001second 2025 public work session. At this time, I will call call the public work session to order. Good evening, President Scott, members of the school board, Dr. Dr. Huff and any members of the community that are here this evening. I'd like to present an update on our construction projects that are underway. I'm going to begin with a a small quote that I think really sums up the work that we do. The physical environment of a school, its classrooms, hallways, and facilities can significantly impact students ability to learn with well-designed modern spaces fostering engagement, creativity, and academic success. And to me, this this quote really gets to the heart of what we are pursuing as a district, which is 46.75 million worth of construction over the course of 24 to 30 months, beginning last fall and
002continuing until next summer, hopefully all to be complete by August of 26. So, I'd like to begin with the Elcart Area Career Center project. This is a project that the board approved last fall and is certainly under construction as hopefully many of you have seen as you drive down California Road. Before we get into the actual pictures, I'd like to talk about the process of how we begin a project such as this. The first thing we do as a district is define our needs. So, in this case, Mr. Eekens presented a proposal that represented additional classroom space and gathering space for his career center. And this is specifically what you see here is specifically for the criminal justice program. Once those needs were defined, then we began to create a program based upon those spaces.
003From there, we established a budget based upon our bonding capacity. Once we established the budget, then we identified our consultants, presented those for board approval. From there, we then meet with all the constituents that are involved with the process and begin to design the actual spaces. Once the spaces are designed, the construction documents are completed and then we move on to bidding the project. Once the bids are received, then we present a recommendation forward to the board, which board would had did approve would approve. And from there, we begin our construction. In this case, the construction is going to last a little over 13 months. With this project scheduled to be completed in December, basically December 31st of 2025 is the drop dead date. We anticipate we might be done just a little sooner. And
004after that, of course, is occupancy, which we need the the city and local city local officials, state officials to put their blessing on it. We need to receive a certificate of occupancy, which means it's ready to be used and then we move in and we begin using these spaces. So, I'm going to quickly go through some photos here. Uh, actually, I covered this slide already for the most part. Uh but I'm going to go through some photos then of what in fact the process has looked like uh of of importance here is something that Mr. Eeken shared with me and I wanted to make sure that I was very clear on the work at the career center not only at the main campus but also at dieseltech and building trades will add between 150 and
005180 180 additional seats for students. In other words, we are going to increase our capacity. Uh this year we had just under 1,350 students enrolled and after three cycles, three student school years, we anticipate that we will be over 1500 students in the career center and the work here as well as diesel tech and building trades is going to help us to achieve that. So here are just a few uh pictures actually. These are chronological. I'm not going to talk through every one of them, but you can see how the process uh moves from beginning when we actually were digging trenches to the PL uh underground plumbing. Uh the picture on the right here, this is the rack room or the tech room for WVP. We are moving WVP from their current location on the
006second floor to the former Elcart Academy space. It's going to present them with more space, additional area for studios. They'll actually have three brand new studios. They'll have their um office space as well as an area dedicated to the um yearly um drive that they have. There'll be a space for that as well. And again, you can see some of the they're kind of boring until you get to the point where you actually see some concrete going in for the slabs. Again, more work in the in the uh tech room as well as the structure which is now underway. There on the right, you can see the walls going up, the roof joist being installed. You can see that the wall sheathing is being installed. And this picture, actually, I love this picture because the
007clouds make it uh a nice dreamy picture. But this was last Friday, and they've actually advanced even further beyond this with more of the wall sheathing up. So again, we are on schedule to be done by the end of the year, and it's a very exciting pro process, and it's exciting progress. We just had our bi-weekly meeting this morning and they gave us an update where all three projects are actually right on schedule. Next project I'd like to talk about is the diesel tech project. So I didn't mention it about the career center project, but these are the renderings that were completed prior to construction beginning. So this is what we expect the building to look like. We got a couple of different views here. This one would be an aerial from the southwest. And
008you can see that we've actually added four bays. There were currently there were are currently four bays that are being used and the four bays to the south plus a storage area are being added. Uh the pond that's shown in the picture, I asked Jamie Lake if he intended to uh to promote a a fishing uh class for us because we do not intend to have standing water there. Uh Jamie took that like a champ. He said I should have asked you before I put water in there. And then this is from the southeast. So it's you can see it's basically the same from both sides but the the the addition the four doors on the left hand side plus the storage area. So we are doubling our capacity in terms of bays. We will
009now have eight bays plus additional storage. The intent for this building is to move auto trades from the building that's in the back uh over here which will clear up space which I'll get to in just a minute as far as what Mr. Eekans would like to do with the space that we are vacating. In the background, there's a smaller building uh next to all the parked cars. That's actually our existing building trades. That project is set to begin as soon as school's out, be done by the end of the year. We're putting a small addition on that building as well. And that will house two additional classrooms. So, we'll have three total for our building trades program. And again, I got a little bit ahead of the slides, but uh it's a little easier
010for me to talk through it. So, again, you can see the progress. uh had to deal with some weather. There were a few days that were were certainly very snowy, but uh this building actually went up much quicker and we are sitting at a point now where the entire exterior is complete along with the overhead doors and the man doors. And they are inside working on painting the existing struct or the new structure which you can see in the picture on the right here. And they will begin hanging the mechanical units and the exhaust system. And this building will be completed by June 30th. There's actually not a whole lot to do on the interior because it's it they are giant workbase. And this picture is also from last week. And you get a good
011idea of how this how this building looks in relation to the existing site and the existing building. And as I mentioned, Mr. Eeken shared some information with me. So the space that we will be vacating, so the existing space for auto trades that's moving over here and the existing space for criminal justice, uh this career center has identified three additional programs that they'd like to propose that would then help to increase our numbers to that 150 to 180 seats. I do not know what those programs are. I'll leave that to the instructional side, but Mr. Akens has definitely identified uses for the space that we are are are vacating in order to move them into the upgraded new spaces. The next project is the health and strength center. Again, these are renderings of what we
012expect the building to look like when it's complete. This project began in late 2024. Uh we had the good fortune of having a very nice groundbreaking there and this is also set to be complete by the end of the year by December 31st. This project is moving along very well. Weather hampered it a bit but we've been able to catch up. Uh Last Steel, which is a local steel erector, has done a great job getting this building put together and they are actually close to having all of their work done. um they are working on the roof panels and if you've driven by anytime late in the day, you'll typically see that they're working extended days to to get further ahead or or hopefully catch up get further ahead for us. So, this is a
013this is a view from the northwest or northeast of what this will look like. The turf that you see is included in the project. will be a workout area as well as the turf that we had in the previous photo that is on the opposite side that athletics tells me they'd like to use uh for pitching and catching for softball and baseball. This facility uh as you can see some interior photos here, renderings. This facility is the last major piece, excuse me, of the uh combination of the two high schools and the process in which we worked through adding the additional uh space for schools of study. We completed the campus uh work to improve our transportation to allow our transportation uh to move a little bit more fluidly around the campus. And then this
014is the piece that address and we we had the music edition that we completed and this piece allows us to address PE and athletic needs. So as I said this is this is really the last piece to uh to round out the high school campus. This project includes the two fitness areas. one for strength and conditioning which is with all the weight uh weight apparatus and then there's a second area for cardio and then we'll also have a classroom a new training room offices and storage in this building. So like I said it really rounds out what we were looking for in terms of PE and athletics. And here are a few photos again of the progress. I'll move through them quickly. uh they don't get exciting until you see the building going up. And
015again, these are chronological. And this building is also from LA, our picture is also from last Friday of the building looking from the northeast. I'll move on to the middle school construction. So, we talked about this several several times. The middle school work actually began last fall and we completed several items. Digital signs were installed at North Side and Pieran. The new PA systems were installed at North Side and Westside. Door card access readers were installed at all three and additional cameras have been in installed at all three. The door card access readers are the first part of what we're doing across the district, which we are upgrading all door card access readers. Those are part of the bonds that were approved last September and that work is ongoing. We have to work around our
016school schedules. Uh it can become a bit of a nuisance for the buildings. So, we try to avoid that at all if at all possible. Beginning this past January, we began the renovations to the existing classrooms. Phase one began in late January. We're actually on phase seven of the classroom renovations. And those uh that work includes the new carpeting, the lighting, the fresh paint. And excuse me, the lighting I just want to touch on once again. So, we are converting or we we are converting we are installing new LED light fixtures throughout the buildings. they will save us 75% on our energy costs. Instead of using 160 watts per the existing fixtures, we'll use 39. So, it's a direct direct relationship to the cost and energy savings. Uh we've also included new lockers in the
017project. The new lockers are set to be installed in June. Uh we will begin at North Side and then at Westside, I'm sorry, and then at Pier Moran and finish up at Westside and all carpet or all, excuse me, all locker installation is scheduled to be completed by the end of June, which allows us then in July to begin the painting in the corridors, the new carpet in the corridors, and uh any other uh small items in the corridors. We actually did jump ahead on the schedule and we get began replacing ceiling tile in the quarters at Pier Moran on April 5th and then did it again this past Saturday. And once testing's done, so we have a three-w week three-w weekek uh phase phase 7 to accommodate for testing. The middle school principles asked
018that we avoid work during testing. So there's four days this week, two next week. Once that's done, then we'll begin installing with lighting in the corridors as well. So, we're trying to get a jump on it because we've found that we have some contractors that have time now where during the summer their time is going to be more limited and I imagine that will come up when we do our recommendation for awards for the middle school projects later. Uh we are working with a very tight schedule and with contractors that are certainly dedicated to us to get that work done, but as we talked a few weeks ago, the manpower issue uh is only getting more dire. Uh it has moved from electricians and plumbers now into sheet metal workers because as they as they
019install the new mechanical units in places the like the Amazon plant to the west of us, they now need the sheet metal workers to install the duct work. So they're now, for lack of a better term, starting to hog all of that trade as well. So we have three trades now that we are impacted by. So later tonight I will present the uh recommendations for award for the restroom renovations and the classroom renovations. And with those that work is scheduled to begin uh restrooms will start on 5:15. Classrooms will start on 55. The classrooms are scheduled to be completed by August 8th in time for school. And the restrooms will continue into the school year with North Side and Pieran being completed in October and Westside being completed in December. And we're able to take
020one set of restrooms out of service in each building and work around it. So we'll still have restrooms available. Westside has a fifth set of restrooms, which is why the the project will take longer. couple of the projects that I mentioned earlier. Uh, one of the projects I mentioned earlier, the digital signage. So, these are the new signs that we have at North Side and Pieran. They replace the old marquee signs. It's been very nice because the north side sign, we were finally able to get it operational. We had an issue with the electrical. We needed to wait for the ground to thaw so they could bore underground. So, we now have both of these signs operational. As far as the middle school, sorry. As far as the middle school projects in the classrooms, there
021are a lot of classrooms. We've completed approximately 18 classrooms in each school so far through the first six phases. So the left hand side gives you an idea of the existing conditions. Uh we believe that carpet that you see there dates back to 1988 when the last major renovation was completed. renovations, the new carpet, the new paint, lighting, ceiling tile, uh, really changes the room. The best compliments that we've received thus far are actually related to the lighting. The teachers love the lighting because we gave them dimmer switches, which is actually a code issue. They, the state, the best way I can put it, uh, they really recommend it. And it's nice because then they can there's two banks of lights, one above the whiteboards and one for the rest of the room and they
022can dim each one independently. So they can actually take it down to about 50% of the light level. And they actually really like that. So it's been nice to hear that they're happy with the rooms. Other projects that we've completed. So since last July, uh we've completed a number of large projects. Uh during uh the ESSER funding time period, we were able to uh complete the complete roof or complete a total roof replacement at North Side Middle School, a total roof replacement at Westside, and partial roof replacement here at the high school. The two middle schools are extremely important because both both of those roofs were at their life's end and needed to be done. They totaled $4.8 $8 million which that money would have come out of the bonds of the projects we're doing
023now. So we were able to do them ahead of schedule and once we started these projects because of the separation between the two there's no issue with funding. So those were very important. This space here is also a space that we were able to complete. This was a space that was on Mr. Anderson's radar for a long time and prior to uh Mr. Quiet when Mr. Scott was here. Mr. God helped us to secure the funding for this space and it was finally renovated into what you see from the original finishes. So this is uh a wonderful space. Took a lot of hard work, a lot of a lot of different people. Uh so I would be remiss if I didn't point out that tech services played a great part in this. The sound system,
024the curtains, the lighting, they all they were involved with all of that. Uh Jamie Snyder was involved of course with any of the security measures that you see in here. The building staff, Mr. Anderson worked around the construction, gave us a time frame that he could work with at the beginning of the school year because we extended from summer into the school year, but I I would hope that you recognize that this is a pretty great space. Now, we also installed a new PA system at Mary Daily. uh the one there uh met its life's end and we were able to do that through the series B and C bonds which are the bonds that were approved last fall. We also replaced the main entry doors at the freshman division uh years of salt, sand,
025weather use uh rendered them uh inoperable and so we were able to replace those. That was a fairly substantial project. And then as part of the process of replacing the exist or not the existing the co era drinking fountains so the the drink stations uh we've been installing new drinking fountains around the district. We were able to do that at the three middle schools over Christmas break and then at Mary Daily and Monger during spring break and we'll proceed with the remainder of the district throughout the next 18 months. Again, working around school, that is not something that is is easy to do when we have school in session. We also installed new carpet throughout Beardsley and painted the corridors. Really helped to set the standard for what we're going to do with the rest
026of the district. And those funds are built into the series B and C bonds. We're also able to install new track services at Pieran and Westside. And we've installed additional playground fencing at multiple locations. So I had to write these down because there's numerous ones. So we installed new fencing at Beersley, Bristol, Cleveland, Eastwood, the farm, Fezer, Oslo, and Pinewood. And we did it so that we could enclose the playground so that we could secure them. And the farm, you probably wonder why the farm. We've had uh incidences in the past where people have driven out onto the property and either dumped things or not done any damage, but just had access that we didn't wish them to have. So, we added some fencing along uh Ash Road to help prevent that. So, projects to
027be completed in the future. Uh aside from the the middle schools and the career center projects and the health and strength, we're also installing a new playground at Feeser Elementary this summer. That will occur in July. We're going to continue to replace lighting at multiple locations with those LED lights. We actually found ourselves in a position to purchase uh a mass quantity of lights uh 4,100 to be exact to cover the middle schools and the uh the remainder of the buildings that we could cover that we had identified in the series in BC B and C bonds. Uh we were able to get those before the tariffs kicked in. We're looking at 20 to 30% increases on electrical items due to the tariffs. So we were able to get those in before that. Uh we
028are going to install digital signs at Bristol, Cleveland, Feaser, Hawthorne, Oslo, and freshman division. And at this point, I definitely want to give a big shout out to tech services and especially Jake as Jake handles this piece of the project of the projects for us. Has done a great job to make sure we're getting a consistent sign and the work completed. Uh new carpet, multiple locations. Essentially, we over the years, we've put carpet in at multiple locations, but in small pieces and parts for what we could have um could afford through our capital projects fund. Now, we've identified buildings such as Woodland and Cleveland where we would like to finish that out, Oslo. So, we'll go in and finish those first. And then buildings that have larger expanses of carpet that we need to replace,
029we'll work on those as well. And finally on that side, we're going to be painting at those multiple locations as well because we want to create a um a system that is very um um standardized. So we have one paint color, we have two different carpet lines that we use that we select from. And then we also have the ceiling tile and the like. We also, as I said earlier, we're going to install the new door card access readers at the remainder of the buildings, the new drinking fountains, and then we're also going to install the new PA systems at Beardsley, Bristol, the high school, the freshman division, Hawthorne, Oslo, Pinewood, and Roosevelt. When those are all done, we will have the same Carehawk system for our PA systems districtwide. So, we will have standardized
030that as well. I just would like to end with a little bit of information as far as the the dollar figure. So at the beginning I provided a dollar figure of $46.75 million worth of construction that we are currently have underway. So of that 6.1 million is at the career center. 6.1 million is at the annex. So that's split between diesel tech and building trades. 6.35 million is at health and strength. Our series B and C bonds total 8.4 million and that is work that's spread across the district. So those are the door card access readers, carpeting, paint, lighting, playground equipment, mulch, uh of of those of things of those nature, the fencing, toilet partitions, and then the middle schools once those are are are sold will be roughly we estimate $6.6 6 million each.
031So that's your total of 46.75. And to date, we have allocated $ 32.75 million to all of these construction projects. Are there any questions? Absolutely. Mr. Janessi, that was an outstanding presentation. Um there is a lot of work going around the school district and to manage them, manage all these product projects and to be on time. Um hats off to you and your team. I just want to say thank you for the update. It was very comprehensive and very well done. Um I just had two questions that I wanted to ask. Um one was and I think you um answered it um with the estimated initial cost are how much do you think our overruns are going to be if we're going to have any? So at this point we have no overruns. Good. Thank
032you. And then one of the things I think um that you thank you for that response. One of the things I think you also highlighted at the a previous work session was utilizing our own staff to complete a lot of this work. Um um can you talk to us about how that process is going and um how has that impacted our workers here? Absolutely. So when we began the middle school uh classroom renovations where we did the carpet, the painting, the ceiling tile, and the lighting, we received quotes from contractors for them to perform work and then we had our own people perform work. So we selected the lowest quote for North Side Middle School. We had two phases done by Datna Construction at a little over $21,000. So that's two phases for 13 phases.
033Five at Pier Moran, five at Westside, and three at North Side. Our total cost was just under 20,000. So our our numbers are showing us that approximately a 75% savings over contractors and it's work that we can self-perform. We are performing it on overtime, so we're paying a time and a half rate, but they have this work down. They they actually enjoy it. The teams love it. We've had uh people that have actually asked to help out and so we've added people to the team. So we have approximately 18 people between the three buildings and they are just doing a phenomenal job and it's actually a huge cost savings which is certainly helping us to keep our cost underneath our budget. Thank you. I suspect that that would help a little bit and I even
034think that's a a more of a cost saving than you initially projected. I think you projected 50% at the beginning and you're saying now it's roughly 75% if I hear you correctly. Yes, I was conservative when I projected 50%. Because I did not know how long it would take our people, but we have some very skilled people that work for us outside of the custodial and grounds work that they do. And so, we are really able to capture those skills and and use them to our benefit. And like I said, they enjoy it and they love when we go around and see them. When we pop in at night, they they like to show off a little bit. We can do a room in an hour. That is that it? Can't you do it any
035faster? They asked me, "Do you want to join?" and they said, "No, you don't want me to get in your way." I just think that's a testament of looking at a problem and solving it from the inside before we out source our successes. So, I just want to say thank you for um bringing that up on why we do all these projects. Thank you all for allowing us to do that. Tony, I just want to say thank you for all your hard work. You've done a phenomenal job overseeing these projects and we really appreciate it. Thank you. And I would just like to to say that there there's a lot of exciting things happening throughout the entire district with the investments that we're making into our district. Um and I and I think that we'll
036hopefully um we'll see a lot of benefit from that. Um and I just think it's really exciting. And when I when I as I was reading through this and saw all the the the target end dates of December 31st of this year, I thought, boy, January is going to be really exciting um for the district um with a lot of ribbon cutings. Um, so hats off to you and your team and the team within in the district as well as those outside the district that are that are doing this quickly um so that our students have the best educational atmosphere um and opportunities. So thank you for for what you're doing and the team is doing. You're welcome. It it takes everyone. Construction projects are not a single person from the district. It takes everyone.
037There are people that are directly and indirectly involved and people that are indirectly involved are just as important as the people who are removing the ceiling tile, replacing the ceiling tile, moving furniture. And we need everyone that can uh help with the instructional side. That is not my forte. I've learned a lot in my time in schools, but I rely on Dr. Huff, Dr. Roush, Mr. Serge, Mrs. Kripe, everyone on the instructional side to help guide us. And then I try to make that we try to make that a reality for our students. I'll just add quickly. Impressive presentation. Thank you. to have this many projects going on simultaneously and not hearing about disruption uh not hearing uh uh issues that are coming up. The this is litter plastic. Uh 0% overruns at at this
038point is amazing on time is amazing. It's a testament to your team and everybody that's working on these projects. uh you know if this was one location I I might expect this but having it spread across the district is truly amazing and it has not gone unnoticed. So thank you very much. You're welcome. I I just would add that this is not the first time that we've done this. Uh for most of you you weren't here in 2013. We did something similar. It was on a much smaller scale but we did touch every building in the district. So, uh, that along with the experience and the team that we have is what allows us to to be able to do this and perform to your expectations. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. Thank you very
039much. We have uh roughly about 25 minutes till we need to come back uh for the 6:30 reception for distinguished support staff. So, we'll adjourn until 6:30. You were a big stickler time at first because of I never Thank you everyone for coming out tonight to our uh April 22nd, 2025 Elgard Community Schools board meeting. At this time, I'd like to call the meeting to order. And please rise for the national or second. You may be seated. Miss Mullins, the Elcart Promise. Yes, the Elcart Promise. Every student is known by name, challenged and supported by highly effective staff, and in partnership with the community will graduate career, college, and life ready. Thank you. Our invitation to speak protocol. Um, did everybody receive one of the seats? Dora at the front door. You should have received
040a uh a pamphlet at the front door with the invitation to speak protocol in it. Uh please fill it out and deliver at the door and we'll call you up. When your name is called, please come to the podium and uh state your name and your relationship to the district. And you'll have three minutes to speak on any agenda or non-aggenda item. And with that said, uh, public comment, we have no public comment. I guess I, if I had known that first, I wouldn't have to gone through the protocol. I'll I'll ask the next time. And so tonight, uh, we have the special recognition of distinguished support staff. I think, as you're all aware, is a nice, lovely reception we had, uh, uh, prior to this board meeting. So, at this time, we'll make the,
041uh, formal recognitions. Good evening, uh, President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff, community. It is my pleasure to be here tonight. Uh, tonight it is a special evening because we are here to recognize our support staff. And um this is a group that oftent times goes um there are are quiet heroes that we don't always get a chance to recognized because they're usually behind the scenes. Um but they are remarkable staff members and they were dominated by their peers, by their administrators and it's just for one simple reason that they are making a difference and that difference is being noticed and people want to recognize them for that. Uh through their dedication, compassion, and tireless support, they help keep our schools running smoothly and support our students every step of the way. Whether they
042work behind the scenes or directly with students, their impact is felt deeply. And tonight, we want to shine a spotlight on their work. Each nominee will be recognized for their outstanding contributions. And the way that we will be recognizing our nominees today is we have four different categories that we will be recognizing them in. And those categories are elementary, secondary, district, and certified staff. And this will be for any certified staff member that is not assigned to a classroom. That way we also have an opportunity to recognize their work. So with that being said, uh we are going to go ahead and get us started with the recognition. I do want to provide some directions simply because we have many of us with us today and the way that we will be starting is with
043our elementary uh classified group and as I call the name of the individual. What I will do um is ask that they first come and see uh Miss Leslie Ktherswood who is our assistant director and Leslie will hand over the recognition award and we will have Dr. Huff and her board members also uh they will be greeting you as well. So once you get your award if I can have you uh remain up here and just walk towards the podium until we call everyone's name that is in that particular category. Once all the names have been called we'll take a picture and then you can go and take your seat and we'll move forward with the next category. All right. So we're good. All right. Okay, we got this figured out. Okay, if I can
044get a thumbs up then we're ready. Okay, perfect. All right, so we are going to start with our elementary distinguished support staff. And let's go ahead and get us started with Ashley Brown. Ashley Brown is our cafeteria and manager at Eastwood. So Ashley, if you are with us, if you can uh make your way down and we'll go ahead and recognize you. Okay. Barb Rosenberry. Barb is our secretary to the principal at Eastwood. [Applause] Christine Hack, also secretary to the principal at Pinewood. Christine Marowitz, technical assistant at [Applause] Daily Corey Leen Edmmy, technical assistant. Mary [Applause] Feeser, Cynthia Andrews, instructional paraprofessional, Beardsley [Applause] Elementary. Elva Antonio, building substitute teacher. Add pride. [Applause] Emily Johnson, instructional pair professional, Eastwood [Applause] Elementary. Esther Hardgrow, Paraprofessional Mild Interventions, Beck Elementary. [Applause] Jennifer Smeltzer, Secretary to the Principal, Mary
045Dailyaly Elementary. Joseph Temple, paraprofessional in the alternative program pride. Karen Crosby, food service, Beck Elementary. Kristen Cooper, Paraprofessional, Intense Interventions, Eastwood Elementary. Laura Madson, instructional paraprofessional Beck [Applause] Elementary. Laura Petershung, Paraprofessional, Mile Interventions, Bristol Elementary. Laura Tucker, paraprofessional intense interventions [Applause] becen Reed. Marlene serves two roles in the district, lunch pair professional and bus helper. [Applause] Mia Osoria, behavior support. Beck [Applause] Elementary. Richard Lancaster, behavior support. Beck Elementary. Sarah Avery, instructional pair professional, Daily Elementary. [Applause] Taylor Johnson, behavior support, Beck [Applause] Elementary. And these are all the nominees for the elementary support staff, distinguished support staff of the year. If we can give them a round of applause. [Applause] If we can just hang on tight for a picture. All right. Thank you so much. One more round of [Applause] applause. Did anyone notice a
046theme with Beck Elementary? So now we are on to our secondary support staff and this will include both our middle school and high school. Anna Praat, paraprofessional alternative program, Elcart [Applause] Academy. Caitlyn Sprag, attendant secretary, Westside Middle School. [Applause] Courtney Curry, secretary to the principal freshman division. Dalton Bogart, technical assistant, small engines, Elcart Area Career Center. David Davis, technical assistant, criminal justice, Elcart Area Career [Applause] Center. Jeffrey Can, Campus Security, Westside Middle School. [Applause] Kathleen Enfield, secretary to the principal, Westside Middle School. [Applause] Kayla Kirkindall, Campus Security, Elcart [Applause] Academy. Mark Wood, technical assistant, Collision and Refinishing, Elcart Area Career Center. Mary Payton, paraprofessional alternative program, Elcart Academy. [Applause] Sarah Castleman, campus production coordinator for food service, Elcart High School. [Applause] Sorry, thank you. Steven Miltsaps, parent community leazison, Westside Middle [Applause] School. Terry Roar,
047custodian, Elcart Area Career Center. [Applause] Thank you so much. I appreciate God. Thank you. And these are all of our nominees for the secondary support staff. So we can give them another round of applause. [Applause] All right. Now, we're going to go on to our district support staff and we're going to give it a few minutes. All right. So for our district support staff, we're going to start with Jennifer Sharp, paraprofessional, blind, low vision, and at the district level. [Applause] Oh, thank you. Katherine Wayer, data specialist. [Applause] Michelle Shupe, physical therapy assistant. [Applause] All right. And these are our nominees for district. [Applause] Thank you, Jennifer. And on to our last category, which is our certified support staff. We're going to go ahead and get started with Caitlyn Win, social worker at Bristol. Erica Smoker,
048social worker at Eastwood. [Applause] Iet Cuentes, EL Family Community Specialist, Freshman Division. [Applause] Amy Burks, social worker. Pace [Applause] Lacy Curry, counselor, Westside Middle [Applause] School. All right, so if we can have another round of applause and these are our certified support staff. Okay, so those are all the nominees. Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering, so who won or who's the winner of each category? So, now let's get on to the winners of each category. So what we will do is I will read a statement and then when I call your name if I can have you come down as we have another token of appreciation and we'll also ask you to stand here until we call everyone's name and then we'll take another picture opportunity. All right, our first winner would be for the
049elementary category. This person was nominated because they go above and beyond to help students regulate and learn. Students love working with them because they can make them feel smart no matter what stage of learning they may be in. They truly care about the students and staff and how and show it every day. They are a shining example of the excellence of Elkcart. We are proud to honor Laura Mat as the elementary distinguished support staff of the year. [Applause] Now on for our secondary. This staff member was nominated because they play a vital role in Elcart Academy. Not to like let the cat out of the bag, but it's coming out of Elcart Academy. They are known as someone the students need and can depend on. They work to develop positive relationships with students and staff.
050They model the Elcart promise by knowing every student by name, challenging and supporting them in their learning and everyday life. They develop a student leadership committee that helps empower students to take leading roles around the school. They work hard to make sure that all staff members feel seen and appreciated. Congratulations to Mary Payton. You are the secondary distinguished support staff of the year. In Mary's absence, we are asking Mr. Hammetry to come and accept that in her honor. Congratulations. Thank you, Mr. Hammondry. And on to the district. The impact this district staff member makes extends beyond the classroom. They devote countless hours to ensure that students have the resources they need, often preparing materials well in advance to keep pace with curriculum demands. Their dedication, skill, and compassion make them an irreplaceable asset to the
051district, positive shaping the educational experiences of visually impaired students and enriching the entire school community. Congratulations, Jennifer Sharp, on being the district's senior support staff. [Applause] And last, but certainly not least, this certified staff member consistently goes above and beyond to support our students and their families. As a trusted advocate and guiding voice within our school community, they work tirelessly to con to connect those in need with vital community resources. Their dedication ensures that families always have someone they can rely on. They serve as a bridge to our Spanish speaking families as well. We are proud to recognize Erica Smoker as our certified distinguished support staff of the year. [Applause] Thank you so much. All right, if we can have another big round of applause for our [Applause] winners. Thank you. All right, thank you
052very much. Um, and in closing, I just wanted to once again uh thank everyone for the opportunity to be here today to celebrate our amazing staff. And I want to once again extend our heartfelt appreciation. The work that our staff does is extremely vital to the success of our district and we could not do what we do without their support. So, I just want to once again say thank you to everyone and I really appreciate everything that you do and on behalf of the district I want to say thank you. [Applause] [Music] No, no, we can just finish. It's fine. is do you want to say for the love of God? Okay, so I'm always talking but you guys hold on before you take off. So it is super easy to feel forgotten or unheard
053in positions like secretary, cafeteria specialist, custodial help, paraprofessionals, secretary. But when you think about like being in the school system as long custodian as long as all of us bus drivers as long as all of us have been that I'm just covering it all because you you know like as a as a parent now a grandparent you forget that our bus drivers see our babies first. Our custodians are aware of everything is happening. Our cafeteria specialists know what our children's needs are. Our secretaries see people before they know it. and our unsung heroes, our special ed paras, our paraprofessionals just on a daily basis, you know, like to have the honor to walk into a school and see what you do, watch how hard you work. We see how our paraprofessionals have to jump around
054as substitutes or filling in other roles, how our cafeteria specialists have to move from school to school, our custodians pick up slack during the summer as we're moving through navigating and cleaning our buildings and moving. All of that does not go unnoticed by us as a school board when we have conversations or talk about different things. We know that you are such a heart, such a pulse for our school and just speaking as one that has walked side by side with a lot of you. You I I'm in awe and that's like legitimately the truth of how hard you guys work and how valuable you are. I mean, we've got one who fills in two different positions and people that jump around everywhere. So when you walk away tonight, take a goodie bag, but also
055know like from us, we appreciate you. We see you. We hear you. We know you. And we are so so very very thankful for you for sure. So there you are. Very well said, Billy. Thank you. Leave, baby. You're welcome. See you. [Music] It's called pork shop with Kelly. I'm just going to say pork. People think she's better than me. Okay, next we have uh our next speaker is uh I've been informed that is someone who loves the microphone much like her father uh loves public speaking um and just been waiting all evening to have this opportunity. So, Chloe, uh, Ivory, now is your opportunity for the moment of pride. [Music] Hi, I'm Chloe Ivory. I'm a sophomore at Elcart High School and a member of SSAC. I am here to present the Elcart moments
056of pride prom. Junior reps work hard planning, building, designing, etc. for months. We had 637 attendees. Academic Super Bowl, math, science, fine arts, social studies, language arts, and interdisciplinary competing at Northridge High School tonight. Go Lions. Senior signing day. May 1st is senior signing day in ETI at 2:30 p.m. Seniors will be recognized for their acceptance into college and their armed services. Appreciation days. April 22nd was our 11th grade student government reps, bus drivers. For our bus drivers, we made goodie bags and appreciation cards. April 23rd, secretaries, uh, senior student government reps. We are making gifts and cards for and desserts for our secretaries. May 1st, principal principles are 9th grade student government reps. They're making breakfast card and gifts. May 2nd, school cafeteria workers are 10th grade student government reps. We are making appreciation
057cards and aprons. May 5th through 9th is teachers. NJ NHS is doing theirs and it's a coffee bar card and pizza. Student groups provide a gift token and appreciation as well as a rec as well as recognize each staff group on EHS social media. American Rocketry Challenge National Finals. Only the top 100 finalists make it to compete for nationals on May 17th through 18th. Two teams qualified from Elcart High School and we are the only school from Indiana. Our teams were Olivia Eversol and Natalie Middleton. Our second team was Joey Atkinson, Dana Patago, and Mackenzie Bailey. Our spring blood drive was a success. We had 121 donors presented. However, not everyone could participate. 70 units of blood were collected and up to 210 lives were saved. Upcoming events. May is mental health awareness month. We
058will have tables at both campuses during the day to promote mental health. May 3rd is welcome in their shoes and May 5th through 9th is our spring spirit week. Powderpuff dressup days and highlight competitions of the week. Thank you. Very good. Thank you, Chloe. I'll just say real quick, it's not it's not very often where a father gets to uh be proud and affirm their daughter in public. So, for a job well done. So, Chloe, great job. Hi, Chloe. Next on the agenda, we have the excellence of Elkart. All right. Thank you, President Scott, Dr. Huff, members of the board, and the community. I look forward to this every week, being able to come and share some of the highlights from around the district. First, in the area of academics, the Elcart Area Career Center
059recently welcomed Indiana Representative Rudy Yakam for a visit. He toured the facilities, observed hands-on learning and action, and even joined pre-law students for a brief lesson on how legislation is passed. So, thank you to Representative Yakam and the career center students and staff for showcasing this wonderful opportunity and um the programs that we offer. For that, we have an update for you of someone that we talked about in a previous meeting, Adriana Brown. one of our Elcart High School Lions was one of five students from across the entire state of Indiana to be named as a finalist for the Boys and Girls Club Indiana Youth of the Year. So, congratulations to Adriana. Students from across the district visited the downtown Elcart Public Library for story time and behind the scenes tours. These fun and educational
060experiences supported our mission to build early literacy and we thank the public library for being an exceptional community partner with us. Some of these highlights um since we didn't do this uh over spring break, some of these are a little longer past, but right before spring break where our middle school students had the opportunity to visit both IUSB and Gan College to explore college campuses and learn more about the higher education learning experience. These visits help students begin thinking about their future early and the pathways available to them after high school. Students at Oslo and Beardsley elementary schools participated in the JA Bistown experience where they explored realworld careers and built essential life skills in a hands-on environment. We want to thank our dedicated volunteers, family members, and business partners who help provide these powerful
061learning opportunities to our students at an early age. And in the way of the arts, the Elcart Winter Percussion Ensemble earned fourth place at the IPA State Finals, wrapping up an incredible season once again with a top tier finish. Congratulations to the entire ensemble for their hard work and success. Mary Daly's music performance, bada bing, it's spring, brought joy and energy to the stage with performances from kindergarten, first and second grade students. Their talent, enthusiasm, and big smiles made for memorable spring celebrations. So, bravo to everybody involved. Moving on to athletics, the Elcart Lions boys volleyball claimed victory in four sets during a recent matchup hosted by Penn High School. Congratulations for a strong team performance. And speaking of strong team performances, the Elkart High School baseball and softball teams are off to a really
062strong start this season. Both teams secured wins against Riley and Gan with baseball also earning victories over Washington and Northwood and softball adding another win over Wawa Sea. And in case you missed it, Pierre Moran Middle School, Kroger and Athletic, excuse me, Kroger and Kellogg's Project Tiger generously donated $20,000 to support Pier Moran athletes. This funding will provide valuable resources for our middle school sports program. We want to really thank these community partners for the impactful investment that they make into our students. And this once again, this is the busy time of year, so we've got a lot going on. Um, Pier Moran had their parents night last night. Tomorrow is Westside Middle School's parents night, and then followed by North Side on Thursday. On the 27th is the high school's National Honors Society induction.
063And May 3rd, we have two events. We have the Daily Dash and Stepby-Step Mental Health Walk. So, you have no excuse to not exercise that day and support mental health. As always, please be sure to follow our district on social media pages each day as we showcase the excellence of Elcart. Thank you so much. Thank you, Erin. Next on the agenda, the consent items. Do I have a motion? I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. Do I have any discussion? Sure. And really quickly before I go any further, forgetting to thank two groups that are very valuable, security and our IT. So they are also part of the support staff that we are appreciative of. So just wanted to add that as it popped in
064my head. And here we are with $21,800 that we had donated. We just saw that we received $20,000 from Kroger and Kellogg for the Purean Middle School athletic department. Our Elcar area career center received two donations for teacher appreciation week. One being $500 from NIPCO, one being $300 from Goian Hospital Finance. And of course, another partner that is always supporting us is Jack and Angie Welter, and they donated $500 towards our volleyball team. So, we we end this meeting with $21,800 from our community partners. So, thank you to all. Thank you, Miss Mullins. Oh, I have another thing. Whoops. You may have one more. I know you were thinking I forgot, but I did not. We have two retirements. one very incredible retirement of Mary Wiznooki who is our north side vice principal after 18
065years of navigating through program changes and different actions that have happened. Um we say goodbye to a wonderful woman who has done a lot for our children throughout the year having my own three inside of the school building. She was great with you know guiding me through um different transitions that would happen with high school. And then Trudy Connley after 13 years at Mary Beck as one of our pair of professionals. Um she did so much service working very well but also very welcoming to all the new teachers that came in especially young ones. So we appreciate both of their years of service and we are incredibly excited for their retirement. Thank you. Is uh Trusty Weaver is he on the phone? Is he virtual? No. So we don't have to do roll call. Okay.
066I have a motion and I have a second for the consent items. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have new business. Uh Mr. Giansi. Uh recommendation for award of the U middle school restroom innovation contract. Evening President Scott, members of the board, Dr. Huff, and members of the community. Tonight, the business office recommends award of contracts for the middle school restroom renovation projects as enumerated in your board packet. Do I have a motion? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions or discussion from the board? All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Now we have a recommendation for the classroom renovations at the middle school. Tonight the business office recommends award of contracts
067for the middle school classroom renovation projects as enumerated in your board packet. A motion. Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a motion and a second. Any questions or comments from the board? Hearing none. All in favor? I I opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gians. Thanks, Tony. Uh, next on the agenda, we have uh Mr. Quiet, the financial report. Thank you, President Scott, school board of trustees, Dr. Huff, and the community. Um, quickly before we Well, part of the financial report is just an update um a legislative update. um SB1 uh passed um this last week um that uh hits on property taxes. Um this is one of probably the largest most comprehensive property tax bill that the state of Indiana seen. Um and it will have
068drastic impacts on not only school districts but all um local government units and how um it is impacting um our property taxes. There's many components that it hits on. Um there's a lot of uh there are deductions that our our property owners will see. Um there's uh restrictions on uh levy growth that schools and other government units can impose. Um and there's language around um income taxes um tiffs. Um it's a very complex bill. Uh lots of moving parts. We're working with our partners um policy analytics who came and presented to us um last month um to really analyze the impacts specific to Elcart Community Schools. Um I think one thing that we know for sure and that we'll see I think across almost all government units throughout the state of Indiana is these um
069the savings or the um deductions that homeowners and property owners will see will drive down our assessed value. Um assessed value um drives the levy that we're able to capture. The levy is what we use to um run our operations and our debt service and those things. And so naturally, the impact will be that um the tax rate will be affected. In the past few years, we've looked at the school board and the district has managed the tax rate to remain neutral. Um and we're going to have to start thinking a little bit differently about that. Again, I don't have the specifics on that today. We're really working with policy analytics to um understand what that means exactly for us so that we can share that with the community. But I did want to acknowledge
070that um now that these are things that will impact schools and all local government units um and we'll have to continue to update and and think through what that means for Elcart Community Schools. Um additionally, I guess we continue to um spend at a rate as I shared um uh at a previous that the finance update um our spending has continues to outpace our revenues. Um we are working to put some cost savings measures in place to remedy that. Um I've shared these charts. This is what in your packet last um finance update. Um this is a breakdown of our expenditures across our two primary funds, education operations fund. I think this is a good uh just to share with the board and our public kind of where those dollars are going in Elcart Community
071Schools. Um, this next is our what we've been referring to as our consolidated funds, which is our education operations, our operating referendum fund, and the rainy day fund. And so, um, all the expenses really come out of those education and operations fund, but we've been talking about a cash balance as a whole with those four funds. And so, you can kind of see here, um, where those dollars are going to, uh, as we start to make adjustments. You should start to see some changes around some of those. Um I would point out and I think I mentioned in our last finance committee our um you know 100 and 200 wages and benefits um as a district if you benchmark that we are on the higher end um of the spectrum and uh that's so that's
072one of the things we'll need to start to kind of think through um how we attack those um if you will. So that is my finance update for the board. Happy to answer any questions if you have any. M I have a one question. Um one, thank you for your presentation. Can you just share with the with our community some of the cost-saving measures that we are currently putting in place? Um just to kind of give them u some context when you speak about that. Um your update? Yeah, absolutely. Um there's there's many things that we're looking at. um immediately looking at um summer school, making sure that we're staffing that appropriately, making sure that um we're uh servicing the students the best that uh to the best of our ability, making sure and I
073know I read um has changed uh the the landscape a little bit of education and how the state legislature is looking at that. And so we're really making sure that our dollars are going to um impact there. Um, curricular materials is another piece that we're taking a hard look at. Um, that's a big expense. It's been moved into the education fund and so we'll see some changes in that process. Um, we're working on time clocks. Again, as you noticed, wages and benefits, those that's uh a big expense and so we need a better way to kind of understand that and uh make sure that we're making informed decisions around those things. Time clocks will go a long way in that. Um, additionally, we're looking at really all departments. Um, we have, um, asked for proposals,
074uh, around some food service management that can help, um, from a, um, financial standpoint, a good partner to help us, bringing some best practices um, to bring us back into um, a financial stability so that we can continue to serve our students well. We have a wonderful food service team uh, that does a great job. um we needed a little bit of help to get um back in into the black there. And so really just not leaving any stone unturned, just kind of looking at all all our possibilities. Um and it'll take everybody's hard work and dedication. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um one of the things that you also mentioned, you last thing you brought up was food service. How does that impact our current employees? Our goal is that it does not impact
075our current employees. is I think Elcart Community Schools um really a priority that we're looking at is a partner that will continue to meet or exceed our current standard for our children. That's I think the most important piece. Uh secondly, a partner that will come in and value the employees and give them opportunities above and beyond maybe what they have today. Um and then thirdly, that financial stability for the long run. I think we need to make sure that um we're being good stewards of those tax dollars and making sure that um and providing the best meals and opportunities for our students and employees. So the employees who are here today will be here tomorrow as well. Absolutely. And next year have a uh quick question on SB1. I think uh when the bill originally
076came out early on the session uh there was an it was estimated over the next three years the impact on Elcart Community Schools was right around if my memory is correct $6 million roughly in that neighborhood. Um I know the the the bill that was actually signed uh was it last week or was it this week? Last week. Last week by by the governor uh was slightly amended. Did that ch that did that figure change for the district? It has a bit. So, initially that bill had zero growth in the max levy growth quotient. Um, and so we have, you know, this amount that we were able to um pull in levy, so we'll say $100,000. Um, there's a max levy growth quotient that the state um gives to all local units. Um, they've capped
077that at 4% in this new bill. Initially, they had it at 0%. And so, um, those losses are a little uh less than that initial. Um, but I think again we're looking a little more deeply into this because there's so many pieces and the way that the tax rates and the levies work, there's, you know, what levers are being pulled and kind of how does that affect us specifically? Um, as Mr. Gardner presented with policy analytics, we do have a a a good diversity in our tax base. Um, so that that should be in our favor, but uh certainly uh it will impact the growth of what we're able to collect and levy from local property tax. Thank you. Any other questions? Okay, move on to the insurance uh report. Thank you, President Scott, uh
078school board, and Dr. Huff. Um just real quick on our uh update for the insurance report, you'll see we don't have a chart today. Um we have uh the plan is performing well. Um we're still working to kind of fine-tune the reporting tables and things uh to make sure that we're providing accurate data. We can say um our claims data that we receive from our provider um is lower still trending lower than expected and we're expecting that loss ratio to come in around somewhere between 70 and 80% once we've um validated the model um that we're working with there. Um, we've also have updated our enrollment uh site, which at this point doesn't necessarily impact many employees. Maybe some new employees coming on, but we use that for open enrollment to make sure that um
079employees can uh sign up for the benefits that they they need. And then um additionally, we updated our benefits website. And so it's a one-stop shop that kind of houses all the different programs and offerings um that the district has. and we think that'll be a big um a big gain to share with our our dedicated staff the benefits that are available to them so that they can start to use those effectively. So, we're excited about that. That's my insurance update. If there's any questions, I'm happy to answer those. Any questions from the board regarding insurance? Thank you, Mr. Quiet. Dr. Huff, floor yours. Thank you, President Scott. board community. Um I just want to um first start off by saying thank you for all the hard work of course Khali. Um it's always nice
080to be in your presence. Um your dad said wonderful things and I told him what to say so that's why it were wonderful. Um but anyway um the I want to say a huge shout out to all the planning that has gone behind these parent meetings that we're hosting at the middle schools this week. U it was a rounding success at Pier Moran last night. Um we had a roughly between estimates between 400 and 600 people there last night um to hear from Mr. Himlai, to hear from the staff. Um it was nice. They got to able to meet some of their sixth grade teachers. Um really well done. So um thank you to anyone who had anything to do with that planning. Um the administrators, the teachers, uh the staff, but most importantly, these
081are great opportunities for students. Those transition years can be scary. They can also um be liberating for kids, too, to see what type of opportunities they can go into. tonight. I think they did a really good job last night. So, hats off to everyone for the um first of our three parent nights. And we have one tomorrow and then we have one on Thursday. Um I also want to um um give a huge shout out to anyone who was at our disability fair this past Saturday um in conjunction with our unified track meet. Um this is my second time here and I think no district does those type events better than Elcart Community Schools. Um, we had districts from Gan, from Valpo. Um, let's see who else did I see there? I saw some from
082Wawasi and our students and then our students um just performing all type of track activities. But then on the inside, we had vendors as far away as Fort Wayne coming to um share, hey, here's some supports or services that I think your students and families could really benefit from. Um, well attended. I think those um are huge particularly for our our kiddos who are in those transition years um at every different level and also I love that our reach is that far. So again hats off to everybody who um participated in a disability fair. Um as a reminder we have iLearn in our district for the next couple weeks. So I know our kiddos are at home resting and they're in bed. They're ready to uh go through testing tomorrow. um but to make sure
083that our conditions are right for kids. I know our teachers and administrators are working very hard at the elementary and the secondary level. Um so, uh I greatly appreciate that. Um last but certainly not least, um I want to give a huge shout out to our Eastwood and Roosevelt math bowl teams. They won their respective divisions in the Indiana Math Academic Bowl um ch uh championships. Um Lisa Earnsburgger, thank you for putting that together. um our kids are really bright here in Elcart Community Schools and that's just another testament to all the hard work that um is done at all levels. So um my last note is that we will have our next board meeting 3 weeks from now May 13th over at Woodland Elementary School. Um so that board meeting will be at 7:00,
084work session at 6 o'clock, and I will turn it back over to you, President Scott. Thank you, Dr. Huff. Do we have uh anything from the board to end this evening? I just want to say thank you to Maggie and her team for doing such an outstanding job on the presentation and the awards for our support staff. So, thank you very much for all your hard work and always making these events amazing. You did a great job. [Applause] I also um also say uh to Zach and your team um you know obviously as you just mentioned Senate Bill one is going to be a big you know big impact we will feel that and so I just appreciate uh the cost saving measures that are being looked at as we look at you know balancing
085our budget and those sort of things. We all know how we balance budgets at home and how difficult those can be when we looking at balancing budgets here. It it is just as difficult. So, I just want to say thank you publicly for the efforts that are being made to look at all the costsaving opportunities that we can continue to try to be financially prudent as we move forward through our district. So, thank you. Anything else from the board? All right, then we will adjourn. Thank you everyone. Thank you, President Scott.