001[clears throat] >> Hey, welcome everyone. This call may be recorded. I think we will have to pledge our allegiance. Oops. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Blackstone School Corporation, united in purpose, strength, and community. Uh we're going to go on to uh excuse me at adoption to the agenda. I'm asking for a unanimous approval to add Laura Klimczak to the agenda as the sixth grade science teacher under the personnel part D. Motion. I have a motion. Someone second. I'll second. Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Those okay. We don't need to vote, but we did anyway. It's been a right. So, okay, we're good. That'll be added on. All
002right. Uh I'd also like to make a motion to add the approval of the band uniforms requested to the agenda. Motion. I'll second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Those nay? Nay. Nay. So, carried. Nays raise your hands. Four. So, that does not pass. Motion does not pass. Can I get who who seconded that, Gary? Yeah, Gary seconded it, yes. And Ayes four three. Thank you. Okay. Okay. We need to adopt Make a motion to adopt the agenda tonight. The adopted agenda? Yeah. Okay, the chair will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda on the May 18th, 2026 regular meeting as presented. Do I have a motion? Motion. I'll make Wendy and Susan Jason seconds it. All in favor, say I. I. Opposed? Item five, public comments. Any phone comments? No. All right, item
003six, personnel report. A, transfers. Item B, new hires. Item C, extracurricular appointments. Superintendent recommends the board approve items A, B, and C. I have a motion. Bottom line. Dr. Brown. I can Any discussion? Yeah, so this um this is the time of the year where All right, you want to go? You want to go first? Go ahead. You know, I just wanted to exclude I just wanted to exclude myself from seeing some fashion or another. So, that I'm not voting for myself. Yes, and I'll I'll I'll I'll explain that here as as we go through. Uh this is the time of year that um uh there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of hiring people in, uh things like that. Um to kick this off here, we have a couple transfers. First of all,
004Miss Noble, she's currently our counselor at the middle school. She came to us last year. She moved moved into town um from where it was Virginia or no DC area DC area um and done a great job at the middle school. She was a high school teacher when she was there. Um so we have a position open at the at the high school. She's going to transfer into that position. We'll look We'll open up a middle school counseling position for us. Uh Miss Adams um the case conference coordinator uh that position is going to be evolved or kind of be dismantled um and she's going to move into the attendance secretary at the high school. Uh she will also be the special education scheduler um with that time. She will be at the high school
005um there by the in the career center office. So that's our transfers. Um when we get to our new hires um Mr. Michael McLendon here is here with us tonight. He has over 20 years worth of uh experience uh teaching experience uh and a wide variety of coaching experiences also. Um Mr. Ellis, would you like to say anything about him? Absolutely. So uh Mike came to us through the new process process um and did a phenomenal job and the one the one word that's every interview committee member said about Mike was that the word genuine came came about um genuinely uh supporting students um building those positive relationships um and really being that big bridge for um students and staff um to really make sure that we bring everything together. So I'm just I'm really
006excited to see him get on board, get started, and see what what what he can do for our students and staff. Excellent. Uh Mike, once we get around, we'll give you a chance to talk to her towards the end. Um and then also we have uh Chelsea uh Goodin. Um she's going to be a third grade teacher. She's got 11 years worth of experience. She's moving in from the Indianapolis area. Corey, you want to say anything else? Yeah, she's currently a third grade teacher in uh it's uh Decatur Township which is just southwest of Motor Speedway and like that. Uh she's moving She's just relocating into the area. And so as soon as Michelle and I saw her, like, "Uh you teach third grade and you want to teach third grade? And you keep going.
007And oh, you're really good at it." Sold. Like, you don't like don't leave the parking lot. Like, like let's figure this out. So, very pleasant during the interview process, very positive, very knowledgeable about third grade as well as, you know, other other things that are just like automatic yes. So, very very strong candidate. So, we're really excited for her to potentially start. Awesome. Thank you for that. And yes, I I'll see you on there the extra curricular time. Mr. Brown is on there. So, um you uh did you say you're going to abstain from from the vote because of that? Is that correct? >> Yes. Okay. So, that's that that's the why and the reason behind that. So, anything else? Yeah. I I would like to ask that we do look a little bit into
008our our hiring process and you know, making sure that we're doing everything that reflects well um on the board. Um I had asked for um some some line items to be uh voted upon separately and I was denied that request. So, I will abstain. Thank you. Okay. And I got a uh Is the the middle school baseball season over with? Yes. Okay. And we're just now approving baseball coaches for the past year. Why weren't they approved before? Um that that was something that that we missed. Uh both of them are in our corporation. Um so, it should have been on the on the docket and uh we missed that one. So, we'll make sure that that gets corrected next time we Nothing against either one. Just [clears throat] you know, the way cuz you know,
009we've always said in the past, you know, we uh uh uh we approve people after the fact. And this is another example. This one is way after the fact. So, Any other discussion? Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed or abstaining? I abstain also. Three. Okay. Did you get that, Billy? Are you abstaining from the entire personnel report or just that item number You cannot abstain separately. Yeah. So, you have to abstain from the entire report. Okay, got you. Got you. All right, sure. Thanks. I have seven elementary textbook adoption. Superintendent Superintendent recommends the board approve the textbook adoption for the elementary as presented on page 11. Do I have a motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. Mr. First of all, I'd like to thank uh Mr. Mason. He was kind of
010our lead in this. Um so, I appreciate the time that that you took. Um I'm just reading some notes here. Um the committee which uh consisted of the lead teachers, one per grade level. Um there was actually six different companies uh that came in. Uh this was for our math book textbook adoption. Um the the committee narrowed it down to three which was uh McGraw Hill, uh Curriculum Associates, and I Met. Um I believe all three made a presentation, correct? >> Yes, they did. Uh we that was about two-week window there where all >> Two-week window and then over you know, Tuesday, Thursday, they came after school and that committee was Amy Burkholder, Heather Stutzman, Tiffany Binkley, Lori White, Arlene Leiby, and Faith Ellertson. And they've done a phenomenal job of Okay, I'm taking what
011I learned on this, I'm going back to the my grade level, getting their thoughts, talking about everything. They've done a great job. Um so, again, like you would just mentioned, we've had multiple companies come in, give their presentations, and and McGraw Hill is by far by far number one. Um we went through a rubric, very rubric. I'm not sure if you have that in front of you. Um every single grade level came back as far as McGraw Hill's our number one and it's not even close. To the point where after their their presentation was given, like, why are we even doing anything else? They're so strong. and which was evident with the other presentations, they were just not them by the time of you uh we got done. So, we reconvened as a committee, what
012are your thoughts? Like, automatic yes, we are going to do this with them. So, very, very uh positive experience with everybody. Excellent. So, with approval of this, we can get that order and have those here um for the beginning of school. Um and again, that's, you know, math is one of our our goals across the uh the district, and then we're about them some textbooks for that reason. So, So, we currently I know we as we started with the our top suites, kind of went away from textbooks. Do we currently have Are they just outdated? Do we have textbooks or is there Do we went away from it and back to having them? Well, the the textbook is a tool, right? >> Right. Our teachers have our the curriculum maps. That that should guide their
013their teaching. Um the great thing for us is um they came out with the with I-Learn checkpoints. You know, that's a every every 9 weeks uh actually, 6 weeks in it. Um where they want you to teach X amount of standards during that time. And the textbooks are starting to line up to those. Our exact path is lining up to those. Um and that has helped guide our curriculum maps. So, this is just a tool that we have to supplement our curriculum maps uh so we can guide them. Which question? Answer my question. Or is this an online book? >> It's a book. I'm sorry. Do we Do we have books? I know we went away from textbooks. We have currently have textbooks that are outdated, and now we're getting something that's better, or we
014just >> No. We do have workbooks. We do. We have the kids get, but we also have digital aspects to that. So, everything that we have, I can present it, and just as a teacher, we just work on exactly what we're working on, right? Uh diff- page by page, essentially. So, we are definitely as much as you want to be pencil in hand, you can, or as much as you want to be digital, you can do that as well. But, we are moving forward with something else just because of various reasons why Sadlier which we currently use just is not it's just not what we want currently. Sadlier was actually one of the one of the six of the options that we had from the DOE and all of our staff said now we're going
015to move forward something else. And the state went through an alignment of their curriculum also a couple years ago. So we got to get in line with that and that part of that is the And it's just time to recycle and we're actually I believe a year or two behind that which is actually beneficial. So as many people as our staff knows they can reach out to Judson, I reach out to Carmel with Steve Pelich if you know that name at all. Just hey, what do you guys think about this? What do you use? And reflect on do you like it? Do you not like it? Love it? Hate it? And that was a big tool as well. That really helped. So Judson, I mean we talked to Mooresville schools, Carmel schools. Uh, you name
016it. We probably talked to 15 separate corporations that are kind of a year ahead of us which it helped out in our benefit. Again, I'm not questioning that they're not I but we went we went textbooks so we got laptops and then we had iPads and there was there and there was like we don't need textbooks anymore. Now we're I saw it we're kind of full circle and it's like there's a need for textbooks to have that to help supplement. Is that a fair statement? That is I think there is a thought process that the kids are doing too much on the laptops, you know. And I I think that again it's a that textbook is a tool whether it's online or in front of you. Um, but yeah, I mean there was there was
017schools that are having that conversation now. I I it's wonderful. I just I mean what are we going to do to get the job done? Is that what's great? I just And you're all going to have to know that we we started and then we went and now we're coming back around full circle to to saying there's there's a need to have that. So, okay. Yeah, let's go ahead. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. Uh, item nine public comments on items not on the agenda. Are there any Oh, excuse me. I jumped. Thomas questions from website. I got getting getting ahead of myself. So, uh Sam or no, Corey Sursa. Okay. We're doing that? >> [laughter] >> Okay. Well, a lot of things are going on at the elementary right now. A lot of
018moving parts. Um first we have our behavior event, our very last one for the month of May. It's actually going to be the KCS drive-in. Each student will have their own individual box where they can create their own car. Kids are really excited about it. Pratt Industries gives us uh about 800 boxes a year. They're out of Valparaiso. Gary Howard and the maintenance crew goes and gets it every year. So, a big thank you to them. We very much appreciate it. Um our fourth grade bridging ceremony is this Thursday at 12:30. Uh a lot of tears come out of that uh little ceremony, mostly from parents, not so much the kids. They're secretly. So, they're excited about being at the middle school. They suddenly start acting like middle schoolers. So, um thank you to the
019administration at the middle school for being there, guiding them over, talking them through everything, and then bringing them back. Uh it's very much appreciated as well. Field day is next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Um looking for parent volunteers to run stations. So, if you're interested, please give us a call. Dr. Brown, I have you scheduled down for kindergarten up super course. So, if you want to do that, you let me know. I'll make sure that you can show it how it's done. But, when it comes to that, thank you, Mr. Hannon. He does a great job setting all that stuff up. He's here before school, during school, and after school, just running around and making sure that everything runs very smoothly. So, uh it's just a really special day for the kids. I'm sure you
020can all remember field day back in the day, and the kids are really, really doing love it. Um again, bringing Chelsea Goodin about to here. Fantastic hire, I believe. And we're just really excited about having her. But lastly, the textbook adoption as well. Thank you for letting me be part of that. And it's been a fantastic opportunity. It was It's almost too smooth for our staff. Like I said, and we go try to choose pizza right now and every pick one every grade level pick uh the McGraw Hill as the number one pick and it was made quite easy. So, that's the that's meant to them and all of our work. So, we very much appreciate that. So, that's it for the elementary school. Thank you, Corey. Yeah, you're all right. And at the high
021school, man, it's wrapping up the year. And we had Today, we had our eighth graders come over for the first part of step up day, which is phenomenal. Being with our upper classmen, kind of taking a tour of the building, which is great. This week, we had our last week, we had our awards for each class. A great opportunity just to highlight the academic successes that all of those students had for the year. We had prom uh couple of last weekend and absolutely phenomenal. I would love to say that I think the highlight for me was when they crowd surfed me at the end. And I do have video and it was It was a lot of fun. And then this week, we have scholarship night on Wednesday for our seniors. And then next week,
022the end of this week is the last week for our seniors. And then next Wednesday, we have their senior breakfast. We have their senior photos, a senior walk through through through the elementary school, and then their final senior sunset. So, it's it's been a great end to a great school year. Um I just want to thank you guys for the opportunity. Um when I came for the interview and sat in the office for about 10 minutes just waiting to go, I'm watching the interactions between the the students and staff and the staff themselves that I'm really excited to be able to be a part of the great things happening. So, Thank you. Congratulations. Welcome. Consider moving to Knox. It'd be nice to have some more administrators living in the community. 40 days for three years
023work. Got it. I believe the first time. And as always, Mr. Wells, keep up the good work. Thank you all. And welcome. Um I I know I I brought up the band uniforms at the beginning of the meeting. Um I just, you know, I wanted to kind of circle back. Um the the request was made in February. Um we're kind of already past the point where we might get be getting the uniforms in time for marching season. Um it's really it really is a shame cuz they're in really rough shape and they could really use the support. Um as we try to support all of our organizations. Um I I know that they came and they made the request. I don't know that other organizations or other activities have to come and make requests for
024uniforms. Um we we provide those because we should. Um we provide, you know, all the things that we're supposed to. Um I know the boosters are great support and I know that they take on a lot because we do not, you know, provide any funding for the band. The boosters do everything from the maintenance and repairs to to, you know, uniform repairs and and um specifications of the trailers and um so, I just, you know, those uniforms have have lasted 20 years and [clears throat] I know it seems like a large number, but over the course of a 20-year period, it's it really does probably break down to to be reasonable. So, I don't know when we plan on discussing further, but I would really appreciate everyone trying to make that happen for them. Also,
025the 8th grade field trip to the Indiana Beach went really well, I've heard. So, that was a good experience. I think they had to cut short those bus That's a shame. It went well. That's all. Uh welcome aboard. Glad to have you. I can't believe the the year. I feel like Sam, we just approved you like the year's already gone by. So, it is a busy couple weeks here to go. So, good luck with that. So like that. I'd just like to say welcome. Thank you. We we love to have you here. That's all. Same here. Welcome. Thank you. Welcome aboard. Also, all Do we have any seniors that are on the bubble? Right now, Sam, do you know? As far as graduating? For graduation, yeah. And we have a couple. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um
026It's hard. It's it's Are you okay if I ask here? Um No no names. >> No names. No no no no names. But yeah, there we are definitely having a lot of conversations with with parents, with students, making it very individualized, with the counselors, because in fact, the one thing I said today was not graduating is not an op- is not an option. So, we're we're going to get them across the stage. Okay. And uh I don't know. Big is not here. What about uh Risk Academy? >> Yeah, there there was the one that she was concerned with, um but we're we're working through that. Same thing, you know, that's not graduation not graduating is not an option. So, yeah, we'll make it happen. And then also, I'd like offer my condolences to the Downs
027family with the loss of Jace and Jaden. Also, the South family with the passing of Jace James' father. So, that's all that I have. Welcome aboard, like everyone has said. Glad to have you and forward to you and Sam working over there at the high school together. Um that's nice Thanks, Corey, for the update. Congratulations. We look forward to having you here and working with the team and so um What I've got first, Mike. Um welcome. You know, one of the things that I'm really excited about about Mr. McLellan is that he developed a mentor program. Um and I think that's as as I've talked to parents and some of the community members, there is a need for mentors. We want to build leaders in our school. So, I'm excited to bounce some ideas off
028of you and how can you bring that program to Knox. Um and I I think it's something that um we always talk about building relationships, right, and creating that very positive environment that we want. Um and I'm I'm excited to to get you guys together in an office and and put our heads together how we we can make that happen here. So, uh welcome aboard. And as you see, uh we have some new uh decorations here in in the board room behind me. We have our mission and our vision statement. Uh our graphic arts department uh made these for us. Over there, you know, uh a little over a year ago, right, we set our uh goals um with our strategic plan, and that's what those are over there, uh representing the three goals that
029we created. Um so, very excited to keep these on the forefront, you know, as we are moving forward um with our strategic plan. That's all I've got. Okay. Uh public comments? We have none. Okay. We will uh Have a motion for adjournment. Gary and second? Second. Gary and second. It's all in favor say "I". I. Aye. It means it drew. Thank you.