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 [Music] ask, 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 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
002since 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. It's good. There's never any like problems or nothing. There'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
003definitely welcoming. The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. Say 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 it is uh so like inspiring to me nation let's rock Hey, [Music] hey, 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 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 [Music] ask, my
004friends, 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 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 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, it's really just
005chill 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 my experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. Okay. 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 of the way she she does it is uh so like inspiring to me. Go Nation, let's
006rock. Hey, [Music] hey, 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 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 [Music] ask, 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 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
007lot 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. It's good. There's never any like problems or nothing. There'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
008loving. 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 me nation let's 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 [Music] ask,
009my 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 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 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, it's really
010just 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 loving. Um it's definitely welcoming. The teachers the most about the school say my experience is pretty good. I don't have any complaints. Okay. 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 of the way she she does it is uh so like inspiring to me. Go Nation,
011let's rock. [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 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 [Music] ask, 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 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
012of 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. It's good. There's never any like problems or nothing. There'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.
013Um it's definitely welcoming. The teachers the most about the school. Yeah. Say my experience in 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 it is uh so like inspiring to me. Okay, good evening everyone. What a lovely audience. Welcome to our Tuesday, May 20th, 2025 regular school board meeting. We welcome you and we welcome our virtual community as well. We will start with a call to order um with our pledge of allegiance. May we stand and have our pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one
014nation under God indivisibley andice for all. That was nice. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Uh roll call. Trusty Guerrera present. Trustee Spencer present. Trustee Stanford present. Trustee Candela present. Trusty Blake King present. We do have a quorum. We're ready to proceed. Uh Mr. Selenus. Good evening everyone. Uh we're going to start the evening with our presentation a fin a financial presentation by Daniel Dalton um who will give us a overview of our finances inclusive of Hammond. Thank you superintendent and good evening board members. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. All right. So, as we have done in months past, I will give a brief update on the April financials and then we can move into a new um document that I prepared which is a cash flow projection for for four years ahead. So, April financials,
015if you look at the education fund, you'll you'll notice that we ended the month with 18 roughly $18.9 million. Um, we ended the debt service, we ended the month in the debt service fund with negative $5.3 million. I will make a note that we will receive June property taxes from the county. Okay. For in in the next five or six weeks and the referendum debt service fund cash balance 431,000 operations fund $15.7 million. uh rainy day, $6.3 million. Self- insurance, $3.5 million. And then off on the top right side in that box, and apologies for everyone, the the schedules are a bit small, but you will see the comparison from um calendar year 2024 from last year. So, moving on. Moving on, you will notice uh budget versus actual and then some variance notes. In
016the education fund, we have currently spent 27.6% of the budget and our target cash balance is $24 million. So, we're off not off, but we are $5.5 million short of what our target cash balance in the education fund is looking like. Operations fund, we have spent 30.7% of our budget and our variance is $6.7 million above our target value. have a rainy day. That that one is fine. Self- insurance is a little bit short and um this this fund es and flows every single month. So I I imagine we'll be close to zero once we end the year. Right. Right. Zero close to our target cash. Moving down total of all funds, you'll see that we ended April 30 with $44.6 million. And then just below that you will see each of the monthly transfers
017from the education fund to operations that have been made per state statute. Are there any questions on this first page before I move on? Okay. All right. If we move on to the next, you will see a listing of all of the title funds. And as I I will reiterate again, these are all reimbursement funds where we spend and then we ask for reimbursement. So that's why you see so many red boxes is because we spend it down and then we get reimbursement back from the state. So that concludes the monthly financial portion of my presentation. Are there any questions before I jump into our cash flow projection report? No. [Applause] Okay. Very well. All right. So, so this is a great tool for future decision making and this illustrates, you know, what the anticipated
018money coming in, what the anticipated money going out will be for the next several years. Um it will help with financial planning and budgeting with long-term sustainability, real time fiscal impacts as we um see see certain things come to truth, certain certain things come to light, we can make real time adjustments. Um so I'll go ahead and jump in with the education fund right now. Sure thing. You can you explain how your the 3% um Go ahead. Sure. Projection. I actually had that noted down later. Uh I was going to get to that one. So, as you can see at the bottom there, I have footnoted certain assumptions that we've built into this model. Um at the top there, you can see 2025 through 2028. You can see the beginning cash balances, estimated receipts, estimated
019expenditures, and then where we anticipate to end each calendar year. So, Senate Bill One, which is is kind of the big ticket item right now, has um has kind of provided some estimates. uh the the LSA, which is the Legislative Services Agency, has provided estimates to every single school district in Indiana that allowed us to put certain assumptions into this model. And so, as you look at the state federal line, that footnote number one, you'll see 90 million estimated for 2025, 90.6 6 million estimated for 26 and then 27 and 28 are anticipated to remain relatively stagnant um and be just slightly lower than what we're currently receiving. And that that relates to our ADM count. Our our um ADM count is what determines our basic grant tuition. 3% to uh the 3% assumption. That
020footnote number two in order to best assume what the budget looks like for next year and future years. 3% has been a general rule of thumb. We can't guarantee what inflation looks like when cost of services go up, cost of goods go up, but 3% has been a general consensus across the board. And um as we look at historical years, that's been the case. It could be lower than that, which would be good news. I'm projecting high. Does that answer your question, Madam President? It You're getting there. Okay, I'm getting there. All right. And then my third footnote of course relates to the 15% tuition transfer which is um standard and the district has been doing that. We've been transferring roughly 15% of our basic grant tuition from the education fund to the operations fund
021on a monthly basis. So before I switch to the operations fund, you will notice that our net cash flows are increasingly going negative. All those red boxes there, this is due to legislative actions that have been made, Senate Bill one. Um, and so we we need to take certain precautions moving forward. So this is just an informative presentation. I have a question. Sure. Go ahead. Um, is this when you did the numbers, is this at the same enrollment numbers of the same number of our students or was there any variance there? That's a great question. So, we we entered because the state gave us estimates for the next four years on our basic grant tuition, we used those. Now our estimates of ADM count could vary from what the state considers to be what they
022what the state considers and so there there may be some eb and flow 10 20 30 count here and there and um so ours are based on the state's current figures. Mhm. Thank you, Trusty. Uh Spencer, a great question and and that's why uh moving forward, it's going to behoove this board, this district, everyone involved to make sure our ADM and we can do that stays at a level. It does not have to decrease. It depends on our energy that we put into our students that they're giving us back the energy. So we owe it to them to put together some something that would guarantee marketing billboards, digital billboards. Mr. Selenus has talked about all of those things together. So I'm not worried about ADM because I trust this district is going to do the
023right thing about our kids. Thank you. Move forward. Sure thing. Let's let's go on to the operations fund. Okay. All right. So, this fund is utilized for various non-instructural activities within the district. It's mainly funded by property tax levies and then also the transfer that comes in from the education fund. Um, as you will see footnoted here, Senate Bill one limits our property tax levy growth to 4% year-over-year from now moving forward. And so we've assumed that we've also assumed a 3% growth increase in our uh budgeted expenditures moving forward. That would include support services, facility acquisition. Um and then one additional item that should be noted is the mandatory portion of our property tax levy that is shifted to charter schools in Hammond. And so there is a list of charter schools that will
024be receiving a portion of the property tax levy that school city of Hammond has levied. Um and that amounts to roughly $250,000 per year. And what's the benefit of that again of the ch of the charters receiving our operational dollars? I can't I can't attest to what the legislators Okay. I I Yeah, I don't know the reasoning behind that. Okay. Mhm. That's a great question though for very good question. Um, as you will see, the operations fund is losing quite a bit of money year-over-year and so that we will of course need to be in conversation about certain key takeaways and um recommendations in order to either decrease expenditures or um we we constant constantly be evaluating various procedures. Exactly. Mhm. In terms of where we're going to spend our money. Exactly. Exactly. And where
025we're going to save some money. Exactly. And increase our revenue. And find new money. It's out there. It's out there. And it's up to this board and this administration to find that new money for these children. Go ahead. That that's uh basically concludes my presentation. I would recommend that we reconvene on this either monthly or a couple times a year just just in order this is a dynamic document. It will change every single month based on you know known assumptions and what what becomes built built out and understood. So if there are any questions about specifics, please let me know. Well, I'm sure after we've had a a good time to review it, we will be getting back to you through Mr. Selenas thing. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Selenas. Thank
026you very much for that presentation. Next, uh I would like to call Mr. Alan Walzac, assistant principal of Jefferson Elementary, who will make an introduction for us. Madame President, members of the board, Superintendent Selenus, I'm proud to present Jefferson Elementary's very own Miss Sterszig and her rockstar first graders. Good evening, acting superintendent, Mr. Selenus, President Blake King, and school board trustees. It is a pleasure to share with you the amazing outcome that occurs when creativity meets learning on a digital platform. In my first grade classroom, technology has enhanced innovative learning experiences while empowering all of my students to connect new information to prior knowledge through critical thinking and problem solving. These projects not only engage and motivate students, they provide opportunities for all students to be successful. By including these daily creative digital activities into
027my curriculum, I have seen my students confidence and skill levels elevate and surpass my expectations. Creativity has motivated them to overcome challenges while encouraging development of lifelong learners. Engagement, collaboration, and pure joy are the key elements I have the privilege of observing daily. Let's watch these inspirational learners in [Applause] action. You win till I go never do before nit. [Music] All you got to do with me. ABC as 1 2 3. I simple as me. ABC 1 2 3. Baby you and me girl. Easy as 1 2 3. [Music] Say 1 2 3. [Music] I'm going to teach you how to sing it out. Come on. Come on. Come on. Let me show you what it's all about. We take a ride and we take all the branches on the learning. Girl, education ain't complete.
028She just want to show you show you how to get [Music] an ABC. It's easy. 1 2 3 I say ABC 1 2 3. Baby girl [Music] sing you and me girl. I think I love you. No. Yeah. Go. Show me what you can do. Shake it. Shake it, baby. Come on now. Shake it. Shake it, baby. Shake it, shake it, baby. 1 2 3. [Music] That's how easy you want. I'll sing it out. Come on. Go. Come on. Let me show you what it's all about. Baby [Music] sing it out. It [Music] [Applause] [Music] seems to me too much to make n I'm going to teach you [Music] about all you got to do with me. ABC as 1 2 3 simple as baby 1 2 3 and girl easy as 1 2 3
0291 2 3 It is a great honor to introduce you to my shining stars. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] They all are excited because they expect that they're going to be famous and millions. [Applause] Hold that air [Applause] Anthony. [Applause] I want to um acknowledge all of my family because without you guys, you're just amazing. So, if all of my families that are here, stand up and let's give them a round of applause. And on that note, we have for the school board trustees and acting superintendent, Mr. Selenus, we have a keepsake for you of We just visited Lincoln Park Zoo and we have a keepsake for all of you that they created. I'm standing up. So cute. approach. Yeah, of course. Of course. [Music] Give the next Thank you. You ready? Follow me. Watch your steps.
030Big steps. Big steps so much. You give that to President. Thank you. Watch the wires. Thank you. Dakota. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. And um I want help. Hold this. Wait, you want to turn it right? Let me turn that way. Yeah. I've been a guest reader for Mr. Ster's class since I've been on the board. And in the LA, it was this month or last month, they presented me with this incredible blanket. I keep it in my car cuz I stay cold and I especially had to use it at the papa palooa this Saturday. Thank you so much babies. I love each and every one of you. Mrs. Sterling, Dr. Mr. Alan, thank you so much. So danger. Thank you. So cute, Mr. All right. Thank you,
031Mrs. Sturz for that. You really, really set the tone for this evening. We appreciate you and your first graders. Thank you so much. You do. You do. It's what we need at six o'clock at night. Thank you for that very much. We need that. We need it. We need that. Next, uh I am pleased to uh invite our team Hammond Robotics uh Miss uh Judith Pana and her team to the podium. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. [Applause] Good evening, uh Madame President, uh board trustee board members and superintendent. Thank you for having us here. We're excited to be here so we could showcase uh not only these these wonderful students but this wonderful program that we're we're we're lucky to be part of. Um this is my first year as a coach. Uh I've been a
032parent uh a mentor and now with the coach uh for the past 10 years. Um I've been involved with this team. I've had three wonderful boys go through the team. They're the reason why I'm here. Um and uh they've had a lot of success stories behind them and I credit that to this team. So, I would like to uh send um hand over the microphone to Molina Mata. She's one of our superstar students, our team captain. And um really, this is about them and they're going to show you what they could do. Hi, trusted board members. Thank you for having us on this wonderful evening. Um so, team Hammond started in 1996. Um, this year will be our 30th year as a team. Um, we have currently won four world championships. We are one of
033the first teams to hold that many championships. The most undisputed championships of any program in first. We have worked with thousands of students from across Hammond schools um to work and to build robots and to advocate for STEM education to connect with countless resources and network with so many state workers. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had that networking or even skills to do that if they weren't on this team. Um, we have also given them opportunities to build themselves up as wonderful leaders to empower other future generations and to continue that growth that we strive in the school city of Hammond. Um, our alumni have gone on to become staff scientists at the National Institutes of Health, um, mechanical engineer of Stern Pinball and director of scholarships and grants here at Lily Endowment. Um, team Hammond
034has raised over $1 million in scholarships and grant funds. Team Hammond is a nationally known team. I'm going to pass the microphone to Ronaldo Ramirez. Thank you for having us. School board first. First robotics stands for for the inspiration and recognition of science and technologies. Student builds robots up to 140 pounds and 60 feet tall, which is right here, our robot. It's a sport where students aren't just spectators, but are workers who create the robot and compete with their own creation and engineering. We we built robot, but this program is more than just that. First teams operates like businesses requiring skills and designs in programming, graphic designs and manufacturing, photograph and much more. We teach you everything from how to use a wrench to how to code a robot. Students choose their path. Rookies become
035drivers, builders and leaders. I would like to pass on to Jose or Joseph. My bad. Joseph, thank you for having me here today. So first is massive. Currently there's 679,000 students that participate yearly in first and it's worldwide. There's 110 teams and there's 110 uh countries that teams participate in. There's 81% of first alumni become uh majors in STEM and seek out uh in STEM fields and 83% of alumni become uh leaders in their own schools. And I can testify to that. Right now I'm currently in National Honor Society. I'm currently first in my class and I help my school in many ways and I strive to do that next year when I'm a junior. first also has Lego League which is more so for elementary schoolers where you build uh Lego robots and you
036compete in like a much smaller field and there's also first tech challenge which is like a middle school kind of high high school thing where it's more industrial but the robots are still like more smaller than ours right here but I would like to pass the microphone to Yes. Thank you very much, Joseph. So, during the season, we faced many challenges, but this only gave us a chance to grow. Um, in terms of physical growth, our team um managed to welcome over eight new rookies in this season, one of them being myself. And and that is almost a 50% increase in our team in just one year. And that just proves how much STEM is impacting these kids' lives and how passionate we are to go and recruit all these kids just to build robots
037I guess right and that also comes with major strides in our technology. Um I can say that that um in the first time in a very long time that we have implemented swerve drive into our robot which means that all four wheels have the independent drive and rotation basically making our robot around twice as more efficient than what what your car would normally do. Our robot our robot developed its first two degree of freedom since 2018. And also we developed a multi-piece autonomous mode, meaning that the robot is able to move by itself and do tasks that a human would do without any human input whatsoever. And I work as a programmer for the team, even though it's my rookie year. And I can say that we've developed a lot more um new things in
038a robot, including artificial intelligence, including object detection, where the robot can detect where it is on its own um and be able to do many other things that a human would usually have trouble with, especially with their site. And so in this season, we've done many things in the Lafayette event. We've we've actually won the spirit award and that means that we were that we were um that we were like uh we were specifically noticed for how much spirit we brought to the games, how much we cheered, how much we gave professionalism and how much how kind we were towards all the other teams. And um if I may um one person here, Molina Mada was actually recognized at the international level for deans list uh chosen out of only 10 students in all of
039first out of all 600,000 students. We are very proud to have Molina Mada here with us. School city of Hammond. school city of Hammond. And going to the next slide, we have some photos of our robot. I'll pass the microphone to um to Joseph to talk about what our robot can do. All right. So, this is our robot at competition. As you can see, there's these uh blue yoga balls, which in this competition are called uh algae where in this uh in the videos, it picks up the algae and it puts it in this thing called the barge. They built that if you can look over there. But basically, that's how that's mainly how our robot was scoring during competition. Of course, there's there's many other ways to score. This is a really open-ended competition
040and there's tons of different ways to play the game. There's tons of different strategies and this is what we decided on and what we perfected. Going on to the next slide. This is our video for the season recap. Okay, season recap video. [Music] Release the peace. Release the peace. Release the [Music] peace. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hold on. Come on. [Music] Chase I I think I give you peace. Tell me what you mean. I never let you go. [Music] M style. [Music] [Applause] Thank you so much. Um, just one more minute of your time. Can I please have all team Hammond members join me up here in front? Let's give a warm round of applause for them. [Applause] These are all of our wonderful engineers and business people. Um, let's give a one more big round
041of applause for them. Thank you so much trustees for your time and dedication for your continuous support for STEM education. We truly appreciate all that you do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank [Music] you. And and uh simply an incredible pathway for engineerings and I think um several of our students have gone through this program are now engineers. They've gone to Notre Dame. I mean they have attended some of the best schools in Indiana across this country because of this program. We got to get behind our kids. We got to make sure the resources are here to maintain this kind of skill set. Give them an all and all another big round of applause. Mr. Selenus. All right. Thank you so much for that. Moving forward, we are going to now welcome uh Christine Wheeler, our
042principal of Morton High School. [Applause] Good evening. Uh, special recognition to our acting superintendent, Mr. Selenus, Trusty Blake King, members of our board. I am so excited to be before you once again to talk about the magnificent things that just keep going on at the mansion. All right. Um we just witnessed and we could go to the next slide. Um one of our stellar governors before us with the um team robotics, but I want to make special note that Molina Mata belongs to the mansion. She's a Morton student. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments. This evening, I would like to just take the opportunity just to acknowledge the fact that we have some awardwinning scholars. And I was so happy to find out this information and track this data. And I grew
043up not too far from here. And I searched high and I searched low in my backyard with my parents and we did not find that money tree. But I am happy to say this evening that our governors have won or been um let me see the recipients of over $2.5 million in scholarships. I think that that is absolutely amazing and an awesome accomplishment. And I do have some of those money winners with me here this evening. So, I'm going to need my governors. You need to come on up. I If you're in the audience, come on up with your cool glasses. Come on. Don't. You told me you weren't going to be shy, so I need you to come on up. All right, stand with me. Come on. Don't be shy. If you didn't get
044your glasses, don't panic. I got you. Oh, okay. I love it. If we could go to the next slide. We were able to have um a signing day with these students when they made decisions about what colleges, universities, trade schools they would be going on to. But our scholarship winners, they've been awarded scholarships for their academics. We have some athletes and we also have some of our HAPA students who've been given the opportunity to receive scholarships and monetary awards to help them continue with their education. Again, if we could go to the next slide, these awards have come from various places. Um, and we just yesterday I got another email about additional students who are going to be receiving even more awards. So, it doesn't stop here. We still have some more days to go
045in our school year. And I'm happy to be able to stand before you to let you know that they put in the work, they put in the applications, they did their very best with their academics and they have been rewarded for that. So we are proud of them. Thank you to our parents for encouraging them to look for that money and get that money. So, if you all want to turn around so the audience can see which glasses, and some of the scholars that you see before you um do make up the very best of what we have to offer at School City of Hammond. Anybody want to say something? Oh, okay. All right. Thank you guys. You can have a seat. Thank you. Thank you. And congratulations. Amen. In addition to our students um
046being recipients of those awards, we've also had some very special um hands-on experiences and unique learning experiences to take place at Morton. And I do have Miss Mansing, our Chinese teacher, here to share with us um the exciting work that she was able to do with the projectbased learning showcase with her students. So Miss Mansing will come on up. Thank you. So good evening school city of Hammond family trustee and superintendent. I am May Mansing the Chinese teacher from Morton High School. I have been teaching in our district for five years and working on projectbased learning for three years. Today I am honored to share the incredible outcome of our students Janiah Goodlo, Matthew Glaze and their journey through the projectbased learning experience with the Chinese ballet dance project leangu or we say the butterfly
047lover. This PBL initiate was not just a dance performance but a multi-dimensional explorations of history, cultures, artistries and personal growth. A true testament to the transform transformative power of learning through doing. Beyond the technical and academic uh academic skills, this project has touched students personal lives. They've learned the value of perseverance, the importance of connecting deeply with a narrative and the joy of the uh bringing the story to the life through their unique lens. By embrying the uh tale of Leangju, students have experienced firsthand how art can bridge cultures, communicate, communicate emotions and inspire transformation. In conclusions, the Chinese ballet dance leangu is one of the shining examples of how learning can be both rigorous and deeply meaningful. Our students leave this experience not only as better dancers, researchers and co uh collaborators but also
048as more thoughtful, confident and culturally aware individuals. These skills and perspectives will undoubtedly serve as a foundation for their lifelong success. Let us continue to celebrate and support opportunities like this where education transcendent traditional boundaries and empowers students to grow historically. Thank you. Uh today uh basically our students want to come here to dance uh for the audience. However, they are too popular. They have three compat uh contacts tonight. The same time happened. So, um we have a very short videos for uh when they practice in the studio in our school. So, enjoy it. Okay. Three, two, one. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] into your foundation. [Music] sing for [Music] you. All right. Mike, thank you. Lovely, lovely. Thank you so very much. The art of dance, Mr. Thank you so much, uh, Morgan Governors for
049that wonderful presentation. Uh next, uh we're going to continue the celebration and recognition. It's kind of a full circle moment here. We started here with our first graders and we're going to round up the evening with our high school seniors recognizing our uh saludiatorans and valadictorians. So, Trusty King, as we continue the important work of restoring and elevating the school city of Hammond, I am reminded that the responsibility of today's leaders such as ourselves is not only to lead, but to elevate those who will lead tomorrow. It is with great pride that I acknowledge some of our brightest future leaders, the valadictorians and the saludiatorans of the class of 2025. Please join me in congratulating our saludiatorans, Angelina Wheeler from Hammond Central High [Music] School, our saludiatoran, Lily Gonzalez from Morton High School, and I
050am honored to be sitting next to our incredible valadictorians, Mirabel Perez from Hammond Central High School. and also our uh validictorian from Morton High School, Kevin Soraniano. [Applause] To get to know more about these exceptional students, please tune in tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. on WJO where we'll be highlighting their journeys, their achievements, and their plans for the future. Congratulations to our students and their families. May we have both principles to stand up. Give you a big round of applause. Mrs. Harrison, thank you. Thank you for your service and your leadership. Thank you. And to our incredible valictorian sudatoriums. Wow. Thank you, Mr. Selenus. All right. Um, our next agenda item is our first public expression. Trustee Stanford. All right. And our first public speaker is Linda Helms Trinkle. Welcome. Thank you for allowing me
051to speak. Um I am Linda Trinkle. I graduated from Hammond High School back in 1979, 38 years ago. Um, I am here to tell you about as a member of the National Honors Society and a student in the accelerated algebra, trigonometry, and geometry programs at Hammond High. I was one of a few students who was chosen by the math department back in 1978 to be allowed to use the very first computer that was ever put into the school at Hammond High. This thing was humongous. It was a big gi It looked like a gigantic typewriter with a printer, another part printer attached. That was the first personal computer way back when. Um, as you already know, the first home personal computer was back in 1980. So, that was two years later. Hammond was on the
052cutting edge way back when. We were uh we were allowed to take part of our lunch hour a couple days a week to sit in class and learn how to program this beast. I'm using the beast but a different beast. But um um we had to actually write map out the steps, write the programs, program the computer, and then put it in and see what happened. And we had the big gigantic sheets of paper that came out. Remember those? some of you are old enough to remember. So, uh, we got we did get a little grade for that, but it was more for a fun thing than a actual grade. It didn't affect our our grades. Um, believe it or not, uh, that 1978 uh PC was considered to be a fourth generation already of
053the home of the computer. The first computer marketed for home, as I said, was 1980. And it was named by Time magazine as the man of the year that year for 1980. It was on the front cover and everything. Go figure. Um, Hammond schools have kept pace with the um times and with technology. Robotics was added as an extracurricular activity in 1996, and that was only two years after the first the um first um robotics started. So they were they jumped in. If you've noticed on the videos, we're team 71, team Hammond 71. Most of those other teams have four and five-digit numbers. Hammond was one of the first 100 PE places that had a team in the nation for first robotics. So we've been on the cutting edge forever. Um, I am very, very,
054very impressed by team team Hammond 71. Even before my nephew Joseph decided to be a member, we would see them all over at different things like the National Night Out. We would stop and talk to the kids. They would tell us about the robot. They would tell us about the beast. And I'm not sure if they mentioned what beast actually stands for. It means bringing engineers and students together. So, um, that's why they named him the beast. Go ahead. I'm sorry my time. I'm so sorry. That's okay. That's okay. Um I will send you a copy of this, but I was very excited. I do want to thank you all for um supporting the robotics team. They have u given me hope for the future. They are a great group of people. Thank you very
055much for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next speaker, Cindy Murphy. Cindy Murphy mostly on the financial presentation tonight. So people were like, why does she talk about NIPCO bills for next year? As you saw with the projections, there's a reason I've been talking about NIPCO bills next year. They projected last fall that we're going to have a deficit and we're already seeing where that's going. One of the ones that are really serious tonight is self- insurance. self- insurance. Our numbers are much better than last year, but when you look at self- insurance, it's like almost a half a million dollars less than it was one year ago today, which is not good because our dedicated staff, they wait till the summertime to get what they need to have done over the summer.
056And that money needs to be in there to make sure we're going to be covering all of that. And in May, that should be the month that we find out what the range is for the increases for next year. Usually, that's 9 to 11%. How's that going to get paid for? Is that in the projections for the next year? the self- insurance fund. It was one of three funds that got School City of Hammond in trouble last year. And we are still on watch even though corrective action. Like I said before, three board members stood up and they made sure that this school district did not go into the state control. Two decided they didn't care. But with this, you guys are going to have to do something and to get this back on track.
057Touche. So, what are you going to do for next year? The red's already there. And looking at the big loss for this year, too. Uh my marine minute, I'm going to talk about the team hammer robotics. Again, every single meeting, I'm looking at the personnel report. You wouldn't have team robotics if you didn't have Legos and Science Olympiad. And yes, I saw a chess player out there who I saw at state in our elementaryaries. I was really disappointed because a lot of elementary parents have talked to me about we're not going to be looking at the bell schedule for next year. Are we gonna have two years of not having science olympied and Legos at some of our elementary schools and not even chess? Those are the things that when you go to advertise our
058schools, we're number one. That's what you want to tell everybody. We're science Olympiad. We are Legos. We are team Hammond Robotics. We are chess. And those things make us stand out. Please make sure that those things will be ready for our students when they come back in August. Thank you. Thank [Applause] you. Next speaker, Wanda Pucket. Give me a minute. I got to ask the court. No. question. No, you have to come before them and you have to direct your questions to the board. Thank you. Can I have a minute, please? I need to ask the attorneys a question before I open my mouth. I don't want to get in trouble, but I need to ask him a question before I open my mouth. Should we start? It's starting. Your time is starting. Can I
059ask attorney? You have to direct your questions to the board. I am, but I want to know before I direct it to the board. Could I ask him the question before I direct it to y'all? Go ahead and start it and then attorney will stop you if needed. Okay. First of all, I like to know where people's getting their information from. I know. I really do. That's why I wanted to ask the attorney first. Can I reveal what information what information is coming out? It ain't got no business coming out when y'all in y'all executive section. And I'm serious on that. And it's stuff. Like I said, snakes. A bunch of snakes. Unhanded crooked snakes leaking stuff out of the executive meat. People's on the street should know nothing about what's going on. We supposed
060to find out when we get to this meeting. But second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth district. That's why you don't see everybody here because they know what's going on before we get here. It need to stop. And I'm being honest. Go to the chiropractor. You sitting up in the chiropractor office. you hear what's going on from exact meeting. They people in the doctor's office know what's going on. You sit up in the doctor's office, they can tell you before you even come to the meeting was getting ready to go on. That's wrong. That's why I said I was going to ask him is it okay? You know that's wrong. We don't need to expose inhouse business. It's supposed to stay inhouse, not outouse. Now, I'm being real on that. Those teachers and the staff, I support
061them 100%. We supposed to be here for these kids. But when you got students can walk around and can tell you what's getting ready to go on, what's going on, something ain't right. Something ain't right. Y'all don't got quiet now cuz you know I'm telling the truth. Who toes I'm stepping on? I'm stepping on a lot of toes and I mean a lot of them. So I think y'all need to get yourself together and think about what I'm saying. Do I make myself clear? Thank you. Thank you. That ends that ends first session of public expression. Mr. Selenos, our next agenda item is unfinished business. Trusty King, we have no unfinished business at this time. And the next item is the approval of the minutes. Trustees, do I hear a motion for the approval of
062our executive session minutes A, B, C, and D? Madam President, Trustee Spencer, I move for the approval of E executive session minutes from April 1st, April 8th, April 15th, and April 29th, 2025. Second. It's been moved and properly second for the approval of the executive session minutes April 1st, 8th, 15th, and 29th. Any discussion? Any discussion? Any discussion? Ready to vote. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Abstain. Eyes have it. 41. Do I hear a motion for the approval of school board mean minutes April 15, 2025? Madame President, Trusty Caneler, I move for the approval of the school board meeting minutes April 15, 2025 as presented. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and properly second for the approval school board minutes April 15, 2025. Any discussion? Any discussion? Any discussion? All in
063favor say I. I. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenus. The next agenda item is the approval of the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda ABC D E FNG E and E and G? Madame President, Trusty Spencer, I move for the approval of the consent agenda items A through G. Second. It's been moved and properly second for the approval of uh our consent agenda A through G. All in favor is any questions? Yes. All right. The accounts payable docket register. Trusty Stanford. Accounts payable voucher register dated May 20th, 2025 consists of 145 pages. Total claims 1,477,942.50. Total payroll 2,429,680.95. Thank you, Trusty Stanford. Are we ready to vote? All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenus, please. Our next agenda item is new
064business. Okay. Mr. Selenas. Under new business, it is recommended that the board of school trustees approve the MOU with the Challenger Learning Center. Do I hear a motion? Madame President, Madame C Trustee Candelier, I move for the approval of theou with the Challenger Learning Center as presented. Is there a second? Second been moved and properly second for the approval of theou with the Challenger Learning Center. Any questions? Question question. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Mr. Selenas. Our next agenda item is the calendar. Our calendar is subject to change. Uh so far is Tuesday, June 30th, executive session and regular school board meeting. and June 17th executive session and regular school board meeting. Additionally, as Mr. Selenas has indicated, tomorrow at 9:0 a.m. we will be on WJOB um
065promoting our school. That's our calendar. Mr. Selenas, our next agenda item is public expression second period. Trustee Stanford. Thank you. First speaker, Cindy Murphy. Okay. Second speaker, Marielleen Shazak. How do I not know how to pronounce your name by now? I'm sorry. Thank you. Oh my. Looking at that budget. What a mess. Too much red. Way too much red. Um, like I've suggested before, Sammy, some of the buildings are just sitting there being used as storage. It's time to dump them. We'll need the state coming down here and giving us a hard time. And that's going to happen. Um, our financially, we're in a mess. We're getting in a deeper mess. Time to unload some baggage, which is in buildings are not being used. That should be a priority. Even though some are being used
066for storage, store what? You know, I mean, we're still paying the upkeep. We're still paying the utilities. That's money could be saved in the district. That needs to be done. Even though it's going to be painful, that's that needs to be done. You got to downsize. You have no choice in that matter. Um, it's nice to see we have a temporary superintendent, but we need permanency here. You're doing a good job, Mr. Selenus. I'll say, but we need somebody permanent. Whether Mr. Selenus is going to stay and be permanent or we got somebody else, I don't know. But we need permanency. The whole district needs permanency. The children, the parents, the staff, everybody needs permanency and we don't have that. It's like we've gone through how many now in a few months? That's ridiculous. That's
067absolutely unstable to say the least. And that's another red flag for downstate. Down state, you know, they almost took us over and it still might happen seeing everything that's been going down. As for information come out of this building wall about 30 years I've been coming to these meetings, I would say these walls do have ears. But in the other hand, I do believe it says in the Bible things have to be come to light. uh whether they are painful or not exactly um something you want to hear, things have to come to light so any problems that may have been hidden may be brought out and corrected. Thank you. Thank you, Jose. I'm sorry I can't pronounce your last name, but come on up. Good evening, superintendent. Good evening, board. Um, I you saw
068me earlier. I was a part of team Hammond 71 Robotics. Um, like I said earlier, I'm I'm a rookie and I'm a programmer. I would just like to talk about STEM education in general. Um something that I really want to advocate for is STEM education. Mainly because um although STEM education does exist in Hammond, unfortunately it is not very widespread. It's not very easy to access. Um per my personal testimony is that if it weren't for robotics, I wouldn't have been interested in STEM just because we really have to make a huge commitment just to even have access to these resources. And and obviously in terms of parents that immediately we think of engineering in technology and suddenly there's all we see is dollar sign dollar sign dollar sign and I don't think it should
069be that way honestly. Team Hammond 71 has given me the ability to be able to not only freely express myself but to learn these new skills and to be able to use cutting edge technology in high school and normally people won't not even adults would have access to this and STEM and Hammond is actually really important mainly because we are full of really rich history that people don't even know anymore. Team Hammond like like we said in the presentation earlier has four uncontested worldwide championships. That is more than anybody else in history and that's mainly been forgotten. Why in due time people just stopped worrying about STEM our current accomplishments. I I mean just now we have worldwide recognition and we have the ability to make future accomplishments. Right now we're using cutting edge equipment
070to make advances on AI in in in our robot and as well as using new new equipment, new machines, new tools. But like I said earlier that there there's a huge accessibility issue especially for our young generation and especially for the middle schoolers and the elementary schoolers that don't have access to this. I I would like to thank our previous speakers on touching on this but that's just not a thing anymore. Roughly each city would have around 10 12 of these teams in their city but us we only have two um middle school and elementary school teams combined meaning that they don't have access to this. And I think that we should really hammer down on STEM education just because we see we are living proof that those who do get STEM education and those
071who do get access to it will go places. I would also like to touch on on just how important uh having this feeder program is. we would be able to touch the hearts of these kids, be able to tell them that they have the chance to become an engineer the moment that they step into elementary school, that they have a chance to go to college. Cuz personally, before last year, I didn't even know what college I was going to. I didn't even know that I was going to go to college. But now FRC and team Hammond 71 has truly given me the ability to to know what I'm going to do. And I know that I will become an engineer. And I would like to thank team 71 for that. Thank you for your time.
072Excellent. Excellent. We hear you loud and clear. Thank you, Mr. Selenus. Heard you loud and clear. Thank you. I sure did. That was excellent. Last speaker, Wanda Pucket. Well, I ain't got to introduce myself. They already introduced me for me. Those young man just got through speaking. He talking about being an engineer. He going to go further than that. He might end up being a doctor one day. We don't know what the Lord going to lay on him. Those are our babies. That's why I said adults, we need to get oursel together. What kind of example we going to be setting for these kids? This is our future right here. So, we need to step back. Let them take over. Let's get this together and show them this is how we supposed to act like
073young adult. All this here need to stop. We're going to step forward one feet in front of the other. We're going to encourage these babies, find out what they interested in, what they want to do, what they want to become, cuz you got doctors sitting up in here. You got lawyers, you got teachers. Anything these babies want to be, they can do it. But we as teachers and parents got to get behind them and encourage them. First thing, education. We want our kid to stay in school, not out of school. Let's find another solution to get these kids involved in school so they can stay in school. Get a mentor program started in these schools for the young mans and the young ladies. My kids went to school. The young ladies had a mentor program
074and the young men's had a mentor program for kids at risk. They took all of that out of the school. We need to put that back inside the school cuz we losing our babies and we don't want to lose our babies like this. Next year, let's work on a mentor program for the young ladies starting middle school and high school. Let's get a mentor program for these young ladies as well a mentor program for the young man's. We need to step up as adults and mentor our young ladies and our men. That's all I got to say. Thank you. Thank you. That ends second session of public expression. Mr. Selenus. Our next item is reports and I will start with uh the superintendent's report. The first thing I would like to share with the audience
075is that the scooi of Hammond has made the front page of the times and they are recognizing Chef Velasquez at the area career center. We are front page. Front page. We are front [Music] page. Once again, amazing things happening uh in our school system uh especially with our teachers and our students. So, um because it is going to be the uh last meeting of the year before we wrap up, I do have some information and announcements for the community. Uh looking ahead, I want to remind all families that registration for the 2526 school year is now open for both new and returning students. We'll be hosting a registration event on Monday, June 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Hammond Central High School. Also, this is important for our outofd district students. Out of
076district students must reapply and be approved for admission. Applications will be reviewed based on attendance, academic performance, and discipline records. So, once again, out of district students must reapply and be approved for admission into school city of Hammond schools. Next, I'm pleased to share details about our upcoming graduation ceremonies which will take place at Wolf Lake Pavilion. Mortyn High School will take place on Saturday, June 7th at 4 p.m. Hammond Central High School will take place on Monday, June 9th at 6 p.m. I'd also like to express my sincere appreciation to our dedicated teachers who have worked tirelessly to create and refine our curriculum maps. Your commitment to quality instruction is building a strong foundation for high level learning across our district. We look forward to continuing this important work next school year. Uh this
077evening, our school board approved compensation of for additional duties and responsibilities for our curriculum map teachers. I'd also like to recognize one of our unsung heroes in our district. Please join me in recognizing Mr. John Suarez, our director of safety and security. [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] Mr. Suarez has worked tirelessly in helping keep our schools safe and every building principal in this room knows all of the other things that this man has done across the district to get us to the end of the school year. Your work does not go unnoticed and we thank you Mr. Sorus. Thank you very much for all that you do. Also, very shortly here, we're going to be honoring 53 of our 2025 School City of Hammond retirees on Wednesday, May 28th at the Dr. Walter J. Watkins Blackbox
078Theater. Together they have contributed a remarkable 1,353 years of service. [Applause] Thank you very much for your years of service. Summer school will run from Monday, June 9th through Thursday, July 3rd. Elementary sessions will be held at Burns Hicks. Middle and high school sessions will be held at their respective school buildings. Incoming freshmen have the opportunity to earn high school credits in PE, health, and speech. So, we're trying to get our freshman a jump start uh into their college, their high school career. And finally, we are in the home stretch, everyone. Just seven days left of the school year. Our last day of school is Friday, May 30th. And for the community and parents, we will have a staggered dismissal schedule for the safety of our students on the last day of school. Your building
079principal will provide specific dismissal times. Again, we will have a staggered dismissal on the last day of school. And in the words of our very own Miss Wanda Pucket, that's all I've got to say. [Music] Thank you Hammond community for your continued support and let's finish strong. We got seven days left. That's all we got. Strong. Thank you Trusty King. Thank you Mr. Selenus board trustees. Any comments, announcements? Anyone? I would like to read another little quote. I haven't done one in a while. And I was watching Akquila and the Bee. So, I shortened um this thing that she read that her um coach had her read and I want to read it for our kids. Okay. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
080measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frighten us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. To our students, know how great you are and reach for your highest potential. Then help another. You are all here to make your mark and lead a beautiful life. This is in each of you and everyone in school city Hammond is here to help you fulfill your dreams. Thank you for that trustee. Thank you. And only thing
081I would like to thank the entire staff and crew that put on the Hapa Palooa at Wolf Lake this uh cold. It was cold one minute, hot the next, but we certainly enjoyed our kids and dancing. Uh, the rock band was incredible, the singing, all of it. And I I truly want to thank Mr. Tucker. He's not here. He was out there helping those kids. I never saw him in jeans. I didn't even recognize him, but he was really helping the students put everything together. And it was that was a a teaching moment as well, showing those kids how to connect all those wires and stuff. So, I truly appreciate that. The entire staff for the Hapa Palooa. So again, we're just going to keep restoring and elevating each other and uh hope. Thank you.
082Anything else? Board members, do I hear a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. See you.