001Let's rise for the pledge of >> allegiance. I aliance 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. [clears throat] Good evening and welcome everyone to our reorganization board meeting of Pike Township School Board. We will start off with the election of the officers beginning with the president. Do we have any nominations for president? >> I go ahead. >> No. >> I nominate Dr. Webster for president. >> Second. >> I nominate and Mr. Anderson. >> All right. Uh, so we have two uh nominations. Uh, >> second. >> Oh, yeah. We need a second. >> No, what was the second person? I can I'm sorry. >> Point of order. >> Yeah, I just didn't I >> So,
002we have a nomination for um uh from Tony. Can you go ahead and repeat your nomination, please, for the record? >> I nominate Mr. Lonzo and Anderson. [snorts] Any other? All right. We have a first and motion. >> Any second for you? >> Any seconds? >> Second. All right. Uh, at this time, I will respectfully uh decline the nomination for president. Thank you very much. Uh, any more nominations for president? All right, we'll move on to vote for president. All in favor for Dr. Wester to become the next 2026 school board president say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. >> Dr. Wester. Congratulations. >> Thank you, Mr. Anderson. >> Next, we have vice president. Do we have any nominations? >> I nominate Alonzo Anderson. >> Second. >> I accept the nom [laughter]
003>> I accept the nomination for vice president. Thank you very much. All in f go on to vote. All in favor for myself as vice president say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. Thank you very much board. Lastly for our officers we have secretary. Do we have any nominations for secretary? >> Miss Wilson. >> M. Mr. Chair. I nominate Mrs. Barnes for secretary. >> Second. >> All right. We need a second for Mrs. Wilson. >> Second. I already made nomination. Somebody can make a second one. >> Okay, I will second the nomination for Mrs. Wilson. All right, we'll move on to votes. All in favor for Mrs. Barnes, say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> I. >> All right. Now, since we have the majority of the vote, we'll move on
004with the vote there. Mrs. Barnes, you have the nomination. >> Thank you. All right. So, that concludes our elections for the president. For the president, vice president, and secretary. We'll move on to board appointments. For treasurer, we have a recommendation for treasurer, Mrs. Gray. For deputy treasurer, we have the recommendation for Mrs. Foster. Oh, for Mr. Foster. And we will select all of our appointees. Then we'll vote at the end of that so we don't go through the voting process for each single name. Okay. Uh for our council we have Barnes and Thornberg uh for special education law church uh hin uh and atrium uh for ISBA liaison policy liaison. >> I'd like to do that please. >> All right. We have Mrs. Barnes. Anyone else? We can have up to two. >> I'll take
005>> Okay. [clears throat] All right. Next, we have the ISBA legislative liaison. >> I'll volunteer for that. >> Okay. >> Anyone else? We can have up to two. Next, we have the National Affiliate Advocate Network. Advocacy Network. All right. I will volunteer myself for that. Next we have the district policy committee. I volunteer. >> All right. We have up to two. Anyone else would like to sit on that committee? >> I'll stay. >> You'll stay? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Lastly, we have the negotiations committee. >> I volunteer. >> Me, too. >> You only have two? Yes. So you >> I'd like to have that this year. I'll take it. >> Okay. Go ahead. Okay. >> I I I decline. >> You decline? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. So >> President. So we
006have Wilson and Moore. >> Yeah. Right. Everyone clear on our appointments? We'll move on to vote on our appointments as they were stand and announce. All in favor say I. I >> any opposed. Motion carries. >> I get actually that concludes our reorganization part of the meeting. Now we will start with our regular school board meeting with our new president. >> I would like to ask Mr. Chair to continue our meeting for the night. >> All right. We have adjourned our renegotiation meeting reorganization meeting. We will now start our regular school board meeting. First, we'll start off with our for the good of the cause. Any patrons would like to use this platform. You will start off. >> Okay. No, no problem. [cough] You start off by stating your name and you have three minutes.
007>> Oh, man. Time. My name is Mike DS. Mr. President, Mr. Past President, Dr. on Miss Pedaphford. Won't the record reflect you were always my favorite? Just write that down. Okay. [laughter] My name is Mike DS and I am the proud parent of three Pike grads. One went to Old Miss. So, I'm going to hurry because they kick off in 25 minutes. Um, all three of my kids got an education in Pike Township schools. They graduated, went off to great universities on scholarship in some various form and they are living their best lives. And my favorite part is they are off my payroll. So, I thank you for that. I spent time setting where Miss Wilson sat for about three of my years on the school board and enjoyed that time too. But currently I
008serve as the Pike Township Educational Foundation President and that's why I'm here today. Um I continue to stay involved because I want to make sure that all Pike students get what my children got. Mr. Enman lived through my children as did others and I thank you for that. Um two things coming up. One, I want to encourage you if you haven't yet as a board member as community members, if you haven't made a donation to the Township Education Foundation recently, I encourage you to do so. Doesn't have to be a lot, but it'd be great to be able to say 100% of our school board makes a donation. Um, so I encourage you to do that. Number two is we have our treasures event coming up, which is our annual fundraising gala on March 7th
009at Broadmore Country Club. Miss Kelly was my tablemate last year. We had a good time. She's like, "Oh god, I was um we had a great time." So, I encourage you to come out, spend some time with the community, with members. Um, encourage you to maybe buy a table together or come out just as individuals if you have time and ability or if you have people that you know could give us auction items andor some sort of donation. And if you don't want to make those calls, Miss Hoofer's on the board with me and quote the temptations, I ain't too proud to beg. So, I will ask those people for you. Um, it's going to be a great time. Tickets are online at pike-fike -f.org. Buy early, by often. And we'll see you all there.
010Um I look at Marty, we just finished our board meeting. We have given away so far this year over $15,000 back to Pike Township classrooms. Um and that's just our first two cycles and we will look forward to about I think we gave away $77,000 in scholarships last year to Pike High School students. So the more money we raise, the more we can give back and your teachers and our teachers and our staff are doing a great job um with those resources and we will grant money again in February whatever we can. So thank you again. You're my favorite. You wrote that down, didn't you? >> Okay. [laughter] >> Thank you, Mr. DS. >> U Mr. Chairman, I'm calling a point of privilege. There's a malfunction on my computer. >> Okay, we'll take a brief
011pause. Okay, we can sneeze this or not. >> Restart, too. >> Oh, [snorts] your assistant. >> I'm good. paper. [clears throat] >> Oh, I knew that. >> Okay. What is that? >> All right. All right. We will carry on. Are there anyone else for the good of the cause? Again, you will start by stating your name. You have three minutes. Mr. Church. >> Good evening, President Webster, members of the school board, and Dr. Young. My name is Ben Church, and I am the vice president of membership for Pike Classroom Teachers Association. On behalf of PCTA, I would like to uh say thank you to Dr. Young and his team for working with the teachers union during the bargaining session to come up with a fair contract that compensates our certified staff for all their hard
012work. PCTA appreciates the good working relationship that has been established with Dr. Young and his team. After the bargaining session, PCTA was informed that our contract back pay and our salary increase would be paid out in February. I want to give a shout out to Miss Gray and her payroll team for working hard to get those payments to staff members sooner. Her team was able to get that pay out um in December before we went on winter break. During the general assembly uh session last spring, many of you worked with PCTA to advocate for our students. You hosted community forums to inform the citizens about education and how policy changes were going to harm our district. You came out and protested with us to ensure our students get the best. Thank you for your dedication
013to this community and your passion to improve things. Unfortunately, there were policies forced onto our all schools that are not good for students. We look forward to working with you again during this session to promote proublic education policies across the state. Thank you for speaking up for the children. We need to continue to advocate for safe, nurturing, supportive, fully funded schools to give our children the best opportunity for success. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Church. Is there anyone else for the good of the cause? >> All right, we'll move on to Spotlight on Pike, Miss Sarah Dorsy. >> Good evening. It's wonderful to see you all. I hope you had a happy holiday and you're having a wonderful new year. Um, we don't stop here and we had a lot of great things happen
014even over break. Um, you may know there's another game going on this evening. Um, so we're excited about that. Our wrestlers and are in action over at the high school. Our RDTV students are streaming that. They've been streaming a lot more recently. So, that's just been a great way for them to get experience and for us to share Pike excellence with the community. Uh, in addition, our swimmers did an amazing job at county with many earning county championships. We're going to share that in our Pike Proud and via our social media. So, please keep an eye out for that. In addition, our dancers um had some first place finishes at their first competition of this season. We had girls basketball success, boys, but like it's amazing. So, please look for Pike Proud in our social
015media to see all that. But what I want to briefly talk about is um something that happened yesterday. So, Pike High School and specifically in this instance, Toriia Buckley, who is our college and career re resource center coordinator, um, often have alumni come back to speak to our students. And yesterday we had two alumni come back. One of them is a sophomore at Yale and the other is a sophomore at IU. and they talked to our current students as well as a student journalist at Pike High School who is writing a story about it and our RDTV staff um student staff about their experiences. And I think the overwhelming sense of pride that you received from being in the room and listening to their story to their belief in themselves and their appreciation for the
016possibilities um and the strengths of our community um specifically our graduate who is at Yale said that she believes after being at Yale that Pike students are the perfect profile for Yale students. She encouraged the students in attendance to be themselves and tell their story because that's what colleges are looking for. She talked about her study abroad experience where she received $15,000 and studied in London. She talked about her asset management internship at JP Morgan. She talked about having pro professors who are uh Nobel Prize recipients who are former prime ministers. and she talked about how she felt so wellprepared to be at those tables and in those conversations, zero imposttor syndrome because her experience at Pike prepared her to talk to any and everyone and feel like she belonged in that space. And when
017I tell you both of those students said, "We're actually getting paid to attend college." And they also said, "We want to help Pike. We want to talk to current students. We want to support this school district. We want to be involved." And that was amazing and it's just a testament really to the great job our schools and our educators are doing and honestly our students and our families. I could not be more pipe proud and I just wanted to share that. >> Thank you Miss Dorsy. Next we have reports to the board starting off with our 21st century out of school learning grants. Miss Hardman. Good evening, board president, members of the board, Dr. Young. I'm I'm here tonight and I'm very excited about the opportunity to to introduce to you uh Miss uh Christine
018Balac and Miss Mindy King. They're here to share the work that we've been doing with our 21st Century Community Learning Center grant. and we have a long history with this program. And tonight, um, Miss Ball from CISC who facilitates the grant alongside of Pike Township or myself and Miss King from Limelight Analytics who is our external program uh, evaluator are here to share some more detail. So, I'm going to turn the mic over to them. Thank you for the opportunity. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board, and Dr. Young. My my name is Christine Balac. I work at CISC. I am the director of community programs. I have been fortunate to manage the 21st century afterchool programs in Pike Township for 15 years. Um, these are federally funded 4-year grant programs. Um, they allow
019us to provide Pike students with a safe, caring environment focused on academic remediation and diverse enrichment activities that include STEM, art, music, and mentoring. Um, I I think a lot of our program success is due to the fact that we employ Pike employees. A lot of our instructional assistant, media uh instructional IAS, media assistants, nurses, um they provide the continuity from the school day to at the afterchool program. We employ Pike teachers to provide the tutoring piece of our program that happens on Mondays and Wednesdays. And we also recently have started employing Pike High School students. These students have actually attended the programs in the elementary schools and now full circle are now working the program. So um we're proud to do that. As you see on the board there, this is a typical schedule.
020The students leave the um school day. They have supper from Chartwells. Um, and then they start their day with either homework, help, tutoring, or community partners come provide enrichment activities for them. Currently, we are in five elementaryaries and Pike High School. Over the past 15 years, we've been present in nearly every single building in the district, serving thousands of students. CISC remains deeply committed to our partnership with Pike, supporting the district through whether that be through Indiana online drivers ed um professional development with keep Indiana learning or comprehensive grant management such as the 21st century program. Mindy High Totower is now going to speak um about the evaluation piece of that grant. Cindy, >> good evening, Mr. president, members of the board, and Dr. Young. Um, my name is Mindy High Tower King. I'm with
021Limelight Analytics, which is an evaluation and measurement firm located in Bloomington, Indiana. And I have been fortunate enough to be uh the evaluator, the external evaluator for the Pike 21st Century Community Learning Centers Initiative for around seven years. Um, most people would say working with data shouldn't necessarily be a pleasure, but as a hooer and as a mom, anytime I see really high quality educational practices in place, it's pleasurable. So, I do want to say that as well. Um, I work alongside Danielle Savinsky who, uh, works with me at Limelight Analytics. And in addition to formal education program evaluation uh we also work with various entities on performance measure all kinds of data collection and data visualization as part of our repertoire as well. Um we work in the areas of youth development including very
022specific educational areas dedicated to math reading and STEM but we also do work in evaluating early childhood education and public health and health interventions as well. So our background is a bit broad. Um and I've been working with program evaluation for just about 27 years now. So lengthy as well. Um the Indiana Department of Education actually has very specific requirements for external evaluators of 21st century programs. Each program that's funded by the state is required to have someone external. So what that means is that the entity providing the out of school time support doesn't do their own evaluation. that third party should bring expertise but also an objective I as well the work that I do and the funds that I am paid actually come from the grant that's provided by the Indiana Department of
023Education by way of the US Department of Education so Pike actually while I work for Pike Township Pike doesn't actually have to pay me unless there are funds to provide out of schooltime programming the standards for the evaluation are largely set by the Indiana Department of Education they involve on-site visits quantitative data analysis and progress towards academic, social as well as family engagement performance measures, all of which represent important program outcomes, not just for Pike Township, but for these kinds of programs across the entire state. Um, the approach to 21st century program evaluation is multi-tered in Indiana in some ways that it isn't in all states. Not every state prioritizes local program evaluation where schools and community- based organizations have expertise from an evaluator to help them use their own data to plan and celebrate
024success and identify opportunities for change. But Indiana prioritizes that and it's been a bold move at the state and I hope it continues as well. Indiana uses the results of the evaluation that come from all the local programs to identify professional development and other funding decisions and advocacy groups like the Indiana Afterchool Network also use it to help advocate for this kind of opportunity moving forward. At the federal level, the US Department of Education does have a long history of using 21st century evaluation results as well. Those results are presented to Congress [clears throat] through annual GEPRA performance measures and at the national level the afterchool alliance also uses the data to expand public awareness and mobilize resources to support out of school time learning as well. We're getting ready to start the site visits
025to Pike Township. I always look forward to visiting your program sites and the things that we look for are identified and aligned with the Indiana afterchool standards. That's actually a thing. Um and you can you can find them on the website for the Indiana After School Network. We are looking at specific elements of program delivery, academic enrichment, the ways youth are engaged and then the positive relationships that actually develop between the staff and the students who attend those programs. We use a rubric and each site each site gets a report back on their site visit to provide feedback on the extent to which they're implementing highquality program practices. At the end of the school year, we'll prepare a formative or an a report that is meant to be somewhat formative, but includes outcome data for
026each of the program sites that are served by the program. We'll be these program reports are available publicly and you can ask to see them. We can provide more information on that. But in each one, we detail attendance trends. Who attends? How often do they attend? What are the characteristics of students who attend? because you all have set some priorities about who you're hoping to attract to those programs. We want to make sure you're fulfilling that. We also look at outcomes that are related to academic, social, and family engagement measures. And then finally, teachers, parents, and participants in those programs all complete surveys to provide both feedback on the programs, but also information on the extent to which they are benefiting from the program as well. So, that will all be detailed in those reports.
027We look forward to preparing those for you each year. I think that's all I have. >> Maybe there's questions. I don't know if there's time, but if there are, I'm happy to take them. >> Absolutely. >> Are there any questions? >> Questions or comments? [clears throat] >> All right. Great job. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. >> Great job. Next, we have the superintendent above and beyond award recognition, Dr. Hunter. Thank you, Mr. President, members of the board, Dr. Young. We are excited tonight to have our superintendent above and beyond award. And we will bring up Miss Rama Graham, the proud principal of the Great Dear Run Elementary School. >> Thank you, Dr. Hunter. Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board, and Dr. Young. This evening, I am honored
028to recognize two members of my exceptional learners team. First, I would like to recognize Miss Courtney Perry for the Superintendent Above and Beyond award. Miss Perry serves as an exceptional learners instructional assistant at Deerrun Elementary, working primarily with fourth and fifth grade students. She is someone who is always willing to step in and assist whenever needed. This recognition is in honor of Miss Perry's unwavering support for one of our fourth grade students who is an English language learner. This student joined us last year from Chile with limited English proficiency and significant medical needs. Today, he is vibrant, communicates effectively in English, and confidently advocates for himself. He frequently requests Miss Perry's support because of the trust and connection she has built with him. Each year, our fourth graders participate in a swimming field trip. Due
029to this student's medical needs, we reached out to the family to see if a parent could attend so he could participate participate safely. Unfortunately, neither parent was able to do so. His excitement quickly shifted to comments like, "I didn't want to go anyway." Miss [clears throat] Perry immediately came to see me and said that she would attend the field trip and get in the water to support him. When we shared this with the family, they were elated. Because of Miss Perry's willingness and thoughtfulness, this student was able to participate in experienced swimming for the first time alongside his peers. Miss Perry's actions ensured access, inclusion, and belonging. She did more than provide support. She removed a barrier and created a moment of joy and confidence that this student will carry with him always. This is
030the very definition of going above and beyond. And we are proud to recognize Miss Perry this evening. [applause] [applause] >> [applause] >> Great job. >> That's awesome. >> I'm crying. [laughter] >> Bless your spirit. [laughter] >> Mr. Anderson, Mr. Anderson, >> you had your tissue. [laughter] >> We have tissue. >> Amen. Bless your spirit. >> That's my baby cracking jokes. So >> ready, beautiful. Thank you. [applause] >> Now, if you thought that gave you tears, I'm about to try to hold it on this one. Secondly, I would like to recognize Miss Adrien Kelly. Miss Kelly serves as one of my three of our three exceptional learners teacher and she is truly a gem. Always willing to assist, especially in areas that other might deem challenging. This recognition is for what Miss Kelly did for one
031particular family. Earlier this year, we had a student enroll at Deer Run as a homebound student receiving care at Riley's Children Hospital. Miss Kelly frequently offered to support students receiving homebound instruction and this situation was no different. Except this student had not been in school for some time and had only been receiving education virtually. Miss Kelly took it upon herself to ask the hospital if she could come in person to provide instruction. With everyone in agreement, she began visiting the student at the hospital. The excitement this st this child showed each time Miss Kelly arrived was truly remarkable. Miss Kelly also worked closely with the hospital staff to arrange virtual virtual classroom visits and supported the bear in the chair program ensuring the student remained connected to her peers. Even on days when the nurse
032shared that the student has struggled throughout the day, she never wanted to miss her time with Miss Kelly. As the student began her transition, the family specifically requested that Miss Kelly be present. What Miss Kelly provided to this student and her family in her final days went far beyond instruction. [clears throat] She offered comfort, consistency, dignity, and love. The level of compassion, dedication, and humanity cannot go unrecognized. Miss Kelly, you truly exemplify what it means to go above and beyond. >> And what you gave that family, that mom still reaches out to her today for a level of support because she knew that she cared. And tonight, I want to recognize you. [applause] >> [applause] >> I want your autograph. Amazing. [applause] >> Thank you. >> Next, we'll move on to our action items. Starting
033off with action item A, minutes [clears throat] of the board of education regular meeting December 11th, 2025. The motion to accept the minutes. >> So move, Mr. President. >> Thank you. >> Have a first and a second. We'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Thank you. Next, we have district performance goals. Dr. Young. >> Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Mr. President, members of the board, I recommend approval of the 2025 2026 district performance goals as presented. >> So move >> second. We >> have a first and a second. Do you have any questions or comments? I'll make a comment that we will uh be looking to do a work session on this. So then that way we can get a little bit deeper dive into,
034>> you know, exactly what we're looking at. >> All right. >> I guess the only other comment I have, and I know we've talked about it, I'd love to see these move to more the beginning of the school year to go through half of the school year with, you know, I know we have goals, but it gives that appearance. I think that would be a wonderful thing for us to look to do and that work session. Definitely agree. Mhm. >> Any more questions or comments? We'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. Any oppose? >> Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Young. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have the approval of the board of education policies. Dr. Bishop. >> Good evening, Mr. President and members of the board. This evening, I
035ask for [laughter] Excuse me, I've lost my train of thought. I request your permission. your Oh my gosh, I've totally lost it. Approval. Thank you. I request your approval of action item C. Approval of the board of education policies as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> We have a first and a second. Are there any [clears throat] questions or comments? >> If not, we'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Bishop. Next we have the human resource report. Dr. Hunter, due to the confidentiality of the human resource report, we won't ask any questions or comments. Dr. Hunter, >> Mr. President, members of the board, Dr. Young, we request your approval of the HR report as presented. >> I'm Go ahead. >>
036I move that we accept the HR report as presented. >> Second. >> First and the second. We'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. >> Thank you, Dr. Hunter. Thank you. Next, we have approval to accept the IAA QLI. Miss Hardman, >> that's a lot of letters. Uh, board president, members of the board, Dr. Young, I am requesting approval to accept the IAA QLI grant as presented. >> I move we accept the grant as presented. Second. >> Well, first and second. Are there any questions or comments? If not, we'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion carries. Thank you, Miss Hardman. >> Thank you. >> Next, we have request to accept bid FFE package for uh
037Dear Run and Middle Schools. Mr. Grover. >> Thank you, Mr. President, members of the board. Dr. Young, I'm seeking your approval of action item F, which is to accept the bid, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder for the furniture uh package at Deerrun in the middle schools. Um, Mr. President, I move that we um accept the request to accept bids for the FFE package for Deer Run in the middle schools. >> All right. >> Second. >> We have a first and a second. Are there any questions or comments? >> I have one comment. I'm glad that the bid that we are accepting actually came under budget. Nice job. >> Thank you. Any more questions or comments? All right, we'll move on to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion
038carries. Thank you, Mr. Grouper. >> Lastly, I'd like to combine action items G and H, contracts and donations. Miss Gray. >> Good evening, Mr. President, members of the board, and Dr. Young. I request your approval of action items [snorts] G, which include two contracts, and H, which include four donations as presented. So move. >> Second. >> We have a first and a second on the approval of contracts and donations, action items G and H. Are there any questions or comments? >> If not, we will move on to vote for action items G and H. All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Miss Gray. >> Lastly, board comments. Dr. Moore. Congratulations to all newly elected officers, president, vice president, secretary. Um I would like to uh um make a comment
039on the past president. Um he took our board in an area uh this year uh that dealt with the climate of our district and uh I want to compliment him on um looking at the climate of the district and the board for voting for that type of climate. Uh I would hope that our new president will uh take care of the unfinished business of that particular climate. If not, we will do our best to help you get that done. Uh because there are a lot of uh things that need to be done uh that uh based on the information we gathered and I hope that you will not uh Mr. president coming in uh allow that to be moved uh down the can kicked down the road. I think it needs to be addressed so
040we can get the right type of climate uh for our our district. And um I was uh really impressed when uh our past president was talking about uh um the love for our teachers and administrators and that's why the climate situation was very much important. Some um don't think the climate is that important, but uh wherever where wherever toxicity is, you're not going to get the production that you need. And so uh I hope that you would consider uh getting us to the end of that particular piece. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Moore. Mr. Wilson, >> I have a mask on six, so just bear with me. But um I want to first say I'm glad to see everyone here safe from the 2025 and that you're here for 2026. Uh Pike seems to be
041moving in a direction of excitement um not just academically but um uh sportsswise and we've got so many different aspects of our of our schools that are showing so much promising and it's exciting to be in the Pike district um as we have our challenges with what's going on in Minnesota and the challenges that face our own our own students and their fears of what Minnesota's going through is that we hover around our students and make them feel that, you know, we are here to do what we need to do, but we also have to realize that we can't put ourselves in harm's way because it can always be it could be just as detrimental. And then third and last of all, because I am a sports nut, good job girls, and winning the county
042and being number one in the state and girls basketball and our boys are doing just as great. And the um tennis guys, they I mean the swim guys are doing great. The uh um girls um wrestling and I do want to tell them they're listening. I do plan to come because it's a it's a it's a thing to see girls do something that they were not they say equipped to do. So it's going to if you haven't had opportunity to to get to any of these events, don't go there just for the game. go there for the camaraderie that you will see the community come together as. >> Thank you, Miss Wilson. Mr. Hoover. >> All right. Well, first obviously want to welcome everybody back from break. Um hopefully everybody got a lot of rest,
043a lot of relaxation. Um stayed healthy. Most people stayed healthy. [laughter] Um and uh so but and to the the teachers, Miss Perry and Miss Kelly, that won the above and beyond tonight. I mean, every time those are presented here, it is clearly the cream of the crop. It it is outstanding. So, it doesn't take anything away from everyone, but you know, sometimes Michael Jordan steps on the court and I'm just, you know, you have to acknowledge whenever people have done such exceptional things and if you can listen to those two stories and not get a little teared up, uh, you need to check your soul. So, um, just really appreciate those teachers. Um, also really appreciate, um, so sliver of proud moment for me. Um, so when Miss um, Dorsey was talking about the
044young lady from Yale that spoke at first the college and career center, um, she was a young lady that I had the opportunity to help coach in middle school whenever I was doing that and she we've maintained a relationship. Actually got to go visit her at Yale a couple years ago and little birdie told me she was going to be there. So appreciate the opportunity to come in, listen to her, talk to the kids, uh, the students, sorry. And um, was so blown away everything Miss Dorsey said. I won't repeat it. That was all so true. She also gave a ton of credit and and encouraged the students listening to her to apply for the the PTEF grants and most [clears throat] of them were like what's a PTFE? And so she explained it and
045uh so um so you know she even getting all the scholarships she got from Yale she saw the value in those that she received and and wanted to encourage the students. So um that was great. I love seeing that. Unfortunately, uh the other gentleman, priest, I had to leave before he gave his talk. We got to talk to him a little bit beforehand. And um >> he um he is pursuing a career in a field where what he told me was I just want to find the area I can do it in and maintain my ethics. >> And that to me said everything and said everything about the education and the thought that you know Pike prepared for him to have putting in as he's you know pursuing his um his career. here. And so
046just two outstanding young people, one I have a a special affinity for. Um and then lastly, um they was mentioned already about the legislative session. This time, this is, you know, the small session, so there's less stuff going on, but there is stuff going on. Um and um among the bills I don't have the number directly in front of me but one of the bills that's being presented would from you know to get the legal lease that's a little hard to understand but the summaries I'm understanding would essentially eliminate property tax that is massively detrimental and that is where school funding comes from um from the communities and so you know they're saying there are ways they could they will not fill that gap. We know they won't. So, just for those anyone listening, as
047you're considering your votes, as you're considering all of those things, who we put in the state house matters. It matters in your local community. The national stuff is frustrating. This stuff directly hits home. And so, consider those things. Consider those things when you're calling your senators and your state representatives um and and advocate for policies that are going to help your local community and not hurt them. So [clears throat] that's my >> Thank you, Mr. Hooper. Miss Kelly, >> welcome back. Uh happy 2026. We are in it to win it and [clears throat] um Pike proud and again we're supporting all the students, teachers, looking forward to a great semester, finishing this year strong. Um, excited to be back, excited for all the work that is before us and looking at getting done what needs
048to be done to keep our district top and just make us stay where we are, keep us where our students are excelling and exceeding on the court, in the classroom in all ways. So, we're creating scholar athletes, not just athletes, scholar athletes and wanting to have them continue to achieve their best. >> Thank you, Miss Scott. >> Miss Barnes, >> happy new year to everyone. Happy 2026, fresh start. Uh, I certainly encourage everyone to support PTE. Uh, it's a great organization. I've had um lots of interactions with them. [clears throat] So, it's it's a good investment to make that maybe part of your 2026 resolution or promise or however you want to frame it to make a monthly donation. Um, all of that accumulates over time. I also want to thank uh our other donors
049on our list, >> congratulate our teachers um who are honored this evening >> and to say thank you to just our administrative team in general. The grants that have come across our desk in the last six weeks alone amount to millions of dollars that are going into our children. And that's astonishing. It's it's staggering to think of just all the work, the letters, the writing, the editing, all the things you have to do to make that happen. And this board member absolutely appreciates it as well as the rest of us. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Barnes. >> Mr. President, one >> Yes, sir. as as if if I may, Mr. President, with with in conjunction with Miss Barnes, I think it was Mr. Enman on the Lily's uh grant. Am I right? Did did
050a lot of work on that grant, the last grant we received. >> the larger one. >> Well, it was a >> a combination. >> Yes, it was a combination. >> The team I think the the team needs to be recognized >> in that area. I think sometimes we we forget about we celebrate what we receive but we never celebrate those >> the team >> who put it together >> and for us to receive it. >> So is the team here >> and Dr. Moore that is coming down the pipe. So we appreciate that. >> We we'll be doing a presentation on on that coming up and and also Mr. Huffman >> I know you all know but I don't know. So thank you. >> Yeah. Mrs. Huffman uh was our grant writer uh for that
051is always in Pike. It's always team effort. Yeah. Dr. >> Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Um, I would definitely concur. I wish Mr. Graham would have given me a heads up because yeah, it was tough. It was tough to hold it together. Just so proud of those educators and what they've done for our students and our families. Real quick, today I had an opportunity to serve in the audience for a Shark Tank event where our fifth grade teachers allowed their students in teams to present business ideas to a group of sharks which were was mostly comprised of district administrators. So uh so proud of those students as well as the educators and thankful that they provided those opportunities for our students. It was outstanding. Very very proud moment. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um and
052before we go to Dr. Webster, I will make my uh final comments as president and I like to thank my each and every one of my fellow board members uh for your support in the last two years. Um I've learned a lot. um you've you've uh we hadn't always agreed uh especially doing the intense fellowships uh but we always had the common goal is for our district and I'm excited uh about what we're going to do in 2026 especially as it pertains to our climate survey uh because our goal is to and that's going to be a regular thing but our goal is to when we have another one later this year that it will be 180°ree turn because That's important to us, the administration, our teachers, our bus drivers, everyone from from us all
053the way down. You're on the front lines of education every day. And so it's our job to make sure that we create and perpetuate a climate and that's conducive that we can all work in harmony. And I look forward, and I'll be first to admit, I look forward to the next president coming in who I will admit that is greater than I >> to be able to lead this district. So congratulations again, Dr. Webster for your presidency. I look forward to working with you and fixing everything that we have [clears throat] moving forward. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Dr. Westb. >> Thank you, um, Mr. Vice President. Um, again, on behalf of the entire board and our administration, uh, we say thank you for your leadership >> uh, in the district as well
054and our children. Thank you for your leadership that you have provided for us over the last couple of years. uh been a privilege to walk alongside of you as the vice president and give uh not just only let you bounce things off but also give some counsel to as well. And it's not just me but I'm sure that all of us on this board has uh been able to um share with you. I want to thank the board for all the value that you bring to us. All of you, all of us have value in our own unique ways and and I look forward to working together with the entire board as we continue to chart the pathway for our district and for our children and for the families. And with that said, um we
055like to take a motion to dismiss. >> So move, Mr. New President. Second