001School Board of Trustees July 28th, 2025 meeting is now called to order. We will now have a roll call. >> President Ragglin, we have a um full board present in well quum in person, but we also have Holling Trusty Hollingsworth um is online. does plan to vote. So a full board just one virt to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We will now be ready for 1.03 Good News by Jason Wickerber. >> Thank you very much, President Raglin, Superintendent Hoover, members of the board. Good news here as we ramp up for the beginning of the school year, we since we've talked last, we've had two more uh top-notch groups of new teachers coming down
002on Tuesdays. Again, a nice mix of teachers with experience and brand new teachers as well. When I checked, I think I've told you before, people love these pictures. I think that one on the top was the most recent and I think it was viewed 79,000 times when I looked. So, people certainly are excited about our new teachers and we are, too. Speaking of the beginning of the school year, again, you'll just continue to see this promoted. Obviously, we don't want anyone to forget school starts next week. And we're really trying to remind everyone that based on feedback, if you remember, we flipped the alphabet for the soft start for this year. So, K through Z last name students will come on the first two days, Monday, Tuesday, A through J on Wednesday, Thursday, and then
003we will all be together next Friday on August the 8th. And we're looking forward to uh since we met last, we posted a what's happening with Dr. Hoover and this was um a good look at u what was going on in the world of IT and transportation. We know how much work goes in behind the scenes as we get ready for the start of a school year, but these two departments certainly have a lot on their plates to get ready and if you happen to catch that, you saw that they are definitely ready for that. So, appreciate everything they've done to get ready for students. And speaking of getting ready, uh even though students still have one week of summer left before school starts, a lot of our students, if you've driven past any of
004our schools and they're doing great with trying to work around this heat, they avoid the middle of the day. They come inside, they do early mornings, late in the evenings, have lots of water breaks. Um but our students are out getting ready, whether it's band, whether it's athletics, they are getting ready for the start of the year. So, while some of their friends may still be home enjoying those extra moments, these dedicated students are out and getting ready for school to start. And that is it for good news. >> Thank you very much. This time we're ready to move into public comment and shoulders. >> Thank you, President Raglin. Perhaps we should rename public comment a few minutes with Larry. The speaker tonight is Larry Samples. some more of Larry's lines. Uh, recently I came
005across a situation where I found out that EBSC goes over and above board to help out parents in special situations. Uh, when I'm not attending high school sporting events or volunteering, I uh I'm a full-time employee at CVS pharmacy. In that capacity, most of my co-workers, even pharmacists nowaday, most of those are female. And so recently I've been reminding him I said now this year EBSC is flip-flopping. You know the uh lower grades start lower letters start early and the higher ones start later. And this one technician last Friday she she said Larry said I've got two sons uh said they have two different fathers and they have two different last names. So said I called the school and said instead of keeping one home sending one can I send both of them from day
006one and the school said yes that's fine. said, "We'll accommodate you." So, an example of EBSC going over and above board, not strictly following a guideline to accommodate parents. >> That's all we have. >> Thank you. We are now ready for consent items. Dr. Hoover, >> President Raglin, members of the board of school trustees, we have 12 consent items for your consideration tonight. They are as follows. 3.01, 01 consideration to approve the minutes of the July 14th, 2025 executive session and regular board meeting. 3.02 Consideration of the allowance of payments in the amount of 16,167,6420 that includes invoices, net payroll, and payroll obligations. 3.03 Consideration to approve grant proposals. 3.04 Consideration to approve the renewal agreement with Constellation New Energy. 3.05 5 Consideration to approve the renewal with Reflection Sciences. 3.06 Consideration to approve the
007renewal agreement with Panorama Education. 3.07 Consideration to approve the renewal with NWA. 3.08 Consideration to approve the agreement with Ark Crisis Childc Care Center. 3.09 Consideration to approve the agreement with Rising Stars Childare. 3.10 10 consideration to approve the change order number one for the North High School stadium turf replacement project 2025 3.11 consideration to approve the diploma agreement with just and 3.12 consideration to approve the regalia agreement with just >> move to approve I'm sorry >> items are presented for your approval >> move to approve Second. >> Uh, a motion and a second have been made uh to accept the consent items. Are there any questions or discussion? >> President Raglin, Dr. I do have a question uh regarding the Sorry, it's going dim. I apologize. Rising Stars Childcare LLC and our crisis childcare.
008I know it's a one-year contract. Um, are other daycarees or not for-profit organizations as such able to apply as well, or is it just certain criteria? >> I don't know about the criteria. Let's find out. >> That particular um entity reached out to Norah Burgess, our food service director, to provide those services. Okay. Okay, >> we've done those for many years, but I think we would anticertain motions for other >> Thank you, Dr. >> Any other questions? Okay, hearing none. All in favor? >> I saying sign. >> President Reagan, we will need a roll. >> Since I'm Yeah, since I'm on virtual, it my face has to be seen. I also have to uh we have to poll each one, I think. Do we not? >> You do. Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. I will
009uh start with President Raglin. >> Yay. >> Vice President Duckworth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Kefir. >> Yes. >> Trusty Dere. >> Yes. >> Secretary Moore. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Gamblin. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Hollingsworth. >> I. >> Thank you. >> That motion carries. >> Thank you. We're now ready to move into personnel recommendation of Michelle Williams. >> Good evening, President Raglin, members of the board, Dr. Hoover. Tonight's personnel recommendations include the following: retirement resignations, regular appointments, resignations from extra duty, appointments to extra duty, reassignment to extra duty, transfers, and consideration of the administrative appointment of Amy Bonenberger, department chair, math at Bossi, consideration of the administrative appointment of Vic Chamniss, director of artificial intelligence and instructional technology at administration. Consideration of the administrative appointment of Elizabeth Joyce, assistant principal at K's. These recommendations
010are presented for your approval. >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> A roll call vote. Discussion. >> There. Any questions or discussion call? >> I'll start with President Ragland. >> Hi. >> Vice President Duckworth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Keeper. >> Hi. >> Trusty Dere. >> Hi. >> Secretary Moore. I >> trusty Gamblin >> and Trusty Hollingsworth. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> And that motion carries. >> Okay. We are now ready for the district spotlight. Dr. >> Yes. Thank you. The College Board recently released advanced placement scores. Increasing AP enrollment remains a priority for us. It has been. Uh we've been really working at this since the 2019 2020 school year. Success on AP exams can translate directly into college credits, providing students with a head start and financial savings. Tonight, Andrea Campbell, who's our
011chief administrative officer for high schools, and Jeff Dearlham, the principal at Wrights High School, are here to share results and successes with us. Very good. Good evening, uh President Raglin, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. I am excited to share a few of the data points from our AP results that we received over the summer. So, we'll start off with uh this first good news. And you'll notice on this first slide that we have continue to increase the number of tests that our EVSC students are currently taking and we've been seeing a steady increase each year. In this next slide, um, as we've continued to work on a recruitment and increasing those numbers of tests taken, we've also seen, um, the pass rates increase as well. So, you can see there's quite a difference
012from last year, and we're really excited about the growth. Um, this demonstrates that students have reached the benchmark necessary to receive the dual credit for AP. Our next few slides are going to demonstrate an increase in the awards and recognitions that our students are receiving based on their performance in multiple AP courses and across the board we are seeing increases in these numbers. So the number of AP scholars has increased, our AP scholars with honors, and then also our AP scholars with distinction. And I want to take a moment just to tell you how a student receives this particular award because it's pretty remarkable. An AP Scholar with distinction is granted to students who receive an average score of at least a 3.5 on all AP exams they've taken as well as scores of three
013or higher on five or more of of the AP exams. And so it's a pretty amazing feat for students to do. And this also thinking about the new diploma that we are going to be working towards. This will also count as a credential of value for students to receive their honor seal plus in the enrollment lane. So I also asked for uh Mr. Jeff Darlham to join us and share rights is seeing quite a bit of growth in AP and wanted him to give a principal perspective around uh how proud he is of the work that's being done to increase our student outcomes in AP. >> Yeah, thank you uh Miss Campbell. incredibly proud of the work our counselors and our teachers have done uh to get these results. Uh we've known for a long
014time that taking an AP course has incredible benefits to students um in in their future and um trying to so trying to get more of those students to take AP classes really been a goal for us. Um so our counselors work they identify uh students who might have potential for success whether you know that's based on some data from previous scores or uh students interest in a certain topic. uh they find these students, they they they encourage them to take a a test and some of them never never have either because they felt like they couldn't do it or nobody's really encouraged them to to do that. So, not only have we increased the number of students that are taking AP, uh but the students are performing better, too. So, this is a testament to
015our teachers who are really finding ways to support students who haven't been uh in these rigorous courses um yet and prepare them for a really difficult uh assessment. So, this side slide just shows that that work is paying off. Um, Miss Campbell mentioned earning an AP Scholar award is incredibly incredibly difficult. Um, taking an AP test and and passing it with a three is is really hard just one time. And so we had 68 students um who earned an AP Scholar Award this year uh out of a total of 325 students that that took an AP core. So it's an amazing achievement um and just honored to be able to share that with you all this evening. So >> I have a question. Do universities and colleges look at AP with the same lens as
016they had in the past or or is that has that been I don't want to say watered down but I mean these kids go through a lot of rigor to >> do this >> is does it pay off for them in scholarship form and and and those kinds of things? >> Yeah. So yeah very much so. So the the postsecary institution kind of has some discretion on how they award credit, but for the most part, a three is is sort of that that standard of earning college credit. Um some of your your really high level colleges are going to require a four or a five. So a five is a perfect score. Um but yeah, it pays off uh financially because those students often test out of things in in college. They wanted to take
017a certain English course or a math course because they've already exceeded that expectation. And so financially and then with scholarships and other awards. Absolutely. It's a it's a hu and it there's a lot of data that that supports students who are in these classes are more likely to persist in college. So whether or not they get money for it, they're more likely to persist and then graduate on time. So there's a lot of data that supports students taking AP and um the impact on on future success. It's a lot. >> There has been a lot of discussion about the entrance exams as well. you know, your ACT and your SATs and all that. Has that settled down any? I mean, is that still something that um I don't know that there's anything we can do
018about it because we don't give the test, but uh and I don't necessarily think we need to teach to the test, but is there anything else we can do to help our students succeed? >> I think part of our focus right now, we do take a school day SAT every year and uh we actually had uh some PD this morning around uh the SAT and I think it really comes down to the enduring skills that are being assessed and so um I think it's less about performing just one and what are these skills that we believe students need to have regardless of what they do postsecary so whether they're going out into the workforce you know being able to be critical thinkers versus yeah going into university so um regardless of assessment to us it's
019more about the skills and ensuring they have each of those um as they're leaving us um >> and I guess I guess different schools look at it different ways. I mean >> yes yes again out of our control. So we're going to try to get students to you know to the highest outcomes they can. >> Thank you. >> Taking us back to where this work started. So this was um this was a partnership with actually our business community also um a group of business partners invested in this model for us and going back to 201920 to where we are now our AP enrollment is up 155% from then for all students there was a specific focus on underrepresented students that enrollment is up 282%. And a lot of this model is really the belief that
020if a student wants to take an AP course, then we want them to take an AP course and then how they're doing. Um pass rates, if you consider three passing, that's also up 172% since we started. So thank you all for a question. >> I do have a question. You know me. Good afternoon to you both. Um the question that I do have and it was going to be regarding that as well because I remember my I think it was probably my first or second schoolboard meeting um I had asked I think that similar question especially the underrepresented community of course and so hearing Dr. Hoover um saying that. Thank you. But my question is, especially for students that come from that particular population that are giving a chance, right, to take an AP class,
021are they assigned a mentor or maybe a student mentor, you know, if they're having some type of struggles to make sure that they are staying on course and and being successful at this, right? Instead of just It's great to have an opportunity, but you want the outcome to be the best just as well. And >> yeah, I think each school, yeah, a little bit each school uh kind of determines that and I think we could still do a lot better job. We don't do a mentoring uh program, but we do create um some study hall opportunities for just that that are kind of exclusive to AP students um that are either an AP or dual credit. And so it's a kind of a higher level, more focused time for them to get some support and
022study. So, we we've created a more kind of a group setting, but I don't think we haven't gone at Rights quite as far as as assigning a a one-on-one person to help them get support, but I still think we can do uh we can do better. So, >> well, and something that is interesting that's built into the system is um so students are um given apples. They identify teachers that are um what do they call those? They're trusted adults. students. We're getting information from students about who their trusted adults are in the school. Also, at the same time, teachers are assigning apples to kids, which is kind of a nudge in that direction to take it. So, there is quite a formal system around that. Um, probably the closest to a true mentor program would
023be students who are part of AVID programming and are accessing AP um and are taking AVID at the same time. That's really where that mentorship comes. And we've gotten to the point with that work in the program with three of our schools have that uh where some of our um seniors and juniors are actually in as peer tutors as well in those freshman and sophomore classes which is also you know establishing some of those mentorships. Thank you. And one more question any other talks regarding the H.B.CU? I think that was one I had you and I had talked about maybe last year or year before last uh regarding that just because I know there are a lot of you know students of color that are wanting to go to H.B.CU um colleges and or universities
024and unfortunately some of the credits just aren't accepted. So is there any >> discussion credit acceptance the best bet for students that are going to apply and attend HB.CU CUS is through AP. >> Okay. >> The Indiana Core Transfer Library. If you stay in Indiana, which isn't going to be an H.B.C.U., there's a really easy agreement that says if you take this high school course for dual credit, it translates into this at an Indiana college. But when you go out of state, really AP scores are the best way to do that because colleges have a three gets you this this course, a four will get you this credit. And so that's really the way to go. And if a student working with their counselor knows ahead of time, I'm probably not going to stay in
025Indiana for college, then likely the counselor is going to say, "Okay, instead of the dual credit route, let's go let's go AP." >> Thank you. Thank you. >> I'm gonna ask a stupid question, but it's been bouncing around. What's the the average size of an AP class? >> Oh, wow. I wish I you know, it really depends. It depends on what the subject area is. um it's really important for us to offer as many AP opportunities as far as coursework is concerned. So we try as you know we're looking at staffing to balance. So, it it depends. A lot of our AP language courses are going to be higher in the, you know, 20s, upper 20s, maybe even pushing 30. But a lot of times, a course like an AP physics, it's pretty uh specific
026and narrowed. So, you're going to have a smaller class size. Uh because we have such a wide variety, it just really depends uh depends on that subject area and how many students are truly interested in taking the course. and our counselors have done a really good job of knowing uh a good entry point for a student who hasn't been in AP yet. And so AP language might be one that that you know we can really get some students in there because um the skill set isn't quite as specific as like an AP chemistry or an AP physics. And so um so those classes tend to be a little bit larger because it's a good entry point for a kid to take their first AP course. >> We've also figured out ways to in a schedule
027uh rotate. So for instance, if we want to make sure students have an opportunity for all three advanced uh AP science courses, we may rotate those through the year, you know, so that it can fit in the schedule. Um so maybe AP bio versus AP physics, AP chemistry. Yes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you very much. And we are now ready to move into our action items. January agreement with Indiana Testing, Inc. >> Good evening, President Raglin, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. Tonight, the Office of Human Resources is seeking your approval of the utilization of Indiana Testing Incorporated as the new vendor for the required drug and alcohol testing of all EVSC CDL licensed holders. As I shared last week, Indiana Testing Incorporated is a trusted provider serving the majority of school districts in
028our region. Recognized for its expertise in DOT regulated testing services, high level of customer service, and proper handling of all required documentation and testing protocols. The shift supports our continued commitment to all student and staff safety while enhancing operational compliance. At this time, I request the board's approval to proceed with this transition. >> Move to approve. >> Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to accept the agreement with Indiana Testing, Inc. Are there any questions or discussion? >> You have a question I forgot to ask the very first time. So, the question that I have for you regarding this is there a um I guess a contracted location here in Evansville. >> These are for for the testing. >> These are for our random screening. So, it will actually occur down here in
029our Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Discussion. We now move into a roll call vote. >> I will start with President Raglin. >> Hi. >> Vice President Duckworth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Kefir. >> Hi. >> Trusty Dere. >> Hi. >> Secretary Moore. >> Hi. >> Trusty Gamblin. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Hollings. >> I had a second a motion and a second. All in favor signify by I. >> Oppose. Same sign. And that motion carries. >> We are now ready for Dr. Underwood public hearing regarding lease agreement 6.02. President Raglin, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. I'm here tonight to present several bond related items uh for your consideration, all of which support the next steps for financing the central and IBM projects. Uh the first item is a public hearing on the
030lease agreement. Uh notice of this hearing was published in accordance with legal requirements. At this time, I will turn this over to Mr. Shers. >> Thank you. Members of the board, in a moment you're going to be asked to consider whether or not to enter into a lease agreement with the not forprofit, the Evansville Vanderberg School Building Corporation relative to the issuance of these bonds and the mechanics of making that bond issue work. Indiana law requires that before uh you consider or vote on whether or not to enter into that lease that we conduct a public hearing to hear from members of the public any information they wish to share with you concerning the proposed lease agreement and the rental to be paid there under. So at this time we will call the public hearing
031to order and ask member of the public who would like to address the board to approach the microphone and identify yourself please. Once again, is there any member of the public present tonight who would like to address the board consent uh regarding entering into a lease with a nonprofit building corporation? There being no one who wishes to speak, Dr. Underwood, we will call this hearing adjourned. >> Thank you, Mr. Shoulders. Next item would be the adoption of the resolution authorizing execution of the lease. This resolution permits uh designated officers to formally execute the lease, which enables the school corporation to limit property taxes to fund these lease payments. At this time, I request your approval. >> Move. >> Second. There's been a motion and a second to approve the resolution authorizing execution of the lease.
032Uh, are there any questions or discussion? >> Okay, we will now have a roll call vote. >> Okay. >> President Raglin, >> I. >> Vice President Duckworth, >> yes. >> Trusty Kefir, >> I. >> Trusty Dere, >> I. >> Secretary Moore, >> I. >> Trusty Gamblin. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Hollingsworth. >> I. Thank you. >> Carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh the next resolution relates to the assignment of contracts and bids. Once bids or contracts are received, the board will consider a resolution to formally assign them to the building corporation. At this time, I request your approval. >> Second. >> Motion and second have been made to approve the resolution assigning contracts and bids to the building. There any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we are ready for roll call vote. >> Start
033with President Ragland. >> I. >> Vice President Duckworth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Keeper. >> Hi. >> Trusty Dere. >> Hi. >> Secretary Moore. >> Hi. >> Trusty Gamblin. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Hollingsworth. >> I carries. >> And finally, the final resolution tonight ensures our compliance with federal securities laws. This resolution supplements our existing master continuing disclosure undertaking, provide timely financial disclosures and report all material events. At this time, I request your approval. >> So move. >> Second. >> Motion and second have been made to approve the resolution approving supplement to the master continuing disclosure execution. Are there any questions or discussion? Hearing none, we're ready for roll call vote. President Ragland. >> Hi, >> Vice President Duckworth. >> Yes. >> Trusty Kefir. >> Hi. >> Trusty Dere. >> Hi. >> Secretary Moore. >> I.
034>> Trusty Camplin. >> Hi. >> And Trusty Hollingsworth. >> I motion carries. Thank you. >> You're now ready to move into information. Uh 7.01. Tammy Dexter. Consideration to approve the agreement with Relay Hub. >> Good evening, President Raglin, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. The Office of Special Education recommends approval of the agreement with Relay Hub. Relay will provide direct claiming services to process the district's Medicaid reimbursement claims for direct medical services provided to eligible students under the Indiana Health coverage programs. services include a claims information system, electronic claims processing, management reports, and training on Medicaid billing, and program oversight. The annual cost is $28,24.32 to be paid for Medicaid reimbursements. Happy to answer any questions at this time. >> Does this service work with the parents that are having issues with getting their
035claims taken care of? No. No, this is reimbursement for services that we offer service. So like PT, OT, speech services. >> Thank you. >> I do have a question. Do you anticipate I guess um any delay in reimbursements with just different >> Actually, no. They anticipate with this um service that there is efficiency in the billing. We expect it to be better. Um the submission is a little more streamlined with our IEP um system. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> We are ready for item eight, uh, continue business, Dr. Weaver and board members. >> I will start. I have a few updates to share. Um, first, we welcomed over a hundred teachers back today for the teacher orientation. Uh, Dr. Owen, I think, has been there with them all day. uh
036you can certainly feel uh the anticipation and excitement um in the room as they start as they make preparations for the year. Some of those were brand new uh teachers, others were new to EVSC and some were back for a second time um with us. So exciting morning. Office staff have also returned. They recent recently had their secretary professional development principles uh started back last week as well and they had district development. So they're ready to go. I also want to extend my thank you to the Evansville Teachers Association and the Indiana State Teachers Association for hosting the welcome reception last week. It was really a wonderful event. Um much appreciated and a great opportunity to connect with community groups uh who will support our schools. Also, good news. EVSC recently received notification that beginning
037this week, the US Department of Education will begin releasing those funds that had been impounded. Some of those were title 1 C, 2A, 3A, and 4A that were for migrant student education, English language acquisition, student support and academic enrichment grants, and supporting effective instruction state grants. There was uh if you were on social media, you may have heard that there was some panic across the state about that. We we remained in pretty good shape because we had prepared for a day like that. But it is a relief to know that those funds are being released. Certainly good news. And the next time we meet, the school year will be underway. So I am looking forward to greeting students and families. I will in fact be riding a bus uh with elementary school students who I
038imagine will be excited to show me their shoes and their new folders and tell me about their teacher and their friends. And so it should be a great back to school. I'm looking forward to that. That's it for me. >> Thank you. Any other board members information to share? >> I do. So, I uh sit on the commission of social status of African-American males and we have some schools that we have uh picked that we will be meeting on the first day of school. Uh Washington Lodge, Lincoln, AIS, Balsy I do believe is one of the high schools. So, just to um give that feel especially for the students of color and the males that come because it's normally dubbed a uh father's take your school take your children back to school day. And so,
039just to give that bit of encouragement and confidence as well and the only thing that I have um I just want to say have a great school year, the beginning of the school year from the bus aids to the principles to the teachers and definitely to the students and get to bed on time. Is there anything else? >> Um, well, I will wrap up with the humor of the week. We've had so much sometimes so much bad news in the news. Um, I thought, well, we need something. So, this may require a little audience participation and it's a knockknock joke. So, >> knock knock >> razor hose. >> Raise your hand in the air and wave them like you just don't care. This meeting is a journey.