001e e e good evening everyone and Welcome to our regular public meeting of the board of school trustees held here today on December 16th 2024 if I could have you all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance and then Mr babjack will lead us in that along with a moment of silence stand thank you may be SE item two on tonight's agenda is our Board of school trustees resolution of combination Awards we have four this evening our first one uh 2024 Corporation Christmas card design to Mia Clawson fourth grader at Lake Street Elementary School winning design for the front of our card and Emily uh milfa fifth grade at Jerry Ross Elementary SCH School winning design for the back of the card 2.02 the colonel wieler colonel wheeler Middle School 2024-25 spell bow Team for
002winning first place in Lake County in class one and being named a state finalist at the regional Junior spell bow competition 2.03 our Crownpoint High School 2024 Latin club for winning first place overall for best publicity portfolio and best club SWAT second place overall for Club of the month fourth place in local digital scrapbook and activities contest and fifth place in local publication contest at the national junior classic classical League convention and 2.04 to our very own Mr Scott babjack for his eight years of dedication and exemplary Service as a school board member for the Crown Point Community School corporations you heard the recommendation of the accommodations may I have a motion to approve second a motion by Mr Smith second by Mr vaser all those in favor please signify by saying I I I
003those opposed motion carries 5 Z Pres those Awards individually Miss Bas will lead us with the first one all right Mia ladies you could turn and face forward that your parents want to take pictures all right so I will read the resolution of commendation the Crown Point Board of school trustees is honored to commend Mia Clawson and Emily mishiva for meritorious achievement be it hereby resolved that the board of school Trustees for the Crownpoint Community School Corporation wishes to express sincere congratul congratulations to Mia Clawson and Emily milisha at uh from Lake Street and Jerry Ross Elementary School for having the winning designs for the front and back of the school corporation's 2024 Christmas card the board of school trustees publicly recognizes this achievement and renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for
004public posterity dated the 16th day of December [Applause] e e for okay if we could bring in the 2024 2025 spell bowt team for Colonel wheeler Middle School going in all the way down so we fit excellent that was quick so it's my privilege and honor to give the next uh accommodation award to the colonel wheeler Middle School 20124 2025 spell Bowl team for winning first place in Lake County in class one and being named a state finalist at the regional Junior spell bow competition I'm going to read the accommodation um the CR point Board of school trustees is honored to commend the 2024 2025 Colonel wheel Middle School spell ball team for meritorious achievement be hereby resolved that the board of school of Trustees for the Crownpoint Community School Corporation wishes to express sincere
005congratulations to the 2024 2025 Colonel wheeler Middle School spell Bowl team for winning first place in Lake County in class one and being named a state finalist at the regional Junior spellow competition the trustees publicly recognize this achievement and renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for public Prosper posterity excuse me dated the 16th day of December 2024 congratulations team um on a job well done coach if you want to come join me up here I'm G to call your names and you can come and get your award but first before we begin I'm G have we speak in a microphone and answer a few questions coach tell us a little bit about the SPO competition that how person uh the spell competition in Indiana is similar to like a spelling however it's
006not an individual effort it's actually a team effort uh so there are eight different rounds of spelling each kid has nine words that they spell uh out of a word list of 1,400 words uh so our students have worked through the the word list of 1,400 words uh and any one of those could have been called uh during their round uh so they worked every uh Tuesday and at home and on on every probably all the time to digest this word list uh and it's funny because some of the kids know what number of the 14 words a specific word is so they do work the list really well I'm super proud of of each and every one of them um and they've just been they've amazed me every year and this year was no
007no different uh this year at State they actually improved their placement from Regional seatings uh which was a much tougher list so uh kudos to them for really uh going the ex and just exceeding all expectations at State as well every year that you're here it means that you've accomplished something big how does this team Stack Up historically with some of the other teams um I think this is the it's like the sixth year in a row that wheeler has gone to State uh this team ranks right up there with with some of the the top teams I think it's one of the first in the last couple years that have have improved dramatically we went up uh seven spots at State uh so they they really did show up with a much harder word
008list so very proud of them thank you coach uh coach James hinley if we can give a round of applause for Coach Hy all right we're GNA call your name if you want to come forward and receive your accommodations Sophia gor what did I miss it gigova how do you say gigova Sophia gigova Thank You London Heights cheyen Ella Lindon okay Solomon matua Alysa Nelson [Applause] Ron rulla Elizabeth Spencer and Coach James all right well congratulations team we're going to take a couple photos but what a great honor thank you for representing our schools Corporation so well for for I I have the privilege of recognizing the Crownpoint High School Latin club so you can come on in okay tonight we are honoring the Crown Point Latin club for winning first place overall for best
009publicity portfolio and best club swag second place overall for Club of the month fourth place in local digital scraps Excuse excuse me scrapbooks and activities contest and fifth in local Publications contest at the National Junior classical League convention so we honor them tonight first coach Jeremy Walker Nick CER Sammy iima Analise that's my daughter's name Analise jacobe Gibson merley Hayden Smith Joe Stewart are you Jackson or Luke Luke Walid coach Walker would you like to say something about your squad my name is my name is Jeremy Walker and I'm one of the Latin teachers at the high school I'm also the sponsor of the crowno Latin club and I'm going to defer the microphone I know I never do that to uh one of our co-presidents Nick CER um well National Convention is basically a
010big Gathering of Latin clubs from across the country that gathers every year on a rotating college campus this year was um full last summer it was was at the University of Tennessee Knoxville in Tennessee and it's basically just a big celebration of the classics and Latin our club as a whole and there's just a lot of graphic arts competitions some athletic competitions academic tests and overall just a really big celebration of the fellowship we have in JCL for mrj those of you who were here for the previous please please feel free to leave you're welcome to stay if you would like this accommodation special serve on boards with individuals and to know them a little better what makes tick and click so I'm in great appreciation to read this resolution combination Crown Point Board of
011school trustees to commend Scott E babjack esteemed School Board member Fe hereby resolved with the board of school trustees with the Crownpoint Community School Corporation faculty staff and students wish to express sincere appreciation Mr Scott babjack for his eight years of dedication and exemplary Service as a school board member for the Crownpoint committee School Corporation Board of school trustees publicly recognizes this achievement and renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for public posterity May the 16th day of December 20 24 Scott congratulations also also um with him this evening this is wife Tracy Sons Braden and Grayson um I know what it is serving on the board to where uh dad and husband are away and doing things that they could be spending time with the family so on behalf of the board
012we appreciate um your allowance of Scott for eight years we are going to miss him on the board um just a quick little story when Scott got on this board eight years ago um we needed to get him off the accelerator a little bit he was raring to go and ready to jump in every every little thing that he had a passion for and that's a lot of things you're over seeing School Corporation this size and I can tell you this uh Scott listen to others he really became one heck of a board member to where he was he had his voice learned to listen and sometimes you're not always going to you know it's a vote of five you're not always going to agree with we decide on but as a board we come
013to that majority and uh he really learned to adapt to those things that maybe he didn't want to really say know this how I feel and that's part of it it's always it's just like a good marriage to where you got to give and take sometimes and Scott learned that very well and uh I'm gonna miss Scott after serving on eight years uh he's become a friend and uh hope that friendship continues to move on again on behalf of the board and the administration Scott congratulations we're at it there's a few others uh item three tonight is our public hearing uh 3.01 if I could get a motion to suspend the regular meeting and open the public hearing on additional Appropriations so second second motion by Miss p and second by Mr basser all those
014in favor please signify by saying I I motion carries 5 Z with that uh 3.02 is patrons comments on the public hearing there are none on the sheet did anybody come in late that want to speak on this nope okay and we'll move on to item 3.03 the resolution 856 education and operations fund additional appropriation Mr Reese thank you Mr President members of the board occasionally from year to year we were required uh to additional priation in some specific funds uh this is the same request we made of last year the education operations fund we've encouraged some unanticipated expenditures if you will uh if you remember this budget that we did for calendar year 2024 was actually completed over 15 months ago uh in July and August September of 2023 there's been quite a few
015changes in the corporation since then specifically uh with our transportation cost uh but also within buildings and grounds construction going on not the construction cost but the operating of the buildings due to that construction those costs are a little higher than we anticipated mainly through utilities uh the other piece that's a little higher than anticipated on the education fund side is our special education cost just to give you an idea of what those look like our special education count when the budget was actually prepared prior to the December one count 2023 so go back to the numbers we actually had from previous school year we had 1582 students and it's a duplicated count uh just the count that we finished up last month last week we certified today actually that count was over 1900 our
016special education population's growing more than anticipated and with that we need to ask for some additional prorations the nice part about it is our additional operations are funded through increased revenues more than anticipated as well our interest income is higher also with the additional special ed count com some additional dollars through the funding formula for those special ed students as well so with that uh we ask for your approval of resolution up second excuse me resolution 856 which uh is for an additional appropriation education fund amount of $2 million and $3 million in the operations fund and waving the reading of thank you Mr ree you've heard the recommendation of the administration for the approval of resolution 856 an additional appropriation in the education Fund in the amount of $2 million and 3 million in
017the operations fund along with waving the we have a motion motion by Mr babjack second by m b question or discussion for Mr re I just like to tell Mr Reese thank you very much for that explanation and for the public to hear an explanation for that too was well done uh as we as we move down the road one of the hot items I I keep seeing almost daily in the newspaper is the proposed nipo rate of 22% for electrical bills does that fit into our future planning or can we actually do that legally so at this point as you know we've already completed the budget for calend year 2025 so any increase would take a hit on 2025 and more than likely you'll see me come back at the same meeting in 2025
018asking for an additional Corporation of that increase go through right now we're in the public hearing phase in that specific topic it's been quite a few School corporations come out against it publicly we've been selective in ours that public for that increase um safe to know that we're working hard to make sure that if that does happen we'll be able to fund it as necessary thank you any other questions all those in favor please signify by saying most carries 5 Zer four item four tonight patrons comments being none we'll move on to item five our consent agenda Dr ter oh I'm sorry y I'm sorry I first need a motion to close the public hearing and resume our regular meeting I have a motion motion by Mr bjack second by questions or discussion all those
019in favor please signify by saying I I I oppos motion carries 5 Z thank you for that uh with that we'll move on to item four which is patrons comments there being none we'll move on item five consent agenda Dr T thank you for your consideration this evening we have 5.01 our regular business meeting minutes from November 25th are 5.02 Personnel agenda 5.03 recommendation of employment of candidates and then 5.04 the voucher registered checks as listed you've heard the recommendation of the consent agenda may have a motion to approve second motion by Miss Bas second by Mr basser question or discussion on any of those four items I'd just like to thank Mr Aiwa for the time that we got to spend on this it a few questions and he was able to more than
020amply answer those so thank you very much for that time thank you any other questions all those in favor please signify by saying I iose Carri 5 thank you uh six action items 6.01 approval to and apply for and receive a Project Lead the Way Gateway Grant Middle Schools Mr G andir thank you Mr President uh Crownpoint school corporation has the opportunity to apply for and receive funding from the project leadway Gateway Grant to expand our existing middle school pltw programs in the amount of $20,000 uh each school would receive $10,000 in which they would purchase um additional Vex robotics kits ensuring every student have the ability to build and create a robot as well as each school would receive a 3D printer which they could use then uh as they design Parts digitally then
021they actually create those with the 3D printer and then incorporate those into the robots as well um um so the administration is recommending approval to apply and receive funding through the Project Lead the Way Gateway Grant in the amount of $20,000 thank you Mr J fery you've heard the recommendation of the administration for approval to apply for and receive funding from Project Lead the Way Gateway Grant to expand existing middle schools pltw programs in amount of $20,000 10,000 per Middle School may I have a motion move motion by Mr Smith second by Mr babjack question or discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I those oppose motion carries 5- Z 6.02 course editions C Point High School 2025 26 Mrs R thank you Mr President and board members I am here tonight
022to request your approval for the addition of the following course which is sculpture for the 2025 2026 school year at Crown Point High School this course would support the visual arts programming that we have at the high school and would involve students having the opportunities to really delve into and develop skills in the areas of carving modeling construction and assembling and it is the administration's recommendation that the school board approve this course as an addition for Point High School for the 25 26 school year thank you mirez you've heard the recommendation Administration for approval of the course Edition for sculpture at the CPL High School for the 2025 26 school year have a motion motion by Mr Smith second by Miss B questions Mrs Ramirez we had this course before this is a new course
023for us we've never had sculpture not sculpture we have had um 3D art courses but a course that is a year long that focuses on sculpture we have not had but do we still have ceramics we do have ceramics okay yes okay y thank you for that and this would allow students to develop a 3D portfolio as well right now they're very Adept at um creating a 2d portolio but this expands so that they have something Beyond Ceramics as an example for 3D thank you question all in favor please signify I motion carries 5 Z thank you 6.03 updated policies Mr thank you Mr President board members uh we are looking at this evening several policies we are looking to create a new policy for animals in the so to get there we are going
024to look at our current policy 8405 and remove some language in there regarding pets in the classroom so we'll update 8405 uh we will look to retire our current Neal policy on animals in the classroom which is policy 8390 and then finally wake up or create our new isba policy 5372 for animals in the classroom and our school property and then finally isba 3012 creating a new isba policy for employee reference checks um finally uh policy 6110 um we are going to upgrade federal grants and awards Administration and this policy will be updated with isba langage so tonight what we'd like to do is wave the second reading and approve these policies uh in the form that you see them thank you Mr riwa you further recommendation of the administration for approval of those policies
025policy uh 5372 312 6110 uh 8405 and also the removal of Po policy 839 also wait second reading if I can have a motion please motion motion by Mr vas second by Mr bjack questions or discussion again I like to thank Mr Ai and I discussed this at length there were a few things in there that kind of a little fuzzy but we explained them quite well so thank you again for that you're welcome Mr thank you any other all those in favor please signify by saying I I those oppos motion carries 5 Z 6.04 yearend business office procedures Mr ree thank you Mr President again every year we come to the business office procedures the year end as our board meeting is held on December 16th tonight we do have need to conduct business
026for the next two weeks until we reach December 31st this helps us close out our books for the year end along with that if we happen have any funds that are in the negative we're also requesting the ability to transfer funds everything that happens between now and the end of the calendar year we'll bring back to you the January board meeting so with that we're recommending approval uh to issue checks prior to board approval and temporary interfund transfers if necessary for December all checks issued at the closing date and the regular meeting Docket in December brought to the school board at the January meeting will be included in the January claim.com thank you Mr ree further recommendation of the administration to approv for approval to issue checks prior to board approval and temporary inter fund
027transfers if necessary for December all checks issued after the closing date of the regular meeting docket December will brought to the school board at the January meeting and will be included on January CL doc I have a motion Scot motion by Mr babjack second by Mr Smith question or discussion just for the Public's knowledge this is something that's done every year pretty much at every school corporation just one of those um cleaning up the loose the loose edges to make sure it's approved with that all those the favor please signify by saying I iOS motion carries 5 Z 6.05 support service and Technology vehicle replacement Mr Reese thank you Mr President as part of the two 2024 GE put into that plan to purchase three vehicles for our support service staff with that we'll be
028trading in some older models of 98 and 2004 to 2008 model all that have seven requests seven requests were sent out for bid and four dealerships responded the low bid being from Smith for at La for $1 13197 that's a net cost after the traded values it's important to get do this now just to make you aware we CL Bonds on Wednesday December 18th if those bonds for some reason were not to close were not anticipating that but if they were not to close we would not make this purchase from those funds but with that we want to make sure we receive all the rebates prior to the end of the calendar year with the bids that were taken in so with that we recommend approval of replacing three Ford Explorers with Smith Ford the
029amount of $131,900 with smiss for in the amount of$ 13197 I have a motion motion by m Bas second by Mr MJ question or discussion thank you for handling this Mr re and Advance all those in favor please signify by saying I I those opposed motion carries 5 Z 6.06 2025 Crown Point bus bids Mr Reese thank you Mr President one of the issues we've been facing purchasing specifically in this case the bus orders the lad lead time for getting new buses in is creating some issues for us so with that and part of the two again the two 2024 Geo bonds we've inserted the bus purchases for 2025 into those bonds so with that we are utilizing the Central Indiana Education Service Center Cooperative purchasing we've done that for quite a few years here
030recently we're requesting five 72 passenger buses one 42 passenger bus with lift two class A 14 passenger yellow buses with wheelchair lifts and one 14 passenger sa with that we're mending awarding the bus bid to lowest overall bidder curin Bus Sales for the net cost of 1,235 774 and again if the geob bonds were not to close on Wednesday we would not go through with this purchase thank you Mr ree you heard the recommendation of administration for approval awarding the best bids the lowest overall bid overall bidder curing Bus Sales the net cost of 1,235 774 I have a motion motion motion by Mr Vasser second by Miss B question or discussion all those in favor please signify by saying I I was opposed motion carries 5 Z thank you Mr Reese information item seven
031information recognition items super attendance discussion groups uh Mr basser anything from Cedar uh one thing and maybe Mr Kina or Dr that help me out with this their their request with the sear Lake development commission at least one of their members wanted to receive information about what events are going on particularly at uh MacArthur Elementary School being that's the only School within Lake boundaries um could you make that happen where they would receive the the newslet I'd appreciate that yeah he just he just maybe that she sends out that little wonderful newsletter maybe that's something to Mr carahan yes Mr thank you for doing that it just takes one layer off apprciate it anything was that it well that was it okay okay nothing from winfy with that we'll move item 7.02 director of Elementary
032education Dr China thank you Mr President and board members as we approach winter break and the halfway point in the school year I just want to take a moment to express my uh thanks and gratitude for all of our Elementary staff members and teachers and administrators uh recently I had the privilege of stepping into a classroom to substitute teach at one of our elementary schools for a half day uh this experience really reminded me of a few uh very important things first off I was reminded that we we have awesome uh remarkable students who are really uh eager to learn and a lot of fun and full of potential um and we have exceptionally hardworking teachers who navigate uh so many different responsibilities each and every day and I was really struck by how many
033decisions our teachers have to make like every hour um it's it's uh it's a lot uh watching our teachers teach and manage it all with skill and Grace really uh you know kind of left me inspired and needless to say I went home um that afternoon a little bit more tired than usual uh but our teachers do amazing work and I uh admire and appreciate uh all of that work also this time of year it is DARE graduation season for three of our elementary schools uh the other four schools will have dare in the second semester um but on behalf of all of our elementary schools I want to give a big thank you to Sergeant steno gigit U of the CME Point Police Department he does really incredible work uh not only teaching our
034fifth graders about living a healthy lifestyle and staying away from drugs and and violence but uh also just about positive decision making um especially uh that's really important right before they head off to Middle School uh so definitely grateful to uh Sergeant Gage for all of his hard work and we appreciate that partnership with the city of Crown Point thank you thank you 7.03 director of secondary education uh Mrs rire thank thank you Mr President and board members I too really want to share just my gratefulness and my appreciation for our students for our teachers for our administrators for our staff from academics there have been a lot of changes and a lot of really hard work that's occurred during first semester from I learn checkpoints being new to Resource review curricular reviews that we're
035doing um looking at data field testing curriculum getting ready for final exams to doing all the great things that we are able to do because of the community we have so we've had a series of holiday concerts we've had theatrical performances um blood drives Angel drives really the caring nature of our students that are supported or is supported by our teachers is really um inspiring and so I thank everybody who instills and demonstrates in our students character positivity flexibility as Dr Chino was telling us our teachers are so adaptive they really Embrace change they work as hard as any teachers I think anywhere and I really want to commend them for their kindness and the care that they demonstrate throughout all of the challenges that they face as well as then all of the celebrations
036that they do to honor our students and our families so I really wish all of our student staff families and administrators um happy holidays and I hope they will rest and rejuvenate reflect um over the break I also want to thank Mr babjack thank you very much for your service over the past eight years it is truly um a testament to the commitment to our community that you've demonstrated and we all appreciate your collaboration your care and your support so thank you happy holidays to all of you thank you the same uh 7.04 assistant superintendent Mr G fman um similar to what Mrs uh Ramirez was just talking about it just a big thank you to our staff our our students our parents for this time of year they just really do come together and
037you can't go into any of our buildings without seeing an angel tree a food drive toy drive a close drive there was one group from the high school raised over $1,000 for Northwest Indiana Panther that's just one group and then when you really look at the reports from the buildings like we raised over you know collected over a thousand cans of food or non perishable items just to share that and to think about the families in our community and our school community that are in need this time of year to make that a little bit more special for I really do appreciate that and I appreciate the people that emphasize that it just seems like being here as long as I have it's just something we do we don't really think about it you know
038it just happens so big thanks for everyone involved in that and again uh Mr babjack thank you for your service appreciate it you had some laughs and done a lot of good things I think during your time so thank you for service thank you Mr J 7.05 Chief research officer Mr thank you Mr President and board members and I'll just start off with Mr BJ and tell you thanks great know you you know know you for some time it's been a pleasure seeing you this capacity so appreciate all you've done um sticking with teachers um I just want to thank our new teachers uh we just begun actually finished visiting all of our new teachers out on the field kind of a checkin for semester it's really interesting and uh to hear them comment and
039exciting and um there's three questions I asked them I asked them to rate themselves sort of on a one to 10 like what's your number um in teaching as a professional that's teaching um and managing all those things like outside of the of the actual teaching moment all the the things that a teaching professional has to to get get a grasp on organize and being prepared with each and every day um and that number you know two three months ago might have averaged 5.5 6.5 still trying to figure out everything get my hands on it now that's you know seven 7.5 pushing a um and just so nice to hear that they're comining their group which is which is what we want the next area is tell me about what your number is when you
040close the door and you're actually interacting with students you're you're teaching oh it's so exciting to see their reaction like 10 9.5 10 10 very confident interacting with students fantastic and I'll thank Dr Terell for this because it's a a message we we want to remind them of and I asked them to rate themselves person because I want to instill and remind them that if things aren't good away from school with you if you're not taking care of yourself as a human being as a person you're not going to be EXC CL kind of remind them that take some time separate rejuvenate do things that you need to do so that you come energize here at work every day um and I want to thank Dr Terell for saying that when we on folks because
041it is very important so want to thank our our new teachers for becoming a part of our community here in Crown Point working so hard as all of our other folks have uh spoken to here this evening and excited to see what those numbers register one spring semester so thank you very much thank you mrct 7.06 Chief Financial Officer Mr ree thank you Mr President I'd like to thank Christine CLA the director of service starting up school here recently morning for students and staff to come in add a nice touch to the high school cafeteria leadership over there Mr maren and also cafeteria staff a long way to make that pretty special place for students mrj thank you trust Place us specifically my job Mr Reese 7.07 director of communication Mrs Allan I'd like to
042of our teachers at school for our team Vis the lasts to interviews and teacher thoughts we have some YouTube videos going up this week about our career classes and then you'll also find an article in the next vcp it includes things about Precision maching Auto Inu and our CNA courses these are also the classrooms we toured our ambassador group last week before um I'm just amazed at how those teachers maintain a classroom of calm despite so much equipment and so many things happening and when I reached out to some of their students and said I need some quotes tell me about what you've learned in this class it's not just the skills um I had things like it's okay to make a mistake it's how I respond student me they learned how to account keep
043my I thought those were stat students thank you to those teers forit thank you m 7.08 superintendent of schools Dr Terell thank you uh like so many other want to thank Scott uh for all of your support uh first time I met Scott I was it was very obvious passion for Crown Point schools in the interview process and you've proved that over and over again and I think you um been through some big things before I got here even but just since I've been here Co redistricting and 350 million dollar worth of building projects and the list goes on and on and on and Tracy thank you for being a sounding board a filter at times um but the passion go doesn't go un best so appreciate you very much um want to also recognize
044Sunday my wife and I had the opportunity to attend the high school Holiday Spectacular and it was unbelievable and if you haven't been to one it's University level or Beyond things that our kids do the things that the directors do Johan cetto Bill Woods Aaron zelco and Jer Jerome fuelling uh I I can't even to describe the quality that you walk out of there after hearing that everybody's just in all of it so thank you to them uh all of you merry Christmas happy holidays to those who are out in the audience as well and uh Crown Point's a great place to be thank you Dr CH uh item eight other business the board uh the only item I we got coming up we do need to reorganize the first 10 days of the school
045year or calendar year next uh next uh month so we're looking at Wednesday 8 uh January 7:30 morning meeting um so just I'm going to reach out to each anyway to discuss some of the re reorganization so I'll do that next week and weekend but that would be the target date so if you can jot that date down we'll discuss that when I speak individually about expecting for next year's board members so reach out to that anybody have any other items for than okay with that we uh bo statements of appreciation recognition I am going to let Mr babjack go last but if Mr B you have anything I'd like to uh my understanding is both Diana green and Brian Smith share the same birthday today is that great so so happy birthday you share
046that along with our oldest daughter so happy birthday to both of you um and I would say Merry Christmas to each and everyone blessed thank you miss phas all right so it neither feels right to start with addressing Scott and then and then move on to something else nor does it feel right to not start with addressing Scott and and have him as an endcap so just know I've I've tossled back and forth with this neither way feels right um so I'm gonna start with you so when you started eight years ago it was the exact time that I left teaching and retired from teaching front Point um I very much enjoyed my teaching here felt like I still wanted to be involved and at that point I had considered running for the school board
047and um Scott had just been elected and I reached out and I just was you know telling him all the things I felt like you know from the inside here are things I feel like are some pain points and I I left our conversation he grabbed coffee with me um he had no reason to like waste his morning listening to all of my concerns from the inside and um and and what I loved most is that Scot listened and the passion with which he came and addressed his position here um did not go unnoticed from from the teachers and I can tell you at a point that you entered where there was a lot of change I think that that we could have benefited from would not have happened without you sir so my sincerest
048gratitude to you um and I know that I'm the one saying it but I can tell you from the teaching side of the community we very much appreciate um the the trajectory that when you entered where we were versus where we are now is just absolutely outstanding um for for having the drive the passion and the inability to be held back by things that some people would have been nervous about well I don't want to rock the boat or I don't want to whatever and you roll full force with all of your passion and so um very grateful for you it was wonderful to get to serve alongside you for the last couple years and um and I'll miss you miss having you on my left so um so best of luck to you with
049all of your future getting to coach um the kiddos while the last bit probably here for bradden as he gets ready to graduate or did you graduate did I miss it Junior okay okay it's coming y yeah so Grayson sorry you get your dad back now permanently for coaching you don't get Mondays off once a month anymore he's he's gonna be on you the whole time so um thank you sorry I know I'm long winded I really told you this was a hard one for me okay um I do also want to add in uh had the opportunity to hear the Crown Point Coral and I'm sure I'm messing that up I don't think that's actually the title but that's the best I can remember they are truly phenomenal and it's a special group that
050they um do all the holiday songs and they will perform at various things they performed like six out of the last seven days before they came to us and it was like an hour and a half two hour performances are what they're giving out at each of their shows we had a shorter version at Rotary but they are truly a phenomenal group and to hear these um I'm always am anytime our arts department or music puts out anything they it feels like a professional production um so absolutely outstanding um job by them and I want to take a quick minute to address um the calendar change happened a little bit before I came but as we approach um the holidays I'm so grateful that our calendar lines up to where everyone gets a nice finish
051of a semester so that our teachers can get a true break they're not grading paper taking things home and I'm sure they're still planning for their second semester but um a true rest fit I think is um is very appropriate for all those folks and to those folks who will still be in the buildings I know all of our custodial staff is still around we still have sports going on um so thank you to those folks for kind of you know putting in that extra work while everyone else is kind of getting their rest it so um and then happy holidays to everybody Merry Christmas um thank you I very much appreciate having you all and around holidays even more so thank you Mr Smith yes thank you first let me just start by saying
052you know Merry Christmas and happy holidays to each of of you and your families and what a what an honor it is to serve with such great people both in the administration throughout the school corporation we say it all the time but we're we're truly blessed and I feel that way this Christmas season so in holiday season so thank you to all of you I too am gon to add and speak to about my colleague um who I joined a board with eight years ago and I did not know him I think we went and grabbed lunch at ends Brook and said what are we doing and what's going on with the school corporation and we had a lunch and had a meeting and uh just brainstormed and things that we uh liked about the
053school corporation things that we thought a vision or change could happen and um really really productive and Scott has become not only a friend of mine on the school board but off the school board as well um you know and it seems like everything's kind of coming to an end collectively we've been through a lot together not not details but through the school corporation but it so I'm I'm dearly going to miss you um you know it's it's interesting I guess Grace and Braden I want you guys to hear that you know a a community is only as strong as the people who serve it and those that serve it no nobly and your father has done that and he's made a a huge impact on our community and our Corporation so thank you uh
054you know for letting us have your dad because that's more than 100 meetings with the superintendent chain that felt like 100 meetings in of itself you know so you know yeah you guys you guys really sacrific and Tracy you as well so thank you I know what that sacrifice looks like family feels that as well and I send Scott oftentimes texts and I say hey thank you you know especially on his birthday thank you for the sacrifice you made because my kids get to experience the benefits of that as well so it's not just for the school corporation it's personal to me and I I want you know just to touch on but besides being a de facto communication director before we hired Brooke I mean he was man in everything on social media responding
055and managing Scott also has a gift he he's not afraid to call anybody it doesn't matter what it is and I'm I mean trust me when he has his gifts he has his gifts and we're gonna miss that because I could just sit back and say well Scott will call that person that's great you know that's a tough EMA let's let's SC tackle that right and uh you really do have qualities and gifting that that are phenomenal but there are few items and a lot of them I've already been touched upon I know Dr Terell touched upon a couple of the changes we always try to reflect and step back after a commitment of four years or eight years as a school board and look at the change in some of the things I did
056that for Dave I did that for Tom when he left and I I want to do that for you as well and it just keeps evolving it keeps changing particularly I think for you Scott there are things that you speak and I think Danielle hit on this so well that you have the ability you're willing to challenge the status sometimes that's hard you know but we have to be willing to ask the tough question and challeng status quo how can we get better and Scott you have the ability to ask that and you always ask that you never shine away from it and because of that we've had Direct change um you know you were instrumental in pay raises for the teachers administrators you were kid for teachers and their salar so if you're a
057teacher out there and you appreciate the pay raise you need to thank Mr badjack because behind the scenes although collectively we all get on board typically we all bring something different we push an advocate and then we all you know surround that that goal and objective so although all the boards on board you you led that the playgrounds right if you're enjoying the playgrounds at the new that was a big issue for him it was driving him nuts all right the security department uh Mr Poulson and just the way we did security and how we looked at it a lot of that was Mr babjack behind the scenes pushing that and asking that and then you always supported other things too of removing a transportation fees for the high school I think we used to
058charge student athletes for transportation fees Scott would come in and say this has driving me nuts doing this you know and so these are these are real conversations I hope I'm not revealing anything too too out there but this is how the board works this is this is how it works right and so and then collectively we're working with the administration of people and you did such an effective job of making a difference in our in our Corporation and then you got the obvious things the buildings the redistricting the the hiring of principles and more principles in the school and anything regarding personnel and evaluations usually Scott was behind that because that has a gift in that area so um you know it just goes on uh you always supported the other things other board
059members went too uh in the longterm planning I got a page and a of things I just want to say thank you because it's been an honor to serve with you step out ask questions and make change you've done it serve well so congratulations you get to retire stuff now and and enjoy it right off but well done so thank thank you Scott I mentioned a few things up the podium once again appreciate all years with I think we feel I feel that done the right so thank you do with that before I let you go ahead do the last one just a shout out to Brooke Allen and the ambassador program I was contacted you mentioned last week there at the high SP cont by two individuals of how it would be great if
060everybody in our community can do this program because what you learn how you learn it learning the understanding behind the scenes is invaluable and this is a former teacher at a high school of over two high schools of over 30 years experiened out so obviously it's working so continue what you're doing because it's going to be a great asset to this community uh with that Merry Christmas and happy holidays all of you and your families may it be blessed for all with that I'm going to turn this over to Mr I was not expecting that um those were very kind words by everybody I was really touching and I didn't give the finality of this very much thought until I entered this room and then all of a sudden just hit me all at once
061so I appreciate the reminders and the kind words and uh this is a great team everybody in this room I mean this is all all been a team one of the best teams that I've worked with and a lot of people think that that is um you know that's always easy times are always easy and that everybody just gets along that is not the case by any me so um as I'm processing all the all the kind words everybody just had I just have a bunch of thank yous that I want to give I'm GNA put my head down and read from this so I can keep it together and um just have some U be about two three minutes so uh I'd like to start by thanking my wife Tracy and my entire family
062that didn't last very long um you know my family that was on this journey with me the past eight years Believe It or Not There are a few negative aspects of this ultimately positive experience of serving on the board it's impossible not to take those things home with you but Tracy was always someone I could talk to and bounce ideas off whether it be the hiring of a new superintendent or how to handle all the conflict that came with Co she was always well mostly on my side she was willing to put on the boxing gloves to come to our defense I say our defense not just mine our defense whether it was by defending our decisions during day-to-day conversations with whoever she encountered or possibly the occasional social media conflict she she did that
063stuff too wasn't wasn't just me so yeah I needed her support and she was always there often as emotionally invested in the job as me also I'm proud I'm proud to have joined my sister Angie my mother Betty and my father bill on the list of BJs that have served this great City with pride and integrity I'd also like to thank the entire Administration starting with Dr Terell hiring Todd was the most important decision that this board has made with any organization it is import that the board gets the CEO selection correct and then you rely on them to hire the proper cabinet to handle the task of running the corporation Todd has done this extremely well and has much needed uh and has made much needed organizational changes with regards to alignment and Personnel
064the people in this room today serve the students of the brown Point Community School Corporation passionately and exceptionally and I'm great very grateful for that both as a board member and as a parent also I want want to thank the building leaders teachers coaches and all the support staff that serve the children of this community while the most important decision a board can make is the selection of the corporation's leaders you are the most important people and the foundation of how well our schools perform thank you to the current board as well as Dave wary and Tom Hoffman from previous boards you were all great teammates the perception of the board is often judged by Boring policy and procedure approvals that take place in the meeting room often people use the phrase the board just
065rubber stamps what the administration puts forward I'm sure everyone in this room can cite multiple examples of how this is definitely not the case please continue to be independent thinkers and know that you have an obligation to descend when compelled to do so uh finally I'd like to thank the community of Crown Point for giving me the opportunity to serve as a board member for eight years having lived in Crown Point almost my entire life as well as raising a family here I can assure you that I took this responsibility very seriously and I hope that you feel that this board played a small part in making our city one that continues to thrive ideally this will not be the last opportunity I have to serve Crown Point I hope it's not and I look
066forward to the next time I ask the citizens to support me as a public servant and hopefully we'll have the confidence to do so thank you thank you Scott and very well said uh what better way to end the meeting and get into the holiday season so with that I'll look for a motion to adour motion by Mr BJ second by Mr bassard all those in favor please signify by saying yes I thank you motion e