today. President K. Thank you. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And as we have been doing at the beginning of every meeting for a couple of months, I am going to read the CCS mission statement. Carmel Clay Schools will provide opportunities for all
students to realize their potential in an everchanging world. And now we're going to move on to the presentation portion of our meeting. And tonight we will recognize the Carmel High School girls lacrosse state champions and the Carmel High School
girls track team state champions. Thank you, President Kok. Um, we're going to be recognizing two uh spring sport teams here as we get late in the summer. And this is always a treat to be here in July talking about accomplishments from last year while we're all in the midst of getting ready
to ramp things up a week from now. So, um, before I start, uh, first of all, just thank you for having us as always because the support of our school board and, uh, district administration is just paramount to what we are able to do at the high school with all of our athletic and extracurricular programs. And these
two groups this evening, I think, really exude all of those things that we hold to be very important in extracurricular activities. Not only their getting the job done in the classroom, um, but also how they just are as people. And then obviously they are very good at what they do athletically as well. So before
I talk about our girls lacrosse team and I'm going to have them come up the members of that team that are president. Um coach Miller is with them and then we've got some team members as they're coming up and getting assembled. Um I do want to thank not only the the parents from our lacrosse program but also the
parents from our track and field program that are here this evening. um being a parent in our athletic programs is we ask a lot of them in a lot of different ways and um they are always willing to step up and do all the little things to make the experiences great for these
kids and for our coaches. So, we're very very thankful for all of that and uh I know on behalf of our student athletes, thank you for always waiting out in the parking lot when they're a little slow getting out after practice as well. Uh the girls lacrosse team completed their dominating season by defeating Garen
Catholic 10 to6 to earn a second consecutive state championship. This team had the target on them all season as favorites. So it was not an easy thing for them to do. Avery Gale, Sophie Mock, and Ellie Tamalia were all named All-Americans. For this group of
seniors, they were not going to let those expectations get in the way of a memorable season. They exhibited great enthusiasm and teamwork on the field and off the field. They have worked very hard to continue growing the sport in our community while representing our school district in a first class manner.
Uh the head coach is Josh Miller. He is here this evening and he will come to the podium to introduce members of the team that are here. Thank you for having us. Uh yeah, it was a great season and we're excited to be here. Thank you. To my left here, we're just going to go down the line. all seniors here. Brooklyn Jenkins, um Avery
Gail is right next trying to see there. Nora Rafferty, uh Ellie Tamalia, Ella Pascilio, and Megan Megan Hower is here. They're all here representing us tonight, and we're we're thrilled to have them. Thank you.
[Applause] Thank you. [Applause] Our next team that we'll be recognizing this evening will be our girls track and field team. So, if I could have them
come up, uh, just like the lacrosse team did, and we'll say a few words about their accomplishments this past season. The girls track and field team completed a long awaited journey back to the top on June 7th at North Central High School. This team has been so close for so many years, and this season had
contributions up and down the lineup to win their first state championship since 1999. The Greyhounds won the title without winning a single event, which is the second time ever that feat has been achieved in the IHSA history. The team had many incredible performances under great pressure at the state meet. This
group set 17 indoor and outdoor school records in the last three seasons. A very impressive track and field resume. This is a special team in many regards. Um, being a part of an individual sport in the spring can bring a lot of challenges to our teams. However, these
Greyhounds really brought the energy every day and all of that hard work paid off for them. Additionally, senior Emily Norris was named Carmel High School's girls mental attitude award winner as voted on by all of our head coaches and this is the highest honor given by the
athletic department to a female student athlete. Uh I would also like to add that this state title was the 200th state championship for Carmel High School, which is pretty exciting, too. Our assistant coach Carly Markley is here
this evening and she's going to step up filling in for Aaron McGrill who thought going to Europe this time would be a more important thing than spending the evening with us. So um Carly's going to introduce members of our team that are here this evening and Aaron certainly sends his regards.
Um, the athletes we have here today are Becca Bellinger, Olivia Seabolo, Sadie Foley, Gabby Grande Rosas, Olivia Munt, Emily Norris, Caitlyn Oshimura, Annabelle Pard, and Larkin Taylor. And then our coaches, we have Courtney Kulie, Haley Harris, Alex Wagner, and
Scott Williams. [Applause] Hey [Applause]
patient. [Applause] Next on our agenda are the recognition for the Carmel Clay School support staff member of the year, assistant principal
of the year, principal of the year, and administrator of the year, Dr. Herrera. All right. Good evening, President Kok, Dr. Orike, and members of the board. I'm excited to announce Rose Killy as our
2025 support staff member of the year. She is unable to join us this evening. However, we had the opportunity to celebrate her this spring. Rose has worked for Carmel Clay Schools since 2003 and is currently the head custodian at Carmel Middle School. If asked how
you would describe Rose, her colleagues would tell you Rose goes far beyond her job description every single day. She is not only a vital member of our operations team, but a trusted, compassionate presence in the lives of our students and staff. Let's give a
round of applause for Rose Killy. All right. Next up, I'm thrilled to announce that Brad Siver is our 2025 assistant principal of the year. Brad brings an unwavering passion for classroom instruction, ensuring that
students and the polytenic and science departments at Carmel High School engage in meaningful and authentic learning experiences every day. Brad has been a huge advocate for the work-based learning program and through his efforts, he has continued to expand
work-based learning opportunities. Dr. affairs shared that Brad's dedication and impact are felt in every corner of Carmel High School. His tireless efforts reflect a deep commitment to the success of both staff and students. Please join
us in congratulating Brad on this welldeserved recognition. Yes. [Applause] All right. It is an absolute honor to recognize Kelly Davis from Woodbrook
Elementary as our 2025 principal of the year. If you ask anyone who knows Kelly, they'll tell you she's the kindest and most supportive person you'll ever meet. Kelly's always ready to lend a hand, offer thoughtful advice, and uplift
those around her. She's a team player through and through and someone you can always count on. As the principal of Woodbrook Elementary, Kelly works tirelessly, often behind the scenes, to ensure every child's needs are met. Her leadership is grounded in integrity,
care, and a deep commitment to doing what's best for her students, her staff, and families. Kelly Davis embodies everything we hope for in a principal. Please join me in congratulating Kelly as principal of the year.
Before [Applause] we go to the next um person we're going to recognize, I wanted to thank Mrs. Davis. Uh Mrs. Davis and I were at the uh City of Caramel neighborhood popup in
Woodland Springs right before this. And if you know if you've been outside recently, it's pretty hot out there. So, she had a really quick turnaround. So, we appreciate you being there and we appreciate you being here. So, congratulations again, Mrs. Davis. All right. I am excited to recognize
Amanda Hogan as this year's 2025 administrator of the year. Amanda is widely respected across the district as an expert in her field and a true servant leader. She's known for her unwavering willingness to help,
collaborate, and support teachers, always putting the needs of others first. Her approachable leadership style and deep sense of commitment have made a lasting impact on countless educators and students. Amanda's passion for STEM education shines through in her daily
work. Whether she's guiding staff, lending a hand in a classroom, or actively participating in events. Amanda is a consistent and inspiring presence. Please join us in celebrating Amanda Hogland for this well-deserved honor.
[Applause] [Applause] And we will now take a brief break uh for those of you who would like to get home this evening or to enjoy the heat. Um or you are also welcome to stay or
you can stay. Thank you. Comment. However, this evening, no one has signed up for public comment. Uh so, next we have our consent part of our agenda. Tonight, the consent items include personnel reports, claims,
payroll, gift applications, the minutes from the June 9th executive session and the June 9th workshop session, the June 23rd regular session, and the July 14th executive session schoolboard meetings. And as a reminder, the these consent
items are grouped together. That's something that we do for the business portion of this meeting. and we group them together into a single motion um so that they don't take up too much time um in our meeting. But these are things that we obviously have to address. Do I have a motion to approve all items
on the consent agenda? Madame President, I uh move to accept all items on the consent agenda. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Right. Thank you. We will now take a vote. All those in favor signify by
saying I. I. I. Motion carries. We will move on to the action uh items portion of our agenda. And our first action item is the appointment of deputy treasurer, Mr. Mcichael. Thank you. Uh our treasur position
turned over in um late spring. And so Amanda Kushar is our current director of of finance and um so we're rec so we in the meantime we appointed an interim director or you did in January and so u
we're asking to appoint Amanda as a director effective August of this year and then she'll then you'll do this again in January. Thank you Mr. Mcichael. Do I have a motion to approve? I'm gonna make sure I say her name correctly. Amanda
Kushar as deputy treasurer. Madame President, I make a motion to appoint Mrs. Kushar as deputy treasurer for the period August 2025 to December 2025. Thank you. May I have a second? Second.
Any discussion? Right. Thank you. We will all take a vote. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. I motion carries. Next we have uh several change orders. So before we discuss those individually, so those
will be uh Mr. Mcichael will discuss those individually for us. May I have a motion to approve the change orders as a group. The items for these change order change orders include uh item 5.2 Two, Carmel High School Softball Complex. 5.3
Cherry Tree Elementary Renovations. 5.4 Carmel High School Polytech Edition. Item 5.5, Carmel High School Football Stadium Additions and Renovations. And lastly, item 5.6, Carmel High School
Natiatorum Addition and Existing Natiatorum Renovations. I move to take items 5.2 2 to through 5.6 as a group. Thank you. And a second. Thank you, Greg. Any discussion on um
not on the change orders, but on grouping them together as one motion. Okay, we'll take a vote. All in favor? Um and again, the motion is to group items 5.2 through 5.6 on this agenda. Uh all in favor signify by saying I.
I. Motion carries. Um with that, Mr. Mr. Mcichael, can you give us a little background on the change orders? I can. As noted, uh we have several uh various change orders uh uh this evening. Uh the first is for uh this I'll start out with the good news. The
uh first is for the softball complex and it's a a deduct change order of $42,000. We like those better than ads. And about half of that is what we refer to as a closeout change order. So that project's essentially finished. And so, uh, this
is closing out unused allowances for about half of this. And then the other the details of this, all of this is in your report. Um, but that's, uh, that's a majority of that deduct change order. The second change order is for Cherry Tree. Uh, it's a very small $2,38,
but it most everything there, as you can see in your report in the detail, is uh is a net zero, we call it, to the school district. Because for example, if a if if it's in a a contractor's um original contract and we end up having another
contractor do it for various reasons, then it becomes an ad change order to the new person. But but there will be a deduct change order that will offset that. And so the net change order for this small change order is actually a deduct of of $1,900. So uh every bit
every little bit helps. And uh then we get to the larger change orders. Uh uh first the Polytech project. Um and that change order is 173,000. It does have a slight offset um for a chargeback of
about $10,000, but still it's it's $163,000. The the vast majority of that is for electrical shut offs at the teacher's desk, and that has to do with a safety issue. um it was there with before we
did the addition and but it was not that shut off was not included and so that's something like $123,000 or so and and again the details are in your report. Um there would have been a cost there just you know we would have preferred it been in the original bids
and um so when there's something like that that's left out that it's not really unforeseen. Um and so at the same time we do we would have paid for it. We may not have paid this much. There's always a question on change orders because unlike the norm regular bidding
process, you don't have competition and because it's not practical go get a different contractor and bid it and do all this for this. So so we don't like that type of a change order, but nevertheless it it it happens at times. And then the the next change order is
for the stadium. It's about $10,000 uh ad and it's for temporary water and sewer for temporary restrooms. Uh which that was we could foresee it but until we got into the project we it wasn't clear enough to know. So we knew we were going to have that. Uh we just didn't
include it in the in the original bidding. And then finally the natiatorum. Uh it's another large change order relatively speaking. It's $269,000. Um there's about three major areas. One is for uh we had to 60 about $66,000 had
to demo ceiling tile in order to install um steel. Uh we and we the steel was in the specifications but we couldn't install the steel without removing the ceiling tile and that wasn't in the specifications. So a little similar to the emergency electrical part that it
could have been but it wasn't. And so, um, there would have been that expense to remove that, but but it would have been, uh, in the bid rather than as a change. And the second one is which is, uh, $96,000. We had a pool leak that we was unforeseen. And it's I, I guess it's
a good thing that this project, you know, we identified that because hard telling this was the, you know, the original pool. So, no way of knowing how long it had been leaking, but it's not something that you would want. one, you're going to have a certain amount of water, you know, loss. Um, and it's also
eroding underneath and you can imagine it's not, you know, it could be a real problem. Uh, and it was, you know, $96,000 to fix it. So, that was absolutely an unforeseen condition, which happens in large projects. And then finally, there's about $50,000 of
what I'm referring to as cosmetic upgrades. And you saw some of this on the tour. Uh but the lobby, for example, in the original um pool um was really not touched. And then we built the the
new pool um which has also a new lobby. And you saw the difference between old and a new. And so um in trying to minimize that uh in that area for as an example, part of this change order is to put laminate panels
on the old part. uh which are the same panel that's in the new new and and these two lobbies run together. So you look this way and you see the new and then you see the old. We'd prefer people don't we don't want their impression to be okay this is the new part and that's
the old. You can't do away with that altogether. But but that's an example where we try to minimize it. And then we had some things down in the locker rooms. Uh if you were down on the pool deck there there are I'll call it chain doors uh where you can see through them. something like the shopping center place
would pull down so you can't get in. You can see in but with the environmental conditions they're they become rusty and they just look bad and when you when you clean up everything else they look worse. And so so that's another example of some cosmetic things. And so that's
kind of a summary of of all of these change orders. And we'd recommend your crew away from that. Thank you. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the
action items 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6 on the agenda? And we had grouped those all together. So, can I have a motion to approve all of this? Yes. Okay. So, the motion is to approve action items 5.2 through 5.6. May I have
a second? Second. Thank you. And any discussion uh or questions for Roger? Yeah, just a clarification mostly for the public. So the these change orders, it's quite a variety. Um
and uh but the these are covered within the budgets that we've already approved before for them. Yes. Uh in any project, all construction projects, we have contingency. We we identified what we call a contingency allowance that's really intended for things like this that because we know
they're going to happen on large projects and while this is certainly a lot of money in the context of the of the cost of the projects fortunately it's not it's it's a small percentage we'd like for them to be zero but it's a small percentage as compared to the total. So we we generally depending on
the project will build 3 to 5% of a project into that contingency. That's why that ear that first change order was a deduct of 20,000 uh because that was a part of the unused contingency that that con that that those contractors had. Now in addition to u we usually put in about
3% in each contract. So when you're awarding bids um there's 3% added in there that we may or may not use. And then beyond that we have other you know kind of overall contingency uh for kind of all you know basically if you have a
bond issue you'd have overall contingency for every project in there and so one project may come in over the amount that you allotted in that 3% or the work of that contractor may may be more than the 3% but then we may have other contractors we didn't need any of
their contingency. So it kind of balances out and certainly we keep an eye on that because we're you know we have to have the money to pay for the project and and we wouldn't I wouldn't be recommending you approve this if we didn't have way to pay for it. So so that's always the answer that we'll we'll have it covered
one way or the other. Um we've had some cases where uh there may be a project that we don't do because you know we're going to finish the ones we started before we you know if if it came to that but that usually doesn't happen but it can.
So it's there's not any kind of overrun condition. These are all things that you can't think of everything when you're scoping out a large complex project. So these are some items. The short answer would be yes. Overall we're we're fine. Okay. Thank you,
Madame President. I just wanted to express my appreciation to Dr. O and Mr. Mcichael and the staff and all of the um construction management folks that took us on a tour of all of these facilities. We saw um the softball complex. We saw
the cherry tree elementary uh renovations, the polytenic edition at the high school, the football stadium additions, renovations to the tennis courts, and um the natitorium edition and really really appreciated that. I'm a visual learner and a visual person.
And so it really helps me to understand how the projects come together and they really um appear to me to be very well done. and I'm excited that the kids will either already are taking advantage of them or soon will be. I'll echo Mrs. Wheeler's comments about
the tour. Um, I do have one question. I'm going to use the polytechnic change order just as the example. So, you talked about that that was not the shut off switches were not identified right early on. So moving forward, how how do
we what's the process for trying to avoid things like that next time around? Well, I know it's not on you per se, right? I'm going to say it's the same process that we've have always followed and yet, you know, things happen. Um and um so it
starts with, you know, the architect's one developing the specifications which is the design and thus what's included. uh and that's where this was not included. So obviously we didn't get bids and so so you have you know one we we try to work with the we think the
best architects that we can find and and u um and we we and we think we're do we believe we're doing that or we'd be or we'd be recommending a change. Uh then they're certainly this the last thing they want because sometimes the question is is how come we have to pay for it?
They made the mistake. So you didn't ask that question but I'll answer it and uh and and the answer is is that in which you know is that if there's a value added that happens sometime by the way but but if there's a value added that is
you would have paid for these if if you're going to put them in you'll have these shut offs that you don't have right now and you didn't pay for it. U so a value added u we pay for it. if it's just a mistake and we got no value and we've had that. Um we had we in fact
you didn't see this because the architect, you know, just lowered their expense, but there was a situation where there was a mistake made on one of the turf fields in terms of the layout of the logo. It wasn't in the scheme of things, it wasn't, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was several
thousand dollars. And they uh we didn't get any benefit of that. just I don't know the specifics anymore, but but let's say it was just in the wrong place and we wanted it over here and it was supposed to be over here. Well, that was a mistake that getting it where it belonged, we still only had one logo and
so that was their fault and they acknowledged that and um sometimes we have different opinions on that by the way, but in this case we didn't. And so so that's kind of how that works. And uh um but when I talk about the specifications there are hundreds of
pages and uh again we don't want any mistakes but long as you're dealing with human beings sometimes that's going to happen and so it really becomes the the the scope and the and how many mistakes like a lot of things we all make mistakes we just don't want to make too
many of and so that's that that is how we approach it and then we you know we we're also a participating on this team and so Um u we've had our our current facility director does not have this background but the previous one was an a
licensed architect themselves. So, so uh that can come in and not but I don't we don't want our person you know reviewing hundreds and hundreds of pages of specifications that be the only thing they could get done and uh but but they are you know kind of in the business and
even if they're not don't have that specific background uh we have on in-house staff that that has construction background and so forth. So everybody's trying to get to the same place because nobody wants oversightes. we don't want it. They don't want it because it reflects badly on them. And
so that's kind of the process. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. I'm just going to echo what uh two of the other board members said and and just uh the reason the board has been doing these so that the public kind of knows the reason we've been doing these
um field trips where we get to see facilities is you know we are the stewards of the of the community's money and and so looking at those projects and understanding what we have voted on and what we get updates on it it makes it a whole lot different than just seeing it on paper. And so we really appreciate um
the administration taking the time to take us out there and explain things to us. All right. Thank you. Uh we'll now take a vote. All in favor of approving items 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6. Signify by
saying I. I. I. Motion carries. Next up, we have our uh we have two discussion items this evening. The first is the proposed facility projects worth 2026. Mr. Mcichael,
I was on the wrong report, so hang in there just a sec. I got ahead of myself. There it is. All right, we're getting between the new system and I'm old. Um, those two don't
work very well. You're thinking it, I just say. Yes. With the new system. Yeah. So, so that the public knows that we um for decades have used board docs and now we're using something called diligent. We are doing that.
Yeah. So, that's it's a new project, new idea. What? Oh, it is. Okay. So, as the board knows, uh we uh are have been, you know, we're doing facility projects rather regularly. And so, um, this evening I'm proposing
projects that I'm referring to as the 26 projects because that's when we would start to finance and and do this. And this is the first step. There's several steps. So, this is a discussion. It's not action. Um, and in fact, it's about
a six-month process. Um there will be at least two public meetings for for public hearings to give opportunity for the public input and also for and then for and part of that is is they giving input to you so for you to consider their
their thoughts and opinions as well. So it's a it's a it's a long process to get through. Um and so I'll just start then with um the first project and some of these you are aware of and some of them you may not be but um the first project
is is a major renovation at Smokyo Elementary and I'm sure you're aware of that that we're anticipating that um you mentioned Cherry Tree. This is kind of the sister school built off the same floor plans about uh four years later than Cherry Tree and so it's up for a
major renovation very similar to the condition site and different things are a little bit different but it's basically the same building and uh and it needs uh a complete renovation and as you see here the estimated project cost not construction cost but the total
project which is fees and architects everything furniture and whatever uh is 32 $2.5 million and um as I said it's it'll be a project similar to to the cherry tree project. The next one is Caramel Middle School and it's it's a
significant I'll I'll elaborate on that in a minute what we call midcycle project um and it's 14 million and so while the middle school a midcycle in about this school was renovated had a major renovation and about it was finished in about 2007 so so about you
know that many years later it's time the finishes are are showing wear and tear and so forth and so we do that but but a significant in this case. A significant part of this is is some of the mechanical equipment. And to reflect that, um the parks department who uses
our middle schools had to move to Carmel Elementary because the air conditioning would work and and it wasn't something we were going to get fixed in a hurry. And so that just kind of reflects, you know, that that we what I'm saying. Even though the building had a major renovation in 20 or 2007,
that's not the same as a new building. and and he spent a lot of money for a major renovation as you can see from Smoky Road, but in 2007 um some of the major you know chillers and so forth they didn't need to replace then but they do now and they
won't go another 15 or 17 years or if we try to you won't like none of us will like the outcome. We don't like it now. And uh thus the recommendation and you can see other things also out inside and outside parking lot. Um we call building envelope repairs as windows issues and
leaks and just different things like that. Uh and then uh so that's that project. The next project is the high school and we know the high school is about a third of our total square footage. So there's that reflects a reason why we do a lot of work there what seems like all the time. And um um
so that project uh first there's $8 million scheduled for uh referring to it as completion of the stadium project. That's that's a a variety of things, but you know, you know how much paving up there, for example. So that u we'll
we'll we'll repave that and uh everything that that implies. There's also some significant concrete and sidewalk type work. Uh, one being that we we build a that south support building which you saw on the tour. Um,
but we need a path basically, you know, and I'm not talking about a sidewalk like in front of your house, but a path that gets from that new building to the visitor site. Uh, which uh that's where they will that's where they go now for concessions and for a whole variety of
things. And so or if they're coming in, that's the kind of the main entrance, right? So you can get to the other you can get to the home side but that side not so much. So that's an example of some of the other things and then it also has things like fencing and landscaping and and those other kinds of
things. We'll do some work um on the uh you may well you did see when you drove by the tennis complex and most of that's finished but we haven't touched the building and uh we won't spend you know millions of dollars on the building. Um but but we will spend some money to uh
particularly you know on the well both both but the inside will get certainly what we consider at least at a cosmetic level and there may be some other things too uh because that building is I don't know how now it's probably 25 years old and um then we have uh the smaller
numbers at the high school we got $1.5 million for a roof a section of a roof replacement it's over a million square feet so that you don't replace the roof for a million or that roof for a million and a half, but you do you can do a section for in this case about a million and a half. It's where the main
cafeteria is at. We it started because we need to replace the exhaust vent uh in the kitchen and and so that that's really a smaller portion of this. The larger portion is the roof needs replaced. It wouldn't make any
sense to put this bin on top of an old roof and we're having some trouble the roof, of course. Uh and then we have there's a million dollars for the auditorium fire suppression system. Uh when we went to get approval at the state level, you may have remember this, but um and had just finished the
renovation of the auditorium. Um uh this the the state level folks said, uh you have to put in we won't approve your polytech project unless you put in a fire suppression sprinkler system essentially. And um we had asked for a
waiver thought it was routine because it had been for the last 20 years and on every because you know every project we did even if it's down at the state it doesn't matter if you have some place that's out of compliance you have to bring it up except here they they'd always given us a waiver but you know
new board different people different different opinions so we'll be putting in a sprinkler system in in the auditorium. Uh then we have some door have door leaks uh and you know for a half a million dollars. So there's there's you know that's more to that than like you know a small leak at home
or something. And um and then an emergency generator for another half million. And then we have miscellaneous projects and that's just what it says. um million250 and that and we have that there for um various HVAC repairs, uh
some minor roof repairs, some parking lot and asphalt type things. Um and so that that's that would conclude the high school and then at uh Cherry Tree um uh we we will be back not back well
we'll be back to Cherry Tree but about the time the building proper is finished to do the playground and significant portion of that is u is for a a rubberized surface rather than mulch and um and you're seeing that more and more
and I think all parks department, you know, their their parks their parks are newer than some of our schools. So So I think that's that's the only I'm sure that's the only product they use. And we've been doing that as we have a new school like the two new elementary schools for example,
but it's it's also very expensive, but it's it's it's a obviously a more consistent service from a safety standpoint and so forth. And then finally, we've and a million250 for district-wide miscellaneous projects and and essentially the same thing. Uh
similar things as at the high school uh but but you know kind of across the district. And with that um I think that's the total for the projects. And um um what we'd like to do is come at the next meeting which is the workshop
rather than a month from now. and and um we'll we won't review these so much anymore, but I'll add to it by sharing with you um the the impact of this based on our financial advisors um relative to
tax rate and cost and and this year um that narrative is going to change because of the change in the state statute. You you you're all aware of it. Um but with with some of the new legislation affecting uh property tax and property tax levies and so forth,
essentially what happens is that legislation uh is in fact going to raise tax rates. Now you know that raising tax rate you you don't write your check for the tax rate. You're writing it for the for the money the levy that it generates the
amount of money. So, so the fact that their rate goes up doesn't mean that that you're because of some of this new legislation, for example, in other words, if it lowers the assessed value that to get the same amount of money that that you would have or need,
it would raise the tax rate. And that's why I'm saying in some cases it's going to raise and in other cases where like our referendum unfortunately where the tax rate is is a maximum fixed rate um all things equal it likely it's going to give us less would give us less money
and and and and so you can't raise that rate even if if you wanted to you could get a new rate but you couldn't raise the one that's there that's already been approved. So anyway, that's the summary and then um we may also include at the as a part of
this at this the next meeting um a little more information about you'll see that it'll come out about some of the new legislation and then finally at that meeting I will ask for action to advertise a hearing and and so that third step would be um if you've had two
meetings then the third meeting would be when the public will have an opportunity to comment. by design, you know, that's that's a few weeks out, so there's more than ample notice and there's a process for that as well. Um, where we invite the public into. So that's concludes my
report. I don't have any questions. Thank you. Um, yeah, thank you for the report. It's It's nice to see that so early in the cycle. Um, a couple questions on the high school. Was that um I assume that wasn't funded
by the existing bond that we've been the construction we've been doing recently. Same question with cherry tree. It is not it. Correct. Uh in other words, this was planned from the beginning in the sense that if we on sometimes on large pro like that being a
large project when we when we sell bonds, we start um paying interest because we borrowed the money basically. And so so sometimes we'll split that up for that reason alone. Uh because otherwise you you you can you're also
earning interest, but if you earn too much you have to give it back. They call it arbitrage. You can't earn more interest than you're paying. And uh Chris, Mrs. Wheeler knows that. But but uh so so this was anticipated uh to be,
you know, total that whole site basically. Um and and um I think this is right. when we we finally finish this we'll be done at the high school at least for the certainly for that stadium area for the foreseeable future because
we really will have touched about everything at that point. So So if I understand it right, you're saying these projects really couldn't have been done or should have been done at the same time of the current work. So we're not going to go ahead and buy or issue bonds to pay for work we we know we can't
start till later years. Yeah. I mean, as you could imagine, um, we wouldn't pay the parking lot while we've got it all torn up and keep tearing it up and with big, you know, dump truck all kinds of vehicles going in there. That makes it worse. It's already bad enough, but but we want to
fix it at the end so that so that we aren't if we did it too early, we we'd essentially damage new new asphalt by the time we got finished. So, there's a sequence of Yeah. Um, a last question is the the total amount 63 million. How does that
contrast to typical years worth of capital projects? I don't know if we have a typical year, but but uh to the extent we do, I from memory, I I think it's in the range of of the 24 bond issues. Uh, as I remember, I think they were 60ome
million dollars. So about the same. One of the things that that I do uh and and at the next meeting we'll present to you is is as we talk about these projects always present financial information about you know the next seven or 10
years because if I stop it this year I go well look this isn't too bad it doesn't do much to the tax rate but if I say if I don't tell you that we're going to you know five years from now we're projecting a hundred million dollars for something you
Uh so you need to know that and and the public needs to know that so that it's my way of saying we don't just we don't just plan for this year and what we need. We're we're always looking about, you know, really more than 10 years. And we know the farther out, like any forecast, farther out you go, more
likely something's going to change. Uh timing and all kinds of things, but and money and everything else, but but we we do that at least to we recognize that, you know, the needs for facilities don't go away and facilities have a life cycle and and we take that information. It's a
little more complicated than that, but we take that information um and are always forecasting and projecting and then updating when we have a recession and something, you know, we get we have uh pricing going way up, you know, and and inflation and 40-year high and all
that, then we adjust our number and and so we're it's always changing. Um and and um just inherent in the process is that the closer we get uh like I'll tell you that you know we're I think we're
pretty solid on what at least the major things that we're we're going to propose in 29. So, you know, that's four years from now, but but uh a pretty good idea what they're going to be. I don't know what the 29 cost will be um but but I
but I know what what they'll be. And so part of this financial projection is we're also projecting because when you get to cost and tax rates um and then you know if you you if you consider you know a 4% increase in the cost um and
you consider a 4% increase or the money and you consider a 4% increase in the assessed value then then the tax rates level. But as some of you know, if you have a 13% increase in your in your house or in the assessed value, and some
of us did, and some of us had that was an average, so some of us had 20 or something. If you maintain that tax rate, then it is going to cost you 13% more money. stuff. On the other hand, if your assessed value is level and the tax
rate goes up 4%, then then you pay 4%, not 13%. So, all that goes in and and you that's reflected in the information that I'll share with you. And so um um not to get too far ahead but but um
right now we're we're looking at the the for the near future of assessed value being flat because we that's one way we don't know what it's going to be. So rather than telling you it's going to go down or up. We just let's assume it's zero and if it's zero then doing these
projects that's why it's it will show an increase in that tax rate not the overall tax rate. Um our operations fund for example it's I believe the tax rate is going to come down some. It's gone down by the way the last two years. So
good overall for a school rate. So any we'll talk more about it the next meeting, but that's kind of how the process. I could ask more questions, but I know you could and I could I could answer them, too. But just one question. You mentioned the
issue at Carmel Middle School with the air conditioning. Yes. And that Carmel Park said to move summer programming. Yep. Do we have a mandate in place for the next six or eight weeks when we're going to be running school and it's still going to be summer in Indiana? Yeah, I we it I believe we're fine. I haven't heard the otherwise, but I I
always get an update about any about this week for sure, but which I haven't gotten specifically on that, but it was a matter of we know the problem. We had it took a takes a certain amount of time to get the delivery because it wasn't like sitting on a shelf farm somewhere. And so I've not heard the concern for
school, but it was was a you know given the length of the summer program by the time we got in fact it was middle of July. Um it was better to move the park. So we moved it to Caramel Elementary. Thank you for this. I really think this is nice. Sorry I skipped you. Did you
have anything? No. Okay. I'll be brief. Um, I appreciate and I think the rest of the board understands that, you know, we kind of see the things that are coming next year and we know that there's a plan kind of for the next, like you said, four, five, seven years, but that sometimes things come up like at Karma
Middle School that you maybe have to other projects kind of get moved aside. And so I think we all understand that it's it's a plan. A plan is a plan, but sometimes things have to change. So, thank you. Our next discussion item is the 2026
2027 school calendar modifications. Dr. Our strike. Thank you very much, President Kok, members of the board. I wanted to bring a discussion item to you this evening regarding our 2627 calendar. And uh as we were reviewing uh
for next year already, uh we saw that we had an opportunity uh to potentially add a week of summer uh for our students next school year. Um because when we first created the two years worth of calendars, we mirrored them um you know based upon the feedback from our
community. We sent out a survey, got feedback from our community, put the calendars together. But what we didn't realize is that Memorial Day backed up a week and that happens about every five or six years as you know. And so we could keep it the same uh and mirror it,
but uh with uh having the potential of giving back a week's worth of summer to our kids, we thought that this was a worthy uh worthy conversation for the board to cont uh to consider. And so for next year, and we're talking next year, we're not talking this year, just to let you know, this year, this year's
calendar is uh perfectly the same. Um but for next year, here's the board approved version that's up on the screen. Um and it it mirrors this year. are kids would start August 5th, teachers 3rd and 4th. Uh fall break is in there and then as you see last day
for students would be the 21st. The teachers would have to come back on that Monday. Um but then Memorial Day is not until I believe the the 30th of May. So that kicked back uh a week. And so what we'd like to propose for our community
and our students is that our students start a week later. So they come to school on August 12th instead of August 5th. Um now it uh taking a look and balancing the days and the semester and all of that. Um uh the students would
then go to that Friday, but if you look at winter break there, it's still you still get your two weeks of winter break in there. Teachers come back. In addition, we're also recommending that we move forward fall break as well. um to correspond with moving forward the
beginning of the year. It's a nice 9-week break, especially for our middle school students who look at those nine-week grades and such. Um and then it also aligns us more closely with the school districts around us as well. That'd be the same as Zansville. It'd be the same as the first week of
Noblesville. They have two weeks that they do. Um and then HSSE and I believe Westfield would be the week after that. So it aligns us a little bit more with our neighboring school districts as well. And then if you take a look at May
uh 27th would be the last day of school. That would be Thursday before Memorial Day. That last day of school would also align with graduation. And so just like we've had the last two years, there may be more. The last day of school then we
have graduation that evening works very well with our families. In the current version, our families would have to come back the next week, wait a week. Uh and as we know, many of our families are already planning different uh camps and different vacations and so on and so
forth. So, um and then our teachers uh would come back would come on that Friday. They wouldn't have to come back after Memorial Day uh like they um I believe have to do this year. And so, uh, a summary here is that we, uh, recommend we, uh, uh, because Memorial
Day does kick back a week, uh, we recommend giving our students a week back of summer, uh, for next summer. Uh, and in addition to that, it would also give our staff a week who are on the school calendars, our teachers, and such as well. Um, we recommend moving fall
break a week up. Um, graduation would then align on that last student day. We believe that's more uh a schedule that our parents would appreciate at the high school level of those seniors. Um and then I also wanted to note that this calendar modification
still aligns with the needs and preferences of our community from the survey that we put out two years ago. That was important to us as well. Um, we are going to put out another survey to our parents as well, probably around Novemberish, Decemberish around there,
like we did a couple years ago to say, "Hey, how's this calendar going?" Because we just started that full week of fall break not too long ago. Is that good? Do you like uh ending the school year uh by Memorial Day? Do you like, you know, ending the semester uh by
winter break and so on and so forth? And then do you have any other recommendations that we can take a look at? So, Dr. Herrera, she'll be tasked uh with putting that survey together as I uh used to do that in my role. So that is uh our proposal. Uh we feel this is in the best interest of our students and
our families. We also feel that there's still ample time. If families are making uh vacation um plans for 2027, they still have plenty of time. If they were making vacation plans for 2026, they're still good because we're moving the we
would recommend moving the week up. So there's nothing lost there for our families making those plans. So with that, I would be happy to answer any questions the board may have. No fair. Oh, go ahead. I'm sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Ostrike. I
appreciate how you have been so intentional in asking the community and the staff about these calendars over the last couple of years. Certainly uh it's not helpful to the community when we make an arbitrary change and it
doesn't fit with their schedules, their lifestyles, and the way they are scheduling for their families. So, I know it's very appreciated and thank you. I know it takes a lot of work. Sorry, Madam President. I thought you were going to me first and I wasn't ready last time, so I was about to say
no fair picking me first again, but thank you for for uh letting Miss Nelson Williams speak first. Um, I just wanted to say thank you also for putting this out there and allowing our parents um an opportunity to look at it as well as um
the board. I think um the I've heard a lot of comments that we're already starting school next week and that this has seemed like an exceptionally short summer for everybody and it may be counting weeks one of the
shortest we've had at least in my 18 or 20 years being a caramel parent. Um but thank you so much for that. I really appreciate the careful consideration. I also um would just make a suggestion for our next survey since you mentioned it
for Dr. You and Dr. Herrera. Um I want to and I know this is difficult in a survey, but I want to make sure to the extent we can if there are tradeoffs to making changes. For example, I think it's really easy to say, "Yeah, I'd love
to have a week for fall break. Let's go to Disney for a week." Does everybody understand that there's trade-offs associated with that? because at the end of the day, we still have to have 180 calendar days of school, you know. So, if the trade-off is we start the first week of August or there's some other
trade-off that's associated with that, let's make sure when we survey that to the extent we can, and I know it's not always possible, we can make sure the parents that we're surveying and that take the time to do the survey understand some of the trade-offs associated with those kind of if then
situations. That would be much appreciated. Thank you. Uh similarly appreciate the advance notice. Selfishly as a parent of a graduate in 2027 appreciate knowing now uh for our my parents who don't live here to be able to you know block their
calendars and make their travel plans. Um can you speak to discussions with uh teachers teachers union in regard to what's being proposed as well? Absolutely. So, I did uh first of all, I did run this past the administrators at
our back to school administrator meeting. Um and uh many of them clapped uh when I shared this with them. I'll let you know that. Um I also uh met with our teachers association president, Mr. Mark Ween, uh who reviewed the calendar and he also approves of it as well. One
of the things we had to do with the teachers is we had an extra teacher day on there. So, we put that at the beginning of the year. I believe about three years ago, uh maybe four years ago, we had three teacher days to kick off the school year and they absolutely loved it and the feedback on that was very positive. So, we'll be able to
accomplish that with this calendar modification proposal as well. Um, in addition to that, I will share with you that I uh personally spoke with Jennifer Brown with the Carmel Clay Parks and Wreck um and uh talked to her because if we are extending the summer, uh will the
uh programming from the parks uh department uh will they be able to accommodate an additional week? Um and Jennifer said that that would not be a problem. Uh she would be happy to do that. So, I wanted to share that as well. Ju just a a minor footnote, you know, as
a reminiscing back when I was a kid, you know, extending the summer just sounds wonderful, but we're not really giving them another week in summer. We're just shifting it, right? You know, so so they have to they're in
school a week longer in May than they would be. Yes, I I see what you're saying. So if they if they got out early, they'd have a they'd have a week early in May versus having it a little bit later. Um, so that's one thing. Yeah, depends on how you look at I said
sort of facitiously, you know, looking at say you get an extra week of summer. And that's correct. Kids are pretty smart. They'll figure out technically spring. Technically May is spring and August is summer. Just just
I see what you're saying. but also um with graduation as well um we'd be holding those seniors back a week essentially so they wouldn't be able to celebrate the summer early and so there's there's tradeoffs as uh Miss
Wheeler shared there so yes I see yes I see your point great thank you great information and again those were discussion items so we there was no no action on any of those just a us discussion. Uh next up
we have our reports and first is the monthly financial update. Mr. Mcichael [Laughter] had a finger on a button. All right. Oh sh What? Share screen.
Yeah, I did share screen. There it is. All right. All right. Almost. Well, um a little bit different format here. Um, we had a recommendation from the board member that uh uh we essentially put uh the 25
the current budget side by side with the 24 budget as opposed to two different pages. And that was a very good suggestion. Um, one that I thought of from time to time but never quite got that done. But but uh as with other other suggestions sometimes but this
time we got this get got it finished and you can see we now are side by side. it'll make it a lot easier for me to present it to you and also easier for you to, you know, keep track of it. And so, um, so with that, I'll start as I usually do with the education, um, and
operating referendum and the rainy day fund. I'll take a few more comments because this is the end of the fiscal year and so this is a month that uh we particularly assess um and kind of you know determine where we where we think
we're at as compared to last year and and this year as well. But um and so I'll I'll start there. But but you'll see that we ended the year um this year uh up about a million dollars and and
you know we we'd rather be up than down. Um but I'll point out that when we when you and you'll remember this, but when we get to the rainy day fund, we also put $3 million uh more money. There's more rainy day fund. In other words, that that so you might all things equal
should have gone up $3 million, not a million. However, uh you may remember that a month or two ago we had a report uh with some changes at the state where we had to close out the textbook rental fund and um and it was at a negative 1.5
million and that's this is where it came from. Now I also said at that time that um the nature of of our textbook purchases are uh depending on what's being adopted you know the literature adoption for example is a lot more expensive than the fine arts adoption
and so forth and so that million and a half should over over the life of the adoptions it you know it'll balance itself as it does um and we'll have some years where we'll gain cash because of it because we won't spend all that the state gives us it's in a context about
two and a half million a year by the way. So, so, so that had a negative impact on this is what I'm saying. And then the second thing I would point out is that you'll uh you may remember that we literally held money back in the first year of the bienium in order to
give the very minimal raise that we gave in the second year. But that had the effect then of of increasing cash because we weren't spending it so that we could spend it this year and then every that works out perfectly then we ended up even going forward. And so when
you adjust for those uh then we're about right on target. If anything, we're a little we are a little ahead of last year, but but but um not $3 million of course because of what I said, but but still we're in very solid. Um this is telling me that I'm I'm very satisfied
with where we ended up. I don't see any major, you know, financial issues that that are going to be recurring and and all of that. And so so overall our major funds here have uh they're maintaining themselves nicely. Um and and we and you
can see the the uh ending fiscal year cash balance which is not certainly is adequate. It's not excessive. U we've talked about that before as well, but uh but we're in we're in solid financial condition. Going to the operations fund. Um this
fund is always is is not as comparable because the nature of the expenses. The first fund it's you know well over 95% salary and benefits. So it's every year. So and you pay you're spending salary and benefits every two weeks right for payroll. So it's it's it's a little more
it's a lot more predictable really or comparable from one year to the next. This fund only about half of it is for salary and benefits. The other half is everything from construction projects, maintenance projects, buses, those kinds of non-personnel things. Uh that can
vary depending on when you're doing the projects and when you're paying them out. But nevertheless, everything looks good here. Um we excuse me, we um we did go up u in terms of our our balance. Um
there we go. So uh but um and this is we we are we did gain cash here even you know kind of the bottom line uh the single significant factor of that had to do with the circuit breaker and uh because of and I won't get all the
details but our circuit breaker loss if you will um was close to $2 million less than what it typically is uh it went from like 3 million to 1 million in round numbers and so that helped this but it's unfortunately that's not going to be recurring. And uh there were
reasons why that happened, but but but it's not going to be recurring. So, you know, it absolutely helped this year, but it it's not like we're going to have an extra 2 million every year is what I'm saying. But it did help this, which helps, you know, not only this fund, but this is the same fund that we've been
fortunate to be able to move some money, as I said earlier, to the rainy day fund. And so, uh, this is also the fund that, um, or a fund that will be impacted by some of the the new legislation. So, you know, we're all anxious to really see the impact of
that. We everybody's, you know, has an opinion, but nobody really knows until because there was so much change that um, until we actually see it all enacted and even then it's going to it's going to continue to change for several years in the future. So, so any rate, that's
that's kind of the summary. And then finally, um that's not it. Um the rainy day fund, um which you can see is is 7.5 million and um last year at this time it was four and a half as I
said we transferred $3 million. So that's really because this fund is is by nature is is uh you can see there's you know we we don't use this fund except for very either minor things typically thing typically things that are not
recurring because it's it's it's a form of our savings account uh for literally a rainy day. And um and so we don't we don't we've not spent this on recurring expenses. And if we if we did do that, we'd have a plan to stop doing it
because obviously, you know, it would it would soon run out if if we took that approach. So that concludes my report. All right. Thank you very much. No questions. Next, we have the staff and student
services report with Dr. Herrera. Madame President, just for the record, I'd like the public to know it was 52 degrees on the last day of school this past May. Thank you for that. All right, President Koke and members of
the board, I have tonight's human resources update. So, the CCS job fair occurs twice a year and this summer we actually held it in July. Um, this was our highest attended event with 94 um attendees that came. We
had on the spot interviews, assistance with application process in both English and Spanish. Um, we had schools and departments represented and even had a few people interested in driving a bus. So, I'm happy to say that as of today,
we've also hired five new bus drivers. So, that's great news. And then also want to give a shout out to the staff and the schools and the HR team for just helping us get ready for this school year. Both classified and certified staff. We're in a really good place right now heading in to the week before
school starts. And I'll give you a little bit more information here in a minute. This data reflects the number of candidates who have applied for jobs after each of our hiring events. Um, and then also gives the higher rate. So
you'll see that we had 78 candidates apply for a position. We actually had 67 new applications within the first day of the job fair. So, that's really exciting. Goes to show how much the HR team did at the event to help people get
on the computer and and register for a position or sign up for a position. One thing you will notice is that the hire rate is much less um at our July job fair being at 16%. But I think one thing to note is we just had less openings
this year. We we didn't have as many as what we've had in the past. Substitute teachers. We always need substitute teachers. As you know, sometimes our substitutes help fill our full-time um vacancies for our classroom
IAS or just different positions we have within a building. Sometimes they'll also fill short-term um teacher vacancies. And so we've already hosted one onboarding session with 12 new um applicants and then have another one
scheduled for August 6th. So we are in a really good place with substitute teachers as well. We've had a very successful summer of hiring teachers. Um, I will say that SLPs and and our special education teachers continue to be in high demand,
but we've done a great job with retaining them in both of these areas. We've not seen as many um resignations or retirements in these areas. Um, we've had very little turnover this summer and I'm excited to announce that as of this
afternoon, we are fully staffed in our certificated positions. So, one one week away and right now we're fully staffed. So, feeling really good in the HR department. This is our um hiring data since 2019.
And this shows our resignations, retirements, and then a total off to the side. Um a few things I'll I'll mention here is that on average, this is looking at around a thousand teachers. So, give or take a thousand teachers. Um and then
I do want to address the increase that we see between 21 uh22 and 2022 23 when we see that little uptick of resignations. Um, we do believe, you know, that was on the heels of COVID and really looking at people making life
decisions, um, making some life choices on whether or not they stay home with their children, they want to return to work, or even some people that relocated to other areas. And then my final slide um I have here and this is we are so excited to have
seven um new teachers that we just hired that are actual Carmel High School graduates. So really excited to have them circle back and um you know be ready to make a difference in what they probably saw in their teachers. So super excited about that. So thank you and
I'll open it up for questions. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Herrera. Uh, love to see that, especially the um, CHS graduates coming back and wonderful job to you and your team. Kudos for that and being fully staffed. Um, I also wanted
to know, and please correct me if I'm wrong, for anybody that's watching that might be interested in a substitute position, teaching position. My recollection is you can be as broad or as narrow in what you're willing to do. You can select the days of the week, the
particular calendar days. If you want to be at the same school as your kids, so you're on the same time, start time and stop time, you can do that. You can pick grade level. You can pick subject matter. It's very, very personal and specific. And I don't know that every
parent or um or adult in our community who might be interested realizes how much you can tailor that uh substitute work to your own schedule and your own wants and and needs for yourself and your family. So thanks for that. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you Dr. Herrera. It's a great report. Um you you uh anticipated some of my questions on the hiring uh the resignations and retirements graph. Um I would be curious I know it's you know seven years ago so it's like old data at
this point but what those numbers looked like a couple years before we started to see COVID at some point. Um but I think this is great data to sort of continue to be able to report out on. Um, and if we can plop a footnote on the graph that just
says how many teachers we employ because we might remember, but especially if this remains public and we keep having this report on an ongoing basis just to remind the community, um, I mean, those percentages then are are fairly low in this kind of industry. Uh, that tends to
see a lot of turnover. So, um, it's great data. I appreciate you uh sharing it with us tonight. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next, I have a brief legislative update. Uh on Friday, I will be spending the day
as part of the ISBA um legislative committee, and that is a two-year appointment that I'm serving. So, this is our organization meeting, and we will be working on the ISBA legislative priorities for this coming year.
And then next we have Mr. Shapiro with the parks update. Parks report. Parks update. Parks report. Thank you, President Kok. Uh just a couple of items. Uh as you pointed out, I sit on the parks board uh as an appointment from the school board. A couple items
that uh were shared at the last parks meeting that I think might be relevant or important to members of the community that I wanted to share. First, um the board has approved some improve park improvements at Founders Park that'll be taking place soon, which is one of the
few parks that has not been upgraded uh in the last few years. So, uh they'll be replacing the playground surface there. Roger talked about new playground surfaces. Um sandbox is being renovated, sidewalk improvements, and some additional fencing. If you're familiar with that park, sort of the playground
ends and there's nothing really stopping people from getting in, especially younger children from getting into the parking lot. So, some safety and security measures will be put there. Also, some additional signage uh to make it easier to spot and to bring it on brand with the rest of the Carmel parks.
Um, if you're a Monan Community Center member, you might have seen this email, but the indoor pool is being resurfaced, so there's been some adjusted hours uh for those of you who like to swim laps. So, check that out. don't want to stop anybody from getting their cardio in. Uh
and then finally, um I had shared uh in a previous report about the newest park coming to the system, Bear Creek Park, so on the far west side, uh right off of Shelbourne, just south of 146th Street. Um and a committee has been put together
uh comprised of members of the parks board, members of the city council uh that will be reviewing uh RFPs and uh we are hopeful that in the next few months there'll be some more exciting news to share about park development there. So new park coming to the west side of
Carmel and that's all I have. Thank you. Exciting things coming from the parks. Next up we have our superintendent report with his first report and Dr. Ostrike. Thank you very much, President Koke, and I just want to start off by thanking the school board for this incredible
opportunity to serve as your superintendent. I sincerely appreciate the outpouring of support from our Carmel community as I officially started this role on July 1st. Um, I also want to say congratulations to Dr. Herrera on
her first uh school board meeting as our new assistant superintendent of staff and student services. You did a great job tonight. Thank you very much. And a a big thank you to our teachers, our administrators, our parents and our students for all the kind messages and
notes and words and poppins. And uh a special thank you also to the Woodbrook kindness club who stopped by during my first week. Um it was wonderful seeing our students uh come wish me well. They were super kind. Uh and then our teachers, many of uh teachers you saw
here today stopped by with the kindness club. So that was very kind. I appreciate that. Um, I also want to thank as we start the school year, I want to thank our custodians, our maintenance staff, our bus mechanics, our transportation staff, our food service employees, uh, Mr. Toby Steele,
our director of operations, Miss Tabitha Hughes, uh, for all their incredible work in preparing our buildings, our buses, and our learning spaces for our students and teachers uh, as we uh, start the return uh, to the uh, 2526 school year. um they've worked so hard
these past months and we appreciate their dedication and hard work uh throughout the summer. I also want to recognize uh Mr. Mcichael for his leadership with our facilities and operations teams to ensure that our buildings are prepared for the arrival
of our students next Wednesday. Um additionally, it really this building, if you don't know, is packed with teachers all summer long. And I I do want to thank hundreds of our Carmel Clay Schools teachers uh for engaging in
professional development over the summer to further enhance their own instruction um in our classrooms. And our students are so lucky to have our dedicated CCS teachers who are willing to go the extra mile for our students each and every day. Uh moreover, thank you to our
principles, our assistant principles, our department chairs, our district administrators who have put in countless hours uh this summer providing professional development and preparing for the start of this school year. And so um I do also want to give a shout out
to our technology team. they are supporting new technology across the district, but also um there's a new power school IEP and ILP system at the state level and that's kept our technology team busy over the summer. So, thank you um to our technology team,
Mrs. Cloud for leading that team. uh also to our special education administrators, our sped teachers, our SLPs, our school um psychologists who are navigating this new tool uh while also supporting our students and our families as we begin the school year. Uh
finally, you heard a you heard a a report on this, but like to uh also thank our uh HR team, our finance team who they've welcomed numerous new employees and have worked diligently to ensure that they are ready to go. They have everything they need. they all
their questions are answered and so in order to be successful in their new roles. So I appreciate that and so overall I am grateful for our Carmel Clay Schools team including all of our certified and classified staff members. We are wellprepared to serve our students and families this school year.
It's going to be a awesome year and uh together we achieve and so it's been a very smooth transition to the role and I really really appreciate everyone's help and support because it takes all of us our parents our students our teachers our staff our school board uh working
together to take great care of our kids and that's what we're here to do. I do have a couple updates as well. Um, the tech hounds, they don't stop, they keep going. And so they, uh, continued this summer at the 2025 World Championships
in Houston, Texas, and they competed in the Newton Division, and they advanced as medalist, as Newton Division finalists. So, they were state champions. They won all kinds of awards this school year, but they continued in the summer and continued uh showing up
at a high level uh across the nation. So, congratulations to our tech hounds. Um in addition, our tech hounds hosted summer camps this summer. Uh and I also want to give a shout out to our STEM and robotics teachers at the middle school level, especially Mrs. Barbara
Glennesque and Mr. Brandon Crawford. They held robotics uh camps for our elementary students. Uh, and so we are expanding STEM here in Carmel Clay Schools, and I'm really excited about that. And when I think about real world experiences, which you're going to hear
at the next uh next board meeting, um, student outcomes, STEM, our tech hounds, our elementary and uh, middle school robotics teams are truly a shining example of that, and I'm excited uh, for the future that we have here in the district, especially when it comes to
STEM. Um, our bell ringer tonight is academic excellence. And we've received our academic achievement uh results over the summer for our AP scores and also for our iLearn scores at the state level. And first of all, congratulations
to all of our AP students. uh nearly 95% of them uh scored a three or higher with 2,277 AP students taking an impressive 5,144
AP exams. That's just incredible. And so what that means is that means savings to parents because their children will now be getting credit at a lot of colleges and universities across the country. And so a huge congratulations to our AP
teachers uh those who continue to support and prepare our students for success. Even we had a transition this year. We had a shift to digital exams and our kids and our teachers still knocked it out of the park. So incredible. Uh one last highlight on
that. So AP pre-calculus was a new AP test this year. We had 300 um 300 students took that exam. Um, and all 300 students received a three or higher in that new test. And get this, 203 of them
received a perfect five. Over 67% of the students who took AP pre-calculus this year, a new exam, perfect five. That's just those results are incredible. So, congratulations to everyone. And then also with our iLearn
results, uh those came out uh recently this summer. Uh, Carmel Clay Schools is number one in the state when it comes to combining our EN ELA and math uh, combined proficiency in the state of Indiana. We're number one in English language arts. We're number two in math
and not too far behind there. We're number two in science. We're number three in social studies. Um, but I do want to share even with those very impressive results that we never define our students by a single uh, assessment. And so we're not going to define the district that way. But these iLearn uh
results still offer a valuable snapshot of our continued growth, our journey, our academic excellence of how we're uh uh performing uh compared to nearly 400 school districts across the state of Indiana. And so just another thank you to our kids, our parents who prepare our
kids so well to come to school every day, especially our teachers and our administrators. And so very, very impressed with all of them and appreciate everybody's efforts. Then I have a story to finish up. the superintendent report tonight. And so you may or may not know, but back in
1999, in the late 1900s, um I did or maybe the late 1990s, um I did my student teaching at Carmel High School. I uh student taught in January of 99. Um and Mr. Tom Dick was the orchestra teacher at the time. Um and I had an
incredible experience. My dream job was always to be the orchestra director and teacher at Carmel High School. And so after I graduated from high school or not high school, after I graduated from college, I became a teacher at Eastwood Middle School, uh, just south of here in
Washington Township. Well, when I was finished student teaching, um, the students were very kind and they all signed an old violin for me, which was really, really cool. And so I took that violin with me, um, to my first orchestra teaching job at Eastwood
Middle School, and I hung it on the wall there at Eastwood. And so I was very proud of that violin and the work we did uh through my student teaching. And so I had it up during my teaching. Then I became an assistant principal at Eastwood and the orch new orchestra teacher said, "We love the violin there. Could you keep it up on the wall?" I'm
like, "No problem. No problem." So then um as I went through my career, the violin stayed up at the on the wall at Eastwood and then I went from assistant superintendent in Washington Township to assistant superintendent in Carmel. And so I called the orchestra director and I
said, "Hey, this this is sentimental for me. Could I please have that violin back? I'd love to put it in my um in my new office." And she said, "We just started a major renovation. I cannot find it." And unfortunately,
I think it got tossed in the trash. And so the violin was gone. And so, you know, I told I I there's a new orchestra teacher at Eastwood and I saw her at a conference and told her the story and all of this. Well, yesterday I got a
message on Facebook from the orchestra teacher at Eastwood and she said, "I think I might have your violin." And so I said, and she sent me a picture of it. And I said, "Well, let me uh take a look and uh see what we have here." Um, and
lo and behold, she found the violin that the Caramel High School students back in 1999. They're all 40, between 40 and 44, just to let you know now. That's how old I am. Um, and so they all, and you can see the back, the sides, the fingerboard
that's signed all over. So Ed Moy, you're right in the middle there. That's who I saw. Um, I believe Ed was a music major at Butler University. Um, and I believe he's teaching right now. Uh, Leah Sutner, uh, she taught, uh, orchestra at Avon, a very great program.
Um, so I imagine some of these, uh, students back in 1999, may live in Carmel now, and their kids may even go to Caramel. So, Rachel Rubenstein, if you go to Carmel, uh, I'd love to see you. If can't you know, Rachel? Oh. Oh,
okay. Cameron Gillespie, if you're here, I'd love to know you. Shayla Delaney. Um, you can go on and on and on. Uh, some of some of them said uh that they were my favorite and so on and so forth. And so anyways, I'm very pleased to
report that this will uh this will be displayed proudly in the superintendent office at Caramel Clay Schools. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you so much. What a great story. just shows I feel like um what a
difference teachers make in our kids and that kind of that stays with you your whole career. I have a few announcements to make. Uh believe it or not, school starts next week. So the uh Monday and Tuesday, August 4th and 5th are teacher contract days. Uh August 6th, Wednesday,
is the students first day of school. Our next meeting is August 11th. Um that is a workshop session and then August 25th is our regular session. Um, now these are streaming live for you to be able to sit at home and watch us if you would
like to. Um, on YouTube. Yes, I believe on Yeah, they're on Zoom. Uh, and then we will still convert those uh over to YouTube and put them on our YouTube page as we always have in the past. Well, there we go. So that you can you can watch us live from the comfort of
your own home and not have to go out in the heat if you would like to. Um the only other um announcement is that September 1st uh our schools will be closed for Labor Day. May I have a motion to adjourn the meeting? So moved. A second.
Thank you. Meeting adjourned.