001I didn't know if we'd have a quorum and boom boom boom boom boom the whole board's here so we're ready to go for our work session um I'm gonna I'm going to not speak my opening statement for the work session I'll save that for our meetings our regular meetings and we can just get started um we're called to order um blue ribbons facilities update Mr Smith good evening Madam president members of War Dr Smith life continues in construction as we move forward at LC we're hoping to have this West Wing done by the end of May and includes the cafe senior Cafe media center Art rooms family consumer science area and that's a Art Labs media center in the senior Cafe site work continues building the what the first of six uh tiered walls out
002there to support our athletic fields and a lot of dirt movement right now as you can see uh LC pool walls are up uh the dress is in uh are going up in the center and uh roof will be going on after that Ln fencing continues is about halfway uh done all the way around the property phase two six classrooms in the small theater continue renovation the new two-story in the Commons area steel structure is going to and the LA and gym the old wrestling room wall has been has come down and getting ready for new bleachers going up at the top of that tile work continues and the deck is poured uh ready for tile as well so they're moving forward with that as you can see the new deck all the way around
003L Insight continues that's just south of the pool area for the new uh student drive and then the second uh parking lot there by the baseball and soccer field is going in we continue working and getting set up ready for Belzer and Fall Creek Renovations as well as the old LACC building and I'll be bringing more updates to you on the phasing of those projects next board meeting great board um do you have any questions for Mr Smith I just had a quick one um I think you spoke to this uh our last board meeting I just wanted to make sure I had it down correct uh Mr Smith with the construction both of the high schools will be housing jump start at McKenzie is that correct that is correct okay thank you um I
004have just a couple out of curiosity the senior Cafe is part of that West Side building project so is it adjacent to the rest of the the cafeteria yeah it's a connected just west of the current okay and then with the Ln fencing I want to make sure that our condo Community there next door is Happy we've had conversations and we're happy we're getting there yes okay okay going up faster searching for happiness okay okay but we're in but we're in conversation okay um the Ln gym I I'm not sure what we're all doing but I'm sure it'll be delightful when I see it the LC floor I noticed that you're refinishing I think that was in your notes correct and we're refinishing the LC floor I thought we already refinished it so what happened
005we rejected the overall finish of the first time around so the contractor is having to redo the floor okay okay it was just a just a hot mess it looked like I did it or something and not a good job okay okay okay all right wasn't wasn't perfect all right um and so the contractor takes care of that expense correct okay great great thank you for that okay um uh board we are on to board goals and the proposed new board goals so um that would be you but the assistant soups will be helping you okay all right so I'll ask for you due to lead us here good evening Madam president Dr Smith members of the board tonight we presented to you with a skeleton of the 2023-2024 board goals as we go through
006this evening allowing for discussion as we go through first equity and anti-racism turn it over to Mr noder good evening Madam president members of the board Dr Smith we're leading off with our focus on equity and anti-racism as is appropriate given our Equitable student outcomes action plan so the recommendation is to stay the course with our Equitable student at outcomes action plan that was approved last year at this time as will be our first year into implementation this year we need to continue that in for year two and hopefully you've all had an opportunity to look at our dashboard which is updated on a regular basis so that we hold ourselves internally accountable but we also are communicating to our stakeholders the progress that we're making and I'll continue with student achievement so you'll see
007many of these goals are similar to the goals that we've had for for this year to stay the course with those particular goals and the first one is the graduation rate and this is perhaps our most important indicator for student achievement and it's also our leading indicator for our Equitable student outcomes action plan over time the strength of diploma is the most important part of this goal that we are moving our students from General diplomas to core 40 from core 40 to academic honors and Technical Honors and that we're measuring our our success by the growth in every racial subgroup so that's the graduation right by now I think you all are familiar with our rigor diagnostic process I mean this really is about instruction so this is about the the level of instruction that
008our schools and our classrooms are providing and we've increased this goal over the years that we've been involved with this because our schools continue to improve so for next year my recommendation is that we achieve or exceed an end-of-year rigor diagnosis diagnostic score of 9.0 I'm pleased to report we've got three schools already that have exceeded that this year so we would be looking for growth from them as well if schools are below a 9.0 we're expecting a two-point growth from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and again this is about instruction the the level of instruction we're providing in our classrooms as we move to the the next slide these are various achievement data points some internal and some at the state level the first one is our own
009internal formative assessment system that we have where we're periodically throughout the year measuring students growth on our district benchmark assessments and for next year it'll be I ready so I read I ready as a state approved vendor for formative assessment and we measure our students at the beginning of the year middle of the year end of the year with progress monitoring in between and so for now I'm recommending a growth of 10 percent but I would like to to reserve the opportunity to come back to you after we get our year-end results I'm thinking we might be able to go higher than a 10 percent growth but I want to analyze our end of this school Year's results before making that final recommendation but at least 10 percent growth from the beginning of the year
010to the middle of the year to the end of the year on our internal assessments and this is really what we hold ourselves accountable to we have the data immediately it drives instruction and so this is a really really important board goal the next bullet is one I'm recommending that we add for this school year this coming school year I'm in the past our board goals have been really aligned to the school accountability formula and I read three has not been part of school accountability and I'm predicting that it's going to become part of school accountability in the coming years and so I think it's important that we measure that as a board goal and so I'm recommending that by June of 2024 so that would be a year from now that 80 percent of
011our third grade students who've been enrolled in LT for at least three years so not students who've just moved to us but they've been with us for at least three years first grade second grade and third grade will be proficient on the irie3 assessment with accelerated growth in our black Hispanic El sped and free and reduced subgroups this will lay that foundation for our students as they then matriculate throughout our school district and then the last one for student achievement is tied to iLearn as of now iLearn is still the primary data source for school accountability for elementary schools and middle schools in the state of Indiana so it's important that we have a goal around that this goal is about growth on iLearn and that students are moving proficiency categories from the does not
012meet expectations or below proficiency to approaching or at or above proficiency so that we're moving students each year with iLearn and you can see the Baseline we did meet that goal for some subgroups last year but not the subgroups that really will move our district and so there's more work to be done there so I'm recommending that that goal continue for 23.24. recommendation is regarding the Strategic plan if the Strategic plan is approved by you tonight we we do propose that for this goal and we would include the beginning implementation of the plan monitoring and progress reporting on the plan and make that progress report available to all of our stakeholders in a similar format to the equity dashboard with regular updates so it would be updated as often as we update our method yes
013yes and next we'll ask Miss Johnson the chief of HR to review people goals good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board as we look at our board goals for human resources our first goal is that all employees will participate in common District develop PD for all job classifications as we look at our Equity work on onboarding and just ongoing Equity PD in all divisions in our schools cultural competence and the racial bias safe schools module looking at our second goal looking at how we intentionally focus on our International and bilingual hiring with our Baseline being this particular year 22-23 looking forward to tabulating that at the end of this year um increasing our racial and ethnic staff diversity by three percent through Recruitment and Retention and really as we are looking
014at ways in which we are retaining our staff our certified staff and our classified staff and going deeper with that this year as it dovetails with our strategic plan recruiting and retaining 90 percent of District effective and highly effective teachers our principals and leaders are all working on end of the year evaluations and so that data will be forthcoming as this school year concludes next we'll look at our goals regarding operations and financial ask Mr miles to review these thank you Dr Hoss Brown Madam president Dr Smith members of the board as we look at operations and finance these goals will look familiar to you from what we've seen in the past with a notable exception first goal there in the bullet points we see that the cash balance goal that we've we've had this
015a similar goal to this for a while now but we suggest that it's increased from a 13 million dollar cash balance in our education fund at the end of the year I'm sorry for from a 12 to a 13 at this time which would be in effect end of this end of December this year um that's that's an important goal for us again uh bullet point number two all taxing funds maintaining a positive balance again at the end of the fiscal year again being uh 12 31 and once again our increase our minority vendor spend by three percent that was a goal that we had set a couple years ago and we've been able to achieve that so we'd like to continue that and just increase continue increasing in that area and finally in the
016area of Safety and Security we'll ask Mr Roger Smith to review these Madam president members of board Dr Smith again Safety and Security is a high priority of msdlt and we will continue with the requirements per the Indiana code which also directs Us in an emergency preparedness plans and also drills both monthly and per semester reimbursed a security checklist for each of the buildings reviewed in update board policies and guidelines and I'm sure we're going to have a few starting in July this year expand and updating our internal School plan this is both through renovation as well as our staffing and including new equipment okay um I have several questions but I'm going to ask our board first or Miss Dunn do you have a moment yes uh Miss Lawrence I have a few um
017on student achievement uh why are we limiting I think I have an understanding of of this but why are we looking at three years as being The Benchmark for students in achievement at 80 percent this would be for our I read goal and so for students who have been with us we need to hold ourselves accountable to the high percentage of proficiency for students who move in in January and then test in March we really can't expect to be holding ourselves accountable for those two months of instruction but they those students still show up on our proficiency results and so it's important that we disaggregate that again students who've been with us for three years there should be no reason that we don't hit 80 percent students who move in are more transient there's some
018other issues that are going on with that okay I see you looking at me do you have a follow-up question to that okay I appreciate that um and when we talk about accelerated growth within the um the different communities what does that mean so and this one in particular is about the same I read three goal the 80 and so one of the the analysis points that I do is look at each subgroup and how close are they to that goal already so for example for that particular one our white students are performing at a 77 percent proficiency rate where our other subgroups are much lower than that and so in order to reach 80 percent as a district we have to move our Black and Hispanic subgroups much higher than what we are now
019in order to reach 80 percent Mr noder is that also tied to our Equitable student outcome our Equity work this is the definition of Equitable student outcomes so I do have a question if you don't mind that Remax on that and I think it's what we talked about when we were doing the superintendents evaluation that in the um rubric on 2.2 it talks about the average of the student population improves as does the achievement of each group of students as previously be been identified as needing and needing Improvement and so I'm just wondering if there could be alignment with the rubric and how we're phrasing our board goals are you talking about um growth of 10 the number of students meeting grade level proficiency I just think the accelerated growth because I think this gets
020to the average of the student population improves which is what we wanted to see the first bullet point on that page that we're talking about I think just in general like when we think about accelerated growth I think the same thing could be said is that there's average growth improves which we want to see for everybody but that specifically the achievement of each group has improved because I do want to name I think it's important to name that even 80 percent for our Caucasian students I think we could have a higher bar for them and so that's why I'm just wondering if we look at the average growth follow-up question to that is there a reason why we didn't attribute numbers to those populations in terms of percent increase we're not finished with our Baseline
021for this year so June 2024 is after the second administration of I read we still have our second Administration for 2023 to go so then we'll have Baseline data at that point thank you so I I'm not sure let me see if I let me see if I understand what you're saying I missed on so I I think what we talked about before and the board has talked about this and we mentioned it to Dr Smith what um when we say um I'm I'm on this page so it's student achievement page two it looks like um growth of 10 the number of students meeting grade level proficiency on District Benchmark Etc um I'm curious why we don't phrase it the same way we do for I read three with accelerated growth in specific subgroups that
022need accelerated growth because and what I will name is that um if we continue if if we have groups that are achieving in these at this level okay and they all grow ten percent we've institutionalized uh and and achievement achievement Gap and right we so so I guess if we could phrase that growth is there a reason we can't phrase that growth similarly to the way we phrase the third grade students so accelerated growth is there is there any reason not to do that um for that particular goal it was because our white students are so close to that 80 but if we go back to the graduation goal for example and we look at the percentage of our students who are achieving academic honors or Technical Honors diplomas we have got significant growth needed
023in every subgroup so yes we do need accelerated growth out of our largest subgroups but we need our white students to grow they're only at a 52 percent sure for academic and Technical Honors so we need growth out of every single subgroup and so it's important for our community to understand that every single student matters and that yes where the data tells us we certainly will state in unequivocally that we need accelerated growth where all students have room to grow grow we've got to stay focused on all of our subgroups to make sure that all of our students grow because there's two ways to decrease the achievement Gap one way is for a rising tide lifts all boats another way is for our highest achieving subgroup to not achieve anymore while we're getting accelerated growth
024out of our other subgroups and you close the gap that way as well and so at previous boards have asked that we maintain that high expectation for our highest achieving subgroups as well but we certainly could look at the wording of that if you'd like I agree that I believe that can't leave any single student we're focused on individual students in Lawrence Township we can't leave any single student out however what I was thinking of is sort of the way we phrase our rigor growth so rigor is you know two percent growth until you get to this place absolutely um so maybe looking at some way to say that and you know you know 10 growth until you get to what's the last grouping you know college ready or something absolutely you know maybe 10
025growth till you get to that final place and so we wouldn't not that we would um we're done so much work on high ability we're not going to stop um we're not going to stop um making sure our high ability students have everything they need for personal and academic growth and we certainly could add that language into each goal the way the goals are written there's only one goal where we don't need Improvement out of I mean drastic improvement out of every single subgroup and that's the I read three goal and that's why it's worded the way it is but we certainly could add in that threshold that you're talking about what do you think Ford what are your feelings on this yes Troy how can we put this question and simple as it possible
026she has a really fundamental question and I'm not sure I really under I don't know what rubric you're talking about so we are tasked to evaluate the superintendent and part of the superintendent superintendent's rubric when we look at domain 2.0 is instructional leadership and so the superintendent demonstrates evidence of student Improvement through student achievement results and the way that it's worded is something that I think all of us were aligned on I don't want to speak for the all members of the board but it felt like there was consensus that the average of the student population improves so again to your point that we don't want to leave any student behind but we are as does the achievement of each group of students that has previously been identified as needed Improvement and so I think
027that that to me gets to the point that you are making is that everybody's improving and so I think part of this too is not knowing the I read three assessment data the preliminary data that was released earlier this spring and knowing what is the percentage of our current students that pass so is 80 percent even because I understand it's probably not public knowledge it's embargo right is 80 even a realistic goal for our Caucasian students and so that's where I I feel like we need a little bit more data to know where our current students are at to be able to make really informed goals that are really designed to meet the needs of every single student in this District sure so Ms Donna I would agree um and this is my own ignorance
028as the first time we're talking about in in going through these goals um will we can we expect to have a number attributed before these are finally approved by the board well that that's your timeline and so you guys would would decide that I will say that I wouldn't bring you a percentage number that wasn't already well vetted and well researched and so I do have the data I can't share it in a public meeting at this point we do have the second round of I read three data that will be coming between May and June and so we'll have all that data ready but it wouldn't be until July that I would be free to be able to share that in the public meeting but I wouldn't bring you a number that I didn't
029think was attainable one of the conversations with last year's board is we set some very ambitious goals around student achievement and we've achieved some of those very ambitious goals if you don't set them ambitiously you won't achieve them that's the bottom line and so some of them are ambitious and we've had schools rise to to that occasion and so um I would error on the side of ambitious goals and maybe we do have some some subgroups that don't meet them but when you set them ambitiously then we work hard to make sure that we're doing the very best we can to achieve them so I wouldn't bring you a number that I hadn't already vetted and hadn't already researched and felt confident that we can get there it's going to be hard work it's going
030to be take Focus but that's been true with every student achievement point that data point that we've achieved over the last several years so our schools know how to mobilize around board goals and they take them very seriously but if they're not said ambitiously then we won't see that accelerated growth that we need to see questions to my right Miss Norman oh miss Dunn already commented on the rubric the 2.2 the wording so I think we're on the same page for that okay I do I I do have a question about the equity work yes and so I um obviously am is super appreciative of the work that everyone in cabinet along with all of our teachers our assistants everybody in this district is working hard one of the things that I'm noticing though when
031I look at the dashboard is some of when we get into the nuts and bolts that some of our metrics we said we were going to be working on in Spring and springs coming to a close and it was updated in for example March and so I'm wondering if we can expect the dashboard to be updated with the most recent data from the spring work process last week it's on the superintendent's desk today let's give it to him today so then once he approves it it'll be flip the switch and okay absolutely thank you that's good um attention somebody's reading the dashboard if there are no more comments I just want to say that um back in the day school board made up our board goals and about maybe eight years ago I don't know
032Mr gaglin you may remember maybe about eight years ago we said you know really we need the cabinet's help to set these board goals um you you're the owners of the data and you know our our buildings our culture our um and I just appreciate so much the hard work you do to bring us these preliminary goals and um board if you don't have any more questions tonight but some bubble up please email them to the to the board and to Dr Smith and we will continue to have a discussion about them by email um Madam president bring up your questions that can be answered Madam president can I add I thank the board with two years of covet we were working in board goals well into the fall yeah so board you are well
033ahead of the game so thank you for your allowing us to be on the agenda today because it would be nice to have these board goals before the start of the new school year so thank you very much that was my whole platform on time so superintendent I do have a question about in president Mustin when will we how long do we have to really think about the goals put our own thoughts given the fact that there was some Synergy around 2.2 um is that something that we'll work on during our executive session I guess I'm just trying to figure out a timeline for the public I mean ideally um if if if we're happy with the board goals as they look we can move forward with them at the end of the month at
034our at our regular meeting or we can move forward with them at our June meeting um but I would like to have them know later than our June meeting because on July 1st we start a new year and I would really be appreciative if we could have that done before July 1st so that when our administrators walk into their offices July 1st they know what's expected that's good thank you and and I just you know what I had just a couple more questions here that I didn't um that I didn't ask and this would be for Miss Johnson um I noticed um that first of all it took me a couple weeks I am very sorry to say it took me a couple weeks to really absorb the culture report we got a few weeks
035ago and what was super exciting to me one of the things that was super exciting was that the PD participation um was rated very high our teachers really appreciate what what they're getting out of their professional development and that made me gloriously happy that you know it was sometimes I'm under the impression that they're all dragging into PD not so they're very appreciative and it and they said it helps with retention that's really great that's really great um so here's the other question we're asking that we have a very high retention rate is that does that leave us enough room to increase our staff diversity by three percent as well because I notice this year our retention rate is even a little higher so um that still leaves us enough wiggle room to increase the
036diversity by three percent I believe so okay okay so um you know that the district rate you're looking at goal number three is it was that 51 at the end of 21 22 so we'll be bringing you where we are for this year it's a snapshot on any given day because of the ins and the outs sure thank you very much um and Mr Smith the emergency and preparedness drills I think when my kids were here you know when I was a kid we had um we got under our desks in case there was a nuclear explosion overhead I'm not sure yeah that's old school so I know we're not doing that but you know when my kids were here I think we had um tornado drills fire drills so so you know they were
037taught to go in the in the hallway whatever times have changed what are emergency and preparedness drills like these days we still continue with the fire on a monthly basis in each building and then each semester we'll start the first 60 days we'll do a a an active shooter drill and also buildings have uh during fire drills they'll also Implement active shooter drills at the same time to again uh if you will train our students and staff have the proper way to handle in case of emergency and then also once uh semester will also do tornadoes and the state has added uh earthquake drills as well sorry to hear we have to do that but I'm glad we're doing it I want to ask about that um just to follow up as far as active
038shooter drill is there any um components of SEL because I would think that I don't know with with my children if I'm teaching them to be ready for something the next question is well why do I have to get ready for this so the question is are there any tools or things that we have for our children that is that that that would be kind of fearful why am I having to do this are there any components there I I think it's uh it's a conversation to have about before or after the drills uh every situation is different uh knowing you're building uh where to go what to do uh is very important to have that conversation and going through the motions uh is good for students and staff so is we don't like to
039publish our safety drills what we do and how we do it our plans of the are our buildings to the public that's for us so I think a good conversation in the building and our buildings are doing a good job of that as well and that's so that's the point that I was um that was on my heart was the fact of is it something that a parent would have to do but then you would have to give notice that there is a drill or is it something that we would allow teachers to talk about or allow the children to have that time to just kind of um Express why is this happening why are we doing this we know that we prepare for fires because there's a you know fire drill um so that's
040kind of where I was at with it so I think just a general conversation on a weekly monthly basis uh the changes in our society what's happening could also happen in our schools anyone know what our building plans are could we inform parents that in the first 60 days we will have an active shooter drill so now might be the time to speak to your child and these are the points or could we bring in you know for for one of our parent meetings could we bring in um a facilitator to to talk to our parents either in person or online about what to say to your children how to prepare them for understanding that we would be happy to from a Safety and Security standpoint of any time that we can help educate our
041parents and our community of what we do not necessarily when or where but the processes that we do take I'm Roger Smith team I think we fully understand why the board's asking this question the number of shootings that have taken place in public places has certainly increased this isn't new to us we've been about two decades into this so it's generational the the requirements Roger is speaking to are required by the state I can remember the first time we started this after Columbine if I remind everyone which was probably a little bit over 23 24 years ago to be exact at the time I was a principal and then it became part of Statute that we do this so I'll have Mr Smith look at what we currently do I know schools handle this very
042well and we need to adjust with some form of communication I think we can do that but I want the public to be rest assured this is not just something we do casually it's a part of the culture of our Public Schools today Roger and Jim Paris work very closely with local police to do training in our facilities so that they know our buildings backwards and forwards uh all of the building plans are in the hands of First Responders and the police correct Roger and they do trainings inside of our schools so the local officials are very familiar with our buildings and of course even with the new construction they will be very familiar with our setup so good point sport I just don't have a question I believe that we've had um that even
043our Administration has said training at the FBI headquarters we've had training Roger Smith uh make sure that all of our administrators are trained through the Safety Academy for the state and yes the superintendent did do FBI training at one time it's been some time ago but Roger make sure that all of our new administrators administrators as whole go through the state safety training they do a fabulous job I would validate the state of Indiana does a great job with training school administrator in school safety Ms Dunn had a question no I just wanted to appreciate uh secretary Puckett for the question because I also think while the school shootings in preparing is a horrible horrible reality of where we are living in our current state I also have just reflecting on a time when I
044was working with English Learners we have a number of students we know that we're welcoming to the district that are from Central America refugees Haitians and so many of the drills that we are are conducting in our schools are not something that is typically done and I recall a time when a student was sobbing hysterically because it brought back trauma of being um in a very very traumatic event and so I think the more that we can help both our families and our students understand all the drills that we do here in the United States I think the better off will be so that we can prohibit those um instances when students are triggered I also have one question and my brain can't go to talking about kids so I'm not going to do that
045without because I will cry on the Deus and I don't want to do that our staff here in the lecc what are we doing to prepare them we have done some drills we also do la do do their drills just like any other school would do and we also have heightened the uh if you will the building hardening of this building we also have security out here because we are public so we have a lot of traffic so having an officer here does make a difference as we do the day-to-day business drills we haven't done all of them but we fire drills we have done and Jim and I matter pack talked about uh the fact that you know as we look at our new building displays all of our all of our offices have
046the um emergency evacuation plans and where to go what to do in any of those type of events so we'll continue to work as we uh move forward with especially central office we want everybody to remain safe in ignorant question we do have students in this building from you know throughout the year so they they do the drills but we don't have our state yeah okay staff is different we do we participate with them when it does happen yeah and um I did want to I did want to commend the district um we all remember two years ago in April the incident at one of our elc's and I went through that as a parent and a school board member and the drills really prepared the kids be the teachers put their own needs the
047kids ahead of their own needs and my kids were very calm and safe when I picked them up and I really appreciate and allude that to our our District's plan and also for saving the person involved doing the first aid to standing yeah I have one other question that has nothing to do with safety maybe we could shift one other unless anybody else has a question one other question they had for you Mr miles if I recall um last year we exceeded our minority rate by a significant amount yes my brain is telling me 131 but maybe that's not quite right why only three percent increase this go around your brain was correct weeks uh did I get the number quite a bit right we actually exceeded the dollar amount by 1.8 million last year
048um and it was the percentage is almost silly it was like seven over seven thousand percent um so um you know I think the number is is probably um it's number one it's a historic number that we had had before the three percent um and it was established at that time with quite a bit of uh analysis of where we were one of the things that we have now that's in our favor um is we we have the ability to even our Amazon purchases for example we can we can look at that and drill down to um the actual supplier it's a number that we could we could definitely look at I believe um it's also a number that varies quite a bit with construction and other things that we do it's it's kind of
049a difficult one to to say because we don't spend the same amount year to year um so um I think the the intentionality is our main focus that we're always looking for ways that you know we can use a minority vendor as long as it's not um you know at the expense of tax taxpayer dollars obviously we want to make sure we're comparing Apples to Apples with what our purchases are and and the pricing um but certainly that that's kind of where the three percent came from um I think if we did three percent every year you know always I think that's that's a good good achievement but it's something we could look at it just might be the increase in the spend of the total District um so I I don't have that number
050in front of me but wondered if that is something that we've evaluated absolutely um and that's why we looked at it last year's kind of I the way that it was written um the question to me came up you know are we looking at number are we talking about three percent more vendors um versus dollars because they're two different things um so we actually looked at it both ways this this past year and exceeded it quite a bit and the number of vendors a little more difficult to to always get three percent there um but we did have a significant increase uh of 43 percent uh a number of vendors so uh to your point I think it is something that we could certainly look at to make sure that we are being as aggressive
051as possible um but but again we want to make sure we're we're just being front you know top of mind very much appreciate the goal I'm just challenging whether or not it's ambitious enough it's okay noted we won't be building two high schools for 20 years board so just know your spend is significant uh with the renovation of Lawrence Central Lawrence North High School we have a few vendors that come along Roger has hired um you know that have done very well that are minority vendors I think we'll see a significant number with our middle schools because that same attentionality is there on construction but the project is probably half the price of the high school so just keep that in mind certain certainly the large dollar spend um one of those one of one
052of our vendors specifically we spent on some furniture I believe it was um you know blew that blew the percentage out of out of the water on its own now can we go do that again next year that's going to be challenging so you think three percent good number I think it's a good number okay thank you for a really good conversation on our board goals I appreciate it very much and again any questions email them to the board and to Dr Smith and we'll get those answered and then we'll have a better idea whether we want to approve this at the end of May or we want to approve this in June but no later than June okay great and then um okay good okay now um so we're on to our action items
053we did uh put the approval of the 2326 strategic plan on today's docket do you want to approve that today you want to have more conversation or were we happy with the work of the strategic planning committee and he got yes I do have some questions so on the student achievement for our board goals our graduation rate we are stating that the percentage of students earning an academic honors or Technical Honors diploma by 5 in every subgroup however I'm noticing that the metrics that we're using the Baseline data for our 2022 grads is 20 black students with an with the goal of having 60 percent of graduates having earned an academic honors or Technical Honors diploma by 2026. if we are only increasing five percent next year that seems like a very unrealistic goal so
054um I'm just wondering if if anyone can speak to that yeah I'd be happy to speak to that so for next year five percent is reasonable given what our pattern has been up to this point then that will have to accelerate for years 24 25 and 26. so I noticed in this where I guess I see some discrepancies on the document because on that one it says by 2026 by 2026 20 of that on the when we talk about sorry on the initiative academic achievement for we have very specific goals by June 24 by June 25 by June 25 so it seems like there's some missing gaps within the within the plan that we're missing what is happening in years basically in 25. and I think you're speaking to the literacy goal um yes that
055is very detailed in terms of metrics because of the amount of data that we have at this point to be able to accurately set an ambitious yet achievable goal for each of those years for our graduation rate for example we need this year's data to see what our Baseline is going to be for the graduation year of 2023 and then I think we could update those percentages accordingly um okay so after discussion um is there uh is there a motion to approve the Strategic plan second properly moved and seconded um any other discussion are you are you comfortable yes my only question is is this so what I'm hearing is this is an iterative document that this will be updated or is this set in stone from a from a student achievement point of view
056it's certainly a fluid document Based on data that we have as would be the board goals if we get our data back this year and we've increased our academic honors and Technical Honors by five percent in every subgroup I'm going to come back and say we need to up that goal because we've achieved it but we just don't have that Baseline data yet which I think goes back to the point that I was making earlier with all due respect is not seeing the Baseline data it's really hard to approve when you don't know where the base is and so make and I I feel very very very responsible for a strategic plan for three years if we are making a plan without seeing the Baseline data so I just want to be assured that we
057will be giving the data the Baseline data at some point between now and the beginning of the school year to ensure that these are indeed the right goals I typically do a series of academic achievement reports for the board I'm throughout the year timed on when we get the data back and it's released from embargo and so as those data points come in and it's released from embargo then we can publicly talk about it in in a board meeting that makes great sense thank you yes oh good okay make sure that everybody because those are great questions that you know and um having not gone through the strategic planning or the board goals process before really terrific questions I'm very very grateful so it was properly moved and seconded all in favor I uh any
058opposed we have approved our three-year strategic plan thank you Administration and community um all right well we have the approval of the Personnel report Miss Johnson Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board we asked for approval as submitted so moved second any questions all in favor aye any opposed we have approved our Personnel report we have arrived in under an hour to our our administrator and board comments so raise your hand if you would like to go first with your board comment tonight if you die don't see a hand I'm saying Miss Norman it's springtime we were able to attend all the track Mick championships the unified watch Elsie and Ellen and then watch the LC and Ellen girls at the Mick and then again the cross District rivalry track meet last week
059so very exciting predictable Indiana weather was not awesome but the the kids did great so that that was very good and the last thing I just wanted to say is May is mental health awareness month I think that's something that's on the top of a lot of our minds um when I think of student achievement staff engagement all of the things I'm just grateful that we have a lot of Community Partners to come alongside us to continue to address mental health so thank you well said Miss Puckett yes I was able it was an honor to attend um the Avid graduation which is near and dear to my heart so to see just the kiddos that around the neighborhood that I see from day to day that I literally just given anywho just to see
060them graduate and just to see all those faces it warms my heart and so I'm just grateful for just all the work that's done Abbott makes a huge difference my son is a part of avid and just to see the interest and sometimes you need those mentors and leaders around you because things just hit differently I'll just use a little Urban dialect things hit differently when they come from non-parents and so I just thank you for all of your work I see the growth with within my son and so to see his peers and others graduate it just it just does something to you so I just thank you for that oh I'm excited to celebrate teacher appreciation um something that I think everyone on this Deus can can share we are incredibly grateful for
061the teachers administrators and staff of all of our buildings um and I also have a little shout out for the teachers who like I traveled to Dallas for the robotics worlds Championship who oh that is a effort I will tell you it is hours and hours and hours and hours of Robotics um but it certainly does represent our school district and one one little shout out I I wanted to make is that um we actually are some of our kids in our Middle School team were interviewed by the co-founder of Vex robotics um during during the um during the session um and he was so impressed by not just how creative and accomplished our kids are but also by by the diversity and thought and um and inabilities that we have on uh in our
062district and I will say that it is a very unique thing and then the kids got the robot signed by the co-founder of Vex which was also pretty cool so thank you Miss Dunn well Miss Lawrence you stole my thunder with the teacher appreciation I think some people celebrate it last week apparently it's actually this week so to all the Educators super super super grateful especially I remember this type of year so vividly and the last few weeks of school can be really really challenging and so I have mad respect for all the Educators that are planning really really thoughtful end of school events field days are coming up we have I know Amy beverlyn does a clap out and so really really excited for those students that are going to be moving from one
063grade level to another and especially from one school to another and also principal appreciation day was last Monday so um mad gratitude for the principals that keep our buildings open and running safely and securely in making sure that Equity is top of mind and then finally um Educators even though it is teacher appreciation week I think all of us that have been Educators certainly feel in our hearts the appreciation that we have for being served and called to this profession so um thank you for all that you do um superintendent Smith I just also want to congratulate you because I have not publicly congratulated you on the graduation of um your daughter so congratulations I know um definitely a wonderful wonderful success of public schools so congratulations superintendent Ms Dunn you made me uh realize
064that I forgot to also mention that every year the Lawrence household has a parade with all of the kids from Amy Beverly and any family from Amy beverlyn is certainly welcome to come we bring donuts to teachers and we make a big show of it so that is our tradition at the end of the school year oh I have one other thing sorry the honored Educators at the Lawrence distinguished event it was so awesome to see that event in the work that the Lawrence North staff put into that and to see those distinguished Educators distinguished grads it truly showcases the best of the best and I want to Express gratitude to you in particular I know you guys have been extremely instrumental in making sure that it is more Equitable and more students are actually
065um just that we're looking and seeing and acknowledging the wonderful work that kids are doing in all areas so thank you for for making that a more Equitable process that was the board action this time the board action few years ago okay well well said everybody there's very little I can add um accept a shout out to our Lawrence Township foundation for helping the schools make Vex robotics happen throughout and last but certainly not least may I please say how wonderful it is to have all of you here Amadeus it's nice to have it's nice to have our group together so good um and so nice to ask you these questions that directly instead of the through a little bit but we we appreciate all those efforts but this is much nicer much nicer he
066can come in remote too yeah next time next time a little upset I'm just gonna call you hey no okay all right our next Board of Education meeting is May 8th it's a work session and no 22nd man you want me it's the 22nd yeah we got you dude I'm just reading my public school taught me to read but not to think really critically sorry if you want me to say something then yeah yeah okay I'll let you say that yes thank you Dr Smith all right one thing board that reminds you you will have celebration but also you'll have a few tears Wednesday evening is our retirement celebration Carla Johnson meet us at the Hillcrest Country Club for a huge celebration of our retirees so I'll just remind you it's on your calendar uh
067we'll have a record number of retirees that we will celebrate as in Tradition we start promptly at six o'clock is that correct Miss Johnson and we are going to recognize a record group of retirees uh the number our retirement Year is off the chain I'm not going to say it right now but it is a significant number of years Roger Smith we have someone in your divisions got 49 years of service has returned they don't have to say anything but thank you we just need to thank them because when you serve that long almost 50 years of service to the school corporation so Wednesday evening that's all I have to say and board members remember the month of May is full of celebrations so just check your calendars we got a lot of work to
068do thank you ladies and gentlemen being a work session it's enough to just say we are adjourned thank you for your good reminders and I love this pen and it just ran out of ink so I have to throw it away so what's this oh this is end of year that's the biggie that's May 26th okay I'll take these home Dr Smith thank you ladies I swear I want I want