001But like like the days I come [music] like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade. But it's [music] not it's not easy but like when you do what you got to do it become easy. So it's really just chill for me. >> Good. There's [music] never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. Everybody's like chill. I like the people. I like the community. I would definitely say it's fun. [music] It's definitely creative. Like, you definitely don't know what you're going to get coming [music] through the door every day. In a in a good way, though. Um Um [music] I would say it's safe. It's loving. Um, it's definitely welcoming. >> The [music] teachers the most about the school. Yeah. Say my experience in Morning's pretty
002good. I don't have any complaints. >> Okay. atmosphere is good here and there's there's good people here because um when she teaches [music] it like actually makes me want to actually try the things she teaches cuz the way she she does it is uh so like inspiring to me nation let's Hey, hey. I love the school. Um the students [music] are like really nice. Um the teachers they really positive and [music] yeah like the teachers at my old school I never asked questions [music] with my teachers and now at this school since my mom went here so I basically know all the teachers that's here so now I can express to what I'm feeling. and what I need to add, my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz [music] you know the education is pretty good. The
003the teachers are [music] great, you know, but my friends is the best part. I like most about H Central was definitely the students, the people, you know, all the people I met uh since I've been here cuz I moved [music] here uh middle school. So like the people have been great. I [music] made a lot of memories since freshman year, uh sophomore year, all the years. You know, some days you going to have days where like you don't want to come, but like like the days I [music] come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade, but [music] it's not it's not easy, but like when you do what you got to do, it become easy. [music] So, it's really just chill for me. >> It's good. [music] There's
004never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. Everybody's [music] like chill. I like the people. I like the community. I would definitely say it's [music] fun. It's definitely creative. Like, you definitely don't know what you're going to get [music] coming through the door every day. In a in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe, it's loving. [music] Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers [music] the most about the school. Yeah. Say my experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. [snorts] Okay. The atmosphere is good here and there's there's good people here because [music] um when she teaches it like actually makes me want to actually try [music] the things she teaches cuz the way she she does it is uh so like inspiring to me.
005>> Go Nation, let's rock. I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um [music] the teachers they really positive and yeah like the teachers at my old school I never ask questions with my teachers. And now at this school since my mom went here so I basically know [music] all the teachers that's here. So now I can express to what I'm feeling and what I need to ask, my friends, you know. Yeah, [music] cuz you know the education is pretty good. The the teachers [music] are great, you know, but my friends is the best part. I like most about HM Central is definitely the students, the people, you know, all the people I met uh since I've been [music] here cuz I moved here on uh middle school. So like [music] the
006people have been great. I made a lot of memories since freshman year, uh sophomore year, all the years. You know, >> some days you going to have days where like you going to come, but like like the days [music] I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade, but it's not it's not easy, [music] but like when you do what you got to do, it become easy. So, it's really just chill for me. >> It's good. There's never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. [music] Everybody's like chill. I like the people. I like the community. [music] I would definitely say it's fun. It's definitely creative. Like, you definitely don't know what you're going to get coming through the door every day. In a
007in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe, [music] it's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. In my [music] experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. >> Okay. atmosphere is good here and there's there's good people here because um when she teaches [music] it like actually makes me want to actually try the things she teaches cuz the way she she [music] does it is uh so like inspiring to me nation let's Hey, hey. I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. [music] Um the teachers they really positive and [music] yeah like the teachers at my old school I never ask questions with my teachers. And now at this school since my mama went here, so I basically know [music]
008all the teachers that's here. So now I can express to what I'm feeling [music] and what I need to ask. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Good evening everyone. Thanks for attending our uh Scoo City Hammond Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026 regular school board meeting. Let's please stand those that can for the pledge of allegiance. >> [clears throat] >> 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. >> For all. [clears throat and cough] >> And everything looks so festive as we celebrate Black History Month. Thanks to the administration and those that uh went to this length to uh share these beautiful uh decorations for Black
009History Month. Okay, we can go into our meeting. Roll call. Trustee >> present. >> Trusty Kendallera >> present. >> Trusty Stanford present. >> Trusty Spencer >> present. >> Trusty Blake King present. Superintendent. Um, we do have a a quorum. We can move forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty King. Good evening, everyone. At this time, I would like to call up uh Mrs. Allison Lenzo. She is our director of federal programs and she will be providing an update on the office of federal programs and highlight its focus on educ on enhancing educational opportunities and outcomes for all students. Mrs. Lenzo. >> Good evening. Um, good evening, President Blake King, Superintendent Selenus, board members, and community members. I'm Allison Lenzo, the school city of Hammond director of federal programs, and I'm going to share some information
010with you tonight about um how we support students in Hammond. But before I get started, I'd like to introduce the wonderful OFP staff. So, I'm going to introduce our U financial coordinator, Nancy Tala, [applause] our administrative assistant, Cindy Tannis, [applause] and our program coordinator, Kelly Patterson. >> [applause] >> So, our focus in the office of federal programs is to enhance educational opportunities and outcomes for all students throughout Hammond with strategic program management. Um, so I'm going to go ahead and go to our next slide. If my clicker part is working, it wasn't working earlier. I even practiced. [laughter] All right, Dan, you could go ahead. We tried. Thank you. So, that was our team. I already did those introductions. if you want to go to the next one. All right. So, title one, title one's
011primary purpose is bridging the achievement gap for our children. Um, part A funding from title one is provided to our district and to our schools in Hammond to assist students in the high percentages of lowincome um students that we have in the district. So the main thing there is providing any kind of extra um supplemental instruction by having instructional coaches or having interventionists um in in those schools to help out. Um also for title one we have to use our money to supplement services like I just said. So the federal dollars are used for additional programs beyond the regular mandated curriculum from the state of Indiana. Um and our focus of of course is the most at risk students so we can get to the academic benchmarks that the state is expecting us to get
012to. Another area is that we focus on evidence-based practices. So the fund supports a range of essential activities such as hiring licensed interventionists, literacy coaches, instructional coaches, and offering professional development in the district. We also focus on family involvement initiatives and everything has to be rooted in an evidence-based um way to make sure that we are maximizing all of our instruction. >> So if you go to to the next slide, this lets you know all of the different people that we actually fund. So in our office alone, we have the four of us and then we fund part of um Adam White's position as our data and assessment coordinator that's fed federally funded. We have our face team which is two pair professionals and we also have partially funded our bilingual family support specialist who
013helps us with interpreting at family events. We have our packed program which has been with us for a long time in Hammond. We're very proud of that program. We have 10 teachers um and we have 10 pair professionals that we support through federal funding and we also have a birth to five program that Miss Del Rio um does as well through our um federal funding. At the elementary level, all nine of our intervention paras are funded through title one funding. At the middle school level, we have our we read 180 intervention teachers. So, each one has one of those. Um, we also have our instructional coaches in the district. We fund that for the middle school and high school. At the elementary level, right now we fund part of that. Um, we have about 66%
014because the state is in their last year providing that 33% for their salary. Um, we also split some student support specialists in the district. At the elementary schools as well as at the middle school, we have the MTSS specialist who supports both schools. We have two alternative education teachers and two SEI teachers. So, another really important part of Title One and our requirements is that we um do family and community engagement activities with our families. So, it's a mandatory compliance that we do that. So, we have our parent compacts that we work on with our families and we update those yearly. We have a family engagement plan that we work on as well. And it's very important that we keep that two-way communication with our families at all time. Another way that we support student
015success is that we provide activities outside of the school day for families. We have our family nights. We do two a year. We have parent teacher conferences. We hold two of those a year as well. And we also do our side by sides where parents or family members are welcome to come into the building to work alongside their child when they're in the classroom. So those are some things that we do to within the community to build that engagement. So strong family engagement leads to improved student achievement and better attendance and increased confidence for our families when we are supporting their children in the city of Hammond. So that's our title one. Now I'm going to switch a little bit here. We're going to go to title two funding. Oh, thank you. So, this lets
016you know that unfortunately with changes in the federal government and the state with funding, you can see from our graph here that over the uh this is our third year now that we are starting lower than we were two years ago. So, unfortunately, funding keeps going in a downward trend, which is why we have to be extremely um detailed on what we're funding and making sure that it's allowable um per federal guidelines. So title two, it's supporting instruction altogether. So title title two funding elevates teacher leadership and quality and ensures effectiveness for educators so when they're instructing they have the most up-to-date and effective strategies. We also provide targeted professional development and instructional coaching with evidence based practices and we ensure equitable access to highquality teachers and strong leaders for every student regardless of background
017or location. So, as you can see here for title two, we fund all of our um public schools in Hammond and we also have six non-public schools that receive money. I forgot to mention earlier for title one, we have all of our Hammond schools as well as 13 non-public schools that receive money. So, title two is a little bit different because that's only for schools that are actually located in Hammond. So, our funding here, you can see we had lower and then it went up and now it went back down. So hopefully maybe next year we'll get lucky and it'll go back up in the right direction. So that lets you see that. [laughter] >> So that's a little bit about title um two. Now we're going to talk a little bit about title 4.
018So title four supports the whole child's. Um this is academic enrichment. So when we talk about title four, we're thinking HAPA, we're thinking STEM, um we're thinking maker space. So those are some funds, some ways that we fund within the district for those programs for our students. So Title 4 funds programs that improve student well-being, stu students safety, mental health, and access to enrichment opportunities. We also help with providing training or um staff members based on counseling for bullying prevention and make sure that we have a healthy climate at school. With Title 4, we could also expand academic opportunities to strengthen our arts, music, college, and career readiness, STEM, and other well-rounded education activities for our students. And we can also help with improving technology and digital support and learning for our students by purchasing
019devices, digital tools, and teacher training. However, I will have to say that the state only lets us use 15% of the budget on electronics. So that's not much of the budget that you can do because I know there's a need for that. Um but whenever we have the opportunity to fund anything like purchase of Chromebooks, we just did that recently um in September because we had to use all the money. I did contact Mr. Benich and we were able to make sure that we use that money for Chromebooks. So whenever the opportunity is there, we will definitely take advantage of that. And then our next slide, this lets you see our funding over time and it's unfortunately in that downward trend again there. And from that, I'm going to move to McKini Vinto, which you
020may be familiar with. Um, with Mckin Vinto, we um have to follow the federal law that's required that we have a Mckin Vento liaison in our district. And Kelly Patterson, who stood up earlier, she's kind of taking on the role of three people. So, she's our Mckin Vento liaison. She's in charge of pact, and she's in charge of family engagement in the district where in the past we had three people doing all completely different roles. So, Kelly has been doing a great job wearing many different hats this year. So, Kelly works with the schools when a new student comes who may be experiencing um you know, housing insecurity and they don't have a place to go. So, with Mckin Vento, you are immediately enrolled into your school. You have the um some of the requirements
021like showing proof of residency. Kelly works with the school and the parent and then we have a process to, you know, make sure the child gets to school and is enrolled immediately without having that proof of residency. Another thing that's important for our families is that we have some stability for our students. So, we try to have them remain in their school of origin, which is the school that they're currently in or the school that's closest to where they're going to be located. And then we also provide support to families as needed with transportation um if needed. We do provide that. By law, we have to. We can also wave any kind of fees um if required by their district and we connect the families to different community resources. Um let's see. So one thing
022coming soon that I'm excited to share is we're going to have a family resource room over at the Colombia Welcome Center. So Mrs. Patterson and I have been going through boxes and boxes of items that have been donated and we're going to use one of the empty rooms over at um at the Columbia Welcome Center and it's going to have materials for families to come and take as needed. So, the nice part is this is a private room. Um, so families would be able to make an appointment to come in and we also have a bathroom that connects to this room. So, families can go try on clothing with dign dignity and privacy and not have to feel ashamed or anything because there's no reason to be because we're here to support them. Um, on
023top of just getting clothing, we have hygiene materials and we are um also in the process of collecting more school supplies. We have some, but we I know now it's that time of the year where schools need it. So we just gave a a nice handful to our elementary schools because they needed some things for students. But those are items that we just want to have available for families for any time whether whether families are McKini Vinto or not. So this is just something that would support our Mckin Vento families, but we also want to support other Hammond families who have that need. So this will be up and running. Our goal is for next year. We want to try to get it ready this year, but it's it's hard for two of us to
024be there to get it all set up. So we've been scheduling a few days a month to get there and work on that room. Gotcha. So, in closing, the Office of Federal Programs remains committed to ensuring that federal resources are used strategically, equitably, and in full compliance with federal requirements. Do you have any questions for me? >> Any questions from the board? >> I don't have a question. I just want to say that resource room is amazing and thank you so much for doing that for our community. >> Oh, you're welcome. Anyone else? >> Let me ask a question. Yes. >> Um, are you asking for volunteers to help with the resource room? >> We'll be reaching out to the PTA. We kind of have to get it organized first. Um, just because [laughter] yes,
025we have to wrap our head around. Um, we want to have items out, but we want to kind of number them. So, like if you want like hygiene item number one, then we could go where we're storing that and go get that item. So, we're in the process this year of just getting it organized, but we will definitely be reaching out um to the PTA. So, uh that would, you know, definitely be a way to go for help. >> And how do you donate? I have a closet floor full of clothing. >> Just let me know. Shoot me an email. >> Okay, I will. >> Yep. We have donations from community members. We get donations like I had a friend who got a job so she's donating a bunch of suits because they she doesn't
026wear them now. And I'm like that's great for a parent who might need it for a job interview. So any items that you think would be beneficial and I know there's something that Kelly planned for the spring, but I don't want to spoil her surprise. So we'll be adding something to this room in the spring as well. >> So thank you. >> Okay. Well, thank you so much for the opportunity to present tonight >> and thank you and we thank you for that extra layer with the resource room. >> Thank you. >> That is so appreciative. Wow, Mr. Selenus. >> All right, great job, Mrs. Lenzo. Thank you very much. Uh, as Trusty King mentioned, we are beginning our celebration of Black History Month, and there's no better way to kick off our celebration than
027with some of our outstanding school city of Hammond students. So, we are going to call to the uh screen here our students from Edgars Middle School. Are they in the house? Where are our Edgar stu? All right, our principal, Dr. Johnny Goodlo, is here. Awesome. [applause] So, our our students can uh are they going to come up? You guys can come up to this side here in front of the screen with our microphones. [clears throat] >> Wow. >> Good evening, Madame President, board of school trustees, superintendent Selenus, district administration, fellow school city of H employees and members of the community. I am joined by my assistant principal, Miss Melanie Morris, and our dean of students, Mr. Michael Van Waver. And we are proud to present to you the Edgars Middle School EA Girls, who have
028a black history presentation for you this evening. I now introduce you to Miss Dette Ethrrich and Miss Jacqueline Smith, the e-girl sponsors. Good evening. Thank you, Dr. Goodlo, and thank you to our school board. We're excited to be here. My name is Jacqueline Smith, and I am the seventh grade counselor and one of the proud sponsors of the EAG Girl Club along with Miss Danette Edrich, our basic skills teacher. We are honored tonight to have several of our e-girl club members with us. Girls, >> how are you? Hello. [laughter] >> Okay. >> This evening, we would like to share who we are and the mission of the EAG Girls Club. [clears throat] The EAG Girls Club is designed to empower girls by building confidence, character, leadership, and service. Through this club, girls learn the importance
029of giving back and making positive decisions. The mission of the EAG Girls Club is to empower middle school girls to grow in confidence, character, and leadership while preparing them to succeed in school and in the community. In honor of Black History Month, the EAG Girls Club are excited to commemorate the rich history, strength, and contributions of African-Americans. As we celebrate culture, resilience, and the voices that continue to shape our world, we are honored to share a poem, Hey Black Child, by our very own eighth grade student, Annayia Moore. >> [applause] >> Hey, black child. Presented by Euzini Eugene Perkins. Hey, black child. Do you know who you are? Who you really are? Do you know you can be what you want to be? If you try to be, what you can't be? Hey black child,
030do you know where you are going? Where you're really going? Do you know you can learn what you want to learn if you try to learn what you can't learn? Hey, black child, do you know you are strong? I mean really strong. Do you know you can do what you want to do if you try to do what you can do? Hey, black child. Be what you can be. Learn what you must learn. Do what you can do. And tomorrow, your nation will be what you want it to be. [applause] >> Thank [applause] you everyone. So even though one person may have presented, they don't travel alone. So everyone is here for moral [laughter] support and we are godly proud of that and we are very proud of them. [applause] Okay, we can they can
031come up here. >> I'd like to add that I am grateful that Edgars Middle School has kept this uh legacy going on. EG girls has been part of Edgars for years and it was founded by uh [clears throat] Dr. Leslie Yanders. And uh I am so grateful that you all have picked up the torch and kept this EAG Girls Club going. Give them all another big round of applause, please. [applause] >> [applause] >> When that [clears throat] yay. All right. Thank you again, Edgar's Middle School. And now we're going to continue with our representation from uh HPA. Are our students here? >> Here they come. [applause] >> [applause] [laughter] [gasps] >> Good evening members of the school board and attendees. My name is Aaron Bernard, a teacher at Hammond Central, and I'm proud to represent
032Hammond Arts and Performance Academy under the direction of Melissa Brazard, who's right here in the back. [applause] Tonight, our dance department will be performing a short snippet from Daughters of the Diaspora, an African diaspora in it, an African diaspora inspired piece created in honor of Katherine Dunham. Dunham was a pioneering black dancer, choreographer, and anthropologist whose work celebrated African and Caribbean movement traditions and brought them to the concert stage. This piece draws from those cultural roots, honor her legacy, her impact on modern dance, and her dedication to preserving and elevating the stories of the African diaspora. Through this performance, we aim to recognize black history not just through word through words, but through movement, rhythm, and embodied storytelling. We will perform the full police at the Hammond at Hammond Central for our Black History Month
033concert and trivia night on February 19th at 6 p.m. The Morton Dance Department will also be performing during their daytime Black History Celebration on February 24th at 1:00 p.m. There'll be flyers in the back if anyone would like to take any with them. And then I want to kind of introduce our dancers. Um, so we have three seniors with us today. Ariel Smith, Kamayra Gaffford, and Trinity Huddleston. [clears throat] Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share this work with you this evening. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bernard. >> When that Pharaoh chariot comes, I'm [singing] going to leave you. I'm bound for the promised land. [music] I'm going to leave you. I'm sorry. [singing] I'm going to leave you farewell. Oh, farewell. But I'll meet you [music] in [singing] the morning. Farewell. Oh, farewell.
034I'll meet you [music and singing] in the morning. Bound for the promised land. On the other side [singing] of Jordan. [music] Bound for the promised land. I'm sorry [singing] I'm [music] going to leave you. Farewell. Oh, farewell. But I meet you in the morning. [music] Farewell. Farewell. Oh, meet you in the morning. Farewell. Farewell. [music] Oh, meet you. Farewell. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Don't take my power my [music] feet away. Oh wow. [music] Take it away. Oh wow. Take my blow up. My go [music] away. Oh wow. Take me away. Oh wow. I was always in a lead. What you want to be? I'm who you want to be. B E A U T Y E. Never seen so much rage from a queen. Raise from a queen. [music] Queen so strong. She was
035a machine. Girl dream. Sinclair regime. Turn to the max. forget [music] that me as a goddess. I'm tired of being modest. 100° the hottest we say we [music] angel in the I have to disguise it. Why you got to mind? Tell me all the power to realize it. [applause] [cheering] Thank you. Thank you. Photo. [applause] Come on. >> Yes, that was >> the back up here. Thank you so much. [applause] All right. Thank you again to our students from Edgars Middle School and also our students from Hammond Central [applause] for kicking off our Black History Month celebration and sharing your talents with us this evening. Thank you. Thank you very much. And there are flyers on the table for the Hman Central event on the 19th of February. Is it trivia night as well? >>
036It is a trivia night. >> Trivia night. All right. [laughter] >> Polish up your trivia skills. >> Thank you once again. Okay, we are going to move on the agenda to our next item which is public expression first period. Trustee Stanford. >> We actually do not have anyone signed up for first session. [clears throat] >> Keep on moving. >> Okay, I think that's a first. >> That's [laughter] a first. >> That's a first, but we will go ahead and keep on moving. Our next agenda item is our consent agenda. >> Trustees, before us, we have our consent agenda. Uh, what's your pleasure? Do I hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> Trusty Kennelera, >> I move for the approval of items A through E as presented. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >>
037It's been moved and properly second by Trustee Spencer. Uh, are there any questions? >> I would like to read the accounts payable docket register. >> Go ahead. Dated [clears throat] February 3rd, 2026. Consists of 162 pages. Total claims 1,598,6327. Total payroll 2,824,2346. >> Thank you. Any more questions? >> All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas, >> I apologize. because I skipped over unfinished business. But however, there is no unfinished business this evening. I did not want to get in trouble by Mrs. Lopez. [laughter] All right, our next item is new business. >> Trustees, uh item A, approval of acting superintendent agreement. Do we hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> trustee Spencer, >> I move for the approval of the acting superintendent agreement. >> You hear
038a second? Second. >> It's been moved and probably second that we approve the acting superintendent agreement extension. Um, are there any questions? >> No questions. But just for transparency purposes, I think it's important just for everyone to know that you, like you just said, this is just an extension of the previous one we've already had. So, we're just continuing to um extend it a little further. >> Thank you, Trusty Spencer. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Eyes have it. Motion carried. >> Superintendent. >> Our next our next item is the approval of the recognition of the health service group as a unit of the Hammond Teachers Federation. >> Do I hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> Trustee Spencer, >> I move that we uh table
039this item as we are waiting on some additional uh documentation. >> Second. It's been moved and properly seconded that we table item B uh due to >> [snorts] >> uh requesting additional documents. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carried. >> Mr. Selenus. >> Our next item is the approval to allow support staff to conduct an election to determine whether they will be represented by the Hammond Teachers Federation. >> Do I hear a motion? >> Madam President. >> Trusty Spencer. I move that we approve to allow the support staff to conduct an election to determine whether they will be represented by the Hammond Teachers Federation. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval to allow our support staff to
040conduct an election to determine whether they will be represented by the Hammond Teachers Federation. Any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas. >> Our next item is the approval of the affiliation agreement with North Central College. >> Could you give us a little explanation, Mr. Selenus? >> I'd be happy to. So, this is um an affiliation agreement with North Central to provide clinical experience to students enrolled in their occupational therapy and physical uh therapy programs. There is no cost to the school city of Hammond. A partnership like this and a collaboration like this can enhance student learning experiences at no cost to our district. And it increases the likelihood of these uh candidates becoming members of this school city of Hammond staff.
041And I'd like to uh note that this was submitted by our special ed director, Mr. Tim Seaman, who continues to grow the program and recruit and hire and he's doing a fantastic job. >> Thank you, Mr. Selenus. Do I hear a motion? Madame President, >> Trustee Candelera, >> I move for the approval of the affiliation agreement with North Central College as presented. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the of the uh affiliation agreement with North Central College. Any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas, >> excuse me. This is the approval of the amendment to the affiliation agreement with Indiana University. And again, this is also um the opportunity for
042students who are in their clinical experience enrolled in uh psychology, clinical, counseling, nursing, and social work or speech pathology programs to also get familiar with our program and uh potentially become employees of our school district down the road. Also approved and I'm sorry, submitted by Mr. Tim Seaman. You've heard the uh the motion. Do I hear I need a motion? >> Madam President, >> Trusty Kendall, >> I move for the approval of the amendment to the affiliation agreement with Indiana University as presented. >> Hear a second. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the agreement with Estron Business, no with the affiliation of agreement with Indiana University. Any questions? Any questions? I do have one. Mr. Selenas, at any point for both of these agreements, could we have a perhaps
043a public work session or something to further explain uh to introduce these folks to our [snorts] our staff, our administration, and our parents? Yes. At some point. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Absolutely. >> Any other questions? All in favor say I. I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas, >> the next item is the approval of the agreement with Astound Business Solutions. This agreement supports student success by ensuring reliable internet access to enhance teaching and learning while demonstrating fiscal responsibility through cost savings achieved via our -ate funding program. And this was submitted through our technology director, Mr. Ken Bennich. >> Thank you. Do I hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> Trusty Kenneler, >> I move for the approval of the agreement with us down business solutions as presented. >> Do
044I hear a second? >> Second. It's been moved and properly second that we approve the agreement with Astounded Business Solutions. Any questions? >> I have a question. >> Trusty [clears throat] St. >> is this an extension? Were we with a down previously? >> Mr. Benich, is this an extension? Uh, Mr. Benich is here can elaborate. >> Thank you, sir. >> For all of our it has to go out for bid. Um, so a stan was the new bidder taking place of a previous >> Okay. So this is our first time with a stamp. >> Uh, yeah, we've had them with a couple other things uh throughout, but this is their first time doing our internet for that for >> Okay, thanks. >> Any more questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed?
045Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas. >> Our next item is the approval of agreements with Tri Electronics. Um, and if there are any questions for this one, I'll also defer to Mr. Ben [laughter] this one. >> Are there any questions? Any questions? >> I'd like a little more info, >> please. Mr. Benich, please. Thank you. >> Hello again. >> Hi. So, our uh this agreement, we have fiber connecting Morton High School with our warehouse that was installed about 25 years ago, and we need to fix that. It's it's not working properly. So, we have to bore and install new fiber between the warehouse and Morton High School. >> Okay. >> And we're using funding for this as well. >> Okay. Are there any other questions? Any other questions? All in favor say I. >>
046We didn't have a motion. >> Oh, we didn't have a motion. Do I hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> Trusty Cantera, >> I move for the approval of the agreement with Tri Electronics, Inc. as presented. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the agreement with Tri Electronics, Inc. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carried. Thank you, Mr. The last and the last one, Mr. Selenas. This is the approval of the contract between Silven Learning Center and St. Stanislas Law School. So again, as you heard earlier from our director of federal programs, we have to provide uh funding for our parochial schools whether they're in Hammond or not, as long as the prochial schools have uh Hammond students. And so
047this is one of these cases. And so they are asking to use their title money to ensure that they have a proper support outside of the classrooms to support struggling students in math and language. Uh but this is funded through their portion of their uh title one funding. >> Thank you, Mr. Selenas. Do I hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> who is Oh, trustee Spencer. Okay. [laughter] >> I move for the approval of the contract between Silven Learning Center and Staint Stance. >> Second. >> It's been moved and probably second that we approve the contract between Silvin Learning Center and St. Danalus. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion carry. Next, Mr. Seline. >> Our next item is the calendar of upcoming board meetings.
048>> Before us, our school uh calendar uh Tuesday, well, it's today, February 3rd. Uh well, our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 17th, executive session, 5:15 p.m. Administration Center. the same date, Tuesday, February 17th, school regular school board meeting, 6 pm administration center. [clears throat] And that concludes our calendar and it can be changed. Go ahead. >> Just real quick, it says that tonight is a special meeting, but today tonight's a regular meeting. >> Oh, tonight's Wait a minute. Today is the third. Is it? >> This is a special meeting. >> No, we It's a regular >> It's a regular meeting. >> I think just a typo. >> Okay, that's a typo. [clears throat] Thank you, Trusty Spencer. Good catch. That's why we work together. [laughter] Didn't even say. >> Thank you so much. That's
049our calendar. Mr. Selenas, >> our next item is public expression second period. Trusty Stanford. [clears throat] >> We actually have a couple of people who would like to speak. First, Linda Randolph. Good evening. I'm Linda Randolph here on behalf of the Hammond uh Rotary Club. As you uh know, Hammond Rotary [snorts] Club is a service organization. They have done great things throughout the country. I was blessed to have been sent to South Korea and Japan years ago on behalf of this club and the great work that they do. I'm here to talk about the Rotary Youth Leadership Award known as RIYA where the Hammond Club will sponsor students to go to a threeday camp April 17th through the 19th. All expenses paid by the uh Hammond Club. I have had the opportunity to meet with
050our secondary director, the principles, and I've met some of the counselors to familiarize them with the program. It's been around a while, but the uh local club has not sent any candidates uh recently. This began years ago in Australia and then in 1966 the clubs in the United States decided that they would also participate. The objective is to demonstrate Rotary's respect and concern for our youth to encourage, assist, and train leaders in responsible and effective youth leadership to encourage continued and stronger leadership of youth with other youth. And they will come from um this area all the way down, I believe, to Lafayette. And they'll be at what is called Camp Tumpsa. The Rotary Youth Leadership Award entitles the recipient to take part in the annual camp as a guest of the Rotary Club. So,
051as I said, all expenses would be paid by the local club. So, we want to make the applications available and we hope to select at least six students. So, we uh really are praying that our children will step up, fill out the application, and take advantage of this opportunity. So I I have some uh handouts that tell you a little bit about what it is as well as uh encouraging the um students to participate. >> Any questions? >> Mr. Go ahead. >> I just want to see the information. I'm curious about the ages like what the but I'm sure that's all >> the information is usually juniors and seniors. Now they're saying, "Let's focus on sophomores and juniors so that they can come back and use those leadership skills to help the students." >> Gotcha.
052>> So it's in April and by the time you deal with prom and graduation, all seniors have very little time to really share what they learn. So the focus now is on sophomore and juniors. >> You can we get that? >> Any more questions? >> Well, Mr. Selenus, certainly we're going to jump on that and Mrs. weeks, we'll [clears throat] put it on our website and I'm sure our counselors and our principles will uh engage with our students to make sure we get someone to participate and I'm sure we will without a doubt because we do have the students here. We definitely have the students here that would be glad >> to um >> appreciate the time to tell you about it. >> What a wonderful >> Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
053>> Wow. Yeah, that's a wow. Do they take old folks? [laughter] >> Need chaperones. >> Can we be guests? [clears throat] >> She don't even hear. [laughter] >> She's ignoring us. >> Okay. Next is Wanda Pucket. >> Oh, Wanda. >> We're sorry, Wanda. We were trying to go to the camp with the kids. >> Good evening. >> My name is Wanda Pucket. I've come to address the board as well as the parents. I'm asking all parents, please get up in the morning, start walking your kids to school. It's actually too much going on. [laughter] Our kids need to be supervised. I know we don't feel like getting up in the morning because it's too early. But I'm am asking all parents, [clears throat] middle school, elementary school. I know a lot of y'all stay close
054to the school, but get up and walk your kids. What's floating around on this Instagram, Facebook, and all of this for a child in Gary like they got snatched coming off from school yesterday on 19th, seen a lady out there cleaning off her car and ran to a holling, mama, mama. The lady immediately know what was going on and said, "Come on, baby. I got you." and follow the van. Parents, stop letting y'all little girls, these little boys, walk to school by they yourself. Get up. Walk your kids to school. They going to the store, walk them to the store. They going to the bus, walk them to the bus. Stand there with your child until that bus pull up. Then you turn around and go back in the house. be out there when they
055get out of school, too. Cuz what I'm looking at, I see a lot of little kids, walking to Burns Hicks, walking to Edgars, 6:30 in the morning. Yeah, I'm up doing my little walk. It still ain't dark. It's still kind of dark outside. [snorts] Your kids can get stopped by a train. Sometime they get boxed in. You all parents need to be up out there walking. I don't care how old they get, they still your babies. Get up off and walk. That's all I got to say. >> Thank you. That's the end of second session. >> We can go right into our reports. Superintendent. >> Thank you very much. Our next item is our reports. Um, before I start my reports, [clears throat] I'm gonna call up surprise surprise, Miss Kelly Peterson [laughter] Patterson. I'd
056like for her to share some information regarding a very important uh workshop that's going to be coming up. >> Good evening. So, coming up Thank you. So, coming up on Thursday, February the 19th, we're offering two sessions, uh, parent workshops. one of our school psychologists has volunteered to work with me to present to parents uh a little bit of information about understanding a child's learning needs. So we would talk about the special education eligibility categories in Indiana, how a student comes to get evaluated for those services, the importance of speaking to uh the child's teacher about that struggling need. um just a very basic um you know general knowledge because we want our parents to to know these things and to be able to advocate for their child. So we're offering the two sessions and
057we hope that we have a good turnout for them. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> Is there a date for that? Did I miss >> the date and the time for that? >> 19th >> Thursday 19. >> Okay. I missed it. I'm sorry. 11:30 to 10:30 and then again at 3:30 to >> Thank you. >> We'll get that out on the website. >> Yep. For sure. So, we have an AM session and a PM session for that. Thank you, Miss Patterson, for that information. Um, I think it's uh super important that we give these opportunities for our families, especially with our um early learners to be able to identify and support our kids. So, good evening trustees, staff, family members, and members of our Hammond community. Tonight, we proudly acknowledge the start of Black History Month,
058a time to reflect, learn, and celebrate the immeasurable contributions of Black Americans to our nation and to our local community. So, many of you may or may not know, Black History Month traces its origins back to 1926, which means 100 years ago, right, when historian Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week to ensure that the achievement and stories of black Americans were recognized and preserved. Over time, this important observance grew in scope and impact. 50 years after those celebrations during our nation's 1976 bsentennial, President Ford officially recognized Black History Month on a national level. At that time, President Ford called upon Americans to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history. Today, Black History Month stands as a powerful reminder that black
059history is not separate from American history. Black history is American history. And as we celebrate this month, we honor legendary figures who helped shape our country and our world. Leaders, educators, innovators, artists, athletes, change makers who paved the way for opportunity and progress. But we also take the time to celebrate the incredible black leaders making a difference right here and right now. Here in the school city of Hammond, we are proud to recognize the leadership and service of our school board president, our schoolboard secretary, and so many other outstanding educators, administrators, and staff members who work every day to uplift our students and strengthen our schools. Hammond is also home to Mrs. Annie Burns Hicks, Mr. Roland Parish, who are both role models and examples of strength and perseverance. As you all saw the our
060incredible students and we thank them for their shared talents their this evening their voices their creativity and their pride which remind us that this work matters. We are proud of you and we are inspired by you. So congratulations to everybody and we have a fantastic kickoff to Black History Month. We also are celebrating National School Counseling Week and we want to recognize the work that our school counselors do to amplify student success. To that end, I'd like to read the following proclamation. Whereas school counselors are employed in public and private schools to help students reach their full potential. Whereas school counselors are actively committed to helping students explore their abilities, strengths and interests and talents. Whereas school counselors help families focus on ways to further their academic careers and development of their children. Whereas school
061counselors work with teachers and other educators to help students explore their potential. And whereas school counselors seek to identify and utilize community resources that enhance and complement comprehensive school counseling programs. And whereas comprehensive school counseling programs are considered an integral part of the educational process that enables all students to achieve in school. Therefore, we in the school city of Hammond in partnership with the Indiana School Counselors Association proclaim February 2nd through February 6th as National School Counseling Week. And as we move forward this month and beyond, let us remember this important truth. Equality is greater than division. And when we choose unity, understanding, and respect, we create a stronger school and stronger community. A few reminders that we have to share. The city of Hammond is currently accepting applications for the 2026 Gaming Advisory Committee
062funding. They they [clears throat] have moved to an online process this year. The deadline to apply is February 20th uh of this month and you can find applications on the goham.com website. Also, the Folultz Parish scholarship application is available for high school seniors and that deadline is Saturday, February 28th. And on their website, the Folultzparishcolarship.com is more information as well. And finally, two weeks from today, we will be holding our parent teacher conferences on Tuesday, February 17th. This is also an asynchronous learning e-learning day for all students. As you can see, although February is a short month, it is a very busy month for sure. So, thank you very much and have a good evening everyone. >> Thank you, Mr. Selenus. Are there any reports from the board? >> That's my cue. >> Yes, it
063is [laughter] huge report. >> Yes. So, um we had a very successful Harlem Wizards game. Um I just wanted to that it it was incredible. We had so many I saw so many smiles on kids' faces. They did a fantastic job of involving the kids. Um if you didn't see the pictures, they're all over. Um Facebook, I just searched Harlem Wizards and all of our stuff was coming up. Um I wanted to give some big big shout outs um to our sponsors. Uh I have I have quite a list so bear with me. Um but the Hammond Public Library, Harris Law Firm, PNW, uh Town Planner of Northwest Indiana, Hayatt Place, Monster, First Financials, School City of Hammond, Albert's Aerost Strategy, Culver's Freel and Freel um Hammond Education Foundation, Hammond Hispanic Community Committee, uh Hammond
064Teachers Federation, North Township Trustee, Week's Impact, and the Hammond School Board Trustees. Um, I also wanted to give a special shout out to groups of players. Uh, we had so many um, school city Hammond staff members and administrators. Um, we had the, um, representation from our school board, Miss Kelly Spencer. Um, and also I will give a special shout out at the end. Uh, the HA police department. We had some police officers playing. Uh, we had a few city council members. Uh we had the president of the Southshore Convention Visitors Authority. Uh we had the president of the East Chicago School Board. Um and the president of the East Chicago Alumni Association. Um so I just wanted to thank there there was so much work that went into this. Um but there was so many
065people that helped. Um also we had like 80 volunteers helping. Um, so that would not have been po it would not have been possible without everybody. Um, all of the sponsors, all of the players. We had about 40 players. Um, I wanted to give a special shout out to our coach, Mr. Edward Peterson, for doing a fantastic job. Um, [laughter] and hopefully your wife wasn't too mad at you for playing. [laughter] Um, and then, um, like I said, the volunteers. It was it was such a fantastic night. Um hopefully everybody had had a great time. Um I did want to kind of bring it back to why we did that. Um we hosted the Harlem Wizards game to support our kindness project throughout the district. Um and we met our goal. Uh there was over
066a thousand tickets sold. Um I'm still waiting on final numbers from the treasur, but I know we met our profit goal of over 10,000. um which will fund quite a few coffee and conversations um the next couple years um until we can start planning for another game. Uh just give give us some time to breathe first. [laughter] I had people asking me immediately after the game I'm like uh let me sleep first. Um and then um I had people saying it was better than the the Harlem Globe Troters. They liked it more. So, um I'm just very very happy with how um involved they were with our kids, how good they were with our kids. Um I also wanted to give a special shout out to our HAPA students who sing the national anthem. Um
067>> oh yes, >> our um ACC culinary students who um [clears throat] made a delicious meal for us and for the players. Um, our media students from the ACC uh were there taking pictures and videos. Um, I also saw a couple of the East Chicago media students there uh taking pictures and videos. They all did a fantastic job. Um, I also want to give a special shout out to Mr. Ken Bennett for being my right-hand. I am very bad at disappearing on people and he kept up with all of it and took care of stuff that I did not even know was happening. So, um, I'm gonna I'm going to stop now, but I just wanted to give that report. >> Very good. Anyone else any comments on the game? >> Come on. We gave
068you a nickname. The the players gave her a nickname. >> What was your nickname, trustee? >> No, you go ahead. [laughter] >> Latte. >> She is latte. She was the only one on the court with a latte in >> walking around with her latte. [laughter] Oh boy. But I just can't thank uh Trustee Guierra and her team. When I saw those volunteers, I say, "How did she pull this off?" I mean, she had ministers out there collecting money for us. I mean, how did she do that? She had every she engaged the entire community. And uh I just And everyone in the audience who particip that participated, stand up and give yourselves a big round of applause. Come on, Miss Reena. She got her shot. She made her famous shot. [applause] Everybody just did such
069a tremendous job. And uh I think we need to give um Trusty Gear a standing award. [applause] I mean we it could not have happened. It could not have happened. [applause] We were astounded. Thank you so much trustee and we look forward to not too soon though but [laughter] soon >> another game. Everybody really was engaged and had a good time. And the looks on those children faces, my god. I mean, I'm still And we broke the internet. I don't care what nobody say. Facebook, all you saw was School City Hammond. Pictures from everywhere, from every focus, from every just everywhere. So, uh, >> I I I missed a shout out I wanted to give to our our vintage cheerleaders and and Miss Randolph was even she's still >> Where' she go? >> We had
070three of them. They look they looked great and and they were cheering up and down the court, man. They had their signs and everything. It was awesome. >> Oh, and those signs were last minute. TR Mrs. U Lopez and Mrs. uh Weeks, it was like two hours before the game. I told Stanford, I said, "Girl, we need some signs cuz we can't we can't be moving. We can let the signs do our work for us." And I mean, within they had those signs ready for we appreciate you, Miss Lopez, for just come fulfilling that that request from us. So I think that's Anybody else has anything else to say? I have nothing else to add to that. Uh do I hear a motion to adjurnn? >> So move >> second a meeting to journ. Thank
071you. >> Excellent.