001We have extra seats in here. Okay. Oh, it is on a little delay, isn't it? >> About 15 seconds. I swear. Who knew? That might be good. One moment. Can I start a half an hour early? Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call the meeting to order at 6:59 and a half. You can put down seven. I recognize that we have a quorum with all members present. Uh we do have an addition to the agenda and I would entertain a motion for that. Uh yeah, Madam President, I'd like to make a motion that under letter F, new business, we add line 13 replace and it uh shall replace board policy number 1220 to follow current Indiana code 20-26 -5-4.3. Thank you, Mr. Mann. Have a motion to uh amend the agenda to uh follow current
002code as opposed to our current policy. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler for the second. Uh I will make a comment just uh so that our audience and people online know what it is. Um we will be hiring a new superintendent in May to begin work on July the 1st. Our current policy uh is out of date because the legislature has met since we did that and the current code allows us to have a 10-day at least 10 days before we hire a new superintendent that in the same meeting we can have comments from our public concerning the terms of the contract. It uh it does not allow you to vote on whether or not you like the terms uh but it will be it will have uh the salary, what benefits there are, and
003the length of the contract in it. That has and it will be advertised uh at least 10 days uh before our May 11th meeting. It may actually be earlier and it will be found on our website as soon as we have come to that agreement. Okay? Any other discussion before we take a vote on the amendment? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion to amend the agenda as presented, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, uh entertain a motion for approval of the amended agenda. I'll make a motion to approve the amended agenda. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Wrightmeyer. Thank you, Mrs. Holtam. I have a motion and a second to approve the amended agenda. Are there any discussion or questions? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise
004your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. I understand from Mrs. Stokes that we had no one um sign up to speak at this time. So, we'll move on to routine matters. First, I have a request to approve the minutes for the executive and sessions held on February 9th, 2026 and the work session held on Saturday, February 21st, 2026. I'll motion to approve the minutes for the executive and regular session on February 9th and the work session on February 21st, 2026. Second. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes for both February the 9th and February the 21st. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, we have approval of our claims
005and financial reports, Mr. Linton. Uh this evening I'm requesting the board to approve approve the claims for two payrolls and vouchers since our last board meeting in the amount of 3,428,406.62. I'll make a motion to approve the claims and financial reports. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Holtam. Thank you, Mr. Mann. I have a motion and a second to approve the claims and financial reports as presented. Are there any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, this is our evening for our second reading of board policies, volume 38, number one. As I had mentioned uh during the first reading, uh reviewed the policies with our attorney and we have a board uh committee that has also uh done that in the board's
006item since our last meeting. So, if there's any changes that need to be made, we'll need to discuss those. But if not, we'll recommend approval. I'll make a motion for approval of board policy, volume 38, number one. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Wrightmeyer. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. I have a motion and a second to approve board policies as presented. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Now, our favorite part of it. Mrs. Elkins, would you like to kick us off with our student of the month from the elementary school? And our student of the month was not able to make it tonight, but Mrs. Tyler and I were talking out in the foyer and we said, "Oh, wait, she just walked in."
007Perfect timing. Come on up here. That was perfect timing. Your face is going to set right here by the table. You see this time section? You sit there with him. This is Well, come to Charlotte. We're going to talk about you. This is our board of directors. Do you see them right there? And they are in charge of the school and they do such a good job and they're so proud of you. Do you know why? Out of 500 students at Cloverdale Elementary, you were nominated to be the March student of the month. That's a pretty big deal. I know. And Mrs. Tyler nominated you. Mrs. Tyler, can you tell Charlotte why you nominated her? And she loves to research about animals and when you grow up, you would like to learn about all kinds
008of animals and do research articles, right? That's pretty big deal. Who did you bring with you this evening? Who's with you? Mom, my dad. Well, we're glad that you guys are here. Mr. Sandy, the PE teacher, had nothing but nice things to say about you as well as Mrs. Tyler. Mr. Sandy says she's always doing what she needs to be doing in class. And you know what the best thing is, you always help your friends in class. You're that type of student that all your classmates can depend on Charlotte to be making the right decision every day and that's pretty important. She likes to play with your toys at home. You like to be with your family and you love to draw and write articles, right? So, that's pretty special. So, congratulations. Like I said,
009out of 500 students, you were picked at Cloverdale Elementary student of the month. And then you've got a plaque that has your name right there on it and you can keep that forever and ever. Mom, you should be very proud of her. We're proud of her. So, come on up by your family. You can. Nice smile, You know it's going to be awfully fun to watch her grow up and see her graduate here in about 12 years with Mr. Stokes. That's awfully special. If I may, I have another person that I'd like to recognize. I have the March employee of the month. So, is it okay if I go okay if I go on and do our March employee of the month? All right. Mrs. Bessel, come up here. We have lots of teachers here
010tonight for Mrs. Bessel. Not only then lots of teachers, but you also have your family with you tonight. And Mrs. Bessel has been at Cloverdale Elementary for a long time. And the best thing you say about Mrs. Bessel is she cares about our young students. Every year she comes to me and she says "Will I get to come back next year?" And I say, "Oh, Mrs. Bessel, you are always going to come back next year." And she says, "Well, may I stay with our youngest students?" And I say, "Absolutely." Mrs. Finley, you've worked with Mrs. Bessel for a long time and what would you like to say? It's definitely a pleasure to work I mean >> When you put on a red thing kindergarten you look so special and she always says we're going to
011get through this with So I know that you all don't get to see Mrs. Bessel every day at our school but there is not a more dedicated and caring adult in our building than Mrs. Bessel and I love having her there every day. Would you like to accept your award? So tomorrow, right? Well, here is your award that says you're the March staff member and Mrs. Bessel, I can't say anything but great things about you. I tell you every day you're my favorite and you are my favorite. Thank you. Okay, I've got two students that I get to do today. Is Brady here? I thought I saw Brady come on up. Brady was our February student of the month but he couldn't make it because he had a wrestling match. So or match me to
012match, right? So anyway, that's a pretty good reason to miss I suppose. So anyway, when we asked Brady what he did to be successful in school, he said that he chooses good friends who will influence him for good and works on making sure all of his assignments are turned in. His favorite subject in school is science and that is Miss Berman, right? In his spare time, Brady likes to play video games with his friends and he likes playing football. This year they got to play at Lucas Oil and I'm pretty sure he scored a touchdown there, right? I only saw one so that's all Brady's teachers had many great things to say. Miss Roder said Brady's always cheerful and respectful to peers and adults, encourages others and is a true leader. Mrs. Halloran said Brady
013is a very bright student. He is funny and charming and respectful and hardworking. Mrs. Abeg said Brady is great to have in class. He's kind and respectful, funny and very intelligent. So we are proud of Brady and happy that he could be here to represent the February student of the month. Gage, come on up. Gage is going to be our March student of the month. He told me that last year he got student of the month as well and they had to hurry from the basement. Or was it you? Last year they had to rush to be here and he was in his getup last year too for practice. So but he's here. We asked Gage, what do you do to be successful in school? And he said he makes sure that he's able to
014get all of his work done and he likes to focus on quality over time to make sure it's right. He makes sure things are correct or he makes sure to correct things that are wrong. He likes social interactions but the work comes first. So I wish some other students could have that same philosophy. His favorite subject in school is math. He's in the advanced math class and he likes it because it's challenging. He considers it fun because he likes to think about that subject. In his spare time, Gage likes to do sports and stay active. He likes to hang out with his friends. He likes listening to music. And he also likes family nights. I'm interested to see what that's like but in his let's see Thinking about the future, Gage is considering to be
015a pilot. He likes to travel and he thinks a career in aviation would be a good fit. So that's interesting. Gage's teachers had many great things to say. Mrs. Mumaw said Gage is a very hard worker who's willing to help others and do what's right. Mr. Siddons says Gage is always shows incredible sportsmanship. He's the first to cheer on everyone and he handles every tough game with positive attitude. Mr. Metzger said Gage is an excellent choice for student of the month. He works hard in class. He has a great sense of humor. He's turning into an excellent percussionist. He does a great job balancing his academics, athletics and his responsibilities in our band. So again, Gage, we're proud of you and we're glad to have you as the March student of the month. This is
016Ella Dickens. She's our high school student of the month for March. She comes from a family that really appreciates education. I know that as they they've spent their time in it but also she is actually going to be an elementary teacher when she grows up. We always laugh because I've never seen her without a smile on her face. I mean no matter what the situation is, it may start off a little gloomy but it comes back around. She is so positive and I think all the students want to hang around her because it just grows on them. Like I said, Mrs. Scott nominated her this year in March. Um Who's with you today? My mom and then Miss Newton. Miss Newton. Miss Newton. I know she's in your classroom, you know, comes over every day.
017Can you tell us a little bit about her? Good. Thank you for saying that for us. Um I couldn't say it any better. It's no different to high school. She enjoys her cadet teaching class and government. Her hobbies and interests are teaching and FFA. She's received many awards and honors, ambassador, academic super bowl team member, Indiana rising star, cumulative honors, academic jacket winner, academic excellence in horticulture, academic excellence in AP literature and composition and she's a national honor society member. Her plans are to attend Indiana State University, become an elementary teacher. The teachers had a lot to say about her and I'm going to kind of paraphrase some of them but I know Mr. Turk had to say, "Congrats Ella on your most appropriate selection as student of the month. We marvel at your superlative
018GPA, the kindness you share with all and your refreshing outlook on everything." Mrs. Scott said, "Ella has made an outstanding contribution to our school community. Over the past few years, she has proven herself to be an exceptional student and a natural leader who leads with heart and integrity. In the past years, Ella has represented her classmates in both homecoming princess, her freshman year and junior prom princess for junior year. It is obvious that Ella is well liked by her classmates. Mrs. Spada said Ella is amazing. She is smart, beautiful and kind. I wish her the best." Mr. Schnep, he wasn't laughing when he said this. He said, "Ella, regardless of circumstances, always seems to have a positive demeanor. She is an She is an excellent student in the class and is just a good person."
019And last, Mrs. Albics had this to say, "Ella is a great is great kid in class. She always participates in discussions and is very kind and respectful to everyone around her. She is always willing to help others in the class as well. High school student of the month for March is Ella Dickens. I will say this also, Ella is one of the classes Stand up for a second. There are nine of them above a 4.0 this year. And so it's a really strong class. And so when we have our top senior dinner, she'll be one of those individuals we can see there. But she is a fine representation for Floyd Central High School. Thank you. I think Mr. Cayden Eggers is up here. Is that you, sir? I didn't see Miss Corey Mescal anywhere. Not
020here today, okay. Well, thank you for coming, good sir. Who are you Who did you bring tonight? My mom and my grandpa and my grandma, my other grandpa and grandma and then my mom and dad. Gosh, y'all fit in one car? Okay, all right. All right, that's a good answer. Oh man. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to be able to introduce Mr. Cayden Eggers as the school student resource officer of the month for the month of March. Miss Fiddler nominated you this month and Miss Fiddler had nothing but nice things to say about you. Cayden Eggers is always polite and respectful to others. There is not a person in middle school who would have negative things to say about Cayden. He goes out of his way to help Mrs. Wiley keep the library
021in order, often giving up his recess time. He also volunteers to peer to peer tutors to peer students tutoring and struggling students without I mean I need a tutor right now. And struggling students without prompting. Caden is a leader in the fifth grade who deserves to be recognized. I will say if you know me in my line of work, it's probably not a good thing. But, uh I haven't had a whole lot of run-ins with Caden, so I'm happy to hear about that. Like, Caden, everybody I talk to has nothing nice but nice things to say about you. So, the March Student of the Month is Caden Eggers. Thank you. Thank you. What is time? Uh we will ask that all of the recipients, uh this evening, exit and you can take your entourage with
022you, but we need to have pictures. But, before I let you go, um Mr. Caden, good for you. Being a good citizen is really, really, really important. Then, little Miss Charlotte, there's something I noticed about you. You never broke eye contact with Mrs. Elkins while she was speaking about you. I hope you always do that with the adults that you're around. That is a very important skill to be successful in life. You're not looking at a phone while somebody's talking to you. So, we really appreciate that, young lady. Then, my middle schoolers, I love middle schoolers. I always have. I always will. And, yes, they do behave differently at school than they do at home. Okay? And And I will tell you that I will tell you that my oldest nephew, when he was in
023middle school, his mother called me and said, "I don't know what to do." And I So, she told me what had happened and I said, "Well, this is what happens next." And she says, "How do you know this?" I said, "I spend every day with these kids." So, but don't worry. When they get to high school, ignore their freshman year, but after that, they're okay. No. It's really true. And both you and Brady, I'm so proud of you that not only are you good students, but you're also athletes and represent our school so well. And I'm assuming you're playing baseball. Okay. And you play football. Do you also wrestle? Yes. So, football and wrestle. Keep it going. Do you do anything in the spring? Go ahead. No. Good. You take spring off so you can
024be outside. Keep it up and above all, uh keep with the sports. They're very, very important and will give you lots of lifelong skills forever. Now, Miss Ella, what can I say about Miss Ella? What you said about her always having a smile is so very true. Uh I've gotten to know her a little bit better here in the last few weeks as she applied for scholarships as a senior. Um I'm really thrilled that you're going to Indiana State. I'm doubly thrilled that you're going to be an elementary education teacher and hope you would think about coming back to us. But, do I have it right that you're also going to be in the Honors College? Being in the Honors College at Indiana State is a big deal. Uh she's going to get to be
025with a fine group of people in her dorm and interact and get more one-on-one help in a bigger setting than than Cloverdale. And, uh you represent the ideal Cloverdale student. Thank you for doing that. Now, Miss Karen, my goodness. I know that schools can't run without instructional assistants, custodians, cafeteria workers, and all the people behind the scenes. But, knowing Tara and Anna as well as I do and the other three uh kindergarten teachers, they are truly blessed to have someone that cares about our little ones. And we appreciate everything that you do and will continue to do. With that and Oh, one other thing. Thank you to all the teachers that are here in this evening to support our kids and our staff. That's That's really important to us and that's what makes Cloverdale special
026is that our people care for our kids. And, um encourage you to keep that up. That's a positive sign. With that, you may exit. If you choose to come back, you're more than welcome, but you're under no obligation to do so. Thank you so much. Dumb gauge. Hey. Well, now you can hold that over him. What's his favorite subject? Not math. Is it math? Oh, mercy. I wish you would have cleared out the room. There we go. There Now, you're practicing being church members sitting in the back pew. You're right. I can. I have an unobstructed view. Okay. We're ready. We have no old business, so we'll proceed with new business. Our first is to approve the voluntary annexation of school property. Make a motion to approve the for approval of voluntary annexation of school
027property. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Rightmyer. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. Are there any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, we have uh approval for an employee retirement benefit. Uh yes, this evening in the board packet, I have a request for uh one of our um employees who is not a part of the collecting collective bargaining agreement, uh who is nearing retirement to add a benefit that we add for some other employees in similar uh group. I'll motion to approve the CCSV employee retirement. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Holton. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. I have a motion and a second to approve the employee retirement benefit as presented. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please
028raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, we have a request to approve uh middle school homebound instructors. Uh yes, in your board package, you found a request for Mrs. Miller to approve uh three Cloverdale Middle School homebound instructors for three uh individual students who um needs some extra help with I'll motion to approve the three CMS homebound instructors. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. I have a motion and a second to approve the middle school homebound instructors as presented. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, we uh request approval for special ed teacher stipends. Yes. Uh the last two or three years, uh Cloverdale Community Schools have provided all of our special ed teachers
029a stipend of $500 for every student they have over 30 students on their caseload to help compensate for the extra time that's incurred in completing IEPs and working with the students. Uh so, I uh that's outlined in your board packet and I would request the board to approve that this evening. I'll make a motion to approve the special ed teacher stipends. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Holton. Thank you, Mr. Mann. I have a motion and a second to approve the special ed teacher stipends as presented. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Uh next, we have a request to approve an additional special ed teacher at the middle school. Uh over the past uh several weeks, excuse me, we've been uh reviewing
030our special special education program throughout the school corporation and really as part of our uh board retreat uh comments and discussions that we've had um uh in an in-depth look that look at the student-teacher ratio, it was clear that our ratio at the middle school was higher not only within our district but then with some of the participating schools for our O and T. Fortunately, we have the revenue coming in that we can support additional teacher at the middle school. So, we're quest the board to approve this new position this evening. Make a motion for approval of the CMS additional special ed teacher. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Wrightmire. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. I have a motion and a second to approve an additional special ed teacher at the middle school. Are there any questions
031or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, we have approval of the elementary and middle school summer stipend day for I learn teachers. Mrs. Mellencamp Mrs. Elkins have identified the teachers that would qualify for the stipend that they believe we provide a day for them in the summer to get together with their grade levels and review the results of test scores, make plans for the following year. Motion to approve the summer stipend day for I learn teachers at CES and CMS. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. I have a motion and second to approve the elementary and middle school summer stipend day for all of the I learn teachers. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the
032motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, I have a request to approve to list the old CHS softball fencing as surplus equipment. Well, if you notice when you pulled in this evening, we're getting some new fencing put out at the softball field. So, we'll have a new perimeter fence and then also the perimeter fence to be able to allow softball kids have a gate. And because of that, we have some surplus fencing that we would like the board to declare this evening so that we can move that along. I motion to approve the old CHS softball fencing as surplus. As surplus, sorry. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. Thank you, Mr. Man. I have a motion and a second to declare the softball fencing at the high school as surplus. Any questions
033or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, we have a request to approve donations for the middle school and the high school. This evening, we have one donation for the middle school and six donations for the high school, seven in total that we would ask the board to accept this evening. Motion to approve the donations for the middle school and the high school. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. Thank you, Mrs. Haltom. I have a motion and a second to accept the donations to the middle school and high school with deep appreciation. And lots of thank yous. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, we have professional leave requests. This
034evening, we have a long list of requests. We have 19 in total that we would request the board to approve tonight. Make a motion to approve professional leaves. I'll second. Thank you, Mr. Wrightmire. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. I have a motion and a second to approve the professional leave requests as presented in the packet. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, approval of field trips. We have nine field trips that we're requesting the board to approve this evening. All of the field trips meet the requirements of our board policy. One that I'd like to highlight is the eighth grade trip to Chicago. The like last year, the school corporation will fund the vast majority of that trip for our kids because
035of our relationship with our online school provider. They provide a lot of free field trips and we do reciprocate that for all of our kids here at Cloverdale. They free field trips that way and that's a that's a big trip for our eighth graders to get to go on a very very minimal cost to the kids. So, just proud that that our school corporation is able to provide those opportunities for kids. Motion to approve field trips. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. Thank you, Mrs. Carroll. I have a motion and a second to approve the field trips. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. Next, approval of facility use requests. >> We have seven requests on the board docket this evening that
036we're requesting the board to approve. I'll make a motion to approve the facility use requests. I'll second. Was that you, Katrina? Thank you, Mr. Wrightmire. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. I have a proper motion and second to approve the facility facility use requests as presented. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. And next, we have personnel. I have requests the board to approve personnel as outlined in your board packet. Motion to approve personnel. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Fiddler. Thank you, Mr. Man. I have a motion and a second to approve personnel. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion carried unanimously. And last but not least, we have number 13, a request
037to supersede our board policy for hiring a superintendent to follow current Indiana code. I motion to approve replacing the new old policy to follow current Indiana code. I'll second. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Man. I have a motion and a second to approve following the Indiana code and superseding our board policy. Any questions or discussion? Hearing none, all in favor of the motion, please raise your right hand. Motion approved by unanimous vote. Board and superintendent comments. I believe I have no comments this evening. I'm going to put this out to John Q. Public. We've had considerable discussion in our board retreat about community support and participation and all of the good things that go on in our schools. Um I know it was a very long distance from Cloverdale to Switz City during
038the sectional. I felt sorry for our cheerleaders and somewhat for our basketball team that we had more cheerleaders than we had students in attendance. As a board, we're going to try and figure out how to take care of that problem where we can get kids interested. 60 years ago, and yes, I'm that old, I was a sophomore in high school and the Cloverdale Clovers went to the final four. And that one was an all class tournament. So, we were four out of the over 200 almost 300 schools in the state of Indiana to be there. We came very close to having another sectional championship Saturday night. Those kids played so hard and they have come so far in the last 2 years. Our football team has been very successful. Our golf teams have been very
039successful. Our softball and baseball teams are very successful. We've got a lot of good things going on not just in athletics but in our school and and I would like to see more support from our parents and from our students because they deserve it. And especially to our students, this is the best time of your life. I have never had any more fun during my entire school year than in March of 1966. And to miss out on that opportunity, you will regret it. And with that, thank you all for coming this evening. We are going into executive session following this adjournment. So, I adjourn the meeting at 7:38 p.m. Thank you all.