001[Music] for [Music] February 24th open if you would please and your able you to rise as we have a moment of silence to say the Pledge of Allegiance i al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you next I'd like to welcome uh anyone those who have signed up to present their concerns and comments first we have Kylie Chapman remember you have three minutes to speak yes y Kylie would you pull the small microphone just over to your face so yes ma'am thank you Matt yes okay now do I go yes ma'am okay action hi my name is Kylie Chapman and I am a sophomore at Bal High School I am also here
002with some of my good friends specifically Kyler Collins Kyler is a student at BHS Kyler has preder willly syndrome which causes him to need extra help and support at school Kyler is supported through an individual loation edge of or an IEP with this help Kyler would struggle to be successful at school he is fun smart and very imaginative but in order for him to reach his full potential he needs more support than some other students and there are so many more just like him while today it is relatively easy for students to attend a public school it was not always that easy or even deemed necessary it wasn't until the mid1 1960s that federal laws were passed to help provide money to schools supporting students with disabilities and it took several more years for federal
003laws to be passed that made it clear that students with disabilities could not be discriminated against or denied any benefits from schools or programs that received Federal money and while education has changed a lot over the last several decades the main goal has always remained the same ensure kids with disabilities are given the same educational opportunities that their non-disabled peers are given the Federal Department of Education that all states accept and support kids with disability which I do not while I do not know a lot about politics I have heard that there have been proposals to get rid of the Federal Department of Education and while I know that the educational law is meant to protect students with disabilities are still currently in place even if it is discontinued this still raises a lot of
004questions for me and I worry about people like my friend Kyler I don't know if programs offered to the Indiana students will dis will be discontinued or what this might change for my friends like Kyler and I'm sure you don't have all the answers either but one thing I'm sure of is that war County Schools care about all of its students we are a phenomenal district and the principal BHS says there's no better place than work for all kids tonight we are here from Boonville and Newberg to show our support for programs that support every type of student we all recognize the importance of each of these things including me a student who doesn't even have a 504 plan or IEP because while my education is not directly impacted by one I care about for
005others I also know that my education is better because of students like Kyler tonight we want the war County School Corporation and the school board to know that we support whatever advocacy efforts this Corporation undertakes to help make sure that disabled students continue to receive the support and funding that they need tonight I ask on behalf of all the kids like Kyler that we work together this to show the state and federal government governments just how much we support education we are all here standing behind you and ready when you are thank you [Applause] Kylie I would just like to say first of all I had the opportunity to speak with Kylie earlier today and I really appreciate her courage and I Want To Praise her for standing up and and advocating for something she
006believes in and looking out for her peers and her friends and I really appreciate that you did that and I also think it speaks very much to our approach in B County where we have students willing to come to a school board meeting on behalf of other students in our district so thank you for doing that Kylie next also shows the type of Future Leaders that we have growing right here in war County thank you for coming tonight absolutely okay uh Robert Howard my name is Robert Howard and I'm kind I'm here for the same reason as Kylie except I stand Here ashamed of myself actually that it took a young lady like this to get me fired up enough to stand before you and advocate for my own son who sits here tonight and
007without the doe and the funding that we get from Washington he doesn't have anything from an education the things that bille high school has provided for him in just one in just the year that he's been there with their programs is phenomenal without without federal assistance those programs go away I stand here tonight to stand up for them and to support this young lady and I ask you as elected officials of wart County you have more power and more influence than any of us do because you're elected just like the rest of those that are trying to get rid of these things we ask you to stand up with us be loud be obnoxious G the loudest whe will gets the grease if you will stand with us and stand up against getting rid of
008programs that support these kids and gives them the opportunity to have a future to have something means everything use your media whatever that might be social media the news newspaper email phone whatever it might be get out there get loud those of you that knew my dad would be probably a little upset that we'd even have to have these kinds of conversations he would be wondering where we went wrong and I'm glad he's not here to see it because he would be very disappointed not in you or this Corporation but in the state that we're in when it comes to these kids is and in conclusion I want you to examine yourself individually you elected by the people of this County to stand up for all students what are you going to do are you
009going to stand up and be heard and tell them no we're not going to take it we're not going to let you take away from these kids at any level or any ability are you going to stand here tonight and I advise you to go ahead and do this to look at these kids that are here tonight and tell them no I'm not going to stand up for you I'm not going to stand up for what what you need but I know that you're you people are more comtable and are stronger than that use your power use your voice and make sure that these kids continue to have a future I applaud you for everything that you do and let's get busy thank you I just like to say one thing every person in this
010room has a voice amen this is a democracy and of all times in our lives it's important that everybody State their opinion whatever it is so that it works right thank you Mr Baker next Dr Redmond would you like to introduce our special guest tonight yes tonight for our school Spotlight we have tumy middle school and I'd like to introduce their principal Mr Tim long good evening thank you all very much we appreciate the school board for having us out thank you Dr breedan for the invitation as well uh with me we have two of our e8th grade students phenomenal kids by the way Griffin hours and Remy Pace here in just a moment they're going to share their thoughts on tumy Middle School um also a big shout out to my secretary and counselor
011who created the show Lori Cruz and Sheena bomart I think they're here tonight but uh they did a phenomenal job so feel free as we share a few thoughts here to check out our our slideshow um but I'm going to try to be brief I know we have a busy evening um but I want to share um just a few thoughts about what makes tumy middle school special um it really is and not just our middle school but really the the tumy community is just a special place in general and that is for several reasons I think uh first we have a a strong sense of belonging and teamwork and our support for each other in the tumpy community really is at the core of who we are and what we do um we have
012invested stakeholders from our students and staff and families and teachers uh and community members all of which contribute to make toy Middle School the place that it is and I can't say enough about our teachers and staff I know we have a few here tonight but they go well beyond just educating uh our students uh they strive to build positive relationships with them they're mentors they're Advocates uh for Student Success and they ensure that our students feel supported both in their academics but and personal growth as well which is important and it is a true priv privilege to work with this team at tumy middle school and I can't thank them enough so thank you all especially those who came here anybody who's watching as well from our school we do appreciate uh our staff
013they are phenomenal we have terrific kids I mean they really uh at tumy uh we have great students great kids uh and in their three years with us they do have some opportunities several opportunities to get connected uh and involved uh from things such as clubs Athletics participating in things such as student council uh take on leadership roles or through collaboration with their peers and different activities we have throughout the year but our students really do excel in a multitude of areas and just for example uh last year our science and interdisciplinary Academic Teams both placed in the top 10 in the state in their class which is phenomenal annually our student athletes and teams compete for and win Pac conference championships our band and choir members receive outstanding ratings at their competitions every year
014the archery program continues to grow and flourish while providing our students with an excellent Avenue to compete outside of our athletic teams the kindness club that we created just a few years ago is overflowing with students at most meetings was which is great to see obviously and this club exists in part to create a schoolwide sense of belonging and support for all students our FCA Fellowship of Christian athletes has seen tremendous growth over the past few years and students continue to come uh to those meetings uh every couple weeks each month but but what really makes tumy special it's it's the people that's what makes tumpy special it's the spirit of kindness and generosity and hard work within the tumy community that's second to none this is evident in our support for one another how
015we celebrate achievements how we Face challenges together and it's the fist bumps and the high fives and the way to goes and the hugs that you witness daily in our hallways and in our classrooms these attributes attributes really create an environment at TMS where learning isn't just about mastering the state standards as important as that is we know but it's also about helping our students and becoming well-rounded compassionate hardworking individuals ready to be productive members in our society who are empowered to take on whatever life brings it them so again thank you to those who came this evening speci our staff we do appreciate that um that's all I'm going to share at this point I'm going to turn it over to our students they're kind of the star of the show tonight so Mr
016that um good evening how's everyone doing very good great um I just want to say thank you for having me out here it's really something um my name is Griffin hours I'm currently in the eighth grade at chumpy middle school and I'm honored to speak to you and highlight the unique qualities of our school and its various programs at Tumi Middle School we are fortunate to learn from dedicated teachers who provide a supportive fun and engaging environment our curriculum and academic expectations are designed to challenge and prayers for our future toy athletic programs are a source of Pride and Excellence that encourage students to Value the importance of hard work and dedication tumy offers a variety of sports including baseball softball basketball M track and field and among many others our softball team has been
017able to achieve remarkable success with multiple state titles coming our way adding to our Rich history of EX athletic Excellence I'm able to be a part of the football and baseball team and I've had my firstand experience of the benefits for our school and sports programs Sports at tumy also serve as a way to improve the m and physical health of students participating in physical activities helps reduce stress improve focus and promote overall wellbeing which is the primary focus that chumy and is shown through the dedication of students and staff chumy values the importance of making activities accessible to all students in building an inclusive School environment Beyond academics and Athletics tumy Fosters a strong sense of belonging which can be seen through the messages and contacts from the tumy kindness Club the various activities
018provided at Tumi help students develop leadership skills teamwork and the S of family in in conclusion I would like to restate the value of being aumy brave I am proud to walk the same house as my father did and that my brothers will one day walk as well um thank you for thank you for having me here and J I'm proud to be thank [Applause] you hello I'm Remy Pace at dumy middle school we have many clubs in sports I am in the fellowship of Christian athletes the kindness club and the Publications class in The Fellowship of Christian athletes we meet every other Tuesday and pray for people who need it we also talk about important lessons such as letting your light shine and being thankful in the kindness club we meet once a month
019and we'll do something kind for others some of the kind things we do have been writing kind notes on lockers showing Teachers Appreciation by writing letter letters to them putting happy birthday cards on students blockers and handing out free hot chocolate or cookies in the Publications class we create articles for the school newspaper the tomahawk the tomahawk keeps students informed of current events activities and much more we also illustrate and publish the yearbook the clubs don't interfere with your class schedule a benefit about the comy being small is with fewer students it is easier to take on leadership roles in clubs and sports whether it's getting into AP classes joining a sports team or gaining access to School faculty you have more opportunities I participated in volleyball Dance and Cheer because the comy is a
020small school students know all of their classmates and have an opportunity to develop friendships that creates a close and supportive environment small class sizes help if students need extra support understanding a subject teacher can create lesson to fit students needs and learning styles teachers are more likely to know you personally making it easier to get assistance and mentorship with the smaller student body it feels more like a family and is less overwhelming messages and important information can circulate easily among students staff and parents in conclusion I'm proud to say I attend to comy Middle School even on days I have test over the last three years I have made lifelong memories with teachers and students thank you for having me thank [Applause] you thank you all for being here tonight and we always say this
021to our groups who are here with our school spotlights um you're more than welcome to say for the entire meeting meeting but you are also welcome to go at this time if you would prefer not to stay for the meeting so judgement if you decide to so thank you for being here tonight and students you did very well next item on the agenda consideration of routine business Dr Redmond thank you Mrs Glover the routine business includes approving the minutes of the school board meeting held on February 10th 2025 and approving the claims and signing the docket for February 24th 2025 I recommend the board approve the r R items as presented motion to approve routine items second we have a motion by Mr anner seconded by Mr Baker Mr Ider will you call the row
022please yes Mr r i Mr France I Mr Skinner I Mr Baker I Mr Mosby i m willus i I vote I motion I'm sorry I didn't ask for discussion but motion carried next item consideration items for board action Dr Redmond thank you Mrs CL item 7.1 consider approving meal prices for 2025 2026 Mrs Chen Ral manager of food and nutrition has provided you with a list of proposed meal prices for 2025 2026 school year these include a small price increase for student breakfast and lunches um I do recommend the board approve the proposed meal prices but just for the benefit of the public Mrs R is it safe to say that the increase as a result of just Rising prices with food cost and supply cost okay and um and just again for the
023benefit of the community we're looking at uh a week a daily increase for elementary breakfast middle and high breakfast of 15 cents a day and a 30 Cent increase for elementary middle and high school lunches I recommend the board approve the meal prices as presented I have a motion second second we have motion by Mr France seconded by Mr Skinner is there any discussion we did discuss this uh Summit committee and was provided us with information as to this increase and they do a phenomenal job feeding a lot of kids um a good quality food a lot of it grown here locally um for not much money and so this they've done a really good job of keeping the costs low and trying to make things work where they can but as we all know
024our homes food costs have gone up and that's not no different here this is very modest increase or amount of food that they provide on a daily basis thank you Mr will you call the r please yes Miss Glover I Mr France I Mr Skinner I Mr Baker I Mr Mosby I Mr willus I I vote I motion motion Carri next item approving affiliation agreement with Indiana Wesleyan University thank you Mrs Glover our director of Human Resources Dr Doug Bram is requesting approval of an affiliation agreement between Indiana Wesleyan University and War County School Corporation the purpose of this is to establish an agreement between parties to delineate the mutual Andor individual responsibilities needed to ensure highquality clinical learning experience at the facility for iwu school of health sciences programs this agreement has been viewed
025by the war County School Corporation attorney Mr Cliff Whitehead this agreement shall remain in effect unless canceled by either party that's a lot of words that basically state that we would be allowing for OTS pts people who are in their programs to come and have their version of student teaching at Lor County School Corporation I recommend the board approve the affiliation agreement as presented move second we have a motion by Mrs willhelm is seconded by Mr Mosby is there any discussion okay Mr AER will you call for a vote yep Miss Glover I Mr France I Mr Skinner hi Mr Baker I Mr Mosby hi m willus i I vote I motion carrying next item consider approving donations thank you Mrs Glover we have two donation requests from Castle North Middle School $3,500 donation from
026The Castle North Middle School ptoo to be used for a mural painting in the gymnasium and black equipment would like to donate the use of the equipment um in this case a lift for the painting the service is valued at $1,000 and at War Pathways and careers Center we have a donation request of $7,300 from Ascension St V Vincent Evansville to be used for health science certification costs I recommend the board approve the donations as presented so motion by Mr Baker seconded by Mr France any discussion Mr will call the vote Yes Miss Glover I Mr France I Mr Skinner I Mr Baker I Mr mby I M willus I vote I moot carried next item agenda item consideration of personnel recommendations Dr Gres thank you Mrs glver the human resource office has the following
027business to bring before the board tonight agenda item 8.1 consideration of employment non-certified staff Madison Ratliff a temporary ABS program assistant at Sharon Elementary School Laura Henri 6.5 cafeteria position at Chandler Elementary School Amy McBride a multi- responsibility position being a bus driver and program assistant at Castle South Middle School Nicole fesner 3.0 hour cafeteria position at Chandler Elementary School Naomi Hanks 3.0 hour cafeteria position at Castle High Jamie Linder 6.5 hour cafeteria position at Castle High Jasmine Mackey 6.0 hour cafeteria position at Newberg Elementary and Christen young 4.75 hour cafeteria position at Castle North I'm sorry motion to approve non-certified staff second we have a motion by Mr enner seconded by Mrs willhelm Miss we have any discussion Mr igner would you call the RO yes Miss Glover I Mr France I Mr Skinner
028I Mr Baker I Mr Mosby I m willus I vote I motion carries thank you agenda item 8.2 termination Robert hin a program assistant at Castle High School termination effective February 13th 20125 motion by Mr Baker segmented by Mr France any discussion mrag call R Miss Glover I Mr fr hi Mr Skinner hi Mr Baker hi Mr Mosby i m willus i I vote I motion carried agenda item 8.3 leaves Jeffrey ruse Transportation Logistics specialist Jenna brochers custodian at Yankee toown Elementary Donna Sage 3.5 hour cafeteria position at Castle High Sarah dery program assistant Elberfeld Elementary Jessica Spooner program assistant at Johnny Castle Elementary Julie Patel 6.0 hour cafer position at Castle South and Christine wrench English teacher at Castle High second motion by Mr France seconded by Mr nner any discussion call the RO
029please yep M Glover I Mr France hi Mr Skinner hi Mr Baker hi Mr Mosby hi Mr Wills I I vote I motion carried thank you very much agenda item 8. four report of reassignments chrisy tresy a title one teacher at Sharon Elementary School for the 2025 2026 school year 8.5 resignations Robert Meyer girls varsity basketball coach at Castle High School resignation effective February 14 2025 and Cunningham program assistant Castle South Middle School resignation effective February 28th 2025 Charles held special education teacher at John H Castle Elementary School resignation effective February 21st 2025 Robin Missour first grade teacher at Chandler Elementary School resignation effected Jun Jun une 1st 2025 and agenda item 8.6 retirements Kim mmore cafeteria manager at Boonville Middle School retirement effective May 22 2025 and Dennis mmore class D maintenance at Castle
030High School retirement effective March 4th 2025 thank you Dr gram next agenda item reports Dr Redmond thank you Mrs GL we're going to have two reports tonight from committees uh our first report will come from Mr AR strong and for the construction committee constru it's the construction technology maintenance and transportation I paraphrased etc etc etc I paraphrase uh first off we've got a a whole lot of things that are happening in the 2025 school year I'm going to summarize all of them together what we've got going on so far between all those areas um broken into three categories I guess we've got some projects well first off they're all or almost all already in our capital projects plan uh that was approved last year so a lot of what we're doing is going into the
031plan seeing where we budgeted money seeing which of the projects uh we were expecting to do this year getting started on so um we've got some of the projects that are underway U and this isn't going to be an exhaustive list this is just the ones that were kind of key ones in each location um we've got the tumy high school softball back stop uh be done in a couple weeks Boonville High School chillers are being installed Castle High School New Chiller being installed the Castle High School softball hitting facil is being uh constructed they were putting gravel there today rooftop units at Newberg elementary school will be completed here this spring um transportation wise we've purchased some vehicles uh we've got some projects that have awarded signed haven't got started yet but we're mobilizing
032to get them ready uh to comy high school auxiliary gymnasium is having HVAC replacement Castle North Middle School cafeteria and classroom vavs and hbac replacement we've got intercoms going in at Castle High School and Boonville High School we've got contact sensors being uh installed at boom Middle School in Castle High the Elberfeld Elementary School tracks are being seal coated we've started work on the civil construction building or it's been assigned hasn't started yet the road is into it the uh Pathways and career center civil construction building um we've got seven locations that are getting upgraded for lit fiber access from the technology side U we've got projects for the drawings and the specifications are underway they haven't been assigned or bid yet we've got the war education center renovation John H Castle Classroom editions Castle
033High School sh choir and drama Renovations we've got chillers going in at Boonville Middle School New ramps being constructed at Sharon Elementary School office construction building at the maintenance garage bus bids are out be buying buses here shortly um we've got a lot of other projects Paving painting carp things like that that as we get the the bid projects out we'll start working into the small projects all of those things are coming forth probably next couple of months summers are very short so we try to get out in front of them as much as we can so from an update perspective that's where we're at right now thank you while you're at the podium I could not remember I asked Eric when our next construction committee meeting would be I didn't know what you're having
034in your date I've got March 18th okay that's what I thought but I wanted to make sure so sorry to Jump Ahead Madam president but he was there so catch them while you can right especially that one thank you Mr Armstrong next we'll have Mr fiser uh reporting on behalf of the student learning and growth committee yes this is also a brand new committee and our first meeting will actually occur tomorrow 11: a.m. at uh War County central office meeting room be a couple things I did want to let the board or make them aware of is that we are now beginning um standardized testing season within our schools the I3 assessment which is now uh administered to all grade 2 students and grade three students who did not pass the IR assessment in grade
035two we will begin uh that testing window Monday March 3rd and will conclude it Friday March 14th addition to that our high school school day SAT exam is next week as well that is on Wednesday March 5th and this Friday we are concluding our waeda assessment testing window which is the assessments we give to our enl Learners and enl is our English as new language Learners so that window is just concluding we have been testing in the weo window now for about six weeks so we've um due to the snow and inclement weather we uh done a great job with our multilingual teachers tag teaming and tomorrow we've got some teachers going to Yankee toown to help out and we think that we'll be conclude testing this Thursday uh one other thing tomorrow on the
036agenda in addition to discussing I 3 we will also be um bringing before the board later this year textbooks for consideration for adoption uh we will be adopting U textbooks or a program in music grades K through five we we today at John H Castle had teachers together looking at textbooks for Science grades K through five uh we have presentations tomorrow at lynville elementary and we have presentations at log Elementary on Wednesday where the teachers get to hear reports observations from our pilot teachers and then they get to vote on the textbook that we will consider for adoption for the next six years we'll also be adopting this year grades six and seven social studies and right now we are in the middle of a pilot in our math in grades 6 through 12 we
037have three companies that we are currently piloting that we are going to be bringing for consideration before the board later this year once our teachers decide on what they believe would best help educate our students in those grades six through 12 and what aligns uh best with the Indiana standards because we have new standards in mathematics that were released in 2023 one other thing that we will be discussing tomorrow is just programming for the next uh school year some things that we are considering potential programs or Pathways that we're looking to add at our high school level and what schools could benefit from that so we're looking forward to our first meeting tomorrow this is a brand new committee uh it is a joint venture uh with the Department of learning and the department of
038special ed here in war County and we're really looking forward to begin our work with you thank you thank you Mr Fisher have anything we have other board business I just had a few comments I was going to make U Miss Chapman made a great presentation and I don't know I can't remember if we said it or not we talked about everybody has a voice certainly in our wonderful country um but the for me in the past when we're when we're faced with things like Cuts or legislative things things it's always much more important to talk to our legislators so just a reminder this is a great time for a reminder for everybody in the room to talk to your state legislators get online I'm not going to tell you where to do it because
039I'd probably mess it up but you can talk to yes you you know um find your state senator and your uh your legislators and then your Cong Congress people too so and and it's sometimes real simple you just say here's the program please no Cuts here you know and for me I mean I know we've all seen this you know you could say well if you had a few emails about four or five people about a subject you know I bring it to you know Dr redond but what if our legislators had 50 to hundreds to thousands and then they could say hey I've had thousands of people say this you know so you know great reminder for everybody who spoke tonight for well thank you thank you ma'am you know you're right but we
040got to keep trying we got to keep trying we can't emails and I appreciate your your persistence because we have to keep trying right discuss that with our legislators local leaders and so forth yes okay well thank you thank you I'm sorry we're not in public comment right now I'm sorry but I would be happy to speak with any of you afterward we would be more than happy thank you any other reports well this is a perfect segue for my legis updates on so February 20th was the third reading deadline approximately 117 proposed bills died in committee or were not called for a vote that we are now tracking 64 bills affecting public education which is down from 184 at the beginning of the year or beginning of the session course the Hot Topic is
041the state's budget and the proposed bills relating to school funding in particular State Bill one house bill1 and state Bill 518 The Compound Effect of these bills would signific significantly affect School budgets for funding students operations and curriculum support and Mr sprad with the Indiana School Board Association he provides much better more detailed explanation of how this will impact uh funding and projects and so forth and you can find those legislative updates I think they're on our website the school corporation's website or you can go to the Indiana School Board Association website and you can see the different bills that are being attra uh tracked the general assembly recessed this week and the session will resume next Monday March 3rd so if you want to share your concerns with your local representatives and your federal
042well especially in the state you wait till um the end of this week or this weekend to call an email and I have to you know follow up by what Mr Baker said and Mr Ider and what you said these grassroot advocacy works we don't always get the results that we want but you keep there's un Unity strengthen numbers and just keep add it keep add it keep add it we can't quit on in a those topics that are important to us just keep reaching out and talking to them in email and email and email and I trust to listen truly thank you for the update and just the last thing I would like to say on this topic is we don't know where things are going to with the budget we don't know where
043things are going to land with any of the final bills but I think it I hope that this will reassure you to some extent that in war County School Corporation we have always welcomed with open arms all students and we are still committed no matter what happens with the budget to making sure we do everything in our power to meet the needs of all of our students um all of the students sitting in this room in front of us today and we've always been very um well thought of in this District in terms of how we approach student learning and how we support all of our student Learners and we really don't anticipate that changing and so I just want to reassure uh especially the people who took time to be in the audience tonight
044that we are still committed to all of our students in Mor County School Corporation any other comments okay meeting [Music] we' also talked about policy but I'm not sure where we landed with that and that may not be settled tonight yet um is there anyone in on the board that knows we were the date will be set and will be sent out this week we should get a definitive date this week and the notice provided to the public and also isn't it correct that we only are meeting one time as a board in March on March 17 that is correct yes I wanted to make sure that was announced so the public was I think we announced it last time but I didn't think it would hurt to remind everyone that we're meeting only once
045next month yes thank you all right yeah a j [Music]