sure everyone
044has the opportunity to fill out a survey and come to a community town hall. Okay? Now, it is time for public comments. And first on my list is Avriel Johnson. Oh, can Natasha, you're coming up, too? Okay. All right. Good evening, board members, community stakeholders, educators, and parents. Um my name is Avriel Johnson. I live in Anderson. Um I don't know how much information you want from me this time, so Whatever you're comfortable with. >> and um I'm here to say, first off, thank you. Um Mandy Webb and Mr. Scheimer have um met with us and we're very grateful for that and taken things under consideration. And so, um today we just want to kind of talk a little bit about that. Um some of the things that we discussed were definitely the PCEA's, um
045as mentioned before, and that discussion about the seventh and eighth grade matrix, which we strongly encourage that the seventh and eighth grade matrix will um be able to be implemented for that age group who um is going to be developmentally and socially uh fitting for that age group. Um, and I guess I'll let this other speaker Okay, so I'm Natasha Burks, also from Anderson. Um, and I'm also grateful for the meetings that we've had on the side um to try to come up to some um resolution to some of the things. And so we've been made a lot of um for the community's sake and board's sake, we've been made a lot of positive promises, and um we are looking forward to each of these things being implemented uh this upcoming school year. Um, sometimes
046it's very hard when you are found in a position and you have a lot of things that are important um but because of not knowing what to do or who to go to or even feeling if you're going to be heard, it gives you a sense of well, I'll just keep that. So we'd like to encourage all of the parents, um the stakeholders here, um to remember that when you have something, it's very important and very pertinent to speak on it so that we can begin to get resolved even if it begins to look familiar. The most important thing is that we're not going to give up. We we are not going to give up. We're going to continue to move forward. And so so far we've had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Mandy
047on the board, and we're hoping First off, thank you again, Ms. Mandy. I really appreciate you. We appreciate you. And we're hoping to um be able to meet with other board members as well. And so we will certainly reach out to talk to you all and get some input from you. Currently we can't update about the moving forward of the behavior matrix so I'm looking forward to Mr. Scheimer's update on that for the upcoming year. And we hope again that that final decision is pushing towards that seventh and eighth grade matrix being socially and developmentally for that age group. When we began to simply just reflect on the journey that we've been through to get to this space it is simply put a lot. We not only learned that there's power in our voice but
048we learned the importance of using our voice. Why we couldn't fix it before this point, how important is it that students how important are the students here at ACS and how far are you willing to go to show how important that they are. So we hope that the trail that we have begin to blaze will lead to many positive outcomes for the parents and the students ahead who who will not have to wait this long to get representation and results that are well deserved. I heard it it was mentioned earlier today about the referrals and some may feel that it's unfair on one end or unfair on the other. I'm hoping that as it was mentioned already by Mr. Scheimer that TBRI is being implemented in those referrals and that the teachers can show like
049how it was implemented. And to be able to work side by side with parents as well. So that was something very big in our meeting that we we addressed that um TBRI is the forefront of educating our students and thinking about um that referral process um and being more active in having those parent teacher conferences, having those meetings before we get to the PCEAs or pending expulsion or having to sign a document that waves your rights. And lastly, just being stated the fact that in addition to the TBRI, which would be a check and balance system, so it would be able to be checked by student behavior, it would be able to be checked by the the teacher, and then by another staff member to make sure that these steps and these processes have been
050implemented before moving forward. We discussed that the New Beginnings classroom would now become the space where the students would be able to, number one, get explained what has taken place um with them. Number two, gain understanding of why it has happened. Number three, be shown in the matrix the reason of the behavior and what led them to that point. So, not only are they being sent to a classroom just to sit to potentially wait and get into more trouble, but they're being sent to a classroom to understand who they are and not only who they are, but how to correct the mistakes that they've encountered, which led to the consequence of now further action needing to be followed. Thank you again for your time. Um I do want to say very quickly, it has been
051my pleasure getting to know you ladies. Um and Mr. Scheimer and I have worked hard in trying to really listen to your concerns and we um have have listened and we are working together with you to make some necessary changes and um it is so important to have conversations with parents because we're not perfect either. But I can guarantee that most of us, if not all of us, want what is best for your children. We might miss the mark sometimes and that's where it's up to you guys to bring us those concerns so we can really really look into them and maybe meet somewhere in the middle or even make the change altogether, which some of the time this this process we've done. So I appreciate both of you ladies and the group that we've
052met with and I look forward to next year. And then really quickly, one of you asked me about PTAs. Um yes. Both of I see you both nodding. Okay. Yes. Um so that is a school based thing and so next year if your students go on well when your students go on to the next building, call them at the beginning of the year and see if they are having a PTA and if they are ask how you can get involved and when that will be. Okay? All right. Thank you. Madam President, may I speak? No, hold on. Yes. Madam President, may I speak? Yes, quickly. Yes, ma'am. Mhm. Tammy Dixon Tatum Anderson, Indiana and first I do want to say thank you to all of you, Mr. Scheimer, Miss Mandy and everyone for having those
053conversations with the parents. Um it was much needed um and it seems like it's headed on the right path. I am hopeful that it stays on the right path. And the only thing else that I want to add, it was brought up about certain statistics, about 60% of the kids who I guess get in get suspended, they do not uh reoffend, if you will. Um but the question is, what happens to those kids? Are do they come back or are they out on the street? And if they're out on the street, what are they doing? So, you know, nu- numbers do tell stories, but make sure we really look at the story that's being told, cuz I'm hopeful that it's not that those a majority of those 60% are in mischief on the street. Um
054and then there are uh and and yes, uh ACS is uh seems to be doing well, but keep in mind when things are data-driven, like Mr. Schirmer had pointed out, there is a set of data that says that things are on the right track, but then there is also another set of data that says that a particular group of kids is being adversely harmed by the things that are put in place. And so, that's what these meetings have been about to address those things. So, I'm careful again that those things keep, you know, moving forward. Um and and that's basically what I wanted to put out, because data does tell the story, but you have to dig deep to see what story it is telling. And I'm hopeful that those things continue um to happen.
055All data sets are important. Thank you. >> you. At the last meeting, I asked for um the the data that you have, and we I've not gotten it. I don't know if any of the other board members, but if you could provide that for us. Um yeah. >> That Yeah, that data was sent and it it will be resent. I know that I never gotten it. Okay. Well, it we will definitely make sure that we find it um and that we resend it, but it was just basically information that talked about having uh the right child for the right reason, discipline per se, in the the way, that is age definitely age appropriate, which is why they're asking for that matrix to be 6th, 7th, and 8th grade because it would be the changes would
056align with them uh I just want to see what you Yes, we will make sure that you that you get that information and I can apologize if it didn't pop up on your email, but we'll make sure you'll get it. Thank you. >> you. Ms. Tatum, are you a part of these ongoing conversations with these ladies and Mr. Scheimer? Yes, ma'am. I have been a part of of all the conversations, yes. Okay, great. Thank you. All right, thank you. Okay, next up Cassie Longcore. Hello. I'm Cassie Longcore, again, from Anderson. Um to start. Uh good evening, members of the board and everybody out here. It's a full house today. Um I am here tonight because the gaps in services I described to you in February have now evolved into something more serious. A breakdown in
057accountability, communication, and follow-through. Since I last spoke, the situation for my son and other students has not improved. In many ways, it has worsened. Not just because of the challenges themselves, but because of the district's lack of response to them. To briefly summarize, I spoke to you February 9th. I followed up March 10th after receiving no communication. I requested collaboration, or at a minimum, a meeting. Neither occurred in a timely manner. In April, I was told a meeting would be scheduled, but scheduling has continued to be delayed. As of today, we We still waiting. This year I have participated in five IEP meetings, five principal office meetings, over 77 emails, and more than 20 phone calls, all in an effort to resolve these concerns collaboratively. This pattern reflects more than miscommunication. It reflects a lack
058of engagement. At the same time, the district has acknowledged through its own audit that IEP compliance is a weakness. Mr. Bonnell spoke about the need for an in-house person in each building to handle all things special education, provide direct support to staff and students, and serve as the face of special education. This is a meaningful idea, but it only works if the right person is selected for the role, and if there is clear accountability to ensure that supports and expectations are actually being carried out at the building level. What concerns me most is that we are not just reading about the weakness. We are experiencing it in real time. My son's school was found non-compliant in December for failing to follow his behavior plan. Yet months later, those same issues persist. We continue to receive
059documentation that does not reflect our actual conversations, and we continue to see a failure to consistency consistently follow legally binding IEP plans. This is not simply frustrating. It has real consequences. My son is now on his third suspension for behaviors that stem directly from the gaps in services and lack of consistent implementation that I have been raising for months. Each delay in addressing these issues increases the risk to students and places them in situations that could have been prevented with proper supports. As parents, we are left sending our children to school each day hoping that they will simply make it through rather than trusting that the system will consistently support them. Inclusion is often described as a system and I agree, but a system cannot function without accountability, transparency, and communication. Families are a part
060of that system and when the communication breaks down, so does the system itself. What we are asking for is not unreasonable. We are asking for timely communication. We are asking for follow through on commitments. We are asking for fidelity to legally binding IEPs and we are asking for collaboration so that issues can be resolved before they escalate. At this point, I am asking the board to help ensure that this moves forward. Specifically, I am asking for your support in ensuring that the meeting that has been discussed is scheduled promptly and that it includes the appropriate team members to address these concerns in a meaningful way. This is not about having more emails or more delays. It is about creating space for real problem-solving. The district has already identified IEP compliance as an area that needs
061improvement. This is an opportunity to address those directly using real current situations to drive meaningful change. Every day that passes without resolution is a day where a child's educational experiences is impacted. We all share the same goal to support students effectively and consistently. I believe that this is achievable, but it requires action. Last time I spoke, I closed with this quote. A child's behavior is not a problem to be fixed. It is a message to be heard. When we focus on removing the child instead of resolving the struggle, we aren't educating, we are simply looking away. Please stop looking away. Thank you. Okay. Cassie, um well, first board, I I want to meet for 5 minutes in regards to this after the the public session, please. And second, I thought that you had a meeting
062on Thursday morning. And I and I I don't want details here just because of Yeah, no, that was just an IEP meeting. Okay. >> That's not what I'm asking for. Okay. No, I understand. I just wanted to make sure Mhm, I keep hitting the mic, sorry. I just wanted to make sure that I understood before I meet with the board. Mhm. Okay, thank you. Mhm. Okay. Uh Uh okay, let's see. Last to sign up, Mary Baker Budisa? I want to make sure everybody can hear me well. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, um Madam President, just a couple of things that I thought of while um listening to the presentations today. First, I am really glad to hear that the review of the matrix is moving forward. Um just maybe some additional
063data points to Tammy's point, um that may be helpful to review is looking at the demographic breakdown of students who receive different levels of discipline. Um just to look to make sure that we're not seeing bias and that the TVRI really is being implemented with fidelity. Um because sometimes training gives you the information, but actually in practice it may um show up differently. And I think the second thing is maybe to look at what other interventions, Mr. Scheimer, um have been effective that are either outside of the matrix or with some of the less punitive or earlier interventions on the matrix to see if those are in fact having a similar result like preventing students from getting suspended at all or seeing an elimination or a significant reduction in certain behaviors and that maybe there's
064a particular ongoing intervention short of suspension that will help to lessen the behavior and um support the student. Um so the other thing that I wanted to suggest with regard to the survey and the town halls, I know that survey response rates are very low. That's just across the board when you do a survey. Um sometimes it's the length, sometimes it's just people's capacity to engage with those. And one thing that I was going to suggest for the town halls because that's probably where you'll get a lot more engagement. Um is to have a virtual town hall at least one of those times. Um and that with the virtual component, it also allows more safety for those members of our community who have concerns um about being in larger spaces with um a lot of
065people. Um and providing Spanish interpretation, Spanish language interpretation during that virtual meeting. Um the other thing is for Mr. Meadows. I think since the board um has constituents and you could do like short video appeals that you put on your social media that are running on the ACS um Facebook page and social media to invite the public because I think it puts a face with what you're asking people to do and so that appeal um may resonate with more people doing that. Okay. So um I'm here to request that the board review and update um the rules for public comment during the ACS regular board meeting. Um First, this is the only time outside of special public meetings that community members, including parents and families, can address the full board because, you know, we've understood
066that when you meet with the board, you have to meet with at least maybe a couple of members, otherwise you're getting close to having a quorum, and that means that you're not going to get the benefit of talking with the full board, and this is the space where we do that. Second, public comment has the best impact when it's relevant to what we're discussing, that it's timely and speaks directly to the issues at hand. And that can mean that it's something that you're voting on in a later part of the meeting where it might be helpful for people to ask questions to better understand what's at hand and what's on the table. So, it would be nice for people to be able to make an exception or be able to allow to invite questions from
067the floor, from the public, as you are deliberating before the discussion period or during the discussion discussion period. Um Third, often concern concerns that have been escalated at the building level require a larger forum to raise not only community awareness, but to invite the public to partner with you and with teachers and with administrators for possible solutions. If other people don't know what's going on and they have a similar story, then they can't give you that input. Not everybody's able to attend, and as you know, the 5:45 deadline to to sign up isn't going to work for everybody, especially those who are coming from work, and especially if they're commuting, so it may be difficult for folks to get here in time to ask for their voice to be heard. And currently, the order of
068agenda, again, um raises some issues that you'll be voting on where people aren't allowed to make comments um after those have been brought up for a vote. And sometimes it really is germane that people be able to speak on that. I think a good example is last month's board meeting where you had an urgent need to go ahead and vote on the handbook, which, you know, I completely understood. I think that the matrix being included in that vote was, I think, a shock to some of the public and some of those who of us who were in attendance, especially because you'd heard um for the last 2 or 3 months from parents who raised those concerns from other community members who said that developmentally that there were big concerns about it, and I think people
069at least had brought up bias, they had brought up some other um other things. Because once we get to suspension, then that's a part of your record. And um we want students to have the best opportunity to succeed after they matriculate, and so I think just the consideration of what the impact is. And there are disproportionate impacts of being suspended on certain groups. So, I think that bears consideration, and when something like that happens, you know, in in this example, four bed um board members didn't have a problem with a person being allowed to come up and respond or ask a question or raise a concern, and two people did. So, when um it was fortunate in that instance that someone was allowed to, but that doesn't always happen, and I think it's important that
070as a board, you give consideration to um how that can be adjusted or how people can be invited um in a way to participate in the meetings. So, I'll just close by saying that I think that the current board president, um, Madam Webb, has spoken about a willingness to review the current policy and think about maybe some ways to adjust, amend, um, what have you to make sure that you get the maximum inclusion and opportunity for people to share. And I think that as we go into the summer and school is out, um, maybe the board would have an opportunity to have at least one, um, meeting or be able to have homework and take that policy home and begin to look at it and think about what it could look like, um, for the
071next meetings after, um, the summer time because I think it's really important to invite greater transparency and collaboration from the community, um, from what I hear from everyone here, um, including the teachers, administrators who are represented, we want to work together, but we have to have conversation and sometimes that doesn't happen, um, except in very, you know, small, um, specific instances. And so, I think it would just be great if you would, um, consider that. So, that's all. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, let's see here. All right, up next Mr. Harrison for Anderson Federation of Teachers. Good evening, esteemed members of the board and executive cabinet. Thank you for the opportunity. I'll be very brief. Uh, Maria, I appreciate the kind words and the accolades about being nominated for the top 20 dinner. It's always
072an honor to be in that conversation. Congratulations, Madam President. I don't believe a board member's ever been nominated. Um we do have some awesome seniors and I went through and did my best. Please Please excuse my typos. I was working on it back there. Uh I I all the students that I had had in class first and second semester, I left a little note. So, thank you. And with all due respect is that's all that AFT has at this time. We appreciate the moment on the agenda. Thank you all. Goodnight. Thank you. All right. Next, uh we're ready for board actions. Um looks like we have some consent items from Mr. Elmore. Yes, thank you, Madam President. And so, tonight I have three items on my agenda uh that I will ask for your approval.
073And so, with the first item, I'd like to go ahead and direct your attention to the uh financial report located in your board packet for the approval of claims numbered 106275 to 106605, which are the claims for the uh school corporation. And then claims number 3335 to 3379, which are the food service claims. And so, with that said, uh these have been properly reviewed and approved by the appropriate management channels and I ask for your approval through resolution R-2026-15. Okay, thank you. Um so, for approval for um the financial report. Move to approve. Second. Okay, questions? Okay, by roll call. Um Mr. Mr. Aye. Dr. Hill. Aye. I myself. Uh Ms. Rens. Aye. Ms. Collette. Aye. Mr. Burkhardt. >> Aye. Ms. Green. >> Aye. Okay, eyes have it. Thank you. Now, for the next item
074on my agenda is the uh approval of the D26 uh truck uh disposal and um surplus. And so, with that, I would like to ask um for the board to approve a 2002 Ford truck that is currently assigned to the D26 Career Center as surplus and authorize its disposal. The vehicle is no longer usable within the Career and Technical Ed program due to the age and condition of the vehicle and holds only nominal scrap value. Upon approval, D26 will dispose of the vehicle and the proceeds will go to help further support the automotive programs. So, with that, I ask for approval. Okay, thank you. Um I call for a motion for approval for the D26 vehicle surplus. So moved. Second? Second. All right, questions? Okay. Uh we will go by roll call. Um all those
075in favor, Ms. Green. Aye. Mr. Burkhardt. >> Aye. Ms. Collette. Aye. Ms. Rens. Aye. I myself, Dr. Hill. Aye. And Mr. Chamberlain. Aye. Okay. All right. Thank you. And the last item on my agenda, uh I like to request the board's approval of a resolution authorizing the transfer of limited property rights and temporary easements to the Indiana Department of Transportation. And so, the Indiana Department of Transportation has initiated land acquisition activities related to the State Road 9 road improvement project in the city of Anderson. And the primary purpose of this project is to add and replace sidewalks adjacent to Anderson Intermediate School and Eastside Elementary School to improve the pedestrian safety and accessibility of of that area. And so, with this agreement that you would approve, the state has offered um to us $5,700 um
076based on an approval that was done by the state. And so, with that, I ask for the board's approval. Okay. Uh call for a motion for authorizing property transfer um with INDOT. Motion to approve. Second. Second. Okay, by roll call. Mr. Chamberlain? I. Dr. Hill? I. I myself, Ms. Renz? I. Ms. Coate? I. Mr. Bookhart? >> I. Ms. Green? I. Okay. Eyes have it. Thank you. All right. Uh Dr. Deeds for the HR report, please. Thank you, Madam President. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the board, teachers, administrators, and members of the public attending tonight's meeting. In tonight's human resources report, we have resolution 2026-17, which is the recommendation of the monthly consent agenda addressing personnel recruitments, leaves of absence, retirements, and resignation agreements. Additionally, this includes uh recommendations for two administrative positions. First, Ms.
077Britney Plain for the Anderson Elementary School Assistant Principal position. Ms. Plain currently serves as the Dean at Anderson Elementary School, and I might add, she had a family emergency this evening and is unable to attend tonight's meeting. We also recommend Mr. Brian Hair for the Valley Grove Elementary School Principal position. Both interview committees composed of teachers and administrators were highly impressed with each candidate's teaching and administrative experiences, as well as their educational philosophies. Thank you for your consideration. Okay, thank you. All right, board. I call for a motion to approve the human resources report. Motion to approve. Second. Okay. All right. Um by roll call Miss Green I Mr. Burkhart >> I Miss Collette I Miss Renz I I myself, Dr. Hill I and Mr. Chamberlain I Okay, thank you. Um I am going to
078go ahead and con- That's That's what I was going to do. Oh, I apologize. >> he does that to me all the time. Go for it. >> ahead, Dr. Dees. No, Ms. Webb, go for it, please. >> I was just going to say congratulations to uh Ms. Plain who will be the assis- or yes, the assistant principal at AES. And then I hear that Mr. Hare is here. Well, that will be the new principal for Valley Grove. If you would like to come up and say A FEW WORDS. ALL RIGHT, I WAS TOLD ONLY HAVE LIKE 30 minutes to speak, so I'll make this quick. I greatly appreciate this time tonight and this opportunity to be part of the school system and I look forward to the fall. I know summer's right around the corner,
079but I can't wait to get started with you guys. So, appreciate all your time here tonight. Thank you. Congratulations. And it's good to see that you have so much building support already. I see a most of the Valley Grove faces in in the audience. So, um good luck to you, sir. Um as always if you need anything, please reach out. >> Your The Valley Grove staff's been asking. That's your principal now. Now I can say it. Now I can tell you. Okay. Okay, um Mrs. Burkhart, if you would like to give the field trips and conference leaves report, please. >> Sure. Thank you, Madam President. Members of the board, in your pocket you will find field trips and conference leave requests. All have been properly reviewed, approved, and their funding sources identified. I request your
080approval of the items in the accompanying resolution R-2026-18. Thank you. Okay, board. I call for a motion for approval for um field trips and conference leaves. Move to approve. Second. Second. Okay. Uh by roll call, Mr. Chamberlain. Aye. Dr. Hill. Aye. I myself, Ms. Renz. >> Aye. Ms. Collett. Aye. Mr. Burkhardt. Aye. Ms. Green. Aye. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Next on the agenda, um I believe we are going to turn it over to our uh counsel, Mr. Rubright. Good evening, Madam President, board members, members of the public. Uh I'm here to address uh two items. Uh both related. Uh both um Uh relate to uh the topic of the operating referendum. In uh 2018, the uh the public of this community approved an operating referendum, which increased the tax rate by 10.77 uh cents uh
081for a period of eight years. That operating referendum um uh expires by its own terms and by the statute uh in 2026, the last year of uh a referendum. Um a referendum can only go a maximum eight years. Uh the two items I would I like to address is that this is a information item. Uh the first part uh, to notify the public and we will have uh, additional notice go to various aspects of the public along with a copy of the resolution that on June 8th, 2026 the board as an agenda item will consider a resolution to start the process uh, to place the question of whether the referendum should be continued past the 2026, uh, year for another 8 years at the same rate and uh, that that question be posed to the
082taxpayers and the taxpayers would address whether that should be extended. This is a process um, mandated by statute. Uh, it's also a process in which I understand that uh, a significant number of schools are engaging this year. So, as a first item, uh, it's just a notification of that on your agenda for the June 8th, board meeting, there will be a resolution for you to consider to commence the process which will place that question on the ballot of the November 3rd, 2026 election. It is not approval of a referendum extension, it's merely to place that question on the ballot uh, for the public of this community to address. Part of the 2025 changes to the statute there has to be some additional information put on what is called the public question. The public question is
083a question that is voted on by the voters. Uh part of that question uh requires that certain data be included in that public question. And therefore what a second part of uh point of my presentation this evening is a resolution is which is in front of you resolution 2026-19. This was a document prepared by a specialized bond counsel. And uh I'm going to summarize the substance of it. This resolution uh authorizes authorizes and directs the superintendent of schools and uh the chief financial officer or his his assistants to communicate to the Madison County auditor that it seeks to uh have that auditor auditor make the appropriate calculations for to be placed on the public question which will be in the resolution approved by the board. Um of the following two uh uh basis of information.
084One is that the tax rate to be included in that question is 10.77 cents. The same tax rate uh that is has existed in this referendum for the last years at our current levy. Um the once the county auditor is notified uh the county auditor makes certain calculations as to the average uh tax upon an average household designated uh under the statute. And the auditor must communicate that to the Department of Local Government Finance. Yes, there's a lot of uh evolving taxes. There's a lot of uh procedure that we must go through. So, uh this resolution uh summarizing um it the key portion of this the resolution is on the screen above. Copies are available from Mr. Meadows right there. The key paragraph is the next the last paragraph. Be it resolved that the board
085authorizes and I'm going to a paraphrase the superintendent or CFO uh or any designee uh that I form the auditor of the tax rate of 10 7 cents which was the rate utilized in the past referendum at the levy of 2.903 million uh dollars uh uh and 70 uh excuse me, 2,903 for them to make the calculations uh required by statute uh to be placed on the question. Once that is done uh then the document can be completed with the question uh which will be before the board that question will be submitted to the public um uh on our website and to the media uh and any other appropriate contacts at least uh 5 days uh before the June 8th um uh and uh 2026 meeting. So, um the prior being information this being an
086action you have a copy of this resolution and yes, as a uh a typical resolution written by a bond lawyer it sounds like it's written by a lawyer. Um that I ask you uh to uh consider and approve this resolution which I'm recommending so the process can be started uh and we can have the right and correct information so the board can take uh consider uh whether the process should be go forward and this whole issue of extension be placed of on the November 3rd 20 uh 26 election ballot in uh Anderson, Indiana. So, I so recommend approval of resolution 20 26-19. Any questions of the board? Um I have a question. You said that um the current operational referendum will end at 2026. Yes. >> So, are we talking about a tax increase or
087um um will the the tax remain the same for our taxpayers? >> No, um if a referendum is not approved by the tax payers to continue, the current 1077 would disappear from the tax rolls. Um if this is placed on the ballot, and the tax payers approve, it would not increase taxes. It would continue taxes at the same rate. Now, various people may view this differently, but as you know, the state has gone through a property tax reduction this last year with Senate Enrolled Act 1. Um property taxes will be recalculated in a different way, but the rate of 1077 will be the same as it has been for the last 8 years. If this is placed on the ballot and approved, And And this is different. Um the operating referendum is different than the
088capital uh referendum. That That big $41 million, correct? >> Yes. That we asked for. >> And In 2018, there was two referendums. Actually, there were two votes. One was the capital referendum, which went to fund a bond issue to refurbish um facilities throughout the school corporation. And the second one was for an operating referendum, which brought in approximately uh two plus million dollars each year for 8 years. Uh this only seeks a continuation of the operating referendum. It does not address the prior capital projects referendum. And as I've read, that the reason why we need to do that is because of our state legislators who passed Senate Bill 1 that's going to trim the amount of money that we would typically obtain from tax dollars. Yes. Um absent the referendum Senate Enrolled Act 1 which
089was passed in 2025 will mean that as of uh 2028 um a school which has a charter school must uh transfer money uh away from its operating fund to the charter school. Anderson School Corporation uh it will be implemented uh over a 4-year period will lose $1.8 million. So, in a sense, by doing the referendum this is really uh just replenishing our expenditures which uh will be transferred from us to charter schools. Thank Thank you. Thank you for that explanation. >> Other questions? If not, I would um um recommend that the board adopt Resolution 2026-19 which uh the only uh uh effect of this is that it directs the superintendent and the CFO uh to send certain information to the Madison County auditor so we can do calculations and send those calculations to the Department
090of Local Government Finance. I so recommend and look forward a motion from the board. Madam President, I recommend um resolution number 2026-19. Okay. Second. Second. Okay, good. All right, questions. Any others? No? Okay, by roll call. Mr. Chamberlain? Aye. Dr. Hill? Aye. I myself, Ms. Rinne? Aye. Ms. Coe? Aye. Mr. Burkhardt? >> Aye. Ms. Green? Aye. Okay, the ayes have it unanimously. All right. Um okay, Mr. Meadows, you are up >> there. Good evening. Thank you, board, members of the public, administration. I have an exciting opportunity to share with you this evening. Feels kind of anticlimactic coming at the end of a long meeting, but I hope you guys can bear with me just for a few moments. Um but it's a really exciting opportunity that um should just take a few moments here. So,
091Thrive Credit Union uh was founded in 1940 as Delco Battery EFCU. Um after a few other name changes, um in 2014 they became Thrive Credit Union. I'm providing that background because, like me, you probably haven't heard of Thrive, and that's because um they've been located in Delaware County for the last 86 years. Uh they've been a key part of the Delaware community um during that time period. Despite that um not having a physical location here in Anderson, they have a lot of customers that already live and work in Madison County. So, they decided to expand to Anderson. That's where they'll be located. Um if you've been out by Meijer recently, you've probably noticed there on the 67th Street side, their uh building is well under construction. Uh they'll be opening up in the fall. And
092there is a beautiful rendering of their building, uh which I know they're very excited about. So, why I'm sharing this with you is uh a few weeks ago I had an opportunity to meet with their uh CEO, um as well as their COO, Brittany Richards, and Brittany's here tonight as well if there are any questions. Um but they told me about their school spirit card program. So, um in Delaware County, they're already partnering with four school districts. Um as you can see there on the right-hand side. And this is a way that they've uh been able to support those local school districts in Delaware County, and they do that through a couple of different ways. One, um the school school spirit card program will allow money to go back to the district, which I'll explain
093how that works. Um as well, it just helps to generate community support. So, you get to see some of their billboards here in a little bit that I'm excited about uh being able to feature some of our students. Those are what the school spirit cards look like um in Delaware County. So, you can see where all the school districts have their own cards, and card holders can choose to uh have one of the school spirit cards, and it's just a regular debit card, and um a portion of every transaction goes back to the school district. Um inside the numbers. So, this program started in March of 2025 in Muncie and Yorktown. In Muncie, they have 156 cards, over 41,000 signatures, and that's generated into over $3,300 back to the school district. Uh for Yorktown, uh
094they have a few more card holders, a little less on the signature side, but again, they're right around $3,000 that they've been able to generate that has gone through um Thrive Financial back to the school districts. Uh those are some examples of how they've uh marketed the school spirit card program in Delaware County. And so, you can see they've selected primarily high school-aged athletes um and use kind of a sports theme. What I'm really excited about this is we have the ability to work with Thrive to identify which students we want to highlight. Could be high school, could be elementary. I know we've got a lot of Valley Grove folks here tonight. So, we have an opportunity to really identify which students we'd like to be featured. And it's really neat what they do for
095the students, too. I mean, they do life-size cardboard cutouts. Like, they really get to be a part of of selling and sharing the opportunity to support local schools in Delaware County. Uh details, um there's no cost to Anderson Community Schools. This is really a program set up by Thrive to support local schools. So, they take care of all the upfront cost to develop the cards, to print them. Um for every transaction, we get 8 cents back uh that goes back to the school district. Uh what's exciting is as I shared um well, we'll get to figure out what design we want for the card. I'm thinking something red and green, but I'm an Anderson High grad, what can I say? Um also, um the students featured in the campaign like what I had talked about.
096And then, this is something I had shared with the board previously, and it's something we can talk about is how that money will be used. So, each of those four school districts have the ability to determine how they want that money to be used. Some use it through their local education foundation like Yorktown, others it goes directly to the schools. Uh so, it's really an exciting opportunity. Thrive has also pledged to donate at least $2,000 the first year as well. Before I jump into any questions and I I certainly would welcome those, um we do have existing partnerships with some of our local financial institutions and so I was very cognizant of the fact that we didn't want to, you know, disrupt any of those partnerships and so this uh partnership and this program is
097really exclusive to Thrive Credit Union. So all of our local banks don't have a program like this. So that's why I'm really excited about it. So at this time I would uh entertain any questions from the board. Did the board have any questions? Thank you, Thrive. Okay, yeah. It sounds like a a really positive uh thing to look into and I would be excited to see the cards um when when that comes about. Um So is I I believe a motion might be in order for this. >> So uh I just wanted to make sure the board would like >> somebody back here? So uh assuming the board authorizes us to move forward with signing the agreement, um they can probably go to the uh it'll take a couple months for them to be available
098um and then they can go to the branch and sign up for one. I believe Brittany, correct me if I'm wrong, existing customers could choose to switch to a Spirit card if they already have a debit card and new customers. Okay. All right. Um I will call for a motion for the approval of the Thrive Credit Union School Spirit Card opportunity. Motion to approve. Second. Second. Okay. Questions? No? Okay. By roll call, Ms. Green? I. Mr. Burkhart? >> I. Ms. Collette? I. Ms. Renz? I. I for myself. I. Dr. Hill, sorry. Sorry. I'm tired. Uh, Mr. Chamberlain? I. All right. Eyes have it. Okay. Any other business? No? Okay. Meeting adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Huh? Oh, okay. Well, you