001foreign good evening everyone we're called to order for our work session first up on our work session is Mr Smith and our Blue Ribbon plan thank you madam president members aboard Dr Smith excuse me um field work at Lawrence Central continues on you'll see the new baseball and the two soccer fields there and then in the far back corner is a softball field and these fields will have turf after uh they move from Ln they'll move to LC to start the turf work again just another shot of baseball and the two soccer fields LC pools going along we're hoping uh in the next month they'll start digging Earth for the pool to go in Southeast parking lot done and really working well with parent drop off and pickup Ln continues on you'll see there the
002soccer field next slide shows you a little bit more of that that field was turned over to the building last week and they got to use it last week as well um baseball is going in getting ready to lay Turf on baseball and the other structures Ln softball will be next after baseball Belzer Middle School auditorium walls are going up I've got uh almost three of the four done some site work improvements around the building black concrete sidewalks the Makerspace and the media center plans were to turn those over to the building this week and we're moving on it to other parts of the building Fall Creek Valley some locker rooms were turned back over to the building and also moving towards the uh Support Services on the left hand side as you come into
003building renovation as well as Robotics and the Makerspace in Fall Creek Valley lecc is moving forward with side improvements some curving going in they're going to be start working on the new North lot as well as the the West extension and drive through as well as the roof continues on all done okay um do you Mr Smith do you do you like being asked questions that seem like minutia well anyway I'm gonna ask it anyway so the the the softball fields um I you know we I know we just we just redid those about four years ago um what are we are we rebuilding completely or working on fields no we're just doing in the softball fields we did the stadium and around the field and left a Turf in their grass uh what we're
004doing now is just putting up lights and putting Turf on the infield okay sure we weren't rebuilding the ark or anything nope um and also I noticed the Fall Creek Valley this is minutia the Fall Creek Valley Locker colors used to be the hallways used to be color coded and I see that they're all gray are they still color coded differently or uh some areas the the blue and the green will dictate in some areas uh but there's no updated color-coded it is a nice fresh look yeah no more orange and stuff that doesn't make any sense no okay nice it looks beautiful and yeah Mr Smith I have a question that comes via my carpool every morning what is the giant mound of dirt outside of Fall Creek Valley that's what my kids really
005want to know right now it's just a staging area they'll be using some of that as topsoil that be going back over uh the soccer field once it's completed the base is in the draining is all in they were wondering because it looked a little too high to be a soccer field so appreciate it thank you yeah staging area for right now that too so the other question is again I know Statewide concrete is being pulled on quite a bit from improvements around our state yay however um concrete for us are we having any issues accessing concrete any delays and anything no we are cut out in front of that so sweet persons early and scheduled early so it still continues on perfect thank you sir I just wanted to express my gratitude for the
006amazing softball fields at Lawrence North my oldest played softball and it always felt like The Have and Have Nots and to see such an incredible facility being dedicated to our young women who play that sport as well as all the sports for women in this district is truly um fantastic and so I just want to Express gratitude to your team for leading that I know it's taken a lot of individuals to make sure that we have Equitable access Equitable um fields and so forth for our young women and so thank you very much I just had a comment I had the opportunity to tour the Lawrence North Natatorium at one of the recent open houses back to school and the pictures we see up here don't do it justice being out there seeing how huge
007it was the excitement of the staff to see it all come together was really really inspiring and I just have one more question um this is not actually um the blue part of the Blue Ribbon update it is and it isn't how are we doing with traffic patterns at our schools now that schools we're underway again how are we doing with that uh we constantly monitor that every day we've got a lot of increased car riders at all of our buildings so we've been monitoring that in uh well we've got about four large uh buildings that have a lot of extra car riders so we continue to monitor it clear we don't think the construction has anything to do with the increase in traffic it's just an increase in car riders increasing car riders yes
008that we're considering doing like in terms of communication to parents to make them aware I saw I saw a note in a couple of the three schools that I get emails from but uh the principals do it Mr Parish works with the buildings and uh they communicate in their newsletters every uh week about uh what's happening and the cautious of and what things not to do so beautiful okay well if if we appreciate that information very much thank you Mr Smith and Mr miles can you give us a little update on our rfps for the furniture be happy to do so thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board tonight I do bring forth at this time an information item and update to uh an item that was brought forth June 12th which
009was permission to seek an RFP for our furniture we had four proposals from very qualified and responsive uh bidders which we were pleased with um after conducting or after reviewing the bids we conducted interviews the committee consisting of Dr Smith Mr Roger Smith and myself and later this evening I will be bringing forth to you a recommendation to proceed forth with Business Furniture as the winner of that RFP questions board anybody I guess my question would be how did they compare how did those um uh proposals compare financially and how what was your criteria for choosing absolutely um so the four bids were all all met our requirements as far as being responsive and responsible bids um which was the first criteria then we do look at pricing um all all four subscribe to National
010pricing agreements State pricing agreements so there are discounts based on those so we look at those take that into consideration we actually have a vendor that we worked work with with currently that uh was one of the four and they've done a great job for us but due to the scope and the size and and the existing uh business that they already have with us right now we felt like it made sense to move on to a new vendor our new vendor that we're proposing tonight also is locally owned and uh here in Indianapolis and also women owned so that also tilted the scales a little bit for us okay well thank you very much that that fits right into our board goals that's that's great as long as well this 100 female board is
011really excited to hear that indeed um so now we'll move on back to to Mr Smith um uh information the request for purchase of the security updates Madam president members board Dr Smith uh coming to the board to request to bid upgrading of our metal detection system in our district that have been been in place for over six years the technology has advanced and we need to take advantage of these improvements the new technology will allow us to do a hundred percent of all of our students because of the rate that we can pass through it and the sensitivity so it's to our advantage and safety increase to be able to do that not only during the school day but also all of our events right so our request will be to have the board
012approve that request for an RFP yes any questions board I do have one question what schools are are metal detectors in currently uh we have the two high schools two middle schools McKinsey and here follow-up question are all so all students are required to go through the metal detectors correct not at the present time we do random checks because of the amount of time it takes uh to do it under our current machine so the intent would be with the new machines for all students to have to go through the metal detectors and then where are the metal detectors located in each school because it was brought to my attention by someone that their room is before the metal detectors so I'm just wondering are all students before they enter the building able to pass
013through the metal detectors so our best entrance so all of our bus riders would come through an entrance and through the machine our uh car riders come through a certain door and they would pass through all machines before they get into any other part of the build perfect thank you Roger says we have two new board members and they may have been to some of our athletic events talk about what we do with major athletic events because we've been leading that for many years in Marion County so go ahead and explain that we were one of the first in Marion County to put these in place and and we continue to do all large major events uh Performing Arts Athletics uh anything that holds large numbers we utilize those safety and security measures as well
014as our Safety and Security staff follow-up question and I think this is great that we're expanding to the use of all of all of our students will staff also be required to walk through the metal detectors we our plan is all adults and all students coming into our buildings to do that so we want Safety and Security for all and that's also a protection for our staff and and the the second part of my question relates to procedure uh like God willing this is never needed but are we I assume you have proper training in place for those staff members who would then have to respond I'm just asking our Safety and Security uh Personnel do those responses from those machines okay thank you if we want to move it from the bus entrance to
015the athletic entrance very portable oh yeah oh yeah that's part of our uh specifications they do have to be mobile and they're also water waterproof so we can use them outside inside we can move them wherever we want to one other question is well what fun will these be coming out of in terms of how will this bill be paid I'm working with the CFO good answer good answer the correct answer is it will come out of Roger's budget it will come out of District funds yeah yeah not a Roger Smith we don't want him to retire that's it okay all right um I guess the next item on our agenda is Mr miles and the transfer of funds between education and operation funds can you help us with that thank you madam president Dr
016Smith members of the board uh you may recall back in June uh I brought forth a request to transfer funds with the understanding that we would I would report back once those transfers have taken place and as a reminder we do this twice a year um once in June and once in December right before the calendar year rolls forward uh and we do have a stat a statutory limitation as to how much uh what percentage of funds that we're able to transfer away from the education fund uh into operations that's 15 and you'll see based on the report that I'm sharing back with you tonight we were well under that at 11 just over 11 11.34 and again we do this to to keep in line with um where our funds have been given to
017schools historically so a few years ago the state changed how how they distribute our monies so in order for us to be able to track and have a historic reference point and make sure see where we're at up and down versus years past we do this twice a year just to to make sure our books follow what the state wants us to do so am I correct going back in time we had a general fund and it had it had it contained multiple silos correct so now we still think of it as a general fund so we can so you can compare year to year but we have to make sure it's siled properly by the end of the year by June 30th yes correct okay okay great thank you any questions okay we're good
018uh we will go on to the building Corporation update and that is again Mr miles thank you once again Madam president members of the board Dr Smith um statutorily at this in the state of Indiana the state requires us to have a school building Corporation in place in order to it's it's really a procedural uh step that we put in place uh that allows the school district to borrow money through bonds for construction for remodels uh and the like that Corporation is a separate entity that has its own board and those board members serve at the discretion of this board and we have had a long-standing member of that team that has expressed an interest to step down and in supporting that I bring forward to you tonight as an informational item now and later
019as an action item we would like to fill that vacancy with Mr Arun morale as a replacement for the school building Corporation any questions board or comments I just had a general question how often does that board meet Mr miles so that board meets um as needed based on the just the when we go out to bond when we're preparing for bonds so they will be meeting again this fall um it's in my in the last year they've met a handful of times thank you just one comment I know Arun quite well as you do and you do he's been a member of the Lawrence Township School Foundation a board on which Wendy and I have served together Amy and I continue to serve um a wonderful human being and a great patron of our
020school district so for what that's worth as as we as we vote he's never left Lawrence Township products he's still here but I think a critical piece board you have to remember with the housing Corporation is that they're your checks and balance to make sure that you are paying your mortgages and your bills and then once those bills those mortgages have been paid off they sign off and then they return the Deeds back to the school district so they are checking balance So currently Mr miles I believe we have five members this will bring us back up to five back up to five members we can have up to seven and we've been very fortunate to have our patrons for a long time they do it it's a lifetime appointment and then when they're ready
021to come off of age out we always replace them the Supreme Court of Lawrence Township yeah I do have one um just note uh to point out could you please remind us what our bond rating is as a district because something we're very proud of thank you for asking the question we are a double A Plus rated Bond uh through standard enforce and what does that mean for anybody who maybe is watching and does not know what that means is we have a very very high credit rating so it means we can borrow money cheaper absolutely absolutely I do I just I'm wondering where might one find the minutes for those meetings if they were looking that is a great question um and that is a question I do not have the answer to off
022the top of my head we do maintain them internally here but as far as the general public um you know wanting to see those or read those um I'm sure we would provide them upon requests obviously but I don't they are not to my knowledge currently on our website uh just readily readily available is that something that we could we can check into it I don't think the school districts have to I'll check into it but I believe the documents that are signed can be purviewed for the public if they need to have them so choose to do them um they don't have like a very long meeting uh they're signing documents related to the projects which are all public for public preview um I don't think we've ever had a meeting that lasted more
023than half an hour have we met Michael since so it's just the documents that have to be signed and turned over okay okay good board we'll move on then Mr miles permission to add thank you once again Madam president Dr Smith members of the board tonight I follow up with you uh regarding our permission to advertise the budget calendar which is required statutorily and so tonight's piece of that is an introduction of the budget which means basically that we following this the action item tonight uh assuming approval we will share this publicly it will be on our website and we also upload this to the state we are no longer required to publish it in the newspaper we publish it in those other two locations um this will take us through um again the advertised
024budget and then a public hearing on September the 11th uh followed by an adoption on the 25th of September the budget also includes our bus replacement plan and our capital projects plan so even though we talk about the budget I will remind you throughout the process that we're also approving those down the road as well which is also a requirement for us as a school district in the state um one other reminder that I would like to share with the board and the public in general is that this is our advertised budget this is what we announced to the state and to our taxpayers initially we always have to um unfortunately we have to make this look uh not very positive when you look at it if you were from a business lens uh the
025expenses are are high and our Revenue looks like we wouldn't want to be there if this is what was approved we have to do that as a as a measure of protecting our cash balance if we try to get too specific with our projected expenses and our revenue and something changes we have an extra expense or there was a something down the road we could risk losing that cash balance so we advertise our tax rates High initially noting that the state will reduce those and also reduce the amount of expenses they're going to allow us to spend so that is as part of the process that we follow here and I welcome in any any comments that you may have at this time Lord please um if you have any comments for Mr miles are
026you good do you have some comments for him uh okay yeah yeah I do have one one question um what would be an example of things that would fluctuate that would cause us to have to pull money out of the budget overall sure we don't anticipate in advance sure um any first of all we'll go through bargaining of course so we want to get our budget in place or at least started before that so we don't know what where we're going to go salaries are about 80 percent of our of our overall district-wide costs so um something salaries benefits it could be Insurance health insurance or others certainly other insurance we've seen an uptick in that but being able to predict those um from my background being in transportation fuel expenses other expenses those unknowns
027that certainly could impact our budget um any any and all of those things are from a debt standpoint we know pretty well exactly where we're going to be the state knows where we're going to be we're not going to go out and borrow extra money without you know without being accounted for but it's a lot of those people pieces um utilities other things such as that that maybe um can fluctuate um so so we want to again make sure um that we're protecting that again the cash balance being another one of our gold board goals um so that's that's how kind of how that works uh dust have we ever had to do an do an operating referendum for our school district no board member we do not have an operating referendum which is a
028good thing one of the few districts that don't have that but Matt I think and he's done a really good job of explaining is keeping it in pretty layman's term board the piece that's really unique about it at this day is is that the majority of money that we receive to run our day-to-day operations in terms of our staff doesn't really come through this process it comes directly from the state of Indiana this project part of the budget really gets into our funds I'm looking over at Roger Smith an example that would tremendously hurt our budget if we were not able to draw funds for our operations that would directly impact our cash balance so those funds come directly from our local tax base and that is what Mr miles is referencing here today and
029that's what this budget process is all about from our local tax pay not from the state okay and just a point of clarification because I think this gets confused occasionally in the Public's mind the referendum that we did go out for what was the difference between that and an operating referendum that was 100 a capital referendum designated for our high schools as you can see we're building now building Excellence for the future we won that back in 2019 and we're already paying those those bonds back so we thank the public for that okay and none of those funds are used in terms of operation none of those cannot no cannot use any of those for our day-to-day operations specifically for those high school projects I do have one question because I know the state approves
030a two-year budget and this is a one-year budget and so as we think about what 2025 looks like and I know it's going to be here before we know it is there is we're building this 2024 budget are we thinking about the implications of fewer funds coming from the state in 2025. yeah absolutely it's a great question um certainly we think about it a lot um the way the mechanism works for preparing this budget the state looks at spending the rest of this calendar year so taking us through 12 31 of 23 and then the 24 calendar year so they're 18 months in advance is what we're required to do internally certainly we are looking at those uh those things and that's something we you know we certainly we know we know what the future
031looks like is this budget really specifically for advertising our tax rate it is so it's it's it's not so much the monies we'll get for our education funds no it's it is yes it is our tax rate for those correct portions that are funded and so that won't change much from year to year correct our general fund will change but it but our tax rate um is more stable in how how in the control we have over that so that's right I guess I'll I'll answer that um by sharing um one of the factors that drives our tax rate um so we you know we were we were advertise our budget saying hey we need x amount of dollars um therefore the tax rates are X Y and Z across our funds um Dr Smith
032we touched on um our Capital referendum project as our as our the property values throughout the community raise we're able to raise more dollars at a lower tax rate um just the the math of it um so that's one thing that we watch every year last year um there was a significant increase in assessed value which kind of made some ripples across the state on on tax rates and and you know homeowners and that led to State Legislative action um this year we don't we we're not seeing those astronomical increases in net AV um but though we did we're still doing we will we have an X any increase this year a little over four percent in assessed value so that plays in um as part of the math as well if that helps to
033answer your question that's good and I I was always told that the story is more visible to board members on form 4B in the middle it just is a little easier to read that is basically your executive summary yeah yeah and I'm looking at them and they are all a little different the bottom line is all a little different I have I have several form Four B's and the bottom line is always a little different let's so what is the change there I don't have time to yeah there's one uh uh a 16 line statement that sort of summarizes those Four B's it's an Excel sheet um and basically you have you should have a different um 4B for the different funds so you'll see education fund at service pension bond fund referendum operations in
034our rainy day so each one of those uh buckets each one of those funds has its own 4B and it takes um their small print I'll say that okay oh look for that well thank you so much I I do I do appreciate your work on this you're welcome and um I will be by again to for you to explain the um the impact of the of the tax cap absolutely because you you always you explain it to me every year and I understand it in that moment so I'll be by again absolutely Lord we'll keep it very simple the question will come from the property tax owners of Lawrence Township are you raising their tax rates and Mr miles how would you advise board members how does this budget reflect that absolutely that's that's
035that is the question that is the question in the bottom line so again we advertise hi worst case scenario noting that the state's going to come back and say that is not what we're going to give you um last year's tax rate uh was a dollar seven and some change per 100 of assessed value I'm going to read what we've proposed and advertised here um it's a dollar fifty one and some change noting that is not what they're going to approve we do anticipate to be at or below where we were last year when it's all said and done so that's the bottom line answer that's the bottom line that's the bottom line that's it all right thank you so much that's right so we'll go on Mrs Miss Johnson um the teacher appreciation Grant
036policy good evening Madam president Dr Smith and board members tonight we bring you information about our teacher appreciation Grant um the policy has been updated in basically that the date has changed that we annually submit this to the Doe by September 15th and the teacher appreciation Grant policy allows teachers who have the rating from the previous year of effective or highly effective to receive those funds by December of that current year and so this has been is being brought to you tonight and we are we're asking to re-adopt without any changes to the policy did did I note in our in our policies coming forward that we will be offering part we have the opportunity to offer 10 of those teacher grants to First teachers in their first two years yes that was a proposal
037however a part of our collective bargaining agreement we already have stipends for our teachers to receive that ten percent okay okay so that's that teacher mentors the teacher mentors teacher Mentor we already have that in place okay for for first and second year teachers yes okay all right thank you any questions boy any other questions okay yeah please what is the amount that most teachers receive for the tag Grant each year it's roughly the same there is a percentage difference between the highly effective and the effect of I don't have we haven't gotten that dollar amount yet miss Dunn um Matthew Carl I think we get a october-ish that we find out the amount the policy approves allows for us to make that delineation with that amount so once we get that from the Department
038of Ed uh we make that adjustment based on the policy so the amount we don't know yet do you have an average of What last year oh I want to say roughly 600 for highly effective okay and I apologize board remember we did we didn't know but we can look it up Matt and we'll put it in my we'll put it in my notes just so you'll know and of course that's determined and then we divide it up based on the total number of teachers we have and the delineation from the policy for highly effective and effective so the public can understand that well I can tell you um that teachers if it needs to be substantial right when we are making sure that we are compensating them for that phenomenal work that they're doing
039right so and that comes through a state Grant that's not from any local dollars that we receive as a school corporation the state divides that money up and gives to the separate School Corporation annually so we'll get that directly from the state okay thank you and that does not include this the additional stipends we've been able to give over the years absolutely all right okay then oh yeah yikes we move on to this first reading of Neola policies Mr harshberger and Miss Dunn see that I was so excited I got to lecture early Madam president members board Dr Smith they bring to you tonight for information you know a special July 2023 policy revision packet I bring this forward tonight for information and for first reading any questions on that first reading board do I
040do them all to us just kidding did you bring your family Story Hour Mr harshberger that's too much it's more than an hour yeah so this is a lot um so thank you guys for your work on this committee uh I had one that I wanted to ask a question on specifically it's uh 2510 be the collection of books um and again this comes from I know on our website we have are offering this year The Accidental damage protection for student-issued devices does that tie into that cost that could be incurred if a student damaged their Chromebook um The Accidental damage protection that we're offering now because if I read the policy correctly if there is a damage of over five dollars I believe um then the student may be and their family are liable
041to cover the cost I I would tell you I'm not exactly fluent on how much that is okay that you're asking but in in terms of the policy it's it's around the fees for significantly damage okay so I'd have to get that number for you okay no that's fine I was just thinking of it from a apparent lens I know at the school level and at the district level two on our website that they have been talking about you know we don't have curriculum fees this year however it would be a wise choice to invest 25 in this accidental damage protection plan and as a parent of teenagers you know I would like to get into that or um you know sign up for that and I believe it's through okay so it's an insurance
042policy okay so I just wanted to make sure that was if I was reading it correct that was tied into that policy yes okay thank you that might be cheaper than a dozen bubble wrap rolls yes so yeah yeah so just for clarification you're asking if the policy for technology covers textbooks that are damaged well um to further I guess dive into it sorry I believe it's part of the curriculum fee is for the technology piece correct so I believe so but I need to double check okay yeah so so physical like books that wouldn't the 25 that we're talking yeah that's only for the Chromebooks and the um iPads yeah but not the physical books yeah I just wanted to verify if that offering that we're doing is in lieu of the replacement cost
043families could incur no no no no no no okay we can't charge it that has its own repair yeah I know it's it's by uh Choice it's by choice yeah yes you have to leave it that way okay okay yes so are you are you I'm just trying to clarify because you and I have been working yes so do you think that we need to add language in the policy pertaining to the insurance that families opt into I don't know yeah you do let us research that yeah yeah because then that would become a fee yeah yes and as you notice the fees are disappearing right yeah yeah so that's by parent choice right you're not about insurance it's an option it's option right but I'm but I guess what I'm saying I guess I'm
044confused about the question yes yeah and I apologize I because we're reading from so many different lenses and then like you I get like three parent Square messages so um I was told and I do believe this is very valuable to look into The Accidental damage protection plan I read that first as a parent then I was reading through all the policies and I saw this in the wording I believe in the green about you know if um there is a damage over five dollars the family may be liable for the costs so I guess in a roundabout way this is my own personal understanding and advertisement for getting you can't you you it's it's it's an elective it's elective but this is my advertisement for purchasing The Accidental damage protection plan for the device
045for the devices or the devices yes yeah and I apologize I didn't mean to make it more confusing I just we're reading all of this and then we're also getting the information which the district did a great job of advertising but after reading this from the boardlands I realized personally as a parent it will be beneficial if you can afford it you don't have to but to purchase the protection plan it's insurance yes sir insurance if I understand it because I don't have kids in that District right now so if I understand it right we cannot charge a parent for books computers Hardware software digital content we cannot charge parents for that we give them the devices we give the kids the devices Etc but the parents can be liable for damage to the hardware
046yes correct so so that to protect themselves from that which they cost which they may incur they can choose this 25 policy correct yes 25 or 30 oh it is it is 25. all right you know um it's it's not too late to opt into that no yeah and it's and it's never too late to um to to remind our dear friends at the general assembly that um the amount of money given per student to schools do not actually cover this cost and uh the cost of of giving these um I think we're about a hundred dollars shy per student if I'm if I'm not Incorrect and over about 16 000 student sets 1.6 million dollars shy that your district is paying to make sure that you do not the parents do not have to
047pay for these I I think it's right I don't think parents should have to pay for textbooks for Hardware Etc I don't think they should have to pay for that this is a public school after all um but we we still need to see if we can have that conversation and make sure that since the policy comes from the state that the state funds this fully okay um sidebar two is that if you damage your device that the insurance has to be purchased beforehand so just a note there too yeah that's good to know throw that out there utilize that insurance anywho um the policy 6152 um we know that we're no longer a text textbook fees and so forth and her curricular materials parents are not having to um pay for that that fees
048are not being assessed but where is the funding for that coming from because yes it is great that the parents don't have to pay that but there is where does the funding for that come on our end as a school district Mr miles where are we filling in that please help them out sleep this pocket um rephrase that for me oh you know I'm a processor where's the money coming from so yeah we are somewhat still working through that as far as going forward we are funded uh for the current school year Well I up until this current school year um but we are looking at some options that we will bring forth to to the board at a future board meeting um in the future but her question is where do those fees where
049will they come from and I think it was equally explained here for Madam president that we will get a pupil dollar amount correct from the state of Indiana okay but how do we make up that Gap we're working on that right for future purposes we're having to figure out in order for us to continue to do what we do where we're going to find those additional dollars that's where your superintendent and CFO are going to roll up their sleeves to do some good work am I going into the weeds you know sometimes yeah you are in the weeds but that's okay so the state has an offer no no no okay let me go out the weeds and that that train has that train is left uh 161. 51 I apologize for per pupil we
050spend on average 250 dollars yeah so we will work very closely with our legislators we will meet with our local legislators we will have conversation going forward we are locked in in the meantime we have to find a way in order for us to continue to do the great things we do in Lawrence Township I see Mr noder over there in the curriculum division for them to be Innovative and get books and materials and curricular resources for our teachers and students we will have to find a way that's the bottom line okay and we will and just as a point of clarification we've approved new curriculum you've had these wonderful curriculum studies and we've approved those over the last couple months this will not affect that we will have our the curriculum we need our
051children in Lawrence Township our students will have every piece of curriculum we think they need they won't be shorted curriculum because of the shortage of money right that's correct Mr noder we purchase new curriculum before the state legislature approved this what did we approve this year so it's in place you approved a K-12 math adoption you also um as Mr Miles said we budget a year ahead yes and so we were good through this year this coming year we have smaller program reviews and so it is going to be a little easier on the budget this year just because we have when you do math for the whole District that's a big one but this year is smaller yeah I didn't want to put anything fearful out there so thank you for clarifying that we
052have all that we need just thank you okay and that's one of the policies let's go to the next 20. I do have one uh question it's just a point of clarification because I think this gets confused in the mind of the public there is quite a bit of discussion of curriculum on this um Mr noder I wonder if you could explain to members of the public how we are beholden to state law as a board and do not create our own curriculum on behalf of our students one of the the most important jobs of the board is to approve curriculum that curriculum must be developed based on the Indiana State Standards I'm sorry I misspoke but yeah thank you for thank you and so you do approve it uh but we work with vendors
053that are aligned to Indiana State Standards and so we have very robust curricular review processes that include our members of the community as well as our teachers and administrators who then make those recommendations that that come before you but um all based on Indiana State Standards great question great great comment um okay so board members um you know it's the first reading and we have a chance to review those again if we if we missed a semicolon or or a whole sentence we have a chance to review those again before we approve those policies and thank you so much Miss Dunn and Mr harsh can I can I just say please one thing Dr Hershberger just want to express again my gratitude to you you always do an absolutely fantastic job of getting the materials
054and I do want to just name that some of these policies that we do have in front of us may be contradictory to how we feel about certain things especially um the name changes that we have um that are in place as well as our library books some other things and just I applaud Lawrence Township for always just ensuring that we are enacting policies but at the same time making sure and Dr Smith want to Express gratitude to you I saw the wonderful PowerPoint that you shared with school leaders making sure that we're sharing this getting in front of folks and keeping people first and so just want to Express gratitude for the the work that you are doing with things that sometimes are beyond our control laws every day yes every day wasn't there
055an oath or something that we took to do that I think yeah yeah you did indeed thank you so much Madam president I did have a question it's I I don't want to be off the action or off the item but it ties into curriculum not necessarily the policy per se but I wanted to bring light to the community eligibility provision um that which is fantastic about the healthy breakfasts and lunch provided now on our website it has encouraged families to complete the curriculum materials and supplies household application uh Dr Smith could you or your team expound upon the importance of filling this out I'm gonna live my team over there although lunch will go through Roger Smith but the textbook and eligibility goes through eventually will rise to curriculum Troy and Roger will you
056just give the board why it's important for families to continue to fill that information out yeah so under the Community eligibility program our families are not required to complete a free and reduced lunch application as we have in previous years um and so that's a great thing for our community that everybody eats for free however much of that data uh in terms of free and reduced percentages is calculated into Title 1 funding and so it is important that our families are completing the form that you referenced board member Norman so that they can be counted towards our funding formula for title one and so it's a different purpose but it is important that that form is completed only for those families qualifying or the way they qualify for those yeah well we send it to
057All Families we want to encourage All Families universally frankly I was a little confused about it so thank you for the question it's okay so just a clarifying question to that direct cert then yeah how does that play a role that's a completely separate conversation that we don't directly get involved in ladies and gentlemen that's the federal TANF and snaps as we used to refer as food stamp and that's handled outside of the school corporation those youngsters automatically will qualify we don't have any interaction with that but families that do go out and apply for that it certainly will come back and support the district a matter of fact was done those kids directly impact our school funding formulated complexity index so just to make sure that I'm understanding and the public understands regardless of
058the fact if you get snap or your direct cert you should still complete this form absolutely or at least look at it I don't know people's incomes and they they have some very personal information that families will have to fill out so just to spell this out very clearly this is more for those individuals that may not be here with proper documentation that would not qualify for snap is that accurate uh I don't know people's personal information but that is a good point Miss Dunn and I again I don't either I don't want to ask but I do feel like it's the reality of the times that we're living is that we have well the reality is immigration and so we've got individuals that do not unfortunately have a pathway to citizenship and their children
059though could impact absolutely I'm getting free or helping the district with this situation with textbooks and board remembered that regardless of one's personal background immigration you're going to educate all children show up to us as a public institution that were obligated to educate them so if that would benefit the family it will certainly benefit the school district being able to count all of our kids who truly need that support Mr noder and so Title One allows for us to receive federal dollars that do benefit our students directly is that correct Mr noder yes that's correct and there's about a five percent difference between our direct certification percentage and our free and reduced percentage so that's the number and the reason I ask this is working with this vulnerable population I know many times there is
060a fear um from our families to complete any sort of paperwork that might flag them for immigration and so I guess the follow-up question to that is knowing that this is the demographic that may help us um to in you know get additional funding how are we ensuring that we are instilling faith in them to be able to come to us and fill this out yeah this is this would be very similar to the processes we've used for free and reduced lunch the same circumstances apply um in previous years so it's the same type of philosophy the same same type of language support the same type of of social support but I'd also point out that there are many different demographics in our community that could fall into this particular five percent we're talking about
061we have many families in in our community that wouldn't necessarily uh qualify for direct certification but they may qualify for free and reduced lunch and so we're really encouraging all of our families to complete the form so that we can take advantage of all the funding that is due to us from the federal government okay and and all of our families understand that this is information for the school district only that that we are not legally allowed to share certain private information correct outside of the district okay great follow-up okay we'll see you word we have made it to our action items our first action item approval of those Furniture bids that would be thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board as presented earlier we did receive bids for furniture and at
062the at this time I recommend that the board would approve the the bid for Business Furniture as submitted so moved we always wrestle properly moved and seconded okay she looks at it properly moved and seconded all those in favor of approving the furniture bids aye aye any opposed yes have it we have approved our Furniture beds and we made history according to time and we made history you did all female boards approved leadership team of the company ownership team um approval of the request for the purchase of security upgrades Mr Smith Madam president members board Dr Smith I recommend the board approve the request for purchase for metal detectors as submitted so moved do you have a question request to get an RFP or actually to purchase it's actually Tibet and purchase okay all those
063in favor of the eyes have it we move on to the approval of permission to advertise the 2024 budget Mr miles thank you madam president members of the board Dr Smith at this time I recommend that the board approved permission to advertise the 2024 budget calendar as submitted second properly moved and seconded um all those in favor aye aye aye any opposed we have our advertised budget we'll move on to the approval of the building new building Corporation member thank you once again thank you once again Madam president members of the board Dr Smith at this time I recommend the board approved Mr Arun morale to serve the school building Corporation as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded all those in favor of approving a rumor alley as a replacement for the board
064member of the building Corporation I I any opposed Mr morale is on our building Corporation um the approval of the teacher appreciation Grant policy Miss Johnson Madam president members of the board and Dr Smith I recommend the board approved the teacher appreciation Grant as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded all those in favor aye aye aye any opposed we have approved the teacher appreciation Grant policy now the approval of the Personnel report and that would be Miss Johnson Madam president Dr Smith the members of the board I recommend the Personnel report be approved as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded all those in favor of approving the Personnel report is submitted aye aye any opposed we have approved our Personnel reports I always look up I wonder if there's someone we
065need to recognize but I think we're good today um we have moved on to our board and administrator comments so I don't remember where I started last time I'm going to start to my left Miss Dunn just want to say what a wonderful start to the school year kudos to everyone it always is a crazy time but looks like things have gone seamlessly and just want to express again um Mr noder I know I saw you at the summit but again the amount of work that went into that and the incredible um just the fact Mr Smith that Fall Creek Valley was up and running is truly tremendous um and so thank you for putting on such an amazing experience for the Educators in the district well I guess it's to me and um I
066just want to acknowledge the Fall Creek Valley robotics room because we're sitting here with our Fall Creek Valley robotics t-shirts for their world's appearance which is really amazing um and that they have as does Belzer a tradition of Excellence around our robotics so to our elementary schools did I leave anybody out high schools are great too guys um but I did want to I did want to call out just a a couple of quick things for parents because I'm a parent too and I have kids in three different schools now because the baby this year went on a bus which is what I'm going to say um please parents if you were able and aren't part of our program that allows for um for school choice and and you acknowledge that you're bearing the responsibility
067please send your kids on the bus we have wonderful wonderful bus drivers who are sitting there sweltering and are very concerned with the safety of our kids and I promise you um there is nothing cuter ever than let me I'll show you guys what I see every single morning when Mavis the five-year-old gets on the bus she smiles out the window she goes like this and it's the cutest thing in the whole wide world and it's something I look forward to every day and I highly recommend that parents please Avail yourself of that wonderful thing that wonderful opportunity because the traffic can be a little bananas so please please please send your kids on the bus well said Miss Norman all right I um wanted to thank the communications department and the technology department at
068the um just all the information I was discussing earlier was easily accessible on the website at LinkedIn directly when we had our individual school meetings so thank you and also technology just getting everything up and running and all the Chromebooks so again thank you and the only other comment I have is I'm following in the footsteps of our former board member dick fregey in bringing a harvest to share with any of you who would like organically grown fresh tomatoes and basil so just come see me after after the meeting everybody a second everything that everybody said and have a good evening I have no comment thank you everyone thank you board members thank you Dr Smith thank you Administration teachers parents students for a fabulous beginning of this new year and we all just pray
069for a a safe year for all of our kiddos all of our families and that we can make learning fun because that's what it should be and we we strive our best every day and then once other comment I want to thank Miss Ellie Norman for often being the youngest member of our listening audience we appreciate you very much and with that being said Dr Smith Lord I just remind you that the board will be in training tomorrow the board has their annual uh Retreat so I'll see you promptly at 8 A.M tomorrow morning for your annual board retreat so so the public will know that you you we have that posted and the public knows that you will be in training tomorrow so the Board needs to go home rest and I just would
070I'd like to piggyback on that what was in our notes don't it's cold in there so so bring your worm gear too wear gear would bring your worm gear um our next Board of Education meeting is Monday August 28th and it will begin at 7 pm with that said do I have a motion to adjourn so moved we are adjourned please