001um group that won the thing. Close. be very quite [Music] shocking. Um, he's going to come speak because he started the rocketry. He started the rocketry team and our rocket team nationally qualified. So, Julie Tyraki kept it going. Good evening everybody. I'd like to call the May 27th, 2025 Elcart Community School Board meeting to order. You'd all rise for the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the Thank you. You may be seated. Miss Davis, the Elkart Promise. Every student is known by name, challenged by and supported by highly effective staff, and in partnership with the community will graduate career, college, and life ready. Thank you, Miss Davis. Uh, Dora, we do have a couple. Thank you. You have three. So when I call your name, please come to the microphone and uh state
002your name for the record and your affiliation with the uh district. At that time, you'll have three minutes uh to speak on any agenda or non-aggenda item. Um please uh you know, keep it uh personnel and student issues at a at a minimum minimum. This is not the uh appropriate uh venue to to bring those up. We have a policy and protocol in place that uh will hear those. So, uh when we get to that, uh I will call your name and please step forward. But before the public comment, uh we have on the agenda the superintendent's contract. If you attended the last meeting, um we uh we we pulled the the contract. Um there was uh uh some discussions that needed to be had uh as a board. We we we had those discussions.
003Um those discussions included Dr. Huff. Um we went back and and and made what we feel are appropriate adjustments uh to the contract. Uh that contract has uh uh been uh appropriately noticed uh with those changes. Um, and at it's it's a ninth uh it's uh the board's uh opportunity and pleasure to present uh that contract for approval. Do I have a motion? So move. Do I have I have a I have a motion in a quick second. Very well. Do I have any comments uh from the board regarding uh this contract? Yeah. Um, somebody else talking. I guess that's I guess it's an echo in here. There's so many people in here today. Um, what I'd like to do is um uh I want you to assume that each one of you are interviewing
004for a superintendent's position out here and uh I will read you a portion of the job description and just a portion of the areas that you're responsible for. The following items are general characteristics of Elcart Community Schools and the position you're applying for. Number one, you are responsible for the education, health, and safety and well-being of 10,369 students 5 days a week. You were responsible for communicating clearly to 20,738 parents and the general public. You're responsible for the education, health, and safety, and training of 1,850 employees. You're also responsible to manage physical assets north of$1 billion dollars. That's the size of the school corporation. You're responsible for managing cleaning three million square feet every day. You're responsible for safety management of 219 vehicles, including buses, service vehicles, and autos. You're responsible for the safety of
005the school bus fleet, student passengers that travel 6,000 miles per day. You are not allowed to be late or early. You are responsible to manage a fleet of school buses that travel 1.3 million miles annually. You are allowed no accidents. You are responsible for managing an annual budget of $156 million. Your budget is greater than the city of Elcart and greater than the combined budget of three other Elcart school Elcart County school districts. You're responsible for managing security and upkeep of a school corporation properties that encompass 555 acres if they were all conjoined each other or that's 87% of a square mile. You're responsible for managing an annual maintenance and repair budget of $2.2 million. You're responsible for assuring and convincingly persuading Wall Street bankers that Elcart Community Schools has our financial house in order
006and their money is safe. You're responsible. You You get to work 12 to 16 hours every day and 10 hours per day on Saturday and Sunday. You are the representative of Elcart Community Schools 24/7 365. You're responsible for performing any other task the school board might assign you. Please note your school board is highly unlikely to do that anytime soon. Lastly, you are responsible for doing all the above intelligently, strategically, efficiently, effectively, and with great courage, authority, and grace at all times. My safe harbor statement, the above interview questions and comments are solely those of myself and of no others in this board. And so, who in this room would like to apply for a job? That job? Raise your hand. Come on, get him up here. Okay. Second question, who in this room is
007willing to help? Okay, you need to take a look around at yourselves and see what you need to do here, folks. All right, and uh thank you for your time. I appreciate you listening to me. Else All right. All in favor? I I I opposed. The contract passes unanimously. Thank you. Now we are at the public comment uh section of the agenda and first one up would be uh Jean Kern. Please step to the microphone. It's Jean. Good evening. My name is Jeannie Kern. I'm a 1982 graduate of Elcart Central High School. Um I do thank Elcart Community Schools pro for providing me with an excellent education. Um part of that education was I had the honor and privilege of going on the premier um geology class trip to Colorado. Um, that was a life-changing
008experience for me. Um, there were 600 students that applied to go on that premier trip. I was one of 35 or 40 students selected. Um, I was 13 years old. I was an incoming freshman. I was still in junior high because we know the format back then was still 7 through 9, 10 through 12. So, I was the youngest student on that trip. That trip was life-changing for me, and I don't ever want to see that trip go away. That trip has impacted so many students over the last 47 years, and I hope to see that continue well into the future because I know a lot of people had the same experience that I did that it was life-changing for them. So, thank you. Thank you. Next, we have a Poly Corp. Hi. Hello, President
009Scott, Dr. Huff, ladies and gentlemen of the board. I am a longstanding Elcart Community School supporter. I graduated in 1979. I raised my children here. My husband graduated in 1980 and now we have nine grandkids in this school system. I'm here though to express disappointment in regards to a recent hiring. I have to be vague I was told. So I'm trying. Elkart has many many loyal families. These families have sent generations through Elcart schools. But lately, it seems that there has been a disregard for their loyalty, dedication, and community support. Families and indivi individuals who are passionate about Elcart Community Schools are interested in bettering their athletics and their academics are now looking at other school corporations. Recent decisions have forced individuals inside this group to begin the transfer process. They're moving their children or
010child to other school corporations, which saddens me to the core. I did the petition. I took got signatures for the merger. I bought every Elcart apparel item I could buy. I am 100% an Elcart supporter. and now I'm having to make decisions. I also have a disappointment in our athletic coaches in this corporation who send their children elsewhere. If Elcart Community Schools is not good enough for their children, then where is their dedication and their belief in this school system? And yet they're left to coach the children who stay of this head coaching position. Outsiders knew of this before other applicants even were informed. They were told before they got their official phone call. To me, that's not professional. I'm a retired teacher of 40 years from PHM. I sent my kids through this system
011because I believed in it and I still do. As of the 2526 school year, I've been it's my understanding that there may not be a middle school coach for this program. The youth club has been disbanded because the owner of that club is going elsewhere. There are neighboring school systems who are ready to embrace our students. they're caring about them and they've actually put the process in place. My question is why can't Elcart do that? Thank you, [Applause] Gail Martin. I work in transportation and I have a few questions I feel I need answered. Why haven't we received our return papers back to work? Why isn't there any garage work for this year for the summer? drivers feel like we're getting pushed out and you guys are basically requiring us to quit. And who's going
012to be our next uh transportation director? We have no answers. None. And that's all I have to say. We need answers. And we're not getting any. And we feel that there's not, you know, why can't we do summer schools? Why can't we paint, you know, inventory at the garage? There's always something for us to do. Has been since I've worked here. And we all feel like we don't know if we're going to have a job next year. You guys pushing us all out. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Next on the agenda, Dr. Huff, we have the alumni excellence. [Music] Good evening, President Scott, members of the board community. Tonight we have we will recognize Richard Golden for his outstanding contributions to the education to the Elcart community. A lifelong
013resident, Richard attended Elcart schools from kindergarten through high school and later returned to serve as a dedicated science teacher at Brookdale Junior High and West Middle School. His passion for teaching and commitment to students have shaped the lives of countless young people. One of Richard's most lasting contributions began in 1976. And I promise this wasn't coordinated, but I'm pretty sure you can guess what that trip is. It's the now legendary Colorado trip. This two-e journey took eight students to the southwest in Colorado where they explored national parks, historic mines, mining towns, and even hiked in the San Juan Mountains, covering 5 miles a day and summoning Engineer Mountain at over 12,000 ft. For many students, this is the first time ever leaving Indiana, and that's still the case to this day. An unforgettable adventure that
014taught responsibility, courage, and perseverance. Thanks to Richard's vision and leadership, the Colorado trip continues to this day, impacting generations of students. Tonight, we'll get to hear just a little bit of Richard has to say about this before we honor him this evening. [Music] My name is Richard Golden. I graduated from Elkart High School in 1957. Um, I spent uh four years of Ball State getting a teaching license and I was in the classroom here in Elkcart for 34 years uh teaching industrial arts or science. [Music] Uh my experience was was very good. That was back in the uh days when not many many people had cars and we had to walk to school, walk home, walk to the Friday night dances at the old YW.CA uh from the football games or basketball games. Uh it
015was just a a wonderful experience. we could get to know a lot of our classmates uh because of those kinds of things. Uh had some really good times uh cruising Main Street and in our cars if you had a car. I had one teacher, John Dybal, that he was probably the reason I went into education. Uh John talked to me about becoming a teacher uh a number of times and because of him I went to Ball State and became a teacher 47 I think it's 47 years ago I started a program a geology class taking kids to Colorado and uh one of the kids I took out there ended up to being Exxon's major geologist ologist. Uh, that was just fantastic. I think I took uh roughly 2,000 kids to Colorado, backpacking up in the
016high mountains uh and a lot of really interesting experiences. We were coming up out of Animal Forest, which is a ghost town. And if you've ever spent a night in a real ghost town in the high mountains with a bunch of 14year-old kids, it's an experience. because of this field trip, Elcart, the city of Elcart and Elcart schools. Um, a lot of people know about us and the school system because of this trip. They're amazed that we are doing that kind of a trip and it's still going on after 47 46 years. It's still going on and it's wonderful. That's something I [Music] started a good education and a lot of good [Music] memories. Uh my advice for current students is listen to your teachers, work hard. Um, I learned that those lessons later in
017high [Music] school, as always, it's always a pleasure to just remind people of the outstanding individuals who not only have come through our school system, but are leaving a legacy to this day, to this moment, and are shaping lives of our kids with their visionary works and their efforts to make just life better for our students and families. So without any further ado, I would like to, if he's willing, Mr. Golden to come up and share a few [Applause] words. I was afraid I was going to be asked to talk, you know. I look up here and I see all these young people here and I started this program 47 years ago and I thought maybe you guys would like to find out how it started and why it started. Uh I was teaching science
018at Brookdale, the old Brookdale Junior High School. And uh that was in the daytime and at night some nights I had a boy scout troop only it was not all boys we had girls too. So it was just a scout troop and uh uh we went on we had our own bus which we were not dependent on anybody any for transportation. So we could do a lot of things that most scouts scout troops could not. And we uh do these backpacking trips uh Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, uh many places. And uh wherever we went, the kids I had in class, they were talking about what they learned in class. uh uh some geology, some uh astronomy, and uh they're they're laying in their sleeping bags at night talking about those things. And they're living that
019on this trip. They're living in they can see these things and living it. And uh we were coming back from South Dakota, backpacking in Black Hills. And uh I was driving the bus. There's a bunch of kids behind me and some of them in the other seat in the front and uh they were talking about those things and all of a sudden it kind of dawned on me this would make a great school trip, a great school summer school class. and got back to Elcart, talked to Jean Miller, a woman I was teaching with and we wrote up a a proposal and turned it in and eventually it was accepted and 47 years it's still going and that's how it got started. Boy Scout troop had some great adventures. We have a lot of stories.
020I could stand up here all night and tell you stories. Uh uh the one of them I would like to one story I'd like to tell you. We'd spend four days up in the mountains and uh it's got pretty tough. Uh physically it was tough. Sometimes it was raining. Sometimes it was cold. Sometimes it was snowing. And uh uh and we get through the four days and we're going to come back down out of the mountains on the fifth day and uh we'd have a big bonfire going and at night and the kids are all sitting around it and uh the kids are dirty, tired uh and but they were all smiling. They were all telling stories about the adventure and uh and I would get back on a rock rock outcropping and and just
021watch and listen and they were such happy kids. It was amazing. And then they didn't know it, but they didn't smell very we didn't smell very because we all smell that way. But we'd get down to the bus and we'd drive into Uray, Colorado and go to a natural hot springs swimming pool and uh they would walk into the the building and uh into the dressing rooms and the people that were in there, you could just see them going, they're smelling and it was us. And uh but they they would uh get in the hot springs swimming pool then get cleaned up and brand new or clean clothes on. And uh uh they would come out and it was you know like you had to call them not girls anymore, young ladies, gentlemen. The boys
022were not boys, they were men. And it was just a wonderful feeling. And that's just one of the stories I I could tell you and and I could take hours doing it, but that's that's it. Any questions? No. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Huff. Uh, next, uh, we have the moment of pride. I actually love this name of this team, the Elcart High School Rocketry uh team who went to nationals. I didn't know Rocketry was a word, but uh it's kind of fun to say. Uh yes, thank you for having us tonight. Um we are here representing the Elkcart High School Rocketry team. As you can see, um we are three of the members that made it to nationals this year. Um we'll start by introducing ourselves. Um my name is Natalie Middleton. I a
023senior this year in high school. I will be attending uh Goan College in the fall for um a major in business. Hi everybody. Um, I'm Olivia Eversil. I'm a senior this year. I'll be attending Butler University to major in physics. And I'm Dana Pogo. I'm a junior in Elkart High School. So, we'll start off by telling you a little bit about our experience at nationals this year through the American Rocketry Challenge. I'll let you take it away. Um, so first of all, the American Rocketry Challenge, um, it's this organization where different teams from different schools all around the country, they'll submit their scores. I think this year we had about 1,000 teams submit scores to this challenge and they take 100 of those teams to nationals. And so we had two teams make it to
024nationals, both Elcart High School. We were also the only teams from Indiana. So that was pretty cool. Um so we left I think last Friday. Um it was my first time on the plane. That was pretty fun. Uh yes, so we flew all the way to Virginia, which is absolutely beautiful. And that Friday night we had a safety briefing. um just a lot of instructions what was going to happen. Um we met some people. It was really cool. And then the next day was our launch. So pretty much first thing we went to get our eggs. They have a bunch of different eggs, you know, with different weights and you pick your eggs and then you go start to get ready to launch. Um we had to make a few last minute adjustments. Um that
025was interesting, but it was fun. Yeah. U so all of the teams launched at least once. Um, our goal was 815 ft and our target time was to go up and come down and hit the ground um within 41 to 44 seconds. So Natalie and I are on a team together. This is our rocket. It's got our initials on it. Um, it went up and came down in 43 seconds, which is really good. And we were about 87 feet off. So our score was 87. Um, we ended up placing 62 of 100. We didn't get a second launch. And then our other team moving to pad five on the Stein range. Um me and my teammate placed 70 because our rocket didn't really went up as high cuz it was it the wind it was
026way too windy when we we were the first one to launch and the wind made it a little difficult for us to fly. But we still made it. We didn't got disqualified. We launched our rocket. Yes. Um, so there were also various competitions throughout the day and little activities that we got to experience while we were there. Not only launching our actual rockets up in the air for judging, but other activities to learn more hands-on about rocket building and just science in general and how to communicate with each other. Um, we have an example uh on the board of one of the rocket building challenges we did. We got to design um a small rocket. It didn't need to be launchable, but we either got points for being creative or having good craftsmanship. We went
027for the creativity side and just did a crazy design with ours. Um but it was a lot of fun and it was uh very interesting seeing how time pressured it was but still being able to collaborate with everyone and be able to build this under a time constraint. All right. Um after that we had a dinner. Um we got lunch we had lunch and dinner provided with our like finalist badges. So that was pretty cool. Um, there was also an ice cream like snack time. Also, they had like astronauts and other people involved with like different types of rocketry activities and there were space force people there. It was really cool. There were a lot of very inspiring adults that they had some people talk, some people were just there answering questions. It was really
028fun. Um, they also had a high power rocket launch. Um there were about I think between eight and 10 like big rockets. These things could have gone like miles up into the air some of them. They didn't though. Um there were some reasons why. I think one of those was like planes. It's kind of a big thing. But yeah, they gave that uh demonstration for us. That was really cool. And then we had awards. One of the cool things about this organization is that they give out a lot of prize money to the kids. The top team gets I think 20,000 for the kids and then 1,000 for their school. So, that's a pretty big deal. And then it's the top 10 teams that get prize money. And then there are other prizes such as
029like best rookie and I think a couple other things. Um, we unfortunately didn't win anything, but it was really fun just to see the enthusiasm um on the faces of the people that did and it was just a really fun time. Yes, I definitely agree. Um, this was a very much so once in a lifetime experience. Um, I thought building the rockets was fun, but just being able to see them launch with all these other uh very enthusiastic people around us was very, very interesting. Um, we learned a lot as we were there. Um, not only about rocket building, but just how to learn on hands-on and be adaptive in the moment. Um, as we said before, we ran into some minor complications before we initially launched. So, just being able to adapt and uh
030go through the circumstances that we had to um it was very valuable experience. Um, it was also uh interesting. The few of us that did go, we were all females that went. So, just seeing women in STEM and just being part of the rocket building, it was very unique and definitely once in a lifetime. After the competition, we went to DC to explore cuz we had um a free day. And so our teacher that went with us, we went to places like national museums and me and my team, we um we were able to learn stuff that well, we already did learn them, but we made like we were more exposed to them and like we learned even more from those like the Holocaust. That was a really um that was um a really good
031experience for us because it was very detailed and we were like able to know more about it. And yeah, um, last but certainly not least, uh, we want to say thank you to the parents, the grandparents, you know, guardians, teachers, mentors, and sponsors because we couldn't have gotten here without money or help or, you know, anybody, you know, we had so many people helping us and it was a really good experience. Yes. Uh, thank you also. I have I have a question. What what kind of fuel are you using? Um, so there are a few different rocket motors that they have on the market. We use um F F42 motors. Um, so there there are different suppliers that supply them. Um, the propellant inside of them is what? Dynamite, rocket fuel, rocket fuel, liquid, liquid,
032solid. Um, I'm not really sure, but it's it is safe. That's how it matters. Maybe I missed that aspect of the safety thing here. Well, I I will say thanks for representing Elcart uh high uh the way you guys did. I'm sorry, the way you ladies did. So, proud of you. Um I know you guys went and um represented as well. So, thank you for that. Also, thank you for representing the state of Indiana as well. And uh and uh you know I'm I'm seeing you know you it was more it sounds like than just a a competition for you and uh you know you had your first you know plane flight which you probably understood what was going on much greater than I uh do anytime in a plane but uh you know these
033are experiences that uh you're going to be able to take with you on the butler with your major in physics and uh you know hold for the rest of your life. So, um, no, thank you very much for representing our high school and, uh, the state of Indiana and and I hope that you guys come back and have the opportunity to mentor next year's team. That will be great. And I want to say a thank you to Dan Welsh for bringing this program to us and allowing us to be able to move through that. So, I think it would be, you know, so thank you to him and thank you for who stepped in for Mr. Walsh to continue this on. And I just really am proud of you guys and good luck in your
034career. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. Next on the agenda, uh, 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. First up is our academics. Over 200 Elkart High School seniors participated in IvyTech spring graduation ceremony. Many students earned the Indiana College Corps while others completed their associates degrees before receiving their high school diplomas. All credits were earned at no cost to families, saving thousands for future tuition. North Side Middle School students took part in a hands-on learning day at Elcart Area Career Center. From culinary arts to healthcare and beyond, students got to take an early look at engaging programs and career pathways available to them at the high school and beyond. Elcart High
035School seniors have been participating in graduation walks, returning to their former elementary and middle schools to celebrate how far they've come. These meaningful visits inspire younger students and give seniors a chance to reflect on the journey through Elcart Community Schools. Our kindergarten students at Beersley Elementary took a deep dive into science, learning about the five layers of the ocean. Mrs. Klein's students created a visual model to explore how these layers appear in real life, combining science and creativity. We also want to congratulate our graphic design and commercial photography students at the Elcart Area Career Center. Competing in the student division of a 220 2025 American Advertising Federation awards, typically dominated by college students, our students earned multiple honors, including four gold stars and five silver awards. Their success highlights the value of our dual credit
036partnership with IvyTech. Elkart High School's freshman division hosted its spring 2025 food truck event where students showcased the culinary talents and teamwork. Staff and community members enjoyed creative food samples while celebrating the students growing skills and confidence in the kitchen. In the area of arts, for our sixth year in a row, Elkcart Community Schools has once again been named the best community for music education by the NAM Foundation. This honor celebrates our incredible student musicians and educa educators who support them. Cleveland Elementary School held its annual fine arts days this past week, showcasing showcasing student musicians and art galleries throughout the day and hosting an evening openhouse for families to celebrate the school's vi vibrant art programs. In athletics, Elcart Community Schools participated in the annual unified Special Olympics where teams of students were with
037diverse physical and mental abilities competed side by side in track and field events. With support from their buddies, participants displayed teamwork, determination, and joy, making it a day to remember. Elcart High School's football held its spring scrimmages to give families a first look at the fall 2025 Lions community to 2025 Lion team. These events offer valuable practice time for athletes and opportunities for the Elcart Lions community to come together and celebrate the season ahead. Go Lions. Congratulations to North Side Middle School's Maitell King who earned the big who earned the big 11 high jump champion with an impressive jump of 5'8 in. His achievement highlights the hard work and talents of our student athletes across Elcart Community Schools. For our future happenings, May 29th is our last day of school. June 2nd is our Elkart
038High School sports awards. June 4th is graduation. June 9th, Katherine Wolf Awards and June 11th 11th will be our Tim Bringingle Awards. As always, please be sure to follow our district and school social media pages as we share each day the excellence of Elkcart Community Schools. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wood. Great job filling in for Aaron. Thank you. [Applause] Next on the agenda, I have uh the consent items. Do I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any discussions? Sure do. And we have at a value of $4,800, a donation of a 2012 pacer with a 2.9 engine for our dieseltech department from the Jacob Falattovic construction. And the next item that would come from Oola
039Grace Brethren Church is valued at $1,500 and that is a 2003 bus that'll go to the diesel and tech department. Also, $7,500 from Simon Sales Care of David Elliot will go towards our student activities for extracurricular events. $900 worth of door prizes came from Mallister Machinery, including hats, shirts, mugs, and a drill machinery set. and Rocky Enfield once again showing great support to our community donated $300 to support our National History Day National Qualifiers with their travel expenses. $1,250 from Legacy Heating and Cooling is to grow our sport athletic department. And at $250, Bonell Aluminum gave us money towards our national qualifying for our rocket team that just was here to offset costs. And our last is a $500 from our community foundation on behalf of the Dr. Wendy and Matt Wendy scholarship fund which
040goes to one senior in the vet class for a one-time um donation of a scholarship. And of course, Dr. Wendy owns Noah's Landing and she is also very supportive in giving um internships and other items to grow the future development of our veterinarian program at the Elcart Career Center. So, those are our totals once again from our school, from our community on behalf of Elcart Community Schools. Thank you. Uh, Miss Mullins, any other discussion from the board? Oh, yeah. We have two retirements. Bring it back down. Um, I have Diane Ammo. She is leaving Oslo School, 28 years of service, and she's retiring from our ENL program. So, we celebrated her at our last meeting. Um she has served in so many different areas just growing children in their faith, growing children in what they
041needed to do in their ENL, but mostly her parental involvement is phenomenal. Um Cheryl Berky, she's leaving after 16 years the career center, but we she left, you know, somebody very capable in church and uh that is Zach Lucas, but she was our food service, chef, culinary, event coordinator in other areas that she took care of things. She's just wonderful. And then Sheila Moravvic, she was a paraprofessional at Cleveland Elementary for 29 years. That's 29 years of growing our school and our children. So we celebrate them on their retirement and thank you so much for their service to Elkart Community Schools. Thank you again. Any other discussion? I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I opposed. Passes unanimously. Next, Mr. Thorne. Old business. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board, Dr.
042Huff. Uh tonight, our first agenda item uh is a proposed resolution. Uh tonight, the administration is presenting for your for your approval uh this proposed resolution authorizing supplemental payment for teachers in the content areas of math and science. An earlier draft of this con this resolution was shared with you for your consideration during the March 11th 2025 meeting. Purpose of this resolution is to offer supplemental payments as a retention incentive to encourage teachers in these highnee content areas to continue their employment with Algart Community Schools through the 202526 school year. Unless the board of school trustees takes further action to extend the program, this resolution will expire at the end of that school term, which will give you an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of this proposed resolution. Seeking your approval this evening. Do I
043have a motion? So move. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Do I have any questions or discussions from the board? I'd like to chime in, President Scott. Um I do want to make sure that um when we do have this conversation, when these are bonuses are given out as of today, I think the latest numbers I got from HR that that meets this criteria that we've established there's eight um eight um employment opportunities and all the information we made public to our ETA make sure our teachers so they get this information so nothing is um I think it's for us is make sure that we're transparent when we're doing these things and so um I will definitely do that and also in um January,
044we also need to make sure that we come back with a report to our entire community and to our school board to measure the effectiveness of our not only our hires but also this process. So um I'm certainly committed to doing that. I I know our team is as well. It was comment Doug. It wasn't really a question. So they were very thoughtful comments. However, thank you. Anything else? I have a motion and I have a second. All in favor of this resolution? I I opposed. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Uh the uh second resolution that we're presenting this evening uh for your approval is a proposed resolution which authorizes the superintendent to offer supplemental payments as a hiring incentive to candidates in identified high need areas. Uh these hiring incentives were originally included in the
045March 11th resolution. However, it was later determined that the retention and hiring incentive should be addressed in separate resolutions. Uh like the proposed retention uh incentive, this hiring incentive will only apply to candidates hired for the 202526 school year and will not extend beyond that year unless further action is taken by this board. Seeking your approval this evening. Thank you. Uh do I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Any questions or discussions from the board? Uh last thing I think for process processing piece for retention. Um I think I had them switched. Um make sure that their payment within 30 days of when they're done and also again at the end um in July make sure that we come back
046and speak and talk about really evaluating this process. My goal is selfle. We look at this on a year-to-year basis, but with plenty of lead time and feedback from our teachers association, um, and also from our HR team and legal counsel on the effectiveness of this program. So again, um, I think there's some mechanics that we also need to make sure that we communicate about through this process. Doug, it is okay to actually say something now. Yeah. Okay. All right. Absolutely. All right. Thank you. Anything else from the board? I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I opposed. This resolution passes. Next, we have administrative guide guidelines 3121ACS, uh, personal background checks, references, and mandatory reporting. Thank you, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff. Uh this evening uh we're presenting
047for further consideration and review a proposed administrative guideline related to the procedures that are to be followed by the human resources department related to the conduct of background and reference checks for new employees to the school district as well as an obligation to conduct scheduled background checks for current employees of the corporation that is done every five years uh in a rolling basis in terms of of when that when that happens. proposed guideline was first presented to you for your consideration on May the 13th. Um this is uh administrative guideline. We don't have any voting requirement as to this particular document. Happy to answer any questions related to it. However, do we have any questions regarding this administrative guideline? No questions. We can move on to board policy uh 3141.01A 01A suspension and dismissal of
048professional staff members. Thank you so much. Uh tonight the administration is presenting for your approval a proposed revisions to this policy. This proposed revision eliminates a requirement to provide notice by a specific date regarding whether or not administrator's contract will be non-renewed or the administrator will be reassigned to a different position. With the exception of assistant superintendent, principles, and assistant principles, this is not a requirement under law. We are seeking your approval of these proposed revisions to this policy this evening. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion in a second. Do I have any questions or comments from the board? Hearing none or seeing none. All in favor? I opposed. Next on the agenda, we have board policy 3410.04 CS uh substitute compensation. Thank you. Tonight,
049the administration is also presenting for approval proposed revisions to the compensation plan for substitute teachers. This proposed revision would not take effect until July 1, 2025. The policy is presented increases the rate paid for substitute teachers with the substitute permission issued by the Indiana Department of Education to $120 per day and also increases the rate paid for certified teachers employed as a substitute to $160 per day. The proposed revision adds an incentive to be paid to substitutes working 25 to 49 days during a semester of $300 per semester and an incentive for substitute teachers working more than 50 days per semester, an incentive of $600. Additionally, the proposed revision clarifies language related to an incentive for substitute nurses. The policy also eliminates the premium rate currently paid to retired substitute teachers as this rate is
050no longer sustainable given the f current financial challenges the district is facing. Seeking your approval of that this evening as well. Thank you, Mr. Thorne. Do I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a motion. I have a second. Any comments or questions from the board? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Uh, next we have board policy 5350, student suicide awareness and prevention. Thank you so much. So that the district can be in compliance with provisions of Indiana code section 2026-5-34.4. The administration is recommending board approval of this policy which sets forth in detail the training obligations for district employees related to this important topic. This past fall, all district employees were required to participate in training specifically related to suicide awareness
051and pro and prevention. And we are seeking your approval of this policy this evening. Thank you, Mr. Stor. Do I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Second. I have a motion and second. Uh any questions or comments from the board regarding this policy? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Next we have administrative guidelines 5600B, guidelines for secondary school athletics. Thank you. Uh tonight the administration is presenting for further consideration review proposed revisions to this guideline uh that governance guidelines for secondary school athletics. Bring this just for further review and consideration. No formal action is required. Thank you. Do we have any questions from from the board regarding this administrative guideline? Seeing or hearing none, thank you. We'll move on. Thank you. Thank you. Next on the agenda under
052new business, uh, Miss Bradner, we have agreement for residential services. Yes. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff. Uh, the administration recommends board approval of an alternative residential services agreement for an Elcart Community Schools student. Do I have a motion regarding this uh agreement for residential services? No move. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Do I have any questions or comments regarding this agreement for Miss Brander? Seeing or hearing none. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Next on the agenda, Mr. Quiet. uh resolution for uh transfer amounts from the operating referendum tax levy fund to the operations fund. Yes. Thank you, President Scott, school board of trustees and Dr. Huff. Um this resolution addresses the operating referendum fund uh currently holds a
053cash balance of approximately $3.5 million um and no longer has a revenue source uh since our referendum has not been renewed for many years now. Um this proposal would uh shift that May end month balance into the operations fund. Um consolidating that group of consolidated cash balance that we um talked about. Um it's important to note that this is a procedural action permissible under the Indiana code and will not impact overall cash balances but uh more of a house cleaning item. So, I would ask the board to approve the resolution uh recommending the approval of uh transfer amounts from the operating referendum tax levy fund to the operations fund. Do I have a motion regarding this resolution? Do I have a second? Second. Do I have any uh comments or questions? I do have a
054quick question. this uh upon if this is to be approved the effective date is immediate. We would uh close out the month of May to ensure any in expenses that are incurred in this month are captured um and we would report that to you um in the June or May's month end at the June meeting of what that actual final dollar amount that was transferred. So, thank you. Do I have any other questions or comments? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Uh financial report, Mr. Quiet. Yes. Thank you, President Scott. Um a brief financial report um for the close of uh April. This is the May financial update, but reporting on uh April expenses year-to date. Um again, just sharing uh a snapshot of where our dollars went from the
055um operations fund. You can see uh $3 million of expenses there in the education fund. About 7 and a4 million again uh 97% in our education fund is um moving towards uh personnel wages and benefits. Um it continues to be um a trend that we have here. Um and then this is a uh chart on our cash balance of those consolidated funds. Again, um with that resolution that just approved that 610 fund will no longer be included. However, that cash balance will remain. So, we won't see a change in that. Um we shared at our last board meeting um kind of that waterfall of our cash balance and what you're seeing here is um we're at about 5% cash balance to expenditures. Um and we know that in May it will drop again when we
056report that. However, uh June will see our local property tax levy. So, we received that in uh January and June. So, it is anticipated that those funds dropped. However, at the rate that um that cash is burning through, we will we are looking at some options for the end of the year to um um ensure that we have a sign or an appropriate cash balance. Um the green and the red lines you see on there are 12 and 15 or 12 and 17% of expenditures and um the state um uses a prudent range of 10 to 15%. So um as we move through this um we will see this summer some of the effects of some of the cost savings initiatives we started to put in place um regarding uh summer school, some of the
057routes, some of the different uh summer work that we've tried to uh streamline and um be a little more coordinated on. um we should start to see some cost savings there. Um again, as we move into the next school year and some different contracts and some other u pieces that we're we're putting in place come into effect, we'll narrow in on a number that we may need to look at um borrowing to bolster that cash balance to finish out the year. Um and we will provide more information to the board and the community as to how we hope to address that um likely next month. um working closely again with our team, our our uh group with policy analytics and understanding, you know, the tax implications and kind of what that means for our future
058borrowing capacity, taking that all into effect um or into account as we propose some sort of a solution moving forward for the board. So, um that concludes my financial update. If there's any questions, be happy to answer them. We have any questions uh from the board regarding the financial updates. Hey, Zach. Yes. Um, how much are we expecting um in June for property tax receipts? Uh, 13 millionish. Um, I can get a more accurate number for you on that, but rough. Any other questions or comments? Do do we know when we're going to have um more information from um our partners who are helping us um with all the legislation that's happened the last month or so of where we stand and how that's going to affect some of the decisions we have to make?
059Yes. So, we had a we had a group call with uh many of the school districts that work with policy analytics and they've given us um uh their approach to how they're calculating these numbers and some different scenarios that we're going to look at. Um we're working to finalize a date to work with our internal administrative team to look at our specific data. Um and then also working with him to kind of share back with the community what that impact will have. Uh and I would say we can expect um something by in the next couple months um from policy analytics and how they are what uh impact they're projecting on the cash um levy and as well as our tax rate and how that these um Senate enrolled act one is going to impact
060those elard. We're we're meeting with them in June to to go over our specific data for Elcart Community. Correct. We're meeting with them in June to go over our specific information for Elcart Community Schools. Correct. Yes. Okay. Early June. Yes. Yeah. So, I would expect us to to provide a community an update after that June meeting. So, um pretty this is von that will be when you receive that information. Go ahead. Any other questions or comments regarding the financial report? Seeing none, we'll move to the insurance report. Thank you, President Scott. Um, again, reviewing our loss ratio. I think last month I reported um that we are still finalizing those numbers and making sure that our modeling was correct. Um, we've narrowed that in and we're confident that we're operating at about a 74% loss
061ratio, which is um good to start the year. Um, again, I'll remind everyone publicly that um insurance funds can change drastically. Uh all it takes is a couple um claims, emergent claims. Um and that can change trend can change quickly, but um we are, you know, off to a good start through these first four months. Um Gallagher is planning to market our plan and and look at um some different options um from a cost and service standpoint. We look forward to hearing that uh sharing that with the uh insurance committee um as we come back from school. Um and then additionally, we're going to be collecting some employee feedback. We're going to send out a survey. I know the impetus of this move um to work with Gallagher was to really um do a better
062job of communicating and understanding how we can help our um employees utilize this benefit that the district um um shares a big part of the financial burden of. Um but we also know that it's important that our staff is um physically and mentally and financially secure and this is just part of that package um that helps with to do that. And so we're hoping to collect some feedback to learn a little bit more about what they understand um about the plan that we offer and how we can do a better job of making sure that they know what resources are available to them. So uh that concludes my insurance update and happy to answer any questions. Hey, I just have a quick question on on the loss ratio for those who don't know. Could you
063could you tell them what the denominator is? Uh what's that's what's that's based on? Yeah. So, we work with our broker uh partner to um understand uh claims um and how much we project will be paid out in medical cost as well as some of the fixed cost of the of the partnerships that we have in that plan. Um and then we project out how much we need to fund that. The district pays a portion of that. The employee district pays 70 plus% of that. The employee pays the remainder of that. Um and then those dollars go into a fund and as we pay out on those uh claims, insurance claims, um if it's, you know, we we've paid 75% effectively or 74% of the dollars that we've collected to date. Um and so the
064the goal is that you really want to plan this so it comes in about as close to 100% as you can. Um that means you're not spending uh more than you have and it also means you're not building up a big reserve, right? And so um that's the goal. In the last few years, we've been pretty uh within a few percentage points of that 100% mark. And I think with this early trend, I think we can uh expect similar results. Perfect. Thank you. Any other questions or comments regarding the uh insurance report? Okay. Thank you, Mr. Quiet. Thank you, Dr. Huff. Thank you, President Scott, members of board community. Um, last week I had the pleasure of attending our adult education graduation ceremony. Um, that's conducted by Mr. Eekens and his team. Um, I found
065that to be one of the most fulfilling time that you could ever be watching adults from age 19 all the way up to age 65 receive their adult equivalency um, uh, diploma. If you don't think those things matter, go spend time at that event. I heard a lot of hoop and hollering obviously at that event, but we saw people 65 years old committed to making sure that they advance not just themselves, but what they represent for their families as well. Watching little babies and little um younger family members, watching their parents receive their diploma. It was a huge deal. So, I just want to say Mr. Eekens and his team did a wonderful job. But overall, I felt like that was just a great night to spend that time there with our family. So, I
066just want to let you know about that. Um, also want to share a little bit about two schools that were recognized by the IDOE, Monger Elementary and Riverview Elementary as um, family-friendly schools. And it that just doesn't mean that our families are friendly to them when they come in. They had to go through a rigorous process to receive this type of u recognition from the IDO. Um, they had to show um, how they are engaged with family, what type of activities that they do. Also, those schools had to show the academic pieces on what things they put in place to make sure that their kids are receiving a rigorous learning environment there as well. Very proud of those two schools for their accomplishment. Thank you to Mrs. Kripe, Beth Williams, um, uh, Principal April Walker,
067um, also to Holly Connelly, and everyone else at the at the two schools for that recognition. We should be very proud of that. to be singled out by the state to have two of those schools out of when there's only 45. Huge deal for our school community. Um, also I would like to give a a shout out to our boys golf team. Last Saturday they won the conference championship. Um, yeah, say it out there a little bit louder. They We have an amazing group of uh of young um men who have done an outstanding job this year and they're a young team as well. So, I expect us to be pretty good for years to come. And also, the United um the unified track team also won sectionals last Saturday as well. So, things are
068going very well in the sports world uh for Elcart Community Schools. Um from a professional development side, on May 14th, um we had our first group go through our leadership academy here in Elcart Community Schools. approximately 14 different educators spanning assistant principles, teachers, principles, um some central office staff um went through that leadership academy where we went over curriculum, budgeting, um public relations, um what it looks like at the superintendency level um and they are really committed. They came every single month, every single Wednesday book study um to uh one to advance themselves professionally, but I think it's important that you grow your own um like I a big believer Superman's not going to come and save us. I want to say thank you to Jason Enman, to Maggie Lozano, and also to Lindsay Brander
069for your help during that process and also for our board members who came and spoke at that event and anyone else who came to contribute to those um educators growth. I thought it was a really good time. is really the highlight of my weeks um here with them. So, I thought that was a good thing. Um but last but certainly not least, we made it to the end of the school year. We have two days left. Um today I was able to get to five different schools all celebrating the end of the school day in a different way. Whether it's handing out popsicles at Mary Daily like I had the pleasure to do this afternoon, this morning, or watching the little Tikes down at the Hawthorne Early Learning Center. Um, I plan to be there
070tomorrow at 8 a.m. to see their little promotion ceremony. There's a lot of good times that are happening here in Elcart Community Schools. We're doing great work. Teachers, custodial staff, transportation, all of you. Anyone who is connected with a kid here, we just want to say thank you, but also respit is good. Breaks are it's okay. It's okay to enjoy your break. Trust me, you're going to need those over the next two days cuz these kids seem ready for break. But I just want to say thank you and it's been an outstanding 2425 school year and I can't wait to see the things that come for next year. So I'm going to turn it back over to you, President Scott. Thank you, Dr. Huff U from the board. Well, quickly I I ended it with
071saying about the rocket um group that that Dan stepped out of, but Julie Tyowski, thank you for doing a great job with helping them and making sure that they got to where they needed to be at the end of it and celebrating them. So saying that and then also I had the privilege last meeting to talk to you about the unified music program and went to the concert. It was phenomenal. Phenomenal. You would not believe what they did with those students and the music, but even more so cuz I'm a rock and roll chick. All of a sudden I hear smoke on the water and I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. And so it was through the roof amazing what they did with those students. But I have to tell you about our
072seniors. You knew that they were seniors because they were dressed a certain way. They were right there with our students holding that instrument, cradling them, making sure that they moved their bow, making sure that they were pissicado on top of their base. They were right there 100% invested. what Tracy Hyrick has done with that program. You were walking out of there in awe with tears in your eyes because you could not believe the empathy, the growth, but the full commitment that our students had to those musicians. So kudos to our music program which we celebrated here, we celebrated last time, we continue to celebrate. But it was with complete awe that I saw our students giving the very best of themselves and their commitment. So, we are beyond blessed with everything that we have going.
073Even when sometimes it's a little bit cloudy, there are so many rays of sunshine happening inside of this school district. We need to keep lifting those up. So, do not miss that next year, you guys. It was outstanding. Any other comments or final thoughts from the board? All right, meeting is adjourned. Thank you everyone.