001If we could all rise and say the pledge. The flag is behind you here on the wall. I pledge allegiance. Thank you. I would like to welcome everyone to the Monday, October 20th, 2025 meeting at the Mount Vernon Senior High School. Uh we are first going to start with the recognition of delegations. And I do know we did it a little different tonight um with the list, but if anyone is wishing to be recognized to speak on any agenda item or to be heard as part of the section of the agenda dealing with delegations or citizens comments, they are to identify themselves by name and they appoint on the agenda where they wish to be recognized. So if there's anyone that missed that, um there is a list going for that. Okay, moving on to
002the tenative teacher agreement. So, we will have public comment taken at the meeting pursuant to Indiana code 20-29-6-9C regarding the ratification of the tenative teacher collective bargaining agreement which is posted at the mvyschool.org under the leadership tab. anyone here to speak on that? Okay, we will close out that part of the meeting and moving on to the superintendent's contract extension public comments. So, in accordance to the public law 148-2012, a hearing at a public meeting shall be held on the proposed superintendent's contract for board discussion and public comment. See the enclosed legal notice published on October 7th, 2025. Public comments regarding the contract extension may be heard at this time. Anybody wanting to speak? >> I would like to say something. >> Could you come up to the mic, please? [Laughter] >> To say something
003as an educator. I know Mrs. Stewart, Dr. Steuart for a long time because we work in the same school corporation and she turned schools from zero to a very successful school with time. That's the key time and people they want everything snap like this and it's not going to happen as an educator. and I'm supporting her because I heard all those comments as always complaining and that she doesn't live here that this and that and you know she's very qualified and the only thing that I want to say we are lucky that we have her and I not that I know her because she didn't know me >> I know about her and what she did in the jobs and we need to give time and I is not perfect. Well, as an educator, I
004can tell you it will happen if you follow her directions. And that's I want to say because people that I I support and I'm a taxpayer. I don't have kids here, but my kids, they went through this school. My husband taught here for almost 40 years. and she is one of the best superintendents that we have since 1994. That's what I want to say. That's >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Anyone? >> I'm sorry. >> Didn't identify her. >> Oh, see Lois. >> Go over and see Lois. There you takes care of that. Anyone else on the superintendent contract? Okay, we are going to close out that section and turn it over our FFA presentation on farm-to-table event and other chapter activities. So, FFA, you can take it over. turn. Yeah. >> Good evening. I'm
005Alicia Schmidt. I am the A advisor and SFA advisor for the Mount Vernon SFA. And I'm gonna let my kids introduce themselves. >> Hi, I'm Thomas Gates, the treasurer. >> I'm Mason Johnson, the reporter. >> I'm Wesley Hang, vice president. >> I'm Louis Allen, the president. >> I'm a Taylor Wolf Sentinel. >> Marcus Raken. And tonight we're going to do a short presentation on everything that we do. So a education is a three circle model. That means classroom sap which is um supervised agricultural experience. That is a job that they have to keep records on keep uh how much money they earn community service hours anything that they do it can be researchbased and leadership development FFA. They are intracurricular meaning they all work together. They are three circle model. They are all equally important.
006We are the only youth organization that has a national cha uh charter through the United States government. We have over a million members. Um and in two weeks we will be traveling to national FFA convention where there will be over 65,000 members in Indianapolis for the convention. stuff. >> A little bit about your FFA chapter. Here at Mount Vernon, we have 129 members. That's not duplicated because there's some people that are in more than one class. So, that's singular people within an FFA class. We have four pathways through the school. One being vet science, another one being a mechanical and engineering, and another one being aggro uh science like plant animals and then we got horiculture too. And we also have a dual credit classes. All the most the ad classes are dual credits. There
007are six separate credits within the class. Uh some like some class are two and there's 45 FFA members. So within those ad classes, there are 45 FFA members present. >> Uh when it comes to the dual credit, I have almost 70 kids getting dual credit this year free through IvyTech. Uh Lewis said that some classes are worth two. Principles of agriculture which is the very first class is worth six credit hours. Kids get six credit hours for just coming and um completing the class and then a mechanics is another one that is six credit hours. >> Uh we are a group of students who are focused on pre premier leadership uh personal growth and career success and we're going to tell you some more about that. what we do. >> Um we go on a
008bunch of contests and different stuff. Um probably talk about the career development events uh such as livestock skillathon where you go um you have to ID different breeds of animals or livestock rather. Um there's an industry test you have to ID the meat and then you have some uh food ID you have to do. forestry uh you got to ID uh the leaves of trees the bark and then there's a test and you also have to know about the diseases and insects um small engines uh the last two small engines in welding are both a two um or I guess you say a partner team you have two two members on a team and you go and you compete uh small engine you have parts ID tools ID uh you got to know like what
009parts you're looking at what tools uh they put on the table for you um you got to know the skills and then you 75 minutes to put an engine back together. It's completely disassembled. They got the bolts and some random buckets. You just got to put all that back together. Um, you have to do owner's manual test and then a basic knowledge test. >> Then for welding, got an industry test and then you do MIG welding and stick welding. Um, >> yeah, that's it. Yeah. >> And Wesley and Lewis two years ago were third place. >> No, third place state. >> Yeah, we won the skills competition. They won the skills competition in the state of Indiana for small engines. Um, and there were probably over 100 kids there and they had to qualify out
010of their district. So, um, the other one is livestock judging. So, you judge different breeds of animals and on market for breeding. So like goats, sheeps, cows, swine and then you have oral reasons you have to give. And then there's poultry judging. You judge judge the eggs. Um product defects, uh the live chickens, and then you have a written test that you have to do. Um horse judging. We competed in horse judging last year and did really well with 10th and state. And you have to um know the confirmation of different breeds and their uh different light riding classes. And then you have to give oral reasons for the different classes. And then we also did milk quality and products. So you take you have to ID milk um cheese and have a knowledge test.
011And then you have to ID the different milk defects. The last two are crop judging where you do seed ID, weed ID, disease, grain grading test and an indust industry test. And the final one is dairy judging where you do a confirmation of dairy cattle and then give reasons why you'd rent each animal. >> And this is just a small portion of the career development events that are out there. I think there's over 35 different ones and these are just the ones that we do currently. >> I'll hold up. >> Okay. Um so >> all right so um our first point is the aggra science fair me and Italia wolf traveled um to India distribute at the state convention um I won my division and uh the year before I also won um I'm ranked
01215th in the country right now and um my what my a science fair project was about we were testing the e efficacy of comic supplements on mayors um we're basically just seeing how well um they work. And um it's really important that we do that because stress is really big within the ecoin industry. It can cause really big complications even with the horse's health and performance um and more. Um and that was that was this year's project. But going forward, I plan on doing another research project. I'm currently planning on applying for a large FFA grant. Um it can range in anywhere in between 5,000 to $10,000. And uh what my project is about is about cancer detection in horses. Um right now they don't have liquid biopsies in horses. Um they do it in
013dogs. Um my project is kind of a stepping stone into that. Right now we're just going to develop a blood test and we're going to make it more sensitive to um detecting really small amounts of act which is a hormone that horses produce whenever they're stressed. um and see and if that works theoretically we would be able to create a liquid biopsy um and we can detect cancer earlier on and um that's that's my current project right now. >> Okay. Uh I did a 10day project on testing um fruit dried wild yeast in sourdough starters. And mine's not in depth or core than Marks is, but it was it was pretty cool. So yeah, it was um it was it was not very fun to do because it's basically like take care of a child
014for 10 days because and then you have to do different measurements. Um, unfortunately we didn't have high enough power microscopes to see the microbiology of the sour starters, but she basically went off of um how big it got after you fed it and the different aromomas that you had from it. And then I placed second at state with this project. So then the other points on the slide, uh, prepared public speaking. Um, you're just you just have to give a speech. That's kind of it. Um, but yeah, it they just give you a topic to talk about and you have to kind of just create um a speech and then demonstrations. Uh, this is more at the district competition and they have it at state convention too. Um, but that you can I competed in
015demonstrations for um animals and basically I we built a horse head and we just we were demonstrating how to take um draw blood from the horse's juggler vein in his neck. Um and then for the essay, um that's another competition you can do at the district level. Um and then uh proficiencies. So a lot what a lot of people do after they do their research projects, sades, um is what we call them. Um they can apply for proficiencies. Um and we have different proficiencies in placement and um ship. But basically it's just giving them an award for having an outstanding business or >> growth skill set. >> Um and then >> state degree this is they have to in FFA they have to start with a green hand as a freshman or this first year
016chapter degree and then they can apply for their state degree. They have to have three years of uh a or FFA membership. They have to actively invest or have earned like 35 25 service hours have five leadership um activities above the chapter level in order to qualify. Then it has to go through a review process. If they receive their after they graduate, they can then get their actively invested or made 50 hours of community service and like still has to be the five leadership activities. One% of all and potentially applicants. >> Next point is the nextG conferences. >> Wesley and Lewis. Wesley and Lothed at these. >> So the nextG conferences uh these are like a national conference with the FFA organization. Uh, so for like me and Wesley, we the FA chapter paid $100
017and that includes our room, food, charter bus, field trips, and uh, stuff. I went in mine last year in September. We went to I went to Salt Lake City. We flew out Evansville and then we went there. I toured a copper mine and I also toured a state park there where they went in-depth about the uh, how they treat the treat the buffalo there. They have a a program and they have auctions with the buffalo. But FFA paid for everything. Like we ate five star meals, like everything. Five course meals and uh like it's a real big thing. People from all over the United States. I know a kid from Delaware now, Oregon. And there's a kid in my trip to Puerto Rico. >> It was it was $100 for him to go. >> Uh
018my conference was uh in Fargo. It was over Emerging Technologies. Um we stayed in a really nice hotel. They fed us every night. Uh we went on a couple different tours. What? >> Um we toured uh the Case New Holland facility. We toured uh John Deere where they made the GPS systems. Uh Fargo. Yeah. Cargill. They basically us um because Fargo is mainly known for like their soybean and not soybean uh canola and sunflower. So they taught us about how they made sunflower oil and stuff. We got to sample different oils and like taste them and all that good stuff. Um we got then we had like they were called roundt discussions. We got to sit down with some uh pretty big leaders in the industry. For example, the um global productions manager for the
019Case New Holland four-wheel drive trackers was there. That was pretty cool. We got to like ask him questions, you know, like what's coming or you know, asking like any questions we had really. We had a couple different from there, all that. So, um it was pretty cool, you know, got to meet some new people, learn some a lot of new things and uh like with Lewis, I think there was people from what was it like 27 different states at >> 27 different states were represented. >> So, with mostly also with most of these nextgen conferences, there are a couple thousand applicants. Wesley didn't have as many, but I had 4,000 applicants at mine and u they only take 70. So, I got put on the wait list, but someone backed out and they let me
020get still have about a thousand. So, uh, we do have three applicants for the ones coming up and we have a student engagement grant applicant that has already applied um to help offset some of the cost. Not that it's great cost, but everything helps. So, those are applications that they're having to go and fill out, answer all those questions and get recommendations for some activities we do. We do fruit sales. That's a big fundraiser. We do greenhouse sales. Uh, we go to national convention where we either get like rodeo tickets or concert tickets most time. Uh we talk they have a expo floor where we can talk to people within a company about like working there because um like it's all within agriculture. Uh they have we go to the leadership convention that's new this
021year. It's through the the national fake it uh company is coming down and they're going to host a gift of southern because mishmitt and the gifts and southern advisor. They work together to uh put that together. Uh we also have a river flow and a Christmas day float on Main Street. We also sometimes bring animals down to that that Christmas festival. We also have a FFA week where we have spirit weeks all week. Then we always have like a movie night in the FFA room. Uh and then we have drive your truck to school day Friday which is always a big event and uh last year they Country Mark was kind enough to let us park all our tractors there so we could have like a convoy on the way to school. So it made
022it like a bigger event than people just charging their tractors and coming in from all the streets meeting. We also got a police escort. So that was >> traffic involvement. Um, we park cars for the the fair every year. We help mulch the courthouse in May. We do um we donate any extra fruit and I actually order a little extra in uh to comps for kids. That way we know that kids in December are getting fruit. It's always a big big one and my kids love the extras too. We adopt kid at Christmas. Um we helped fill Easter eggs at for Country Mark and I think Wesley was the Easter buddy this year. I was Yeah, I forgot about that. >> St. Matthews, their M, which is the uh the preschool. They don't have anywhere
023for their moms to go and we have this nice parking lot out by our room. My kids help unload it and then they take care of the rest of it. We just help provide a place for it to go um overnight so that they have more time to organize it. And >> now these are these are just like the written um ones like the ones that are set in stone over here. But sometimes the Indiana Farm Bureau Committee they were calling us to like scoop ice cream or something events like there's always company or community involvement that like they're just calling on us to help them. Like a couple years ago we had two 14-hour days we had a launch duck for a conseration club over in Evansville. Like so there's just stuff where people
024calling us but these are the set and stone ones. >> Uh okay. We're gonna let Thomas talk about his big event this year. Hi, I'm Thomas Gates and I organize the Posie County Farm to Table. This event acknowledges acknowledged the farming community, local aggra businesses, and individuals that support agriculture. I got the idea for hosting the Posey County Farm to Table from my dad, Patrick Skates, who started the White County Farm to Table in Carmine, Illinois several years ago, and I wanted to start one here. Proceeds from the event benefited the Mount Vernon FFA chapter, the Riverbin Food Pantry, Family Matters, and Mount Vernon High School student council. FFA members, National Honor Society, and National Junior Honor Honor Society members helped serve the meal to each guest. August catered the dinner with appetizers and desserts
025prepared by the Posie County Homemakers, while Ryan Ramsey provided live entertainment that received many compliments. The sold out soldout event brought around 300 people to Main Street, creating a lively and welcoming atmosphere. In total, we raised around $23,000 after expenses. We were able to donate $7,500 to FFA to pay for annual dues, food, travel, etc. of a competition or convention. We don't want cost to keep someone from joining FFA. We also donated $2,500 to the food pantry, $1,500 to family matters, and $1,000 to student council to help provide children in need with Christmas gifts. We kept 10 $10,000 in the account to cover next year's expenses and also to add to the event. More than just a meal, the dinner's goal was to bring the community closer, and I hope everyone left that night with
026new friends and a deeper connection to Posey County agriculture. We plan to have this event next year, September 10th, 2026. That turns into a longtime tradition to kick off River Day's weekend. Thank you. And then there's a couple of pictures um from the last year. It's not very many of all the things that we do, but they're the ones I could grab really quick. Um so there's at his next gen conference them mulching and I accidentally stopped sharing. >> And that's all we've got for you guys. Thank you very much. That's it. [Music] >> Before they run off, I just want to say thank you to Alicia Smith for all the hard work she puts into this program. She absolutely pours her heart and soul into these students and they are representing Mount Vernon in
027a great way. So, thank you all for coming tonight and showing what you've done. >> Okay, we are moving on to routine matters and we can take A, B, and C together. Okay, we are uh presenting you with the minutes from the board meeting from October 6th. also list a list of vouchers and electronic checks um are electronic transfers, I'm sorry, are enclosed and then as well as the financial statement for September. We have a motion to approve the minutes of the October 6th, 2025 meeting as prepared or as corrected. A motion to authorize payment of payroll checks 403 686 through 40450. Voucher checks 146722 through 146813 and electronic transfers ET 3307 through ET3311 as recommended voided payroll and voucher checks not listed on the voucher listing in the above sequences are not approved for
028payment by this action and also a motion to accept the financial statement for September 30th 2025 and file it for audit >> move second >> motion was made by Mr. Isaac, seconded by Mr. Williams. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed? Nay. Motion is passed. Moving on. There is no unfinished business, so we'll move on to new business personnel. >> We are recommending um Katie Grant as a teacher assistant at Mars Elementary School. Do >> we have a motion to confirm the employment from the list above? Second. Motion was made by Mr. Oath, second by Miss Butler. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Nay. >> Motion is passed. Moving on to superintendent contract extension. >> We had the hearing earlier and we've had the proposed contract that's
029been published on our website for for weeks now and also in the paper um outlining uh what that is. So, we uh would like to propose a contract extension. We have a motion to extend the employment contract between Stephanie Stewart and the school board of trustees of the Metropolitan School District of Mount Vernon for a term commencing July 1 of 2026 and ending June 30th of 2029. >> So moved second. >> Motion was made by Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Oath. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I oppose. N motion has passed. >> Moving on to educational meetings. >> We are asking uh to approve Amy Berquette and Alicia Schmidt to attend uh with students the FFA mission conference at Gibson Southern on November 18th, 2025 and FFA is to pay the expenses.
030>> We have a motion to adopt a resolution permitting personnel listed to attend educational meetings. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion was made by Miss Butler. Seconded by Mr. Isaac. Any discussion? >> Well, they come back into an outstanding presentation. Oh, they're all even. They're >> They're gone. >> Okay, we have a motion in a second. All those in favor say I. >> I oppose. Nay. >> Motion is passed. >> Sunday use of facility. >> Uh Mount Vernon Elks Club is requesting use of the junior high uh auxiliary gym for their elks hoop shoot. and they this is an annual uh competition that they they put on each year. >> We have a motion to grant permission to the Mount Vernon Elks Club for the use of the junior high on Sunday, November 16th,
0312025 for the hoop shoot as requested. >> So moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Mr. Oats, seconded by Mr. Williams. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those nay. Motion is passed. >> Okay, we are moving on to information and proposals, delegations, and citizens comments. Bo, you have that list? >> Yeah, and I apologize in advance if I butcher some names. So, uh, I think it's Karen Edwards. Yeah, if you wouldn't mind coming up to the microphone and you have three minutes, >> right? So, I'm Karen Edwards and I'm a mother of an LGBTQ plus surviving adult. I'm author, podcast, and host of My Kids Gay and I'm Okay, and I support the CL the Pride Club here at the junior high. The number one thing there's there was some
032statistics that ran in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago about uh you know the high suicide rate, but nobody really addressed what could prevent it. And according to the center for disease control, they found the contributing factors for the higher rate of suicide in the LGBTQ is bullying, harassment, and discrimination based on sexual orientation. Also, lack of acceptance by peers, family, and community. The most in most impact of taking these numbers down is social acceptance. So ac accepting adults one accepting adult in life can re reduce that number significantly. Families who support their children take that down by half and then communities report less suicide attempts in the LGBT uh community when they've got they're living in an accepted and supportive community. I wish this club, as a mom, I wish that this club
033was on campus when my daughter was attending here. She struggled until she came to terms with her true authentic self and it was in her early 20s. If you have a child who attended this club in support of another child, good for you. You've raised a kid with compassion and qualities of a true friend. My daughter started attending LGBTQ meetings in college, and she told me when I asked her, I said, "Why are you doing this?" She said, "Oh, it's to support my friends." What she didn't share with me was she had her own questions about her own self that she had had since kindergarten. So, she knew that being attracted to the same sex for her was wrong because basically this town told her that it's not. We need these clubs to support our
034kids. And without local clubs and community support, our children will find support online. Not. And we don't know. Every parent here will agree. We don't want our kids online finding support. We don't know who's on the other side of that keyboard. So, if you think we can dismantle, we need to dismantle all clubs to get rid of one club. The kids in the club aren't the problem. It's you. You're the problem. This action will contribute to the higher statistic of suicide ideiation because of the lack of community support every member of our community needs. Stop your bigotry. It disguises religion. And work with the intent to include all of our community members, especially the LGBTQ plus members. As a community, we need to do better. We need to be inclusive and supportive to all of
035our members within our community. Thank you, Miss Edwards. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, Karen Green. My name is Karen Green and I'm here to speak um also about the LGBTQ Q+ club at the junior high, but I'm in opposition of it. Um she did speak um a little about the suicide rates. It's 41% of LGBTQ Q plus youth seriously consider suicide in the past year. um that was done in 2023, a survey with rates higher among transgender and non-binary. If you have 10 kids in this club, then four of them are likely seriously contemplating suicide. Other 10year-olds are not qualified to handle the depth of each other's mental health. You have one person on your staff who is very qualified. She has her LCSW. She also has a master's degree in
036counseling. I believe she should be um utilized. I encourage you to remove this club and instead incorporate regular counseling sessions with only qualified individuals. I also want to add that this club is a sexual and nature club for children as young as 10 years old. I have a 10-year-old son. All he talks about is soccer, Fortnite, and talking me in to let him drink Mountain Dew. And I believe we should continue to protect the innocence of our children. Thank you. >> Thank you. Matt, Watson. >> Yeah, I know. Religion is not commensurate with Thank you. >> Uh Andrew Sergeant. >> My name is Andrew Sergeant. Um, as many of you may know, I'm here again uh this evening uh to address the concerns of the um of the LGBTQ and Prince Club uh and asked
037for the removal of a club. Uh this is now the third consecutive MSD schoolboard meeting uh in which parents uh and community members have brought forth their concerns towards this club and have presented evidence as to how such club uh can be detrimental towards the mental health of the young children in attendance and or influenced by these types of clubs including the shared statistics uh in which you know Karen had mentioned the CDC 2023 youth risk behavior survey which tells us the LGBTQ identified teens are significantly more likely to experience depression, anxiety and suicide. of thoughts compared to their heterosexual peers. Endoning complex sexual identity discussions among adolescent peers without the direct involvement of parents uh opens doors of uh to confusion um peer pressure uh and emotional influence uh during a very impressionable stage
038of a child's life. This isn't about hate or exclusion. It's about timing and protection. uh conversations about identity and sexuality belong first and foremost in the home where parents know their children best, where love and accountability are balanced, and where truth is spoken in a way that aligns with family's values. Dr. Stephanie Stewart, you mentioned that uh if you were to remove this club that you would have to remove all studentled or non-sponsored clubs from NBJHS uh due to the requirement of the Equal Access Act. I ask that you remove or put forth a vote um amongst the school board members uh in regards to removing all non-sponsored um uh clubs here at MBJHS. Uh while you believe that there is nothing wrong with the club, I feel as though uh you should consider the
039concerns and opinions of the parents um who have entrusted you with the um your um entrusted you and your faculty with the responsibilities of educating and shaping their children. We're just boarded to consider whether this club belongs in Mount Vernon Junior High. Um let's protect our children's innocence and focus on education, not early sexual identity uh exploitation. That's all I have. >> Thank you, >> Audrey or Andy Hayne? >> Andy Hayne. Thank you. Appreciate that acknowledgement overtime. I wanted to thank Wesley Hayne with the FFA. He came out to our shop, actually helped me set up a welder, did better than I did. So, there's a lot good going on there. Okay. There's some major issues coming to MSD in the near future. There's been unstable enrollment. uh 14 of the last 16 years. I
040think enrollment has been moving down. Uh they've been out of MSD transfers. A lot of students for whatever reasons are going to other uh school districts and homeschooling is start is on the increase as well. AI will continue to replace teachers at higher and higher rates. I think that's a jeopardized job as AI becomes more proliferated. vouchers that follow students will proliferate in the 2026 school year and beyond next year. That's going to be a big drain, I think, on on some of the uh the monies. I think it's time that we stop following the drama and the legal imaginations of attorneys from all over the state. It's enough to make you make you question keeping your kids in this system. I'm requesting that you change the policy to include only clubs related to current
041school curriculum and sports. And we need to get beyond this. We need to move on. Thank you. >> U Ameilia Gonzalez. Good evening. My name is Ameilia Gonzalez. I am a mother of a child or two children in the junior high in the high school. And um I may not be as eloquent as some of the people that have spoken, but um I am here in support of the LGBTQ club in the junior high, which my daughter does attend, which my daughter has had suicidal thoughts. And until the people in this room have been through what we've been through, they will never know what the support means of a club like that to students. So I thank you school board for making a uh a place where all students can feel welcome. That's the plan.
042Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh my name is Lee Kaido. here once again in regards to the continuing allowance of the LGBTQ Friends Club Junior High. Like to remind the board of what I said at the last meeting that you are held responsible for God in this community as to what is allowed in our schools both during and outside classroom time. This ideology promoted by this club, namely transgenderism, homosexuality, is harmful and has destroyed many lives and continues to do so, especially those of impressionable young children. We've heard emot emotional arguments, but I urge you, don't be swayed by emotions. Emotions can be so fickle. Every cell in our body is a testament to who we are, male or female. And by definition then, man or woman. No amount of drugs or surgeries can
043change that. Transgender. Transgenderism rejects objective truth. You can be whatever you feel like is what we're told. But that does not work. We live in reality, not fantasy. There is such a thing as truth and falsehood to allow a child to be whatever they want or whatever they wish just because they feel like it is lying to them. It is breeding into that lie. We are called to a higher standard. We have the responsibility to teach our children truth from lies. I've heard from others that some teachers in our district are actually displaying transgenderism and pride flags in the classroom. If this is true, it shows that this ideology has already deeply infected our schools and is causing a disruption in the educational process. As I said last time, if it's taken four years for
044this one club to finally uh come to light, what else is going on in our schools that we don't know about? I read your the board policy this morning and it talked about being transparent with parents. Is the school board being transparent with what's going on in our schools? How can tr can we trust that you are doing what you what you've been elected to do? I know some are concerned about legal matters. I'm not really adding anything here. Um the equal the equal access act uh applies to secondary education. Junior high is not defined as that in Indiana code. Even if this is in high was in high school, which I wouldn't be surprised if such a club does exist. I don't know. I would rather see all non-school sponsored clubs banned, thereby removing
045a limited open form qualification outlined in subsection 4071b of the uh law in question. This could be done by by repealing or editing MSD board policy 30302. As I'm sure you are well aware, you have the power to do that. Groups regarding athletics, band theater, etc. are school sponsored, school initiated, and curriculum related. us, they would not be affected, including the FFA that we just heard a wonderful presentation from. I urge the board to do the right thing, ban this club, and ensure our schools are free from this harmful ideology and their places of learning centered on truth and not lies. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, Anthony Conrad. >> I'm here to speak for the LGBTQ community in favor of keeping the club. As a father of LGBTQ kids, I know the pressures and
046the bullying and everything else that they get. They don't get much support even from their families. They constantly are ridiculed and told that they are wrong for being who they are. and that a wonderful teacher has opened up a room to where kids can come and play cards with each other where they're not bullied and ostracized. We want to talk about statistics and not emotions. Let's talk statistics. According to the APA, the ASA, and also the Sorry, I'm a little worked up. National Library of Health. All of them say that six that a an LGBTQ kid with one supporting parent, their suicide to eld goes down 50%. If they have a club or something social, this is you can find this on these three websites. 67% less. And when we go to the CDC and
047it says 19.7% of our LGBTQ youth are committing suicide and you do the math, if we would give them them two things, give them a club, a place outside the home and support in the home, it would literally, if you do the math, bring it to the same non-quer kids and queer kids would have the same suicidality rate. Talking about emotions is crazy when you're just coming up here because of religious ideologies that people disagree with. You are willing to sacrifice people's kids to suicide based on your own ideologies. And I beg you, don't do this. As a father of LGBTQ children, I would not trade my children's life for the comfort of grown adults. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's bigotry. They can disguise it as godly or whatever. It is bigotry and they don't
048give any concern for what is actually causing these suicides. That's it. >> Thank you, >> Javon May. >> Chev. >> Hi, I'm Chevvin May. Uh, my kids have gone to Melbourne schools for uh, their whole entire career. My daughter's a senior, my son's a sophomore. I've never lived in your district. I'm not from here. I picked the school for a variety of reasons. Um, I work at North Posie. They wouldn't allow a club like this. The club has gone for several years now. Um, and I just don't know why all of the sudden it's an issue. We talked about the suicide rate, talked about how kids need a place to go. It's not hurting anybody. If you want to bring God into it, Jesus said, "Love your neighbor." There's nothing wrong with them meeting. You're
049not going to find anybody who wants to come to your school district if you enact, there's no other word for it, discriminatory policies. That is all. >> Thank you, >> Sally Julian. >> Hello, I'm Sally Julian. Thank you again for letting me come and talk at this peer about this peer-led group. Um, and I appreciate your time. The amount of negative attention to some that some of the community me members have put on this issue is disheartening to me. To stand before this board and administration saying that the mere existence of this peer group of kids is disruptive to their children is appalling to me. And we all need to consider how much harm we're inflicting on the LGBTQ kids. Um, schools with active alliances experience lower rates of bullying, stronger connectedness, and improved mental
050health. And it's not for those just who identify as LGBTQ plus, but it also fosters empathy, inclusiveness, and respect across the broader student body. Many of the opposing speakers in the past meetings have mentioned that the rate of depression suicide is prevalent. Well, perhaps I think we all know why. When we villainize as a community these kids, this is why they want to jump into a hole and not come out. And I think that's very scary to me. Um, it causes them to feel alone. And I don't know why we can't give them a peer group and have a safe affirming space at school for them. I've heard so many voices say that they don't wish any harm and they would do anything for a child but in the same breath and paragraph call these
051individuals evil and perverse. I've heard numerous references to God in the Bible as reasons and first of all consider that the Bible was translated for us by imperfect humans and they're flawed. My God would never condone this rhetoric. And in fact, if Jesus were walking on this earth today, he'd be in that classroom with the LGBTQ kids and not trying to change them be, but because he loves them. We are not the judge and jury. This is not a religious issue. As administration and board moves forward, please know that allowing this club and others like it are a selling point for new families. I would want something welcoming like this for my kid. Um, I wish it were here for my kid when he was here. Um, if this community is not welcoming, I think
052people will move to different districts. Evansville offers that for their kids. Legally, in my opinion, this is non-issue. It's after school, not required, peer-led. They're playing cards. Um, again, you can't be harmed by hearing an announcement and it's not going to turn your kid gay. Um, so as a taxpayer, drawing drawing the school district into a lengthy uh potential legal battle over this would be poor stewardship of our of our funds. So, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to voice my opinions. Please know there are just as many of us that are standing up for the LGBTQ as there are opposing it. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Okay, so that was 10. So we're going to close um that part of the meeting and I did want to acknowledge
053the fact that we have had um you know several meetings where people have come out and asked for the board's um feedback on this and to make a statement. So, I did want to read I did prepare something for tonight. Um, but I first want to start by just thanking everyone for your comments. Um, seeing a community care is really, you know, encouraging in in a lot of ways. Um, there's a lot of passion here and we do thank you for coming out and um, you know, using your words and telling us, you know, um, your thoughts. So, um, regarding the LGBTQ plus and friends group, as a board, we've continued to consult with our legal council and our position remains the same. We will continue to allow studentled groups to utilize our facilities. If
054we do remove all non-curricular groups, this would include organizations such as Voices of Faith, Girls of Grace, Club Soccer, swim, pause wrestling, and that's just to name a few. There are hundreds of students who benefit from these groups, finding connection, leadership opportunities, and support through them. Our responsibility as a board is to ensure that all students are treated fairly and equally, and that our district follows both state and federal law. We cannot and will not discriminate against any group based on belief, background, or their message. Our goal remains the same, to keep our schools a place where every student feels welcome, safe, and supported. So, thank you all. Moving on to um non-staff communications and reports. >> Nothing. >> That's not >> and superintendent and staff. >> Uh self insurance fund continues to be uh
055healthy and uh so we like to see those numbers going up. And then uh fuel adjustment chart that's just in there for you guys to see um for our contracted bus routes. And just an update on um a couple things. We are working towards our first iLearn checkpoint in all of the schools. So we'll have some data to report to you guys soon after that's over just on how we're progressing towards our goals. So our academic goals. Moving on to future business approved meeting dates. Our next meeting date is November 3rd at 5:30 followed by December 17th. Oh, I'm sorry. December 1st and then December 17th. >> November 17th. >> I'm sorry. That's been a long meeting. Reverse. Reverse. Um, okay. And we also have uh staff development day on November 5th with elementary dismissing
056at 12:50, junior high dismissing at 1, and our high school will dismiss at 1:10. And the board will be attending the ISBA fall regional meeting. And that's all I have. >> So with that, we are adjourned. Thank you everyone.