001All right. It's 5:30. We're going to kick this off. Uh welcome to What's the date? The April 21st Wawasee School Corporation Board Meeting. Uh welcome everybody. We've got some fun stuff to go over. Um [clears throat] this is called to order and we'll just jump right in. Uh please stand. We'll do the Pledge of Allegiance and the prayer and invocation. Oh wait, who's doing it? Uh the National Junior Honor Society members are doing it. You guys want to come up front? Yeah. Come on up front. Sorry about that. Keep on coming. Come on. All the way. Yeah, that's right. All right, we'll follow your lead. Okay. I pledge allegiance 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
002for all. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. Lord, thank you for the kids that are in this room. Um the reason that we're all here tonight. We all represent a various different part of our school corporation and they're involved in much more than just the 8:00 to 3:00 attendance that we put so much time into. So, I just thank you for the opportunities our kids in the school corporation have uh to live, to learn, and to grow. Father, thank you for the leaders in this room. Um and I pray Lord that you be with our board members and uh administrative leadership as they make decisions and actions and that you would just uh provide whole hearts and wisdom as they walk through all the decisions that they have to make. And we
003thank you for their leadership on this Lord, be with us all tonight. Um thank you for the beautiful weather and uh that you would allow us all to drive home safely tonight in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Should we just Oh yeah. We got to do the vision statement. You ready? Here. That's it. In the blue. Yeah. Our students are confident, well-rounded citizens who positively impact their communities. Should we have them stand? >> [applause] >> You guys just want to I can stand and just sit around the edge. Cuz we're going to we're going to We're going to have a little recognition here. Yeah. Good job. Okay. Uh where are we at here? Well, we'll jump in good news. No, let's do good. Okay. Yep. Well, I'm moving it I'm moving it around. Got it. Okay.
004Sorry. So, I'd like you to go make a semi-circle over there in front of the board. If you could face out at the audience. Like we just talked about the great things you've been doing. So, this is our WMS National Junior Honor Society. And this year they've I think many years they provide really strong leadership for the district, but this year they've done some really cool things. In addition to completing the 20 service hours that are required every year, these students used the funds they raised to make a real difference in the in their school. So, for example, they ran a Christmas store with generous donations from teacher staff and the revolving closet. They created a thoughtful gift basket for a classmate recovering from surgery. They chose to give back to the entire school staff
005starting with surprising bus drivers at the curb with goody bags and snacks. Recognizing office staff, janitorial staff, and kitchen staff with similar appreciation and organized a a year well-loved dirty soda bar for the teacher. So, every step of the way these kids have been uh doing a lot of great things and taking initiative and great ideas. So, let's give them a round of applause. >> [applause] >> And their sponsor, Sarah Wagner, is here. Do you want to say anything, Ms. Wagner? I do want to say something. >> Yeah, you should. You should. Um I am the one of the co-sponsors of um NJHS. Uh Jamie Haller is our other sponsor. Um she was unable to be here tonight. These kids have just blown me away this year. Um the ideas, the work ethic, the just
006wanting to celebrate people. Um they have just made every different group of staff, from the bus drivers, janitors, everybody, they've just made people feel really special this year. They've spent a lot of time and effort making signs and uh donating. Parents that If your parents are here, you guys have been amazing donating um drinks and all kinds of stuff. So, thank you. These kids deserve another round of applause because they are amazing. You got a picture, right, Dr. Wilfong? Yes. Okay, good. Good. And I would say a round of applause would be appropriate for the parents because we know these kids really wouldn't be here and do all the things they do without the parents. So, thank you, parents. >> [applause] >> All right. You can go back and join your families, but thanks so
007much for coming out tonight. And don't forget to do your homework when you get back. Okay, next we have a few students from uh Milford here and their sponsor, Cheryl Van Laken. If we could have you come forward. This group is called the K Club. So, we want you to do the same thing you did with And I think we're going to ask you to say a little bit about what you've been doing this year. Okay, and I actually have some kiddos that are going to do the speaking, but I'm Sarah Van Laken. I teach fifth grade at Milford School and I'm the K Kids uh K Kids sponsor um and we work with the Milford Kiwanis. So, I have Sawyer Sharp and Leanna Schmucker who are going to say a little bit about our
008projects. K Kids is an after-school club where you work with each other and Kiwanis to help the community. I joined K Kids because it is an enjoyable group where we help the community. I joined K Kids because I could learn and help the community. From February 11th to March 11th, we had a soup drive. We gave all the soups we were given to the Van Buren Township Food Pantry. Now they will give those soups to people in need. There were many people who donated, such as kids from school and community members. Our original goal was to get 100 soups, but we ended up with a total of 718 soups. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> And again, thank you to the parents for bringing the kids. We know they won't be able to do this without
009you. And so, what great kids. Hmm. Should I do this work? Next, we're going to uh recognize the members of the Community Alliance and Dr. Wilfong's going to be doing this. Uh tonight I would like to recognize a special group of individuals who have participated in our Community Alliance this year. Over the course of the year, these individuals committed their time to meeting with us monthly in order to learn uh more about the many facets of Wawasee Community Schools. Through those sessions, they gained a deeper understanding of how our school corporation operates, including areas such as budgeting and finance, curriculum, special services, and the unique work taking place within our individual schools. As a part of their capstone experience, each participant was invited to visit a school and meet with the principal to learn more
010about the day-to-day realities, opportunities, and challenges within each building. That experience helped bring their learning full circle and offered a closer look at the work that happens in our schools every day on behalf of students. And tonight we want to recognize these individuals for their commitment to completing the Wawasee Community Alliance program, and also wanted to thank them for their investment in Wawasee Community Schools. We are grateful for the people who are willing to give their time, ask questions, build understanding, and become even stronger partners in supporting our schools and our students. So, at this time, I would like to invite our Community Alliance participants to stand and come forward to um get your certificate. So, Jessica Barger, Donna Bowling Scott, Alexandra Brown, Shane Booker, Ryan Chrisner, Chris Cotton, Lindsey Duntham, Shawn Fedder, Debbie Griggs,
011Kathy Hoffman, Sorry, I know I'm going pretty fast. Uh Christina Hunt, Kurt Hersey, Craton Keyser, Tate Leach, Darcy Lutz, Scott Metcalf, Assyria Myers, Nancy Nelson, Ken Oswald, Mark Fillabum, and Rebecca Showalter. And as you can imagine, all of these uh the people that participated in our Community Alliance this year are incredibly busy people, and spring is an incredibly busy time. Um so, um not all of of course not all of our alliance members were able to be here. I would also like to extend an invitation to anyone who would be interested in uh serving as a Community Alliance member for next year uh to be on the lookout for uh the application and information to participate um in um in this program. So, I thank you all for for participating in the time that you
012gave uh to our school system. AGAIN, THANK YOU. YEAH, WE TRULY DO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME IN LEARNING MORE about all the nuances of how school districts work. So, thank you. We also have tonight with us the uh some members of the Women of Today. Would you want to come forward? Here we are. Great. Tonight they'll be presenting Wawasee Community Schools with a $10,000 donation. Isn't that great? You want to come forward? Or you you're going to speak, right? Yeah. Great, super. Each of the five Wawasee schools will receive $2,000 to help um manage student needs in their buildings, which is a really big need. We really appreciate that. So, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, my name is Brooke Staley, and I'm the president of the Women of Today. I also have with me here Brandy Niles.
013Um she's our vice president, and Holly Tuttle, who served as our president for many years. We are really excited with the support of our donors to be able to give this check tonight. It's a check we've been able to give for several years now, and this is our biggest donation that we've been able to give to date. And we really appreciate all these schools do for our community, as our mission is to improve the lives of children that attend Wawasee Community School Corporation. Also, um the administrators do attend one of our meetings each year, typically in the fall, and tell us the stories of how this money is used, and let me tell you it's going to good use. And we're really proud to be able to give this check. So, thanks again for having
014us tonight. >> [applause] >> Thank you, guys. Thank you. That's really cool. Yes, thanks again. That's great. Our students appreciate that, for sure. want to leave now, you can go ahead and do so. I know some of you have some meetings to get to. Yes, I think that was mentioned ahead of time. So, yes, feel free to leave. Of course, you're welcome to stay, but we know there's other things happening. I'd like to just also run through the other donations that we received this month and have recognized people for on print, but we didn't say it orally, too. Wawasee Baseball received $3,500 in donations from Wawasee Bowl, Classic Builders, Polywood, Syracuse Bud's Body Shop, Sherry Dean Reed, CTB, and James and Jennifer Shear. The Wawasee Boys Basketball program received $14,225 in donations from Jeremy Hartzell
015and Northern Lakes Insurance. Thank you to Harney Transport for their $100 donation to Wawasee Athletics. Wawasee FFA received $100 in donations from the Syracuse Wawasee Garden Club and Paula Miller. Donations totaling $1,524.95 from Knights of Columbus 6323, Northern Lakes Realty, The Papers, Bass Audiology, Ace Hardware of North Webster, Syracuse Hardware, and Syracuse Bud's Body Shop were received for the Wawasee Academic Hall of Fame. Wawasee DECA received donations from Wildthing Accounting and Tax, Kauffman Law Office, Jill and Jennifer Salon of Styles, Indiana Farm Bureau, Jeff Atwood, and Sanza Accounting, totaling $925. [clears throat] Funds and donations were received from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for the following scholarships: Dave Kessler Memorial Scholarship, $254, Mitchell Price Memorial Scholarship, $1,000, Cynthia Thornburg Memorial Scholarship, for the Class of 1989 Memorial Scholarship. $1,000 was also received for the Philip
016Folly Scholarship from Nancy and Larry Stoner. What a generous community, I must say. Let's give every all of them a round of applause. >> [applause] >> Okay. That was great. Uh sorry. Before patron comments, I got a couple of things. First, Mr. Casey, um we've been in our new building for 7 days. So, how about you give us a little catch up. Absolutely. So, when I presented the progress in the process of >> pause? Yes. Forgot. I need a motion Oh, yeah. to approve the good news. I'll make a motion. Is there a second? All right. Uh all those in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed. The eyes have it. Motion carries. Sorry. Thank you so much. The the process of everything has been pretty crazy. Uh just thinking about that, over spring break
017we went to Illinois and came back, and I remember when we broke ground in August of 2024, the dirt, the digging, fast forward a year and three quarters, first day after spring break, Monday the 13th, we just completed our seventh day. It's been an unbelievable start. Um really appreciate the community. We appreciate the staff, the students. We had an open house last night. We wanted to be in the building first before everybody came in, and I I would say that we had a significant number of people who are from Milford, went to the old Milford building, came through, were excited for the kids, the layout. I mean, anything new is exciting, but there's obviously things to work out. And so, we started off our first day, actually our first 2 days, we had all the
018students that came in, they stayed in the gym, and the teachers came and got them and took them to their classrooms. Then on Wednesday, we opened up the opportunity, and they ate. Not everybody had breakfast. We we had uh sports staff take them to breakfast to eat, and then on Wednesday, we kind of unraveled the you go to the gym, you go to the cafeteria. It's been an awesome start. Uh I could not ask for a better start. Again, the staff, the students, the community, there's not one person that's bigger than this process throughout this whole thing. And I have a passion to share it because now that the students are in it, now that the staff are in it, there always are going to be difficulties with change. Change is hard, but it's been
019amazing. And I invite anybody that wants to come to see the building, one open house isn't it. We will have other opportunities for the building to be seen. We just wanted to promote that on that on the 20th. This week has been pretty intense. We had that last night, the board meeting tonight. We have breakfast with the buddy on Thursday morning. We have a warrior round up on Thursday night. And then we get to Friday and we get the weekend. So there's going to be opportunities to see the building but it's it's an awesome it's an awesome thing and I'm really thankful that you allowed me to provide an opportunity for an update and yeah, it's it's really great. So if you have any questions, I don't want to take too much time but I
020can talk about it later on and there is a ribbon cutting. We've communicated that with the staff a little bit. We're going to communicate that. Jeff has been communicating with me, Michael Kinder and Sons, Elevatus. That is going to take place in the 30th. There is a lot of things to work through with that. I said I'm just trying to make it to 4:15 to get out of here to then get to the board meeting. We'll talk about that Jeff as we go and really it's a day-by-day process. We had 7 weeks to finish. Now we have we'll call it 6 and 1/2. We're going to finish or 5 and 1/2 we're going to finish and we're going to have a great end of the year. We started two school years. We started in the
021old building on on August 13th. We started in the new building on April 13th. To do that it takes everyone involved and everyone is phenomenal through that process. So with that I say thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to share. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh the other item I had that was not on the agenda was a slight timeline for the superintendent search just based [clears throat] on schedules of everybody. We we're going to have we sent the new one out yet or Okay. Um it's going to be on there but it's April 27th May 1st. That time frame is the second interviews second round I should say. And then May 4th May 4th through the 14th uh we advertise the contract May 18th to 22nd whole public hearing. And then after May
02226th is when we'll just negotiate the the start date, right? We want to be respectful of where they were serving. So that's but that'll be posted. I just wanted to We tried to adhere to that timeline as much as we could but everybody's got lives so things happen but that was the only thing I had. And then now we're onto patron comments. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening. I'll go ahead and get started. I missed the agenda for good news but I do have some good news to share. So good evening Wawasee School Board and Corporation. I'm Ryan Cristner president CEO at OrthoWorx community leader proud Wawasee alumni and proud warrior parent. Uh tonight's a moment of pride not for one person or one organization but it's for the entire community. Kosciusko County was named
023as community of the year by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. Uh actually back in November. Uh this is the first time in history of the award it's about 23 years old that it's been given to a county. Usually it's given to like a town or village or a city of some sort and that says something pretty powerful. So this recognition does not happen by accident. It happens because people show up because people invest and people lead because they believe in something bigger than themselves. This award belongs to all of us. It belongs to the businesses willing to take risk. It belongs to the educators uh willing to uh prepare the next generation. It belongs to community and civic leaders for making bold decisions the volunteers serving quietly behind the scenes and every resident who chooses
024every day to make this a better place. Tonight is not just celebrating this award. It's about what the award represents. It represents momentum as we heard from from Casey. Uh it represents belief and it represents what is possible when a community aligns around a shared vision of the future. That's why this award matters. It's more than a symbol it's a reminder. It's a reminder that you are a part of something exceptional. It's a it's a reminder that the recognition is earned together and a reminder that the work continues because awards are not the finish line. They're just a call to go further. So tonight we celebrate with pride with gratitude with optimism for what is to come next um as we recommit to building collaborating and providing every day why Kosciusko County is not only
025community of the year but it's truly a community of the future. So we went ahead and had um replica awards. The actual award is bigger but we went ahead and had this made for the school corporation to uh take with the sense of pride and and that's what I'm here to present. So That's awesome. >> [applause] >> That's cool. Thank you. I'm Cindy Myers I live in the Milford district and I don't have anything that groundbreaking. I just attended the moms football clinic that coach Oz put on and I really enjoyed it. I I know nothing about football. I have two in PE and it's not my favorite sport for them because of the head trauma but they're they're going to do what they want to do. But he was really good. He spent the
026whole 2 hours on a Saturday morning. He broke down his philosophy the mission statement the fact that they're here for the students as individuals first that they're trying to give them a sense of community that they might not have at home which is something we learned in our alliance meeting that 52% of our population is free and reduced lunch here. So that was his like priority number one. Then comes academics. Then comes athletics. And he broke down all the equipment. We got to see it. Showed us some plays. I have no idea. I don't know how those kids struggle in school if they can understand plays. I don't. But it was nice that he welcomed the moms in that are just kind of there in sidelines sometimes I feel like. That's all I have. Thanks.
027That's cool. >> [applause] >> Anything else? Okay. I'm going to move on. Uh Okay. We're into reports. So we've got uh Dr. Wilfong. Thank you very much. Uh tonight I'm sharing a memo related to the future structure of our virtual program. As we have continued discussing virtual enrollment and the possibility of growth in that area, it has become clear that we need to begin planning proactively for what may be required if our enrollment reaches the 100 student threshold outlined in in Indiana code 20-19-9-4. Because that threshold could be reached relatively quickly, I believe it makes sense for us to begin the process now rather than wait until the need becomes immediate. This memo is not asking the board to formally investigate whether creating a separate entity is necessary. Uh that's laid out in the code.
028Instead it is intended to let the board know that the administration is beginning the planning process and invite any feedback or information uh board members would like us to consider as that work moves forward. There are several important areas that need to be worked through before any formal requests would be submitted to the state. Those include basic logistics of how the entity would be structured, enrollment and attendance procedures, operational documents, staffing considerations, and the development of a 3-year improvement plan. These are all items that the administration will be working through over the coming weeks. Our intent is to continue developing these components and then bring this work back to the board sometime this summer prior to the August 31st deadline so that the board has an opportunity to review the proposed structure, ask questions, and
029provide input before any formal request is submitted to the Indiana Department of Education. So at this point I simply wanted to place this in your on your radar, provide the memo for your review, and welcome any additional questions, feedback, or considerations you have as we begin this process. On the uh subject it says review of virtual school structure and separate school entity status. Yes. What is the second piece referring to? >> So so every school has a an a code a number that we go by. Every district has a number and then every school has a number. Uh and those are entities and the IDOE uses those school numbers to separate the various entities. So essentially uh what Indiana says is if you have uh over 100 students participating in uh virtual programming over 50%
030of the time that that your virtual program must be a separate entity. So where we have right now we have Wawasee High School, Wawasee Middle School, Syracuse, Milford, and North Webster uh we will add a sixth entity uh which is our virtual program of some sort. So of course one thing that we want to do is make sure we have a name of it because we just don't want to call it the virtual building. Um but but there's a lot that needs to go into this. Um and so this is just us being proactive as we um look towards uh perhaps expanding um our virtual program to include uh middle school some middle school students uh as we look at expanding the program personnel wise um it would be very um we could hit that
031100 student threshold uh, fairly quickly and what I don't want to have happen is um, we uh, we get to that threshold and we haven't had any of the stuff planned out yet. So, this is just more of a heads up uh, uh, of this is the direction we're looking at at going. How close are we to the 100 now? Uh, I believe there's like uh, fifth Would you say 50 at the high school? Right now we have about 50. Yeah, I have our state tuition reimbursement or funding is it the same? It's not the same for virtual as for in-person. >> it is not the same and that is determined every biennium during the budgeting report. Uh, right now it's uh, 85%. They had been talking about making that lower um, but uh, right
032now it's 85%. >> That's what I thought it was 85%. That and and that won't change uh, based on our entity. Um, we would get 85% whether they were attached to the high school, whether they were attached to the middle school or or whatever. So, reaching the 100 is a um, threshold that triggers more state support. No, the only thing it triggers is that we have to be a separate entity. Okay. Does anyone have questions? Thanks. That concludes my >> [clears throat] >> learning report. Okay. So, I just wanted to make sure you're aware that the Performing Arts Center Task Force group, I think that's what we're calling it. Um, did apply for a large loan at loan grant, excuse me, grant, $2 million grant and it was uh, turned in last week uh, on
033deadline and so they have a lot of momentum and doing really good work, so just wanted you to be aware of that. I also just wanted to re-emphasize that Mr. Casey said you're invited to the ribbon cutting schedule for the 30th, which is next week at 9:00. Is that the time we ended up? 9:00. Yeah, 9:00. Yeah, I know. 9:00. So, uh, that'll be a nice event. Okay. I do not need a motion, okay. Now we're on to group action items. Am I right? Yes. >> We're going on to that, okay. Uh, we've reviewed these um, and they are in our board minutes. So, um, >> [clears throat] >> I would like a motion to approve the group action item as they are presented. Do I have a motion? I'll move to approve the group
034action items. I have a second. I'll second it. Uh, I'll signify if you're in favor by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Um, now we were on to the financial report. I know Dr. Penrod is not here, so you'll be Yeah, so I don't know if you want to pull that up the report, but it's on your agenda. So, it's a lot like the others that have been presented in the past months. I will just summarize it to say things look good. One thing that's especially interesting is that we are at 25% encumbered in the education fund and we're about We're 25% of the way through the year, so that's like perfect. And in operations we're 22.94%, so again right there. So, that's very encouraging. If you look at the very right hand side,
035you see those percent encumbered. And then you can see the cash balances that are below in the different funds and all of that looks very typical for the month. I do not see anything that is looking strange, but do you have any questions? Where was that rainy The rainy day fund is at the bottom >> the least That's another agenda item. Okay. The next agenda item. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. If not, I would ask you to approve that as presented. Do I have a motion to approve the financial report as presented? I have a second. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, yeah, the next um, item is a resolution to transfer funds to the rainy day fund. It's a whopping How much does it say? $471, I think.
036And so, but because it's the remain What it is the remains of a general obligation bond fund that's been closed and so there's some remaining interest in there and so that's usually transferred to rainy day funds and we need a resolution to do that. So, I'd ask you to approve that as presented. Okay. There it is, $471.19. Yeah. Uh, do I have a motion to uh, for to approve the resolution to transfer funds to rainy day fund. Do I have a motion to approve that? I'll make a motion. I have a second. Second. Uh, all Those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, thank you. The next item is uh, back to that Neola update group that we looked at at the last board meeting that
037was considered the first reading. And um, you've had a chance I think to look at it and ask questions. So, unless you have any last minute questions, I would ask for you to approve that packet. This would be considered the second reading and then approval is needed, so. This is This is just the the the final reading and then the approval. >> group. Yeah, and then we'll do the second Okay. group. First reading of the second group. Okay. And I need a motion for that, right? Yeah, you need a motion for this second reading >> [clears throat] >> to approve it as final. Uh, I need a motion to approve it the second reading to approve as final. I'll make a motion. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor signal signify by saying
038aye. Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. Okay, the next group is if you would print it, it's attached as a great big PDF. It would look like this. So, it's a lot of words, a lot and this is double-sided. Just a reminder, I'm not going to read it to you obviously, but as you're looking through, if it's green, it's been added. If it's red, it's been deleted. Um, so uh, I worked with the Neola representative and we spent a lot of time going through this packet. Again, it's attached as a first reading. I would invite you to be sure to look at it before the next board meeting and do let me know if you have any questions. Um, I think my goal has been to try to get this all caught up for the
039new superintendent. And there will be one other packet new in this summer for the super new superintendent to do, but that should just be a small catch-up packet, so. So, again, I don't need a a motion for this, but just it note that it's there and if be sure to let me know if you have any questions. So, when I was I mean there's quite a bit of stuff added. Is is that driven Is that legislation driven or is it state? >> Okay. It's legislation. Okay. Some federal and some state, both federal and state, but a lot of it's state reacting to federal actually. Wow. Okay. All right. Okay, then let's see. Otherwise, I do have some out-of-state things that do need to be approved. Usually you do these as a group. One teacher, Brittany
040Tackett, is requesting permission to take students to the Cedar Point physics, science, and math days, which I know the students always enjoy that and they do pass. I know they do. The trip would occur May 15th and they would be traveling to Sandusky, Ohio. There will be male and female chaperones for this trip. It's a one-day trip. Uh, second one is the culinary arts teacher, Piper Tobias, is requesting permission for the level two culinary arts students to travel to Chicago to attend the National Restaurant Association Show on May 18th, 2026. And the Wawasee High School boys basketball uh, group is requesting permission to attend an overnight trip to Angola um, June 15th to 17th to attend Trine University basketball camp. So, I would ask for a motion to approve those three. Any questions? All right,
041do I have a motion to approve the uh, out-of-state overnight trips as presented? I'll make a motion. I have a second. Second. I'll signify uh, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, nay. Okay. Motion carries. And then we don't Do we have any other items, guys? >> [clears throat] >> I do want to say real quick just to give you guys some confidence in um, we've met some of the most impressive people in this the interview process with the superintendent. I'm glad we got out early, but really, really impressive high caliber people. I'm super excited. It was It was It's Some really impressive people, right, guys? It was It was cool. Anyway, all right, that's all we got. I need a motion to adjourn. I'll make a motion. Who's got it? I
042made it. Who's got a second? Uh, all those in favor signal signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, everybody.