001Okay. Little past time. Sorry about that. Uh, okay. This is a call to order for the I can't even see the date here. February 10th Wy School Corporation um regular school board meeting. And um we will jump right in with the uh all rise for a pledge of pledge of allegiance please. And uh Mrs. Jamie Nathaniel will lead us to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands andice for all. Our students are confident, well-rounded citizens who positively impact their communities. >> Uh Lord, thank you again for this day. Thank you for the sunshine. Uh thank you for kind of removing the cold weather a little bit for us to see it. Uh Lord, just we ask your hand over u each one of us as well as our community. Uh
002to provide us wisdom, that we make great decisions. Uh we focus upon what we need to do. uh to better our students, better our faculty, uh and better our community. We just thank you again for all the presence that you have. It's in your name we pray. Amen. >> Okay, we're going to jump right in with patron comments. >> Good evening, school board. My name is Alicia Smith. I am coming to you tonight to share some information with you. My son is not a Wawa student. My son is a Fairfield student. However, he is in a class that is a combined class between Wawa and Fairfield. On November 18th, Jeffrey Mccclure, the teacher, assaulted my son. He put him in a chokeold, tackled him to the ground, wrapped a cord around his legs, and drugg
003him around the classroom. He has admitted this to DCS and to the school. The administration still has him in the classroom. He is unsupervised with your students at an off-site construction location. As I spoke to more parents and former students of Mr. McCclur's, I found out this is not the first time. Last year, he repeatedly called a student of color the n-word. He throws hammers at the kids. He calls the kids names in reference to masturbation. He cur curses them out regularly. He takes hammers when the sun is coming in through the windows of the morning classes. Pretends the shadow is a penis and tries to imitate humping students. I am concerned as a parent. And if your children are in his class, you should be concerned, too. And I don't know if this information
004has been brought to your attention. I highly doubt it has. But I feel like you deserve to know because your students are in his care as well. If you have questions or concerns for me, I can stay to answer that. But I needed to share this. It this man should not be with children. So, thank you for your time tonight. >> I didn't you >> building trades. >> Could you could you stay? >> Absolutely. I am going to step outside and make a phone call, but I will be here at the end of the meeting for you. >> Thank you. I guess I'm next. My name is Vicky Morton. I live at 10599 Lung Lane in Syracuse. and I am here to address the fact that we've had a super lot of snow days. And
005it's my understanding that hourly workers such as paraprofessionals that work for with kids with special needs and kids that need a lot of help do not get paid when there's a snow day. And I believe there's other hourly people that are in that same predicament. The person I know makes $14.25 an hour. And you know how many snow days we met? That person made zero. And I think that's morally incomprehensible that these people would not get paid on a snow day. And I'm sure we had money in the budget that we didn't budget for all those days to be off school. So I wish you would consider that because it's not like they can go work somewhere else. uh when we decide not to have school open. Thank you. >> Thank you. My name is
006Lisa Carroll and I'm from Milford. Good evening board members and Wawasi administration. First, I want to thank you for the steps you have taken to make our school corporation more transparent. the work sessions, the improved agenda format, attached claims and contracts, and the decision to hire an interim superintendent with experience working alongside community leaders has raised the level of professionalism and helped our community better understand the complexity of your role in serving nearly 20,000 people. That said, I do not think any of us had the events of the past month on our bingo cards. You are facing a great deal. Addressing past issues, managing current challenges, and preparing for future opportunities. There is a lot on your plate. Although I have not been physically present at recent meetings due to chronic illness and my daughter's
007basketball schedule, I've been watching, listening, and paying close attention. I'm here for one reason. I deeply care about Wawa. My goal has never been um my goal has always been to help build a community that my adult children would want to return in to in order to raise their own families. I'm not here to run for school board, make a name for myself, or create chaos. We are at a critical moment for the Wawy Community School Corporation. Hiring a new superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities you will hold because this decision will shape the future of our schools and our community. It was so nice for Mr. Kripe to address um the process at the last work session last week. I eagerly approved um to see the documents that he spoke of which
008I did not see on your website. So I prepared this not knowing you had this already. Um, and then last week all the rumors started and people started calling and asking me what I knew. And on behalf of myself and more than 282 parents, students, staff, alumni, and community members, um, I made a change.org um, site asking for this change. Um, I respectfully urge the board not to self- select a superintendent without conducting a formal search, which you will be. um which includes meaningful community feed feedback. But what looking at this, the feedback is after the fact um of the applications going out. Your applications are missing um a job description, a community profile, and anything positive about the district. Starting all this work without publicly acknowledging the process you have, but I'm assure you're
009going to put it out there. Um, it's not really helping the credibility. Over the past 20 years, superintendent hires have occurred without public input. Much has changed since then. When is the now is the time to pause, reflect, and move beyond what is often rever referred to as the wisi way by choosing a process rooted in openness and accountability. A transparent search builds trust, strengthens unity, and ensures the next superintendent reflects Wawasi values and future needs. We need a leader who is a visionary, a strong communicator, v visible in our schools and fiscally responsible and committed to the success of every student. You have the power to make the meaningful lasting change. WAC schools are strongest when leadership reflects reflects the voices and values of the people it serves. I urge you to choose transparency,
010collaboration, and trust as you move forward. Thank you for this timeline. I appreciate it. However, I think it's weird that you're going to collect the data and then choose the superintendent. Um, you put out the application, but there's nothing to entice anyone. There's nothing to show how good we are before you choose your candidate. When I apply for a job, I look at my job description. I look what it will mean to me. And we don't have that part. So, if you would be willing to switch that, that would be even better. But thank you very much for um improving transparency within the school district. >> Real quick on that, um I really believe in the firm we've hired. They're I understand what you're saying. The however to it would be is I what they
011try to do is um they're trying to frankly get our um opening out. There's a lot of openings I guess coming up in the northern part of the state and their timing is intentional but the entire as this thing filters down your re your survey results will build the profile of the p of of of the person. So the entire intent of their process is meant to reflect um us okay in terms of what we want. That's that's our intent. Our intent is to use that survey to build the profile of the person. Um our intent is to represent what we want. We we want to represent and find what the qualities that you want that we want. I bet you they're really really close. I would bet money that we want very similar things
012out of the person. Uh so I guess I'm asking for some I promise of every one of us. We couldn't pick a car carpet color together or not because just you we got to have a process that we trusted a little bit but we want we really need feedback on those surveys. That's what drives their entire way they sculpt the the vetting process as it as it goes as it goes uh goes along. So, I really like these this group. Um they really talked about a community first approach. That's why we picked them. Um and we're really trying to build the candidate profile based on that those responses. So, that's what we're trying to do. Sorry, still comm uh still patron comments. >> Hi, my name is Mariah Roberts. I live in Syracuse, Indiana. As
013a former teacher and community member who's watched state and federal policies over the past 20 years, it's clear that the deck is stacked and it's not necessarily in favor of public schools. There are a lot of people in our community working to understand the facts about our public school and I appreciate all of the individuals and school officials that have spent time researching these issues, reading information to know the facts as well as spending time in closed doors closed door meetings to solve those issues. Um, and also thank you to those who have the courage to take a stand for what they see and what um they believe is right. But honestly, right now, I just want to go on public record because there's a group of really important people to our school who don't
014always get heard, and I want to make sure they feel seen. So I want to speak specifically to the teachers and all school staff, bus drivers, custodians, school nurses, administrative assistants, pair professionals, speech and hearing pathologists, um psychologists, mental health therapists, guidance counselors, I'm sure we missed someone in there. So, everyone um all the staff who work so hard to impact our students um lives on a daily basis, I just want you to know that a lot our community sees you. We see you working hard in the trenches every day. And I wish there was a better way to magnify your voice because you know the issues and that you are dealing with. You teach our kids to read, write, do math, and apply difficult concepts in the real world. You give our children a
015smiling face when you pick them up on the bus. You greet them and feed them breakfast and lunch. You clean up after them. We parents work really hard to try and teach them those things. Um but we um we appreciate that you carry that torch when they're at the school. Um school staff, I just want you to know we see you and we're grateful for all that you are doing. I hope that my time here at the podium uh is an encouragement to you and I hope it's an inspiration to parents and community members to reach out to you who are doing the good work because I just wish there were more but I feel like there's not enough money, words or gifts to show you your full worth. Thank you school staff. You are
016important and our children need you. You are making a difference. >> [applause] >> Thank you. My name is Rob Chalk. I live in Syracuse. Uh obviously my notes and my uh my comments were prepared a little bit beforehand as well. So excuse them. First of all, I want to say Mr. Lyens, thank you for reaching out. Really appreciate your kind words. Appreciate your communication and uh I just I just wanted to thank you publicly. Um you're the only one that reached out after an email was sent to you. So I appreciate you. Thank you. It's a caring individual right there. Um good evening. I want to start by urging the board to take the necessary time in searching, evaluating, selecting our next superintendent. This is one of the most important decisions that are that will
017shape the future of Wallace Community Schools. After everything that has come to light over the past year, the community expects transparency, engagement, and a process that prioritizes the best interest of our students. It is critical that the board resists taking the easy familiar route of rehiring past administrators or relying on patterns that have repeatedly failed us. Wallace needs leadership that prioritize prioritizes students, staff, and the community, not personal or political agendas. We keep hearing that the board is trying to do the right thing, but some comments suggest a fundamental misunderstanding of the community's expectations. One one board member reported reportedly said, "We got rid of the superintendent. What else they want us to do?" That misses the point entirely. The community wants the board to do what is right for our children, our schools, and
018our community. The very reason you were elected. Let me just give you a few of the reasons some of this trust has eroded uh from within our community. We have one member of the board that ran on a principle of removing an administrator and in January 22 achieved another r one ran on the premise of ousing a softball coach achieved a board member did not even reside in the township they represented violating actually a law IC 3666-3. It's time for the correct personnel on the board to take responsibility for the recent failure hiring Mr. Mr. Mr. Loose. conversation revealed that Mr. Joe Luc was appointed personally driven rather than a result of transparency, a fair search. It was said by the board president, "I'm sick and tired of losing and all we do is I'll
019do whatever it takes it to win." Which led directly to Mr. Luc's hiring. This appointment included a $40,000 donation, private donation of special accommodation such as a fully refurbished office. This approach has been humiliating and damaging for our school corporation, our community, and it cannot continue. The community is asking for accountability. WC cannot move forward without meaningful change for the board to begin restoring trust and integrity. I along with many others in the community and calling for the immediate resignation of Wy Community School Board President. The time for excuse is over and the community deserves leadership that is transparent, ethical, and fully committed to our students. Mr. You're speaking to Mr. Frank. >> Yeah. >> Okay. It's fair. I was thinking about um accountability is a two-way street and you need to tell the truth
020more often, but that's fine. >> You don't have to. I don't have to. We'll talk about it later. It's fine. >> Are there any other comments? >> I'm not He's leading our children. >> Come on, guys. >> Tell me. >> I don't I'm not I'm not I'm just confused. You guys are against us. We all live in the community. I'm really confused. >> We want to make the school the best. I have kids in the school district. I I'm just so confused why it's you guys sitting in that chair, not sitting up here saying we're not together. like we should all have our each other's backs and we want to move forward. It's the best for the school. It is the decision sometimes that five people have to make that decision, but it's I I've
021been on the board for four years. This is my fourth year. I've tried to hear the community to make that decision to move forward. And that's what I want. It's it's like you guys don't see that it's always against you guys versus us. So, I think we need to be able to move forward. We have to do it collectively. due respect for last commenter did say you were the only one to reply to him. No >> there I understand that there's emails that we all get that one of us will reply and that way not everybody has to reply to the email I to that I will speak that's the only reason sometimes it's not all five of us have to same say the same thing if we all align can't speak for everybody but
022I do know that we do have that so I think we should move forward is there anybody else would like to come up talk. >> I'd like to say so. So, um, [snorts] you know, I think to Mr. Chalk, I know we've had small conversations and, uh, contrary to what everyone may think, we like Mr. Chalk, we like Rob. He's not a bad guy. He's just bringing up some points and, uh, that we need to discuss. Now, it doesn't mean we all have to agree and we understand that. But to like Neil's point, I think the last six, seven months, it's been feeling like the community is like it's it's us against you. And I agree with that statement. And it's been hard. And the rumor mill is terrible. Oh, and our community, I know
023it's all over, but it's terrible. Did Did you know we've already selected the superintendent? I was aware this weekend. I wasn't even I wasn't even aware. like and I thought, "Wow, that'd be interesting news." And that's how much these these rumors come out and they they accelerate. They take legs. And I simply believe it's the I use this phrase a lot. It's a it's a it's a phrase in the in a Batman movie where Alfred's talking to Bruce Wayne. He tells him like, you know what, some men just can't be reasoned with. Some men just want the world to burn. And I think there's people that are just so bent against Wallace. I don't think it's Mr. Kripe or or Don or or any of us. I think it's just the school and we're going
024to do our best to make decisions. You voted us to lead. I I'll say this. You voted us to lead the district. We're going to lead the district. Uh there are people that love me, people that support me, and there's people that just despise me and hate me. And my head's got to hit that pillow every night. And I can tell you the last six, seven months have been really challenging. But we are built for crisis. And unfortunately, these are some of the decisions that have never they don't fall on deaf ears. And to to what Mr. Lyen said, Mr. Chalk, I would be more than happy if you want five of us to email you back back. We'll do that. We just feel is that he's actually speaking in in in unison for our
025group. We just don't want to blow up your email. But if you would like that or you know anyone I think uh Mrs. Copeland sends something and Andy responded uh to that. So we just don't believe that you know he speaks for all of us. So you know I I'm not about you know Mr. Kreb just took over you know and we're doing our best. Now if it's not good enough you know by all means I'm up for re-election this year. you're more than welcome to take my position. And then I can stand on that podium and bring all the rumors and start complaining. And then when that person sits behind here and realizes, oh my gosh that they didn't do too bad of a job. You know, it's not agreeable 100%. But it's it's
026it tends, you know, I'm human. I'm built for crisis, like I said, but I'm a human, too. And I have a uh I have a frustration point. And it's very hard because there's a lot of people in this room that I know that I like that I respect. Um we just have to do better as a community. We just we have to all the rumors that take legs help us. Hands out. I can't even emphasize this. My hand is out. And it's all the naysayers. All the people that are sitting there just bing, hating the school. It it doesn't matter who the superintendent is. You can change all five members of the board. new basketball coach, new football coach, it wouldn't make any difference in six to eight months. Something else would be wrong. Well,
027this is what we need to be doing. This is where they made a mistake. So, it wouldn't matter. And you know what? If you go back and everyone here's been here long tenure enough. If you go back the last five to six years, similar issues. You go probably back last 15 years, I would imagine similar issues. It's just a different flavor. What I'm asking for our community, and this is what I'm imploring you, okay? And I'm only speaking for myself. I'm not speaking for the other four members up here. You know, my hands out. You got issue, tell us. It doesn't have to be theatrics. We do. We all have the same common goal. I mean, by show of hands, let's just do it. Let's do a really all skate. I'm using uh our pastures.
028It's an all skate. By show hands, who's got a kid in our school system? Right. Right. So, we all have the same point. We want a great great academic success for our for our students. Doesn't make any difference what we do. It's always the adults that always cause the problems unfortunately. And so looking at that, that means we're here for actually for the benefit of our students. That's what I care about. That's what I ran on. That's what I want because I know when these students graduate, they're going to be living next to us. They're going to be going college. We want them to come back there. I'm kind of going on a rant here, but I just my my my ask is as a community work with us. My hands out. Just got to
029reach for it, though. If it's all about complaining and all that, that's not going to solve anything. It's just not. I apologize, Andy. You take it. >> Any more comments? I'm Alex Wild. I live in Syracuse. I have a kid that goes to Wawa Sea. Um, so the past seven months have been difficult. um it's not for the complaining and the reason that things are said at these board meetings is to make them publicly known because of that right there. It's recorded and people watch us. So when we have private emails that are responded to by various board members or not because let's be honest you guys don't respond to all of them um then the public doesn't know. So we h we are a predominantly bluecollar community which means not everyone has the spare
030time to do the kind of research it takes to find factual information about our school district because historically we have taken the easy road when it comes to providing transparency. We provide the lowest amount of detail possible. When you compare some of our gateway information to other school districts it is abysmal. We have one line item. So, yes, the last seven months have been very hard for you guys because of a lack of transparency. Everyone here demands transparency. We're going hard on the superintendent search because it is so important. Please do not confuse complaining with concern for our community. We live here. Our tax dollars fund this. We have every right and every reason to demand action. The last seven months of bringing truth into the light does not constitute complaining. It is speaking truth
031to power. And you for some reason are in power. So you sir do not live in your district. Do you? >> I do. >> Do you live in Milford? >> I I live in Camelot Lake. Yes, I do. >> Okay, great. Because that's one of the rumors, right, that you no longer do. >> Ma'am, listen. Miss Wild, you're correct. There's so we get inundated by all the things of personal attacks, school attacks. It doesn't make any difference at the end of the day. Um we just have to be upfront. But to please continue on. >> Okay. So yes, there are rumors, but every rumor has a seed of truth. Maybe not yours in particular. Um, but when we ask for answers, we do expect it. We deserve it. When we want more transparency, we deserve
032it. Our tax dollars fund your stipens. Okay? If we are so behind in revenue to expense perhaps, just an idea, you guys don't take your stipend, right? This makes sense. I think I have so many other things I would like to say, but please do not downplay our concern. None of us would have taken any action and you could have gone about having very short board meetings with nobody complaining and no emails in your inbox if transparency was not an issue. And nepotism in this school corporation is very real and so is retaliation. Please do not forget We're still on patron comments. Okay. On to the next item. All right. Section five. I'm just going to read through uh these items. [clears throat] Kennedy 9 and Kennedy Pierce advanced to the girls wrestling state finals.
033Both girls play seventh. This was Kennedy 9's second trip to the state finals. So, congratulations to both of them. Um, we're going to recognize those two ladies at the March meeting um along with some other winter sports participants. 5B Syracuse Elementary uh teacher Chris Stump presented at the Indiana Music Education Association recently in Fort Wayne. she shared with other teachers who were thinking about starting a drum circle, which she's done for years. It's really cool. Uh what a rehearsal would look like, showing them that uh it's not as daunting as they might think, and offering encouragement. Um she thought she also brought the advanced drum circle students to showcase there and um got really good reviews. Number three, the Wawasi Oh, this is cool. The Wawy High School was named to the AP honor role
034and Is Jeff is Mr. Walmer here? >> Okay. Um, do you know can you give us some It's a cool honor the AP honor role. I know some of our neighboring schools didn't even get that and could you speak to that? So the AP um the college board gives um three different designations and bronze designation is one of them and it's calculated based on a variety of factors including um how many uh students take AP courses, how many pass the AP uh exam and um things like um equity and excellence. So, taking a look at our uh poverty rate compared to other schools that have the similar demographic and our performance against their performance, it outperforms. So, um yeah, there there are several different factors that go into this. Um so, basically, it's uh quite
035an honor to be a on the designated honor role. um being bronze is uh I don't believe we've had that for several years. Um there's a silver and a platinum uh level I believe and I do know that Mr. Walmer has been talking about uh with his staff about okay what do we need to do to get to the next uh the next level of this designation. >> Thank you. Next item on good news are okay where we at here. All right. This is North North Webster Elementary spelling bee. So congratulations to the spelling be winners. 21 students participated and it took 10 rounds to crown the champion. Ramsay's Dodie was the champion and Quinn Kirby was the runner up. Thanks to Shupe Sports and Youth Foundation. Uh Ramsey's received $2,500 scholarship and Quinn received
0361,000 uh scholarship for college. The winning word was delegation. And the last item is donations. Three of them here. School received $800 for the angel fund. These donations are used for students with uh negative school lunch balances. Thank you to Jeff and Susan Korn, Richard, Joshua, and Vicky Flora, and Tanya Asmmiths for your generous donations. Uh, the Shupe Sports and Youth Foundation donated 9,500 to Wise Community Schools to be split between all the schools for the purchase of student hygiene products and snacks. And the Wawy Alumni Association for their $3,000 donation to the Wawy High School Boys and Girls Golf Program. So, those are those the good news items. Um, I'm going to need a motion to approve those. >> Second. >> I second. >> Uh, please signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those
037opposed. >> Motion granted. All right. Now, we're going to get on to reports. Uh, our learning report. Dr. Wolfong. >> Uh, thank you very much, Mr. Krep. Um, I just wanted to revisit the accountability uh model that, uh, is now in its second draft. So, as you know, the Indiana General Assembly passed um legislation requiring the Indiana Department of Education to assign letter grades to all schools in Indiana starting with the 2627 school year. So, next year, uh the supposed to have the rule making um complete and presented to the state board of education for final approval in December. they tabled it to January uh where they tabled it again uh because there's um uh some additional rule making that uh needs to go through their um their vetting process before it becomes final. Uh
038what I am showing you today is um what the second draft uh looks like and it will be some iteration of this uh when it does come out. It's uh not going to be um u available to be presented to the state board of education until March. Um unless they would hold a um special session, which I doubt they will. Um but it's really important for us to take a look at this now because when they do have the final rule making uh even though it's coming so late um they are going to be taking this year's results and this year's data to assign those first letter grades. So we're not sure what um what they're even measuring yet. Um and so those those letter grades will come out sometime next year. And uh it
039is um if you look at the left hand side where it says academic mastery, most of that information is what you would have seen in if you remember seven years ago when we had letter grades before. That is really what it was predominantly uh measured on. and it it was um criticized uh quite broadly because it had such a narrow focus on only I learn proficiency. So this next iteration of school letter grades, they're trying to broaden um how schools ultimately receive this grade. And um you can see they've broken it down now um in K to three uh grade three. It's going to be on I learn proficiency in third grade, but it's also going to be um the I read three proficiency. Accelerated literacy is would be um students in second grade that
040are at risk and then they go ahead and pass it in third grade. school attendance and then EL learners passing uh or becoming um ad having adequate growth um in uh English acquisition in uh upper elementary and in middle school uh grades four through eight. Again, looking at I learn proficiency, but also some other uh additional factors. And um one that I think you'll notice um that kind of sticks out to me is the high school level coursework. So this will um this really plays into the uh new graduation requirements that are coming out u for our new cohort of students. But uh essentially in middle school it is going to be the expectation that um for students that are academically ready they need to take uh two to four credits of high school credit
041in middle school. So, our um our middle school principal, uh Jamie Nathaniel, and our high school principal, Jeff Walmer, have been u working together, and Jaime's been working with her staff on um figuring out ways to best meet the student needs. Um with that, uh and again, attendance is is also uh still in there. Uh in the high school levels, they've split it between 8 uh 9 and 10 and 11 and 12. But again, looking at um who's on who's on track for the academic mastery, uh getting at least 10 high school credits. That's one that um they've they've I've heard that they've been talking about um upping that a little bit from 10 to um 12 or or or maybe more. Um so that's one of the rule making uh things that that will
042come out. Uh and then also the CTE coursework. uh meeting benchmarks on the PSAT, college and career coursework, all of those things hadn't been in the previous um grade uh assignment. And then in 11 and 12, uh this is where the new diploma requirements are coming in with um having the academic seals, the honor seals, the workbased learning, uh getting a credential of value, which again is uh it is going to be paramount that we continue uh to grow our CTE program. Uh Tina Schmucker's done a a phenomenal job at at trying to align our CTE programming with the workbased learning uh and the uh credential of value uh which is going to be a huge part of this accountability system. So again, I just wanted to give you another a quick overview of where
043they are with the second draft and hopefully the next time I talk to you about this in a couple of months, um we'll have our final our final version so we'll know what what how we can start uh looking at how our grade is going to be calculated. And um with that, do you have any questions? >> I have one. What do we do with that? Great. >> Um, >> I mean, I know it's that's a broad question, but I guess my concern when I'm looking at this, we're doing a lot of these things already, correct? And we as >> not toot our own horn, but you know, our teachers have they're already doing a lot of this in in a higher level. So, I guess you follow where I'm going, like, hey, hey, then
044>> yeah. So, so a couple a couple of things. Um one the one of the reasons why they got rid of letter grades to begin with was that they felt like uh a school is such a complex organism that it is and and learning and teaching of students is so complicated that it is very difficult to just narrow it down to a grade, right? uh ABC uh DF and um and so they they got rid of it for a few years, but then uh and they tried the G GPS dashboard, which if you if you look at our GPS dashboard, it's more it's a more um well uh more rounded uh accountability model similar to to what you see up here. In fact, most of those things are on the GPS model. The problem with
045the GPS model is they're taking each one of those things separately, right? So, so somebody um wanting to compare one school to another or one district to another has to take in all of these elements. And so then there was um a a a call to say we need to make this easier for us to understand. And now we're back to the the letter grade. So for uh for a public I would say it's really about giving people a quick snapshot of the health of the school when it comes to academics. Um for us it's going to be about making sure that we are very purposeful in looking at those each of those elements and uh it helps us to measure how good are we doing. So, for example, regular school attendance, typically schools will
046look at that in um in in in in the um on websites, they'll say uh you know, we have a 96% attendance rate. Great. That's that's wonderful. With this accountability system and what we do in schools is we don't we don't really care about the aggregate. 96% attendance doesn't tell me anything. what we need to look at is the individual students and the individual uh attendance. And so like with that for example, they've shifted from it's not what is your overall attendance, it's how many students do you have that meet the uh 94% attendance rate. So when looking at that, it really it really hones down to each individual student. So, how is this going to change what we do? Um, I I I really love looking at all this stuff and figuring out where
047we need to find our improvements. By having the state do this, it allows us to take a look at all school districts and find which schools are doing that are like us that um that are doing better than we are with our students. similar demographic, similar size. And so, and so this is a way for us to really be able to hone in and say, "Okay, this st this school is doing really good with English language students and they don't have very many EL students like we do. Uh we're in a rural community. Okay. What are they doing differently than we are?" And and taking a look at that. And so, um, I feel like it's going to be a very valuable, um, a valuable change that they're making. Um, but it has to be
048used not as a a judgment on where we are, but rather looking at how can we use this as a as a focus on what we can improve on. >> Sure. >> So, sorry that's a long answer, but it's >> No, no, no. It it's a really important one and and I feel like um a lot of people are like ah gosh those school grades again but there is value in in that. >> Yeah I I see a valid point. Thank you. >> Yeah. Any other questions? Okay. Um next um I wanted to uh briefly um tell you about the uh employee assistance program. um uh um report that we Oh, no wait, sorry. I I'm trying to do too many [snorts] things at once. Um Oh, I had some pictures in here I wanted
049to show you. Um but I didn't upload them correctly. Sorry, Tammy. Um I wanted to show you some pictures of our professional learning day that occurred yesterday. So, um, Monday was, uh, was one of the, um, state approved waiver days that we received from the state of Indiana. We have three of those days. One was first semester and, um, we have two, uh, this semester, uh, one just happened and we have another one on March 20th. Uh, and I had pictures from around the school district, um, of just what they were doing and it was really cool. I I will I will share those out with you later. Um but every building um they were focused on things that they needed to focus on in their building. We also had I stopped in at the
050um uh in the uh middle school the cafeter all the cafeteria staff were were together and um they had someone coming in and talking to them about school lunches and serving and um and and the important part that they play in uh in that uh in our in our schools. And then we also had paraprofessional training going on here in uh the professional learning center um which again is something that we're not able to do very often. Uh get all the paras together for training. So these waiver days allow that to happen. So um it was a real positive day. I heard a lot of good feedback from uh from everyone on that. So sorry I didn't get the pictures. And then finally, the last thing I wanted to tell you about was our employee
051assistance program. And in your packet is a memo. And um there's the attached all-in-one health employee assistance program utilization report for 2025. And the report that's in your board packet is a private deidentified aggregate summary of how employees and families use the benefit, but there is no personally identifiable information included on that report. Um our overall utilization was 13.59% uh 16.41 including portal use which um according to um the all one health employee um assistance program said that it reflects a steady and appropriate use. So we're not under utilizing it or overutilizing it. Um they did say that about 50% of the users from our district were staff members and about 50% were um staff members family. So this this particular benefit is uh open to um all all staff and their family. Um and
052they also wanted to recognize um HR which is Tammy uh for her work in uh becoming the or being the primary access and awareness point. uh 52% of people who accessed the REAP um identified the human resources as um as the primary uh reason why they uh used our employee assistance um u benefit. Um the primary needs reflected in the report are counseling supports related to stress, anxiety, emotional health and life transitions. And this is for board awareness only. No action is requested. And that concludes my board learning report. >> Thank you. Okay, now we're into additional action items. We have our Wait, oh, I skipped grouped action items. Sorry, I guess ahead. Um, we received the grouped action items in our board packet out of here. Um, we discussed these at the work session
053and um, I need a motion to approve the group group action items. I have a motion. Move to accept the approved action items. >> I have a second. >> I'll second. >> All approved by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion pass. Okay, now we're into additional action items. We're up for the financial report. M. Dr. Penrod. Good evening. So our financial report we are looking at here on the screen we have uh our authority to spend which is our appropriations at the top. So our appropriation this year ended up at 21,914,73087. Our monthto date and year to date are obviously going to be the same thing at uh 1.637 million. The unexpended balance then at 20,277044 and the outstanding encumbrance at 189,000 and change. Unencumbered balance is left then at 20,87,77314 and that is
0548.34% expended. Uh I think we've talked about before our goal is 8% so we're slightly over that but with 11 months to go that shouldn't be an issue. uh no activity in our debt service and then the operations fund is 11,24066170 this uh this year the expended amount for the month and the year $763,80.13 unexpended at 10,47758157 the outstanding encumbrance at just under $152,000 leaving the unencumbered balance at 10,325,000 and 8 8.14% so again just slightly over where we want to and um and then no activity in the rainy day. For uh cash on hand, the the fund report, our beginning balance is 2,810,000 in the education fund. Uh month-to- date revenue, which is mostly from state support at 1,853,000. Our month-to-day expenses at a,637, which obviously matches the top there. And then our beginning
055of the year balance, that same 2.8 million. Revenue for the year is the same as the uh month in this case. Same with expenses and that leaves our current balance in January at 3,ion25,75922 in the education fund. The debt service fund has a balance of 1.9 uh 1,964,000 and no activity there. The operations fund has a beginning of the year balance and month balance at 5,340,65292. month-to- date revenue at $2,81325. The majority of that fund, as you know, is funded through uh property taxes. So, we will not see a whole lot of revenue there until uh June. Uh the month-to- date expenses are $763,80.13. And the uh the beginning of the year balance obviously the same as the beginning of the month. Year-to date and year-to- date expenses and revenue are both the same. So,
056our current balance at 4,58,386 and 4 cents. and then no activity in the rainy day fund and that balance remains at 2,463 23191. [clears throat] Be glad to answer any questions. >> Any questions? Okay. Refresh me. Do we do a motion with each item? Okay. Um I'm going to need a motion to approve the financial report is presented by Dr. Penrad. >> Second. >> All right. Please signify your approval by saying I. >> I. post. All right, question passed. Next item we have is uh are we who's is is uh Dr. Wolfong picking up on this from here on. >> Uh no, this is still >> Okay. Uh >> oh, there it is. There it is. Got it. Okay, Dr. Penrod. >> So, our our next one is the uh policy analytics uh engagement letter.
057Uh that letter is was discussed at the work session and um the uh kind of the scope of this looks looks to be the uh public financial services to accomplish an evaluation of tax base of the school corporation taxing districts analyze the impact of circuit breaker changes and resulting property tax revenues occurring throughout the subsequent 10 year 10 calendar years. And so, uh, we kind of talked about this last week, but they take they go parcel by parcel and figure out what that looks like, how circuit breakers impact the district, what we can expect to see as far as revenue goes. And again, barring any other changes regarding property tax. So, if that would change, then this would obviously uh change as well. But, uh, in your in your packet, you see the letter and,
058uh, has additional specific tasks there. And this, uh, this engagement is a total annual amount of $11,000. Does there any questions on it? We talked about it at the work session. Okay. Um motion to approve. >> I'll make a motion. >> Okay. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All approved by saying I >> opposed. Motion passed. >> Right. Next item, Dr. Penrod. Consider the body. Next, we have refunding uh refunding resolution of the 2018 or I'm sorry, refunding of the 2018 bonds. Uh we showed a slide uh the other night at the last at the last work session and we talked about the uh the we issued or school issued 13,910,000 in 2018. Uh the bonds have a call date of July July 15th of 2026 and then the uh the analysis here
059assumes the tax exempt refunding on May 13th. So, we're allowed to uh call these bonds within six months of the call date. So, we're within our within our six-month window here. And the uh refunding par amount at 12,985,000. The refunded bonds par amount was 13,910,000. The average coupon at that point was 5%. Uh the arbitrage yield at 3.35%. And so from a cash flow standpoint, uh the savings with those numbers would be $1,583,935. The net present value savings of $1,274,192. And so cash flow savings as a percent of those refunded bonds at 9.16%. So all of that's a lot of technical stuff, but basically what we're asking is to not cash this bond out and lower the payment to um to to lower the levy. And so again, in round numbers, these these probably aren't
060accurate, but in round numbers, if we are if we are spending X amount of dollars right now with through our levy on debt service, we're going to ask in the future once these are refunded, we'll ask for X minus $100,000 as a levy to continue to pay our debt the way we should. But this is basically just a um like if you were to refinance your house and get a better interest rate, but continue paying the same payment, you'd pay it off early. we won't be paying it off early because we're not really allowed to in this case, but we can lower our payment. And so if you know those are your two variables. If you do the the house example, if you uh have to pay your your house off in the same amount
061of time, your payment would lower. And that's what we're asking here. >> Okay. >> So, there are a number of resolutions here. Um the resolution approving the refunding of Wy High School Building Corporation 2018 bonds. And so that is your first uh resolution, first resolution in your packet. And then there's another one. Uh I'm sorry. No, there's not another one. So, um the uh uh that would be the one that we would ask for a motion and second and then action on. >> Okay. Uh do I have a motion to uh pro uh to accept the resolution for the bond refinance or refunding? I have a motion. >> Yes. >> I have a second. >> All right. I'll signify approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Next item is still Dr. Penrod.
062It's the 2526 first semester ECA filings. Dr. Penrod. >> Thank you. So the ECA filings we kind of discussed on last Monday night as well. And uh that is similar to what a form 9 at the corporation level. We just have to report all of our activity every six months from the corporation level. Uh the ECA which is extracurricular activity. Uh those funds need to be reported every semester as well. And so this is that report. Uh ECA or extracurricular activity funds are held at the building level. And so um so those reports come from the building level to the corporation and then to the school board. >> Okay. Any questions on that? >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the 2526 first semester ECA filings? Do I have a motion? >>
063So move. >> Second. >> I'll approve by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> Dr. Penrod. Last item. And then uh we also discussed this Monday night the 2526 classified compensation and so this was a uh this was not done in the fall and so we're asking for this to be done here in uh in the February meeting. >> Okay. Um do I have a motion to approve the 2526 classified compensation? >> Second. >> Yes. Second. >> I'll signify by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Now, Dr. Wil professional. >> Thank you very much. Uh, based on board direction and the ad the administration recommends a $1.50 per hour increase for all instructional pair of professionals, both full-time and part-time in addition to the adjustments already
064made uh provided this year. If approved, the starting base rate would be $16 per hour. This is an important step in supporting recruitment, retention, and stable classroom staffing. and we will continue to look for responsible ways to strengthen compensation across all classified staff uh a over time as finances allow. So with that, I recommend the board approve the $1.50 per hour paraprofessional pay increase as presented. >> Do I have a motion for what she just said? >> I make a motion. >> Do I have a second? >> So move. >> All right. I'll signify approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. Dr. Wiler. >> Okay. Marketing operations consulting proposal. Um item G is a proposal from Jeff Dyson to provide marketing operation consulting support for the district. This work focuses on technical
065systems behind our communications including the website calering calendaring tools, streaming and video platforms, email communications and related digital infrastructure. The proposal begins with an assessment of our current setup and information flow. Then provides best practice recommendations with any changes handled on a per project basis. The proposed rate rate is $150 per hour with a 10hour monthly minimum. This item is presented for the board's consideration and action tonight. Do >> I have a motion? I >> make a motion. >> Second. I'll signify approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> Dr. Wolfon. >> Item H is the Maisie Education Agreement. This includes two components. The direct grants management support along with the English language learner program review which the board has already approved. The grant management scope is intended to strengthen compliance, internal
066controls, and district capacity through June 30th, 2027, including grant submissions and reporting, audit support, and updates as requested. While key internal control responsibilities remain with the district, including local review and sign off on submissions. The cost for the grant management support is a $40,000 annual comprehensive rate paid from the grants management portion of grant funds. And again, just as a reminder, this is um due some due do some uh an employee leaving and reorganization of responsibilities. Uh so it is not a uh an additional position. Uh with that, I recommend the board approve as presented. >> I have a motion to approve the Maji Maisie Education Grant. >> So move. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> I'll signify your approval by saying I. I >> opposed. Motion granted. Okay. Item I is the
067American Red Cross licensed training provider agreement. This agreement licenses Red Cross curriculum and training materials so that WAWC can app offer approved Red Cross courses as a licensed training provider. It requires that courses be taught only by current certified Red Cross instructors, that current Red Cross approved materials are used, and that complete course records are entered in the Red Cross learning management system within 10 calendar days of course completion. This term runs for up to 36 months unless terminated earlier, and fees are charged as a per student license fee by course. And with that, I recommend the board approve as presented. >> Do I have a motion? I'll make a motion. >> A second. >> I'll second. >> All right. Uh, signal approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> Okay. Item
068J is the SkyPack Career Plus Pathways Memorandum of Understanding. This agreement outlines the career plus program and related program supports intended to strengthen career connected learning experience experiences and student planning including structured experiences and microcredential components. This is part of the larger career uh grant that is um um led by the uh the Northern Indiana Education Service Center NIESC. And with that, I recommend the board approve as presented. >> Just I know I think you answered this on Monday, but this is the expense of this is covered through a grant. Correct. >> Correct. >> And what's the grant? Who's the source? >> NESC is the uh Northern Indiana um uh education service center. They received the grant from the Indiana Department of Education. >> Okay. Uh do I have a motion to approve the uh
069memorandum of understanding with Skyac? So >> second. >> I'll second it. >> Okay. Please signify your approval by saying I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Next item. Ivy. >> Okay. >> Item item K is um this item is our annual memorandum of understanding with IvyTech Community College for dual credit. Theou documents uh the dual credit courses agreement in place for the current academic year and ensures both institutions uh being Wawa High School and IvyTech are aligned um in what we are offering. The administration is required uh the administration is requesting the board approval so that theou can be executed through docuign. And with that I recommend the board approve as presented. Do we have a motion to approve the IvyTech dual credit MOIU? >> Assume. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> All right.
070I'll signify approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. And last item, outofstate overnight trips. >> Out of state overnight trips. Thank you very much. This item is the overnight athletic trip request for potential IHSAA tournament advancement this spring as outlay outlined in the athletic director's memo dated January 16th, 2026. While qualification is not guaranteed and approval tonight allows us to move quickly with lodging and supervision plans if teams or individuals advance to state finals. Track and field, unified track, girls tennis, softball, baseball, and boys golf at the listed dates and locations. And the administration recommends approval of these overnight trip requests as presented. >> Do I have a motion to approve the out ofstate overnight trips? >> Motion. I have a second. >> I'll second it. >> Signify your approval by saying I >>
071I >> opposed. Motion carries. >> Mr. P, um I this has nothing to do with previous name, but just out of interest, Dr. Wil, how many kids do you have? I mean, it's pretty unexpected question, but how many kids are taking dual credit courses? Do you have any idea? >> Um I'll have to look and get the the final uh the final number, but I do know it is growing. Um, and I think uh we're going to add um at least one more class soon. Um, so uh I will get all of those numbers for you uh at for the next meeting. >> Sure. Great. Thank you. Maybe. >> Yes. >> Any other items? Okay. I need a motion to adjurnn. >> Second. Second. >> All right. I'll signify approval by saying I. >> I.
072>> All opposed. >> I second it. >> Oh, I don't know who was first. >> I'll signify approval by saying I >> I >> opposed. >> Thank you.