You know, uh, what do you want to say? Like a mafia construction guy. We roll up in my car, he rolls down the window and he gives the guys a thumbs up and they all do this. Hey, Sebastian. So, I called Rodney and I was like, Rodney, please. I don't know if he'll be dressed up like a fireman or construction worker, but if you can call for the
ribbon cutting for him to be there and for the new fire station over by Dy checks on that like all those he'll he'll go like this. You're doing great guys. I'm [laughter] like >> well just make sure you take them. >> Yeah. Has anybody
>> Oh, I left my um What? >> Has anybody heard from Mike? >> Mike's in Chicago. He's not attending. [laughter] >> Exchange student. >> I probably don't have time to run to my car, do I?
>> Could you [laughter] go >> [clears throat] >> How much time we got? That's good. Um >> I don't know.
>> She she had to she had to run to her car. >> Yeah. Ready? >> Sure. [clears throat] >> One hit. One hit. >> All right. I want to thank everybody for
coming out uh 5:00 uh on a on a Friday. Friday busy work week, but I appreciate you coming out to the uh public work session. that's uh was scheduled. Um at this time, I'll call the public work session to order.
If we could please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic. >> We will start off uh with the presentation uh from Mr. Mr. Greg
Hickenball uh regarding um the innovation network agreement and the the dollar law that we will be under consideration uh in the near term. So Mr. Hixonball, the floor is yours.
>> Thank you. Good evening, Mr. President, honorable board members, Dr. Roush. Um I am going to walk you through a summary of the proposed innovation network agreement as u Mr. Scott mentioned and uh we'll do my best to get through a
PowerPoint presentation with the assistance of your IT staff. Um but the topic this evening is the proposal by Prepare Premier Arts that the school corporation enter into an innovation network charter school agreement for the Oslo Elementary School
um building. And of course, this comes on the heels of the public discussion that's taken place in multiple board meetings with regard to the potential closure of the school. So, next slide, please. An innovation network agreement under
Indiana law is an alternative to the dollar transfer law. And this agreement, if was approved, um would in fact allow uh the school corporation to pursue an alternative to the dollar transfer law. But first and foremost, before we jump
into the agreement, I want to uh share a few thoughts with you for a couple minutes on the dollar transfer law. I think more and more across the state, we hear about this uh provision and it has been utilized in u multiple school corporations. In essence, when you
summarize what the dollar transfer law does, it obligates or forces a school corporation to lease or sell closed school buildings for $1 to interested charter schools or state educational institutions once the the board of school trustees has voted to close a
school. So, with regard to state educational instit institutions, it begs a question, who are they? Well, those are our public universities. Um, I'm going to site Indiana University first since I am an IU grad, but Purdue, Ball State, our public uh
institutions of higher education fit into that descriptor of a state educational institution. Next slide, please. So, under the dollar transfer law, again, um the process is triggered by a vote of the board of school trustees to
close a school building. And that's day zero as reflected on this slide. Then within 30 days, uh the school corporation um must notify the Indiana Department of Education with regard to the action taken by the board. 15 days
thereafter, there's a notification process that um IDOE uh initiates to notify interested uh entities of the the closure of the school. Those entities uh within 60 days have to uh submit a
notice of their interest in the school building and then within 20 within 90 days of that notice um charter schools and uh state institutions must submit a preliminary request to purchase or lease the school building. Now what happens if
no one expresses interest in a school building? At that point in time, the school corporation for our purposes this evening, Elcart Community Schools would then have free reign to be able to dispose or sell of the building as they chose. But if there is that expression of interest, that triggers a whole
different set of statutory requirements. One point of clarification. Um although the statute is written to provide options that uh involve both charter schools and uh those state educational institutions. The statute also provides
a preference to charter schools over the state educational institutions. So um really the state educational institutions are only eligible to receive the building if there is not a charter school that has expressed interest in the building. The statute even hones in further on what happens if
you have multiple charter schools who express interest, one in your county, one outside your county or more. It's the charter school that's within your county, the county of the school corporation that would be given a preference with regard to that school building. Next slide, please.
So, what happens if uh there are requests that are submitted with regard to a school that ends up on the dollar transfer list? Well, if there is only one uh institution for our purposes, one charter school, let's say that express interest, then the school corporation
has to sell or lease the building within 90 days of receiving the notice. So again, that's an additional 90 days on that time period that was reflected within the previous slide. But what happens if there are multiple institutions that uh submit a request for the building? that generates a
process by statute where there is a committee comprised of um individuals appointed downstate that looks at the competing proposals with regard to that school building and that committee has 60 days in order to make their choice with regard to those uh competing
proposals. As you might imagine, if one institution, one entity is chosen over the other, there's an appeal process for the for the um entity that is not successful at the first step of the process. So, um non- selected schools or
charter schools could appeal to the state board of education within 30 days. The state board of education then has 60 days to issue a final order. And then following that, the school corporation, in this case, Elkcart Community Schools, would have an additional 90 days to
close the transaction with regard to the successful applicant under the dollar transfer law. So, um, if you think back to the the earlier slide and then what we've discussed in conjunction with this slide, it really is a fairly intricate
elongated process under the dollar transfer law. And when you look at it from start to finish, now granted things can move uh quicker in life and where there is a 30-day provision, it's possible that somebody complies prior to
30 days. Um it's certainly not going to be one day. Things aren't going to happen instantaneously. So there is going to be some time delay here. But um the bottom line is that the estimated duration of the process under the dollar transfer law could be as many as 225 to
375 days. So if you want to break that down in months, that would be 7 and 12 to 12 1/2 months. Which then begs the question, what happens while that process is playing out? More to the point, what happens to that school building and what's the school corporation's responsibility?
Next slide, please. So during that process that um I just described, the school corporation, in this case, Elcart Community Schools would be responsible for maintaining the building's physical condition, and this is a statutory quote equivalent to its
last day of operation until it's sold or leased. So that building can't be allowed to deteriorate during the pendency of the dollar transfer process. And the school corporation that owns that building is responsible for required maintenance. And that includes
protecting against theft or vandalism, protecting against fire, preventing damage from the weather, and really retains liability for any financial losses from the dis damage or destruction that occurs prior to that transfer under the dollar transfer
statute. So, with regard to um the school building in question this evening, the administration has made some estimates with regard to what those costs would be during this process or during the dollar
transfer process. And uh the estimate is that the cost to maintaining the building during the dependency of the dollar transfer process would be $3,500 a month. So again going back to um that time frame that I cited earlier at that
figure the estimated liability during the process of the dollar transfer would be $26,250 to $43,750 while that process pursuant to the statute was playing out. Um
I didn't use an important term when we talk about that dollar transfer process. It is a mandatory process under the the statute. There is no ability for there are some limited exceptions that would allow a school corporation such as uh ECS to avoid the dollar transferred
process, but I can't oversize the use of the word limited. There are very few limited exceptions that would allow a school corporation to avoid the impact of the dollar transfer process once the decision is made to close a school building.
But again, uh the innovation and innovation network agreement is an alternative to the dollar transfer process. So let's talk a little bit more about this proposed innovation uh network agreement if we can. Next slide, please.
And now uh we move into some highlights of the proposed innovation network agreement for Oslo. What's been proposed is a 2-year term ending on June 30th of 2028. And that two-year term would start upon uh board approval uh of that
agreement. The school corporation retains the right to be able to terminate the agreement with a 180day notice period prior to the end of the term. Then the school corporation as uh has been proposed would also have the right to terminate
in the event of a material breach of the agreement um or for another reason that's also set out in the agreement that has been uh posted and provided to the public. But the essence of the uh innovation network school agreement really when you
boil it down is the transfer of the facilities. And as an attachment to this innovation network agreement, there is a separate facilities transfer agreement that as we lawyers say has been incorporated by reference. And what that boils down to and that would be approved simultaneously with the innovation
network agreement. If it's approved, the school building would be transferred to Premier Arts for $1 at the time of closing. The closing under the proposed agreement would take place within 30 days of board approval. Now, the school corporation, as this has
been proposed, would retain um a right of first refusal if that building and Premier Marts Marts, more to the point, ever stopped using that building for purposes of a school, there wouldn't be any obligation on the part of the school corporation to exercise that right of first refusal. But if it was no longer
used as a school and the school corporation had an interest in uh resuming ownership of the building, this agreement would allow for that. as opposed to uh the dollar transfer process that we talked about earlier. Once this transfer took place, the
school corporation would no longer have any financial responsibility for any repairs or upkeep of the school building. One bit of lingering liability would be uh any liability under environmental or hazardous materials law. And that's for a simple reason. No
entity can discharge that by contract if they have an obligation along those lines. But the good news that I will share with you is that we have no reason to believe that there is any type of hazardous material that's connected with this building. Next slide, please.
Let's talk a little bit about how uh the school would be structured under the terms of this proposed agreement. um this school would operate independently and Elkart Community Schools would have no responsibility or liability for this
for the educational program. [snorts] Um to prove the point that they're a separate entity, Premier Arts would have to maintain their own liability insurance in the amounts that are reflected on the screen here. Um, so this truly would not be a partnership as
we typically use the word or or as the law views it. Um, there is an ongoing relationship, but it's not a partnership. One important component of that is that the staff who would be assigned by Premier Arts to work in that
school would not be employees of Oakart Community Schools. rather they would be directly employed by uh Premier Arts. Under the proposed agreement, the enrollment for the school would be uh would span across grades K8. And under the terms of the agreement, the
enrollment for 20 the 2026 27 school year would be capped at uh the current enrollment of 394 students. Um and uh that would be good for the first year of uh the agreement so that no
additional Elcart Community School students would be enrolled in the school for the 2026 2027 school year. Under the statute uh there's also a provision with regard to the performance results that are generated by students who are uh attending that school. As we
all know, high stakes testing is ever more important um to every public school corporation. Under the statute, the performance results from uh Elcart students attending this school would be included in Elkcart's district results. I would defer to Dr. Barous and uh the educators
with regard to what type of tangible impact that would make on the achievement numbers for the district as a whole. But statutoily that's um a requirement of these type of agreements and it is in fact reflected in this agreement.
Next slide please. One of the other statutory provisions with regard to these type of agreements is that um Elkcart Community Schools would have an obligation to distribute to Premier Arts 100% of the monthly state tuition
support received by the school corporation for students attending Premier Arts. And again, this is driven by a statutory provision. Now, in exchange for um the receipt and payment over to uh Premier Arts of that
state tuition support, the agreement proposes that uh ECS would retain the maximum allowable administrative fee that the statute permits, which is 1%. Um, again, we've estimated what uh that
revenue could look like for the district, and we believe that it would be approximately $31,520 per year in revenue under the terms of that 1% administrative fee. Another uh important component of the
proposed agreement has to do with property tax uh referendum funds. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Elcart Community Schools would retain 60% of any future property tax referendum revenue that would be attributed to Elcart Community uh
schools students who are attending the Premier Arts School. Um, it's important to note that as Indiana law has evolved with regard to uh the treatment of charter schools, when a school corporation passes a referendum, absent
this type of provision that's been proposed, Indiana law would otherwise entitle Premier Arts to retain 100% of that referendum revenue. Next slide, please. >> [clears throat]
>> Let's talk for a minute about what uh the agreement does not obligate the school corporation to do. Under the proposed agreement as well as the statute, the school corporation is not obligated to provide transportation or any other services to the student to serve the students who attend uh Premier
Arts. Now, the agreement allows for the parties to subsequently enter into those type of agreements if it's uh determined to be in their mutual best interest, but there is no way for one party to force the other party to enter into that type of agreement.
The statute also talks about if you enter into those agreements, what the cost of uh the service looks like. And by statute, the cost of the service would be limited to the actual costs of delivering the service to students within Elcart Community Schools. So if
you want to boil that all down, there's no profit that can be built into that per se. It has to be equivalent to the cost of providing those services to your students in your schools. The proposed agreement also anticipates
that there would be uh a transition period during which uh we were moving toward closing if this was approved. That would allow um Elcart Community Schools to continue to have uh access to the building until August 1st. So that those items that are going to be retained,
equipment, materials, what have you, uh by the school corporation, there would be an opportunity for uh the school corporation to remove them. But then also, Premier Arts would be able to start to have access to the building to uh get up and running for the 2627
school year um as soon as uh the agreement would be approved. Next slide, please. So, with that, I try not to rush through, but I wanted to try to be as succinct as I can to summarize the relevant uh points of the agreement, and
I am happy to attempt to try to answer any questions that you may have. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you uh Mr. Henball. Um thank you for showing that you know the
the two options that we have um uh of the situation and it has to you know this has to um occur according to statute. Um one of your slides you had day zero. Um
could you talk to prior to day zero when it came to us when the consolidation and closing what triggered as far as capacity and then enrollment in certain buildings that once an enrollment hit below a certain amount that triggered us
to at that time consider the building uh for the dollar list >> independently as there is always the case under the law. There is a separate statute that obligates every school corporation in Indiana to annually review the capacity of uh their school
buildings and at the point in time and there are some exceptions that are built into this falling below a 50% capacity level is an important trigger under that separate statute that obligates the school corporation to take action to
close that building for the ensuing or next school year. So that's an obligation that each school corporation has. Some of the options that would avoid that there if an alternative education program is embedded in that building then it's a 30% capacity um
analysis. There's an opportunity for administrative offices to also meet that threshold so that the building can be retained even if it was not used for school purposes per se. There's also an ability to use uh buildings for storage
again um as an alternative to the typical operation of the school and even an opportunity to use a little bit of storage, a little bit of administrative offices to meet the threshold. But at the point in time that that 50% capacity and that's defined under state law, it's
not um it's based upon the originally designed capacity for the building when it was constructed or there is believe it or not a a an analysis of the maximum average daily attendance um for the
school over the past 25 years. And even more to the point, that separate statute isn't triggered in that analysis. Um, and the potential transfer of the building doesn't have to take place um until over the course of 5 years, there
has been a 10% reduction in uh overall attendance within the school corporation. So, an an ongoing analysis of um corporation and buildingwide attendance numbers is an obligation under the law.
And at the back end of that process, when you meet those statutory triggers, again, that dollar transfer law is implicated. So, a school board can make the independent decision to close a school building and not have to necessarily engage in that analysis that
I just summarized for you. But making that analysis is also an an obligation. So either the school corporation decides and the school board more to the point decides to close the school building as has been discussed in in Elcart or by virtue of that analysis there is a
process that's triggered under the statute for the decision to be made by virtue of that mathematical analysis if you will rather than a decision um made by a majority of the board of school trustees. So did I answer your question Mr. Scott? >> You did. Thank you. [clears throat]
Yeah, I will take my microphone. >> Oh, I pulled out a little bit. >> Okay. Uh, my question is for Dr. Rous. Can you give a little bit more detail about the academic accountability and how that impacts the district or could
potentially or why it works like that that students our students that go there would be included in our results. >> If I if if I could get back to you on that that question. Um, I just want to make sure that I am understanding that
how that works in in the accountability with Alcart Community Schools. So, I can I can get back to you with that. Thank you. >> Again, if I could piggy back on that, the starting point is the requirement under the statute for that to happen. Um, my comments were geared toward I
certainly wouldn't want to profess to have a feel for with the number of students that are going to be enrolled in that school what the impact would be on the overall metrics because that's beyond my scope. It's not as much of a legal analysis as it is a statistical and educational analysis. But one way or
the other, the statute requires that that provision be embedded in these type of agreements if they're going to be um approved and and become a reality. >> No, I understand that. I just think we need to understand that all of the impact that it's going to have on Elkart
before we agree to this. >> Um, you mentioned uh three things. The original uh cap with the building was designed for the 25-y year uh uh daily average and I think you mentioned something about 10% uh student reduction
something. Anyhow, can you walk us through the mathematics of those three items? not with any specificity with regard to your buildings. Um but again that uh 10% the 10% is actually the trigger for the
analysis. Um total student enrollment and we're talking in-person enrollment in the school corporation in the school in the current school year is at least 10% less than in-person enrollment in a school year that preceded that this current year by five years. So that 10%
it's not year-over-year 10%. It's within that fiveyear look back period. Has there been a 10% reduction in the school corporation in current in-person enrollment? That's the trigger for the analysis of whether uh
a building then falls below that 50% capacity figure. So that's step one. Um step two is then to look at uh the enrollment in individual buildings
and that's where it's based upon the known classroom design capacity. So going back to the original construction of the building or if the design capacity is unknown the average maximum enrollment in any of the last 25 years per the IDOE records.
Now how would IDOE know that? annually the school corporation provides that type of enrollment information to IDOE. So there is a track record there with regard to those numbers and those enrollment figures that have been uh reported to the state under that
on an annual basis. [gasps] So it's an eitheror in the statute. If you if you have the design design capacity, you use that. If not, then you go back to the reporting that's been made for that school over that 20 over that uh 25-y year period. Um, which seems long to me
as well, Mr. Weaver, but that's what the statute says. Uh, in any event, and then again that 50% um, attendance utilization, if you will, is the is the analysis on the back end of the process.
And it, as I mentioned earlier, it allows for other uses of the building, those administrative office uses, those uses for an alternative education program and there and the use for storage or some combination thereof to also avoid having the choice forced on
the school corporation to put that uh building on the dollar transfer list. Um but if in fact you're unable to um justify the enrollment numbers based upon the criterion that are based uh that are set out in the statute, then the choice to
place the building on the dollar transfer list is taken away by operation of law. If you fall below [clears throat] those enrollment capacity figures, >> it's not an it's not a choice on behalf of the school corporation. It's a mandatory requirement under the law.
I have a couple of questions. One was brought up by one of our community members in reading this and kind of doing some research. This is just a question out there. Have we already sold the building to Premier Arts for a dollar? >> No. >> Okay, that is factually correct. That is
factually correct. >> How many students does Oslo School hold? >> That I do not know. >> Okay, we should know that because I I do have a question about >> Huh? >> 700. >> 700. Okay. So, one of the questions I have is we talk about like um a set
number for 394 students for the 2627 year. Is that the enrollment number that they have right now that they're going to cap or do they have the ability to grow in the school year 2627 because the building actually holds 700. >> That is their current enrollment. Uh
pursuant to the agreement, they do have the they do have the ability to be able to to grow their enrollment. um in future years. And number one, >> should we be concerned, Greg, that it says that the um 202627 school year has
capped enrollment at 394, but Oslo holds 700? >> Mhm. >> Um and then it says that parties further recognize and agree that additional students weight listed from the enrollment. So our second ADM count we know is seats in the you know, little ones in the seats in February. So, how
are we in a contract saying that 394 students have their cap, but we know that Oslo holds 700? We cannot tell somebody that they don't have the ability to grow their business. That's what this is is a business and and we have it in the contract looking like to
our community and our public that they're capped out at this, but a building holds 700. So, like that to me seems like we're kind of well, not really being truthful. Um, I can understand your question, but but I would respectfully disagree.
>> Okay. >> Under the term under the terms of the contract, that 394 figure really is uh geared toward their enrollment and their ability to be able to further expand their enrollment by virtue of enrolling students who reside in your attendance
district. >> Okay? If if in fact they chose to go beyond that, they have the opportunity to be able to expand their enrollment for students who do not reside in Elkart Community Schools. But that number is a guarantee for the school corporation that your students who live within your
district aren't going to be a part expansion of their enrollment. >> Okay. So, it's not really capped is what the answer is. It's not actually capped. >> It's capped for purposes of the relationship with the school corporation. Yes. But >> but not capped. um 14.7 transportation.
We had earlier said that um we're not liable or um going to pro providing any transportation, but when you come in here, it looks like we're going to go ahead and add them as additionally insured if if we would agree on that. Right. I'm going to go ahead and finish um on if
like with a third party. So like earlier it says that we weren't going to be doing anything. So that is if or that is we are >> these are just questions that I'm asking for people that have reached out to me >> and I appreciate the question Mrs. Bols
if and only if the school corporation would agree to provide the transportation and there's no obligation to ever enter enter into that type of relationship. If that would be the case, then that insurance provision would become uh effective. But if there's no agreement to provide transportation,
then there's no agreement to uh do anything with regard to the school corporation's liability insurance. >> And if we would decide to, so we're adding them to our insurance, then the liability becomes ours or the liability becomes theirs. And how do we balance that out when we're struggling right now
as it is in the event that we would do that? So adding them to the insurance does what for us? >> Well, even before that uh analysis, anytime that you're providing the transportation, if you would agree to do that, you would be incurring some potential liability. So that would be
one of the factors for the school corporation to consider in addition to what the cost would be of providing the service at your cost. um it would most definitely be have to be front of mind. What potential liability is the school corporation incurring by agreeing to this service?
>> And would that also be if we provided services to them? For example, um custodial buildings and grounds, any type of student services for, you know, any any of our children that have more needs, that liability becomes ours also
because our employees are now going over to their building to provide services. So we're possibly occurring liability if we enter into services and we're >> uh you know have liability if we do anything with transportation. So anything that we do as Elcart Community
Schools we become liable for. >> You potentially become liable for anytime that you're going to have your employees operate in conjunction with students in a in a school setting. There is potential liability. Okay. Again, I I would agree with you that that has to be
an important component of the analysis if in fact there's going to be that type of expansion of services. But the beauty of it is that no one can force the school corporation to agree to that. It's totally within your discretion and we require separate action of the board
to enter into this. But I agree with you 100%. Um my [clears throat] long experience has been at times when you expand the the services that you provide you you incur some additional risk or at least the possibility of additional risk. So it always behooves the school corporation to be very measured in
analyzing that before moving forward. >> Okay, one last question. Yep. I have one last question from somebody and then I have questions for us inside of our executive session. One of the other questions was in looking at homeschool students that are not attending our um school programming. People have asked,
are the premier art students going to be allowed to be part of our band, part of our um sports, part of our music program, part of our anything? How does that balance out? >> And there is general policy language that most school corporations have in place with regard to those
opportunities, and I don't have your particular policy in front of me. My recollection of the standard policy language that's in place through Neola, which is your policy service, is that there is uh discretion that can be exercised on part of the school corporation with regard to those type of
enrollment opportunities. So that in and of itself um and I'll be happy to refresh my recollection on the policy and follow up with you after the meeting. But my recollection of it as uh we stand here today is that there is no ability for anybody homeschooled parent
or otherwise to obligate the school corporation to enroll them in your uh specialty pro your specialized uh programs such as art band art music um those type of things without it being approved uh by the administration. >> Okay,
>> Troy, I think I'm sorry Heather has a comment. She's online. >> Sorry, Heather. >> Hi, good evening. I didn't want to overstep, but um let me introduce myself to you. I'm Heather Harris and I'm serving as legal counsel to premier. Um I've had I think the unique opportunity
to work on almost every innovation agreement in the state of Indiana, if not every innovation agreement in the state of Indiana since the inception of the law. So, I just want to um thank you for the opportunity. I do have a couple of uh things that could supplement uh
what legal counsel's already stated. If you are interested in your question specifically around the 394 enrollment cap language as well as the uh additional insured provision if that would be helpful to supplement those uh comments.
>> Sure. Go ahead. >> Okay. So on um the enrollment cap uh one of the requirements for a charter school in Indiana is by a date certain they have to share with their authorizer how many students they expect to enroll in
any given year and their ultimate enrollment is dictated by their charter agreement. So their charter authorizer will determine how many students they ultimately can enroll per year by grade in a charter school. So, um, the number that you're seeing reflected in the
contract that has already been set for Premiere for this year, they they will they've already conducted a public lottery for those grades that had more students applying than were available. And so that number is going to be static
for the 2026 2027 school year regardless of the capacity of the building. And we often see when these new agreements are entered into the capacity of the building may be larger than the actual school size. Uh and that's I think something that's very common. Uh but I
do want to let the board know that that was a very purposeful number. You'll see that in that provision as well. There's some language that states that if a student were to disenroll from the school or move or otherwise, you know, there would become a spot available.
those lottery provisions that are dictated by Indiana state statute do allow you to substitute a student, you know, uh when uh that slot opens up, if you will. Uh and we do have to take, you know, any student uh that's legally
eligible to attend just like you all do at a traditional public school up until that amount that we've publicized uh for enrollment. So that will give you that static number if there's, you know, concern that all of a sudden it's going to jump up to 700. I think we've
contractually recognized that that's not the case and obvious legally and practically that will not be the case either. Um, regarding the additional insured provision, I know you mentioned it in conjunction with transportation. Currently in the agreement, it's very
clear uh in the in the services um section of the agreement that no transportation services will be provided. So I believe we've already asked and answered that question that Elcart Community Schools will not provide transportation students to transportation services to these
students. I have not been aware of any agreement in the state of Indiana that um did not have clear language in the contract itself regarding transportation services. And the statute says that if you're going to have transportation
services, you have to spell that out in the agreement. So that can't be an additional service that's just amended. That would have to come back to all of you as a full school board to uh decide to amend the agreement if and when there was ever any, you know, instance in
which you'd want to provide transportation services and or Premier would want to accept them. But currently in the agreement, it's very clear that Elcart Community Schools will not be providing transportation services to um the students in the school. And then in
the actual addition additional insured language that comes in in section 14.1 of the proposed agreement and it's in the insurance risk and loss um category. Uh it is really a best practice to always with any contract that you're
entering into uh have that uh additional uh indemnification language that's included in this next section just under 14.1 but also the additional insured language oftentimes you know if there is an instance in that might occur let's
say a tort claim that would you all are familiar with tort claims I know um you know most school corporations receive those from time to time so let's just use that example oftentimes the defendant or the plaintiff may get confused um because the students are now going to be
included in the enrollment count for Elcart Community Schools. And so you want to make sure that as um the parties are reviewing and deciding, you know, who has liability, if the plaintiff has inadvertently um named Elcart Community
Schools, we want to make sure that our insurance will be able to cover you for any of those claims. And so that's why we list you specifically as an additional insured on the policy. Uh and you would want that, right? To make sure that our coverage would extend to you
all and give you that additional protection in that kind of an instance. So really that's what that section is um intending to cover. And uh it's I think it's good best practice in any contract that you're working with uh where there's another party that's you know related to to the business that you're
doing that you make sure uh you have that additional protection and coverage but it is not tied to any specific service. So I know uh the question and I'm sorry I can't see which board member asked the question so I apologize I'm not um addressing you by name. you know,
the additional services I think is really that sort of catchall provision that's in the agreement. It's really designed uh to, you know, be sort of open-ended uh if there's an opportunity, you know, for additional collaboration and partnership between the parties on
any kinds of services uh where um Premier would be paying Elkcart for those services. That additional insured language of course would apply to that as well. But that typically what I've seen um school corporations do is if they decide to offer any services,
they'll come up with a service catalog and or some other specific service agreement that will articulate the terms of what the services will be, you know, what deliverables will um come with those services, what the payment amount
will be uh for those services, you know, and have other um you know, required terms. And that will usually be in a separate service agreement that again would have to come back before the board for um review and approval. So I hope that's helpful.
>> Yes, it was. Thank you, Miss Mrs. Harris. Um for a wooden 1% administrative fee, what is the expectations that Elcart Community Schools would be required to do for 1%.
It would be the administration of that tuition support money that's received by the school corporation, the transfer of that money to uh those funds to Premier Arts. >> So, is it nothing more than a bank transfer? >> It's it it's not taking on the overall
back office responsibilities for Premier Arts. They under the contract would have the responsibility for that on their end. It's it's simply the administration of those common state uh components of education that would remain in common
the funding and then the administration of that uh achievement information that would also come from Premier Arts to the school corporation but for financial purposes it's simply that tuition support. >> Okay. So, why would Elcart be interested
in taking on any additional risk for 1% or $31,000 a year? >> It's a great question and it's embedded in the statute. So, it goes along with the approval of these type of agreements. If in fact you're going to approve this agreement, that's a
statutory component. Um, so it wasn't anything that was negotiated in the abstract. It's embedded in the statute that governs these type of agreements. Um my understanding is that additional service was be provided at cost. Is that correct? >> That is correct.
>> Can you explain to me why anybody would be interested in supplying services at cost? Do you supply services at cost? >> I try my best not to at at every juncture. And I so I agree and again I think I think your question is well taken and it somewhat goes back to the
discussion with Mrs. Mullins. >> Yes. >> You you'd have to look at the financial benefit. You'd have to look at the risk of providing the services and then do the costbenefit analysis, no pun intended, with regard to whether that's in the best interest of the school corporation or not. It may very well not
be. But um the unfortunate another unfortunate component of this of the statute is that unlike any other arms length transactions where you'd be able to adjust the price that you charge based upon the risk that you were going to incur. It the statute doesn't allow us
to do that here. It's literally in the statute that you can only charge what your costs are to provide the service and can't build that profit component into it. Um uh how much do the taxpayers still owe on Oslo as far as debt?
>> Um that I'm not aware of. I know that there have been conversations between um the administration and outside council who does the bond work for the school corporation and any debt that's associated uh with that building by operation of this contract and really
consistent with the the law would still be uh serviced by the school corporation. and it would simply be transferred to another building. And >> do do we have anybody in the room right now that has that number? >> Okay. Okay. Well, since we don't know
that number, has anybody got a a round number? >> I just want to clarify is your question. What do we still owe? Yes. on >> what's a mortgage >> and we have a contract but we don't know >> what the number is.
>> I have not been in involved in the conversations with bond council on that. >> I mean I'm just curious that we have like this contract but we don't actually know. >> Okay. >> And so uh where does that mortgage end up at the money that's still owed? Where does
it go? that would be determined uh by bond council making a recommendation to the administration that would then come to the board. >> It's still our obligation regardless of the whichever way the whichever option we use Elcart Community
Schools is still liable for that debt. So, so we will no matter what happens, we still have to pay that debt. >> That has nothing to do in effect with this. It just depends on what building it gets moved to. >> I would agree. And that would be true
with regard to the dollar transfer laws. >> Exactly. >> I think it has everything to do with it. We're dealing with taxpayers dollars here and we are stewards of taxpayer dollars. Okay. And we have every the taxpayer has every right to know what
that mortgage is on that building whether we're have to do A or B. The taxpayer has a right to know and they also have a right to know where it ended up at. Okay. I think those are reasonable questions uh for a taxpayer to understand out there. Uh and that
should be made public uh what that is. And then also uh you're exchanging uh x number of millions of dollars of debt. I don't know what that number is for a dollar. Okay. I think the taxpayer ought to know that.
Okay. Now, I'm not pointing out this particular group in here. It points to more policy coming out of Indianapolis than anything. >> All right. And and so like that and that needs to be rectified uh in the future here one way or the other.
>> And plus on top of it, you know, we're in a bind financially. It's no um surprise about that and it's everybody knows that. But when you have a additional uh legislation come down as
sea1 that sticks another knife in your back and you're hamstrung on this side and this side you got a valuable asset that you have to give away for a dollar basically. Okay. And then somebody's going to come and say, "Okay, well yeah, you're bleeding but I guess what? We'll go cut your throat on top of it at the
same time." And uh I find that coming from our state level to be unacceptable. And uh I think everybody are to let their politicians know. I don't want this to be a political event, but uh that um um is very disturbing to me and
it's a very um it's a form of corporate welfare. You know, we talk about welfare every day. We run a school based upon uh um poverty indexes and stuff like that. Well, guess what? There's, you know, there may be a poverty index down here, but there's sure as hell one up here,
too. All right. And I find that also unacceptable. Thank you. >> Oh, by the way, when how soon we going to know about how much debts left on this building? >> You make a phone call. >> Heather, you look like you have another
comment. feel free to chime in because I think I saw you type and we can't see that. So if you have something to add, you just have to jump in. >> I've got another question. Um so just to just to be clear uh article four of this agreement uh relationship to the parties
and nature of relationship could you highlight 4.1 just so everybody is clear on that uh the contractual relationship of the parties versus partnership or joint venture etc. Certainly. Um, and I
will read it verbatim. The party's relationship is contractual and nothing in this agreement is intended to or shall create a partnership or joint ventures between the parties. >> I think I think that's important as well as just for clarification. I think we've gone over it, but we we've talked to it
uh and uh uh Attorney Harris has also spoke to it, but there are no services in this agreement uh between Elar Community Schools and Premier Arts. >> Absolutely none. >> Absolutely none. And the only way there
would ever be services at some point, and I think uh Mrs. Harris pointed this out. It would really have to be initiated on our end saying that we would be willing to avail our services to them and should that never come about there will be no services.
>> Technically under the terms of the agreement either party could initiate the conversation but no party is obligated to agree to provide the services or uh procure the services. >> Okay. I just want to be very clear on that. Thank you. So although this is not
a legal agreement, it is still a long-term strategic relationship. And that is important to note, I think legally or whatever term you want to call it, that's just sematics. It is a long-term relationship.
>> It's an innovation agreement. >> Well, in the term the terms for two years, two year term. >> But but like Thank you. But I think if you talk about semantics, I think partnership and relationships are two different I think they're two
different things. >> My point is it's still a long-term relationship. Whatever you want to call it, it may not be a legal partnership, but it is a long-term strategic relationship. >> Any other questions from the board for
Mr. Mr. Hixonball. Thank you for the presentation. Um, at this time I will open it up uh for public comment. Uh, our rules for public comment will be very similar to uh the rules for public comment at any
uh board meeting that you have attended or seen streamed. Uh, I think you've uh submitted your uh names uh to Dora uh via the um the sheet in the back of this little pamphlet here. Um you'll have
three minutes um to come to the podium and uh state your name and your relationship uh to the school and then three minutes uh on your position. The one difference uh of this public comment versus a normal board meeting uh public comment is in a board meeting you can
talk about any agenda or non-aggenda uh item. Uh for this uh public work session I would like the comments to um remain specific on the uh the innovation network agreement andor the the dollar
transfer law as presented uh by m Mr. Hixonball. So, should you have something outside of those two things, um it's not the appropriate time to talk about those, uh our next board meeting is July 14th, which uh will give you an opportunity to discuss it at that point.
All right, door. And we've got uh we got a fairly large stack, so please um let's keep it to three minutes uh so we can get through uh this tonight. Um in no particular order, uh first person
I'd like to call would be Tanisha Greer or Creer. Is it Greer or Creer? >> Greer. All right. >> And got it. >> Good evening, members. [clears throat] Can you hear me? >> Got you. Yes.
>> Okay. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Tanisha Krer and I'm here tonight not as an educator or politician, but as a mom and Elcart Memorial High School graduate and someone who has been part of the Elcart Community Schools most of my life. I've been connected to Elcart Community
Schools for about 15 years as a parent. Two of my children graduated from ECS. I am that parent that volunteers, organizes, and attends school events. I support all teachers and I truly believe in our public schools. That will never change. Today I have a son that will be
entering 11th grade at Elkhart High School and a seven-year-old who's going to be going to second grade at Premier Arts. Choosing PAAA wasn't a decision I made because I wanted to leave public education. It was a decision I made because as a parent, I have to choose the environment where each of my
children has the best opportunity to succeed. As a parent that truly supports ECS and public schooling in general, this was a very hard decision. Over the past week, I've taken the time to read the proposed Innovation Network agreement myself. I wanted to understand it before forming an opinion instead of
relying on social media posts or secondhand information. One thing I've learned is that there are a lot of misconceptions being shared. I've heard that ECS is simply giving away a building, that the district gets nothing in return, and that this agreement leaves taxpayers responsible for everything while Premier benefits.
After reading the agreement, I don't believe it's that simple. The agreement keeps Premier accountable to ECS, allows the district to maintain oversight, includes Premier's academic performance in ECS's district accountability, and establishes responsibilities for both parties. That doesn't mean everyone has
to support the agreement, but I do think our conversation should be based on what the agreement actually says. I've also listened to the concerns from our community. I understand why people have questions, and I think those questions deserve answers. Healthy discussion makes better decisions. But I also
believe it's important that we separate concerns about charter schools in general from the actual agreement that's in front of us. The agreement isn't about choosing one school over another. It's about recognizing that hundreds of Elkcart families have already chosen Premiere and finding a way for those students to remain connected to our
community. As a parent with children in both systems, I don't see this as an us versus them issue. I see it as an opportunity support all to support all Elcart students regardless of which school building they attend. My hope is that we stop viewing these schools as competitors and start viewing them as two schools working toward the same
goal, giving every child in Elcart the best education possible. I trusted Elcart Community Schools with my own education. I trusted them with my children for over a decade and I trust them to make decisions that put the students first and that's why I support this agreement. Thank you for your time
and for considering the perspective of a parent who has proudly been part of the Elcart Community School System and Premier Arts Academy. Thank you. Next we have uh Jody McKe. [clears throat] >> Hello. I'm Jod McKe. Um
[sighs] I am a Elkcart resident and a graduate of Elkcart Memorial High School. And I'm proud to say my daughter will follow my footsteps by attending Elkcart High School this fall. My husband and I moved to New York City in 2006 and returned to Elcart four years ago. Our daughter spent one year at Pinewood Elementary
and during that year I became involved in productions at the Learner Theater through Premier Arts. One day I heard about Premier Arts Academy and I was immediately intrigued. Had we not left New York, uh we likely would have had our daughter um we would have explored a performing arts middle school for our
daughter. And I never imagined that that similar opportunity would one day exist here in my hometown. Over the past three years at PAA, my husband and I have watched our daughter's confidence bloom. Not just on stage, but in the classroom and in her everyday life. As parents, that's exactly what we hope for. A
school that helps our child discover who she is and gives her the confidence to become who she's capable of being. When I learned that several ECS buildings would be closing, I was saddened for the students, families, and staff who would be affected. One of them being my sister-in-law. Um, those schools hold
years of memories and community history. But I also saw an opportunity. Rather than allowing a public school building to sit vacant, I hoped it might continue serving students through another public school. To me, that's what this agreement represents. It allows a building that taxpayers have already
invested in to continue fulfilling its purpose, educating children. As a taxpayer, I would much rather see classrooms filled with students than see a building sit empty while still requiring maintenance and upkeep. What I appreciate most about this agreement is that it recognizes something important.
No single school can be everything for every child. ECS serves thousands of students through a wide variety of outstanding programs. Premier Arts Academy serves families who are specifically seeking an arts integrated educational model. Those are different strengths, but they don't compete with
one one another. They complement one one another. This partnership allows each organization to do what it does best while creating benefits for both. Elcart Community Schools receives new revenue without taking on additional operational responsibilities and Premier Arts Academy gains the space it needs to
continue serving students. More importantly, families gain another strong public education option within our community. At a time when arts education is being reduced in many places, I appreciate that Premier Arts believes the arts belong in every child's education. Not because every
student will become an artist, but because creativity, collaboration, empathy, and communication are skills that benefit every career and every community. I also know firsthand how deeply the staff at PE Premier Arts cares about their students. Likewise, I know ECS is filled with educators who
dedicate their lives to serving children. This agreement isn't about choosing one group of educators over another. It's about allowing two public education organizations with different strengths to work together for the benefit of all students. I hope we continue moving away from the idea that public schools must compete with one
another and instead embrace opportunities to collaborate when it creates better outcomes for children and makes responsible use of public resources. In the end, this vote isn't really about a building. It's about organizations. And it certainly isn't about polit organizations and not about
politics. It's about whether we can work together to give more children the opportunity to succeed. When public education works together, students win. And when students win, Elcart wins. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Uh, next, Lauren Sadillo.
>> Good evening. My name is Lauren Sado and I'm the parent of a third grade student at Premier Arts Academy. I also have an adult son who graduated from EHS class of 2023. for no I graduated from Memorial and Oslo Elementary was the first Elcart Community School I attended
when I moved here from out of state. My oldest was the in the introductory class for the high ability program for Elkcart Community Schools and I was able to witness what a specialized education with small class sizes could do to help our youth excel. That is the reason I chose Premier Arts Academy as every
student in attittance would have that advantage with the average of one adult for every 12 children per class. I know that there are differing opinions about this proposal and I respect that. But tonight, I'm asking that we remember that this decision ultimately impacts
the youth of our community. My child has flourished at Premiere. Since the beginning, we have seen growth not only academically, but in confidence, creativity, and general excitement about learning. One of my favorite things to do is when I attend the school during
the day, I am very involved as a booster club member. I hear kids singing in the hallways. It is a beautiful experience, not only for the parents witnessing this, but for the kids experiencing the joy of learning. I also understand concerns about the cost. I care about
the responsible use of public resources just as much as everyone else. That's why I believe it's worth continuing to explore this as a possible solution to keep an existing school building serving students rather than sitting empty. Whether a child attends Elkart Community Schools or Premier Arts Academy, there
are still children in our community. They deserve safe schools, strong teachers, and adults willing to work together instead of drawing lines between them. I respectfully ask that you continue pursuing this as a possible solution that puts our students first and
strengthens our community altogether. Thank you so much for your time today. Next we have Arvis Dawson. [clears throat] >> Good evening and thank you for your service, your public service. [sighs and gasps] As someone who has spent my career in a
classroom and now serves as president of the Elcart City Council, I've learned that good leadership often means making tough decisions. And tough decisions need to be made with the future in mind. The future to consolidate the schools was not an easy one, but was made because of the financial realities
facing Elkart Community Schools. Whether we like it or not, it was a responsible decision based on the circumstances at the time. Now we have another opportunity. Oslo Elementary sits empty and empty buildings are rarely good for the community. They continue to cost
taxpayers money through utilities, insurance, maintenance, and security even when no students are walking the halls. They can also become a liability to the neighborhoods inviting vandalism, trespassing, deterioration instead of activity and pride that schools are meant to bring. As both an educator and
a public servant, I believe what we should all always look for is opportunities to maximize public resources. This proposed partnership does exactly that. rather than allowing a public building to sit vacant. And this agreement puts it back into the service along with doing what it was built to
do, and that's educating our children. The hallways once again become filled with students, teachers, music, learning, and opportunities instead of silence. From my pers perspective, that's good stewardship. It's good for taxpayers, good for the surrounding neighborhood, good for Elkart Community
Schools, and good for Premier Arts Academy. Most importantly, it's good for the children of our community. and that standard by which I believe every public decision should be made and ultimately measured. Thank you very much. >> Anna Wall, I may be getting the last name wrong.
I apologize. Was I close? It's Anna. >> Oh, [laughter] missed missed the first name. Sorry. >> So, good evening members of the board and Dr. Rous. My name is Anna Wall and I am a teacher at Elkcart High School. In
today's meeting, you are seeking public input on an innovation network contract with Premier Arts to allow them to take residence in one of our closed elementary schools. For clarification, this means that Premier Arts will be a part of our school district. According to the contract released to the public, this means that they will share our
funding, influence our test scores, and share our corporation resources if requested, including speech pathologists, IT department, and our outside vendors. There is no financial advantage to ECS enter in entering into this contract. If we leave the building
as is and do not enter into this contract, according to the district's FAQ page, um it cost $42,000 to maintain the vacant building. By entering into this agreement, we are in fact no longer spending $42,000 to maintain the building, but we are required per the contract to carry insurance on the
building like we would any other building where we offer services, as well as still maintaining the debt of the building that we learned today. A positive that I must note is that ECS will receive a 1% administrative fee from PAA from their state tuition
support as presented before in the public comment before now. um that number would be about $32,000. This amount doesn't even cover the base cost to keep the building open. Do we even know if this amount will cover the cost that ECS is required to cover per
this contract? This past school year, I had the unfortunate pleasure of being a teacher who was impacted because of our current budget challenges. I was informed that as of the end of the school year, my contract would be terminated. And I wasn't the only teacher. 51 teachers, and I feel like I
must state that again, 51 teachers were fired as of the end of the school year. When asked why, we were told it was because of the district's consolidation and financial challenges. So I must ask, what has changed now that we have the financial means to not just keep a
building open, but go into a budgetary deficit by entering into this agreement to share even more um limited resources, our limited funding, and our already reduced manpower. I urge that the board takes into account all that is being said here this evening and vote no on
this agreement. Thank you. you >> Michelle Kovatch. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Michelle Corage. [laughter] I look like >> You do it every time. >> Do I? >> You do it every time. >> All right. I'm consistent. Sorry.
>> Yes, you are. I'll give you that. Um, I came tonight to remind you of your fiduciary duty. A fiduciary is a person or organization legally and ethically bound to manage
money or property for someone else. In this case, it is your responsibility to the taxpayers of Elcart to protect this property and their money. putting that client, meaning the
taxpayers's best interest above their own. This board has repeatedly demonstrated an inability and or a lack of interest in this regard. This board has hastened the continued decline of
Elcart Community Schools due to your lack of big business experience in the last 10 to 15 years. And by the way, I should tell you I've had two children graduate from Elkart Memorial,
one in 2012 and one in 2015. And due to your lack of foresight, I removed my current this year senior. She went to Mbury Community Schools in the sixth grade because of your inability to
provide her an education. In the last 10 to 15 years, you wasted $65 million combining the high schools, which led to an increased loss to the
tune of 2500 students and a reverse of and revenue loss of 25 million plus dollars over the last 10 to 15 years. You spent $100,000 searching for superintendence on several
occasions. Rob Hayworth, who you couldn't wait to rah rah rah. Steve Tolheimr, who unfortunately got caught in the in the crossfire. Mark Mau had to come back twice. Larry Huff left in less than a in two years. And now Michelle
Ree, I think is her name. I can't think of a successful corporation that has has had five CEOs in the LA in 10 years. I question your ability to thoughtfully
identify issues and your ability to implement strategic planning for future success. This whole this whole process frightens me because you're asking questions
at at the 11th hour that you don't have answers to and you're not providing the resources in the room to answer them, I would vote no. This for me is not an issue regarding the charter school because unfortunately I do believe that
they'll do a better job than you have. Elizabeth Bond. >> Good evening. >> My name is Elizabeth Bond. Uh, first of all, thank you for your time. Um, I have served on the Premier Arts, Inc. board of directors for many years and I am
currently the board president. I also serve on the Premier Arts Academy board. Premier Arts has been the resident theater company of the learner theater since 2007 2007. We perform five mainstage uh musicals every year
providing the community engagement component for the learner theater. There is an abundance of local talent in our area and we have hundreds of adults and teens and children who audition for our productions and then with the guidance
of our premier arts staff many who have auditioned perform on the learner stage. At a recent production of Fiddler on the Roof, we had three generations on the stage. Many of our productions include a cast of all children. My favorite of these is our YES productions youth uh
educational series. The YES productions are performed on Friday mornings and are attended by school children from all over Elcart County. Typically elementary children depending on our production. Many of these children have never been to a theater and they are an
enthusiastic audience. So much of what we offer at Premier Arts has to do with exposing children to the arts. An extension of this effort was to create a local school that would give children more opportunities to embrace and be exposed to the arts, a premier
arts academy. The academy is a public charter school. It is only through a lottery that children can attend. Both my husband and I born and raised in Elcart. We are both products of public education, graduating [clears throat] from Elcart High School. We moved back
to Elcart in the 80s to raise our three children. From 1986 to 20 uh 2007, 21 years my volunteer time was spent at Riverview, Pier Moran, and Elcart Central working with Fred Beal, Mark Mau, and Rob Hworth, serving on PTO's,
PPAC's, and SAC's. I was also very involved in the first referendum. I cared deeply for the city of Elcart and Elcart Community Schools. I would never belong to nor would I support any organization that I thought was a detriment to either. I believe that the
end goal for Elcart Community Schools and Premier Arts Academy are the same, to offer families quality educational choices within our district. Thank you. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. Tim Myers.
I am Tim Myers, a three-year teacher at Premier Arts Academy. During the 18 years before joining PAA, I had various teaching positions at ECS, including time at Mary Dailyaly and Cleveland and Roosevelt, where I taught in the high ability program. Additionally, I have two children who were ECS students from
kindergarten through graduation with both having positive experiences in and out of the classroom. Our daughter survived, even thrived during the central Memorial merger. I offer this brief introduction of myself to show that I am first and foremost an Elcart
parent and community member, not simply a teacher at PAA or ECS, and I want what's best for all students here in Elcart. And for me, being the teacher I am, my focus naturally falls on how students are affected by the decisions made
concerning this agreement. Last school year, PAA had approximately 200 students who transferred from ECS. These students came from families who, for whatever reasons, attempted to find a better educational fit for their children's needs. And in their search,
they found Premier Arts Academy. At the end of their time with PAA, however, families have a decision to make. Where do their children go next? As we all know, there are many options in the area that do not include ECS. I believe we would all like to see Elcart Community
Schools as the option for those students. When the PAA and ECS association becomes an Elcart community effort with each organization supporting the other, the natural progression would be students returning to Elcart Community Schools to complete their
education. With the innovation network in place, the transition back to tra traditional school and the promotion to high school can be seen as a smooth student pivot between cooperating schools, not as complete shifts between two school systems.
This transition process started this year before the innovation network agreement was even on the table. Of the inaugural graduating class from Premier Arts is uh eighth graders, 90% of them are going on to Elcart High School. This is happening because of an intentional
plan between PAA administrators and the ECS counselors to make sure they had the same orientation experience that all other Elkcart students had. The innovation network partnership in which PAAA and ECS work as a team can give students and their families the
confidence in both organizations that we are working for as a united community for the benefit of all our kids. And isn't that what we're all here for? to find what's best for all our kids. And right now, and I hope you agree with me, what is best for the kids is approving
this innovation network agreement. Thank you, >> Ashley Molino. Good evening. Before I speak as the founder of Premier Arts Academy, I'd like to just speak simply as Ashley. I'm a daughter of Elkcart. I'm a proud graduate of Elcart
Community Schools, just like many generations of my family before me. Today, my oldest son is a junior golfer at Elcart High School. My children are growing up in the very community that helped raise me. Everything I've done professionally has been rooted in one
belief. If we see a need in Elcart, we don't wait for someone else to do it. We roll up our sleeves and we help and and we get to a solution. And that's been the story of my career. Whether it's been helping build the Elcart Education Foundation, creating a mobile eye clinic
for children so they can get glasses that they need, or for founding Premier Arts Academy, the motivation has always been the same. not to replace what exists, but to add something valuable, to strengthen our community, to create more opportunities, to serve more
children, to help Elcart become the very best version of itself. That's why this proposed innovation network agreement means so much to me. I'll be honest, there were easier avenues for Premier Arts Academy. Under Indiana law, we've talked about the dollar law. We could do
that and walk away. But state law also provides this opportunity. And as I as we talked about and thought about what's best for Elcart, my question was never how many premier how can Premier Arts Academy win. It's how can our community win. And that's why we chose to
negotiate this partnership with that allows ECS to share in revenues that it otherwise would not receive while creating additional positive cash flow through the administration of the agreement. None of that was required by law. It was a choice. We made that
choice because partnership isn't a talking point or a negotiating strategy for me. It's a deeply held belief. I believe with every fiber of my being that our community is stronger when public education organizations work
together instead of operating in silos. I believe collaboration produces better outcomes than competition. And I believe our children deserve adults who are willing to build bridges instead of drawing lines. For too long, conversations about charter schools and
traditional public schools are this eitheror proposition. But this de this agreement demonstrate that it doesn't have to be that way. We rem remain a independent public charter school and you get to continue to serve families faithfully like you have for
generations. We don't lose our identities. We It strengthens our strengths all come to the table together. Education's changing and the communities that thrive will be the ones willing to build partnerships instead of barriers. To me, that's not politics.
That's just good community building. I hope years from now people will remember this as the moment Elcart choose chose collaboration over competition. Because when public educations work together, children benefit. Years from now, I don't think anyone will remember the
details of the agreement. They'll remember whether we chose to put an empty school back to work serving children and whether we found a way for two public education partners to strengthen one another. I hope you'll choose that future. Thank you,
>> Pedit. Hi, my name is Susan Pettit and I am a retiree 26 years of the Elcart schools. Um, six years at Brookdale, six years at Mary Beck in the last 14 doing the payroll. My husband and I both attended
Elcart schools. My two adult children did and my two grandsons who lived in Elcart also attended. I am really concerned about the board starting a serious precedent. Nobody's message m
made the word president, but we still have Bristol that could be involved with this. And next year we'll either have Munger or Mary Beck in this president. and I'm concerned. Um, what kind of a of
a of a history are we going to have with this? That's all I have to say. Susan >> Linda >> Fine for you. >> That's okay.
>> Do you want the public to see it? Yeah. >> Um, so before I speak, I'm getting really frustrated. Um, it specifically states in this agreement that this is a contract, not a partnership.
You said it's not a partnership. She said it's not a partnership, but a lot of people are saying it's a partnership. Not really sure that it is. Okay. And it has nothing to do with Premier Arts as an alternative, as a charter school for students. If that works for your
children, I don't have a problem with that because we all need to do what's best for our children. I have a problem with the agreement. So, I come to you as a property owner, a taxpayer, a voter, an Elcart graduate, parents of Elcart graduates, and a 31-year veteran teacher
in Elcart. This agreement does nothing to benefit Elcart Community Schools. This is not a partnership in any sense because in section 4.1 it specifically says it's a contract. I have created a visual so that both the auditory and visual learners can see my points.
Elcart gets to count the premier's 394 students. Additional students bring additional funds. 100% of those goes to Premier Arts because they would be be receiving our complexity index instead of their 1,400 for leasing a building. This gives Pre Premier Arts about a 10%
increase in funding on top of the $1 million charter school grant they received from the state of Indiana. Elcart does get a 1% administration fee for collecting and transferring the money. State average in INS's is 5%.
We're getting one. And what are we going to do with that abundance? Right, Doug? [sighs and gasps] Uh, we get their test scores which are not much better than ours. And we have no way to influence the scores as PA retains all educational freedom. So when I'm asked to implement
a new strategy to increase scores, PAA doesn't have to do that. So how then and how do we not have an answer for the impact of test scores? [gasps] PAAA gets Oslo Elementary and all of the furniture fixings and equipment related to the
building. What if another school needs desks and such? Isn't the building still fully fully stocked? And I am told that the entire Oslo library is still in that building. PAA gets access to our services at cost. A savings for PAA as they no longer have to contract outside
vendors for services. Now, this is to be agreed upon every year for Elcart Community Schools. And we can say no. But will you? Because as you sit, 43% of you have been in negotiations with PAA since January. Can you really say no?
And if they use our services, what about the Elkart kids who need them? And since the public still has not seen any cost savings from all of the cuts this past year, do we have the ability to give them the services? If the advantage is the future referendum, how can we be
sure this will even pass? This past year has not been great for Elcart. Even this past week, it was hinted that Elcart Community Schools could have been charged in the bus driver incident. Does this agreement automatically say the community will accept a referendum? It's not a risk I think Elcart should take. I
am disappointed in the board members who are not putting Elcart Community Schools first. You were elected or appointed to protect Elcart schools. This agreement does not do that. And I urge the 57% of the board who have not already made up their minds to vote no on this
agreement. If PAA wants the building, then Elkcart needs to notify the state, start day zero, start the process for them to purchase it because none of our buildings are on the dollar list. Just so everybody knows because we haven't notified the state yet. None of them are
on the list. Okay. So, for me, it's not about the building. It's about the agreement that does nothing to benefit Elkcart schools. >> Thank you, Linda. All right. Um, we have no uh public con uh comment. Um,
I wanted to uh thank everybody for coming out tonight. I I hope it was informative. I hope uh uh questions were answered. Um, I know there's some uh information, interpretation of information out there. Hopefully, everybody got answers uh to their
questions. Um I I would like to note that uh and thank uh Dr. Roush for uh attending in the absence of Superintendent uh Ree. She is on a vacation that was obviously planned uh
well in advance of uh uh this meeting. So thank you very much for for attending. Um, at this time, uh, board, do you have any questions, followup, commentary, uh, before I, uh, close the, uh, uh, public
work session and we move into executive session? No. Okay. Thank you everyone and