001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good evening. I'd like to call this April 6th, 2026 meeting to order. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for being here. Tonight, we are here for the meeting of the Duneland School Board of Trustees in public for the purpose of conducting the school corporation's business. The school board encourages public expression and will provide a time in the agenda for public comment on both agenda items prior to a board vote and for general comments at the end of the meeting. To participate in the public comment portion of the meeting, patrons must register on the clipboard in the lobby
002with all necessary information prior to the meeting. All right, with that being said, let's start with 2.01 student recognition. Robotics teams, congratulations to the Chesterton High School and Westchester robotics teams who qualified to compete at the state competition on Saturday, March 14th. The CHS team 2140, I'm sorry, 2140 408E consisting of Will Morgan, Ray Hunt, Keith Ward, and Kenzie Carnya earned 11th in skills, top 5% in the world, and was seated 16th alliance at state finals. The team was eliminated in extremely close and low scoring match against the first seed alliance during the first round of finals. The team has officially earned a spot in the 2026 Vex Robotics World Championship, April 21st through 24th in St. Louis. At this time, I would like to invite the CHS team 2140E, sorry, and coaches to come
003up for a photo. CONGRATULATIONS, COMING UP. >> I ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'RE DOING FOR US. ALL RIGHT, next on my list the WMS robotics team, the Conveyor Bots, consisting of team members Lucas Blankenship, Cody Bundy, Robert Hunt, and Nathan Menard have taken home two tournament wins this season, the Excellence Award and the Judges Award. This team worked tirelessly each practice to reflect, brainstorm, and strategize to ensure they could be at their best each tournament. Their hard work has paid off as they have earned a spot in the 2026 Vex Robotics World Championship. At this time, I'd like to invite the Conveyor Bots and coaches to come up for a photo. Congratulations. >> here. Is that easier? No? The WMS robotics team, the Dead Batteries, consisting of team members Ben Berik, Matt Lawyer, Joey Parusel, and
004Sidharth and Senthil Rajapandian have perfectly emulated the spirit of the engineering design process, earning the design award at their first tournament. This team was recognized for their creative design and strong understanding of the robotics mechanics. Their dedication paid off as they finished 14th in the state with a skill score of 55. At this time I invite the Dead Batteries and coaches to come up for a photo. Congratulations. Great job. Next up, boys diving, Luke Hawkins. Congratulations to CHS diver Luke Hawkins who delivered a tremendous effort in the 1-meter diving state finals, earning a sixth-place podium finish with a score of 415.75. Luke advanced through prelims and semifinals with poise, and he came up big when it mattered most to secure a top six spot among the state's best. At this time, I ask Luke to
005come up with his coach Elijah Mercado for a photo. Congratulations. All right, next on the list. CHS gymnast Sammy Boster. Congrat- Congratulations to CHS gymnast Sammy Boster on winning the IHSAA state championship on the balance beam, runner-up in all around, and third place on uneven bars on Saturday, March 14th. Sammy's additional accomplishments this season include DAC sectional and regional all-around championships, DAC all conference, and DAC MVP. At this time, I ask that Sammy and her coaches, Christine or I'm sorry, Christine Zirbel, Jordan Bush, Jordan Kirby, and Caitlin Cook come forward for a picture. Congratulations. >> All right. Next up, CHS Japanese Olympia team. Congratulations to the Chesterton High School Japanese Olympia teams for winning the state championship in the fourth year, third year, and second year divisions of the Japanese Olympiad of Indiana. CHS has
006now won the Jap- Japan Bowl, sorry, Japanese Olympiad state championships 28 times along with three national Jap- Japan Bowl championships and one national runner-up. The Japanese Olympiad of Indiana is an academic competition for second, third, and fourth year students with categories including speaking, culture, kanji, characters, proverbs, listening, geography, history, and onomatopoeic expressions. The Japanese Olympia teams are coached by John Sparks and Aki Sugagi. At this time, I ask that the team members and coaches come forward for a picture. And as you have all done, congratulations. >> CHS dance team. Congratulations to the Chesterton High School dance team for earning two first place finishes at the Indiana High School Dance Team Association state event on March 14th in the AAA kick division and double A jazz division. The team and coach also earned awards for best
007technique and best choreography in both categories. Four team members, Suzanne Eden I'm sorry, Alana Glazer, Mallory Billings, and Rowan Cashmere also advanced to compete in the IHSDTA solo state finals. Following an intense semi-final and final rounds, senior Suzanne Eden earned state runner-up in senior division, junior Alana Glazer came in ninth in the senior division, and freshman Rowan Cashmere secured third in the junior division. Dance team members are captain Suzanne Eden, and Alana Glazer, Ashley Bafia, McKenzie Kagel, Charlotte Kirk, Veronica Perez, Mallory Billings, Annelise Kappler, Sydney Johnson, Rowan Cashmere, Kinsley Bart, and Leah Damio. I hope I said that was right. The team was coached by Emily McKiddy with support from additional dance instructors Crystal Kazik, Kristen Danakis, Shayna Williams, and Keelan Agonovich. At this time I ask them to come up forward and let's congratulate
008CONGRATULATE THEM. CONGRATULATIONS. AT THIS TIME you are excused if unless you want to stay for the business portion of the meeting. All right, I don't believe anyone's signed up for a patron participation. If not, I'll move to item 4.01 through 4.09 and then approval of the consent agenda. Unless there's any discussion. I will make a motion to approve the consent agenda. I'll second. I heard a first and a second. Any discussion? Uh all in favor say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? All right. Thank you. Item 5.01, the 2026-2027 school calendar revision. Thank you. During preparation for the 2026-2027 school year, an error in the approved calendar was identified. The professional development day on April 9, 2027 was mistakenly counted as an instructional day. To meet the state required 180 instructional days, the final student
009day has been adjusted from May 25 to May 26, 2027. In addition, a placeholder has been included for a March 2027 e-learning day for SAT testing for grades 9, 10, and 12. The exact date will be established upon release by the IDOE in fall 2026. Approval is requested for the revisions to the 2026-2027 school calendar. Thank you for that. I'll make a motion to accept the calendar revision. I'll second. I heard a first and a second. All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? All right. Item 5.02, 2026 summer school course offerings. Good evening. The Department of Teaching and Learning is here tonight to request board approval for our 2026 summer score summer school course offerings. Summer school is a state reimbursable program that supports the district in providing summer school for courses in
010elementary, middle, and high school for all students. In order to be eligible for reimbursement, all courses must be Indiana approved course titles. Duneland's session 1 will be held from June 5th through the 26th for Kinder Camp through 12th grade, and session 2 will be held July 6th through 25th for grades 8 through 12. There will be centralized bus stops available for students who are attending. Our pre-K through seventh grade students will be held um at Liberty Elementary School from 8:00 in the morning until noon during session one and for sessions for grades 8 through 12 will be held at Chesterton High School from 7:30 to 12:55 during sessions one and two. This year you'll see that we're offering 15 different teacher-led at the high school. Some of which are offered as stand-alone courses as well
011as part of the freshman team offerings. New courses will be offered for the 2026 summer school to meet new diploma requirements. Those courses are computing foundations for a digital age, preparation for college and careers, personal finance and responsibility, and advanced comp which is a dual credit course. Also new this year we'll be offering a sophomore team to all sophomores in an effort to break the credit recovery cycle as modeled by the success of the freshman team concept. At the middle level we'll be offering ELA and math courses. Elementary students will also have the opportunity to participate in ELA and math courses with additional specific areas of focus on I read remediation for those who are in need. An invitation-only elementary high ability camp will be held as well as a kinder camp for incoming kindergarten
012students. At this time we respectfully request your consideration for the approval of the Duneland School Corporation summer school 2026 course offerings as presented. All right, so do we need to take action on this? So I'll entertain motion to approve. I'll make a motion to approve the summer school courses as presented. I'll second. Heard a first and a second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right, thank you so much, Donna. All right, item 5.03 Duneland YMCA amended lease. Thank you. The amended lease in front of the board tonight will transfer the pool at the former middle school and now healthy living campus from a joint jointly occupied space between the school corporation and the YMCA to a space solely controlled and responsible for improvements to the YMCA as of April 1, 2027. Administration
013recommends the board approving the amendment to the ground lease outlined in section 2.04, which removes references to the pool being part of jointly occupied premises as of April 1, 2027. All right, thank you for that information. I'll entertain a motion unless there's discussion. I move to accept the lease amendment. I'll second. I heard first and a second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right, thank you. Item 5.04, award base bids for CHS baseball softball project. Thank you. The board had previously given the administration permission to work with Skillman Construction Management and Gibraltar Architectural Firm to design and outline scope for renovations of the CHS baseball and softball complex and renovations to the CHS Fieldhouse. These projects were selected from a list of improvements previously outlined in 2021 as part of a district-wide
014capital improvement plan and most recently in 2025 with projects recently completed or scheduled for completion this summer, including K4 playground renovations and multiple improvements at Chesterton High School, including carpet replacement, LED lighting retrofit, and renovations to the main office, building trades lab, and soccer stadium. Administration did not design the work with the intention of moving forward with both the baseball and softball project and Fieldhouse projects at this time due to budget constraints. Now that actual costs have come in, administration recommends moving forward with the baseball and softball project and delaying the field house work to a later date. The base bid includes installation of athletic field turf on the varsity baseball and softball fields and replacement of existing fencing with black vinyl fencing. The project included five alternates. Replacement of fencing at the JV baseball
015and softball fields in the amount of 762,000. Masonry masonry stone backstops with netting solution behind the home plate at the varsity fields in the amount of 110,000. Masonry and stone backstops with the netting solutions behind home plate at the JV fields for the same 110,000. And replacement of fencing at the tennis complex with black vinyl fencing in the amount of 180,500. And field turf instead of sprint turf for 190,000. The only alternate that has been rejected at this time is substituting field turf for sprint turf. The hope is that the budget will allow for the other alternates to be selected during the construction phase. This will complete the fencing project at the entire campus with the only outdoor improvements still to come being a tennis court resurface and a storage facility. Administration recommends the school
016board awarding Goff Incorporated the total base bid contract in the amount of 3,595,000. Scott Cherry from Skillman Corporation is here tonight to answer any questions on the bid process or the scope of work scheduled to begin this June. Mhm. We are and one of the things that we did was we included an allowance in our contract. We're aware of the uh topography there and the bad soil conditions. We just It's hard to identify the scope at bidding. The way you do that when we start stripping the top the topsoil off, we do a proof roll and test the soils to make sure they're good. If they're not, we'll have remedial work. And that's one of the reasons in my discussions with the administration that we hold off on some of these alternate selections so that
017we if we do encounter uh some remedial work that we have to do, we can cover it with a contingency. We We have a pretty significant contingency because of that. And we hope that we don't have to use it, but my gut tells me we'll use some of it. I think we're going to see some of it cuz we know that it's it's bad soils. We got to do it right. So, that's the plan. Any other questions? All right, well then I'll entertain motion. I'll make a motion to award the base bid for the baseball softball as presented. I'll second. Heard a first and second. All in favor say aye. Any opposed? Thanks, Scott. Thank you. Thank you. Item 5.05, final reading of policy 7544. Thank you. The administration respectfully requests your approval to revise
018the following board policy. Policy 7544. This policy has been revised to prohibit staff members from using corporation-owned technology resources or personally owned communication devices to access social media for personal use during work hours, including meal periods and breaks. This revision does not prohibit staff members from using social media as part of assigned duties approved by their supervisor or building principal. All right. Thank you for that. I'll make a motion to accept the final reading. A second. Heard a first and a second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Do we have anyone signed up for general comments? Okay. Then I'll move that item 6.02 public relations highlights. Good evening. The Duneland School Board was recently recognized by the Indiana Boards Association with a exemplary governance award of commendable for the 2025 award
019year for demonstrating an outstanding commitment to professional learning and student success. Three Duneland School Board members earned individual governance awards from the Indiana School Board Association for program year 2025. Vice President Elena Lightfoot Poll earned exemplary level four governance award and members Beth Meiling and Kirk Redman earned the advanced level two governance award. School board boards perform a vital public service for their communities and board members who actively participate in professional learning are better equipped to perform their duties effectively and meet the needs of their students, said ISBA executive director Terry Spradlin. The honorees will be formally recognized during ISBA spring regional meetings taking place across the state during the month of April. Well, thanks. Thank you. The Duneland School Corporation has announced the finalists in its 2026 teachers and employee of the year recognition
020program. The finalists are elementary, Mindy Balhoff, Bailly Elementary grade two. Carrie Balon, Westchester Intermediate, grade six. Brandy Beckwith, Brummitt Elementary, grade three. Cathy Dilbeck, Jackson Elementary, grade two. Margaret Papineau, Yost Elementary, kindergarten. Tim Ray, Liberty Intermediate, grade six. And Rebecca Valley, Liberty Elementary, grade one. Second secondary teachers of the year finalists. Vincent Rizzi, Liberty Middle School music. Terry Chestovich, Trojan Learning Center. Jessica Evans, Chesterton High School exceptional learning. Chris Hackett, Chesterton High School math. Brian Hanegar, Chesterton High School science. Colin May, Chesterton High School art. And Laura Odell, Westchester Middle School math. Employee of the year finalists are Colleen Bowen, Brummitt Elementary head custodian. Wanna Craycraft, Liberty Middle School lunch aid. Marie Hearing, Jackson Elementary exceptional learning aid. Barb Melcher, Westchester campus child nutrition. Susan Pearson, DSC payroll. And Britney Smith, Chesterton High School nurse.
021This month, a selection of panel panel a selection panel representing students, parents, community members, and district administration will interview and select the teachers and employee of the year from those recognized as finalists. The 2026 winners will be recognized at the May 4th school board meeting. At the beginning of the year programs in August, in DSC publications, on the DSC website and social media, and on a plaque displayed at the central office. Winners will also receive a classroom office door banner along with a monetary stipend of $500 from our generous sponsors Lane 1 Foundation, First Source Bank, and Ellis Electric. In addition, both of the elementary and secondary winners will represent Duneland teachers in the Indiana Department of Education statewide teacher of the teacher of the year program. And that's all. Thank you. Thank you. All
022right. Superintendent comments? Nothing tonight. All right. All right, with that I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. Make a motion to adjourn. Thank you. Night.