001um we will begin with a public hearing this is the notice of public meeting on the superintendent's contract the purpose of this meeting is to receive public comment on the proposed superintendent contract as provided by Indiana code and at this point we welcome any public comment on that contract as published if there's no public comment we will close out the little close this out the public meeting okay now we will dabble back in for our business meeting and the first item on our agenda for that um is the Blue Ribbon Mr Smith Mr Smith Madam president Dr Smith members of the board continue on new and final walls in the kitchen going up at LC nuke senior Cafe is complete and Furniture is being moved in new art rooms and family consumer science rooms are
002also complete site work continues as Southeast parking lot is no longer there uh curving is going in and sidewalks and asphalt and follow athletic fields on the North End continue on it's another shot three fields uh LC pool moving quite well the insides are being done as the roof is being finished up are there any questions Ford for a couple more oh sorry you just paused a little too long I know I'm sorry my phone down and Ellen Cafe kitchen uh remodel is underway seven classrooms which we're hoping to be complete by the start of school and uh Ln demo and the two-story continues uh athletic Plaza is well underway curving and sidewalks are going in and L inside Improvement soccer field Turf is on our property and will soon be installed uh baseball is
003coming next as the stadium is being built LM pool continues on a little lagging in the tile but uh hope to have water here in that pool in the next three weeks Belzer Middle School continues on most all demo is complete and the renovation of phase one has started Media Center demoed and the underground retention for the new uh Auditorium and additional roof space is underneath that west parking lot and we'll be ready for parking this fall Fall Creek Valley the new soccer area has been demoed and surveying has started Fall Creek Valley's new student services which is part of the media center is well underway as well as the second part of that lecc the new tennis court has been demoed it'll be going back in the track will be started here next week
004and asphalt we're open in the next two plus weeks concludes our renovation update as the mother of a potential Fall Creek valley middle schooler soccer player um just wondering if the fields or what our plan is for the fields for the season this year because I know that's been a stress yeah the soccer will not be ready for this year uh new the new soccer they may be playing out here as they have in the past thank you so much and I just have a quick question not a question but ask if you can clarify for anyone listening in on our meeting we know we don't have classes at this time at lecc but we're redoing the track and the fields so can you explain that a little bit as we continue on putting more
005and more students in here as this becomes filled with students we want the same opportunities as our other sites have at this level as a 5 8 program as well so we haven't officially approved it that is given to you as information that's come forthcoming the 580 cap there you go yeah thank you for that Mr Smith I had a question from the public about uh just explain what is the senior Cafe is that part of the regular Cafe it is over the years we've designated a space for seniors to have a dedicated area for themselves and also we've turned that into a multi-purpose room so it can be used throughout the day and evening for other Gatherings as well thank you okay if there's no further comments we'll move on to the Neola policy
006updates board there were a few clarifications are are we good on those clarifications okay Mr harshbarger Dr harsh barter Madam president members aboard Dr Smith the June 12th work session Neola volume 35 number two policy updates were introduced for first reading tonight I bring those same Neola policy updates back for second reading be happy to answer any questions any questions board thank you Miss Dunn for the the work you did on those policies I appreciate that I do have a question can they can they receive credit for the Susan Jordan reading challenge can we I think we've went hands down wouldn't we [Music] uh sorry that has to go the kids oh sorry okay um that was a lot of reading version of the final version I'm still moving Pages I'm still moving pages this
007is rare okay um Mr miles did you report on the request to transfer funds please thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh twice a year we bring this request to you it's a permission to transfer funds between our education and operations funds this is basically a statutorial a requirement to make sure both funds are whole and in a positive balance at the end of June and at the end of December so that is what I bring to you tonight at this point for information and later this evening for approval can you expound a little bit on what causes us to have to transfer so yeah a couple of things um a few years back uh we the state changed the way our funding was was determined uh from the old general
008fund and to now the education fund and our operations funds which in the operations funds uh Encompass cpf uh transportation and bus replacement in order to keep our budgets um consistent over the years so that we're comparing Apples to Apples over those time changes we still track our our expenses uh through kind of the old way if you will and then once a year or twice a year at this time we have to make those transfers um to make sure again that those those accounts are where they should be thank you for that okay Miss Sean Bush the student handbook update please yes Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board I bring to you this evening updates for the student handbooks for the 23-24 school year for your review we have added just
009a little bit of information regarding our attendance policy we included the district-wide goal of 94 which is in alignment with the state GPS and also some information about the notification that will go to to families for for attendance in addition there is some slight clarification under electronic devices toys games and non-academic items with regard to the use of cell phones at the elementary schools with emphasis on the fact that that the school is is not responsible for lost or stolen cell phones at the middle school level again some additional information and clarification about the use of cell phones where cell phones will be allowed to be used freely in the cafeteria and then beyond that area it would be at the discretion of the teacher and at the high school at the high school level
010at this time there are no changes however as always our student handbooks are a fluid document and as you saw just this evening we have a number of policies that are are in the in the queue and so as we need to make updates we will do that as needed are there any questions yes just is a point of clarification and not to rat out my own children but they do have apple watches um and have we considered including other devices Beyond cell phones since they do receive text messages we have we have that that is part of it that uh that they have to be non-detectable so you know how they make noises they make the alerts and things like the phones do so that is included that is I thought I read that
011but just wanted to call them out specifically thank you trouble Dr Smith I'm in trouble with them all the time but I'm trying to raise good humans that's all there any further questions for Miss bush okay thank you thank you very much for that thank you for your work on that um next up again Mr miles our financial update please thank you once again uh Madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh before you you have our uh end of May financial statements um as we uh share our general fund and our once again our transportation fund and as we have looked and continue to look over time um you know our green checks represent really a positive for us the red checks or something or the Red X is something we're going to
012just make sure we we're aware of um again on the on the general fund uh as you look at our Revenue we're in good position there some of the dollars have shifted from maybe from one place to the next as far as where they came from but we're in a good position there likewise on the expenditures um you may note as we've talked in in months past our contract Services contracted services and the general fund are a little higher than what we had expected but that's offset by the salaries and benefits being less than what we had originally injected and some of that's because of our prepaid insurance that we that we paid up front this year as a change in in Billing processes and and also um some of our salaries being shifted over
013to rjb so that's the general fund and overall it's in a good place we're very satisfied with that likewise the transportation fund same process there and as we've talked in in months past our salaries continue to track a little higher we've just been more successful our staffing levels are are uh up from years past so that's tended to raise our expenses there likewise and these supplies and materials once again fuel prices versus what we were paying same time last year as we talked about those those fuel contracts still trending a little high so so we are a little to the um to the negative as a total there in transportation but not cause for alarm when we continue to monitor that I'm very impressed I don't think I've had a CFO explained to me before
014why a red X is a good thing did a good job there um on on keeping our employee employee level High um there are no there are no red X's anywhere that cause you great concern no no ma'am okay any questions any other further questions thank you yes so first of all thank you so very much I do just wonder and this is just for me as somebody that is new to the board trying to understand for the general fund the state support dollars look to be less than what were projected can you just explain why that is sure there are certain funds um that that when they distribute it them to us they come out only twice a year and if we don't budget them and divide those out over those disbursements we just
015kind of say hey on average we're going to get this much per month then then the month to month can be off and I and that's what you've seen there in that state support some of the dollars that we get we haven't got it yet because this is as of May 31 so we'll get those and they'll be reflected in future months reports our ADM for second semester could adjust also because remember we do two ads so it's not included yet that should be included by now it's in the actual it would not have been in the original budget or the you know the original projection so we did lose a few students but not to be alarmed well and then I do have another question along those like lines superintendent Smith and Mr Miles
016when it's my understanding though that there are those transfer funds that do come in correct for students not just on ADM is that accurate or is it only ADM um I'm not following the transfer funds part okay so if you so if you have the transfer funds if you have students of something from let's say Beech Grove oh okay I'm sorry yes those after ADM we those are we do not collect any dollars for those students I felt like Title One there were Title One funds and other funds that we were allowed to collect um outside of ADM for more from the standpoint of our general fund those we get a twice or twice a year ADM count that fall and then the February count are what these dollars reflect the title one I'm just
017clarifying title one we do get transfer monies in for those students if they come after ADM or no go ahead Troy we do get transfer funds for students through title one we also pay other districts transfer funds and these are for students who attend private schools within our enrollment area and so is there I guess that's leading to the next question I'm sorry I'm so Finance this is not my forte clearly but I um so is there a time too that we get a breakdown of those other dollars that we were see from both the federal and the state such as Title 1 and ESP special ed all of that yes we can we get those updates really on a monthly basis depending on what the fund is and and and how those may change
018over time if if there is changes then yeah we get we get those updates a lot of that goes through towards departments as far as the um the title dollars and those types of things thank you absolutely but I think for our board members question ADM is everything and it happens twice a year uh and so we have this year October count of the actually October 2nd for the upcoming school well we're already into the new school year and then we'll have a February 1st or 2nd map of 2024. okay so those two dates are extremely important students that come after that we don't get additional dollars as far as our and that's the big numbers that we have up here on the board but as Troy indicated with title dollars there is some shifting
019but also Troy we shift dollars out if students go other places am I correct that's correct and we also provide services at our private schools and so that's what that transfer money is intended to pay for right well it well I just the reason to asking is because I know um our vice president worked very diligently um to advocate for additional High ability dollars and I know that regardless of that there was additional funds given Statewide but we did not receive those so just trying to be as transparent as we can with folks that these are just some pots of money but there are others and sometimes what we read in the news is not actually what comes to fruition to our district unfortunately so that was the the reason for the question also when
020we do our budget work I believe in October when we do when we do our budget work for the following year we we get a very detailed um list of all of our expenditures um passed past and and projected so I think some of those things will be reflected in October um and you can we and you can always ask to to see those those that information are we good with the financial report yeah we're going to go on to our board committee chair reports and can I start with you miss Dunn I am very happy that I already had a spokesperson that shared what is happening and just again want to exp Express extreme gratitude um you have been absolutely wonderful to work with and I believe it or not I'm very excited for
021round two in July so thank you very much no Miss Lawrence no updates for me at this time thank you so much okay Foundation no reports so miss Norman um the main one is that as of last week the LT moms care campaign reached its goal of ten thousand dollars raised so thank you to our community of LT moms uh also the only other update I have is actually a request if you feel led to donate mostly donate of your time funds are always welcome I know as we get ready to start the school year there's always opportunities to help stuff backpacks and get supplies ready so I would just encourage anyone who would like to help or put their kid to work giving back go to msdltf.org to sign up thank you thank you
022and Miss Puckett how are those Parks coming along oh great and also our Farmers Market was started first of October that is moving forward what day should we go there it's Thursday it's Thursdays you go other days you're not going to get your sweet corn dad sweet corn won't be there well board um thank you so much for the community anything else thank you so much for the community work it's very important we can't can't do it without you we're going to move on to our action items and the first action item is the um a request for approval of our board goals and before we start let me just say this this evening as your school board we vote on the approval of our board goals for the coming year we're proud of our
023deep examination of the goals that we feel will continue to improve the lives of our students through the our dedication to Equitable outcomes for all students High academic rigor for all students respect for our staff both certified and classified continued fiscal responsibility adherence to exceptional State safety standards and initiating our new strategic plan which was brought to the board this spring after deep Community input we thank the administration all of you in Lawrence Township for working with this board in the process and we appreciate your willingness to serve our community as we update our board goals year after year not least we're very happy to roll out these board goals as promised by July 1st in order that our building leaders and staff can incorporate them into the daily work of our schools from day
024one thank you each and every board member for your passion and your commitment to all of our students I appreciate each appreciate each of you very much having said that um I would ask Mr kuznick and Dr Brown to present these goals for approval president Dr Smith members of the board I recommend the board approved the 2023-24 board goals as submitted some moved second properly moved and seconded do we have discussion no discussion then um all in favor any opposed nay nay thank you very much the board goals have passed um Now we move on to the approval of our classified handbook Miss Johnson Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board we asked for approval of a classified employee handbook as well as the transportation handbook so moved second properly moved and seconded
025do we have discussion about the classified employee handbook all in favor aye aye any opposed okay we're good for those and now the student handbook updates Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board I recommend that the student handbooks be updated as presented earlier this evening so moved second properly moved and seconded do we approve all those in favor aye aye aye any opposed we have approved our hand with student handbooks thank you very much Miss Bush Madam president I had a just a real quick question so after approval just for the public then these these will be updated correct immediately on the website okay okay sorry about that oh no I just wanted to ask personally too thank you um now we're on to the approval of our proposed Board of Education meetings
026for the coming year do we have a motion to approve these moved second properly moved and seconded any questions about these dates we good oh okay fantastic all in favor opposed you ever proved them Madam president I move we treat action items we have a oh my apologies um um Mr harsh Barger um our Neola policies Guru July 1st Madam president Dr Smith parameters of the board earlier this evening I brought to you Neil updates for second reading I now ask for your approval of those as submitted some motion so moved second properly moved and seconded do any questions about the Neola policies no questions and all in favor of approving the Neola policies aye aye aye any opposed we have approved our Neola policies thank you Miss Norman oh oh I see right you
027got me good okay Mr miles or approval of transfer of funds thank you madam president members of the board Dr Smith um as I presented earlier this evening um the you have a before your resolution to transfer funds uh between our education and operations funds uh due to the time sensitivity of sensitivity of that we bring that back tonight for a vote um we would I would report back uh once those final amounts are known during the August board meeting um and at this time I recommend that this resolution be passed by the board I have a motion so moved okay second properly moved and seconded any questions about the transfer of funds okay everyone in favor aye aye aye any opposed okay we have approved the transfer of funds veteran president I now move
028approval or I I move we treat action items 5.7 through 5.13 as consent agenda is there a second second um are there any questions and just to clarify for those who are listening into our meeting that those include um our our our second monthly agenda items board minutes Personnel reports claims service agreements pay apps approval field trips and approval of fundraisers which we do traditionally treat as a consent agenda so having been um moved and seconded all in favor of treating those items as a consent agenda hi hi any opposed okay so we have a consent agenda now now I move approval of the consent agenda I do that right second properly moved and seconded um any discussion with no discussion all in favor of approving the consent agenda I I any opposed we've approved
029our consent agenda um Lord thank you for a great meeting and um I'm always a little supercharged after meeting with all of our fabulous kiddos and they're seeing their accomplishments and so I'll move on um Miss Puckett word comments tonight I do not have any comments tonight as you had said it's always exciting to see the kids and family celebrate I was able to celebrate my kid also it's always awesome thank you thank you everybody miss Norman um I wanted to recognize one of my constituencies here today uh Mr John Strauss I believe you were in the stakeholder Academy too yeah so um I appreciate you attending our meeting and we always welcome our public to come and interact and and be part of what we're doing so and then secondly family that was a
030theme that I heard about with the Juneteenth celebration and I've been to a lot of extracurricular events that involve it's not part of the school but it involves a lot of people in our school community and just seeing the continued engagement and the family feel of everybody interacting competing with and against each other in the summer season it's just great it doesn't stop even when the school year does president um I actually was very intentional about my comments tonight because I wanted to be intentional about my thanks to this board so if you all will bear with me for just a moment I wanted to read something that I've written in our family we have a mantra that we say to each other every day it's so important in fact that we have a sign
031that hangs above our staircase be a leader make good choices treat people I get weepy when I talk about but this treat people with respect and kindness we've had a lot of back and forth on this Deus around our board goals and lots of other issues as a board we've disagreed and we've negotiated and we've come to a place that I believe really sets the stage for the next year of Excellence for our district I want to thank each of you for the Humane and dignified way that we've interacted disagreement is part of democracy like our community we are not a monolith and I'm proud that we are willing to stand up for what we believe in and what we believe is right I also want to say happy Pride many people I love identify
032as a member of that community and I want to acknowledge them I'm good I'm good this makes me happy to see up here in the same way that I acknowledge and celebrate women or black or Latino families or indigenous members of this community during the election I pointed out many videos that are still on my website my belief that students regardless of race religion ability gender identity or sexual orientation should be treated as individuals not as talking points that regardless of how people feel On Any Given issue regardless of how I feel that we should expect that we as a community value and respect one another just as we do here on this board I am here we are all here to love and serve every child in this District equally here's what I know
033when we look past our differences and embrace each other with the same heart that we've displayed here these things don't make us weaker they make us stronger we are not a community divided sure we disagree just as we've shown on this day as many times but I believe we have it in us to see our differences as our greatest asset I am grateful and feel incredibly blessed to be able to live these values not just in my home but also as a member of this board be a leader make good choices treat people all people with respect and kindness those are my comments thank you thank you it's done well that's hard to follow up but I did want to make sure that I um share some perspectives for myself because I do know voting
034no on the board goals um I wanted to make sure that I just share some things so I also prepared something as well in June of 1993 after graduating from Indiana University I joined what was then a new teaching core called Teach for America some call it TFA for short while the organization has changed substantially over the years my reason for joining and subsequently teaching in a first grade bilingual classroom at lazier Elementary in Oakland California was very very simple Teach for America held firm in the belief that there will be a day when every child will receive an excellent and Equitable education it's been almost 30 years since I walked into that portable in jingletown I have since had the tremendous opportunity to teach in numerous districts and positions and unfortunately I have seen
035the achievement Gap continue to grow despite tremendous efforts and commitment from school Personnel across the country one of my whys for running for the school board was to support the efforts of MD msdlt to not only continue becoming a district of destination but that one that has Equitable outcomes for all children regardless if they attend Sunnyside Amy Beverly and Forest Glen Brook Park or any one of our elementary middle or high schools I firmly believe that this District can and will achieve those results while I did not vote Yes on our board goals as I don't believe that they are specific and measurable enough I am as committed as ever in msdlt becoming a district where folks come from all over the U.S to see how the efforts of all School staff have achieved what
036some believe is impossible for I stay firm in my commitment that anything is possible here in msdlt thank you very much Miss Dunn um I I would like to say that um my work with this board has expanded my understanding of our work and our my understanding of how we come to agreement and and how we make possible for each of us um with the same passion with the same passions for achievement for our students and for good lives for our families we still make room for each other to disagree about how we go about that but we still still believe in the power of the majority and we still fight with everything we have for the best outcomes for our kiddos I appreciate each and every one of you and I'm very excited right
037now to tell you we have a young man in our audience tonight Mr Brogan Jones who is here as would you like to stand Mr Jones who's here working on merit badges for citizenship and Community with uh Boy Scouts troop 276 we're very glad to have you with us tonight hope it was helpful and I'd love for you to come up and meet the board at the end of our meeting thank you very much [Applause] some final words for us thank you ladies wonderful in to the 22-23 school year and July 17th will be here before you know it we'll talk 23 23 24. get no and so honor to serve that's all I have tonight thank you thank you very much um do we have a very important point um we do have a
038member of our board that has a birthday tomorrow would she face her hands thank you [Applause] happy happy birthday thank you and with that do we have a motion to adjourn so moved second separately I know I like Eagle Scouts come on down eagle working on those merit badges um ladies ladies thank you for an incredible meeting thank you very much enough love to go around yes here he is