ECS Board of School Trustees’ Meeting 11/11/25

001Y apologize everyone. one uh for running a little late uh this evening. At this time, I would like to call the November 11th, 2025 Elcart Community Schools public work session to order. Uh first on the agenda, we have the district swimming update. Hello, Michelle. Hello. I'm Michelle G. Um and I am the aquatics director here for schools and um so just introducing the things that we're doing at the aquatic center, what the makeup of the kids coming to the aquatic center looks like and how many kids um we're servicing through these programs. Um for our during the school day programming, we have our fourth grade water safety program. students in that program come eight days um 45 minutes in the water each uh class in the district comes for that amount of time and that

002serves about 800 students a year. So all of our elementary fourth graders come through that program. Um they come to the aquatic center when there are days like today where there's a 2-hour delay. Um they do not come and we don't make those up um just to get in the the entire amount. Uh but uh we'll go through like some of the the statistics on that later on. We have a high school freshman PE class. During last year, all of our freshman PE that were taking PE2 came to the aquatic center and did a swimming course this year because that um it's been changed a little bit. Uh now they have a choice of taking just a PE credit in swimming. So about half of the kids that are coming to the aquatic center are

003taking a PE credit for just swimming. and that's their only thing that they're doing for the semester. And then our PE2 kids are also coming to the to the aquatic center and that's about half of their semester. So half the semester they're at their regular school and half their semester they're they're at the aquatic center doing learn to swim classes. Um then Mr. Erlocker also teaches a lifeguarding class at the aquatic center. Our lifeguarding class uh usually runs between 10 to 20 students in that class. Um and that is an extremely important um piece of our community effort with the aquatic center and with our aquatic centers in our our local neighborhoods. Um and I'll talk about that later on. Um so they approximately we get about 30 to 40 lifeguard students that uh go

004through the class and our lifeguards by the end of the class. And then we also have student interns that are going through uh the aquatic center. So currently we have four student interns. Um they do their internship at the aquatic center as lifeguards. Um that allows us to run our school programming as well. So that's through Beacon that they're getting their internship. But because that we have high school kids in the water, sorry, in as lifeguards, we are able to bring over more kids and open up more of the pool area to service our Elkcart students, which is a pretty good uh mutual relationship there. Uh our competitive programs include our inter mural swimming program that will get started here at the beginning of December. Um typically we see 50 students throughout that program. We're

005hoping that that number just continues to uh grow. This is going to be the third year of inter mural swimming for our district. And in inter mural swimming, we serve fourth through 8th grade students. So, this is hopefully a way that we take that fourth grade water safety program and those students are able to continue to develop their skills, um get better at swimming, and then if they want to continue and do competitive swimming, this is a way that they kind of can bridge that gap. Um then our middle school swimming starts in February. We have about 40 middle school students. That's grades 6 through 8th uh that then compete against other middle schools for middle school swimming. And then our high school and swimming and diving team is about 60 students. Um and that

006started at the beginning, sorry, at the end of October and it will go to the end of February. And then we have our feeder programs that work um alongside our high school teams. Uh Elcart United Aquatics is a swim club that starts about age five. Um and they have we have kids all the way to age 18 or coming back from college. Um that is our local swim club trying to keep kids get kids into swimming at a young age and keep them in the school system. Uh so what we're looking for from that program is the kids in the program are either staying in the school system because that we have such a good swim team and they're they're having those relationships or they're moving to the school system. Um so we've had three

007kids in the last month tour Elcart schools um considering Elcart schools as a potential um place to go which is what we'd like to see. Uh Elkart United has done very well in the past three years of our students that have gone through Elkart United and then gone on to high school swim. We've had um two nationally ranked in the top 100 in the last three years. Um we also have reset the entire boys high school record board. So those are our high school students but have gone through the club team. Um and then uh our Elkart United swim team was also listed as one of the top 100 age group programs in the United States based on uh how fast our swimmers were going. Um they were they were able to do that once

008in the last 5 years. The other thing um that Elcart United does that's really an awesome partnership is that they run the concession stand for all events at the Elcart Aquatic Center. And that money goes right back to our Elkcart students. So the money made through the through the concession stand is then used for scholarships for our students that need um extra support to be able to swim in the summer for our high school students or during the school year for our elementary students. So that team is around 100 students during the school year. And then last year we started the Elcart International School of Diving. Um that is our local site is based in Elcart, but it is also partnered with five other sites throughout the state of Indiana. Um and their main site

009is down at Uppui Nuditorium where they have the towers and can uh go on to do national competitions. So, so those are our programs that we have going through um the aquatic center. So, this is a breakdown of a normal school day. So, if all of the programs used the facility on a single day, this is what the breakdown would look like um as far as what uh how much lane space that we are using in the program. So, uh, our high school swimming uses about 36% of our our space that we rent. Our inter mural and middle school swimming, uh, rents about 14.4. Lifeguarding is 6%, freshman PE is about 19%. Our fourth grade water safety, even though the numbers are really high, um, we are able to put those in a very small

010area of the pool and that's about 5%. Um, and then diving is the little orange slot that doesn't look like it has a label. That was 5%. Um, and Alcart United is 13% of our usage. And then we have our programs by numbers per year. So, um, earlier in the presentation, I had like about how many athletes or how many students that we had go through. Um, majority of our students that come through are through that fourth grade water safety program. Then we have our freshman PE. Um, and then the rest of them are smaller and smaller pieces of pies. And this would be like an average day, how many students. So again, if we put them all on a day, um, this is about how many students come through the the facility. And it's

011what I love to see is that most of our in school is that that's a big percentage is the kids that we're getting through um that don't know how to swim yet that that are we're trying to make sure that they're they're being safe. Um and then we have our competitive programming there on the left. So I wanted to highlight two things that we are doing at the aquatic center um that really stand out and one of the things is the partnership between Alkart community schools and uh Beacon Health and Safety Center Beacon Health and Aquatic Center. Um so uh the way that the hospital system and the school system have come together to make this facility work is uh one of the first uh well-run facilities of this kind in the nation. And so,

012uh, we typically have a couple of different groups that are looking to build schools, build schools, build pools come through every year, um, to look at the way that we do this and to ask a lot of questions. So, last week we had a group from, uh, up in the suburbs of Chicago and we had a group in the sub from the suburbs of Detroit, both looking to build a pool and trying to figure out how that it all works together. So everything that we have tried to do at the aquatic center um both from the school side and the aquatic center side is just trying to build off of each other from the very beginning as the um kids go through swim lessons then trying to get them on the swim team but also

013when our fourth graders go through water safety program and they still don't know how to swim then they get to go right back into lessons and Beacon has helped find funding to support scholarships for those fourth grade students. So, trying to make sure this is this is a reciprocal relationship at the at the facility. Um, I talked a little bit about the lifeguards and the way that we use the lifeguards during the day. Uh, I get to participate in a um aquatics director meeting about once every two months. um in every single pool in our area from our parks departments um in Southbend and Elcart um and down to Plymouth uh they're all looking for lifeguards and they're all looking for ways that they can get um more students in throughout the day and so

014us supplying those lifeguards is huge. Uh currently at Vacon we supply our Alcart community school kids that have gone through Mr. Erlocker's lifeguarding class are 11 of the 16 guards that they use at Beacon. But if you look at the the bigger picture of what we're doing with the parks departments, most of those lifeguards that are from Elcart have gone through those programs as well. Um and then also I wanted to highlight our fourth grade water safety program. Um, so our fourth grade water safety program focuses on reducing drownings in the Elcart area and in our in our students. So we look at foundational skills that students need to know in order to be able to rescue themselves if they were to fall into the water or if they were to get themselves in a

015situation where they needed um to know more. Um, so we have a special focus on our area, the rivers in our area, the things that the the students might um might encounter uh so that those students can learn to be safe around the water. Some national statistics. So drowning is the second leading cause of unintended children 5 to 14 years old. It's the leading cause of death for children under the age of two. So that's a huge This is this is a population that that we're we're serving. Um we went to fourth grade because our fourth graders are the ones that can stand up in the water. We went any younger than that. The water's three and a half ft deep. The kids can't stand up. And so the amount of instructors instructors that we

016need to teach them is gets much higher as well as the liability issues around that. So we do our program at fourth grade. Um and then drowning is also the leading cause of death with children and adults with autism. There's an average of 11 drownings a death sorry 11 deaths due to drowning a day and 22 fatal drownings per day. almost failed out of drownings per day. Um, it's going to affect our lower income students more than our middle or higher income with 79% of children in households with a low income have few to no swimming skills. And that's generational. So, if parents don't know how to swim, their kids aren't going to know how to swim. Um, uh, when you look at it by demographics, 64% of African-Americans, 45% of his Hispanic and Latino,

017and 40% of Caucasian children have no swimming skills or few swimming skills. Um, and when the parents have uh, no swimming skills, their children are very unlikely to have it as well. Uh 23% of children drownings happen when their family is around the pool area. And um it's fast and it's silent and it's um something that we're trying to reduce. So, um, back in the summer of 2017, um, we had started our our aquatic center program and, um, that summer was the summer we had two Elkcart students drown. Uh, one was a younger boy around 10 years old. He was, uh, with his, uh, trip Yeah. at Idal Beach. Um he and his friend both got into trouble. His friend went under. The lifeguard found him and was rescued. Um and they found out later

018that there was another boy with him. Um later that summer, there was an autistic boy, a middle school child that uh went into the water after dark um and was found also dead. And at that point, that was when the school system started looking into this fourth grade water safety program. So that's kind of our background of of how this got started. And so the the big focus is that we don't want that to happen again. We want to prevent that in the future. So um our current fourth grade water safety program, again, they do eight classes in the water. So, class sizes are just their normal class sizes that come over. Um, currently I am the only one in the water with them. So, we'll have 20 to 30 some students in the water

019uh with me for 45 minutes. When they start, we have about 50% of our students that could even make it five meters. So, 5 meters would mean if they fell in the water, they would be able to correct themselves and get back to the side. um only 50% of our students can do that. Um and at the end of our program last year, there were 87% of our students could make it if they fell in the water, could make it back to the side. Um to swim 25 yards, that's the other statistic that I wanted to kind of highlight. 25 yards would be what you would have to do to be able to be on the competitive swim team. So be on your inter mural swimming team, your high school swimming team. Um when we

020start the fourth grade program only about 25% 23 to 28% but around 25% of our fourth graders can swim a length of the pool. So a length of the pool is kind of a basic kind of guideline of of good swimming skills. Um and that at the end goes up to about 56% of our fourth graders last year were able to swim a whole length of the pool after eight days of instruction. So that's a huge improvement. Um so those are those numbers again. Um so it's a good indicator those five meters is a good indicator on whether they'd be able to save themselves if they fell into water. assuming that 25 um would be ready to join a team and having those higher level swimming skills. Our uh objectives are not just the swimming.

021We also do basic water rescue and all of the fourth graders also get into deep water and they get into deep water to make sure that they have at least had some experience with that deep water um because they're going to be around it at some point in their life. So, making sure they've been in it once in case that they were to fall in and panic. Uh, they would know that they've done it before and hopefully will do something beneficial to get themselves to the side. We have had in four years that I have been doing this program, we have only had two students not get in the water for deep water day. That's huge. So, our students are challenging themselves. They're enjoying the program and they're really coming together as a community and

022a group to support one another in order to kind of get past some of these fears and and learn the skills that they need in order to be safe around the water. Just a picture of our fourth graders kicking on the wall at the aquatic center. We have a lot of skills that were taught. Our skills are right in line with American Red Cross. So, American Red Cross um water safety level two uh is where that we try to connect and make those first these are indications of what we want and then we differentiate. So, if kids already know then they're getting those higher level skills even though they're doing the same activity they're focusing on something else to make them a better swimmer. And then after fourth grade they can start that inter mural

023swimming to move on to middle school swimming and high school swimming. Um, we talked about the partnership already at Beacon. Uh, so at the end of every fourth grade lesson, they're given a p brochure or pamphlet that tells them all the things that they could come back and do at the aquatic center. So some of those are our programs, which would be our intermale swimming team or our middle school swimming team. And then some of those are um beacon lessons or um like the family night that they have on Friday nights where you can go and swim for free. So making sure that they know how to come back and to improve their skills. And then in the future, what we would like to what I would like to see, what we've talked about is

024doing maybe a summer school option, especially for those lifeguarding uh courses, making sure that we have enough lifeguards in our area. Um and then uh Operation Water Safety um is our next step um getting community grants um community partnerships where we do a day of um instruction for both parents and kids. We get as many kids and parents into it as you can using all of our high school athletes as well. Um, but making it a day a fun and safe uh way to learn about water safety and ways to be safe around the water and things they can do to improve their skills. And then a water safety instructor internship. And now that would be somebody that would come in the water with me and they would be able to teach with me. uh

025and then at the end of that semester then they would be able to have a water safety instructor certificate uh for American Red Cross and they would be able to go on and teach those lessons to others. So yes, that is the end of my presentation. There any questions? >> Yeah. Um um we have a percentage of the time of the pool available to us. >> Yes. And are we using 100% of that available time slot? >> We're it's like right within a couple percentile. Okay. And it changes do based on I mean it changes >> based on who else is using the facility. So if there was a big event at the facility then our percentile number goes down >> because that the event takes it up. So it's our percentile also includes um

026how much of the facility is not used. So we always seem to run within a couple of percents okay >> of what our goal is but it does change based on how many other events are at the aquatic center. >> Do you see uh needing a greater percentage in the future? >> I mean I'd always like to see more kids in the water. >> Sure. Absolutely. >> Um >> uh I think the high school program is very healthy. It's one of the largest uh for our our high school swim team is one of the largest in the state. Um we would hope that that continues to grow. Um so yeah, I mean I think eventually if we can get everything moving in the right direction, that would be great, but I think we have to

027tackle um being able to have more kids that can learn how to swim at a younger age. So over the course of the last three years, even with all the lessons that Beacon's doing, our percent of fourth graders that are coming in knowing skills already hasn't changed. It's within one percentile. So yes, but but there needs to be some more on the bottom end. >> Also, you spoke a lot about that drowning and per preventing those. Uh can you speak to the automated drown detection system that that pool has? So, we don't have an the the pool does not have an automated drowning protection system. >> They doesn't have it yet. >> It's we're they don't they're not going to get one really. So, they looked at getting an automated drowning protection system. And what

028that is is it's cameras that detect um people that aren't moving and it's supposed to be on the bottom of the pool. in pools that I've been to that habit, there are more um false alarms that go off and it goes off so many times that it almost becomes something that that you don't look at anymore. >> And so what the what Beacon has decided to do is put in underwater cameras. So those underwater cameras are attached to all of the lifeguard stands and so the lifeguards can look over and see the bottom of the pool clearly underneath everything and make sure there's no one there. So while they're scanning that that screen is also in their sight. So they're not getting the false readings, but they are able to monitor the bottom of the

029pool which is I think the the the important issue there. >> Okay, cool. Good. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Yeah, you did a wonderful job. Oh, sorry. That's all I was going to say is great presentation. Appreciate um all the information that you share with us. The only question I did have was I I love the fact that fourth grade is that captive audience for the skill development. Um you said in your four years there's only been two that was afraid to get into the deep end when deep water day. Was it do you think it's because the skill wasn't there or was there just a lack of confidence? >> Um I mean it's a huge lack. I mean, the skills aren't there and then there's a lack of confidence. So, if you come on

030a day that we're getting in the water for the first time with a group, a lot of schools will have one to four students that I am walking in hand with a like holding their hand to get them to the bench. And those students by the end of the class either are swimming 5 meters or at least are attempting. they feel comfortable enough in the water, which is a huge improvement from where they were. Um, and it's those students that have never been exposed, they've never been in a pool before, let alone a pool like Beacon. >> Um, it's those students then that that have a little bit more fear. So, >> and the deep water day is towards the end of the program. >> It's usually day six of the program. >> Gotcha. >>

031Great job, Michelle. >> Thank you. Um I have another uh question and an observation. The um on Saturday I had uh three naval cadetses with me and were you down there on Saturday at the uh how did we do they because I seen it said elk up there. So that's Elkart United, right? >> How so? We don't actually swim like the club team doesn't swim as a team for points until the end of the season at the state meet. So, you're looking at a very p small percentile of kids that get to do that. Um, all of our kids did really well. We were dropping tons of time. They were having a lot of fun. Um, and we had kids that that was their first meet that they've never done a meet before. Um, and

032then we also have um we currently have a 14year-old that's ranked number one in the nation for multiple events. So, he was swimming faster than most of the high school students this weekend. So yeah, we did pretty well, but it's hard to say cuz we don't it's not like a team score at the end of it. >> Well, the uh the the the young men from the Naval Academy were very complimentary of the facility that we had, they said that was nicer than anything they had at Annapolis. And then two, they said all those kids out there swimming were swimming better than they could swim. So, and these are guys going into the Navy. >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> yeah. Well, and I want to say I happened to be walking through doing something else

033for an event and our fourth graders were coming through and they were so excited. Like I got to see them going into the pool and then they were coming out. They were just like, "What a great break in the day." But then I actually got to hear Coach Erlacer. I want to say maybe they were interns last week or something. >> Coach Erlocker is switching right now. He had his first group of PE2 students and now they're switching to the second group. Yeah. And it was great to hear like he first of all his voice like that booming voice is so awesome but like the amount of pride he had about showing everything that we have in that facility and talking about like the different layers that they were going to learn. It was like

034I walked away and you know my boys have been around him and I was like he is just the right person for that job. It was so great to to see and hear him and see our young kids. So it's wonderful from your program all the way through. It's very exciting. So great job. >> Thank you. >> Yeah for sure. You're welcome. Okay, >> Thank you, Michelle. Great job. >> Next in the public works se uh session, we have professional development update. >> Good evening, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff, and community. I am Kristen Cedarberg, and I'm the director of professional learning. I am here to present our update for the year. But before I do that, since this is my first year in this role, I thought I would take a

035moment to introduce myself. I am actually I grew up in the Elcart Community Schools. I was a Tiger, a warrior, and a Blazer. And then I moved to Indianapolis for college and stayed there for quite a bit of time. I w I spent a little over 20 years in a large urban school district in Indie where I served many different teaching roles, taught professional development to our new teachers for about 12 years and also served as the district elementary technology coach there. I then moved a little bit closer to home to Warsaw where I was an elementary principal. And now I'm glad to be back at home and privileged to be here as the director of professional learning. So, I'm excited to share with you what we've been doing so far this year. So, we

036actually started our professional learning prior to the start of the school year through the state. We were able to um through a grant host the journey to excellence conference, which was a two-day conference that was open to Elcart teachers and other teachers in the area. um about 91 of our teachers attended one of the days and we are able to provide about 52 different sessions that were um hosted by Elcart presenters and outside presenters. They ranged in topics from behavior management to um utilizing different technology tools, leveraging SAT data. So we had the college board present there um and and several other topics. We also were able to prior to the start of the school year provide our new teacher orientation which was a three-day event and we had about 40 new teachers attend our

037orientation. Each day we were able to provide welcome breakfasts that were sponsored by different um local businesses and then we were able to host lots of different sessions. Um everything from HR and the business office presented to legal and safety um student services and ENL services presented. And then we were also able to provide them with some classroom management tips for starting off their school year. And then our new teacher support will actually continue throughout the year. So, we provide them with mentors and they meet with their mentors monthly for a check-in. And then this year, we're also providing new or I'm sorry, in-person learning sessions. So, recently um Lindsay Brander and Jamie Enen provided a session on classroom management. And then we'll also be looking to bring Lindsay and Cindy Bonner back to um

038just review some best support systems for our ENL and exceptional learners and then also um teach our new teachers about our evaluation process here in Elcart. So we are very lucky to be able to provide this to our teachers and we thank you for your investment in our new teachers. Um there's a lot of research out there that really shows the benefit to having a mentor for new teachers. Um I just kind of outlined outlined some of them. 92% of first year teachers tend to return when they've been provided with a mentor. Um they also state that having a mentor is the most impactful experience for developing effectiveness with our novice teachers and that there are benefits that are um seen in both our new teachers and our mentors. So our new teachers are provided

039with a confidant and um they see less pressure. they're able to learn some of the nuances of the district and the school and then our mentors get the opportunity to um get some out of the box thinking, some new ideas um and just have some new fresh perspectives. So, it's a win for everyone involved. This year, we've also continued with our Lexia um letters program. So, letters is a comprehensive professional development program that really teaches teachers uh the ins and outs of aligning with the science of reading and what that instruction looks like in a classroom. So, if you look on the right hand side, that's Scarboro's rope, which really identifies the different strands that need to be taught to students in order for them to be skilled readers. So, letters focused on word recognition

040last year with our teachers and this year we have shifted into language comprehension. We have about 440 teachers and administrators that are participating in the letters program and they have a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. So every month they come together for live virtual training and then they also do self-directed teaching um through their platform. And it's a great program because it aligns with the state's requirement for our literacy endorsement. Um, but it also is helping us build toward our ultimate goal of having all students pass I read in third grade and it also creates a common language and understanding districtwide. So, you know, thank you for that investment in that program as well. We were able to see a lot of growth last year with our I read scores. So, we look forward

041to seeing um the outcomes this year after two years in this program. This year we also adopted Amplify in K through 8. So we've provided some professional learning for Amplify as well. Um and Amplify does also align with the science of reading and integrates all of the different strands of Scarboro's rope. And I'm just going to pick a couple of them to just highlight the connection between amplify and letters um and show how those are connected. So letters tells us that those who know more about the content of reading beforehand are more likely to be able to understand and learn and remember what they're reading. So essentially any new information has to filter through prior knowledge before it can transfer to long-term memory. So Amplify is a knowledgebased curriculum which is different than your most

042of your traditional basil readers um in the way that it approaches reading. It's also very rigorous and it has reading passages that are on grade level or above. And you can see from the um the outlines here that they are very strategic in how they expose students to content from K through 8. So they spiral the knowledge topics um and the topics build on one another. So what's great too is that because we adopted common lit in grades 9 through 12, common lit has some of the same themes that are found in the middle school curriculum for amplify. So we essentially here in Elcart have a K through 12 spiral which is really exciting because Amplify is such a different curriculum and approaches reading differently. We've wanted to provide a lot of support to our

043teachers. So, we actually started the school year with an um overview sessions provided by Amplify and throughout the year we have provided additional training to our coaches and department leads to be able to support the teachers in their buildings. We've provided training to our administrators on going and doing observations and then providing feedback on the program to their teachers. Just recently on November 4th, we were able to provide a session from Amplify on strengthening their planning. And then the remainder of the year, we will be working with Amplify to provide coaching sessions to the schools. So they'll actually come in um do observations and then provide us with some next steps and feedback. And then additionally um additionally at the district level we are and with our teachers we're working to create guidance through curriculum

044maps that really outline the connection between Amplify and the I learn checkpoints and I read just to really strengthen um that connection and provide them with any supplemental materials that are needed. So as you know we've adopted several other curriculum this year. So we have also provided training sessions on all of these um and actually 76% of our teachers have attended a curriculum training so far this year. Additionally, this was our first year for trying for doing synchronous learning and in order to prepare for our first day on the 4th, we created really thorough guidance to provide to really all staff members on what that day will look like. um including very detailed schedules. And then our tech integration specialists visited every school. So they provided professional learning on the tools that they would be

045using during their PLC sessions. They visited classrooms at the secondary level to answer any questions with teachers. And then they actually went into every single elementary classroom and practiced using these tools with both staff and students. So they practiced using Google Meet and the other tools that they would use on that day. Um, we've also created guidance for parents and families that we've shared on the website and parent square and Facebook. And then we um have been collecting some data and feedback just to know what additional resources and support we can provide if we need to have a weather related day in the future. So as we know AI is becoming more and more prevalent in our world. So we are also looking at providing professional development around AI in really two phases. So our

046first phase is with Kmigo and Kmigo is a tool that was created by Khan Academy and we were able to purchase Kmigo through a grant from the state. Um typically Kmigo costs about $62,000. So it was a great um gift to be able to purchase it this year for our staff and students. And KIGO has a teacherfacing site and a studentf facing site. So teachers have tools available to them like generating hooks for a lesson or generating ideas for creating relevance for a lesson. So for example, I asked it to create a math activity um for Taylor Swift fans for fourth grade. So it created um an activity where student or teachers could have students create fractions where they visually model the different Taylor Swift songs that they listen to. Um teachers can also generate

047rubrics and exit tickets using Conigo. And then on the student side, it will provide tutoring prompts for students. Um it can also provide debate practice. They can get writing support. Um they can chat with a literary character. They can get test prep support. So our high schools are our high schools using it for like SAT prep. And um so you can see I included a couple examples of how it prompts a student. So if a student is needs to write a fantasy story, it'll prompt them to think through questions like who is your audience? And then if a student were to ask it to solve a math equation, for example, it instead of giving it the answer, it's going to prompt the student to think step by step through how to solve that problem. So

048it's a very safe entry into the world of AI for our students. It doesn't allow them to cheat. Instead, it uses Socratic questioning to prompt students through thinking through the different components of a problem. Um, it also alerts teachers if anything if students have searched for anything dangerous or inappropriate and it doesn't give them access to those materials. It'll provide teachers with a summary of what students are asking KMIGO. And um, it also will even prompt them to be responsible users of information. So, it'll tell them you probably should read other sources of information to um, make sure that this is correct. And then it will help students build that prompt engineering skill because it helps them to refine their questioning skills. And then KIGO also provides teachers with lesson materials to help develop that

049skill as well. So it's a great entry um point for using AI. And then the next phase that we'll look at is what kind of professional development do we need to provide teachers to really know how to be safe and responsible users of the AI tools available to them. And then what kind of curriculum resources do we need to provide so that students can become literate in AI as well. So this year we've also been able to provide um professional learning from Sarah Henry who's partnered with all of the buildings to really develop strong PLC strategies. We have provided professional learning to our new administrators on our evaluation system. Lindsey Brander and Cindy Bonner have been hard at work providing professional learning for our new ILP and IEP systems. Um, secondary teachers received Canvas support.

050And then we've been working at the elementary level also to train um on how to administer the kindergarten readiness assessment and acadance which are new to us and then how to utilize our UFly curriculum for phonics. So for our next steps in professional learning, we just received the STEM integration grant which is going to allow us to purchase Azobots and micro:bits for our elementary technology teachers and our computer science teachers. So we will be partnering with NextTech to provide them with um professional learning on how to utilize those and how to utilize assigned roles to develop um collaboration and communication schools or sorry skills within projects. And then at the elementary level, the state is rolling out a lot of information um about math. So we are working to create really comprehensive math curriculum u

051maps that align with that work. And then we'll be looking to provide our teachers with learning around that as well. So we've had a lot of really great opportunities to um really grow and develop our teachers this year. >> Any questions? >> Um is there similar uh instruction and offered to pair professionals along these lines here? >> So we have offered some um and some of that will also come later in the year. So for KIGO for example, we are doing a um strategic roll out for how so we started with high school then we're moving to middle school and then elementary. So really at the high school level we are hearing that some paras would benefit from learning that tool because they assist with homework help and other things like that. And so we

052invited them to be able to attend that session. Um and we can do that moving forward as well. And then we will look at in the spring at offering academy days to provide some extra support for our paras and classified staff. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Any other questions? >> No. Uh, one thing I would just mention, some of the grants that she talked about were extremely competitive grants in order to get and so I just want to say congratulations on getting no they're just not handing those out. um the two that we received this year for that were STEM related um definitely once they um the first one I think was what 40,000 and the last one was 50,000 um and we were one of I think for the last time maybe 60

05360 school districts to get it so not everyone got it obviously that's what competitive means but I just want to say thank you for uh applying for those um it really does help so just want to say hats off to you and I just wanted everyone to know that as well >> thank you >> but good job >> thank you any Any other questions? Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Great job. >> And that is all we have uh for the public work session. I will now adjourn our work session and reconvene at 7 o'clock for our regularly scheduled board meeting. Thank you. You don't know. So, don't worry. What you don't know doesn't hurt yet. >> Okay. >> I want to thank everybody for coming out uh tonight for the

054November 11th, 2025 Elcart Community Schools regularly scheduled board meeting. At this time, I'd like to call the board meeting uh to order. And if you'd please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. You may be seated. >> Miss Davis, the OKAR promise. Every student will be known by name, challenged and supported by highly effective staff and in partnership with the community will graduate college career and life ready. Thank you, Mr. Davis. Our invitation to speak protocol. I think everybody if you've been to a meeting before, you are familiar with the process. If not, there is a uh pamphlet that was on your

055uh chair. Uh there's a section here to be filled out and give that to Dora. Uh once I call your name, please step forward to the microphone. Uh you may speak on any agenda or non-aggenda item and you will have uh three minutes. Uh when you uh uh speak, please uh because of the Family Rights and Privacy Act, um please do not bring forward any personnel or personal student issues uh during your uh uh public comment. Dora Thank you, >> Chris Thomas Bartley. >> Sorry, we only had one, so I couldn't You're always first. >> Outspoken. Hi, Chris Thomas Bartley, member of the community teacher at Elcart High School. Um, I have uh currently I have three things I want to talk on tonight. So, we'll see how I get through this. Um, first I'd

056like to talk about something that I referred to at an earlier board meeting, secondary special education staffing. We continue to be uh at a crisis level. um special education. Uh we are down one intense teacher and and again I am only speaking at the secondary level uh right now because that's what I'm familiar with. Right? So we're down one intense teacher, one mild teacher at the 1012 building and one mild teacher at the freshman division. Um pair of professionals at the 1012 building. Uh there are three mild openings, one behavioral support opening and one intense opening pair professionals. At the freshman division, there's one mild opening, one behavioral support opening and one intense opening. The young adult program has two pair professional openings. I want to be very clear, students are getting their minutes and

057they are getting their supports. your teachers and your paras that are here are working very hard to make sure that they are getting the supports uh and services that their IEPs uh allow and that they need. But your teachers are tired and we're struggling. We are stepping into places uh that makes it hard for us to continue where we're at. Um, I'd like you to try to think outside the box. Um, I think I brought this up before, the signing bonuses, like you did for math and science. Uh, just looking at the, uh, openings right now, there are 11 math and science district-wide openings, there are 11 specialed K through 12 openings, parody. Um, perhaps an additional differential uh, while we're in this crisis level for pair professionals. We know they are underpaid. Okay. Uh,

058quickly teacher contract. Thank you to ETA and the members of the negotiating team for working through a very very difficult financial year. However, um, I want to say as a community member, as a teacher, we are looking to you to make additional sacrifices. Um, this is really painful for me to say there are too many admins. There are too many supervisors. Um, some of them are my friends. They're my mentors. I count on them. Uh, but there's too many of them. Um, and there's a couple of new policies this evening. Um, and I'm running out of time. So, just real quick, the one I want to address real quick, this student staff relationships. Um, I know it's a first reading. There's no carve out in that for family friends. Like if I get a call,

059hey, go pick up my kid who happens to be a high school student, but it's a family friend. I need to know that I'm okay picking them up. Um, and also hugs. It says no hugs. How about what's important in that situation is consent. Um, those were just some of my thoughts on that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, that was the only uh public comment. So, we'll move on in the agenda to alumni excellence. Dr. Huff Good evening, President Scott, members of the board community. Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing David M. Fin Finley, who currently serves as a chairman and chief executive officer of Lakeland Financial Corporation in Lake City Bank, headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of both the bank and the

060holding company. Lakeland Financial Corporation is a $6.9 billion publicly traded NASDAQ um Global Select, all the the big the big the big places where you can invest. Holding company headquartered in in in Warsaw. Uh Lake City Bank is his largest single subsidiary. Um it is the sixth largest bank headquartered here in the state. Uh, Lake City Bank operates 55 offices in northern and central Indiana delivering technologydriven and client centric financial services solutions to individuals and businesses. From September 2010 to April 2014, Mr. Finley served as a president and CFO of that company. He joined as a chief executive president and CFO in September of 2000. And from 1995 to 2000, Mr. Finley serves in various capacities with Quality Dining Incorporated, a publicly traded company located in South Bend, concluding as a senior vice president and

061CFO. Very accomplished career. Mr. Finley began his career with the Northern Trust uh Northern Trust Company in Chicago, Illinois, serving in several capacities from September 1984 until March of 1995 in the And now I just would like to take a short vid look at a short video of Mr. Finley and the incredible impact he has had both on Elcart Community Schools and the Elcart community. >> I'm David Finley, a class of 1980 at Elcart Memorial High School and I'm a product of a K through2 education starting with kindergarten at Mary Dailyaly Elementary School in Elcart. Um I'm chairman and CEO of Lake City Bank and I'm sitting here in Elcart High School's branch of Lake City Bank and it's kind of reflective of of how I feel about Elcart and I feel about the Elkart

062community schools. This uh this has been the neatest thing for us to have a branch here in the high school that um that can help us understand what next bankers, you know, and ended up at Weston, which is now a playground. Uh I think it's the second oldest school in the system and uh finished my uh my third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade experience there. Went to Westside Junior High and then on to Elcart Memorial. And I I think that what my experience has proven and and really when you look at that of my my siblings Cam and an and uh and all my other friends from Elcart Memorial High School is that this was a a wonderful place to have grown up gone through K through 12. Um it prepared us exceptionally well for

063what we encountered in college and beyond. So um there there's always been a a soft spot in my heart for the Alkai Community Schools. I I can prove that I was an active swimmer and tennis player at Elcart Memorial, but I I don't have any accolades to lay behind me on that. I guess I would say the thing that I'm most proud of is my engagement um with the monolith, the yearbook for Alchemer High School at the time, which I um was the editor of in my senior in 1980 and was very involved with Genesis, the uh student publication news magazine and model for all three years I was here. Mrs. Dean, Janice Dean, was the head of the publications. Genesis and Monolith at Alam Memorial High School, which I was very involved with and

064and uh she was probably the person that took the most time to help develop me personally and and uh and helped me understand where my path might take me, which strangely enough, even though I don't do uh anything in publications today, I still write the Lake City Bank and report letters and uh I can give Mrs. uh Dean credit for that co-rain, Mrs. Strain, who was in charge of all of the theater production work. And and Mrs. train had a a strong impact on all of us that were active in the theater here at Elkcom Memorial High School. Um, and and I was never very good at anything related to theater, particularly tap dancing, but she was always patient and and and allowed me to be engaged in the theater and not at the highest

065level, but enough that it was it was fun to be a part of. Well, personally, Alcart will always be the place that I came from. And and when um I joined Lake City Bank in 2000, I have to admit that um I I got tired of going around Elkcart where we've had a president since 1990 and having people look at me and say, "Oh, you're Don Finley's son." And and I I felt like I was not in creating my own identity, but following his. And it didn't take me long to realize that being Don Finley's son was a good thing for Lake City Bank and a good thing for me. And uh and the Elkair Community Schools really provided me with the launching pad uh to achieve what I have in my career. and personally

066and professionally. I've got two great daughters. Both are products of the Warsaw Community High School uh system here in Indiana. Um Audrey's 33 and and lives in New York City, went to college there and has stayed there. Uh lives in Brooklyn. My uh younger daughter Blair turns 30 this fall and uh lives outside of Chicago and Evston. So, they haven't quite seen the light of of the the value of coming back to Northern Indiana, but we keep talking about it. I love my job at Lake City Bank. And so I love what I do and and for good or for bad, it it absorbs most of my time. But um when when I'm not when I'm not working um in the summertime, I enjoy golf and in the winter time I enjoy um traveling. I

067was just talking to one of our retail bankers here in the branch about the the preparation that working at Lake City Bank in Alcart High School has given him for uh his desire to pursue an accounting degree. And and I think that that's a great example of um what you need to do when when you're at at the high school level. You you don't have to know what you want to do when when you get up, but you have to prepare yourself for that next step. And uh and I I think that the the uh the best thing you can do is is be open-minded to any career path. Um when I left this building as a graduate in 1980, uh my plan was to become a dentist just like my dad. And now here

068we are 45 years later and um a D+ in biology. my first semester freshman year at the park precluded me from ending up in uh in dental school and I ended up in banking. So I I think the advice is if if you focus and you know what you want to do that's great but if you don't don't worry uh there's there's always the opportunity to to develop your path later. Uh the engagement that we have at Lake City Bank um with Elcart Community Schools is uh really something I'm quite proud of because having been from Elcart, attended Elkart Community Schools and now we get to be a bank for the system and have a a branch here in the Elcart High School is really neat and something I'm really proud of. And at this

069time I would love for Mr. Finley just to come up and share a few words with us about his experience in Elkhart, but also to accept just a very small token of our appreciation for all the things that you do for our school community. Now, Mr. Finley, thank you. Let me get out of here. Um, thank you very much and and I particularly to the people in the audience who laughed at my pictures and uh and and the gentleman beside us sitting my mom my my mom Judy Finley's in the back. She's a 1953 graduate of Elkcart High School. So, she's the she's the best Finley graduate from an Elcart school system in the room. Um uh but it was as as the first picture of me came up, the gentleman back there started laughing

070and he said, "I didn't know I was sitting beside a celebrity." And and what he what he should have said with a lot less hair than he had in 1980 when I was in those pictures. Um I really said in uh in the video how important it is for me to be connected to the Elcart Community Schools and for Lake City Bank, which I have the the luxury and the pleasure to be able to lead to to be very involved with the Elkart Community Schools. It it means a lot to me personally. Um it means a lot to our Elcart team uh to be uh so involved with this system. Um we've got a lot of Elcart Community School System graduates in in Lake City Bank. We employ over 700 people and more than 60

071of them came from the Elkart Community School System. Um which is pretty neat. Um uh the video talked and Dr. Huff talked about the bank being headquartered Warsaw. I kind of like to pretend like it's headquartered in Elkcart and Warsaw. want to make that. >> Well, you got a branch already. Um but but but um it it's an absolute honor um for me to be here uh to be recognized by this school board and by this system and particularly for my mom um who's been as she said we went to dinner tonight. She said uh something about um her her career was not quite as glory gloryfilled as mine but uh but she did okay by us. So thank you Dr. Huff. Thank you uh the school board and this board of trustees and and

072thank you mom and thank you all. >> You should have your mom come up and get a picture with you, too. >> You should have your mom come up and get a picture with you, too. Yeah. Yeah. >> Thank you again. >> Yes. THANK YOU. SAY IT LOUDER. You said I'm a big high school. She did. Thank you, Dr. Huff. Those are always uh uh enjoyable enjoyable uh uh awards. So, uh next we have the Elcart Area Career Center report. Uh Mr. Selman, welcome. get my old man readers ready here. Uh, I'm uh a proud Elcart alumnist much like the Finley's in the back. Um, I uh attended Riverview Elementary. So, go Tigers. Pier Moran, who's here being represented this evening tonight as well. Uh, go Warriors. and then uh Elcart Central grad uh in

07319 93. Um I I joke at times with people when they talk about the the uh school system. I have spent 40 of my 50 years in the Elcart Community Schools. Uh most of which as the educator, but uh there were some good years as a student as well. Uh first thing I want to do is recognize the folks that came out from uh the career center today. We have members from all aspects of our seven buildings uh office staff, teachers. Um we have uh folks that came over from the child care area. I just want to make sure that we recognize that those folks came out. So thank you. I appreciate that. Please stand up so we can see. Yeah, please stand up. >> Yeah, please stand up here. >> They're putting the pressure

074on me tonight, so I have to do my best. Um, I talked to Mr. Anderson earlier. He told me that 60 minutes was just right for the length of time for this. I thought that's what he said. Um, I I've been working on this for a while. I had it down down down pat. So hopefully we'll keep it right to around five or six minutes so we're not taking up too much time tonight. Um, as I mentioned, uh, I'm a proud alumni. Um, I've had the privilege of being a part of the Elcart Area Career Center for 11 years. Five as a teacher when I started the robotics program here many moons ago, and this is my sixth as an administrator. And I've seen the difference that the career center makes in students lives. This

075year marks 54 years of the EAC's history. More than five decades of innovation, community partnership, and hands-on learning that prepares students for success. I'll share this briefly. This is our agenda. We're going to go through our schoolwide goals, our outcomes, the impact we have in the community, and what we like to call the EAC difference. Guided by our comprehensive local needs assessment which happens every two years and we're in the midst of starting this year. We are we strengthened our at risk team which originally included counselors and administrators adding uh several aspects of ESL special education and general education intervention instructors to better support each and every learner. That foundation has led to strong results across all areas this year. You will notice on this slide there are two things. Concentrator status and student retention.

076These were our two goals for the past year. Concentrator status was 82% from the year before and we exceeded that with 93% of EAC learners meeting that benchmark in 2425. 2324's rate was 78%. So this is a major improvement when it comes to that statistic. The addition of targeted supports through our atrisisk team played key roles in helping more students complete pathways and qualify for graduation. Our student retention improved as well. Our goal was 78% and we reached 83 up from 75% the previous year. This growth comes from expanded workbased learning opportunities, aligning our industry certifications and post-secary credentials with a new diploma requirements with a look at increasing seal attainment and credentials of value going forward and maintaining a clear focus on the return on investment for our students that attend the career center.

077more students are seeing a value and staying engaged and finishing their programs. To go along with this, we have many student outcomes. Uh students continue to earn valuable credentials. 21 of 30 pathways now offer state certifications. 507 state certifications were earned and over 1,200 total certifications were earned in this past year with four more programs coming on board. Students also earned 9,170 college credits saving families more than $2.1 million and completed 211 postsecary certificates. I want to add to this that we're only counting the technical certificates and uh certificates of value because um we cannot claim the associates. Those get claimed by the high schools because we need those high schools and they need us for those credits as well. Um, our Skills USA students shined. 14 national competitors with four top 10 finishers and

078and that included a third place in CCMA uh from a uh first year Breamman student who is back this year and hopefully going to compete for us. Uh, plus 14 gold, 19 silver, and 17 bronze medals at the state level. We're heavily involved in career building and community engagement. Uh these continue to grow. We had 84 volunteers join us for our employability skills panel. 27 volunteers conducted 1700 mock interviews in one day. And to go with that, we had 65 businesses participate in our career fair. Um, we've been as high as 90 before. Uh, space has been a a challenge for us, but we're working on that and I think we're going to get back up there. We're also reaching younger students. We have a um regional grant that we've uh got that we will

079be working with Beable's World of Work curriculum and this is for fifth and sixth graders in the county. We also have transfer VR headsets that are giving seventh and eighth graders immersive career exploration throughout the county as well. We were involved in three summer camps and over $120,000 in community donations helped make all of this possible. Now, the the fun stuff. Uh, as I say, um, we're super proud of of all the things that have been accomplished at the career center. Um, but we want to make sure that we make, uh, note of these as they are uh, really special. We're proud to have several milestones. Beth Davis, who probably doesn't want me to tell you this, but she's in the second row if you're looking for her, is our school system's secondary teacher of

080the year and continues to lead excellence in criminal justice. Our new pre-law program led by R.J. Butler partners with teen court and other local businesses for realworld internships. The surgical services program, the only combined program in the region, is funded entirely through Perkins dollars with partnerships from Gan Health, Beacon, and our community foundation. And most importantly, in this time of financial stress, uh did not cost the district any money whatsoever to get started. Finally, uh this is and this is a reference to a u to an I don't know if you guys remember this, but several years ago there was a presidential candidate that talked about his 888 or 999. Uh some people may remember that, but it was a tax program that he talked about, but we have a 8 ourselves. Um we had

081eight students enroll in the early childhood apprenticeship pilot program that the state put out last year. Of those eight students that enrolled, all eight students completed that apprenticeship. And this year, we have eight more students enrolled. In just one year, we've strengthened supports, expanded opportunities, and deepened community partnerships, all while honoring 54 years of EAC excellence. These results reflect the dedication of our staff, students, and partners, and the belief that when education and industry work together, our community thrives. Thank you for your continued support and for helping us shape the next generation of skilled and confident graduates. >> Thank you, Scott. You did a wonderful job, Mr. Any questions? >> You did a wonderful job. Thank you. >> I think the career center is the gold standard for um CTE program and life-changing programs in

082not just Indiana but in the Midwest and I love um being able to brag on all the things that you do um in a great staff. Miss Davis, I see you hiding around the corner, but wonderful. Even this past Sunday, you also I'm sure we'll talk about that later. Well, I was going to start off with the apology. A lot of people don't realize this. Um we moved our uh openhouse uh to the first semester which is it was new for us. It worked out well because uh schools are uh scheduling their students and it really kind of makes sense for it to happen in the first semester. Uh the one thing we didn't plan for is um every single year for those redwoods like me who have been around uh they know that with

083the open house comes weather and it happens inevitably every year. Um this year we brought the weather and I apologize for the two >> I've been I've been three times and three times has been a snowstorm. >> Yep. So uh so we just moved it to November. Thank you, sir. We'll be prepared for that going forward as we do that. >> But very well attended and and the kids had a great time. I I I owe them allow them to cut my hair, but I'm going to hold that off until my very last day working in Elkar. I respect that. My daughter's in the first year program, so you may want to hold off for two years. So, thank great job. Thank you. Next on the agenda, we have the Pier Moran report from uh

084Mr. Hemerline, >> President Scott, members of the board, and Dr. Huff, members of the community, uh good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak this evening and highlight some of the great things that are happening at Pieran. Uh and give a general update. Um you know, the first slide that that we have here, it's a great day to be a warrior. And that's not a filler statement. Um I spent 13 years at Purean uh as a teacher. I started there in 2002. Um spent some time with with Mr. Anderson at Elcart Memorial as an English teacher. Um stepped out of the district uh for administrative opportunity and I promise my my bio is is short here. Um so I started my my administrative career and and when the position at Purean opened up for uh

085the principal um principal's position. Uh that is the only job I was looking for. Uh, Pure Man is a special place to me and uh, I'm very appreciative of being afforded the opportunity to come back and be the the principal and lead the school community. Um, so when I say again, it's a great day to be a warrior, I I I truly feel that there's some tremendous people uh, throughout my career that I've spent some time with, people I I consider mentors, people I'm working with now who are truly tremendous individuals. Um and some of the things to highlight with the it's a great day to be a warrior is there's no better um example of that than our sixth grade transition and the teachers that that came over. Um there were nine teachers. A

086a few of them are here with us this evening in true middle school style. We've tucked ourselves back in the corner. Um, so I will uh pause and um you know I'd like to to recognize them and draw attention to to the whole staff that's here but but our sixth grade teachers who are in the back who who really in this transition we had nine sixth grade teachers who were placed at Pieran through the staffing process. Um if we go back to um late winter, February, March, early spring um there were nine sixth grade teachers. uh they were placed at Pieran and on the first day of school we had the nine uh same nine sixth grade teachers. Um that that is a testament to them the commitment they made um and to have them

087on board and the work they are doing to to help me as the principal to help um you know my assistant principles, our student services to provide us the guidance that we need. boy, we have 236th graders brand new to the building and we absolutely need their guidance on procedures and what do things look like and you know we're sometimes used to the 14y olds and now we have 11 year olds and and you know when they come with tears in their eyes of I don't know where the cafeteria is. It's like well this is a new one for us. Uh so uh but we handle it. So the sixth grade teachers are are are absolutely tremendous. They're doing a phenomenal job for us. Um and and I wanted to make that statement of uh

088you know they they make it a great day to be a warrior. Our kids are very lucky. Uh our student services team um for the the things that they have done with the master schedule and the complexities with adding an entire another grade level and some different electives and and courses and and things that were brought in. um custodial staff. Uh you know, my last day as a principal was at the end of June and and I spent some time in July coming in and that's when the real construction work be began with some of the the demo work and and I would walk in and you wouldn't recognize some of uh the custodial staff covered in and dust and ceiling tile debris and taking the goggles off and hey Mr. Emerline, how you doing?

089It's like holy, you guys are doing the heavy lifting here for us. So, um, beyond appreciative, uh, of all the the folks who again make it a great day to be a warrior. Um, we we we have numerous things and I'm not going to turn this into a uh, you know, an Ebie award speech. Uh, not that I'll ever make one of those and and thank everybody. However, um, I think the the true people that we need to thank in this whole thing and and it shows a lot of support for the Purean community is the parents. Um, you know, believing in us uh, sending their their students to Pieran. um and the school community and and believing in the transition and and what was going to happen and and what we're able to do.

090Um so again, I I truly believe it. It's not a filler slide with pictures. It's a great day to be a warrior. Pieran's a special place. We have a lot of special people. Um and again, the sixth grade transition is is the highlight of that and the people that make up the Pure Moran community um truly make it special. Um so if we move into some of the the academic components of this um and really what our jobs are with with our students um we have um we have three goals that that we're working on. Goal one and two um revolves around the I learn with ELA proficiency and math proficiency. Um last year we we didn't make much growth with with ELA. Um we we did grow which I I will show the slide

091here in a second. Um our second goal uh this is a proud moment that we we wanted to go up by 5% and again that's our goal this year. We actually went up by 6% on math I learn proficiency levels. So um a huge shout out to um our math teachers um counselors for working with the students uh parents uh all the work that everybody put in to um get those proficiency and mastery rates up. And then our third goal uh being attendance. Um we've heard it said by here this evening. We've heard it said by um I will repeat again what numerous principles say. We we cannot provide education to students if they're not there. Um so we are working very very hard um to support our families to support students to make sure

092that they are uh attending school. Um social workers do a great job of reaching out as do our counselors, our assistant principles. Um, we have an attendance team that they meet weekly. Um, and credit to them that it was going to be a bi-weekly meeting and they decided it was probably better that they not at my direction. Um, they decided they want to meet weekly to keep keep track of students and where they're at and and how do we how do we make sure that that that they're attending school. Um, if we look at the the graph, if we go back to 2019, and I promise I'm not going to review data all the way back from 2019. is just a a speaking point and a testament to the work that that is being done.

093If we look at the uh I learn ELA performance uh we see nearly a steady decline. Um the dashed uh line in the middle that is the overall school performance and for the first time since 2019 Pieran has showed growth on the ELA uh island. Um and again another huge testament to the um the the staff and and everybody working hard at this. Um there's a little bit of a decline. Um there's reasons for this with with our seventh grade staff. Um we had a teacher who was on leave and and uh you know we had some tremendous substitutes, retired teachers that stepped up and they helped us with those things. Um and we are continuing to work on this. Our big focus is on tier one instruction. Um and big thank you to the

094the district for recognizing this and Dr. Huff and Dr. Roush and Mr. Anderson. um with the textbook adoptions that we've made this year and the training that we're providing the staff um tier one instruction and and where we are in the classroom that that is going to make the difference with our students and and we we've made that investment in them and and very appreciative of that. This is the breakdown of of our different subgroups of students. Uh, if we look at the U blue, um, and I'm going to call the the other gold yellow. I I have a type of of color blindness that, um, I always credit my wife for picking out my ties and making sure I match and look appropriate in public. Um, so the the goldish yellow that's on the

095right, that is the 25 island results. And if we look across in the eight subgroups, most of them um, many of them have showed a gain. So, uh, year-over-year from, um, spring of 24 to spring of 25, we are showing improvements based on our different subgroups. Uh, and this is just the English portion of it. Um, so, uh, again, this this breaks it down. This breaks it down by grade, and we're looking at, uh, blue being last year, uh, the yellowish gold, whatever color you you place on that, what what it actually is. Um, we can see that we're making gains. Uh, we're improving. um why in the ELA portion of this we didn't hit overall 5% numerous subgroups have showed considerable gains and recognizing our staff um for again being the first time uh

096in a number of years that that Purean has shown any type of growth they've they've done a tremendous job figuring some of those things out um curriculum wise and classroom wise um the same thing this is the same type of graph with math performance And we can see we we've seen some considerable growth, but it's the same thing. There was a decline from 2019. Um, spring of 2024, things kind of clumped together and it really went up. Um, seventh grade math uh has been doing a tremendous job. Um, that is really the the well, this is all a bright spot, but seventh grade math, the growth that we're seeing in our seventh grade student is um pretty substantial. Um, same breakdown. um considerably more growth, excuse me, with math. The yellowish goal that that is

097on the right. Um we can see just visually how much improvement that has been made from 24 to 25. And again the breakdowns visually we can see how much growth uh that has been made um with all of the subgroups and sorry preemptively hit that. Um so uh both of them that there are some highlights that that you know we're getting to that uh if we look at the ELA cohort data if we look at where those students were in seventh grade and how they performed in eighth grade um that cohort group saw a 5% growth um so it's showing that when when they're at Pure Moran our our teachers are doing a good job with them and and we are um we are able to get those students to uh improve and and try

098to get them to the level they need to be at to to be successful. and move on to high school. Um, and as I said, it's it's a growth for the first time. Wasn't necessarily substantial growth, but it is a reason to celebrate that in a number of years, Pure Man has seen no growth. Um, math uh again, we we went above the proficiency rate and our goal um our proficiency rate goal, which is uh 5%, we were at 6%, seventh grade uh proficiency rate was 9%, eighth grade was 5%. Um, and seven of those eight subgroups showed growth. Um so on both of them that that's something to celebrate and and for us to highlight. Um the academic data on I learn is trending upwards for us. Um and and we're in a we're

099in a good place again with textbook adoptions and curriculum um and some of the professional development that that staff is going through. Um there's no question we we will continue to to grow and go up. Um our last goal was was student attendance. Um, our goal is 95% which is the the dashed uh yellowish gold line. Um, somebody can set me straight at some point and tell me exactly what color that is, but um, I always go for varsity gold, but it it whatever you make of it. Uh, most of our our subgroups are above 95%. And again, um, our attendance team is doing a great job of of monitoring that um, and making sure our students are coming to school. And another visual representation last year. Uh this data was ran um at the

100end of uh end of October. Um so this is has changed a little bit. Um but the blue at this time last year we were at 93% just shy of 94% uh 93.74 and then on the right we currently stand at 95.9%. So that is a significant growth um of nearly um nearly 3%. So, we were at 96 for for quite a while and and we're we're we're trying to get ourselves back to that rate. So, uh attendance- wise year-over-year, um we've made considerable improvement as well. Um and again, hats off to to our families and parents for ensuring that their students are are attending school. Um we we need them there and we want them there. Uh other academic opportunities beyond the ILER because students don't just come to to school really excited about

101the ILR all the time. and they come excited about some of these things. Um, so some of the academic opportunities we've had so far this school year, uh, college go week. Um, pictured down in the left, Mr. Adams coordinated some some a lot of different things, but our students love the the college trivia at lunch and there were some prizes for that and and uh, you know, it's amazing when you put out a college mascot that we all know that um, our students are boy, they're hitting out of left field. They have no idea who the hoosers are or you're saying what is the Purdue mascot and they're they're coming up with some random animals and really I don't know you guys coming up with some of these things. Um we've had manufacturing day um

102that that was a great opportunity for our eighth grade students to to see some of the things that are out there in in our community. Not just out there but but our community specifically. um Indiana Career Explorer students are exploring different careers based on interest and and uh you know their skill set and uh one of the things that that I put on here it's not a large program and she's here this evening is Kendra Wllo um who I see are probably looking down right now and and not wanting to be recognized for this but u I wanted to bring this up that that sometimes this wasn't a small opportunity but it but it's something that that I think is is a tremendous academic opportunity for both students at Roosevelt and the Purean and students

103um based on the lessons she taught her students um created children's books and then she coordinated a trip over to Roosevelt uh with the teachers so those students can go over and they they can read to the first graders. Um so the the the mentoring piece and the connections they're making with the first graders and you know why we see them as the little sixth graders at at Pure Moran boy those first graders see them as the old kids and to have them come over and read to them that that is really something special. So, um, you know, everybody did a tremendous job providing our students with these various academic opportunities. Again, more so than just coming in and and sitting in a desk. The Warrior Way, uh, brings in some of the behavioral components

104of this and and, um, not in a disciplinary way um, but celebrating and recognizing our students. Um, the golden feather award uh, that is very similar to a positive referral. Um the month of October was uh bullying awareness. Uh and so the theme that we put on a golden feather, which if we if any staff member saw a student um being empathetic or standing up for somebody else or or exhibiting the kindness, it goes above and beyond just picking a pencil up off the floor, they're awarded a golden feather. Um it's nothing big. Um, but the parent engagement on our our Facebook page and social media, when you see your son or daughter that did something great in school that you might not otherwise know about, um, that goes a long way. Um, take a

105picture of them and they they get a small little token of our appreciation and prize they get to pick out and and um, it also allows our our teachers and staff to recognize those students in a way that's not just gradebased. Um, quarterly incentives. Uh, students have to earn a quarterly incentive. The quarterly incentive that's being planned now. Um it's based on on growth on the uh I learn checkpoints. Um we have uh we learn checkpoint one um we've taken both opportunities. So there's a first opportunity then we have an opportunity for some interventions and reteing um 70% 77% of the students at pure brand showed some type of growth. Might not been growth on English and math. It might have been on a uh some sort of uh just a particular standard, but 77%

106of our students showed some sort of academic growth from those opportunities. Um sixth grade uh this is something special as well. 97% of our sixth graders showed some sort of growth between opportunities. Um that that is a tremendous accompl accomplishment by those teachers and students. Uh so the quarterly incentives, the students earn that. Um we make it very accessible to all our students and and it's something fun. uh something fun to they they can spend time in the in the gym. Um they did uh we you know thank you to Chartwells for helping us with we did a little cookie decorating. Um to them it was just smearing frosting on a on a sugar cookie but um boy faces lit up with with with smiles. Um and then the growth awards the growth awards we

107just had those um here recently and there are four awards that that students were or could receive. uh you can receive an award for academics, attendance, excellence, um I don't want to say or growth because a student can earn all of those. At the growth awards, we had 227 students earn awards and 229 or excuse me, 292 I wrote that down incorrectly, 292 awards were handed out. Um students were recognized for um earning all A's and B's for um level of attendance, for excellence. Excellence really is uh what we would think of a student of the month or student of the quarter. Uh students who who've really shown those things. And the growth award, we wanted to recognize the students who might not ever achieve a grade above a C, but they work hard for

108that C. Uh the students who we all love having in class and are just great people. Um but they've showed tremendous growth and and showing the values of Pure Moran. Um respect. Uh maybe they don't have any missing assignments, but they started the year with with quite a few of them. So, we wanted to recognize all of those students and for the great things they're doing. Um, and we had a great turnout for that. That that was a that was a good time. Um, to get parents involved in a positive way and to recognize their students. Um, so those are the those are some of the the incentive things and we label it the warrior way. That's not just a a cute little alliterative term. Um, trying to think what what do we call the

109entire system. So at Purean we we we feel and and uh you know this shows that that things are trending upward. We're giving our students opportunities. We're recognizing our students. Uh academics are are are trending upwards. So um I appreciate the opportunity to to highlight those things. Um thank you. >> Have one more slide. >> Oh yeah, sorry. I I do have one more slide. Um, thank you. Um, this is the addition that uh it shows my tech abilities. It took me a while to put the stars in and in the back. So, I guess I I put it out in my mind. I was a little traumatized as I try to figure that one that one out. Guess I'm showing my age that uh I use legal pads and pencils to write all my

110things out. Um, our student achievements. Uh, holy cow, I almost forgot this one. Um, the cheer team, they placed first. They had two uh cheer competitions and at both competitions they placed first. That's a combined middle school cheer team. Um, North Side, Westside, and Pure Moran. Uh, it's an awesome accomplishment to go to two and and come out first in both. Uh, sixth grade volleyball and football, they both had undefeated seasons. Uh, boys soccer, they finished second in the Big 11 conference. Um, athletic participation, and this is a big one as well, athletic participation uh at Pyram increased by 48%. Um, so students are they're showing up and and they're getting involved. That's something we we need more of our students to do. get involved. Um, three students were selected to the Indiana Band Masters

111Association All Region Honor Band. Um, and then we had eight students were selected to I do not have any musical background knowledge. It was explained to me the different types of concerts and what they do and I kind of had to smile and nod my head and and you know I might have been able to play Me Kazoo at one point but talking through orchestra and strings and all those sorts of things that's not it for me. Um, but we had eight students. So, um, to have all those students be able to perform in the all region honors band and orchestra, um, our kids are doing some some phenomenal things and they're representing the the the district and and the Elcart community very well. So, now, thank you. I APPRECIATE >> I'll be very brief.

112Mr. Jeremia, I just want to say outstanding presentation and thank you for your leadership and Pier Man, you're doing amazing things down there on the south side of town. Um, what I appreciate most about this, you can have increased academic achievement and have joy in school, too. And you did a really good job of capturing that in your presentation. It takes everyone um and your teachers have bought into all the things that you are um trying to lead to get students from not just A to B but for into life-changing situations. And so I just want to tell you thank you. Um I know it's hard to capture all the things that you're doing in 15 minutes or so. Um I noticed that you put a lot of gold on there for Notre Dame. I'll

113hold that against you next time. Um, but I do want to say that the the people that you brought here are just a small small testament and a small testimony of all the great things that are happening down there. Um, but I know that wouldn't happen without you. So, you and your other administrators there in the back and to your teachers here, we just want to publicly say thank you for all that you do and all that you will continue to do for our kids. So, great presentation. Next on the agenda, we have Mr. Chandler, the Pride Academy report. >> All right. Thank you for having me. Um, esteemed board, President Scott, Dr. Huff. Um, my name is Eric Chandler. I'm the proud principal of the Pride Academy. Um, just a little bit real quick

114because I know we're crunched for time. Um, this is Pride's fifth year in existence. Uh, right now our we have three general education classrooms, K2, 2, three, um, and four, five. Each room has a special ed parah in there. Um and we are also working um sorry we also have on staff 12 total people a social worker a security person and our secretary along with a transition coordinator. Um this is our mission at Pride. Um, the mission of Pride Academy is to foster a paradigm shift that cultivates an innovative mindset for students and staff and the community to bring safety, structure, and a sense of belonging to every student and classroom by uniting educational neuroscience with the power of teaching. Um, so for people who don't know, we receive students um, they come to us

115from all 13 elementary schools. um they're referred to us if they're having difficulties with behavior. Um and I'll get into that a little more. Um this right here is our fifth and sixth grade graduates from last year and our vision is to be a place of innovation, safety, and belonging. Um I know at this point in time, especially for um Indiana, we talk a lot about assessments. Um, and so one thing that we like to keep our kids and reminding them is that it doesn't fully assess your abilities and what you can do. Um, some kids are great test takers and they can study for it and do it. Other kids, their anxiety when it comes to tests, they are just offkilter for a while. And so we try our best to get them to

116set that foundation for learning um academ academically and behaviorally um because the goal is to get them to go back to their home school. And so once we help them with those strategies and interventions um that's the next step. Um so I'll talk about our school improvement goals. Um these next two slides, uh we would like to be proficient and increase up to 50% this year for ELA and math. Um for Pride, this past school year, our first three years, um for I read, we had zero students pass, but this last year we had 30% pass, which was pretty big to us. Um, as you can see here, we had two second graders um that passed, one third grader, a fourth grader, um, and a fifth grader. And so one thing that we did last

117year um and we're doing it this year as well um we had youly that helped that we implemented um to help with small group interventions um because a lot of our kids have missed instructional time due to their behavioral issues. And so by doing UFly um and this year heard and some of the skill stuff with CLA, it's we're trying to shorten that educational gap that they have from being out of the classroom setting. Um one of the big four things that we have um that we work with is our MTSS process. Um and this team meets every Thursday so we can discuss behavior and academic interventions. Um, we also talk about employee employability skills, self-awareness, self-management, communication, problem solving because a lot of our students are not able to have or do not work

118well with others at this point in time. So, we're trying to get them to be in that classroom setting and be able to problem solve without acting out in some way, shape, or form. And so, um, zones of regulation curriculum, we use this to help the students figure out how to regulate their emotions. Um, we also make sure that we are up to pace or in sync with their home school with the pacing guides in the curriculum. Um, here's our attendance from last year from August to October. Um, a big reason, um, our kids love coming to school. Um, but part of the reason sometimes you see dips um has to do with behavior issues or it could be from appointments or illnesses. Um, like right now a lot of our staff people are sick

119and so they're on the men watching from home. Um, and so as you see, I think that is first grade. September was kind of rough with the sickness or kindergarten, I apologize, um, at 62%. Um, but then we definitely were close to 90 and up. Um, October is kind of that time you get Halloween and things of that nature and fall break. Students kind of get antsy, so that's where some of that stuff dips. This year, um, our attendance is pretty comparable. Um, right now, so kindergarten, we had no students in August, but right now we have two. So that's why that kind of dips. Um but you know we try our best to keep our kids in school. We try every intervention there is. Um so working with the parents and you know our

120social worker especially talking and discussing like what can we do to keep them with us. Um here um is our referral comparison from August of last year to August in October of 2025. Now as you see the big jumps, especially K through three, a couple things that we need to make sure that we remember we are taking those referral numbers from their home schools. Um because let's say hypothetically Woodland and I'm just saying that because I saw Jeremy. Um say one of his students that we have is having difficulties. Um and for I want people to understand too when we're writing referrals it's not for like just breaking pencils or ripping up paper. Um it's from aloping or from using their hands on feet hands and feet in the wrong way or things of that

121nature. So right now, like our kids, especially K through three, they just have really big emotions. They don't know how to self-regulate. And so we're trying our best to help them figure out those ways. Um that's where the zones of regulation, talking with our social worker and giving them time and space helps with those things as well. Um I know that's a big jump. Um, but like it's just hard to define sometimes some of the actions some of the little ones do sometimes. So, you know, and we remind them whenever they come back like it's a clean slate. You're starting new. Nothing is held against you. We still love you. We're just trying to help you stay safe and that's the biggest thing. Um, here are some captions of our students at this time. MTSS.

122I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. Small group. And then we have PLC's on here. We are getting uh PLC coaching from Sarah Henry as long as as with everyone else in the district. I apologize. Um and then as we talk about our MTSS process, we meet every week and discuss a classroom because the range right now is from 8 to 10 students in every class. And so we look through their behavior charts. We look through their progress monitoring and we try to figure out what's working, what's not working, and how can we meet this child where they're at. And I think that's the biggest thing. We have a bit of a luxury because our class sizes are smaller even with lots of activity. Um, we are able to try our

123best to help them wherever they're at. Um so when we look at behavior goals, we also use the Panorama playbook um which a lot of people in the district are using and that has all kinds of um interventions for attendance, behavior, academic, developmental stages and for different tiers. And I think the one thing to remember when we talk about pride um we have a lot if not all of our students are tier three students. And so we try to get them to like sit with a whole group when they're trying to do the lessons or sometimes it might be a small group where they're getting that on grade level curriculum, but it might just be like our four, five, six room for or four six or fourth and fifth room. You know, small group fourth

124graders doing that curriculum, fifth graders doing that curriculum and then talk about how the interventions will work later on um in the day. um zones of regulations, especially for kindergarten through 2, we talk about like you can tell us how you're feeling, like why are you mad? Why are you upset? You know, because sometimes home life is different or they could just be mad somebody took the Legos from them. Like it just depends. And so how do you talk about it without using extracurricular verbiage and things of that nature and try to figure out how we can best get you regulated so you can come back to class and do what you need to do. I think we also have a zones of room timeout room where in this room there's like kinetic sand, a

125crash pad, a trampoline, things of that nature almost like minds in motion back in the day where you can get your energy out in an appropriate way. Um, the way we have ours set up, like as soon as you walk in, you figure out what color you're at, they check your pulse rate, and then they talk about how can we get you back into green. And so after that 10 minutes, you sign back out, you talk about where their pulse rate is at again, and then if they're ready to go back. Um, some of the resources and community partnerships that we've used previously. um Bowen Center, um Oaklan, Loveway, Crosswatch Counseling, Mr. Pieri is fantastic with our kids, um Cowboy Ethics. Um in previous years, we've been to Kerchers, Biztown, and Pawatami Zoo. Um so

126the students on the left, the student on the right, um it was his last day and that's his best friend. And so they had like a little going away thing. Um the student on the right, he is going into his second year at his home school and they still talk on the phone um every week. And so the big thing is for um people to remember like within Pride like we make those connections, those things that last a lot longer. Um, especially even like we get emails from kids in middle school right now who may be struggling a little bit. You know, we have a couple high school seniors, which is crazy to me cuz when we first started Pride, we were K through eight. Um, and talk about how they're doing and what their

127next step is going to be. Um, and so it's those type of things helping them find that passion for learning again because sometimes things just don't work out the way they planned, especially in the home school. So when they go back or if they graduate to the next level, it's them remembering, you know, how do they handle the triggers, what works for them the best way, and how they can um stay on path to get their diploma. Um, so in conclusion, um, one of the biggest things we talk about all the time, um, are we doing what's best for kids? Um, that's the bottom line. With the 12 of us, that's all we have right now. Um, so it's always talking about like you can't be mad. You can't you can't have the ego with

128it. So, say hypothetically, you know, Miss Davis has a better relationship working with Johnny than you work with Johnny. you know, being able to tap out at certain times when you get to that frustration level and then be able to come back and have those restorative conversations. And so that's a big thing that we do. That's what we harp upon. Um especially with the kids so they have those conversations too if they like disrespect a student or a peer. And here's my favorite slide. That's our staff this year for our pictures. That's it. >> Appreciate it, Mr. Changer. Good job. Um, out of the um, what do Let me go back. I took a some notes. One of the things I wanted Thank you for sharing the some of the data and some of the

129outcomes that you're having down there and much appreciated. Um, how many total students are there at Pride >> right now? 30. Um, possibly 32 by the end of next week. >> Thank you. Yep. Good job. >> Quick question. >> Yep. >> Um, when when you get a referral when you mentioned that uh because of uh some behavioral issues and miss missing instructional time, there's large educational gaps. Uh h how do you assess or determine, you know, how large the gap is initially when they are referred to Pride? So we we get a lot of the data coming from their home school and we then we try to figure out and so it's any like progress monitoring or small assessment you know it could just be reading a passage or something like that trying to figure

130out like where they are like for our kindergarteners right now. Um the gap is not monumental because they're just starting school but if their certain aspects continue then it could become larger. >> Yep. Thank you very much. Yeah, we're good. >> Miss Wood, excellence of Elkart. >> 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. Up first at the Human Service Services School of Studies, students are putting life skills to the test through a real world budgeting simulation. Students selected careers, managed household expenses, and navigated unexpected financial challenges, getting a hands-on look at the realities of adulting. Our freshman division preapp world history students brought history to life through a lively trade route simulation set after

131the fall of the constant constant tinople representing six nations students debating and negotiating how to navigate the Ottomans Empire control in the area of arts. Bristol Elementary's fourth graders brought poetry to life with a classroom poetry slam. As part of their poetry unit, students wrote original poems about meaningful memories and shared them aloud using expression and tone emphasized their ideas. It was a great showcase of student voice and creativity. Last Wednesday was the middle and high school band festival. Hundreds of students, musicians delivered outstanding performances and packed the north side gym. The evening began with the Elcart High School Pride of Elcart marching band, the Elcart High School jazz band, and the combined band featuring students from all three middle schools. In athletics, the Elcart High School varsity's girls basketball team opened their season with

132a win against Fairfield last week. Tonight, we wish them the best as they take on Concord, followed by their home game on Saturday, November 15th against Mville High School. Last week, Elcart Community Schools PE teachers gathered at Elcart High School for a presentation from Indiana's soccer on futil, an adaptable version of the traditional soccer that can be played in multiple ways. A key highlight of the program is its accessibility using different equipment, ball sizes, colors, and rules to ensure students of all abilities can participate together. PE teachers also had the opportunity to receive specialized equipment tailored to their students needs. And up in our future happenings, November 12th will be the fall jazz concert. November 15th, Elcart High School's fall play. November 16th is the stuff a bus event at the Cobblestone Martins and November

13326 to the 28th will be our fall break. As always, please be sure to follow our district and school social media pages as we share each day the excellence of Elkart schools. Thank you. >> Thank you, Wendy. Next on the agenda, we have the consent items. Do I have a motion? So move. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Do I have any comments from the board? >> You do. Hold on. I had to back it up. Okay. So, the public has once again donated $5,515. Our unified track received two donations of $2,650. one from the athletic club, an anonymous donor of $1,150, and one from just the athletic club at 1,500. George Smith donated, which I think is great,

13486 cookbooks to the Elcart Career Center for Culinary class number two at $1,465. And Ruof Mortgage donated, which is Walter Cortez, donated $400 from Mary Beck to receive staff shirts. Ava Robertson uh donated miscellaneous makeup and nail products for our cosmetology class at 500. And once again, the career center was gifted a silver sponsorship of $500 from BBN burn snips equipment in care of Grace Sabzac. So at $5,515, we received multiple donations again from our community. And in looking at our personnel, the career center has a teacher retiring from cosmetology and that is Amy Stzman. After 22 years and watching multiple programs grow inside the career center, she did a phenomenal job. I bet had the most wonderful honor of knowing Amy for years and she has done really well with things that you don't

135think about like you're doing curriculum curriculum curriculum all the time. But Amy has really grown the young men and women in that program and the barber program on retail and communication with the public. That's something that Amy is really gifted at because a lot of stylists leave there thinking that they can just make money and there you go. But they have to really know what it is like to work one-on-one with somebody and have that ability. So, even though like it's it's great for Amy that she's retiring, it's a great loss, but that cosmetology department is just flourishing with new teachers. And um another one that is retiring after 17 years of service in the athletic department is coach Buck, Brian Buckley. After eight years of total service in the Elcart High School, we say

136goodbye to Buck as he goes on to his next adventure. And you never know where Buck's going to show up. He finds a way. But I think it is amazing to know how many students, athletes, and just in general people that Buck has touched from going down to the state level and hearing people continually talk about how amazing it is to have Brian Buckley representing the high school all the way to the amount of donations that we have received because of Buck for our athletic department. It is phenomenal the community partnerships that Brian Buckley has developed and they will stay because of their respect for Buck for our school system. So, we are very fortunate. And for those of you that don't know, he's also had to step in like multiple interim coaching roles, which

137I wish I would have seen, like him have to jump and do like a volleyball or a track or some other role like that while doing that. But after watching him run around 70 hours a week doing phenomenal work, it is exciting to see that he's on to the next adventure. A great loss. However, he has such a love for this school that everything that he has done leading up to this, he will continue to grow for Elkart Community Schools. So farewell to you, Buck and Amy, but thank you to all of us for the opportunity we had for them to serve our community. And with that, sir, I am done for now. >> Thank you, Miss Mullins. >> I have a motion and a second. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. Thank

138you. >> Next on the agenda, we have old business. Uh, under old business, we have contracts. Um, Mr. Akens, you are. Good evening, President Scott, board of trustees, members, Dr. Huff. Um, the administration presents the following contract for final consideration, beable education. >> Thank you. Um, do I have a motion? >> Move. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Uh, we heard a little bit about beable uh in the earlier presentation. Uh, do we have any questions or comments from the board? I would just like to say that I think this is this is a really unique tool for our kids to have. Um I really like that it has a a way to connect parents to it too and involve parents in the

139process and expose kids to um so many different things that they're interested in that they don't know where that might lead them from exploring careers and stuff. So, I I think as we continue to um invest in our in our students um with things that will help them in the future and to expand their horizons um I think this is a good opportunity to do that and helping them connect dots to what they're learning, what they're reading about um and involving parents in that process, too. So, thank you for finding this. >> Anything else from the board? I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes. >> Next, we have uh new business and we have the Elcart Area Career Center programming uh proposal. Uh Mr. Aikens, >>

140good evening. Um here this evening to to propose a third session at the Elcart Area Career Center. Um basic overview. Um we have a handful of programs at the career center uh where access is difficult for students. Um and so trying to get creative with our approaches to serve students in those areas where it does not necessarily um make sense to be able to do that throughout the instructional day. Um and so in this space here, we're looking at um how do we do that without expanding facilities? Um how do we do that in a manner that um if we see this be something that resonates with students and our partnering schools that we can scale up in other areas um and ensuring that we have um that sustainability and how it supports the workforce

141uh efforts that we are trying to provide. Um generally what what we're looking at here and and more specifically is a general structure for programming. So, most EAC programs um as you may or may not know operate in two hour and 45 minute sessions during the instructional day. Um in this space here, we would be looking at three-hour instructional times four nights a week um with a virtual check-in uh on Fridays to ensure that students are able to keep up on the necessary uh content that goes along with the programs. Um it would have increased lab time uh as we look at smaller sessions. The the one outlier would be our cosmetology program. Our cosmetology program currently meets for 4 hours and 15 minutes uh per instructional day. So we'd be looking at four hours

142an evening uh Monday through Thursday and uh at 5 hours uh bump that number right there uh on Saturdays to 8 to 1:00. Um the programming times that we're listing for the general programs, the the point of contact will stay the same, but we may have to make some slight adjustments to when that start time is based on our partnering schools and dialogue. Um but as you can see there there really isn't a loss in the instructional time whether it's during the evening hours or during a traditional time. Um and more importantly it makes sure that students have access to programming. Uh when we look at it it's it's going to be very much like you wouldn't expect to see uh in our daytime programming. This hands-on opportunities in-person instruction making sure that our students

143have access to instructors um and the mentorship that they need. uh reinforcement like it is done during the day would be delivered through probably a Canvas based modules um to ensure that students have access not only when they're in our labs but also outside of it. Um to to run all of our programs would have to have a minimum of 10 students um that are enrolling in a program to justify us doing so. Um and we would cap those at 12 to 15. Um part of the goal here with the four instructional days is to ensure that those student ratios stay manageable to really um help support that development of the skills. Um and in cosmetology we really need to make sure that we stay at that 12 to 15 because we want to bring

144those students back for a second year and if we're bringing them back for a second year we need to make sure that we can manage first and second year in an evening session if that's the route we choose to go. Um the instructional time, like I said, pretty much the same as we see during the daytime. >> This is how we arrived at this. Um and I think board members that have been with us for a while have heard me talk about this in the past as we've looked at some creative solutions on how to serve students. Um these are things that we've talked about. Um really the driving need that we have is cosmetology and welding. Um it does not make sense at the current time to invest in increase facilities for our cosmetology

145program. Um but the reality is uh currently we turn away twice as many students in our cosmetology program that are qualified as that we can serve in a first year basis. So how do we create that opportunity for students that want to access that program um without having to look for a private placement? Um private is usually going to come around $20,000. So, our our model and what we do um makes a lot of sense. Welding's the other. Um for those of you that ever had opportunity to tour our facilities, you hopefully recognize that our welding facility is state-of-the-art. Um it's unmatched in anything that we'll see in Northern Indiana or southern Michigan. Um it is about a $1 million facility. It does not make sense for us to try to build that out and

146create a secondary. So, how do we utilize the space that we have? Um things I like to point out is that's a high wage, high demand field. something that we work hard to ensure that students have access to meaningful careers after they leave us. Those are the two most pressing needs that we have. Um we also have our eyes on potentially utilizing that new shiny beautiful facility, the diesel auto facility, um if the need would would have it. Um and then also looking down the road. Right now we have a lot of students that try to access our dental program. Um that would be a one-year program based on dental assisting certification. Um, and our pre- N nursing, uh, our pre- N nursing program has grown like crazy. Um, if you're not aware, during the

147day, we have three instructors assigned to that program. We serve about 120 students, and we still have a waiting list that we can't get to. Um, both diesel auto service and pre- N nursing Dental, we would try to solve those problems during the instructional day. Um, but if we have permission, um, and we can roll out cosmetology and welding, I think those would be things we'd have an eye on down the road. um why this makes sense. Uh we have existing staff members that are ready to jump in and this would be an an extension of their day. It doesn't mean that we need to go out and seek another full-time staff member with benefits. Um it's something where we would have some additional pay in space. So it's very cost-effective compared to going out

148and running a full-time session and getting that staff member. The other piece is is in areas where we may not have that staff member, this could be a great pipeline tool for the Elcart Area Career Center. um it's very difficult in certain career pathways to attract new instructors to the field. So, how do we potentially get somebody in a um more small reduced role where they can kind of try it out and see if this works for them and hopefully that creates a a sustainable pathway to a full-time instructor position. Um you can see there the breakdown of of how the instructor piece would happen. Uh one of the pieces that needs to be considered is cosmetology because of their increased hours. um they have different contracted hours than any other instructor that we have

149on campus. So in order to manage those additional hours, um we would be looking at their Friday day would actually being flexed to an extent where they would be coming in later and leaving at their normal time instead of doing the extended hours Monday through Thursday and then those hours would be made up on Saturday to balance out administrative oversight. Obviously we've seen Mr. Sassman uh between Mr. Sasman, myself, assistant principal, um, Kelly Blair Concade, um, and our program manager at adult education. Um, we've had these conversations on how we monitor, manage these, uh, overnight extension. So, this isn't another administrator that we're looking for. It's us getting creative with our schedules to ensure that we have that support during the evening hours and on those Saturdays to cover it. Um this blended approach once

150again would be cost-effective um and still allow students access and ensure that we have the oversight that we need. Uh these are the things that we've got to get a handle on. Um obviously this is our first step if we're granted approval. Um I would be pushing this out to our partnering schools in an email monthly email communication to our superintendents and principles. We have talked about this in the past as possibilities um and they would need to get creative on their student end. Students presumably would have a later start time in those situations. Um we believe also this will open up more opportunities for work-based learning. Um as we find that in some of our pathways uh there's increased opportunities during the evening hours and how can we leverage those to ensure that students

151have access. Transportation would be uh the responsibility of the student in these spaces obviously as we operate after school. Um and so there's some stipulations um on how students access what we're doing. That is basically it. I I went rather quickly as I know we've had a pretty full agenda to this point. Um are there any questions that I can field? >> First of all, can we have questions? Uh do I have a motion on this pro proposal? >> So move. >> Do I have a second? Yeah, I have a motion to second now. M I question. >> No question at all. Just a just a comment. I stopped counting uh after 10 when you mentioned the word access and to me that just highlights how critical providing access to this opportunity is. And so

152I just appreciate the willingness to being to being able to adapt and adjust some of those accessible hours uh to provide these opportunities. So I'm just saying thank you for for for for being willing to adapt and adjust. Thank you, Mr. Avery. I do I I I do have a question. So tonight in this proposal uh we are basically voting on and authorizing additional sessions uh for the career center. Um you mentioned cosmetology initially cosmetology and welding. I just want to make sure that we're we're giving you the the okay for additional sessions and the programming may change depending on student need or or be additional uh uh programming uh for these evening sessions is that >> yes I I think our intent would be to start with welding and cosmetology see if there is

153an interest from the partnering schools and students monitor how that goes throughout our first year before we identify other programs that this would be a potential model for. >> Okay. Um, second question, you addressed the uh the staffing uh and the administration. Are there any other staffing that uh you did not mention as far as maybe security um anything of those? >> Yeah, when we when we've talked with um when we met and talked with Dr. Rous and Mr. Anderson about this, we verified that we have security on campus already assigned through 7:30. So, there's not a security issue there. Um, I think the only consideration is potentially as we look at support personnel, um, possibly a parata on how we might flex those hours, um, where we can have that support available as needed

154during the evening. Um, but that would get some creative scheduling with the people that we already have within our ranks. >> Have nothing further, Kelly? >> Yeah. Okay. So, is it still you're running the cosmetology and the welding program as it is? This is in addition because we have so many students. >> Absolutely. Our AM and PM sessions would not change whatsoever. >> So if you have a student that's lacking in hours, say in cosmetology, do they have the opportunity to use these evening or Saturday shifts to maybe increase their hours or catch up on their books? >> I think potentially that would be something we'd look at. Um but right now I think we're looking first for approval and then trying to make sure that our model. I'm just being very honest with you.

155I think and then and then trying to make sure that we support that model the best we can, right? >> And then look for how that potentially could help some of our daytime students if there is >> um you know and I wouldn't even limit to cosmetology. You know, we may have some students that are really working towards hard towards certification and welding and maybe they're not getting the the lab time that they need. How could we possibly support that without overwhelming and taking away from the students that are excited in the evening hours? >> Okay, great. So, we have our regular daytime program, but we're using this to increase our programming because of demand and you're giving access to students to have this ability. >> Correct. >> So, we're just growing. >> That's the

156goal. >> All right. >> So, going back to my question, we're we're approving the evening sessions to be determined by need. >> Correct. >> Yeah. >> You guys mentioned that uh there's a minimum of 10 students required to run each session. Have we thought about the possibility of somebody getting into say the welding program going hey getting burnt on my hands and my feet that it's not for me and then it falls below that 10 student what would happen to the other nine students at that point I don't think we would fold the program at all what I'm saying is is that for us to run that program out and as of count day when our dollars are received we we need 10 for this to be economically viable. Um once we get past that

157count day um we run. I mean that's the way it is. >> Mhm. >> Awesome. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Absolutely. >> Um Friday evening I had a an opportunity. I was with a group of uh individuals and it's called the Sagamore Institute and they're a think tank out of Indianapolis. And their message to us was the uh heartland defense. And what they're into is ship building. So if you're going to build a ship, what do you need? need welders, right? And so I responded to them accordingly about, you know, our program. Um, they were kind of totally unaware of uh, you know, the capabilities of Elcart Community Schools and uh, so obviously I was singing their pray our praises here and uh, they promised that uh, they would get back to us on what

158else they would like to see and maybe we can get them in here for a tour. So uh and also to that uh effect that uh it's probably be yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edund Fitzgerald and within the Great Lakes region, you know, the ship building has been gone for 50 years. So it's with all the water we have surrounding this, it's about time we brought it back and all the other resources that go with it. and Elcart Community Schools, I believe, is an instrumental part of bringing that back as well as the defense of our nation. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? >> I opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Um, you're still up. >> Big night here. >> Big night. to

159Elcart area career center agreements. >> Administration recommends board approval of the Elcart area career center agreements with its feeder schools. >> Do I have a motion for the uh Elcart area career center agreements with their feeder schools as presented? >> Motion. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Do I have any questions for Mr. Akens? >> No questions. All in favor? Opposed? Motion passes. >> Thank you. Miss Brander, we have sea 442 presentation. >> Yes. >> Good evening, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff. The administration recommends board approval and public posting of curriculum materials in compliance with Senate Enrolled Act 442. >> Do I have a uh motion? >> Motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any

160questions for Miss Brander regarding this sea 442 hearing or seeing none? All in favor? >> Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Uh Lindsay uh uh contracts uh and these are for initial consideration. >> Yes. Uh the administration presents the following contracts for initial consideration. The first one is with Basher Children's Home to provide direct counseling services for identified students um on an individual basis for up to five hours per week. We have any initial questions from the board regarding uh the Bachelor Children's Home uh contract? If not, this is for initial consideration. Uh please reach out uh prior to the second reading if there are any. Second, we have the Elkart County Youth for Christ. >> Uh yes. So, uh for this contract, Lifeline provides would provide interns that are employed through Lifeline to provide academic

161achievement support. I'm sorry, academ academic enrichment support at Mary Beck, Monger, and Roosevelt through the full service community schools grant. Um and they would provide that support through uh December 31st, 2025. >> Thank you. Uh again, any additional or any initial questions uh for Miss Brander? Seeing or hearing none, if you have any questions before it comes back up for second reading, please reach out. Thank you. Next on the agenda, Mr. Hixon, we have the uh tenative agreement. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. President, honorable board members, Dr. Huff. On October 30th of 2025, the administration reached a tenative agreement on a master contract with the Elkcart Teachers Association. On November 5th, 2025, ETA ratified this agreement and on November 7th, a this board conducted a public meeting for purposes of discussing the terms of the

162ten tenative agreement. In relevant part, the agreement provides for no increase in teacher compensation for and no increase in premium costs for uh teachers in terms of the health and dental plan. all as was agreed to by the parties consistent with the requirements of Indiana law. Public comment took place earlier at tonight's meeting. So accordingly, the administration recommends ratification of this tenative agreement. And I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. >> Thank you, Mr. Hixon Ball. Uh do I have a motion for the tenative agreement? >> So moved. >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. >> I have a motion and I have a second. Do I Do we have any questions for Mr. Hixonball regarding the tenative agreement? Seeing or hearing no questions or comments from the

163board. All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Uh next we have professional benefit administration contract. Mr. Hixon. >> Thank you. The administration requests authorization to enter into an agreement with Professional Benefits Administrators, Inc. In summary, the proposed agreement calls for PBA to provide thirdparty administrative services to the school corporation's group health insurance plan. And I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Hixon Ball. Do I have a motion for the professional benefits administrators contract as presented? >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions or comments for Mr. Hixonball regarding this contract? Hearing or seeing none. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Motion passes. And lastly, Mr. Exwell, we have

164the Paid Health LLC contract. >> Thank you. The administration requests authorization to enter into an agreement with Paid Health LLC. The proposed agreement calls for Paid Health to provide professional services related to select drugs and products in support of the school corporation's group health insurance plan. And again, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Hixonball. Um, do I have a motion uh from the board for the paid health LLC contract? >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? Questions or comments? Seeing or hearing? None. All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Hickenball. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Huff. Uh, we have board policies uh to be presented. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board community. Tonight, I'm bringing you first readings of several

165board policies uh for your um initial review. Um I'm going to be a very poor replacement for Doug, who typically would go through these things, but tonight we have policy 2210, which has to deal with curriculum development. This update keeps our curriculum process current and focus on student learning. It is outlines how courses are reviewed, added, and revised over time and clarifies the superintendent role in that work. It also gives us space to pilot new ideas that support students while all ensuring all we meet all state and local expectations. >> Thank you. >> All right. I'm going to also go through policy 2340 which is field and other corporation sponsored trips. This is a replacement policy that modernizes how we handle field trips, extracurricular and overnight travel. It also tightens our safety protocols, our supervision,

166our transportation expectations um especially for trips outside of state. Um, this goal is to keep these experiences meaningful and safe for students while protecting staff in the district. The next policy I'll go through is policy 2370, which is talks about educational options. This revision expands learning beyond the traditional classroom. It covers opportunities such as online courses, internships, independent study, credit through the military service. Each option will have a clear plan, teacher oversight, and documented learning outcomes. It also connects to how our flex program, giving students more flexible pathways to graduation. All right. Next, we have policy 2370.02, which is uh our flex program. This new policy creates a flexible schedule for juniors and seniors who need another route to graduation. It defines and qualify such students, balancing work, and recovering credits. It set clears expectations

167for attendance, coursework, and behavior. Students must complete at least three hours of instructional daily and stay engaged through work training and college coursework that intends to keep more students connected to school and future ready. Um policy 5462 is retaking a class. This new policy establishes a consistent process for students who need to retake a class to improve their grade or meet diploma requirements. outlines how how a request is made, when a retake is allowed, and how to the new grade appears on transcript and is fair and system recovers, improves, and move forward successfully. >> And I I have >> policy Thursday as well, >> 3212 and 2411. >> 2411 >> guidance and counseling. >> Oh, shoot. I have the guidance and counseling up there. I can go through that. Um this evening um looking at

168policy 32 um 3213 for student staff relationship. This policy further defines how the relationship between student and staff as I mentioned earlier there are some things I would actually like to bring back to the board um revising this policy. I think um some of the things that were brought up by a by one of our teachers actually probably needs to be looked at. So I will be hopefully pulling this off off this recommendation. >> All right. >> That would be my recommendation to the board. is a poll is the poll um yeah 32 >> yeah she made some very valid concerns and I think our team needs to clarify that a little bit further. >> All right and is that the same for 2411 guidance and counseling? >> Correct. >> All right. So we'll pull

169uh >> 2411 and 3213.04 ACS off uh the policies as presented and uh for further consideration. >> Yep. and we'll come back and you'll vote on the other two um in two weeks and then we'll bring the other one back for first reading at our next board meeting. >> Very good. >> Thank you. >> Next, uh Mr. Rhodess, uh the common school fund loan petition. >> Good evening, board president Scott, Dr. Huff. Uh the administration seeks confirmation of the submission of the fall common school fund loan petition. >> Thank you, Mr. roads. Uh, do I have a motion for the common school fund loan petition as presented? >> Motion. >> Do I have a second? >> I have a motion and I have a second. Any questions or comments from the board? All in favor?

170>> I opposed. >> Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Rhodess. Dr. Huff, you are back. >> Thank you, President Scott, members of the board and community. Uh tonight I'm presenting the proposed criteria that will guide the Elcart Community Schools consolidation work. Um our resolution formalizes a process used to develop these criteria and expectations how we communicate and apply them moving forward. This step represents a community to transparency and consistency. Uh the criteria are grounded in verifiable data, enrollment trends, facility conditions, academic access and financial realities and shaped by feedback gathered during the state of the union um addresses and meeting. Sorry, not address meetings. Adopting this resolution signals to our staff, our families, and community that the board is unified in its approach. Decisions will be made through clear criteria, public information, and steady leadership. Um,

171I appreciate the board's collaboration and thoughtful conversation that have brought us here to this point. Um, this process has not been easy by any means, and but it positions us to plan responsibly for the long-term strength of Elcart Community Schools. This evening, I'm looking for your approval to continue this work um to look at consolidating schools. Thank you, Dr. Huff. Do I have a uh a motion on the proposed resolution? >> I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I have a second. Any uh comments? I will make a comment. I'm not uh going to read the entire uh resolution like I did last time, but I think it is important to to at least get on the record the guiding priorities that is contained within this uh resolution. Uh uh

172this criteria shall reflect the district's key priorities. Um and they are maintaining students access to rigorous instruction and well-rounded programming, exercise fiscal responsibility and long-term sustainability, uh assessing uh facility condition and operational viability, uh promoting geographic and demographic balance and ensuring efficiencies and staffing and service delivery. These will be the guiding priorities that uh uh this resolution will uh uh take into account when basing uh uh the decisions for consolidation. So I thought it was just important to to to get those out there. Do we have any other comments or questions regarding this resolution from the board? Seeing or hearing none, uh all in favor? I opposed. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you, Dr. Scott. >> And I'll give you a second to make it back to your seat. >> Thank you, sir. Lots of paper.

173I I I don't want to have to go through any more of this paper. >> Take your time. Move forward. Um, turn it over to me. >> Yes. Uh, sure. >> Yes. people have been here for a very long time. So, I'll be very very brief for the comments, but there's a lot of activities that are going on across the D district. Um, this past week, um, I had the opportunity to attend Stout Moxy event that is hosted in Elcart County over at the, um, um, the Hooser Hall of Fame, not RV Hall of Fame, sorry. Um, and the Elcart kids did great. Um, it is a great program. So, if you ever had an opportunity to talk to kids about entrepreneurial spirit, Elkcart's definitely leading the way. Those kids were outstanding. So, I know

174that you were there as well. Um, Mr. Ivory, I I thought it was a wonderful event and our kids are really representing our district really, really well at that time. Um, yesterday, well, not yesterday, two days ago, we had college gold Sunday and we had the Elcart uh career center open house. I think of tonight, you just another testim testimony of just how great we are at the career center. Um, but I also want to give a special shout out to Lacy Curry, the counselor uh who is leading the charge at the Elcart High School. he had a packed house of families um going through the FAFSA um here on Sunday. It was wonderfully well done. Very proud of the work that's being done. So hats off to Lacy and her team during that work.

175Um additionally, Cleveland Elementary was awarded by the IdoE the Purple Star by um for their support of military connected families. Um that is a huge deal. Not every there are only 100 schools in Indiana who receive that award. This award says a lot about who they are as a school and as a district. We want to make sure that we definitely honor and celebrate our military family as a commitment to making sure that um it's just when I think when we talk about um service and many of our families are go overseas and you have people here um who are supporting them, the schools do a really good job of wrapping around them. So, Cleveland, uh Mrs. Carmichael, thank you for your work and leading that charge and getting that recognition for your school. Uh,

176additionally, I also want to thank all the military staff that serve Elkcart Community Schools. we have a very significant portion of our own staff members who have served um and served wonderfully in the military. So, I want to tell you thank you on this Veterans Day, but we really need to say thank you every single day for the work that you do. Um we also need to u thank um Coach Ross last week was inducted in the Indiana Volleyball Hall of Fame um downtown down Indianapolis on November 7th. So, I want to just give a huge shout out to her. That's a very big deal to have a Hall of Fame coach for with over over 30 years and that and coaching volleyball and to get that type of recognition um is it's awesome for

177for her and also for the district. Um, I shared it was a lot. The Indiana Excellence Awards. Uh, next on November 21st, I'll have uh the privilege of going down to uh Indianapolis to uh where Kathy Enfield will um be recognized by the IDOE for her work as the um classified employee of the year. Um that is that is outstanding um for for her. But um we also had some late breaking news for our school district as well. There will be another employee um who who won a pretty prestigious award by the IDOE, one of only three in the state of Indiana. I wish I could tell you who that employees name is, but I think that state would come in and say some things until it's officially recognized on the what's this Friday, the

17814th. Um huge honor. Um this person will be recognized for their work in literacy um and for literacy development and for academic outcomes. So I just want to tell you very proud Elcart had four individuals that are recognized by the state Indiana counselor of the year. We had the Indiana State Youth Worker of the Year, Indiana Rise employee of the year and also won the um excellence and education award winners. Um that person will be officially announced this Friday. So um stay tuned for that. Um and then lastly I want to close out this is more this is not off script. I just want to talk directly to the people in this room and anybody who's watching. Um everything that we saw tonight had to do with work through and with a teacher. It is

179important um that we not only publicly recognize that work, but we also plan to recognize that work in a monetary way too. This is not a for me this is not something that I want to to experience ever again. Not being able to provide increases for our staff, that is not something that anyone wants to do. For the last year, the team has been working and really ready to make some of those necessary changes. I thought some of the ideas that were brought up during public comment are really things that teachers that we should look at. It is not lost on me the work and the value that our teachers that they do. When I came to Elcart in March of 2024, but really in January, one of my commitments was to make Elkcart teachers,

180administrators, classified staff the highest paid in our area. we need to make sure that we are able to hold on to that promise of doing those things. So, I'm committed to doing doing that work. So, over this next year, I look forward to um partnering with many of our stakeholders to make sure that we are having a very different conversation next year. So, I just wanted to make sure I I I I put on the record for that. This is not a something I ever want to experience ever again. So, I'm going to turn it back over to you, President Scott. >> Thank you, Dr. Huff. anything uh from the board tonight? >> I will add on to that with Kelly's Corner and I'm going to add into we've already talked about the career center,

181but there is a very special teacher at that career center that I've known for many years and I've watched her in different roles, but she is very charismatic in what she does and she has a deep passion. So tucked behind HPS, tucked inside of the Early Learning Center is Peggy Dang. And she is running a program called Registered Teacher Appreciation Program that Scott talked about real briefly, but it's amazing. Something to think about is that these kids go in and they get mentored to be future teachers and they have an opportunity to work side by side. But we keep talking, Dr. hub about all the great things we offer our students like dual credit opportunity and um on job learning aspects as we look at what we're going to do for our future you know

182students that are coming into the career center but our secondyear students inside of Peggy's program all completed their child development association associate credential while enrolled there we were one of few schools one of the only in the state that had all of our students complete that while working while receiving their dual school credits while mentoring, while doing all of that. So, here's another kudos to to the two of you plus Kelly Blair of all the things that you do, but to have Peggy Delang leading the charge. And if you've never been into that section of the building, she is dynamic with those students and they are so engaged with her. So, Kelly's Corner says, "Peggy Delane, we are so fortunate to have you and keep bringing on more student teachers to our community." And as

183we look forward to more sessions with Kelly's Corner, I have many things coming up. Soon to be bus mechanics, soon to be Nancy and her early learning. So this has really grown into something phenomenal. So celebrating Elcart yet again. >> Thank you, Kelly. >> Yeah. >> Any other comments from the board? >> I I'll just make a a quick comment too to add on to what Dr. Huff uh mentioned. We I will also like to recognize, you know, we do have some dedicated um staff and teachers and administrators here and I want to recognize that as well. It's very disheartening to know that we can't do any raises this year, but I am committed along with Dr. Huff and the rest of his board to ensure that we don't get here again. So, I wanted

184to go on record also to say that your work is recognized um and we appreciate what you do and just want to say that. >> Thank you, Mr. Ivory. And I'll just uh uh I'll end with this is you know I concur with what they both said. Um I want to first thank the ETA and the negotiation team from the administration uh to you know go into this um understanding have a true understanding of kind of where we are budget-wise and financially. It never makes it easy. Uh again it's never the intention. you know, we we've we've heard of the accolades, the hard work, the student achievement, all the awards that are being handed out to to the teachers and staff uh within this district, and I firmly believe that this district is the best

185district in the area. And I can make an argument uh for the state of Indiana. And we want to recognize that both with the awards, but also, you know, financially. And so, you know, we recognize where we are and and you know, I the negotiation teams recognized uh that as well. There's a plan, a strategic plan. Um we will turn the corner on this and uh I think it was both echoed by Dr. Huff and and Mr. Ivory that uh um we will never be in a position like this again to where we can't uh uh financially uh increase and award our staff for the hard work and the and the great things they've achieved. So again, thank you for the uh uh the bargaining team and the ETA um for getting us uh to

186where we are tonight. So thank you. And with that meeting adjourned.