001Oh, even when we got back, I felt like we were the only plane that landed. It seemed like we were the only people. Yeah. And then when we landed, we were We listened to the family news. I know. It felt so weird. It's for us. They didn't even suggest it on the news before our weeks were over. Right. And ours was the day, and we were like 12. Yeah, San Diego was like that. >> San Diego had wrapped and wrapped and wrapped. And I got into it. It's It took me They weren't moving at all. No, it's like that on a Saturday. It was Saturday, so Exactly. Friday and then So, I'm like, "Oh, good. Friday is a It's still Saturday and Sunday to get back on the You know, that's what she said. There's
002a lot of that. And is Mr. Holloway sitting here? Is Holloway I didn't know cuz Mr. Holloway is not here, but I know Mr. Jacob is here. This is your seat. He's not here. I still have you. Okay. >> [clears throat] [clears throat] >> As long as I stay positive, I'm good. What she say? She said she was Because he Yeah. They take it seriously. It's because it's the eye holes. It's the eye holes and the almond eyes. Yeah. That's great. I appreciate that you put No problem. I did. I appreciate that you put We did. The manly drink. >> [clears throat] >> Oh. He said, "Get out of my way." Thank you. Of course I will. We do. Absolutely do. That's a fact. And then Saturday I came What day? Yeah. It was Saturday.
003I know. Absolutely. I mean, you know what happened to you. I do. You do. Okay. Is that what Do I have to get it? I did. Okay. It's okay. I had a teacher Did she just say I know. I'm I'm I'm done. Oh, thank you. She just said she Thank you. I was so rude. I know. She must get her stuff in the change cuz I texted her a few months. Did you just say >> [clears throat] >> Okay. That's fine. Yeah. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Yeah. Okay. I would drive. Yeah. I would drive. I would drive. I would drive. It would be better >> [clears throat] >> Yeah. Friends first, then the rest. with our whole trip. I am solely an itinerary girl, so I can fully respect that. But they said They
004said Like, "You better not send me an itinerary." I try to practice it with I'm not trying to this. This is just something to show up at. And you just are like, "What am I going to do?" Oh, yeah. Okay, that's a little Here are my Monday ideas. She did say I know. She was like, "I just made this for you. You don't have to do it." But we kind of feel weird. She made this thing. I will check. I will go Oh, no. No. I will check for you. It's all right. I can turn it and you feel better. You'll get to see and do more things if you follow my itinerary. I think there's some very odd I actually like the itinerary. I know. No, that's something I think it just depends. If
005you go somewhere you know that like you're sure like if you You're going to San Francisco and you know there are things you want to see. I could see you there. Cuz you have to get tickets. And you know, all of things. This trip, I'm okay not doing much to relax. I don't feel strange about it. I think you would feel strange about the tickets. It's something you do very odd. I totally find it strange. I mean, I haven't done anything. So, we have a I'm okay. Okay. There are, but Um, it's not economical. So, there is if you do enough days that you can have it. I see. days, too. Should I just buy you a personal one? Or you can go to the website. I know. Unless you want to go and hang
006out there. I would say yes. The orders have just changed. I would say yes. No, their prices just changed. Okay. Thank you. What does that mean? I said I You there? They answered. 4:30. Okay. She said I also tried when I went to Ireland, I tried not to use the No, you want that but it's You can That's it. You want to save money. She said Honestly, I'm not there. Swap the SIM card out on That's how you And she just remembered today. Yes. Never mind. I do want to wait one That's a little more complicated. Yeah, I know. So, I do like that clearly it is a very So, yeah. >> [clears throat] >> He didn't walk today. Oh, absolutely. >> [clears throat] >> Yeah, it's that long week. Oh, yeah. Which week is
007And then to that I'm going on a 10. I'm going on a on a Wednesday. And I'm going for two. Because yes. Scandal that I'm going to travel with eight. I've never done two weeks before. It's an experience for me. I'm a little bit nervous though. I'll be in on a 10 too. Really ready to come home. Yeah. I think they are. We'll see each other at the airport. And I'll be flying on a Me too. That's it. I don't remember. We used to like Well, thank you. Sure. Because we're not We're both taking the airplane too. I I'm So, we're I'll be taking I'm flying into the long line when I go through there. When we leave. So, we're taking the trains. >> [clears throat] >> I talked to Kyle and his son yesterday.
008He's done this trip before. And he didn't really know what how we're going to do it and how we're going to do this. But for two weeks, it's maybe definitely longer. Thanks. Okay. No. I think it's here. It's saying that to tell him I could probably Oh, that's That's good. They are. With the It's a baby. It's a baby. Oh, cute. I am not going to get a fresh top, I decided. It's like 15 years old now. Yeah. I Terry text me and said that it's Yeah, I just got the word. And in fact, so we know religious central viewing. Is anyone going anywhere tonight? How long are we going? Should I wait at the airport? It's the big question. Is that TSA going to be like So, Should be there now. And she She
009was Are you going to go to the wedding for Saturday? They're just [clears throat] going to go hang out at They're just going to Hang out at the airport. Who is in Saturday? Yeah. But I'm going to go to the airport tonight after the We leave tomorrow. I'm going to He slept yesterday and he said it was 30 minutes. She was She was like 2:30 minutes. She said maybe 2:30 minutes. He walked in. But that's hopeful. Yeah. If you had a deep search, you can come up with the website. I sent Jennifer the one I sent to They do have like five minutes. But the official TSA one that has been shut down. Yeah. I checked the things for like at the airport. Like I searched TSA at New Orleans and I found one. And
010it's actually Well, I like it will tell you like last updated in eight minutes. I sent it to Jennifer when she was at the airport. I like to get places early. And David likes to go just on time. Oh, no. I can't go to the airport. I'm not like that too. Really? We I mean not right on time. But pretty close. What does it matter if It's TSA wait times. Okay. Is it TSA wait times? Sounds very TSA precheck There's a couple. But yeah, people are right there. Okay. But I found it here earlier actually. I was just like why can't we get there early? We're We can prebook it. Let's try to get on this. Okay. Stay at home and wait at the airport. Go there. Don't stay at home while I'm at the
011airport. >> [clears throat and cough] >> What am I going to be waiting on? So, we can't undo this. Just a holiday now. Fine young daughter. Thank you. Bishop. How are you? I'm good. Good. Is there anyone Good evening, Bishop. What y'all been waiting on? Can't wait to It's about five minutes this way. This better be in about five minutes. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> We'll see you together. Smile, everybody. It's the last day before spring break. I'm tired. >> [laughter] >> I really need spring break. >> Thank you. We need two minutes. Can you tell me what you're breathing? That's good. There's going to be one for the 18. I think it was pretty good. I think it was two from the 18. Right? 18? Next session. This one. Next session. This one. I apologize
012for the rating. I did. So what were you going to do tonight? These are the ones in here. Oh, no. It's here. It's a So what were you going to do tonight? That's what I wanted to do all night with the blasting by the wall. What is it the whole list? Okay. I'm going to just turn it off before you then. Okay. You got any more? All right. Yes, Ms. Barnes. All right. All right. Ms. Barnes, is that two for everybody? Awesome. That's good. Are you all ready? Whenever you're ready. Are you ready? Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening and welcome
013to our regular MSD Pike Township School Board meeting. March 26, 20 26. Um before we get started tonight, we do have a a change in our agenda on the HR report, and I would like to entertain a motion to detach the AD uh and vote it separately. Second. Point of order. There must be a motion first. >> I move. Oh. Second. >> a move and a second, okay. Move and a second that we detach our AD uh assistant AD and vote it separately. All in favor, say I. I. Opposed. Thank you. We're on to a good of cause. Does anyone have any thing they want to share for the good of the cause? Please step up and share. Take state your name and 3 minutes. No good of the cause, then we're on the spotlight
014on Pike. Ms. Dorsey. Good evening. It's wonderful to see you all again. Good evening. As always, we've had a lot of really wonderful things happening since we last met. Today was a great day in Pike. Um Mr. McLean's 4-year-old class at the Nathaniel Jones Early Learning Center invited their families to join them to commemorate their achievement of becoming published authors of their class book Alpha Buddies 4. It was a packed house and the students and their families were beaming with pride. Mr. McLean does such an amazing job. Um he had the student work displayed. He had examples of the book that the families will be able to purchase. He had a whole March Madness spread. It was amazing. Um on the other end of the educational spectrum, Pike High School hosted their career speaker and
015um college fair day today, and it featured an inspiring alumni panel for our seniors. It was absolutely amazing. Um there are some parents that should be very proud of our speakers, and I think it was very beneficial for our seniors to hear how your path to success does not have to be perfect to be purposeful, and that um came through loud and clear. So we're just so grateful for everyone who gave their time to return and share their experiences. Um they also held their annual prom fashion show during lunch, and they ended the day with their annual student faculty basketball game, uh which the students won, and that's the first time in I think 3 years that they won. So that was a major upset, but it was a great day all around. [laughter] It
016was very competitive if you were there. Well, we heard that the student had their own referee. Well, I mean, our girls basketball players did a great job as the ref. There were some things going on with the clock. There were [laughter] some They were students. They were students. >> They beat our parents up. I mean, our We ain't going to give them no break. >> I'm not giving them nothing. >> [laughter] >> It was fun. I will say that. But I must stay neutral. Uh we're extremely excited to celebrate Coach Keith Holland, who was named the IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year. As a Pike High School Class of 2007 alum and educator, [applause] yes. And a coach who served in Pike since 2009, Coach Holland truly embodies what it means to be Pike
017proud. He is dedicated to the success of our Pike students on and off the court, and we are so happy to congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition. We want to congratulate Kamari Booker, who was elected to the 2026 Indiana All-Stars. She'll compete against Kentucky All-Stars on June 5th and June 6th. She, Alana Divine, and Coach Holland were also chosen to participate in the 21st annual Hoosier Hoosier Gym All-Stars game on April 25th. Coach Williams and Coach Barlow will participate as assistant and honorary coaches in that game as well. Malia Evans and Seveya Mitchells were selected to play in the Indiana Basketball All-Star Classic Future Prospect game, and Sanaya Smith will play in the Indiana Basketball All-Star Classic Junior game, and those games um are scheduled to take place on June 20th at Anderson University. Our
018Pike High School Athletic Director, Kendra Champion-McClain, was formally recognized for her selection as the double I triple A District Athletic Director of the Year at a banquet that was held on March 22nd, and we're just extremely grateful to her for all she does. >> [applause] >> We want to congratulate Georgia Sue Checki, who signed a letter of intent to continue her academic and soccer career at DePaul University yesterday. We're extremely proud of her. Our Pike High School Best Buddies will be participating in the Best Buddies Friendship Walk again this year. That will take place on Sunday, April 19th at Victory Field Stadium, and you can support them in one of two ways. You can either join their team their team, or you can um contribute to their fundraising goal. Um as an added incentive, any
019donations made before Friday, March 28th will assist our team in their March Madness Face-Off Bracket Challenge, which just happens to be against the Ben Davis Ninth Grade Center. So please support our Best Buddies. Sorry, Ms. Barnes. >> [laughter] >> Cuz you know I'm the advisor of the team. It is all love. It's all love. It's all love. >> [laughter] >> Last but never least, we'd like to recognize the donors listed on this evening's agenda. Common Ground Christian Church donated milk and eggs for our Pike Red Zone Food Pantry worth an estimated value [clears throat] of 1,000 or I'm sorry, $166.67. Girl Scout Troop 1979, under the guidance of Tiffany Witherspoon, donated hygiene items and two boxes of Girl Scout cookies to the Pike Red Zone Food Pantry worth an estimated value of $300. The Pike
020Township Educational Foundation donated $2,862 to fund grants at Eastbrook and Pike High School, and Alan and Sally's Mills um donated again $3,000 this year to support our 2026 teacher celebrations, and we're extremely grateful to all of our uh donors for their support and generosity. Thank you, Ms. Dorsey. We are on to reports to the board. Alumni Excellence, Dr. Young. Dr. Larry Young. Thank you, Mr. President and members of the board. Um this evening, during our Alumni Excellence time, we would like to recognize Mrs. Carrie Hamilton. She's a 1989 grad from Pike High School. She's also a state legislator and a champion for public education. Hi, I'm Carrie Hamilton. I'm a state rep on the north side of Indianapolis. I've been a legislator for 10 years, and I'm a proud Red Devil, Pike High School grad
021of 1989. But after I graduated Pike, I thought I was going to go to Indiana University right away, but instead, I was able to go to a small school in Florida for 2 years. I went to Florida Southern College, but I realized I didn't have enough areas of study, anything that I was really interested in. So I did transfer to Indiana University, and at IU, that's where I discovered my passion for environmental policy. I was able to um have an internship at the Hoosier Environmental Council, which led right into a really wonderful first real job at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which led to uh job in local government when I moved to California with my husband when he pursued law school. And then I took the next 5 years to run my own
022business. I had an environmental consulting business. We were in Indianapolis, again having moved, and I decided to uh jump into the nonprofit world and take over a small nonprofit here in Indianapolis called the Indiana Recycling Coalition. And for 10 years I had the privilege of running that organization. I grew it from a very small grassroots organization to a professionally staffed statewide organization. And that was really my first exposure to the State House, working on policy for the Indiana Recycling Coalition. And I came to understand that I was passionate about a wide range of policy topics, not just environmental issues, but certainly um human health and the environment, but also you know early learning and support for families and affordable child care, a range of issues I've worked on in my time here. And it's been
023incredibly rewarding. Leading into my junior year, an upperclassman I was talking to said, you know, you ought to consider running for student government. And I really hadn't thought about that before. I was a little scared to me to run for something like that, but I did. And junior and senior year I served in the student government, and that was, you know, as you can imagine now serving in the legislature, that was certainly um opening my eyes to opportunities that I hadn't thought about before. I loved to work, uh you know, doing projects for the school, leading efforts. Uh it was very rewarding. Unfortunately, my senior year I got mono, and so I wasn't able to enjoy all the work I'd done planning for homecoming. But you know, that's life, right? Uh and then I also
024I was a cheerleader all 4 years. Cheerleading is a team sport, and it truly is a sport, and we trained every week throughout the season and went to every football game and every basketball game and cheered our hearts out and made me more of the community than I would have been otherwise. It was a really really good experience, really good experience. As we sit here in the Indiana House of Representatives and I think about my work over the last 10 years in this building, I am concerned about public education and seemingly eroding support for public education in this policy arena. Arena. And, you know, my education at Pike was tremendous. The opportunities and exposure I had, the education I received, were top-notch. My kids went to North Central High School just down the road from
025Pike, another great North Side Indianapolis diverse public school with incredible opportunities. And so to, you know, any parents watching this, students currently getting a great Pike education, I just want to encourage you to lift up the value of public education in your conversations with friends and family across Indiana. We have something built up over decades in our state, uh truly strong high-quality education for all of our kiddos in our community, and we need to keep that in our communities and and continue to support strong public education in Indiana. Representative Hamilton wasn't able to be here this evening because of her schedule. Uh so at this time I will turn it over to the board for any comments. Comments? Board, any comments? Any Well, I would like to thank the representative for taking the time to
026um to show to continue to show that uh Pike is the gift that our community and people that that's in here didn't know that they needed. So, thank you. I had the privilege of meeting Representative Hamilton um last year, probably in January, February time frame. Her and Representative Cadori were ho- hosting a uh town hall over actually in one of the North Central schools, and I just want to one thank her for continuing to stand up for public education. We certainly need more of that at the State House downtown, and so it's a reminder also this time of year as we're moving to another election for everybody maybe watching this that your vote really does have a critical impact on your local schools, so please continue to put representatives downtown that will support public education.
027Thank you, Mr. President. Any other All right, if nothing else, then we'll move on to exceptional learner. This is Jennifer Cohen. [clears throat] All right. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board, and Dr. Young. Let me put on my glasses, realizing I need these now. Tonight I'm thrilled to come before you all to share some of the highlights related to our work in the Exceptional Learners Department here in Pike. This year we have increased in our special education population again to 1,960 students, which equates to almost a 10% increase in 1 year alone. Most of the increase has been seen in the elementary and the middle schools. However, each day over 200 teachers and instructional aids arrive to all of our buildings. This includes 87 teacher records, 120 instructional aids, and roughly 30 therapists.
028That includes our occupational therapists, our physical therapists, our SLPs, and our uh school psychologists. So, you can see here, this is just a quick graph to kind of show you the the increase. Um over the past 3 years we've seen a significant increase in students receiving special education services while total enrollment in Pike has remained relatively stable. We've almost doubled in size in the life skills seats at the elementary level in the past 3 years alone. However, speaking with other directors in the area that includes Hamilton County, Hendricks County, that does seem to be a a trend that's happening in Indiana. I'm hearing that elsewhere as well nationally. So, it's something that's not exclusive to Pike. So, in Pike, all the schools in the district service students with resource needs, speech, occupational therapy, and physical
029therapy needs, as well as as well as visual impairment and deaf and hard of hearing needs. For students with more significant behavioral needs, we have self-contained behavior supports classrooms at Snacks Crossing, New Augusta South, all three middle schools, and at the high school. The classroom at Snacks Crossing is specially designed to offer a full-time mental health therapist in addition to the teacher and the instructional assistants in the classroom. The students have a mental health diagnosis in addition to behavioral needs as as outlined in their IEP. And there is a focus of trying to move students out of that restrictive of a placement into the general ed population. I'm pleased to report that both last year and this year we've been able to move a couple of students into the general education environment with resource report
030support, so that was excellent. Very excited about that. Some students in Pike are receiving alternative curriculum due to participating in the alternative assessment instead of ILEARN. There are self-contained classrooms supporting that curriculum at the elementary level at both at Central, Fishback Creek, Eastbrook, Eagle Creek, and new this year at College Park. At the middle level it's at Lincoln and West and [clears throat] North, and then also at the high school. Functional academics has been at the secondary level at Lincoln and Pike High School for the past several years. Last year we designated two classrooms at the elementary level at both Eagle Creek and at Central. So, what's new in 2025-26? As previously shared, our life skills population continues to grow. So, this year we realized when school was starting that we needed open We we
031started planning to actually over the summer, but we needed to to open two more classrooms, and we decided to open those at College Park Elementary School. >> [clears throat] >> These life skills classrooms are designed to have a lower adult to student ratio and provide the opportunity for students to receive their learning in that smaller setting. We're also very excited about the second sport that is now being offered through the Unified Sports program that Mrs. Champion Macaloon brought to the district. If you want to have an immediate pick-me-up, head to any of our Unified Sports events. They are guaranteed to bring a joy and a sense of true community for anyone participating and even for spectators. All right, so I'm going to take a minute to highlight the resource program in the district. Resource is
032a model where a special education teacher or staff member will either push into the general education classroom, or in some cases pull the student out to the resource room to work on specific skills that are identified in the student's IEP. A few years ago, under the leadership of Dr. Gatewood at the time, as the science of reading was rolling out, we trained all elementary and middle school staff on an Orton-Gillingham based reading program for students with reading disabilities or needs. This method directly aligned with the science of reading. What's exciting is that with this training and continued leadership oversight all the way to the top from the top of the district, I am pleased to report that over the past couple of years as a subgroup, we have moved from the bottom of Marion County
033in the English [clears throat] language arts and ILEARN to number four, which is pretty exciting. And we experienced the largest growth of the subgroups in Pike in IREAD for last school year. So, it's an exciting time. Resource programming at the secondary level has its own level of nuance due to the nature of a simple thing called the school bell. The secondary schedule provides for a lot of structure which requires special educators to become creative when determining services. For well over a decade our high school has been participating in the co-teaching model. Our data has continued to support that model so we decided to implement it at the middle school level. We have continued to train teachers on co-teaching this year as the year has progressed. As we move into the next school year these specific
034trainings will continue. We have found that as we have gotten to know the culture and capacity of each middle school just the same as we have specific plans for students our team is realizing that we have specific plans for teachers and are moving towards a more school centered approach to co-teaching professional development for next year. So it'll be individualized for each school depending on their needs. I've been spending a lot of time in the middle schools this year and it's been heartwarming for me to remember how much I love teaching that group. That was my group so special place. So just as a kind of a snapshot really quickly of of our different outcomes that have come out of special ed. Um as you can see here we have had some excellent growth in our
035subgroup for special ed. We've grown 4.5% in math in the past 3 years. We've grown 7.5% total in growth in the past 3 years in language arts. Our special education students at the high school continue to just knock it out of the park when it comes to graduation rate. We currently are 7% above the state average for special ed students. If you recall my presentation last year I was so incredibly excited and again am so excited to share about the students who are receiving the alternative diploma or alternate diploma. As a reminder these students typically would have received a certificate of completion. This year we have 21 students that's that's the most we've had 21 students receiving the alternate diploma. This is where it gets pretty exciting. With 11 of those students already accepted into
036post-secondary trade school or colleges. >> [applause] >> Really exciting. Mrs. Vernita Davis at the high school is the one that spearheads all that and she just does a fabulous job with that so I have always known that what we do as special educators matters. But when I know that so many students will benefit from the work that we've poured into our students from pre-K to the high school and we have a many that stay from pre-K all the way to the high school. It's it's sometimes it's really overwhelming to think about that. Our staff works really hard and it's showing. I also wanted to give a special shout out to our principals. I talk often with area directors and I'm sometimes amazed at the lack of inclusion that they experience from general administration and I
037can honestly say that we just don't have that issue here in Pike. Our administrators think of our special education students as theirs not mine, ours. And for those of you who may have had experience in that field and kind of know what that's like that's a it's a game changer. So real quick about CPI crisis prevention and intervention we continue to train in that. The district behavior support team continues with that. We're offering several crisis prevention and intervention trainings to teachers and instructional aids continually. Although this does have a component for safe physical restraints the greatest area of training is in the de-escalation strategies. We always want to try to hit those home really start with those because we know that if we're able to successfully de-escalate a student we won't even need to utilize
038those physical restraints. That's always the goal. So this year we have certified in CPI 87 classified staff and 65 certified staff. So as I know you're all aware one of the greatest areas continues to be the teacher shortage in special education. Over the past 4 years two programs in Indiana have grown out of this need. One is I SEAL and the other is ASSET. The state knows that we use this program. We're kind of seen we we've we've used it every year. We have we have a quite a few teachers that have gone through it. Which is a good thing. Um I SEAL is for individuals who already have a bachelor's where they're hired by the school district to teach while also enrolling in a state approved teacher preparation program. It's at no cost to
039them. Historically this is a really great way for our instructional assistants to become teachers and that's typically what has happened in our in many cases. ASSET is for individuals who already have a teaching license and are moving into special education. This program is completed under the the supervision of the director of special ed myself in a district and it also is at no cost to the teacher. So how we do this is we gather the teachers one day per month to participate in virtual professional development here at ASC together. They also have various assignments related to special ed that they turn into the director of the program the state program the ASSET. The assistant director of exceptional learners Mrs. Kaiger is the lead with the ASSET program and meets individually with the teachers as a
040mentor every month. We both have been in that role and find it to be extremely beneficial not only for the teacher but also for us as administrators to be able to build capacity in the staff that way. It provides a real opportunity for us to get to know them. So we currently have approximately 35 staff members and 375 students on a on a 504 plan or ADA plan. This slide shows a little bit of the differences and overlap between the two areas as it relates to disabilities. Each building has a 504 coordinator for the students who works with the district coordinator Mrs. Kaiger with students and families on the 504 plans and then I work with HR on the ADA plans for employees. So as we move into next school year we will continue to
041review our specialized programming as it continues to increase. Teacher availability in this area is particularly difficult so we have beautiful utilized the district behavior support team to work with the life skills teachers directly for professional development and growth. We are also having conversations amongst our evaluation staff to make sure that our evaluation practices are aligned and focused on accurate determination of students with disabilities along with the services and specially designed instruction that they need. During our walk-throughs and trainings that Mrs. Kaiger and I have been privileged to be doing at the middle schools on co-teaching we also have been doing this with curriculum and instruction as well. We've we've combined our efforts and and we're utilizing a lot of the same what we're looking for in the classrooms which has been a great connection between
042the two. But we recognize the continued need for professional development in this area. So our hope is to move forward with some additional content area training specifically for special ed teachers in co-teaching. We realize we need to teach them if if they're co-teaching in a math class we need to do maybe some content training with them and we'll be working with with Dr. Gatewood's group to be doing that. And additionally this year we have partnered with Dr. Scott Carson who is formerly of RISE Special Services to utilize the behavior mapping process for some of our more significant students and it's really been impactful. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the staff. We are looking to move forward with additional consultation with him for next school year. It involves the parents in a in
043a process and it's been really really cool to watch. So those who know me well know how proud I am to be a leader in Pike Township. Our teachers, therapists, staff, families and most importantly our students are why I wake up every day excited to be a part of this district. It is not work for the faint of heart however it is extremely important work and it matters. Thank you so much for your support as our school board and can I answer any questions for any of you? I don't have a question but I have a comment. I'm sorry Mrs. Go ahead. Um I really enjoyed reading the information. I thought that the data that you provided was just so encouraging. So I just wanted to thank you for your leadership in your department. Um
044I think you gave certainly for those who are not in education environment every day an on-ramp to understanding even the difference between a 504 and IEP. Um I think that's powerful um when as leaders we need to consider that when we consider everybody in our district so thank you. Thank you. I just want to say thank you for the information. It is very encouraging and uplifting in the direction that we're moving. And I did have one question about the CPI training. >> Mhm. How often do you have to be trained >> for that? We have moved to a 2-year model. CPI allows for a 2-year model. Originally for a long time we were on a 1-year model but we moved a couple years ago to a 2-year model and that seems to be it's more
045financially sustainable but it it also just provides a little uh it allows for us to refine what we're doing and do it well. Mhm. Is it optional or is it mandatory? For whom? For CPI. Uh well Is it the teachers and I is required to take it? So our anyone that's on the escort team is required to go through the the CPI training. The escort team is a little bit different than special ed. Special ed we we require I'll get that word. Um we require our life skills teachers and our behavior support classroom teachers to certainly go through it. Um we do there is some occasionally we will have staff who are not physically able to go through the the physical restraint part but we always have them go through the de-escalation part. So even
046if they can't physically do the the restraints and it wouldn't be appropriate for us to require that we go ahead and have them go through the de-escalation. >> One other question. You guys do the RBT RBTs registered behavior technicians? Do we allow them in Pike? Mhm. Um we this year are having our BC's and yeah, we yes, we are now it what we realized is that [clears throat] um in this day and age with the services that are that are needed by students that if it's a need as part of the IEP process that we document that in the IEP and then we they they can come in under an MOU. And I just also want to tell you great presentation. So, thanks. Very simple and it was to the point and Thank you. Um
047the I think what one of the things that was in our referendum was the recruitment and retention if I'm not mistaken. Is that right, Dr. Young? Yes. Um, I see we we're able to keep at least four teachers out of the 14 years. 14 teachers out of four years. We have 14 teachers have gone through the program and of all those teachers there is one teacher who has moved into a general ed classroom in Pike Township, but everyone else is still here with the exception of we had some licensing things that we needed to refine with some folks and and they're they're here and it's just they're teaching something different than what they started out with. >> Okay. But yeah, now I will say this, let me make sure I make myself clear. In the
048IC program those those teachers have not remained as much, but when they've left they've gone back into private sector. Okay. So, we're still having problems with recruiting and retainment. I have to be honest, we don't have as many issues with retainment. Retention in Pike um once we get them here um we've been able to keep them. We we work really hard in in making sure that we have processes and communication and clear directives going cuz I do think that matters to teachers now and as long as we're communicating for the most part we've had pretty low turnover comparative to other districts. >> in special ed. In special ed. Once they're here they they tend to stay. Uh when when we look at the uh the HR list what are you doing in special ed that
049we probably need to do in other areas? Well, I would say we've had our highest retention rate for staff that was 99% or In general. 97. Highest it's ever been. In general. That's what we need. Get those numbers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your presentation tonight. I was at one of the middle schools today and I I purposely intentionally watched those adults work with those students and I was amazed. I was I was amazed how delicate and how compassionate >> Yes. those teachers were with those students and I was moved Yes. uh and uh uh to emotions to to see that because uh people who are struggling physically and mentally uh we're living in a time to where resources are just not there like they should be. Thank you. Yes. Um, so as
050the parent of a exceptional learner well was an exceptional learner but once always still this is near and dear to my heart. And so when I ran for school board I was really clear that one of the hardest decisions we made was our child who was a exceptional learner pulling him out at one point and didn't want other parents to have to make that decision. I love the steps that you're taking towards that. I think things are just night and day different from how they were back then. I do have a question. One of the things that were really impactful in our decision then was the um the ratio of IAs that we had. How are we doing in our staffing cuz IAs work with our kids in the resource room I mean in the
051regular classrooms, don't they? At least that's how they were with my son. >> All over. Yeah, that's what so how are we doing with staffing with IAs? Are we are we Being able to >> fully staffed? Are we yeah how where where are we at with that? >> Honestly we're not fully staffed. It's always we're always looking for someone. So, if you know of anyone please send [laughter] them my way. All right, if anyone's out there we need okay. As soon as we you know it's it's that is a niche where we will have someone hired and then another building will you know have someone resign and and they for a variety of different reasons, but so we're always looking for folks. But haven't you had some of the IAs go through the program to
052become teachers? Exactly. That's the 14 most of them were IAs and I can say specifically at the high school they recruit those IAs those IAs know what they're doing and they're the ones that are [clears throat] coming to work. Yeah, it's just I I know the value that they bring. Yeah, so there there there truly is an important role. The unified football kids all the unified sports I'm sure I had a chance to go to unified football game that was just amazing. Well, track is starting. >> Track I saw that. I saw that. Got to have to take you to one of those. One other thing you mentioned cuz it also played into our decision probably when our son went through he would have been one of one of the certificate track when the new
053um stuff they did at the state house and that was presented I had a question about the general diplomas or you know so is alternate diplomas I guess in the new way that we're doing things is that still an option for our kids to get if that's what they need? >> The alternate? >> Yeah, cuz you you mentioned how many get an alternate diploma and then get to go into college. It's always an option. I will say you know there are specific unit colleges that accept the alternate diploma. So, if if you're looking at IU, Ball State, Purdue they would want core 40. Um when you Ivy Tech is one of the universe one of the colleges that takes the alternate diploma and we all know that if you get into Ivy Tech you can
054sometimes move on to the other universities. So, to have that opportunity for our students is pretty pretty amazing. >> Well, and just having that diploma over a certificate is so important anytime you're applying for a job even if it's not. So, just I wanted to make sure cuz that was a big concern that I had when the state did that thing with the way they they changed stuff. Is that would that prevent some of our kids who could get an alternate diploma from being able to get something like that? One of the things that I I'm sorry go ahead. I was going to say IUPUI takes they even have a life skills department. They do. Yes. So. No, one of the things I think that are is I think it's unfortunate. I really wish that
055the the state would have a different take is that after over now it's what 1% of children and so for us if you think of a graduation class of 700 children that's only seven kids. So, once we get over those seven children, you know, those children as far as the state looks at them are are considered non-graduates. So, when you look at our graduation rate you know, once you get over about seven children we're excited for those children because for them it does open up doors that they wouldn't have had otherwise out after high school, but it still counts against our graduation rate still. Another question. So, that I just and I'm sorry [clears throat] as the parent of a child that would have fallen into that that's despicable and that's clearly not at you
056guys as at the people making those. That's despicable cuz I the jobs my son can get now because he's got that piece of paper. >> Sure. He couldn't even get those if he didn't have it. That's that's just horrible. Thank you, sir. The IA you say you have a rough time holding on or hiring What are the problems why we can't hold on to those IAs? Um, I I it's a variety of reasons. So, I I'd have to look into it a little bit further and probably talk with with Dr. Hunter about some of those reasons. I know we do a an exit interview. That's the word I wanted to >> Hunter give us a few reasons? Some of sometimes it's allowances sometimes it's pay. I think it's benefits. It's one of them that's been
057a concern I've had. Yeah, like benefits. Getting paid all year round. Yeah. I I know. Cuz I hear yeah, I heard them all. Yeah, they they want to get paid all year round. >> become creative, Dr. Young? Well, you know, one thing that we looked at was the potential providing those limited uh benefits for and the plan for our IAs through remember Marathon they had that option. Um, so that's one way that we can look at providing benefits for instructional assistants, but I think we have to get creative and and look at some opportunities such as that because you know, that's one reason that um our benefits I believe are so affordable right now is because we don't have everyone um that are that say on those those plans. >> Dr. Young I I'm hearing
058a lot of things about districts cutting now. Um IPS 7 million Hamilton County so many millions. We haven't heard anything from Pike, so I guess we're doing pretty good. We got plenty money. Um will that come into play as it relates to these IAs? Um making the the salary comparable enough for them to stay on uh and to do what is necessary to be Well, I think I I would imagine our retention rate for IAs is probably as as good as most. What we've done in Pike is try to offset the the benefits with higher pay. So, I don't foresee in in Pike that in my goal and cabinet can attest to this is as we look at cost saving measures. Um that is just sort of a way of life. It's a culture. We're
059making those decisions every single day so that we don't have to make decisions in which we have to make uh cuts or or things that would be impacted at the classroom level. Um so we don't foresee that having to cut back on instructional assistance. Um right now we don't see that we'll have to cut back on um other staff. We have a pretty good tax base. We're fortunate and blessed in in Pine Township and you know, on the operation side and we'll see what the state does on the on the education side. But we're we're we're making small um uh we talk about it all the time. Cuts or you guys hear us talk about savings so that we don't have to do anything big, which we've seen in other school districts. You you meant
060So what you mentioned there with the operation and education side, I'm still trying to get it all straight, education finances. Yes. Come or IA salaries, does that that comes out of the education side? Education because it's instructional. [clears throat] That's that part as well. Okay. And I don't have any within the Part B grant. We have just Oh, that's that would be okay. Thank you so much. Mhm. You're welcome. Thank you, Ms. Gohan. Thank you for sharing. All right, we are on to action items. First up is the minutes from the last board meeting, March 12th. Move to approve. So moved, Mr. President. Second. Moved and second that we accept um March 12th minutes. Any questions? No questions on the minutes. Let's go on to vote. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Thank you.
061Approval of the Board of Education policy, Dr. Maggie Bishop. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board and Dr. Young. I seek your approval of um action item B, uh approval of the Board of Education policy 9500 as presented. So moved. Second. Moved and second that we accept action item B as presented, approval of the Board of Education policy. Are there any questions? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Thank you. Thank you. I I never seen Dr. Bishop move that fast. She's running up to the [laughter] Only one policy. Day before It's the day [laughter] before the Next up next up is the uh human resource report, uh Dr. Hunter. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board and Dr. Young. I request your approval of HR report except the athletic director's position, assistant
062athletic director position. Motion is in order. So moved. Second. Moved and second that we accept our HR report detached is the AD assistant AD for approval by itself. All in favor of our HR report, say I. I. Oppose. Thank you. Dr. Hunter, next up is the assistant AD. Mr. President, members of the board and Dr. Young, I request your approval of the assistant athletic director position as presented. I move that we accept the assistant athletic director as presented. Second. Accept the assistant. Okay. Are there any questions? I'm sorry, that's what I was in Actually, let me read the statement. I was intending to read the statement before we got the the the motion to accept. I think we'll I'll read it after. So you we got a first and a second, right? Yes. Moved and
063second that we accept our assistant or recommended assistant AD as presented. Now we're on to questions. Any questions? Are we allowed to have questions on an HR matter? And you know what, you're right. You're right. Let me read the statement and then we'll get the vote. Cuz I wanted to read the statement uh give you some context. Not the content >> [laughter] >> of the of the HR report, but some context on why we uh pulled it out. Um while we won't discuss the content, but we will give you some context behind this. Um in a recent board meeting, uh an executive session, the board expressed uh from its governing position the need or the wishes to have a more collaborative involvement with the high-level visible positions that will impact our district and our community.
064Some examples of those would be the uh superintendent, the assistant superintendent, principals, CFOs, ADs, and some coaches. Um And so the purpose for us and wanting to have this collaborative involvement is in order for us to make the best informed decision possible as a board. It is not our intent as a board to usurp any authority or serve in a bully in type of position over our administration. Thus we have not interfered with the process and have allowed the administration to make their recommendation tonight. Um and may each board member as we get ready to go to vote, may each board member having asked questions, been involved in the process, uh may each board member now vote what you feel is the best judgment on this assistant AD. And in doing so, I think we
065move to a roll call vote so that we can make sure that we get the vote of everyone. Dr. Moore, how do you vote? As it relates to the assistant AD, whether you vote yay or nay. Yay meaning yay meaning you accept the recommendation from the board. No means you do not, you reject the recommendation. I reject it. Ms. Mrs. um Wilson. Reject. Mr. Hoover. Yay. Mr. Anderson. Nay. I reject. Mrs. Nay. Nay. All right. And so the the recommendation fails by the board on the assistant AD. All right. I think um uh on the path forward, I think Mr. Anderson may have a a motion here on the floor coming up on the floor. Yes, Mr. President, I would like to set a motion that we recast uh this position as a AD, a
066co-AD instead of an assistant AD. I second. Moved and second that we repost our position as co-AD, which is its original vacated position. Are there any questions? Nope. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. No. We got two nays. And so it passes and so we will we will repost the position as a uh co-AD. All right. Thank you, Dr. Hunter. Thank you, sir. We are on to um action item D, claims and allowances, Ms. Monet Gray. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board and Dr. Young. I request your approval of action item D, claims and allowances as presented. I'll make a motion that we accept claims uh action item D, claims and allowances. Second. Moved and second that we accept action item D as presented by Ms. Monet Gray. Are there any questions
067on action item D? Question. Yes. Ms. Gray, are we getting any increases in this area? Um well well these are just her expenditures. >> that, but are there are there any increases other than the expenditures that you already have to the expenditures? Um no, not at this moment, but with the current uh war in Iran, uh we are watching the fuel prices for the diesel gas. So um as expected, I mean you see when you walk I mean when you're driving down the street, you see the price of gas going up. So that we won't realize that until after those expenditures come in, but you might see an increase in the the transportation area. >> Yeah, I just wanted to be proactive and ask that question. >> Thank you. Any other questions? All in favor
068of accepting action item D as presented, say I. I. >> I. Oppose. Ms. Gray, we have E and F for recommendation of approval. Yes, sir. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board and Dr. Young. I request your approval of action item E and F, which are contracts and donations. I am presenting 10 contracts and seven donations tonight. I'll we accept the action action items E and F, which includes the contracts and donations as presented. Second. Moved and second that we accept action item E and F as presented. Are there any questions on E or F? No questions, we're on to vote. All in favor of accepting action item E and F, as presented, say aye. Aye. Oppose. Thank you, Mrs. Gray. >> Thank you. We're on to board member items. Dr. Moore. Thank you,
069Mr. President. I I just want to say I was uh moved to today to be at the uh um at the high school today and was able to hear some of the uh success uh successes of our young people in Pike Township. And um it was a pretty good panel today and um it was well a well-qualified panel. Uh and I think um as uh we listen to these young people um come through their um their areas of development um uh you can see that um the foundation of education that Pike has offered them. Uh has been um and has impressed upon them uh has done extremely extremely well and I was very pleased to see all of the students um uh who came in to to participate. It was just a great opportunity uh
070to see that. Then I went to the to the game uh um I didn't get a chance to go to the high school, but I went to watch a over at uh New Augusta one of the the the students and the teachers played today uh and um um I don't want you all to think because you you get old that you can't shoot the jumper anymore. Don't ever think because you get old you can't put it up, but you I saw some of those teachers putting that jumper up. I mean hitting them three-pointers and it was a great opportunity to see the kids come together and were they were literally enjoying themselves. And I think we need to do much more of that uh in our district to have uh children come together uh and
071enjoy one another. No problems. It was just a beautiful time. >> Good. Good. Thank you, Dr. Moore. Mrs. Wilson. Um just two things I I I too went to the staff versus students uh game today and um to Miss Coy my students mauled me and they were asking me, "When are you coming back?" Well, I like being on the school board right now, guys. And then um with that being said, um I had the opportunity to go to Louisville with my uh peers to the um Consortium of State School Board Association uh where I learned quite a bit. Um it was very very um we've it was very revealing. I learned a lot um which means I have a lot to still learn. And as long as um they have these um training and conferences,
072I will be trying to attend as many as I possibly can. Uh we um actually I'm going to let Angela she'll she'll I'll let her have the one for the 23rd uh 21st. I'll let you have that one. I won't say anything. And so um with that being said I thank you guys for allowing us to go and I want to still in front of everybody thank Mr. Young because we had so many people envious of us when we were there because we wore the vest that he gave us for Christmas to the point where people were asking me I had a lady text me and said, "Can you get me where you guys got those from?" because you guys are standing out. And then at the Indiana um um ISBA they were giving away
073door prizes and guess who won the first one? >> [laughter] >> So um it was it was it was great. It was it it's something that allowed us to bond together >> Good. and to see each other in a different light, which is always good to get away from the professional side and get to you know learn something was was fun together. Good. Well, thank you, Mrs. Wilson. I know. Mr. Hooper. So, echo really everything Mrs. Wilson said about the conference. It was very um it was great from an educational standpoint. It was great from a team bonding uh standpoint with other board members. And so I guess thank you uh to to Dr. Young and to the community um giving us that opportunity to to go there. I want to thank Miss Pettiford also.
074So um this month I had a chance to do school visits at at my schools and she is always critical in uh coordinating those things. So appreciate all the work that she does on that and everything else um that she does for us. And just lastly just I everyone enjoy your spring break. Take a chance, relax. Um I've been reminded in my personal life from some folks that I care about deeply that um just the importance of caring for your mental health. And share what we learned with uh those board members who were unable to attend in a Google Doc. So [clears throat] that is all super public information should you ever want to have a peek at what we learned. Our notes are available. Um and I do look forward to seeing Mrs. Tatalia
075and the Pike Best Buddies at the Friendship Walk. Um that's something I don't [laughter] talk about a lot in this platform, but we have a relationship. Like I know Mrs. Tatalia. I've known her for years and I know the Best Buddies at Pike because our chapters are together at events. So I know the buddies and their buddies know my buddies and it's it's all love. It's all love. So I would encourage everyone to come out to the Friendship Walk. It's on Sunday, April the 19th. It's free. It's family-friendly. You get fed. There's games. And it's at Victory Field. So if you're available um certainly check out the website, sign up, donate if you see [clears throat] fit if that's what you want to do. Um and also um Mrs. Wilson is right. On April the
07621st we are um going to receive our commendable award from the ISBA. Um what that means is that most of the board members here have 75 uh PTA points. They're like professional development points for school board members. And because we have that many, we receive that award. Um we plan on going together to the dinner. And at that regional meeting we also get what's called a legislative update. And that's where their staff attorneys and um other staff members educate us on the laws that are going to come into effect on July the 1st so that we are prepared before the summer even begins. And that's usually when uh Dr. Bishop calls calls and gives us giant packets of things to read of policies we need and and we do that alongside our partners at NEOLA.
077So it's all part of just governing better and being more equipped to serve you better. So when we go to those things, especially the one on the 21st and what we just left in CASBA we do get a chance not only to get to know each other better but we get to learn about Indiana laws and we get to meet other school board members in other places. Um we're finding that the time for coalition building is most definitely now. As you heard in our um Pike Alumni Excellence the time for coalition among public schools is most definitely right now. We need to do that. Enjoy [clears throat] your spring break. Thank you, Mrs. Barnes. Mrs. Kelly. All right. Um I too was able to attend the conference in Louisville. Cannot even describe all that was
078shared and learned and experienced um amongst those that went and the opportunity to meet other board members from across the country. And then I even met someone that was from Canada. So it was just a very good experience. Very proud of our young authors that were published today and the the college fair, all the things that are taking place. Excited to hear about that. Thank you to our donors as always. Um and then our staff and students that have been recognized. And this is like the signing season. So those that are signing um to go to schools and making their choices and decisions, congratulations to all of them. And to the seniors that are making those choices you've been prepared. So take those >> Making those choices, you've been prepared. So, take those steps and
079make the best decisions um for yourself and your family as you're taking those times. And and just continue to make us Pike proud. And they stole my lines that I normally have as far as how we end before break uh end before break, but refresh, recharge, enjoy. I think you're going to have good weather for your spring break. Um so, even if you're just going to be home, doing something different, seeing something different, a different routine, as Mr. Andrews said, you're just a different mind shift. And then come back for this last 9 weeks to finish strong. Thank you, Ms. Kelly, Dr. Young. Right. Uh thank you to Representative uh Hamilton for sharing her words of wisdom. Had an opportunity to speak at career day today. Our students asked phenomenal questions. Enjoy spring break, students,
080staff, and families. So, thank you. Thank you. And I would like to congratulate Ms. Barnes on uh being accepted as a at her poem has been accepted this spring. this spring, yes. And and is the title trust God with your dreams? That Did you Did you just say that? That's not the title. Okay. Okay. Because I was going to say if the name of your poem is trust God with your dreams, I'm certain that But thank you so much. And again, I I want to appreciate again every every staff and uh and then every board member. I think if we continue to to work together for for the good of our district and our community, we will be continuously a force to reckon with. I want to say this, uh if you missed any part
081of um our sectionals and and our regionals boys basketball, it was electrifying and off the chart. And so, uh we we we, you know, Pike's community turned out. And um we we were a little disappointed, fell a little short, but we're hoping to uh rebound on that next year. All right. Um nothing else. Enter a motion to adjourn. So moved, Mr. President. >> Second. Second. All moved. Hey, Nicole. And if you need to sign this, y'all back here sign it.