001please join us in the pledge of allegiance welcome to our monday may 16 school board meeting i just want to remind everyone or if you'd like to speak to the board address the board you needed to sign up on the sign up sheets with that we'll move right into our agenda approval deletions additions dr veraco thank you mr seuss you do have a one amendment to the agenda it's under roman numeral 7d1 professional leave request under mrs castaneda's agenda thank you do we have a motion motion to approve motion by mrs kelly second second by dr malcolm any discussion questions hearing none all in favor aye aye motion passes thank you is there any correspondence mrs kelly nothing to report on this evening thank you we'll move right into our liaison committee updates mr marshall
002thank you under personal interview committee nothing to report at this point thank you mrs kelly cheryl redevelopment commission i don't have anything to report on this evening sheriff parks department splash pad will hopefully be open the end of june stay tuned for more information also if there's any of the high school students who are still looking for a summer job cheryl parks department is hiring awesome place to work for the summer that's all thank you dr medlin with regard to the dire redevelopment commission they were talking at thursday's town council meeting in the redevelopment committee meeting about transit development districts which are similar to tiff allocated money so this is something that the state's still unsure how this is all going to come into play but we will definitely have to keep an eye on
003that thank you transit development districts thank you dr malcolm yes yes for lake central education foundation the grants are out for summer but they are not due until in the fall so that gives you plenty of time over the summer to write your grants i believe that they are melody are you here 750 amounts so that can buy you quite a few items for your classroom so again you can start doing the planning but that won't come to fruition until school is up and running i have nothing from dire parks department unless alicia myers is here is alicia here okay and then on the um legislative that's on hold for right now so that would be it mrs seuss thank you and i have nothing for the saint john redevelopment committee and as far as
004dollar scholars last wednesday we had our awards ceremony we were able to give 47 well-deserving senior scholarships so that was a nice evening to attend and for those that all donated came spoke what thank you so with that we'll move on to our official school board business topics consent agenda dr baraco thank you again mrs seek board approval for the minutes from our special board meeting may 2nd our regular board meeting may 2nd and then board approval of the claims payroll and extracurricular expenditures you received in your packets last week move to approve a motion by mr marshall second second by ms kelly any discussion all in favor aye aye motion passes there are no public comments regarding action items so we'll move to our official school board business topics regular agenda dr veraco thank
005you our first agenda item this evening is to recognize our retirees for this year it's nice to see a lot of people in the crowd sad to see some people for the maybe the last board meeting but it's good to see a lot of their peers here to celebrate their careers with them i'm going to move down front with the board and mrs mucha is going to read some comments about our retirees as they come up and receive a certificate or excuse me uh item of gratuity from the school corporation i'll wait till everybody goes i'll be last our first one this evening is tim bannon tim has been an asset to the business department says his arrival at lc he's been a huge resource to many teachers always willing to help a hand and
006offer a kind word he greeted students daily with a smile and a hello and taught them the tools needed for good business etiquette students always had great things to say about him and his class especially his look into the future project he goes above and beyond as a teacher helping his students succeed by praising encouraging and gently pushing when needed he's kind compassionate and has been a driving force in the success of the business department tim has earned the respect of students and staff by the way he conducts himself and his classes he will be greatly missed but we wish him well in retirement tim bannon ron frederick ryan has served the lake central community for 23 years as an educator and 19 years as the varsity girls track and field coach these titles however
007are hardly a match for the lasting impact he's had on our lake central family he served as lake central high school's english department chair successfully leading one of the largest departments at the high school ron's high standards and love of literature strengthened his deep commitment to not only his department but also his classroom his honors and ap level students maintain an unrivaled respect for mr frederick a respect that's built been built on the relationships and rapport that he fostered in the classroom in his 19 years as track and field head coach he has a career record of one thousand seven to thirty one [Applause] eighteen ihsaa section champions 11 regional championships 15 doc regular season champions 11 undefeated regular seasons and a 64 meet doc winning streak he has been a seven times northwest indiana
008post-tribune girls track and field coach 10 times coach of the year 14-time association of track and field coaches and a three-time indiana coach of girls sports district one coach of the year ron frederick dede logan didi is retiring after 33 and a half years in education her teaching careers included three years in louisiana one year in a chicago catholic school 18 years teaching grades one two and three for lake central before accepting her first principal position in 2005 at berger elementary in griffith she came back to us in 2009 when she was hired as principal of bibbidge elementary since that time she has brought insight organization inspiration joy contagious laughter and a presence that's much more of a friend than a colleague to some elementary administration team she's well respected by our corporation and loved
009by anyone who has the pleasure to know her dede and her husband phil are excited to finally move to their retirement home in crawfordville florida with their daughter sarah she has not given me the address i have worked with dede in two school systems and i can attest she's an unbelievable principal and an even better friend didi logan [Applause] tom clark tom this was written by ed beck i remember when wgn came to do a special on tom in regards to the veterans project that he and his students have been working on since he first came to lake central schools one of tom's current students said mr clark is real he's not putting on an act for the cameras his enthusiasm is here every day and it's obvious that he loves his job i found
010this bringing me back to 1989 when i was in mr clark's class when i remember that very same enthusiasm i know he's won some very prestigious awards and he's had the opportunity to meet some very influential people but what i and many of his students will remember most about tom is his passion for the content and his dedication to the capabilities of his students his veterans project basically started with a group of kids and some quarters calling washington dc from the pay phone remember those in the school lobby to get information about veterans from lake central high school the determination of these students and tom's commitment to the project led to a museum constructed in cherryville that showcases our local veterans and what they did for all of us i know that like central high
011school will miss all the things that tom brought to us i also know he and marsha will be having a lot of fun traveling around the country i wish them the best as they move on to their next adventure tom clark kathy maycek it has been truly a pleasure to have kathy as a member of the protzman staff she has been a staple here for 17 years she started as a lunchroom aide in august of 05 then a paraprofessional in january of 08. kathy has worked throughout the building supporting students with a smile and love for every student she has been an essential piece to the protzman puzzle kathy will be truly missed but we're so happy for her as she'll have extra time to relax and spend with her family kathy maycek [Applause] de
012la costa is retiring as a paraprofessional from kohling elementary school after 20 years of service in her time at kohling cynthia always preferred to take all the recess supervision spots with the kohling students that's a woman for you with their weather around here it's hard to find a pair that enjoyed that duty as much as cynthia did in her days at culling cynthia enjoyed coordinating studently student-friendly dress-up days with her work buddy mrs s she's been enjoying traveling with her husband spending time with her three-year-old granddaughter taylor and having more time with her daughter marcy as well as her son steve boro with borwinski you know what i mean who happened to be our district network engineer cynthia sarah and kojiak sarah is a valued member of the watson family for many years she was
013our instructional technology assistant and ran our computer lab she met with all k through 4 students on a weekly basis she was a hard-working staff member who regularly stayed after hours when her day was over to work in her classroom sarah was always willing to help with a smile on her face her dedication to student staff and watson families will be missed we wish her well sarah [Applause] donna yankee began her life at lake central schools in 1984 as a paraprofessional at pifer in 1989 she was hired as a secretary and in 1999 she moved over to be the bookkeeper during her tenure at pifer she often took the role of go-to for information regarding book fees ordering books and all things money related auditors applauded her work she was respected throughout the corporation she
014will be remembered at school for her unbelievably strong work ethic her devotion to her family keeping dog treats at school for unexpected visitor from our furry friends her brownies and carrot cake which seriously was the best and the strong bond of friendship among the people who knew her best donna yankee mickey zolfo mickey has positively impacted the lives of children and their families at pifer elementary since the fall of 2007. that's 15 years before coming to pifer she taught in the munster schools for another 12 and a half years that adds up to a lot of families who are privileged enough to have her influence in their lives her consistent and continual positive spirit have always been contagious anyone would be hard-pressed to find a stronger advocate for what's best for students i think i
015speak for everyone at pifer when i say when i grow up someday this has to be doug i want to be as young as mickey will always be her piffer family will miss everything about mrs zolfo but we wholeheartedly wish her an absolutely joyous future mickey's awful beth gonzalez beth will be retiring as a school psychologist after 38 years of service she started her career with naisek as an intern in 1983 and then was hired at lake central in the 2000-2001 school year where her primary schools were holmen culling and beach although she helped with evaluations in other places as well for retirement beth is most looking forward to being able to go to the valpool y and actually get on an elliptical she also plans to take a math class since she's always wanted
016to learn calculus i know volunteer more at her church and is looking forward to a canada new england cruise in september beth handled every case with grace and was a natural when it came to helping families navigate the evaluation and special education process she will be missed by many [Applause] karen starr was an integral part of lake central preschool program she welcomed the program when i came into the district in 2007 and helped me develop my skills in working with preschool students her knowledge of early development and caring approach to working with our youngest learners was inspiring karen made families feel at ease as they entered the school system for the very first time she has a great sense of humor and was a great person to laugh with after a long day of evaluations
017or case conferences she mentored many members of our current speech and preschool staff and her positive influence on the program will continue karen starr [Applause] cindy fort cindy has always set a high standard in her classroom executes it with the greatest of intentions and holds students to that standards students may not always be in sync with miss fort when they first have her but they always come back to show their appreciation for holding them accountable and teaching them math cindy takes pictures of each class and puts them up in her classroom every year the students like seeing their pictures year after year in her classroom i'm sure more more of those will be added to her scrapbook the level of professionalism cindy models for both grimmer students and staff is phenomenal she's about students and
018getting the job done well and right she will be missed cindy ford [Applause] adrian bielfeld adrian can always be counted on to go to for advice he has risen to the challenge year after year with difficult schedules no matter what life has thrown her way she has never stopped working hard to get her students all the things that they need she gives of her own time and doesn't miss a beat she's quiet in her own way but she always delivers the life lessons that her students need she's been an active member and building representative of lcta for 16 plus years it will be extremely difficult to fill the void she's leaving behind as it's always hard to replace a gem she will be missed adrian susan depasco susan worked as a paraprofessional grimmer middle school
019for many years she worked in the classroom assisting teachers giving academic and personal support to students and was always willing to do the extra tasks around the school she was known for her upbeat personality and her flexibility when her job required on the spot changes and adjustments she will be mystic grimmer and we wish her all the best in the future susan mrs zorkel bollock zorka started working for the lake central school system on may 16 2005 on july 24 2006 she joined the custodial staff at grimmer middle school she always took pride in keeping the rooms clean and helping others her sense of humor helped bring up the break up the long days if somebody was laughing she was nearby she will be missed by the entire grimmer staff zorka dolores strouch delores retired
020from lake central school corporation this past winter she was a custodian at watson elementary school dolores was an important part of our custodial staff and helped keep the building in great shape she's very kind and dependable although watson was sad to see delores retire we're happy she's able to enjoy life with her family she will always be part of the watson family we wish her well she'll be missed dolores bill gray during a 32-year teaching career taylor bill has made a lasting impression on thousands of students and colleagues while at kahler and elsie who served as a pe teacher coach athletic director and a mentor he also volunteered volunteered his time and expertise to serve on the school and district safety teams which i really appreciated back in the day he served his community as
021a firefighter and an emt he utilized his skills countless times at school to help students and staff in need he was a favorite fan at kaler as his former students and athletes always came back to see him there is no doubt retire will find him lounging at the beach at every opportunity your humor dedication and yes booming loud voice will be sorely missed at kaler enjoy your well-deserved retirement bill gray [Applause] rita velasquez rita has served students for 14 years at kaler first as a facts teacher and then as an applied skills teacher although rita is very soft-spoken she's a strong advocate for the students in her classroom she always looked for opportunities to make sure her students felt included in the classroom and throughout the school over the years she has made positive and
022lasting connections with her student family and colleagues she worked tirelessly to prepare for her students and was often seen at school working late into the evening and even coming in on weekends her kindness and dedication to the student staff and family is at keeler will never be forgotten we hope you enjoy your retirement rita velazquez ruth bonacci or dr ruth during her 15 years in education with the last three at kayla ruth has a selflessly dedicated to help her students achieve as a lifelong learner herself she has worked tirelessly to find new and innovative strategies to help her students learn and she's always happy to share that with her fellow students she's a true advocate for her students and leaves behind big shoes to fill in the short time she's been at kaler she has
023made a huge impact on both staff and students affectionately known as kaler as dr ruth for the white lab coat she wore at school her kind spirit and her positive attitude will be missed by all best wishes in retirement and once a kaler colt always a kaler colt pam hofmaster [Applause] [Music] pam hofmaster has taught for 30 years started teaching fifth grade in illinois in 1980 and taught for six years and was then able to stay home with her two boys dave and phil for a number of years before starting at choling pam has been praying for and teaching culling students for the past 24 years she taught fifth grade until their move to clark middle school in 2008 and since then has been teaching fourth graders pam's heart for all children not just those
024in her own classroom has been evident in her passion for teaching math and science she's a teacher who other teachers will always miss because she has been the guiding light to many not to worry though her enthusiasm for teaching will continue instead of hearing mrs hoffman she'll be hearing grammy more and more with her five current grandchildren and twin grandbabies arriving this fall john pam's husband also recently retired and they're looking forward to traveling spending time with their two boys and their families pam hofmaster is a beloved fixture at colling who will be missed by students parents and all staff members we wish her well pam hoffman [Applause] susan taurus susan's a graduate of lake central has been serving the students and families of lake central since 1994. she started as a westlake parent mentor
025and continued in that position until then went on to work as a primetime aide and a substitute teacher she completed her student teaching in 2003 and then accepted her first position as a fifth grade teacher the following year she moved to second grade in 2004 completed her coursework for high-ability license at indiana university bloomington in 2013 and has been bibbidi's second grade high ability teacher ever since totaling 18 years of teaching service besides being an extremely supportive colleague sue's ability to integrate literacy units into her hands-on science lessons made her classroom an engaging environment that sparked creativity in every student retirement will allow sue to have some more time for gardening and traveling and spending some time for her family congratulations sue [Applause] when i there she is when i think of millie the word
026master craftsman comes to mind the definition of a master craftsman is a person who's an expert highly proficient and experienced in a craft or other skilled occupation millie is a true master of her craft she does her job with student success in the forefront of her mind she's passionate about children and always strives to do what's best for her students millie's professional life took her down many roads the diocese of gary river forest and then making her home in lake central school corporation she taught first second third fourth and reading millie's wonderful career spanned 28 years one would say it's time to relax but knowing millie she's just beginning a new journey with her husband jesse congratulations missy you will i'm sorry millie you will he certainly missed at prospect karen bowman karen's an incredible
027person kind considerate compassionate respected hard-working sincere and most of all a friend and colleague to many at lc she's always gone above and beyond for all students from helping students open their locker to cps reports charting career paths for high school rti special ed conference meeting with parents and assisting when tragedies have happened mrs bowman is always somebody that you can count on she's dedicated and has a strong sense of family because that's an integral part of her life just like her faith after 37 years karen's decided to retire this year karen was honored as indiana middle school counselor of the year what an incredible career good luck and we'll miss you karen karen bowman lane whiting that she is elena's been a driver with lake central since 1991 she's been an active advocate for
028drivers she was a good listener and problem solver for many drivers she drove bus 17 for most of her career she was well liked by her students and will be definitely missed this year during her absence always willing to help out if she could she will now enjoy spending time with family and friends lane whiting [Applause] there you go you're fine after this many years we can wait for you uh pat mizek pat has been a driver with lake central since 1992 very friendly with her students and fostered great relationships with them always had a smile and a hello for everyone she was active in the transportation department safety teams and could be how it could be counted on to add some fun to the characters she played during those skits she will now get
029to spend time with her husband children and grandchildren which is a subject she is more than happy to talk about pat mizek judy whitaker judy has been an aide with lake central since 1992. drivers she worked with have said she was quiet yet extremely dedicated to her students most recently she worked with yvonne and they were a terrific team judy always went the extra mile in everything she did either for her driver her students or the department thank you judy ann van ham anne's been a driver with lake central since 1998. drivers had called her the kindest person they have known and she's got a great sense of humor she was always willing to let the trainers use her bus and they were happy because her bus was always in great shape she had one
030of the best attendance records often not missing one day for many school years she was well known for dressing up at holidays and famous for her santa outfit and van ham carol reedy carolyn has been a driver with lake central since 2001 she was very well liked by all the students on her bus always had a smile and a wonderful comment to brighten their day drivers recalled she was a spitfire but also extremely nice to everyone that she met she was a go-getter working many trips and working several jobs in addition to driving a bus carolyn ready ed vargo and worked at lake central for almost 39 years serving students and staff his longevity and knowledge of the schools made him the local hc historian he was a very hard worker who would take on
031any job and task asked of him and complete it successfully he will be missed by many at lc then women at central office already missed because he was the one who made the first pot of coffee in the morning we wish ed nothing but happiness in his much earned retirement ed vargo gail hatterage gail hasn't been an exemplary employee who has given a hundred and ten percent every day in all she does she's always gone above and beyond she does a great job of running the breakfast program at the high school always making sure there's enough food to feed the students she's been in food service at the high school for 22 years the manager at high school cafeteria wendy stated i've worked with gail for 20 of those years and i can say for
032certain she will be truly missed there are just not enough employees like gail gail hatterage josephine alton josephine retired from food service at bibich with 10 years of service it's appropriate that her nickname is cookie because the students loved cookie main focus has always been about serving the students the beverage cafeteria manager pauline stated to know cookie is to love cookie her main goal has always been kids first and she took the best care of them she can never be replaced and she will be dearly missed by all josephine alton [Applause] robin jones rama has been the nicest people we've had the pleasure to work with friendly fun and a great sense of humor she was a dedicated lcsc employee with 20 years of service and never had a bad word to say about anybody
033she tried her best to keep her section clean and volunteered to help when the shift was short-handed at times when her life became challenging at work and at home she was very appreciative when co-workers stepped in to help her and no matter what the issue was she kept her calm and pleasant personality being the devoted wife mother and grandmother that she is she looks forward to helping her family when she retired we wish robin the best in her retirement and we already miss her robin jones millie bill jack milly began her employment in august of 2000 at lake central high school then transferred over to piefer in 2003 continued to work until september of 2022 she'll continue to work during her time here at pifer her work ethic has been top-notch we said for years
034if millie cleans the area you could eat off the floor with no worry she takes incredible pride in her work as pifer is her home she'll be missed not only because of her work because of what she is a pie for treasure millie pinchas before we get to our teacher of the year celebration can we please have one last round of applause for all of our retirees prior to presenting this year's teacher of the year we'd like to mention this year's finalists and present them with a certificate recognizing this honor they're backwards all of our finalists were nominated by a fellow teacher and our former teacher of the year award winners who are still active teachers selected this year's finalists from a total of 26 nominees so before i go on let me say that
035to be nominated at all out of 550 teachers is an honor after soliciting votes from staff our former winners then met in person to discuss all credentials in order to select this year's winner our finalists in alphabetical order are shannon d st jean pifer elementary [Applause] keep her up here valerie gardner lake central high school [Applause] christopher guzman kaler middle school pam hofmaster colling elementary charity lida watson elementary and now it is time to recognize this year's teacher of the year larry zak kohling elementary before we take a picture of these dedicated staff members i'd like to read a couple sentences from the nomination forms that we received regarding larry larry has dedicated years to the students of colin elementary making a lasting impact on their lives he is passionate about teaching his students the
036fundamentals of music our kids like going to music and often mention it as their favorite special larry is also always willing to help staff members with anything they need congratulations larry [Applause] so we are going to go on to some other exciting business here in a moment but i want to thank everybody for coming out i want to thank all of our retirees and our teacher nominees for their dedicated service have a nice evening thank you all for coming [Applause] [Music] now martin i know okay i will move on with my final item of the evening and this is to seek board approval for some board policies that we discussed in detail at our last work session and in the past if we didn't make any significant changes that i needed to report back at
037the board meeting this board has approved the policies in their entirety at one time so if since there were no discrepancies or discussions about those items i seek board approval for a roman numeral 783 at this time we have a motion by dr malcolm second second by dr medlin any discussion hearing none all in favor aye aye motion passes thank you thank you we'll move on to our director of human resources personnel mrs mucha thank you i'm asking for approval of the personnel packet that was in with your packet so then we have a motion by dr malcolm second second by miss kelly any discussion all in favor aye motion passes also in your packet there was a request to for me to approve any certified personnel between now and the beginning of school so
038we can get the best and brightest as fast as we can move to proof motion by mr marshall second second by dr meddling any discussion all in favor aye aye motion passes thank you very much all right of secondary education ms castaneda thank you i am seeking your approval for the professional leave request the revised copy that you received this evening move to proof in motion by mr marshall second second by miss kelly any discussion all in favor aye aye aye motion passes thank you thank you move right along to mr james our director of business services thank you i'm i only have to seek your approval for the donations that were included in your board packet motion to approve we have a motion by ms kelly and i will second that any discussion hearing
039none all in favor aye aye motion passes thank you thank you and we do have one speaker for our public comments and miss olivia connolly if you'll please state your name and address for the record please olivia connolly 9354 east oakridge drive thank you my name is olivia connelly and i'm a student at clark middle school the reason i'm here today is because i've been constantly dress coded wearing shorts natural wearing jeans with holes that are above my knees in the student handbook in page 11 section 18 bullet point 5 all shorts and skirts must be no shorter than the fingertips of the students when arms are at the side and on the same page in the same section below 0.6 the text states holes in the clothing should be no higher than the knee
040i've been dress coded in the school with holes that would be here but if i cut my jeans to shorts then it would be perfectly fine the skirt i'm wearing now is fine but if i was wearing jeans with the holes where my skirt ends it would not be fine so the reason i'm here is to change the dress code where holes can start where the fingertips end okay did you want us i want to put you on the spot dr morocco no you've uh raised an interesting point so we'll take it under advisement and we will be visiting those rules here very shortly so thank you we'll see what we can do thank you thank you thank you all right do we have no other public comments so we will move on to our
041board comments and consideration of future agenda items mr marshall oh thank you it is certainly gratifying to see all the faces out there i know in my marriage my wife was the teacher of long standing who finally retired after 43 years at her school system so i know what people are feeling out there at least i think i do it's it's wonderful to see the faces and the joy and the enthusiasm and i want to wish everyone well obviously they're not here to hear that but maybe they are in a way thank you mrs kelly i'll kind of echo howard just congratulations to all of our retirees and thank you for your service to the school thank you dr madeline i'll echo the same sentiment thank you to all the teachers in the district and
042keep dr melco that was a pretty cool night you have to say yeah it was awesome it's good to see people i haven't seen in years and to congratulate them and of course it's a bittersweet night needless to say losing uh we won't be able to see some individuals that are so powerful and so effective for our students and i do believe that our spring sports students are doing quite well and i know i think i saw on piper's sign where in the home stretch hang in there so you just remind everybody we're in that home stretch so hang in there don't give up and look forward to seeing everyone at graduation and thank you and i just wanted to make mention that the boys track and field um that they earned first place for
043the first time since 2012 so i thought that was pretty cool to read and the war memorial on saturday if you haven't had a chance make sure you stop and see that wall mrs seuss yeah and it's we forgot to mention that kevin mathis has been selected as the national high school coach of the year for dance yeah quite an accomplishment so um and also with the track the girls continue to do very well with their dac awards yes yeah and yeah it's just so exciting so uh i assume softball is doing well in baseball although i don't know i don't follow it i mean i do but yeah their season is still continuing i think they go even after school ends but we just like to talk you guys don't care do you it's
044like you want to go i know so i wish everyone well the next five days and with that we will turn it over to dr veraco board calendar future activities yes so let's hope for some really good weather next wednesday at 6 30 on the lake central football field for our graduation ceremony and our next meeting here is june the 6th thank you thank you for the german we have a motion by mr marshall second second by ms kelly all in favor aye aye you