001All right, the first thing on our agenda this evening is recognition. Mrs. Turkey, got the squeaky chair. I would like to recognize the academyy's Applebee's teacher of the month. And I'm going to ask Mr. Gapon to introduce. It was a hard choice, I'll tell you, because we have a fantastic staff. But if I had to choose one person who exemplifies dedication, professionalism, compassion, building relationships, and if we needed to know anything, she probably has a degree in it. Mrs. Sylvia Haywood, congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. And we had a debacle when I was there before on her recognition pin because she's worked in so many different areas for us. And so I have she's been with us for 12 years and she's getting her 10year recognition pin today. She was probably upset with
002me this morning because I forgot to name her in recognition day cuz I was thinking about middle school 9 10 11 12 and I forgot about EL but I thought I'll make it up for you tonight. Thank you so much. Amy, come on. Get a picture with us. You didn't hear Tammy take one. Thank you sir. I'll send it to you. You surprised? Yes. Are you still late? I didn't tell her. I did her makeup. I still processing. All right, we're good. Congratulations. We are here with you, right? All right. Next thing on our agenda is the public comments. This will be your first opportunity to speak about something that happens to be on the agenda tonight and there'll be another opportunity at the end if there's something you want to talk about that's not
003on the agenda. Any takers? Moving on to the consent agenda. Our consent agenda tonight consists of the minutes of the April 14th, 2025 schoolboard meeting. Minutes of the April 14, 2025 executive session. Minutes of the April 29, 2025 executive session are personnel recommendations, field trip requests, donation requests, treasures report for March of 2025, and claims. Do I have a motion to accept this as presented? Motion to approve. Second. All right, Vicki. Yeah. Any further discussion or questions? All right. All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those oppose, same sign. Motion passes. Attorney Rosie says he's running a few minutes. Yeah, I just saw that, too. That's why I That's why I paused there for a second. All right, we're almost done. Go on home, Brad. Okay. All right. Next on the
004agenda is Emily Graham of the EL program. Emily, Hi everybody. I'm not used to the side angle. Last time I was here, it was in the middle. So, I'm getting situated here. Been like that for five years. Emily, where you been? I switched jobs. Thank you. I switched jobs. So, um I'm teaching EL English. Very happy to be back in the classroom. It's been a great move. And um I have two very special students with me tonight. Isabella uh Pedro Francisco is going to share a story she wrote about her own experience with immigration. And then Stephen is he's also ha has an immigration story but his focus tonight is on his process of learning to read better because this year we have added uh a reading class for high school students who because of
005gaps in their education or where they come from have somewhere along the line missed basic phonics and literacy. So I will let Isabella go first and then I will let Stephan talk and then I just want to share just a couple things about how much progress they've made this year. Hello, good afternoon. Uh, my name is Isabella Pedo Francisco. I am thank you for Logasport High School. Uh, honest my teacher. Uh, Miss Graham is my teacher and really for help me in the reading the book, Miss G and my English. Thank you for opportunity for talking my story immigration. Um and the main I think the article that I will smear toward experience because I am immigrant that you don't understand I am have been in this country for armed world. I am living with
006my brother and then my parents. I have words on when arrive here in this company I am live cows Guatemala is where I am come from and they used to live their witch my mother because my father come to they you understand you you how use I am telling my story because my article Talking about migration 20 2016 May I every cry and the opportunity we and my leave I was back home in the Guatemala. I am remember that where the the town some people whom I did recon reconi this face were covered with the bad clothes over their mom my mother my brother I'm Sorry. Do you want me to read that? Read it if you don't want to. You want me to? I'll read that part. Okay. 2016 marked a very scary and
007important year in my life. I was back home in Guatemala and I remember that they there were threatened some people whom I did not recognize. Their faces were covered with black cloth over their mouths. My mother, my brother, and I were terrified. They began to bother us more each night, knocking on the door and speaking in a low voice. My mother called my father, and she told my father that some people were bothering us. My father told my mother to close the door properly. Her father was already in the United States. She mentioned that in the first paragraph. In my country, many people are very bad. We stayed in that house for almost three years. In the meantime, my brother and I studied an hour away from home, and the road we took was a
008highway. There aren't many houses on the way to school. One day, when we were going to school, I felt like someone was following us. And I told my brother, "Hurry up." But he was really little. I think he was 7 years old at the time. I told my brother, "You have to hurry because someone is following us." When we got to school, he wasn't there anymore, but he didn't stop following us. When I got home, I told my mother. I told her, "Someone's following us." Immediately my mother called my dad. He said, "Hold on a bit more." My father told her he was going to bring us here to the United States. In 2019, the men who bothered us at night knocked on the door again and talked to my mother. They told her, "If
009you don't give us money, something will happen to your children." But my mother didn't have any money, and the mother my father sent didn't last us even a week. That year, 2019, my mom spoke to my father and told him the people had come again. and my dad said, "It's time to go to the United States." My mom sold everything we had and left the animals to raise money on the way. Excuse me. When we left on the road, we suffered from hunger and thirst. We sat for 4 hours in one place and sometimes we didn't eat. Sometimes you had to run or walk for 2 hours to get to another place. I felt scared. My mom would hug my little brother. I look at the network internet. I see children. I see babies crying
010from hunger or the heat. They put you in the truck where the animals go. There you see many people who have a different story. On the road, you saw difficulties in arriving in the United States. When we arrived in the state of Mexico, I felt very scared because I didn't speak Spanish, which made it difficult for me to speak because my original language is khobal. I felt like I was dying. I just trusted in God to help us. We walked for an hour in the desert. We drank dirty water because we were dying of thirst. After five minute minutes, the immigration caught us. They gave us water to drink and took us to jail where all the immigrants were. There are many people there, children, babies, and all the immigrants from different countries. On the
011way, when we got here, it was difficult for me because I couldn't speak this language. When I was hungry, I couldn't say anything. But I met a very talkative person. He had yellow hair, his skin was white, and his eyes blue. His heart was cleaner than water. God sent that person to us on our way. He bought us food when we were thirsty, bought us water, and gave us money. When we arrived in another state, I don't know the name of the state where he got off, but he was a person who helped us since I left my country. This was my story. I know the immigrant life. I know the pain. I know the threats. And I know jail. and all my immigrant brothers, we didn't come here because we didn't come for many
012situations in this life. An immigrant knows that because of so much pain, an immigrant's life is very complicated. And in the articles I have read, the situation is the same as mine. Now, like the situation in 2025, it's more difficult because of the present. Trump is determined to carry out the immigrants, but he doesn't know that we suffer when we arrive here. Don't you know the pain and fear in every country? In my case, I'm afraid to arrive in my country. I love my country, but we came here for a better life where there is peace. Now I feel that fear again. My gosh. Okay, Stephan. Stephan is a little more light-hearted. Hi, my name is Stefan Jean Batist. I'm from Porter Prince, Haiti. Um, I came to the United States 2017. When I came
013co happened, so I didn't able to have school, nothing at all till it came to Loganport and then I moved to Newport. I said that again. Sorry. Um, I went to the high school until I met Mrs. Graham and I kind of I was kind of nervous telling teachers or people about my problems because when I was in Haiti, the school that I go to or basically any school in Haiti, they will give you a book to read at home and when you read that book, you have to go back to school, read it to the teacher and if you miss a simple word, they will probably whoop you or probably sent you to to a corner. But as for me, I had problems when I was a kid. My mom was working to buy
014me stuff because she couldn't do anything. So, she couldn't able to help me read my book. So, I had to try myself, but I still hadn't. Um, there's this one time I had to go home and read a book. I did, but the next day I went to school. I was like 15 minutes late. When you're late to school in Haiti, you'll get get in trouble. You'll get whooped for that. But I was late. When I had to go read the book to the teacher, I couldn't read it. A single word in there. He decided to whoop me and that hurt my feelings. So my mom was like, um, I don't want you to keep getting open anymore. So I'm going to do a lot of paperwork, find some stuff to do to move to
015the United States. So when I was nine, I found out I'm moving to the United States in 2017. I had to leave my best friend and we're here. And now I'm here. I'm about to be a senior next year. But I still hope that I can and will be able to read and write and spell. But Mrs. Graham created a class for me. When I asked when I asked her, can she help me with reading and writing speaking, she decided to create a reading class and she also made a program called Wordflight. My first time using the the app, I didn't understand anything. And well, I didn't create word fight. I wish I did. Um, you're sitting on a beach somewhere. Yeah, I would not. I might not be here tonight, but I just wanted
016to share with you briefly. Um, and I never whooped Stefan. Promise you that. So both of these two. So there's a lot of backstory on this program that I could get into the phonics and the phonms and the morphology and all of that, but if you want to just take a brief look, we'll look at Stefan first. These are broken down into four categories. So word knowledge, it's it's a red light, yellow light, green light situation. So Stefan at the beginning of the year back here in August had a zero in decoding and as of May 13th he came all the way up to a 204 and has gotten into the yellow. So I'm super proud of him for that and his his overall instructional zone which is he started at high risk and now
017he's moved up to into two which is huge. Nice. Then for Isabella. Yeah. Come. Isabella began back in August, August 29th at 104 word recognition. She's she's completed the entire program. It's 24 units. Stephan's halfway through. It just depends on the pace of the student. Um this was in January. She has a 194 and now she is also in the yellow at a 227. So like 200% [Applause] proud and I just want to say I'm so proud of both of them. It's all due to their hard work. And uh for Stephan for having the courage to say I need help. You know I'm struggling with reading. I know I can do it but I need some help. And one day he was working out his headphones while he's working on the program and I heard
018him say I'm actually reading this. And I just I get choked up thinking about it. So, I just want to thank them for being so awesome and making my job so enjoyable. [Applause] Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all our teachers, too. Wouldn't happen otherwise. You guys all have the hearts of the teachers we have here. They have the hearts of the students. It is touching how often we see them go above and beyond what's required. And it's another example. Okay. Moving next to the school presentation. We'll look at the academy with Mr. Gustafon. Good evening, members of the board, Superintendent Starky. Uh this is my favorite part of the year uh where I get to talk about what I really love more than just about anything and that's the academy.
019I've been in administration nearly 20 years um here and there at every level and I have never been at a place where I couldn't wait to get to work and that's kind of what it's like now. Um, so I appreciate the opportunity uh to be able to do this first and foremost. And to the young lady who just gave the uh the speech, both were excellent, but I I can think of an address in Washington DC. You need to stick that in an envelope and send it to. So we have two logos now u at the academy. Um the one on the left we've had for a while, but we are now a PCAP school. And whenever we are talking about PECAP, you'll see that logo too. So, um, next slide, please. Uh, on August
02011th, 2021, we started school for the first time at the academy, right down yonder, uh, next to Coons when we were telling people um, where we were, we'd say, "Yeah, between Coons and Speedway, right?" They go, "I know where it is. Old IvyTech, Mr. McCord's building, something like that, you know." So we had me, we had one teacher, um we had an IIA that had a degree, so was a specialized IIA, a regular IIA, half a secretary. She's now transformed into a full secretary. Um we had 30 students. At that time, we were on Grad Point and we were grades 7 through 12. Um we had three students online at the time, 14 in the morning, 13 in the afternoon. That's what we have today. Um, so our staff is right at 20. Um, and
021as you can see, we have pretty much all the bases covered uh with these. So, uh, obviously won't read you all these, but that is our current staff um, as we go into 2526. Are any of them not here, Greg? A few are not here. A lot are here. Representative. Yeah, we Yes, we are. It's a testament, I think, how dedicated our staff is. Um, just briefly because I'm going to let uh some students and and other uh teachers do the talking here, but um just some keys here. Um we had just about 300 students. We didn't quite get to 300 this year. Uh as of the 16th, we were 295. Last year at this date of this um meeting or at the board meeting, we had 208 students. And there's a breakdown of the
022students that we have uh currently in the first numbers and the parenthesis for last year. You can see in many cases uh we've gone up a bit. Um 8th grade we went down a little bit. They must not have suspended as many students or whatever or sent them our way. Um but obviously went from 32 to 57, freshman 46 to 64, sophomores 52 to 62. Uh juniors and 24 to 52. um seniors and we sent out invitations and this is an iffy time of year because we have students finishing uh I'm sure at home furiously working right now to finish up classes um but we sent out 65 invitations um the other day I guess last Thursday uh and there will be some more. We're hoping that we have 70 graduates um Thursday night um
023male 6 pm Um, we earned 1,650 credits this year. And a credit is a completed course that gets a final grade. And the breakdown is in-person students, which we have roughly 150, earned 855 class credits. Remote students earned 579. Um, our credit recovery kids 216. that was mainly first semester getting caught up so that they could go on um at their grade level. We have a freshman class this year um that I believe is just about 100% on grade level as coming in as sophomores for next year. And that's the that's the tough thing in in alternative education is everybody's everywhere. So, it's hard to teach. um we will teach next year um going using Apex as our curriculum and going screen by screen the teacher delivering the lesson and then working on it and
024if it's not in that teacher's wheelhouse they'll learn it right along with the kids so it's kind of neat that way uh it took about 74 days for a student to complete a class that's on the average a semester being 90 days um average final grades um where's a good solid B 81% %. So, at this time, the big news this year is our merger with El with Locusport High School's PEK program and our PCAP program. And to explain all that stuff, I'd like to invite to the podium Dr. Christy Deal and assistant principal Amy Wernern. All right. Good evening. You guys have this one pager in your packets. And so one of the one of the biggest joys of my role here is being over the PEK program and also doing this alongside with
025Amy Warner as our workplace learning coordinator. So PEK stands for Pathways and Technology Early College High School. And this is a national model. But the thing is is that at the state of Indiana, we have to recognize that one, we have a separate early college program which Loganport High School is a part of. And two, it's not just for technology. And so at the state level, it has changed to the term PCAP, which is pathways to careers and post-secary. And in the fall, we had an opportunity to write a grant to onboard the academy as a PCAP school. And with the changes that had happened at the high school last year and the growth of the academy this year, it made sense that we could do this for our academy students. It's big enough. It's
026robust enough. We have enough staff in order to do this well. And so we are beyond thrilled that we have the academy now on boarding as a PECAP school. So what that means is that our current eighth graders will be on boarding and we just had signing night last Wednesday. Thank you to those who are in attendance. And those students will be PECAP students at the academy their whole career with taking career center courses their junior and senior year. In that we are turning the entire academy into a PECAP project-based learning school, which makes sense. They have the flexibility. It's a non-traditional school. And with that type of student, that's exactly what they need in order to prosper. our current chapter ones and twos. We onboarded them as PEK students at the high school. And
027with our chapter ones, so these are our current freshmen. What we are going to end up doing next year, we still want to fulfill the promise that we had to them. And that was important as we shift PEK to PCAP. So we're physically taking everything from the high school from PEK, relocating it to the library area at the academy. And you'll see that next year our current chapter 1. So as sophomores, they will be at Loganport High School the first four periods of the day. We will transport them to the academy. And then their afternoon is going to be that project-based learning that they're used to. And then junior senior year, they're going to have geometry, a work-based learning class, and then senior year is going to be primarily either for their dual credit courses
028or for like an internship. and then they will end as an LHS grad. Uh nine out of 16 of our current freshmen are in athletics. And so it was important that we keep them as LHS students because for a lot of them that's what keeps them in school and that's what keeps them, you know, wanting wanting to keep their grades up and to do better. So it was it was critical that we allowed them to still have those Logansport High School um what's the word? Opportunities. That's a great thank you. And then our current chapter 2s, this doesn't really affect them. They will stay Loganport High School students. They will have the same trajectory junior senior year and remain Loganport High School graduates. So, we will be phasing out PEK at the high school as
029these students graduate, but still being Loganport High School students. And then everyone that we are onboarding will be academy graduates. What else do you have? Next slide. Um, so we just wanted to give you just a brief rundown of what the schedule will look like for our young scholars at uh the academy next year. Um, our incoming PECAP freshmen. So, we will have a crew time and this will actually be schoolwide. Um, and crew time is just basically relationship building time. We'll do some leadership activities. Um, and it'll just be time for the teachers and the students to build those relationships together. Um and uh then we will um transition to we we don't really go by periods but their first learning block um the kids who are there with group A and we just
030have two group A group B because we'll have 15 in one and 15 in another. Um they'll go to their PBL time. So that's where they'll do their hands-on learning uh with their project-based learning teachers. Uh we have Chris Middleton and Grace Scott who will be leading those classes. They are attending PBL workshop actually tomorrow um for the next three days online. Uh they'll have lunch, we'll do a brain break. Uh we'll have our weight class which we've uh offered this this school year. Um it's an SEAL time and then they'll have their algebra 1 uh and science course and then PCC and computer science uh led by a teacher and then that that schedule just flips for group B. So, um, everyone is getting their project based learning time and then we've built this
031schedule out for the next four years so that we know what it looks like for, um, freshman and sophomores and then sophomores, juniors, you know, so on so that we, um, can make sure that it's going to be sustainable and with, uh, with the staff that we have, um, we are going to be able to do that and offer project- based learning for all of our students um, grades 9 through 12 as we move forward in the cohorts, which is really exciting because that wasn't something that was going to be feasible at Loganport High School. So, um it's going to be a really awesome thing that's going to be happening for the students of the academy. Do include workbased learning. Oh, yeah. And then um my role will continue as the workplace learning coordinator. Uh
032we'll be still be doing our workplace learning challenges. Um and that will be built into their PBL time as well, just as it is with PEK right now. So, um, we'll still be working with our industry partners doing those community connection pieces, uh, which is really, you know, a big part of the program that really helps our kids stay connected. So, anything else? Any questions? So, at the state level, you can they cannot do the summer school option anymore. Is that will they still be able to obtain their associates degree? Yes, they can still do it within the parameters of the school year. Um, summer school just isn't 100% reimbured anymore, which is unfortunate, but we can still make it work for our students. If I like it, as long as it works still. Mhm.
033You know, summer's 12. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, Christie and Amy. So, you would think that when people talk to me, they see me in public and they know I'm at the academy, which they think is out on Shape Road for some reason. Um, they don't really ask me about our academics. They don't really ask me about our programming. They say, "What kind of kids go there?" Number one question. And I say to you, that's the kind of kids that go to the academy. um our king and queen of our very first prom this year, Kenny Henry, and the next young lady that I'm going to bring up to share her story, Miss Lindsay [Music] Triple. My name is Lindsay Turvet and I'm proud to be a graduate. My journey hasn't been easy, and honestly, there were
034a lot of times I didn't think I'd make it here. During my sophomore year, I was suspended from LHS for 10 days after getting into an altercation with a boy, even though he deserved it. At the same time, things at home were falling apart. My parents were constantly fighting, and my sister, who was my best friend, was never around, and I felt completely alone. My dad was angry at me for being suspended, and I lost all my motivation. I became depressed, cried a lot, gained weight, and spent most days just laying in my room, endlessly scrolling on my phone. After the suspension, I returned to LHS, but only lasted a week. I was too far behind in my classes, and there was still drama with the boy and his friends, and my parents were in
035the middle of splitting up. That's when I stopped going to school entirely and was enrolled as a remote student at the academy. I finished out my sophomore year online. When junior year rolled around, I stayed remote, but the motivation just wasn't there. That summer, my mom moved out and took my sister with her. And just because someone moves out doesn't mean fighting ends, it didn't when junior year rolled around. Oh Sorry. You're fine. Breathe. Take a break. Breathe. It's all good. You're doing great. Midway through junior year, everything changed again. I had to move in with my brother, give away my animals, and completely start over. I felt like I had lost everything. At the same time, I started receiving emails from Mr. Gross warning me about my lack of progress. I responded that I
036was just going to get my GED. I didn't have the strength and motivation to continue. But Mr. Gross told me, "You can always come back and keep the academy in mind." It was one of the loneliest periods of my life. I didn't tell anyone I had dropped out and no one asked. And just like that, my junior year slipped away. I cried a lot and felt like my life was over. Like I had run out of time to earn my diploma. But then my boyfriend stepped in and told me, "You still have time. I know you can do this. The only person who can help you out is yourself." Around that same time, I saw many of my friends posting graduation photos on social media. That really hit me. I knew I had to get
037my act together. I went back to LHS hoping to reenroll, but I was told I was too far behind and my heart sank. So, I thought it's really over. That's when LHS suggested the alternative school. Right there in the LHS parking lot, my mom called Mr. Gross phone and he answered and said, "I've been waiting for you a call." I decided I wanted to return to inerson learning because I knew it would push me to actually do my work. But when I came back to the academy, I had nothing. No backpack, no school supplies, no clothes. I'm forever grateful to my boyfriend's family for stepping in and helping me get what I needed to show up. Honestly, I was scared to attend the academy. I hadn't been in a traditional school setting in a long
038time, and I had heard rumors that it was full of bad kids. But the moment I walked in Miss Myers's room, and we played a cup stacking teamwork game, my nerves disappeared. I realized the kids here were just like me. People who had struggled, who were trying, and who hadn't given up, and I didn't either either. Looking back, I know I couldn't have made this made it to this moment on my own. I want to thank Mr. Grossman for giving me the second chance, for giving me a second chance when I had almost given up on myself. He believed in me before I believed in myself. I'm especially thankful for Miss Meyers who supported me every step of the way. Her kindness, patience, and encouragement kept me going even on the hardest days. I didn't
039know if I could have finished school. I don't I honestly don't know if I could have finished school without her. And to my mom, thank you for being there for me, even even when things were hard for you. Your strength helped me find mine. And to my friends, thank you for always being real and never letting me down. and to Russell and Pew. Thank you for loving me and lifting me up and making sure I had everything I needed to succeed. There are so many moments when I didn't think I'd make it to graduation, but I did. I'm proud of the person I've become and the obstacles I've overcome. One quote that has stuck with me through this journey is, "You don't have to keep picking your scabs to show you're bleeding." I've learned that
040healing matters more than proving your pain. And today, I choose to heal you forward. I am Lindsay Truman and I am a graduate. [Applause] And for those people who ask what kind of students go to the academy, that's the kind of students that go to the academy. I want to thank uh all of you for your support. Michelle, thank you so much for always believing in us. Even when I get testy and I got testy back been around a while, right? Yeah. So, thank you. you. And I also want to thank uh if you're a staff member at the academy, please stand [Applause] up. You all, if you're not doing anything on Thursday at 6:00, come to male and you'll hear Lindsay give the speech all over again to a whole lot more people and
041she'll have all the confidence in the world this time. And you also get to see Mr. Henry. So, thank you very much. Questions, comments. I'll have to say that Milt and I have been to the last to the graduation or the what's coming up Thursday and um you know we're sitting in the audience and no one really knows who we are or whatever and it we go to a I mean there's a lot of at the end of the school there's a lot of convocations and reward ceremonies that kind of stuff but it's amazing to sit out in the crowd and I got the feeling that the because you'll see parents and grandparents and all kind of people there. Um, I'll probably start crying. They're so proud of these kids, you know. It's just it's
042just so it's other things. They rush in and rush out to these things and the the people that are there on this Thursday night. I mean really um you just realize it's something special because I feel like as if they they felt like their family may have been hopeless or out of you know things were just not perfect and they thought well that's the end of my kids' life it's over and then you see when they they tell these stories and you just see that once again the hearts of the teachers we have sorry it's just a this is a special school and then I thank Mrs. Starky cuz some of this stuff you hear the stuff first going oh god we need to do something else and thank goodness I mean look look at
043how PEK you know or PCAP has grown in like a fire and you look at how Mr. Ghost mom's numbers have grown like a fire. And then and you see these parents that are just they're just proud and grandparents that are proud and and there's tears there because they just are are just they're so I mean I don't think the kids even realize that the they can't see it from the stage because there's lights and stuff but the people in the audience are all emotionally touched from where their kid was a couple years earlier and where they are and they're just so proud that that happened and it happened in our school corporation. So, I'm I'm once again I'm so proud of our teachers. I'm proud of the students. I'm proud of everybody that's involved.
044And uh you know, this is we're a small town. We have a fantastic school corporation. So, anyway. Okay. Any other comments? All right. Now, if you want to, this is the opportunity to leave because we're going to go through some [Laughter] action. Go to a softball game. I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks guys. Thank you. Enjoy. [Music] Okay, moving right along. Now we're going to the action items. Uh, first action item is the consideration of recommendation to approve the follow following policy changes. Policy 1130 3113 4113 6110100 611 6112 6114 6325 6550 7310 and 7450 probably for a different reason. Exactly. 11. All right. This is the fun stuff. Uh, is there a motion to accept these these policy changes? I'll make a motion. Is there a second? Second. No second. Any further discussion?
045All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Our next action item is consideration of recommendation to resend policy 8760, student accident insurance. You want to talk about this? I will. We have had this because we have this policy. We have to go through the process of offering student accident insurance every year at registration. We for I don't know how many years now, nobody takes nobody has used it ever. And so it's on our end, it's a lot more work than it's worth when nobody's using it. So I double checked to make sure it wasn't some kind of state statute, which it's not. Um, but we had to offer it because it was in our policy. So, if we take it out of our policy, we
046don't have to offer it and go through all the steps for next year. So, you know, somebody's going to ask for it next year. 40 people. All right. Do I have a motion to accept the removal of policy 8760 student insurance? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Next action item is consideration recommendation to approve the change of location to the member memo of understanding regarding reunification the loadport Junior High School to the Cass County 4 fairgrounds. Any other comment? No, I think just in reviewing kind of where we've been and and um we've we've done some practices um and it makes a whole lot better sense if we have to do reunification for
047the junior high to use the fairgrounds. It's it would be much more conducive um to it. So, god forbid we ever have to use it, but just feel like that was a it would be a much better place. And um Mrs. Hess has been all over these. I believe we now have one for everybody, which is huge. Where were they going? Be a church. The church called New Beginnings, right? Yeah. The New Beginnings church over here. Yeah. Right. That's the point, right? And really, when you think about proximity and everything, if there's a situation going on at the junior high school, we really don't want to have our reunification right there, even though they won't fit anyway. So yeah, keep in mind we would go to Landis if possible first. So yeah, do motion to
048approve. All right. Is there a second? I'll second. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those oppose, same sign. The motion passes. Uh the next action item is consideration of recommendation to approve the K to5 reading textbook adoption for the period of 2025 to 2031 McGraw Hill study sink. Hold up. Mrs. Rosie talked about that. Um so K to 5 is actually open court and then we have sixth grade study sync. So we spent better part of the year looking at different programs. Um, and when it came down to it, Open Court K to 5, it was more based in science of reading, which is what we need. So, that was what we ended up going with. And then, um, Open Court does not go up to sixth
049grade, but Study Sync is the, um, next program after Open Court by Morill. And so, it made sense to go with that program. Okay. Do I have a motion to accept? I'll make a motion. All right. Is there a second? Second. All right. Any further discussion? All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Our next and final action items. Consideration recommendation to approve new classified salary schedules. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, is this another I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought it was ex Never mind. Uh next is consideration recommendation to approve the sixth grade reading textbook adoption for the period of 2025 to 2031 McGraw Hill study sink. Anything new? Nothing new. Is it the last visit of this? What's it take to get out
050of the What does it take to sixyear commitment? What's it that's the normal adoption cycle? So that's what the state that's that's how the adoption cycles run. So then next year what's next year? What would we adopt next year? Oh gosh. It's not because we're kind of off like an off social studies would be probably next year, right? Because quite honestly, six years sounds like a long time, but it takes them a couple years to get fully going with the new series and then kind of Yeah, we often stick with the same series going forward or do we usually change every six years? It depends. Sometimes we stick with it and sometimes we change. It depends on what the state hands down to us really. Quite honestly, I wish with the way the state is,
051I wish they would just say, "Okay, everybody in Indiana, here's what K to 5 you're using is reading, right? It would be a whole lot cheaper for us, too. Everybody would be on the same page." When you're trading kids from certain districts, you would have the same there, you know, and with the way they control the textbook reimbursement funds now. So, yes, sir. Okay. Do I have a motion to accept the recommendation? I'll make a motion. All right. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion or comments? All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Once again, we're back. Consideration recommendation to approve the new classified salary schedule. Just say that um you know, we've Greg and I have worked on this um with looking
052at where we're going to be funding wise coming up. Um it's it's a 1.25% um increase over where it was, which you know ultimately would we like to do more? Of course we would. Um but that's where we're at with funding right now. Um keep in mind a couple things. One, uh when we have um as people move on their steps, they will still move their step, right? In addition to um the the 1.25. And then as we look at um the insurance adjustment, that meeting usually happens in July. So obviously the school corporation continues to pay that 80% and they're looking at Greg believes like not a very high increase. So we won't share a number but relatively conservative number. Um we think um ultimately should things change anytime in the future, you know,
053we always have the option to go back in and to make some adjustments. Um so but this is it's it's always good for us to be able to move forward um beginning July one because many of those um pay increases would start July 1. Then that's done. Then as we start school and and we have to bargain a contract too. Um obviously with the way bargaining goes um you can't bargain till after count day which means no matter what you do you have retroactive pay which creates a lot of time energy and uh efforts in the finance office. So um this is where we're at right now. Do you approve these annually or is this a two-year? This is this is just one year. This is just for this coming year. We have um we've
054basically tried to look at the classified yearly because just to try and see where we're at regionally um and to keep us going whereas the teachers contract is usually a two-year agreement. I thought also mention you who is in this grouping because often times we think about administrators and teachers and and and that sort of stuff. Uh this is your bus drivers, your cafeteria staff, your custodial staff, grounds and maintenance staff, maintenance staff, nurse nurses, uh secretaries, student support services, and technology. So, you know, sometimes we we we lose track of these folks, but they really are the kind of glue that helps hold everything else together, and we appreciate them for that. With that said, do we have a motion to accept the consideration recommendation for the classified teachers or classified stats schedule? So
055move. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Any further discussion or comments. All right. All those in favor signify by sign of I. I. All those opposed, same sign. The motion passes. Moving on now to department comments. Business report. Mr. Correct. Just a couple items for your benefit tonight. Uh as the legislative session for 2025 wrapped up late last month, uh we're working with our working internally. Plus, we're working with our business partners on uh just the changes and the ramifications of those changes. Uh there's quite a few. Uh we've got some meetings scheduled to get this month and next. Uh there'll be more to come obviously as we have uh if we recommend adjustments to some of the things we're doing already. Uh LJHS project continues. Uh with this being the last week of school,
056uh heavier construction will certainly ramp up. We've got some bathrooms that are uh back in use now as much appreciated. I'm quite certain of that. Those are the ones in science wing. U we have the plumbing uh replacement that we had to do kind of uh impromptu. Uh that's complete now and we're back online there. And then uh we're looking to we've got steel supports in place for the rooftop units that will help serve uh the gym and some of those adjacent areas in the administration office. So as uh school gets out, we'll have a great on site and get those units up on the roof supported properly. Thanks to Mr. Storm and his team. Uh it's it's been like most renovations during a school year, there are always challenges, but uh him and his
057team worked very well with the contractors and and us to to make to see things through. So summer will be busy and we'll have more to report as we progress through the summer. Questions, comments? At the city level, we use Baker Tilly also and we have asked them to give us the SP1 overview and we want school to be there too to see how we can is there a work together solution for the future. Is there how will what we do impact you and vice versa. So we know you have your own group. We have our own group but that'll be in the next few weeks. That's wonderful. Greg and I tried that. um an administration or so ago and got nowhere. So we've requested it. So good. So I think this Logan Court will
058be greatly more impacted than the school based on what I'm seeing, but it's all bad for us. Anything else? All right, moving on to technology report. Mr. V. Uh just the project at the high school for security and door access control is finishing up. Just a few items left there. Um the 2025 security grant is opening up. So we'll be looking at pursuing that and then we're starting our summer collection project and checking in computers and starting for the summer task list. So start all over again. Getting all the laptops working. We quit insurance on those too. like we're out of the insurance business. Okay, that's great. All right, any questions or comments? Nope. All right, moving on to curriculum report with Mrs. Rosie and Dr. Deal. Um, a few things. So, last week we
059began our first round of the summer session I read testing. So, we had second and third graders retaking it last week. Um, and for the most part that will dictate who we invite to summer school and then some of those students will be able to retake the test if they did not pass at the end of summer school. Um, also next week we kick off our first professional development for the new reading series which you just approved tonight. So we appreciate that. I know the teachers are excited to get going on that. Normally we wait toward um the end of summer to do PDs on new um curriculum, but this year we are um fortunate enough to have um a PD right after school ends and then we'll have another one right right before school
060starts. So we think we'll be in a better place. Um and then also next week we begin curriculum meetings with um K to6 teachers. Um and that will last for a few weeks. We'll be updating uh curriculum maps and assessments in the school year. Thank you. Likewise with meetings 7 through 12 and then also from the junior high u Mr. Storm shared that they had a career fair and mental health presentation recently and their career fair guest the feedback was positive and the presenter at Friday's grade level mental health presentation said it was his favorite presentation yet out of over 300. So bravo to those berries. They had professional development for the math department for their implementation of Alex which is embedded in the uh curriculum program that they use McGra Hill. They have completed
061reading screenings with all of their students and we're looking at a program um to boost our literacy starting next year. Um and then also they held awards at Male last Wednesday and it was fantastic to acknowledge so many students hard work. And then from the high school on May 9th, 24 students earned their associates degree and 82 the Indiana College Court at IvyTech Community College Cooko commencement. And so we are beyond thrilled and proud of them. Um all of the courses were taught on the LHS campus by our college credentialed LHS staff plus career center staff. And so we are so appreciative to those teachers. That's it. It's nice to have that happen right on your way out. another program thinking what are we getting this for? And it turned out real well, didn't it?
062Okay. Uh, questions, comments. No, moving on to comments. Superintendent Starky. Well, first of all, I'm sorry that they already left, but I would just say this is why we do what we do, and you can't measure what you saw tonight from these students on an SAT or an I learn test. So, um it it always makes me proud to know what we're doing for our kids and for all of our kids. I mean, we talk about kids getting degrees to kids that are juniors in high school learning to read because they came here. And then when our kiddos, you want to talk about brave kids, we have no idea. We have no idea. And so, and it's because of it's because of the passion and compassion and empathy that our teachers have um that make
063this difference. So, yeah, I I can't say enough. Um, Lindsay, wow, I can't wait to hear her again uh give the speech on Thursday night. So, again, that's why we do what we do. And I think, you know, Greg, Greg and I are extremely passionate about what we do and all we want to do is ever provide the best for our kids. And so um he you know I we uh just like when Matt Jones started and I started here and when we talked about 14 years ago wow wouldn't it be cool if because at that time we were like okay like you know we had a little bit of a gang issue going on and like someday like that's all like like way way way in the past right like someday if we could
064have a kid graduate with an associates degree we freaking 24 of Amazing. And then when we started to talk about I mean Greg and I used to talk about when we used to go to the um Two Rivers Academy meetings on Friday mornings once a month, right? and we talk about, wow, wouldn't it be cool someday if we could have our own alternative school? And then he left and then he I'm like then he came back and like this is going to be perfect. And like really to build it from where we were down here to where we are now. Amazing. Like just amazing. And once again, it's hats off to the people that we have here and the vision that they have. Um just utterly amazing to me. Um we are back doing I
065read testing. I I think Brady said that's over. Uh it it's amazing. Now we're starting to see um the elementarymentaries are we have two of them approaching or at 75% with 44% and 45% of their second graders already have passed. So that's a huge number of kids. We look at uh Columbia Elementary is now in the 60%. If you took out they have 13 13 good cause exemptions. Literally good cause exemptions. If you take those out, they're at 77% passing. Amazing work, right? Amazing work. And so, you know, as we get ready to start summer school, how many more kids we're going to get over the hump? Is amazing. Um, another thing today, sorry, I have a lot. Um, we awarded the Crystal Berry Award today to Holly Miller, who, uh, is a EL teacher
066at Fair View, has done amazing things. Um uh then I I didn't get to attend the IvyTech graduation because I was attending my own son college graduation. Um but once again like 24 kids with an associates degree. So we've gone from two to 12 to 24 and then 82 IC kids. It's just phenomenal. And where else are you going to get that? And on top of that, Vicky Bird received an honorary degree from IvyTech because of her commitment to um you go anywhere like you hear Vicky Bird's name and in the community doing all kinds. Yes, it's not always but I think you know and what a what a what a wealth of knowledge and that she's going to bring to our school board. So just a great thing. I was also notified um just
067last week that we did receive the waiver that I applied for for professional development days for next year. So, we'll be able to do that again. So, that's three days of professional development that we can do full days um and teachers we don't have to worry about doing um the synchronous learning because we exceed the number of hours anyway uh academically. And so as we come to think about um budgets and money and and all those kinds of things, yeah, it's going to be hard, but it's nothing that we can't handle and it's nothing we haven't done before. Um our main focus from our offices is just to continue to take steps forward. Whether they're small steps, we still want to take steps forward because um we know that's how we retain people and we
068know that's what our kids deserve is the best that we can offer. And so while those steps might be small, we still want to continue to move forward. We've been through times where we've done pay freezes and and it's not fun and it's it's hard. Um so rest assured we will continue to work on those things and I'm thrilled to hear that the city wants to sit down with us and Baker Tilly. Like that makes so much sense and we we did try that a long time ago. The county too. be good. Do you want us to bring Nelson with us? But it's a good thing. There are so many good things going on in this community right now. We just need to continue that and we need to continue to work together. So, um,
069we've had a a great school year. I don't know where it's gone. You know, my mom always says the older you get, the faster it goes. Well, she's right. Um, so anyway, thanks to everybody for a great school year, and I'm going to stop talking before I start balling. All right. Questions, comments for Mrs. Starky? No. All right. Next is public comments. It's your your last opportunity to speak out. This is it. Okay. We're consistent. Uh, okay. Next is board member comments. Mrs. Bird. Well, I'd like to just say thank you to everyone and it was so inspiring to hear the students tonight and all the work that everyone does to support them. It's just I sat here cried too. Um and then the other thing I you guys talked about IvyTech graduation. Um I
070didn't realize that our students were going to be going through graduation when I was there and it was it was just it was unbelievable to see all of those kids in their red and black marching across the stage and and you know one by one by one hundred and some kids. Um and I was just so proud of what we've been able to do here. not only for the kids but for the parents and and the savings that it means for them and and our community. It's it was just it was it was great. It just was really really neat. So, thank you. All right, Mrs. Gra. Um well, first I'll just say everybody asked me so so you happy you ran for school board especially after the legislative session. Okay. You like what's the
071answer? And and honestly, you know, I it's meetings like this and seeing what we're doing and the the PE PCAP program the other day was amazing. I'm so looking forward to Thursday's graduation. Visiting the different schools, seeing what's going on at the, you know, the elementaryaries, the junior I it's it really is. And I I um I love being a part of this again. Um almost makes me want to go back in the classroom the next day. Um I hear but I also I I I would feel really bad leaving here without saying something. Mr. Jones, thank you so much. Um, I I truly enjoyed having you as a principal and working with you all the years and the everything that you've done for our schools and you're really going to be missed as a
072principal and um I really glad that I had the pleasure of of working with you. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hess. Uh, I just wish those who are in positions of power, who are involved in the decisions for education, uh, who make those decisions for us. I I wish they could hear what goes on in this boardroom. You know, what we hear tonight, these these presentations by these kids and the staff involved in in these kids. I I wish those people and I don't care what political I don't give a crap, you know, what political party you're with. If if you could just hear or see what goes on, what we're seeing here and hearing. Um it's just it's amazing. People outside don't understand what all is going on in these walls. I'm I'm
073not talking about the walls of this boardroom, the walls of our corporation. Um, it's it's amazing. Mr. Gross Fun, you can't keep coming back here to this board meeting each year because I cry every time somebody here and I'm going to cry again on Thursday night because I'm going to hear her again just like I've done when you brought somebody else here. And it's like I would never have heard the story before. It's like Captain Stubby, you know, he'd tell the same he'd tell the same jokes every time you'd hear him and you'd laugh every time even though you knew what was coming and I'm going to know what's coming on Thursday and I'm going to cry again when she makes her presentation. Um, these these are just amazing stories. And it also makes you
074wonder before the academy came along, what was happening to these kids? Where where were these kids going? What crack were they falling through? and where were they ending up? The gang situation maybe is what you're talking about that we don't have to worry as much about um anymore because of a place like the academy that has been a now a safe haven and a place where these kids can thrive instead of turn into nothing. Uh it's just these these kind of stories are amazing and and people um I hope can hear more about them. We we appreciate and again the staff that puts the work into making it happen. So um other than that good luck at graduation everybody. Um since next time we meet school will be out so we won't see most of
075you here again. I'm sure this will be your last your last meeting till next fall. So we won't so have have a good summer everybody. You know, Mil, I would just say too, sorry, I know my comments wrapped up, but um when you talk about the academy, you would also be impressed by the conversations that go on between the academy administration and Logan High School administration and guidance on what's a better fit for the kid and okay, look, they kind of gone over here and kind of maybe like they're feeling good about themselves and they're doing well like okay, let's go back to LO. I mean, you know, like it's it it's a it's a great partnership. So, took us a little while to get there, too, cuz it was kind of clunky figuring all
076this stuff out, but it's been it's it's because they all care about what's right for the kid, and not every kid fits the same mold. So, anyway, Mr. Cppy, as she was giving her speech, I was thinking, boy, what next though? You know, what's going to happen next? And good thing is we have a lot of business owners in the community that are like Mr. Griston. They give chances. They give opportunity and just hers she's just starting. I mean, this is you kind of get out of that protective environment. And now it's like you got to make money and you got mortgages and cars and there's a lot of good people in the Logan sport. So hopefully she stays. Her grandpa started GoFundMe for her. She wants to be a photographer and she's trying to
077get a camera. I donated and all are welcome to We'd like to see that she gets a camera. That's good. That's good. Yeah, I've got a retirement coming up. I tried a GoFundMe for that, too. I haven't seen a dime yet. Camera retirement. Mr. McMahon, congratulations. You're on the consent agenda. L I think it was. Oh, that was close. Close. Congratulations. Some older kids. Yeah. Congratulations. A lot of pressure being a teacher. It was you'll hear that story 5 years from now that so and so saved me and trusted in me. So, good luck. I'm sure you'll do a great job. Mr. Jones, class of 91. Got four of us up here. Tammy in the back. Tammy. Five. Wow. Okay. Yeah. Holy cow. Yeah, we got a lot of us. They break the mold after
078that, didn't they? Yeah, this is what you have. This is Yeah. So, congratulations. You're not old enough, but okay. Congratulations. A year older than all of us, right? Real quick, last thing. This week, there's a lot of facilities in Logosport, like tennis courts, Barry Bowl, and Male and Landis. People talk highly about our facilities. So, it's kind of the beacon when you're showing people new employers, new employees. you show them those assets. So, I know the funding will be tougher with the geo bonding stuff and the staggering and all that, but we were going to air condition our end of that process at some point. You know, we've got the harbor of the Midwest here. We got to figure the air conditioning. Somebody turned it down and it was not or turned it up. It
079was That's why everybody's crying in here. Has nothing to do with that. No, I wanted to say thanks to Matt. Um, you know, from a professional standpoint, we've been working together for a long time. Luckily, we don't have to talk often because it's usually not a good thing when we are. That's just the nature of the beast in some respects. But it's been a real pleasure working with Matt. Um, I've told him before that, you know, for the rest of the public that doesn't really know what goes on behind the scenes at the high school that I trust my kids with him. I know that he cares about my kids safety. I don't always agree with all of the educational decisions that are made. We I don't think any of us are on board with
080everything, but I always trusted my kids with Matt Jones. And I know that he cared for my kids and I'm going to cry, too, just mainly because, you know, that doesn't happen in the business world as much as what it should. And um I'm going to miss Matt and I'm going to miss working with him professionally. Uh maybe we'll get to work on some projects down the road, but you know, we need to start golfing. Golfing. We'll see what they did. You did good, Matt. You did good. I appreciate that. All right. Jeez, this is heavy. I can't add much. Take one down. Pass it around. Now it's time for seedures.