Danville Community School Corporation January 12, 2026 School Board Meeting

001order the January 12th regular board meeting of the Danville Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees. Uh we do have a quorum present and Mrs. Ward is joining us virtually through audio and video means this evening. I just want to point out too uh this is not only our reorganization meeting uh for the beginning of the year and we'll be receing uh members of the board in their officer positions but this is also January's board member appreciation month. So board members thank you for your dedication and service here to the Danville community. We have a little little gift at your places this evening to to recognize you and thank you for your work. >> Thank you. >> So with that we are going to move to the pledge of allegiance. So those that can like

002to rise and join us to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. And we are going to move right to uh board reorganization and election of officers here this evening. Uh state statute for background here. State statute requires that each school board reorganize in the first now 31 days of January each year um since terms have ended. And I am charged this evening with bringing the meeting to order and beginning the process of taking nominations for the office of school board president. And once the nominations are taken, we'll close nominations and we'll proceed forward with voting. So, with that said, uh do we have a motion uh or I should say a nomination uh for school

003board president? Yes, I do. I would like to nominate Beth Cherry for president. I would also like to nominate Christina Ward for vice president and Corey Hel for secretary. >> We have a motion. Do we have a That was You made You actually made a motion, Mr. Brown. >> Yes. >> Or did you make a nomination? He said nomination. >> Nomination. Thank you. Okay. So, we have a nomination for that slate of officers. Do we have any other nominations? >> No. >> Okay. Well, we we'll close nominations then. So, then we would need a motion to uh put that slate on the board for approval. >> I make a motion to approve the slate of officers as submitted by Mr. Brown. >> Okay. Thank you. We have a motion. Do we have a second? We

004have a second. Motion and second. Any discussion, questions? >> Mr. Helms. >> Yeah, Mr. Bryant. Motion. Mr. Heel. Second. We're going to do a roll call. >> All right. Seeing none, we are going to go by roll call vote since we have a virtual member. So, uh, Mr. Bryant, we'll start down at that end. We'll just we'll work around the table here. Okay. >> Mr. Bryant. Hi. >> Mr. Heli. Mrs. Ward >> I >> Mr. Brown >> I >> and Mrs. Ch >> I >> Okay, motion carries 50. Thank you. That was very efficient this evening. So we can we will fast forward and I'm going to turn over um the running of the meeting uh to our new president, Mrs. Cherry. >> All right. Thank you everyone. The next item on the agenda is

005established 2026 meeting dates and times. Dr. Schaefer. >> Yes, the meeting dates and times are in your packet. Uh we have gone through those as closely as we can. Um it looks like uh almost all the meeting dates fall nicely into that second uh traditional second Monday of the month uh without too many conflicts. Uh we did have one conflict at our October meeting date. Um, so what we're proposing is we move that meeting day actually forward a half a week, have a half a week earlier on October 7th, which is a Wednesday because that falls before our normal fall break. If we move it back past fall break, then staff is having to try to prep for that meeting on fall break. And if we look at the balance of time from September to

006October meeting, October November meeting, it still fits pretty well in there. Um, we did look at dates uh for the 4 fair. The 4 fair I think's a little bit later this year compared to last year. So that looks to be in in good shape. And we didn't see any other obvious conflicts, but certainly if we need to move something around for the board, we we can do that. And these will be for all of the uh 2026 dates from February forward. then including January of 2027. >> What about the U financial meeting before the October meeting? >> We we typically don't set that one because we have to kind of see how the schedule falls moving into that. Um we'll try to get that out ahead, but we typically don't set that on this

007slate, but if we want to at least start looking at some dates, we can probably project forward a little bit on that. >> Okay. >> All right. I need a motion to approve the 2026 meeting dates as presented. >> So move. >> Thank you, Mrs. Ward. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Helil. Any other comments or questions? >> Mr. Hel. >> Roll call vote. >> I, >> Mrs. Ward. >> I, >> Mr. Brown. >> I, >> Mrs. Cherry. >> I, Mr. Hi. >> That passes unanimously. Thank you. Next item on the agenda, established compensation for board members. Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, last spring, Indiana code was amended uh regarding the maximum annual amount paid to to board members uh for board service. That new maximum amount is not to exceed

00810% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher in a school corporation. Uh there were no ma there were no changes made to the PDM amounts at that point. those those numbers had already been moved upward by statute earlier in the year. Um but so board members will still continue to receive their pdeium amount. Um a school board is still required to annually set the amount. Um this is generally done at the reorg reorganization meeting. Uh school boards could continue to keep the current annual amount they are paid, which is currently $5,200 annual pay plus $150 per DM and $75 for special meetings. as established at the September 2025 school board meeting or decide to be paid any other amount not exceeding 10% of the starting teacher pay for the current year. Currently, that's an

009amount of 5,250. So, base pay right now is 5,200. It could be uh moved upward to a maximum of 5250 for the base annual compensation. Again, that does not include the PDM pays. Those remain the same. So, it is up to the board what you would like to do. >> All right. I need a motion to approve the compensation for board members as presented. >> Well, quite sure. >> I'm going to make a motion to leave it as it is right now. >> Okay. Yeah. I I did not make a recommendation, so >> I second that. >> Okay. >> All right. All right. We will now do a roll call vote. >> Mrs. Ward, >> I. >> Mr. Brown, >> I. >> Mrs. Cherry, >> I. >> Mr. Bryant, >> hi. >> And Mr. >>

010Hi. >> That passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda, appointment of corporation treasurer, Dr. Schaefer. >> Uh, the board will also need to appoint a board and corporation treasure, which cannot be a board member or the superintendent. and traditionally is the school corporation treasurer. So I do recommend to you uh Mrs. Kim Baker, our corporation treasurer for this position. >> I need a motion to approve the appointment of corporation treasurer as submitted. >> So moved. >> Still moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Ward. Comments or questions? >> Just out of curiosity for general information, if we if it wasn't Kim Baker, corporation treasurer, what options do you have for recommendations? uh in districts our size, not a lot. [laughter] I suppose it I suppose

011it could be Mr. Herbert um because I don't believe he's precluded by statute. So I think that would be your next your next option that would make sense or a school a school treasurer perhaps. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? All right, we'll now do a roll call. >> Mr. Brown, >> I Mrs. Cherry >> I. >> Mr. Bryant. >> Hi. >> Mr. I >> Mrs. Ward >> I. >> That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, appointment of legal counsel, Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our legal counsel has served as well and I recommend the board continue to use at Terry Kessinger with Kendall Wood Lowry and Kessinger for general counsel and to further utilize special counsel such as Church Hill and Antrum and Kroger Gardis and Regis for

012specialized areas such as special education and labor law issues that we we bump into once in a while. >> I need a motion to approve appointment of legal counsel as submitted. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Pencil comments or questions? We will now take a roll call vote. >> Mrs. Cherry >> I. >> Mr. Brian. >> Hi. >> Mr. >> I. Mrs. Ford. >> I. >> And Mr. >> Hi. >> That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, appointment of RDC Representative Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you. By statute, uh school boards are permitted to appoint a member or representative to a local redevelopment commission board. Uh each term is for a period of two years and it is time again to make the bianial uh appointment.

013Uh I have as superintendent I've been serving in that capacity for the past I believe it's six six years maybe eight but I think six years and I'm happy to continue in the capacity to represent the board but it is it is up to the board. Um if one of you would want to do that you can you can appoint me. That's that's sort of the the uh range of options that you have available. >> I need a motion to appoint motion to approve appointment of RDC representative as submitted. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mrs. Ward. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Comments or questions? I would like to point out, and I hope I'm saying this correctly, that you serve on the RDC, but you are a non voting member. That's

014correct. >> Of the RDC. >> That's correct. It is a non- voting position by statute. >> All right. Any other comments or questions? >> We'll now do a roll call vote. >> Mr. Bryant. >> I. >> Mr. >> I. >> Mrs. Ward. >> I. >> Mr. Brown. >> I. >> Mrs. Chair. >> I. >> That passed unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of the Danville Multi-School Building Corporation, new member, Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you. Uh, Mr. Cassinger works on behalf of the school corporation to organize and direct the work of the Danville Multi-School Building Corporation. Uh, building corporations are a necessary entity in Indiana for school district capital projects. An opening currently exists uh with the exit of Mr. Dave Coleman. So, we are recommending this position be filled by DJ Florence. Uh,

015Mr. Florence operates his own local finance and investment firm here in Danville. He's an active member, including an active of the community, including an active Rotary member. Uh, you may recall we filled a similar position on this same board uh here, I think just a year or two ago, uh, with with, um, Dr. Harris being appointed on the same board. Dr. Harris, Roger Riggs are the other current active board members. And, uh, once appointed, uh, Mr. Kissinger will be convening the building corporation board on Monday to then formally begin Mr. Florence's term on the board >> and and also part of that we need to accept the resation of D. >> We need to do that tonight. >> Yes. >> Okay. In conjunction with the with new member uh Mr. Coleman moved out of Danville

016out of the school district. That's why he resigned. He had been on the building corporations for 30ome years. So he really served the community well. Yeah. So, let me uh clarify my recommendation. That would be to accept uh Dave Coleman's resignation on the building corporation board and then accept DJ Florence as the replacement for Mr. Coleman on that same board. That would be my recommendation. >> I need a motion to approve the resignation of Dave Coleman and to accept the um approval of Mr. Florence to the Danville Multi School Building Corporation as a new member. That was a mouthful. >> Thank you, Mrs. Ward. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Comments or questions. We'll now do a roll call vote. >> Mr. Gibson, >> I. >> Mrs. Ward, >> I. >> Mr. Brown,

017>> I. >> Mrs. Cherry, >> I. >> Mr. Brown, >> hi. That passes unanimously. >> Thank you, Mr. Cassinger. >> The next item on the agenda is students of the month. Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you. And we are privileged again to have lots of great kids here this evening. And we want to recognize our students of the month from each of our respective buildings. So, we're going to begin with North Elementary, Mrs. Perkins. We have two students from North to recognize this evening. So, that that's awesome. So, Mrs. Perkins, please just come on up and bring the kiddos with you. And if you're a parent or grandparent and you want to get a picture of your student being recognized, please feel free to move towards the front. You want to get a better picture, we

018want you to feel welcome to do that. >> [laughter] >> Good evening. Um I'm excited to introduce our this is our October student. She was not able to make it in November. We're recognizing her tonight. Kza is a kind, quiet student in Mrs. Robert's kindergarten class. Although she was a little shy when we first began talking, Kza quickly warmed up with a bright smile and thoughtful answers. Her favorite part of the school day is recess, where she loves to head straight for the swings. In class, she enjoys learning about letters and their sounds, which will help her become an even stronger reader. Of all the related arts classes, art is her favorite. She really likes painting, and she's particularly proud of a pumpkin she created recently. At home, Kessa has fun spending time with her

019older sister and two younger brothers. She enjoys watching TV and says her favorite color is pink. One of her favorite places to go visit is her grandpa's house, where she, her sister, and her cousin Delisia like to play family with their dolls and style their dolls hair. If Kza could be in charge for a day and go anywhere she wanted, she choose Disney World so she could meet Mickey Mouse. She says her favorite thing about her mom is that she plays with her and her siblings and that her mom is also a great cook. When she grows up, Kza hopes to become a doctor so she can help people when they are sick. Mrs. Roberts nominated Kza and had the following to say about her. Our October learner trait is organization. And not only is

020KZA consistently organized, she helps her classmates stay on track as well. She keeps her materials neat, follows routines independently, and takes initiative to tidy shared spaces without being asked. Her calm, responsible attitude sets a great example for others and helps our classroom run smoothly. Kza, you are truly deserving of this recognition. Congratulations on being North Elementary student of the month. We're very proud of you. [applause] >> Congratulations, Kza. >> [clears throat] >> And now we're going to recognize our North Elementary student of the month from December. I'm excited to introduce North Elementary Student of the Month, Fred Byingro. Byron, >> say it again. >> Fred is a kind, hardworking student in Mrs. Robert's kindergarten class. At school, Fred's favorite subject is math, and he is especially good at it. Right now, his classes are learning

021about subtraction, and Fred enjoys the challenge of figuring out math problems. If Fred could make school even better, he says he would make math longer. That's how much he loves it. Fred's favorite related arts class is PE, where he really enjoys playing basketball. He loves sports and stays very active. His favorite football team is the Eagles. And at and at home, he likes to play football with his family. Fred has two older brothers and two older sisters that he reports are pretty kind to him. And if that isn't enough activity, he also shared that he enjoys going swimming in the summer. One thing Fred loves about his mom and dad is they care so much about him. If he could do anything for a whole day, Fred says he would help take care of his

022house by cleaning and fixing things. That shows how responsible and thoughtful he is. When Fred grows up, he wants to be a firefighter because he wants to save people, and that's an amazing goal. Our learner trait for December was problem solving, and Mrs. Roberts nominated Fred, sharing the following about why he exemplifies this trait. Fred is a natural problem solver in our class. classmates often go to him to help for help with their Chromebooks, opening materials, or figuring out what to do next. He notices when others are struggling and steps in without with steps in to help without being asked. Fred is quiet, but his kindness, patience, and willingness to help others make a big difference in our classroom. Fred, you are also truly deserving of student. Congratulations. We're proud of you. [applause] >> Congratulations,

023Fred. All right, Mrs. Hollingsworth is going to come forward and help us recognize our student of the month from South Elementary. >> Thank you. >> South Elementary is proud to introduce Miss Emma Houchin as this month's student of the month. Emma is a student in Mrs. Labour's second grade class and she lives with her mom, dad, sister, and four dogs, Simba, Poppy, Satie, and Sully. While at home, Emma loves to play with her dogs, play softball in the springtime, play teacher, and snowboard down the hill in the backyard. Emma is a confident young lady who is very well spoken and truly a sweetheart every day at South. She epitomizes our Warriorway skill of problem solving by trying to solve problems on her own before asking for help and always being the one that helps others

024when they have a problem. Emma said that what she loves most about South is that she gets to see all of her friends every day since we get to eat all together at lunchtime and play together all the time on the playground together. She also loves how big South is and how we give out awards on our live announcements for math facts and student of the week. She said she loves hearing your friends name calls called on the announcements and cheering for them when they get their name called. She also loves the book vending machine and getting a book from the book vending machine with the token. Emma said that she was in charge for the day. Everyone would decorate their classrooms, drink hot chocolate, and watch movies. She did say though that in the

025afternoon we could get some learning time in, which I appreciate. Emma said that the best influence on her life are her parents. She said that her mom has taught her how to work hard and helps her study. And she said her dad helps her study, too, especially math. Emma wants to be a teacher or an artist when she grows up. Emma was nominated by her second grade teacher, Mrs. Labour. Mrs. Labour had the following to say. Emma is a wonderful member of our second grade class. She is con consistently kind and respectful to everyone. Always willing to lend a helping hand or offer an encouraging word to her classmates. Whether we're working in groups, sharing ideas during class discussions, or playing at recess, she treats others with empathy and fairness. Her positive attitude and smile

026help make our classroom a warm and welcoming place for everyone. In addition to her kindness, Emma stands out for her focus and responsibility. She listens carefully during lessons, participates thoughtfully, and works hard to solve problems on her own before asking for help. Her strong sense of organization helps her stay on top of her assignments and set a great example for her peers. Like remembering to bring the ruler even when your mom tells you no, right? No matter the task, she approaches it with care, attention to detail, and a smile. She is a joy to have in class and an excellent role model for others at South Elementary. Congratulations, Emma, on being South Student of the Month. [applause] >> Congratulations, Emma. And Mrs. Berky is going to introduce our middle school student of the month. She's

027still there. This month we are proud to recognize Mela Charles as our December student of the month for exemplifying our warrior way skill of problem solving. Ma is a fifth grader who joined our school this year after moving here from another country. From the moment she arrived, her teachers could see that she was a wonderful fit for our school community. Ma was nominated by her ML teacher, Mrs. Bush, and her classroom teacher, Mrs. Ferguson. Mrs. Ferguson shared that it was clear from day one that Ma brought a strong work ethic and a sense of focus to the classroom. Even while still learning English, she actively engages in instruction, takes detailed notes, and finds creative ways to communicate using her peers gestures, pictures, and short phrases to ensure she understands what is being taught. Her persistence

028and adaptability have led to impressive academic growth in a very short time and she sets a powerful example of what determination looks like. Mrs. Bush describes Mela as a joy to work with. She noted that Ma is learning a new language, a new grade level, and a new culture all at once. And despite these challenges, she meets every day with a smile. She observes classmates, follows routines, and seeks help quietly and respectfully from friends who speak Haitian Creole. Mrs. Mrs. Bush shared that Ma embodies what it means to be a problem-solving multilingual learner. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Ma as well. When I see her in the hall, she always greets me with a bright smile and a huge hug. During our interview, supported by her friend Luggina, who helped translate, Ma

029shared that in her free time, she watches videos at home to help herself learn English. She also loves to help her auntie in the kitchen. Her auntie teaches her by showing her each step so she can learn their family traditions. And Ma told me without an interpreter for this part that her favorite things to make are spaghetti and macaroni. We celebrated that moment. She was proud that I understood her and I was proud of how confidently she carried herself through the conversation. It is difficult to imagine the courage it takes to move somewhere completely new with no ability yet to speak or understand the language and then step into a fifth grade classroom and try to keep up with reading, math, and everything that comes with school. Ma does this every single day with grace,

030kindness, and the brightest smile. She works so hard to stay in sync with her peers, and she is thriving. We are incredibly proud of Mela and grateful to have her as part of our school community. She is a shining example of resilience, curiosity, and the true spirit of problem solving. Congratulations, Ma. [applause] Congratulations, Ma. I'm impressed because spaghetti would certainly not be one of the early easiest words to to come up with. [laughter] And now we're going to recognize our high school student of the month. And Mr. Claude Felder is going to take the lead on that. Thank you. Gil Community High School is proud to recognize Michael Dolan Junior as our student of the month. Mrs. Yol, his nominator, shared, "Michael has really improved since he joined us from online school. He is working

031hard in English to improve his skills. He's challenging himself both academically and socially. He is succeeding in both. I'm excited to be here to recognize him for his hard work and growth." Michael says he especially enjoys Mr. Kim's US history class because he likes to learn about the past and understanding why historical events happened the way they did. One historical figure he admires is Abraham Lincoln for his honesty and willingness to take action for what was right. If he could choose any career, Michael would become a director at a natural history museum. Outside the classroom, Michael enjoys playing video games, particularly Minecraft and GTA. And a fun fact many people don't know about him is that he has a soft spot for cats. The past few weeks have been especially difficult for Michael. Tragically, Michael's

032mother passed away unexpectedly over winter break before his family could be informed of this award. During an incredibly difficult time, Michael has continued to show strength, resilience, and commitment to his education. We are honored to recognize him and extend our heartfelt support to Michael and his family. [applause] Congratulations, Michael. And congratulations to all of our students of the month. And I want to thank our teachers and administrators for recognizing them and also thank our parents and grandparents for raising and bringing us such great kids. And we really appreciate the opportunity to work with them on a daily basis. Thank you. All right. The next item on our agenda is student commendations. Dr. Schaefer, >> Mr. Cloud, if I could ask you to rejoin me here, please. >> Absolutely. [clears throat] >> Get the opportunity here

033tonight to do something we don't often get to do, and that's to bring back some graduates to recognize them. Uh we [snorts] had lots of our seniors that received advanced are AP distinguished scholar awards. We don't learn about those until the school year is out from last year. So, we want to bring them back and give them their due uh recognition here this year. And the AP distinguished scholar award is awarded uh to students who have at least a three.5 average on their AP exam scores and they have to have a three or higher on five at least five of those exams. So you think about that if you're familiar at all with AB that's a tough trick. That's a that's that's a lot of learning. It's a lot of challenge and it's a lot

034of significant accomplishment. So, uh, we're hopeful that, um, several of our, uh, last year seniors were able to join us this evening. I think we have we had about maybe 16 to recognize. So, we're going to go through their names. And so, if you're able to be here this evening, please come on up and accept your certificate, award, and our congratulations. We have uh Emma Anellet, Addison Demon, Nadia Camel, Jonah Cloudfelder. Couldn't get Couldn't get Jonah, huh? How about Cloudfelder? >> [applause] >> want to introduce you to our high school principal, [laughter] >> Evie Cromeber, [applause] >> Ava Elliot >> [applause] >> Maddie floor here. We'll get those to her. Jack Harold. Yeah, Jack was a frequent flyer in here last year. Gabriel Ivy. Colton Miller, dual mood, Benjamin Morton, Naomi Rogers, Olivia Stwalt, [applause]

035and Nicholas Tuttle. [applause] And Mr. Claw, I don't know if you had a couple words you might want to mention. >> Um, I just wanted to say I know we only have a few of you here tonight. Um, I think that uh um that folks who are a distance from high school don't understand the time commitment and the level of dedication that it takes to reach that level of distinction. But this is the highest distinction that AP uh honors and uh 16 kids in one class is pretty impressive. So we want to bring it back and say thank you. [applause] just turn around and face the board here a second. Um because it is on behalf of the board that we are recognizing you and on behalf of the board I want to congratulate you

036for the significant accomplishments and wish you continued great work in your college endeavors as well. And I think Mrs. England is going to get your picture here. >> [applause] >> Now, we're going to recognize three individuals from our middle school who had some significant accomplishment this year. And Mrs. Burkie, I'll have you come on up. Mr. Burus is here. Yes. Thank you. >> You will because you need to be embarrassed up here just like everybody else. [laughter] And we are going to recognize these three young ladies. We have Ivy Carlson, [applause] Charlotte Dylan, [applause] Miley Shipley. These three young ladies finished third in the state in the middle school division for the next tech CS for good competition. Now this was held at the state house. So they not only had to perform at the

037state level but they had to perform in front of the secretary of education and several elected representatives giving their presentation on their project. So uh Mr. Burrus, you help these young ladies through this. So, you want to give us the the skinny version of what their project involved? >> Yeah, I actually typed something out, but I'll go quicker than that. Um, yes, it was a state house. It was a lot of pressure, a lot of going on. We had bad weather to deal with. It was a lot going on and they pulled through. I want to thank um Mrs. Berky and admin being part of it and supporting the parents were a big part of that as well. So, I got credit there. These girls gave up a lot of sacrifice. They gave up recess

038for them, which they were okay with, but the the working lunches was something different for them. Um, so they brought their pizza trays in the classroom and we worked the whole time. Um, I was just kind of kind of leading with the rubric, but they did everything on their own. And what they actually did was is they created a working prototype digital application that you could download on the phone and it was meant to find local food pantries in an area. So it was computer science at the best part possible of trying that good society. Um they have work in progress. Uh the the prototype they did a presentation with is in the glass case. So on your way out tonight, you can stop and look at the photos of their work and the post

039support they did. They did a fantastic job. I'm very proud of it. >> They did. They were awesome. >> So ladies, because not only performed at state, but you got third in state, that's that's awesome stuff. So I'm going to have you do the same thing and turn to face the board. The board has something special for you here this evening. I'm going to hand this to you. This is a resolution of congratulations on your attainment at state level. Mrs. Cherry is going to read this into the record. You have a copy. She's going to read this into the record for our board forever with your names on. >> All right. Resolution of congratulations by the Danville Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees. Whereas the Danville Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees wishes

040to recognize the outstanding performance outstanding academic performance by the students and sponsor of the Danville Community Middle School CS for good state competition team during the 2025 2026 school year. And whereas the team placed third overall in the next tech CS for good showcase competition held at the Indiana State House. And whereas the team displayed great creativity and mastery in presenting their project to the state legislatures and the secretary of education in a competition. And where it is is appropriate and fitting for the Danville Community School Board to recognize and congratulate Next Tech CS for good show cause competition team members Ivy Carlson, Charlotte Dylan, Miley Shippy, Shipley, and teacher sponsor Mr. Buck Burus. Now therefore, be it resolved by the members of the Danville Community Board of School Trustees, that the students and sponsors

041of the Danville Community Middle School CS for good state competition team are to be congratulated on their outstanding performance in the state finals next Tech Showcase Competition. I need a motion to approve this resolution. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. All in favor? >> I That passes unanimously. Congratulations, lady. That's fabulous. [applause] >> Mr. Burns, thank you for your help and support these [snorts] young ladies. Picture there. >> It's not All right. Next on the item on the agenda is community input. If you have [snorts] anything you'd like to share, please step to the podium, state your name, address, and you have three minutes. Seeing as none of you are running to the podium, we'll take a short pause so that those that would like

042to exit the building may do so. As always, I would love to have you stay. >> Congress. I think the real we forgot to put on any opportunity for the business section if we could. If there are any, we don't have any, but I just want to recognize I just caught up. But, again, we didn't put that on with the realization. I can I can do that right before we do the minutes. >> That would be great. >> What happened to all the fall academic conference? >> I think that was a uh leftover that wasn't deleted from last year. >> I thought we were going to be here for two hours reading all those names. >> Now the the there's a lot of other kids on there. They're level one or two. I send them

043letter. >> Yep. They're just different levels. >> Jim, they were not a level high enough to be recognized in the board meeting, but they got a letter. >> Yeah, there's that spreadsheet's a little hard to follow. There's if you go up to top, there's columns that are marked there. Christina, are you gonna hang with us for a little bit? >> I'm going to hang for you a little bit. We have dinner reservations here in a little bit if I log off. >> Where you going? >> What are you having? >> Can you bring Jim a doggy bag? [laughter] I I I think uh at least Austin is a yes on that. [laughter] >> Maybe I'll pass you in the airport. Be in Dallas in the morning. >> We have two hours [clears throat] to Chicago

0449 and not a fun day. >> Lovely. Okay, Mr. Hel's back, so we're going to get back at it. Um it was just brought to my attention that we did note on the agenda amendments to the agenda. So before we start the business portion, are there any amendments to the agenda, Dr. Schaefer? >> We have none. Again, I I recognize that. Apologize. We just forgot to put that on there. And with the reorganization, >> anyone else? All right. We're going to move right along to consider approval of the December 8th, 2025 regular school board meeting minutes. So, I need a motion to approve the December 8th, 2025 regular school board meeting minutes as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Hemsel. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Comments or questions? We'll now

045do a roll call vote. >> Mrs. I, >> Mr. Brown, >> I. >> Mrs. Cherry, >> I. >> Mr. Hi, >> I >> that passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of the December 11th, 2025 executive meeting. So, I need a motion to approve the December 11th, 2025 executive meeting. Mrs. Ward. Second. >> Second. >> Mr. Helil, comments or questions? We'll now do a roll call vote. >> Mr. Mr. Brown. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Cherry. >> I >> Mr. Bryant. >> Hi, >> Mr. >> Hi, >> Mrs. I. >> That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, >> the demographic study. >> The dem right, Dr. [laughter] Schaer. >> Thank you. Yes, we have our report. Yeah, we have a report this evening from our demography study and Mr. Jerry McKibben uh is

046with us tonight to present the study that his firm uh completed here in late fall and we've just had now the first opportunity to come present the report. So Jerry, we appreciate you uh conducting this work for us and also for being here this evening to to run through the highlights of it. Uh we have it up here and uh Mr. Herbert can advance the slides for you. Do you need a Do you have a laser? >> I have one. Yes. >> Okay. I've got one here, but it's Whoops. Yeah, this one works, too. >> There we go. Very good. >> Sure. Thank you, >> Madam Chairperson. Thank you for being here tonight. Um, two things I want to go over quick before I start getting results forecast. Uh, very important ones. First, these are

047forecasts. They are not projections. A projection is where you take a variable, usually yeartoear survivorship, second, third, third, fourth over about a fiveyear period, create an algorithm and use that to literally project into the future. quick, simple, relatively easy, uh, cheap. Unfortunately, they're almost always wrong because the only way a projection can be correct is what's happened the last five years replicates itself over the next five years. Obviously, the last five years, but a forecast is different. This is a two-step procedure. The first thing we do is full population forecast for the entire school district. Uh build a fertility mortality migration model specific to the demographic characteristics of schools. Um with housing data, new home construction, home sales, uh family composition, and housing tenure, owner versus ren every lays on we put into building these

048immigration models forecast to 85 plus male and female. The results of that population is what drives the enrollment forecast. So it's your current future demographic dynamics and characteristics dictate future, not trends. And the second thing, don't let Daphne, Alabama fool you. I was born and raised in Fort Indiana schools. Um, my doctoral dissertation looking for about six years back in the 90s been 150 school districts in the state. We were chatting earlier today. I've been to my 35 year career, I've been thous [laughter] you have to have assumptions. These are broad socioeconomic demographic parameters that we use to build forecast models. I won't go through all these but I want to go through the top four and these are the four that have the highest probability of there's going to be a problem in is

049going to come from these four assumptions. Number one is B. We assume 30 fixed mortgage rate stays between five and 7% 10 years forecast. Uh last week was 6.25 with issues going on right now dropped to six. I bet a lot of the current administration try to get down to five by next year, but we think it's going to stay in the range. Okay, pretty safe assumption. The issue here is to those of us who are old enough to remember 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000, 30 fix 8, 10, 12%. Six sounds pretty good, right? To the people of the age of 40 or most home buyers now who last decade nothing but two and a half, three, three and a half, four, six sounds like, right? The other factor in here Um I don't think we'll

050go below 5%. But the other issue here is home price. It's much easier to drop interest rates and that's the stick point right now on but this was to be a pretty safe um pretty safe parame this the state of Indiana. Indiana is the only state in the country that has interest transfers, vouchers, charters, virtual home school, all going on the same time. Um, you cannot look at enrollment forecasting in this state. The only good thing come out of the uh this program is Indiana has best track system in the country. We know where every kid's at, where they're going, where they're coming from. Look at the transfer numbers. We assume that the district will average negative transfer student over the next 10 years public to public to private virtual the case may be. Now

051we did these forecasts the fall 25 transfer numbers were not out. They are now it's now 149. We assume so. So it might be a little short for next year but that's this is a lot of variability. Like most school districts in the state, virtually all of them, everybody saw their public and private fund jump three years ago when they expanded the voucher program to $226,000 household income. 97% of all households with kids not qualify for vouchers. What happened was monies weren't the state system to start with. So it looks like everybody saw this big increase in public private which is kids already living there and money. So we kind of discount that you stay consistent about 250 transfer in public 250 transfer out. Next slide. The most important district average 90 [clears throat] per

052year. Okay. Last decade average real strong towards the end of decade into this one. Everybody focuses on new construction. There's 350 existing home sales all [snorts] in the same period. I have no doubt you'll hit this on average. This is the number realtor.com home sales down the address level back 10 years right now and talk to any realtor there's just not that many homes on the market we have a the market so these two together. Basically, you need to maintain your migration pattern about 440 homes, either new or existing, having new households move in per year over the next 10 years. We've been doing it for probably the last three or four pretty easily as long as they keep peritting buildings going on. They're having some trouble right now too with supply and price. I

053think you'll make this 90, but this is the one comes April. Most people with kids who move between April and August, you need about in the district about 150 on the market by April. Um, one of the nice things has done lately geography. counties and townships and uh cities. They've also now had school districts type schools give you a map. Here's what's for sale. Here's being sold on the geography. But those are the four that if you're going to have variation in the is going to come from these four variables. Next slide, please. Your number one predictive for population change is not births, it's not deaths, it's not migration, not home sales, is age structure. How would you population distribute across the age course? Now, this is Danville Community Schools for the 2010. The next

054one is 2020. So, let me quickly go through how you read this. 0 to 4, that's your preschool, your elementary, your middle, your high school. 20 to 34 are we call family information ages. 80% of all births between the 20 and 34 years old. You can have a total rate of nine. If you don't have child are the age most of their kids in school here. They always speak most of them. between 35 and 54 years old. 55 to 69 were referred to as the empty nest households. This is confusing for people. You have the Smith household down the street. Been there for 20 years. 10 years ago was mom and dad, two kids in there. But now the kids have grown up high school moved away. Same home, same home owner. But instead of

055four household, now two and that as you can see going to be a growing population the last decade and then 70 and older turnover population that's where most people by most like 75% plus downsize to turn over some this is 2010 so you see where this is going these people are 10 years old age up these people graduate way but the very important point see four bar Okay, it's small 5 to 9. If no one moves in, no one moves out. It's up to your own demographic devices. Everybody age forward five years, your elementary enrollment drop by about 300 students. Not because of people moving out, the cohorts coming in behind them are smaller. This hour pattern, you see this in just about every single suburban school district in the state. is like this caramel

056southeast um down county everything up every place that's got a hourglass like this because there's not a lot of apartments there you don't come up college and buy a house that's using start kids in the apartment you move out to the subur you look at 2020 next slide that's exactly what that bubble there got older. They're in their 60s. These are the people that moved in. Okay, but look, you still have this deficit in the 04. Okay, so you need by our calculations about 100 to 125 households with kids moving in preschool by the way moving in per year. So when you see houses going up or you see people don't add it to your enrollment right now. They hope to bring in preschoolers and filling in that deficit. That's the key point. You have

057to have enough home sales and home construction with new family moving in bringing kids. You don't have enough persons in the district. You're about 150 short right now. The good news is you see going forward this large buffalo population and these are the people that probably moved out here in the 90s and are now empty nesting. They're going to start downsizing over the next 10 years. Your over 70 population doing nothing but going up and more and more late downsiz and new young household in housing units. You haven't seen kids come out for 20 25 years producing kids. Next slide. Some of your demographic characteristics. Um we have your population growth about 4% for the first half decade 7% total for the decade. That's going to state a third of your households have under 18

058population. Only about a quarter of them have school population. And that's pretty consistent with state and regional averages. Um little low by national persons per household. Okay. 2.61 very under appreciate variable. In 2010 that number was 2.67. So 006 drop doesn't sound like much until you multip about 350 people. So if your household size stayed the same, you would have had 350 more people in the 2020 census that you did and traditional two households in this district mom, dad. So you see that drop in household size disproportionately in the 18. householders 35 54 alone with kids 36% dropping the good news is you're over 65 households now 29% rising this shows you're going to have a growing number of households turnover rates over the next 10 years owners versus renters predominantly owners like area but

059owners and meers have two completely different dynamics rendering younger are still having kids for that and moving average. Uh owners have completed their family formation all the kids have and they move an average 15 years population. 27% of the households in the district are single person households either youngsters or old and 13% over 65. So again, these are the ones shortterm that will start downing probably between now and the decade. Next slide. This is my favorite data from the 2010 census is individual year of age. Okay, so 2020 these five year olds that's your kindergarten first grade, second, third, fourth, fifth. But now by 2025, these under one year olds, they're five year olds now. That's your kindergarten. first, second, third, fourth, fifth. We can use this to compare to your actual moment. This does

060two things. Notice how the like 200 people down. See this low cohort here last year. Not because of lack of growth. It was just a small. You don't want to overwise this drop. And when you come up this year, it's just data. So you kind of track that through. And the next slide show market share. This takes your actual compares to what size was the percent. Now no school district it's 100% got charter home school virtual but it's like 2020 this is your first grade 173 students that's 84% of 205 it goes 89 94 95 105 111 if it's going up that's in migration that's how we measure it you know by by cohort that's how we build our migration models and you can seeist consistently they're all going up. Okay, that's how we measure

061migration and the first grade cohort 84%. This one up here is 159. So you say, "Wow, there's coming in." The problem is it's 183 to 208 because it's a much smaller. So you look at the absolute size, you do this calculation, but you still have substantial migration which is good but it's filling in that preschool deficit. Next slide. This is the population forecast total. There's two ways to read this. You can look at a cohort over time 5 to 9 1200 12 or follow age cohort time 0 to four becomes 59 104 15 your med age goes up because of an aging population your birth stay remarkably stable not because your birth rate stays stable but child stable the deaths go up that's not because it's due to an population more people I don't find

062a better term than that so um natural increase [clears throat] this is the key 300 190 natural increase excess of course deaths which has been the backbone of growth in this country for 250 migration to it. Um even after we already have five states and 900 counties in the US, 15 of Indiana. This is the demographic trend in the next year as we see more and more states, counties, localities have more decrease. It's awful hard for your population to grow because entirely dependent on migration. Net migration slight in migration flows people 28 to 42 years old with them. because migration flow not surprisingly 20 or 19 22 year olds and people still have more moving in. One of the reasons this drops off is 12th grade graduating classes 20 19 212 graduate class. Next slide.

063This is the enrollment. The analogy I use here is a bucket of water. You have a bucket of water and there's water top. As long as you're pouring in the bottom, the level for some reason the bottom is bigger. Faster in level works the same way. What's the size of your cohorts coming in basically size your 12th grade cohorts going out. You'll notice here remarkably consistent first kindergarten enrollment. We believe with our models that you're going to have enough existing home sales and new home construction to make up for that preschool deficit to at least keep your uh elementary fairly con. But you'll notice district level your your district level slowed down dramatically. The reason for that is you get a wave going into your high schools 209 220 and that's pretty consistent. 262 once

064it gets above 250 that's kind of break even point that's you start seeing your growth slow down 270 256 all the way up to 309. You took this out one more year. negative. That's a huge cohort going out. Um, of all the numbers I have up there, the high school change are the ones that have the most confidence in because almost 80 90% of that growth is kids already cut off immigration today and there's going to have a big increase in high school because they're through uh lesser extension middle school the elementary and intermediate begins to stabilize. goes up to about 430 440 stays remarkably consistent. But yet this assumption is predicated on a the housing market and they start downsizing. They stop doing it during co they haven't picked back up again. they're going

065to be forced to do aging here going forwards. Um, do that. Jerry, thank you. I know that's a lot of a lot of information and it's it's amazing how demography has grown into such a science and the the amount of data data points that go into this. And and I'll I'll brag on you a little bit talking to our neighbors to the east who Jerry has also done work for here in the previous few years. They're finding these forecasts to be very accurate and they're seeing their growth slow and ours is growing. Um so you know eventually as we talked about will eventually slow but we're going to grow for several years yet before we start to start to level off. And we're going to see that leveling first at the elementaryaries. But during that

066time, I'll talk about South Elementary and Middle School, for example, for the next two or three years are actually going to grow quite a bit. Then the high school is going to pick up and it's going to be growing in terms of the number of kids at the high school. During that time, North Elementary will continue to grow, but it'll be a much less robust rate than it has been the last two or three years. So, we're seeing overall growth over the next 10 years. Uh we're seeing that change as it moves through, you know, from grade K to to grade 12. Um and we're I think we're very well positioned right now. Um with the additions that we've made and the remodeling that we've done, I think, um you know, as we look out

067over the next 5 years, I think with what's on the ground now, uh we're well positioned to be able to we think fit all these kiddos in what we have now. and but we'll keep an eye on it for the next three or four years and see how what trends do, whether we get more housing additions and things like that that might push that new housing piece, what interest rates do. Um, I think those are some things we'll keep an eye on here for the next few years, but feel like we're we're pretty well positioned right now with the growth that we anticipate and the uh the space that we have available right now. >> That key number is 440 combined new home or existing home total what you need 440. that number didn't mention

068earlier 75% of school districts in both the US and Indiana [clears throat] story district outside 20 years and we do evaluations called you up in September. So we're three years into forecast 12,248 students that year round because ever since then expected the same level of accuracy. So the next % increase. I can't pay for that. >> Dr. Thacker wouldn't give you any grace on that. [laughter] >> I didn't get his retire [snorts] last but um on that note too people say hi we put a 2% confidence in life forecast. So basically 2% above or below that line is what we're aiming for. Okay. and do the evaluation above that I go back housing you know was migration transfers school I don't know what it is why I didn't I didn't hear it mentioned in the

069report maybe you missed it might have been there but the term immigration how does immigration play into your forecast or if it doesn't or doesn't because maybe >> well immigration to the United States and then once they get within the borders do you look at that or is that just a me point because you're still looking at the fact that people end up here >> like there are some out there being It's been dropping through years before that fraction and even when it was in play Indiana never got a third national because we are Indiana not used to a lot of racial ethics it'll For example, US is 20% Hispanic, Indiana. So yeah, that's double what was 20 years ago for us, but still far, you know. So you got you got take all this

070information most is in five counties in Fort Wayne does not get even though you've seen your diversity grow. >> All right. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? All right. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. I'll be more than happy to answer. >> Thank you. Next item on the agenda, treasures report. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Let me get that pulled up. >> All right. Uh, our December fund balance here in our property and state tax supported funds was 9,810,388. We had educational fund expenditures of $1,710,890. We had debt service actual expenditures of $7,97,419 and we had operation fund expenditures of $674,869. We did transfer 370,000 from the education fund to the operations fund. And this brings our total corporation total transfers for the year to 12.41% 41% of the total education fund

071revenue and 13.54% of the total state tuition support. This is the December uh financial report. Uh I would ask for the board's approval and happy to answer any questions. >> Motion to approve the treasures report as presented. >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Himil. Comments or questions? All right. As Mrs. Ward has left the meeting. We'll go back to our normal means of voting all at the same time. All in favor? I. Any opposed? >> That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, approval of quarterly financial reports. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh here at the end of the fourth quarter, uh the school corporation has spent or encumbered 109.50% of our education fund. Uh we've also at the end of the fourth quarter,

072uh either spent or encumbered 108.23% to 3% of the operations fund. Uh as of the end of the fourth quarter, from a revenue standpoint, we have collected 110.69% of the revenue expected in the education and operations fund. Uh with this being said, you can see that the expenditures were a little bit more than the budget uh that we had set out for over a year ago. Uh again, that has to do a lot with the growth that we've seen. Uh but also with that growth has come the revenue to help support those off or offset those expenses. Uh so we've actually seen a little bit more increase in revenue versus the expenses uh to kind of keep that balanced. Uh so nothing that uh is alarming there. Uh this is a typical number that we

073see uh throughout the this time of year especially as we continue to grow. I would expect if we were to see declining enrollment which as Mr. member Gib has said he does not foresee happening over the next couple of years that those would be a little bit smaller numbers but again with this being set really back in October of last year uh this is where it puts us for the end of the quarter. So again happy to answer any questions and would ask for the board's approval of our quarterly financials. >> Motion to approve the quarterly financial reports as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you Mr. Hemsel. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you Mr. Brown. Comments or questions? I have a question on the appropriation report. >> So that is the count the uh

074unencumbered balance it shows on that report that's coming out of December of 2025. >> Yes. >> And then and again I may be getting in early for that next meeting. So is that were the the unencumbered balance is that what the funds are starting with for our new budget cycle in 2026? No, they will reset at the 2026. So, they'll go back to zero and then they'll be reassigned with the budget that we have uh working through or we'll discuss when we get >> they come with balances by fund. So, for example, anything in here related to operations that has a balance yet that goes back into the large bucket and then as you create a new appropriations report. >> Yeah, I mean we the cash will carry over that has not been spent. So,

075yes, it will be it will carry over to the next year. Okay. Do you have a an an accounting of how much that is by major fund, education fund, uh operations fund. Yeah, if you look actually if you go back to the financial report uh on the previous agenda item, if you look at that fund report, the far column on the right side where it says current balance, okay, >> that would be our cash balance at the end of the year being the end of the year now. >> Thank you. You're welcome. Any other comments or questions? All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, approval of claims. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh, we have pre-written claims here today for 7,436,6494. We had our traditional claims

076of 1,181,79561. uh bringing total claims for the month to 8,618,44465. Uh obviously this is a much larger number than expected, but also remember uh December is one of the months where we make our debt payment. Uh so that's where a majority of those dollars have been spent on. So uh again would ask for the board's approval of our claims here for the month and happy to answer any questions. >> Motion to approve claims is presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Heel. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Comments or questions? >> I've got a question. The [clears throat] draw the maintenance building draw 13 is Are we about done? >> Yeah, there was a few small little items that we were holding back uh final payment in order for the construction company

077to get finalized. Uh we we do have one more payment that we owe them and then we'll we have that building completely wrapped up, >> cleaned up. >> Yeah. And so with that being said, the balance that shows on the geo bond 2022, >> correct? >> Is that's the true balance of what's left. >> Yeah. If you look on um if you go back and look at that, there's typically there's three columns. There's kind of like a forecasted column, there's an an actual column, and then there I'm not sure the the middle column is the one where it would have all of the expenses for the building taken out. And then the far right hand column is the actual where we sit to date. So you notice that number is a little bit bigger because

078yes, it's still including that final payment to the construction company, but the middle column has it removed. So that way we know we have those dollars available when it's >> balance from that is what we use then to I think it said at the top also for potential purchase of bus replacement, right? >> Correct. >> Does would it get used for anything else or just bus replacement? Uh, this can only be used for one-time expenses. >> The title at the top of that summary sheet says the maintenance building and other and I'm not sure if it says onetime expenses such as or if it says >> it's typically it's the standard language that we use for all of our geo bonds that would include bus replacement. It would include Chromebooks. It would include any other

079operational items uh that are on again a one-time expense that we can use that would help offset the expenses from the operations fund. >> It typically just rem means that we cannot use it for personnel or any ongoing or reoccurring costs. >> You can't pay the electric bill with it >> unfortunately. No. >> Right. >> It could be [clears throat] put towards a unforeseen emergency that comes up in 26. >> It could. Yes. and we have used that in the past if we have something uh for example, you can see the room here is showing some signs of some damage that we did have over the break. Uh so we will probably be using some of our geo bond dollars to repair this room. Uh so yes, when things like that do pop up, uh

080we do have geo bond dollars that we can use those for. Uh if we get into a really bad case scenario, then we also have the rainy day fund that we can fall back on. Uh but again, in the the time I've been here, we've never had to do that and don't anticipate that happening. >> Any other questions? All right. All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. >> Next item on the agenda, approval of payroll claims. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh we have four payroll claims here this evening. We have a December 19th payroll claim of $858,666.78. We had a Janu or a December 22nd claim of $255, a January 2nd claim of $742,65542, and a January 2nd claim of $174. Now, that brings our total claims here for the

081month for payroll to 1,61,75120. Again, would ask for the board's approval of our payroll claims and happy to answer any questions. Motion to approve payroll claims as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Hemsel. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Comments or questions? >> Our rainy day fund is still capable of handling two of those payroll. >> Yeah, we're still right there with the It's actually three payrolls and then an additional million dollars. Uh when we looked at the end of the year, if we needed to do any type of a transfer, we're still right there at that threshold. uh we're getting close that within the next year depending on uh what we can do with the operations fund I would like to transfer more over uh but obviously with the budget

082shortfall or the I guess shouldn't say budget shortfall the revenue reduction uh that we're foreseeing and that we're going to be facing it's going to make that challenging okay >> any other comments or questions [snorts] all in favor? Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda is old business and we have no old business. So moving right along to consider approval of personnel recommendations. Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you. And I I do want to recommend approval of the personnel report. And of particular note, uh officer Kim Kerishenko is being recommended and officer Kay is with us this evening. Appreciate you being here. Uh is being recommended for the full-time uh police department chief position. Uh we uh we put her through the paces with a full interview process and she came out shining

083like a star as we knew she would and uh we want to recommend Officer Kh for the chief position and as well as approval of the personnel report as submitted. >> All right. Motion to approve the personnel report as presented. >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Helil. Comments or questions? >> I have a question about memos there at the bottom entitled salary and pay increases as you determined. There's mentioned in there of some of these increases being related to the elimination of the operations coordinator coordinator of operations. Um when you received that recommendation, Dr. Schaefer, was there a more specific list of what the duties are that are being moved around? from what was the res or the job description for the coordinator of operations and then

084what things are being moved to someone else's responsibilities and duties to warrant this such as as I understood it the coordinator of operations was scheduling people were requesting in the community use of our gym so they needed to go through the coordinator of operations to figure out when they could get use of one of our gyms. Did you get any sort of list like that with that recommendation that you move forward to us? >> Yeah, we we looked at this, but we also talk through some of those other specifics because we we really deal with those on a daily basis. So, as as we look at those and you look across the the slate of people there, we understand who's who's picking up what. Um, I think this is a a fair distribution uh of

085the duties, but also of the compensation that would accompany those duties. uh it it's obviously not just a blanket amount. Uh it varied with the amount of duty that's distributed, but also we looked at um the uh existing um job descriptions to see are were some of those things already in the job description or not uh and then adjusted from there. So as we we talked through, we did make some adjustments after discussing [clears throat] it uh with those. Uh but there are certainly there's technology, there's security, there's taking over um custodial uh more frontline uh command of working directly with the custodians on a daily basis. Uh there's not only scheduling gyms, but there's there's scheduling all facilities. There's locking and unlocking and door management. So it is a little bit more detailed. I

086I think uh what was provided in the memo is to give you kind of a working idea, but there are some more detailed duties uh that are um associated with some of those jobs and some of the folks doing those things. >> I guess that's where my concern is. It's about the communication, the depth of the communication um related back to some previous conversations we've had there in the last month or so. to me included within the board packet would have been could have been more information as to how you arrived at those numbers based upon what the duties were were being transferred around. Um given the fact that when the coordinative operations position was put into place in January of 23, we did get a copy of the job description at that time. It

087would have been nice to see again some of more of the background information of how you reached this decision. Um, you may have done it verbally, but communication with the board for this board member anyway, I would appreciated a little bit more background information on that. And then with it being within the the personnel report, it makes it difficult that if I did were to have an objection with it, um, it forces me to either vote either against the whole personnel report or in favor of it all. Um, and so the point here for me is I think I agree with you that when people take on responsibilities that's good. Although I do remember that when you created the position, my understanding was that you had moved things away from some other administrative positions to

088create the operations position. But at that time where you took those things from, I don't recall there being a reduction in pay from those positions. Um, and I also recognize that, you know, I think it was the 23 24 student teacher ratio report indicated like at the high school they had a class size of 27 to 32, but yet when those teachers have to take on additional students as we go through the year, they don't receive additional compensation for taking on additional students within there. Um, pulling all that together, I've come back to my point of concern is the what I see is the lack of communication supporting this re recommendation on being asked to participate in voting. >> Sure. Point point noted, but always feel free to call us too when you receive the

089packet. Um, you know, if you feel like you need more information, we're happy to provide it. We provided what we believe would be beneficial to the board and I understand your points. Well taken. Uh if there is additional information you'd like to have, we're happy to share that. >> I think I've made a point since I've been on the board about always needing I think what we're communicating is better than undercommunicating. >> Thank you. >> All right. Any other comments or questions? All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> Nay. >> Miss Penny. Did you get that? >> Yes, ma'am. That passed three to one. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of common school fund loan. Dr. Schaefer. >> Yeah. Thank you. And officer K, congratulations. Thank you. We're looking forward to you >>

090taking over those chief duties. Thank you. [applause] Sorry, I'm just switching gears here in Bordox. Yeah, the common school fund loan. Uh I recommend approval of the common school fund loan. Um, this loan, it is the the same type as those we've received in the past and will be made will be paid back from the debt service fund. Um, they're typically paid back on a 5-year cycle. Uh, and we've been seeing around a 1% payback, so it is very very inexpensive uh money uh to use uh for us to to borrow and and pay back. Uh it is factored into the 2026 budget. Uh the funds will be used to refresh our technology at the here at the middle school. um you know the middle school now built in 08 so we're we're we're pushing

091on 20 years old and the technology here more than more than just replacing computers I mean this will include that but the the pole vault systems allow us to project uh from the teacher station uh to the the screens uh that's going to be replaced with these dollars uh we've been fortunate along with the building projects at north at south and now the high school to be replacing those systems as part of the building project with no building project like that here at the middle school. We need a source of funds to update their technology because they're they're falling behind the other buildings pretty quickly. Um so this would be what the dollars are used for and we typically do use these uh common school fund loans to um help uh shore up our technology

092needs and acquisition. Um so that's that's the short of it. Uh the dollars can only be spent on technology to support student instruction as far as those uh technology dollars that are spent. So with that, uh we did receive approval from the state that we have been uh awarded the the uh common school fund loan. Would ask the board's approval of it. >> All right. Need a motion to approve the common school fund loan as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Comments or questions? >> When do we actually receive the the monies from this? >> Good question. And I want to compliment Mr. Raider because he does the application process and works through that. Uh, Bill, thank you. Uh, when would we expect to

093receive the funds uh from this from this loan? >> Uh, once once uh approval happened, if that happens this evening, then we would get it right away. And we plan on doing that project uh early June just because of the fact that there's construction involved, etc. And putting things up on the walls. >> Okay. And then Mr. Herbert would between now and June as this money or as the money starts to get spent is there an opportunity that money would earn some interest to further this project? >> Uh unfortunately the way that this works it's more like a grant where it's we have to submit the expenses and then we are reimbursed for them. So yeah unfortunately no there's not that opportunity. >> Okay. Thank you. >> There there is for the state. [laughter] >>

094Yeah. Will you guys will we do the work in in house? Actually, we've done it all to this point. This we would actually have a company coming to do it just due to the level of labor involved. >> Well, yeah. Okay. >> Any other comments or questions? All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of the Little Warrior Learning >> Center tuition for 2026 2027 school year. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh this is a recommendation for a proposal to adjust the Little Warrior Learning Center tuition rates for the 2627th school year. Uh and then also with this was the outline plan for and timeline of releasing this information out to our folks in the community. Uh the request before you this evening is to

095uh increase uh these costs by $1 per day. uh with this uh will help offset the rising operational and staffing costs uh while still remaining reasonable for our families. uh we consistently look at and and monitor what other uh learning centers and we also do the same kind of model with our PACE program uh where we're checking around districts in the area and then also uh for other daycare types uh situations uh even those that are private daycarees that are not run through a school system uh just to make sure that we're staying competitive uh with that uh and with you looking at the attachment here you can see that we are competitive uh we are by no means the most expensive uh throughout the uh surrounding area here in the county. Uh as a

096matter of fact, I think we're probably one of the lowest. Uh but again, we also keep in mind like to try to maintain a a competitive cost uh that we can be able to afford our expenditures and not have to come back to our parents on a very regular basis uh and provide higher uh increases. Uh so we felt like just the uh small increase here that we're proposing tonight uh makes it still affordable for our families to be able to use this program. Uh and again also in here included is the kind of the timeline of when this will be rolled out. So as we're going to be starting enrollment here very quickly. Uh so again uh happy to answer any other questions that the board might have but would ask for your approval

097this evening on our little warrior uh tuition rates for 26 and 27. We need a motion to approve the Little Warrior Learning Center tuition for 2026 2027 school year as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Hempil. Comments or questions? >> The says that this represents a $1 per day increase. So with a $1 per day increase, what's the total that new revenue that that generates? Uh it's it will be dependent upon the number of students that we have enrolled. So we won't know that until we get into the enrollment >> based upon what we have now be >> it is I could have to I'd have to do that math for you. I don't have that off the top of my head. >> Okay. Thank

098you. >> We're comfortable with just a dollar. >> Yeah. I again we it it provides a little bit of increase. Uh we've seen a little bit of increase from uh expenditures throughout this program. uh but we do feel comfortable with the dollar right now uh that that will suffice. Uh it has continued to run in a positive manner for I mean as many years as I've been here and even prior to my time. Uh so we are still creating revenue off of this one. Uh just like we are with the PACE program. Again they cover all their own expenses when it comes from like staffing and supplies and materials things like that. Uh we typically will use the remainder of those funds to kind of help offset just building costs. We don't have those specifically

099allocated back to that, but that's what they're used for. >> We still need to keep in mind that we're it's still wear and tear on that building that this >> we're running this for for profit. Correct. >> Correct. Yes. Because >> it's not something we have to provide. So, >> correct. >> So, that dollar increase, not knowing what the total is that it generates doesn't cover all of the increases that we might see in a certain area. It just helps offset. >> Correct. But you don't know to what degree because you really don't have an idea if the dollar what amount the dollar is created. >> I would say that's correct. >> We we have found because it it that dollar increase per day has been pretty typical for us over time. What we've found

100is that increase keeps us um about where we have been over the past years in terms of paying increased staffing costs. Those don't change a lot. they're going to go up obviously with the general staff increases that we give. Um but as far as keeping pace with inflation, we found that dollar to work pretty well. So then it protects our other general um net net income on that. That net income then is what we then apply back to our operational costs. >> Do you have a percentage of what's that has been on average to say the last three years? um percent the percentage of money that we've made that goes back into the operation fund. >> Uh >> I feel like we made $70,000 last year. >> Yeah. I mean, but I would say it

101ranges from 50 to 80 is what it's been over the last four years since I've been here. >> So that dollar raise is going to keep us in that ballp. >> Yeah. >> We put that back in operations to >> correct. >> Heating, lighting, minor repairs way. >> It helps. >> What is the So it goes back into operations is really targets North Elementary. >> Correct. >> Electric wear and tear. >> Yes, >> that's right. Yes. >> Emergency things that if this happened, it could go towards repairing a carpet area that got flak water and stuff like that. >> Yeah. I mean, again, it goes back into the operations fund. So if we were to pay for those things out of the operations fund, then yes. >> What is the $4 a day for care?

102>> That's for child care. So there there's a portion of the day where you can have child care. So that's on the kind of before the school before school and after school. Those are considered outside of the traditional learning day. And so those were the times when you would have child care. Uh that's just how it's kind of described. >> A day they can get a little bit more time. >> Yeah, it's for it's for again it's these students are going to be much younger than our students that are participating in our PACE program. So it's very similar to our PACE program. It's just this is these are geared for the little for the little kids the typically 3 to 5 years old. >> The the full day would be the instructional part. The care

103part would just be child care beyond the instructional part both before and after if you think of it that way. >> Seems like a pretty good value for $4. >> Yeah. >> Just making sure we were caring for all of the kids. >> They are. They've done a great job with the program. >> All right. Any other comments or questions? >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of second semester 2025 2026 non-resident transfer students. Dr. Walker. Thank you. Um, tonight in your board pack, you have a list of three students who uh have applied for and received administrative approval to transfer to Danville schools as non-resident transfer students. This is after our June and then our August approval dates. So, we have an ongoing policy

104to accept transfers throughout the year subject to space and capacity limits per grade level. These students have received initial acceptance in accordance with these limits in the order of any weight lists established from the beginning of the year. So, tonight I recommend approval of these additional three non-resident transfer students. >> I need a motion to approve the second semester 2025 2026 non resident transfer students as submitted. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Mr. Helil second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Comments or questions? All in favor? I. Any opposed? >> That passes unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Walker. >> Next item on the agenda, superintendent report. Dr. Schaefer. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Um, just want to kind of give an update again to for the board and and for the public that might

105be listening this evening or or later. Uh, some of our newly turned over areas on our construction project. We're obviously uh just past the halfway mark on the high school uh project. Um our project lead the way are pre-engineering uh classroom areas. Uh that that classroom has been turned back over for student use as well as we have two I'll call them shop spaces uh right next to that designed specifically to support the project lead the way classroom have also been turned over back to us for student use. um our newly renovated east wing area, the academic wing area uh of the high school, uh which would be the areas that are directly south of the new addition. So, running along the east wall of the high school from north to south, that area has

106been newly renovated. Uh if you uh aware of where Mr. Artman's classroom, math classroom used to be in that center area that was sunken, that's all been filled in. Those are all that's all new classroom and restroom spaces. uh very nice larger restroom spaces for students and faculty both there in the center of the building. So when you go back the the main corridor heading back to the academic wing and you turn left, there's now actually three cross hallways in that academic portion of the uh high school area where it used to be you just kind of went back and it narrowed and went around a big circle. Now there's actually three defined cross hallways. two that are new and then the third one which is the the cross hallway of the new addition. So

107it feels much larger back there but also feels very very nice. Uh it's easy to navigate because there's more hallway space in order to do that. That's been turned back over. Um the library uh which is on your right now uh after you come in the the main secure entrance uh that is now open and open for students. Um very nice space. Uh we have a couple also private um I'll say semi-private uh study areas in there that are um uh rooms built into the library for small group work. Uh it's very nice space that's been turned back over and our alternative school rooms uh which back the library. So if you were in old entrance 17 where the health classrooms were, they would be immediately across the hall from there. Those would back up

108to the library. Uh and then that works through there's two classrooms and it works through into an office area that Mr. Blocker uh can also occupy. Then that goes into the back of the guidance suite. That hallway works on through there. Um so that Mr. Blocker has access into the back of the guidance suite. Um copying those kind of things are available right back there. So all those areas have now been turned over. Um coming soon uh here in early February, we believe the band and choir areas will be finished. are getting very near completion right now. Uh also now under new renovation would be the the new family and consumer science uh areas which is the old library upstairs. Uh we've moved to demolition up there and that'll be completed soon. It'll be moving

109into restoration of that area. The other area that'll be under heavy renovation is where the old uh high school offices used to be there in the center of the building. That will become the new business area, some special education classrooms uh that will occupy that center part. So, uh, those areas up and down are now under renovation. Uh, we also anticipate this summer because of moving some things around. Mr. Claude Felder has been very good to work with there in terms of flexibility and and getting construction started in some spaces earlier rather than later, uh, we believe our two chemistry classrooms will also be able to be renovated uh, completely this summer and then turn back over to us, uh, which will be a little bit ahead of schedule, which is great. Um, so those

110are just some updates on construction. You maybe had a chance to to peek at the transportation building uh here across the way. Uh, we got the crane in actually uh today. Uh, they put up a lot of the high steel now. For the highest parts, they brought a crane and they'll be finishing off the highest structural steel parts. Uh, they are starting to drywall above ceiling in the front office spaces. Uh, those will be completed and they'll move down below to drywall down below. Uh most of the metal framing has been completed in there in the front part of the building. Um so that's that's coming along very well. They've done a very neat job over there uh doing doing nice work. Um so again, just a uh then on the admin edition, they've been

111busy. In fact, they were out there today uh digging uh trenches, pouring forms on the foundations. So they're they're trying very hard to get foundations completed here while we have this weather good weather window. Uh they'll move from there to under under slab. uh mechanical, electrical, plumbing, try to get that completed and then as weather allows here in January and February then to complete the slab and then frame up from there. So they're they're moving along and they've been working here in a little bit cold weather but getting things done. Um wanted to mention I I put in my update um and here in the packet just uh potential retreat dates for the board. um dates I had thrown out there and there's nothing magical about these other than just kind of looking when we've

112traditionally have met and then comparing against some athletic schedules and things like that to try to not put any obvious conflicts in there but those things may still conflict with personal schedules. Um so January 27th, 28th, 29th were possibilities. February 5th, 18th and 24th were also possibilities. I know Mr. Brown indicated the 18th and 24th would would be the ones that would work better for you and the others might not work. Um, and I also know that we don't we don't have Mrs. Ward on here right now. So, we'll, you know, take a look at those. If we need other dates or times, these are all week nights. If you want me to consider weekends, I'm certainly happy to look at that. Uh, I know this board is look tend to look more at some

113evening times. Um, so that's why I gave you the dates that I did. Any comments, thoughts, questions? >> That would be another meeting that we would need to record and >> it would be it would be a work session. >> So, needs to be recorded and put out. >> Yes, >> it could. Yeah. Yeah. >> Needs to be according to the wall, doesn't it? >> Yeah. >> So, not that it could be. >> Yeah. >> Needs to be >> I I will tell you work work sessions are still a little bit of a gray. It depends on who you ask, but we have recorded I think our most recent work sessions. So, yes, we would plan to record those. Okay. In that case, I think it'd be better that we focus on a week night,

114but stay away from weekends. >> Sure. >> All right. Well, >> let's Christina get back. >> Yeah, we'll share those dates and look. Yeah, I think Mr. Brown is gone the rest of January. So, any January date would be out. >> Am I correct? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Just if those get weeded out, let me know. We'll toss some more out there. >> All right. Next item on the agenda is announcements. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 19th. There [clears throat] will be no school that day. Our next regular school board meeting will be February 9th at 6:30 here at the Daml Community Middle School District training room. I need a motion to adjourn this meeting. >> You Mr. Bryant. Second. >> Second. >> You Mr. Brown. All in favor? Hi. >> Hi.

115>> We'll take a short few minute break before we move to our next meeting. >> I saw her name on the should know that cuz I did read that Are we ready? I'm not ready. All right. We are going to call the board of finance meeting to order at 8 21. First item on the agenda, consider election of officers for the board of finance. I got a motion to keep the same officers as the regular board for this board of finance. >> Second. >> All right. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? That passes unanimously. >> Did you have anything to say in that section? >> You nailed it and you're good. [laughter] >> Done this before. Next item on the agenda, receive report on financial condition using fiscal and qualitative indicators. Mr. Herbert.

116>> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh we'll go through the uh fiscal indicators here that are presented to us from our DWAB uh from the state. Make sure we can see everything. Okay, good. Uh, so Indiana code 5-13-7-8 requires that school corporations are updated on the financial conditions through this report as we use our fiscal indicators. Uh, so we'll kind of walk through these. Uh, first thing up is we just kind of take a quick look at our student demographics. Uh, free and reduced lunch, you can see is slightly up from last year. Uh, special education numbers are slightly up from last year as they did see a slight dip. uh but they are trending back upwards. Uh and as we've talked in the past, our ELLL uh numbers are continuing to significantly grow uh and

117increase again up from the prior year. Uh as we look at our certified net assess value, uh we continue to see that on an upward trend as well. Uh we've had plenty of conversations around this uh when this came out uh back in September, October uh that it kind of impacts our budget. Uh as you can see, we're up to almost 1.4 4 billion now for our net assessed value. Uh slightly down from the increase that we've seen over the last couple years, but still definitely trending upwards. Uh our average daily membership or ADM as we look at that here in the fall of 25. Uh we had a count of 2917. Uh continuing to see that upward growth uh with that trend line uh as we continue to watch uh and with we had

118Mr. for coming in this this evening to talk about a demographic study. I still expect for these numbers to continue to grow uh here over the next probably 5 to 10 years before we see those. Obviously, probably not quite as high as we have seen over the last couple years, but we do still anticipate growth. Uh when we look at total fund balances, these are all of the funds. This is not just the education, the operations, debt service, rainy day, but these include all funds throughout the district. Uh therefore you see a slight decrease here from 23 to 24 and then 24 to 25. Uh a lot of that has to do with specifically this year construction dollars that we received uh that we are now starting to spend out through our construction projects. I

119can tell you that if you look at the four major funds that we talk a lot about in here from a total fund balance uh being education operations, debt service and our rainy day fund, those fund balances actually went up slightly over this past year. Uh so this is really kind of is contributing to the construction fund dollars and the fact that we received those and then we have to start spending them out over time. Uh the next thing kind of the same story there when we talk about an annual deficit and surplus. Uh this includes all funds that are within our school corporation. Uh you see we had a pretty good size jump last year and again that was because we had bond dollars that were received uh in some of our issuances specifically

120the 24 go that we did at the end of last year. Uh and so this year as we start to spend those dollars down and don't have those income that [clears throat] income coming in uh that's why we start to see the deficit there. And again this is not taking into effect just the four major funds but all of our dollars that we have throughout the district. Uh when we look at our fund balances as a percentage of operational expenditures. Uh again Dr. Schaefer and I were kind of talking about this a little bit earlier. Uh this is kind of a misrepresentation because again this looks at the operational expenditures but it also brings in the rainy day fund uh which is adding dollars uh that we typically don't look at as far as what

121we are have available to spend because they're rainy day dollars. We don't want to spend those. Uh so it does kind of boost this up a little bit more and puts it uh in this range here a little bit over 30%. Um that's pretty typical for where we've been over the last two to three years. Uh again, seeing that start to come down from where we had highs back in 19 and 20. Uh a lot of that has to do with again some of the the strategies that we've had in place over the last couple years to make sure we're trying to get dollars back to our teachers. Uh and having some of the significant pay increases that we're able to provide for our teachers. Uh that helps kind of balance this out over time.

122As we look at that uh revenue type, this is just showing you where the dollars are coming from. Uh so we have local tax, we have uh state tuition support. Uh but this is just kind of a breakdown uh on where we're seeing all of our revenue come from that supports the district here. And then the final one on this is any uh operational revenue that comes from a referendum. Obviously we do not have a referendum. Uh so therefore we do not have any uh dollars or anything that comes from that. So uh that is the uh quick inversion of the fiscal indicators as presented uh from DWAB. Uh so happy to answer any questions. Uh there is no action that on this agenda item. So this is just uhformational purposes. >> Just seeking clarity

123on the total revenue slide >> you pulled out and mentioned separately that >> the rainy day fund debt service operations and education fund. You mentioned that they had seen an increase this year. Are you talking about as a total >> as a total? Yes. Yes. Yes. >> Because I was, you know, we've been hearing that our operations fund is going to see a shortfall. >> But then you mentioned that they, you seen an increase. So I wanted to clarify for public that as a total, >> right? Has a total of those four funds combined. Correct. >> Thank you. >> Yes. All right. Any other questions or comments? Next item on the agenda, receive report on investments for 2025. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mr. Cherry. Let me the next presentation up here. Uh so couple

124highlights here for 2025. As we look at our investment report, uh cash balances remain stable. Uh however, we did see a little bit of a decline from 24.5 almost 6 million last year to 23.2 this year. Uh again, majority of that or actually all of that has to do with the fact that we were spending those construction dollars as we're getting through the project, starting to get some of them wrapped up. Uh and so spending the bond dollars down that we have on hand. Uh total interest earned for 2025 was down a little bit. Uh we were actually down 13.29%. However, still interest created on our investments this past year was $866,3669. Uh that is still the second largest year we've ever had uh as far as interest income. Uh we capitalized on the stable

125interest rates in the market, although we are starting to see those uh come down a little bit. Uh therefore, it's part of the reason for uh our interest income to be not quite as high as we had last year. Uh we did continue to provide pay increases for all of our teachers and support staff uh across the district that actually did go to their base pay. Uh we've mentioned in the past that uh several districts around the area uh unfortunately were not able to do that this past year. uh they were giving out stipens, but we were able to add a little bit of pay to our base pay for all of our teachers and staff. Again, interest rates still remain high compared to previous years. However, they are beginning to decrease. Uh and it's

126still led to this the largest interest earned earned interest income that we've seen in the last 10 years. Uh and then our TRX program is continuing to be a success uh that we use to collect on our delinquent fees. As we look at the balances here in our main accounts, uh we have a primary account. Uh actually all of our main operating accounts are with Huntington Bank. You can see the primary food service textbook payroll. Uh then we also have a Trust Indiana account. Those are the dollars that are collected from the TX fund that are deposited into that fund. Uh and then our Hooser fund is essentially our savings account where we're getting the best interest rate on that. Uh again, uh that probably a year and a half ago was paying around 5.4%

127and you can see that's down to now 3.8 uh which is still a good interest rate for that money that's being liquid for us so that we can use it. Uh I know we've had some discussions uh about ECA accounts. Uh so I did throw uh our four ECA accounts on here just for the board's information. Uh so you can kind of see the balances that are in those accounts uh starting at the beginning of the year uh then into the end of the year uh for each one of our schools north south the middle school and the high school. Uh and then we look at the earned interest that we have versus the fed funds rate. Uh you can see how those directly correlate. Uh so obviously the higher the Fed funds are uh

128then the better the interest that we earn our money as it is invested. So, as you can see, that is starting to come back down that we're very well aware of. We're still keeping an eye on that and watching those. Uh, so as we move into 26, again, we're going to continue to look at investment strategies. Uh, we want to maximize our rate and liquidity. We're going to continue to monitor the current rates as they are starting to trickle down. Uh, and then continue to use the Hooser fund to maximize that interest. We're going to continue to use the TX program for our feed collection. uh potential look at future investments in CDs uh as the rates continue to fall down. However, we do have to be conscious that we have to make sure that

129our money is still liquid. We don't want to get that tied up and put ourselves in a bad position. And again, current borrowing rates are still low. We saw that in the last issuance that we did back in December. Uh we do not anticipate having to issue any bonds or do any debt this year. Uh so that will still uh could have a potential impact on us. Excuse me. Uh if that need were to arise uh but as of right now that do not foresee that. So uh again the uh investment report here isformational. Glad that happy to answer any questions uh that the board might have and go from there. I have a question on the you mentioned that you're going to continue to use the Hooser fund, >> but when I look at

130the investment results for the Hooser fund um the balance between the beginning of the year and end of year even with interest appears to show an increase of or a decrease of just under $700,000. Mhm. [clears throat] >> So why would you want to continue to use an investment account that for 2025 is showing a negative why why is it going down? Is that your question? >> Oh yeah. Why would I mean if it's going down $700,000 a year? >> That's it's money that we spent. Those are bond dollars that we have in there. That's where we're getting the interest earned off of our bond. is my second question. That's who's your fund is where you're keeping the geo bonds and try and earn interest. >> There are geo bonds in there. Then we also

131keep our excess operating cash in there and then we transfer it back to the primary account when we need to use it. >> So I guess as a followup just for my clarity, could you send me a overview of for example the Huntington is the primary investment account. What out of our other funds is sitting in there for the Huntington and the I guess for Huntington Trust Indiana and the other three are pretty self-explanatory because I think those could only pull in monies from those three entities in individually. Correct. >> Yeah. As far as you as far as food service textbook and payroll. Mhm. >> So for example, you can't take money from food services and put in textbook. >> Correct. >> So it's those three investments. It's whatever money is coming in from those

132three services. >> Yes. >> Uh but the other three could have a combination of different things. So if I could get more clarity on what monies is sitting in those accounts would be nice. >> Are are just for my clarity, you're asking kind of like where we took the dollars from. >> Yeah. So for example, GEO bond 2022. >> Gotcha. Is it sitting in the primary Huntington? Is it sitting in trust Indiana? Is it sitting in Hooser fund? Is it sitting in a combination of >> Got Yeah. I would tell you the the geo bonds, those are all sitting in the Hooser fund. >> Okay. >> You and for example, again, this was where I'd asked an earlier question in the year, the uh HR fund >> just now over 700,000, but it never shows.

133The only increase in revenue shows is what we get annually from Hendricks County Regional Hospital. >> But if it's sitting somewhere and earning interest, what interest is it earning? And are we putting that interest somewhere else or why is it going back into the HR fund? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And to answer that question, yes, the interest is all going back to the operations fund is where it's going. Okay. But it'd be nice to know what sort of and I guess not only knowing what the what funds. So where is HR sitting? But in what kind of return are we getting on that particular monies to get back into operations? >> A breakdown of the interest we put into operations. How does that break down from the different funds we put into places for interest

134and investment? >> Okay. >> Just for clarity. >> Sure. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Next item on the agenda, discussion of 2026 1782 notice. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me get back there. Okay. Uh yeah. So attached is our current 1782 notice that we received from the DLGF. Uh we have 10 days once we have received this uh to get it back. We received this on January 5th. Uh this is our final notice from the DLGF that our 2026 budget has been approved. Uh there are some uh one small action item that is on the 1782 that we will be taking care of here in 2026. Uh but again this is the final notice essentially from the DLGF uh to let us as a district know that we have they

135have approved our budget and there is nothing more other than just signing that document that we need to do to send it back. Uh next step in that is then they would then send those uh figures to the county uh to be able to start the taxing process uh to know what the tax rates are for the local districts. >> This is also the form where [clears throat] if we if they sent back or came in higher than what you expected the on the tax rate, this is where you could >> theoretically go back and lower or take. So this is not a a an opportunity to change it unless there is a the best way to say it is kind of like a technical issue. Uh this is where because again when we publicize

136the rates that we have advertised and we go through that process, we do all that in October. Y >> if there's a time where between October and when we get this 1782 notice uh that they've had to make an adjustment to the net assess value uh to where it's going to force our rate to have to either go up or down. That's where the DLGF will tell us that and then give us the opportunity that we can make that correction. But it's my understanding of some of the conversation from our October meeting was that you were looking advertising high >> in hopes that was going to come in where it is at the debt service rate of 08999. >> So that you were going to be able to carry closer to the 15% cash balance

137in the debt service fund for unforeseen issues. And I think that's what we were asking then. And so here we are three months later. Do you have a more clear picture as to what potential unforeseen issues are that there are in 26 and why you would still be comfortable staying at 0899 as opposed to dropping it to 8849. Legislation hasn't changed. >> Yeah. and nothing has changed from the time that we originally approved this budget back in October versus now. And so there would have to be, like I said, something would have to change as far as a a number. The best thing I can come up with would be the net assess value. Uh if there was a filing with the auditor that that would change that number, uh then that's when this would

138be the opportunity that we could change that. >> There was I think we were under the impression that if there was if it did come in fine that there would be an opportunity to go back and lower it. So >> this this what the 1782 notice is it is sort of the final step of transparency by the state by the DLGF. In other words, we have advertised a rate. We've approved a lower rate. We filed that with the D we've approved it here. Let the taxpayers know. Held our hearings. Did all that work. Filed it with the DGF. DJF is reviewing it compared to tax laws, all that that governs um local property tax [snorts] and they've they've essentially approved at this level. They've sent this the notice they send out is really their public

139transparency to taxpayers saying, "Hey, look, this is what your local school board did. We approve this." Now, sometimes they'll put, "Hey, you need to correct this or that or the other." That happens sometimes for the reasons that that Corey already mentioned. If that happened, we might have to lower our budget, not our rate. Might have to lower your budget a little bit to make sure that your revenue doesn't exceed what you've been approved for. Um, but barring any corrections that you have to make that they're calling for, then we we're just signing off saying, "Yeah, we got the notice. They're going to post that notice so the public can see it." And then what they do then they start issuing the dollars to the counties. That that's how that works. So with the rate coming

140in at the 899 as you were seeking, >> did we advertise that rate or we advertised higher? >> We advertised higher. So it came in lower. You were saying if we' advertised and it >> we got 92 then you could have I see what you're I understand it now. >> Yeah. I think I think the piece that we were talking about earlier you referred to was that that 15% is making sure that we retain enough cash balance in that fund to pay off an unfunded liability that was created by the legislature this last year because the tax credits the up to $300 tax credit that was approved last year that creates a liability for school corporations where we have to pay a portion now that out of debt service. >> Do we know Yeah, that's

141one of the things about >> that hasn't changed. Do we know the proportion yet of the tax credit distributed between debt service and operation? >> That we won't know until June once we get the tax payment itself. >> Okay. >> So you really don't know until then. And then so with our debt service rate coming in at the rate that it is and if we let this go through and it goes back the state that becomes our debt service rate >> again over what we were last year that's uh I'm going to use percent 3% increase in our debt service rate or a.3 something. What impact is that on the taxpayers? That's going to vary from parcel to parcel. So, it's going to be dependent on what your parcel and what your home has been

142assessed at and then the deductions that you have coming off of your tax bill. And I guess that's where I was at questioning whether or not we could lower it in reference to we were comfortable wanting to get closer to the 15% cash balance by having the 0899 not knowing what it's going to do to individual tax entities, households within the community. So now it's coming to this this 8.99 creates this amount of cash balance of debt service fund. Let's say it's 14. I'm just going to use that. >> Why would you not be comfortable saying that instead of 14 you want to drop it down to say 13.5% cash balance which in effect would still lower the rate a little bit below 0899. Well, because this this rate with the net assessed value is

143what is giving us the levy that we needed to pay our debt payment. So, it's not really looking at the cash balance that's in there. This is the this is what we need to be able to pay for our debt. >> So, this pays our debt and doesn't leave anything else in terms of a a cash balance in there. >> So, it it will it will leave about what we had in there before. >> And then what? And then again, there's also there is the cushion because we had to leave a little bit of a buffer because again, we still don't know the $300 credit what that true impact is going to be on the debt service fund. So, >> and and the cash balance in there that's in the debt service fund can only

144be used for unforeseen. >> It can only be used >> terminology used a few seconds ago. >> Liabilities. >> Yes, >> correct. But >> it can well it can only be used to pay debt >> to pay loans back. Yes. And then that then as you look at the debt worksheet that's in 1782, it looks like there is a fair amount of debt that's falling off in 26. If I'm reading that part of that report right, it has dates referencing um January 1 uh January 1 to December 31st, 26. And it shows in that column like the five six 78 building corporation refunding bonds in 26 there mentions 2,849,000 but then in 27 it has zero from there. >> Correct. >> So that's debt that's falling off. >> Correct. So then once we get to

145the end of 26, that's what's then allows you to start to potentially use if needed the near 25 million that we approved for geo bonding earlier this year. >> In theory, yes. If it were if that was something that we were to need at that time, then they have the thought would be that that use that until you have debt falling off. So, the earliest that we could possibly start to use it would be 2027. >> We could use it in 20. Correct. Yes. I'm sorry. Yes. 27. I'm thinking 25. Yeah. Yes, you're correct. >> Okay. >> All right. Any other comments, questions, thoughts? All right. Next item on agenda. Consider approval of excuse me consider approval of interest on investments resolution. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Uh this is the resolution that

146we need to have passed. Uh this is to state that the interest that we earn will be deposited into the operations fund. Uh kind of the conversation we have just had. Uh so we do have to have a resolution for that. We do have the discretion that if we wanted to, we could change that into either the education, the operations, or the debt service fund. However, for the past several years, and knowing that the operations fund is the fund that needs this the most, uh, we've had our interest deposited into the operations fund. Uh, so this one we do need an action on. So again, I would ask for the board's approval of this resolution and happy to answer any questions. All right. I need a motion to approve interest on investments resolution as presented.

147>> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Hemsel. Second. >> Second. >> Mr. Bryant. Comments or questions? >> I guess my question stems from further conversations of the impact of SB1. What is the starting balance of our 2026 operations fund going to be and versus what it was at the beginning of the 25 year? >> Give me just a second. I can tell you I guess what I'm getting at is still trying to get a picture and a better handle on what the shortfall is going to be in that fund. >> Yeah. just when you think about shortfall, that's going to be revenue over expense, right? When you get right down to it. So, uh we know we're going to have to pay out a lot more out of that or we'll lose funding in there

148proportionately because of larger circuit breaker impact uh due to the impact of fire territory and the recently passed legislation both hitting us together. Um, so that's why you're going to see a lot of districts around us that get hit like this in 2027 due to the legislation. They'll get hit a little bit in 2026 due to legislation only. But because we had the fire territory and legislation hitting us both in 26, we're seeing this shortfall occur here in 26 and we'll see it pretty much the same impact in 27. >> So what is that shortfall in dollars and cents >> for 26? That would that's what we won't know until [clears throat] we get to June >> and we'll get we'll get the first glimpse of what that's going to look like because really it's

149going to be what's the revenue change over the entire year >> and we only be frugal with operations spending between now and June. >> Absolutely right. And that's what we've started doing that in the second half of 25 just to curtail some of that and to prepare ourselves as we moved into 26. So we're we're in a much better position than we were. Uh but some of the habits that we've changed moving into 26, we'll continue those and continue to look for opportunities to decrease spending in that first half in particular. >> Any other questions or comments? >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of distribution of local income tax. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mr. Cherry. Uh this again, just like the interest that

150we have just discussed, um we this is an action item. We do need to have a vote on this. However, there is no resolution for this. Uh but this is for the local income tax. Uh right now we currently have that distributed into the operations fund again for the same reasons that we've discussed with the earned interest. Um and so we would recommend that we continue with that. uh that we have the lit dollars deposited into uh the operations fund. Uh also this is a a great time to point out that this is one of the impacts from SEA1. Uh these dollars that we are seeing come to us from lit are good through 27. Once we get to 28 as we sit today, these dollars will no longer be distributed to schools. Uh for

151us it's roughly about a $500,000 impact that we're going to see in 28. Uh but just wanted to kind of get that out there. Again, this is another impact from Senate Bill One uh that we're going to be seeing in the future that we're planning for and adjusting for. So, we I will add to that, we think there will be some more legislative work on this issue. Uh we're we're hearing that even in this session, uh there may be a bill introduced from the Senate to continue to allow counties the opportunity to distribute funds to schools for lit. Um, some counties have in the past. Ours has. Some counties have not. Uh, uh, Kadget counties intended to distribute monies to schools. Those that were not Cadet counties didn't. Um, so I think we're going to

152see some more work on this is is my short point here. So, this although we're fearful that that funding may go away in 2028, we may see some changes to restore that funding back to us between now and then. All right. I need a motion to approve distribution of local income tax as submitted. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Comments or questions? All in favor? I. That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda, consider approval of financial institutions. Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mr. Cherry. again before you this evening. These are the same institutions that we've used over the last several years. Uh that would be Hendrickx County Bank and Trust, Huntington National Bank, North Salem State Bank, PNC, and the Hooser Fund, uh that we

153use for again investments that we've talked about. Uh so I would just ask for the board's approval of these institutions that we can continue using them for this next year. >> All right. I need a motion to approve financial institutions as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. >> Second. Thank you, Mr. Himsil. Comments, questions? All in favor? I. >> That passes unanimously. Next item on the agenda. Is there approval of ordinance authorizing the investment of public funds? Mr. Herbert. >> Thank you, Mrs. Cherry. Again, this is an ordinance that it's a maturity ordinance. Uh, per statute, school districts are only allowed to invest their dollars up to a two-year time period. Uh, specifically in CDs. Uh what this ordinance would allow is for us to go from two to five uh just

154in case there is an opportunity that we would have where we could lock in a longer rate especially as we start to see the rates decrease here. Uh if that opportunity were to pres present itself uh this ordinance would allow us to do that because again statutoily we can only go out to two years. So this would be extending that to a five-year maturity. Uh so I would just ask for the board's approval and happy to answer any questions. >> All right. I need a motion to approve ordinance authorizing the investment of public funds as presented. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Second. >> Second, >> Mr. Hempil. Comments or questions? >> How many CDs do we currently have right now? >> Zero. >> Are there penalties if we get into a five-year

155and we end up needing it sooner? >> Yes. >> When was the last time you done a CD? It's been a while. Right now, who's your fund just has better interest rate and it's liquid dollars, so it's just a better situation. This is just kind of a just in case. >> Any other comments or questions? All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. >> Next item on the agenda, consider approval of the resolution authorizing the investment of public funds. >> Thank you, Mr. Cherry. Again, this is if we were in the situation to invest in a CD. This resolution allows for us to go outside of our district here. Uh statute says that we have to invest with a bank that would be currently on the state's approved list, but also within our district.

156Uh so this would allow us to obviously still stay on the approved list through the state, but go outside of our district. Um, the example I can give is that in my previous school, uh, we were able to find better rates through a bank that was up in Carmel. Well, we weren't located in Carmel, that was outside of our district. Uh, obviously, that bank was still on the state's approved list of financial institutions that we could use. Uh, but for us to be able to go and capitalize on the higher interest rate, we had to have this in place. So, again, this is kind of a just in case if we get into that situation that we have it ready for us. >> All right. All right. I need a motion to approve the resolution

157authorizing the investment of public funds as presented. >> So move. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. Second. [snorts] >> Thank you, Mr. Helil. Comments or questions? >> All in favor? I. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Final item on the agenda is I need a motion for adjournment. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Brown. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Bryant. >> All in favor? I you're journed at 8:55. >> Thanks everybody. That was a lot a lot to get through. >> You need signatures on that one resolution tonight or >> Yes, please.