001example of your son, that that we can follow him. We just thank you for this school, Lord, and what it means to the kids and staff and the and the community, Lord. We just help We just ask your help in making the decisions that affect that. And we just ask that you be with us always and thank you for all the blessings that you've given us in this time. In Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. Approval of minutes from the March 12th board meeting. Any motion to approve those minutes? I'll motion. Beaten. Second? I'll second. Eva, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Safety update. We have some amazing people who are going to present. All right. Safety first. All right. So, they said it won't sound like they're I'm I'm talking on this, but I Okay. As long
002as they can hear. Okay. Good. Well, I'm Myrna Green. I am a school psychologist and I'm Kelly, the school social worker. Yes. So, we are going to talk a little bit about some of the safety protocols we put into place. I I say we, it really was Diana Turpin and Kelly that did most of the work for this, so I can't take credit. And Myrna has done a lot of research. All right. So, we have created a couple of policies that you guys have I think they're doing the second reading tonight. >> Right. Um for suicide prevention policy and then threat assessment and response. So, the goals for these are that um we have several professionals in our building that can respond when there's a a threat or someone makes a statement that they want
003to hurt themselves or a bullying complaint. So, with these protocols, the the hope is that it doesn't matter who responds in the building, if it's me, Kelly, Mrs. Gibson, that they will respond using the same methods, and it will it will be documented in the same way. So that, you know, if down the line we need uh legally to document what's been done or something like that, it will all be there just like we need it to be. Um it also ensures that we're following the uh state laws and regulations. There are a couple of We've noted a couple of those um that the Department of Education is requiring of schools now. So, it's covers our all all of our bases. Um Uh we wanted to share a few statistics. We used the um Indiana
004Youth Institute's Kids Count Data Book um to come up with these. Um It we We just want to address that we know bullying is a problem for kids, you know, from young age to the time they graduate. So, we know that as a society, this is a problem, and we want to make sure that we are addressing it here at the school in the best way that we can. Um you know, in Indiana, 40.6% of parents report that their child has been bullied. And that's I mean, that's almost half. It's much higher than we would want it to be. And the state average is or the national average is 38.4%, so we're a tiny bit higher than um the rest of the nation, not a huge amount. And then, looking at suicide rates, I actually
005stole this slide. I went to the QPR training right before this. Um question, persuade, respond. Um at the the firefighters were all there until the fire came and then they left. There's 10 acres on fire somewhere, but um so they had a really um striking statistic that I wanted to share with you guys was that with youth, so kids ages 15 to 24, one there's one person that dies by suicide every 2 hours. So, there have been in the US over 6,000 deaths in 2020 alone um suicide. So, we know that it's a significant issue and we want to be able to intervene in the best way that we can. So, that. And then looking at where we rank compared to um other regions in the state, we're kind of in the middle um as
006far as response, but when we look at how many mental health providers there are, the ratio of mental health providers to um people that need help, um in 2022, it was 9,780 to 1. So, if you're thinking about why we need people like me, Kelly, Diana, um Britney, why we need those people in the schools is because if we're not seeing them, our kids are probably not getting mental health support because I mean, that's more than we have in our county. You know, that's the chances that they're getting help for depression or anxiety or whatever it is outside of the school are are low. Um we make a lot of referrals to get them help. So, hopefully that those numbers will go down, but Next steps. So, we are we have a lot of dreams
007and plans. We want to create a library of resources on our school website because right now we provide resources when we're you know when we're here at school we give parents all kinds of you know resources but if we would not you know if it's on a spring break or just something where we're not available we want parents to be able to go on the website and say this is someplace I can go if I need this. And we want to cultivate our intervention team supports. So that would be tier one so everybody. So we we actually just went the other day to Mitchell to see team peace being implemented which is a regulation curriculum so it's teaching kids how to be calm and how to um regulate emotions. So we're really excited we hope
008to be able to bring that here with a grant. Fingers crossed we're waiting to hear. Um tier two would be small group interventions so things like Kelly and I and Julia Sanders or Harper now um do a lot of small group interventions with kids that are more at need and then tier three would be our kids with a lot of trauma and or a you know have really high need might need more even smaller group or even one-on-one mental health supports. And then we want to put more supports in place for teachers. Um and Dr. Lanham has a lot of great ideas on things they've done at some of the schools she was at before but you know debriefing after a a tough incident giving teachers if they need it a break you know that
009they don't have to just send the child to the office and then look everybody in the face and keep going. You know, sometimes that's hard if something really crazy has happened, you know. Um and then we also have the I love you guys posters are in all classrooms now. So um early in and Kendra you could probably jump in too because we went to the training on this. Uh Ben, Kendra and I went as our um school safety coordinators. And we um have taken some actions on this and one of the things these posters are in every classroom. And we I think Ben and was it you Kelly, right? You went around who went around to all the classrooms and talked to the elementary kids about this. But anyway, we've been practicing this. It's kind
010of like your uh your standard response when when you have um like a lockdown or or something. One of the things they mentioned to us and we hadn't I hadn't heard it. I don't I'm not sure if Ben or um Kendra had heard it either but it was like, you know, in the cafeteria where you can't really leave or go to a safe place, you do these stop and think drills. Like you get on the PA and you say, "Okay." Like when buses are rolling in or rolling out, you get on instead of having like a we're going into a a lockdown mode, you just say, "Stop. Think about it. If where what would you do right now?" So it was just a stop and think drill and that was one of the things that
011we really um was important. Our teachers did some training on this virtually on the March 11th. I think it was supposed to be a PD day but the power went out and we weren't here but we had um Was it March 11th? Is that it? Um and so anyway, this is a what we're using now um and Ben has kind of been leading a lot of this but the training was phenomenal and um there's quite a few videos and things that we can share with kids to kind of uh talk them through these things. Henry, do you have any more to add because I that was a 20,000 I think that's all we Yeah, oh yeah. And um, so our mental health team here at the school, uh Kelly is our school social worker, Diana
012Turpin is our case conference coordinator and a licensed social worker. Uh Kelly Furman, high school counselor, and Brittany Bushy who's our behavior and autism consultant, and then myself I'm school psychologist. I've actually been here since 2015-2016 school year, but my role has changed some over the years, but yeah. How often do we uh address the kids and give them information about bullying and the effects and I know um I go into the the library for all the elementary kids at least once a year. We have to do it before October 15th every year. So I go in at least once a year and then we have conversations, you know, a lot. We had to have conversation with fifth grade, not going to go into that, but um when the need arises as well um with
013classrooms and and small groups of kids. Yeah. I don't know about middle school. Um we do the whole month of October usually we discuss bullying with the same wall and then um Miss Eubank has me doing social emotional learning with the classes, so twice a week So once a week I load a lesson up for them and then they watch a video and then the second day they do like classroom discussions, worksheets. Um and that could be about bullying, it's about anger, like just different things each week. And that's one thing we mentioned the team is that's one thing we're hoping that will help with bullying and other incidents because it will help with conflict resolution. Yes. Thank you. Thanks. I told them they didn't have to pay for these. I know you have a
014long drive. All right, comments from patrons concerning items not on the agenda. Comments? Reports from building principals. I feel like we have to have two. So, in the elementary, this is uh kind of we've hit our final stretch, so this is a very busy time of the year. We're going to kind of soak in every day that we have left with our elementary students. Um, just yesterday our elementary was recognized by Dr. Katie Jenner, Secretary of Education and the Indiana Department of Education for achieving a 95% passing rate on the 2025 IREAD assessment. Um, kindergarten, we had recently donut donuts with grownups and kindergarten students were able to invite their dad, grandfather, or another special important adult in their life for donuts one morning. And having events like that, especially with our young students, like
015that means the world to them to bring in someone special from their life and show them their school, their playground. So it was really fun to see to see that. Um, student assessments, we have the I AM assessment going on right now. So our special education teachers, Mrs. Letourneau here is in attendance. She's already started that and that assessment is for students with cognitive disabilities. It kind of shows their growth, but it's also tailored to fit their individual needs. We have ILEARN assessment starting next week, actually the window opens, so April 13th through May 8th, our students in grades 3 through 5 will begin ILEARN testing. Um, and I just want to give a shout out to our teachers here prepping for ILEARN assessment or any assessment in general. It takes a lot of coordination.
016We have students who test in whole group, small group. We even have a few students that are tested individually. So coordinating schedules, making sure we have you know, coverage for the students who are not testing. It is an all hands-on-deck situation and they do a phenomenal job of making sure testing is running smoothly and classroom instruction still goes on. So shout out to all of my teachers and aides. Um upcoming events, we have uh STEM family night is rescheduled for this coming uh Tuesday, April 14th. That was um originally scheduled for the day that we did not have power. So, Melanie Hawkins has done a great job preparing that along with her STEM students. And that is from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. next Tuesday. Um we also have an very exciting um upcoming event on
017April 16th. Our drama department will um perform a mini um show of The Little Mermaid for all elementary students that afternoon. Um and I know Mrs. Bailey and her drama students have been working very hard on this and we are excited. Um we've kind of seen little clips and previews um from the talent show. We had a couple students that performed. So, I'm very excited for our elementary students to see this. And the performance will be April 17th through the 19th, the full performance. Um and as we wrap up uh my report for today, I just would like to take a moment to shine um a little bit of light on one of a very important classroom that we are very fortunate to have here at Shoals Elementary. Thanks to um our school board for
018pushing for that a few years ago. Um but our whole child classroom in the elementary, um this classroom um reflects a commitment to supporting every aspect of every child's growth academically, socially, and emotionally. It is a meaningful part of what makes our school a caring and supportive place for all students. We are proud of the opportunities we provide and are grateful for the staff who make a difference in each child's life every day. Um what makes Shoals so exceptional isn't just what we do, it's who shows up to do it. Every day, Mrs. Childress and her team, Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. White, provide consistent care, structure, and emotional support, and patience. A safe place for students to reset, grow, and succeed. And that level of support does not just stop at our school doors. Our
019special education bus bus driver, Mrs. Jennifer Wadsworth, continues to create calm supportive start and the at the start and the end of many of our students' days. So, I just want to thank you all. There's a couple in attendance tonight, but this classroom has been phenomenal for our students and I just want to thank you for the opportunity to have it. That is all we have. All right. Thank you. Thanks very much. Okay. If you have comment, you can go ahead and come to the mic and My name is Cookie Taylor. I'm one of the aides in the full child classroom. I kind of have a unique perspective on our classroom. I had a daughter that used this classroom prior to me working in it and I've seen a ton of growth in her emotionally,
020educationally, how she handles different situations and I've also now been in the classroom, been able to see growth with students that I work with. And I do not think they would have those capabilities if our program was not there to assist them. We can give them more of a one-on-one connection. We can help them have established emotional regulations, different things. So, I brought a few things that I wanted to present to you guys. Um just some things that I put together. I did mention you. I have a few of them in here. Sorry. I see you can read quick. No, I mean there was nothing in it. I just like uh-oh. No. Thanks. You're welcome. Just getting a glance of it. There you go. Thank you. You. Thank you for your time. >> So, this
021class is very very in my heart, so I'll go ahead and read this, and then I have a couple other things regarding class I would like to talk about. So, let me take this down. You don't want me to talk about that. Thank you. So, the letter that I have today to talk about is true inclusion and supporting all learners. Dear Shulls Community School administration and board members, genuine inclusion values each child's strengths, provides appropriate supports, and ensures that students and staff have what they need to succeed. It is not about placing every student in the same experience, but about meeting students where they are so they can access learning in meaningful ways. As a whole child classroom aide, I see every day how essential targeted supports for students who learn differently. When students are
022in a heightened stress or fight or flight state, supporting them is not coddling. It is teaching regulation, helping them re-engage with learning, and preparing them to function successfully in structured environments. Research consistently shows that students with unmet social, emotional, and behavioral needs are significantly more likely to experience academic failure, chronic absenteeism, and disciplinary action. Schools that implement structured supportive environments see reductions in behavioral incidents and improvements in academic engagement and long-term outcomes. Our class maintains consistent routines, expectations, structure, while also providing the individualized supports students need to make meaningful progress. The whole child classroom is both rigorous and supportive by design, helping students build the skills necessary for long-term success. When When supports are reduced in an effort to fit a one-size-fits-all model, it risks misunderstanding what inclusion truly means. It can lead to increased
023stress for students, setbacks in progress, and fewer opportunities for growth, while also placing added strain on educators working to meet diverse needs. True inclusion means ensuring access is not only present, but effective. It means giving students the tools they need to succeed and supporting the educators who guide them each day. The whole child classroom is not an extra. It is an essential pathway for students to reach their potential. Without it, we risk leaving some of our most vulnerable learners behind. I understand the financial pressures. I would just ask that we consider whether we can afford the long-term impact of not providing these supports. And then I had some information which I kind of explained what we do in our classrooms to meet the needs of these kids, how we're adapting to them, and since it's
024a smaller class size, and with our kind of class size, helps them regulate and hopefully when they're having a day that they're dysregulated or upset, they can get away from the other kids and go to my classroom and regulate. Thank you. Thanks. Um I can just briefly go over this. Obviously, this is a lot of information, but these are some things that our classroom really focus on with these students. Um our purpose, the whole child classroom supports students who need extra help with regulation, focus, engagement to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. This classroom is not about lowering expectations. It's about giving students the tools they need to meet them. So, with our class size, like I said, we are able to help these children work through these emotions when they're in fight or flight state,
025um and help them to regulate, and then hopefully the next time they feel overwhelmed that they can um respond in a different way. We meet these children with more ways to learn than besides pen and paper methods. Um we build a relationship with these children to feel comfortable, and just the the progress that these children have made is unbelievable, and I don't think that they would get this opportunity in any other class. The teachers that we have in there have a very strong relationship with these kids, and we care about them. We want to make sure they do their best, and we give them breaks in between if they're feeling overwhelmed. We offer different type of sensory things with them. Um our struc- our um academics that we do with them is very flexible, and
026it's nice because we can cater it to the need that they learn best, and that they can participate in. So, there's a lot of really good things that we do in our class. Um we do have structure, we do have routines. We make sure that every child is safe. We make sure that we are aware of cues and triggers that may bother them. We have lower lights because a lot of kids are sensory sensitive. They can't take the bigger classroom with the brighter lights or the more noise or, you know, different things like that. So, we are able to kind of tone down those things in our room and help them to do the best they can do. Um Just looking over this see if there's anything else that I need to Oh, and as
027for anyone unaware of what we do in our classroom, we would love to educate the other teachers, have them come in, give them a tour, let them know that it's not just children running wild doing whatever they want to do. You know, we have expectations for them and a lot of times it is very it is very unusual if these kids have a hard day. Like the the progress, like I said, they have made is amazing and it's great to see them in an environment where they can succeed. Leading to my next point, so being aid in the whole child classroom, I get to see everything in there that happens. You know, um the good, the bad, the ugly and we do have some older students in the elementary that are still working on emotional
028regulation, safe hands, safe body. We are teaching those things, we're modeling those things to them. Um but things can get dangerous and one thing I think that our school would really um value and could really use in a worst-case worst scenario would be a de-escalation room, which would kind of model like a safe room. There are grants available that you can apply for to build these safe rooms. I have some little packets here that I can I can kind of look over them, too, and then I'll go over that. I try to stay organized, but that is like not my forte. So, bear with me. I got some lot of information, but I wanted you guys to be able to have something to take and reflect on in case you have any questions or you
029don't know what you want to say or something or all new information. >> Sure. Thank you. >> So, if you are unaware of what a de-escalation room is or a safe room, basically, it is a room so the child, the student could not harm themselves on the floor, on the cement wall, on things in the classroom like a desk. A lot of times when they are in this fight or flight mode, they I don't think have any control really what's going over their body. They're not mean, they're not purposely trying to hurt people. They just have to get this out, get this feeling out. So, a lot of times it can be destructive. It can be hurtful. It's hurtful to us teachers. So, the main point of a de-escalation room would be to keep the
030staff safe, to keep the students safe, and to keep, you know, the other students in the classroom safe. You would use this in worst-case scenario. It's not like if someone misbehaved, you would throw them in the room and let them be or anything like that. And this also helps them to have privacy for when they're having these moments where cuz as you know, if kids act a certain way, other kids could bully them for it or whatever. So, this gives them privacy for that. Um the key factors of this it improves student safety, supports mental health and behavioral regulation, reduces classroom disruptions, helps staff manage high-risk situations safely, aligns with special education and equal equity goals. Um so, the difference between a de-escalation room is and a sensory room, a sensory room is more of
031a preventative thing to have when a child can't regulate their emotions, um when they're overwhelmed, they can't stay engaged, and they're kind of past the point where you could have a psychologist or counselor talk them down because at that point they're not able to receive what you're saying. Um so, a de-escalation room room magic manages emergencies, prevents immediate harm, protects staff, students, and peers. Um and it says also, which is an amazing point cuz I've noticed this with children that we've had to escort to the office or make sure they stay safe. Um, it provides an alternative risk to hands-on restraint, gives the student space to regain control of emotions. Um, and it helps schools to follow safety protocols and legal requirements. So, I did list here some funding options that you can apply for
032so our school does not have to pay out of pocket whatever the amount could possibly be. There's a few different ones there and I did list a few different size um, sizes that the rooms could be to possibly fit in classrooms that we have. Um, and then I did write down a building budget, kind of what to expect that you need and where this huge blank space is, I had a picture and it did not paste, so sorry. But, I also said to help with insulation cost, maybe that could be a project for Mr. Bedkent and his staff. Um, I know that they've done a lot of really cool things around the school and I did write down some possible room numbers. We don't need a whole room, obviously the smaller the space where we
033could have it the better because we don't want the child to be in a large space exposed to things in the classroom to hurt themselves. Um, and then I put on there kind of a estimation for a plan of how long it could take. It could be a month, um, total from a blue uh, approval to completion. And, um, then on the end it's just kind of a closing statement talking about things that it will our school benefit from and the children staying safe and different things like that. I just wanted to give a printout of are going to have to go So, as you know, um I have listed here is the whole child classroom and as you see it says classroom type, who it's for, focus teaching style, and why it's unique. So,
034we have the whole child classroom, which that is the classroom that I'm in. It kind of talks about different things that we focus on. Um we're designed to support overall development, not just academics, and suitable for general education. We have title one there, life skills classroom, and alternative alternative behavioral classroom. So, they're not all interchangeable. They all have a purpose of what student they meet and whoever works in that room is specialized to work with that child. Um So, again, it lists there why they are not interchangeable. Each classroom has a specific purpose and specialized teaching methods. A student in life skills uh may not benefit from a title one reading intervention without support. A whole child classroom supports broad growth and emotional regulation, but may not meet intense academic or violent behavioral needs. And
035it says alternative classroom focuses on violent unsafe behavior management, not general academics or independent living skills. So, um on the next page it kind of goes into why the placement matters, um what happens if you place the child in the wrong room, um situations that could worsen um and you know, it talks about academic regression, um increased behavioral challenges, higher risk of disengagement and dropout, social emotional harm. Um and some long-term impacts it says long-term educational research suggests that persistent misplacement over years can correlate with broader outcomes, disengagement, later substance misuse, or involvement in juvenile justice. Although these patterns are complex and influenced by many factors beyond placement alone. So, it just talks about the importance of us meeting where these children need to be met in these certain classrooms and how they're not just
036all the same. So, I do believe that the classes that we have right now helping these children are very beneficial. I know we've had schools in the past come to our school before our whole child classroom because they've not had access to it. Um so, I just kind of want to stress as somebody in the classroom, how many benefits I've seen with children that I work with and then yet again my daughter. So, and I'm totally 100% thankful for that to Ms. Childress. She is amazing in there and I'm very thankful to be able to work by her side. Uh did you guys have any questions for me? No, I don't think so. Okay. A lot of information here. >> Yeah, so it is a lot. That's why I wanted to give you some copies
037to take home and I appreciate your time and you guys can reach out to me if you have any questions. I'll gladly answer them. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, as everyone has heard for the last several months, the dreaded grades are coming back from the state and SAT is part of that accountability. So, Danielle and I bribed our juniors this year anything and everything if they would get a qualifying score of exceeds or meets and we had 21 juniors qualify for this SAT incentive. So, they either exceeded both ELA and math or one or the other on the SAT. So, I'm proud of them for that. Um they took a vote on which activity they wanted to do. I listed like five different options, surveyed them, and amazingly they all but two
038voted to go to Holiday World, which me and Danielle thought that would be the least favorite, but um that is what they chose, so Holiday World does offer four school day discounts in May, and with a low price of a little over $30, that includes a ticket and a catered lunch. And I don't know if you've been to Holiday World lately, but tickets are very expensive, and food there is very expensive, so a little over $30 for both is very reasonable, and it's going to be covered by grant funds. Um I have a Zoom meeting tomorrow with someone uh regarding this, but they said yes, we just need to show you how to code it so that it can cover it, so. And I have drafted Allison to help me chaperone that trip, so. Um
039prom and post prom went smoothly, the decorations were gorgeous, the culinary students provided the desserts for the meal, and they were amazing. Um I was able to chaperone post prom, and quickly learned that I am too old to stay up until 3:00 a.m. That was rough, uh but I did want to share how well-behaved our students were. It was at um Urban Air, a little past Bloomington in Ellettsville, and there was a DJ there, and he said he DJs a lot of places in Bloomington, um a lot of clubs, a lot of different schools, and he came up to me and approached um me and said, "I just want to commend you on how well-behaved these students are." He said, "I go to a lot of schools, and I hear it all and see it
040all." And he said, "These students are amazing. Their behavior um so shout out to them, and then going along with that, I just have always said that we take pride in just more than academics here at Shulls. We like to instill those values um that go beyond academics on behavior, and we received uh an exemplary behavior report from the IHSAA today, and I just want to read that. Um, coaches Daniel Turpin and Riva Troutman and athletes are to be commended for the good sportsmanship and professionalism they showed the entire night at the track and field meet at WRV High School. The athletes were courteous and respectful when given instructions or when a question was asked. And this was sent in to the IHSAA by an official. So, um, again, shout out to our amazing students
041for how respectful and well-behaved they are in while they're out and about representing us. Um, a lunch and learn was held on March 31st. It was a huge success. Um, this was for new businesses and organizations who are willing to take on interns, which will help us with the new work-based learning graduation requirements. The new diplomas are really focusing on work-based learning, and you have to have so many hours, um, to get into qualify for certain diplomas. Um, it was a really neat experience that both schools partnered together for this. Like, me and Mr. Showalter, the principal at Loogootee High School, presented together, and then Callie and the school counselor from Loogootee presented together. So, that was just neat to have that collaboration. Um, and we just presented on the new requirements and how the
042community can assist us with meeting those requirements through internships and apprenticeships. And from that, we got several, um, new businesses and organizations that said, "Hey, I'll take on an intern if that'll help you." So, that was nice. I wanted to thank Megan Hawkins, Jessica Potts, Heather Hawkins, and Callie Foreman for organizing the event. It took a lot of work. Uh, yesterday I assisted ROI with conducting practice interviews with three of our students. They are seeking a position with Upskill, and I don't know if you're familiar with Upskill, but it is an apprenticeship program that allows students to earn a paycheck. They can gain career, um, credentials, take college courses, and it usually opens a door to a career. Um, two of our students, they're going to be interviewing for apprenticeships with contractors at Crane, and
043then the other one will be interviewing for an apprenticeship at Spring Mill in the management department. So, we help prepare them for those interviews that are happening later this month. Last week the athletic department saw a record number of students for sports physicals with a total of 171 physicals being completed. That is awesome for our school um to have that many interested in sports. And it's awesome that we can have that here available and free. Um our health science CNA pathway, those students got some real-life experience. They were a station by themselves and they provided the blood pressure checks at their station. So, it was really neat to see them in action. Um this week alone has been full of a lot of exciting events uh with first the birth of our newest litter of
044piglets on Jug Rock Farm. Um yesterday all the students and staff K-12 enjoyed some friendly competition with our PBIS event, The Amazing Race, and it was just so neat to look out in the window or in the halls and see staff and kids competing against each other for this challenge that Molly Bart put together. It took a lot of work and time, and I want to thank her for that. Um even though a lot of kids kept telling me that Riva was was cheating, but I don't know. I never I couldn't prove it, but The staff members were competitive. >> They were very competitive. They were very competitive. Some of the staff members were more competitive than the students. It was a lot of fun. It was fun. Um we ended the day with a
045talent show, and we got to watch several students showcase their talents from singing um to playing an instrument to seeing some comedians, both students and staff took the stage on that. And there were some students that don't ever talk, and they got up there and belted it out. I had no idea they even sang or played an instrument. So, that was really neat to see. Um and we were also notified yesterday that our school was selected as a cell school award recipient and will be receiving $1,500 to go towards our early college program. So, that was exciting. Um a huge thank you to the Martin County Health Department. They come in once a week to teach the Catch My Breath program to our high school health students. It's an evidence-based free youth vaping prevention program
046for grades 5 to 12. I know they've done it in the middle school, and then they started in the high school in March, and they're continuing that. And then April and May, like Ms. Gibson said, they it's typically our busiest months in at school testing season. We're prepping for graduation, awards programs, end-of-year events, um such as special track and field, senior decision day, early college week, career fairs, and field trips. Um we're going to begin ILEARN for biology and AP testing in the next few weeks. Today, I met with Jostens to ensure everything was ordered and in line for graduation, our diplomas, and award ceremonies. And then, um drama club, like Ms. Gibson said, they are showcasing The Little Mermaid next weekend, and they will have three different show opportunities if you can make it.
047Um they've been a lot of fun to watch. So, that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. I have um Ms. Eubanks' update, but I didn't print enough copies. It's okay. I'll put it in I'll I'll put it in your weekly email, but um so, she said shout uh so, she had to go. She's doing a new new principal um cohort, and she was stuck in traffic about 4:30 and then in coming from Indianapolis, so. Um we just told her not to stress about it, and so, we're we're covering, and um I think she said she had a great day of learning, so. She wants to uh shout out to the leaders behind our student programs. Uh shout out to Melanie Hawkins and Cassie Phillips for giving our middle school students an opportunity to
048participate in the science fair at Crane on Thursday, April the 2nd. Uh shout out to Riva Troutman and Ashley Montgomery for giving the middle school students an opportunity to participate in Junior Beta. Tuesday, April 7th, 30 middle school students were inducted into the Junior Beta. Shout out to Molly Tharp for organizing the amazing race for our monthly PBIS reward on Wednesday, April 8th. A big shout out to all those middle school teachers who uh participated in the fun. They're still laughing about it at the end of the day yesterday. Shout out to Megan Hawkins for organizing the talent show for our middle school and high school students. Shout out to Danielle Cornett for communicating schedules and deadlines regarding testing to teachers. We are definitely in testing season. Ilearn Checkpoints 3 testing window closes this Friday,
049April the 10th. End of the year I-Ready benchmark testing window opened April 1st and will remain open until the end of the month. And finally, Ilearn summative assessment window will open Monday, April 13th and close Friday, May 8th. So, a lot of things going on in the middle school. On Wednesday, she uh mentioned talked about what they did yesterday during PD, uh teacher accountability. They participated in uh PD and she shared an article from Ball State titled the value-added measure of school performance in a couple of days before our meeting so we uh could discuss the article and findings and what may contribute to the results of the findings. The study attempted to be to uh more accurately assess the quality of Indiana public schools by applying and adjusting performance measures that takes into account
050community poverty and demographic favors. The study goes into demonstrate the percentage of actual average proficiency scores on Ilearn assessment and then shares the predicted proficiency uh what it should be when you we take into account those added value measures. The value-added score the study provides is the difference between the actual and the predicted scores, schools are ranked in one of five quantities. Um schools score of one have actual ILEARN proficiency average that exceeds the predicted measure between 7 and 31%. Schools that have a score of a five have actual ILEARN pro- proficiency averages that fall short of that predicted measure. There's a lot of data and statistics in that article. Um the report revealed that uh based on our 2025 eighth grade ILEARN ELA math proficiency Shoals scored in the fifth quintile. Our actual proficiency
051average was 19% while our predicted proficiency was closer to 42%. Um an alarming comparison was that Crawford County, frequently identified as the highest poverty rate school in Indiana, scored in the first quintile. Um their school exceeded the predicted measurements by 31.5%. So their team had a great discussion on what may have led to this discrepancy and what we could do moving forward and I was in there when they were having the conversation and it was a really great conversation about um next steps for them as a team and next steps for their students and um she talked to them about um the adoption of a growth mindset and moving forward with that. So it was a really great day of learning for them yesterday and they really dove into the data um through that process.
052I actually had I stopped by in there and you know, I I love some data. I love good data. I yeah. Yeah. And that is Carol's And the kids were very well behaved at the science fair. They I tried to take pictures with parents and and they and the kids um uh they um and I overheard I didn't wasn't one of their judges. I judged other schools. Because I would be definitely favoring our school and they knew that. They made a remark that we didn't want to hurt our own. But people were commenting in the other other tables and areas how the show students. Definitely that was one of the greatest was how you reacted with other people, how you behaved or as when the judges approached you and they said the children was very
053approachable and very well prepared what they did and how they designed their project. So Yeah. Through those from people outside of someone who, you know, has favorite A lot of great compliments on the student behaviors over the past couple weeks. It's been great. All right. New business. Personnel items here. We got a approval of early college leadership team stipends, $500 each. And that's Tina Rue, Myrtle Green, Kendra Hovis, Ben Kent, Megan Hawkins, Daniel Cornett, Kelly Furman, Tim Bauer, he's at VU, and Carol Ubank. Uh Brittany Bushy requests maternity leave of August 4th to October 16th to 26th. Motion to approve those two. I'll motion. Eva a second? I'll second. Ethan, all in favor? I. Uh trip request, high school culinary class to Martin County senior citizens, March 30th. Mrs. Goodman's junior senior juniors and seniors
054to Mitchell for the Cosmos career fair on April 17th. Motion to approve. I'll make a motion. I'll second. Laura and Eva, all in favor? I. All right, some more trips. High school Rocks Catering culinary to St. John's Center in Loogootee to participate in the Martin County Economic Alliance leadership group on April 24th. Special Ed classes to Mitchell for the Cosmos Special Ed track and field day, that's May 1st. And this is Goodman's class, grade 6 through 12, to Holiday World for the Easter Seals Day of Play on May 8th. I'll second. Motion to approve? All those in favor? Eva, I'll second. I'll second. All right. All in favor? Aye. Aye. I have to put a little plug in for that um that Rocks Catering at uh St. John's Center in Legoti. So, Sarah Sexton and
055I are part of the Leadership Martin County group, and our culminating activity is we're doing lunch and bingo for the senior citizens in Martin County, and we have over 50 already registered. So, if you know anyone who would like to join, um Sarah's class is catering the lunch and serving the seniors. And um it's it's going to be great in the um It's going to be really fun. And I'm excited that the kids are going to be there. They'll enjoy that. >> They're going to have a great time. They're going to be sad that they can't play bingo. Well, the seniors is who I'm talking >> hear the seniors really take that bingo very seriously. Policies for approval, there were three in March, packet, suicide prevention, a threat assessment response protocol, and preschool updates. Motion
056to approve those policies? I'll motion. Eva, I'll second. I'll second. Eva and all in favor? Aye. Aye. Facility usage events, Beta Club to host blood drive in the auxiliary gym on September 30th, 2026. Glad to see that come back. Roadstar Driving School to hold classes at the high school during the summer of '26 with Mr. Scott Fishback teaching the classes. Motion to approve? I'll make a motion. I'll second. All right. And Eva, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Donations, US Gypsum donation of gypsum dust to the wind the athletic fields. Motion to approve. I'll motion. Ethan, a second. Second. Lorna, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Appreciate that. Uh that's what's going to go in that big buggy that was delivered today. Uh see appreciation email from Amy Money regarding our maintenance staff. Motion to approve that.
057I'll motion. Lorna, second. I'll second. Ethan, all in favor? Aye. Aye. And item six after four, we've got summer school to tentatively be held May 26th to June 5th from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30. Motion to approve that. I'll motion. Ethan, a second. I'll second. Lorna, all in favor? Aye. Aye. Is that five days a week? Yes, and those kids will get breakfast and lunch. Actually, I think it's a total of nine days because the 25th is a holiday. Okay. Memorial Day, yeah. And that will be um well, we have to work out the details with the high school, but it will be third grade only, correct? Second and third grades. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And at the end of that, will they retest? Yes. Okay. The third graders will. Uh summer trip request, juniors to the
058Mitchell Cosmos career fair career fair April 10th. Student media and publication to BU April 29th research broadcasting career opportunities. Third graders make a difference day throughout schools is May 8th. Motion to approve. I'll make a motion. You got a second? I'll second. Ethan, all in favor? I. Personnel requests approval of Carrie Goodman to teach high school summer school. Approval of coaches for the 2026-2027 school year. And those would be Cody Douglas as varsity soccer head coach, Taylor Adkinson as varsity head volleyball coach. Uh, Misty Smith as eighth grade head volleyball coach pending a positive outcome of paperwork. And Reva Troutman as girls varsity soccer coach. Jeff Jones to upkeep the softball and baseball field as a volunteer. Volunteer and Jay Sermon as a high school baseball volunteer for spring of 26. Um, on the Jeff
059Jones upkeep of what what all is that going to entail, do we know? And that'd be using our equipment that we have down here, is that correct? It would be. I think Dan Dan used all of our stuff there. Mhm, okay. I assume so. I just wasn't sure how that was how it was going to be. Okay, motion to approve those personnel to a motion. Ethan second. I'll second. All in favor? All in favor? I. Uh 26 27 high school courses. The following high school classes will be available to eighth graders. Health and PE, Spanish one, pending student qualification. Project based learning enrichment students at above proficiency. Following CTE classes will offer a high school credit and will be open to eighth grade students. Engineering essentials. Intro to construction. Both those are new. Intro to
060health careers, intro to business and intro to ag. And the following new courses will be offered at the high school level. Uh child development, selective class only. Gas welding processes. Abnormal uh psychology. Um that's needed to get an associate's degree. Computing foundations for digital age and topics of computer science. Motion to approve those courses. A motion. Ethan second. I'll second. Ethan, all in favor? I. I. Superintendent report. >> Oh, I'm up? Which is getting that stuff ready. I'm going to go ahead. I'd like to read this Oh. Okay. Yes. And then online. it. I would like to really appreciate I would really appreciate a shout-out during an upcoming board meeting to our maintenance staff. This is from Amy Money who's over the cafeteria. The success we have in the kitchen would not have been possible
061without their support. Yesterday alone their actions literally saved us thousands of dollars worth of milk and juice. They helped me take the coolers through the high school and plug them in the tornado shelter which has a generator backup. All of our products have was completely uncompromised through a 5-hour power power outage. They help us sanitize the cafeteria daily. They respond to equipment malfunctions, provide janitorial products, and sound advice regarding preventative measures. Plus they are always and I mean always there when we call them regardless of the issue. This shout-out has been long overdue and I am purposely taking time to try and give them the recognition and appreciation that they deserve. Best regards, Amy Money, Food Service Director. Excellent. I second that. And they are amazing. Not just the cafeteria, but Every day. Every day.
062So today I'm coming back around again and I Oh, I forgot my buckets, but I got I have new buckets thanks to Darla, but my tags are falling off. But these are the buckets that we continue to talk about. Education bucket, the operations bucket, rainy day, and then this is the debt service bucket. So we continue to talk about our buckets um as we move through our updates. So this uh slide is the same every month. Um actually we are still at 564 for our enrollment. Um this This year we've kind of maintained. We were 564 in October and we're 564 in February. So we're looking that. Certified staff over the years. This is where our progression is where our certified staff and where we are. 2025, we have 53 certified teachers. Here's my buckets,
063and I'm sure you're tired of hearing me talk about these buckets, but this is how we um do our funding. It's a great analogy for funding. The education bucket is this bucket. This is where we pay for anything that's connected to the classroom, the teacher salaries, classroom um aids, assistants, anybody in the office. It's based on um the bucket has a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but one of the biggest pieces is on our enrollment. The funds that we get based on our enrollment goes into this bucket. And so, um this is one of the big buckets that we're talking about now. Um as we have moving through our progression when it comes to um we're looking at enrollment for next year. We look at enrollment every day. Um just making sure because we
064want to make sure that we have the funds in our education account to be able to pay for the things that we need to pay for. Operations fund is this bucket also. It's another one. This is the one that we're going to talk a little bit about because this is the one that's affected by the new tax cap, the 1% tax cap. Um every family or every household will get a tax credit this year of up to $300, but those tax credits that we get on our house from our households actually will impact the operations fund at our school because that $300 that up to $300 that people are getting for tax credit will actually come out of some of that money comes out of our um operations fund, and I will show you what
065how that will affect us over the next few years. It also affects like your public libraries, all of your public entities, your government, your courthouse, health, your health department. Those entities that are government agencies. Those are the two big ones that we're going to kind of talk about. This So yesterday we had Chad Blacklock, which I have mentioned his name multiple times over the past few months. He came in and talked to our staff about what um money goes into the education fund and how that plays out for us. Um he said the um it's driven by the number of students enrolled in our district and can be adjusted every 6 months. So he um also said and shared there are different grants and complexities that go into that also. Um State tuition support, our
066special education dollars go into that same bucket, our CTE funds go into that bucket. Um who sets the funding levels? Um it's controlled by the legislatures. And um it's set for two-year periods of time on odd numbers. Um and I'll show you on the next slide what that means. Factors that impact revenue for our education fund, it's kind of like your home budget, right? What things kind of impact your budget at home? For example, if you have um when we purchase curriculum, that is something that we have to think about because that's a long-term investment. Just like at home when your refrigerator goes out and you have to think about it buying a new refrigerator, it's that investment piece, right? So we um have all of these things that impact the factors that go into
067that education fund. Um enrollment, our poverty level, number of special education students, number of students graduating with honors and vocational diploma, vocational programs offerings, and of course it comes down to legislators. So, there's a lot of pieces to the puzzle that go into that bucket. If you can see over here, this is um our state of Indiana per pupil funding and here is 26-27. So, um these this is a a mathematical person's dream to sit here and think about this and to look at this. But, the bottom line is is when we look at these dollar amounts in Indiana based on the complexities, it's an estimated $10,968 per student in 2026. And oops. $11,000 and $86 per student in um 2027. And those are estimates. These are things that have impacted education funds over the
068past few years. Um in 2023, the schools could no longer charge parents uh for textbooks or rent textbook rentals, so the state gave the schools $150 $5 per student in um in a grant. And then this year that money is kind of just been weaved into our budget. We they didn't give you separate that out. In 2025, the TBR grant was removed as I had just said. In 2026, the foundation actual change equals 2% and the complexity changes 1%. And those are pieces that he had talked about down here. So, just giving you a little bit of a high level of um information that he has given to us over the past few days. I think maybe it's worth mentioning, too, the basis for what the state gives us per pupil is less than what
069that complexity number is, right? >> Correct. By a pretty good margin. Yes. Yes. >> to us to make up the difference. Yes, it's up Yes. Did anything I leave out because I we've all talked to Chad about this and I didn't want to get too deep in the woods, but I thank you for pointing that out. Oops. Every month, this is kind of uh the things that I talked about uh Kendra Wright fills these in for us. So, our beginning balance in our education fund, of course, our enrollment has kind of stayed the same. Our beginning balance, our expenditures, and our revenue. I keep touching that. Usually, that doesn't work. Our expenditures and our revenue. Back of operation. This is kind of our savings balance. I put that in quotes because that's kind of our
070savings balance. This unencumbered balance and then the percentage. And by December, we're trying to budget so that by December we have used 100%, not over 100%. Okay? And then in our um operations fund, our expenditures and our beginning balance is there. And then this is our debt service, our bond money that we have. Um our goal with is to finish the FEMA shelter. I think we're getting close. Very close. Um we are looking um as noted in previous months, Kendra wrote a FEMA grant to have our track repaired. So, once FEMA comes back to work, then we will um I think that's started slated to start in June. So, we're excited about that. We're also going to update the ceiling in the multi-purpose room, and we're updating our radio receivers and repeaters for our buses
071and our communication devices within the building. Right now, our handheld radios you have to almost stand outside to be able to talk with buses that are far away. So, it's just been a little bit of a safety thing that we've been really worried about and working through. Of course, our bus drivers are great and they are just they kind of tag up long. So, if I say something and they can't hear me, then someone else in between will say it. It's like the telephone game. So, Chad Blocklock's financial projections, we I said we would come back around and that's the things that we were talking about earlier with the education fund. Dr. Dijkstra completed and it completed the special ed evaluation program of our program looking at staffing and ensuring we're providing exceptional services to
072our special needs um kiddos and she will share that information with staff next. And then we looked at our preschool analysis and enrollment and we had our preschool roundup on March 24th, so we have those numbers. So, shows has done it we've conducted a budget review to take a closer look at how our financial resources are currently being used and we plan for the future. Changes in enrollment, so our enrollment has declined as a 70% of the school districts around the state of Indiana. And we are looking at state funding and the rising costs that have impacted our budget and reviewing the thing these areas to help us respond thoughtfully and stay ahead of future challenges. As we all know, everything's going up in cost and so we're just really being mindful of our finances
073and our budget. Um and thinking of ways outside the box. By taking a proactive approach, we can ensure that our spending aligns with the district priorities, it supports student needs, and maintains long-term financial stability. As I had said, 70% of the schools around the state have declining enrollment for various reasons, but um um across the entire state every school district's having these conversations. So, I feel like it's important that we have that conversation here and that we're very transparent about our finances. As I had stated, in December when we um started talking about things. Um so, our estimated enrollment um Chad Blacklock helped us with these. So, these are our um extended enrollment. Um we think that we have a number of possibly losing 10 students per school year. So, that will affect our um
074funding, our state revenue over the next few years, which would um increase our reliance on our cash reserves. We have done a great job this district has done a great job of maintaining cash reserves in our education fund, but just know that if we have to add if we have to use these reserves, we have to get permission. Um in December, we got permission through a resolution in a board meeting to at use additional appropriations, and that's what that was. So, as I had said, with the tax cuts that we are seeing in our households over the next few years, this uh year the anticipated estimate that we would lose in our operations is $219,000, and then it progressively goes up from there. So, over the next few years, um and that tax credit is
075now in our state law um Constitution. And so, it isn't something that's going to go away. So, it's important to remember that unlike a business, schools cannot raise prices when the costs go up. We can't stop stop offering required services when they're expensive, and we can't move money from bucket to bucket. So, it's important to um make sure that we're paying attention. One of the big um required services that really is expensive for this us this year is um speech. So, if you know of a speech pathologist, we would love to have a person to come in and do speech with our kiddos. So, it we we have been talking about that all year. Right now, we have virtual speech, and it's quite expensive. Moving forward, we're going to align staffing and services with enrollment
076and program needs. We're going to negotiate savings in our future contract dealings with vendors, and we're going to continue to focus on revenue generation through optional services, grant writing, and sponsored partnerships. And I will have to give a shout-out to our technology department. They've helped us really take a dive and look into things that we're using, things that we are not using anymore, um software, just different things, and I think that's been a really great thing for us to do, and I appreciate that Matthew and Josh Gates have taken the time to help us with that. And we will continue to look at um every piece of the puzzle. As shared previously, Shoals Community School Corporation has focused on saving and managing resources responsibly. Because of this, the district has built financial reserves that allow
077us to make timely and thoughtful decisions when needed and over the next few months we will continue to carefully review our financial outlook including enrollment trends, funding and expenses to guide our future planning. Our goal is to make informed decisions that maintain financial stability while continuing to support the needs of our students and community. And this is some recommendations from Dr. Dijkstra. As I said, our special ed staff will meet with her and she's going to kind of review the whole evaluation that she did but she is looking to develop procedural documents, develop criteria for placement, social worker behavior consultant services, expanding our RTI process, developing procedure manuals for teacher assistants and develop job descriptions for special education staff. And there's more to that puzzle but that's kind of the overview but she will be
078meeting with our team to kind of talk through that. In our preschool we had 18 kiddos registered for preschool next year. The cost is about $25 a day for each student including breakfast and lunch. We're waiting for our PTQ rating visit and the to be fully transparent that's a little bit of a twisted mess right now because the whole that whole organization has taken a um change in staffing so we're still Danielle and our team is working through that. We got some emails yesterday that we're kind of waiting through with our path to quality visit. Preschool is one of our services that is not funded in any of from any of these buckets. It is only funded through the money that we take in from our um cost of $25 per day per student. We
079do not get any money from the state or grant funding at this point for our preschool. And if you have questions, you can scan the QR code and leave a question or comment. Or if you have a question or comment, I will take them. I think one one thing to also kind of doubling back to the finances a little bit, right? We're we're looking at our efficiencies, trying to find where we can we can buy down some things. Um run a little bit more efficiently, but I think it's also important to understand that the board is taking the time to look at what it takes to correct some of those enrollment deficiencies, right? So, um what can we be creative in and and what we offer here? Um things that we can do to uh
080attract, you know, more students and that kind of you know, approach the problem from that aspect as well. So, market the school. Market the school. So, um not just trying to meet the problem where it's at, but trying to correct it through other means, right? So, just want to make make that um known as well. And if they have ideas or suggestions, Absolutely. >> welcoming conversations and ideas and suggestions. We, you know, we're here for this community and every day. And these kiddos, making sure they Yeah, we spoil them every day. Do the best job we can. Um you want to talk about >> She she's got a question. Oh, sorry. It will be, yes. All right, Diane. Let me see that. Or your hand up. It'll also be on the the YouTube video as
081well, so you can go back and rewatch it if you want. Yeah. You going to mention these two items? Oh, the um shelter operations >> operations plan, we're going to table that for right now. And then the McKinney-Vento plan um is also on our website. We updated our commit McKinney-Vento section on our um website. There's some information on there for you, but it is how we handle um kids that might be displaced um in out of their home and maybe um staying with a a grandparent or another family member or a friend, but it's it's our process that we go through with our social worker team and our admin team of how we handle those types of things, but um That's a first reading on that. This is the first reading on that, but it
082is has been updated um on our website. All right. We went through the financials pretty well there. Um need a motion on the on the reports. It's uh motion to report leave of accounting and the financials. Need a motion to approve. I'll motion. Ethan, second. I'll second. Ethan. All in favor. Aye. Aye. And we need a motion for approval to pay claims. Motion for that. I'll motion. Ethan, second. I'll second. All right. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Anybody have anything else? Lot of great things happening. Spring is busy that kids are doing great. Busy, busy. >> Busy, busy. Staff team. Year is almost done. Can't believe it. >> Graduation is upon us again. Already. Yeah. And just so you know, Megan has said you need to be here at 1:30 on graduation day prepared and
083ready to get a picture. That's very important. All right. Anybody >> one for the website. Anybody have anything else? All right. We're then all done. Action.