001[Music] I love the school. Um, the students are like really nice. Um the teachers they really positive and yeah like the teachers at my old school I never asked questions 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 ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. The the teachers 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 here cuz I moved here on uh middle school. So like the people have been great. I made a lot of
002memories 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 I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade. But it's 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 never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. Everybody's like chill. [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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 in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe. It's
003loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. Say my 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 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. [Music] I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um 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 mama 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
004ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. the the teachers are great, you know, but my friends is the best part. >> I like most about him Central is definitely the students, the people, you know, all the people I met uh since I've been here cuz I moved here uh middle school. So, like the people 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 don't want to come but like like the days I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade but it's not it's not easy but like when you do what you got to do it become easy. So
005it's really just chill for me. >> It's good. There's never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. Everybody's like chill. [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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 in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe, it's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. My 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 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
006me nation let's Come on. Hey, hey, hey. [Music] I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um the teachers they really positive and yeah like the teachers at my old school I never asked questions 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 ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. The the teachers are 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 here on uh middle school. So like the people
007have 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 I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade, but it's 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 never any like problems or nothing. And it's always like good vibes. Everybody's like chill. [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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 in a good way, though.
008Um um I would say it's safe, it's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. Say my experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. atmosphere is good here and there's there's good people here because um when she teaches 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 let's Hey, hey. [Applause] [Music] I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um 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 mama went here, so I basically know all the teachers that's here. So now I can express to what I'm
009feeling and what I need to ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. the the teachers are great, you know, but my friends is the best part. >> I like most about him Central is definitely the students, the people, you know, all the people I met uh since I've been here cuz I moved here uh middle school. So like the people 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 don't want to come but like like the days I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade but it's not it's not easy but like when you do what you got
010to 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. Everybody like [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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 in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe. It's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. My experience at Morn's 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 it like actually makes me want to actually try the things she teaches cuz the way she she does
011it is uh so like inspiring to me nation let's Come on. Hey, hey, hey. [Music] I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um the teachers they really positive and yeah like the teachers at my old school I never asked questions 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 ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. The the teachers 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 here cuz I moved here on
012uh middle school. So like the people 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 I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade, but it's 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 never any like problems or nothing and it's always like good vibes. Everybody's like chill. [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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.
013In a in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe, it's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. >> The teachers the most about the school. Yeah, my experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. the atmosphere is good here and there's there's good people here because um when she teaches 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. [Music] I love the school. Um the students are like really nice. Um 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 mama went here, so I basically know all the teachers that's here. So
014now I can express to what I'm feeling and what I need to ask, [Music] my friends, you know. Yeah, cuz you know the education is pretty good. the the teachers are great, you know, but my friends is the best part. >> I like most about him Central is definitely the students, the people, you know, all the people I met uh since I've been here cuz I moved here uh middle school. So like the people 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 don't want to come but like like the days I come like it get funner and funner as like I get in the older grade but it's not it's not easy but
015like 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. Everybody like [Music] I like the people. I like the community. 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 in a good way, though. Um um I would say it's safe, it's loving. Um it's definitely welcoming >> the teacher >> to our Tuesday, August 5th, uh 2025 regular school board meeting. Uh call to order. Let's let's recognize our our flag, please. >> I pledge aliance to our flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
016under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, Attorney Harris. Good evening everyone. Um, as you all know from uh viewing or attending prior schoolboard meetings, uh there has been quite a bit of discussion regarding policies that the district needs to adopt and the process for adopting those policies is not necessarily which does not necessarily involve what you may think it does. Uh most school districts uh subscribe to certain services either through NEOA or the Indiana School Board Association to provide model policies for districts. And uh those policies while they're very helpful and they ensure that they comply with state law, they also make reference to several uh other requirements such as um superintendent administrative guidelines or other um implementation protocols that need to be put in place otherwise the policies themselves
017don't have as much meaning or significance if there's no way to make sure that they're adhered to uh or properly implemented. So, I just wanted to give a brief report to let the public know as well as the board that I am working with the board on uh and the superintendent with getting uh the policies prepared for adoption. I expect that that will happen at the next board meeting. Um our superintendent has formed committees uh that are appropriate for each of the pending policies that are out there. Those committees are not only comprised of board members but also key members of the administration to make sure the proper input is given into the process of uh preparing those policies. So um with the continued work of the superintendent and his leadership team as well as
018the board, those policies will be on the agenda for the next board meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris. Mr. Selenus, >> believe we need to do a roll call. Oh, absolutely. Roll call. >> Trustee Candelera >> present. >> Trustee Stanford >> present. >> Trusty Gara >> present. >> Trusty Blake King uh for our present. We have a quorum. We can move forward. Thank you for that important reminder. Mr. Selenas. >> Good evening everyone. Uh at this time I'd like to call Jeremy Hicks the Hammond Education Foundation president who will uh present our Stamford scholarship presentation. Mr. Hicks. >> Where is it? Oh, there they are. Good evening, President uh Blake King, uh acting superintendent Selenas, board of trustees. So, we are here on the behalf of the Hammond Education Foundation uh to celebrate
019one of our own. Uh we do have a student that is in attendance tonight with uh their parent, their mother, uh Mrs. POW. Um, and we wanted to recognize just definitely the greatness that happens within School City of Hammond. So, we do have a lot of partnerships within School City, uh, with many organizations, vendors, uh, philanthropists, um, and the Hammond Education Foundation is just one of many partners that support the School City of Hammond community and students. Uh so if we didn't know uh one thing that we do annually with the Hammond Education Foundation or commonly known as HF is award scholarships annually. Uh so this year we were honored and privileged to honor 20 uh 2025 high school graduates from the school city of Hammond with uh scholarships uh to continue their education. So
020the total amount that was awarded was 49,000. >> Wow. >> Yes. So it Yes. So within that 49,000 there were several uh different types of scholarships that have developed throughout the years. Uh one is the Kelner future uh teacher scholarship where we had uh three candidates uh win win those awards. We had the Mark Bill memorial scholarship uh where we had two students recognized for that. one of our long-standing philanthropists and supporters uh and and rest rest her and in peace uh Miss Droskovich uh with the Droskovich Bundridge uh scholarship has been a long-standing um scholarship that we've been able to afford uh to students. uh Miss Droskovich was uh recently uh she recently passed uh during this this current uh year and I know she was uh heartfelt uh with a lot of the
021students that she impacted throughout the years as an educator within the the school city of Hammond. So uh we wanted to make sure we recognize that. So the Hammond Education Foundation also awards the uh legacy bsentennial scholarship and also the uh first Presbyterian Church scholarship for students that go into vocational or trades. So, also a first for us is the H.B.CU Stanford scholarship uh that is being honored tonight to one of our very own uh Morton High School students. So, we do have if we can call to the podium. Uh we want to introduce and good round of applause for our student Unique Powell who plans on attending Southern University and&M College and plans to major in nursing. And if you did not know, for those who uh were wondering where Southern University and college,
022uh it is a public historically black land grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. uh in the US and it's the largest historically black college or university in Louisiana uh a member school of the third good Marshall college fund and the flagship institution of the southern university system. So a few kind words about unique. So over the past four years unique has actively been involved in both school and community activities while maintaining strong academic performance. She achieved B honor role and took on leadership roles as vice president of the school's PTSA and a student government member. She also participated in the black student union and participated in girls like me, a mentorship and empowerment program and as part of the school's track and field team. She competed as a thrower, demonstrating dedication to athletics and teamwork.
023And additionally, she completed community service by assisting with freshman orientation and volunteering with boxes of love, where she helped pack and distribute Thanksgiving meals to families in need. And these experiences have allowed Unique to develop leadership, teamwork, and time management skills that we know are going to bring her success in the future. Uh so we want to introduce and recognize Unique Powell, our Stanford H.B.CU scholarship award recipient for the amount of $500. So, congratulations, Unique. Y >> picture. >> Should we take a big old check picture? >> Yes, we're going to take a big old check picture. And I think she wanted to say something really, really brief. >> I just want to say thank you. >> Oh, you are very welcome and good luck in college. And we do also have one of our
024board members, vice president Miss Deborah Trevino, who is also part of our HF board. Beautiful. >> Where's [Applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Hicks. Always. >> Thank you. Mr. Selenas, when you catch your breath. All right. Congratulations, Unique. Safe travels to college. Our next agenda item is public expression first period. Trustee Stanford. All right, our first speaker is Marielle and Slayer. [Applause] My subject is personnel. Um, looking at the personnel report again today as I have all the previous meetings, we got 17 more names, various positions, teachers and other staff, and we shouldn't be bleeding out any more people. I know at the last meeting I was at uh was brought in fact, well, there was only six on the last personnel report that had resigned and three of them were teachers. You got to look
025at the bigger picture. I looked and researched how many actually have left since August of last year. The total of teachers is 184. the total of other personnel which is administrators, deans, counselors, nurses, um bus monitors, bus drivers, cafeteria, janitors, all the all the other ones employed by the school city except the teachers and I lumped all that together. That was 199. That's way too many. Something is definitely wrong. One in one year's time, you're losing a number of people that almost 400 total. A lot of the people have left extremely skilled. Some my kids had a shame to see them go. We want a good education for our kids. We got to retain the good personnel. We got to retain everybody we can. And this isn't showing it. Yeah. There was only six last
026time, but today we added 17. That number reflects the 17 added today to the total. There's no excuse for this, and we need to find out why. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we have Jamaica Sawyers. >> Jamaica. Good evening, superintendent, madame president and board. My comments also pertain to the personnel uh report. On the first page, second line item, there is a recommendation for hire uh reassignment and I uh implore you all to approve tonight's personnel report as written. Um, I do agree that we do need to work on retention and I will do my part to retain the teachers in my building and to encourage and to foster good leadership and to keep the people who are here who are dedicated. And I want to thank school city Hammond for doing their part
027and putting all the effort into retaining me and to making sure that they have elevated me and to foster my career and have um supported me. So, I want to say thank you tonight. >> Thank you. Next, Michaela. >> Yep. >> You're usually so formal. I didn't know it was me. I thought it was somebody else. Michaela like somebody else's cousin Michaela came to death you know that's what I thought was happening um I think it's really important to look at the big picture and that means that we need to look at numbers in proportion to other numbers so for instance you can say 400 people left okay how many people were hired 400 people over what time period under whose leadership under which board under which superintendent which interim superintendent which acting superintendent if
028we don't do that we're just painting everything with the same brush and the question is why um so in the spirit of that um I briefly did some math tonight and I am not great at math but yes so we have a 17% in here resignation we have 46% people coming in now even I know that 46 is a lot more that's like twice the number. That's amazing. So why are we not talking about the sheer amount of people coming in and frankly when I see some of the names of people who have resigned in fact just one name I am deeply relieved that I do not have to get up on this mic and let's say read my own report to DCS from a previous school corporation. So when we're talking about well we
029have to find out why. I mean, lots of us know why when it comes to certain individuals, right? Um, but with other people, who knows? Did they move? Did they have a different situation come up for them? We have no idea. But if we're trying to paint a doom and gloom picture, then we're not actually looking at the data first. We are putting our blinders on and then looking at the data and hoping it will say what we want it to say. And why do we want it to say something bad? That to me is very strange. Um, I do also want to uh, you know, say that uh, I I only looked very briefly at the speech contract. When when I was looking at that, I had some questions about how, you know, obviously
030you don't want a proximity issue. You don't want like a Kelly services issue. Is is there some stuff in place to make sure that we we don't end up with something where prospective employees aren't having those opportunities? Um, and obviously you your your staff here is more of an expert on that issue than I am. Um, that TV is not working tonight, so it's very hard for me to track everything. Um, census was brought up already at the beginning as part of the agenda. uh Niola. Um you can Google them and find out that a lot of places it it's not just an easy pick and it's not it doesn't do it doesn't give you its money's worth. I never encourage corporations to rely on that because it creates the exact problems that we talked
031about tonight. Oh, my time is up. Goodbye. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Cindy Murphy's next. [Applause] Cindy Murphy. I'll also be speaking about the personnel report. So in those eight those resignations is our last calculus teacher. So when you look at this personnel, she's right. Data is everything. And I don't see one person hired for calculus. I haven't seen anybody hired for physics. So, I'm going to do what I did 25 years ago when Morton High School didn't have calculus, didn't have physics. I'm going to come back here every single month and I'm going to say, "What are you doing? Have you hired them? Are you going to be using subs?" because it's really hard to sub for calculus and physics. But we have kids that need those classes because they want to go
032on to college into fields that it is required. So now I've made a promise to you and I'll wait till your acting superintendent tells me, Mrs. Murphy, we finally hired them like Dr. Watkins told me so many years ago. We finally got those people that our students deserve. Because the reason I started this so so long ago in the late 90s coming to meetings and being active in the PTA is our students deserve the education that they can get at private schools and the richer schools like Monster and Crown Point. We can do it. But you got to have those people here. What else is in the resignations? some young people that I'm really sad and to me those are people in the 30s and 40s, okay? Because I'm up there in age. One of
033the people who was here in the May meeting under your interim superintendent who was all rah rah about the restoration and elevation and how we're going to redo this school district for the future and he was going to be part of it and he just resigned. I I hope what we heard in May from your interim superintendent and now to your acting superintendent, we're still going to do that. We're going to still be looking at the data and coming back here and saying this is what we're going to do for the future. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, Wanda Pucket. won the pucket. We are talking about this every school board meeting. The old board members, y'all created this, but you started bringing it up at every meeting. Bring up the positive stuff that we
034should be doing for our kids. Board, old board members. is over with. We working on a new board member. Well, I was asking y'all to bring them bylaws out when every time y'all sit at that table up there, y'all weren't doing it. I can tell y'all y'all own bylaws because every organization they have bylaws they go by. The old boy wasn't going by and I would ask y'all please go by your bylaws and your what when you was the acting president up there boom banging that g a 5y old can bang that gamma all day long one making an emotion to to call the meeting one making a motion that we was getting ready to start a meeting a meeting is zer that's you got to call a motion if you not going in a
035motion. Y'all still in a meeting. Bring it out the right way. Quit banging that gobble and talking about the meeting is a drawing. It's not. Make that a motion to resume or to end the meeting. Now, for our babies, that's going to be on my next time coming up. Y'all told me go by the strip. So, I'm going by the strip. So the next time I come up then I'mma let it out. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next. Lou Gas. Come on. >> You're signed up for >> the first. If you want the second, we can wait. >> Thank you. >> Okay, that's all for first session. Thank you, Mr. Selenas. >> Our next item agenda is unfinished business and currently there is no unfinished business. So, we will move over to the consent agenda.
036>> Board members, do I hear a motion to accept the consent agenda? >> Madame President, >> Mr. Trustee, >> I move to uh approve the consent agenda items A through E as presented. Do >> we have a second? >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second that we approve the consent agenda A through uh E. Is there any discussion? >> Yes, I'm going to read the information on the payroll >> trustee >> accounts payable docket register. Accounts payable voucher register dated August 5th, 2025, consisting of 121 pages. Total for claims 1,39,180. Total for payroll 2,180,7824. >> Thank you, Trustee Stanford. Are there any other questions? Do you hear? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Oppose. >> Abstain. We have one abstension for one obstation. Three. Yes. U. Motion carried. Thank you very
037much. Okay. Mr. U Selenas. >> Our next item agenda is new business. Item A. uh board were needed approval for of the fresh fruit and vegetable program grant. >> Madame President, >> trustee, >> I move for the approval of the fresh fruit and vegetable program grant as presented. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Eyes have it. Item B, approval of Indianapolis Colts High School girls flag football grant for Hammond Central High School. Do I hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> trustee. >> I move for the approval of the Indian Indianapolis Colts High School girls flag football grant for Hammond Central High School as presented. >> Is there a second? >> Second. It's been moved and properly second the approval of the
038Indian Indianapolis Colts High School girls flag football grant for Hammond Central High School. Any questions? >> No. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any all oppose? >> Eyes have it. Motion carried. Thank you very much. >> Item C, approval of 202526 Carl D. Perkins CTE basic grant. Mr. Selenus, you want to expound on that just a little bit? >> Absolutely. So, the Perkins grant is are funds that are used exclusively to support career and technical education programs for our students enrolled in CTE courses at the ACC. Through the Perkins Grant, students are supported from the following high schools. The Hammond Academy of Science and Technology, Hammond Central, Morton High School, Highland High School, Whiting High School, Griffith High School, Monster High School, Edison High School, Ca New Techch, and Lake Central High
039School. This is in the amount of $69,000. >> Thank you, Mr. Selenas. Do I hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> trustees, >> I move for the approval of the 20 2526 Carl D. Perkins VCTTE basic grant. >> Second. >> Thank you. It's been moved and probably second for the approval of the 20 2526 Carl D. Perkins BCTTE basic grant. Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. >> Item D, approval of 202526 Carl D. Perkins BCTE basic summer bridge grant. >> Madame President >> Trustee, >> I move for the approval of the 202526 Carl D. Perkins vctte basic summer bridge grant. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the 202526 Carl D. Perkins vctte basic summerbridge. Are there any
040questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any abstension? Oh, eyes have it. >> A motion carried. Thank you. >> Okay. Item E, approval of contract extension with Western Camp Consulting. Um, Mr. Celindus, could you expound on that just a little bit before we >> Absolutely. So, this is an extension with the Western Camp Consulting. Um, and these uh folks help us uh make sure that we have the dietetic the dietetic services to help meet the special dietary needs of approximately 500 students within our corporation. >> Thank you. Do I hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> trustee. >> I move for the approval of contract extension with Western Camp Consulting. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the contract extension with Western Camp Consulting. Any questions? Any
041questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. Item F, approval of contract extension with Alpha Baking Company. Do we hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> trustee. >> I move for the approval of the contract extension with Alpha Baking Company as presented. >> Hear a second. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the contract extension with Alpha Baking Company. Any questions? Are there any questions? All in favor say I. I. >> Any opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you very much. Item G, approval of contract extension with Pleasant View Dairy. Do we hear a motion? >> Madam President, >> trustee. >> I move for the I move for the approval of the contract extension with Pleasant View Dairy as presented. >> Hear
042a second. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the contract extension with Pleasant View Dairy. Any questions? Are there any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. Item H, approval of agreement with Cindy Speech and Language Services. Mr. Selenus, could you expound on that just a little bit, please? >> Absolutely. So, contracting with this company will help fill the staff shortages within the speech department and continue to provide services to our students. >> Thank you. Uh moving forward, is there at any point we can get a number of students that they are actually working with some kind of progression report? >> I can get you that information of course. >> Trustees, do I hear a motion? >> Madame President, >>
043trustee. >> I move for the approval of the agreement with Cincy Speech and Language Services. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of agreement with Cincy Speech and Language Services. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. >> Item I, approval of contract with with Marino Tatalovich. Did I get it right? >> Um, Mr. Selenus. >> Absolutely. So this contract is to provide services to support students CT uh CTE and graduation pathway success and achievement. Mr. Tatalovich will include services such as off-site student internship work sites, arranging job shadow activities, recruiting area businesses and industries for partnerships, college and career support. And Mr. Jatalovich is actually here in our audience as well um pending approval of this
044contract. >> Thank you. And I can say this, seven years I've been on this board, he has not missed a meeting concerning his consultant, his contract, and I wish other consultants would do the same. Thank you so much, Mr. Telvich. >> Uh board members, do we hear a motion? >> Madame President, >> trustee. >> I move for the approval of the contract with Marino Tatelovich. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the contract with Mr. Marino Tatelovich. All in favor say I. I >> Well, any questions first? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I >> oppose eyes have it. Thank you. And finally, uh, is that Jay? Yeah, Jade. Car these glasses. Jesus. Approval of agreement with UDA Ready 360 LLC. Mr. Civilas, please. >> Sure. So
045this uh program uh this tool enhances our ability to monitor student progress, ensure compliance and strengthen partnerships with local uh employers supporting our strategic priorities of student engagement, career readiness, data informed program improvement. And this is submitted through um the Carl D. Perkins grant by Mr. Hicks at the area career center. >> Thank you. Do I hear a motion? Madame President, >> trustee. >> I move for the approval of the agreement with Ed Edu ready 360 LLC. >> Second. >> It's been moved and properly second for the approval of agreement with Ed Ready 360 LLC. Are there any questions? Any questions? All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Eyes have it. >> Mr. Selenus, >> the next item on the agenda is the calendar. >> Thank you. Uh, Tuesday, August 5th, there
046will be an executive session at 5:15 p.m. and a regular school board meeting at 6:00 p.m. On Tuesday, August 19th, there will be an executive session on 5:15 p.m. and a regular school board meeting at 6:00 p.m. the same date. That is our calendar so far. Things can change. All right, Mr. Mr. Selenus. >> Our next item is public expression second period. Trusty Stanford. >> Thank you. First speaker is Debbie Trevino. >> Good evening, President Blake King, board of trustees, superintendent Selenas. My name is Debbie Trevino and I'm the president of the HSCOP clerical unit for the school city of Hammond which has been in existence since 1989. And I am here tonight with my executive board Kim Syler and Teresa Beta to thank you voting for voting unanimously. Let me repeat that unanimously for
047the clerical unit to join the Hammond Teachers Federation. A little over 18 months ago, our clerical unit was cut in half and our handbook was voided. We were asked to do more with less. And guess what? We did. The ladies were transferred. Jobs were eliminated. We need an we needed an action plan. To our aid was the Htf. Mr. Geekas approached us, asked us what we thought about the idea of joining the Htf. We gathered the ladies together. We had a couple of discussions and meetings and over 83% of the ladies signed Htf cards in agreement to join the Hammond Teachers Federation. This process was educational and exhausting. To have the second largest employee group with the school city of Hammond's livelihoods on our shoulders was a lot. Mr. Geekas and I asked two previous
048superintendents if he would entertain us joining the Htf to no avail. Mr. Geekas asked, let's try this one more time. Requested a meeting with Superintendent Selenus and we met. I was taken aback because this was the first time that we all talked with each other. >> Wow. >> We had a discussion and the sup and superintendent Selenus asked tough questions, promised nothing and said he would do three things to obtain the knowledge of this process to talk with his council and then talk with the school board and he would get back to us within two weeks. We felt like we were finally heard. So with your na unanimous support, we are restored and elevated. Let me repeat that. Our group is restored and elevated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we are ready for
049the 202526 school year. >> Thank you so much for your commitment. >> Wow. That's wonderful. >> Next speaker, Dr. Spangenmber. Kelly, >> we got it all in there. >> You pronounce it very well, but you don't have to be that formal. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um I ba based on some of the other comments I've heard tonight and first of all I'm very very happy to hear that the secretarial staff has uh found new representation and is being supported you know the teachers the secretarial staff by the board. I hope other any other people that need to reunionize after everything that happened uh receive similar support soon. and I'm sure it's in the works. Um, but based on some other comments that I've heard tonight, I kind of question why somebody would think our
050acting superintendent would tell them something personally about something involving staffing because it's funny when we're talking about calculus and Dr. Watkins and all of these things. Uh my understanding is that it wasn't until 2016 that this board uh including the commenter who believes that uh somebody needs to report to her directly uh even approved Niola's boilerplate from 2011 about what core 40 was um into board policy. So that took them five years to realize they hadn't done that I guess. Then interest and and that was the first year I guess we introduced calculus textbooks. So I can only assume that that conversation that was being referenced earlier must have happened somewhere between 2016 and when Dr. Watkins wasn't here anymore sadly which would have been 2019. Um and that would have been when that individual
051was on the board. I am a person that is about building consensus in this community. But I think it speaks to a level of entitlement to think that one we don't trust teachers to advocate for themselves. Like if there's an issue or if the people who resign or what whatever if there's an issue I trust people to advocate for themselves if they need help, I'm sure they will reach out. But if we're not hearing from those people and we're just having folks come up and saying, "Oh no, something terrible is happening and it's never substantiated." And then we're referencing these weird ideas from years and years ago. and then trying to scare people about employment stuff in general. It's super weird to be concerned about that if you yourself approve the contract with Kelly Services
052in 2022 because I know the president of this board voted against it and I know that the community repeatedly brought that up as an issue. I'm sure that's something being worked upon as well. But it's like the proof is in the pudding. what people do when they have the ability to do things shows what those people's concerns is. So just for viewers at home, I like to make sure the people understand and have the discernment to understand things that are actually truthful from things that are not. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, Wanda Pucket. I'm not going to introduce myself because everybody know who I am. I said it last year. Dr. Watkins is resting peaceful. Quit bringing his name up every time you come to this mic cuz I got a problem with
053that. Just like you said you going to be at every meeting. I'mma be here too. Now, when you stepping on other people toes, I'mma step on yours, too. We want to go forward, not backwards. This is not no modern day slavery. Because I'm not living in no modern day slavery. I'm living for me. Don't take Don't try to take us backwards. Take us forward. Now, I got something else to say. Well, our first day back, the school is on the 13th. I would like to see every staff out there. Welcome them kids back with a smile on their face. If I don't see that bus on the 13, I will be calling you. They asking you where my bus at. Believe me, I'm going to give you that call. Now, we here to welcome these
054kids back. We is not going in with the bullying like some people want to go back. No. No. I'm going forward, not backwards. And I catch them little slick remarks you be throwing out. And you think I'm not listening. I'm paying attention. I'm trying to keep my composure. Don't go all the way off on you cuz I got guests in the building and I want to stay calm and collect with for that. But don't push that button cuz you come to this mic and you keep pushing that button. You know I like to explode a little bit when you messing with something that I love. That's all I got to say. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> And our last speaker, Lou Geeks. >> Wanda, can >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> I I'm sorry. Go.
055Come on, Cindy. I accidentally checked you off. I was looking at the wrong list. >> Cindy Murphy. Once upon a time, there were four high schools. Clark and Gavit always had algebra in the middle schools and calculus in their high schools. The schools my children went to, Morton High School and also Hammond High did not have calculus. So I wanted to make sure that when my kids got up there in the early 2000s that that was there. It became even more um important when I organized a bus trip down to Indianapolis and we had students on the bus and this young lady told me, "I want to go to the Air Force Academy and I need to have a physics teacher. We don't have one." And I'm like, "You know what? That's going to be
056my next crusade." It took me 10 years to get algebra in Scott Middle School. I came back meeting after meeting till we finally got algebra teachers at Scott Middle School. And so for her, I protested a whole year until finally Dr. Watkins says, "Don't worry, we will have Mr. Poostick there for the fall and teaching physics for that young lady." So for someone to say stuff they don't know anything about because it's something they read in a board docs. This is way before board docs and niola and way before I got on the board. So what I was really going to talk about beside with the personnel report you also have your organizational chart. I got to put a plug in for your acting superintendent. The person who spoke earlier on this period she talked
057about how she met with him and he did all this work. How can he possibly do the job of a superintendent if he's got to do his other job? And on top of this one, you need him being your interim superintendent. This is too big of a job. This is too big of a district for someone to be straddling between two different jobs. He needs to be full-time. So, I'm putting that plug at him. I hope you make him interim or someone else. The other thing that you have on the organizational chart is you're adding back the public relations. Well, I hope you're not making that another $130,000 job plus. We had someone in there briefly this summer who was doing the job for a lot less than this. An administrative assistant who knew what
058she was doing. You took it away from her. I hope you're not going to take someone else because if you bring someone in at that salary, I'm going to ask you what happened to that $30,000 worth of pictures that they hired someone else to do to make for our website, which never happened. Thank you. >> Thank you. Last but not least, Lou Geeks. Welcome back. >> Thank you. Good evening, Madame President, trustees, Mr. Selenus. Good evening, Blue Giga Sama Teachers Federation. I got confused there. There were two sheets of paper. I I stand here before you to uh thank you. Our member Miss Trevino said it best, so I'm not going to try to reiterate some of the history, but I do want to thank you for one thing, for having really the vision and
059the realization that happy employees are productive employees. happy employees are the ones that will stick through uh the and do the work through thin and thick right and you you as a board and you Mr. Selena's realized that. So we appreciate the fact that you've allowed the clerical staff which by the way the last 17 months along with the custodial staff the paraprosal have done an exemplary job under incredibly difficult circumstances. Right. So um I want to thank you for that. I think that's critical and I think it speaks to the collaboration and cooperation between the Hammond Teachers Federation and the school board and also the current administration and we look forward to continuing that uh level of cooperation and collaboration. I think together we can make the difference. We do wonderful things in Hammond
060and when we have people that listen to us um and are willing to work with with us collaboratively, we do even greater things. Let's focus on the on all those wonderful things that we do here in Hammond and set aside the this very negative history uh that we've just gone through. I'm not quite sure. Oh, I have a minute. I I guess I could say some more things, but I think I'm going to stop there. It's almost 7:00 and I did see on the agenda that you want to be out of here by seven, which by the way, we appreciate that for those of us that spent what three three and a half hours uh you know, one hour is good. Anyway, again, with sincerity, thank you and I look forward to a wonderful school
061year. Uh, not for all our staff. Have a good evening. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Selenas, it >> Mr. Selenas. >> All right. So, uh, speaking of a wonderful school year, I'd like to start off by celebrating an event that we just had. And so on behalf of our back to school event committee, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make our back to school registration celebration a true success. We had over 3,000 people attend the event. To our dedicated staff, we thank you for your time, your energy, your commitment to welcoming our families with open arms. To our parents and our guardians, your presence and your engagement set the tone for a strong start to the school year. To our community partners, our vendors, your support, your resources,
062and your generosity remind us what's possible when we come together for our students. This event is a true reflection of how we are restoring and elevating our district together, and it's just one example of why we are 10 times better. The unity, the pride, the care shown on that day captured the true spirit of the school city of Hammond. Thank you everyone for such a crazy successful event. It was wonderful to be there. A few reminders that I do want to share with everyone is we'd like to remind our parents to please register your students if you have not done so. Please contact your child's school or our welcome center if you have any questions. Students must be registered before the start of school. This also helps us with creating schedules and class rosters which
063we know everyone is excited to see. So, please make sure that you register. I want to thank all people who have been trying to get the word out about registration. Also, we are continuing to hire here at the School City of Hammond. Please visit our website to see the many opportunities that we have to be part of our team. And I would like to take this time to say that we are all part of the recruitment process. From our students to our school board to the administration to the superintendent, all of us are the people who work here are part of the recruitment process. Today we had our new teacher orientation where we welcomed approximately 50 new teachers to the school city of Hammond. Several other employees will be approved before the school uh begins
064and so kudos to Mrs. Smith and her department who are working very hard to make sure all of our students sorry our staff uh is approved. I would like to say that there are sometimes um things that happen when you are a new employee. One of the things that we want to make sure that we have are people who should be in front of our students and that requires something called a background check. >> Background checks take a while. And I'll tell you one thing, I would rather wait to get the right people in front of these kids than to rush and make sure that we have the wrong people in front of our students. So sometimes we have a slow start. Right now there are reasons why that's happening. However, we are working very
065hard to staff our schools and we're going to be just fine. Now, the next thing I want to talk about is something called Senate Enrolled Act 482. This requires school districts to establish guidelines for chronic absenteeism. >> Thank you. >> And categorize absences that are excused or unexcused. Students who miss 10% or more of school will be considered chronically absent. If a student has more than 18 absences in one school year, they will fall under this category. Simply put, kids cannot learn if they are not in school. So, however, we will work with families who have documented absences in cases such as medical, religious, and or bereavement. But it's imperative that our students come to school and are in school daily. And we need the help of our students, our parents, and our community to
066make sure students are at school. We will be having our back to school convocation school spirit showdown for all staff members on Monday, August 11th at 8 a.m. at Morton High School. We are going to show up and show out Hammond style with school spirit pride. We're also hosting our back to school nights at all of our schools. Elementary schools will have back to school nights on Tuesday, August 12th from 400 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is the day before school starts. Our middle and high schools will host their back to school night on Wednesday, August 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. And finally, we are extremely excited to welcome our students back to the 2526 school year. Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 13th. Please remember that this is an early dismissal
067for all students. Morton High School and Central High School will dismiss at 12:15 on the first day of school. Edgars and Scott will dismiss at 1:00 p.m. on the first day of school. and all elementary students will be dismissed at 1:45 PM on the first day of school. Thank you everyone and I hope that everyone has a fantastic evening. Trusty King. >> Thank you, Mr. Silliness. Reports from the board. Are there any reports from the board? Any comments regarding our activities on the 31st? >> No kudos to anybody. >> Come on now. >> Well, I just have to uh piggyback off what Mr. Selenus stated about our back to school celebration event. It was overwhelmingly it was a lot of work, but we enjoyed it. It was just laughter and smiles and fun. I I
068appreciate the uh the custodial staff at Hammond Central. The place was spotless. I mean, and our media department, Mr. Tucker, he was running around doing things, you know, making things work for us. and everybody worked as a team. You saw nothing but smiles. You know, we had a few glitches and but we were able to fix them immediately. I applaud the staff that was there, every principal. It was incredible to see you guys in one area helping your your students and your parents. We were sharing and caring and that's what it's going to take teamwork. If you really care about School City Hammond being restored and elevated, get busy. You know, put your boots on the ground. You know, be our our walking billboard. Talk the school up. Stop talking it down. We won't get
069anywhere with that. We are going to be restored. We're going to elevate because I believe it in my heart. We are 10 times better. We have more programs to offer. I mean, ACC, we've seen what they can do in the last year. It was incredible. It was the best kept secret. But we see how those young folks, how they have achieved Skill USA, all of the the competitions they they competed in and did well and brought back the gold and the silver. That's incredible. We can do it. Our chess team, our robotics team, everybody was overwhelmingly well. You did it well. We are 10 times better. So, in closing, I just want to uh toot somebody else's horn. One of our um products of Scoo City Hammond. We have so many products of Scoo City
070Ham that done well. I went to a grand opening today of one of those products, Latise Haywood. He opened his restaurant 6022 Columbia Avenue. I mean, it was incredible. He is a product of school city of Hammond. that inspires our culinary department to know they can own their own restaurant, a product of Exclusive Hammond. So, Batis Hayward, I know your parents are listening. I say congratulations. Uh teachers, you got somewhere to get to some good food. Soul food right there on Columbia Avenue. So, I applaud him. I was so the l name of it is Tootsies. I've been saying Tootsies for the longest. And Miss King is Tooties. I said, "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I got it right. I got it right. >> It's excellent. Their food is excellent. >> The lobster. Oh my
071god. Incredible. So, that's all I have to say. Oh, our back to school prayer hosted by the ministers, the local ministers of Hammond. They're hosting this. Anyone that want to come out this coming Sunday and and just lift up some prayer for our students, our staff, our our acting superintendent, our board, we need help. We need prayer. I mean, if y'all going to go to court on me on this one, fine. I'll take it. But meet us at uh on this coming Sunday, 1:45 p.m. in the parking lot of 41 William Street. And the local ministers, they wanted this to happen. And how could we say no? So, that's will all be this coming Sunday, 1:45 p.m. The uh prayer starts at 2 pm. Thank you very much. So, we'll be passing these out to
072those who wish to attend. Okay. Anything else, board? We're good. Want to say anything about PTA? >> We're we're getting it started. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um, yeah, we're we're getting back into the swing of things. Um, so everybody can find their PTA tables at their schools, back to school nights. Um, we do have reflections. We've got the flyers out already. Um the due date will be October 31st. The theme this year is I belong. Oh wow. >> Um so it's a little bit easier theme. Um the flyers are really pretty. Miss Carar made them and um really colorful. Um so we got two August September three three whole months to work on it. Um and then we'll be getting the submission information and uh the exhibition information out soon. Thank you for that.
073And I'm going to say one more thing. Caramar Weeks needs a super round of applause. She put together that our our celebration on the 31st and she's doing so much more for us. Thank you, Caramar. And she needed a rest tonight. So, we applaud her. >> She also assisted with the billboards, didn't she? >> Oh, yes. She Oh, the billboards. You We Next week we got to flash these billboards. They are stupendous. >> Beautiful. >> We got nine billboards all over the place. And uh we're we're working hard to market our district because we are 10 times better. All right. Anybody anything else leaning for a German? >> So move. Second. >> Thank you everybody.