001[Music] Now try. Can you hear me now? There we go. Okay, I'm gonna start over. Seven. Please repeat all that. 7 o'clock. On behalf of the school 71. Yeah. No, it's 71. On behalf of the school board, we thank you for being here in person or virtually. I'm Heather Stags, president of the school board. To my left is Luke Jackson, vice president, Dan Conway, secretary, Jackie Deckard, member, and Matt Henkins, member. To my right is Superintendent Eric and Assistant Superintendent Susie Lips. If you will all stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance and moment of silence of the stands nationy and justice for all. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Okay, good. Good evening everyone. Tonight we have the pleasure of recognizing the MSD of Martinsville employees who were selected by all employees throughout
002the district as outstanding staff members for the 2024 2025 school year. Only six staff members were chosen and are being honored for their outstanding service and dedication to the MSD. Come forward. Certified staff member Anderson High School. Cindy will teach. Cindy retiring 32 years of loyal service middle school. food service representative food service representative Thank you. Elementary was selected. by those nominating them above and beyond with their duties working tirelessly always helping kindness and patience above all constant positivity and support. Congratulations All right, moving on. We have our consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of meeting minutes, payroll claims, payroll report, and check claims, budgetary claims, personnel report. Um, do I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? I'll make a motion that we accept the consent agenda. Do I have a second? I'll
003second that. Thank you. And any discussion? All right. All in favor signify by stating I opposed. Motion carries. There are no student field trips. We are at the end of the year, but I do want to point out one field trip that was done today at John R. Wooden Middle School, the day of giving. It's it's the third year that uh they've done that. And I I know Mr. Jackson, you got to some of the work at the cemetery. They were at nine different locations today around the community. I think it's an outstanding thing that was started several years ago. Uh they did that after the tornado. If you remember the we did as a district and they've kept that going, that spirit of giving and uh being part of something bigger than themselves. So
004I want to give a big big shout out on the field trip thing to John R. Wooden Middle School and the students there. Christa Matthews organized it. She's unbelievable uh to say the least. And uh the staff fantastic. Mr. Cutruff, Mr. Peterson, uh there great job, John R. Wooden. Thank you. Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing the MSD of Martinsville food service director, Kurt Bodell, to describe the summer meal program opportunities for the families of Martinsville. Please welcome Kurt Odell. Thank you. Uh just want to quickly let you know about our summer meal program. So for about 17 18 years now, we've been very fortunate to uh operate summer meals. And this year we have a summer nutrition program is kind of uh Stun Mills is kind of what we usually call it. But
005new this year um for us is a weekly meal distribution that's going to take place at uh Faith Church off of 44 and I69. And so that's going to be a weekly um meal pickup uh for families that they can sign up for the week before and then they can come pick that up that that next Wednesday. So sign up kind of helps us uh know how many is going to show up so we can plan accordingly. So that's new for us this year and we're excited about that. Also continuing our program is our um meal delivery. So within Ray and Baker and Southwest Jefferson Township, we do um home meal deliveries once a week. And so we're doing those signups for that right now with those families. So um we're very fortunate to continue
006that program. And then we have our daily meal service um out of the high school and the YMCA that families can, you know, come to um daily and pick up lunch. Um so we're again very excited to to share that um that news. And then just kind of publicly also um part of the USDA they funded a program called Sunbucks in the past and so Indiana did not renew that this year um with the USDA and so that's a program that we will not be participating in but just kind of wanted to make sure our community knew about that publicly that that was a decision at the state level um not to renew that and so that's why um those funds are there but yeah so we're excited. So, thank you for your support. Um,
007and we're just looking forward to continuing to count those days after that last day of school because for us, it just keeps on going. So, thank you. I've got a real quick question just so everyone would know. What time do you serve? And then what are the qualifications if someone wants a meal? Yeah. So, there's basically the qualifications are anybody age 1 to 18. There's no income, um, anything like that. on the walk up sites. Um at the high school we serve 11:30 to 12:30 and that's daily at the high school. And then the Y the Y is um 11:15 to about 11:45. So those are the daily sites. And then the um Paragan distributions on Thursday that that they sign up for. And then the same thing on our Wednesday faith distribution. That's a
008sign up that's going to come out every Thursday, the week before. Um that that they'll get an email through Parent Square um that they can sign up for that. And then those pickups are on Wednesday between 10 and noon. And then all of our information is on our website, arty's a r cafe um caf.org. And then that has a similar link at the top left hand side. It kind of has more information there kind of things. So, great question. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Kurt. More exciting news in the district. The MSD of Martinsville was awarded the Project Lead the Way Distinguished District for the second consecutive year. All elementary schools in the MSD of Martinsville were named a Project Lead the Way Distinguished School. Bell Intermediate Academy received the PLTW Distinguished
009Launch School and John R. Wooden Middle School received the PLTW Distinguished Gateway School. Martinsville High School was awarded the PLTW Distinguished High School. Thank you to Sharon Gooden and Shannon Adams who lead the district's STEM charge. They are our STEM coordinators. Congratulations to all schools. PreK openings. The MSD of Martinsville partnering with OnMyWay PreK. We've expanded our prek program. We still have available slots for next school year. Free tuition and reduced rate scholarships are available to all of the seven elementary preschool programs. Every family will be able to apply for a free tuition scholarship. Parents can call Central Education Center for enrollment information. At this time, we have a short clip for you and for those viewing at home to enjoy. The MSD of Martinsville is excited to offer The MSD of Martinsville is excited
010to offer families the opportunity for On My Way PreK, where play-based learning opens the door to discovery and growth. Learning through play. The classrooms are designed to encourage curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. On My Way PreK is offered in each elementary school and creates a strong sense of community for the four and 5-year-old students to develop friendships, teamwork, and a love of learning. Free tuition vouchers and reduced rate scholarship opportunities are available to assist families with funding. Students must turn 4 years old by August 1st to qualify for the OnMyWay prek voucher. All families are encouraged to submit an OnMyWay voucher application. For those who do not qualify, there will be a monthly fee. If your child turns 4 after the August 1 deadline, please contact the MSD of Martinsville to get on the wait
011list. Your child may be admitted this school year based on availability once they turn four. All of our prek classes use the Frog Street curriculum, which is designed to meet the unique needs of young learners. Through hands-on activities, students grow academically and socially in a supportive and fun environment. Join the MSD of Martinsville OnMyWay preK program today and give your student the best start to his or her educational journey. One where learning is fun and every student's potential shines. Coming up soon is our graduation for class of 2025. The pinnacle event for every school year is high school graduation. Graduation for the class of 2025 is scheduled for Friday, May 23rd at 700 p.m. at Martinsville High School. Martinsville High School principal Jeff Bell and senior class sponsor Daniel Urban have prepared the festivities for
012next Friday. Summer school. During June, Martinsville High School will offer summer school credit recovery courses for grades 9 through 12 students. Martinsville High School students can enroll with their counselors. Shout outs. End of the year. Shout out to the John R. Wooden Middle School seventh and eighth graders who earned all A's this school year. And a big thank you to the Wooden staff members who organized and hosted the annual all a breakfast this week to celebrate the honor students. Also a shout out to the junior and senior students parents who worked to provide an outstanding postp prom for the students that participated. Special shout out to those graduating this year and their parents. Congratulations. Thank you for attending this evening. Old business. Uh I have to say this before we go on on my way
013prek the video where you saw the young lady walking and putting her footprints on the paper last week going through some of my boxes. You know how you move offices and I moved three years ago and I'm going through one of the boxes. In one of the boxes, I pull up an old trophy, old award, and there is a paper that is there that's laminated, and it was my daughter's handprints on it from her prek days. And I took that home. She she's in chiropractic school right now uh thanks to the MSD of Martinsville and what they did to prepare her. But she was home on her trimester break and I had that for her as a gift and she was just in tears that how how much that meant to her. I think she
014was surprised I kept it. Uh but it did it was one of those moments and as a as a parent and for the preK parents, it's going to go so fast. Keep those keep those they're sacred. They are keepsakes for a reason. Um I challenge you to uh embrace it because it's going to go by so so fast. So I really applaud the MSD of Martinsville for the on my way prek. I know Mr. Jackson was one of the proponents of that early. It's gone unbelievably well this year. Unbelievably well. And we've gotten the certification level up there. We are a uh example for the state on how to kick it off. So, great job MSD and Martinsville and the people involved in that on my way prek uh announcement here. I know people I've
015had some ask about uh the new elementary. We are going to have a new elementary and we're going to have a groundbreaking unless Mr. corrects me here at the end of August. Okay, that's when the groundbreaking will be. We'll unveil the plans and all of that at that time as well. And that will kick off everything else. There's been a little bit of a delay from pricing on some things, but we've got it going in the uh when when you see the renderings and start seeing that, it gets exciting. And when you see what we're going to have for our kids, the opportunities they're going to have, and it's not called STEM, We have the project lead the way in the STEM initiative. It's steam because a is added to the STEM for steam because
016we really value the arts here in Martinsville. So all of our buildings will be steam certified. That's the direction we're going. And I think you're absolutely going to love what you see here in the very very near future. So get excited Martinsville. It's going to be something that will put us on the map and it will also be great for years to come. So Mr. Congrats. Thank you for your help in that project. That's all I have there for that part. But now I have action items. We'll move on to action. Okay. All right. ELA textbook adoption. Um you guys have the recommendation and it all coordinates with the state's approval their approved program. I recommend approval for the board for this adoption. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion we approve the
017ELA textbook adoption. Okay, second. I'll second that. Any discussion? Thanks on this and I don't know if we have the answers on some of this yet either. Do we know how much what percent of screen time this is going to require? Looking at it online, there's quite a bit of screen time for this younger group of kids. Is there a percentage that they tell you when you get a curriculum how much it's going to be on the laptops or ballpark or of their day? You know, I don't know. I don't have an answer for that. I don't know how much screen time specifically. I'm sure it will vary depending upon delivery by the teachers. Um, you know, there's going to be a certain amount of teaching and then interaction and um activities that follow with
018enrichment. So, I can't imagine that it would be exclusively screen time if that's what you're thinking. I would think the majority would not be screen time. It would probably lend the other direction. Yeah. some of the feedback was more screen time than what some thought it would be when it first rolled out. Uh there's Can I address that too because I think it's a it's a very important question and it's something that our administrative team has to pay attention to at the building level uh for what you do when you get a curriculum. It's a guide guideline. It is not something that okay just because they have something in there that that's what you have to do. It's got a plethora of options. It has uh quite a few different things you can get, pull
019from, use, and stuff like that. But the teacher is still that expert. That's okay. I like this. Jackie, would you like to speak to that? I'm sorry. Could you step up to the mic so people at home because she was part of this? So, I think it's a great question. have uh we piloted CKLA um at elementary at Peragan and so we've used it over a year. I can speak for third grade. There's not any screen time for third grade. It's all books. Um we have readalouds. Uh we do use a um a professional that does the readalouds. The teachers can do the readalouds, but um and it may have a short video. We're talking about five or 10 minutes. Um, but that's it. There's no, uh, online access. We have paper and pencil workbooks,
020um, things like that. So, uh, as far as any other screen time, I'm not for sure what anybody else was talking about, but I can speak for third grade. And I noticed, too, um, you know, it said, uh, some of the pros that were given, there's explicit writing skills and things like that, which is great. So, you know, that's definitely not on a on a device. So that was good to hear, too. So I think they when you look at some of these from the textbook companies, they put stuff in there that is just I mean they're trying to they're selling to all 50 states, right? So they put stuff in there and I'm telling you, there's some things we don't want. There's some things we don't like and there's some things we will not
021use. Um so I think it's very important that we don't allow the electronics to drive our instruction. We allow our instruction to utilize electronics and devices to augment what we're doing because we can get upside down on that and that's something we'll have to pay attention to our administrators and our teachers. That's your job to make sure it's a great environment for the kids and it's appropriate. So I I do think it can get out of hand, Mr. Conway, and we can't allow that. So it's a great question. Yeah, the curse of writing was another one. I don't know if there's different programs. There's one with cursive writing, one with not. I I I hire people every day that can't sign a signature. It It about makes frustrating. So, I don't know if that was
022something that would be a part of it or not. I know there's different versions of it. I don't know if that was maybe something to look into for the cursed writing. Okay. I thought it looked like there was different versions and this didn't show which one it was. That's the reason I had And again, I There's stuff in there that we're going to have to weed out because looking at some of that it I know with the governor changing some of the stuff it's going to be there's different things in that from what I could tell anyway because as you know there's a big difference between Indiana and California. Yeah. Right. Small small beap small gap. Thank you for that question. All right. So we have a motion and a second. So all in favor
023signify by stating I I opposed. Motion carries. The next one is the flexibility waiver that was approved by the state. Same format that we've used this year. Uh the one hour, not the two that we had a couple years ago. And so I recommend approval of continuing the flexibility waiver. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion that we approve the flexibility waiver. I'll second it. Do we have any discussion? Well, I know two certain boys who would like the two hours back, but because I've heard it from Matt and Dan. I think it's important to point out too that um even with this hour uh you know, if it gets passed that we're still above the mandated uh hours of education and instruction for our students. We're way above that. So, And I
024just so the that the board knows and the community knows that time is valuable. uh whenever you're trying to do the PLC's and you know here you are adopting a new ELA thing for many of these elementaryaries they need to be doing best practice and the best way to get best practice is get that to them and have experts among our staff like Jackie guess what you're going to be doing next year right you know we we get our experts to go train our own and that's an important part and that has to happen during time so this is a very valuable power that we utilized. So, I really really appreciate talking to our new staff this past year. They said that they would have really really struggled mightily had they not had collaboration time
025that was built in. They really were appreciative of what we were doing. So, I I appreciate your support on that. And for me to make that motion, it takes a lot because that's not one thing I feel and I've talked to a lot of teachers and parents and so I did a lot of research. So I think it's a good program for the newer teachers and for like mentoring. Thank you. Thank you. Looking forward, I know we we kind of re-evaluated each year. Is this something you kind of envision being more of a permanent? Yeah, I think you have to apply each year, but most most districts that I know around us, they all have it the same thing, a built-in PLC time, and it's usually an hour in that time frame. Some are 45
026minutes, some are an hour and a half. Hour seems to be the sweet spot for it. But I can see it being a permanent ask because it's has been successful and the more that we have to try to train our own and um sort of educate new teachers because the teacher pipeline people is almost empty. So we are people who are good people to try to train them on the job is what it amounts to and this PLC time that mentoring time is essential to try to bring them along. what I fear is what we have become. We're training some really really good people and they go to neighboring districts for more money. So that's why the the issue with what's happening in the state and the general assembly is worrisome to me because of
027us being able to compete and what that will eventually do. So we have to do a great job of making the time that the teachers have in our buildings as efficient, effective, and supportive as possible so that they feel that that's more than just money. That's like they feel valued, they feel supported. That has a value to it that doesn't have a dollar sign attached. So this is very important for that. All right. I have a motion and a second. So, all in favor signify by stating I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Okay. Now, we have the Morgan County Opiid Opioid uh settlement grant in the amount of $57,310. Um many of you know the county participated here in the state of Indiana on the opiates lawsuit and it's coming to the counties now. And I
028have to really commend Mrs. Lips for spearheading this. Uh she spearheaded the district's effort to identify needs that fit the criteria of the opioid grant and uh her and her team, she can give I think you ought to compliment and shout out to some of the individuals that were on your team that designed this to get us to the 57,000. Want to make a quick Jordan Gallion, Emmy Lou Spence, Ally Miller, Jenny Oakley, Kurt Bodell. Thank you very much for all your time and efforts with that committee. Yes. So we were recipient of this grant and uh we'll utilize it for um the we got the health task force to strengthen save our save initiative which is the vaping uh the hype program which is dealing with attendance. Um then we have youth first for
029family and the YMCA summer programming trying to put wraparound services and cover more time when the kids are not in front of us trying to help them in some very precious time. So I recommend approval of this opioid. I'll make a motion Heather to accept the Morgan County opioid settlement grant. I'll second it. All right. Do we have any discussion? Is is it a onetime thing or is it or what's We can we can apply again at the end of this year for next year. It was a three-year window or umbrella, but there might be more funds coming our way, but right now we can apply for the next two years. Super sad we have to discuss getting a grant for something like that, but it is what it is and that's where we are
030as a nation. So, right, it's terrible. So, I have a motion and a second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Okay. We have the Duke Energy Foundation Applied Skills Workforce Grant, $37,500. It supports advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics, welding technologies, and engineering. Uh this what a what a great community partner uh Duke Energy is for us. So, I definitely recommend approval of this generous grant. I'll make a motion that we uh do that. The Duke Energy Foundation Applied Skills Workforce Grant. I'll second. Do I have any discussion? All in favor signify by stating I. I. I. Oppos. Motion carries. I'd also like to give a shout out to Shannon Adams who spearheaded this particular grant and she's here this evening. So, thank you Shannon. I'll give you a round of applause for that one. Thank
031you. Uh we are making some big investments from a district level on vocational. There's more to come. I can tell you in the next we'll have an announcement here probably midsummer on what we're doing this next year at the high school and then we'll have a bigger announcement during next school year for what we're doing for the following school year with some great partnerships that we've developed with uh skilled trades professionals and businesses in our region. So we're very excited about it. Um it's going to make a big impact on our our students and their offerings. So Shannon, thank you for being a lead there at the high school on that. You and Mr. Bell and your team. You're all doing a great job. So thank you for that. Okay, the next grouping is about
032donations. So I'll name them all and then vote as one block if that's okay. Items five through eight. Uh we have donation from West Knox and Suns to Martinsville Academic ECA for $800. Donation from Delta Theta Tall to Martinsville Academic ECA for 720. Donation from Certoma Club to MHS Academic ECA $500. And donation from Kuanas Club of Martinsville to MHS academic ECA in the amount of $600. Great generous donations that we always announce each month. We're very fortunate and blessed here to have supportive organizations and community partners. I recommend approval of these donations. Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion, Heather, to accept the donations been placed before us. I'll second them. All right. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor signify by stating I I oppose. Motion carries. Okay. Next, we have
033public comments and announcements. Do we have any? And we don't have any. Back to you, Mr. Well, I've already pontificated enough here this evening. Jackie, believe it or not, I'm not going to say anything else. Graduation is next Friday. We're looking forward to that. It's the culmination, as Mrs. Lip said, of a a long year for all the kids, but what a long period from for 13 years for many of our students. Um, we're really excited to celebrate with the families and with them uh next Friday. So, see you at the high school. Looks like it's going to be about 68 degrees. Won't be too hot. So, it'll be a nice evening. Hopefully, no rain. So, Mr. uh make sure we get that taken care of for us next Friday. Okay. That's all I have.
034All right. Do I have any other board member comments? I'd like to mention the weekday religious education program. I saw one at Peran Christian and I think it was third and fourth grade from Peran. It was very in very good program and I think it's nice that our school corporation is able to do that program. It's been I was in it. I think they said it's been around for 70 years in the MSD of Martinsville. you say you talked about being an example, you know, for the state, a lot of other counties are restarting theirs and kind of looking at Morgan County as an example to pattern out of. We had uh a couple years ago and our superintendent group there was a question about religious ed. There were only two of us that raised
035our hand said, "Yeah, we do it." And they're like, "You still do it?" Yes, we value it. we do it and we will continue doing it and then the state comes on and I applaud them for making sure that that is done in all the districts. So, you know, Martinsville led the way. We stayed the course and we will continue to stay the course. Proud to do it. Thank you for pointing that out. I think we can all just express our sincere thank you and appreciation to all the teachers and st for making it through another year. We have another week left and it'll be a long week, I'm sure. But thank you all so much. Um, get some rest this summer and ready to go next year. Congratulations to all our graduates, too. Yes.
036Mr. Conway, I think you have a graduate this year. She should make it. She should make it. It's going to be a long four days. Is she going to cross that stage? To piggy back on Heather, I'm glad you said that, Heather, because Even though we did have some staff here that got recognized and that was wonderful. All of our staff are wonderful. We have great staff in our schools and we appreciate everything that each one of you do. Um custodians, bus drivers, teachers, cafeteria, it takes all of you, aids, everybody. It takes all of you to make a school district run and we don't take that lightly. So, just want to say thank you and um and we'll see all the graduates next Friday. All right. Do I have a motion to close the
037meeting? I'll make a motion we adjourn. I'll second. All right. All in favor signify by stating I. I. Opposed. Motion carries. Thank you all for coming.