001good evening we are excited to um give the superintendence award out to some very special guests and we are going to start with mayor Steven Collier if he could come forward mayor Steve CER a champion for Lawrence Township Schools over the last eight years mayor coler's unconditional support for our schools and Community must be commended the city's motto great Community Great Schools is true because of your leadership ship the level of Pride and commitment to our schools and Community is directly related to your own Pride hard work ethic your desire to serve all is noticed by those who serve beside you and by those who have benefited from your service your service to Lawrence Township did not stop with your retirement from teaching in our schools your time as a council member and now mayor
002of our city are commendable you have have been a servant leader and a cheerleader for all of Lawrence the schools the city and the people that call it home thank you mayor Steve CER for your dedication and life of service we are honored to present mayor Steven Coler with the superintendent award congratulations right up [Applause] there [Applause] he's got some more guests thank you [Applause] next we are honored to present an elementary World language program we would like to congratulate the following individuals if they could come forward tro notor Natalie Schneider Georgina Schneider Carl ble Connie Davis Adisa danz Dominique Franklin and Jane and Giles Kevin ker Kathy Prince Williams and Natalie Stewart for their commitment to our language program takes a village Lawrence Township Schools was awarded the American Council of foreign language teachers
003actfl Elba D Woodruff award for exemplary Elementary World language program Lawrence Township received an outside nomination from actfl members from our partners at Indiana University our selection was solidified by parent and student testimonies about a robust program narrative highlighting our commitment to diversity and Equitable student outcomes for all we are honored to present the group with the superintendent award congratulations [Applause] to go thank you for [Applause] for those of you who were here specifically for the awards if you want to go home to dinner and to the rest of your work day we understand thank you okay that is always a favorite part of my workday with the board okay um we'll move on to our next item which is our Blue Ribbon update Mr Smith Madame President Dr Smith members of the board I
004have to say we've had a mild fall and winter so far so that has proved beneficial to our overall Renovations LC uh baseball continues on we're hoping to astro turf maybe even start this week soccer stadium is going up along with a new concession stand uh LC pool is getting close for concrete pore of the main floor and other areas within that uh deep well as well as locker rooms in the main hallway Ln the uh nor or East wall of the field house uh is going up actually we're there today and it's almost complete the new Plaza entry is almost bricked and ready for storefront to go in new locker rooms are continuing on this work here as you see the locker rooms as well as the next slide uh the World Language rooms
005uh will be complete and turned over to the building winter break the old pool actually it uh in the last week uh it's almost ready for concrete so it's almost uh filled and prepped for that bells are Middle School auditorium the concrete floors are in they're putting in some last concrete walls and uh uh storefront and windows are next uh classrooms in phase three there's four five actually five classrooms and phase c as far as part of the teachers lounge and and Tech area those will be complete uh winter break as well um the auxiliary gym uh again will be complete turn back over to uh the building winter break Fall Creek Valley main office back half uh continues with its renovation in the special needs Area Office Space uh conference area restroom and a
006washing uh area uh will be complete and turned over uh winter break site work as you see here uh we're finishing up some fence work and uh the rest of the asphalt and tennis courts will start back up uh once the weather breaks the new lecc site it's really hard to see we got some more pictures later that will allow you to see the footprint of this new building going on that new site fantastic I have I have never seen a more beautiful the fields next to the forest I have never seen anything so beautiful in at high school really gorgeous um and and appropriately beautiful for our students um any questions for Mr Smith board yes Mr Smith I just want to say that I had the opportunity to go to Fall Creek Valley
007um for something with my own personal work and um the group when the principal was telling us about the dedicated area for the special needs students and the fact you indicated that there's area for them to um make sure that they have the bathroom and Facilities there I just want to say how amazing and what a state-of-the-art facility for our special needs students so thank you for thinking of all children especially those um that sometimes we know um aren't always at the top of our list and so um and not that they're not in Lawrence but I think um the the leadership that you've proven is is truly tremendous and sure that that also is uh kudos to the design team as well as to other members of the cabinet so thank you got a
008great director special ed who keeps pushing us I was thinking that that might be part of it too so thank you very much great Point Miss dun great Point um if there are no more questions we'll move on to our SE second item the request for the approval of the plans and the bid documents for LCC Madam president Dr Smith members of the board I do have a team here to help present this information they're going to be coming Schmid and Associates Jen Carroll and Anna Marie barell with Schmidt they'll give you a powerpoint to start off with to give you an over a general overview of the building PL site plans and uh colors and then they also have a little treat for us with a video that gives us a 3D walkthr of
009the building as hopefully we'll see it on completion so at this point I'll turn it over to Miss Jen Carroll okay can you hear me okay fantastic um Madame President Dr Smith members of the board thank you so much for letting us be here tonight and thank you so much for the privilege of being involved in this wonderful project um so I'm here as uh Roger said to talk about the new um Lawrence education and Community Center uh we have a rendering of the exterior here behind you and you can see the view of it um that will be coming to life from the Civic Plaza that is across the street from the building um just a really high level overview it's a twostory building it's about 46,000 square feet and primarily it is made
010up of professional development board community space um divided by a large Central corridor from the other portion of the building which is administrative office spaces and support spaces uh it's being bid in two packages the first package um I believe we're going to address a little bit later is the early equipment for mechanical electrical to make sure we get that going um but the second package is what we're really excited to talk to you about tonight which is the balance of the project um so next slide please so here is the site plan um so you can see that the site um Roger showed a picture of it earlier it's bound by Hawkins road to the north uh wheeler to the East and the building is um aligned right uh across from Memorial Park Drive
011and then there's that Civic Plaza to the southeast uh We've Got U if you could go back yep so we've got uh parking for the building there you can see there's 241 spaces and then um adjacent to the building just to the West we have the accessible spaces and a couple of places for electric vehicles including Chargers there are uh rain Gardens um throughout the project site for storm water management and we have plantings that are going to be complimentary to what's going on in Civic Plaza and the rest of the um Fort Harrison reuse area which is where the building is obviously located let's see so um I'm gonna have to ask you to go back I'm so sorry okay so just a couple of things to note um so the main uh Community
012entrance is the one that you see um on the left kind of down nope the other side yep okay um so that would be the entrance that people would use when they're parking and um entering the building and then you'll see when we go inside that there's a main Central Corridor that ties it across to that other entrance where we were hovering before so um and then we've got two more kind of um staff entrances to the north as well so okay thank you appreciate that so here's that that um image again of the site aerial I went ahead and Trace that so you can see that a little bit better but if you wanted to go out to the site you could do so tomorrow if it's not raining and and actually walk that
013perimeter and see the scale of the building it's kind of neat so there is the site um so moving on into the floor plans um so I'll just Orient you a little bit so the actually the second floor plan is the one on the left and the first floor plan is the one on the right um so down in the lowest portion in the lower right hand corner of that you can see where we have those Community rooms um so it has two um operable partitions so that that large space which is just under 6,000 ft can be divided into three sep separate spaces we have it laid out here showing some tables and chairs um we figured you can accommodate about 220 215 people with uh this particular configuration of tables and chairs um
014but we can also lay it out with uh rows of chairs and you could um put about 330 people in that space so there's a lot of flexibility a lot of um options for how you would use that um to the left um we've got a Board conference room that's kind of in a a a private area off of the back um that has a um kitchenet and a restroom as well so we'll see that when we get into the um into the video then moving back out into that um Corridor space we've got a secure vestibule which you would enter when you come off of that that Community side um so it would have um a reception desk where people who don't have credentials would need to be LED in um through that secure
015set of doors into the rest of the building and then once you're in that um Atrium you can move about more freely though we do have additional Security in the building as well there are public restrooms there there is a kitchenet that can be used for catering um and then just kind of moving north of that large space is where we have administrative areas um operations the Lawrence Township Foundation human resources and build B excuse me business and finance are all there on the first floor um we've laid the spaces out so those departments are clustered together so that they can share conference room spaces um they can uh they'll be sharing uh restroom spaces work room spaces uh there's a small staff kitchen area and dining area and we did that to create efficiencies
016in the floor plan so when you move up to the second floor which again is that plane on the left um there's a balcony um to the South there that overlooks the um the two-story Corridor space and that's going to let in a lot of daylight into that portion of the building it'll be a a tall light filed space and up here on the second floor we have the office of the superintendent including spaces for the assistant superintendent uh the office of technology early childhood exceptional Learners curriculum and student services so that is the floor plan so we're going to show you a couple of images here um and then we'll show you the video but this is the the main building entry so you can see that reception desk that I mentioned and then
017to the right is that line of security before you would get into the rest of the building um this is a shot from the um kind of the non de side of the uh PD boardroom looking toward the desk that is going to be very similar to what you have here and then another shot looking the opposite direction so it' be a big light filled space as well and then um a shot into the central Corridor that I spoke of and then I think um we just wanted to give you kind of a taste for the interior finishes that we're planning for the building um this is the pallette that we've been reviewing and um what you're going to see in the video so think that's it okay so I'm going to narrate this just
018a little bit so we're headed into the central Corridor through those secure doors and then on your right we're going to enter the large um Community PD boardroom space this will be a uh We've designed the technology in this space so that it can be used when it's one large room but um also so it works when it is three smaller rooms that's the small kitchenet there and then we're going to move into the Board conference room back into the PD space community space okay and then we have um some waiting spaces that are that are associated with each of the Departments so that was an example of one we have a couple of um conference room setups where you can have two or one conference room combined together we sort of flew through that
019and then here we are on that second floor balcony area waiting space before the assistant and um assistance superintendent sorry the superintendent assist super superintendent offices and we have the superintendent Suite um group of rooms space for a work room there and then into the superintendent's conference room and we've got um another office there that's that thank you excited are there any questions I I this may seem a silly question but you know I know that it's the video was beautiful and set up with um minimal Furnishings to just show what it could be is it safe to assume we'll be bringing our some of our own Furnishings that we already have into the new space Roger uh we will be equipping the building with all new furniture we'll be leaving the other Furniture here
020and we'll be repurposing in some areas throughout this building uh as well but the new building will have all new as we move into it so we will put the we now own to good use oh absolutely we've done that for the last several years okay yes sure okay that's that was my only question Bor do you have other questions it's a yeah it's a very beautiful presentation thank you for that visual um I just had a clarifying question the board PD room will continue to also serve much like here where it's open to the community is that correct with the movable Parts actually we're going to maintain both buildings so okay the amount of PD that we have uh will suit us very well of having a professional PD there as well as in
021this and also open to outside entities as approved by the district okay thank you any other questions okay thank you so very much for for the presentation for being here with with us and um it's very very exciting thank you very much oh I did have one more question the plantings will there be any native plantings there will um the plantings are um they are native they are I believe the landscape architect refer to them as adaptive native so they are drought tolerant they're pollinator friendly um yes there will be native plantings included in the landscape so much absolutely and Roger would you also share with the board uh that we have to have approval from the ReUse Authority explain that process for the public yes absolutely um so we have met with the um
022the FH the Fort Harrison reuse Authority I think three times now uh initially we met with them to to help them understand our concept and the direction that we were going to head with the building we got um their their go-ahead to move we contined to develop the plan we met again and then most recently we've met while um the drawings are are very close to complete at this point um we have had um good feedback from them um and there's really there's just one question that they had about whether something could be called a sign on um that they were going to have to work through but otherwise we have u high confidence that we will be uh submitting the drawings and um the material pallet to that group and receiving their approval um
023we're shooting for before the end of the year on that great fabulous thank you I guess then board we will move on to uh Mr Smith the request for the approval for the mechanical and electrical bids which as you said just said was phase one correct if you remember no uh November 13th we brought to you some long lead items uh mechanical areas uh to go out to bid so that we can have them uh during the time of the build and the the bid recommendation for the new Lawrence education Community Center uh phase one mechanical electrical bids were received December 1st uh two bit categories uh with five contractors bidding in those two uh bid columns bids came in at about 250 under our estimates again that is a good thing um good competitive
024bids and the GM contract for coron Garcia uh for this phase one which phase one and two is a combined overall uh for the building itself but this phase one is 599,000 $535 and it will be a recommendation coming to the board in our action items yes Mr Smith I know in the past we've asked about um this bid in that it met all of our initial criteria um but it is substantially lower than some of the other bids and just for the members of the public can you just talk through very quickly the bid process and why this this uh contractor was chosen over others uh yes uh per state statute in our Indiana bid process we sent out the plans and specification so we attract uh biders uh to come in contractors to
025come in and bid that uh uh information this is not the complete package so this is a lower portion of the overall building itself mechanical long lead items and each contractor has the exact same information uh we set a date in a time and those bids are submitted on or before that time of day uh we open the bid in front of those contractors and they all were here and uh then we take that under advisement based off what they submitted uh low high uh we look at all that to make sure that their bid covers all the specifications number one and number two is does that cost kind of mirror what they are presenting because in some cases we've had low bid did not meet specification because they forgot something so that's way we
026vet that core goes through that with their engineers and uh estimators to make sure that all those items are accounted for and then they're evaluated based off low bid meeting all those specifications now Mr Smith you oversee major projects explaining with Corey is Corin Garcia's role in this just for the public the board knows but the public doesn't cor and Garcia are a construction manager contractor that we have hired uh to do all of the they they will actually oversee 100% of the build and they hold the contracts uh that we approve uh for the build of this project as we've done on the high schools elementaries and now middle schools and also this particular project okay thank you very much um we'll see that later in the meeting um now um Mr miles um
0273.4 the request to transfer funds thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh at this time of the the year we come to you uh needing an approval for a resolution to transfer funds between our education and operation funds again we do this uh once a year um to make sure both funds um are whole made whole per state statute so this is uh will be a request for action item later this evening the also uh just to note we don't know the actual transfer amount yet we'll know that at the end of the year once all the books are closed so we will report that back in uh at that time and Mr miles can you please share with the um public and um with the board why we don't have
028our financial statements this evening sure um due to the timing of the month of this meeting normally normally we would present the previous month's statements uh and financials at the board meeting since this uh meeting Falls earlier in the month uh we don't have haven't had time to to complete that process so we will present those in January as well there Aid we did have have a couple holidays in there as well yes yes and it's it's also um you know for the for the public to understand our schools operate on a year our education operates on a year from July 1st to June 30th but our financial fiscal year is the same as the calendar year from January 1st through December 31st which is why we have to arrange that transfer of fun mons
029now corre December correct yes we we kind of get to juggle two different calendars we any questions for Mr miles okay thank you um M leant yes our after care rate update yes madame pres president Dr Smith members of the board um tonight I come with just a quick proposal to look at possibly raising our before and after care rates uh you'll see the current rates are on the screen right now the last time we had a rate adjustment was back in 2016 2017 at that time we did not increase rates we just added a rate to have both before and after school care bundled together and we adjusted some of the employee and sibling discounts luckily we've been able to provide um wonderful raises for our staff we did have some Grant funds through
030fssa um so we haven't had to raise rates until recently so as we look at the next school year for the 2024 2025 school year there is a recommendation that we would raise um each weekly tuition rate by $5 and raise our registration fee by $5 we would still maintain the additional child and the employee discount rate of a discount of $15 a week I'd be happy to take any questions questions board I have a question is the fssa grant still still in place um no that was all a part of the car's dollars and so um we actually had to commit when we took those M that funding to not raise rates during that time for families okay now have one more question um if there's a family that is uh experiencing economic hardship
031where would you direct them to or what's the process to the first thing we do is always direct them to ccdf which we do have the application link um on our website and then if they would go through that process and be denied for any reason we do try and work with our families no thank you I did have so do we um accept ccdf oh yes okay that we're licensed for that reason and so it does seem and this is that the rates are extremely affordable and are even lower than what is the recommended threshold so I just want to make sure that um we are giving gratitude to those of you that are planning the budgets because um this is a very affordable option for working families and so thank you for continuing
032to make that happen for our B family absolutely I do have one additional question for our teachers is there any um accommodation made to lessen the fees or do they pay the same fees as they get $15 off a week for every child that's in after care that's great as a parent who availed myself of before and after care many years I deeply appreciate the affordability I know in years past we've had opportunities where before and after care had been free at some point yes was that primarily through grants if I recall yes yes part um one of those was with the 21st century Grant and then during the summer we did use some of our um car's $3 dollar to support that I think it's it's outstanding that in a in a time of
033high inflation and increased wages um and I know it's not a small thing to families who are are on a strict budget but that we are only raising the rates $ five dollar a week and so Kudos as to to what Miss dun said kudos to you thank you okay um I guess board we are um ready for our committee reports um Amy do you miss Norman do you have something from the Foundation I don't have any current updates from the foundation unless Miss Lawrence do you have anything to add I was unable to attend the last Foundation board meeting because I was in meetings all evening that evening we got you back Miss Norman and I were at the meeting I I would say for the foundation just reminding that we'll be gearing up
034for our Gayla in March and so information for that will be coming out very soon and we're working behind the scenes with sponsor sponsorships so if anyone out there would love to be a sponsor for our Gayla we would be gracious to have you join us and have a great time with us in March so and that location's at the ballroom again yes we will be returning to the Indiana Ballroom Roof Ballroom in March same location and I just would like to thank both Miss Norman and um Miss Lawrence for serving uh Miss Lawrence has served on that board for many years and Amy serves as our board representative so and and Dr Smith um is always in almost always in attendance so um I of not I'm I'm in my last term though and
035I'm required to to not to not take a consecutive term after this so thank you my family would my family will be very happy about that news that's right all right Miss Pucket do you have an update for the Parks and Recreation I do we have Winterfest that is still in full effect at Civic Plaza the skating rink is open Friday no Saturday and Sunday Saturday and Sunday from 2: p.m. to 7: p.m. where you can um enjoy live music in our Winterfest Market lovely okay um do we have any policy updates Miss D as a matter of fact we do uh Dr harsh Barger and myself have been uh working on ensuring that the administrative guidelines are aligned to the most recently adopted board policy um and just extremely um thankful for his leadership
036but also want to say how much it is appreciated that every single member of the cabinet is looking over those um administrative guidelines to ensure that they are indeed accurate of Lawrence I know we are part of niola um which gives us boilerplate um AGS and policies and toensure that they are representative of our Township I know that there's a lot of time and effort spent by our administrators and so um just want to make sure that um expressed my thanks um as well as Dr harshberger um thank you for your continued leadership it it's just a really fun process and I'm glad to do it with you okay um keep your reading glasses updated um we'll move on now to our action items um 4.1 the approv approval of the plans specifications and bid
037documents for the new LCC Mr Smith Madame President Dr Smith members of the board I recommend the board approve the plans and specifications for the new LCC and to bid uh package two as presented so moved second properly moved and seconded are there any further questions hearing no questions all those in favor I I opposed okay we have our approval for those plans um and Mr Smith again we need the approval for the mechanical on the electrical bids Madame President Dr Smith members of the board I recommend the board approve the bid GMP for phase one mechanical and electrical to core Garcia as presented so moved second properly moved in seconded any further questions on that all those in favor I I moved it yeah okay all those in favor I I any opposed okay
038so we have our approval we can get those things ordered now okay great um Mr U miles um the approval to request the transfer funds thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time I recommend the board approve the request to transfer funds as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded any further questions all those in favor I I any opposed okay Madame President I move that we treat action items 4.4 through 4.10 as consent agenda we have a second second moved and seconded do we have um uh to create those a consent agenda for those items all those in favor I I any opposed okay I move approval of the consent agenda second all those in favor I I any opposed and for members of the public again these
039are um standard business items their approvals of um Personnel reports the uh minutes uh claims field trips service agreements um pay apps and building project payments and the approval of donations to give you an idea of what we're approving in that consent agenda um with the business meeting um concluded we will um have uh our board comments Miss Pucket um I don't have lot to say today except um it is a holiday season so I want to acknowledge those that are experiencing grief that's something that's not often talked about that grief and joy can coexist and so I'm holding space for those that grief just isn't loss of a loved one it's of what our family may look like what we thought our family may be um and so just taking time that I'm I'm
040being intentional and holding space um for grief and gratitude so I see you I thank you all and I'm praying that you have a wonderful holiday Miss Norman um I second Miss Pucket gratitude was a word that came to my mind today and this past week just um I've been at a lot of um school events lately and community events as a as a parent and a board member and um I've just I've seen a lot of people come together I've seen a lot of hurt too and I pray for um healing over any hurt Hearts just like Miss Pucket has said uh and the second word that came to mind is community we have so many Community Partners um it takes a true Village to raise our children and we can't do the heavy
041lifting without them so we we so grateful for our staff um for everybody involved we're also in uh grateful for all of the Community Partners which has been evident from our open house to um even tonight so thank you all and have a great holiday season can I add that that was that was my word too for the week during my quiet time y'all good job yeah all right Miss lawence I just would like to add echo my fellow colleagues but also to say happy Hanukkah to those who are celebrating so that's all I I Echo everything that was said here um and I would like to also add um the word Joy um we have we have much to be thankful for here in the township and um um much to look forward to
042um and I hope everyone in our district has a a safe and um comforting holiday season and comes back rested after the break and I I guess I would also have to add um kudos to that Lawrence Central um Team girls team who just won the county tournament um the first time for Lawrence Central ever kudos to them and that's something to be joyful about um and uh letting you all know that our next meeting will take place January 8th um it's a combined board reorganization meeting and work session and we will begin at 5:30 Dr Smith Madam president you th stole my thunder I was gonna have Dr nth as we always do have him come report the the championship but we don't want to celebrate we won that now we move on to
043the next one laen Central and Lawrence North girls teams are both incredibly great this year so it was a pleasure watching the true Championship Thursday night right here in our own Township as our girls were dominant over the weekend so that's all I have for this time and I just wish everyone a happy holiday and uh remind the students we still have another week left of school I think the parents will enjoy that so this week and next week so thank you uh and I'll end it by saying um the words gratitude community joy happy holidays certainly extends to the board I work with in our Administration thank you for all that you do I appreciate it um is there a motion to close the meeting so moved second properly moved and seconded we are
044closed um