School Board Meeting 4/27/26

001Evening everyone. Good evening and welcome. Welcome everyone. Good evening and welcome to the school board meeting tonight. We're excited to have you all in attendance. It's a great evening. Uh we will celebrate some accomplishments and we'll do our school board business. Uh before we start the meeting officially, I'd like to ask everyone who is able to stand and help me recite the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Thank you and welcome again. Uh this is an official meeting of the school board of trustees for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. This is our Monday, April 27th meeting, 2026. Uh we'll start the meeting by calling the role. Uh if you're here, I'd ask you to respond, please. Miss Wen >> here. >> Mr. Major, >>

002hello. >> Mr. Nan >> here. >> Mr. Stener is here. Miss Lloyd >> present. >> And Mr. Glick >> here. >> Mr. Schulz is not able to be with us this evening. Uh Dr. Phillips, could you lead us through the affirmation of our mission, vision, and core beliefs? >> Yes, sir. In BCSSE, our vision is to be the choice to learn, work, and play. Our mission is to develop expert learners by partnering with our community to invest in people. And our core beliefs including include that we all can rise to the challenge of high expectations. That learning is most effective when we have choice, flexibility, and see relevance. That we thrive when our physical, social, and psychological needs are met. that our community and school district are stronger when we partner with one another and

003that we flourish because of the diversity and variability in our community. And last but not least, that our democracy and democratic institutions are strengthened by civic-minded citizens. >> Thank you, Dr. Phillips. We like to start our meetings with recognitions and celebrations. We have some significant accomplishments to celebrate this evening. Dr. Phillips, would you introduce Mr. Edwards to talk about the math league? >> I will certainly do so, Mr. Ster. But um before I do that, just one um one quick request of of everyone this evening. I would like to take a moment of silence um to remember uh wonderful young lady. Um Athena Lions was a fifth grade student at Parkside and have been a Parkside student since she was in kindergarten. has two uh siblings that are still in BCSSE and um we lost

004her just after our last meeting just a few weeks ago. So, if you would um not mind joining me in a moment of silent reflection as we um honor Athena's life and uh think about her family. Thank you. Our first recognition of the evening as we try to get these students out of here before the next round of weather comes in is our Columbus North Math League team. So, Mr. Branham, if Mr. Brainham's here. Please come on up and share the good news about these uh incredibly talented young students at Columbus North. Some of whom will come back up here in a minute. It looks like to me. All right. Good evening. Uh thank you for this opportunity to celebrate this wonderful student achievement. Um, I have with me tonight Ean Jassuja. Maybe you guys

005can assume a short little wave when I share your name. Ean was our top scorer at Columbus North and second overall in the state of Indiana for CNHS Indiana Math League. Harshel Gandhi, Wendy Zong, Rendy Zong, and Alex Zang. Um, just wanted to share that uh, first of all, there's about 150 students that participate annually in CNHS Indiana Math League. And each round we take our top five scores and then compare those against all the other schools in the state. And this year we came out as state champions. Um which was a wonderful achievement. But what's the coolest thing about this is I met all these students probably about six years ago. And they were not the top. You know, they were good math students, but they were not the top in the group at

006at middle school math counts. And they what they've done is they've participated in every opportunity that BCS has to off BCSSE has to offer. They've done math bowl in elementary. They've done math counts and math bowl in middle school. They've come to the high school and done math league. Um they've been peer tutors where they help teach us other students math. And they have participated in academic Super Bowl at the high school. And that combined with, you know, daily learning habits and having a consistently great attitude has helped them become 1% better at math every day for several years in a row. And over time, that compounds to just outstanding performance. So, congratulations to you guys and uh thank you for this opportunity to share their achievements. Thank you. Thanks for congratulations. Our next celebration

007is of our top 10 students and this will be uh the first year that in addition to our top 10 students from Columbus North High School and our top 10 students from Columbus East High School um that our Columbus Signature Academy is its own high school number for the first time this year and they have been identified two students. That school has about 80 85 students in their senior class. So they identified their two top students to come and be honored tonight as well. So we'll start Mr. Geel if you wouldn't mind coming up and introducing your top students from CSA New Techch High School. Good evening and thank you. Uh not going to spend a lot of time talking because I want them to talk, but uh each day our announcements end with a

008simple charge to represent yourself, your family, and your school with pride. The two students standing next to me embody that spirit. It's a simple reminder that the work we do in high school matters and should be a source of pride. When we think about the ideal school graduate, both Ren and Paige really exemplify uh what it means to lead uh lead our students and lead our class not only in academic excellence but outside of school as well. So with that, I'm proud to rep uh announce that Ren Bae is our class of 2026 valadictorian and Paige Fininky is our class of 2026 saludiatoran. Ren and Paige are now going to share a little bit about what they enjoyed about high school as well as what their plans are for next year. Hello, I'm Ren. Uh,

009for my post high school plans, I am committed to IU Indie for nursing with direct admit to their school of nursing. My, uh, favorite teacher, this is a hard one. This is a hard one. I'll have to say Mrs. Steel from biology uh, at New Tech. she kind of was such a cheerleader always to anyone uh who showed up to her class and was just so excited about fostering a love of learning uh lifelong for everyone. And then my favorite high school memory. Um, so New Techch requires a job shadow during our half days. And, uh, when I was a junior, I was able to job shadow on the, uh, Columbus, uh, IU Lifeline helicopter, which was an awesome experience and really kind of helped me figure out what I wanted to do career-wise, and

010I was really glad that I was able to take advantage of that. >> Hello, thank you for having me here today. My name is Paige Fininky and after high school I plan to go to Murray State University and I will be studying criminal justice with the plan of pursuing investigative genetic genealogy. Um my f so new has been a very important school to me and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to go to such a unique place. um my the every single class was amazing and so um all teachers were very dedicated but I also think I would have to say Mrs. steel. Um, she I'm currently in foraging and survival and it's a really unique experience and so I love that class. And my favorite club that I've been a part of, I'm

011uh was in Council for Youth Development last year and they connected to me to a lot of different organizations in the community. So that's been a very important part of my high school. >> Thank you. Heat. Heat. Congratulations, Paige and Ren. Uh, Mrs. Hester, our top 10 for Columbus North High School. Please come on up. Good evening. We do have nine of our top 10 here. Carrie Hong, who is um our number three, is actually at Harvard at an orientation. So, she sends her regrets. Um but I I do want to recognize her here because I I am very proud of her as I am all of these fine students before you. I'm very excited to present them to you and let them introduce themselves and tell you just a little bit about their high

012school experience at Columbus North. >> Hi, my name is Shinela Atmakur and I go by Neil. My plans after high school are to attend the University of Illinois Arbana Champagne and major in computer science and math. My favorite teachers are definitely Mr. Schiffer and SP Mr. Spock who taught me computer science and math and fueled my passion for them. My favorite high school club and organization is definitely the Sound and Spirit of Columbus marching band which I have been a member for 5 years and last year I had to honor as being section leader and center snare. My favorite memory in the marching band is definitely being able to perform at Lucas Oil Stadium five years in a row and it's an amazing perform amazing time every time I perform there. Thank you. Hi everyone,

013I'm Karen Dutro and next year I'm going to Butler University to play volleyball and study neuroscience. And over the past four years I have been at North playing volleyball in HOSA in student assembly as student body secretary and also FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. One of my favorite memories from student assembly is organizing the can drive every year which you might have noticed door hangers for on your doors every December and organizing that. And then on the last day of school in December, putting together boxes for community members and delivering those to people was one of my favorite memories. And I got to do it with Dr. Phillips this year actually. And my favorite teachers were Mr. Russell who taught me AP US history and Mr. Schiffer who taught me um calculus. And they made

014every day so engaging and exciting to learn even when it was really hard and sometimes boring. And it just made every day so fun having them as teachers. And something I'm proud of was my senior project which I did with Lauren Dgner from East who's also here today. And that was the BCSC blood battle which was a blood drive at Columbus East North and City Hall. And we collected over 100 donations. And that was something really exciting that I was glad I was able to do. Good evening. My name is Vincencia and my Vincensia Lee and my future plans are to either attend Cornell University or join IU Bloomington as a well scholar to study biology and public health on the premed track. And some of my current and past activities here at Columbus North

015have been serving as the founder and president of Medlife, which stands for medicine education and development for lowincome families everywhere, and also the VP of HOSA, and then finally the president of Red Cross Club. My favorite teachers at North have definitely been all of my science teachers. So, shout out to Mr. Kefaber, the science department chair, and then Mr. Parker, my AP biology teacher, Mrs. Mr. Zongi, my chemistry teacher, and Mr. Stacy, my AP physics teacher. They've played such an integral role in making all of my crazy ideas come to life. And then my favorite memory here at North has been part being a part of the Medlife Club and being able to volunteer in lowincome mobile clinics within rural Costa Rica. And I'm most proud of conducting antibiotic resistance as a genomics researcher this

016past summer at a program co-unded by MIT. Hi, my name is Isan Juja. I plan to go to IU Bloomington to major in neuroscience on a premed track with hopes of ultimately becoming a healthc care provider. Right now, I'm thinking dermatology. Seems pretty interesting. And um some of my favorite organizations and memories in high school include my participation with Academic Bowl, Indiana Math League, and the American Mathematics Contest, which I was able to place pretty well in. And I qualified for the second round of that my junior year and almost did my sophomore year. And uh in IML, which I part participated in all four years, um I placed each year. And this year we our school was able to place first place in the state and I was able to place second place uh

017in states. And I would say that my favorite teacher is probably Mr. Schiffer because through his teaching he taught me for three years I was able to develop a strong conceptual understanding of math which really supplemented my interest in it. And I would say what I'm most proud of uh throughout my high school journey is being able to do an internship and get published re research with a professor at IU. And uh yeah, thank you. Hello, my name is Caesar Harsha Deuptapu and I will be attending a combined seven-year program where I'll finish both my undergrad and medical school in seven years at Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine. So, my favorite subjects have to be APE literature. So, thank you, Mr. Spencer. And he really taught me to look at language and writing

018in like an experimental way. And I love science as you'll be able to tell. And being able to interact with that was really important for me. Also, I love AP Chem. Shout out to Miss Briner. And the reason is she really got me onto the conceptual level, the basic level. What are the molecules doing? What are the atoms doing on that really small level? And that was something that I would not have gotten from a textbook. So, my favorite high school memory would probably have to be when I created my own makeshift lab behind Mr. for Parker, my biology teacher's classroom, and he just let me safely give me the tools to experiment to experiment on bean plants suffering from drought. And I was able to look at how does that affect nutrition and that

019led me to advancing through multiple science fairs and ultimately reaching a stage where I can represent Indiana at the international science and engineering fair. Outside of science fairs, I also did HOSA, which is a health science event, and I'd been able to go to internationals. And outside of science, I also like to write. Uh, I'm a published writer and my short story just won an award from the Indiana Collegiate Press Association. So, my exposure to all these activities and awards are only due to BCSC's amazing staff and faculty. So, thank you so much. >> Hello and good evening. Thank you for having us all here. My name is Harshel Gandhi and I plan to go to Purdue University to major in computer science and eventually I hope to get a master's degree in computer science

020as well. I'm heavily involved in this uh clubs at Columbus North. I'm the founder of our computer science club, the president of our environmental club, president of our beta club, and the vice president of our robotics club. And with Beta Club, I've been able to place nationally in math competitions partially due to the club, but also the teachers here at North that have helped me. And speaking of teachers, my two favorite teachers are Mr. Spock and Mr. Schiffer because when I've gone through their classes, they've provided me an understanding of math, computer science, and physics that went past just basic classroom curricular. And they've also always uh fostered and been patient with all the questions I asked them, and they've really helped me develop my passion for these subjects. My favorite memory with North would

021probably be my senior project and that was me going back to Parkside Elementary School and teaching the students there computer science and I find this was really really significant to me because the reason I got into computer science was because someone did the same thing to me. So it was kind of a full circuit circle. I'm really really grateful for that. So thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Nino Kallaya and next year I plan to attend Indiana University in Bloomington to study human biology on a premedical track. Here at Columbus North High School, I'm the senior vice president as well as a varsity team captain for the girls tennis team. Now throughout my high school career, I've had a lot of classes and a lot of teachers that have been so impactful for

022me. But I feel like Jennifer Sin Whittle, Mrs. Stein Whittle, my C4 biomedical teacher, really stands out. She has cared for me in and out of the classroom. and every class that I've had with her has been my favorite. She taught me principles of biomedical sciences my freshman year and this year I'm in two of her classes, biomedical innovations and medical terminology and I've loved all these classes. And throughout my career, she's checked in on me as a student and as a person. So, I really appreciate her and all that she's done for me. My favorite high school memory actually comes from the girls tennis team. I remember playing at the IHSAA state tournament last year and my partner Annabelle Son and I, we made it to the semi-finals and although we lost, it was

023an amazing experience for me and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Thank you guys for having me. Hello, my name is Molina Ingalo. Thank you all for having me here today. After high school, I plan on going to Valper University to study accounting. My favorite subjects have been finite math and jewelry glass where I get to explore some of my more technical sides as well as my more creative sides. My favorite teacher has been Miss Dailyy because she teaches the advanced accounting program which got me interested in accounting and I am now choosing to do that as a career. My favorite high school memory has been this past spring break. I went with the National Honor Society here at Columbus North on a trip to Germany where we got to take a tour around

024there and see a lot of Germany. and that was just a nice experience. All right, thank you so much. >> Hi, my name is Kayn Ingalau. After high school, I plan to attend Purdue University and study computing infrastructure and network engineering technology. My favorite subjects have been information technology and 3D animation, which are both through C4. And my favorite club has been the 3D animation club. I've been a part of it for three years and I've made a short film for each year. Thank you. a movie every and Mrs. Wilson and the top 10 students from Columbus East High School, please come on up. Good evening. Thank you for having us. I am missing one up here today. Eleanor Dixon could not be with us tonight and she is our number two. So, um without

025further ado, we will present you the East Top 10. All righty. Good evening. My name is Abigail Fischer. You can call me Abby. And um my post high school plans, I plan to attend IvyTech Community College for an associates degree in dental assisting, which will also give me my expanded function certificate. And then my long-term goal is to become a dental hygienist. My favorite teachers and favorite subject has to be the C4 dental class with Mrs. Selby as well as Mrs. Webb, who I believe is in the audience. I love to help volunteer um in the science lab in my spare time also for um NHS hours and other volunteer hours like that. And then my favorite high school memory has to be for my senior project. I started and led the Happy Hobbies Craft

026Club and I'm very excited and happy with how that turned out. Thank you. Hi, my name is Gabriella Wen and I go by Gabby. After high school, I plan to attend Purdue University to study biology on a pre-med track. My favorite teacher has to be Mr. Chastain. He teaches AP bio and he loves his job and it really comes through and how he teaches. And my favorite high school memory has to be doing my senior project. I remodeled the Columbus East High School sensory room, which is a space for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities calm down and regulate their sensory processing. Um, and throughout high school, I've been involved in track, cross country, key club, student assembly, student government, HOSA, NHS, and other organizations. Hello everyone, my name is Sydney Johnson. My post high

027school plans are to go to IU Indie to study nursing on a premed track. My favorite teachers throughout high school, I would like to mention all the biomedical science teachers. They have all been really great. And also a shout out, Mr. Leno in anatomy. He has definitely made some things click for me. And then throughout high school, I have been the president of HOSA, which is Health Occupation Students of America. I'm the C4 ambassador for the biomedical sciences program and I'm also an NHS member. But something that has really truly stood out to me was my senior project. For my senior project, I created a closet in Columbus East. It's called the Confidence Closet and it holds free prom and professional wear for students to have access to. Thank you for having me. Hi, I'm

028Stephanie Christopher. Um, for my future plans, I plan to go to IU Bloomington as a direct admit to Kelly School of Business. Um, my favorite teacher, um, this kind of led to one of my passions of business is Mr. Vanderulk because he's just takes like we have creative ideas and he just runs with them and it's really awesome. Um, and then Mrs. Buck because she's like really enhanced my art skills. Um, leading to me winning some competitions which was awesome. Um, one of my favorite memories is my senior project because I'm really involved in my church youth group venture and I was able to tie that back in to school and like serve the community in Guatemala which was just even more personal because I'm originally adopted from Guatemala. So, it was cool being able

029to share that. Hi, I'm Cameron Keefe. Um, my post high school plans are to go to IU Bloomington to study criminal justice and join their uh, law enforcement cadet program hopefully, fingers crossed. Um, my favorite teachers and favorite subject is criminal justice and I can't pick a favorite out of those three teachers. I'm repping them tonight. We got the shirt on. Figured I'd show up for them. Um, my favorite high school memory or club is theater. I've been part of theater since my sophomore year. In this past year, I've stage managed or basically been the boss of both of our productions, and that was just a great opportunity and experience for me. Thank you for having me. >> Hi, my name is Lauren Degar. Um, for my future plans, I'm going to attend Butler University

030to major in health science, hopefully on a pre physicians assistant track. Um, my favorite teachers at East have been my science teachers. So, Mr. Lenot for AP environmental science and then Mrs. reporter for general chemistry and AP chemistry and I also student teach for her now. I student teach a general chemistry class. Um my favorite high school memory has been for the past three years I've been a C4 ambassador. So I've worked the eighth grade openhouse night. Um and along with the night there is an entire d entire day. So, I am at school from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. So, even though it's a 13-hour long day, um it's really fun to get to interact with the youth and see the kids coming in. Hi everyone, my name is Maria Miamoto Takiushi. Um after

031high school, I have not committed to a college yet, but I'll probably end up somewhere in the East Coast to major in cinematography with a focus in film, TV, and media studies and a minor in business. Um, my favorite teacher has been Mr. Rotor, my radio and TV teacher, and Mrs. Carol, my AP literature teacher. Um, they've both helped me both in the classroom and out of the classroom and just helped shape me as a person. My favorite high school memory, like Lauren, I am a C4 ambassador. Um, so I really like en I enjoy working with the kids and talking to the kids about the C4 program and all the amazing opportunities um that come with the program and leading the tours throughout the schools. Thank you. Hello, my name is uh Riley Ethridge.

032I'm going to attend Ball State this fall for graphic design. And my favorite teacher is also Mrs. Buck. Same with Stephanie. She's made me feel like I have a real shot in doing illustration and graphic design. Um, my favorite high school memory memory is probably that in graphic design in 2025, we do a girl up poster and girl is the organization where fifth and sixth grade girls come and see some of the STEM C4 and we do a poster contest where we submit to their uh contest and my poster for 2025 won. So, my poster was their poster and also it was on all of the shirts and the merchandise. So that was uh really gratifying to see that not only was I skillful at it, but that I was competent on a professional level.

033Hi, my name is Molly Burbrink. Uh next year I will be going to Purdue to major in natural resources and environmental science. Uh my favorite teachers have probably been Mrs. Porter, who taught me AP Chem and AP physics, and Dr. Harrison, who's been my English teacher these past two years. Uh, my favorite high school memory is probably when I went on caving with my paleontology class. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Good work. Thank you. >> Appreciate all the hard work. Thank you. Good luck. >> Thanks. That's why they were Thank you. Before uh before we move on too far, I want to ask if there were some teacher names that came up. Uh if you're a teacher in the room and one of these students mentioned your name, would you please stand so that we could

034recognize you two? And then I also want to recognize and thank the parents of all these students, parents and caregivers who supported the students during their journey. Thank you for what you do. You chose BCSC. We appreciate it. We hope we didn't let you down. These are some great students. Congratulations to the parents too. At this time, Dr. Stalbomb, please come up and tell us about our classified staff members of the year. Most most people don't know. BCSSE employs about 2,000 total employees and about 800 of them are certified, meaning we have a license to teacher, be an administrator. So, the overwhelming majority of our employees are actually classified staff who fill a dozens of different roles across the district and each year they uh each building elects a classified staff member of the year.

035Dr. Stalbomb, please tell us about those folks. >> Certainly will. First, we're going to play a video by Wes Anderson presenting some of our classified employees of the year. Hi, I'm Dr. Aaron Stalbomb, assistant superintendent at BCSC. We value the care that our classified employees place into ensuring every student in our school corporation thrives in a healthy, safe, and welcoming environment. From supporting students in the classroom to maintaining healthy and efficient operations of our school buildings, our classified staff's commitment to student success is unparalleled. Recognizing distinguished staff throughout BCSSE is a valued tradition. We are proud to introduce our BCSSE 2026 classified employees of the year. My name is Amber Wallace. I am a TA here at East High School in the English and social studies department and I also am the food pantry coordinator.

036I love getting to interact with the kids. Um I didn't think that I would like high school children having a couple of my own, but um I really do love them. >> In my job um at at Lincoln, I am a um special ed TA. Um, I work with kids that are struggling in math and I teach math all day, every day. I love what I do because I love hearing the kids get excited about coming to the library. Um, you know, it wasn't always everybody's favorite special whenever I was in elementary school. So, I love that the kids get excited about it. Um, and I love that we fostered a love of reading here. When I see the aha moment in in the kid, I get cold chills. I'm getting cold chills just thinking

037about it. That is a feeling that I can't even explain. Um, it just makes me uh h it makes me want to cry. >> It makes me feel proud for them and that they were able to accomplish it in whatever method that took for them, right? Cuz every child learns differently. It's just it just really makes me happy and it makes me proud for them and seeing the pride that they find in themselves is where that's at for me and knowing that they can do it. I had a lot of really great um teachers coming through BCSSE um and they really inspired me to love reading. My librarian at elementary school at Mount Healthy was Carla Craig um and she really fostered a huge love of reading in me. >> What uh keeps me coming

038back here every day to Lincoln Elementary is the kids. Um they make me laugh, they make me cry. Um, but watching them grow and succeed, um, is the highlight of my day. >> I was working on putting together a cart of some books, um, and one of my fifth grade classes came in and they held up, um, a bunch of papers that spelled out congratulations, um, and they had my certificate and some flowers for me. So, it was super fun. One of my students uh, came up and and I was told he needed help with uh, with his math on his on his Chromebook. So, I took his Chromebook and I opened it and there was a a picture of the certificate that I got that said uh support staff employee of the year and

039I was shocked. Yeah. So, one of my students came up and shared that with me and that was just uh priceless. Really, I'm a give back type person. I like being involved in the community. I like helping where I can, um, being active. And so this sort of, you know, kind of rang a little bell for me that this was interesting and I wanted to do it. I work with the best people and I have I feel like I have the best job in the whole world. Um, I get to come to work every day and I get to laugh and I get to have fun and I get to play and I get to to see them grow. Yes. And with that, I am honored to announce the 202526 classified employee of the year

040for each school building and department. Nominations were accepted from students, staff, families, and community members. Voting then occurred to determine the classified employees of the year. As I call each employee of the year up to the front, I do ask that the audience hold their applause in order to hear each person's name and kind words from their building or department administrator. We will start with Katie Conrad from the administration building who is a federal grant specialist. Katie is a true team player at the administration building. She ensures that our federal grants are compliant and effective and is always willing to lend her wisdom to a project. Whether it be developing a process or organizing a pitchin, she is a valuable member of the BCSC team. Paula Ladrid, Clifty Creek media media tech specialist. Paula has

041a special gift for turning every book into an adventure, every lesson into a moment of wonder, and every visit to the library into something our Cougars look forward to. Her creativity, kindness, and passion for literacy help our students build strong reading skills, imagination, and confidence. Donnie Carlock, CSA Fodria, student wellness specialist. Donnie embodies the heart of our school. He supports students well-being and ensures nearly all students in grades four through six are connected to a club or activity. His tireless dedication, deep investment in students and families, and unwavering advocacy for our school community make him exceptionally deserving of CSA Fodria's award. Karen Scarro, CSA Lincoln special education teaching assistant. Congratulations to Karen. Whether it's tackling the heat and sweat of our fifth and sixth grade camping trips, standing in the rain during car rider line,

042or working one-on-one with students who need additional support, Karen is always ready to lend a hand. We are fortunate to have her as part of our team. Charlotte Johnson, Mounty Prime Time Teaching Assistant. Charlotte has been a dedicated member of the Mountalthy family for 20 years. Over the two decades she has spent with us, she has become an absolute staple of our community. Whether she's interacting with students or staff, Charlotte is known for showing up every day with a genuine smile on her face and a positive attitude that lifts everyone around her. Angelica Simpson, Parkside parent engagement interpreter. Angelica is a great asset to our school and families. She is always ready to help anytime she is needed. Her positive demeanor is felt among all staff members and students. She is much appreciated by our

043Spanish-sp speakaking families and teachers when translations are needed. She goes above and beyond her role as our school interpreter to help our entire community. Susanna Gonzalez Lur Richard's parent engagement interpreter. Sus's dedication as a BCSSE parent engagement interpreter brings clarity, understanding, and dignity to every interaction with the community. She consistently goes above and beyond as a co-worker, offering unwavering support, professionalism, and cultural insight that strengthens BCSC every day. Kennedy Ingalau, Schmidt, media tech specialist. Kennedy goes above and beyond in her role by creating an engaging and effective literacy lab while supporting students in countless ways. From planning and attending family nights to cheering them on at soccer games, she consistently shows up for kids. She jumps in to cover classrooms, is always willing to host a student for a break, and has creative ideas that

044engage every learner. We're so grateful for Kennedy. Amanda Green, Southside administrative assistant to the principal. Amanda is a person of remarkable dedication, kindness, and passion. Amanda has become a driving force for positive change in our Southside community. As a former kindergarten teachers assistant and now a stellar administrative assistant, she has a profound impact on everyone around her, fostering a culture of inclusivity, empathy, and empowerment. Crystal Miller, Taylorville Building Secretary. As the building secretary at Taylorville Elementary, Crystal is one of the first people you see walking in the door, and she always greets each person with a smile. Kristen helps students, staff, and visitors feel welcomed to Taylor'sville with her warmth and caring each day. Wendy Routan, central administrative assistant to the principal. Wendy has a great wealth of knowledge about all things Central and is

045the go-to person for help or information. She loves to take on new challenges and is a team player willing to help out parents, staff, and students when needed. We appreciate her smile and sense of humor. Bethany Gil, Northside special education teaching assistant. Bethany is dedicated, reliable, and shows a strong commitment to supporting students and staff each day. She has recently joined a BCSSE transition to teaching program to further her impact on student learning. Bethy's positive attitude and contributions make a meaningful difference at Northside Middle School. Amber Wallace, Columbus East, English and Social Studies TA. Amber consistently goes above and beyond to make East a better place for both staff and students. She can regularly be seen creating marketing materials, supporting student learning, holding the door open for students in the morning, and managing the Columbus

046East food pantry. She does it all with a positive attitude, a creative mind, a great smile, and a genuine heart for others. We are incredibly fortunate to have her at East. Mona McGee, Columbus North Building Tech 2. Mona works tirelessly to solve technology issues for all within our building quickly and efficiently. She has a knack for being kind, no matter where your technology expertise level lies. We are grateful for Mona's unwavering support at Columbus North. Patricia Ewing, CSA Newech, special education teaching assistant. Patricia is a dedicated special education teaching assistant who tackles the most demanding tasks with an infectious smile and a heart for service. Beyond her daily responsibilities, she consistently goes above and beyond to foster a positive school culture, approaching every challenge with kindness and patience. Cynthia Dilling, Johnson Early Education Center Elementary

047Cafeteria Manager. Cynthia is a key part of our day-to-day operations at Johnson Early Education Center. She makes sure meals are prepared and served on time while keeping the kitchen and cafeteria clean, safe, and organized. Her reliability and teamwork help everything run smoothly. And she knows genuine care or she shows genuine care for our children and staff. We truly value the role she plays in supporting a positive and well functioning environment for our school. Kim Corbin Mcdal, administrative assistant to the principal. Kim does a great job of taking care of both our high school staff and adult education staff. She is always there to help them with any supplies they need for their students along with service with a smile. She is a very valuable and appreciated team member of our McDow staff. Matt Sher, information

048services center senior network administrator. We are thankful to Matt for going above and beyond expectations, for establishing the network foundation for BCSSE technology, and for always being a consistent and reliable team member in the ISC department. Matt Gilker, operations HVAC technician. Matt is a highly knowledgeable and skilled HVAC technician who consistently demonstrates a strong commitment to his work. He is eager to expand his understanding of our systems and is always willing to support his teammates when needed. His expertise, initiative, and collaborative attitude make him a valuable asset to the maintenance team. We also want to celebrate those that were not able to join us this evening. Rachel Wy, prime time teaching assistant, Rock Creek Elementary School. Samantha Claycomb, administrative assistant, Columbus Virtual Pathway. Tanya Moore, elementary lead custodian, Smith Elementary School, and Don Pedigo, teachers

049assistant, Columbus Behavioral Center. With 218 years of BCSC experience, please join me in celebrating the 2025 2026 classified employees of the year. Good job. >> Congratulations. Thanks. >> Good job. >> Thanks for coming tonight. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you for all you do. Thank you. >> Congratulations. Thank you very much so much. >> Congratulations on the recognition. >> I love your shirt. >> Thank you for all you do. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, you're a star. Congratulations. >> Thank you very much. Thanks for coming tonight. >> I'm a big fan of your daughter. Good >> job. We're lucky to have her. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Good recognition. They're running out before we can trap them in taking pictures. >> People ran to the door to avoid taking member reports. I'll just go down

050the line. I hit the full screen. >> Hi, I'm Dr. Aaron Stalbomb, assistant superintendent at BCSC. We value the >> It happened last time, too. >> It was lovely the first time. Our meeting uh ladies and gentlemen, our meeting at this point remains a public meeting but it'll kind of shift uh from celebrations to business. So if you are interested in the business of the school corporation, you are welcome to stay. If you were here for the celebrations and you have other things to do this evening, we certainly understand that. Next item on our agenda is school board member reports. Each of the school board members is active on a committee or two on behalf of the school board and this is our chance to catch up with what our colleagues have been doing. Uh

051Mr. Glick, if it's okay, I'll start at your end of the table. >> On uh April 14th, we had the last wellness council meeting of this school year. Uh it started off with basically discussing possible changes to amount of screen time and network time as we move forward in education as a whole. Um in fact I believe it was the LA Times last week talking about they're actually looking at reducing screen time and and use of Chromebooks and one-on-one or one to one ratio uh equipment. Uh so we look forward to that. Some of those also go into parental control measures where parents are going to be able to see how much time uh students are actually accessing the screen or what sites you're going to look at and everything like that. Um and then

052also part of that discussion is at what age do we really find appropriate and how much time like there's going to be a lot to go into this so it's going to be really interesting. The other big one I've seen a lot around the state where uh boards have already started adopting the cell phone ban laws. Um and so we're going to have a lot of discussion around that moving forward of how we're going to approach it as an organization. Um next month is mental uh mental health awareness month. So keep that in mind. A lot of programs to go to that. It's very important. Um, and then the other thing we've talked about it m multiple times in the past is the we choose us campaign which is it's a campaign talking about uh

053students who have either chosen to not participate in any sort of uh chemicals or drugs use throughout their entire life or those who have been involved in drug use and why they've chosen to quit and change their path as they move forward. forward. And so next fall there's going to be a big campaign where on the football stadium signs and and videos, kids are actually going to be able to tell their story along with uh posters throughout the schools as well. And then to shift directions, um the district facilities did not meet. However, over the last three weeks, we did have multiple uh meetings where we talked about the redistricting moving forward. If you were not able to attend those, you can actually see that at bcsseenvision2030.org. Uh there's a video posted there some of

054the uh um plans that we have to move forward along with it's also on the YouTube uh page and then additionally to that page is questions that were asked and some frequently asked questions that the administration had answered. so you can see what people are curious about in the in the community. So, >> thank you, Mr. Glick. Yeah, those technology issues are really all over the news, so we appreciate your work on that. Uh, Miss Lloyd, >> good evening. Um, a few updates from the school foundation. Uh, some exciting news. Uh two weeks ago uh the South Asian Committee held the MEA gala and that supports BCSF by funding STEM awards for promising students, dedicated teachers and community mentors. So I thought it'd be fun to mention our students that were celebrated. So our award

055winners for STEM hero awards included Reagan Goen, Eduardo Michelle Sia Howser, Bruna Carrera, Neil Atmaker, Elena Pinrod, Cyri Devaku Tapu, and Harshel. You're still here, right? Yep. Um some some STEM um student of the year awards went to Vinka Lee, Xavier Zang, and Evan Bush. and teacher of the year for STEM. Acknowledgements were Jessica Davis from Columbus North, Sarah Lam from Northside and Lisa Haynes from Smith Elementary. And then our community um STEM uh mentor of the year was Sam Gekckler and Trippy Gupta. So they spend a lot of time and give a lot of energy to our students in the community. So it was great to see them honored. Um this past weekend was also the good, better, best 5K. This race honors the legacy of longtime BCSC Hall of Fame educators Russ Wallace

056and Chuck Grimes. Uh proceeds support the good, better, best recognition, which is awarded to BCSC employee who goes above and beyond to provide a positive experience for their students. And this year's recipient was Mrs. Bridget Steel from CSA Newekch. And I know she was mentioned by both of their students tonight. So, thank you, Mrs. Steel, for all that you do. Um the foundation is also actively hiring for a new executive director. This is posted um publicly. So if you know of anyone that would be interested in moving this mission forward, we encourage you um to reach out to them. And most exciting is that BCSF will be awarding scholarships here in a couple weeks to lots of deserving students. >> Excellent. >> Thank you, Miss Lloyd. Uh Mr. Now, >> the IU Columbus Advisory Board

057met on April 8th and former our former superintendent, Dr. Roberts, led a brainstorming session on Quest, Envisioning Columbus's future. Um the advisory board members sat at tables with current and past um IU Columbus students and in the discussion there was an emphasis on providing early childhood education um for our community and preparing high school graduates for next steps and providing local postsecary opportunities. So there were many BCSSE connections there. Um, on April 16th, um, this in in regards to my role as the legislative liaison for the board, on April 16th, Mr. Major, Mr. Glick, Miss Wen, Miss Lloyd, Mr. Stenner, Dr. Phillips, and myself attended the Indiana State School Board Association spring regional meeting. Um, we received an update on the 2026 legislative session, and I have three things that impact us. Couple of them,

058Mr. Glick already referred to um the the new there's a new digital device legislation that bans cell phones, smartphones, and other student-owned devices during the school day from bell-to bell. Um the law requires that students leave devices at home or the devices are stored in a way that students cannot access them. The challenge for us at BCSSC is the number of students who move from one building to another during the day. But there has been a committee that's been looking at that ever since the last legislation about cell phones came out. So we are um on track to move forward with that. >> That was the collective grumbling of every high school student in the town. >> Um and the other technology um related law that Mr. Glick referred to um it place it requires

059that schools place the ability to control school devices on um with parents and um BCSC is um prepared um we're getting prepared to do that. um this this change will oh we have new ways of updating um the access that that parents and families will have and they will get information on that with the new school year next year. So we're in good shape to roll that out. And the third one I want to mention is um they legislature has these bills called um education matters that are like hundred or more pages long. So, I won't go through all the details, but there is one um part of one of those that talks about a new requirement to provide a math screener for elementary students and inform parents of students that are below expectations beginning

060in third grade. This will be coordinated with the iLearn quarterly checkpoints for early grades. Dr. Dr. Laura Hack is already working with her team to choose one of the state approved screeners that will be paid for through a formative assessment grant. We currently use middle school math placement as one of our measures for our goal on STEM education and this should feed right into that that process as we keep track of kids all the way through elementary school. >> Thank you, Mr. N and Mr. Major. Yeah, two very quick things. Uh, city redevelopment met uh, this last week and during that they talked about uh, updates for expenses and project management for the master plan for the Milra Park. There were some other updates for some smaller projects, but that was what the meeting focused

061on. We also met uh, since our last meeting with the health trust and found that enrollment is about flat. Uh, claims are slightly up and emergency room use is lower. And so that's good. People aren't getting hurt. Um that's wonderful news. And uh based on everything that's we're seeing, we're looking pretty close to what we had uh seen last year. And so we do have more meetings scheduled for this year obviously. And we hope to be able to maintain uh the good track record with cost that we've had. So thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Major. Uh yeah, we all hope the containment cost can continue. Good work. Uh, Miss Wen, >> no updates from my committees. >> Very good. That concludes schoolboard member reports. Uh, Dr. Phillips, before I move on, I should mention

062for anybody that's following along on the, uh, printed agenda this evening. We skipped item 2C, uh, governor's work ethic certificates, and that is being moved to our May meeting. Is that right, Dr. Phillips? Correct. >> So, next are our four cabinet reports. Thank you, Mr. Ster. Mr. Edwards and uh his team, if he has a team with him tonight, will come up and share just a brief update. Uh the board has requested multiple times that we not wait until the data is final, but give updates throughout. Uh and we just wrapped up our quarter three meetings with each of the cohorts, so nine meetings across the district. And I have some uh good news to share with you, Mr. Edwards. I didn't lie on purpose. >> I know he misspoke. >> I think I'm on

063now. >> There we go. >> That's got outstanding. Here we go. I'll I'll start over. Uh but give you the short version. Uh I did bring my phone up here to keep me on pace because I tend to talk a lot when we get uh talking about the cohorts. It's something that is exciting and we've been doing it for a while now and it's still exciting which is a good thing. So again, when we uh get to this point in the year, we have been through uh three quarterly meetings with the cohorts. And so that gives us an opportunity to take a look at our data and and see where we're going to land. So uh we do like to update you uh frequently to give you um kind of a heads up on where

064we are. Um and tonight, next slide. Uh I'd like to Is that me? Man, I'm out of sync here. There we go. Perfect. I'd like to uh give you an overview of what's going on. Um so these are uh this is the cohort by the numbers. So we've got about 894 active students. Um and I say active, but that number does include uh numbers of students who are still in school and our early grads. And those folks um again are the ones that we say are active um students. And so last year, you remember, uh, we posted a graduation rate of 92.41%. Uh, and I'm happy to report that based on everything that we see at this point, we, uh, are expecting to jump again. Um, and so we should land somewhere between 93 and

065a half% and 95%. Uh, again, that is a conservative estimate. Um, and we're we're pretty happy with that. So, uh, as we get closer, uh, we'll know more, but right now I feel comfortable telling you that we're going to land between 93 and 95%. And again, we have built a system, uh, all the folks in the back here. So, uh, the the north team is here, the east team is here, uh, Mr. Geel and his folks are here. Um, and they're all working very hard to diagnose individual student needs that that leads to individual student success and then collective success for BCSSC. And so that's exactly the way the system's supposed to work and it's in uh we're we're getting through it. So we're doing a great job. Uh, next slide. So uh we again

066here are KPIs, key performance indicators. Uh we continue to meet with parents on a regular basis. Uh and again we are trying to increase participation by both parents and students and that leads to completion. Uh we have seen significant decreases in the number of individuals with FS uh which means more students passing more classes. We have seen a 93.5% reduction in the number of students on the credit deficient list which is a wild thing to say but that again is I guess if it's the we're on key performance indicators that is the key of the key. So again, keeping students on track has led us to be able to post these numbers. So again, last year's historic graduation rate, 92.4%, we should see another increase. Thank you. >> Questions? >> Yeah, real real quick. Um,

067one thing that this is all great work. So, the the academic coaches are doing everything that we had hoped they would do. Um, two real quick, hopefully simple requests to add to this. Would it be possible to not just look at uh uh you know the quantity of students we have, but the quality of graduates that we get? So by that maybe because we're seeing a decrease in failing students, maybe get like an average GPA that we could look at to see hopefully over time we'll see that trend up uh more and more because we've got kids that are are passing and graduating. And then I don't know another metric might be good to look at average SAT score. And so between those two, I think that would give us a really good feel for

068not just that we're graduating kids, but the kids that are graduating are performing in a much better way. Large in part uh to the effort on the academic coaches and assistant principles in the cohort system. >> I have uh notated my notes and I will yes, we'll talk about that and make those changes. Thank you. Thank you. >> Our projected rate compared to state averages or similar districts of our size. >> Those are two different questions. Um and I'll say that uh with the state we surpassed the state last year. So when we posted the 90.01 two years ago, that put us neck andneck with the state. And then when we posted the 92.41 4-1 last year, we actually surpassed the state. So again, without knowing exactly what the how the state's moving, I'm going

069to say that we're going to stay a ahead of the state. Um and then similar schools of our size, um those that ranges, they're they're kind of all over the place. So, I truly appreciate your work on this and the cohort's work on this and I also appreciate getting the update before we know the the official um we realize it could change possibly even go up. Um I um well, first of all, to kind of dovetail off what Mr. major said. I I mentioned this before and down the road um I think a great measure for us to see would be the number of our the number of students who graduate with college credit and and then maybe how much college credit they graduate with. I think that's a huge um marketing point for our

070school system. Um but I have a question. So, as as we um that you and the cohort groups have worked so hard to increase our graduation rate, I would imagine you meet tougher and tougher challenges in terms of the kids who the smaller group of kids who aren't making it. Um what are some of the challenges that that you and the teams face for for the kids that aren't part of that 95%. >> Mr. Edwards, I'll jump in on that one if you don't mind. I'm passionate about this topic and have set in on all of these cohort meetings for the last two years and I think I've said it here before some of the most enjoyable and intense conversations I've had in my educational career so far with these teams as they go student

071by student um down the line and talk about all the resources they allocate to students. I I think what and Mr. Edwards, feel free to to add on, but as the number of students in each cohort that we're looking at that are behind in credits earned gets shorter, um it's easier to identify commonalities among those students and and I mentioned this once uh recently in a board meeting, but the number of our students again that the ones who are left um still struggling to get across that finish line, it's the amount of transiency, the number of students who have moved in recently and then in particular the number of students who have left BCSSE to attend another district's virtual program. Um, and I'll just be blunt and say essentially to escape the accountability that these

072teams put on these students and families to make sure that they're attending that they're if they're attending one of our virtual programs that they're online every day and that they're getting a certain grade uh certain grade or they tell them you have to come back in person where we can help you be successful. Um, when folks don't want to do that work, they go to another virtual program in another community that anyone can enroll in. And then two months, two semesters, or two years later, those students come back to us and they have earned zero credits while they were gone. They enter then back into our denominator once they enroll in your school because they live here and we're a public school and we take all takers. they go back into your denominator for calculating

073your graduation rate. And I want to point out Kelly Wilson was up here earlier. I saw her back in the summer in July and asked her how it was going and she said, "It's great. We got seven or eight new students this summer, all but one of which is who is behind schedule to graduate in time. And these are for seniors this year." And she said, "But we have a plan for every single one of We met with every family. Um, and I believe just more than half of those students had left for a virtual program before or a homeschool program. So, that's one that I I think we really need to address through legislation and programs that enroll students from other communities, don't make any progress with them, and then send them back to

074the the district they came from. And then I will point out the uh the um go back to the last slide, the alternative diploma. um there is a 1% cap on the number of um alternative diplomas that a district is allowed. And so because you know we see have you see that we have fewer than 900 students in our cohorts collectively um that means that those students who are usually students who are in life skills programs um non-verbal development developmentally delayed um and don't have the skill set to perform in a classroom in a traditional way. Um, so that means four five of those students will not count towards our graduation rate. And so we'll have if if that number stays at 13 and our cohort is still under nine, we would only get eight

075students that could qualify for an alternative diploma. And then the last thing that I'll mention is that um as these teams have um achieved that 93% reduction in the number of students on the credit deficient list, they are able now to start shifting some of their resources to uh upstream problems and to focus on the whole spectrum of our student population. We challenged them from day one. You had two jobs, make relationships and graduate students. and they did a tremendous job of that, but allocated obviously a disproportionately high amount of their time towards students who were behind in credits earned to graduate. Now that they reduce that number, they're able to spread their time both looking at their future cohorts like these senior uh Mrs. Hester and Mr. Mrs. Wilson that were just here. They're

076spending now time with their eighth graders this semester to help build relationships early on and then also to pay attention to things like uh college credits earned um the students at the top of the spectrum, many of whom we saw here tonight. Anything I missed there from themes that we picked up there, Charles? >> No, that is uh ridiculously thorough. Um but that's why you're in the seat. Uh the other thing I'll say is that the 93.5 reduction that is over the course of three years for uh the senior cohorts. And remind me Mr. Edwards, the students that will graduate this year or the the few that will not graduate this year, how many years have they been a part of what we call the cohort system? >> Three years. >> Actually, that te's up

077a question or maybe suggestion. So, we met my daughter here tonight. I can brag on her the entire meeting. Okay. And then I'll stop. Um and and she's done really well, but she got to experience pre-cohort and that first year while we're figuring it out and then two years once we found our groove. And I just don't know if we've ever considered getting um stakeholder feedback from students on the cohort model and asking their opinions on how we're serving them and if they have any suggestions. they might be pointing or they may point out something that's incredible that um we don't even recognize as being a bright spot. So, um asking their feedback I think would be helpful. >> I'm capturing that. I we ask a lot of questions in those quarterlys, but I don't

078think I've ever asked that one. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Edwards. We appreciate the report. >> Thank you. Next, we have a operating operating referendum results and update. I think I've shared with you multiple times that I believe the most important organizational strategic objective for us in the next 12 months is to renew the operating referendum for BCSSE. And uh we as part of that have provided an annual update every year since the referendum was passed in 2020. And so this is the 2026 update for you. >> Thank you for allowing us to share this tonight. This specific update will include staff and student results generated as a return on investment from the operating referendum. So, I'm going to start by handing the microphone to Mandy Keel, CEA vice president. Thank you, Dr.

079Stalbomb. When we approached our community in 2020 asking for their support of our operating referendum, we spoke about how changes at the state level had severely affected the funding available for public education. We also addressed how our teachers working conditions directly affect our students learning conditions and ultimately their learning outcomes. We were so grateful for our community support of BCSSE to invest in safety and security measures for our students as well as for our efforts to both recruit and retain great teachers, which has helped generate the historical student outcomes you're hearing about this evening. This graph shows the impact of the referendum on our average BCSSE teacher salary. As you can see, without the referendum, our average teacher salary would fall below the statewide average. While a 2024 report cited by the Indiana Capital Chronicle

080showed Indiana had the second lowest inflation adjusted increase in education spending in the nation from 2002 to 2020 at only 1.9%. Our Indiana legislature did give local communities like ours the opportunity through referenda to address this shortfall. From an article released on the Republic's website today and similarly to our situation in 2020, Indiana continues to rank 38th in the nation in average teacher salary. And while still lagging behind the national average, thankfully due to our operating referendum, BCSSE has been able to move our average teacher salary at least closer to that of our surrounding states. Since passing the referendum, we have shared annual updates during our schoolboard meetings and posted information on our BCSC website on exactly how this vital community investment is being utilized. All of our classified staff receive additional compensation from the

081referendum and we now have almost 600 teachers receiving additional salary dollars to remain competitive with districts around us and throughout the state which has enabled us to retain these great teachers who have helped us with continued positive outcomes for the children in our community. While the numbers and data certainly tell a very compelling story, it's the countless personal narratives that I've heard from our CA members that really resonate. The referendum has made such a positive impact on our local educators and ultimately that difference continues to be reflected both in student performance and our teacher retention metrics. It has strengthened and continues to reinforce the importance of Columbus as a fantastic place to thrive. I'll turn it back over to Dr. Stalbomb. Thank you, Mandy. Overarchingly, the goals of our operating referendum include attracting, recruiting, and

082retaining great teachers and classified staff, having safe schools at BCSC, and generating strong student outcomes. The next portion of our presentation will provide staff and student examples of BCSC's ability to actualize these goals through the operating referendum investment. I ask that the Columbus East Science Department join me. I am pleased to introduce the Columbus East High School Science Department. East Science Department is led by Aaron Lenat, the department chair. There are nine science teachers at Columbus East supported by one teachers assistant dedicated to the lab space with 103 years of experience. I will hand it over to Aaron to help us celebrate the strong student outcomes generated from our Columbus East science department. >> Thank you. Good evening. And we also uh skipped the Harvard orientation to be here tonight. So, I just wanted to

083share that with you. Uh my name is Erin. I'll just take a few minutes of your time tonight. Um, I've assembled a an awesome crew tonight with students and teachers and they're going to help translate uh how retaining teachers uh what we're able to do with that, what that looks like in both quantitative and qualitative sense. So, um I have been very fortunate to to work here and retain. We have a high retention rate at both the high school and the middle school. And here in a second, I'll turn it over to a student that you've already met tonight. Uh she's going to talk to us about our AP scores. And then we'll turn it over um I would turn over to Mrs. Webb, who's also whose name has also been mentioned tonight. She's our

084lab TA extraordinaire and she manages chaos. If you've had the opportunity to go into lab on a together we lead, you've seen it firsthand with thousands of students in and out each week. And then finally, uh Mrs. Prather who comes to us a few years ago from uh we were able to wrangle her from u uh regional and she entered a TT uh program and she's a a rockstar teacher. Uh but before I turn it over, I had a serendipitous moment Friday afternoon and uh Dr. Stal was nice enough to reply to me over the weekend. uh another teacher in our department, Lisa Porter, whose name has been brought up several times tonight, another rockstar teacher. Um she uh is our teacher of the year at East science teacher and she has uh been asked

085to fill out this paperwork for the next level of uh to to see if she went at the at the corporation level. And so she sent out um some of the the her responses to some of the cues uh uh of the paperwork for this and she wanted to share it with the teachers in science department and I thought I'm going to share this tonight because she has no idea that I was going to be here tonight but it was perfect. It was too perfect to pass up. So this is from Lisa Porter. One important reason, let me give you some backdrop. She could have she planned on leaving six years ago, right? She's still with us obviously and a rockstar teacher. One important reason I've stayed for six more years and plan on at

086least a few more is because of this lunchtime I have with colleagues. And nothing contributes to school culture more than retaining teachers and staff who care, who collaborate, who keep updating their lessons, who trade secrets about how to manage squirrely kids, and who want to support each other and their students in all the way they all the ways they know how. Okay, so here's Miss DNA. Uh hello again. So I just want to talk about AP classes in the science department at East. Um through AP classes, I've been able to accumulate many credit hours that I can use for college. So save me a lot of money. Um I also really appreciate the teachers at Columbus East because I'm obviously very interested in science, but I also see students who are not and the teachers

087find a way to make it engaging for everyone. Um along with teacher retention, I have had Mrs. Porter that he just mentioned for three of the four years in high school. Um, so I've taken more than one science classes in my years. So she's not the only teacher I've had, but I've seen her in all sorts of classes in the more motivated AP classes and in the harder to wrangle general classes. Um, and she makes sure that all the kids are paying attention, they take something away, and that everyone learns at least a little bit about science and sparks that passion that she definitely sparked in me. >> Thanks, Lauren. So, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about um these amazing, excuse me, veteran teachers that we have. They do have over

088103 years of experience. They constantly strive to better themselves, better their courses for their students, and to better their students. Because of this, we offer the highest number of science, unique science classes for a school our size in the state. We offer 17 different courses, six of which are AP and two dual credit classes. Um, as Erin said, if you've not been to the lab at East, come see what the chaos is about. It's over 10,000 square feet of up to eight classes at one time doing eight totally different things. Um, and we do hold it all together, but that's where the teachers make the spark happen for the students. >> Hello everybody. Um, I'm very happy to be part of East and I see myself being there for at least the unforeseeable future. And

089this has to do because of those veteran teachers. They've welcomed me in. They show me the way. They lead me to what I need to know. Um, and I can't wait to continue to follow in their footsteps as I've just um started my journey with teaching. But um because of our experienced teachers, we get to take our kids on some magnificent field trips such as the ocean kids get to go to the Keys in Florida. Um do some science. They're not just hanging out there. Um they get to go to the Falls of Ohio. Mr. Lenot is going to take his kids to the IU cadaavver lab so that way the anatomy kids can really get in there with the human bodies. Um, and of course, uh, for AP chemistry, they get to go to

090the forensics lab and get to see all the kinds of science that they do when you're an adult out in the world. Thank you, East Science Department. It is now my honor to introduce the Columbus and North Math Department. North's math department is led by Brad Brham, the department chair. if he would join me. There are 14 math teachers at Columbus North with 215 years of BCSSE experience. I'm excited to hand it over to the math department to help us celebrate their strong student outcomes. >> Thank you. >> Hi, good evening once again. I'm Brad Brandham. I'm the head of the math department at Columbus North High School and also North Side Middle School. Um this is my 21st year here at CNHS and all of my experience has been in BCSC. I'm going to

091take a second to introduce my representatives of the math department that we have here this evening. Uh heard his name many times earlier in the top 10. This is Mr. Nathan Schaefer who has 20 years of BCSC experience all at Columbus North High School. We have Ean Jassuja who has been uh in BCSC since third grade and attended Parkside then Northside then North. And Harshel Gandhi who has um been in BCSC for his entire K12 experience and attended Parkside, North Side and North. We're going to share with you some of our student outcomes. >> Uh thank you. First outcome I'd like to share is we had 61% increase in AP math course enrollment for the 2026 2027 uh school year compared to four years ago. Uh, as an AP calculus teacher, uh, you've heard that

092I'm extremely blessed to have great students, but I'm also blessed to have great colleagues that teach my students before they get to me and prepare them, uh, to do really well in my class. Um, next thing, SAT math average scores above state, national, and global averages. Um, I also teach pre-calculus and I'm blessed to have a great core of curriculum team to work together with uh to prepare our students to do the best they can on that SAT math section and having experienced and stable teachers to work with has been really great. >> Hello, my name is Ean Jassuja. I participated in IML, Indiana Math League, all four years of of high school. And I'm happy to announce that this year, for the first time in school history, we were the 2526 state champions for

093IML. And I think this reflects the strength and consist consistency of our program at North. Throughout high school, I've taken math courses from algebra to calculus to statistics, a wide variety, and each build my understanding step by step. A major reason for my success though and confidence going into each of my AP tests and exams was through the instructions of my teachers who are each passion passionate about the subjects they teach and they focus on building conceptual understanding rather than memorization. Uh I still remember Mr. Sheiffer's explanations of how an integral sweeps out area and how a double integral sweeps out you guessed it volume. And because of that instruction, I remember that I felt genuinely prepared and confident on exam day for the AP test. And these experiences show sort of how uh the

094math program built by our teachers builds both achievement and long-term confidence for all our students. Hello, my name is Harsh Lagani and I'm also really glad to share in 2023 our Indiana academic Super Bowl team from Columbus North came first place in all of Indiana and then the following year we came top three in Indiana and I was part of both of those teams and I think that really speaks to how much uh quality and passion our teachers have. Like Ean mentioned before our teachers not only teaches just classroom material but they also explain the why and the how behind how formulas are created. not just give us the formula and then expect us to use it which has really helped me with uh developing my passion for math and computer science and now I

095actually plan to major in computer science. My math journey started in North Side. I started with algebra 1. I went to AP Calculus BC with Mr. Schiffer and currently I'm taking linear algebra and differential equations through Ball State University. I think the only reason I am here is because of all the support I've gotten from the math teachers in our department and they've given me the confidence to be able to take these classes. So I'm really really grateful for such high quality teachers and I hope this continues. Oops. So just kind of wrap things up. Um although we are not perfect and and continuously striving for improvement, the these student outcomes are not by accident. With only one new hireer in the last three years, we are a highly qualified, experienced staff that is passionate

096about the subject that we teach. We understand how the courses we teach connect to previously learned concepts and skills, and we know what skills and concepts students need to be successful at the next level. Thank you for this opportunity to represent the CNHS math department. >> Thank you, North Math department. I am thrilled to welcome the third grade team at Parkside Elementary School. With four teachers, one prime time TA, and 73 years of experience at BCSSE, this team has demonstrated exponential growth in student learning. And I'm happy to hand the microphone over to Chris Smith to introduce. >> Thank you. I'm pleased to bring to you tonight the third grade team from Parkside Elementary School. I have four teachers here with me tonight and one prime time TA. Teachers are Sabrina Rollins, Leanne Vincent, Lorie

097Love, Debbie Brower, and TA Sun Rex wrote. Many of the teams been together for more than four years, but we've had four consistent years at Parkside with this entire team. And it's just so important because it takes time to learn to work together and figure out how to reach student needs and plan for student success. So, it's my pleasure to give the mic to Debbie. She's going to share some she's going to share some data with you and then she'll turn it over to Sabrina to to talk about some of the things they are able to do as a team since they've been together for so long. Good evening. In 2019, we had an iid passing rate of 77.2%. And our rate has gone up every year since then. Um the scores rose to 92.8%

098last year and now this year we're on pace for 95% passing rate. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Sabrina Rollins and I'm a proud third grade teacher at Parkside Elementary. Um I also have the honor of representing this wonderful third grade team and um we would like to also acknowledge the hard work and dedication that our K through2 teachers um have also contributed to the growth that you see this evening. Um recently my colleague shared compelling data showing our students remarkable growth since 2019 um to now. I'm excited to highlight that the recent increase in our growth is a direct result of our collective 73 years of teaching experience as a team. Our strength lies in how we work together and it has truly elevated our teaching and student success. As a team, we

099have committed to using the science of reading practices to guide instruction with a strong focus on phmic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension tailored to each of our students needs. We regularly analyze student data during our PLC meetings using screening assessments, progress monitoring, classroom performance to identify skill gaps and instructional needs. We also make the most of our walk to intervention time. So that's a very specific part of our day daily providing focus intervention, enrichment, and skill reinforcement based on real-time performance data that we gather. Our team regroups students during this time, responding flexibly to ongoing assessment results to ensure every student gets the support they need and when they need it. I truly believe that with an experienced and collaborative team like ours, our community partnerships not only elevate our teaching but also benefit

100the students and families we serve every day. Thank you >> again. Thank you for the time to present that tonight. I did want to say one other thing. Good job, Parkside. >> I remember them. Thank you so much, Parkside. They're a great team. Our operating referendum goals not only include great teachers and classified staff and strong student outcomes, it also includes safe schools. We are grateful to have six school resource officers and five student safety officers who are all trained by the National Association of School Resource Officers. I'm pleased to hand the microphone over to Gary Moody to speak about the Nazro triangle and the importance of safe schools at BCSC. >> Thank you. I can sit here and talk all night about the kids here at Columbus North High School and what a great

101job this is, but I'll keep to the facts here. Um, the thing is with SSOs, SA school safety officers, we work in conjunction with the SRO's. Um, Officer Plank back there didn't want me to mention him, but I'm going to anyway. We work in conjunction with him, assist him in different things. Uh, he and I are working this Thursday morning with one of the school teachers for a class project. So, we will assist with that. Um, he's got immediate backup here at the school. if something does happen, he needs needs assistance and uh if he has to make an arrest or whatever the case may be, um we're here for him. In the very beginning, we were told that they had this vision for school safety officers and they said, "This is kind of what

102we want to do and well, how are we going to do that?" Well, we're kind of putting the plane together as we're flying it was what we were told and we're still putting it together, but it's getting getting closer. Um, you know, one of the thoughts was, okay, we're going to put an armed guard at the door and if anyone comes in, school shooter, we're there to stop them. And that is 100% correct. Yes, that will happen. But there's other ways we can keep this school safe. Um, there are 43 sets of doors here at Columbus North High School, and each one of those get checked um at least a dozen times a day. Make sure they're lashing properly, make sure they haven't been propped open, make sure students aren't opening it for other students

103and things like that. So, we we've got that. We also check the doors on the inside of the building. The classrooms are preset to be locked. Should something happen, they can just pull the door closed and that door should be locked. So, we check to ensure that those are are there as well. As well as checking the hallways, make sure, you know, nothing's going on that shouldn't be going on. Listen at the restrooms as we go by, see if there's any, you know, shenanigans going on in there that shouldn't be. Um, but the second part of that interview we had was how can you protect the school? I've got 39 years of law enforcement, 25 of that as a SWAT team member, team leader, and team commander. Um, none of that prepared me to deal

104with high school kids. Okay. I raised I raised two sons and that's a lot different than having the teenage girls that are here come to me. But that was part how are we going to build relationships? And it's actually been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I came in thinking, okay, the kids are going to be intimidated by us. They're going to be afraid of a guy there standing at the door with a gun. Um I can't even go into detail the things that these kids will share with me. It's uh way too personal to to get in here tonight. But um they have shared with us, hey, our friend is she's upset her boyfriend broke up with her. She's she says she wants to commit suicide. Hey, so and so is

105mad. They're going to have a fight such and such location. So, we're able to intervene with those and and keep those from happening. Um, the other thing I didn't mention is we check everyone that comes in the front door, make sure they got their lanyard on. Um, make sure they're authorized to be here in the building. We also check and stop any adult that would come into the building. Uh, get them to the proper office that they need to be to. Um, and so that's what we we're interacting with the staff. How can we better assist you? What can we do? Uh if we have questions about a student, uh what do we need to know about uh this student? How can we better serve them? How can we we help them? Um I will

106tell you one thing on the lanyards that the kids, a lot of them don't like it, a lot of them do. Oh, they've already left. They were probably nervous about me coming up here and seeing them without their lanyards on. But um some of them make it a game. They want to play with us. They want to try to trick us. Make us make them think they don't have it. But we've gotten to the point where we we interact with these students in such a way where they'll come in. Student come in one day and I called her by name and I said, "Uh, where's your lanyard?" She goes, "Bruh, you know me by name. Why why do I have to put my lanyard on?" I said, "You know, we're just enforcing the rules." But,

107um, we have had a a great relationship with the students. Um, watched uh they wanted us come watch their senior projects. They show us pictures of their um prom dresses, their senior pictures and all those sorts of things. So, for me, it's an overall good experience and I hope that everyone here sees that as well. >> Thank you so much for keeping our school safe. I have also been called bruh a time or two. So, our SRO's and SSOs help keep our buildings safe and our transportation staff are also pivotal in student safety. We have 81 bus drivers at BCSSE. They serve the community community with 800 years of experience. We do have 90% retention of our bus drivers for the past three years, which is a drastic increase from previous with uh referendum funds

108there as well. And did Greg Lewis did you leave me? He's going to come speak about transportation. Thank you. Good evening. Um, so yeah, I am here to speak about this essential investment in our students and our staff um and in their success and their safety. I do it with a couple of unique perspectives. One from a certified staff perspective and one from a classified staff perspective. Um, briefly on the certified staff perspective, I don't have a lot more to add after Aaron Lenot and Brad Brandham did such a good job, but I'm a 30-year I was a 30-year social studies teacher in BCSSC, 28 of those at Columbus East, 22 years as the department chair. Since retiring at the end of the 2022 school year, my department that I left is unchanged and it

109represents uh 118 years of experience and all but one of them have been there at least for the last nine years. So, um, and I know I could I didn't do a lot of research, but I know we have a high number of AP and dual credit courses and and I know that um the the referendum has played an important role in uh allowing that continuity and that commitment to excellence to continue and flourish in in the social studies department. So the other part uh after retiring in May of 2022 uh I decided to go on a completely different uh educational journey and that was to become a school bus driver. It had been my goal for about five years that I was going to do that. Most people looked at me like I was

110crazy and yet I did it and I'm really happy that I did. Um, so for four years I've been a school bus driver, the last three, uh, special needs bus, which I just find so personally rewarding and fulfilling. Um, I didn't know that I could have the level of pride being a bus driver that I had as being a teacher, but I do. Um, over the past four years, I've gotten to know most of the drivers and monitors and most of the trans all the transportation staff, including the great J.R. Owen right there. Um, and they too have the same level of pride and dedication um that I feel like I have in the job. And so I really admire that about them. Um, according to AJ McKeon, the director of transportation, we we transport

111over uh 8,000 students. And for those 8,000 students, uh the bus driver and monitor, uh bus drivers and monitors are critical to the day that they have. Often they are the first school personnel that they see that greets them in the morning and the last that they see when they get off that bus. And uh that is uh certainly uh incredibly important uh to set the tone for those children's days. Um the last thing I wanted to mention though also is that uh before those students are able to step safely into their classrooms and before they are able to step safely into their schools, they have to be delivered safely to those schools by their bus drivers and monitors. And I'm proud to be part of that team. Um so I really support uh the

112referendum uh from a certified standpoint and from a classified standpoint. Um and I uh would support it in the future as well. Uh so that the drivers would be you know would help to compensate them for the uh really awesome dedicated professionalism that they exhibit 360 times a day a year. That's 180 days times two routes. So with that thank you very much for your time. >> So much thank you. So, as has been provided through data and stories this evening, as our investment in our teachers and our classified staff increases through that operating referendum, so too do our student achievement outcomes. And of course, we were proud to boast about a 94% teacher retention rate and that was presented to you in July of 2025. You will receive another update in July of 2026

113and that is on track to be strong as well. Again, our overarching goals for the operating referendum include great teachers and classified staff, safe schools, and strong student outcomes. I don't know how you could not be just so proud of every single one of our students and staff members here tonight. I thank you so much for giving your evening to us. We are happy to answer any questions that you may have and I might call on specific people to come up and answer them for me. >> Can I say I thought we were stingy with applause. Those were fantastic presentations. Can we give a round of applause? >> Thank you, Miss Wingen. Yes, it was a wonderful series of presentations. Questions for Dr. Stalbomb or any of the presenters? >> I don't think I have

114any questions, but um couple things. I I really really appreciate seeing the perspective from certified staff, classified staff, and the safety. So we get the a full spectrum of the impact. Um I do feel like I need to point out for the sake of the public um the two department chairs that you had listed and our other department chairs while they absolutely benefit from the referendum in terms of stability and many other things. I believe it's correct that they their pay is not impacted because they're administrators. None of this referendum is going to administrator pay. >> That is correct. >> Okay. I remember that from when I was one of them. Um, and I and I do have to toot my own horn a little bit here. Um, Nathan Chaffer and Brad Brennham um are

115partly here because I hired them quite a few years ago. >> That's a very correlation >> and I'm so glad I did. So, I have a a story that um I hope doesn't embarrass Brad, but I think it's an important um story. Several years ago before the referendum, um I think CA arranged for one of our um our state representatives to meet with teachers here at North High School to talk about the issues of state funding and the lack of state funding. Um and many teachers got up and spoke and and Brad Brandon had been here maybe about 10 years at that point and um he is an amazing teacher and he got up and said he is passionate about teaching. He loves teaching, but with raising his family, sorry, he didn't know if he

116could afford to keep doing it. And and this referendum helps us keep teachers like that here. >> 100%. I appreciate that story. >> Questions, comments. >> Um, I think all of the positive data is really helpful for people like Mr. Stunner that live that every day. they recognize how different that is from potentially peers or other districts in our state. But for for those of us that aren't in the meat and potatoes every day, it it would be helpful maybe to see some comparative numbers for each of those points. I don't know if my comment is making any sense, but you know, as we get closer and closer to our decision, um just helping us see how spectacular these results are. um in in comparison would be really helpful. >> Of course. Yes, that does

117make sense. I want to make one last comment and thank Aaron Lenard for being here on his birthday to present uh for for Columbus East High School. And of course again want to thank the teachers and CA of course for their continued partnership. So thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Stalbone. uh budget workshop for the operating referendum. Dr. Boseman, >> as he makes his way up here, I'm just going to point out how unusual it is that we're doing a budget workshop. In April, uh we have, at least since I've been in BCSSE, these have always come in August, we do a budget workshop. September, we do a budget hearing. In October, the board considers approval of the budget. Um, this is unusual particularly because we're uh we're moving this up to this time frame

118because we're asking the board to consider renewing the operating referendum. And so we think it's important that you see a picture of what that operating referendum might look like for the next uh eight years. And because we're starting with this one and we know you want to consider the entire picture, in subsequent meetings in uh in the future months, we're going to do preliminary budget workshops just like this one for the education fund, operations fund, and debt service fund. >> Thank you, Dr. Phillips. Good evening. Yes. Uh Mr. Binger and I as as Dr. Phillips mentioned, we'll bring to you workshops over the course of the next few months to go into a a closer look into each of these funds. Tonight will be the operating referendum fund. The first few slides that I'll share

119with you will be relatively static and I uh by sharing that I mentioned that they will be um the same through the other workshops to help paint the the fiscal picture that we are facing and that many other districts across the state are facing as well. Uh once I get through those, then we'll we'll talk specifically about the referendum moving forward. As I mentioned, this is a context for budget reductions that we'll be facing in 2027 and beyond the um decreased net assessed value that we would realize due to property tax reform. You may be familiar with the potential loss or planned loss of local income tax that falls off in 2029. As a reminder, that's a little more than $2 million that BCSC receives that goes into the operations fund. Declining birth rates that

120affects our ADM. Of course, there has been a modest state um funding per pupil, but as a reminder, the curricular funds um that is part of that funding. So, you you're you're familiar that uh schools no longer charge for textbook rentals any longer and those those funds about 1.6 six or so are rolled into state tuition funding. Um some cost increases that we have listed there. One example specifically from a shift would be the um state law required um turf teacher retirement fund portion that the school district pays has increased over the past few years from around $5,100 to now $6,600 that we are responsible for as a district for a teacher making $60,000 or so. So that um extrapolate that across all of our teaching staff and that's about a $1.1 million increase. Um

121those happen over the course of time, but they are they are important and they are realized expenses that we have. This slide gives a synopsis of historical state funding uh typically in the ED fund as I mentioned the middle column locally local property tax for the operations fund the totals between the two per pupil. And I have this on here to to share. If you look at the top right compared to the bottom right, the shift that's happening between funding from a state level to a local level, 68% to 32% to now 58 to 42% from state to local. We are certainly in BCSSE not alone with the headwinds that we are facing financially. These are some snips of headlines across the state that have been um in the media here recently and uh certainly

122many school districts across the state are going to be facing some challenges and some important decisions coming up. This slide was provided by policy analytics. You've seen this in a recent executive session training session. Uh this captured what is the projected net assessed value decline in 2027. Again that is I'll be clear that that is net assessed value. That is not gross assessed value. U our our our community's homes will not expect to decrease. That is the realized net excessed value that we capture um due to property tax reform. Bartholomew County is especially to be hit hard uh because of the implication of personal property tax um deductions that are in place starting in 2027. Next two slides are um expected uh projected loss. This one's a a legislative services agency, a nonpartisan group that

123put this together. If you look on the right hand side um by calendar year, the expected losses as a result of SEA1 property tax reform. And then this second slide was provided actually to the county from a a party that they had worked out worked with rather um that that shows the estimated um decrease nearing $10 million over the next couple years. I have this slide on here um at a high level basically to make the point that uh we are making adjustments now. So these are anticipated and realized reductions through staffing attrition and some other adjustments. And um just for my own definition on here realized an example of a realized reduction would be uh for example we had a a staff member in the business office that had taken another role outside of

124BCSSE and we did not refill we did not backfill that position that was absorbed with another staff u that was back in March. So that's a realized others would be um an administrative position through attrition uh that would be anticipated that we would uh realize then next school year um as those adjustments are made. But again uh we are not in a wait and see mode here in BCSSE. We're making adjustments now to help pave the way for what we are anticipating as current reduction expected reductions in 2027 by fund. And those are estimates. They're estimates only now. They will adjust and they'll move. So, as we as we bring these budget workshops back to you uh for your review over the next few months, those will adjust. But we are very early in 2026

125as you well know. And that's our current state. Again, today we'll talk about the operating referendum. And now I will shift into talk about the operating referendum exclusively. So this this graphic you're familiar with. This has been on our website since 2021. explains the actual um expenditures and budgets and how the funds have been spent through the operating referendum thus far. We just update it every year and publish it to the website. Moving ahead into funding for 2027 and beyond, you can see the 2026 column. If I excuse my toggling here, but you'll see that those figures match there for the 2026 budget at 10.735 transferred over here to 2026 and then the 2027 budget at about 9.8 to matching that reduction of about $900,000 by removing two of the categories that we would fund

126through the referendum. and a 2% um add of inflation to all the other categories. Uh for the most part, the SRO's are about 1.5 due to some historical data that I had, but mostly those are 2% increases across the board. Otherwise, um I'll also point out the $450,000 estimate of levy u excuse me, license excess tax on the top. That's an estimate based on our um historical um levy that we've been able to realize through the excise tax. This slide is the bulk of the proposed operating referendum budget. So I'm going to explain this by column as I go through here. The the far left column is obviously the years moving ahead the next eight years. The second column the amount needed. Um, if I excuse my toggling again, but I go back to the

127previous slide. If you look at 2027 at 9.8 to fund those continued categories that's transferred over here and then added roughly 2% each year moving ahead. The third column that was the anticipated property tax revenue at 14.9 cents in the current year of 2026 and then moving ahead to 15.6 6 cents um starting in 2027 and beyond. The anticipated total revenue that's just adding $450,000 as I mentioned previously of excise and then the delta indicates the difference between total revenue and the amount needed. So you'll see in 2027 uh we would expect to capture a little more than we need, but that quickly turns on its head to even if you look down to 2032 about a million dollar deficit um on the delta column compared to revenue um to what we uh need to

128spend to fund those those opportunities. And then the far column to the right, those are cash reserves. So about 5.3 at year end from 26 and then a cash reserve draw down um to be able to maintain those those priorities that we have. Again these are all estimates to be an ending cash balance of about 1.2 by 2034. The back to the middle column that circled item there the 9.566 uh that's an average of all of those years put together. And uh you may be you may remember that when we did our presentation with you in March on the community survey that there was u strong support to renew at that average $9.5 million um levy. So that's reflected here in the in the budget. These are assumptions that I use to to build that.

129Uh most of these I've I've spoken of. uh one that I would like to point out um which is the fourth model the fourth bullet down in the list uh the structure of those categories not anticipated to change. So what I mean by that and as an example is uh right now our teachers um this is all subject to collective bargaining of course but our teachers receive five 10 or $15,000 pay incrementing increments um from the referendum and I did not modify that as a function of making the budget work if that makes sense. So um so saying that a different way because there's because the same rate will result in a lower levy. I did not build a different model for in that example teacher compensation to compensate for that. So it's still the

1305 105 based on historical expenses. Um common question we get is what does it mean for me? And some folks in our community certainly are interested in the in the previous information, but they're they're interested maybe more so in their own impact. And these are the estimated um projections on a median homestead taxpayer. So let me explain what you're looking at here. The as you can see the middle line there, that's a $250,000 homestead. The reason we use $250,000 uh because we think and I'll show the question here in a moment, but we think that's going to uh match what will be on the question. So, we wanted to keep that consistent. We estimate the um the median homestead in in BCSSE to be about $219,000, but one thing that we'll ask of you, the

131board, is to authorize us to verify that with the auditor in in May. uh but we believe that is and and state statute requires us to round that up to the nearest 50,000. So we have $250,000 on there as a as a median as an example. But you'll notice that $182 collected uh for the 15.6 cents in 2026 and then a steady decline all the way down to 2031 before it starts to incline increase slowly out to 2034. Again, this is resulting in property tax deductions as a result of Senate Bill 1 of 2025. I mentioned the operating referendum ballot question. This is a sample of what uh could be on the ballot in November if you choose to do so. Uh the highlighted text is interesting the only text that we as a district

132have any input into. The rest of it's all is all required by statute. So uh there are two forms of the question as you may recall. There is a new referendum question and there's a renewal question. This is the renewal question uh that we feel as though um best explains our situation. So um so you may recall that in 2020 it was a 15.6 6 cent rate and this is also a 15.6 rate uh which in my opinion communicates that it's clearly a renewal and not a new not a new referendum. So uh this is subject to DLGF approval of course which would happen in the summer. Um but the the highlighted information is the only thing we have any input on um and that I have in the the details of the property tax

133um impact there on $250,000 that would have to be verified by the county auditor. As I mentioned, we have other budget work se work sections coming up as as mentioned operations and debt service funds May of 26 and then the ED fund in August of 2026. Next potential actions for the board. I mentioned the authorization of Dr. Phillips to work with the county auditor to determine that median um homestead calculation for the ballot and then in June uh we would ask you to consider adopting a resolution. I will mention that that June date that's required by July. Uh but we're getting strong feedback from our council and financial advisors that the DGF may have quite a backlog. So, we certainly don't want to run risk of of um doing things uh at the ninth hour,

134so to speak. So, with that, happy to answer questions you may have. >> Thank you, Dr. Boseman. Questions on the presentation? >> Uh I've asked this before, but it brought it brought my mind back to it tonight. The reduction and declining birth rate is that impact any more negatively the downward trend that we had projected from 2021 to 2031 of around 4 to 600 kids. Also knowing that earlier this year we saw an ADM count there was like 20 almost 270 kid reduction which was grossly faster than what our estimates were. Are we still looking at which which trend are we looking at the minus 270 or the minus like 75 to 80 a year? We the only updated data we would have since then would be um our February ADM which was consistent with

135past February ADMs. So neither an increase nor a decrease. Um most of those changes in ADM are due to early graduates which we've had more of. Um, but that's the only data piece we've had since then that would not indicate no no change in what we've shared with you in terms of projections so far. >> And Mr. Major, I think it'll be in reality, I think it'll be between those two numbers. So the the decline in the fall was 225 students. And um the majority of that was not the difference between the outgoing graduating class and the incoming kindergarten class. It was the loss of those students to virtual programs elsewhere that was a new phenomenon in the last two years. I'm not saying we're not going to see incre uh continuing lower, you know,

136our incoming grad uh kindergarten classes are going to be smaller than our outgoing graduating classes for the foreseeable future. But we do have action that we can take if we can work with our state legislators to address the uh escaping accountability by going to other virtual programs. But to answer your question, I think it'll be in between the two the two estimates. >> Thank you. Additional questions. Thank you, Dr. Boseman. We look forward to the May and June presentations. This next step is really just a formality. You've already seen everything that I'm going to show you now. But I did put take two of the the graphs, one from Dr. Stalbomb's presentation and and Miss Keel's presentation and one from Dr. Boseman's presentations that I feel like really tell the story. In the upper leftand

137corner, you can see looking backwards. So this is looking at the past and as we increased our investment through the operating referendum um you can see that graduation rates uh reading scores uh increased. Now all the kids that were taking statistics is have left but I'm not going to sit next to Dale Non and make the mistake of saying that uh correlation equals causation because I know that it doesn't. Um but that is also the reason that we've um brought in in addition to the quantitative data some of the you know the or sorry in addition to the quantitative data some of the qualitative data to show that it it can't completely be disconnected that when you keep great teachers in front of our students for a longer period of time you're going to see

138better results. And then in the bottom right hand corner the last slide that Dr. uh Boseman showed that shows if in fact the question that we propose is approved by the board and then approved by the public that folks at all three different levels of uh home ownership the 25% level the 75% and then also u $250 somewhere close to the median home will all see an actual decline in their bill on the operating referendum portion of their property tax bill in the future. So our recommendation to you, not not for approval this evening, but for the May and June meetings, is to adopt the question as it is here in front of you this evening. The three areas um in highlighted in yellow are the areas that the board has to make a decision

139on. The first area we identified wording as close to as possible. Well, we had uh listed in the question in 2020. Um that's because we intend to continue into to invest in those topics and it's what the community supported then and so it's funding and maintaining competitive compensation for teachers and staff and maintaining student safety. And then the property tax rate.1560 15.6 cents per $100 of assessed value. That is the tax rate that was approved uh by just over 61% of voters in 2020. And then that number is what generates the maximum levy of the just over 10 million that 10.018 that was only in the first year. Um now while technically the if things change with assessed values over time um we could collect more than that declining you know 9.5 that you saw

140towards the end. But the maximum that could ever be collected in any year of these eight years would be that that number in the second parenthesis there or the second yellow section of 10.1 million. I know you've we've had training on the question and and you've seen uh seen it often, but happy to answer any questions before we bring you that final recommendation in May. Thank you, Dr. Phillips. As we continue with the meeting, we allow the opportunity for public comments. This comes uh during every board meeting before the board makes decisions. We finished hearing reports and we are moving into decision making mode. So, it's the right time to look for comments of individuals and delegations. For those folks that are signed up to make comments this evening, we have three reminders. Uh, number

141one, there's a threeminut timer here that will count down. Uh, we'd ask that you fit your comments to three minutes or less. All comments should be respectful. And we would ask uh that no names be used, no names of students, no names of teachers or staff would be used during the public comments. Um in the order that folks signed up this evening to make comments, I'm going to call Monica Federly to come to the podium. >> Evening. Not a great evening, but you know, we're here. Um, uh, my name is Monica Federley. I'd like to humbly offer my service for the district 6 school board position. Uh, my husband Doug and I moved here 24 years, 23 years ago. And one of my first questions uh first phone calls I made when we considered to

142come considered coming to Columbus was to somebody in the BCSSC school system because even though my daughter was only one at the time that was the most important thing about coming to Columbus for me. Um uh we educated all three of our children in this system and just had a phenomenal experience. Uh three for three you might say. Um, uh, we've been very blessed by teachers and just so many great opportunities for our kids. Um, I was a former science teacher. There were so many nice science things tonight, by the way. Um, and, uh, um, I've always been really passionate about education. I've been in the schools volunteering for 20 of the 24 years we've been here. Um it would be my privilege to continue to serve uh BCSC um in this capacity uh as

143a school board member. Thank you. In addition, we have u Barbara Jones signed up to make comments this evening. >> Good evening. I hope you're all doing well. I'm Barb Jones. I am blessed to be a member of this community. I'm a parent of two children and also a physician at CR. I've dedicated my life to listening closely to people and understanding different perspectives and finding solutions to difficult problems that are actually really good outcomes. And I believe that our schools work if we all work together on things we all agree are important. We know that strong academics are important, safe environments are important, and making sure that we have pathways so every student succeeds. So, I'm here to respectfully announce that I'm interested in um being the school board member for district 2. I

144would lead with a thoughtful and balanced approach. I want to make sure that education is a top priority and that we continue to build on the amazing successes that we already have done. I look forward to being a team member that is focused on creating the brightest future for all of our children and that ensures that we have an environment that students and staff are thriving and that BCSC is the school corporation that everyone chooses to be a part of. So, thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Dr. Jones. It's cash. Cash >> in heels, by the way. >> Didn't Didn't do the mic drop in in heels. Thank you, Mr. Click. >> Uh, item number six, request for approval. Old business. Dr. Phillips. >> Thank you, Mr. Ster. I request approval of item

1456A, minutes of the regular school board meeting of March 30th, 2026. >> Recommendation for approval. Is there a motion to approve? I move that we approve item 6A minutes of the regular schoolboard meeting for March 30th. >> Thank you, Mr. Non. Mr. Major second. >> Any discussion or questions about the minutes? >> Mr. Stener, since I wasn't in attendance, I'll abstain from the vote. >> Abstain from the vote. Thank you, Miss Wen. >> If we're ready for the vote, Mr. Major, how do you vote? Yes. >> Mr. Non, how do you vote? >> Yes. >> Chair votes I. Miss Lloyd, how will you vote? >> I. >> And Mr. Glick, how will you vote? >> I. >> So, with the abstension and the absence of Mr. Schultz, I believe that motion passes 5-0. >> Thank

146you. Um, now I request approval of items 7 A through 7G. Those include the uh regular approvals of supplemental contracts, field trips, and professional leaves, as well as school fundraisers. The claims and payroll items uh for for this um this approval include two payrolls of just over $7.3 million, the pre-runs from March 1st through March 30th of $9.44 million, and the April 27 docket claims of $2.039 039 million. Item 7E is the three-year calendar that uh has been shared online and and shared as well with the board. Uh really keeping the same structure in place that's been in place for the last um two adoptions, so six years. The uh most meaningful change I will say is the addition of two snow days. Um, with the last couple of years, I've always said you can

147tell what the weather was like on the year they adopted the calendar because the next calendar either has a lot more days or a lot fewer days. We're going with a lot more days in this calendar. So, there's two snow days identified in each of these years that would be used first prior to uh e-learning days if they're needed. Also have a guaranteed maximum price for Mount Healthy's renovation and Dr. Boseman can speak to any of the details on that, but we did come in within within the adjusted budget for Mount Healthy. And then last item 7G is a followup from the last meeting. Two of the action items required out of uh policy D525, employee injury reporting. uh requires that the board appoint an administrator to collect and report on these injuries as well

148as a committee um that meets certain criteria listed in the policy. Uh my recommendation this evening is included in your board pack and it is includes a resolution identifying the superintendent as his or his or her design as the uh injury policy administrator. And then there is an existing uh committee that this board actually appoints a representative to. Mr. Schultz is a representative. The corporation continuous improvement council committee has been around for uh more than it's around 25 years. that's been in place meets once a month during the school year and my recommendation is that instead of creating a separate committee we um integrate this responsibility into the responsibilities of the CCIC. So I request approval of item 7A through item 7G. >> Thank you Dr. >> I I hate to interrupt. Um I've thought

149about this a lot today and I actually had kind of gone back and forth. If we could take F out, I would appreciate that please. >> Sure. I was just going to ask if there are items that the board members would like to vote on separately. Um, we'll vote on item F separately. Are there any other items that somebody would like to pull out? If you need to abstain for something, you we could pull it out and you could vote for everything else in the package. All right, I think we're ready for a motion. And perhaps the motion would be items 7 A through E plus item G. I move that we approve items 7 A through E and G as presented. >> I um are we open for discussion, Mr. Stoner? >> Yeah, let

150me just quickly say thank you Mr. Nan for the motion and Mr. Major for the second. >> On on item G, I understand that there was a impromptu change made to a policy on our last board meeting. I was not in attendance and I'm not sure that I'm completely supportive of the changes. However, recognizing that was the will of the board um will um appre appreciate the appointment and quickly adopting and moving forward with the changes that that we have presented here tonight and I think those are the right appointments. Um, I would also like to say on our injury policy, I think there are many things that we need to address and I believe the original decision of the board was to hold a work session and I still think there's a lot of

151merit for us to hold a work session and review that policy thoroughly and come to a conclusion as a team in a work session what we'd like presented in a meeting for us to move forward with in the future. Um, I'll lean on Dr. Phillips to come up with the right timing for that working session. recognizing there's several big things in front of the board. Um, and so it's not an immediate need. Um, but I don't want it to be too far out either. So I' I'd like us to align on appropriate times and look for your feedback on that >> discussion or questions. >> The only thing on G, uh, the resolution is written a little bit different than what the policy was written. The policy noted that uh it would have a team

152of safety and security from the school which I think fits probably within the CCIC schoolboard members plural. So there would be more than one. So we would have to look at uh adding at least a second uh school faculty again CCIC and then parents and there was no limit to the parents. So it was just plural. So I don't know with because I'm not on the CCIC I don't know um does Mr. green and then other security personnel usually participate in that. >> All of those groups are represented with the exception of the plural for board members. >> Okay. >> All those groups and I would just Mrs. Willen thank you for the for the comment. Um, I think it does make sense to do that work over the summer and have if there is

153a revised policy in place to have it in place for the start of the school year with just with just three weeks left in this school year and another board meeting in just three weeks from tonight. Um, would I would request that uh some grace in pushing that out to uh to the summer. >> Any other questions or comments? The motion is to approve items 7 A through E and item 7G. If we're ready to vote, I'll start. Mr. Glick with you. How would you vote tonight? >> I. >> Miss Lloyd, your vote. >> I. >> Chair votes I. Mr. Nan, your vote. >> I. >> Mr. Major, your vote. >> Yes. >> And Miss Wen, your vote. >> I. >> So, I think that passes again with Mr. Schultz's absence. 6 tonight. Uh remaining

154item that we pulled out is item 7F. >> Do we have a motion on the guaranteed maximum price for Mount Healthy? >> Move that we approve item 7F as presented tonight. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Wen, Mr. Nan. Any questions or discussion on item 7F? Yeah, this is this is really a hard one for me. Um I think that uh I've I've been a detractor for the new school for some time now. Mainly because all of our projections that we've shown have shown that we're going to have a reduction in enrollment over a 10-year period from around 2021 to 22 to 203122 of about 4 to 600 students. Uh we've talked several times about each school being no greater than around 700 students. Uh today uh based on the

155November 17th, 2025 ADM count, we had 329 kids at Mount Healthy and 836 at Southside. So if we think about the west side of town right now, we have just say around 1,200ish kids. Uh that means we would need two 600 person schools, student schools. Uh when we add uh uh Maple Grove, we're going to add another six to 700 student capacity on the west side of town. And we're talking about redistricting basically to to take some load off of a couple of schools here, but to also fill that school up because there's not enough kids on that side of town to fill that school up. Now, even if you took uh 200 kids off of Southside and got down to 636, you still need 400 kids to fill up Maple Grove. So, um rather

156than uh this is the hard part, rather than spending $18 million on bonds, plus we never talk about the financing cost, which we've demonstrated in the past is about 40% of the cost. So, you're looking about somewhere between 24 and $25 million fully loaded with financing on Mount Healthy. Um, I think there needs to really be more discussion about how we want to manage the west side of town uh with three schools where uh based on our own recommendations of around 6 to 700 kids a per school. Um what what is the future going to look like if our enrollment continues to drop by another 600 kids? That's one full school that we lose in the next eight years. We've already shown in the last year that it's well over 200. We hope that that

157doesn't continue to go that path. But I would I would actually like to have more discussion around this so that we can understand uh better how we're going to staff three schools on that side of town. understand the total cost associated with that and then um understand whether there's a recommendation to maintain uh Mount Healthy as a school on that side of town or to move those kids uh through redistricting to Southside and some of the kids from Southside to uh Maple Grove so that we don't have kids crossing uh I65 every day to go to school. So my recommendation would be to uh have a work session for discussion on how to move forward with uh uh the understanding that enrollment is potentially going to decline based on all of our past projections. requesting

158to table this or >> have a work discussion to understand how we're going to uh manage long-term uh 12 elementary schools with declining enrollment and birth rate. We I the hard part about this is is we keep talking about this, but we talk about it for five minutes here and then we go on and we continue to spend money and we sit and talk about how the community is is uh uh strapped for money. The other thing that would be awesome to do would be to have a a countywide meeting, not necessarily countywide, but um include city city council, county council, and BCSC in some discussions on how to best manage the tax money in this community so that we're not uh in a situation where people feel like every time they turn around, they're

159just getting taxed to death. And so we're really good about um pumping up revenue, but we're not always great about talking about cost. >> I um want to jump in here and say I don't I don't think it's totally fair to say that we talk about it five minutes here. We have had meetings through this whole process where we looked at enrollment not just in those three schools but but in all of our elementary schools. And I um also want to add that I appreciate that the the three sessions that um that were put forth for the public about redistricting really looked at enrollment um across the district. In fact, not just elementary but middle school and high school. And while I don't have numbers in front of me, I do know I mean you

160mentioned three schools, but Schmidt is the overcrowding at Schmidt is playing a very big role in this whole thing too. has 686. So that's below the 700 that we've talked about in the past. >> I I also feel like we have come to the place that we are with our 2030 plans very thoughtfully with a lot of data recognizing Mr. Major you are not supportive but I'm ready to move forward with item 7F. So I guess if there's a motion to table we can vote on that but we've already made a motion to approve 7F. So, I guess we may need some counsel on what we do clarify Mr. Major's comments. At the beginning, I heard Mr. Major explaining his thoughts, but then I think at the end, he is expressing that as a motion.

161I personally would like to have more discussion around it. If ultimately the vote is going to be yes and it's going to be tonight 5 to one, it'll probably be five or six to one later on anyway. So, I know I voted yes for this in the past, but in the last 6 to 8 months, we've heard that the belt is tightening in Indianapolis. And I think that it just makes sense for us to really take a good look at and have a really strong conversation about how we're spending our money. We're not we're not necessarily going to get more money. The state has already said that. Unless we talked about local income tax earlier. That's why city council, county council, and BCSSE talking together might be able to help address how that works >>

162procedurally. Mike, how do we move forward? >> Again, I think my question is just to be clear, are you making a motion? There's been a motion to approve in a second. There can be a subsidiary motion much the way we sometimes amend things that that are pending. Is there a motion? >> I I'll make a motion to table this >> and then the question >> of additional discussion >> and then the question would be is there a second for that motion >> section a second to the motion to table? >> I have a question for uh Dr. Boseman pending approval. Can we still have a discussion regarding elementary school in Mount Healthy and still not be forged in the fire towards $18 million? What you have in front of you tonight is to approve the

163guarantee maximum price of the project, which would then execute the contract and get that work started. Does that answer your question? >> Yes. >> We've got a motion to put this item on the table. Is there a second? >> There's a motion to >> If there's not, I'm not going to be offended. >> You're not going to offend me now. >> Is >> go ahead. >> Without a second, does that motion die? >> Correct. So, you're considering the motion to approve in the second. go back to considering the motion to approve item 7F at this point and we're open for discussion and questions hearing none. I'll move to the vote. Uh Mr. Glick, how do you vote on item 7F? >> I. >> Miss Lloyd, your vote. >> I >> chair votes I. Mr. Nan,

164your vote. >> I. >> Mr. Major, your vote. >> No. And Miss Wielen, how do you vote tonight? >> I >> So I believe that is five votes in favor and one vote against. Uh the motion carries. >> Dr. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> You bet. Uh Dr. Stalbone. >> Yes. Thank you. >> We have some human resource recommendations this evening. >> Of course. The 19 human resources recommendations consist of four retirements, eight resignations, two appointments, four administrative transfers, and one leave of absence. There are no additional personnel recommendations this evening. I request that you please approve items 8 A and B as presented. >> You've heard the recommendation from Dr. Stalbum. Is there a motion to approve? >> I move to approve a item 8 A and B as presented tonight. Thank you,

165Miss Wen. And thank you for the second, Mr. Major. Any questions for Dr. Stalbomb? >> Dr. Stalbomb. If I don't approve this, does that change any of the resignations that came across in that document? >> Okay. Well, I don't know how that changes my decision here. I would like to point out uh we get a detailed view of of resignations etc. Um and as Dr. Boseman pointed out we are looking hard at attrition and I noticed there were three roles there that were not being backfilled. So I just want to acknowledge we're seeing that coming across and that was represented in the finances. I also recognize that that means that we have people in our school board or I'm sorry in our school system who are doing more with less and that can often be

166tough. on on the people working for us. So, I just want to thank everyone for being open-minded and working with us in in a difficult time from a budgeting perspective. Thank you, Miss Wen. Other questions or comments. The motion is to approve items 8A and 8B. I'll call the role. Mr. Glick, how do you vote this evening? >> I. >> Miss Lloyd, >> I chair votes I. Mr. Nan, >> I. >> Mr. Major. >> Yes. >> And Miss Wen. That motion also carries. 6. Time now for board input and review at the close of the meeting. It's been a very productive meeting. A lot of good celebrations and recognition. Uh great reports this evening from our cabinet and staff. Uh Mr. Glick, input and review. >> Uh yeah. Uh I'm going to keep it short.

167Congrats and uh good luck to all the top performers and for all three high schools. Um it's it's nice to see the difference between us two schools and how apparently we're going to have a lot of doctors coming forward. Everybody's gone premed. It seems like uh congrats to all the classified employees uh for their classified staff member of the year and uh congrats to all the seniors last week completed all their senior projects and uh it's smooth sailing from here. Right. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Mr. Glick. Miss Lloyd to echo Mr. Glick and his comments. Tonight's meeting was wonderful. There was a lot of time and energy that was invested by a lot of people. So, thank you to everyone for being here and for sharing such helpful um and impactful information

168with us. Uh, also just want to congratulate the seniors on all their senior projects last week. I continue to be wildly impressed by their passions and their talents that they share with our community. I know as someone uh in the nonprofit arena, seeing what they give back to so many organizations in our community is just unbelievable and I am so proud um of them and of the teachers who empower them to do these great things. So, congrats seniors. >> Thank you, Miss Lloyd. Mr. Nan, >> um over the past few weeks, East and North theaters both put on um productions. I did not get a chance to see the one at East because I had a granddaughter in a play in Indianapolis the same time. But but if you didn't get to see North put

169on the the Sound of Music, you missed one of the most phenomenal high school performances I have ever seen. And I've seen a lot. Um I also had the opportunity to sit in on senior projects at CSA Newekch, which is just a a small sliver of what goes on in this district for seniors. But um one thing that stood out to me, two of the projects that I was part of the the team listening to um they had started one project and it didn't work for one reason or another and they had to regroup. And the the amount of learning about real life situations that the kids learn in doing those senior projects goes beyond what you see in the final project product. I think um and Southside's math bowl team finished um first in

170their regional competition with a score of 31 out of 32 and led to a state runner-up finish. Um I think that means Mandy can correct me that that they really tied in score but tiebreers make the difference there. Um, and so congratulations to Mandy, their coach, and to the students. And of course, congratulations to Brad Brandham and the the North Indiana Math League. Um, we many many years we were in the top five, but we never hit number one. So, that was great. >> Thank you, Mr. Non. Mr. Major. >> Yeah. For the fourth year in a row, Smith Elementary and for the first year ever, Fodre are both going to be at the World Championships for VEX Robotics this week in St. Louis. So, I wanted to wish the best of luck to all

171of them. Uh, last week, something pretty cool happened to 2014 Columbus East graduate Payton Gray. He uh got to play in the Major League Baseball game for the Texas Rangers and was able to successfully uh get a win for the team. So, he's spent a lot of time in the minor leagues and it's just really good to see that his hard work and and uh stick tuitiveness paid off in the end. Um, a couple other things real quick I would like to ask uh is I I know it's been a while since we've had a safety and security meeting. I think we had the last one in October. I think we've had some things happen in the last couple of weeks that just might be good for us now that we're getting close to the

172end of the year to just come back and have a a discussion around how things are going. Um and then also the last thing I wanted to ask for is uh uh before the last meeting I well uh two two and a half two a little over two weeks ago I had um put in a uh a policy draft for a third party financial audit and finance team to be put together from an audit perspective uh to just ensure we have transparency of finances. I know we've had a lot of issues in the community in the last couple of years with u governmental entities uh either uh misspending or having perceived to be misspending finances. And so I requested that to be on tonight. It was unable to be added. So I'm asking that uh

173it be added to the next meeting. And if there's any meetings that need to be held for discussion, I request that those to be uh scheduled promptly so that we can include that in next board meeting for a first reading. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Major. Miss Wielen, >> we saw a lot of information this evening uh that I think was very well thoughtfully laid out for us to make some big decisions in the next couple of school board meetings. So, I really appreciate the work of the team um and putting that information in front of us in a digestible way. Um the students tonight that we got to see were very impressive. Um I'm going to reach out to Harshell. I think I knew his dad. He looked really familiar. Differential equations almost

174ruined my life. And that kid was taking as a senior in high school and I was a junior in college and and it was kind of a tipping point for me. So, um I was just really impressed with um his ability to get there at that stage. And then um I had I had a kiddo that we saw tonight and I told um Dr. Phillips at a lunchon we had earlier today, this community shows up for seniors. It's pretty remarkable. It's the first time I've experienced that. But um her going to college will be the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life. Okay. And so I um I appreciate all of the ways we recognize these kids, but it seems like every other day I have this like in my face

175moment that's reminding me that she's going to leave my house forever. So um I look forward to May 23rd when that stops. >> They do come back. >> I mean no more reminders. >> It's not always forever. >> That's true. I have heard about boomerangs and maybe that's something to wish for. >> Thank you, Miss Wen. Dr. Phillips, any comments this evening at the close of the meeting? >> Two very quick ones. Um, as I went through last year, I think I I said to anybody who asked me um about my first year as superintendent that I just continue to be overwhelmed by the amount of talent, hard work, and passion that exists in our BCSSE community. That's students, staff, uh, parents, and families. But man, these top 22 just blew me away today as

176I we saw them at the Rotary meeting today and then again tonight. The things that they are going to do um and the no fewer than 10 times that math and science teachers were named as um favorite teachers. I just continue to be overwhelmed in a positive way. And then I also want to thank I I failed to introduce her earlier, Mrs. Jess C. Billingsley from Church Church Hill and Antrum joined us this evening um in case we we got into a policy conversation as they're our attorney firm that works with us on policy. So, thank you for attending this evening, Jesse. And uh everyone here tonight who came uh to help with the presentation uh or come up and speak, thank you for being here tonight. >> Thank you. Our next regular school board

177meeting is set for Monday evening, May 18th. The school board meeting will start at 6:30. We will honor retirees uh in this same space here in the cafeteria starting at 6:00 pm that evening. And then they'll be recognized during the meeting as well. Uh we look forward to seeing folks on Monday, May 18th, the next regular meeting. There being no further business to come before the board at this meeting. The meeting is adjourned.