001to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all um I'm just going to take just a a moment of privilege here and ask that we all remember today those that lost their lives in Madison Wisconsin and um violence that happened today and near IPS um and as we sit in Our Moment of Silence I would ask that we remember that violence that happens against any children anywhere is violence that affects everyone everywhere and that we hold space for our children um our teachers our Educators we love our children we review our Educators and we hold space for them and their families um so we can just take a moment thank you Johnson good evening Madam president
002Dr Smith and board members this evening we are honoring our workplace special list with the above and beyond we would like Mary Easley and Shannon Smith to come forward and their principal to the to the Mrs Mary Easley and Miss Shannon Smith have been the pioneers of building the early childhood education pathway for msdlt under their leadership the pathway has grown over the past 3 years we now have 25 students that are on track to graduate with their CDA Child Development Associate a credential and value we are honored to present Miss Mary Easley and Miss Shannon Smith with the above and beyond award congratulations and thank you [Applause] your your leaders please stand next to them okay and the board will come around you come on down come around I can't see you looking right
003had on the record that these ladies have the largest number of students in the state of [Music] Indiana to the record blanking chip the largest number we know that because you guys went to the state house we were number one weren we we like that we like that okay okay all right here please one two three two three congratulations congratulations thank you ladies teachers this evening we are proud to present the superintendence award to Miss Wendy must one of the highest honors is to serve on the local school board 12 years ago you made that commitment to our community as an elected School Board member you have overseen student growth financial stability renovation of numerous school projects and most recently the winning of our first school referendum you have been a passionate advocate for music
004education and you have left a legacy you you have worked on behalf of our district building strong relationships with our locally elected officials you are a big supporter of our Educators all of your own children have been educated in our schools you have been a champion of excel Excellence for all students tonight we honor Miss Wendy muston for her service to our school corporation and as a member of the Mt Lawrence Township Board of Education Dr Smith and the members of the Board of Education will present Miss muston with a special recognition for her service as the board member and president of the board of education but first we have a very special video [Music] presentation hello Wendy mus atin is your favorite superintendent it has been an 11 year of your 12year journey working
005for you and it has been my privilege ma'am yes I want the entire world to know that this lady knows how to get me by phone at 7:30 in the morning no matter what day she has done this probably every year every month every week that she's been on the board of education you're always going to be one of my favorite you asked challenging questions and you've had a thirst for making this District the very best the students in this District truly have benefited from Miss Wendy must she has asked questions she has brought Innovation but most importantly ladies and gentlemen she loves this community so it has been an honor to work for you ma'am thank you and I wish you well in your retirement and I know you won't go too far Wendy
006I have so much to say to you and I just can't cover it enough in 30 seconds so I'll follow the lead of our building principles and speak to it in three points tonight number one thank you for Faithfully serving our Township and kids even years past your daughter's graduation you still are a fierce Ally for our Township our staff and our students and I greatly appreciate you for that second your attributes your experience on the board has been so valuable you understand more than most people how music helps tickle the parts of the brain in students to enhance learning not only that but you've been a great colleague a mentor but most importantly I consider you a friend and then finally best wishes and good luck on your next Endeavors don't be in a
007hurry to fill up all those empty Monday nights we got you we will carry the torch from here and I love you I appreciate you and good luck Wendy it has been an absolute Joy leading along side of you creatives have the ability to speak to your soul in a way that that words can't always express you have bridged the ability to do that that your words um they're beautifully laid to where you're able to speak to anybody to any group in a way that's masterful so that is something that I will carry with me that I have gleaned from you and I also I love your vast knowledge of history history is important because it lets you know where you have been and it helps to guide you and where you are going and
008so your ability to know hey we have come from here and this is where we are going is something that I also have been honored to be able to hear to learn and I'm hopeful that I will carry that forward I absolutely adore and love you it has been an honor I respect your leadership and I will carry it with me from this day forward thank you congratulations Madam president thank you for your outstanding support of Lawrence Township Schools over so many years I still remember when I was a young principal at Craig m Middle School the tremendous support that you gave me and I really really appreciated that as board president and as a board member your passion your advocacy your commitment to our students becoming well-rounded particularly in the area of the Arts
009and dual language is simply unmatched and has made me a better educator for that I thank you Miss muston first and foremost on behalf of Lawrence North High School thank you thank you for what you've done for all of us when I say all I mean the students the staff the administrative team the community I need to also thank you personally you were always there for me you always asked you always checked in on me you always knew what to say at the right time so I thank you for that and thank you for trusting me with your daughters thank you for allowing me to meet chip I know you're still going to be around so this isn't a goodbye this is just we're going to see you later we trust you we respect you
010we love you thank you Miss musim for all you've done for Lawrence Township Schools uh Wendy uh I got to tell you I'm kind of sad today because you're leaving the Lawrence Township Schools although both of us know you will not be leaving us for good uh but I'm going to miss uh seeing you around it's been a pleasure to work with someone of your leadership uh your leadership style your Progressive leadership uh everything that you'd want in a school board member you've been uh you're leader ERS ship has been something that has been certainly treasured by me and it's been a certainly an honor and a privilege for me to have a chance to work with you over these year so have a great time uh I know you're not really retiring uh but
011have your great time away from the schools but uh know that I'm sure that myself and probably others I'll be checking up with you every now and then so you take care Wendy a former colleague a neighbor most of all a friend thank you for your TW 12 years of elected service to our school district and our community thank you for your leadership during the pandemic during the referendum during the expansion overall just thank you for your leadership making sure that our district is one of destination your legacy has been established as one who leads with their heart a mindset focus on our students and one who continues to express the importance of students learning through the Arts thank you for all the you've done for us personally thank you for being a close friend
012and a confidant may you enjoy the rest of these days to come as this chapter come to a close and I am assure that your best days are yet to come thank you so much for your service Wy [Applause] thank you so much it has been the honor of my lifetime to serve this district and our children and I will miss you a lot and I may say more later okay thank you meeting start let's go y got that one might be a little hard to that's right thank you all so much that might have been a little bit sneaky fantastic I forgot to give that you and and now I'll have time to attend yes you did yeah that's music events too all music events to that's I'm in I'm in well Mr Smith
013shall we move on to the Blue Ribbon update Madame President Dr Smith members of the board uh we continue at the serving lines we're opening to open these two up uh the first of the year and the orch room again putting the finishing touches on this room again turning that over to uh the building the first of the year we continue on in for Paul Creek Valley with a lot of hallways and wall covering going on uh the auditorium the seating is in so they'll be installing the seating and putting the finishing touches on the auditorium uh the front entrance uh We've cleared some trees out of the way that that'll be completely excavated in a new front uh entryway uh going in early next spring F or the baseball tennis and softball field fencing
014continues on as weather permits the new LCC walls uh interior and the mechanical electrical and plumbing uh is going well on the first floor we finally got a staircase in so they're moving to the second floor again more walls and MEP going in site work we uh exciting we got some asphalt down on Saturday and had to stop due to weather and we'll continue on as the weather permits uh the exterior wall studying is almost finished and the green board will be going on to uh secure the uh enclosure of the building where you have questions for Mr Smith about there no questions we will move on um to the request to transfer funds Mr thank you madam president uh at this time uh before you have an information item and later this evening uh
015as a action item is our resolution that we do twice a year standard process and practice for us here at the district to transfer funds between our education and operations funds this just allows us to have the revenue and the expenses in the same area um at the end of the year and also bring those balances back into uh into order where they should be um again this is just information now uh I will ask later the evening for uh the approval any questions about the transfer funds I just had one it'll the amount will be known on December 31st so will that amount then be posted at our public meeting in January yeah the it will be posted at the second uh the full board meeting in January so yes okay thank you you're
016welcome I clarify question Mr miles could you for members of the public explain the difference between the two funds and why we have to um we have to go through this process be happy to so we Now operate under two funds from the the state legislature which is our education fund and our operations funds uh throughout the operations fund um includes our bus replacement fund transportation and cpf um basically education fund picks up everything else and so as we go throughout the year certain expenses may be tracked in One Fund or the other this allows us to to True those up and um get them back to to where they match and meet State Statute okay thank you very much and again Mr miles if you could give us the financial update thank you thank
017you madam president in front of you you have our November uh end of the month financials for both the general fund and for transportation happy to report that both funds uh are in a good position from a balance of ending month balance standpoint as well as uh total revenues for the month and total expenditures for the month the general fund currently stands at uh a little over $19 million and the transportation fund um this time time of the year we're waiting on our December um uh state tuition or excuse me state tax deposit so it does dip uh later in the year so that's normal not out of uh expectation at all uh once we get that we'll be be back in the in the black there so um all funds are as expected thank
018you questions about the our funds thank you uh Mr miles for making our jobs a lot easier thank you appreciate you all okay um we will move on to the board committee chair reports now um Miss done policy do you want me to move yeah that would be fine uh Miss Norman Foundation yes uh thank you Madame President the um a lot of good things happening in the foundation this month right now the Excellence design challenge is open for applications for all non-administrative staff members they are due by Friday January 3rd any questions and correct me if I'm wrong can be directed to MLA plant is that correct okay and then secondly the applications for the ltsf scholarships are um on online now for seniors last year ltsf awarded 33 student or 33 Awards totaling
019over $70,000 the January is uh or the deadline is January 27th thank you great um Miss Pucket Parks and Recreation yes the Winter Market is still up and going and it is held uh on selected Thursdays at the community center um and it's going on from now until January 5th um for more dates you can visit uh City cityof lawrence.org for the dates secondly we are still able to enjoy the ice skating with friends and family over in Civic Plaza for Winterfest um it runs through January 5th um Saturdays and Sundays from 2 to 7 and last we have um our golden hour game days at Community Center join us for a variety of cards and board games and more that's on Thursdays from 11: to noon days Miss pcket could you remind us where
020the Winter Market is held that is in Civic Plaza I apologize no problem thank you very much oh hold on Winter Market is Community Center apologies sorry thank you got those mixed up and I think if I saw correctly on the they might be postponing a few because yeah want to check I did see that there was someing issues the community center so public what she said thank you because there's I was just the reason why I've been so impressed by all the different events they've been having especially at that location back to old lawence and I believe we can go to the City of Lawrence website and find parks and recreations there or the city of okay um so thank you oh thank you Dr harburger as always for the updates um the committee
021I Dr harburger is kneed deep in the editing process for revision packet volume 37 number one in total there are 13 policies needing revision two of which are new policies specific to the appropriate use of AI which I know we are all excited to see um the first reading is tentatively planned for the January 27th uh board meeting with a second reading taking place and February 10th so we will continue to work hard into the new year to get those ready thank you Dr harburger well I'm really disappointed Miss dun because um I just purchased new reading glasses and I'm not going to get a chance so you can always send them your way if you like I'm a little I I'll read them I'll go to the website I'll read them all all of
022them okay um uh we will then move on to our action items um the approval uh of the request to transfer funds Mr thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time uh I ask that the board approve the resolution to approve the transfer funds as proposed so moved second are there any more questions board if there are no more questions all in favor I I opposed we have transferred our funds thank you and now we move to um what is generally our consent agenda Madame President I move that we tree action items 4.2 through sorry 4.7 as consent agenda second is that your second that's your second Sor second I'm sign and I apologize I would like to request that we um hold out 4.3 the approval of the Personnel
023reports okay um so move uh oh I move that we hold out 4.3 uh action item approval of personnel reports Madam president is there a second um properly moved and seconded um all in favor of um removing the approval of personnel reports from our consent agenda I I and I believe our our consent agenda was we had a motion in a second so all in favor of treating those other items as a consent agenda I I all right and then if there will be a motion to approve the consent agenda Madame President I move approval of the consent agenda holding out 4.3 action item second all those in favor I I I um we have we we will approve our Personnel reports separately because we would like to recognize Miss Johnson we would like to
024recognize someone this evening yes we would like to announce make some special announcements at the time this for now Yad mam president Dr Smith and members of the board this evening the school board of Lawrence Township will be presented with the Personnel report in which we are honoring Roger Smith our chief of operations who is forly retiring he will be with us through July 1st 2025 that's when his retirement will be effective Dr nesbet will replace the career educator and current chief of operations Mr Roger Smith Mr Smith has dedicated 42 years to public education 16 in Lawrence Township and has been a steady force in the completion of the Blue Ribbon facilities plan over the course of the past decade he will be missed as a member of the district's executive leadership team and
025we wish him all the best in his retirement Dr nesit has served as the Director of operations since 2015 prior to that time he was athletic director and assistant athletic director at Lawrence North High School he taught social studies at Greenfield Central High School also serving as the head wrestling coach superintendent Dr Sean Smith sharers at Dr Smith Dr nesbet has learned a great deal over the course of the past decade while training under Mr Roger Smith his broad range of experiences and alongside his commitment to the students and staff of Lawrence Township will facilitate a seamless transition into this new room [Music] Dr npet having served for 25 years in Lawrence Township we consider he considers his place his home and he's excited for the opportunity to continue to serve in this new capacity
026and he extends a heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Dr Smith for his service and mentorship and Roger for leading him these past 10 years and he just trting in his abilities and his commitment to the students and staff and the families we serve [Applause] we'll be celebrating the retirement a little later congratulations thank you so much it's a joy to work with you both and I do believe uh I did this a little out of order so now it's or do we want to pass you can't shake hands yet please do we have a motion to pass 4.3 the Personnel report so second properly moved in second and all in favor I I there come on down all right all right thank you board and I would also be remiss if I did not mention
027that within the approval of the field trips is a special National Vex robotics Extravaganza in Council Bluffs Iowa my hometown so I might just have to take a little trip home and cheer for our kids there all right um it is time now for um our boards Miss son just happy holidays everyone enjo just um happy retirement again to miss must and Mr Smith in the future um thank you guys again I don't consider this goodbye just see you later and have a good holiday your holiday thank you thank you everyone um you all know that you mean the worlds to me and uh you mean the world to me because we're we've all worked together so closely to make this District a place where our children and our families Thrive um we have the
028best teachers we have the best Administration we have the best families and you know I think the board members we have the best board so thank you so much um and honestly I had to make one good decision in the whole time I was here and I made that decision almost exactly 12 years ago when we hired Dr Smith along with Carol helmus Jeff mcken Matt Brown and Kathy veryy so um you you make one really good decision the rest of the decisions are pretty easy so thank you Dr Smith we we will meet again um um in January on January 13th for our board reorganization and a work session very quickly uh Madam president we're going to have a party for you on Wednesday so be here Wednesday at 4:30 as we'll have a
029reception for Madam president so from 4:30 to 5:30 so we've got some folks that want to show up and say goodbye to you uh Dr altm we usually don't ask you to go to the podium but we got a big award and I just like for you to put it on the public record The People's Choice Award would you share that on the record for the Board of Education and the Dr nesb I'd like for you to recognize the LC girls in just a second right good evening Madame President Dr Smith members of the board two weeks ago a large contingent of MSD of Lawrence Township staff teachers administrators board members we went downtown as we were invited to the best things in's Community Choice Awards as finalists in multiple categories they we swept the
030best public schools with the three finalist positions those finalists were the MSD of Lawrence Township overall so all 21 of our schools Forest Glenn Elementary and also Mary Castle Elementary really Forest spended Mary Castle still won because by it was not even close the MSD of laen Township was uh voted by popular vote best public schools in Indianapolis for [Applause] 2024 you might see banners out in front of all of our best public schools additionally we brought home Awards in two other categories by popular vote Forest Glenn uh was the winner of 2024 best preschool and they were also the winner of best learning and tutoring centers so their families really appreciate the support that we provide and the education that we provide to their students so now for 2025 we're going to hold on
031to that title [Applause] yeah just an update on our girls basketball port at Lawrence Central uh Saturday night they won their second consecutive Maran County Title second school history last year the first year they won it if you haven't been keeping track they're 12-0 this year 58-9 of the last three seasons so they are rolling and looking to repeat the state champions their toughest game in the county Tournament of note was a one-point win over Lawrence North which was also their closest game in last year's state tournament Series so we had two more meetings between the two regular season here in January and then presumably in the sectional so uh buckle up for that but right now we're going to celebrate County Champions uh back toback for Lauren Central girls [Music] [Applause] basketball I I
032would just like to note that um I was serving on the board at the beginning of their season so when they go to state I'm just love to go back anything else that's all pres do we have a motion to Merry Christmas to everybody happy holidays do we have a motion to adjourn so moved second second we adjourned so much Ro