ECS Board of School Trustees’ Meeting 1/27/26

001find it. Maggie, don't don't worry about it. We We'll get it later. >> Don't do that. It's okay. If you get it, just like just let me know. If not, don't worry about it. We can do it a different time, too. But I'll I'll Okay. And I'll just acknowledge Dana for sure. Okay. All right. Thank you everyone for uh coming out. Uh it's been a long time uh for for some of you uh today seeing you. So welcome back. Uh everyone else, thank you for brah braving the weather and coming out. Uh tonight we are going to start off with our uh public work session which at this time I will call to order. Yeah, please come forward. Just going to make sure I have Okay, perfect. Well, thank you for having me. I'm April

002Fitterling and I am from policy analytics. Um my colleague Barry Gardner was here last time and we talked a little bit about what was coming with all of the SEA1 changes. And tonight I'm going to talk about the actual impact to Elcart Community Schools from the SEA1 changes and what that looks like. We'll talk a little bit about cash balances and where those are trending as well. So, um I'm just going to dive right in. And um again, Policy Analytics does um property tax revenue analysis um for the district. And we also partnered to um uh work with the cash balances and help forecast um cash balances and their assumptions um for the district. So, um starting off tonight, what is Senate Enrolled Act One? what are all of the changes that are happening? So,

003this is a one-pager. We've combined it because this is what is happening across the state um to all school districts and you'll see um what the impact is to Elcart Community Schools as we go down the uh presentation. So, um to begin with, we have homestead deduction changes and this is not just a one or twoyear um change. It's over the next five years. the standard deduction is phasing out and the supplemental deduction is um increasing and by 2031 a home will only be taxed on um about a third of its value. So you'll be seeing the increase in deductions um for the homesteads. We also have new deductions for the 2% cap tax class category. So they're the 2% class like agriculture, um apartments, um those did not have deductions prior and so they'll

004start in 2026 and increase till 2031. Um and then we'll have a new deduction floor based on those increases. Then we have some homestead um residential credit. It is a 10% or $300 max liability that homeowners will see right on their tax liability or on their tax bills. So, two big changes. We have increases in deductions and we have new credits for homesteads. Then we have business personal property tax changes. So prior to Senate rolled act one um business personal property there was a dimminimous amount of 80,000 and below that were held out of the net assessed value calculations. So tax exempt. Now we have a new threshold of $2 million. And so as you'll see as we um get further into the presentation, there is a big decrease in net assessed value starting in

0052027 when this business personal property equipment is pulled out of the net assessed value calculation. The second piece of the business personal property changes are the um taxation floor. So, prior to Senate Rolled Act One, a piece of equipment would follow the depreciation scale down to 30% and it would be taxed at that 30%. Well, now a new piece of equipment can follow the depreciation scale down to zero and be tax exempt. So, what is that is not in our report because we don't know what businesses are going to do um in the future. If I had a crystal ball, I would be uh so happy because I could predict the future. But we do not know what they're going to do, but we do know they're going to get creative. Um we have been

006working with some um attorneys and they do know that businesses are reaching out to say how can we purchase this new equipment to depreciate down to zero so we can lower our tax liability. So um that's the business personal property changes. the um farmland assessed value the capitalization rate is going from 8 to n 8 to 9% and then we have some other um smaller deduction eliminations. So um when someone comes to you and says what what is sea1 there you know it's great to have a list like this because it's not I'm not going to remember all that. I wouldn't expect someone else to remember that just off the off the cuff really quickly. So, there's a lot that goes into Senate Enrolled Act One. And like I said, it's over a five-year time

007period. And so, this is why we're working with districts to help forecast where their revenues are going to be trending. So, what does your tax base look like here at Elcart Community Schools? Because, as I said, all of those changes are happening to all schools across the state, but how the impact um what the impact is to each district is different. And why is that? Because every district is different. Um you could see your taxing base there. You've um got multiple taxing districts at multiple rates um and multiple percentages of your tax base. You have over 6.2 billion in certified um net certified assessed value. The median home um value is 201300,000. And you could see you have about 48% of your parcels. That's all of the one, two, and three um cap categories. 48%

008are at their cap. So if there's any tax rate or increases um that not 48% pay no difference because they're at their cap already. So looking at the taxing district and we just like to show that quickly um and then talk about what changed in 26 for the district for their certif or their gross assessed value. So, we're kind of working towards this big uh calculation to talk revenues. So, first we're going to talk about gross assessed value. Gross assessed value for the district did grow in 2026 um more than we were projecting um originally when we we were here last time and that is due to the one-time adjustment by the DLGF um they reset the cost tables. So, um, the re they reset the cost tables for apartments, commercial, and industrial. And you

009you'll see that those are some historical growth because they did one-time adjustments in 2026. And so, going forward, when we're talking gross assessed value changes, we do feel we're going to have a more modest growth just because they're not going to be resetting that cost table. The last time they reset that cost table was um prior to COVID. So that's why it was such a large reset in 26. So looking at the historical trend for gross assessed value, it follows the housing market. And so as you can see, we have seen, you know, kind of that heartbeat chart or heartbeat trend going upward over the past few years for Elcart County. We did see some historic jumps in um the average sale price. Um that's across the state in the um 2022 um 2022 to

0102020 um sorry 2019 to 2022 were kind of historic um average sale pricing years um and then we've kind of come back down to more of a modest growth in um average sale pricing. So looking at this trend and um taking the Red Fin data, our team projects that the total um gross assessed value will um have a trend of about 3.1% annual growth going forward. Um we do project about an average trend for the residential about 4%. So why is this important? So gross assessed value is essentially the starting piece of the calculation. So what's happening to gross assessed value then in turn um taking in the deductions um impacts the net assessed value. So as we take a look at this next slide you can see that the green kind of trend line

011in the top chart is the gross assessed value. So gross assessed value has been growing and net assessed value has been following that trend kind of parallel um until till about 2027. You'll see that's when we project that kind of split to happen. And you can see what the main drivers of that will be will be those homestead deductions increasing and that 2% uh class deductions being implemented. So those deductions that were not there in 2025 are growing at a rapid rate annually until about 2031. So the increased homestead deduction and the increased 2% category deductions are what are driving down that net assessed value. So um gross assessed value minus deductions get you your net assessed value. And as we've taken a look at your um trend and your um pulling the parcel level

012data for these deductions, we do see a projected average of about a decrease of about 2% annually um until about 2032. Then we'll see your net assessed value start to climb back up. So looking at um you know those deductions making a change to that net assessed value and what creates that 2% decrease are those deductions but we also have that driver in 2027 of that business personal property tax change. So that um that business personal property equipment everything 2 million and below that's coming out of the net assessed value calculation that begins in 2027 and that's where we see that biggest dip of about 5% in your net assessed value due to those business personal property tax changes. Then from 28 to 31 we do see um about an average of one and one

013one and a half% of decrease in net assessed value. Then 2033, we do have a little uh marker in there um because we do have some potential tiff. If it does expire, then you would capture that additional net assessed value. Um one thing I forgot to mention on 2027 that business personal property um that change is about 238 million in reduced net assessed value for the district. So 238 million reduction in net assessed value plus the other deductions being implemented and increasing creates that 5.1% in 2027. So we've talked gross assessed value minus deductions gets you your net assessed value. And why that is important is because net assessed value times your tax rate gets you your certified levies. So as we've been um historically seeing net assessed value climb. We've been able to maintain

014our tax rate and then um generate a little more revenue into those funds that have um inflationary expenditures. So our revenue has increased um to keep up sort of with inflationary cost. Um, you'll see that the assessed value as it grew, keeping the tax rate the same, we get a little more revenue. But as net assessed value is planning to decrease to get that exact same levy we would have prior, we would need to be increasing our tax rate. So looking at this kind of uh mathematical calculation, if net assessed value decreases to get the exact same amount of revenue, we would need need to increase that tax rate. So that's when we start talking about managing to a levy um scenario instead of the rate scenario going forward. >> So taking a look next

015at revenue scenarios. So this is where kind of the most important let's just say um changes for the district are when we're talking about direct impact in revenue forecasting. So the first thing I want to mention is the um the additional changes to SEA1 are the lit changes, the local income tax changes. So we mention it here. We don't mention it on the SEA1 change slide because this is different per every county. Um there's multiple counties that have neither piece of lit or they only have one portion. Um for Elcart County, we have both. So the two pieces we have of lit are the certified shares. Certified shares are direct revenue um received from the county. The second piece is a property tax replacement credit. The certified shares are direct revenue received to the district

016from the county and the property tax replacement credit is a credit that is applied to the homeowner's um tax liability. So they see a credit on their property tax bills. So the first piece going away, the certified shares, it's about 1.5 million for Elcart Community Schools that beginning in 2028 will no longer receive. So that is just a flat check from the county. The district will not receive [clears throat] for the personal I'm sorry, the property tax replacement credit. It depends if the homeowner is at their tax caps or not. If the homeowner is at the tax cap or above, the district will not receive that revenue. If the homeowner is below the caps, the homeowner still needs to pay that liability. So, the district will still see that, but the homeowners will be paying

017it now. So, we'll take a look at what that looks like in your revenues in the next few slides. But, I just wanted to reiterate that the certified shares piece is not in our revenue projection. that is just because it's not um property tax based revenue. This is a check from the county based on local income tax. So that certified shares um when you're forecasting your cash flows that 1.5 million will be taken out starting in 2028. And this is just kind of a one pager of pulled right from the DLGF site to just show you that um Elcart County has over 18.3 million in property tax relief credit that goes to the homeowners and then Elcart Community Schools receives over 1.5 million and this is all going away in 2028. Um there is discussion

018of a different type of lit to be put into play. Um but that is still um to be implemented. It will never be back to what this is. Um and I I do not forecast districts to see any of this type of revenue um for the lit for the new lit when it um begins um for cities and towns. So um just letting you know that this is a piece that is is going to make an impact to those revenues as well. So, as we're talking um unrealized revenue or unfunded credits or traditional circuit breaker, so all of them um pretty much have the same def definition. It is revenue that the district is not going to be receiving. >> [clears throat] >> So, what Senate Enrolled Act One creates with the 10% or $300

019max credit, it creates an additional unfunded [clears throat] revenue for the district. So, we've modeled here the traditional circuit breaker loss and then that additional 10% or $300 max credit loss to the district. So in 2025, I guess I'll lay the slides out here. The dark blue or navy blue is the traditional circuit breaker um impact to the operations fund. Currently, the debt service fund is protected from the traditional circuit breaker loss. For the 10% or $300 max credit, the debt service fund is not protected. So you'll see in 2026, you'll see the dark blue is traditional circuit breaker. The blue with the lines through it is the I'm sorry, the dark navy is traditional circuit breaker to the operations fund. The blue with the lines through it is the unfunded credit to the operations

020fund. And then the orange is the unfunded credit to the debt service fund. And then the um the green are just some other unfunded credits. So very very minimal, but you'll see from 2025 to 2026 due to those deductions um being increased, you're actually your traditional circuit breaker goes down slightly in 2026, but it's backfilled with that 10% or $300 max credit driving up that un um unfunded credits. um just more re a more loss of re an increased loss in revenue, excuse me. So you'll see that yes, the traditional circuit breaker goes from 3.3 million down to 2.9 million, but then you also capture a 1.1 million in unfunded credits to that operations fund alone and then another 571,000 in unfunded credits to the debt service fund in 2026. So going from a total

021overall um impact in 2025 of 3.5 million up to four over 4.6 million in 2026. Then in 2027, as net assessed values grow, or I'm sorry, as gross assessed values grow um on properties, um you'll see the um traditional circuit breaker increases to just over 4.3 million. And then the operations fund unfunded credits from that 10% um $300 max credit goes to 1.3 million. And then the debt service um I'm sorry, 1.2 million. the debt service just over 603,000. What I want to mention in 2027 though is there is legislation right now looking to protect that debt service fund from that unfunded credit like it is with the traditional circuit breaker loss. So the difference in this kind of slide you would see in 2027 that orange 603,000 um impact to the debt service fund

022that would then go to the operations fund. So essentially that entire bar in 2027 would be a revenue um impact to the operations fund. So it would grow from 2025 to an impact of 3.5 million to over 6.2 2 million to the operations revenue in 2027 when that debt service fund is protected. So yes, it protects your debt service fund, your debt service cash balance going forward, but there is that impact to that operations fund going forward. So a decrease in revenue. And then not to focus in on this slide a little [laughter] even more that business or I'm sorry that property tax relief credit that's being eliminated in 2028. It drives up that traditional circuit breaker loss. So those that are at the tax caps as we mentioned before that piece of lit that

023property tax replacement credit that's going away. If they're above the caps that is revenue that the district will not receive. So that is what's driving up that traditional circuit breaker loss from 27 to 28. You'll see that impact up about 1.6 million. So um that we see that growth um in um traditional circuit breaker loss um over the next few years. We see those unfunded credits impacting our um unfunded credits, unfunded revenue. So looking from 25 to 28, we've almost doubled our um circuit breaker loss or unrealized revenue. So looking at this chart, we wanted to incorporate it then in your revenue projections. Um taking this unfunded credits and putting it in putting [clears throat] it all together as a whole. So, um, this is kind of a a great one-pager to say what exactly

024is happening to our revenues. So, as you can see, we have our certified levies at the top. We have our unfunded credits and the in the lines below that. Then we have our net levies. So just to kind of give a little um kind of um assumptions in this, we have our debt service um certified levy is growing um annually at about 4%. We have the MLGQ for the operations fund for the certified levy growing at about 4%. We have worked in the um PTRC going away in 2028. Um and then we do have modeled um charter share but that can be it'll be based on um ADM at [clears throat] that point in time in 2028. So looking at our certified levies certified levies um for the operations or I'm sorry for for the

025debt service and operations fund your capital referendum it is there and it is what it is over the next five years. That's that's the um the levy you'll receive to make those um payments for that capital referendum. Debt service um um working with Baker Tilly and working with the um projected debt service rate and managing to your debt service plan. Um that's what we have forecasted the levies to be. Um the uh pension debt rolls off in 2028. Um so we've got that modeled in there. and then the operations fund. Um you'll see the levy growing about 4% on the certified levy. So a big mathematical calculation. We've got gross assessed value minus deductions gets our net assessed value. Net assessed value times our tax rate gets us our certified levies. But then you have

026to take your certified levy and subtract out those unfunded credits to get your actual net levy. So that's the revenue you'll receive um for as a district from the county from your property taxes. So as you can see um we've kind of highlighted um the unfunded credits for operations. You'll see debt service um goes from about 48,000 to over 571,000. Operations um unfunded credits grows from about 3.4 million to then 4 million. So, as we kind of look down the page, we see our operations levy go in 2025 from about 23.1 million to about 24.3 million. So, we do see a little growth in operations in 2026. But where the change happens is in 2027 as that unfunded credits to operations alone grows up to about 5.5 million. if the debt service fund is protected

027in 2027, roughly about 550,000 of that hits the operations fund. And so you've got to take about 550K off of that net levy for operations in 2027. So essentially from 2026, your operations levy at about 24.3 million, you'll essentially be at a 24.2 2 million in 2027 and very similar to 2028 take off another um you know half a million to 600,000 in 2028 for the operations fund and so projecting for 26 27 and 28 you will um Elcart Community Schools will have relatively flat operations revenue and operations fund we all know that those are operational expenditures utilities, um, transportation, fuel, um, custodial, operational pieces, um, that you don't have any control over the cost, and they're operational pieces that you have to continue um, to have to heat and cool your buildings, get your

028kids to school, operate operate the district. So, um, we call that a highly inflationary fund and you're going to be having flatlined revenues for that fund for the next 3 years. We do see it, um, glow grow at a much slower rate than prior to Senate enrolled act one just due to those increased unfunded credits or circuit breaker loss. And then kind of following down to the tax rates. And if you'll remember that calculation I showed before, as net assessed value drives down to just get revenues that we would have prior, we do need to increase that tax rate just to get those levies. So that's where we talk about that managing to the levy scenario instead of the tax rate because a tax rate kind of goes out the window when we're talking about

029managing levies that we would have um would have had uh prior or even just flatlined into the next year. So so looking at this boiling it down um Elcart Community Schools will see flatlined revenue um over the next uh couple of years. it will start to trend upward but just at a much more muted growth due to these changes. Um the next slide is just um an impact to the taxpayer. Um just wanted to give it a model of what the changes in the deductions look like and then the credits those um uh those credits at the bottom being applied to the tax liability. you'll see in 2026 they will have a pretty much flatlined liability due to that um 10% or $300 credit being implemented. Um but then as the net assessed value continues

030to grow or sorry the gross assessed value continues to grow on their homes because we did not change the assessment system. they will still see a growth on their assessed value, but it's less than what it would have been due to those um credits being implemented. So, that's just kind of a model we like to show um because when we're talking about taxpayer impact or what the tax revenue is impacting um here's just a model for you. So, I talked a lot about the mechanics of SEA1 and then what the impact is. So that's kind of the first piece of what is the impact to your revenues and then what does it look like to your cash flows because it's kind of putting it all together because not only do you have the sea 1

031impact but you also had a deficit starting prior to Senate enrolled act one. So, when we were here, um this, you know, uh early fall, I believe it was last time, um we actually [clears throat] look a little bit better than where we were last time we were here, um due to um the hard work that you guys are doing now. And and I say hard work because it is difficult to uh slow a speeding train down the tracks. So, looking at this first slide, this is the baseline of your cash flows currently. So we do have assumptions built in here for um revenue increases from the state at about 1 and a.5% um tuition support increase annually. We do show um the growth in the um operations fund um at about 4% following that

032MLGQ. Uh but we also have worked in the unfunded credits that circuit breaker impact. Um what is not modeled here is if the debt fund is protected um the 520,000 that would um impact the operations fund. So essentially when the debt fund is protected just think about cash balance take off 500,000 just quick math off the top there at the cash cash balance. Um and then the other expenditure assumptions we have, we have built in a 2% salary and benefit increase and a 3 to 5% inflationary cost for utilities and other expenditures. So we feel like those are um those are costs that are always going to be there. Um but we need to um project out what that looks like to your cash balances. So you can see the cash um the revenue uh

033really were growing at that small um 1 or 2% increase over the past few years. Um and then looking at those expenditures, you can see we've had um we had a big jump in expenditures from from 23 to 24. Um but 25 we've started to reel those in a little bit. Um I say a little bit, I mean you can see a couple million dollars. Um but you can still see there is quite a bit of a um deficit that is continuing over the next few years. Um and by 2027 we do see a deficit large enough to eat through the cash balance and eat through the rainy day fund. So [clears throat] um so we've been working with the district to say okay we see this baseline and we know that something has to

034change. So, the district has been working to make changes and I know some changes are um are being planned currently and so we've started to model those into the cash flows and we started with um about 3 million beginning in 2026 and then some more in 2027. And as you can see, yes, this does slow that expenditure train down. And um and what I want to just kind of make a note as the earlier these changes happen the better it will be on the cash flows overall because it's just compounding. So the sooner the cash flow or sooner the cost reductions begin um the bigger impact it has in f in years going forward. So, as you can see, as we start with about 3 million in 20 in the fall of 2026 and then

035um some additional in 2027, you do see that brings that deficit down over the next few years. And then potentially you would still um eat into your cash balance in 27. Um you would then eat into rainy day, but there would still be a little bit of rainy day there. And so it kind of just pushes it out to 2028 is the big year where you would see the huge deficit and you would eat through your cash balance and the rainy day. So um big point of this slide is yes um 3 million in cuts beginning in 26 and some in 27. it does slow that expenditure train down um just due due to the additional fact that revenues are um expenditures are outpacing the revenues and what needs to happen is we need to

036either slow those expenditures down or find another source of revenue. Um, and this is just a waterfall chart just to kind of reiterate um, just a quick glance of what's happening. Even um, with those cuts beginning in 2026 and 27, you'll see that we do have that deficit that's um, continuing to have that waterfall. So, what I mentioned prior was we do [clears throat] have a couple of options. Um, and it's pretty much two uh, maybe a little bit of three, but we have two options. um when a district has um um a deficit like that and the expenditures are outpacing their revenues, two options. Find a revenue source and the only option for revenue sources for a district is an operating referendum. Um and the second is cost reduction. And so um if if

037an operating referendum is off the table, the only option would be cost reduction. And that's where you would need to start to see um you know there needs to be some uh quite large cost reductions to slow that trend of those cash flows down. So, um, working with the district, we're, um, trying to, uh, model some of those. And then I know there's, um, more to come because we need to slow that expenditure train down and bring those expenditures and revenues back into balance to offset those, um, uh, structural deficits and our cash flows. [snorts] So, that's the that's the majority of the presentation this evening. I just kind of want to back up. Um, one more thing is um I just want to reiterate um the sooner that these um cash or cost reductions

038happen the better the impact um is in the um following years to come because as you can see that's quite a large deficit when you get to 2029. Um, I'm not saying it has to uh you have to cut 18 [clears throat] or 24 million today, but as you can see, as you cut, you know, um, a couple million this year, a couple million the next year, that will help add up. But there definitely needs to be more cut cost reductions to come to slow that expenditure train down. All right, so thank you very much. Um any questions or what kind of questions can I answer for you this evening? >> Thank you April board. Uh any questions uh for April? >> So back to your waterfall chart that you had on I don't remember

039what slide it was. Yeah, that one. Do you have last year's data so we can compare and see where we are from last year to this year by chance? >> Um I believe that's on your website um for um the projections that we had. Um but also um um we've been working with the district and Rhonda does um share some of our uh month end projections with you as well. And so you'll see that um these are slightly um improved from that um that time frame. >> Hi, how are you? >> Great. >> Good. Um, one of the things that as I look at this, you look at going back to 2020 and 2021, you see pretty relatively high cash balances. Can you kind of walk us through like what was um propping up those

040cash balances also? Um, and then you keep talking about we're slowing the train down. That that is nebulous, right? There are some things that are actually really happening to slow that train down. And one of the things I want to um see if you can expound upon um from what I remember from our August 26 um 26 of 25 um presentation was that um we are expected to run out of cash this year. Um so we made some structural changes to save it for a year and it's still not enough. Um so I guess this is a two-part question. Can you kind of just talk to us what was happening um at the beginning of the waterfall and then um I guess you'll be then adding on to Mr. Bernett's question. What are some of

041the things that you're noticing that's kind of slowing down that train? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, um 2020 I I think we've all tried to forget about CO um but CO brought on some one-time dollars um for a lot of districts, all districts across the state. And so CO came into play um and we had onetime dollars from about 2020 to about 2023. And so a lot of districts brought in additional support, brought on staffing, and brought on expenditures that are not one-time expenditures. Um they are continued um continuing expenditures that cost more every single year. So, so we have additional revenue in 2020, 21, 22, 23, a little bit, but as that additional revenue went away, a lot of district districts did not cut the staffing that they added during that time frame. So when

042you take away that one-time revenue and you bring those expenditures back into say the education fund, then the education fund um the expenditures start to outpace the revenues because that additional um I'm going to call it esser dollars um co dollars that were there. They the dollars the revenue went away to support it but not all of the expenditures went away. And that's what we're kind of seeing from 24 um and 25 going forward. So if those expenditures do not get reeled in or cut back on cost reductions, that's where we see that trajectory trajectory of that waterfall chart. Um second piece um you'll see that yes um I think we ended about 2 million higher than than prior um due to some um salary cost reductions uh I'm sorry not salary um purchase services

043cost reductions things that you can control um internally some administrative support reductions um so those where we where we saw I know we've um worked with the district because you guys did some you did some um staffing um realignments [clears throat] this year and that's where we did see um a little bit of cost reduction um going forward but yes we have seen that we have seen that uh slow down in expenditures and I think at the um uh board meeting next we will talk about those expenditures and we'll show that yes we have slowed those expenditures down from where they were at um and say we're on the right track. We just need to keep going in that correct direction. >> I only appreciate it. >> Yeah. >> Any other questions? >> Yeah. Um,

044as you look at your waterfall chart right there, uh, in 2028, uh, it's my understanding that, uh, you know, for that chart, the way it looks right there, uh, legally we are not allowed to operate at a deficit. Would that be correct? >> Correct. Yes. Um what I would say is um come 2020 if if this were to stay on this track, you know, then then we would have some um uh more conversation with other groups coming in and um and um and start that conversation of what would need to be changed to turn that around at a at a more um dram dramatic pace. If it's not started now, if we waited until 27 or even beginning of 2028, it would have to be at a much more dramatic pace. >> Thank you. >>

045You're welcome. [snorts] Any other questions? >> I don't think so. All right. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. And I just want to reiterate one more thing um that just came to me is earlier I said this is this is happening to districts across the state and um SEA1 is happening to districts across the state. It's just the impact is different for every single district and it's just the mechanics of the taxing district um the uh percentage at the tax caps and what the tax cap impact looks like. So, um you guys here um definitely are hit with that revenue impact with that circuit breaker impact. So, um yes, it's happening to all districts, but you guys are definitely feeling it here at Elcart. >> Thanks. Um may I add one thing? It's

046not a question. Um more of a commentary. Um across the state, we're hearing that almost 100 school districts are going to be applying for referenda in 2026. Um we and we'll talk about this during our board meeting. We are not one of those school districts. So, um I know you showed us that um the chart, but really it's there's only one option. There's not really two, >> correct, >> for our for our school district. So, I just want to make sure that we are being very transparent when we're talking about those things. That's not something that we have talked about this year. >> But there I know that there are districts that are scurrying trying to get that done this this school year. Definitely very Yes, we have partnered with 22 um a couple more

047in the works and so yeah, across the state it's going to be historic um referendums um in November of 26. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. We have nothing else for uh the public work session. So at this time I will adjourn uh the public work session and we will reconvene at 6:00 for our uh regular scheduled board meeting. Thank you. Right. So, I was like, he's not good. He's just not good. All right. Thank Okay. All right. Thank [laughter] you very much. >> Oh, shoot. Where' this come from? >> Julie, it came. Where is she? Where she at? >> It came from Julie. Hi, Cat. >> Julie. >> Jeff. Hi, Jeff. Thank you. >> Oh my gosh. I can't eat it. You want two? I can't eat them.

048>> Look like I want two. >> Yeah, you want two. >> Maybe when they have your >> friend like that. >> It is just too much. >> They put our cookies just >> they're frowning. >> Yeah, [laughter] >> it's all right. Right. Is that right? >> Send us a message. >> You know, all this just getting recorded on the day. You're right. It might happen, [laughter] >> you know. I mean, and two like you have to go through all the emotions and stuff, the hurt, the anger, the frustration, all that, you know. I believe it. >> You know what? That's a good thing because sometimes, you know, things can work out differently. I've had a lot of gone through this. >> Okay, good. I I just wanted to make I just want to make sure

049that it wasn't just me. Oh, please [cough and clears throat] not know English. Ready? You guys ready? [snorts] >> Yeah, sure. >> All right. At this time, I would like to call the January 27th, 2026 Elcart Community Schools uh regularly scheduled board meeting to order. You'll please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. You may be seated. Mr. Bernett, the Elcart Promise. >> The Elcart Promise. Every student is known by name, challenged and supported by highly effective staff, and in partnership with the community will graduate career, college ready, and life ready. Thank you. Invitation to speak protocol. Um I think most most of uh everyone knows how this works, but you were given a pamphlet on your chair when you arrived. In the pamphlet, there is this little form that you can detach. Please

050state your uh name and address and your affiliation with the schools and the topic or subject you wish to speak on. Give those to Dora. Um, once your name is called, please step up to the uh microphone. Uh, you'll have three minutes to speak on any agenda or non-aggenda item. Dora. All right, we have one tonight. Uh, Mr. Howard Turner. Good evening. I uh read in Milkart Truth the proposed superintendent's contract. I do not know our new superintendent, but if our teachers support her, then so do I. I do have problems with the proposed contract. I do have a union job, so whoever negotiated this contract needs to represent my local for our next contract. [snorts] Having a guaranteed one-year extension actually makes it a four-year contract, not a three-year contract. I believe in think

051calling things what they are. Also, why would you automatically extend the contract even before the first day is performed? That normally happens somewhere into the contract when both sides are sure the job is meeting expectations. $195,000 a year, I believe, is twice as much as our highest paid teachers. I understand good leadership is important. Being a worker, I place a higher value on the workers, which in this case are our teachers. With a school system that is shrinking, to put so much of our dwindling revenue into a salary at the top seems misguided to me. I would rather pay our teachers more as they are who we expect to actually teach our children so they are ready to lead the future. On top of the extremely high salary, we are paying an extra 12% into

052the retirement fund to be increased 1% each year. If I were ever paid $195,000 a year, I would be able to fund my own retirement fund without a company match. Again, if I were to make this much money, I would not need a $10,000 a year car allowance and free monthly cell phone. Who pays $150 a month for a cell phone plan? We need to shop for better prices. I pay $50 for three months for three lines with unlimited talk, text, and data. With the ACA requiring health insurance to provide free wellness checkup yearly, we shouldn't have any cost for uninsured physicals. I do love I would love to have this half this number of paid sick days. I believe there are 184 teacher days. So with 90 sick days, that is half of the

053time. Do our teachers get that same amount of time? I do not support this very expensive contract, especially when we are having to consolidate buildings and cut staff to get our spending into our budget. I say make this contract more reflective of the financial situation of our district. Thank you. [laughter] [clears throat] That will uh close public comment. Uh next on the agenda, we have a moment of pride. SSAC members Brendan Scott and Cameron Terowski. Good evening, President Scott, school board members, Dr. Huff, and community. Thank you for having us tonight. We will be presenting a moment of pride from December as well as January. My name is Cameron Terowski. I'm involved in ELSAC, SSAC, Student Government, volleyball, diving, and track. >> My name is Brendan Scott. I'm involved in track and SSAC. >> Starting

054off with speech and debate. Speech and debate had a had a tournament on November 22nd. The events face first place for radio broadcasting, second place for varsity dramatic interpretation, second place for novice discussion, and third place for team world schools debate. The blood drive was held on November 25th by the National Honor Society where they collected 85 units of blood. There will be another one on March 10th which is hosted by student government. On December 6th, the Madreals, the highest level choir, had an event where they had where they were given three course meals and the orchestra. They were singing and speaking. Our abandoned choir, they had a lot of concerts in December. On December 11th was the winter celebration concert presented by the symphony wind chamber choir and golden corral. On December 15th was

055the band and orchestra winter concert where there was a lot of community that showed up. On December 16th was a corral winter song concert. Students doing good things. On December 15th, bring change of mind had an event where they had final exam stress relief bags and they had therapy dogs there. Toys for Thoughts through Student Government and the man in the annual Marine Corps program had an event where they had boxes at every single building. They filled three boxes and then many groups helped work the ugly sweater run. This past month, junior reps from student government went to Cleveland, Woodland, and Daily where they greeted the elementary students with encouraging notes and candy canes. Student government body officers went to the transportation office in the morning to greet bus drivers with coffee, cocoa, and cookies.

056Um, FFA collected money to buy food for the Elkart County Humane Society. Society for Better Earth did a park cleanup and athletes went to the fire department for a Santa breakfast. On December 17th, student government hosted a movie night at ETI where they watched a Grinch and had cocoa and cookies. 80 students attended. It was the first time that Elkart has done that at the ETI and the students were fun and happy to have an event like that. In December, Elcart Community Schools had the annual chess tournament where 60 participants were there. Elliot Burns, who is a sophomore, was the overall champion. January 6th was individual regionals where eight qualified for state on February 7th. Three from the high school, two from Westside, one from Pieran, one from Roosevelt, and one from Eastwood. >> Bowling

057was were conference champions [clears throat] sectionals on January 10th. They were the boys team champion. The individual awards were first place Wyatt Skipper, second place Lucas Claxton, fifth place Colin Albbright, and sixth place Colin White. Regionals is on January 24th or was on January 24th. Team got second place and they're going to Semi State in Fort Wayne Saturday along with three individuals, Wyatt, Colin, and another Colin. [laughter] >> The new health and strength center had their ribbon cutting on January 13th. Mr. Ross said about 475 students used the facility over the course of two days. There are some pictures in there of students during class time. Now sports girls wrestling individually Kalista Inman was the sectional champion. Zoe Hunt also qualified for regionals with boys wrestling fourth place at NIC on January 17th. And then

058boys NIC second place individually was Kyle Summer. Third place was Hezekiah Martin and Alexander Yumana. More sports. Girls swim and dive had NIC on January 17th where they placed fifth. Sectionals will be February 5th for prelims and 7th for finals. Boys swim has NIC this January 31st at home. So show up. >> [laughter] >> Cheer has had they will have three national showcases before they go to nationals next week. They have one February 2nd 600 p.m. at the freshman division. So show up to that too. >> Now all state music on January 17th at Purdue Fort Wayne. People who played for all state were Shawn Dickerhof, Corgan Hammond, Jaden Muel Deweiler, Mallayia Martinez, Lucy Kristoff, and Luna Londono. On January 17th at Purdue Fort Wayne band had Matteline Fletcher, Allison Hosetler Norris, Ren Hunt, Jose,

059Andress Sanchez, and Grace Stzman as well as junior band Arthur Toadilo and Ben Boutazar. Now, Miguel Gigos was honored in Philadelphia for all American soccer on January 17th. He's currently in Italy playing for Juventes Residential Academy. He's played soccer for 14 years and plans to get a good get to a good college or go pro. He's proud to have never had this honor that was received. He's proud to have had an honor that has never received at Elkart before. Rising Stars of Indiana. There were four juniors who received this award nominated by their counselors. Isaac Huff, Kayn Cobb, Alexis Sheets, and Cordelia Padet. The Indiana Association of Schools principles is the one who presents this award, which increases visibility and scholarship opportunities for these students. [snorts] >> Now on to Robera D. Franciscoca. She is

060from Sicily, Italy. She is a cheerleader. One thing she's excited about is to experience the snow and cold. She is looking. [laughter] She must be really excited. >> She's looking forward to prom and graduation. One quote from her is even though I did not choose Elcart, I am still very grateful and happy to be here, especially for the amazing amazing family they gave me and for having the possibilities to live a reality different from mine in Italy. Upcoming events, we have solo and ensemble this Saturday, chess state swim and dive sectionals, girls February 5th and 7th, boys February 19th and 21st, and cheer to Florida next week for nationals. More upcoming events. Boys wrestling sectional on January 31st. Basketball sectionals. Academic letter banquet on February 11th. Coming home week February 17th to 20th. FASA parent

061meeting on February 24th. Gymnastics sectional February 28th. And board appreciation month for January. Thank you board. >> Thank you. >> That concludes our presentation. Thank you. [applause] >> Good job. Great job, Brendan and Cameron. Good. >> I'm always amazed just how easy um they make public speaking look. Um when you grow up, you'll find out that is most of our public fear. Um you do it seamlessly. So, I just want to say thanks to both of you for representing uh our students very well. Um but also telling the kids story at the high school and and throughout our district. Um that is a huge honor and I see that you both take that very seriously. So again, I just want to tell you thank you and thank you for braving the elements tonight. There's synchronous

062learning tomorrow. So we look forward to seeing you online. >> No, we won't. But I do look forward I I I I am amazed at just how much our kids come up and they just it it blows me away each [clears throat] time that they talk about all the things that's happening in our school district. >> Great. Great. Great. Great. >> Great. Next uh on the agenda, we have the consolidation update uh from policy analytics. April, welcome back. >> Well, thank you. Um, isn't it great to always see the kids and just kind of brings us back to our why because they are why we all do this and it's just really great like being in public education. Um, there's nothing better to be reminded why you're doing something. So, um, sorry I have to

063be the next one after that, but yes, they did a great job and number one fear of public speaking. Um, so, um, tonight, um, again, I'm April Fitterling and I'm from policy analytics and we have partnered with the district not only to do property tax revenue projections, but to assist with cash flow projections and taking a look at what's been happening in the district and where it's headed. So um to begin tonight um we will talk about um cash balance. Um you can have a budget but it boils down to where your cash balance is and what is sustainable and what is not. So as you can see we are showing um just kind of a quick waterfall chart to show you where the trend of the cash balances are headed. Um in these cash

064flows we do have uh assumptions based on revenue and expenditures for the education fund about a 1.4 annual increase in state tuition about a 4% annual um growth in operations fund levy um certified levy. We do have 2% increases for um salary and benefit cost um 26 and beyond and 3 to 5% operational expenditure increases in there. So those are those are um realistic expenditure growths um uh inflationary cost. So we don't feel like we are overestimating in some but really the main point of this slide is um just to show you where the cash balances are headed. We did see some larger cash balances, 21, 22, 23, 24. Um, but we also had Esser dollars at that point in time. So, we had additional revenue to help offset some expenditures that we had. And

065when ESSER dollars went away, not all of the expenditures went away. So, education fund, operations fund, they both had to take on some of those expenditures um if they were not cut um when ESSER dollars went away. So, as you can see, that downward trend begins in 24, continues in 25, but we actually ended 25 a little bit better than we had projected due to some of the district's >> [clears throat] >> um cost savings um starting to do some cost savings initiatives. um we see the trend um to the negative balance start, negative cash balance start in 2027 if nothing is done um to um initiate additional cost savings. So that is just a snapshot of where we are at cash balance-wise and kind of wanted to talk about um a little expenditure review.

066So kind of how how did we get here? And so we did a comparison we had pulled last year um and we compared 22 and 24 um this year we're comparing 23 and 25. And one thing that I want to point out if you look at the total expenditure line um yes our total expenditures are outpacing our revenue growth and that's why we're seeing that waterfall trend. But you can see in 23 to 24 we had over um over 10 million in ex in expenditure growth. But from 24 to 25 we slowed that down to about just under 5 million in expenditure growth. So you can see the district is starting that path of slowing that slowing those expenditures down from continuing to outpace that revenue. there's a ways to go um because you'll see

067that has kind of been the trend out the expenditures outpacing the revenue but to bring that um waterfall back into balance we need to slow those expenditures down even more question >> um just so when we talk about 23 that's for a budget that was designed in 22 though correct for our 23 expenses so um we plan to actually have that level of spending um >> so so what I'm trying to get that is that um that people really understand that it's not that actual year that it's actually planned a year ahead of time. Correct. >> And so I wanted to just give some additional context to to to that. Um and when you talk about some of the savings you're seeing um I know I interrupted you so can you kind of give a

068little bit more specificity what you're talking about? >> So um it's it's really just slowing that expenditure that speed of percentage growth. So, um, in this, we'll talk about it on the next slide because we'll show some of where the additional, um, uh, expenditure or cost reductions were at, but we've, uh, slowed down, um, the administrative support. So, taking the central off admin support, um, we've slowed that expenditure growth down. Um, we did have, um, transfer tuition. You could see just comparing 23 to 25, but it is much less than where we were at in 21 and 22. Um the special education that it is just something that you cannot control. When your special ed needs grow, you have to um take on those costs. That is um that is set in um in code

069and stature statute and you have to um follow specific guidelines. So that's where we see the expenditures for special education growing. But in areas where you can control and slow down those costs, admin support is one of them. So I want to kind of dig into that a little bit deeper. um looking at your um diving into your educational expenditures and just reiterating the expenditures that are growing um at a larger rate are definitely in the um special education area and that's due to regulation. You have to you have to um provide those services for those students. Um, yes, we did have some instructional staff training growth in there, but that's because you had to take on that um that training um for um um from the state, >> our science and reading training letters.

070>> Thank you. >> Um so you had to take that on that is um not optional. And then um diving down deeper in um going per object um looking at salaries and benefits. Yes, you've had the growth. Um you've kind of slowed that trend down a little bit, but uh there is um still some areas to grow in salaries and benefits. Um purchase services, that's something that you can control. You can say, "Okay, we are not going to renew this or we're not going to renew this." And you've seen a um approximately a 30% reduction in purchase services, about five um almost 5.5% in supplies and technology. So, areas where you can um start to take control, we've um we're seeing that in the year-to-year trend. Um but where you can't control, utilities, insurance, other

071expenditures that are um set in stone that you have to um make um on an annual basis, you'll see that those are continuing to grow. Um so um taking a look at this historical um and just want to reiterate that yes the district is slowing that expenditure trend down um but there is a way to go a a way to go to offset that um deficit from um revenues and expenditures. Um when we look again at the cash flows I just want to reiterate um we talked about this um in the work session prior. This is where the district is at currently. Um this is not working in any of the projected cash flow or cost reductions um beginning in 26 and in 27 um that the district is planning. So if if there were

072to be no um cost reductions um cost savings, you would see by 2027 we would see a large deficit in the cash balance and we would be eating through the rainy day fund. Um but as as we projected um when we when we start those um uh cost reductions now and the sooner we start those cost reductions the sooner we see or the larger impact we see on that compounding expenditure growth. So the sooner you make those expenditure cost reductions um the bigger impact it has on years going forward. Um we did end 2025 um a little bit better than we had projected um just due to those um decrease in some cost reductions um we had um that the district has already started. And again I just wanted to reiterate the um cash balance

073where it's headed. um if nothing [clears throat] is done, if um increased cost reductions are not started and implemented and sustained, we will see that negative cash balance going forward. And really um when we're talking about turning that oh goodness, wrong way. When we're talking about leveling out that waterfall chart, districts have two options. um we cannot just generate more product and generate more revenue. We have two options and one is running an operating referendum and um the other is cost reductions. So either generate new revenue or cut expenditures. We've got to balance those out and um I believe here um at Elcart Community Schools we really have one option and that is cost reduction. Um and I think that is what what the district is already starting and planning for. So um as the

074district starts working and planning for those cost reductions um we will revisit those cash flows and show what the impact is to those cash flows and to show um to give a visual of what exactly is happening and and and proving that those cost reductions are happening and making an impact to that overall cash fall cash flow waterfall. So, um that is just our my quick presentation on cash balances tonight and where the district is headed and um what needs to potentially be done to offset that deficit. >> Thank you for that um presentation. I just want to say hats off to um you for one synthesizing for this for us so we can easily follow. But I I to the teams too that I have um both the teachers and the custodians and to

075the pretty it's been all hands on deck trying to everyone pitching in to make sure that we cut these um deficits. Um our community has spoken pretty loud and clear with the last two referendums here. They wanted to see improvement in academic performance. I think we are are meeting that mission. Um they wanted to see us really tackle um high level amount of administrators. I think we're tackling that as well. Um I heard that they wanted us to make sure that we align our enrollment with our um our staffing. I think we're tackling that as well. Um but we still have a long way to go. Um so um this has probably been um probably the most difficult year to navigate with all those things on top of a decreasing and you can't really rely

076on when certain funding sources are going to come in from the federal level and the state level. So, I just want to tell um everyone that we I think we're definitely moving in the right direction. Um we know that next week we'll be making some recommendations to the board um that we'll you'll be projecting out and hopefully come back and see how those calculations play out. But, um definitely I think our community has spoken pretty loudly that um that is not really a real choice for us at this time, the operating referendum. At least that's that's my perspective from the seat. Thank you. Anything from the board? >> Thank you, April. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> It's a pleasure being here and love the continued [clears throat] partnership. So, thank you very much.

077>> Look for appreciate you. Thank you very much. >> All right. Next on the agenda, we have the excellence of Elcart. Uh, Mrs. Wood. [clears throat] >> Thank you, President Scott. Members of the board, Dr. Huff, community members, I'm grateful for the opportunity to share highlights in the areas of academics, arts, and athletics. First up, at Monger Elementary School, students participated in lessons honoring Doc Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during visits to the media center. Mrs. Reid presented Dr. King's life story and led discussions on how his influence is still felt today. Students were also encouraged to explore explore additional books and resources focused on the civil rights era. Middle school counselors are visiting elementary schools to meet with the fifth grade students and discuss the discuss the transition to middle school. These visits give

078students the opportunity to meet their future counselors and learn firsthand about expectations, supports, and opportunities at the middle school level. In the area of arts at the freshman division, Benjamin Baltazar, a trumpet player, was selected through a competitive audition process to perform in the Indiana Junior All-State Band, earning first chair honors. The ensemble performed this past Saturday at Fort Wayne's Historic Embassy Theater. And we want to congratulate the Elcart area Career Center students in graphic design and commercial photography programs on their success in the Scholastic Art Awards. This year's student earned 25 award-winning pieces. Gold and silver key winners will be displayed at the South Bin Museum of Art throughout February and March. In athletics, Elcart gymnastics teams won the annual Elcart East West invite. The team improved its overall score with individual gymnasts earning

079first place finishes in vault bars and floor. And Elcart High School's cheer is n nationalsbound and will compete at the NHSC in Orlando, Florida. The community invited to support the team at the national showcase on February 2nd at 6:00 p.m. in the freshman division gym. Wear blue and gold and help show your Elcart pride as this team prepares for nationals. Some of our future happenings. January 31st is the wind percussion, string, solo, and ensemble. January 31st is our wrestling sectionals. February 2nd is our Elcart High School cheer national showcase. February 4th, our Elkart freshman division has a parent night. >> [clears throat] >> And as always, please be sure to follow our district and school social media pages as we share each day the excellence of Alcart. >> Thank you, >> job well done as

080always. [clears throat] >> Uh, next we have the consent items. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Have a [clears throat] motion. Do I have a second? >> I have a motion, a second. Do I have any comments or discussion from the board? >> Yes. Um before we start uh recognizing like our donations and celebrating retirements uh we'll take a moment of silence for a teacher uh Dana Knap who was with our district for 27 years and in 2017 when she retired she immediately came back and started substitute teaching again um for over eight years. Um, it is remarkable if you had any opportunity to read anything, the outpour of love and support for Dana, what she's done for our community, for our students, to see all of the different parents that have spoken

081in our staff. Um, she will be greatly missed. A very wonderful woman. um we could just take a moment to just celebrate a life um of Dana Knap and on behalf of her family, you know, she is resting well in heaven with our Lord and Savior and we are thankful for the opportunity that we had with her in our district. Um and moving on to um Pure Moran receiving the donations this week and they received $1,700 in two donations. One was from Billy and Laura Kankite and one was from Crossroads [clears throat] Community Church. Both of these will help benefit a group that they have there called Hoopla. Hoopla actually promotes the mental health awareness and and strives to teach the kids to break down the stigma of what that is. So, it's a great

082group that they have running. They're very strong and we thank our community partners for the donation of $1,700. And we look at retirements of Kristen Judson who was at Roosevelt as an ENL teacher, four years of service. Dwight Mood at Pieran for career readiness, three years. And our very own 37 years of service at North Side, Betsy TP, who was a PE teacher, also um you know, junior high athletic director, uh just years. I mean, Betsy is a phenomenal woman. Uh all of her students are going to miss her. Our future students are going to miss her. We were very lucky to have her, but she's young and healthy and vibrant and excited to get ready for this retirement. So, we just thank Betsy for all the years that she had. She's a great woman

083and we were just very lucky to have her. So, on behalf of Elar Community Schools, we pray over the NAP family. We celebrate our retirements and we show thankfulness for what our community partners have done for us. >> Thank you, Mrs. Mollins. >> Any other comments from the board? Uh, all in favor? I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> At this time, I'd like to temporarily recess our uh normally scheduled board meeting and open up uh the public hearing for the approval of the superintendent's contract. At this time, um I will open the floor to any comments uh regarding uh the superintendent's contract uh that was posted. If you have any comments, please come up to the microphone. Seeing or hearing uh no comments at this time, I will uh close uh the public hearing for

084the superintendent contract and reopen uh our regularly scheduled board meeting. At this time, um do I have a motion to uh approve uh Mrs. Reese's uh superintendent's contract for 2627. So move. >> Yeah. Move. >> Right. [laughter] Okay. Second. >> Thank you. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Uh any comments or questions regarding the contract? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? I >> I opposed. Motion passes unanimously. Congratulations. And I would also at this time um seek approval and a motion for our deputy superintendent's contract for the same uh 2627 school year. Do I have a motion for the deputy superintendent's contract? [clears throat] >> I have a motion and I have a second. >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you. Got it. >> Yeah. Thank you. [laughter] I have a

085motion and I have a second. Uh do I have any comments or questions regarding the deputy superintendent's contract? Seeing or hearing none. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. That motion passes. And at this time, um I would like to invite uh um Michelle Reese, our our superintendent elect, um and Dr. Ralph to come up and uh take this opportunity with one. Congratulations uh uh on on the appointments and approval OF THE CONTRACTS. >> [applause] >> UH WE'RE WE'RE we're very excited. Uh you know, the the contracts take uh in effect July 1st. Uh but um as evidenced today, uh you guys are are still at it putting in a full day and uh we appreciate that. So, um you know, for those who who who know you and those who don't, please come up

086and uh take a moment to uh introduce yourself uh to those in the room and then uh those at home listening. >> President Scott, school board trustees, Dr. Huff, thank you very much. I'm honored to accept this role and grateful for the trust placed in me to serve our students, teachers, staff, and community. I look forward to partnering closely with Mrs. Ree along with our leadership team to advance our vision for excellence. Together, we will continue to move Alcart Community Schools forward. And I just want to say thank you for the opportunity and looking forward to uh the years ahead. So, thank you. >> Very welcome. Good evening, President Scott, Elcourt Community School Board of Trustees, and Dr. Huff. I'm honored to accept my appointment as superintendent of Elcart Community Schools. I want to sincerely

087thank the board of school trustees for the confidence you have placed in me and for your commitment to the future for this district. I'm especially grateful to Dr. Huff for his leadership and guidance, which have helped position Elcart Community Schools for this next chapter. to our dedicated staff, supportive parents, engaged students, and the greater Elcart community. Thank you. Your belief in public education and your continued support of our schools is both humbling and inspiring. It is a privilege to serve alongside such committed educators and to lead a district that puts students at the center of every decision. Well, [clears throat] as we move forward, I fully accept the challenge of leading Elcart Community Schools through this period of consolidation and financial realignment. While these decisions are not easy, they are necessary to ensure long-term stability

088and to protect the highquality educational experiences our students deserve. Together with transparency, collaboration, and a shared focus on students, we will strengthen our district and continue to move Elkcart Community Schools forward with purpose and pride. Well, while the road ahead will not be without some challenges. I can't lie to you about that. I am confident that by working together alongside Dr. Huff or Dr. Huff, Dr. Roush, [laughter] >> sorry about that, Dr. and the members out here be um behind me, the cabinet. Um I'm confident that by working together, we will emerge stronger. Our students deserve nothing less, and I'm committed to ensuring they remain at the heart of every decision we make moving forward. I look forward to leading Elcart Community Schools with integrity, transparency, honesty, and an unwavering commitment to our students. So,

089thank you, Elcart Community Schools. I'm proud to be your next superintendent. [applause] >> Oh, yeah. >> We're going to like do take a moment to take a picture. >> They're going to want these two for your family. >> Yes, you are. >> So, what? >> Yeah, they are. They're going to want these momentos. >> Yes. >> Please take pictures with them. >> I I don't want to [laughter] hog pictures. Yeah. >> Oh, that's fine. >> I will I will take pictures of them. >> Okay. [laughter] She should have they should have It's a green [laughter] organizer. >> All right. >> [laughter] >> Rolling Stones. >> I doubt it. [clears throat] >> All right. Uh, old business. Uh, Mr. Rose, we have uh contracts. >> Yes. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board. Dr. Huff

090and community. The administration presents the following contracts for final consideration. Adtech consulting. >> Roads. Do I have a motion to accept uh the contract for final consideration as presented? >> So move. >> Do I have a second? >> I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions regarding or discussion regarding the adtech contract? Hearing or seeing none, all in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Thorne. Board policies under old business. >> Thank you, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff. Uh, this evening, the administration recommends board approval of the following policies. Board policy 3220.01c, teacher appreciation grants. Board policy 3413S, support staff working hours, compensatory time, and overtime. and board policy 6700, Fair Labor Standards Act. >> Thank you very much. Do I have

091a motion to um accept the board policies as presented? >> So moved. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Do I have any discussions or questions from the board regarding the policies uh as uh introduced? >> I do. Um when it looks at the uh teacher appreciation grants uh there's three categories. Recognition of high performance uh high performance plus exemplary high performance exemplary plus designation. There's like three different categories. What kind of uh numerical goals and categories are we assigned to these awards? >> That's a great question, Mr. Weaver. state law actually limits us to 20% of the teachers overall. Uh this year we are in the process of uh finalizing evaluation of well over 200 applications for 96 teachers

092who would be able to be eligible for that. Now this year we're focusing just on the recognition grants. It gets the the mathematics gets to be a little bit more of a challenge when you add in the the the other two levels. uh because you get a fixed dollar amount from the state. So the state has has provided us with a few hundred dollars $100,000 somewhere in there of about $300,000 and then you have to deal with the fact that every time you go with one of those higher level grants you lose ability to recognize more teachers based upon their performance. All of the analysis that we've done this year is based really upon very clear statistical evaluation of teacher performance. For example, many of the teachers who were able to achieve very high growth

093in terms of the number of students who have passed I read, those are the types of people who will be recognized as being eligible for these grants. That' just be one example. But in terms of a fixed percentage at this point in time, we have not developed that. Well, you're telling me that we can actually we track the student performance data. Yes. >> I mean, everything we can do the exact same thing with a teacher. >> What do you mean? >> I'm not quite sure I understand the question. >> Well, we have what I was getting down to was that, you know, uh, numerical goals and data criteria to say that, okay, if you want to be in this pool of 96, you have to have done this. Your level's here. You know, pick a

094number. I don't care what it is. Um, so that was my point >> and Mr. Wever, that's exactly what we looked at in terms of this information. Teachers presented us with data and we had to be able to demonstrate as the committee went through the process of selecting this whether or not in fact that teacher produced the data to support that they had had significant improvements in terms of student test scores. Whether it be I read, whether it be I learn, whether it would be the number of students, for example, taking the AP examination who received fours and fives, which is a pretty high standard to get to in terms of the AP courses. Those are all the different types of factors that we looked at as we went through the process of assessing this.

095>> So, we actually have hard data to substantiate these awards. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. And uh anybody else have questions on that particular one? Okay. And the uh [clears throat] the next one PO6700. >> Yes. >> That deals with u many things but compens. Um why do we do that? Well, uh, because sometimes compensatory time off is less expensive than actually paying time and a half for overtime. So, that was the that's the rationale for allowing for that. Um, is to allow that as another way to deal with overtime expenditures without actually having to lay out additional cash for that. I uh I've never worked for a uh a company. I've worked for many over the course of the years that uh never ever had compensatory time off. Uh you know,

096if you're on salary, you know, making the big bucks and stuff like that. That was just part of the job. Okay. But I realize in this one here probably doesn't apply to those particular people. Is there some uh um federal standard or state standard in there regarding that? There is actually in terms of compensatory time under the Fair Labor Standards Act, traditionally private sector employers don't have the same latitude to offer compensatory time as public sector employees, which would probably be why in your work history you haven't experienced that because it's really more of a public sector concept than a private sector concept. Um why are we going from 16 hours to 30 hours? >> The two policies were not aligned in terms of that. One policy said 16 hours, the other said 30 hours.

097So we just equalized at that particular level. Uh actually the board policy 3413S had had 30 hours for some period of time and it was the fair labor standards act policy that still had 16 hours. I think about equalizing I'd end up at 24. >> I'm done. Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> All right. All in favor of the board policies uh as presented. >> I I >> opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh on to new business. Uh Mr. Thorne. uh new contracts >> administration present recommends for approval or for initial consideration uh proposed agreements with IvyTech Community College and the radio research consortium. Dr. Welsh >> administration requests to wave the second reading for the Mind Trust Inc. DBA Indiana Learns for grades three through eight tutoring. We'll start off with

098uh Mr. Thornne's uh two contracts. They were for initial reading. Um so if there's any questions that come up within before the next board meeting, please uh feel free to reach out after you've had an opportunity to review on the IvyTech Community College contract and the radio research consortium. Uh, as far as the Mind Trust Incorpor Incorporated DBA Indiana Learns contract, uh, do I have a motion uh, to accept into wave second reading? >> So second. >> And I have a second. Thank you, Kelly. I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions or comments regarding the mine trust contract? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Next on the agenda is a cancellation of teaching contract. On December 15, 2025, an Elkart

099High School teacher received written notice of a preliminary decision of of executive principal Phil Schultz recommending cancellation of her teaching contract effective upon the final decision of the board of school trustees. Uh the notice advised the teacher of her right to request a conference uh with the superintendent um within 5 days of receipt of the written notice of the preliminary decision. Uh this teacher timely requested such a conference and a conference was held on January 5th uh at 2 pm at the JC Rice Educational Service Center with Superintendent Dr. Hoff. In accordance with Indiana Code 20-28-7.5-2 subsection F, the teacher was informed of her right to request a conference with the board of trustees within 5 days following the conference uh with Dr. Huff. The teacher did not request a conference with the board within

100the same uh time permitted by law. Therefore, at this time, I move that the board of school trustees cancel the teaching contract effective immediately. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Do I have any questions or discussion from the board regarding this cancellation of teaching contract? >> Hearing none or seeing none. All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes. Next on the agenda, Mrs. [clears throat] Ross, we have the financial update. >> Yes. Thank you. Good evening, board president, board members, Dr. Huff, in the community. I'd like to present your December uh financial update. So, I primarily focus on the education, the operations fund, and rainy days. So just taking a look at our education fund where we landed in December, but I'm providing November

101here as context so you can have some comparison. Um you'll see here that our total uh revenues decreased. That was a uh student count adjustment there. But we also were able to manage to bring down our total expenses and end with a um net positive revenue for the uh month of December. We were able to also make a transfer to operations. as you could see in that column for December um with an ending cash balance of just under 1.4 million for the education fund for the um calendar budget year 2025. Uh just taking a step back and how we got there. Just reminding us um our initial budget that 1782 budget um that we started off the year with uh that we adjusted that budget uh midway along the way. Um primarily um decreasing revenue

102expectations. Um so you can see in that middle column we had a 1782 notice of a 99 million revenue. adjusted the budget based on um ADM student count to about 93 million. And then the final column is the actual where we landed in the education fund in terms of revenue. You saw the expenses on the previous slide. Here's the revenue. So $6 million gap we had to overcome. Um and one place that we uh made that adjustment was right here. uh the transfers to operations where we originally slated 9 million uh transfer, we brought that on down to 3 million. Um something else of note, um you'll see our net um expense there. Um still a little bit of overspend there from some structural issues that we've um talked about. So we in order to

103pay for that, we had to eat into um our cash balance. We started the year off with 3.1 million in the education fund, kind of cash balance there, which brings us to that 1.38 uh million balance in the education fund ending the year. And just kind of um a year-end summary of the education fund. You can see our um on the left side, our wages and benefits are the primary drivers of this fund. Um the data is summarized on the uh box to the right. So um 92% um of this fund was expended on wages and benefits. So that's 86 million out of the $93 million budget. Just some I'm rounding there. The other items uh were some curriculum expenses. Most of the curriculum were not expended from this fund. supplies. You got the supplies

104at the uh building level, professional services, all things that benefit the classroom. You're looking at 6.5% of this fund went towards that, about 6 million. And then we also made about 3% of this fund, transfer that to operations. So, yeah, it went over 100 because we we were a little hot in this fund. Um but the point I would like to make here as we just look at the year- end summary for the education fund this fund as we know we've talked about it uh is out of balance. So the primary driver is that very first item the wages and benefits. We have to address that and tackle that in order to balance this fund. This fund needs to balance itself. Um so with that next board meeting I would like to present um we

105should have our budget order finalized and we can look at our 2026 budget and look at some real kind of working budget what we need to do. Um right now it looks like we need to bring down our wages and benefits. We're at 86 to kind of balance. We need to be down to about 70 million to have a balanced budget. And so just prepping to talk about that a little bit more and flesh that out at the uh next meeting as our budget order and things are being finalized. >> Had a quick question uh along those lines. Uh we're at 92% wages and benefits. Um what was the industry standard uh for wages and benefits percentage- wise? >> Yeah. Well, now that um see education and operations fund used to be together. So this

106might have been more of a standard number, but now since operations and education fund are separate, this number really needs to come down. So um for us to kind of do well next year, we need that number down to about 85% to kind of balance things out give or take after the budget order numbers are finalized. So for us in our situation, it needs to be down more drastically. Some districts might be able to operate there but you know it depends on the overall picture if they have a referendum for example we don't you know >> Thank you. Um so um that's the education fund year in summary and just coming up in the next slide talking about some of the things we have done to um turn the corner and have some better numbers.

107Um that's coming up on some savings initiatives. So um education fund just for the year you'll see that flow there. Our cash flow here we would prefer to be at the uh target range where you see those red dots up there. We prefer to be there just a more prudent range prescribed by the state is about 10% maybe of your fund you might want to have in reserves to pay salaries, wages, etc. Make sure you can make payroll. So, got some work to do there. Ending cash balance. And just a quick look at the operations fund here ending in December. Total receipts. Uh, we got our $10 million tax revenue. We get two payments a year uh end of June and end of December. So, that bolstered that fund up. Um, total expenses. I provided

108the monthly average to the right just to kind of show we're also trending down in operations as well um with an ending cash balance of uh over $10 million. And here's our cash balance uh for the operations fund. You can see the two big spikes again after that June payment and after December and a few other transfers throughout the year. So, this fund kind of es and flows. You got highs and lows here. That's to be expected, but we do want to stay above zero if we can, if we can. It's main not practical a lot of districts, but this is one thing the state looks at uh zero balances. So, rounding out that fund, rainy day, no changes. We're still about 6.7 million in rainy day. And bringing those all together, you see our

109ending cash balance better than projected due to those savings initiatives um ending at um over 18.8 million. And some of those initiatives I'd like to highlight. Um you'll see here this is what's updated, what's new. I've kept I've kept the curriculum savings there. Um this is a joint effort all hands on deck leadership cabinet and you know sharing the savings and the things that uh each department is working on. Um so you have you see curriculum in terms of payroll I've updated that from August 1st to December 31st the same period 2024 versus 2025 our payroll is down 1.6 million. So this is kind of how we're starting to see things turn around by initiatives like that like this and you can see all the things that kind of went into that number on the

110first column under items. Um so for you know good news um savings just from the same period compared 2024 to 2025 um looking at four and a half million savings or cost avoidance. So, hats off to everyone involved in helping getting these numbers down. Other initiatives that um we're looking to continue to see savings from is the time clock software, which is help driving some of the savings. Um our food service management contract, we're in the black, so we're starting to see savings there. And also, we're looking at the district footprint and consolidation. So, I would say more to come on the savings. And just a reminder, please remember to visit our financial finance dashboard where we will have the updated financials from this evening posted here. This is just the landing page and at

111your leisure go ahead and check out and learn how school finance works. Um that includes the finance uh update. Comments, questions, concerns? >> Thank you. Do we have any questions or concerns from the board regarding the financial update? Well, thank you for your work and and transparency. It's it's much appreciated. >> Uh, next we have the insurance update. >> Yes, good news here as well as we round out the year. Our loss ratio is 86.5%. We want to keep that under 100 as much as possible. And um, also good news, we have an expanded Anthem network that we're proud to present and we hope everyone enjoys an expanded network. Um so for December our plan expenses were less than the plan premium. So that's how we get to that favorable ratio there. Overall the plan

112performed better than last year. Last year at this time we were over oh I can't see it from here but we were overund and I 3% and now we're at the about 86% uh in plan performance which is good. The smaller the number the better. So that concludes the insurance update. Uh thank you. Yeah, good good job on on on working the plan and the December numbers coming in. Generally the fourth quarter uh in in a plan like this uh especially self-unded plan is usually pretty hot. Uh people have met deductibles and are are trying to get those last uh last uh medical uh issues taken care of and doctors seen before the end of the year and a lot of times those expenses do exceed the premium. So great job in containing uh those

113costs uh for the month of December and and the year overall. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Thank you. >> That concludes the insurance update. Um next Dr. Huff and Maggie board member appreciation. Oh, >> I like I like this one. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board and the community. Just want to first thank you for board appreciation month. Um, we know that being on the board is a very glamorous position and that you all look forward to the wonderful decisions that you have to make and the ones that you will have to make yet to come. Um, but I also want to in all seriousness, I do want to say we know that this is often a underappreciated position and you are in line to make some really tough decisions and

114you don't always have all the information and you just want to make the best decisions and keep students in in mind, students at the center. That job takes courage, it takes leadership and it takes putting your values out on the table. And I just want to tell you in my two years of working with you, I've been very blessed to have the opportunity to work with all of you in a close capacity and to do this work to make Elcart Community Schools really live up to the Elcart promise. So, I just want to say thank you personally for all the things that you have done for me and for our community, for our children and things that you will continue to do. But now on to the fun part of this evening. Miss Lozano, who

115is always a life of the party, has some things that she would like to share with you about board [laughter] about board appreciation month. So, I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to her at this point. Mrs. Hano, [laughter] >> thank you, Dr. Huff. For anyone who knows me knows that that's further from the truth, but thank you. Well, good evening, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff, and community. Tonight we are very excited for the opportunity to be able to recognize and appreciate a group of individuals that oftent times their work goes unnoticed. It goes behind the scenes and is not often recognized or celebrated because the work is done behind the scenes but the work that is done has an impact districtwide. So we are very excited for the opportunity

116to celebrate during the uh month for our schoolboard appreciation month. So, as Dr. Huff mentioned, I do want to kind of reiterate some of the message that he mentioned, but we just want to say thank you. We want to thank our school board members uh for the time, the energy, the care that you give to all the work that's done um not only for the staff, for the students, for the district, just the community as a whole. The role that you play and the thoughtful decisions that you make. uh certainly uh the long hours that you put in as you work through the work that you have ahead of you and just the willingness to tackle a lot of the complex issues that come to your attention. Certainly, uh we've talked about a few tonight.

117Uh with all that, um you have the best interest of the students at heart. So, with that being said, it is a two-phase celebration. So, I know for someone who doesn't like to party, it's a two-day celebration. after. >> Uh we're going to start off right now. Uh we're going to invite you to watch a video. Uh there is a video that was put together uh in uh collaboration with our communications department uh for you to show uh our appreciation and this is districtwide. So we can go ahead and get that started. Jake, >> January is schoolboard [music] appreciation month >> and we want to say thank you. Thank you to our school board members >> for serving our schools and [music] community. >> You dedicate your time and your energy >> to decisions that

118support students and [music] strengthen our schools. >> Your leadership helps shape the future of our district. >> Because of you, students [music] have opportunities to learn and grow. >> We are grateful for your commitment to education. >> We notice how much you care about [music] our schools. >> Your work help makes our schools better every day. Because of you, our students have opportunities to succeed. >> We feel supported because of the decisions [music] you make. >> Your leadership helps guide our district forward. >> On behalf of our ROC [music] program, >> thank you for your service and leadership. >> Thank you for everything you do. >> Thank you, school board. >> Happy school board appreciation month. And that is just a small portion of just how the district feels and their appreciation for all the

119work that you do. And to commemorate this particular moment, we do have more opportunities for pictures. So I know you had practice earlier on, so we should be pretty good at this now. Um, what we would like to do is also honor you with a token of appreciation. While it might be small, I do want to point out that it's with heartfelt appreciation. Um, what you will notice in the token that you'll be receiving is that every dis every school in the district is represented in this particular token of appreciation. As many of you are going to recognize some names. Um, some of you um will be closer to home than others, so hopefully it means something. Um, but it's just a way of saying thank you and certainly making sure the district as a

120whole participates and showing your their gratitude. So without further ado, what I would like to do is call each individual name. I have Dr. Huff certainly present you with that token. We can take a picture and then we can take a group picture as a whole. So we'll [clears throat] go ahead and get started. The first um token that we would like to provide is to Mr. Avery, Mr. Avery, would you like to come on over? And uh this one specifically for you, Ivory. Thank you. [laughter] >> Izzy accent. [laughter] >> Oh, I'm so >> And Mr. Ivory, we can have you just kind of stand to the side. Thank you so much. All right, Miss Davis, you're next. [applause] >> Mr. Bernett, you're up next. >> I I was thinking the same thing. [laughter]

121I don't know. >> THAT'S WHY YOU'RE >> [applause] [laughter] >> MISS Bolins [laughter] follow [laughter] >> President President Scott, [laughter] [applause] >> Mr. Weaver. >> [laughter] [applause] >> We might do this by seniority, but [laughter] Valentine's Day is coming up. So, we still have this romance thing. [laughter] >> And on that note, Mrs. Von devel. [applause] >> All right. Thank you, board members. So, we can just take a picture right here at the front. >> Yes. A picture of the picture. >> [laughter] [applause] >> Thank you. And on that note, on behalf of the school district, we just want to want to say thank you very much for all the work and the support that you provide to the district as a whole. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> That's really nice. All right. Well, thank

122you everybody. That was very nice. Very appreciative. >> And also, thank you uh for the cookies. I think that was uh Julie. >> Julie, cookie girl. >> Thank you very much for the cookies. >> Um next we have uh Dr. Huff, >> President Scott, members of the board community. Um I will keep my comments pretty brief. We talk about a lot of the unseen work um that that happens in our school districts to make things go. Um this week um some of our people who put in the most time have been our grounds crew and our our custodial crew. Um they have worked non-stop around the clock. They've plowed and plowed and it snowed and it snowed. We sometimes we take those things for granted when um those things get clear. We don't think about

123it. We don't sometimes don't even know their name. I watched this guy literally did he drive on the sidewalk, Dora? >> Yes, >> he drove. He drove on to make sure that we had a clean path to enter into the building knowing that he didn't have a clean path to enter his truck. And so I think we sometimes need to put lots of things in perspective. There are people doing things for us that we don't even know that need to be done, but the moment that it doesn't get done, we complain. And so I just want to say thank you to all of those individuals who will continue to work around the clock because apparently it's not going to stop snowing or being cold in northern Indiana for anytime soon. So um but hats off

124to him. Tony, um please make sure that your team knows that we appreciate it. You and I converse pretty early in the morning. I hope that those conversations stop sometime soon. Um [laughter] Tony, you will pay for that somewhere. [laughter] Um but also uh another addition we talk about the how quickly our teachers uh pivoted to synchronous learning. It it let's be honest we know there's some learning opportunities and some challenges that come with that right whenever you're doing something new districtwide teachers are learning students are learning. Parents are learning how to support their kids in an instructional environment. We synchronous learning one of the few districts around here for multiple reasons. one so we don't have to extend our school calendar but two we know that students learn better in front of kids I

125mean in front of teachers and so with that we are on I think what tomorrow will be day four or five of synchronous learning um so again I just want to say thank you for our teachers to who pivot on a dime I mean to say hey you get a get a a text or a phone not phone call text or email at 6:00 and then you're already planning your lessons for the next day that they're working at night trying to get that done too So, we can't be um u unaware of all the work and extra time that our our staff are put in to make sure our kids are received bright and early at 8:15. Whether it's on a Google Meet or whether it's a delayed in school, our teachers have definitely um

126met the challenge. Our pair of professionals too, they join in those classrooms as well. Um, so this is um something I'm very proud of and I know that we will continue to tweak it to get better. But I just want to tell you thank you for on your flexibility and also um you should see some of the pictures from what the kids are doing in the classroom. I think 100 day was maybe two days ago or yesterday. Um and the kids love it. They love you. So thank you for showing up for our kids. Um, and last or not least, I want to thank a couple of our teachers who stepped into the classroom to make sure that kids had consistent educ um, teaching. We had three teachers, three teachers here, maybe four, uh, BethQ,

127uh, Billy Joe, uh, Courtney Moreno, and Reena Harrison who went back and serve in the classrooms to make sure that kids get the educational opportunities that they deserve. That does not go unnoticed. we often um that's just what teachers do. Um but we also need to make sure that we publicly recognize those individuals. That that's that's amazing. Those kids had disrupted um teaching pretty much for a lot of the first semester and know that none of them complain. We we know it's the best thing for kids. So I just want to tell them thank those things don't go unnoticed. I know that the um instructional leadership team has been working with them as well to make sure that they are um ready to go. I think some are in kindergarten all the way up to

128middle school and um they've been really hitting the ground running and I know the kids are better off for it. So, just want to tell you uh thank you. Um and that's uh all that I have uh President Scott, but um a lot to be appreciative for for our wonderful work that our people do in our community and putting kids first and and I'm glad that we are um a district that does that. >> Thank you, Dr. Huff. Uh comments for the board. Okay. So, I'm going to add to that. Uh, it was one I want to recognize, too, Jeff Lindky. He was another one that stepped in back to the classroom, too. Yes. Yes. Yes. I just want to make sure we hit him there. Um, and then, >> um, he is I went

129back to our board minutes. That is, uh, technology [clears throat] integrated. Uh, and then he went to Fezer to third grade. Appreciate. Thank you very much. >> Yeah, for sure. Um, and then I just want to say yes to all of our custodians and and everybody, but also like the bus department, they have to come in and start [clears throat] the buses and make sure everything is going still every single day. So like there's a crew that's just like taking care of our buses. So that's pretty phenomenal too in this cold weather. Um, and when you talk about like when I flip into Kelly's corner really super quick because then we all want to get out of here. I'm going to add to I want to thank our community partners. There are a group of

130people throughout our school district that literally have laser focused on a walking path for our children. So there's neighborhoods all around the area that these people are going out and they are snowplowing from stop sign to stop sign to make sure that our kids have a clear path to walk on and they're not in the streets. So like we say thank you to all of our staff and there's oftentimes that there's complaint but in this situation our community partners are literally watching where our children are walking and they are cleaning up the area to get them ready for. And then one asked me the other day they were going in the restaurant. They were like are the kids ever going back to school? I'm like tomorrow. I just keep saying that because I want them

131to just keep like shoveling the sidewalks. But um anyway, so yeah, I want to say hats off from Kelly's Corner to our community partners that are making sure that our children are safe. And these are people that don't even have anybody in the district. They're just watching our children. Um and then I want to also remind everybody that Friday we will recognize Brian Buckley at the football game provided that we're in school, but we are going to be or gosh dang it. Bod is going to kill me. Honestly, it's basketball. I I I'm honestly I'm just not a basketball person. I want to be, but I'm trying. So, but I like I like Coach Bender a lot. And so, Friday, we'll be recognizing Buck at halftime, but also on February 4th from 9:00 to 4:00

132in the athletic department. It's an opportunity to celebrate him in an openhouse fashion. So, um being able to say thank you once again to Brian Buckley and all of his years of service will be an awesome opportunity. So, that's it. Yeah. You're welcome. Darn it. I really want to >> else any comments. >> Oh, yeah. I uh [laughter] again want to thank everybody for uh the the the picture, the frame picture and the cookies, the appreciation. Uh very thoughtful and kind. Um, you know, I kind of want to turn the table and and and basically say how appreciative I am of of you, your staff, your cabinet. We spent six hours today. >> Seven. >> Nobody's counting. >> Yeah. No one's counting >> uh with them discussing some very important data and decisions we have

133to make. Um, you know, I'm very appreciative of them. I'm very appreciative of the staff, uh, the teachers that we have in this district. Um, you know, we we look at it and and and you look back and you don't realize the time uh that not only the staff, we we heard about the custodians going above and beyond, we hear about teachers going above and beyond. Uh, I think we started our meeting off today with uh uh 220 hours. >> Yeah. With consolidated related work. we probably about 220 hours per person that we talked about this year >> on the consolidated work. I mean so they you know the work is being put in and um you know that's that uh you know it was an ask and I don't think anybody you know shied

134away from it. So thank you for everybody that's been involved in that. And then I would be remorse if I didn't uh acknowledge uh two other individuals that we um voted on tonight. Uh Michelle Ree, uh our next superintendent. Um saw you in action today. Um very excited uh uh for you to take the leadership role of this district and lead us into the future. Um and uh Dr. Rous. Um, you know, it, uh, very few times, um, do you get an announcement like we've received and you got to look internally and kind of say the next me next next person up. And a lot of times districts don't have that depth of bench. They don't have the ability to do that. I want to thank you for your hires um, not only with, you

135know, Dr. Roush and and Mrs. Ree, but also the the rest of your cabinet. Um, it was it was uh the hires that made this process efficient. It made it quick and and and you know, it it it allowed us to continue down the path of of consolidation. It allowed us to continue down the path of our financial restructuring and changes without missing a step. And that has been recognized at the state level. Um, so I'm very appreciative of you two having both of you in the district and willing to step up and and take these positions. And Dr. Roush, um, you know, we had to change the org chart for you uh, in this this position and add deputy superintendent. So, quite honestly, I'm very excited for the changes that we approved tonight. Um,

136not that uh uh you know I I want to see you on but July 1 um you know that's that's uh when you guys will be stepping in and taking over. So um >> so [laughter] at least it's not Jimmyi Hendris like I had one time. [laughter] >> All right. So that that's a very clever sign. It's kind of what they do at the Oscars. You know you play the music. >> Yeah. Troy, you can you can you can wrap it up. So, no, I just want to tell everybody, you know, let everybody know I'm very appreciative of everybody from the top through the entire district in the effort that everyone puts forth. It always amazes me. It always uh uh gives me a sense of of pride, not only when I see the the

137the students and and the way react the way they react, but just the jobs that are being done on so many levels. So, thank you. Thank you for for that. And with that, >> no, Troy, I know you like to go last as a president, but I would be completely remissed. I'm so sorry. I would be completely remissed if I didn't say thank you for the gift. As I was looking at mine, I mean, the intentionality behind the I know we all feel valued and appreciated, but my daughter's on here uh as a signature, and I really appreciate the intentionality um that you guys have gone out of the way to ensure that she was on there. So, I really appreciate that. So, I wanted to say that publicly. So now we can be dismissed.

138>> All right. Thank you very much. >> Meeting the