001All right, everybody, please bow your heads and let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come here before you today with grateful hearts, acknowledging the responsibility we hold in shaping the future of our students. We ask for your wisdom as we make decisions that impact their education and well-being. Grant us the compassion to understand the diverse needs of our community and the courage to advocate for every child. May our discussions be filled with respect, our actions reflect our commitment, and our hearts be open to your guidance. We thank you for the opportunity to serve our schools and community. May we all strive to lead with integrity and purpose. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under
002God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> So, we have the approval of the agenda. >> Make a motion. Yeah, there are no changes to the agenda this evening. >> All right, >> I'll second. >> All right, any questions? >> All right, Mark, do we have the budget information correct tonight to start off with? >> Yeah, we'll start off with our u budget hearing and then we will close that hearing and then we will go to our normally scheduled meeting. Yeah. Uh timeline as we went over uh last month at the uh budget workshop. Uh the big three events that we told you about were number one what I just mentioned the budget workshop which was last month. Uh number two which is the budget hearing. That's the here and now this month and
003then next month we will do the adoption. as part of the advertising that took place between last meeting and this meeting. All the doc all the documents that we'll go over today uh were posted through the state and on our website. Uh they have to be posted 10 days prior to this meeting all were posted well in advance of that. August 26 was their post date. The form three that we're looking at now consolidates the different parts of the budget process that we discussed last time from the form one which was the expenditures form two being revenue the current year financial worksheet the cash flow to a little bit of a lesser extent and then the debt service worksheet is our debt payments for this year. Uh so in running through that that second column
004you see the budget estimates again as a reminder from last time these estimate high. Our internal budget will be much lower than this and will be attached to our projected revenue which we will update on a monthly basis. That third column is the maximum estimated funds to be raised through tax levies. Uh this is only for the two funds that are funded through property taxes being debt service and operations. And then the fifth column shows the current tax levy. The sixth column uh is the difference. We don't expect that much of a difference. Our levies will be adjusted uh through the 1782 notice in the coming months. Also part of this process you'll be able to see or you have viewed the capital projects plan. No changes from last month. Uh this shows the projects
005and capital acquis capital capital acquisitions, excuse me, that are primarily linked to our current projects that we see going on around the campus and addressing those things from our feasibility study that we have constantly uh used as that touchstone. The bus replacement shows what buses we plan to replace and purchase over the next five years. If you have any questions, more than happy to go into any detail. Do you want to do a motion separate for bus and capital or do you want together? Okay. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Anyone have any questions on either? Were we going to do public comment first? >> I'm sorry. >> You're right. >> Oh, sorry. My bad. >> Yeah, we'll need to do public comment. >> We did and we don't have anybody signed up. >> No
006one signed up. No one signed up for it. So, any questions, Kyle? All in favor? So, that closes the budget hearing and now we move to the regular agenda. have the agenda for the uh >> so there are no um modifications to the agenda for this evening's meeting. >> I move to accept the agenda as presented. >> I'll second. >> Any questions? All in favor? The uh board minutes? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? uh mission moments. >> Yes. So, we have uh the primary school uh Mrs. Dwise here with some special guests to share some things that are going on at the primary school. >> Okay. Uh good evening. for our mission moment for the primary. Um this evening we wanted to highlight our kindergarten team. Um they are
007the epitome of a collaborative PLC. They do an amazing job of working together, collaborating, and doing what's best for uh students at all times. It's hard to get just a couple people to agree, but to get all eight of them on board on every decision they make is amazing. And they they lift each other up and they work together amazingly. So I wanted to highlight them tonight. Come on up. They are very nervous. Just so you know, they they talk all day in front of five and sixyear-olds, but in front of you, they're nervous. >> So, we won't tell them that they're being live streamed. >> She already told us like two minutes ago. >> You can act like five year olds. >> Scott and I do it all the time. >> Okay. Okay, so
008they're going to kill me for going off script, but we are a great team and we work well together. Mrs. Rollwlings didn't know she would be here tonight, so she doesn't match us. She does have the shirt, I promise. All right, good evening. We are the kindergarten team. We are here this evening to deliver this month's mission moment. Um, as a team, our mission is to work together, create a cohesive, educational, and fun experience for our youngest Panthers. Collectively, our team has 138 years of experience. The majority of the team has also worked together for um Western and kindergarten for 11 years. Each week we meet as a PLC to plan, review data for the 22 students are in each class. Um and we make decisions that are in the best interest of our students.
009As a team, when we're given a task, we aim to accomplish it as efficiently as possible. One way that we approach curriculum needs, ongoing changes in educational requirements, and ever growing class sizes, and even even planning event days is through efficiency. So, working smarter, not harder, has helped shape our kindergarten team into the welloiled machine that we are today. Um, something that makes this team really great is that we delegate tasks so that not one person takes on the load alone and we feel like um, no one feels like they have to plan alone. We share lots of ideas and resources um, every week and we make sure we cover the vast needs of our students who come in because there are a lot of different experiences that they have had coming in. Um, some
010of them have had no previous exposure to letters and sounds and then we get some kids that know all their letters and sounds. So, there's quite the range that we teach. Um, we utilize all of our various strengths to break down big tasks such as our current switch to UFly um, and our grade level literacy texts as well as planning um, our big activities that we do like 50's day, Christmas and Thanksgiving stations and then we also do an end of the year math party. Um, and then within our PLC, we each have a role and a norm, and that helps our meetings be a success. We work really hard to make decisions through consensus. We focus on productive discussions geared towards solutions. We contribute equally to the meetings and the team. If you walk
011through the kindergarten halls, the hope is that you'll see students receiving the same instruction, but with a little bit of uniqueness in each classroom. And within that instruction, um, our own talents kind of shine through. >> We are the students first introduction to the school experience. And we teach more than just academics. In kindergarten and in our classrooms, we are fostering independence. We're teaching them to follow directions, which is tricky. Um, even self-care skills, which you might not think you need to teach at school, but we do. Um, and even social skills. Um, this is a responsibility that we do not take lightly or for granted at all. >> I didn't have anything prepared because I thought I was going to be at the volleyball game. So, thank you. We're all happy to be a
012part of this team for sure. >> Thank you. >> I want to say something, Mark. Does the Does the board have any questions or things that they'd like to say to the kindergarten team? >> You answer all the questions. >> Oh, Christie, thanks for staying up there. [Music] >> Hey, I got something to say. You guys are right on point. As a matter of fact, we heard this morning at a school board conference from a superintendent who's been in the business for 40 years that he said, "Find your happy place and go to it when you need to." His happy place is the kindergarten rooms. He said it's fun and chaos all together. So, thank you very much. You're doing a great job. >> Absolutely. >> Anybody else? >> Thank you. >> Yeah, sounds good.
013>> Uh employee of the paint the pride. Sorry. >> Yeah. So, if we could uh go ahead and have the intermediate school start with uh employee of the month, Carrie Warland. >> I am so happy to be up here reading this nomination for Carrie Warland. Carrie was nominated for employee of the month by um Kim Bullinger who is our speech language pathologist. She was not able to be here tonight. So I am going to read her words on behalf of Carrie. This year Carrie is allowing me Kim and our OT to push into her room during pause time. It's been a great experience. Pause time just for the record is when we are working on remediation and enrichment with our students. Um, it's been a great experience to see how she can switch up her
014instruction and the structure of her room with stations to meet the needs and learning styles of so many diverse students. We're also dealing with the challenge of navigating a new system for IEPs. Myself and others have gone to Carrie many times with questions and she's always willing to help us before or after the school day. She never shows any frustration no matter how often I have to ask how to do a certain task on the new system. even if it may be the second or the third time I've asked, I appreciate her willingness to help the special uh special education team, no matter what the task is or how challenging it may be. If this these are my words at this point, if you have ever been in the intermediate building and you have peaked
015into Mrs. Worland's room, she is a superstar. She has stations going with tons of kids with tons of different learning needs and she manages it beautifully. So, we're very happy to have her on our team. Congratulations, Carrie. We'll have to go. [Applause] Great job. This is a real full circle moment because Sherry helped hire me here like five years ago. So, I feel like I feel like I'm due to pay her back in some capacity. It's easier if I just read it off here. There's no better way to describe Sherry Hazel than her being a boots up co-orker, which is great because she's a farm girl. The amount of things that she does that her co-workers aren't even aware of is astounding. She's often running reports closing closely with our principal and shuffling things around
016behind the scenes for the betterment of all 800 plus kids and teachers here at the high school. As a lead counselor, she handles a lot of the heavy lifting with the state requirements that can easily get lost in the shuffle. Her hard work for the betterment of so many people makes Western tick. I feel like she's well overdue for getting her flowers and for all that she does for our students and staff. Congrats, Sherry. [Applause] >> Thank you for congratulations. And if we could go ahead and start with the primary school with um Delaney Young. Okay. I nominated Miss Delaney Young. It was an honor um for student of the month. Delaney is a kind, caring, responsible, and trustworthy student. Delaney has a heart of gold and makes everyone feel included. She eats lunch every
017day with a friend that can't be around peanut butter. This is at a different table than her classmates. Delaney makes sure that her friends feel special and loved. Delaney is a trustworthy and reliable student. I can always depend on her for doing the right thing and treating others in a kind way. Delaney is also a hard worker. She never backs down from a harder lesson or a challenge that I give her in the classroom. Delaney is a joy to have in class, but even more important, Delaney is the type of friend that you would love to have. Keep shining your light, Miss Delaney. [Applause] Great job. Congratulations. All right. So, I have Enzo Pursade up here. I'm going to read because Miss Wagner does not feel comfortable talking in front of everybody, which we totally
018understand. So, congratulations to Enzo Persad, who's been chosen as Western Intermediate Student of the Month by his teacher, Miss Wagner. Enzo is known for being kind, a true friend to everyone, and someone who always brings a smile with his sense of humor. He's not only funny, but he's also very bright, consistently showing curiosity and effort in the classroom. Enzo is also a natural leader, setting a positive example for his classmates through his actions, words, and attitude. His classmates and teachers appreciate the positive energy he brings each day, and his kindness is what makes Western Intermediate a better place for all. We're so proud of you, Enzo. Thank you for being a shining example of what it means to be a Panther. Congratulations. [Applause] >> Way to be congratulations. Western Middle School. >> Hi, I'm Miss
019Bezel and I'm specializing at Western Middle School and I have nominated a student who has greatly improved their attitude and school. This month is being awarded Western student as a student hates to be seen as different has shown he can overcome hard things and on the first day when our pathway students sold ice cream major growth in Z's attitude and confidence as helped Zier walk through his fears and even helped him brainstorm ideas to make him more comfortable during our ice cream sales then took the lead in organizing and selling the ice cream at lunch through all three lunches 67th and 8th Zara has a natural ability to be a leader to his pathway peers this experience experience, I believe, has helped his confidence. That day, Zire went above and beyond by changing his attitude
020and overcoming his fears. And I anticipate that Zer will continue to grow with the proper support both in and out of the classroom. Way to go, Zer. You are very deserving. Congratulations. >> All right. Western High School. >> I'm back. I'm very happy to nominate Katherine Depala for student of the month. She's one of the top students in a very competitive senior class and continues to challenge herself with dual credit and AP classes. as well as two inerson college classes at IU Cookamo. She's the speaking captain of the 7 and1 girls soccer team. I think you've had a couple games since then and was selected as a member of the returning student leadership academy for top high school students nominated for their leadership skills and potential. As a counselor, I've been very proud of her
021ability to grow in self-awareness, ask for help, think for herself, and be a good friend to many. She's intentional with her thoughts and actions and brings a desire to make every day have great value. She's an absolute joy to be around and lights up every room she's in. Congrats, Catherine. [Applause] Good job. >> All right. So, uh, let them get out here first. They didn't wait on me. It's okay. >> They know. They know. No, I'll make sure there's nobody left. Harley, >> I don't believe we had anybody on public comment, so we can uh move past that and we're up to uh G doing a presentation for us. >> Hello. Appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight. Hi, I'm Johnny Bud with Verarity. Uh we work with school districts to work on energy efficiency. Uh
022helping schools. We know if you run more efficiently then there's a cost savings in your operating budgets. So I'm going to turn it over to Arash Habibi who is our senior account executive and he will go through some uh potential solutions for Western schools to save money on their operations cost in the future. Hey everyone, it's good to see you all again. My name is Rash BBE and today we're going to go through the highlights of the final solar design cost savings uh for the project out of Western Schools. And uh before I get into the numbers and you know some pictures we want to share with you guys, I just want to say thank you to Western Schools. It's been about a month since the RFQ process ended and since that time there's been
023a lot of due diligence and final engineering and um just want to say thanks to Mark, Kyle, John, the whole main staff for giving us access and answering a lot of phone calls and questions because there's a lot of work that had to get done and we successfully did. So, thank you. I know you guys have a packed agenda today. So, um we just put together a very short, you know, highlight reel of what to expect and u we can answer your questions afterwards. So project overview summary. Uh the project scopes then include a solar project at the high school, middle school, intermediate and primary schools as well as the administration building. Total DC size across those five buildings is going to be 1,888 kilowatts DC. And the AC size, the inverter size, 1440. Project
024price 5,69,158. And the total 20-year savings is going to be 9,274,432. That's comprised of the solar savings, which is 6,344,000. The 34 34% IRA money you're going to get back um from the government, that's 1,934,000. And then there's some, you know, operational optimizations that we found your bill that you could take advantage with some rate uh switching your tariffs and all that stuff. over 20 years that totals 954,000. And then while the solar is running, you guys are going to develop things called SRA, solar renewable energy creds that you can sell to Ohio, the state government because they have like a renewable energy portfolio that that they got me and they just buy the credits from you guys. It's not a lot, but something. And that's $40,811. So, a quick design overview of what what
025we have at the five schools. So here's the high school and middle school solar design. So at the high school we got 538 kilowatts DC, 48 AC. The middle school has 611 DC over there. At the intermediate school got 319 kilowatts DC over those roofs and those are you know currently wrapping up. Uh your roofing project there is currently wrapping up. So perfect timing to add solar there. Same with the primary school 210 kilowatts DC there and at the administration you got 210 as well. So that's really all I had. Um I know it's a very high level summary and it was quick but I want to take this opportunity to answer your questions. So thank you. >> I have a question. >> Sure. >> Have that on here. Right. I thought we couldn't sell.
026I thought it was we couldn't sell our solar >> back to I think we were talking about Duke. You couldn't sell back to Duke anymore, but you're saying you can sell to Ohio. >> Yeah. So, the the solar renewable energy credits. So, every 1,000 kilowatt hours of solar you produce is one SRA. Think of it as like a token. And then there's states and governments and you know corporations out there that want to meet like a renewable energy portfolio and they buy those tokens from you essentially and there's like an open market for it that they you sell through a marketplace and you get revenue off of it. So it's pretty interesting stuff but stuff that's available to you guys then you should take advantage of it. >> Do we have to be a part
027of any kind of like commission or anything like that to be able to to sell it? Like do we have to be part of some I know you were just talking about like it's on a free market if you will. Yeah. When it comes to that, but do we have to be involved with anything or anything that we need to do from our side? >> Yeah. So the there's there's like a brokerage that we use. It's called trade. That's what we typically recommend to all of our clients and they do have a fee structure involved for like the actual brokerage and transactions and we include that into the price that we calculate. So what that 40,000's the net expected revenue you guys get after fees and stuff. But in terms of the actual management part
028of our measurement verification when we look at your guys's production kind of the source we'll take those numbers and get to trade and they'll mint the token and sell it when Ohio. >> So great question. >> Are other school districts in Indiana doing that currently? >> Yep. 100% they all do. >> I think it was Wayne Township. I saw a presentation yesterday. Oh yeah, we're talking about >> Yeah. When No, Wayne Township. >> Wayne, >> MSE, Wayne. >> Okay. >> So, they talked about the life expectancy of the 10 years for the like I think they can't think of the word. >> I believe he's probably talking about the connectors or the inverters. >> The inverters. >> Inverters. Thank you. >> So, they said it was priced in one replacement because it wouldn't last 20
029years. Is that what we have? >> Yeah. that when we did that first MSE white township that was back in like 2016 2017 they didn't have a extended warranty at the time so the standard warranty was 10 years which is priced in replacement but now the company the company offers a full 20 year >> warranty so that is priced in factored >> okay >> so I think it's ironic that we are getting a risk done at the right time to get a rebate which that's what we're looking at too the rebate money from the federal So if we make the decision fast enough, we're still in time to get the rebates by the end of the year. Is that correct? >> Okay. >> That was a very serendipitous timing. >> Yeah, definitely. >> Project. >>
030So the other thing they mentioned is the storage towers. So I guess they have some storage units >> to store the electricity that they can't use at that time. Is that you? >> So talking about the MC wind project. >> Yeah. So >> or anybody doesn't have to be them. >> Yeah. So I mean Wayne the solar they installed it early enough where they were still getting net metering with the full retail credit for whatever produced but given their rate schedule at as Indiana some well most of the like high the high school the middle school the elementary schools um it got more demand heavy versus like energy heavy. So we installed batteries there to do like demand heat shavings. So that's what those batteries are for the township. >> So with this our capacity,
031are there times of the day or times of the year when we will generate more or we could generate more electricity than we need? I assume. >> Yeah. So part of our analysis, you know, we in our design, we were careful to what we call like base load. >> Yeah. >> Your building. So we we never want to go like more than like 70 75% annual consumption because in the summer you're going to produce a lot more. Yeah, >> there's going to be some that you push back. They'll get like the wholesale credit for I think it's like two three cents now. >> We really try to size in a way that you're using as much as possible like internally to the buildings and not so that's all factored in design. >> One of the
032things they mentioned that they were hopeful that because there's such a demand for electricity, it's going up so much because of data centers and electric vehicles that they might actually go back to buying that energy back because they need it. They can't build infrastructure fast enough. >> I agree with you. >> So, one thing you pointed out was over $400,000 savings and I think in a 20-year span in regards to what we currently pay, I think. >> So, when it comes to operational costs and and Kyle, you may have to lean in here. Is there can we break it down so everyone's like is it saving us 30%, 40% on a yearly basis when it comes to operational costs that we could reduce or I forget what that percent was that we were >> and
033I think one of the things that might make that a little bit of a challenge is we don't know what the rate increase is going to be. >> Okay. >> Um from a a standpoint like is it a 5% increase? Is it a 12% increase? So, some of that might be unpredictable, at least from my vantage point. You may have better answer than that, Arash, >> because I know we're not going to get to a point where we're at hitting and reducing all operating costs, of course, based on what we're doing, but it's to decrease the amount of cost that we're currently. >> So, how much increase in the rate that we are charged is baked into your numbers? >> Yeah. So we did a 5% escalation factor on the electricity >> per year. 5%
034per year. >> 5% per year which um I mean from the day we're seeing is pretty conservative. That's what you know Lean's using at Valo. They actually finance the project. They didn't use B financing and they're using the savings to pay off the financing payment and they thought 5% was very conservative. I know in our numbers that you see here, these are based on the actual rates that you guys were paying for last year. Since that time, you guys have had like another rate increase this year. I think it was like 12%. You guys are going to have like another 4% next year. >> Doing our own internal, you know, study history of just like rate escalations. Duke, Indiana, in the past 25 years, they went 15 years with no rate increases whatsoever. within the
035past five years they've had two this last one being like the third one so the frequencies becoming a lot more common you know the magnitude is becoming a lot more higher and just like looking forward as you mentioned like TV >> they're really going to have to you know upgrade all the transmission lines the distribution they have to generate more capacity and you know they're just pass those costs on to us so that's how they're making >> so some of our other energy projects they had guaranteed savings. I don't think we have that in this. Do we? >> No, this is a guaranteed >> in the winter when it snows. >> Um I've heard that you have to clean off the solar panels. Is that something that we our school is responsible for? Is that
036part of our service agreement with you? So the interesting thing about solar and snow is that depending on how much it depresses like that, but over time when the sun comes out like we'll start heating up the modules and it'll actually like melt the snow off the but depending on like how much it snows it might take longer some days than not. But really there's no need to like go up onto the roof for like wipe anything off or brush off snow or anything like that. So um not a big concern but if we have like a 100redyear blizzard maybe Yeah, we will >> might have to come out and push some snow off for the savings and all that stuff, but >> knock on wood, not yet. >> I think one thing to point
037out is number one, it is going on the roofs. It's not an external part that we've seen at some of the the high schools and so forth. And I think the second part is uh you know, like Eastern for example, many may not know, but they actually have solar panels on top of their buildings and you would visually never see it. Um so I think that's a good call out as well. >> Yeah. Thank you. So, if you don't have any other questions, what we'll do is we'll assess this information, give you some time to ingest it, chew it up, and um what we'll probably need to do then is um have a special session, I would say, in the next couple weeks, uh to decide if this is a contract that we'd like to
038sign and move forward with. with that timeline in mind of that that rebate um to get from government. >> So you mentioned before is about five acres. Is that still true? >> Yeah, thereabouts. >> That's five acres on top of the roofs, not on the ground. >> Correct. >> So that's great. Which is wonderful. >> That we will see. >> All right. Well, thank you guys. Thank you guys for coming down. >> Thanks. >> Oh, it's perfect timing talking about Senate Bill one. >> All right. So, um, on the next part of our agenda, um, I have Mr. Zan going to just review kind of a reader digest version of some of the information that we've already shared with you with Mr. uh Quacam Bush um and Steifold just to kind of just refresh our
039memory because it's a lot. I know many of you were at the uh board training uh down in Indianapolis and I know uh there were a number of different individuals talking about this and so we just thought it'd be good to keep it in front of all of us. So quick presentation here as Mark detailed on be one slide of the SCA1 impact. I think that'll be review for most of us but I think it is also one of those things the more we hear it the more we're able to internalize it the more we can communicate it out to the public. Uh and then we'll go into about three four slides on the potential bond financing that we want to bring to your attention and continue to talk about over the coming months. Uh
040first with the the SEA1 key points and these have been shared with you before. Uh one sea 1 introduces a series of taxpayer deductions over the next six years that will reduce our net assessed value over that period of time. Two, to meet our desired levies, our tax rate will need to increase over time as NAV is eroded by deductions. Now, we did get a gift, if you will, and that RAV spiked 10 and a half% from 2025 to 2026. We thought we'd see an increase. Not that big of one because of that. These first two points this first year didn't happen. Uh but over time with the SEA1 impact being rolled in every year, we will start to see this NAV erode and our tax rate feeling the pressure upward pressure as a result.
041The third point, a strate strategic shift is needed from managing to a tax rate to managing to a levy. And then fourth, our debt service tax rate is likely to exceed the 70cent threshold in the future, which would require a referendum approval for future bond funded capital projects. Now, again, because our AB rose from 25 to 26, our tax rate actually went down just a little bit. So, it gives us some breathing room between that 70 cents. But as we progress into this sea one implementation, we will feel this upward pressure and something we'll have to continue to monitor. To the right of this slide, and I won't read through this word for word, but in conversations with the board, it was mentioned that, you know, we as the board, you as the board needed
042a an elevator speech of sorts, a summary of how you could explain it. So within this, this provides kind of conversationally uh something that you can read over, look back to, reference to as you are having conversations with the community on what we are accomplishing or having to address in the the coming years. I'll just I told you I wouldn't read it word for word. Uh that last paragraph I will though. In short, while nothing immediately is urgent, Western faces mounting long-term financial pressures that will require careful monitoring. uh community communication and potentially tough decisions in the coming years. We are fortunate because you've probably talked to school districts at ISBA who they're feeling it in the here and now uh and they are in dire circumstances and they're not alone. We're fortunate that we're
043not in that position, but we are going to feel the heat, feel the pressure in the coming years, so we'll have to continue to plan and to monitor. >> Yes, >> Kyle. You put in here that um the state law steadily lowers net assessed values on homes. >> The deduction steadily will decrease those. Yes. >> Now, I heard I read I don't know what I saw, but that the tax rate is lowering, but when we got our assessed values on our property, >> they raised by quite a bit this year. >> But you're saying they're going to lower? overall AVs rose and that's why we saw our net AV rise as well and that's why our tax rate actually went down but over time span as these tax credits are rolled in and in full
044effect then we are going to see our net AV decrease feel that pressure which will then put upward pressure on our tax rate >> so I think the assessed value still goes up but there are deductions that bring it back down >> assessed value is not controlled by the state it will continue to rise But the deductions that take assessed value, gross AV to net A, net AV, which is more important to us for tax rate purposes, uh will be eroded is the word I keep coming back to. Uh and we'll feel the pressure as a result of that. >> It just feels to me like the state will wake up and say, "Yeah, that's not going to work." >> I'm more afraid that they're going to talk to taxpayers who are going to tell
045them, "We didn't see the tax breaks that you promised. more needs to be done which will be good for Joe and Susie taxpayer but for the taxing units mainly schools uh we could face increased hardships as a result >> and as we've talked you know over time a $300 credit $150 credit accumulated over a large number of people is the gap that we we suffer from um something at one of the ISBA breakouts um that they talked about when it came to SEA1 impacts is also like in our summary of the elevator speech changing the dialogue of an expense to an investment. like we are investing in our community by investing in our school and investing in our children and not look at it as so much as an expense that we're paying each year
046in property taxes. So just something to think about. I thought that was a really interesting way to look at it as an investment. So something you could add to that summary. >> Right. Before I ask Lord to move the next slide, I'm going to come back to that third key point where I say a strategic shift is needed from managing to a tax rate to managing to a levy. And then the next slide, we will see a bar graph here of what our current debt service levy uh is projected to do in the coming years. And we see a slight increase from 25 to 26. That's because our AV increased more, a little bit more than what we expected. And then we see the drop off in the coming years as we have debt falling
047off. Uh this fall off in the debt could result from payments that we've you know finalized made our final payment. Uh it also can result in the payments for certain bonds decreasing over time which was a you know planned strategic move on our part. Uh as this debt falls off we have the option to again maintain that strategy of maintaining the levy. That's where we would do additional projects and sell bonds. And then the next chart will show what this could look like. Uh again, trying to implement the strategy of maintaining a consistent levy. Uh using our starting point for 2026. The blue bars would be the proposed 2026 selling of bonds. That would maintain that levy for the next couple years. And then in 29 we'd have the next fall off which we'd sell
048bonds around 2028 for to maintain that. Uh this is just proposed at this time. We'll work with our financial team to kind of plot this out of when we want that debt fall off in the coming years to give this board or future boards options to do projects down the road. Now, as far as these two projects that we want to go into detail a little bit more today for 2026 and then what I'll call the 2028 through 2030 bond, we'll move to the next slide. >> Hey Kyle, real quick. >> Yeah, >> on that debt service levy slide on the previous slide there, Laura. One question I have a a call out on is when you're looking at Yes, we have the debt following off and I know of course we're adding debt to
049it. What would be the impact to a taxpayer? It depends on it's going to be on an individual basis. Okay. I mean there's the macro level. What happens to AV? Then what happens to their AV? Where are you know their credits? I have to see >> okay >> that individual taxpayer to answer that question. And and that's something too that they shared um in one of the breakout sessions, how so many things are parcel by parcel anymore and and district by district because what may impact us here at Western just depending and specifically on, >> you know, the one individual taxpayer could be completely different in another school district as compared to here. So you may hear something from, you know, a neighboring school district, but it might not actually apply to us. So it's
050it's going to be very parcel to parcel. That's why we are starting to work with policy analytics on on some of that data as well. >> And I think it's very important to notice on that slide four though, the next slide over, >> that we're not adding debt that already exists. We're waiting for it to drop off to then go to that. So we're not going over that threshold, if you will. So >> yeah and again that goes to that third point on the previous slide of >> implementing a strategy moving away from the tax rate to managing the levy. >> All right so going in detail a little bit more on these two proposed projects and bonds uh 2026 uh would be the first one selling in 26 and then in the 2028 to
0512030 we'd have some flexibility there would be the next one. Uh I'll start with the 2026 bond. The purpose being to continue to address the operational needs as identified in our feasibility study and enhance the learning and athletics environment to ensure that Western students have a safe, modern, welcome equipped facilities that support both academic excellence and extracurricular success. The projected amount for this will be 6 to 7 million in the coming weeks. We'll try to nail that down more specifically of what that amount will be. the proposed projects that we've discussed in the past, the intermediate school classroom renovations, the high school chiller replacement, and then outdoor facility enhancements. And then for the 2028 project, uh, purpose would be to provide district-wide facilities renovations, repairs, upgrades, and equipment purchases that address operational needs identified in
052our feasibility study and ongoing assessments, particularly those that may no longer be covered through the operations fund. And here we're looping in the conversation of the SCA1 impact. Now, this is kind of unique because if we were planning to sell bonds this far in advance, typical practice would be well, we'll get permission uh when that time comes. However, because of the uncertainty that exists within the legislature and changes that may come, we feel that it is best to go ahead and kind of get grandfathered into the current set of rules and go ahead and get permission to sell these bonds now. So it is there if and when we need it and then we wouldn't plan to use it until that need arose. Hopefully not until 2028. But it's again it's there if and when
053we need it. The projected amount uh we think we'll go for the max for this without doing a referendum which is 1% of our gross AV. So $16,77,89. the proposed projects uh being pretty broad to be determined on an ongoing basis carefully factoring the realized impact of SCA1 while proactively addressing the evolving needs of our aging campus. >> And just something to add to that, that one we would be giving the authorization to sell. We would not actually be selling those bonds for that amount. The one on the left obviously we would sell for the current project. And so gives us a little bit of that flexibility that Kyle talked about. >> So I think I'd like to see that in the wording is it in the boxes what Mark just said. >> Okay. >>
054So and also too the one for 2026 those uh renovations and improvements that's on facilities that's 40 years old. Correct. I mean that's part of our issue. We've got stuff that's becoming so old now we've got to do some renovations like that chiller they talked about. It could take a year to replace that, wait for it to come in. So, we can't wait till it fails. >> And I'm just trying to clarify that >> those are things that need to be dealt with because this time our age of our buildings have reached that point that we've got to address them. >> In theory, the chiller replacement would probably take place over the winter of 26, >> okay, >> to turn on, >> like spring break of 27. >> Okay. So, like because we'll want to
055keep the chiller on over the summer time. So, it's a it's a good time to do a project and also to be able to place the order, get the chiller in. But, we'd probably do that over the winter of 26 >> to have it commissioned and full go by the spring of 27 when it starts getting hot. >> That's out there. >> But, I mean, we have been doing this. I mean there's more to do but we have done a lot of that particularly in the HVAC area >> over the last few years. >> Sure. >> And a lot of costsaving measures too that go through. >> All right. Timeline for getting approval for these two bonds uh is more extensive than this but to kind of address the kind of the alligator near this
056vote. Uh the first three steps would be our next three board meetings. There'll be some things going on in between here, but so that you're ready for conversations that we'll have within these board meetings. Uh in October, the board would authorize publication of the notice for the 1028 preliminary determination public hearing for both bonds. In the November board meeting, we would hold the first hearing for both bonds. And then in the December board meeting, we would hold the second hearing and adopt the reimbursement determination resolutions declaring a need for each of the pod projects, making preliminary determination to enter into an amendment to lease to finance each of the projects and declare intent to reimburse preliminary expenditures from the bond proceeds. Also, during this time, uh we'll be partnering with a design criteria developer. The
057law requires that we have a licensed architect that guides us through the process of choosing the company that we partner with uh in a design build delivery method for the 2026 project. So in the ne November board meeting, you can anticipate appointing a technical review committee that is necessary for this as well as hiring a design criteria developer. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you for that. Let's go. >> Yeah. >> Good. All right. While you're going back up, Alex, I think we're up to the reports for director of finance. >> Last one, then I'll be done. In the month balance that you're going to see here is $18,677,451.74. Uh investments that we have in CDs has not changed. Our next round of CDs do come due at the end of this month. Total though
058is still 3,555,837. The interest that we earned in August from the bank account, $68,5724. So fund totals with the the CDs added back in total 22,233,288.74. The payroll claims being submitted for your approval total 1,27,840. As a reminder, August was one of our two three pay months. Vendor claims being submitted for your approval. Total $1,987,97612. If you have any questions, more than happy to answer. Otherwise, you've received my supporting documentation. I submit for your approval. >> Any questions? for sorry motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Now that we have any questions. >> All in favor? >> Thank you, Kyle. >> Yep. >> To bring up new agenda. Lindsay, >> uh, good evening. Um, you have the opportunity to look at my report. Um, lots of different happenings in my office over the last month.
059um we were able to um exit about four of our EEL students from the program and they'll just be monitored by the teacher of record. So that's really great news um that they've had success with their WEITA scores. Um, as far as title, um, I met with the primary and intermediate buildings just to go over kind of the backstory of what happens with title and what my job is as far as collecting data and proof that we're through the desktop monitoring, which is proof of what we're doing and um, I felt like that was very helpful. They hadn't seen that before. So, I felt like that was a very good conversation. Um, and we also, um, talked about looking into moving towards schoolwide versus targeted, um, just so that we can focus in on more
060students, um, and and their needs. Um, I've worked on a title budget as well, and that's submitted. Right now, I'm working on title four. Um, high ability. Um, we have communicated with teachers on, um, the Indiana high ability conference. It's coming up in December. We have several teachers that are going to go to that. So, that's a great thing, too. Um, we also sent out just this last week the broad-based planning committee um, plan for when that date is. It's sometime here in October. We're going to meet with those teachers and and the people on that committee to kind of talk through how things are going and what we want to do moving forward. Um, special education, a lot of case conferences. Um, our power school special programs is still kind of a thorn in
061our side. Um, just trying to get through all the webinars and the updates that are happening daily with that. Um, and then we've also started our Medicaid billing for our speech and language therapy. Um, and so I'm excited to see kind of where that goes and and how that all works out. Um, as far as testing, um, we have the I learn checkpoint window that just opened Monday. Um, that goes through October 4th, I think. And so we're, you know, slowly working on those practice tests this week and I think we're going to start those checkpoints here in the next couple weeks. Any questions on my report? Real quick on the high ability standpoints, how many because I know Ann Taylor just retired of course this past year. >> Do we have anyone that replaced
062her? >> Not we did. We had a teacher replace her, but she does not have a high ability. >> That was my next question. >> Y >> any other questions? >> Craig. >> Yes. Good evening. Uh couple things I want to highlight. um on my report. We finally got our um cases in. Um this has kind of been something that's been challenging since the start of school. With our enrollment up, um I didn't want to buy when we were talking about the purchasing of the devices. I didn't want to buy too many cases to have sit around. So with our enrollment up, we had more students than we did cases for the keyboards. So those have they were on back order. We finally got those today. So that is something that um we've been working
063through. it's been kind of very difficult um shuffling things around. So that that is a good thing. Um a couple other things I want to mention. We're getting ready for -ate which is I've mentioned in uh previous years it is a um it's a federal funding that is on utility bills on actually um communication utility bills universal service charge and it has to do with our free and reduced rate. Um we get discounts on on internet. We get discounts on hardware for networking for um firewall and and items like that. Um with um coming up it starts we start looking for different projects to do um here in probably this month and next month. Um we're looking at upgrading our internet bandwidth as well from a gig hopefully to two gigs coming up soon. found
064that we've been um capping um we've been we've been hitting the maximum we have in the mornings when students come in um when they're updating their iPads. So, we're looking at doing that, looking at upgrading some new switches and licensing for our access points coming up in the next year or so. Um that'll be budgeted into the technology budget. It won't come from a special project, if you will. Um funding. Also, I wanted to give a little um exciting news. Barrycom is finishing the install of fiber that will be to the press box um for football games. They're going to be using Huddle Cam. That's kind of I've been working with um Mr. Heyman on that. So, we're going to be actually um he's worked with them. They traded advertisement for the the bearing of
065the fiber. So, that'll allow us to provide a good quality connection to the press box and then eventually hopefully out further to some other sports areas as well. area that's been um one, it's very expensive to be able to to get network out there. So, it's um it's a good trade-off, I guess, and good partnership. Um I know I've mentioned Barrycom quite a bit in the last few years and they've been working um to try to get that done. So, um and you know, as Lindsay mentioned, we've been doing getting ready for testing and um day-to-day items. Any questions for me? That was a lot. Do we have extra cases on hand breaking? So, >> I'm sorry. >> It mentions they they break when you drop them. So, >> yes. Oh, that was one other
066thing I wanted to mention. So, there was a a defect in that. Um they are actually as they are being dropped and broken, they are shipping us new ones for free to swap in and now and the students are not charged for those. >> Okay. And we have some in stock. Okay. >> So, we've been as we Yes. And they've actually been sending us new ones and they've redesigned them. So, it was a it was a defect on their part. So, we've been working with Logitech on that and they've been uh very helpful to uh to to get those um back in our hands quickly. So, >> yeah. >> Any other questions? >> No. Thanks for bringing that up. >> Thank you. >> Uh Barrett, your turn. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Gaskins. Good
067morning to or good evening to everybody. Oh, mercy. >> We're not starting this day over again. No, we're not. Uh thank you and good evening to everybody. Uh couple updates on um uh my office here. Uh was uh grateful that we had our emergency preparedness committee uh meeting on the 10th. Uh thank you to Mr. Dyer for attending. Appreciate that. And we had a few others that were also there in attendance. Um pending your approval here in just a little bit. We'll submit that to the state. Um but that's always something nice that we try to review every year. Uh we'll also be having our Alice lockdown uh drill for the corporation on the 30th of this month. We'll be sending out an all call to parents to let them too. And that'll look a
068little bit different in each building. Um just based on those students and their age level. We don't want to we don't want to scare them. It's something unfortunately we have to do every year. So we're prepared. Um on transportation, uh a couple things have been going on. It's usually pretty busy beginning of the year. Um, our fall bus evacuation was completed on September 4th. So, appreciate all our drivers and uh the buildings being patient with us as we completed that. Also, big thanks to the primary for allowing us to come over and do our kindergarten bus safety. Um, that's always nice uh for those kindergarteners. For some of them, this is the first time obviously they're on the bus, so it's good to teach them um and go over some things so they're aware. So,
069big thanks to the drivers and the teachers for helping out with that. Also, we had our 12-year and older bus inspection that was conducted on the 9th of this month, and we uh passed through the Indiana State Police. So, big thanks to all of our drivers and our bus mechanics who work very hard. Um, also wanted to just review with you guys some just preliminary data. Um, I know it's the beginning of the school year. Um, but I just wanted to share that with you guys. Right now, a lot of the buildings are doing a lot of benchmark work. Uh, so they're testing kids to kind of see where they're at exactly. um and where their growth is. Um I can tell you that with NWA, I know over at the intermediate school, um they're
070going to be working on checkpoints. So, a lot of the NWA uh will not reflect there. And then in the high school, we've just got so many kids taking so many different classes. Um it really isn't it it's hard to look at that, but I will focus here uh just a little bit on the primary and the middle school. Um I I've shown you guys this before, but it's always nice to kind of look here in the fall um where we're at. This would just be math. And again, keep in mind this is just a snapshot. This is just a benchmark of where the kids are at right now here and now. Um whenever you can look here, beginning this right here, this 57th percentile, this is you're looking at the entire building in the
071primary. So you're looking at roughly about 518 kids right now. They're coming in at the 57th percentile, which is is is really good. Um they're right here. And ultimately our hope and our goal is by the time we look again in the spring that these kiddos have grown into this 80th percentile right here, which is is very doable, especially when you're already at the 60th percentile. Um you can drill this down then by grade level and see where they're at. Um but again, you're getting a lot of these kids um you know, a lot of them over the summer there there is a drop um in scores which I think you guys know. Um but all in all very very impressed with these numbers. Um and we will see them go and and the teachers
072can access this and they can click on these and they can drill down to their kids. They can drill down to where their deficiencies are. It'll even give them recommendations on things that they can work with them on. So that's something that we value a lot. I know I've showed this to you guys quite a bit, but I at least want you guys to see kind of what we do and what we use. Also, one of the great purchases that we've made, and I'm using my kids just for confidentiality because I don't mind. Um, you we see all the kids, all right? All their kids' names are here, but the the beautiful thing about this is um this pivot data warehouse pulls in things that we would take a person hours to do. So this
073compiles, for example, our our son, he is is a junior this year. If I look at NWA as a teacher, I can look from his 10th grade year at where he's at in all these different categories all the way down to when he was a kindergartener. >> So from many aspects, you you can go through this and it will show you where the kids are deficient. Are you doing something that's helping them? Is it not helping them? So just a very valuable tool that we're blessed here at Western to have. And again, I mean, you can look at iLearn, you can look at I read, you can look at Kogat, you can look at SAT, you can look at PSAT. I mean, it just goes on and on, but this is a great warehouse for
074our teachers and staff to look to um see what we can do to help our kids. So um that's my report uh for now. I got some more talking to do, but pending your questions. Um that is my report for this month. Is there a way for a parent to get access to that? >> So I I would say re Yeah, you reach out to your teacher. You >> don't I I would love to have that. Trust me, I'm the parent that checks my kids. >> Yes. No. Yeah. Um so I would say to access this No, they they um you know, if you ever have a conference, I'd say with a with you know, you always that's what we always try to encourage is to share with the parents. >> Any other questions? >>
075Thank you, Barry. >> Yeah, my pleasure. >> Mark Just thank you. Uh just a couple highlights. Um you know, we've started our WDA and um administrative bargaining, uh pre-bargaining. So, we've been meeting as a team. Um and we had a meeting last week. So, I just appreciate Kyle and Barrett and Andrew and Cindy uh for sitting in on that team as we will meet again on the 24th. Um and we have all day session planned for bargaining on the 24th. So thank you to the team there. Um we did conduct um the first survey for our uh tied into our strategic plan. Um I will share some of that information with you all uh here with an executive summary. Um I'll hand that stuff out to you uh tonight uh for you to look at
076and review. Um also um we hosted a western uh retired teacher lunchon. Um a group of uh retired teachers wanted a space and so they came in and it was a great turnout. Um Jill, I don't know if you know how many were there, but it was cool to pop in and I popped in a couple times and got to talk to some of the retired teachers. So that was really a special event there. And also uh just a thank you to the board for attending the ISBA conference with me. Um not a lot of school boards go and so thank you for being invested um in professional development. Um you know you heard a number of times even from um we had a great keynote speaker say that this is a thankless job. So
077thank you for doing a thankless job. really appreciate uh all that you do and your willingness to drive down to Indianapolis multiple times to attend that conference. And then something that's not on my report, I do want to give a shout out to Laura. We had a lot of Neiola policies. >> We have been transitioning over to diligent community. There's just a lot going on. And so, thank you for the time and efforts that you've put in to do all of those things. um making us more efficient and u and I know we have little bugs that we're working through um but we'll squash those bugs and we'll be smooth sailing cooking with gas here before you know it. So um but that's that's my report. I'm open to answering any questions you may have
078questions. >> Thank you Mark. Uh see rep curricular review. >> Okay. Um this is just a 30-day review. We we started the 30-day review for human sexuality curriculum uh with the high school. Obviously, we don't have 30 days in between our board meeting. So, that will go into um approval for next month. The middle school has theirs now for uh 30-day review. that is uh C CPR which is creating positive relationships. It's what they've used probably for the past decade or so. Um but we're here to review that um over the next 30 days which will actually push us into two board meetings like the other one because um next month we are a week earlier because of fall break. So we're on the second Tuesday of the month. But this is just uh to
079ask for your approval to um start the 30-day review. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? >> Watch that video on here. >> Any any other questions? >> All in favor? >> Emergency preparedness plan. Thank you very much, Mr. Gaskins. I'm just presenting to you guys a school u emergency preparedness plan that we reviewed with our committee. Um first 90 days of school, the the law dictates that we have to do that and then uh pending your approval, I will submit that to the state. >> I'll make a motion to approve the plan. >> Second. Any questions? All in favor? I think you're up again. The Homeland Security Grant. >> Yes. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Gaskins. Um happy to report to the board that we were approved for a matching security grant um by
080the uh Homeland Security. Um this year it was an increase which we always enjoy. Um so that was 92,4 Excuse me. I'm sorry I can't see very good. >> 92,000 >> 92,400 and is that 85 95 Thank you. $95.38. Um and again this helps us with our resource officers and uh paying them throughout the year. So um pending your questions. I wanted to report that to you guys and u get approval. >> I'll make a motion to accept the homeland security grant. >> Second. >> Any questions? >> So how much of our budget does that cover? >> That covers all of it for them. Yes. >> So do we typically budget money for that? counting not counting on this or we >> so per the grant we have to do 50% from our funds and
081then they match that 50%. >> Okay. >> We don't know every year how much it's going to be a little challenge for you to budget. >> It it can be uh we just I try to look at what the trend has been. Um and a lot of times they will they'll give us a little bit of a hint on how it's going but yeah it can be tough to do that. And then also, and please correct me if I'm wrong on this, but the matching part as well does not necessarily have to be with the salaries. It could be a security upgrade or something along those lines as well. So, >> so if we would replace doors >> for a security upgrade, that could technically >> work in that space as well. But, uh, yeah,
082I think >> when I started seven years ago, I think we were getting around $50,000. And so we've seen a nice steady increase becoming a little bit more aggressive in our ask and so that's been really encouraging. >> Any other questions? All in favor? Barrett off road school bus loading. >> Yes. Um I know this is always a fun one every year for everybody. Uh >> he's not here. So >> well that is a good point. Um just uh we so we we speak with all of our drivers every year about where uh you know some safe spots are for off-road um pickup. Now keep in mind a lot of these are going to be um on US 31. Um I can tell you that we do have stop arm violations on the left and
083sometimes on the right side of the bus. >> So the closer we can get our bus door to the curb, the better. Um, and that's why a lot of these are on here. Now, some of these are just pulling into maybe um, you know, Crossroads Church. And what this means is our drivers can pick up without using their their reds, their red lights on and their stop arm because a lot of these like there when we're pulling into um, you know, a lot of these churches, it it it's not necessary because we're pulling right up to the curb. Um, so I wanted to try to provide pictures just from from last year um with you guys. Um, again, this is what is considered best practice when you talk to anybody in the school bus world.
084Um, this is not something that we use at every stop. Um, I would say a lot of our stops we try to pick up our kids on the door side, which is um, not a requirement, but it's something that we try to do on the state and major highways. That is a requirement. But I just want to present that to you guys um for your approval this year. >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> Any questions? >> So at Lowe's, that's for our out of district students, I assume. >> Um Lowe's. Yeah, it can it can be that's one that I know sometimes we will have students who Yes. To answer your question, that is where we pick up there. In the past, we've had had the like the blind school or the deaf school
085meet us there and pick up sometimes, but we don't have any of those students as of right now. >> Can you talk a little bit about some of the stop arm violations? >> Sure. Yeah, I'd love to, Cindy. Um, so I'd say on average we have about three or four a day. Um, the the nice thing um with our buses is I would say our fleet has increased um to have outside cameras. So our our drivers will radio and when they hit a button on their bus, it will trigger the camera to automatically take a snapshot. So um which is nice because it will then from that time point record 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after. Um then Cindy in the transportation office will fill out a probable cause affidavit. After she looks at
086the video, she'll get the plate number. We'll work with our SRO's who then will get match the plate to the car in the make. uh we'll send it to uh Judge Tate, his superior court. Um and he will send them a ticket. Um now, if they don't want to pay that ticket or they want to challenge it, which does happen about every month, um I go to stop I go to uh traffic court and they show them the video and there's really not much they can say. Um a lot of times they will try to say, "Well, I wasn't driving the car." It doesn't matter if it's license entitled in your name. you're the one that's responsible for it, unless the person who was driving it wants to come forward and say they were driving
087it, which sometimes does happen. Um, I I will tell you that sometimes we've had our own students sometimes do it. Um, depending on the situation, I sometimes try to make that a learning moment for them and their parents and I'll have them come in and set with me and we'll watch it. Um, because I don't necessarily want them to, you know, get into the system already by doing something like that. Um but again that that is um that is it in a nutshell. We're very lucky here. Um just this week um a lot of our SRO's the Howard County Sheriff's Department, Cooko Police Department will ask me, "Hey, give me some buses and some areas where there's a lot of stop arm violations and the police will actually follow our buses and they'll catch them."
088Um yeah, they'll catch them quite a bit. Especially some of our hot spots are um over where the venue or the old UAW hall is in Cooko there on Alto um and Park Road. Uh that's an intersection right there that we just get a lot. Yeah, >> one of the things that and Barrett hit it right on the head, the venue right there at that stoplight and everything is is a hot spot for years and um a lot of it just has to do with people not knowing the rules of driving. So if you have two lane two two-lane roads and there's no divider like a median or grass or pavement or or cement, you have to stop, you know. But if you go on Webster where there's a grass median, you don't have to
089stop. Just like on um the 31 when you have an off-road load, which I've driven that route before, and you get completely off of 31 and you're using your hazard lights, we still have people stop. >> You know, there's no stop arm out, but people are stopping because of the hazards. And so, a lot of it is just not knowing the law. And and Barrett has put worked with Craig and put some of that explanation on our website. Like if you get on our website, there's an actual like diagram of the rules, you know, it's just people just don't really know the rules and it's that's what's frightening behind it. Now, the the stories of people trying to pass on the right side of the road, that's just that's just wrong and that's just negligence
090on the driver's behalf there. >> Mayor, did you request the signs? >> Yes. Yeah, we sure >> really appreciate. Yeah, we we tried to get them to get like the ones that maybe you've seen out there that have like the LED around it, but those are very costly right now about 2,000 aside. So, um but they're powered by solar, but the we worked with the highway department and they they did do those. So, we were very appreciative and they did that right there along the venue. So, if you guys are looking they're kind of a green neon color. >> Um so, >> any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I think this is your last one. Barrett bus purchases. >> Um I think you guys uh did you guys vote on offroad? >> Well,
091I said approval, so I'm just asking. >> Um you don't have to. That's fine with me. We have we haven't voted for the off >> Oh, sorry. Yeah. All in favor? >> Yeah. All in favor? >> All in favor? I'm sorry. Long conversation. My bad. All in favor. >> Remember saying so now it's >> Sorry. Uh thank you. I appreciate that. Um, appreciate you guys approving the uh the the school bus uh approval. So, I'm I'm coming to you guys with uh a recommendation to purchase uh two 78 passenger international diesel buses. Um we have two that are aging that um with international they have agreed to take off of our hands and give us a little bit of money um which is always nice. So that way we don't have to go on public
092surplus and try to sell those. They are willing to give us $3,000 a bus. So, that is a win for us, Jill. Um, instead of the thousand that we usually get. >> So happy. >> I know. Uh, and again, the the buses, uh, I wish I could tell you that there was there was a market and that we could go. I've I've looked into to possibly looking at leasing, but in in the end, um you know, we have our own mechanic here, so when we buy our buses, um they're wellmaintained um and we are able to utilize those and get get a long very long um longevity when you lease. Also, you have to be careful with mileage um which we do put a lot on out here. Um so for those two buses um
093just looking for your approval um to buy two new school buses. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? >> Yeah. So we've gone from 66 passengers to now 78 passengers. >> We actually have uh so to answer your question, Greg, we actually have 84 passenger ones. Really? And those are the snub-nosed ones. We take a lot of those. Um those are out east of town with a lot of our neighborhoods. Um, if we're going to football games, sometimes they take, well, they take two of those. Um, so yeah, the 78 passengers are your conventional what you usually see rolling down the road. Okay. >> Yeah, they >> I I would I would put a asterisk next to that. That's probably 78 kindergarteners. >> Yes, that is very true. >> Because if you try to
094fit 78 seniors, um, it it's going to be really really tight. So, technically, we go about two per seat, especially for the high school, middle school. So 78 ends up being about a 54 passenger somewhere around there. >> Barrett, with the additions that are being built, do you foresee needing additional bus or two? >> Well, so right now th this is great for us. I know we're looking at here very soon needing more of our little white buses because those are getting high mileage. They get used and abused. They don't have a specific person who's driving them where a lot of our drivers drive these. They take care of them. Not saying our coaches don't, but you know, they're in and out and they're on to the next thing. So, a lot of those buses
095uh are getting high on miles. So, I would assume next year we might be looking at possibly two or three. >> Okay. >> Yeah. But thank you. >> All in favor? >> Thank you. >> Uh donations. >> Just asking for your approval of the generous donations. Also to uh point out, the Indianapolis Colts donated $2,000 in honor of Coach Colby being announced or recognized as the Indiana High School Coach of the Week. >> I'll make a motion to approve the donations. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? Neiola policies? Yes. So, I believe there's um 44 55 total when you count revisions and um uh removals and technical corrections and all sorts of stuff. So, this is just the first read. Um so, just asking for um your I think this is approval. Yeah,
096approval for first. Oh, we don't never mind. We don't. >> Yeah. This is just to make you aware of information only of a first read. >> Okay. Any questions from Mark on those? >> Thanks for the briefing notes, >> Laura. >> Uh we're up to personnel. >> Yeah. Asking for your approval for the personnel that's presented. >> I'll make a motion to approve the personnel report. >> Second. >> Any questions? >> All All in favor? professional development >> and asking your approval for the professional development that's presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? >> Don't forget we have uh >> I was going to say e-learning day, but uh it's synchronous. No, it is synchronous. It is synchronous. Well, asynchronous >> or I'm sorry, it is asynchronous. So, an e-learning day on the
09724th for >> So, next Wednesday. >> Professional development. Uh we got a motion. Yep. All in favor. >> There we go. >> Yeah. Board table round board member round table. We'll start with uh Greg. >> Sure. I just want to say that I think it's tremendous the Western school corporation, the students, teachers, the parents, the families, all the people involved. It's just neat to see you at the different events. Whether it's sporting events, band events, events representing the school, whatever it might be, they just have a lot of fun. It's a good time. We have good people that make a difference and, you know, share and and help just present Western is a great representation. So, I think it's pretty neat to see that continue to see that. So, >> like to say congratulations to
098Austin U. He's doing a great job. Thank you for you guys for being here and everything you're doing. Ditto. And um I was part of the initial conversation for bargaining. I was um really impressed that educators came ready. They had outcomes uh that were clearly articulated and I know the administration is taking time to think about that and gear up for the 24th. I'd like to say there's a lot of professional development uh we voted on today and after going to our conference that we've been doing to for the last two days is the best conference I've attended and um we've taken I think a lot away from that conference. So I hope that all of you when you attend your professional developments it's as enriching for you. Um, I see we hired more bus
099drivers, Barrett, and I'm very happy for you, especially since we're getting new buses. And that's good. >> Um, my main thing is, you know, last Friday um, you know, that sense of pride, that Panther pride was very well shown um, last Friday evening at the football game. And I, it's great to see, you know, Austin uh, and his and his coaching staff has done a remarkable job. Um, but it's just great to see that sense of pride throughout the whole community. Um, and I thought, you know, everyone that ran the the whole homecoming uh event from the the trucks and the Jeep trucks and all that fun stuff. So, it's just great to see. So, just want to say thank you to to all those that help coordinate that and uh we appreciate it. Harry.
100Um, I always want to thank the Minister for Traders for coming and Laura and Craig for helping us with the technology. There's been so much. And Lori, I want to tell you, we do a lot of email on Saturdays and Sundays. That doesn't mean you have to answer us. >> So, I hate it when I feel bad when you do that. But anyway, thank you so much. >> And Mark did a great job driving in the parade. He didn't I didn't catch you. You know, I I I do have this dream someday when I don't have any children at home to have a Jeep. And I told my wife I told my wife there's nothing better than driving 3 miles an hour of your dream car on on the track. So all three miles an
101hour in that beautiful Jeep. >> That's right. But, you know, actually, um, to to add on to that, uh, Nick Harmson, who did two of our, uh, recognitions, he does a lot of the other stuff for homecoming, the the powderpuff, the volleyball, the court, all of that. So, Nick put a lot of work into that. And I know he's not here, uh, but I'm guessing he probably wanted to get home because he had a lot of late nights last week. But Nick did a great job with that. I don't have anything. We have any documents to sign more? We do. Who uh who needs to sign? >> All. Okay. >> I'll make a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Second. >> We are injured.