001Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Uh because this is a separate meeting, we're going to go ahead and do the Pledge [clears throat] of Allegiance again. Is that all right? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> [snorts] >> Board's vision statement, providing today's students opportunities to become tomorrow's leaders. We do have two public comments. Um just a reminder to state your full name, your affiliation, um and that we have 3-minute time limit. Kelly Monques. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> Hi, I'm Kelly Monques. Um I'm from Noble Township. I was not planning on speaking tonight, but after the first meeting, there were just um a couple questions that I have. Um where
002are we saving the $250,000 if we do close the primary? If we close it, do we still not have to maintain the building? Um and how much is that going to cost us? I mean, do we not still have to do the upkeep, utilities, security checks, insurance, everything of that? My question is, if we do not have any students or employees there, >> [snorts] >> why do we have to still maintain the building then? Obviously, we're not going to get rid of the building. Um I guess what are our options there because I keep thinking, you know, we're we're worried about the geothermal going out, but it's still our building. We're still going to be held up to have to replace that if something happens, even though we don't have any have any employees or
003students there. Um also, um if the primary closes, where is the Y M C going? The the preschool that goes out to Mary Lee, are they planning on going into that the Albion campus then? And then they're going to just going to make the trek to Mary Lee and back and forth to Albion? And [laughter] my other question is, how much does the Y actually pay for using our facility? Do we get money from the Y for using our facility? So, those are my kind of questions that I would like to see if anybody can answer. >> [snorts] >> Uh the next speaker we have is Vicki Gelbison. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> My name is Vicki Gelbison. Um I'm a resident here in Albion. I graduated from Central Noble Primary School. Kids from Central
004Noble. Um I wasn't planning on speaking either, but I sit on the town council. I know how difficult it is the positions that you're you're making these decisions. Um But we as a council, we've worked as a team really hard the last few years to listen to the people, um and to listen to our employees. Um we gave a substantial raise this past year to our employees. It's very difficult with the SB1. Um but we're looking at having some employees um that could be retiring in the near future that are 25, 30-year employees, and to replace them, we'll never be able to pay them the wages they're currently [snorts] getting. So, those are very difficult decisions, and I appreciate um the position you're in. But I also grew up in this community where we had
005the battle of Wolf Lake and Albion. I raised four kids 20 years later, still have that battle. I think Darcy hit the nail on the head when she said we need to heal. And I don't have the answer to that. But whether we move buildings, whether we try for a referendum again, if we don't do whatever it's going to take to do some healing amongst our people, um you know, >> [cough] >> a lot of it is even just what the kids are hearing at the dinner table at home, or, you know, what their friends It's it's just uncomfortable for everybody, and I wish I had the answer. I wish I had a crystal ball. Um we have great teachers. I had a lot of faith in, you know, with four kids, we went through
006a lot of teachers over the years, and we never had a teacher that I didn't care for. Um we never had a teacher that I wasn't um with good thoughts that my kids were safe, they were getting a good education. Um so, I know our corporation is strong in that way. We've had a lot of people come and go that I wish would have left, um but I just think that we need to work more in a positive [cough] manner about taking care of what we already have, and how we can fiscally do that, I'm not sure, but we need to heal as a community, as a school corporation. Um I'm really big right now with the council on partnerships. You know, we sit um the Albion are the town seats in the town of
007Albion, so it's really important that we're um good partners with the county government, with the school corporation. You know, we all have each should have each other's back, and um this the council does try to help the school when they can, and um I I just ask that we look at the healing process because I think without that, whatever it may be, all of these other things are not going to matter. Thank you for listening. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Just want to want to address those questions. Address those questions that you had. Um well, I feel like most of those questions were financial. Some of them were touched base on in the last meeting. Kim, do you want to reach >> So, let's let's start uh Kim the savings. So, I know a
008couple things will be uh shuttle transportation, uh and then utilities will be a huge one um because even though we have to maintain that, Kim hit on the fact that we won't be using near the water, the electricity. Um you know, we do have to maintain a a certain semblance of that stuff, but not all of that stuff. We'll have some saving We'll have We'll have operational savings in things like, you know, currently we we pay for copy machines and things like that that are there that we won't we won't be paying for. And we do pay for those. Kim, I don't know if those are the big ones or there are others. Just really, you know, utility savings to the best um estimation that I can make, um savings in efficiencies, having everyone on
009one campus, all items located in one place, not driving things back and forth between campuses, um budget line item reductions. There's again that 250 is hopefully a conservative estimate of our savings. Uh you asked about what would happen if the if we the Y and the daycare would come on to on to they would stay in the Albion campus. Um we'd find a place for them. We have a place for them. Um and and that's being worked out now, and we have a place for them. So, that So, the the the preschool and daycare will be staying. And then most third question was, does Y pay us? Kim, I don't even know that. Does Y pay us? They don't pay us like a rent or anything. They um because of because we allow them to
010use our building space, they keep their prices very low for our families. Um they do pay for the meals that they um eat with from our food service, um but they don't pay us like a lease or anything like that. And and we feel like that's a benefit to us for that same reason I mentioned in the previous meeting. The more kids we get in a setting that feels like school, >> [cough] >> the better off our kinder I think our kinder teachers will be more than willing to stay for that. They want more kids in pre-K than our lost. Was that all your Was that your three questions? Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to action items. Discussion from Barry. Yeah, so I I've uh you know, Mr. Knipper talked about losing
011sleep, and I've lost a little bit of sleep over this, and I too I'm a little worried about this. Um I I kind of feel like that that uh the safest proposal, the safest recommendation I can make is to close the building and do it over a year. Uh my rationale for that is not because I don't think the building needs to be closed because I I do think it needs to be closed eventually. Um but I think that there are some unknowns. I I would like to talk even about uh the use of the primary building after uh it's closed and and moving things in that building. We have to maintain a 50% presence in that building. I don't want stuff just shoved in that building to say we're using 50% of it. I
012think we have to have a plan for that. Um I think moving the staff, um although I think if you folks decided tomorrow that we could do it in one in one summer or ask us to do that, think we could. Um, in fact, I know we could cuz teachers are uh, flexible and they make it happen. Um, but I also think that that's not necessarily in anybody's best mental health interest. Um, and so, uh, that would be my recommendation that we would go ahead and move the closing of the building and do it in the fall of 27. With the plan not taking place completely and taking place this year. Okay. So, may I have a recommendation to approve a proposal and can I fill in this timing of fall of 2027? >> Yep.
013Recommendation to approve a proposal and and timing of fall of 2027 consolidation of Central Noble Primary to Albion Campus. May I have a motion? I'll make a motion. May I have a second? I'll second. All in favor? I. >> I. I. Opposed? No. Passes 3-2. Recommendation to approve pursuing a referendum in the fall of 2026. May I have a motion? I'll move. Second? There is no second. All in favor? Opposed? I. >> [laughter] >> Just wanted to give you guys a last chance. Um, recommendation to approve pursuing a referendum in fall of 2026 has not moved. Superintendent comments? Uh, >> [snorts] >> thank you. I I mean, I wish I had a better solution. I do. I I I'm so sympathetic to what we're dealing with. I feel the pain. Um, I think I think
014we have to do something and this is the first step in that. And I and I do agree that we have to heal. Um, but I feel like the logic of this is it's just it's it's too logical to me. So, thank you for all your patience [cough] and hard work. And that includes the community and teachers as well. Any final board member comments? I think even though we voted not to push a referendum on this next coming ballot, it's coming. We don't have any choice. You've heard we're losing over a million bucks and we're saving 250,000. This I'm going to step out on a limb here and tell you Jason's opinion what the state's trying to do. The state is trying to kill small schools. They can control and they can a big conglomerate
015school more than they can a small rural school like we have. If you want the state to stay out of our lives and big government to die, we're going to have to pay a little bit more to pay these people stay in this building. I I don't want to this isn't doesn't fix the thing. We've got a It's the referendum's going to have to happen so we can pay our teachers so they don't leave. Just because [clears throat] we're not doing it now don't mean we won't have to do it in 2 years. I think we will. We probably are just kicking the can down the road. But I think closing the building and moving those teachers is going to be enough of a pain on our community and our our teachers that we'll try
016bleed just a little bit now and bleed a little bit later instead of bleeding all at once. But the only way this school's going to survive is we pay more. I hate I live here. I pay taxes just like all of you all do. It sucks, but I think that's the only choice we have. Anyone else? Meeting