001Uh good evening everybody. This is the rare and happy occasion. We've got a packed house here tonight. So must be St. St. Patrick's Day. Uh at this time we will call to order the March 17th 2026 Indian Board of Board of Education uh board meeting. We ask our students here in the front to stand and lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Very divious hands and the precinct and crow. >> Thank you all very much. as traditionally at the students that effort. Thank you for starting that. Uh Mr. Davis, roll call, please. >> Mr. Mark >> here. Mr. Schwaker >> here. Sing >> here. >> Mr. Tulles >> here. >> Mr. Warfl >> here. Thank you, Mr. Davis. This time, do we have a motion to adopt the regular meeting agenda? So moved. >> Second.
002>> All in favor? >> Uh I uh thank you. We have a a little bit of a different item tonight under the item five be have to be named president's item which was mixed idea. It's a little silly name. We'll go with it. Uh but before we do that there there's two people who have joined us tonight um that I want to give special thanks to and then thanks to the entire team. Uh two weeks ago we had a scare kind of unlike any other we've had around here um in a while uh with the bomb threat. Um Karen Anderkin and Christy Gould, you're here. Could you stand us for a quick second so we could recognize you? Uh the two fine ladies um at the high school had the unfortunate um what you call
003it the unfortunate task of fielding the initial call and they got our safety protocol measures going immediately. Um the nobody wants to go through what we went through. It was scary for everybody, scary for parents, scary for students and for our staff. Um but really want to thank them for getting the process started correctly. Thank Melissa, Jim, Mick, the entire team, all the principles, all the assistant principles, really anybody with an Indian Hill badge on that day, uh, stepped up in a big way. Um, the response was, I think, very calm, very forthcoming, very upto-date, and I was really, really proud as I was in Florida on a golf course with my dad monitoring it from there. Um, seeing our response and hearing just how calm and proactive everybody was. Um, Heather in the back
004gets a special acknowledgement for the communication efforts that went out. Uh, oh, she's uh, you moved. Um, but I could not have been prouder of our response. Uh, special thanks to Rob for lending his expertise in the days that followed to go over what we did to make sure we were responding in the appropriate manners. Um, but it was a really scary thing and I'm really proud of how our team ran. Um, anybody else they want to add to it? Well, again, I think with the uh the rapid assessment of what worked, what didn't work, how can we improve is really a testament as well. Uh the emergency plans, the things that are in place for the district are regularly tested and practiced. Uh this was a real world opportunity to to put that in
005motion and I think the afteraction as well as the steps to improve and be ready. Hopefully, it does not repeat itself. But again, knowing that we had the professionals and we had the skill sets here to handle that were uh was very impressive. So, I look forward to that continued work. So, thank you for everybody who um who who pitched in. Uh people wearing a lot of different hats that day um and really really proud of the team and the community for how we came together. Um related, but moving on to that. Um as I think everybody knows, um Kirk Kcki left us as a superintendent last fall and Dr. Steuart has been serving in the interim capacity uh since he left. Uh we announced in January we are going through a very deliberate process
006to identify um both the characteristics of what we want to see in the next superintendent and then ultimately hire and and and engage the next superintendent. Um the process included a slew of participants. We had eight separate meetings with students. We had some high school students, middle school students, uh four staff and teacher meetings, two community meetings, as well as a survey that went out. Uh we received numerous emails. Um special thanks to the Hway County ESC for their assistance in that process. And the main goal in the process was hearing from the community as to what type of characteristics do we want to see? Uh what kind of person do we want leading Indian Hill? What do we want um that skill set for that person to be? And through the process, we we
007learned a lot. We learned a lot about some things that we as a board could maybe be focusing on. We learned a lot about what people in our community really like about our school. We learned a lot about some opportunities that are present to maybe improve on some things. But most importantly, we learned about what kind of leader our community wants. Uh we will be sharing tonight a the profile report that came out. Um really all the information that was presented to us through this process, we will be sharing publicly tonight. Um, but the snapshot of what that tells us is what our community wants is a genuine leader who cares tremendously about this school, who focuses on relationships with our students, our teachers, our community, who has nothing but the best interests at heart
008for this community, who will be a servant leader, who will focus on the internal workings of our school to to build relationships, to let us do let our teachers do what they do best, which is educate the students. Um, and that profile, we had a meeting a week and a half ago. We sat down and we talked about what does that mean and do we know anybody that's that profile? And I'm really pleased and really excited to say we do. Um, it is my very distinct pleasure to announce that the school board has has engaged Dr. Melissa Stewart to serve as our next superintendent. Uh, it will be a three-year contract with Rener this school year starting in August. A three-year contract moving forward there. And uh we're really really excited. Um Dr. Stewart has
009been an integral part of the school district since she joined here in 2007 uh serving the elementary school and then the central office. Um we know the kind of person she is. We got to see her leadership characteristics under stress just two weeks ago. Um but more than that, she's a true professional and cares deeply about I I've joked with her that during this process it was a little awkward at times. Um, you know, we're talking about a job that we knew she had an interest in, but we needed to go through the process. And she could not have been more of a professional. She could not have been more of a champion of the district. She said she was working on things that we felt we needed to move the school in the direction
010right now. Um, and really, really excited for this opportunity. Um, I have no doubt in my mind that Melissa is the person to lead us moving forward. Um, we have a lot of really, really good things we do here. Um, there's some things we can, you know, work on and get better at. and I know she's a person who leaves. So with that, I would ask one of my fellow board members to make a motion to formally approve Dr. Stewart's contract, which again will be committed to current superintendent role through the rest of the school year. Um, and then for the next three years there, there a motion. I move to approve Melissa Stewart, Dr. Melissa Stewart as the next superintendent for Indian Hill Schools. I'll second that motion. Mr. Mr. Warfl, >> yes. >>
011Mr. Marks, >> yes. >> Mr. Fer, >> yes. >> Mrs. Say, >> yes. >> Mr. Tullis, emphatically, yes. Congratulations. >> What? Yeah, I I would like to um I have some words written down because I wanted to make sure I got some things right. So, hang with me just for a second. I am so deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the next superintendent of Indian Hill Schools. For the past 20 years, this district has been my professional home. During that time, I've had the privilege of learning, growing, and serving alongside extraordinary educators, families, and community members who care deeply about our students and their future. Indian Hill has always been a place where excellence is not only expected, it is nurtured through collaboration, trust, and a shared commitment to doing what
012is best for students. As I step into this role, I do so with a servant servant leader mindset. My responsibility is to support the incredible people who make this district thrive and to ensure that every decision we make keeps our students and their future at the center of our work. I want to begin by thanking our incredibly talented teachers and staff. Teachers and staff, stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Teachers and staff, stand up. Your dedication to our students is inspiring. You not only care deeply about the success of every child, but you also work together as true professionals, constantly collaborating, learning from one another, and striving to improve. I am grateful for your partnership we have built over the years and I look forward to continuing that collaboration as we shape the future of
013Indian Hill together. To our parents and families, thank you for your trust and partnership. One of the most meaningful parts of my career has been the opportunity to know many of your children from their very first days of kindergarten through the moment that they walk across the field for graduation. Watching them grow into capable, thoughtful young adults is one of the greatest rewards of this work. It has been an honor to share that journey with you. I would also like to thank the Indian Hill Board of Education for the confidence you have placed in me. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in this role and for your continued commitment to excellence in education. I look forward to working closely with you as we usher in the next era of Indian Hill Schools, an
014era grand grounded in our strong traditions while continuing to innovate and prepare our students for an everchanging world. Finally, I want to thank my family for their unwavering support. Your encouragement has meant everything to me. I hope that in watching this journey my children have seen that when you dedicate yourself to work you truly believe in it no longer feels like a job. It becomes a calling. Let me end these thoughts for what I have learned from our students and in this case a particular student. While serving at the elementary school as the principal, the student gave me a nickname. He called me sunshine. Could there be a better compliment? I want to carry this sentiment forward by being a ray of sunshine to support our teachers and staff, to shine warmth upon our students,
015and to usher a bright light of pride and trust for our community members. Indian Hill is a remarkable community and I am incredibly proud to continue serving it. I look forward to the work ahead and to building the future of Indian Hill Schools together. Thank you. Okay, it's a good day. You're in too. Um, anybody want to follow that with public commentary? Mr. Davis, >> nobody has volunteered this evening. >> Very good. With that, we will move on to correspondence recognition in and out. Can we please start with our lead now video? The Indian Hill Arts Conservatory is an experience unlike anything else you will find across the country. Our arts programs here are unparalleled. >> Our students at Indian Hill are certainly talented and people love to tell me how talented our students are.
016Though I think I would also emphasize that what makes our students different is the fact that they're at Indian Hill and they have access to faculty and access to resources and a great culture and community that supports them. We are really fortunate to have such an opportunity here that we actually are able to offer so much of the arts to students starting in primary all the way up through high school. And that I think is what makes an incredible arts conservatory. the fact that we are offering everything. I think it's a really rare thing to find, especially in a public high school, for people to be so focused on kids not only having a great education academically, but also having a great education artistically. You know, being able to push for people to participate in
017arts classes or arts activities outside of school, whether that be visual arts or singing, acting, and dancing. There's such a huge push here at Indian Hill and I think that's such a great thing. >> The one thing that kind of like hooked me and got me started on this journey was just the classes they offer here. Like I started with uh video tech and that expanded my interest. >> I think a big component of this is the teachers. What helps is like having a really good teacher who encourages you. I think it's just about finding your skill and and the coolest thing about art is there's so many different types of mediums. >> Students have chance to do dance. They have a chance to do orchestra and band and choir and all the visual arts
018and even go time at the elementary school. They get a chance to try different things and it kind of will help them choose a direction that they want to go into. I think Indian Hill has so many arts offerings. There's so many different avenues depending on what you like. There's always an arts class for you and I think that's amazing. >> My first art class I took was photography. I really loved it. And then last year I took APR and design. And there was another group who did 3D, someone did ceramics, I did fashion design. No matter the class, even though you're doing the same thing as other people, you get to make it your own style. And the teachers are able to help you express that. You go out into the real world and
019you're like, "Oh, we've used that in the eighth grade." And you always find community within your teachers and your classmates. >> Honestly, I love the community. When you join, people are just so welcoming and they want you there and they know that you're a part of the team. >> You kind of get a head start. I remember since I did theater and choir all through middle school, I didn't feel super intimidated by the time I got to high school cuz I was like, "Oh, like I've done this. I know what I'm doing. I know I can do it." And I was able to have that confidence as I entered high school. >> You don't really see this model outside of a university, you know, collegiate setting. And I think that speaks volumes to what Indian
020Hill is trying to do. the fact that we include and really hone in and grasp our littlest ones that are the most excited when they're very very young and ready to make art and explore the whole world and that we can keep building that and seeing that progress as they grow as they get older makes it so very unique. >> I think the best part is that they teach you so much. You learn so much from your peers, the teachers. It's really fun. you make new friends and it's um it's different options like if you want to be on stage, if you want to be off stage, it's brought me most of my friends. It's brought me a safe place to go to. It's just a great environment >> by getting into art or one
021of the arts. Students become better people, better communicators, better team players. A lot of the stuff in the arts conservatory is a team sport and so I just think it makes students better people in the long run. One of the exciting things that we are starting this year is actually having an arts conservatory hall of fame. Our alumni have done so many things within the world of the arts that why wouldn't we celebrate them? >> I've been very fortunate that I've been able to make a full-time living playing with clay. And I've been very very lucky and I'm going to say that it all started here right here where it's standing. I was always very proud of the school and its reputation for excellence, but my fondest recollections without a doubt are of the kids.
022Yes, I was very, very lucky. So, thank you so much for this legacy award. It means more to me than words can express. >> I'm humbled at how we as a community have watched art education at Indian Hill continue to evolve generation after generation. But they did. >> Our students awe and amaze me each time we are lucky enough to experience their work. >> In order to become a well-rounded human being, arts has to be a part of that. And our district sees that and values that. And so from day one, you know, when you're working with the primary students on stage two, when they're seniors and they're doing cabaret, it just makes for well-rounded students who can go off and make a difference in the world because of the arts. I was very fortunate
023enough to be able to start my career here and I don't plan on leaving. Where else would I find these opportunities? Where else would I be given support from administration, from the staff, the families, the parents support is absolutely incredible. This is home. Before we move on to some other announcements, can I just have Amy Clark please step forward to be recognized? She is our director of arts and it works tirelessly to step forward means come forward, Mrs. Clark. >> Okay. And then I just want her to be recognized for all the work that she is doing in arts. And I'm always lecturing her that working seven days a week every week is too much. but she can't help herself. So, thank you, Mrs. Clark, for all that you do. So, moving on, we want
024to congratulate the Indian Hill High School students who delivered an outstanding performance at the DECA State Career Development Conference. Once again, this seems like it is tradition. A total of 104 Indian Hill students competed against peers from across Ohio, demonstrating excellence in marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and entrepreneurship. Their efforts resulted in 35 finalists and impressive 25 state champions, many of who earned qualifications to advance to the international career development conference um which is performing at the very highest level of competition. Congratulations to those students. We congratulate Indian Hill High School's mock trial team one for advancing to the Ohio Mach trial state competition following an outstanding performance at the regional competition last month. Once again, this feels like it's history repeating itself. Out of the 20 teams competing in the region, only five advanced, including
025the Indian Hill High School team. Indian Hill mock trial team me one member include JC Chen, Gia Echelman, Ethan Brown, Olivia Netherwood, Devanchi Ratua, James O'Driscoll, Olivia Zhao, Betsy Grant, and Ana Freed. Congratulations to those students. We also want to celebrate students from Indian High School and Indian Hill Middle School who delivered an outstanding performance at the recent Ohio Junior Classical League Convention, earning third place overall out of 22 schools. The annual convention brings together Latin students from across Ohio to compete in a wide range of academic, artistic, creative contests celebrating classical language and culture. And I'm just going to add an additional note here. Um Tom Sushia that we saw that is the very decorated artist who also created all the bronze statues down at the um red stadium said that his actual start
026of art came from Latin when a Latin teacher said uh you have this great idea you should consider doing it in art and that started his entire career. So, it just goes to show you how amazing things can be. And while we have her here, if we could have Melissa Burgess please stand up. Sorry, Melissa. Stand your dog. >> Thank you. >> How many years have you been going to convention? >> Um, can you tell what I started in high school? >> Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Thank you for all the results. is incredible. Thank you for all the work. >> I got I got the best thing about it. >> Now wanting middle schoolers though. Most of them was seven boys. So it was quite an adventure. >> Yes. All right. Super excited if Mr.
027Phelps could start to make his way up to the podium. We celebrate the Indian Hill High School indoor track and field program after a historic weekend as both the boys and the girls 4 by 800 meter relay teams captured state championships at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches indoor state track and field championships held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Um, do you want to call you want to talk first and then call them up? >> Sure. >> Okay. >> She said most of it. And I I want to congratulate we had two teams of state champions, both 4 by 800 meter run uh teams, uh girls team and a boys team at Geneva at the Spire Institute. I'm not sure if we've ever had an indoor state champion before. I
028I don't think we have. So this to have two teams in the same event by both our boys and girls is pretty amazing. Uh before I bring the kids up, I want to say a special thank you to Coach Jackie and Coach Alex. And we had the opportunity at the end of last year to celebrate an icon here. Uh Coach Monica is taking over our track and field program here at Indian Health. So congratulations to all three coaches. First, let's bring the girls up first and 4 by 800 meters. We have Sabrina Manuelardo, Ella Grant, Josie Tenddale, and Claire Wilks. Their time was a 1018. Is that right? And um pretty awesome by our 4 by 800 meter state champions. Congratulations, ladies. Come on over over here for a second. We'll get a group photo
029of everyone. But for our boys, uh, once again, 4 by 800 meters, our team of James McGrath. >> Come up. Come up, guys. >> Tyler Martin, James O'Driscoll, and Harry Hong. School record time of 7:59. Congratulations, state champions. Not only were they the state champions uh at Geneva, this team also moved on to the national event in Boston, Massachusetts and ran and had a great showing. And if their state record or if their school record wasn't enough, they went and broke it the next week with a time of 75810. Congratulations. I also want to give a special uh shout out to Harry. He also ran the 800 as an individual um along with his team at the national meet in Boston with a time of 15790. So congratulations coaches. if you'll come up, we'll get
030a a nice group photo and uh it's not a middle school dance. Get together just >> once again. Congratulations. >> I just want to say something. Uh, as someone that ran long, long long time ago, kudos to you all because I think the 800 uh is probably the most punishing event there is, right? For those that don't know, it's a cross between an allout sprint and a couple miles. And it's uh pretty challenging not only physically but mentally. So for you all to be able to navigate that, right? Each of you running a half mile. It's it's it's it's a very very very very tough event. So congratulations because there's a lot of physical psyche that goes into that race too, right? Um so congratulations to show up for the conquer the hill and be
031my running. >> I think this is this is my fifth year on the board now. I think every year we've had some team win a state something or another. So, good to see that streak running a lot. Congratulations, guys. >> Yeah. Uh, Mr. Phelps, how rare is it that you would have like a first place at the state level for both female and male? >> The little snapper. >> Yeah. Um, I'm just going to you saw the last bit of our recognition really has to do with the arts program and much of that was covered in the video. Um, congratulations to everybody who helped with the pajama game which was our winter high school musical. It was fabulous. And a special thank you to Stacy Surl for everything that she did and her directorship. It
032was incredible. It was just an incredible show. Um, I also want to thank everybody who is involved in Donut Stop the Music, which is our annual fundraiser for performing arts. Such a special treat to be able to watch what it looks like in fifth grade all the way to high school. When the high school com band and orchestra combined for theirs, I said, "Oh, we should have charged admission. It sounded as good as anything that you would have seen at a collegiic level or higher." Um, lastly, I want to say thank you for everybody, especially Miss Clark in the back who helped us with the Indian Hill Arts Conservatory Hall of Fame. Was the first time we ever had this event and it was such an inspiring evening with um different alumni. So, so appreciative
033of that, which led us right into Cabaret. If you've never been to Cabaret before when we hold it, I highly suggest it. It is such an entertaining evening and to be able to watch the talents of our students is really inspiring. So, we're going to end with a presentation from Mr. Jim Nichols on safety. >> You know, our students probably have >> They probably do. >> We for this. Well, >> yeah. Students, sincerely, it's okay if you want to leave at this point. Chippy Walker need to bring you. Thank you. >> That was Christina Smith's dad here as we recognize her in the Inquisition. And now I see the result. Sir, >> Mr. I think we have enough space. You all can come sit now. >> All right. >> I appreciate those of you stuck
034around. It's good for my self-confidence. So tonight we're going to talk about something that um is really important. It's something that we think about and we have a lot of administrators and and staff in the room right now. We think about this a lot. The safety of our students and our staff is paramount to everything we do here. And so we're going to talk about several things this evening. Um we will talk about our Indian Hill Rangers quite a bit. um and uh they were hoping to be here this evening, but there is a lot going on on any given day and so we'll catch up with them at a later date, but we're still going to talk about them. Um I want to share with you uh the layers of security. You'll understand um
035that there's not just one thing we do for security, but there are many things we do and each of those is a layer that helps keep us safe. Um we are continuously training with our staff. Um we introduced a new product this year called Raptor. Raptor is an app that uh all of our staff have app access to on their phones and on their computers. Um and we'll talk about how we utilize that successfully during our event a couple weeks ago. Um the importance that this is not one person's job, although I um do a lot to oversee safety, um I certainly cannot do it alone. It is our staff's responsibility, our students responsibility, our famil family's responsibility. it is together that we are able to um create the safest environment possible for everyone. And
036then um I certainly will shout out some of our local safety partners. We have many in the area. One maybe even sitting here at the desk, Mr. Warfl um who has been very helpful to us over the years um in training our staff and even taking part in an activity we had last week. So um we're going to talk about those things. And so I think first I'd like to just do a little bit of a recap um to give some information about what happened last week uh a couple weeks ago. And um it's it's unfortunate. Um we weren't the only school to experience this. Um it has happened to many schools um over the past several years unfortunately. But if there is any silver lining, um, we got to see a lot of people
037step up and we got to see a lot of our protocols work very well and we learned a lot about some things that we can do better. And so the facts the facts are and and we've already talked a little bit about this uh our wonderful high school um secretaries and and the amazing job they did. Um, I don't know if you can imagine, but they received a phone call at 11:00 am on March 4th um that there was a bomb threat um in the school. And so for any of us, you don't know how you might react to some information like that until it happens. And our office staff at the high school reacted incredibly. Um, and it was their calmness and their quick thinking that alerted our high school principal who immediately jumped
038in and got uh on the phone as well to make sure he was getting good information and then simultaneously alerting our Indian Hill Rangers. Our Indian Hill Rangers were here in less than one minute. Our office is right here. We're all sitting in it. They almost beat us from here to there by the time they got here. And they tell us that every time. And we got to see it in action. And uh there is nothing more comforting than knowing our rangers are ready at a moment's notice. Um so they arrived very quickly. Once um we had uh a chance to set the scene, our rangers work with our administration and we determined that the best course of action in that moment was to evacuate our high school students out to the football field under
039the protection of our Indian Hill Rangers. Um, subsequently over at our middle school, um, our principal over there did a great job of teaming up with an Indian hill ranger over there. They initially went to what we call a secure, which is where they stay inside. We're safe. We're moving around our building and then they decided to also evacuate um, outside the school. At that point, um, we knew it was going to be a while. So, when you have a situation like this, we're going to get lots of support from other police agencies. And I can't tell you how much we appreciate the relationship our rangers have with all of the neighboring districts because they came running too. Um, and they helped us in that moment. We had in pretty quick order, I would say
040within 45 minutes to an hour um some of the SWAT teams from the county who have dogs that could walk through our building um and make sure that that space was safe. And so while that's happening um our middle schoolers, we decided because we would be outside for a pretty long time. We had two grade levels that had not eaten lunch yet. Our transportation department, let's shout them out because at a moment's notice, we called them and within 20 minutes they had three buses over here with drivers that started transporting our middle school students over to the elementary school where our great partners Airmark jumped in and fed two grade levels worth of students again on a moment's notice. So, um, we had lots of people, lots of champions that day who stepped up and
041and just did an amazing job. We also um did, I think, a really great job in communicating with our families. Within 27 minutes of that phone call, we had a voice message out to our parents, making sure they knew that our students were safe. Um, in addition, they let them know there'd be more information to come and we provided those updates regularly throughout the rest of the day until the entire day was over and all of our students had went home. So, um, over here at the high school, fortunately, our seniors, um, were out that day. We were doing some testing and so we only had a few grade levels of students in. Still a lot of students here. And so, we were able to reunify those, uh, students with their families. And some of
042those students obviously drive. Um, once the building was deemed safe, they could come back in and get their cell phones, their keys, their backpacks, things like that. Um, simultaneously over at the middle school. And and while all this is going on, it it just cannot be lost that our staff was doing such an amazing job of keeping our students calm and uh just making sure they felt un they knew what was going on. And so I I go over to the middle school and I watch this probably doesn't sound fun to you, but I watch a lot of videos about uh reunification. And uh when I walked over, it could have been the videos that we watch on reunification. The middle school staff had operationalized some planning we had done previously. Um we were reunifying
043students with their parents at the elementary school as they arrived. We're informing parents simultaneously that this reunification is starting and giving them information about how they can go about it. Um for those students who didn't reunify at the middle school um we transported them home at their regular time in the afternoon and we were successfully able to get every student home safely at the end of the day. So um since that time the real work has begun because what we've done is we've spent a lot of time listening and learning and we spent time listening and learning from our administrative team. We have reached out to our entire staff to understand what their experience was and I think one thing we learned everybody has a story about that day. They learned something. They felt good
044about something that happened or they saw an opportunity for improvement. It's important that we capture all those stories so that we can continue to refine our procedures here at school. Um, we also had a joint exercise and afteraction review with our rangers and again, Mr. Warfl, we're really grateful that you participated in that and provided us with some guidance and resources. Um, we are now in the process of going around and talking to some schools. I had a chance to talk with our middle school staff today. Um, I'll be talking with our high school staff in a couple of weeks and hope to connect with our other staffs as well. And so we'll continue to take those that all that information, we'll put them into some recommendations and then finally some action steps. So we're
045going to use that experience, as unfortunate as it was, to be better um and to continue to get better at those pieces. And uh we felt I I have to tell you how much I appreciate our families in the district. Even while they're coming to pick up their students, they're thanking us um uh for the work we were doing in the moment. And so it it was the collective efforts of everybody involved from our students to our parents um our staff, our administrators and our rangers. Um they all work together really really nicely. And then finally, I just want to comment on our students. We have some outside vendors who work in our schools every day. Um our rangers also made the comment that our students did an incredible job that day. Uh they listened
046and that's really all you're asking of students in those moments is just listen. um we're going to try to stay keep you calm, but just listen. And they did such a great job. So, they uh took time to call me and reach out and just compliment our students. So, um again, although an unfortunate event, um there were a lot of positives that day and and we're going to continue to learn on those. Um as we continue on, I just want to talk about our rangers um a little bit more. Uh people probably if you're in the area, you know about the Rangers, but we do a lot of work with them and they rout routinely train their officers. Anytime a new officer comes on, they walk them through the buildings. They introduce them to staff.
047Um Chief Drestell made a a really important comment the other day. He said it it was so important that our team, our Indian Hill Ranger team, knows your team. And because when we pull up to the school, we immediately knew who was out there. We didn't have to worry. We weren't we didn't have to be unsure. We knew immediately. So they spend lots of time working with us. Um we meet with them pretty regularly. They have an officer dedicated to Indian Hill schools. He's all around the schools. The students love him. He usually is doing some high fives in the lunchroom or walking down the halls. It is a good experience for our students when he's in the school. And that that relationship's really important. Um we do joint exercises with them. We've actually done
048a reunification drill a couple summers ago with them. Um they're planning one this August as well that they've invited us to to be able to observe and then they come in and provide training to our staff um every year. So they are incredible partners and we feel very fortunate that we get to work with them. Um and again we just we talk with them pretty routinely. Uh I want to call out again we've talked about this. I'm going to keep saying it and I might feel like a broken record. the important step of everybody being involved in school safety. Um, if you were to come across some information and and I know there might be some families who are watching this meeting this evening, you have lots of ways. You of course can always reach
049out to our schools. You can call an administrator, you could tell a teacher, but we also have a safer tip line through the Ohio Safety School um that you can call 247. That message is fielded by the Ohio Homeland Security Threat and Prevention Unit and they will immediately depending on what the threat is, notify law enforcement or they will call us. Sometimes the it's not an immediate imminent threat, but it is something we need to know. So, it's a great resource. We keep that number on our website in a couple different places and we'll continue to let our families know about it. I would just say if you're a family and you're not sure, make the call. It it it really is not a problem at all. We're happy to have that information and if
050it turns out to not be anything big, great. Then we but we want to make sure that you feel comfortable doing that. Um I will tell you that uh it's timely. Um our school safety plan, we have to do that on a three-year cycle. We just turned those in last week. That's a good feeling. They're they're pretty um meaty documents. They have a lot of information. Um they try to anticipate lots of different scenarios from weathers to a situation like we had a couple of weeks ago. And we work with our staffs, our administrators, our parents to produce that safety plan. And then it's uh there for three years, although we update it routinely and regularly, including contact, contact information, things like that. We also do what we call vulnerability assessments on our buildings. We
051typically pick a school every summer. We walk around the campus with the safety liaison from Hamilton County Service Center with our maintenance team, our Indian Hill Rangers and we identify areas that we think could be improved and then we take action to improve those. So, and I'll always appreciate the board because they support us um by making sure that we can have any necessary safety enhancements that are required. Um I also want to shout out our community. um we they invested in our schools heavily a couple of years ago. We used that money wisely to upgrade our facilities, especially from a safety standpoint. If you looked at the entrances of all of our schools, there is a vestibule entrance. Um our middle school, eleed vestibule where you come in, um you buzz into our office,
052they understand why you're there, they let you into the office, they have a further conversation with you, and then they let you into the school. Um, that's a really important step. Our high school has some work we could continue to do. They do have a double lock vestibule that's available to us. So, but we see that as an opportunity for the future and we'll continue to look at that. Safety drills. I think we probably all remember fire drills, right? We've all done fire drills. We continue to do those. They're required to do six a year. We addition to that, we do three safety drills in concert with our Indian Hill Rangers. And we practice a variety of safety tools during that time. they're age appropriate. Um we understand that a a drill at a kindergarten
053level is going to look a little bit different than one at a high school level. Um and we make sure they're appropriate um for those different age groups. Um we also consider the physical and mental safety of our students during those drills. That can be a little bit concerning. So we do a lot of conversation. If you ever get to hear the principles come over the loudspeaker, it's a calming voice. they're telling students what's about to happen, giving them an idea so that there isn't a lot of nerves there. And then again, we've talked about all those um agencies that we work with. Um but again, the Hamilton County Educational Service Center, which most of us might know from a lot of the educational resources they provide, they also provide us with a safety liaison
054and we work closely with them. Finally, I I just would again encourage you if you see say see something, say something. Um, I know I try to make it as a practice as I walk in and out of our buildings, I'm scanning the parking lot. I'm looking around. Um, if you're seeing something that's concerning, if your child's telling you something, please say something to us. We need that information. Um, we know that our number one job and and we take it very seriously is the safety of our children. And so, we appreciate that our families trust us every day. We're going to continue to work hard to make sure that we have the safest environment possible. >> All right, I said a lot. Is there any any questions from the board that I can answer
055about any of the >> Just just to reiterate what I said. I'll let other folks chime in here if they would like. Um, thank you Jim for everything you you did two weeks ago and really all the work that you put into it and the entire team put into it before that. Um, you said a couple words that I wrote down that were important. Um, one is the responsibility word that it's a community responsibility and we've all got the obligation to pay attention. We all have the obligation to help where we can and that that's an important thing and we saw our community come through and exercising that responsibility two weeks ago. The other word I wrote down was relationships. You rattled off I don't know how many partners who assisted on that day whether
056it was our bus drivers. I didn't realize airmark that was used. Um that's an important thing in our community and one thing that I've always said is special about Indian Hill is the relationships we all have and you see it in tough times. that's when people tend to to show up the most and we really did. So all of that is a reflection of a lot of work on those relationships and a lot of work on that responsibility. So thank you to the entire team uh Mick, Melissa, Jim, everybody sitting out here, all the students, all the staff. Um really proud day to to be a brave to thanks. >> All right. Thank you. And with that we will move on to the the first time as the official superintendent the superintendent report. Dr. Stewart.
057>> Thank you. Um letter A is a resolution declaring the impractability of transportation and offering payment in parents in lie of transportation. B is approval of overnight field trips. We have two of them that we just discussed. one for heading on to a higher level of competition for mock trial and the second one for a level higher level of competition for DECA. C. We have the approval of summer health courses for tuition for our families for $375 per student. And we have the approval of a summer enrichment course that we're going to offer students at the younger levels for $200 per student. E is personnel actions, tuition reimbursement and professional meetings. Let's start with the approval of administrative contracts. Can Erica Leopard please stand up? And I just want to say Erica since 2017 has
058been our director of pupil services and done an incredible job of that. People often thinking of that as just being special education, but it's actually much much more than special education. and she has done a great job leaving a legacy for us in that way. She'll be moving to a different position as a teacher and helping us within that department in a part-time status. And at the same time, can Christina Smith please stand up? >> Christina Smith. Yes. >> Sorry to interrupt. Uh, one change on Erica's contract. We would like her for 610 of the day, not 6100s of the day. >> Oh, that would be great. >> Court can make a note of that in their agenda. >> That would be great. Thank you. >> I don't know. >> That's great. >> Something say
059something. Um, Christina has been with the district 17 years, 18 years, and she has served initially as an intervention specialist, then for many years, um, or sorry, kindergarten teacher first, then intervention specialist, then she was the dean of students, and this year she took on the role of assistant principal at the primary school. And I think behind everybody who has ever worked with Christina before, if we had to have a moment where Erica Leopard is leaving to a new position, we couldn't be luckier than to have Christina Smith stepping into this role. Um, and so this is her first time stepping in, and you'll see that administrative contract. And I just want to publicly say, Christina, we're thrilled that you're stepping into this role. There's no one better to come in and to be able
060to work on the legacy that Erica has left us. And I know you and Erica will be good partners in this transition. And I couldn't be more excited for all of the value that you're going to bring to this district. Thank you. >> Of course, >> I just like to add on to that. I think it's important um to recognize that we have a lot um of families that have a lot of needs, gifted students, students um of special needs, students with IEPs. And I just want to recognize um Erica for many years as our um director of people's people's services which is a massive role and it's really which we're engaging in now more than a oneperson role which is why we're doing this and um and so I just think it's really important
061from a board perspective um that we recognize all the hard work you've put in. Um it's a tremendous uh task to take on, especially a task to take on when you're talking about students and families. Um is one part of that role where it's very emotionally charged, right? When you've got a child that >> needs additional support, that is a a very emotional time frame um for those families and for those children. And so uh you did that with class. um you've done that with a tremendous amount of skill set, your reputation for understanding those rules, regulations, um is well known, not just in our district, but in Hamilton County, and and that's in addition to everything else that you did with that role. And so we're we're glad that we're able to keep you
062in the capacity that you're staying on. And so I think um I just want to give an extra recognition for that um role and the work that you've contributed to us. Sorry. >> All right. Next, will Elizabeth Reebush please stand up? So, when Christina applied and accepted the position of director of pupil services, it left an opening as the assistant principal of the primary school. I was so pleasantly surprised when we had an internal candidate that I could not have predicted. And Elizabeth Reebush, who has been with our district 20 years. >> 20 years. Oh my gosh. 20 years. Um 20 years. And has served as a classroom teacher, but most recently made such an impact on our entire district really as one of our four innovation coaches. um what I was not part of
063the interview process for this position, but what everybody kept telling me is she knocked it out of the ballpark. People just couldn't believe it. So, we could not be more thrilled to have Elizabeth Ree join our leadership team. And probably one of the best things as I'm watching Jennifer Ty's head like nod over and over and over again with everything I'm saying. Congratulations. We're so excited to have you. All right, let's see. Let's continue to go. Next, we have the approval of certified staff contracts, followed by the approval of continuing certified staff contracts. So, people who are being issued a continuing contract for the first time, approval of classified staff contracts and salaries, followed by the approval of the classified substitute staff contracts. Six is a very long list of approval of supplemental and personal
064service contracts for this school year, followed by number seven, additional rates for kindergarten professional development rate as an explanation for this. Our if you remember, our kindergarten teachers do not work a full day of school. Yet, there are times that we need them to stay a full day. Professional learning would be part of that. So, we compensate them for their time when they stay past their contract time. Um, for retirement, there are a few comments that I would like to make. Um, let's start with Patricia McHugh or Trish McHugh educational aid is retiring at the end of this year. Trish has been here for 20 years. She has worked at the both the elementary and the middle school and she has been um instrumental in the student success especially those students who required additional assistance
065um through an educational aid. She finds the perfect way to support students while also giving them their independence. And it is very clear that she enters every day motivated by her love of students. So we're very happy for Trish McHugh. were very sad for us, but we're very happy for her. Um, there's also someone not listed on this list that I would like to talk about, and it's Phil say. So, Phil is one of our business teachers at the high school, and those business teachers are actually hired through the Great Oaks system, which is why Phil's name is not on our board of education agenda because it's really not ups to accept that his announcement for retirement. It's up to the Oaks to accept that. But Phil has been with us for 24, 25 years,
066maybe even longer. Melissa, longer you think. Um, I can't say enough about Phil. When we talk about the DECA results, Phil is half of that equation with Susan Showerower. He also has been a coach for us in multiple areas for multiple years, right, Brian? He is the type of person that no matter what you ask him, he's like, "Yes, I'm up for the job." I think probably one of the best examples of Phil was that when I had heard through the grapevine this might be happening, I rushed down to his classroom and pulled him outside, totally inappropriate, pulled him away from student teaching and said, "Phil, I've heard this rumor and I have to know if it's true." And he just started to tear up and it's because he knows that his time um he
067owes that to his family and at the same time he's still coming to work every day with nothing but passion for what he does. So, it it would um be remiss for us not to acknowledge Phil Sed. Um lastly, the board of education was kind enough to accept the retirement notification from Jen Anders, um who is a long-term employee, and I'm going to totally put her on the spot and ask Jen if she'll please stand. To work with Jen Anders is nothing but a dream. Um she cares so deeply for students. um as a classroom teacher um and as a media librarian uh she is always the yes person. You have an idea and her answer is yes. Let's see how we can make that work. She loves every single child. She walks in the
068door with nothing but calmness. To be around Jen I Barry, I don't know if this true at home is true for us. To be around Jen is to be around calmness. Um she um is such an asset to this school district. Um her children went here. She lives in the district. Claire's going to be a senior next year. Jen, would you like to say a few words? Thank you. >> I had a dream job most of my career be with all of you. um has been wonderful and uh you know I can stay for another 20 years but I also go wonderful family that I can do supporting me all the years and um want to spend some additional 40 time so I'll be around on a sing so I will be around in the
069halls and you know maybe a cell here then I won't be going too far away but thank you very much Jen thank you for all of your work. Item nine is resignations. I would just like to highlight that unfortunately a little bit of like a punch to the stomach. Angelo Sylvester has been our coral director for the last two years and he had an incredible opportunity to move to New York City um and be involved with arts advocacy and he took up on that opportunity. Um I wondered if we could tie him down and let not let him go at some point just in two years he's he's really done a fantastic job and so we wish him nothing but the best. And finally, item 10 is tuition reimbursement. And that concludes the superintendent report.
070>> Thank you. Do we have a motion to approve the superintendent report? >> So moved. >> I second that motion. >> Mr. Warful. >> Yes. >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Swagger. >> Yes. >> Mr. SE. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tullles? >> Yes. >> Thank you, Dr. Stewart. Uh, Mr. Davis, Treasur's report, please. >> This evening, I'd like to start by approving the minutes of the February 10th, 2026 regular meeting. Approve the minutes of the March 9th, 2026 special meeting. Approve the financial reports for the month ending February 28th, 2026. Item D, we have several contracts for this school year. Uh, we have one for Acer Chromebook warranties with DCTS. Uh we have one for Life Skills South Florida residential lease agreement for student services. We have one for Blau Mechanical. Uh little misnomer
071on this. It does say middle school. Um it's not for the new middle school. It is for the uh for our cup area central utility plant. Um it's a new it's time for an end of end of life replacement for one of the boilers back there. Uh Forward Edge. We've got some servers we're putting in this summer. camera licenses that we renew and some AP licenses that we renew. Under item E is to approve the following contracts for next school year. Uh we have two with Aramark. Uh these are the final amendments of a five-year contract for services at the primary and elementary as well as the middle and high school buildings. Um as we go through this year with um the operational committee, uh we will be talking about um what we're what our
072lunch program will look like in the future. Um this could give us an opportunity to decide whether to uh remove the primary and elementary school building from the federal school pro lunch program. Um there's some advantages, some disadvantages, and we'll work through those uh for the rest of the year. Um about this time next year, we'll need to have a decision on whether we want to do a formal request for proposal. Um if we stay on the federal lunch program, we will be required to do that. Uh item number three is our custodial services with Scarlet and Gray. This is a three three-year contract with the billing schedule attached. Uh we appreciate uh these are two of our partner vendors. Uh we appreciate our relationship uh with both. Aramark I think has been in the
073district for nearly five decades. Uh Scarlet and Gray, we we required their services a few years ago and uh both have been great partners for us. Item F is to approve now and then invoices. Two of those, one for behavioral intervention student services and one for lodging on the credit card for the state swim mate. Um I've discussed that one with Mr. Phelps. So we'll make sure we get that uh corrected in the future. It's always good to send our our our kids to the state meet. So hopefully that one will be an easy one to approve. Item F is an exciting uh sponsorship and naming rights agreement with Moes Engineering. Um this one is exciting for a couple of reasons. Um we have the area down at the by the athletics. It's the alumni
074room. Uh this naming agreement will put the Moes engineering uh logo on that room for five years. uh Brad Moes who is the namesake of the company, one of our most um ardent supporters, a great alumni. Um he is and he has uh sold the company to a gentleman named Mike Murdoch who is a owns property in the district and hopes to be building soon and become a resident here as well. Uh that is for five years, $100,000. Item G is the acceptance of donations. We have nine of those this evening. Um, one for the entrepreneur center from the car colonel and Charles Young Foundation. Uh, IH Boosters has three of them. One for the baseball trip. Uh, one for casino nights proceeds. Uh, one for arts and athletics for discretionary p purchases. Uh, the
075foundation has four items. Um, these are all items that teachers are doing in their classrooms that were funded by grants. Um, we've already seen uh the digital media purchased their items for the grant that was coming in. They're looking to do great things with those grants. Um, finally, item seven is from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Robinson Family Philanthropic Fund. Uh, these are for field trips to the Holocaust and Humanity Center. It's with these donations that we are able to supplement all the great things that happen here in the district and appreciate all those who donate to us. Mr. Davis. Um, we just need to correct. We've got double F. So, let's make the modes donation G and acceptance of donations H. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Uh, special thanks to you for your
076work on the sponsorship agreement with Moes. I know you you led that effort and on behalf of all of our students, um, half of all our families, thank you to you and thank you to Brad Moes and Moes Engineering. They are truly a district champion. With that, is there a motion to accept the Treasury? >> I'll make a motion to accept the treasurer's point report um item 9A through H9. Second. >> Is that Mr. Warfl? Yeah. Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Warfl. >> Yes. Mr. Schwiker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Singh, >> yes. >> Mr. Coulse, >> yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mick. Um, we have a second reading of the Neola policy update on the entrance requirements. Um, Dr. give a quick 30 second overview. I know we talked about
077this last day, but just a reminder for folks just >> Sure. This is all about when students are allowed to enter schools. Specifically, this one is looking at preschool as well as kindergarten. Um and for us our uh the the latest clarification is that school districts are allowed to keep the original dates that they had. Um as long as they have a system for allow knowing that those students are ready for school. We are very very pleased that we're allowed to keep our same system that's in place rather than having to have the new system which was suggested as the first day of school. >> Great. Thank you. And we need to approve this. Correct. M correct. Uh, is there a motion to approve item 10, the second reading of the entrance requirements policy update?
078>> So moved. >> A second. I'll second the motion. >> Mr. Warful. >> Yes. >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Schwer. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sang. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tulles. >> Yes. Uh, item 11 is the first reading for Neola policy updates. We do not need to vote on that. Uh, those are all linked in the board agenda. Nick one clean up on item F. We have a policy for the class tank. I think that's to be class rake. Thank you. The Okay. Next, um we've been talking about this at our prior board meetings of trying to reinvigorate our committee schedules. Um we are in the process of doing that and we are going to have the personnel committee. Uh Nikki, do you want to report out about the meeting that was held
079last week? We have the operations committee meeting Thursday. Uh so at next meeting get excited. We'll have the operations committee report um and we'll try to continue this to um share out what it is we've been doing. >> What? >> Okay. Uh so Mrs. Singh um Dr. Stewart, Mr. Davis, Mr. Nichols, and myself met on March 5th, our first personnel committee meeting of 2026. I'll give you just uh some highlights of what was discussed. Um first off discussion overall discussion about uh maximize maximizing our utilization of headcount. Saw some opportunities for some potential uh elimination of some positions including the dean of students and campus life uh coordinator. Uh you may know that Latif Johnson uh has requested to return uh to a high school counselor role. Um and there's a potential for a possible
080reduction of one primary and one elementary uh classroom or section. Uh Nikki, do you want to uh comment on some of the potential ads? >> Yeah, so couple of things that we kind of discussed over is evaluating the increase of primary school uh administrative assistant position from 0.5 to maybe a full-time just to be a consistent among all four schools and just for the safety of our students. The and then we explore making a theater director role full-time to expand that program across all four schools. That has been a theme all throughout how to do K to2. So that's where we kind of started discussing that. And then the next one is discussing the and strengthening the district alumni engagement program which we all have been thinking about for a long time. So there were
081some uh discussions about that and then considering additional support for the director of public service uh pupil service to increase the availility of uh uh next director to the students and staffs and parents more than just being in the office. So just trying to find a helper that new role. And additionally we also talked about >> Sure. Just to wrap up um we discussed the administrator um salary and compensation um which will be finalized over the next month and we'll report out um in the April board meeting. And then uh we went through a uh number of potential staff uh changes due to resignations, retirements um and some general personal updates. So that's that's a quick overview of what was discussed on March 5th. >> Yeah. And some of those staff resignation is on the
082agenda today. >> Board members, any questions for Vicki or two? >> Okay. Um we have one last item. Uh Mr. remarks we're making to go into exe making making a motion to go into executive session. Um >> you don't need to stick around and stay for the rest of the meeting. If you said gee, you're more than welcome to. Um I know this is where you'd all like to be on St. Patrick's Day. Um but >> oh sir, let's make the motion that we'll do that in between. >> Yes. So, I'd like to make a motion to move into executive session in accordance with Ohio Revised Codes 121.22 item G18 to consider the investigation of charges complaints against uh classified employee and an employee under a supplemental contract. I'll second >> Mr. Mark. >> Yes.
083>> Mr. Tullis. Yes. Mr. Schwer. >> Yes. Mrs. say >> yes >> Mr. Warfl >> so before we go I just want to take a moment to say thank you to Dr. to our two wonderful sons who are here, Ian and Owen and David for being here with us and staying all throughout this meeting. So >> you guys know you have to come to every meeting now, >> right? Part of the deal. >> That's part of Yeah, especially the two of you. Yeah, I know you guys had classes, but you just came here to support your mom. So you know that we really appreciate that you guys came here and I hope you realize your mom is very strong and she is taking up on a role that we are all very excited about. >>
084So thank you Dave for coming and thank you boys for coming here and supporting her. >> We very proud of it. Thank you. >> Exclusive coverage on the Indian Hill Television Network has been a copyrighted presentation of the Indian Hill High School video department.