001roof replacement High School site improvements lecc Phase 2 which is the slash Craig Academy transition the building we're in curricular material acquisition bus purchases technology upgrade and replacement extracurricular and instructional equipment acquisition custodial equipment acquisition maintenance equipment acquisition furniture and other equipment acquisition and additional project content contingencies for a total of 90 million dollars these are obviously preliminary cost and subject subject to change but we would be happy to review the list answer any questions also here tonight we've got with us velvia Gray from Baker Tilly to speak about the financial impact of the project and Mr Jeff Quackenbush from Baker Tilly to talk about excuse me from Barnes and Thornburg to talk about the legal aspects of the project and what this 1028 process looks like project map to share before you go through
002my comments that Corporation was recently rated by standard employers thinking yeah okay that's all I have on the financing side I'm going to turn it over because foreign thank you thank you Jeff does does anyone um present have questions about the 1028 hearing and the expenditures you know I have a few questions that I neglected to ask previously so let me just ask them this evening if I understand this these projects are a continuation of our original Blue Ribbon plan is that correct correct so we're still finishing up our original Blue Ribbon plan we have not yet begun uh Blue Ribbon too I made I may defer that to Mr Smith since he's the Blue Ribbon expert Madam president that is correct uh the top three facility projects that you saw on that list is
003a continuation of Blue Ribbon phase one okay and that and that question maybe this is for belvia how does how do our ratings our current ratings translate in percentage points just for the public to know you mean for the correct [Music] um recently issued for a 20-year borrowing got received a 4.1 percent and that is I mean certainly in line with what you've been seeing in the market uh because as I think a lot of us know if you're looking to borrow any kind of money interest rates have certainly the last few years but where we are from a historical perspective the 4.1 was um was very competitive the school sold these Bonds on a competitive basis so on the day of the sale they received bids there were five six plus bidders on the
004bonds and so the the the bonds were awarded to the lowest the bidder Who provided the lowest overall interest expense on the bonds and that's because of our credit rating that's and one last question um proving this how does this change our capacity to issue new Bonds in the next couple of years for instance if we want to get started on phase two in the next couple of years how does this affect our capacity to do that that's a that's a great question the way that we have built this model is to be conservative in terms of the overall increases in assessed valuation and so we do believe that we'll come back and revisit that over time so that will also change the capacity that we're showing currently in addition to the actual interest rates
005that will be received when each series of bonds is issued as I shared I mean right now we're showing interest rates that are almost two percent over current rates in terms of the the proposed borrowers so so it's not inconceivable that we could start even designing for phase two in the next year and a half two years correct start bidding out or start or start working on the architectural details for what we have to do coming up okay thank you any question other questions board um I do I have a comment it's um in regards to slide number two I've been receiving a lot of questions from the public about our new construction um very good questions and I wanted to commend our Communications team because on our website I'd like to continue to direct
006the public they have created a frequently asked questions list regarding the lecc slash Craig so if you go to ltschools.org on the main page click on Blue Ribbon facilities these questions and answers are down at the bottom available to the public thank you good information okay well if there are no more comments from the board of the public that will conclude our 1028 hearing and I will now gavel in our regular board meeting would you stand with me and we'll repeat the Pledge of Allegiance please standing because we have some special special people to recognize today we will move to our superintendents Awards thank you Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board we're very excited tonight to have some very special guests with us so I'm going to let Dr Emily Haas Brown
007present all these Special Elementary awards thank you Miss Johnson president Mustin Dr Smith members of the board we're very excited to bring to you tonight the winners of our summer Susan Jordan reading competition and to introduce our top readers in grade one two three four and five six I'll bring to you the principles of Forest Glen our interim principal Miss Jane Giles and also the principal of Amy beverlyn Mr Jared Pennington thank you Dr Brown I am very excited to announce the winner of our top the top reader for first and second grain Claire Malone she has foreign with 7 780 points or minutes excuse me our third and fourth grade winner with 000 points excuse me minutes 13 420 minutes is Miss Graziano Washington O'Brien [Applause] good evening and with our fifth and sixth
008grade winner for the Susan Jordan summer reading challenge Miss Gwen McWilliams [Applause] comparison good job congratulations to our reading winners [Applause] next I'm very pleased to bring Miss Giles back up to the podium as you might recall we had several teams from several schools go to the world's Vex competition at the end of last school year uh well the angry alligators from Forest Glen brought home a trophy and Miss Charles is going to explain that award and also introduce those award-winning students to you hey this is the angry alligator team and they won the Innovative award at the world's Championship that's robotics in Dallas Texas and I will that down so I don't drop it and our team consists of Sydney Miller Hazel falcon [Applause] Sawyer Wilson Eleanor Kelsey [Applause] Alana little is not present
009tonight but we want to recognize her Sylvia editton [Applause] and our coaches for the team Mrs Ann Clow also not present is Alaric falcon and Jeff Kelsey [Applause] foreign [Applause] and next we have some recognitions from the Indiana Department of Education excellence in early literacy our first award goes to Forest Glen Elementary in Lawrence Township Jane Ann Giles Forest Glen Elementary in Lawrence Township it serves 880 students as a Spanish immersion school with 80 percent of their day taught in Spanish they have 89 percent pass rate for I read in third grade in English Forest cleanse align practices high expectations intentional Focus family involvement and dedicated staff have all worked together to benefit our students the award was for the amount of 242 thousand dollars and just think how that's going to benefit many more
010students in our schools congratulations Sports Glenn [Applause] our next award goes to McKinsey Center for Innovation and Technology excellence in student pathways interim principal Mr Shantae Smith come on down this beautiful award McKenzie Center for Innovation and technology in Lawrence Township serves over 3 000 students their alignment with the next level portfolio and curriculum is already impressive but they did not stop there and continue to grow and improve opportunities for all students surely the 250 000 in additional funding will positively impact students and even more ways congratulations [Applause] foreign and this concludes the awards portion of our meeting so parents families you're welcome to stay and listen to some riveting discussion or you're welcome to leave now so thank you all for coming I will just say that as we were getting ready to come
011into the meeting I heard things in the hallways that I don't hear at our meetings very often and that was the sound of children and it was lovely so it was these are one of my favorite Awards days foreign all right then we'll move on Mr Smith can you give us an update on the Blue Ribbon plan Madam president Dr Smith members of the board and we continue on excuse me uh LC site work continues soccer field actually the turf is finished up at North so that same company is coming down to LC we'll start on our soccer field here at LC uh new baseball stadium lights continue on as well as the rest of the stadium Elsie pool is moving very well they're digging the pool and that continues LC Auditorium Cafe hallways almost
012finished steps so we're nearing completion of the inside of that building the last thing we'll have to finish is the old pool once a new pool is completed Ln softball in The Stadium turf is in you'll see there on the right the baseball stadium continues with the uh Stadium going up as well as the dugouts Ln Plaza North End they are digging footer for the North End addition so that continues on and still work continues in the plaza area LM pool we're getting excited it's getting close to being done so tile work continues you see the bulkhead on the left the white structure there so that went in last week bells are Middle School auditorium going on the roof decking is going up as well as additional steel and brickwork roof and ifas continue on
013throughout the building Fall Creek Valley the new Clinic is exceptional learner area is nearing completion and we'll be moving our tenants back into their new place here soon and the soccer field continues lecc you'll see a lot of site work continuing curbing's almost done which means stonework and asphalt to follow uh as well as our Roofing and we're hoping to have all of this Roofing completed the time uh weather changes on us here questions and that concludes your update board do you have any questions for Mr Smith today I I just had one uh Mr Smith I know at our last meeting you had mentioned the dry weather was having a positive impact on the progress of construction as that continued to help move things along as well it that adds been very advantageous for
014us the last month however as we look at the weather predictions this week we're going to get some rain so that's okay we're still moving forward yes okay yeah we'll take the rain but yes and then I had a second question um I know that the well you all had just presented at the state conference about the blue ribbon projects on our new on our high schools um one of the Equitable outcomes that I loved was getting a tour and seeing the exceptional Learners area on our um on our high school campuses which addressed the need for lighting changes sound muffling other things that can affect our students and help them and so with the construction updates with the middle schools will there be some similar updates regarding lighting sound Etc in that area exactly
015we're trying to treat our middle schools as twins as well so as we look at all of those areas special needs included Project Lead the Way trying to equip them with the best that we have seen at the high schools that will mimic some of those facilities at the middle school as well uh yeah we appreciate that thank you and just one housekeeping question and I know that our LC parent um Arts group is very strong and we're very concerned about their concessions they have all the room and facility they need for to continue that good because those band parents they need to make some money yeah okay good good just looking at that I was looking at that hallway thinking all right thank you any more questions okay so again Mr Smith if you
016would fill us in on the results of the RFP for security upgrades Madam president members aboard Dr Smith we did receive bids on September the 12th and we received two bids one from Communications Technology Incorporated and CT or c2k Technologies and extract one Technologies you'll see a range of 721 to 1.6 million 18 meeting specifications we will will recommend to the board Communications technology and Corporation meeting all specifications of the bin low bid mini specifications so Mr Smith for people in Iowa where I grew up and I appreciate all the money you're saving us with the proper bid we were also raised to think if it looks too good to be true so I'm looking at a difference uh one bid is 25 of the other bid maybe a little under 25 percent of the
017other bid how are they comparable good question I can kind of relate it to an automobile you have a Chevy or a Cadillac both perform the same identical functions others offer different functions that we don't need and therefore the cost of that particular item is much more some companies not necessarily school districts may use that type of technology and functions but we don't need them here we're not compromising the detection of the device for our purpose they both do that well so we're just looking at efficiencies and how we use them we don't need all the other extra items we don't need to be TSA compliant no yeah okay well that that does explain it because I do believe on both vids you saw on the one all the many things that the Cadillac offered
018um so these will do what we need them to do and they are reliable and I'll have to say that Mr Jim Parish our director of Securities and myself have actually evaluated each of these physically so we have spent a lot of time on metal detection devices and we feel that this is the right machine for our district thank you for that research research any other [Music] core clarification to bring this back up because I know we had a pretty lengthy conversation about these detectors and things that some previous board meetings but can you explain what the plan is in terms of rolling this out to the facility just for the members of the public pardon our goal is to continue to do what we're doing today we do today on a random basis because
019our current machines don't allow us to run them through quickly so it is a very time consuming process so in our bus unloading areas our parent student drop-off pickup uh our shuttle areas that we use constantly with bussing they're going to be equipped same but with the new which allows us to run all students every day through those machines because newer technology it's basically the efficiency of so we can move more people through quickly doing the exact same thing and I asked this question in that previous board meeting but just since we're voting on it tonight and we've equipped all of those the various schools with an understanding of what to do should you know a weapon be found on all of those things well actually we're doing that now and have been for the
020last several years so we do handle it with our Safety and Security people who are in those buildings along with the administrative staff thank you great questions um if there are no further questions then we'll I'll ask Mr miles to give us a financial update if you would thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board in front of you you have our August financial report for both transportation and general funds as indicated at the prior board meeting our transportation fund now reflects our receipts uh to year to date and is in a good position we've got a lot of green checks indicating as expected or better than expected from a cash flow standpoint revenue is up expenses are in a good position as well um as we move on to the general fund
021very similar we do see that once again we saw earlier and have been kind of talking about as the years gone on our contracted Services running a little higher than originally projected that's a combination of some insurance costs as well as our other contracted services such as our substitutes in the buildings but bottom line as we look at our ending balance we're as expected or better than expected in both funds I believe taken we have reached the board committee chair reports who would like to begin their board committee chair report well miss Dunn do you have a report a policy report today no specific report we are just working on the administrative guidelines great no specific reports for me um only one item the for the kids golf outing for the Lawrence Township School Foundation
022is this week the 29th so I just wanted to um share that and that's all I have thank you I was unable to attend the last meeting so I have no updates for you guys I'll try to do better next time except that we do have um the Hispanic um we do thank you Wendy so tell us about that importance of unity you're the one that brought it up so go ahead so yeah what is it Mr noder and your team would you give them an update on what's going on this Saturday please join the superintendent at 10 A.M Troy tell them what we're going to do Latino de Lauren will be hosted at the Fort Bend Cultural Center cultural and arts center beginning at 10 A.M will be the kickoff with Dr Smith and
023then we'll have students performing throughout the entire day I think there will be 60 different tables set up with Community Partners as well as our schools so it should be a great time for all and that's on the campus behind the theater correct yes all right having passed through our committee chair reports we move on to our action items and Mr miles the approval of the 1028 preliminary determination please thank you once again Madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time having heard our presentation earlier this evening and two weeks ago at our uh at our meeting on the 11th I I recommend that the board approve the 1028 preliminary determination as presented so I moved second properly moved and seconded is their discussion board no discussion all in favor I I
024any opposed we have approved the 1028. great your work is your work here is done today talking about my friends in the back row there yeah all right um Now we move on to the approval of the 2024 budget this is a big responsibility of our board Mr miles thank you once again Madam president Dr Smith members of the board the budget for 2024 was presented as required on September the 11th and we also offered at that time an opportunity for public comment I remind the board that as we're bringing this uh for adoption tonight and approval that this budget does include our bus replacement plan as well as our capital projects plan so with your uh approval vote those will be approved also um and I just as a final note would remind the
025board as we have uh in years past and as our normal practice best practice we do report our potential expenses or projected expenses High to protect our cash balance at the end of the year and we have done so again this year so at this time I recommend that the board approved the budget as presented so moved second properly moved and seconded is there any discussion about our new budget all in favor of passing the 2024 budget as presented aye aye opposed we have passed our 2024 budget thank you Mr miles um now um we're looking for the approval of the early enrollment windows for next year Dr Brown and Mr kuznick yes president must and Dr Smith members of the board last month Mr kuznick and I brought to you information regarding the application
026Windows the proposed States for not only 23 24 but 24 25 and tonight we ask that those be approved as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded is there any discussion on those application windows all those in favor aye aye aye any opposed we have approved those application windows Madam president I move we treat action items 5.4 through 5 10 as kids so we have an approval of the RFP for security upgrades one more I know it's so exciting I'm so exciting to love that last little bit together um that having been said let's move to um Mr Smith and the approval of the RFP for security yet Madam president Dr Smith members of the board I recommend the board approved communication Technologies Incorporated for the security upgrades as submitted some moved second properly
027moved if not all those in favor aye aye any opposed we have approved those security upgrades when will those be coming to us we'll get the order in and get an estimated time six to eight weeks is great about the timeline great thank you for that um now we're to 5.5 so Madam president I now move we treat action items 5.5 through 5.10 as consent agenda so moved yep second okay properly moved and seconded if there's no discussion all those in favor of treating those as a consent agenda okay they are now a consent agenda so now I move approval of the consent agenda second properly moved and seconded um if there's no discussion all those in favor of approving the consent agenda any opposed we've approved the consent agenda and just for the Public's
028knowledge the consent agenda includes housekeeping um items including the approval of our board minutes the approval of personnel reports the approval of our claims the approval of pay apps and building project payments uh the approval of field trips and the approval of service agreements so there are General housekeeping items that we address every every school board meeting okay we are have moved on to board and administrator comments so you have been quiet on this end to tonight um so I'm I'm passing this to to this side of the well first of all I do want to say that the consent agenda I always do take a look at especially the field trips and want to share gratitude to you Miss Laplante because it looks like you've got some really cool field trips and mentoring experiences
029coming up for our middle school students and so thank you for your leadership um on that I also would like to go with Miss Stacy Wright to the historic cultural trip to Greece they're looking for any more chaperones I'd be happy to take advantage um e Mr noder is so I'm very sad that I will not be able to make the uh event this Saturday but it is always a tremendous event in the way that it has grown in our community to really celebrate the amazing amazing contributions of our Latino um neighbors is is truly inspiring um and thank you for your leadership on that um and thank you Lawrence Township for continuing to invest not just in the resources for our students such as dual language programming but the commitment in honoring the diversity
030and inclusivity of our district is truly a beautiful thing and so I'm sad I will not be there but um know that it'll be an outstanding event as usual that is all I knew if I went after Jessica I was going to feel guilty for not being able to say something super fluently in Spanish but but I didn't know what I said you never know as I did I did I did want to acknowledge that it is Hispanic Heritage Month um and I just want to you know this is one of the reasons why my family is part of Lawrence Township the diversity that um that it offers and um yeah the Little Miss Mavis our five-year-old um is a kindergartner Forrest Glenn this year and um it's really fun to hear her jibber jabber
031in espanol um every evening it's super and I will also add that um Mr miles Mr Smith she will be attending a field trip this week as well to the transportation center on Friday which I have not yet toured so maybe I'll hitch a ride with Mavis and we'll uh we'll uh we'll we'll go together but just wanted to acknowledge all the work that we do as a as a community to not just um to not just care for the majority but also the minority that that is in our school district and so incredibly grateful for the work that we do and I will be a dude Lawrence I'll have Mavis translate for me well um yes thank you for those comments um to go with the field trip theme I'm excited about the j
032a spark job spark is that correct for our eighth graders this week we've been able on the company side of it through Roche been able to see the companies getting ready for it and the just the exciting opportunities that our students will be exposed to there's some cool fun stem activities that they'll get to learn about so that that's just an amazing opportunity and then also I wanted to commend our leadership team great presentation today at isba regarding the Equitable outcomes as far as our building projects for our high schools there was a lot of districts who had great conversation with us and had really good questions so well done here we go I was debating on sharing this one but I'll share it with you guys um for my faith tradition I pray and
033so uh it is from this Faith practice that I publicly do this and it's for those that just need prayer so today I prayed it was a about three hour prayer time and the reason why it went so long it was the numerous requests which is a privilege it is an honor to be able to go it is an honor to be able to pray there was a recurring theme in it for today that bore a heaviness for me and it was the prayer for peace and what was so expansive on it it was people from all walks of life so there were some that were not in this Township who were Educators those were it was in every Walk of Life and so help that space and prayed and it just made me reflect
034and I want to pass along to you all too that that space was hell for you all you were called out by name you were called out for all of our students not all the students by name but just overall that I see you um I thank you for all that you do and I just pray for peace continue peace over our Township continued peace over the work that you do peace over your heart and mind with the burdens and weight that you carry home with you I see you I thank you and space was help for you today for that so I just wanted to share that when you speak your truth Miss Puckett I feel it in my heart so thank you for that thank you so much I have very little to
035add to what these um colleagues have said tonight except to say um this weekend was a little rough for our teams but we love our teams we love the work they do and we look forward to another chance to hit it this coming weekend Madam president members of the board I've done a lot of talking today so it was it was the your your conference in front of your colleagues we had a packed house so I just thank you for all you said today and your service and that's all I have tonight Madam president uh at that do we have a motion to adjourn so moved second we are adjourned thank you yeah