ACS Board of Trustees Meeting - April 13, 2026

001Good evening, everybody. Thank you for coming tonight to the April 13th School Board Trustees meeting. If you would, please join me in for a moment of reflection. Thank you. Please join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Rains, would you read the comments for comments for public comments? Meetings of the Anderson Community Schools Board of Trustees are open to the public in accordance with the Indiana's Open Door Law. Prior to the board meeting, members of the public can sign up to provide public comment. During the public comment portion of the meeting, the president will call individuals signing up to the podium one at a time to speak. Speakers will be asked to state their name and address for the record prior to sharing their comments. Generally, each speaker shall not exceed 5 minutes to address

002the board and cannot give their minutes to anyone else. Public comments should be directed at the board and not individual board members. Shouting, loud statements, 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 ACSC has grievance and or complaint procedures, which have been designated which have been designed and established to address those types of issues. Those processes provide a more thorough opportunity with greater time allocation in which board members are involved as a step in those processes. Comments concerning an individual employee's employment will be deferred to those 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 to ensure the information

003provided is both accurate and complete. In those instances, the board or a member of the administration they designate will follow up with the individual sharing comment to ensure their questions or concern is properly addressed. Thank you. With that, we'll officially call this meeting to order. Thank you, Dr. Hill. Board, you've received in your mailings and in your packet uh the agenda for tonight's meeting. I ask that you approve that without modification. Motion would be in order. Move to Move to approve. Motion's made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. >> Aye. All those opposed by nay? The ayes have it unanimously. Thank you. Uh thank you, board. Also in your packet and in your mailings, you've received the minutes from last month's board meeting. I ask that you approve those as well. Motion would be

004in order. I make a motion to approve. Motion's have been made. Second. Seconded. All those in favor? Aye. >> Aye. All those opposed? The ayes have it unanimously. Thank you. Thank you, board. For my comments tonight, I only have uh several things for me and then a couple reports. Um if you'd like to look at the back of the board room, we have E2's first grade classes that provided artwork for tonight. Um so, that's always special when we see that. Um you know, kind of some uh uh wildlife uh themes. Maybe they went to the zoo. I see some giraffes that I recognize from back here. Um Welcome back from spring break, everybody. Hopefully, you all had a good trip and uh the weather was acceptable if you were out of town. And if you

005were here, I think it snowed one day. So. Um that's but that's Indiana. Um First up, I'm going to call Ms. Alexander to come up to the uh lectern here and uh give a report on the Anderson Education Foundation. And I won't even try to say what you're going to talk about cuz I don't know. It's going to be a surprise to us all. >> Surprise, I'm good at that. Um first off, I just really wanted to point out we've got to deliver grants this last month. Um so, that was really fun. This is one of the grant recipients, Will Foster. He works at the high school. Uh he actually designed You can get a peek a sneak peek at the yearbook cover this year. He designed it. You can't see it really well in

006the picture, but there's all these little graphics and images and he's doing some really cool things with the yearbook. So, um if you got a student in the high school, uh definitely order one. Uh go ahead. Um this is the total that we ended up a little bit under 15,000 for our Impact Grants. Impact Grants are up to $3,000 grants that um teachers can apply for. That is going to impact bigger than just their classroom, but like a whole grade or whole department. Uh the picture there is from Highland Middle School. They um got art money for art stands. So, they can whenever they have art shows, they can clip their things on instead of trying to to find a table to put them on, which is a little bit trickier. We also have one

007uh from Southview Preschool, which is for a sensory wall system. They're doing a really cool thing there where each day they're having like write it, bounce it. So, they have different themes for the different days. So, I think that'll be kind of a fun thing to to watch them develop. Lacy Helphers is doing a non-traditional art career exploration at the high school. And Rebecca Three um is at Compass and is doing a life skills training. Uh it was exciting cuz we haven't gotten a grant uh application from Compass in a while. So, this was a really cool thing to get to grant them. Uh the middle school also is doing one with Raspberry Pi devices, which is for um uh coding. Uh you can go ahead. Yep. Next up, this is Classroom Closet. Um anybody

008who's in the school system knows that you can get classroom supplies and hygiene supplies at our Classroom Closet. Um it's in the back of the admin building. We moved this past summer um to make it a lot more convenient for the for the teachers. Um but it also means that with the move and the online ordering, we've gotten a whole lot more orders this year than last. We're up to 233 orders, which is pretty incredible. In person, cuz they can still come to the office anytime to look through our our supply, we had about 82 orders this year, but but online we've had 151. Um so again, if anybody is in any organizations, um I had a birthday party last month and so I told everybody to bring markers and colored pencils and composition notebooks.

009Um so, thank you to my friends who supplied that. But also uh Cultured Exchange Club is doing a drive. I know Community Hospital does one over the summer, so does Hera's. So, any any supplies coming in, we will take them because they're out the door just as fast as they come in. Uh congratulations to the top 20 high school graduates. Um This is a cool thing that we get to do every year where we tell the top 20 graduates just how awesome they are. And also, they get to invite an educator that's been influential to them from any of the school district um to come in and kind of give back to them. So, uh you can see there's two pictures from last year's. Up at the top, there's the group photo from last year.

010They get a yard sign. Looks very similar to that, if not identical. Um this year, we did an orientation meeting for the kids so they kind of knew what to expect. So, down at the four of the students kind of getting excited about about their celebration. So, that is the list and um yeah, they get these fun plaques as well. So. Dine and Donate. Um this is a new thing we're doing again since we've been getting hit with a lot of orders, we're trying to raise more money. This is a big part of my job. Uh we had several people show up and support this Panera night dine to donate. We got $160 from that, which covers about four to five classroom closet orders, if you're curious. Um April 21st, we have Chick-fil-A. May 28th

011is Applebee's. And August 21st is Panda Express. So, if you don't feel like cooking, please help us out cuz it really does go go to help. Um and and it was kind of a nice excuse to not I can't I can't make dinner cuz I have to support the schools. >> [laughter] >> So, and we'll be put posting that stuff on online as well, but they have special online quote code orders. Sometimes you have to show them the flyer, but um they were Panera was awesome. They even We were at our meeting there and um they actually asked everybody who came in, "Hey, are you here for for the dine to donate?" which was kind of nice. So, some people If you're ever in there for anything, ask them what they're they're supporting cuz you

012might actually help out without knowing it. Go ahead. Trivia night's coming up April 27th. Um our winning team is on the left featured. You do get trophies as well as um a fun prize package for the top two teams. But again, it's just a nice way to support what we're doing with AEF and have a great time with our community. A lot of the schools um send teams in, um but also the admins had a team before. Um my besties get a table. It's just fun. And you can get your $20 ticket down at the bottom there if you like. Classroom rummage sale. This is something new we're doing this year. One of our board members who's also a teacher suggested that it might be a cool way to not only raise money, but to

013help teachers in the district kind of spread around um How many teachers like getting rid of their stuff at the end of the year that they don't know what they want to do with? Anybody? Anybody excited about that? No. So, what we're going to do is we're going to do a rummage sale at E2 um May 30th. So, it's the day after the last day with the kids and you can pay $20 for a booth and then bring whatever you would like to offload to other teachers, new teachers coming in, or teachers who are changing to different grade levels to kind of look at what's available. So, hopefully we can share the wealth, um help people declutter things they don't need, but also raise some money for us. So, we're excited about that kind of

014It's I like doing things that have double duty and that was a good one. So. Um singing telegrams. Uh teacher appreciation week's coming up guys, if you don't know. Uh it's the first week of May and last year we did singing telegrams to appreciate teachers. Um I went out with one of our show choir's seniors who graduated and her mom. Um and we will be doing it for preschool up through Anderson Intermediate. Um the preschool teacher um principal Marissa actually ordered a singing telegrams for all of her um teachers last year. It was really really fun. This year we are upping our game because I got some show choir students who are going to go around with me. I am not an amazing singer at all. I just don't mind being ridiculous. So, they're excited

015to kind of come bring their talent to kind of really make it nice for you guys. So. Hall of Fame is our biggest fundraiser coming up October 23rd, which I did not put on the slide and I should have. Um but the announcements will be coming in the next few weeks as well as sponsorship information. So, keep an eye out for that. Um I still plan on doing some fun surprises like we did last year because it was fun. So. It is volunteer appreciation month. So, if you are in any organizations, say thank you. Um I'm really really lucky to have a very good board. Um I put my quote up. My job is my second favorite, my people are my first. Uh I'm really lucky to work with a great board who does a

016lot of hard work for little thanks and no money. Um so, I just wanted to say thank you to guys cuz Brad is one of He's our board president and um we have several other teachers and other people who are in the ACS as well as people in the community and I really appreciate that. And then just the last um by supporting AEF, you're supporting ACS. We have done a lot of things this year. Um you can kind of see a few of the pictures from some of the grants that got um given out this year. There was a drumming grant over at Erskine. Um Brad and I actually got to go and sit in. They let us drum on the big bongos, which was really cool. Um up on the top right, um there's

017actually needle felting art project that's going on from one of our grants this week over at Valley Grove. Um we've helped out with the robotics competitions. We've helped out with um well, the the our marching Highlanders going to the the parade. E-sports team just finished up their season and they were ranked pretty highly. We were able to help get them some um computer equipment that they needed. So, just again, like if you're in the school system and you need help, reach out to me because I will do my best to try and figure out how to connect you to resources. And if you are a person who knows of anybody who has any kind of money or resources, send them my way too because um it's all going right back to the school. So. I

018think that's it. So, any questions? All right. Thank you so much. Uh next up, I'm going to call the special services crew up to the lectern to talk about special services. Um over a year ago, we commissioned a voluntary audit um of the special uh services department and that's something that we've done with multiple departments throughout the uh the years and it was special ed's turn and so we did that and I thought maybe it's time that we know what they're doing, but that the community um really doesn't know the changes and some of the things that we've done and so a lot of the good things that are going on in special services. So, crew, take it away. Thank you, Dr. Cronk, Dr. Hill, members of the board, members of the cabinet. Uh I

019know we just came out of executive session. We had an opportunity to have a really good conversation about where we've been, where we're going, and what we're doing in terms of special education, special services here at Anderson Community Schools. So, uh we put together kind of a recap of everything uh that we just kind of went through over the last uh couple hours. Um and in doing so, we'll just kind of hit some of the wave tops to kind of outline what uh what we're looking at doing uh here and what we've gotten accomplished as far as Anderson Community Schools is concerned. Uh for those of you that don't know me, my name's Shay Banel. I'm the director of special services grades pre-K through six here at Anderson Community Schools. Um I also serve as

020the transportation director for Anderson Community Schools and I'll pause here really quick to let my colleagues introduce themselves as well. I am Bethany Seamar. I'm director of special services um covering grades seven through adult. And I'm Betsy Dugan. I'm the assistant director of special services and I cover the areas of pre-K through 12. Okay, so we're go we'll go ahead and get started here. I've allocated myself 15 minutes, so I know exactly where we're at. Uh if you'd give me my next slide, please, Brad. Um again, to kind of give everybody a 10,000-ft view in terms of from a pre-K six standpoint, uh this is kind of the current lay of the land in terms of where we are at regarding the special education programs and services that we provide in the district as well

021as the buildings by which uh we provide them. So, we'll go into a little bit greater detail here in just a second, but this kind of gives you that that layout as far as from a map perspective in terms of how we do special services in Anderson Community Schools. If you would slide, please. Uh what is special services here at Anderson Community Schools and I'm going to have my colleagues here um kind of provide some input as far as this slide is concerned. Bethany, you want to start with the first part? Sure. So, with special services, it not only incorporates students who have IEPs and those are students who are identified as having special needs within our school buildings. It also serves students at our private schools within our community um providing them with service

022plans. We have approximately 1,500 students who have IEPs and that's roughly 23% of our enrolled student body at ACS. Um we are also in the process we have a little over 70 students currently in the evaluation process with our school psychologists and as history would dictate, if the trend is accurate, over 90% of those 70 are anticipated to qualify as a student with disabilities under Article 7. Also under special services, we are the local liaison and point of contact for the McKinney-Vento students and those that provides support for our displaced or unhoused students including transportation services and also for students who have 504 plans. Um currently, we have approximately 32 ACS students who are receiving services under McKinney-Vento and approximately 140 students have a section 504 plan. Um we are also the liaison for DCS

023and um whenever we have placements um foster student placements, um regardless of whether they are eligible for special education, we um make sure that they are provided with the services that they need um what while they're in foster care. Uh from a Medicaid standpoint, we also have several staff members that have some specific certifications that allow them to not only provide services to our students with special needs, but based on that certification, we're also then able to collect some reimbursement dollars through Medicaid for providing those services. Um where and so those are typically your student your I'm sorry, your speech language pathologist, your occupational therapist, your uh physical [clears throat] therapist, uh as well as your school psychs. Where we have also uh found some additional funding streams in as well is when we're providing

024transportation services for students with special needs, that also becomes a reimbursable uh expense through Medicaid. So, where we kind of land from a financial perspective is from last year uh with all of those all in as you get to looking at all those services that are provided with that certification, we've we've re we've been able to reimburse the district approximately $472,000 as a result of that billing through Medicaid and working with ClaimAid, who is our Medicaid partner in terms of that billing process. Uh what is not included in there though from this year as far as these numbers is the um the steps that we've taken to now build the transportation billing into our Medicaid reimbursement plan. Um for everyone's kind of situational awareness, from a transportation standpoint, uh we spend approximately 6 and 1/2

025million dollars a year to transport to transport both general education and students with special needs throughout the district. Of that 600 or excuse me, of that 6 and 1/2 million dollars, approximately 2.75 million is used to specifically transport students with special needs. And so, our plan this year is as we start to refine our process in terms of the documenting and the logging and subsequently the submission for reimbursement of those Medicaid dollars, what we're looking at doing is eventually kind of getting a net zero in terms of the dollars that we spend to transport students with special needs and the Medicaid reimbursement that we would get. This year, um our goal since we've just now implemented doing it from a transportation standpoint, um if we can find that we can recoup and reimburse approximately 1

026and 1/2 million dollars of that 2.5 or that 2.75 million, I would say that we're off to a pretty good start in terms of our processes are concerned. And then, like I made mention of continuing to refine those processes as we move forward in future years. Uh additionally, uh one of the things I wanted to add is that when we talk about numbers, we transport a little over 600 students with special needs this year alone in terms of from school to school and getting various supports throughout the district. Uh and we're able to do all these things that you see here as far as the slides are concerned with a very lean staff at the district level. You'll find that there's two directors, there's Bethany and myself, uh that oversee, you know, pre-K through 12.

027Betsy Dugan, who does an excellent job as an assistant director in helping to facilitate special education services in the district, as well as uh Shelly Geisiner and Debbie Love, who are our full-time secretaries who do a great job at what they do, as well as the uh five support staff professionals that we now have in place that we will start to implement um going into next school year to provide some of that additional assistance and support uh for our um our elementary buildings. So, next slide, if you would, please. Go ahead, Bethany. So, when we're talking about um students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has outlined 13 categories by which students can be found eligible. This is a breakdown of the 13 eligibilities. Of those 13, we have two, deaf-blind and also

028severe intellectual disability, of which we do not have any students being serviced under those categories. The numbers in the red will indicate what numbers are being represented by our current students. Okay, so at this point, uh that kind of gives us a very broad overview as far as special services at ACS is concerned. Now, we're kind of getting into the meat and potatoes as far as what we discovered from the um the results of the audit and then subsequently what we as a district level and building level staffs have done to address some of those uh those challenges, those concerns, those opportunities for growth in the audit. Um so, what we'll start with is the task and purpose. Why did we conduct the audit? Well, this is an opportunity for us to take a an

029objective third-party approach to how it is that we provide special services here at Anderson Community Schools. What we are responsible for, in accordance with Article 7 and and um IDEA, is providing students a free and appropriate public education while placing them in what's known as their LRE, which is their least restrictive environment. Where can they maximize their learning time and still receive accommodations and services as a student with a with a disability. Uh additionally, you will see the four bullet points there underneath where not only are we responsible for FAPE and their students' individual LRE, uh but all of these things that the four bullet points that you see there are in accordance with what is outlined in Article 7, providing it at public expense as far as the public agency providing that that funding

030to for those services, meeting state standards both academic as well as procedural standards outlined in Article 7, um including preschool through the 22nd birthday as far as all that continuum of services is concerned for all of our students, and then making sure that the services that we are provided are conforming with each individual student's individualized education plan or IEP. So, now that Shay has um shared with you why the audit was conducted, let's get into how the audit was conducted. So, it was a a twofold. First, um a portion of the audit process included interviews with a variety of staff members across Anderson Community School Corporation. The auditor scheduled time within multiple school buildings to conduct either one-on-one or small group forums to get feedback from staff at various levels. So, we um had um

031administrators, special ed teachers, paraprofessionals, um case coordinators all the way through that list of um interviews that were conducted. The second prong were documents. So, these are some of the documents that um were looked at. The auditor looked at over 260 IEPs to check for compliance. She did 11 building visits. She looked at some of our results-driven accountability reviews, our IEP reviews, and so forth. So, she looked through a lot of documents and interviewed a lot of staff as she was conducting this interview or this audit. So, I want to kind of highlight some of the things that the the auditor did point out that we as a department were doing well. And the first what had to do with staffing and our ability to um staff and retain some of our difficult-to-acquire positions. That

032includes our speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and school psychologists. Uh we currently do have five contracted positions. Three of those are from an outside agency and two are retirees. And all five have um signed contracts to come back for the next school year. The layers of support that are offered within the district. So, from the building level, obviously we have our classroom teachers and our building administrators. Then beyond that, um at AIS, Highland Middle School, and Anderson High School, we have what are called admin designees, and they are basically the in-house person in each of those schools to handle all matters related to special education. They can be the public agency representative for case conferences. They provide direct support to staff and students as needed. Um they help enroll students. So, they're sort of

033the face of special ed in each building. Um we also, as was mentioned before, we have our support staff and special ed case coordinator, which going into next school year, we are fully staffed with those positions. Um another layer of support were the resource staff meetings, which this year what we have kind of done with those every quarter, we've done town hall meetings with each building. Um so, we are getting ready to prepare for our fourth one coming up for the last 9 weeks. Once a month, um we host what are called mentoring moments. That is when we bring our special education staff in, um and we pay them a stipend to attend, where we do some professional development and provide some one-on-one assistance with IEPs if they so wish. We also have a monthly

034uh staff newsletter that goes out to all of the special education staff and administrators, and it just provides updates on the department, important dates, trainings that are coming up, that sort of thing. And then, our family involvement, um last year, I believe they did um quarterly family nights. Um we've had one this year. They haven't been as well attended as we would have liked, but I think next year, going into next year, um we're looking at some different possibilities to do to try to um increase our presence in the community and get more um get to know our families a little bit better. Um the third point, movement of mild interventions classrooms to home schools of record. And so, each building has the resource classrooms, and now each building also have has what we call

035our cross cross-categorical classrooms. And this is important because that allows our students to attend their what we'd call our neighborhood school school, perhaps with their siblings and with their peers. Um so, that's been a positive for us. And then the last one, the MTSS process. And while MTSS is not a direct um special education initiative, it does involve us at some point. Um if you don't know what MTSS is, it stands for multi-tier systems of supports. Um it's a data-driven tiered system of interventions that um promotes uh better student outcomes. Um and what the throughout the um audit, it was mentioned that Eastside Elementary That's okay. Okay. Eastside Elementary was um noted as being an exemplar um model of how the framework is being utilized in the district. Okay, so one of the areas where

036we have um a chance to go from good to great in terms of how we're implementing special education services at Anderson Community Schools. A large chunk of the audit had indicated kind of what our communication processes look like. Um see here is kind of what each level of communication would be, whether it's at from the district to the building, the building to the classroom, what have you. Some of the things that we've been able to in- to implement in terms of addressing the communication piece is that first part is that better level of communication from the district level to the classroom and through the building levels by letting teachers and building administrators know when students fall underneath the 50-day timeline as far as the the suspected eligibility and the evaluation process is concerned. One of

037the other things that we've also done is terms of with our fifth graders and when we have some high need fifth graders that are also students with disabilities and part of our special education program is letting our AIS staff knowing that these kiddos are getting ready to sixth grade, kind of being proactive in terms of what their needs will look like going into next school year as sixth graders and starting to schedule what we call those transition conferences sooner rather than later. And really what that is is that is a coordination of effort in terms of those fifth grade teachers and those sixth grade teachers doing kind of what I call battle handoff so to speak in terms of that kid coming in. Hey, this is what we've experienced last 5 years with this kiddo

038in the building at the elementary level. Here's what we would predict as far as the success of the student is concerned going into the sixth grade level and going into the intermediate school. And so we've been able to create that Google map that allows us to coordinate and sync those types of meetings together. Additionally, where we've also added a Google calendar is the support staff that we've made mention of. In the instance that support staff is needed at any one of the elementary's or at the at the intermediate school, that calendar is accessible to all of our special education staff as well as our administrators so that they can specifically request a date, time, and place for when they would like a support staff personnel to be made available so that they can utilize that

039support staff folks provide that servicing. And then as my colleagues have also made mention of that communication, we've done town hall meetings in each of the nine weeks with each of our elementary's as well as with our intermediate school. And we're in the process of then scheduling our our town hall meetings for the fourth nine weeks as well. Um Some of the other areas that we've seen as far as opportunities of growth, I know that Bethany had touched on it. Looking at what our results-driven accountability looks like. And really what this is saying is we need to take advantage of those opportunities to maximize kids exposures into the general education curriculum as well as the general education instruction. That being said, one of the areas that we found to be a challenge when we're talking

040about a student's least restrictive environment, we're finding a lot of kids that might have what is classified as a mild cognitive disability or mild intellectual disability. Um they're being placed in self-contained classrooms where by doing so they're limiting their exposure to that general education curriculum and the general education instruction. Additionally, we were finding that kiddos and these are probably our younger kiddos in some of the younger grades being identified as a student with a developmental delay or other health impairment. Also finding that they are being placed in self-contained classrooms. Where we have some opportunity and I'll get into it here in a second is those students that have what we call high incident disabilities, there's also greater opportunity for us to increase their exposure to the general education curriculum and instruction as well. Is this

041your slide or is this Okay, cool. So another opportunity of growth um has to do with progress monitoring and Article 7 says that students who have goals written in their IEPs should have quarterly progress monitoring completed. And it was found that some of our related services such as OTs, PTs, and speech therapists were not completing that um progress monitoring on a quarterly basis. So we are providing training and professional development so that they know that their timelines are the same as for all students when report cards come out. So anytime a report card comes out, students with an IEP should have progress monitoring as well. The second point, delivery of service. Both special education and general education teachers identified delays in the delay of service, especially at the beginning of the year. Sometimes it takes

042a little time to get those services in place. That especially happens when you have speech therapists who have to work around the music teacher, the art teacher, who has to work around everybody's lunch, everybody's recess. So it takes a little time to get those services started. But as Shay mentioned, we are working on those transition conferences. So hopefully the delivery of service will be a seamless process this year. The third point, the compliance concerns. Indiana Article 7 outlines exactly who needs to be present at every IEP meeting. And one of those components was consistently being missed as a result of these audit reports. And it was found that general education teachers were not being present at those meetings. They were often being excluded and they can be excused from the conference, but it's not best

043practice. If students are participating in the general education curriculum and in the general education classroom, that general education teacher should have representation at that conference. They know that student, they know what that curriculum at the grade level should look like. So we are increasing the presence of the gen ed teachers for our resource students as well as what we call our cross cat who are our self-contained students, getting more of the general education teacher's input and participation in that meeting. Okay. So as a result of the audit and as we discussed in executive session, here's here's kind of a recap and some of the initial guidance that your building level administrators have received from us. Um I'll talk here really quick and a lot of it is timelines, timelines, timelines. Where we have an opportunity

044to really kind of improve our processes is kind of what I call tightening it up our shot group in terms of hey, when we have compliance timelines, we have to meet. And that goes back to where where we like to say you have to inspect what you expect. And this is where we've really kind of empowered our building administrators from a boots-on-ground perspective in terms of hey, I'm needing you to actively engage with your special education staff and provide some of that guidance and directions and make sure that they're hitting all of their marks so that we can then figure out what we need to do to best service and provide support to those teachers so that they in turn can also provide service to their kiddos. You can see here where I've highlighted some

045things that we've been doing. We also have some training lined up here at the end of June to help assist our resource, cross cat, and all of our special education teachers with a little bit more training in terms of what the compliance timelines look like. Additionally, where we've also provided some support to the buildings is assisting in the hiring of some of that special education staff. TORs, teachers of record at the building level, your building admin teacher or your building admin staff have a little bit more empowerment this year in terms of who they're wanting to bring in as far as teachers of record are concerned. And knowing that the the district level staff is going to be more more responsible for hiring some of those district level personnel as far as SLPs, OTs, PTs,

046school psychs, things of that nature. And then also providing some additional guidance as we get into evaluation season, which is kind of where we're at right now, helping the building administrators and supporting them in terms of are your special education do teachers doing everything that special education teachers are supposed to do? And assisting with them from the professionalism component as far as those evaluations. I think so. Yeah. All right. So the goal is for the our building level administrators to oversee special ed compliance within their own buildings. As far as case conferences go, those administrators can serve as the public agency representative if needed. We also have our case conference coordinator and our support staff available to assist with that. Which again mentioned that they we are fully staffed for that next school year. And

047then they will also assist with following up on some of those procedural compliance issues. Um as mentioned with the facilitating the general education teacher attendance, they will assist with that. Um Bethany created a video on the Loom platform for our building administrators to learn how to download a compliance report on a regular basis regarding those IEP timelines to make sure that those are being met. And anytime there may be a complicated case conference where there are multiple issues to be discussed, it can either be reconvened with one of us involved as part or ahead of time we can be scheduled to attend. Um anytime that we are looking at possibly placing a student in a different program, in a different building, um the the procedure is going to be that those individuals from both buildings

048will attend the case conference if a change of placement is to be discussed so that all parties are on the same page and that relevant information is shared. And then the last point is that this is just going to stress the collaborative nature of our case conference committee decisions that they will make those determinations. And if there are any issues, Shay, Bethany, or myself will be notified and if it needs to be reconvened and and we are involved, then that's that's what we'll do. Okay. So I will I will then go through these these next slides relatively quick because obviously they're still under development as we made mention of. But what the next steps will outline is kind of like what our programs will look like going in where they're at this year and then

049what they will kind of look like in terms of going into next year. So what we start with is we look at our our number one I'll start at the bottom here as far as our bottom point because that's the big takeaway from this slide is making sure that our special education programs are allowing the student's need to drive the servicing, not the student's identified disability. So that means that we're we're creating that continuum of services and saying that just because you have this identified or suspected disability, this is what your LRE has to look like, no questions asked. We're allowing the reconfiguration, the rebranding, the reestablishing of criteria in and out of these programs so that we can better serve those kids. So, this is kind of what we look at from a rebranding

050standpoint is moving away from, you know, identifying classrooms from a doctrinal standpoint as outlined in Article 7 by a disability or also identifying classrooms that might be tied to a teacher's licensure. And so, that cross-cat classroom is a good example as to where cross-cat is outlined in Article 7 in terms of applying to students with just an an intellectual disability. By re- rebranding our classrooms, we're kind of broadening that so that we can best provide the service based on the need rather than the actual identified disability per se. So, what we'll look at is identifying our cross-cat room cross-cat rooms as direct learning support classrooms, our resource classrooms resource education support classrooms. Eastside Elementary is going to be kind of where we make one of our operational adjustments in terms of beefing up our Aces,

051our Academic or excuse me, Academic Communication and Education Support Programs with our existing classroom, which is a K through configuration, adding a 3-5 configuration for those kiddos that are also attending that Aces classroom so that there's kind of a continuity there's a continuity of service for those kiddos that need that most support. This also affords them the opportunity to remain in one elementary preschool building during the course of their entire elementary school career and not have to try to work around the challenge of now I also have to move different buildings as well as different classrooms because I've now quote graduated out of a program. Additionally, what we would be looking at doing is by adding to those programs at Eastside, we would then in turn be looking at moving our functional skills or independent

052learning support classrooms back to Erskine where they were just a couple years ago. And I'll touch on that more here in just a second. But, what you would find in terms of configuration Edgewood Elementary would remain a direct learning support classroom, a resource education support classroom. Erskine is where we would then go from five classrooms down to four because we are able to do kind of some combat math to figure out exactly what that would look like in terms of leveling all of our classrooms and we're able to still offer full our four fully functional functional skills classrooms or independent learning support classrooms at Erskine and still provide some pretty top-notch servicing to those kids that would qualify and meet the criteria for being in those rooms. Moving away from what we would call an

053ABA classroom because that fall mores into the Aces configuration that we made mention of as far as E2 is concerned, yet still providing two resource education support classrooms out at Erskine. 10th Street again would also maintaining the the concept that we had with our kiddos with intellectual disabilities and others that may qualify under the criteria is affording them the opportunity to attend their neighborhood schools based on the need that they have as students rather than their disability. So, 10th Street would still have a direct learning support classrooms, they would still have resource education support classrooms. Valley Grove again is kind of under development, it's our wild card right now because we're looking at bringing in a really great administrative team and based on what our capabilities look like with our administrative teams determining whether our

054as we refer to them intense intervention classrooms right now being behavior and education support classrooms and figuring out what is the best place to provide the maximum amount of services for those high need kids in terms of in terms of what building are they in. So, one of the areas that we're entertaining is keeping it at Valley Grove, moving it to Anderson Intermediate, moving it to Compass. It all kind of depends on where we would be looking at moving those. But, here you'd also see where Anderson Intermediate again they being a a single configuration or a single cohort building, they have a full spectrum of services that we're providing to students with disabilities. Then you hear it see there with our Compass Day School Program for our kiddos that are grades 3 through 5 and

0556 through 8. And then our ACS preschool program where we have Southview, which kind of serves as our developmental preschool for those kids that may be identified with a developmental delay. And then our our Eastview kids where our 4-year-olds that they're ready to go into the general education setting as kindergarteners next year, that's where they're currently attending. So, again here's kind of a recap in terms of the map that I showed you the first time. As we get to doing the rebranding, the reconfiguring, this is kind of a 10,000-ft view of what our projected array of services would look like in terms of the district. And again, there's a lot of things that are still under development, nothing's really set in stone just yet. So, there'll be more to follow from that standpoint. So, pending

056questions from the board or cabinet, that concludes our part of the presentation. Board, is there any questions? Comments? All right. Thank you. Oh, I have one. Yes, ma'am. Um special ed isn't my specialty on on the on the board, but I have a lot of friends, colleagues who are in the special ed department as teachers or um other support staff and they've been very complimentary on the work that you three have done to really um address some of the issues that the consultant brought out and they are very thankful. Um and they're looking forward to continued um progress. So, I just want to say thank you for what you've done. I do have one question for you. Um there was something in the report that I didn't understand that said something about a day school.

057Yes, ma'am. Um what is that? Yeah, so I I would I would like to first address that and I I appreciate the compliment, I appreciate the kudos and I would like to pass that kudos and and compliment along to our our building level administrators as well as our classroom teachers. They are the secret to the success of our kids with disabilities and gen ed kids as well. They they do 99% of all of the hard work and effort and heavy lifting. And so, it I I I want to pass that kudos along to them as well, Ms. Collette, because they're the ones that we we kind of Yeah, we're the good idea committee so to speak, but they're the ones that provide us a lot of really solid constructive feedback and then in turn they

058get very excited when we're able to convert that constructive feedback into action. And then that then makes a very positive impact hopefully in their classrooms. And I get excited about that level of that level of collaboration because our classroom instructors, our classroom teachers especially in the areas of special services, they do a phenomenal job. And I can't compliment them enough in terms of how the school year has been in terms of the success that we have found for a lot of our our high need kiddos. That being said, as far as our day school is concerned, I can probably kind of segue into it and then I have my colleagues here that probably are greater subject matter experts in terms of answering that. But, what I will start with kind of the end state and

059one of the areas that we were looking at doing is trying to maximize the servicing that we were being provided as far as a therapeutic day school, but at the same time finding a more cost more cost-effective manner by which providing those services. We still have a great relationship with the Anderson Center as far as their day school is concerned, but in providing our own day school, we're able to provide a little bit greater customization in terms of what that servicing looks like for our kiddos and we're able to kind of maximize the taxpayer dollar in terms of doing that. Now, I'm going to turn it over to Bethany because she kind of knows more about the the ins and outs and the details of it. So, anything you'd like to add? I would just

060like to say that the um implementation of our day school program offers a wider continuum of services for our students before we have to look at outside placements. We do have some students that we do have to bus out just because we don't have the capabilities of meeting maybe their mental health needs or we have students at the blind school and um the deaf school that we can't service their needs here and that is what the Anderson Center provides for us. But, we wanted to provide another layer in between us and the Anderson Center just to see if we can have our own programming here. It is in its first year and we are still building as the year progresses, but we are very hopeful that we can provide more services for our students through

061that continuum. Thank you. Pending your questions, that's all we have. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Uh Dr. Hill, that concludes superintendent's comments. There was a Tammy Oh. stood up there. This This is not the public comment session if Ms. Dixon or Tam Tatum, I'm sorry. I have a question just with regards to what they just said. Do I wait until >> Yes, please. And you can petition the board to speak during the public comment section, which is coming up shortly. Um obviously Ms. Webb, President Webb is not here with us tonight. The board sends their wishes for a quick and speedy recovery as she is ill. Um so, with that we will move on to public comments. Uh first up on the list, Ms. Burks, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Smith and Ms.

062Barnes. As you speak, if you would provide your name and try to stay within the 5 minutes. My name is Natasha Burks. Avriel Johnson. Sharde Smith. Okay, we're going to just come with a recap. So, good evening board members, stakeholders of the community, educators and parents. On March 9th, 2026, we addressed the board regarding concerns impacting the black and brown students within Anderson schools and we requested a public forum to discuss these issues. Following that request, we we met with Mr. Scheimer and Mrs. Mandy Webb in good faith to engage in a collaborative conversation. Our goal was to better understand the district's discipline matrix and to and the use of the probationary continued education agreements, which are the PCEAs. So, we believe that the PCEAs should be reserved for serious safety concerns. Using them in

063lower-level or non-violent situations, which raises concerns about fairness or whether consequences truly match the behaviors that were provided. We also believe that the discipline for students in grades 6 through 8 must be age-appropriate. Middle school students are still developing socially and emotionally and the expectation should reflect that. Additionally, many students are navigating high levels of trauma. Because of this, it is critical that teachers and staff consistently use trauma-informed practices such as TBRI along with de-escalation strategies and cultural competency. We believe that every referral should clearly document what interventions were used before disciplinary escalation. Before a student faces suspension or expulsion, there should be a clear system of checks and balances to ensure all supports have been used. We appreciated the opportunity to meet on March 31st and we look forward to a follow-up meeting soon.

064We also hope to identify a time that allows more board members to join as we truly value your presence and your input. We as parents choose to use this venue to inform the board and the parents as well as the community of hopeful progress that is being made. We intend to totally be transparent throughout this process. >> So, at this time, we would like to share key takeaways from the meeting that are critical to move forward. PCA concerns. Parents believe that the PCEAs process removes due process rights and is being applied in situations that do not involve serious safety concerns. We believe PCEAs should be reserved for serious offenses that pose clear risk to safety. Parents are requesting removal of existing PCEAs from student records, greater transparency regarding long-term impacts including student records and eligibility

065for opportunities such as obtaining driver's license. There are also concerns about the language used in referrals and PCEAs documentation. Terms such as defiant, aggressive, disrespectful are often vague and subjective. Parents are requesting clear, objective descriptions of behavior to reduce misinterpretation and potential implicit biases. The discipline matrix concerns. One of our most urgent concerns is the discipline matrix. Parents believe the current system is not age-appropriate for students in grades 6 through 8. Middle school students are still developing socially, emotionally and physically. Research shows that behavior at this stage is influenced by brain development, puberty, stress and trauma, the need for breaks as well as emotional regulation. However, the current system does not appear to fully account for these developmental factors. Parents are requesting a revised, research-based approach that is age-appropriate, that reflects student development, that focuses

066on addressing root causes of behavior, not just punishment. When discipline does not align with development, it leads to increased behavioral issues, missed instructional time and negative impacts on overall student success. Staff training and student support. Parents recognize that teachers are managing complex classrooms and multiple students' needs. However, continued training is essential to ensure students are supported effectively. Parents are requesting ongoing training in de-escalation strategies, trauma-informed care practices such as TBRI, positive behavior supports, the multi-tiered system and supports, implicit bias and appropriate documentation practices. Students should be given the opportunity to process their behaviors, learn from mistakes, develop skills in a supportive environment before a referral leads to suspension or expulsion. There must be a clear system of checks and balances to ensure all appropriate interventions have been used. Each referral should clearly document what strategies

067were used, what supports were offered, what steps were taken prior to escalation. Data transparency and accountability. Parents are requesting greater trans- transparency and accountability in the discipline practice I mean process. Specifically, a review of teacher referral patterns. Access to discipline data broken down by race, gender and types of offenses. Tracking students' pathways including transitions from alternatives, compass or online settings. This information is critical to ensure discipline is applied fairly, consistently across all students. Parent involvement. Parent wants to be a part of the solution. We want to be a part of the solution. We are requesting opportunities to participate in district committees such as parent compact or PL 221. Access to relevant agreements, policies and processes to better support our children and partner with the district. Assistance with securing IEP testing and 504 information needs. ACS

068administration has agreed to ensure the appropriate staff provide proper assistance to Ms. L in initiating the process for enrolling her son in a 504 IEP plan per Bethany/Sarah. Additionally, Ms. N is currently awaiting support for some of her son's teachers to complete necessary documentation required to move forth with a mental health evaluation. Ms. N has already submitted a signed release of information form. Ms. N was further advised by Mr. Fab, principal of AIS, would be contacting the students' teachers directly to facilitate and expedite the evaluation process. Alternative school placement. Parents have shared that their sons are experiencing success in Ms. Lozada's alternative classroom. Because of that success, parents are requesting that students be allowed to remain in placement. Additionally, parents are requesting data on students' placements by race to ensure equality in placement and in

069placement decisions. Our next steps. As parents, we are requesting a follow-up meeting within the next 5 to 10 business days that these notes and takeaways be formally shared with the school board. Continued communication and collaboration moving forward. As more parents continue to come forward, their concerns be addressed as well as their children have their PCEAs be removed also. We also hope to identify a time for the next meeting that allows for greater board participation as well as a time that works for the majority of parents. In closing, one of our most urgent concerns remains to be the discipline matrix. It must be revised to reflect age-appropriate expectations for middle school students. When discipline does not align with student development, it impacts learning, increased missing instructional time, directly affects the student success. This is not just

070about discipline. It is about ensuring that every student has a fair opportunity to learn, grow and succeed in a supportive, developmentally appropriate environment. Thank you so much for your time and your continuing commitment to our students at Anderson Community Schools. Before we move on, I do have um Ms. Sharde Smith here with us and she is at one of the new parents. We've had several parents reach out to us. She is one whose son is still out of school and she wanted to tell you a little bit about her story. Good afternoon, everyone. I will try to make this as quick as possible. Um me and my son recently moved up to Anderson and I moved up here to try to provide a better future and better opportunities for my son. My son also has

071a IEP and he has had one since he was about he was very young very young. My son was also going through a lot of emotional things, puberty, um loss of family members and everything. Um it a decision was made for my son to be transitioned from in school to online school. My son is struggling. He needs to be back in school. I don't feel like what was in my son's best interest was at heart. I feel like a path was paved for failure for my son. He's 12 years old and have to depend on a computer to try to learn. No human interactions or anything. I work. I cannot provide that 100% time that my son needs. And I feel like it is not fair. A lot of things was not taken into consideration

072and I just want for my son to be back in school. Thank you. >> Thank you. Ma'am, could you give your contact information to Mr. Meadows back there and we'll have somebody get with you. Let's see. Mr. Sherman. Uh next up is Mr. Mr. Geringer. May hopefully I'm saying that right. Yes, he he said that right. Geringer it's a German name. It's got the the rolling R in it there. All right. I I'd like to speak to an opportunity to focus community success through education and it's an it's more of an editorial or an opinion and I I promise I'll be brief. There are three aspects to it and one being empowerment, one being a respectful culture and another being ownership of the outcomes. And looking at the empowerment approach, number one, I think it's

073important to think about student in this way. First to notice the student. Make them feel significant by acknowledging the person behind their eyes and those of you that respect that process of looking someone in the eyes, you can see many times that there's somebody else behind their eyes that that's who is important to connect with. And number two is setting expectations. I'm a big believer that if you set expectations and you do that consistently each day, they will through time come through on those expectations. Number three is to let students know that they can succeed. If they follow determination, self-discipline each and every day and that is reinforced, many of them will succeed. Number four is a is a focus on high impact tutoring in small groups daily. Not once a week or twice a

074week. And also with mentoring. Mentoring is so important. Somebody to look up to, somebody to aspire to become like. And then in in terms of respectful culture, and this applies to everybody and you made a very excellent statement about respect at the beginning. And also with empowerment, the group gave a lot of comments about empowerment in the presentation before us in the public here. I'd like to say that parents aren't asking to run the schools. They are asking to be heard. Public meetings are supposed to include the public. And when parents and taxpayers take time to show up, they should have a meaningful opportunity to speak. Sometimes it feels like the train, which is actually the community, falls off the rails in some of the details. And so sometimes it's important to bring it back

075onto the rails. And if people are not allowed to air their concerns in a structural structured respectful setting, they carry more frustrations back to their home where distrust and resentment can grow. A school board should be a reliable place for people to come and openly and honestly and respectfully bring concerns, ask questions and feel as if they are heard. Listening to the public is not a distraction from the mission of producing good citizens. It is part of it. And good citizens are not created by teaching people to stay quiet when they are frustrated and then carry the frustration back home. Good citizens are created by teaching people how to participate respectfully, speak honestly and engage with their community. When people feel heard, they carry that home with them also. Home can stop feeling like a

076battleground and return to a safe environment. Safe homes help create safe neighborhoods. And safe neighborhoods help create a stronger community. Strong communities are also what attract what everybody in this room is after. Fortune 500 companies that have good paying jobs. That brings stability. If somebody is coming to look to move here, first thing they do is look at the performance of Anderson Community Schools. And so the final object is ownership. And this is for each and everybody. The future isn't you or any of you or me. It is the children. So I must ask each and every one of you, what legacy will you leave behind? And I challenge you all to take an oath or a pledge to take ownership of this. What I've done is I've put together those three things. Empowerment, respectful

077culture, and ownership of the outcomes in what's called a Venn diagram. When you go through and you're focusing on some procedures that you want to implement, I don't know if you can see it from here, but those overlap. The three things that I talked about overlap. And if you when you think about it considering a project, can land in the middle where all three of those hit, you will be successful. Thank you. Board member Stockton didn't sign up. Is there any objection to her asking question? Hearing none? Thank you. I appreciate that. Tammy Dixon Tatum. Uh back to the uh presentation, I was just wondering in the audit, were parents uh interviewed? Um I didn't I don't I didn't hear that part of it. So it could have been something that I missed, but when

078you all were doing your presentation, were did you say that parents were interviewed? Parents were not mentioned as part of the process. Okay. Can I May I ask why? Cuz there It had nothing to do with the audit. Mhm. Okay. Yeah, I was just a question. I'm just curious as to whether or not because I was curious about the end user, right? So the end user would be the parents and so I just out of curiosity, nothing more than curiosity, wanted to know if the parents had a voice. And then particularly, I know you all said that you have like the town hall meetings and so I thought maybe that might be an opportunity if there's another audit to have the parents interviewed at those town halls so that they can have a voice in

079this. And I mean kudos to you guys for what you are doing, but I just think that, you know, an added touch to the end user might be helpful. Thank you. And and thank you for the opportunity to ask that question. And then my next question is, have you all finalized the student handbook? Um and if you have not >> It is on the agenda. Okay. Okay. And so I am hopeful that um as you guys get ready to finalize this student handbook for the upcoming year, um to take into account what the parents are saying uh with regards to the changes that they would like to see uh with regards to particularly the uh discipline matrix uh because as they pointed out, 6th through 8th grade, that particular tool is not um age appropriate

080for uh those group of kiddos for the very reasons that the parents pointed out, which included um brain development, which includes puberty and so on and so forth. So um that's all I wanted to to ask that you all wanted if you hadn't finalized it and it sounds like it is on the agenda, if you are going to, again, take into consideration uh the parents' plea that you all move to a matrix that takes into consideration the age and all those things that they named. Thank you. Thank you. All right. With that, we'll move on to Anderson Federation of Teachers, President Harrison. We respectfully state we have nothing at this time. We appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. With that, we'll move on to board actions. Mr. Elmore with the financial report. Thank you, Dr. Hill

081and members of the board. I would like to direct your attention to the financial report located in your board packet for the approval of claims for the month of March. And so, these are all the purchases that the school corporation and food service department have made during the last month. They've been properly reviewed and approved by the appropriate management channels, and I submit these for your approval through resolution R-2026-12. Thank you. Board, you've received that in your packet. A motion would be in order. I make a motion to approve. Motion's been made, seconded. And then, by roll call of vote, Ms. Green. I. Mr. Burkhart. I. Ms. Collette. I. Ms. Renz. I. I for me, Mr. Chamberlain. I. I's have it unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we'll move on to the acceptance acceptance

082of donated items from Planet Fitness. Again, Dr. Hill. And so, board, you should have in front of you a document listing the items that we are or that I will be approved asking for your approval tonight at tonight's board meeting for a number total number of 44 items that Planet Fitness is willing to donate to us. And so, in that document, you will see five arch trainers with their estimated value at $10,000. Two upright bikes at a total value of $1,600. Two recumbent bikes for an estimated value of $2,000. Two rowers at an estimated value of $1,200. 28 treadmills at estimated value 39,200, and then five ellipticals with an estimated value of $6,000 with a total estimated value of around $60,000 worth of equipment that Planet Fitness is willing to provide to us. And so,

083with that said, I ask for the board's approval of these donated items. Motion would be in order. Move to approve. Motion's been made. Second. Seconded. Any comments, questions at this time? Can Can you make sure we have a written thank you note that goes to the Planet Fitness, please? >> Yes, we will absolutely do that. Okay, thank you. Thank you. With that, then by roll call of vote, Mr. Chamberlain. I. I for me, Ms. Renz. I. Ms. Collette. I. Mr. Burkhart. >> I. And Ms. Green. I. I's have it unanimously. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we will move on to Dr. Deitch with the human resources report. Thank you, Dr. Hill. 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,

084we have resolution 2026-13, which is the recommendation of monthly consent agenda addressing personnel recruitments, leaves of absence, retirements, and resignation agreements. Thank you, board. You've received that updated HR report. A motion would be in order. Move to approve. Motion's been made. Second. Seconded. Any comments, questions at this time? Hearing none, by roll call of vote, Ms. Green. I. Mr. Burkhart. >> I. Ms. Collette. I. Ms. Renz. I. I for me, Mr. Chamberlain. I. I's have it unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Deitch. Thank you. Next up, field trips and conference leaves with Ms. McCord. Thank you, Dr. Hill. Members of the board, in your packet, you will find field trips and conference leave requests. All have been properly reviewed, approved, and their funding sources identified. I request your approval of the items in the accompanying resolution R-2026-14.

085Thank you. Motion would be in order. I make a motion to approve. Motion's been made. Second. Seconded. Any comments, questions at this time? Hearing none, then again by roll call of vote, Mr. Chamberlain. I. I for me, Ms. Renz. I. Ms. Collette. I. Mr. Burkhart. >> I. Ms. Green. I. I's have it unanimously. Thank you. And next up, Mr. Scheimer with the student handbook update. Good evening, everyone. Board, Dr. Cronk, I appreciate your time. This evening, I'm bringing to you the recommendations from the students' rights and responsibilities handbook committee on some slight changes to what we have had in the past and some information on things that have been implemented at the state level as well. Um the list on the board, I will try to go through as quickly as possible, and I've written

086down exactly what I need to say, so I don't waste your time. Please feel free to stop me though during this process if you have any specific questions. Um the first star on the board will be about information sharing of contact info. Outside agencies that request our contact lists um would be given the opportunity to take a look at um contacting parents and families with information that would support the educational process. Right now, our students are not capable of receiving information from outside entities, but if we gave them this permission, they would be put onto a white list, which would basically allow them to contact those students. So, the change in the handbook would only state the only difference to that area would be that we would add the student email address to that information.

087And Mr. Scheimer, that's the ACS [clears throat] email address. >> That is correct. Yes, sir. Yes, the that is the email that we provide for them. Yes. The second star deals with the modification of the discipline matrix. Due to data review, input from multiple stakeholders, as well as the focus from our TBR our committee believes changing the matrix to K6 and then 7-12 from the origin of the K5 6-12 will improve the learning environment. This change gives more opportunities to implement tools from the TBR I training we are implementing, and we hope to see more student growth in all areas from all students. Our data shows we are much improved, we also understand we have room for improvement. First time offenders that have an infraction of the matrix that would result in a suspension or

088an possible expulsion are less likely to have a second suspendable offense. 60% of those that get suspended don't get suspended again, which I think is worth touting. The matrix is working very well and is keeping the focus on the classroom learning. Our data shows that we're improving, and I would encourage as well as the committee um the board to approve that situation. Third star, cell phone matrix. After discussions with the board and a desire to make sure students are in school as often as possible, we've determined that the best process for the first consequence would be different than what we originally recommended. Um at this point, we are recommending that that first consequence be a one-day in-school suspension in lieu of what we originally talked about with a one-day out-of-school suspension. Um after that first

089offense, the second offense would occur if it occurs, and we would go down the path that we already have in place with our cell phone violations. That second occurrence would result in a three-day out-of-school suspension. The third occurrence would result in a five-day out-of-school suspension, and the fourth occurrence would be a possible 10-day suspension pending expulsion or change of placement. There will be a major initiative to educate our parents and the community on the new law and the expectations that go along with it. This will happen throughout the remainder of the school year, the summer, and the beginning of the year through class meetings, classroom rule reviews, and parent square. So, again, we're communicating all this information out, so we hopefully head off major challenges that could possibly arise due to this. Um we all

090are connected to our cell phones. This will be challenging. This first year will not be easy, but it does go along with what the state is requiring of us. Number four, uniform code. We are only adding one thing to that, and that would be no blankets, which would be involved due to safety concerns and the ability for individual students to conceal things. So, we'd like to add that as a committee. The fifth star, electronic devices and cell phone. A little bit more on that information. To comply with Senate Enrolled Act 78, we would not allow personal wireless devices developed for communication to be utilized in schools or brought to school. We're waiting on state and or Department of Education to finalize guidance and recommendations. So, as stated in the handbook, this would be subject to

091change after we get those recommendations from the state. Number six, the sixth star, chain of command. We believe that we needed to communicate this out to our families as as well as we could and to our stakeholders on who they should be reaching out to and communicating with at each level. This is already part of our website, but with also this being put in our handbook, there's a brief explanation of that chain of command at the building level. So, this would allow our um families and students to understand who they would talk to that would be next in line. Those are the recommendations from the committee. Can I answer any questions? Board. Um no question, but I just think that we need to make um clear that um those students who have medical devices linked

092to a cell phone, such as blood sugars or those kinds of things, they would be exempt from this Yes, ma'am. Yes, and that's that is mentioned in the statute. Yes. Okay, great. To clarify, um I know President Webb and you and um Mr. Bonnell and other people have met with the group that spoke earlier. Mhm. Um our registration begins shortly to get the state law things in. This is the reason for passing this tonight. It's the last time the board will meet in public uh before registration begins, uh but she is committed and and they have committed to continuing those dialogues and looking at We can always go back and revise. Absolutely. Yes, and I and I would tell you that I I thought that could that meeting that we had was very very good.

093Um it was great to get input from um multiple individuals in the community as well as those stakeholders uh through um discussion and and it was very positive. And I think as a as um a corporation, we need to continue that. Um I think that there always needs to be review of this handbook policy on a yearly basis and to continue to get input from those stakeholders at the community level. Um I think uh it's a it's a good start to what we need to be doing. And and we continually need to evaluate, you know, what's in our matrix and what's going on and what um the most recent information that we receive from those people that are above me with intelligence, to say the least, about how um we can make sure that we

094are servicing our students appropriately. >> [clears throat] >> Public comment time is over, Ms. Dixon. I'm okay with it. I'm okay with it. Okay. Two people okay. Board, is there any objection? I object. I don't. I don't. I don't. I don't. All right, majority of the board. Ms. Dixon. I'll hang around. You know, I'll let people talk. And um the only thing that I just want to bring really bring back I will a few things. Well, one, um I'm in agreement with Scheimer. That meeting went very very very well. And more of that should happen. So, I'm I'm definitely on board with that. There are only a few things that I want to point out. Um in that meeting, there was a presentation that Mr. Scheimer had and in that presentation, he said that defiance

095was one of the leading causes for disciplinary action. But right now, they can't explain what causes defiance in these children, right? But the more defiant they are, {quote} {unquote}, the more punishment that they receive. And if you're punishing these kids for the wrong reasons, they only become more upset and and act out even more, right? It doesn't help them. So, in some research that I have done, it talks about that these kids from sixth grade up to eighth grade, because if they don't get breaks, if they don't get recess, they become under a lot of stress. And if they're under a lot of stress, they act out and then they get into trouble. And there's really nothing in place right now that helps them to think things through to a better place. So, even that

096new beginnings classroom that they go to for like holding, so they get in trouble with the teacher, they go to this new beginnings classroom, kind of like a holding situation before they get to the dean and so on and so forth. In that holding, if you will, there's nothing like thinking for a change. There's no one who walks these kids through, "Hey, do you know why you why you're here? Do you What what happened? What did you do? Do you Do you think that was the best way to hit Like there's none of that that's going on. So, these kids haven't, {quote} {unquote}, learned any lessons, but then as the parents pointed out, they're going through all this brain development, they're going through puberty, they don't get a break. So, it's just layer on layer

097on layer and this is what's causing them to act out. So, to keep the uh disciplinary matrix the same, I and I'm glad you're changing it for sixth graders, but seventh and eighth graders actually fall in that same boat. So, you're going to hold this uh handbook and hold it for another year. So, those kids that are currently in sixth grade, next year they'll be in seventh grade, they'll be under the same handbook, the same rules that got some of them in trouble anyways. And the reason why again that they could be getting in trouble is because of defiance, which is his, according to his presentation, the leading action. But they need a break. They need different ways to help them work through what's going on with them. And so, um I'm I'm just asking

098that you guys also look at grades seventh and eighth, because these are the same types of They're They're in the same state as sixth graders. And they need that extra consideration so that, you know, this Like he said, it it's working, but it could work better. And especially if he doesn't know what's causing the defiance. And we've got long-standing research. I get I get gather his data's been going on for like three about 3 years now. But this is long-standing data that says these things need to happen for these kids. And so, everybody is here for the success of the kids. I just think along with the parents that these kids will be more successful if the matrix tool is just changed for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade versus just sixth grade. So, that's what

099I wanted to point out, because we're all here trying to help these kids be successful and I think this is what will help make them successful. And I get you're on these timelines to get this book printed, but that timeline to get these books printed, is that in the best interest of the kids? Can you take another moment to consider the extra stuff that's on the table right now. And even if it's just another day, just make that correction and then, you know, you can revisit things at at at next year. But I think this year for the upcoming book, I think that sixth, seventh, and eighth grade should still um be under consideration for this matrix change. Thank you. As I stated before, Ms. Webb is committed to President Webb is committed to continuing

100to work and work with the appropriate personnel to look at this. This is You don't have to answer to this. Just for your information, that they can come back and we can talk to parents if we need to change the discipline matrix at some point and explain to them that it has been changed, do the appropriate messaging to to get that out there if it changes at some point uh before the next year. Right. Well, that's what I don't understand. Like so, basically we're set we're pushing them potentially into harm's way, because if we've got some information up right now up front and we know, and I again, this is long-standing data. There was articles that the board received that talked about this long-standing data with regards to sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. So, you

101you know, if you read the article, what we're speaking about. And to go ahead and push this thing forward without true consideration of, like I said, long-term science, that's technically kind of setting these kids up for some failures. Especially with the sixth graders who have now gotten in trouble under this matrix. Now, they're going to be seventh graders next year and they're going to be under the same tool, under the same matrix. So, that's the part that I'm asking you to consider. And it's just a simple, let's try If you can try sixth grade being under going back to the kindergarten model, if you will, then why not try sixth, seventh, and eighth grade under the same elementary model that you currently have? You don't have to create anything new. There's technically still elementary kids.

102So, you just extend it from fifth grade all the way up to eighth grade, meaning just take it back to what it once was, and then leave seventh through 12th graders under this new matrix that they already have. And again, this is information that you guys have already. So, I'm just asking to again for the parents' sake and for the sake of all the kids, please don't set them up for failure that way. It's just a stroke of a pen to say, "Yes, we will allow sixth, seventh, and eighth grader to stay under the elementary model." Thank you. >> Thank you. Mr. Scheimer. When when is this um the handbook going to print? Well, the the issue isn't actually the print. The issue is actually registration. That starts on Thursday. So, the goal is to

103have something in place and make sure that we have the availability there so parents can sign off on that said handbook. Um just a quick review on that situation, too, with the discussions going on with the matrix. I have a lot of data that and the reason that the committee supports this move to sixth grade, as well as continuing 7th through 12th, is that data that shows we've got a reduction of referrals in the last 12 months of 35%. We have the reduction of suspensions, as well as expulsions, down 7%. And like I said earlier, when you look at those individuals that get that first occurrence where they do get suspended, 60% of those individuals don't have a second occurrence of that. So again, I would encourage you to go with that recommendation from that

104committee that states we would like to see these things that were just mentioned implemented and move forward. So if if they're if they're not implemented what what kind of effect would that have on the process going forward? Well, if the if they are if they're not implemented, it's it's going to make things extremely challenging for registration. But what I would say is I would echo what Dr. Hill said that we can go back and make that adjustment because of the verbage that's in the handbook. So if we have a discussion and that's something that we want to do, we reconvene our committee and discuss those scenarios. The the verbage that will be in the handbook does allow us to do that. But if we can avoid this before we even go into it, why not?

105You know, I mean if it's if it's not of that monumental importance you know I I believe that it is and I believe that the recommendations from the committee are the approach to take. Um I believe that having that documentation in that handbook at registration is something that we definitely want to do. So those families can sign off on that information. >> Particularly with the cell phone changes, those need to be in that handbook when they this Thursday. Yes, ma'am. Yeah. The board can approve this tonight and then make a commitment to revisit it in in May if they if they so choose. >> I tell you the cell phone thing, that's that's the state. You know, we have to do that because the state said it. I think it's Mr. Scheimer Yes, ma'am. I

106understand the expediency because of registration. But I have a question and a comment. Sure. Under what we would potentially be approving tonight the change to the one day does not say in school, it still says one day suspension. Can that be clarified? It should be changed. I'm sorry. That most recent adjustment to the handbook yes, it I it can be clarified, there's no problem. I I thought that that adjustment had already been made and I apologize >> Well, mine just says one day suspension. >> Yeah, it should say one day ISS. It does not. >> And I apologize. Yeah, we definitely will make that move. Um that is in the documentation that I reviewed before the meeting and I apologize you don't have that most current copy. >> I'm just looking at what I got

107handed in our board packet. Yeah, okay, understood. So it may have already been revised, I just I didn't get the updated copy. >> And I apologize, yes. Um going back to understanding the expediency for registration and the cell phone issue I think that's critically important to get out to parents. I would like to see this board make a commitment to if the handbook is passed this evening to make a commitment to the people who have stood up and spoken to work together with the board, with Mr. Scheimer to over the next couple of months to have some meetings to talk through Mr. Scheimer's data, to talk through Miss um Dixon Tatum's data to to talk with some of the parents. And I don't think this is something well, I appreciate your urgency um Miss Tatum

108of let's just move it from seven to eight. I think there's a lot more uh discussion to go into this and if we're if we want to make significant changes in May, June, July before the start of the next year, I think there's some serious conversations that need to go on to include everybody's comments and data and at the end of the day um put together this summer early summer um a document that is community supported, ACS supported, school board supported we're all we're never going to agree on everything but I think we can come a little closer than we are. Sure. And one last thing and I'll be quiet. Um thank you for what you said. However, if you might consider one more thing um because that cell phone is an urgency. It's the

109policy it sounds like it's from the state, kind of a stand alone thing. Is it possible that the parents just sign off on that part? Just put that on the one sheet and say cell phone policy uh this will be in the new student handbook and you hear those rules and you let the parents sign off on that part of the cell phone part and then that would give us an ample opportunity as what you're saying to come back and revisit the rest of the handbook. I I appreciate where you're coming from and I understand that and I agree with a good part of that. But there is what we're talking about really is the discipline matrix of the handbook and there's so much more in the handbook that I think those parents need. And

110I think if we can agree to talk about the discipline matrix together as a board uh with the community, with you, with Mr. Scheimer um I think the parents could sign off on the handbook that they've received it cuz there's so much more in there than just the cell phone. Um that I think they need to know and see and be able to read while we're working on the discipline matrix if that would be fair to everyone. The hand The handbook could be approved and signed off by parents, but there is language within it that allows us to come back and revisit it as a board. So if adjustment needs to be made in which is what I was saying earlier can be communicated out if if there is a change made back out to

111parents and under so that they understand what is being changed specifically. It it would be be implemented as soon as the board approved it. I I want to say one more thing here, too. I taught middle school for 27 years. And at at one point I had sixth, seventh and eighth grade. From sixth grade to seventh grade, sometimes there's a monumental difference in these kids. And to have a matrix that's going to be for sixth, seventh and eighth grade it'll be like having a kid How are you 12 year old? 12 years old in the sixth in sixth grade? 11, 12. So let's say you have a kid that's in sixth grade and the one that's in eighth grade. Are you going to treat them the same as far as their discipline and behavior? Um

112the more I looked at this, I think it's kind of unreasonable, you know, and um when to me whenever you set policies and procedures there are two things you need to keep in mind. First of all is it reasonable? Which means is it something they can do? Secondly, is it attainable? Do they have enough time to get it done in? You know, I I have kids sometimes in eighth grade by the time they graduate as seniors I can't I don't even recognize them. So that's not only physically, but also mentally, emotionally, behaviorally and so forth. Um I mean, I I I definitely see the urgency of passing the cell phone thing. I don't see the big urgency in having to pass this matrix. Well, like if you're this and that and the other. And [clears

113throat] that's coming from someone I tell you, you know, you won't find a better a stronger person that wants you to enforce the rules than I am. When was the last time you guys taught sixth, seventh and eighth graders? Had to deal with them. I mean, they're they're off the chain here, you know, you understand that. You don't want to treat a sixth grader like an eighth grader. And sometimes a sixth grader like a seventh grader. The what? Yeah. But but that's the way the matrix is set up. I don't you know, I I have difficulty with that, with with that. No, that's what She wants Yeah, that's because sixth, seventh and eighth graders technically like elementary so I'm saying keep the discipline matrix >> [clears throat] >> from kindergarten up to eighth grade. slight

114variances um in there for instance uh sixth, seventh and eighth graders, they're characterized with horse playing, right? Little boys are bumping up against one another. That's part of their development. And if they do it now they get suspended. And I'm talking, you know, three, five, 10, 15 days. Now they're expecting um expulsion. And kids horse play. And and and they're they don't have recess >> [clears throat] >> now because like we used to be able to run running all around on monkey bars and all kinds of stuff. We were able to run out that energy. Now these kids are expected to sit still all day long. I mean, even going to work every so many hours you have a break. Actually, every two hours you get a break. A 15 minute 30 minute break 15

115minute break within an eight hour window. These kids they [clears throat] need to run around and play to let off that energy. They don't. And the research says long term when they don't have that opportunity they become defiant. They act out. And that's why you said defiant is the number one action leading these kids to disciplinary They're naturally trying to break Thank you, Miss Tatum. Thank you. Board will call for the question on the handbook. Motion would be in order to adopt the handbook. With the possibility of changes? That that verbage is in there, Mr. Burkhart. Thank you. I'm just asking. Yes. Move Move to approve. No hostility, Mr. Burkhart. Just repeating. Second. Motion has been made and seconded by roll call vote. Uh Miss Green? I. Mr. Burkhart? >> Nay. Ms. Collette? I. Ms.

116Rains? I. I for me. Mr. Chamberlain? I with the possibility of changes. Which is in the Five to one. Uh motion passes. Handbook is adopted. Thank you, Mr. Schirmer. Do we have other business before the board? Hearing none, then Yeah. Well, hang on. I I would like to go back to the subject of this handbook. And because we did approve it tonight, we also made a commitment that we would let the public be heard, and we would set meetings with Mr. Schirmer. So, um I would like to have the board look at some I know our president isn't here. Um so, when Mandy's better, I would like the board to look at dates uh to put together to meet with uh the public to meet with Mr. Schirmer. Uh can be two of us, all

117of us. I don't whoever Yeah. wants >> Again, as I stated before, Ms. Webb in in our in discussions with the board has told us that she's committed to ongoing meetings and pro- the process of this to look at all possible avenues. So. I think she already has that in mind is what I'm saying, Ms. Collette. >> Okay. So, as of right now, the board the handbook will be printed as is? Yes. Well, not not printed. It's >> It won't be printed. It's going to be online. It won't be printed until later on in the summer. So, this is just for the online registration that we're doing. Um and if uh Ms. Dixon-Tatum would send us the research um articles that you have. So, we have that to read. Uh and if you've sent them

118again if you've already sent them, please resend them so we can uh take a look at them, please. Thank you. If no other business before the board, this meeting is adjourned. Everybody have safe travels home. Thank you.