001Thank you Chris and Isaac for that. Mr. Allen is absent. Mr. Mlullen here. Mr. Meltchure here. Mr. Wall here. Mrs. time is absent. Mr. Carl, core values. This is always a special part of our board meetings where we recognize our core values and we welcome you tonight uh for this segment of tonight's Huntington County Community School Board meeting. This evening, we are honored to recognize the outstanding achievements of students and staff members who exemplify our district's core values. Please come to the front when your name is called. Friends and family, you are welcome to get out of your seat uh to take a photo once the individual or group is honored. First up, we have Lane Canvan, Cresby Middle School County Spelling Bee Champion. This is a three repeat. That sounds like Purdue. Well, not
002this year. Um just had to get that in there. First, we are proud to recognize Lane Canvan from Crest View Middle School. Lane emerged victorious in the Huntington County Spelling Bee after an intense 10 rounds of competition. Lane's dedication and perseverance are remarkable, having won the schoolwide spelling B for four consecutive years in the countywide competition for the past three years. Congratulations, Lane, on this outstanding achievement. Lane was not here with us this evening. Next, we have Riverview Middle School Scholastic Art Award winners. Next, we celebrate the talented students from Murvy Middle School who earned recognition in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Shyara Smith and Kaylee Gordon participated in the Memory Project Art Initiative, using their artistic talents to create heartfelt portraits for children worldwide, fostering intercultural understanding and kindness. Next, we have
003Jazelle Barton and Jamie Cooper. They also received honorable mention awards for their outstanding artwork. Also, we have Sophia Daniel earned a silver key for her exceptional artistic work. Sophia here. Next we have uh Anika Braun and Claire Alfred were awarded gold keys a significant achievement reflecting their dedication and talent. So Ana and Claire congratulations. Each of these students used the cionotype phonographic process to create their artwork create currently displayed at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art through April the 6th. Again, congratulations to Ruby Middle School Scholastic Art Award winners. Congratulations. Parents, feel free if you want to get up and take a picture as well. Feel free. Feel free to do that. Just push Kenny out of the way. It's all right. Get right up there and take a picture. Anybody else? Okay. Congratulations. Next
004up, we have Austin Collins, Huntington North Learning Center first place CNC competition. We now recognize Austin Collins, a senior capstone student in the precision machining program at Huntington North Learning Center. Austin earned first place in the CNC at the Indiana chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association competition. His dedication and hard work resulted in the highest score in both the written test and programming categories, earning him a scholarship to Vincen University and a professional machinist toolbox. Congratulations, Austin. Next we have Adri Guyger, Huntington North High School Varsity Gymnastics. Uh as we honor uh Adri Hun North Varsity Gymnastics for her remarkable achievement for breaking the school record in the floor exercise. On February the 10th, Adri scored 9.625, surpassing the previous record set in the 199899 season. She broke her own record with an
005astounding astound astonishing 9.80 on February the 24th. Adri's excellence has also earned her a place at the IHSAA regional and recognition as a base gymnast at the state meet. Congratulations, Adri. Next, we'd like to celebrate Candace Kohlhoffer for breaking the Huntington North school record in the 50 free style with a time of 25.25 seconds at the NEA Girls Swimming Championships on January the 18th. Her determination and commitment to excellence are truly commendable. Congratulations, Candace. parents, do we get photos, too? Are we good? So, Candace, just stay right there, Candace, because the next award, Stay right there. The Huntington North 400 free relay team. We're proud to recognize them tonight, consisting of Candace Kohhoffer, Anna Kohhoffer, Anika Carpenter, and Laya Kowalsski for setting a new school record with a time of 3 minutes 48 seconds on
006February the 10th. Their teamwork and dedication led them to surpass the previous record set in 2007. Congratulations, ladies. Awesome job. Sorry. Okay. We good parents? Stay put. Smile. Fuzzy pickles. Congratulations, ladies. Lastly, we'd like to recognize Carrie Neil and Crystal Streer for their advocacy and impactful testimony at Senator Jean Leasing's Indiana Rural Caucus meeting. Their support for the IDOE and Indiana Roboc grant has been invaluable, furthering opportunities for special needs students in the areas of phonics and numeracy. Their voices represented the passion and dedication of educators throughout our district. Thank you, Carrie and Crystal. Well done. Okay. Again, join me in congratulating all of tonight's core value honores. So, parents, I know that you would love to stay for the rest of the meeting. I can tell it. I can see it in your eyes.
007Um, but you are at this time you are free to leave if you would like to do so. You're free to stay, but now would be the time. If you'd like to leave, you may do so. Thank you again for coming. We appreciate that. says team. Go ahead. Cool. All right. Uh now moving on to item C, items for visitors, public comments. I only have one individual sk uh signed up, uh an Ashley Harris. Okay, please come to the podium. Uh, as a reminder, board policy is you have five minutes to speak. Uh, so please stay within your time. Uh, Miss Gray, can you run the timer, please? Go ahead. Yeah. As you prepare for your Our current handbook include schools included. that will facilitate students. However, students with disabilities are to account for disability
008related behaviors. The absence of reference to disability considerations in the general disciplinary policy could unintentionally communicate that such factors are not relevant or of concern to the schools and can contribute to misunderstandings and mislication of discipline for students whose behaviors are rooted in unmet disability related needs. This absent absence limits a parent's ability to understand how to effectively support their child through challenges in the school system. When key information is missing, families are left navigating complex circumstances without a map. I was taken aback by how the middle and high school handbooks reference disability laws in the discipline sections. Instead of highlighting these laws as protections for students with disabilities, the language frames them as support for the school's right to discipline, undermining the true purpose and the foundation of inclusive education. Addressing these concerns at
009the most basic level may provide insight into a broader challenge I know this district faces, maintaining enrollment. I reviewed student handbooks from neighboring districts and found clear examples of how to set a strong standard for identifying and supporting students with disabilities through detailed intervention plans, transparent communication of available services, acknowledgement of student rights, and guidance for parents. Transparency builds trust. When families understand their rights and how to access support, it strengthens relationships, encourages collaboration, and makes them more likely to stay. I encourage the board to take these concerns into consideration before approving the proposed handbooks tonight. Addressing these concerns in the handbook is just a starting point, but it's a meaningful one. The student handbook is a doc document that every parent and student receives and that families consider considering enrollment will review. Let it
010be a tool that reflects commitment to transparency, inclusion, and access. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Uh do we have anyone else that would like to address the board this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to item D1, special presentation, police canine unit. We are uh blessed. Yeah, we are blessed this evening uh to have several uh members of our law enforcement here tonight. Um they have some truly exciting news uh to share with you, not only as a board, but for us as a community. And so, Police Chief Boxel, I will turn this over to you. Hey, Chuck, would you want to help that mic? Yeah, tilt that mic. There you go, Corey. Gotcha. So, thank you. And we'll uh uh turn it over to you, uh Corey. Okay. Well, good
011evening. Uh my name is Corey Boxel. I have the privilege of serving as chief of police for the city of Huntington. Appreciate you guys letting us come in here and share with you tonight. We uh myself included, we are tremendously excited for this announcement. um as we continue to further our our department and uh and our community for that matter. And so um what I'd like to start with is just some introductions. I actually have two teams of people here with me this evening that I'll introduce separately. But um after some introductions, I'd like to give you a little bit of history about how we're we got to this point both from a planning perspective and then also a a financial perspective as well. So with me this evening, I I have Mayor Richard Strick.
012He's in the back there. Sorry about that. Um, I have my assistant chief, Chris McCutchen. I have my administrative captain, Andy Elllet. Our school resource officer, Daniel Loe's, who's primarily assigned to Riverview Middle School, and he also teaches the DARE program for us at uh, not only Riverview, but also Salamony Elementary and also Lincoln Elementary. I also have with me uh, Chief Deputy Chad Hamill from the Huntington County Sheriff's Department. Mr. Zach Baker, the assistant principal of Riverview Middle School. He's in attendance as well. And I have a whole group of special guests that I already mentioned that played a vital role in making this dream a reality. And I'll I'll get to those here a little bit later on. For some history, if I could, I'd like to provide you with a little bit
013about how we got here from a planning perspective and also a fundraising perspective. When I took this position as chief of police uh a little over three years ago now, one of my department goals was to resurrect the K9 program for the Huntington City Police Department. Believe it or not, uh, my administrative captain, Andy Elllet, was the last K-9 officer that our department had, and he retired his dog in the year 2011. So, we have not had a K-9 unit at the Huntington Police Department for almost a decade and a half. So, we are super excited that our staffing levels have gotten to this point and our fundraising levels have gotten to the point where we're able to resurrect this program and share with you guys some very exciting news this evening. Our focus when
014uh we went to resurrect this program was really focused on the patrol dog side of things for the community and the department because again that's what we have lacked for the last decade and a half and so that's where our our thought process uh began as you guys know through a collaborative effort with Mr. Trout, his administration, you guys as board members, over the last 15 months, local law enforcement, specifically the Huntington City Police Department, the Huntington County Sheriff's Department, we've been able to uh increase our school resource officer program by adding three additional officers. Right now, we now have one officer in each of our middle schools. We have an additional officer here at the high school to help Ben Whitman in our middle schools. both of those officers, one with the sheriff's department,
015one with the city police department, they're both certified DARE instructors. So, not only have we resurrected that DARE program in the elementary level, but we're now teaching the DARE program in the middle schools, which was also a dream of mine. Sheriff Newton, Chief Deputy Hamill, were super excited about the expansion of that program. This opportunity that we're presenting before you tonight was only going to add to that momentum that we've already started through those those other opportunities. Two years ago, Sheriff Newton and I, we had a uh a conversation and it was a discussion and it through that conversation, we both expressed a desire to not only add additional SRO's in our schools, but also to add canines in our schools. To be honest with you, it kind of felt like a pipe dream because
016I thought this will never happen, right? My priority's got to be the the patrol dog. So, can we make this happen? two years later, I can assure you that we uh the reason I brought this team with me tonight, including Chief Deputy Hamill and uh Sheriff Newton sends his regrets, much like Mr. Allen, he's having to attend the county council meeting this evening. So, that's why Mr. uh Sheriff Newton is not here, but I can assure you that I have their support. And uh I'm going to turn the mic over just briefly to Chief Deputy Hamill for a few words about that. Very briefly. Uh so, I'm Chad Hamill. Uh we this first of all, like uh the chief said, the sheriff apologizes. He had a council meeting this evening. He does send his hells
017though, his greetings. Uh what I wanted to to basically tell you all is this program that the chief is talking about, this has been my vision for over six years since I've held this position that I'm in. But, uh, I won't stand here and see how many excuses I can make, but with the jail build and, uh, uh, adding employees to the jail to to facilitate that footprint along with, uh, again, as the chief said, with our two school resource officers that we finally are able to implement into the school system, that was another one of our dreams for so many years. U, I just want you to know how firmly embedded we are with our partnership with the HPD and this idea. Um, because we are such good partners, I want you to know
018that uh, initially when the chief brought this up to us, I said, "Are you kidding me?" But I said it inside my head because I'm not really competitive with these guys. U, I will say that, uh, I hope to have further conversations with adding to this program. Uh, and that's what I personally want to leave you with. Uh, he beat me to it this time, but we'll see. I'm going to get to the blessing that allowed us to beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat them to it it so to speak as he says but uh we've just been very very fortunate our community our community partners humongous assets for us and and I'm going to get to that in our presentation here. Um in the summer of 2024
019the sheriff and I and along with our administrative teams we actually met with Mr. Brimberry and we discussed these additional SRO's that we've now since added to the corporation. In that discussion, we also spoke about police canines and the opportunity that they uh present to us and and our desire to continue down that path. Mr. Brimberry at that time gave us his blessing. I know he conveyed that message to to Mr. Trout because Mr. Trout and I have since had those conversations and I know we have his blessing as well and I just appreciate that. Again, at that time it really truly still felt like a pipe dream but here we are and now it's a reality. So, um, at the start of the school year, school resource officer Daniel Oes came to myself and
020chief assistant chief McCuten with an idea and, uh, he presented it. He said, "Hey, I know that as a department chief, we're working on, you know, adding a patrol dog K9 to our department. I would really think and and like to see us continue down this path of a police K9 in our schools." And again, you know, I I I had a hard time with that because I don't want to seem like the greedy guy that asked the community for two dogs, right? Um, but in the back of my head, I'm hoping that our fundraising efforts get us there, and they have. What I asked Daniel to do at that time was I asked him to arrange a visit. I asked him to show us this program. We want to see the benefits. He quickly
021arranged a a field trip, if you will, to Belmont High School. For those of you guys that are familiar with North Adams and Belmont, you know they're a unique situation in that they have K through2 under one roof. Essentially, they've built three individual buildings, but at the same time, they've connected them with long hallways. So, they have K through 12 under one roof. So, their school resource officer and and I don't want to steal Daniel's thunder because he's got a great presentation for you, but they have a uh Labrador Retriever. It's a friendly floppy ear dog. He's not bite trained, uh, but he's trained in many other aspects of the job. And he is just a humongous asset. And so, if I could leave you with a story before I turn this over to Daniel.
022Um, the police chief over there at Decatur, he's a friend, a personal friend of mine, his name is, uh, Kevin Gerber. And much like my wife who has taught in this system, as many of you guys know, for for 28 years, and it seems like I hear these stories on a regular basis, uh, from her and and also my neighbor Carrie Neil, I asked her to stay because I told her she was going to like this a lot. Um, we took a tour that day at Belmont High School with the with the school resource officer and that dog. Now, I want to I want to share with you guys one thing. These are not therapy dogs, so to speak. Um, because they won't have that therapy dog accreditation. They're a police canine that'll have other
023certifications, but the truth of the matter is these dogs break down walls. And this particular situation when we get to the elementary end of the building, um Kevin Gerber, the chief of police for Decar, his wife comes up to us and he introduces us to her and she shares with us a story where she got to use that dog that very, very day. So, a young elementary age special needs student gets off the bus and he's having a bad day and he hits the ground and starts throwing a tantrum and he absolutely refuses to go to class. Obviously, Mrs. Mrs. Gerber, like all of our teachers, they don't want to put hands on children, right? That's not what we're trained to do. We're there to educate. She calls the school resource officer who brings the
024dog down. As soon as that young man sees the dog, his mindset changes. He looks at the dog, he becomes more focused. He forgets about his bad day. The resource officer makes a deal with him. Hey, if you do what Mrs. Gerber wants you to do and you go to class, I'll let you walk the dog. The officer holds on to the end of the leash, the young boy grabs the middle of the leash, he goes off the class, and now his day is off on the right start. Right? Those are the kinds of things that these programs can bring to us. And this is what we're excited to offer you. I'm going to talk a little bit more about fundraising here in just a minute. But I'm going to turn this over to uh
025school resource officer Daniel Loe's because I will share with you jumping ahead. The reason I asked Mr. Baker to be here this evening is we've already sat down with him and his administration out at Riverview. This dog we hope with your approval will be assigned to Riverview Middle School in the care of officer Daniel Loe's. And uh we're just looking forward to it. So I'm going to turn this over to Daniel. He'll talk a little bit more specifics about the program. All right. Well, thank you for sitting here and listening to us speak. Like Chief Boxel said, um part of what moved me to to come to him with this proposal was meeting officer Elwell at the from the Decator Police Department and listening to him speak about the amazing things that K9 Kota has
026done in their building. I think that the school board and the corporation as a whole has shown a great investment um in school safety by the addition of you know three resource officers alongside officer Whitman who served in that role by himself for so long. And I see this as an opportunity for us to invest back into you guys to provide a tool so we can properly show you, you know, and work together with you for a school safety collaboration effort um between the department police department as well as the school. Um, so you know, something that stuck with me over my short time in the school with this being my first year is, you know, frequent sitdowns with Chuck and our school safety meetings. And, you know, he always says that whatever it is,
027we can't we can't get it wrong. And so, I think it is imperative to provide ourselves and you guys with the tools to make sure that we don't get it wrong. So, we are doing everything in our power because I'd be remiss to know that we didn't do something to stop something that could happen. Could you guys go to the next slide? Thank you. So, um, as Chief Boxel touched on, um, that is K9 Kota. That is is him with his previous handler. Um, he has been a huge huge resource to Belmont um, in terms of finding narcotics. He's also trained in um, firearm detection. And you know, as chief said, this is not a therapy dog, but um you know, research dictates that animal assisted intervention, you know, even with untrained, you know, untrained
028animals is significantly more effective in dealing with students in times of crisis. And I think that, you know, with our extensive training that we're lucky enough to be provided with, you know, through the police department and crisis intervention, adding that to to our tool bag is just another way to make sure to see all of our students succeed in their buildings. um serving at Riverview primarily, but alongside with the you know three elementaryaries um Lincoln Salomony and Horus man, it's not uncommon to see you know those those very examples of students throwing themselves on the ground not wanting to be there and if there's a a tool in our tool bag that we can add to more effectively assist you know the educators and our students then I would would love to be able to
029to offer that to our to our school our school system as a whole. Um, so a little bit about the school K9 program. Um, essentially the goal is to add an element of of school safety, right? These dogs are capable of a lot of things that that I myself as a human amap doing. I I can't always smell, you know, narcotics. I can't smell firearms, things like that. These are capabilities that are outside of, you know, my my abilities as a human. And these dogs can be trained in a litany of of skills that can be used in all sorts of positive deployments, you know, all across our school district. We already use, you know, the county's K9 for for sweeps of narcotics through our lockers, and this will provide a K9 that is available
030to the school, you know, on a regular basis. I'll I'll be there every day. I'll be able to be deployed in a a more quick and effective manner than having to to create a plan, you know, and able to get schedules together to make something work. We're able to work more on the fly in conjunction with all of our schools. Um, K9 programs across the nation have been shown to be very effective in several facets, which I'll touch on on later. Um, but I have spoken at length with officer Elwell at Belmont as well as school resource officers across DAL, Adams and Allen County and they have, you know, only great things to say about the dogs that they have put into the schools, the positive impacts that they've had, you know, in terms of
031interacting with students, but also preventing school safety issues, um, you know, whether it be narcotics or firearms. And across the country, this is a growing trend. This is becoming much more common for schools to to implement K9's alongside of their school resource officers. Um, so in the terms of where this dog will come from, um, we'll make a selection for a dog. Our training will be done through the Allen County Sheriff's Department, their canine program, who uses the International Police Working Dog Association for their certifications. This dog will undergo a high level of scrutiny in order to be prepared to be in a school setting to ensure that it is a a safe a safe asset and a useful asset for for our school district. You want to go ahead? So, some capabilities that these
032dogs offer. Um, I do want to start by saying just based off of the initial initial plans with us just starting this program, our our dog our plan is to train the dog simply on narcotic detection and the infancy of the program, but it is something that you can expand upon at a later date as well. Um, you can always teach these dogs new things, new imprints, new abilities, but you can't take them away once they're there. And as we're just beginning this program, we're starting here and we can build upon that. But eventually these drug dogs alongside of narcotic drugs couldn't can be trained to detect firearms. Um so in our our demonstration from officer Elwell and K9 Kota, um he took us to a wrestling room. He he hid ammunition, magazines from firearms
033in this wrestling room full of all kinds of equipment and his dog was able to very quickly, you know, locate to where those things were and identify any potential potential threats within that building. Um, and alongside that, these canines are very talented with tracking as well. So, you know, at the elementary level, you have students that have a desire to abscond at times, try to run, flee, leave the building because they're in a time of crisis or something they're dealing with. And these dogs can allow for us to, you know, more quickly and effectively locate the locate students if they were to to able to leave the building. Um, other benefits of this K9 program. So again, this is becoming significantly more more common. There is, you know, research to back these programs being successful
034in schools ranging all the way from middle, high school, and even college level programs. They've um implemented K9's on on college campuses as well for their safety. Um, one added benefit is deterrence. These these dogs are present. They're there. Students know they're there. students know not to bring these things into our buildings, these dangerous things, these threats to to themselves and other students into the building with the knowledge that that that K9 will be there. We'll be working and we'll sniff those things out if they're present. community building um as chief touched on that that instance is very very touching but even in our community as well you know I've seen our county's canines come in for for dare graduations for demonstrations for Red Ribbon Day and things like that and you can't you can't
035put words to the faces of kids when they get to to interact with these dogs and they get a chance to to see them work to see them in the building. It's a It creates a positive environment and the building as a whole that that is more than just, you know, oh, they get to pet the dog. It just builds a positive a positive outlook for students as well when they get to see that and get to interact with the dog. And again, like I touched on slightly earlier, these canines are capable of a lot of things that I, as a as a human being, am not. Like I said, they can detect the odors of a litany of drugs, firearms, you know, the odors of students that have left the building. These are all
036things that I can't simply simply can't do. And it's a tool that, you know, with with access to allows us to to take another step in the direction of a a collaborative school safety effort. So, some deployments that you could see um with our school with a dog within the schools. So, security patrols, like I said, this is something that we do do with some regularity, but you know, mostly here at the high school, but I know there's also been at least one at at Crestview this year. It's the dog sweeping the lockers, right? You that's kind of probably the image you think of dog comes in, sniff the lockers, and identifies any lockers that might contain contain something that's not supposed to be here. um as so alongside that as I've touched on with
037the capabilities um animal assisted intervention alongside of a somebody who's dealing with individuals in crisis is proven on time and time again to be significantly more effective than just one-on-one human interaction. And um lastly, educational outreach. Um, as Chief mentioned, I've been teaching DARE for the last two and a half years, and you know, getting in there, interacting with students has been incredibly positive. I've had a lot of, you know, great interactions, great relationships that I believe have proven to be beneficial to the students. Now that they are at the middle school, having started with them in fifth grade, they're now seventh graders in Riverview. Um, frequently having students come down seeking out, you know, an adult that they trust within a building. And this has been shown time and time again across the country
038to tear down walls, to make myself more approachable, to make the police more approachable. And I truly believe that in order to properly create a safe and positive environment within the school, um that takes everybody, that takes the community as a whole, and this will enhance that our our community connections within the building. Okay. And then just to touch on some some common questions, some things that have been brought to my attention as well as, you know, the attention of our our team at the police department. Um, this will look much different than what you probably imagine a police canine looking like. Um, they're typically Labrador retrievers, chocolate labs, black labs, dogs like that, friendly dogs, floppy ears with no intention to be an intimidating presence. Just the presence that they are there for the
039safety of the students and for the safeties of our school in general. They are not trained to be a aggressive dogs. They go through a high level of certification and scrutiny um in order to be certified to be within the schools. They're not trained in handler protection. So, this dog's ultimate goal will not be to keep me safe or to save me from anybody that comes at me. It'll be for to detect narcotics initially and then potentially the other capabilities I've touched on. And it will also not be trained in any sort of bite apprehension. And the goal is never to, you know, use the dog in an aggressive manner within the school district. These dogs will undergo an extensive academy for the school typically, it sounds like, will probably run for the the length
040of the summer. So over the course of the summer, I will be training with the dog. Um, again, that will be through the Allen County Sheriff's Department and that will put the ideally make the dog ready for deployment at the start of next school year. Um, the dog will stay with me, live with me. I'll train with it frequently, you know, outside of school hours. Um, it'll be it'll be there with me, you know, it'll be at at the school every day. It'll be deployable. It'll be um just a basically an extension of myself. And can students pet the dog? The answer is yes. Um, the dog does is working, right? It is a police dog. So, there'll be times where it is not not to be pet. It's working. It's smelling lockers for narcotics,
041you know, firearms, anything that it could be to be working towards actively. But outside of that, it is meant to be there, you know, for the students as well. It's meant to be able to be pet, to be sit there and cried to or talked to, anything like that that can further, you know, further benefit the students. So, with that, I'll turn it back over to to Chief Boxel. Thank you, Daniel. Um, this is the uh it's all fun, but this is the really fun part I'd like to talk about. Not that these guys aren't really good-looking, but if I could ask this team of guys to step back, my other team, if I could have you guys come forward, I'd like to introduce to you um a team of people that I brought here
042with me tonight from Bowen Health. With me this evening is Dr. Rob Ryan, the president and CEO. Also, Jay Bumgardner, the CFO. I have Lori Augustus, the executive director from our local office. I have Chris Dorman, the practice administrator. Also, Katie Shomo, director of community engagement, and our own local Dr. Tanner Bab, who's a member of the Bowen Health Board of Directors. So, much like I wanted to mention to you about the fundraising side of this this whole thing, um this whole vision of ours, you know, we launched this patrol dog program right before Christmas. And if you guys recall, um, we put some media releases out there that Mr. Seth Kimmel from Kimmel Financial Services, he was really quick to step up. And, uh, he come to us and he asked us, "Hey, what's
043the price of one of these dogs, the patrol dog side of things?" And we shot him the number and he immediately said, "I want to I want to purchase the dog for you guys." That really kicked off and started our fundraising efforts. Um, our goal for the patrol dog side of things, to be totally transparent with you guys, was about $35,000. We're trying to raise that number to not only purchase the dog, but also to upfit a repurposed patrol vehicle to be able to transport the dog, a kennel at the officer's house, um along with other miscellaneous items, leashes, bowls, toys, a vest, different things like that. So, that number was a was a high achievement for us, but the community has really blessed us and wrapped their arms around us. As you guys might
044recall on February the 26th at our very last home boys basketball game, uh with Mr. Mr. Charles Blessing, Mr. Digotss, we were in this very room and we were hosting a community fish and chicken fry. That was phenomenal. Our goal that night was to, you know, if we served 600 people, we thought we were really knocking it out of the park. And the truth of the matter is, uh, we ran out of tartar sauce. That was a problem. We ran out of chicken a little before 7. Um, but I guess that was a good thing even though the dinner was supposed to go till 7:30. The truth of the matter is we served 651 people in here that night. And I just want to publicly say thank you for your support and Mr. Digs allowing
045us to use the building. Uh Beth Clark, what an awesome woman. She she was here over and over for us and uh we just really appreciate her and and her efforts as well. Again, the community came together. We've had some really substantial donations that have come to us um to to again trying to build that $35,000 number. Dave and Vicky Denton contributed uh a significant amount to us. Troy Johnson, as many of you guys know, out at NCO devices. We put that picture out on our Facebook page. Kevin and Andrea Offenberger, the parents of our canine officer that we selected to run the patrol dog. They kicked in a very generous check and we just really appreciate them. And most recently to close that last little gap to hit that patrol dog goal, uh Captain
046Elliot just took pledges from Jonathan Amore at Amore Esavating. And I know you guys have done some business with him along with Drew Clark at Clark's Recycling that have really helped us to close that gap. The exciting thing about this team standing behind me is is that as we're going throughout this fundraising effort, um Dr. Ryan's uh public relations director, a lady by the name of Claudia Johnson, she reaches out to my secretary one day and if I if I'm not mistaken, Dr. Ryan, I think it was a Friday and uh she reached out to us and and expressed Dr. Ryan's wishes to help us support our cause. And uh she provided us with a really significant number. And I'll be honest with you, I I I purposely sat on the phone call uh through
047the weekend because my very first call was to my mayor and my second call was to Mr. Trout because in the back of my head, I had Officer Loe's wish and dream of this K9 school K-9 program to come to reality. And uh that Monday, the very first call when I got to the office was to Claudia Johnson. And I presented this program to her and she was just hugely on board. And uh even though that number was a little higher than their initial contribution that I was requesting, I don't even think she asked Dr. Ryan because she kept me on the phone and she just said, "We want we want to do it and we want to completely and totally fund that K9 police K9 school dog program for you guys." And so I'm
048just really blessed to have them here and I I want to acknowledge their contribution and their support and not only to the Huntington Police Department, but the students of our school district and our community as a whole. And I'd like to ask Dr. Ryan to come up and say a few words about that. Thank Thank you for that. A tough act to follow. Uh I would definitely say special shout out to Dr. Tanner Bab who's here this evening who is a product of Huntington schools obviously as you know professor over there at Huntington University. Um I share that because he's one of three of our Huntington board members right the other one is Dr. uh Dwayne Hogandler well-known pediatrician here in town and also Matt Ditler president of the community foundation of Huntington. And they
049round out those three. They keep our focus at Bowen Health on the Huntington community. Uh, see, here at Bowen Health, we take being a not for-p profofit seriously. Uh, if we were a for-profit company, we'd be focused on returning value to our shareholders on Wall Street. Instead, being a not for-p profofit, we seek to return a different value to different shareholders here on Main Street. Bowen Health is your community mental health center that makes our shareholders, our patients, our staff, and our Huntington community. An example of how we balance those shareholders is our decision to build a new facility here on 24 in the next two years. See, that's a patient shareholder issue because we want them to have a place that's designed specifically for their health needs. It's a staff investment because we want
050to have a facility for our Huntington staff to feel proud. And it's a community investment by moving the location to a more convenient place and offering more than just mental health, physical health, and pharmacy. But also when we launch, we're going to offer uh dental services. See, that brings us to this evening. Uh we're here for a community shareholder investment. When you read about the possibility, when we read about the possibility of partnering with law enforcement and Huntington schools, it was a no-brainer. While there was a small monetary investment, Bowen Health sees this as an investment in relationships. As a clinician myself, I've been there and seen the power a resource officer can have being in the presence of a student. I've also seen the power that an animal can have in a student's life.
051Together, you guys here in Huntington is going to see amazing things with these two together. So, in that, it's a privilege that you allow us to work with you in raising and teaching our future leaders. Huntington Police and Huntington Schools. Thank you for your continued partnership with Bowen Health. We're proud to call you shareholders because we are a safety net service. That means that we're here for all regardless of a person's ability to pay. And I think that's more important today than ever. So, thank you again for that partnership. Thank you. Want to go to the last slide for me, Cindy? And that is simply questions. Hopefully we've covered all and and have been able to answer all. But if you have some for us, I'll I'll try my best. If not, I got a
052team behind me that can make it happen. I turned it on. Did you see that, John? I I knew you'd be impressed. I just want to say I am the lived here my whole I'm probably the oldest board member. I'm not going to ask your age, Deb, but I'm on my third term here. I've lived here my whole life. The kids went through school here. But since sitting on this board, since you've come on this board with you, Mr. Boxel, acting sheriff Hamill since he's not here. It is so cool as a school board member to see how close everybody has gotten to supporting this school, this community. It's not just school. It's other things going on, but to see everybody working together, and to be one of the only school corporations around that's going
053to have this, you're I'm not going to lie to you. You going to know, you're going to have people buck buck you because you've got a dog in the school going through the locker. Tough It's my locker and I have grandkids in this school and that's what it's all about. So I this is so this is so cool to see this. The sad part about it is is only thing I'm disappointed is is the bottom line says this K9 will not be trained in traditional protection and bite because we want to see how far Chuck could get as a board member. That's the only thing our other thing as a board member. We want to see how fast Chuck can still run. But no, thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Boxel, Mr. Haml. This is so
054cool to see the community come together and put this together for the safety of our kids is thank you for that. Much appreciated for your time and everything and the Boeing center for the part that you guys are doing from the oldest board member here. Thank you very much. I appreciate this. So, you're welcome, sir. Thank you, Jake Boxel. Keep bringing good things to us. So, uh, I'm just saying you set the bar high. So, I can't wait to see the next time you come. I want to know what what's going to come next. I'm going to be following Hamill the next time. Okay. You're going to be following Hamill. That that'll be good. So, you know where the bar's set, Chad. So, uh, we'll expect something as good. Uh, but again, I just want
055to again thank everyone, uh, seeing the community come together, seeing the community support, seeing individuals from different sectors, uh, with the city, the county, everyone working together. Um, I've heard stories from other communities as I go around listening to other board members talking about how they can't commun how they they can't get either anyone to talk to each other in this community. I think we're very blessed and I appreciate everyone that's worked with that and especially with John helping uh facilitate some of that as well. Right. Um, it's uh Corey and to the whole team to all of you I say thank you. Um, you know, remember Corey and Sheriff Newton, I think it was three years ago, um, having this meeting and talking about the power of the Wii, right? That's right. You know,
056that we're all working very hard, but probably we could do a much better job of being the Wii. Um, I have a lot of, um, colleagues across the state are envious of the Wii that we have built here together as a community. And so, um, from the police department, the sheriff's department, the Bowen Center, my gosh, we can't do it without you. Mayor Strick's been awesome from day one. Um, and so I just want to say all of you, thank you. The beneficiary of all this is the kids. I mean, that's why we're doing it. The bottom line is the beneficiary are the kids. And um as we continue to move forward, I'm really excited uh for the opportunity to continue to work with all of you and the opportunities that's going to be before
057our kids and our staff and in the very near future. So it it's a blessing on my part to team and to work with all of you. Um we could not do this without you. Um you look at the climate in our buildings today versus a few years ago. It's incredible uh what has happened and you all right over there are a huge part of what we're doing inside our buildings and inside our walls each and every day. So I say to all of you, thank you. I mean that it's been incredible blessing to work alongside with you. So board, what I'm asking for is your approval uh for us to continue to move forward uh in this process. We are open for a motion. I will make the motion to accept the police as
058presented. Do I hear a second? I heard Deb as the second or hope she's pointing at Aaron. So, we'll go with Aaron. They're pointing each other. I'm choosing Aaron. So, we'll go with Aaron. Uh, any comments? Hearing none. Uh, we'll go for a vote. Corey, again, thank you. Um it's amazing to me um that we're doing this at the cost we are doing it. Um and how hard that you've all worked to put this all together. So thank you. I mean it's been a lot of hours um put in this. Yeah. I'm not the expert on that, but I I've heard enough from Captain Ellen. Even though the picture you saw with the dog from from Belmont, uh they chose that dog at a very young age, as Daniel noted, they had to change handlers
059in there. Um and again, it's it's uh more it's easier to get a dog that has that puppy effect out of them. So, we're looking at something, you know, around that two-year mark. um through the Allen County Sheriff's Department. And what I didn't mention, uh I I agree with your statement that we're truly blessed to have this opportunity and we're going to be one of the few schools that does, but this is probably one of the fastest growing segments of school resource officer programs programs going right now. Uh Captain Ell's done a tremendous amount of research and the IPA, which is the International Police Work Dog Association that the accreditation come came comes through, um they They've told us that this is rapidly growing and evolving and so um for many reasons. We all know
060that mental health is a challenge that law enforcement has dealt with forever, but we all also know that since co uh and in my discussions with this team from Bowen Health right back here, it it it's to a whole another level, right? And so I think that this uh K9 opportunity is is going to help break down those walls along with the drugs and the other traditional things that we normally deal with in law enforcement. goes back to when you guys know. Sure. No. Appreciate your support. The motion carried 5-0 and so it passed. Thank you much. [Applause] Oh, yeah. We have Okay, Kenny. Uh, thank you. We have We have some certificates for you, and we're not going to let you out of here without getting your picture taken, okay? You got to get
061your picture taken. That's part of the deal. Uh, don't don't leave. So, you're gonna make this work, Kenny. Okay. Yeah. Uh yeah. Thank you. I don't really care about Thank you guys. There you go. Okay. This way over here. Okay, look over here. Here we go. Smile. I like a nice angle. All right. Set the stage. That is not my phone. Okay. I have an iPhone for sale. Thanks, Ryan. You saved me, Cindy. Thank you. Good job. Yeah. No, Cindy saved me right there. So, from one presentation to another, I think we're going to move on to E students. Uh, and we have a special presentation for the AP uh science field trip. Mr. Park. All right. Board and community. I'm thrilled to have Mr. Park and three wonderful students, AP Science from Huntington North
062here to tell us about their trip to Florida. I will tell you um I've got uh been in Mr. Park's class a few times recently talking about the Viking Green Team and and this uh gentleman is um not only an outstanding teacher but unbelievable uh role model for the kids of Huntington North. So, thank you for being here tonight, Mr. Park. Sure. They say that um you should never follow a kid and a dog. So, I'm really thankful that they didn't actually bring in a little puppy K-9 cuz we were getting ready to leave if they were. So, I mean it was it was game it was game over about that time. So, I think uh officers Boxel and Hamill kind of nailed it right on the head when they said that um there's momentum
063and uh good things happen when there's momentum. And something that um has uh kind of caughten fire in my opinion is um our apes program and our environmental science program. um not because of anything I've done, but I get the unique opportunity to hang out with some really cool people every single day. And uh these kids are they're they're game changers when it comes to making a difference in this world and in this community. And um so a couple weeks ago, Melanie and I um my beautiful bride had the opportunity to escort um 13 young ladies to South Florida. And uh I do want to point out young ladies because uh we don't discriminate against the males. Um but uh from circumstances beyond their control with sports and H Heartland Career Center and a couple
064moving into the class late um Melanie and I are actually going to escort them and their families on the same trip this summer. Um and so we're excited about giving them the same opportunity and their families as well. So, they really had to twist our arms to get to go twice. So, um so anyway, uh you don't want to hear this from me. Um I was able to uh get three young ladies, uh juniors here at Huntington North, uh Graceland Anderson, Maggie Hall, and Jesse Bill to share just a little bit of what what this meant to them and the impact it had on their lives. Okay. So, on Sunday, March 2nd, we were off to Florida. We arrived in Miami in afternoon. Once we landed, we were on the way to Britain Environmental Center
065in Summerland Key. And we got there right in time for dinner, which was pretty nice. And we explored the place and met our leaders, Mick and Morgan. And after a long day of travel and a new beginning to a fun adventure, we all settled down and rested. On Monday, March 3rd, it was our first morning waking up in the beautiful Key. Early that morning after breakfast, we all met up in a classroom to learn about corals and what they were going and what we were going to do that day. We learned that coral was a living animal. After learning about corals and polyps, we headed off to a coral nursery. This was an amazing experience as we got to witness how they are trying to grow coral faster and more efficiently. This process is called
066fragmentation and this process was developed by Dr. David Vaughn and as Mr. Park would say is a hero and one of the coolest people you'll ever meet. And lucky for us, we got to meet Dr. Vaughn and he informed us how he came up with the process of fragmentation and his and his team's goals are. As Dr. Vaughn explained, he didn't find he didn't mean to find coral fragmentation. He discovered it by dropping one of the corals. And as they broke into many pieces, not only did they grow, but they grew 20 to 40 times faster than natural growth when he grew them separately. Now, Dr. Vaughn and his 501c3 nonprofit plan plant a million corals are trying to grow at least 1 million corals in two years. The crazy thing is the foundation is
067trying to restore 100 years of old coral in just only two. Coral reefs have been declining due to climate change and other factors. So as the team focuses on this goal is potentially accelerate to the coral reef restoration significantly. Dr. Vaughn ex plans to begin planting corals once they have produced 1.1 million corals at their facility. As of right now, plants a million corals have over 40,000 corals. When we got back to the environmental center, we had to take a swim reel for an exciting adventure at Big Mson Island. Big Mson Island is an island that has been owned by Sea Base since 1982. The Seabase has committed to maintaining the island in its natural state. This island is filled with all kinds of different plant and species such as upside down jellyfish called cassiopia
068and other species such as key deer which are small deer and are endangered animal species found in the island. Some unique plant species located on the island are salt warts and glass warts. These are very salty plants, so if you try them, you might want a drink of water after. But the glass warts are like also salty, but they're also known to taste like blood, which is kind of cool to experience. And we also got to experience mangroves and gumbo limbo trees, which are huge, and more awesome species. Before we got to go on the hike through the whole island, we were all able to eat lunch together. And after we hiked, we rode back on the boat to Sea Base. And back at Seab Base, we got to do some homework and then prepare
069for the next morning. And this day was filled with a lot of exciting new memories and adventures that I won't forget. On the second day of waking up in the Keys, we got to wake up early and begin the day with a morning kayak where some students kayaked and others like myself paddle boarded for the first time. After that, we had the amazing opportunity to explore Florida's coral reefs and wildlife by going snorkeling. We saw a range of wildlife such as sea sponges, conch shells, crabs, and stingrays. We also had the chance to explore a small island called Picnic Island that included a lot of biodiversity and is actually where Mr. Park found a stingray and a lobster. After that, we got to meet the scientist who Grace previously mentioned named Mr. Dr. Von who
070invented fragmentation. We had the amazing chance to meet him and listen to him speak about how they fragment coral and how their mission is to grow a million corals. This was truly an awesome experience to listen and learn from someone so advanced in science and be able to ask questions and just hear him speak. It was a once in a-lifetime opportunity. Along with this, we had the opportunity to visit Summerland Farm where the plant a million coral organization gave us a tour of all their growing corals and mangrove trees. We also got to view different species and see how they are fragmenting the coral. Basically, what they do is break up the coral using this special tool. Unlike Dr. Von who accidentally dropped the coral, they do have a process for this and they do
071split it up in a certain way. And as you can see in this picture, there are specific types of species like the brain coral species and the stagghorn species. And you can also see how they track the growth on different like square or circular tiles or they even do wooden pegs just to see how much the corals are growing. We got to end the night with an unforgettable boat ride where we all enjoyed the sunset and nice weather. It was a good chance for us to all grow closer and make memories that we will never forget. After that, every year it is a tradition to have key lime pie on the last day we are in the Keys. So that's what we did. We all were excited when Mr. and Mrs. Park surprised us with
072this traditional treat. The next day, we left the sea base and then we went to Marathon Key where we went to sea turtle hospital, which was actually an old hotel that they changed into a sea turtle hospital. Um, and so the pictures are old pools from the hotel that they changed into the rehabilitation pools for the sea turtles. And all the sea turtles at the sea turtle hospital had different injuries from um boat accidents or pollution. And we got to see all of those different injuries on these sea turtles. It was very sad, but at the same time, we learned a lot about what we've done to impact all of these animals. But we got to see the permanent residents at the Sea Turtle Hospital, and we visited the different um patients there, too, that
073they were restoring. And then next, we went to the Everglades, which was probably my favorite part. Um there was a big tour bus that's on the lefthand side and that we took through the Everglades and we got to be about five feet away from different alligators all throughout the Everglades and it was a very good experience. And then we stopped the tram bus and we went up this big tower and over the tower it looked the entire Everglades National Park and it was a big river and we could see alligators, soft shell turtles and a bunch of different big fish. And then this is an example of American alligator that we saw as well. And then after we left the Everglades Park, we um traveled north a little bit and then we saw an airboat.
074We went on an airboard tour and that was an experience. That's something I'd never done before. It was very loud, but um it was very interesting because once we were out inside the Everglades, we were actually on the water. We weren't just on land. And so we were surrounded by like this swampy like planted area with alligators popping their heads up everywhere. And there's a picture of one of them, which was very cool. And then lastly, we went to the US Coast Guard, which is Mr. Park's son. And um we got to tour the base there in Miami, and we got to see all the different um like aircrafts that they fly. And he explained to us a little bit of like what he does on a day-to-day job. and it inspired a couple of
075us to look into it a little more. And then as our last celebration, we went to a Cuban cafe in Miami um when we were at the hotel that night before we flew out the next morning. And that was very good. Everyone tried something new that day. And thank you. as uh she mentioned, um one of the last things that we do when we're in the actual Keys is um we uh we order key lime pie. Um and so don't tell next year's group. Um I'd appreciate that. But as part of that, uh we do have some key lime snacks for you all as well. Um and um another thing that I would uh like to mention uh on a very very serious note um there has been a person uh sitting up front here
076that has been our unsung hero uh the last three years that we've done this and uh Cindy Gray uh does so much for our team and for our apes class and for this trip. We wanted to say a special thank you uh for um all of the emails that you weird emails that you get from me um asking for insurance and just weird things. Uh and she's always pleasant, kind, professional. Even through the struggles that she's been through, she has always had a smile on her face, and we wanted to say a special thank you for her uh and supporting our trip. So, thank you, Cindy, for all that you've done to to help us out. And with that, do you have any questions for me or more importantly the young ladies? So during the
077boat tour, I've been down there nine times. He point out to you how much it is. Even if it's cold outside, it's still humid. There was a bit of wind, but it was still pretty humid. human. Well, Chief Boxel may have brought K9, but you brought snacks. And snacks always always I know. And Gary in my heart. I was gonna say, Gary, it's not a cookie, but I figured you'd appreciate the snacks and appreciate your passion and I know I know you enjoy it, but still it's a lot of work to put it all together and I appreciate you doing it every year and um I know the students appreciate it and thank you for your great presentation. I was thinking of questions and then next thing you know you answered them. So um very
078well done. And just to Mr. Park and and Mrs. Park, I I every time I see that you might be on the agenda, I always know that students are going to get an experience and and it's it's always the case. And I appreciate everything you do for the high school and the students up here because I know you're getting students things uh you're getting them out there and being able to have experiences that I wish I would had when I was in high school. So, thank you for all the work that you do for the students and I can't wait to see what you're going to do next month because it's been a couple months that you've been in a row. Have something. So, I can't wait. So, we'll be here April 14th for another
079presentation. So, stick around. So, thank you, Dr. Dots. Yeah. Uh, I just want to say ladies, um, I was listening to you when you were presenting and I'm not sure if when I was a junior in high school that if I could have done what the three of you have done, um, that that's quite impressive. Um, you have enormously bright futures, the three of you do. And what brings us a lot of joy is in the future years is to see and to hear um what you're going to be doing. But I just want you to know um I was smiling at you the whole time because the three of you did an amazing amazing job to sat here in front of all these adults and to speak. Uh Mr. Park, um what a legacy
080you're leaving. And I mean that. Um these students will never forget you. I mean the legacy that you are leaving and the lives that you're touching is what teaching is truly all about and we are grateful for you uh beyond any what words can express and to say because uh when I hear your name I always hear excellence uh I don't care what you're doing what you're teaching what you're involved with it's always highly it's just always so extremely well done and um thank you for everything that you are doing so ladies Mr. Park. Thank you. What a great evening. So, thank you. Thank you. Cool. Now we move on to E2 Apex Learning Edum. Uh board uh and community. I know we had a wonderful presentation on um I think our work session uh
081Mr. Wall uh previously on Edenum. As a reminder to our board and our public, um we currently use Edenum already. It is called Apex. It is the one version of Edenum. If you also know, we do have a a student who has utilized uh the IU online. Um we are hoping to expand our audience with uh the Edenum virtual that would begin and Dr. Digits uh correct me, but that would begin after summer school ends. uh if you vote yes tonight on this action item. So they will finish out on the current platform. All students and families that are on that virtually would be would understand that at the end of summer school which is basically by July 1 that the um the virtual apex would stop. The new online which has actual teaching and
082recorded teaching and tutoring opportunities available. Literally tens of thousands of districts use this uh platform around the nation. It is very very wellreceived. Um I know that you received the cost and I guess I would tell you as a reminder all virtual platforms come with a cost. Why is that? Um Mrs. Smith, correct me, but approximately $7,100 give or take would come in if a student is enrolled in your district. If that district is virtual, what is the cost of them taking courses that are not in your building? In this particular one, I know you've reviewed, but it would be $2,500 for the year of the $7,100. But keep in mind, 85% of the $7,100 goes to the virtual. So, if you take 85% of $7,100, that's what's coming into your district for a pure
083virtual student. You would subtract the $2,500. the remaining part benefits the district in terms of a a plus. I would also tell you that we will remain with Apex for the uh success academy kids, but they will have options. Um but I would tell you that as of July 1st, our goal is for the virtual students to have um a more appropriate platform for them. And I would tell you that we do have a lot of what I call singletons here. Um those are kids that have had a schedule conflict. Those are kids that could not get all the classes they need and they might need a dual credit, they might need a CTE, they might need something. Uh, Edenum allows for that at a cost. I know that you've uh uh reviewed that as
084well, but a typical cost for that. Um, these are 18week courses. Those are paced at that rate just like a regular semester for them. Uh, they would either have live or recorded teaching. Uh, that would not be us, but would be at Menum. Uh, and those cost uh, if I look at those I believe um on the handout uh, monthly per C uh, cost half credit which would be nine weeks, $80 per month depending on who's enrolled because that can change in and out. Um, $200 per credit half course depending on uh, the course they would need. Electives like PE, health, advanced AP, world languages and so on. 295 per half credit. So semester we would not have a lot of these but we do have students that need different courses not offered due to
085their track that would be available to them and is already figured in our budget as well. And so I offer you tonight um and Dr. Digs is here if you have any specific questions but a whole lot of work by Lynn Brown and her team Dr. Digots um a committee that included Mike Sumpter and and many of the other people at Huntington North and our middle school. This would be a six through 12 program which is what we currently do. Uh but it would give us another platform. And so tonight I would hope to if you have questions take them but also ask for an action item so we can begin communicating with parents and kids after spring break that this will be the new platform have time for them to come in and review
086look through it so they can make it in uh intelligent educated options for them for next school year if they choose to. Thank you Chuck. A reminder Mr. wall at count day we had 91 students 6 through 12 on pure ver uh v virtual we do have a number of kids on singletons uh 6 through 12 currently uh so I will bring back data as next year goes on where those things fall as we get um count day in the fall and count day as well in February I believe thank you I am looking for a motion if someone would like to make one motion to approve the 2526 admentum learning subscription as presented. Thank you, Matt. A second. Thank you, Gary. Uh comments, anyone have any? I do have a question, Chuck. Uh during
087the presentation at the work session, we had talked about possibly having some needing someone to help administer this a little bit better. Are we gonna At this point, um Mr. Trout, Mr. Mclofflin, uh Mrs. Smith, um and Mr. Peters. Um, we are waiting to see how the legislative session to put that I think in Mr. Trout's words ends before we bring anything further after tonight. And so we'll see how that goes. Please know that Mrs. Brimberry is handling both ends of this uh at this time and we'll remain doing so unless uh we choose otherwise. I would also assume that once we start this after spring break too, we would probably also have an idea of how many kids are going to be in that class. Yeah. what will happen um we'll have both the
088success academy kids are doing interviews as we speak and they have their number uh we will meet with our virtual parents and I will also tell you we will market with Mr. Butler uh to the 300 and some odd uh virtual students that are not enrolled in Huntington North or anything to do with that live in our county and those will have a direct market and I will begin uh asking our team to meet with those parents and those kids to see this platform to see if we can also service that group as well. Cool. Any other questions? Hearing none. I'll call for a vote. Motion carries 5. Item E3 uh theou for Indianapolis Colts Incorporated flag football grant program. Uh board action item. Um please note board that Mr. Mclofflin and Tyler have both
089reviewed this. Jeremy Markham is asking as our athletic director of Huntington North for approval of a grant from the Indianapolis Colts for our girls flag football program. Uh the grant encompasses $5,000 as a onetime payment in 2025, $1,500 as a onetime payment in 2026. Uh those uh it specifies exactly in the grant what those are to be used for. I know you've had a chance to review that, but examples of that would be paying for transportation, coaches, stipens, paying for additional equipment needed, officials, uniforms, paying for other expenses strictly and directly related to girls flag football. So, it would not be a grant that shows up and all of a sudden is directed towards another sport. And so, Mr. Markham is asking uh for your approval. Tyler has reviewed it and it will go directly
090to athletics and then we will maintain the grant uh followup on their behalf. One quick question. What do we do if we have too many girls? Well, yeah, we had talked about that and I think you're going to have that number. Watch what's the cut off number? Do some point you cut it off? I I guess I would say I don't have a specific number on that, but I can certainly get back with you after Yeah, I don't have a number. We're one of two teams. I I think in the past they have done things like that, but this is so new, Gary, that I'm not sure a lot of schools have a second team. But I will tell you, I think talking to Jeremy, he mentioned sometimes when you have too many, you can
091play another half. You can play another another just like they do in other sports. Thank you. Good question. We're looking for officials as we speak, Gary. Thank you. Do we know when the season's going to be? Yeah, I believe I believe fall. I'll get you the exact date on those things. Yeah, right. During soccer season while I'm busy. Sorry. Um but yeah, it would be fun. Uh do I have a motion? Cool. Uh do I have a second? Thank you, Eric and Gary. any additional comments? Look forward to uh seeing uh some results and see how things come out with that team. Yeah, I I think the girls will be uh will come out in droves for this. I think it'll be a fun um sport for them to get started and I think Huntington
092North will um enjoy success in this as well. Is that something you would be sign up for? So cool. Uh looking for a vote. Yep. And motion carries 5-0. Moving on to E4 2025 summer school. Tonight we have with us uh principal at Salomony Elementary School, Elizabeth Kitchen. Elizabeth has uh so graciously um stepped in to help us with our SC summer school programming for 2025. And so she's just going to share with you our proposal that we bring to you uh this evening for our 2025 summer school. Thank you, Elizabeth. Um I don't have any cookies. I don't have a dog. I just have me. So sorry. Okay. First of all, I want to thank Amy Rudolph though for the years of service she has done this summer school proposals. This is not an
093easy task and um she has done a fabulous fabulous job. So I'm thankful that I get to follow her footsteps. Um the summer school proposal this year for elementary is going to look a little different. It's only going to be for second and third grade students that have been identified by their I read three results um by the ID by the IDOE that are at risk or targeted that could not pass I read in the future. So again, summer school for elementary will be just for second and third grade students and this is from June 9th through June 27th. Um, and this will be 15 instructional days. And this year it'll be held at Flint Springs Elementary School. To be eligible to teach summer school this year by the IDOE, they are telling um the
094prerequisites are teachers need to have 25 hours of science of reading type instructional pieces. And so those teachers have to be able to identify um those courses that they have taken and to be able to identify those 25 hours of that they have taken so far towards science and reading. Um but those staffing decisions will come after board approval tonight. The high school is also having summer school. They are going to have summer school from June 2nd to June 13th and June 16th through June 27th. Their summer school will be held at Crestview Middle School. Food services will be involved with handling um the daily food for breakfast and for lunch and transportation services will be provided as well. I gave you an estimate summer school budget. I um please know that those estimates are
095from the hourly rate of a high the top salary paid teacher hourly rate. So just to be clear, just because I have that number there doesn't mean that's what every teacher is going to get paid. that was just at the highest salary rate there. Um, so we're asking for 20 teachers for the elementary and 25 for the high school plus that credit recovery. And I think Mr. Digus is going to talk to you about summer band. Any questions? So, tonight we need approval for our 2025 summer school proposal. Uh, and so we'll need a um a motion to approve. And uh what we're going to do is also with that permission to post our summer school positions. Uh with that um and then we'll bring back on April the 28th uh at that board meeting
096our summer school staff roster for your approval. Cool. So the floor is open for a motion. Correct. Yes. We just changed how the students we're doing only just second and third grade students. Motion to approve the 2020 2025 summer school program as presented. Thank you, Matt. Sec. Have a second. Thank you, Gary. So, just clarify, uh, all elementary is going to be at Flint Springs. Yes, sir. Thank you. And then the high school because it's closed will be at Cresue. Yes, sir. Cool. And then transportation's going to figure that all out, right? And Alex is going to be on the food and we're going to be good. Cool. Are they going to do food for the elementary as well? Breakfast and lunch will be served. Oh, it'll be 8 to noon each day for 15
097days. Correct. Great. Uh, any other questions? Hearing none, I'll let's move to vote. And the motion carries 5-0. Moving on to E5, we have the 2025 summerband program. So, Dr. Dus, if you would just talk to us about summer band and that program, uh what that entails. Thank you. Sure. Thanks for the opportunity to share. So, summer band is really an extension of what we offer academically with our summer school program. Uh Mr. Pedex submitted a proposal that I think all of you should have. Um the the simple short version is it is no change from previous years in terms of expense to the district. Uh each of the directors has assumed an additional set of hours uh just to meet the increasing demands of what summer band looks like and to prepare their students
098well. Um you'll note in the proposal that there is one director for each of the middle schools. Um a director and an assistant director for the high school. These are folks that are familiar with our students. They are familiar with our programming. And so this would help create a nice springboard into the fall when um really band takes off and there's a lot of uh just need to hit the ground running. And so again, no change from previous years for those of you uh that have been familiar with this. Um, for those of you that may be new, essentially this is a stipended request and we do receive some offset financially through uh the state in terms of summer school budgeting um through a 15 to1 ratio. And so the directors that are involved are
099aware of trying to maximize the number of students not only for the growth and and uh success of their program but also to help financially in the summer to offset the stipen expenses. Thank you, Dr. Duggets. Uh, we need a motion on this action item. Thank you, Gary. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Deb. Uh, any comments hearing? None. We'll move to a vote. And the motion carries 5-0. Uh, last item in uh, section E would be the HCCSC 2025 2026 calendar revisions. Thank you, Mr. Wall. Uh, if you'll remember, the board approved uh, school calendars for uh, usually three years in a row. Uh and last year for this school calendar 2425 we had removed the two-hour delays that were happening once a month for professional development. Uh we had approved also
100prior to the 2526 calendar that had those two-hour delays still in it. Uh so this is a revision of the 2526 calendar simply removing the two-hour delay days that we removed from this school year. Uh we had one more school calendar that had them still in it. So, I'm requesting approval to revise that calendar just including the 30 minute delayed starts that we have currently. Thank you, Mr. Mclofflin. Do I have a motion to approve the calendar? Motion to approve the HCCS calendar revision as presented. Thank you, Mr. Milchure. Uh, do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Mlullen. Any comments? Hearing none, we'll move to a vote. That motion carries 5-0. Moving on to item uh F, consent agenda. Okay, we have a variety of uh agenda items here for your approval this
101evening. Um we're going to speak to a few of these as we go along. I'm going to jump down to number seven, uh, corporation nurse. Um, we are, um, elated this evening, uh, to recommend to you Abby Keys. Aby's is is in the, uh, audience. If approved, Abby, we're gonna have you come up and say a couple words with that. But just so the public knows, um, Abby comes highly recommended. Um, we are thrilled uh to make this recommendation for you uh this evening. You have all of her uh important information uh in your board packet. Uh once approved, Abby, we'll have you come up and say a couple things there and and we'll do that. Um at this time, I'm going to turn over number eight to Mr. Brimberry, who's going to talk to
102you about some additional secondary positions for the 2526 school year. board. Uh for your uh consideration tonight uh as the consent agenda uh we are asking for three additional positions in the secondary uh due to the need of our students. Number one is uh Mr. Mclofflin uh prepped ourselves uh as as administrators two years ago uh on the graduation requirements at Huntington North that would um we would be short one business teacher going into next school year due to the requirements of personal finance um that we move from sophomore year to senior year. So we had a couple years to know this was coming and so now that year is next year and uh I have checked with Dr. Digits. I've checked with our head of guidance that need still exists and uh recommendation would
103be to approve posting uh tomorrow business teacher for Huntington North High School. I would also uh request um we have literally discussed this for three years on the need in our district. Mr. Trout has been clear on his leadership uh with Jay, myself and the administrators on the need and focus for the mental health of our students in this district. Um I am really proud to ask for uh the posting of two middle school guidance counselors, one at Riverview and one at Crest View uh to begin 2526 school year. I would tell you I gave you some information about the recommendations from the state of Indiana as well as the Indiana legislature as well as uh best practice of that a case load should be between 250 and 350 for any counselor in a building.
104Um, as you know, we are over 600 students at one of our middle schools and over 500 students at the other. I have monitored for more than um now 27 weeks. Um, the case loads that are coming in our middle school counselors that they cannot get to due to the uh needs that um present themselves daily. And so I'm I'm very very proud to uh recommend tonight with the addition of a counselor at each middle school that would begin next school year as well for your consideration. an action item. And as we mentioned previously, there are other um positions that are out there. U but I am just not comfortable moving forward at this time until we absolutely understand what's going to come out of this next legislative session. And we're we're probably a good
105month out from understanding all that. Um I agree wholeheartedly with Chuck with these three though and the need. just got to have these three. And so we'll we'll figure it out from there. Up next, uh we're going to jump down to number nine, uh clinical instructor salary. Uh Mrs. uh Drummond, uh Tiffany is here, uh this evening just to give you um a couple important facts with that. Good evening. Um as you know, the certified nurse aid program at the learning center is the largest industry certification program that we offer at the high school. um because we have so many students when we go to clinical we have the need for additional staffing. Uh so what that looks like um this year we have 32 students. Our classroom teacher goes out into the clinical setting
106because they're required to do 75 hours by the state um to be eligible for licensing. She takes a clinical site and then we hire um additional registered nurses to oversee students at clinical. Uh for the past 13 years we've never increased the pay for these individuals. Um, we've been extremely lucky to be able to find people who will work for six weeks out of the year, four hours a day, four days a week. Um, but what we would like to do is propose increasing their salary from 21.90 to $30 an hour. Um, and again, we our classroom teacher takes one site and then the clinical instructor takes the other site. Um, they provide direct supervision in our long-term care facilities. So our students learn a variety of resident care procedures and our um clinical instructors
107are able to check those off in the clinical setting. So it helps them get their requirements done. Um and it just provides additional help within the facilities. Are there any questions about that position? And Tiffany, why don't you while you're there just jump down to number 10, which is the clinical instructor independent contract agreements. Yes. So that is just that position I just talked about. those are their um their contracts. Um the reason there are five is because all of our staff currently they are retired RNs and they they have lives that keep going during those six weeks and so um we have kind of a pool that we pull from to staff that position. It's very niche what they do. So we're lucky to have the support that we've gotten. This is probably not
108for you so much as it is Mrs. Smith, but this would come out of the additional funds that we get for CTE education. Is that Cool. Thank you. Yep. Sorry, we should have mentioned that. Thank you, Ryan. Questions for Tiffany on these last two. I'm sorry, Tiffany. Go ahead. Oh, no. You're fine. I just wanted to point out we're only recommending um a jump to $30 an hour. That is not market rate for a registered nurse in Huntington County. That is still below what they would make anywhere else. Um this is an incremental change because I know funds are tight. Um but we want to we want to do right by our employees, too. Um, but just know that that is well below what they would make anywhere else. Okay. Any other questions for Tiffany
109before I move on to the next couple? Thank you, Tiffany. Thank you. Um, I want to comment a couple uh pieces about the handbooks uh for this evening. Um, Mrs. Harris came and spoke to you about her concerns um regarding um what is in our handbooks or the lack thereof and her estimation with regards to um identified students. Um there's just a few points that I want to make with you as a board to clarify um my position on this um this evening. Um students with disabilities um are routinely provided with a copy of what what is commonly referred to as procedural safeguards that describe disciplinary procedures in detail. Um you might ask where does that come from? Um it comes right from the Indiana Department of Education. um anytime that there is a meeting
110with a family, with a um a student, uh case conference, whatever the case may be, um every time they're given or given the option of the notice of parent rights, which is truly a notice of procedural safeguards as it relates to um discipline for disabled students. Um it's important for you to know um as a board that um you know I'm just flipping through the first line of this says as the parent of a child who has or may have a disability the federal and state laws give you certain rights called procedural safeguards. Um and it lists uh several aspects of what that is. Um, this document by itself is 24 pages long. Okay. Um, can we make handbooks absolutely all-encompassing about every situation that we deal with during a school day? We sure would
111like to, but what we're taking into consideration is knowing that our students are protected uh through these procedural safeguards um that they have. in addition to the handbooks um that we have on there too. Um on page 13, it specifically addresses disciplinary change of placement. A student, I know it's going to read one paragraph. I could read a lot of it here, but it goes on to say, "A student with a disability is subject to the same disciplinary action for violating school rules as any other student. However, if a student is subjected to a disciplinary uh change of placement, there are additional procedural safeguards that apply. A diff a disciplinary change of placement occurs when the student is removed for more than 10 consecutive days or subjected to a series of removals that accumulates more
112than 10 school days in a school year and constitutes a pattern. All that to say that whether or not it's it's with this or I have copy of the 504 here, this is an addition to our handbooks that helps to protect our stu our disabled students which is what we should be doing. Um there's also another level as you as a board are are familiar with is manifestation conferences um are part of this that uh are automatic and are not something that needs to be requested such as an expulsion hearing. Again, that's addressed in these procedural safeguards. And the last comment I I would like to make about this are special education special education due process rights are outlined in the procedural safeguard for students with disabilities. due process rights in the handbook are in
113regard to all students. I think it's really important that we that we clarify that. Let me read that again. Special education due process rights are outlined in the procedural safeguard for students with disabilities. The handbook that you have before you this evening that I'm asking for your approval on is in regards to due process for all students rights to regular procedures and fair inquiries before being deprived of the ability to attend school. So please understand as you can sense from the presentations already done this morning or this this evening um we are striving uh to be a district of excellence. that's for all students. Whether you're identified, you're not identified, doesn't matter. Um, but to insinuate that there's not safeguards in place is just simply not true. And so, as a board, I just wanted
114you uh to know that. Is there something that we'll continue to look at our handbooks to make improvements on in the future? Absolutely. You know, we're continually doing that, but um it's been reviewed um by our attorneys. It's been reviewed by several people. And so I'm very confident um with the handbooks uh this evening for your approval. Um we also have a number um 12 request to accept donations and grants. Um we continue to have an incredibly generous um community. Uh tonight you're I'm asking you to approve $46,942.77 of donations and a grant. And so and then lastly, you have your accounts payable and payroll voucher registers as we always do. And Mrs. uh Smith's going to present to you here in just a couple moments as she's been patiently waiting uh the February 2025
115financial report. So, I am seeking your approval of all consent agenda items that are listed uh this evening. Cool. Do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Thank you, Mr. Meltchure. Do I have a second? Thank you, Deb. Uh any item that anyone wants to pull from the consent agenda? Hearing none. Any comments about anything on there? Hearing none there. I'll move for a vote. Can Zenna Jenna passes 50. Moving on to G finance. Uh G1 would be group solutions go solutions groups contract agreement for student demographic interface. Thank you Mr. Wall. We are uh requesting uh that uh we re um that we approve the go solutions for uh it organizes a Medicaid billing. You know, it's uh it's nine o'clock. I'm sorry. When
116you're 60some, Meg, you guys got to jump up and down hard. Okay. I know. I saw you, Meg. Please forgive me. Okay. Um, Abby, please come forward. I'm so so sorry. Geez, that's on me, too. I apologize. I was not That's bring it on me. That's on me. I This is what happens the first time I I I lead a meeting. So, Oh my gosh. I am so sorry. Wow. Hey, Abby. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Um, this is uh for uh you have approved Abby Keys this evening. Abby, we are absolutely thrilled that you're going to be our corporation nurse. take this moment to introduce yourself to us a little bit about you uh so this board gets to know you a little bit. Okay. Okay. I'll start by saying thank you for
117the approval. So means a lot to me. My name is Abby Keys and I'm a registered nurse. My background is emergency medicine and business. Um I am excited to work. I have a passion for helping people and kids and I'm excited to continue that into a different role in school setting. Any questions? Just like to say welcome to the corporation. Thank you, Abby. Again, thank you. We we are thrilled. Uh Meg and Jay and Chuck uh speak volumes about you as well as Pat. and uh when I heard about you and heard your credentials and your background and the excitement from the team, uh I know you're going to be great for our kids. Thank you. I'm excited for this. Thank you. Thank you, Abby. All right. Now, sorry, Pat. Now, we'll move on to
118now on to Pat and Medicaid reimbursement. Yes, this is a program that we use to help organize our Medicaid billing for our uh students with uh special needs where we receive some Medicaid funding and asking for the approval uh for the contract agreement for the upcoming school year. Do I have a motion? Motion to approve the GO Solutions Group Inc. contract agreement for student demographic interference. And do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. Meltzer. Oh, sorry. I did not hear you. There's flowers there. I'm not used to see it's beautiful flowers. Keep it up. There's great Mrs. Miller for this the second. I appreciate that. Uh any comments or questions? There's a financial question later for you, but I'm having way fun. Uh on that I'll call for a motion. I not for call
119for a vote. Motion carries 5-0. Now on to my favorite part of the meeting. G uh would be G2, the February financial report. I was looking for the audience. I think I did financial scare everybody away or what? Yes, I know. Well, thank you for the um listening this evening. and we are reviewing the February financial statements and we'll go through those. First you'll see um the education fund which is one of our main uh budgeted funds and for that this is the second month of the year. This is a calendar year fund that runs from January to December. So in this you'll see uh the first column there in green is the anticipated revenues and budget order for expenditures that was certified by the department of local government finance uh at the end of
120December 1st of January. So that is where we have um what I call is our baseline that we start with. Then the next column over to the right is the actuals for that particular month that we're reporting which is February of 2025. And then the third column over is the year to date. So the year to date right now is January and February. So you'll see that and then you'll see the remaining column which is the budget minus the year to dates to see the um the remaining budget for the calendar year. On the right hand side you'll see some graphs that we did uh for uh the percent of budget. So you can see them by categories. These are object categories. So it breaks it down by salaries and benefits and then some um
121others professional services uh supplies and those type of things. Just want to draw your attention to the two um top colors the salaries and benefits. So you'll see there um 73% of the education fund is salaries and 24% is um benefits. So um just like you would think the fund represents education that is um directly aimed toward student education. So that that's the reason name for the the fund. So you'll see that uh 97% of the fund is salaries and benefits. So that's all of our teachers, our principles, all those directly um involved with the education of our students along with uh anyone that is at the school level. So then you'll see um right below that pie chart the graphs for the revenue and expenditures. So you'll see the budget for the revenues in
122green and then throughout the year you'll see that yellow line for the year-to- date rise um each month. And same thing with the expenditures. The blue uh is the expected uh budget from the budget order and then also the year-to date that you'll see rise throughout the year. Below that, you'll see a box that that explains what percent of the year that we are at. And um the blue that you see highlighted there is the percent of the budget year expended. So that is um the number of days from January to February divided by 365 days. That gives you the percent that gives us a foundation to look to see um how much right below that of the revenue that we've received um that we were anticipated to receive. You'll see that um 1616% but
123the revenue we've received 16.88%. So that's good. We've received a little bit more than um anticipated for this time of year. And then the percent of budget expendited is 13% which that's our goal is always to have a little bit more revenue than we anticipated because we anticipate low on the revenue and then um have uh less for the expenditures because we always round up and we um budget higher for our expenditures for the unknowns that come in the future. Then you'll see the summary, the year-to- date summary there where it lists everything from the beginning cash balance and then um the year-to- date revenue and expenditures coming off that. We even show outstanding purchase orders, the outstanding incumbrances and purchase orders are uh purchase orders that we've done to businesses where we have done
124an order for uh product or service and we have yet to pay for it. So, that is a promise that we made through a purchase order. So, we'd like to kind of take that off and then do a revised fund balance. I did want to um talk about fund balance, cash balance. If you've heard anything through all this with the legislative session this year, for some reason um they are targeting corporations cash balances, fund balances. So, I just wanted to kind of run through that of why some districts might have what some deem as a higher cash balance than others. They look at percentages, they look at amounts, they're looking at all different kinds of stuff and um in my opinion misconstruing what the the reason is for cash balances. So, I wanted to kind
125of highlight that for Huntington this evening. talking about a cash balance and what it refers to is the amount of money a school district has available at a given time. It includes funds in reserve for emergencies, operational needs, future investments and u managing these cash balances is critical because it impacts financial stability. um creating healthy reserves to ensure the district can cover payroll, operational expenses, and unexpected costs that may come up. It also helps our bond ratings and borrowing cost. The higher reserves can improve credit ratings leading to lowering borrowing borrowing cost um for capital projects. It helps with program sustainability. Maintaining appropriate cash levels helps prevent sudden cuts to programs, staffing, or student services, which that's of course what we try to avoid when these unknowns happen at legislative sessions like this year is
126presenting. It it provides taxpayer confidence, transparent financial management, reassures taxpayers that funds are being used efficiently and responsibly. And however, there's no one-sizefitsall answers for what a true cash balance should be at each district. Every district has their own anomalies that happen and criteras that happen through throughout their years. Now, people ask like how much balance should a corporation hold? It all depends on that particular district for size and enrollment trends for that district. Um like we already talked about revenue stability. uh districts heavily reliant on state funding and property tax um must prepare for potential shifts in revenue streams for the district. For instance, we have um certain grants that are reimburseable grants. So, we need that cash flow as we're going through until we can get reimbursed from the state. Same thing with
127property taxes. You'll see in my next um couple funds, they are property tax funds. So, we only receive that property tax basically two main times of the year, June and December. We need that cash flow throughout that time until we receive that money. So, I just wanted to kind of highlight some of those things um for the public and for the school board of why sometimes it might look like we have more of a cash balance than some might, you know, think that we should have, right? And so what's going to happen late this summer, early in the fall, Becky and I are going to walk you through a process where we're going to determine as a board um what are what is your goal exactly for that reserve? What percent is it that you're
128going to want us to strive for? Okay. So, um, when we're starting through the budget process, what I'm going to add to that this next year is to walk through a process with you where we determine what do you want that cash balance to be percentage percentage-wise. Okay. So, once the legislative session's over, we're going to have a much clearer picture. Yes. Of that whole process. I didn't want to do it before. Exactly. So, that's why we're going to do it during the budget cycle here the next time. So, all right. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. So, just wanted to kind of give you that little tidbit. Go ahead. So, because I haven't seen this this year, um, I'm assuming we chose re revenue rather low because we're unfamiliar or the unknown of what the
129bud of will we restate that once the legislative session comes out and kind of figures out what's going to happen. We'll make some of those comments and we can make notes on the financials, but those estimates and um for the revenue and for the expenditures have been certified. That's a certification that we do through the Department of Local Government Finance. But one thing that's a plus is we hope that it's more than what we've estimated. So, we would make note of that. If it's less, we would also make note of that that we um plan on balancing our revenue with our expenditures unless the board would choose a certain program or something that they wanted to do that would utilize um existing cash balance. Yeah. Because what worries me is the revenue over expenses shows
130an $8 million deficit and we just talk about cash balances and to me that that was a worrisome number, but because it's sort of So did that come off of the 1782 notice? Excuse me. Did that did that was that all part of the 1782 notice? It sure is. Cool. You used to give us You used to give us a copy of that. I haven't seen one in. I haven't seen this year's. Oh, well, we usually um the budget order. Um I kind of do that in our year in presentation, but it's not the full sheets that you're probably used to, but I'll go ahead and put that in your board pack at the next board meeting for you. I'm a nerd. I like that. Hey, I do too. So, we we can relate. Okay,
131moving on. We'll go through the next um fund here and you'll see Becky, why is there blanks under the yellow? Well, this is one of those property tax funds that I talked about. So, we have the budget order of the anticipated revenues and and um expenditures, but nothing for the actual month for um January or February. So, this is one of those funds um that is a tax uh property tax fund. I'm sorry. The other one, our education, our revenue comes from our state tuition, our basic grant, not through property taxes. So that's why you saw revenue in the education fund already, but not in the debt service fund. So the debt service fund, most of it, we might get a little bit at the end of May, but the majority will be December, I
132mean, um June and December. And then the payments, you'll also see those two months in June and December coming out of that fund. And then moving on, you'll see our other what I call my our other um brother sister funds, the education fund and the operations fund here. Our main funds, the education fund was just like I indicated that's the main education at the school level. Operations is the overall operations of the district. So everything else that you don't think of that's directly aimed toward kids um in that school building such as this is the superintendent's office, the business office, this covers transportation, this covers capital projects, uh maintenance, custodial, all those types of things are paid out of the operations fund. So, the same thing um this mimics um the layout of the budget
133order and then the month actuals in yellow and the year-to- date in yellow. And then you'll see those pie charts. You'll notice that part pie chart looks a lot different than our education fund that was over 90 97% salaries and benefits. This has everything in it. This has utilities, professional services, dues and fees. So, this has all kinds of things. So, that's why it's a lot more colorful than the other one. And then going down, you'll see um this one also shows our year-to- date summary. So, it shows what we started out for our cash balance for the year and then what our fund balance is. And this is one of those funds that you'll see start going negative. And that's where our cash balance, our cash flow from all of our funds for the
134whole district covers this until we receive that property tax money. So that's why that um cash balance in overall is very very important to have to help us through until we receive that property tax money from from the state. I would just because I've studied this for a long time. We weren't as in good health. I would say 1015 years ago when the property taxes were really delayed. Yes. At one point we had to do tax imp tax anticipation warrants because we did not have the funds to be able to cover that a long time ago. Exactly. Right. So, having a healthy cash balance in the education fund and some of our other funds really does help us ride some of that. Hopefully, we don't have and it saves us money so we don't have
135to borrow money with tax and participation warrants or from a local bank. I know um a lot of districts that that do not have a rainy day fund or a cash balance that they can utilize for that and it does cost them longer, you know, more in the long run because they have to borrow money and it costs to borrow money. So you'll see here um with our fund balance here, you'll see our outstanding purchase orders coming off and then our revised uh balance there. And then last but not least, you'll see here um the next one down is our rainy day fund. So just a a reminder that our rainy day fund, we did not have um a new amount that was done through the 2025 budget. What you see here is the carried
136forward purchase orders that were from last year's budget. So, all of the other funds also do have that um where they have whatever the new budget was that was certified along with any carried forward purchase orders. To be able to um to carry forward a purchase order, you have to have the appropriation from the previous year along with the cash to support that to be able to carry those forward. So that's what you see here is that 420,000 and some change um that was carried forward from last year from last year's 1.5 million appropriation into this year um without any new appropriations. So we'll continue to um utilize that and um we have approximately $280,000 left of of that appropriation and expenditures to um expend. And I believe that we'll expend that over the next
137several months and that will be um closed out then and then just have our regular cash balance for our rainy day that we don't know what will happen in the future with this legislative session. So it does have down there at the bottom line it says miscellaneous in encumbrance outstand that's where that is stored is the the that last miscellaneous incumbrances and outstanding POS is that the is that the the amount we have left to pay well that that has 307,000 in that we only have 280 of appropriation. So they'll be adjusting that because we will not be able to use utilize the full 307. What happens with that? Sometimes we're doing um in the middle of a purchase order and we haven't closed it yet, but we will have that balance to that 280
138where that will end up being zero. Okay, but thank you for that that clarification. And I think that is it for the regular ones. And then we have our customary um comparisons that we do for you. And this is where we compare year-over-year per month. So then you can compare. Oh, the one that's highlighted there is February. So it shows February of 2019 all the way to February of 2025. So then you can see um the trends of those receipts, those expenditures and those cash balance um for that particular month over the last six years. So this is our education fund and you'll see how um uh that has remained stable and um has grown. And then we also have our operations fund here um attached for you. And that also shows the same thing
139for for the February highlighted there. And then we do this every single month for the education fund and the operations fund to show you those trends and um be able to look at those historical comparisons. I didn't tell you I was going to do this. Okay. So, if we could back up one slide because um Ryan and I are having a when you point to it, when you look at the appropriation or the expenditures with the education fund, we have made some tremendous investments in salaries for our staff. Yes, we have. And I don't want this to go. If you look at January up there at the top board, what I want you to see is sometimes we get criticized because of our maybe lack thereof investment in our staff. What I want you to
140see because she told you 97% of this fund is in salaries, benefits, whatever. If you look at January of 19 to January of 25 to the expenditures over there, um we are making some significant investments. Yes. Um to our Do you want to talk to that just a little bit, Becky? Because I mean, we don't we have never just pointed it out like that, but I didn't want this to blow by without you look at the appropriations and the expenditures, it's pretty significant there. And that's a a good thing to point out when um every every time we have a legislative session that every two years is the main year for the money that then we find out what we are going to get as a school district for the next two years. So it's
141a two-year cycle. And when we did that, if you recall two years ago, um when the legislative session passed, we found out what kind of money we were going to get. we went into negotiations, bargaining, and we said, "Hey, we need we need to get um our teachers up to where they need to be." So, if you recall, we put a significant amount on the table utilizing cash balance and also our increase in the funding formula directly aimed toward um teachers in in that bargaining negotiation session. So, we are able to do a two-year agreement. we were able to shore up a lot of the um inconsistencies that we had um between um our different levels of our teachers based on their experiences. So, we were able to shore up that for instance, I'll give
142you an example. Say we had a teachers um that was bachelor's and 10. we might have had um bachelors in 10 x amount of dollars um on our hiring scale but then in our own staff we had variations of all different amounts that they made. So that's what we were able to do is put that money on the table and shore that up with all those um being able to make um similar to their cohort cohorts in that same experience level. spot on because when you look at that appropriation line there at the top, you know, when I read this, you know, when you submitted the the the attachments, I went, "Wow." You know, I I had not thought about looked at it in those terms. But if you look at the significant investment we've
143made in our staff Exactly. over the last two, three years. Um I just wanted you to see that because so many times um we're being told at the state level that we're not making those investments and at Huntington it's just it's just the opposite of that. So you have data there that you can actually use to show that this is the investment that we have made um into our staff uh for this point. So I that's what I want to emphasize, Becky, because it's just with what we're going through with the legislative session. And a good example, if you don't mind, Cindy, going down, I don't know if the second page of that um that is really telling. If you go to December, if you go to the month of December, I think it's Yep.
144Right there. So right there, you'll see that expenditures, that year-toate expenditure column right in the middle, what Mr. Trout's talking about. Look at those amounts. that goes from 292, 299, 313 to 341. That right there is a key um example of how we're investing in our teachers here at Huntington. So in a four-year period, we're talking about $5 million. Yes. And that's what I want you to know. And so in a four-year period, there's been a $5 million additional investment into staff. Exactly. And so sometimes when you're working with legislators or talking to somebody in the community, those are real numbers. Yep. Uh and I didn't want that to get by you this evening without you seeing um we're blessed, you know, uh here. And so Becky's leadership and what she's helped us to do
145is to make that investment back in our staff. So okay, thank you. They're worth it. Yeah, it's it's awesome. Becky, thank you. Well, that is all that I had for our financial reports tonight. If there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer those. So, uh again, because I wasn't here last year uh last meeting, I apologize for that. But one of the reports that I want to question that you included uh was the all funds report. Yes. And I I love this report. I've been asking for this report for a really really long time. And I I it's a great report. But as I start to read this, I have questions. I think I know the answers, but I I just have to ask the questions publicly is as I scroll through this um I
146see some balances in here sizably in the negative. Can you explain why we have some negative balances in some of these funds? Absolutely. I'd be happy to. That goes in line with what I was talking about earlier with our um having our cash balances overall. Our fund cash balances is at the very bottom of that report and you'll you will see those negatives. 99% of those negatives are from reimburseable grants slashdonations anything like that. So for instance we might have um our title one our um special education grant all those uh we have to spend the money first and then we get reimbursed. So that is the lag between months of being able to submit that to the state and then getting that reimbursement back. So all those negatives are um attributed to those reimburseable
147grants donations or anything from the state or federal level. Cool. And question and then just for me because we don't have food service on here anymore. I'm I know I had found it but I always forget 0800. What? 0800. See you're great. Uh that's awesome. And then the second question I have related to that is I thought I saw in here. So the the first thing that Pat talked about was the GO solutions uh Medicaid reimbursement stuff that goes into a fund in here as well. So that that money can be contributed for the Medicaid reimbursement comes into there as well. Yes, there's two different Medicaid funds. Um one is um 3250 and one is the state and one is the federal. The federal is 6460. So you'll see both of those funds um for
148Medicaid and we're blessed to be able to have that. And there's different ways that we get that revenue and then we're able to spend it on anything that we need to for special education. You answered my next question. So that's even beautiful. So I I appreciate it and again I have been asking for this report for a really long time. So I appreciate having you being in here. Um it's very helpful and we'll get you that 1782 notice right away. Thank you so much. Uh on that note, I I can't make the motion, but uh do we have a motion to accept the February 2025 financial reports? Motion to approve the February 2025 financial report as presented. Thank you, Mr. Meltzer. Do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. M. That is actually helping our
149electric bill because I guarantee you that's the motion sensor, the occupancy sensor. We've been in here so long that no one's been walking through there to go walk click that offd. No. Right. Any other questions? I I jumped ahead and started asking questions early. Any other questions from Mrs. Smith? On that note, I'll I'll call for the vote. Thank you, Becky. Oh, I lost my screen. What happened? Oh, motion carried five. Uh, the vote carried 5-0. Now, moving on to voided stale dated checks, which is a new one for me. Okay, so this I'll explain this. So, per Indiana code 511 um 10 um-10.5, we must present a list of stale dated checks to the board of finance um for all outstanding checks that are two years old each December. We need to do this
150in the system in February. So, um I got with the the finance team and u made sure with the conversion and everything that we were doing this and we shored anything up that um might not have been um done previous to this. So, each year you will receive this in March and this is for um all of the voids that they did that were two years or more old as of December 31st. Um so this was as of 2024. So, anything from 2022 back um is a list that you'll see in your board docs and the amount is $79648, which is not bad. Um I can't tell you my dollar amount that we had at the other district was a lot higher. Um so that's good. Everybody cashes their checks around here, so that's that's
151that's a plus. But um so with this uh for instance, if you have um a check that was voided, the money automatically goes back into the fund that it was written from unless that fund has ended. So that fund could be closed. For instance, if I had something that was a particular grant, a donation, or something else that is non-existent now, um it depends on its purpose. So if it was directly aimed toward education instruction, then it would go back into the education fund. If it was anything like operational, it could be anything parts, anything that could be for um transportation or anything in that that realm, then it would go into the operations fund. So first we're reg we're required to put it back in the original fund unless it's already closed. Then it
152goes back into either the education fund or the operations fund. So, this we were just asked for the board's approval to accept these um voids as part of Indiana code um that we're required to do. Do I have a motion? Motion to approve the list of outstanding checks voided in February 2025 as presented. And do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. Miller. Uh, any comments? Hearing none, I'll move for a vote. And the motion carries 5-0. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Smith. Moving on to H facilities. Uh first one on H1 is the word of the parking lot bid. Yes, Mr. Wall. I'd like to recommend that the board accept the proposal from ENB paving for the summer parking lot work. Um, and I'll let you know that in the capital projects
153budget, there was $950,000 allotted for uh parking lot repair and replacement uh along with $50,000 for concrete uh work that oftentimes is included in that uh as they're doing the parking lots. And uh with ENB's bid, uh we were able to uh include all of the alternates that were bid along with that project. Um, so that includes uh adding uh Lincoln Elementary that was possibly going to be the odd man out uh if the bids didn't come in. So we're able to do that along with resurfacing their playground. U the pavement patching and adding on to the staff parking lot uh along with widening the bus lane at Riverview. uh patching of uh the bad spots where they'll actually cut out uh some some areas at Crest View, Riverview, and Salimony. Uh modifying the drop
154off lanes uh at Crest View. Um and one of the things I did want to mention, the project was originally bid or put out to bid for tennis courts along with that at Crest View and Riverview. um the allocation for the tennis courts uh was not sufficient to handle what needed to be properly done to upgrade those tennis courts. So, we're going to have to uh budget for those replacements and upgrades uh in the future. But none of the contractors were willing to bid the tennis courts for the amount of money that we had allocated in capital projects. So, we're simply working on the four parking lots at Crest View, Riverview, Salomony, and Lincoln uh this summer. Cool. Uh I'll ask my question in a minute, but I'll I'll look for a motion to uh
155motion first. I'll make a motion to approve EMB paving for the parking lot renovation as presented. Do I have a second? Thank you, Mr. Mer. By the way, second. Thank you, Mrs. Miller, for the second. Uh, on to questions. Um, so from that discussion though, we do kind of have a a at least a framework of what we need to do for those tennis courts. So, we we kind of have an idea from a budget perspective and what we may need to do in the future. Yeah. So, the initial thought was just a a small amount of milling and then resurfacing. As they looked at those, the the cracks and the damage was far greater than that. And it's more of a down to the the base and rebuilding up from there. Similar to what
156we did here at the high school, particularly at Crest View because that's where the the middle school tennis teams uh practice. Uh they do play their matches here at the high school, but both Riverview and Crest View combined play or practice at at Crest View. So that would receive the most of the attention. Uh the courts at Riverview are mainly for uh physical education classes, but there's about $100,000 court, right? Uh roughly just under that. Yeah. Okay. All right. Any other additional questions? As core samples, all that stuff will be done. Making sure the pavement's all good and the stuff that Yep. Cool. Thank you. Hearing no additional Sorry, I'm on the other side of the flowers. I know. I didn't see you. It's a beautiful flowers, but it just messes the sight lines up.
157Did you say the projected cost on each tennis court was $100,000? Just slightly under, you know, that's what they were telling us, and we just didn't we just didn't budget that amount. So when Becky and I are putting the budgets together this summer again, one of the one of the things on my list is for us to come come circle back around and look about if we're going to do it, let's do it right, you know, and so the it's pretty extensive, but to go clear down to the base, do what we need to do. We just need to all lot some more funds for that. And that's what we'll do that. As a reminder, uh on the courts that Huntington North did, um that was a combined project with the West lot. if you
158remember. And so that whole project plus an extensive amount of base that had to go in to get that to uh suitable was part of a $1.2 uh million dollar project with six courts plus the lot and so on. But most schools it'll come in somewhere just above or below 100,000 a court depending on the time of year. Any other discussions that I make sure get everyone hearing? None. I'll call for the vote. long. It's my It's my problem. I'm never going to live up to Brian Warpuff's 30-minute meeting. Uh that motion carries 50. Uh moving on to update on the summer uh CPF projects, which should be a good update. Yes, Mr. Wall. Just uh for the board's information, just some of the other projects that we're working on for this summer out of
159the capital projects fund. Uh first of all, flat roofs at uh Andrews, Flint Springs, and Lincoln. Uh those bids are due tomorrow, I believe. Uh we'll have the bid opening for those. Um the sighting around the gym and cafeteria at Flint Springs in Lincoln, just like was done at Andrews to prevent the water intrusion, is being done. Uh part of uh the playground uh for the preschool at Flint Springs uh with surfacing and equipment will be done this summer along with fence um around the K1 area. Uh we're also able to replace a tractor, a gator for Crestview Middle School, uh a a scrubber here at the high school, and then also carpet quotes for the Horseman Library. Uh K1 and three four pods at Lincoln, the steps at Riverview and the cafeteria wall, and
160eight classrooms at Salomony. Uh also on the list for carpet as those quotes come in. So, just an update on other things that we're doing with capital projects funds this summer. Cool. Uh, could we get that list added to board docs at some point, too? Because it wasn't in there. I was looking for it. That'd be great. Moving on to eye policies, Mr. Trout. Yes. This is just your first reading. You have a month uh to look these over. There is a lot here. Um, Mrs. Gray and I have been working diligently uh on this process. We are uh making some serious headway through this, but I'm I'm just asking for you to uh at any point in time you have any questions about any of these over the next month. Don't don't hesitate to
161reach out and see me and I'd be more than happy to meet with you to go through whatever you would like to discuss. Okay, sounds good. I am going to tell you right now I am not happy with 2461 recording of IEP meetings and case conferences. I really would love to discuss that with you at some point too. And I would also note that there is a bill in the legislature to make that policy not legal. So yep, I will gladly have conversations with you. No, I would I would welcome that. But what I am saying is these meet all current state statutes and laws. So we're current now. I say that and the legislative session ends right at the same time you're going to approve these. So I may be coming right back around
162on a few of these and hitting them again, but as we sat here today, this makes us current with these. Okay. So I appreciate it. Uh do have fun. I know it was fun reading through some of these as well. Uh moving on to J1 item discussion for board members. I know. I was sitting there looking at it too. I'm really shocked that I didn't. I can't I do appreciate the kids bringing those. It was a great little extra treat. Um I do have a bunch of stuff listed on the thing that I was going to talk about. Um I will just because John has mentioned it a couple of times. We're down to 69 bills that ISBA is tracking uh from 184 uh from when they switch uh houses uh switched chambers. Uh so
163there is still a lot out there. Um I still don't know what's going to happen with Senate Bill One. I still don't know what happens going to happen with the budget. every time I get an update, there is something unique in it. Um, uh, just, uh, I'm gonna I know John sent out a thing about the spring regional meeting May 8th for ISBA. It is a good time. It's a great time to network with other board members if you can make that meeting. And then the last one I'm just going to mention is the September 15th and 16th fall conference for ISBA uh, down in Indianapolis, a two-day event. Uh, that's what I've got for right now. Anyone else? John's already shut his computer off, so that must mean we're done on that move. Uh,
164I'm looking for a motion to adjurnn. Motion to Thank you. Second. Second. All in favor say