Apologize everyone, for running a little late, this evening. At this time, I would like to call the 11/11/2025 Oak Park Community Schools public work session to order. First on the agenda, we have the district swimming update. Hello, Michelle? Hello. I'm Michelle Gipe, and I am the aquatics director here for schools. And, so just introducing the things that we're doing at the aquatic center, what the makeup of the kids coming to the aquatic center looks like, and how many kids,
we're servicing through these programs. For our during the school day programming, we have our fourth grade water safety program. Students in that program come eight days, forty five minutes in the water each. Class in the district comes for that amount of time, and that serves about 800 students a year. So all of our elementary fourth graders come through that program. They come to the aquatic center. When there are days like today where there's a two hour delay, they do not come and we don't make those up, just to get in the the entire amount.
But, we'll go through, like, some of the the statistics on that later on. We have a high school freshman PE class. During last year, all of our freshman PE that were taking PE two came to the aquatic center and did a swimming course this year because the, it's been changed a little bit. Now they have a choice of taking just a PE credit in swimming. So about half of the kids that are coming to the aquatic center are taking a PE credit for just swimming, and that's their only thing that they're doing for the semester. And then our PE two kids are also coming to the to the aquatic center,
and that's about half of their semester. So half the semester they're at their regular school and half their semester they're they're at the aquatic center doing learn to swim classes. Then mister Urlacher also teaches a lifeguarding class at the aquatic center. Our lifeguarding class, usually runs between 10 to 20 students in that class, and that is an extremely important, piece of our community effort with the aquatic center and with our aquatic centers in our our local neighborhoods.
And I'll talk about that later on. So they approximately, we get about 30 to 40 lifeguard students that, go through the class and are lifeguards by the end of the class. And then we also have student or interns that are going through, the aquatic center. So currently, we have four student interns. They do their internship at the aquatic center as lifeguards. That allows us to run our school programming as well. So that's through Beacon that they're getting their internship, but because that we have high school kids in the water sorry.
And and as lifeguards, we are able to bring over more kids and open up more of the pool area to service our Elkhart students, which is a pretty good, mutual relationship there. Our competitive programs include our intramural swimming program that will get started here at the December. Typically, we see 50 students throughout that program. We're hoping that that number just continues to, grow. This is going to be the third year of intramural swimming for our district. And in intramural swimming, we serve fourth through eighth grade students.
So this is hopefully a way that we take that fourth grade water safety program, and those students are able to continue to develop their skills, get better at swimming. And then if they want to continue and do competitive swimming, this is a way that they kind of can bridge that gap. Then our middle school swimming starts in February. We have about 40 middle school students, that's grade six through eight, that then compete against other middle schools for middle school swimming. And then our high school and swimming and diving team is about 60 students, and
that started at the beginning sorry, at the October, and it will go to the February. And then we have our feeder programs that work, alongside our high school teams. Elkhart United Aquatics is a swim club that starts about age five, and they have we have kids all the way to age 18 or coming back from college. That is our local swim club trying to keep kids get kids into swimming at a young age and keep them in the school system. So what we're looking for from that program are the kids in the program are
either staying in the school system because we have such a good swim team and they're they're having those relationships or they're moving to the school system. So we've had three kids in the last month tour Elkhart Schools, considering Elkhart Schools as as a potential, place to go, which is what we'd like to see. Elkhart United has done very well. In the past three years of our students that have gone through Elkhart United and then gone on to high school swim, We've had, two nationally ranked in the top 100 in the last three years.
We also have reset the entire boys' high school record board. So those are our high school students that have gone through the club team. And then, our Elkhart United swim team was also listed as one of the top 100 age group programs in The United States based on, how fast our swimmers were going. They were they were able to do that once in the last five years. The other thing, that Elkhart United does that's really an awesome partnership is that they
run the concession stand for all events at the Elkhart Aquatic Center, and that money goes right back to our Elkhart students. So the money made through the through the concession stand is then used for scholarships for our students that need, extra support to be able to swim in the summer for our high school students or during the school year for our elementary students. So that team is around a 100 students during the school year. And then last year, we started the Elkhart International School of Diving.
That is our local site is based in Elkhart, but it is also partnered with five other sites throughout the state of Indiana. And their main site is down at IUPUI, an editorium, where they have the towers and can, go on to do national competitions. So so those are our programs that we have going through, the aquatic center. So this is a breakdown of a normal school day. So if all of the programs use the facility on a single day, this is
what the breakdown would look like, as far as what, how much lane space that we are using in the program. So, our high school swimming uses about 36% of our our space that we rent. Our intramural and middle school swimming, rents about 14.4. Lifeguarding is 6%. Freshman PE is about 19%. Our fourth grade water safety, even though the numbers are really high, we are able
to put those in a very small area of the pool, and that's about 5%. And then diving is the little orange slot that doesn't look like it has a label. That was 5%, and Elkhart United is 13% of our usage. And then we have our programs by numbers per year. So earlier in the presentation, I had, like, about how many athletes or how many students that we had go through. Majority of our students that come through are through that fourth grade water safety program,
and we have our freshman PE, And then the rest of them are smaller and smaller pieces of pies. And this would be, like, an average day, how many students. So, again, if we put them all on a day, this is about how many students come through the the facility. And it's what I love to see is that most of our in school is that that's the big percentage. Is the kids that we're getting through, that don't know how to swim yet, that that are we're trying to make sure that they're they're being safe, and then we
have our competitive programming there on the left. So I wanted to highlight two things that we are doing at the aquatic center, that really stand out. And one of the things is the partnership between Alkirk Community Schools and, Beacon Health and Safety Center Beacon Health Health and Aquatic Center. So, the way that the hospital system and the school system have come together to make this facility work is, one of the first, well run facilities of this kind
in the nation. And so, we typically have a couple of different groups that are looking to build schools build schools, build pools come through every year, to look at the way that we do this and to ask a lot of questions. So last week, we had a group from, up in the suburbs of Chicago, and we had a group in the sub from the suburbs of Detroit, both looking to build a pool and trying to figure out how that it all works together. So everything that we have tried to do at the aquatic center, both from the
school side and the aquatic center side is just trying to build off of each other. From the very beginning as the, kids go through swim lessons, then trying to get them on the swim team, but also when our fourth graders go through water safety program and they still don't know how to swim, then they get to go right back into lessons, and Beacon has helped find funding to support scholarships for those fourth grade students. So trying to make sure this is this is a reciprocal relationship at the at
the facility. I talked a little bit about the lifeguards and the way that we use the lifeguards during the day. I get to participate in a, aquatics director meeting about once every two months, and every single pool in our area from our parks departments, in South Bend, in Elkhart, and down to Plymouth, they're all looking for lifeguards, and they're all looking for ways that they can get, more students in throughout the day.
And so us supplying those lifeguards is huge. Currently, at Beacon, we supply our Elkhart Community School kids that have gone through mister Erlacher's lifeguarding class are 11 of the 16 guards that they use at Beacon. But if you look at the the bigger picture of what we're doing with the parks departments, most of those lifeguards that are from Elkhart have gone through those programs as well. And then, also, I wanted to highlight our fourth grade water safety program. So our fourth grade water safety program focuses on reducing drownings in the Elkhart area
and in our in our students. So we look at foundational skills that students need to know in order to be able to rescue themselves if they were to fall into the water or if they were to get themselves in a situation where they needed, to know more. So we have a special focus on our area, the rivers in our area, the things that the the students might, might encounter, so that those students can learn to be safe around the water.
Some national statistics. So drowning is the second leading cause of unintended injury for children five to 14 years old. It's the leading cause of death for children under the age of two. So that's a huge this is this is a population that that we're we're serving. We went to fourth grade because our fourth graders are the ones that can stand up in the water. We want any younger than that. The water is three and a half feet deep. The kids can't stand up. So the amount of instructors instructors that we need to teach them is gets much
higher as well as the liability issues around that. So we do our program at fourth grade, and then drowning is also the leading cause of death with children and adults with autism. There's an average of eleven drownings a death. Sorry. Eleven deaths due to drowning a day and twenty two fatal drownings per day. Almost fatal drownings per day. It's gonna affect our lower income students more than our middle or higher income with seventy nine percent of children, and households with a low income have few to no
swimming skills. And that's generational. So if parents don't know how to swim, their kids aren't going to know how to swim. When you look at it by demographics, 64% of African Americans, 45% of his Hispanic and Latino, and 40% of Caucasian children have no swimming skills or few swimming skills. And when the parents have, no swimming skills, their children are very unlikely to have it as well. Twenty three percent of children drownings happen when their family is around the pool area.
And, it's fast, and it's silent, and it's, something that we're trying to reduce. So, back in the 2017, we had started our our aquatic center program and, that summer was the summer we had two Elkhart students drown. One was a younger boy around 10 years old. He was, with his, trip, yeah, at Ideal Beach.
He and his friend both got into trouble. His friend went under. The lifeguard found him and was rescued, and they found out later that there was another boy with him. Later that summer, there was an autistic boy, middle school child that, went into the water after dark, and was found also dead. And at that point, that was when the school system started looking into this fourth grade water safety program. So that's kind of our background of of how this got started.
And so the the big focus is that we don't want that to happen again. We wanna prevent that in the future. So, our current fourth grade water safety program, again, they do eight classes in the water. So class sizes are just their normal class sizes that come over. Currently, I am the only one in the water with them, so we'll have 20 to 30 some students in the water, with me for forty five minutes. When they start, we have about 50% of our students that could even make it
five meters. So five meters would mean if they fell in the water, they'd be able to correct themselves and get back to the side. Only fifty percent of our students can do that. And at the end of our program last year, there were eighty seven percent of our students could make it if they fell in the water, could make it back to the side. To swim 25 yards, that's the other statistic that I wanted to kind of highlight. 25 yards would be what you would have to do to be able to be on the competitive swim team. So be on your intramural swimming team, your high school swimming team. When we start the fourth grade program, only about 25%, 23 to 28%.
But around 25% of our fourth graders can swim a length of the pool. So a length of the pool is kind of a basic kinda guideline of of good swimming skills, and that at the end goes up to about fifty six percent of our fourth graders last year were able to swim a whole length of the pool after eight days of instruction. So that's a huge improvement. So those are those numbers again. So it's a a good indicator. Those five meters is a good indicator on whether they'd be able to save themselves
if they fell into water. So I mean, that 25, would be ready to join a team and having those higher level swimming skills. Our, objectives are not just the swimming. We also do basic water rescue, and all of the fourth graders also get into deep water. And they get into deep water to make sure that they have at least had some experience with that deep water, because they're going to be around it at some point in their life. So making sure they've been in it once in case that they were to fall
in and panic, they would know that they've done it before and hopefully will do something beneficial to get themselves to the side. We have had in four years that I have been doing this program, we have only had two students not get in the water for deep water day. That's huge. So our students are challenging themselves. They're enjoying the program, and they're really coming together as a community and a group to support one another in order to kinda get past some of these fears and and learn the skills that they need in order to be safe around the water.
Just a picture of our fourth graders kicking on the wall at the aquatic center. We have a lot of skills that were taught. Our skills are right in line with American Red Cross. So American Red Cross, water safety level two, is where that we try to connect and make those first. These are indications of what we want, and then we differentiate. So if kids already know, then they're getting those higher level skills even though they're doing the same activity. They're focusing on something else to make them a better swimmer. And then after fourth grade, they can start that intramural swimming.
They move on to middle school swimming and high school swimming. We talked about the partnership already at Beacon. So at the end of every fourth grade lesson, they're given a brochure or pamphlet that tells them all the things that they could come back and do at the aquatic center. So some of those are our programs, which would be our intramural swimming team or our middle school swimming team, And then some of those are, Beacon lessons or, like, the family night that they have on Friday nights where you can go and swim for free. So making sure that they know how to come back and to improve their skills.
And then in the future, what we would like what I would like to see, what we've talked about is doing maybe a summer school option, especially for those lifeguarding, courses, making sure that we have enough lifeguards in our area. And then, operation water safety, is our next step, getting community grants, community partnerships, where we do a day of, instruction for both parents and kids. We get as many kids and parents into it as you can using all of
our high school athletes as well, but making it a day of fun and safe, way to learn about water safety and ways to be safe around the water and things they can do to improve their skills. And then a water safety instructor internship. And now that would be somebody that would come in the water with me, and they would be able to teach with me. And then at the end of that semester, then they would be able to have a water safety instructor certificate, for American Red Cross, and they would be able to go on and teach those lessons to others.
So, yes, that is the end of my presentation. Are there any questions? Yeah. We have a percentage of the time of the pool available to us. Yes. And are we using 100% of that available time slot? We're it's, like, right within a couple percentile. Okay. And it changes due based on I mean, it changes based on who else is using the facility. So if there was a big event at the facility, then our percentile number goes down Mhmm. Because that the event takes it up.
So it's our percentile also includes, how much of the facility is not used. So we always seem to run within a couple of percents Okay. Of what our goal is, but it does change based on how many other events are at the aquatic center. Do you see, needing a greater percentage, in the future? I mean, I'd always like to see more kids in the water. Sure. Absolutely. I think the high school program is very healthy. It's one of the largest, for our our high school swim team.
It's one of the largest in the state. We would hope that that continues to grow. So, yeah, I mean, I think eventually, if we can get everything moving in the right direction, that would be great. But I think we have to tackle, being able to have more kids that can learn how to swim at a younger age. So over the course of the last three years, even with all the lessons that Beacon's doing, our percent of fourth graders that are coming in knowing skills already hasn't changed. It's within one percentile. So, yes, but but there needs to be some more in the bottom end.
Also, you spoke a lot about, drownings and per preventing those. Can you speak to the automated drown detection system that that pool has? So we don't have an the the pool does not have an automated drowning protection system. It doesn't have it yet. It's when they don't they're not going to get one. Really? So they looked at getting an automated drowning protection system. And what that is is it's cameras that detect, people that aren't moving, and it's supposed to be on the bottom of the pool. Mhmm. In pools that I've been to that have it, there are more false alarms that
go off, and it goes off so many times that it almost becomes something that that you don't look at anymore. Mhmm. And so what the what Beacon has decided to do is put in underwater cameras. So those underwater cameras are attached to all of the lifeguard stands. And so the lifeguards can look over and see the bottom of the pool clearly underneath everything and make sure there's no one there. So while they're scanning, that that screen is also in their site. So they're not getting the false readings, but they are able to monitor the bottom
of the pool, which is, I think, the the the important issue there. K. Cool. Good. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. You did a wonderful job. Oh, sorry. That's all I was gonna say is great presentation. Appreciate, all the information that you share with us. The only question I did have was I I love the fact that fourth grade is that captive audience for the skill development. You said in your four years, there's only been two that was afraid to get into the deep end when Deepwater Day. Was it do you think it's because the skill wasn't there, or was there just lack of confidence? It I mean, it's a huge lack.
I mean, the skills aren't there, and then there's a lack of confidence. So if you come on a day that we're getting in the water for the first time with a group, a lot of schools will have one to four students that I am walking in hand on hand with it, like, holding their hand to get them to the bench. And those students, by the end of the class, either are swimming five meters or at least are attempting. They feel comfortable enough in the water, which is a huge improvement from where they were. And it's those students that have never been exposed.
They've never been in a pool before, let alone a pool like Beacon. Right. It's those students then that that have a little bit more fear. So And the deepwater day is towards the end of the program? It's usually day six of the program. Gotcha. Mhmm. Great job, Michelle. Thank you. I have another, question and an observation. The, on Saturday, I had, three, naval cadets with me. And, were you down there on Saturday at the, at the At the meet. How did we do? They because I've seen it said elk up there. So that's elk up United.
Right? How do you We don't actually swim. Like, the club team doesn't swim as a team for points until the end of the season at the state meet. So you're looking at a very per the small percentile of kids that get to do that. All of our kids did really well. We were dropping tons of time. They were having a lot of fun, and we had kids that that was their first meet, that they have never done a meet before. And then we also have, we currently have a 14 year old that's ranked number one in the nation for multiple events. So he was swimming faster than most of the high school students this weekend.
So, yeah, we did pretty well, but it's hard to say because we don't it's not like a team score at the end of it. Well, the, the the the young men from the Naval Academy were very complimentary of the facility that we had. They said that was nicer than anything they had at Annapolis. And then two, they said all those kids out there swimming were swimming better than they could swim. So and these are guys going into the navy. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well and I wanna say I happen to be walking through doing something else for an event, and our fourth graders were coming through, and they were so excited.
Like, I got to see him going into the pool, and then they were coming out. They were just like, what a great break in the day. But then I actually got to hear coach Urlacher. I wanna say maybe they were interns last week or something. Coach Urlacher is switching right now. He had his first group of PE two students, and now they're switching to the second group. Yeah. And it was great to hear, like, he first of all, his voice. Like, that booming voice is so awesome, but, like, the amount of pride he had about showing everything that we have in that facility and talking about, like, the different
layers that they were gonna learn. It was like I walked away and, you know, my boys have been around him, and I was like, he is just the right person for that job. It was so great to to see and hear him and see our young kids. So it's wonderful from your program all the way through. It's very exciting. So great job. Thank you. Yeah. For sure. You're welcome. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Great job. Next in the public works sex, session, we have professional development update. Good evening, president Scott, members of the board, doctor Hough, and community. I am Kristen Cederberg, and I'm the director of professional learning.
I am here to present our update for the year. But before I do that, since this is my first year in this role, I thought I would just take a moment to introduce myself. I am actually, I grew up in the Elkhart Community Schools. I was a tiger, a warrior, and a blazer. And then I moved to Indianapolis for college and stayed there for quite a bit of time. I I spent a little over twenty years in a large urban school district in Indy where I served many different teaching roles, taught professional development to our new teachers for about twelve years, and also served as the district elementary technology coach there.
I then moved a little bit closer to home to Warsaw where I was an elementary principal, and now I'm glad to be back at home and privileged to be here as the director of professional learning. So I'm excited to share with you what we've been doing so far this year. So we actually started our professional learning prior to the start of the school year. Through the state, we were able to, through a grant, host the Journey to Excellence Conference, which was a two day conference that was open to Elkhart teachers and other teachers in the area. About 91 of our teachers attended one of the days, and we are able to
provide about 52 different sessions that were, hosted by Elkhart presenters and outside presenters. They ranged in topics from behavior management to, utilizing different technology tools, leveraging SAT data. So we had the college board present there, and and several other topics. We also were able to, prior to the start of the school year, provide our new teacher orientation, which was a three day event, and we had about 40 new teachers attend our orientation.
Each day, we were able to provide welcome breakfasts that were sponsored by different, local businesses. And then we were able to host lots of different sessions, everything from HR and the business office presented to legal and safety, student services and e and l services presented. And then we are also able to provide them with some classroom management tips for starting off their school year. And then our new teacher support will actually continue throughout the year. So we provide them with mentors, and they meet with their mentors monthly for a
check-in. And then this year, we're also providing new or I'm sorry, in person learning sessions. So recently, Lindsey Brander and Jamie Engen provided a session on classroom management, and then we'll also be looking to bring Lindsey and Cindy Bonner back to, just review some best support systems for our E and L and exceptional learners, and then also, teach our new teachers about our evaluation process here in Elkhart. So we are very lucky to be able to provide this to our teachers, and we thank you for your investment in our new teachers.
There's a lot of research out there that really shows the benefit to having a mentor for new teachers. I just kinda outlined outlined some of them. Ninety two percent of first year teachers tend to return when they've been provided with a mentor. They also state that having a mentor is the most impactful experience for developing effectiveness with our novice teachers and that there are benefits that are, seen in both our new teachers and our mentors. So our new teachers are provided with a confidant, and, they see less pressure.
They're able to learn some of the nuances of the district and the school. And then our mentors get the opportunity to, get some out of the box thinking, some new ideas, and just have some new fresh perspectives. So it's a win for everyone involved. This year, we've also continued with our Lexia, LETRS program. So LETRS is a comprehensive professional development program that really teaches teachers, the ins and outs of aligning with the science of reading and what that instruction looks like in
a classroom. So if you look on the right hand side, that's Scarborough's rope, which really identifies the different strands that need to be taught to students in order for them to be skilled readers. So letters focused on word recognition last year with our teachers, and this year, we have shifted into language comprehension. We have about 440 teachers and administrators that are participating in the LETRS program, and they have a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. So every month, they come together for a live virtual training, and then they also do self directed teaching, through their platform.
And it's a great program because it aligns with the state's requirement for our literacy endorsement, but it also is helping us build toward our ultimate goal of having all students pass iRead in third grade, and it also creates a common language and understanding district wide. So, you you know, thank you for Investment in that program as well. We were able to see a lot of growth last year with our iBreed scores, so we look forward to seeing, the outcomes this year after two years in this program. This year, we also adopted Amplify in k through eight.
So we've provided some professional learning for Amplify as well. And Amplify does also align with the science of reading and integrates all of the different strands of Scarborough's rope. And I'm just gonna pick a couple of them to just highlight the connection between Amplify and LETRS, and show how those are connected. So LETRS tells us that those who know more about the content of reading beforehand are more likely to be able to understand and learn and remember what they're reading. So, essentially, any new information has to filter through prior knowledge before it can transfer
to long term memory. So Amplify is a knowledge based curriculum, which is different than your most of your traditional basal readers, in the way that it approaches reading. It's also very rigorous, and it has reading passages that are on grade level or above. And you can see from the, the outlines here that they are very strategic in how they expose students to content from k through eight. So they spiral the knowledge topics, and the topics build on one another.
So what's great too is that because we adopted CommonLit in grades nine through 12, CommonLit has some of the same themes that are found in the middle school curriculum for Amplify. So we essentially here in Elkhart have a k through 12 spiral, which is really exciting. Because Amplify is such a different curriculum and approaches reading differently, we've wanted to provide a lot of support to our teachers. So we actually started the school year with an, overview sessions provided by Amplify. And throughout the year, we have provided additional training to our coaches and department leads
to be able to support the teachers in their buildings. We've provided training to our administrators on going and doing observations and then providing feedback on the program to their teachers. Just recently, on November 4, we were able to provide a session from Amplify on strengthening their planning. And then the remainder of the year, we will be working with Amplify to provide coaching sessions to the schools. So they'll actually come in, do observations, and then provide us with some next steps and feedback. And then additionally, additionally, at the district level, we are and with our teachers, we're
working to create guidance through curriculum maps that really outline the connection between Amplify and iLearn Tech Points and iRead just to really strengthen, that connection and provide them with any supplemental materials that are needed. So as you know, we've adopted several other curriculum this year. So we have also provided training sessions on all of these. And, actually, 76% of our teachers have attended a curriculum training so far this year. Additionally, this was our first year for try for doing synchronous learning.
And in order to prepare for our first day on the fourth, we created really thorough guidance to provide to really all staff members on what that day will look like, including very detailed schedules. And then our tech integration specialists visited every school. So they provided professional classrooms at the secondary level to answer any questions with teachers, and then they actually went into every single elementary classroom and practiced using these tools
with both staff and students. So they practiced using Google Meet and the other tools that they would use on that day. We've also created guidance for parents and families that we've shared on the website and ParentSquare and Facebook. And then we, have been collecting some data and feedback just to know what additional resources and support we can provide if we need to have a weather related day in the future. So as we know, AI is becoming more and more prevalent in our world, so we are also looking at providing professional development around AI in really two phases. So our first phase is with Conmigo, and Conmigo is a tool that was created
by Khan Academy. And we were able to purchase Conmigo through a grant from the state. Typically, Conmigo costs about $62,000, so it was a a great gift to be able to purchase it this year for our staff and students. And Conmigo has a teacher facing site and a student facing site. So teachers have tools available to them like generating hooks for a lesson or generating ideas for creating relevance for a lesson. So for example, I asked it to create a math activity, for Taylor Swift fans
for fourth grade. So it created, an activity where student or teachers could have students create fractions where they visually model the different Taylor Swift songs that they listen to. Teachers can also generate rubrics and exit tickets using Conmigo. And then on the student side, it will provide tutoring prompts for students. It can also provide debate practice. They can get writing support. They can chat with a literary character. They can get test prep support. So our high schools are our high schools are using it for, like, SAT prep.
And, so you can see I included a couple examples of how it prompts a student. So if a student needs to write a fantasy story, it'll prompt them to think through questions like who is your audience. And then if a student were to ask it to solve a math equation, for example, it instead of giving it the answer, it's gonna prompt the student to think step by step through how to solve that problem. So it's a very safe entry into the world of AI for our students. It doesn't allow them to cheat. Instead, it uses Socratic questioning to prompt students through thinking through the different components of
a problem. It also alerts teachers if anything if students have searched for anything dangerous or inappropriate and it doesn't give them access to those materials. It'll provide teachers with a summary of what students are asking Conmigo. And, it also will even prompt them to be responsible users of information. So it'll tell them, you probably should read other sources of information to, make sure that this is correct. And then it will help students build that prompt engineering skill because it helps them to refine their questioning skills. And then Conmigo also provides teachers with lesson materials to help develop that skill as
well. So it's a great entry, point for using AI. And then the next phase that we'll look at is what kind of professional development do we need to provide teachers to really know how to be safe and responsible users of the AI tools available to them, and then what kind of curriculum resources do we need to provide so that students can become literate in AI as well. So this year, we've also been able to provide, professional learning from Sarah Henry who's partnered with all of the buildings to really develop strong PLC strategies.
We have provided professional learning to our new administrators on our evaluation system. Lindsey Brander and Cindy Bonner have been hard at work providing professional learning for our new ILP and IEP systems. Secondary teachers received Canvas support, and then we've been working at the elementary level also to train, on how to administer the kindergarten readiness assessment and Acadians, which are new to us, and then how to utilize our UFLI curriculum for phonics. So for our next steps in professional learning, we just received the STEM integration grant,
which is gonna allow us to purchase Azobots and microbits for our elementary technology teachers and our computer science teachers. So we will be partnering with NextTech to provide them with, professional learning on how to utilize those and how to utilize assigned roles to develop, collaboration and communication schools or, sorry, skills within projects. And then at the elementary level, the state is rolling out a lot of information, about math. So we are working to create really comprehensive math curriculum, maps that align with that
work, and then we'll be looking to provide our teachers with learning around that as well. So we've had a lot of really great opportunities to, really grow and develop our teachers this year. Any questions? Is there similar, instruction and, offered to, paraprofessionals along these lines here? So we have offered some, and some of that will also come later in the year. So for Conmigo, for example, we are doing a, strategic rollout for how so we
started with high school, then we're moving to middle school, and then elementary. So really at the high school level, we are hearing that some paras would benefit from learning that tool because they assist with homework help and other things like that. And so we invited them to be able to attend that session, and we can do that moving forward as well. And then we will look at in the spring at offering academy days to provide some extra support for our paras and classified staff. Thank you. Welcome. Anybody have any questions?
No. No. One thing I would just mention, some of the grants that she talked about were extremely competitive grants in order to get. And so I just wanna say congratulations on getting those visitors and not handing those out. The two that you received this year for that were STEM related, definitely one say, the first one, I think, was, what, 40,000, and the last one was 50,000. And we were one of, I think, for the last time, maybe sixty sixty school districts to get it. So not everyone got it, obviously, and that's what competitive means. But I just wanna say thank you for, applying for those.
It it really does help. So just wanna say hats off to you. And I just wanted everyone to know that as well. Thank you. But good job. Thank you. Any other questions? Yeah. K. Thank you. Thank you very much. Great job. And that is all we have, for the public work session. I will now adjourn our work session and reconvene at 07:00 for our regularly scheduled board meeting. Thank you. You don't know, so don't worry. But you don't know this will hurt you. Okay. I wanna thank everybody for coming out, tonight for the 11/11/2025 Elkhart Community Schools regularly
scheduled board meeting. At this time, I'd like to call the board meeting, to order. And if you'd please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you. You may be seated. Miss Davis, the Elkhart Promise. Every student will be known by name, challenged, and supported by highly effective staff, and in partnership with the community, will graduate college career and life ready.
Thank you, mister Davis. Our invitation to speak protocol. I think everybody, if you've been to a meeting before, you are familiar with the process. If not, there is a, pamphlet that was on your, chair. There's a section here to be filled out and give that to Dora. Once I call your name, please step forward to the microphone. You may speak on any agenda or non agenda item, and you will have, three minutes. When you, speak, please, because of the Family Rights and Privacy Act, please do not bring forward any personnel or personal student issues during your public comment.
Door? Thank you. Chris Thomas Bartley. Sorry. We only had one, so I couldn't and you're always first. Outspoken. Hi. Chris Thomas Bartley, member of the community teacher at Elkhart High School. I have currently, I have three things I wanna talk on tonight, so we'll see how I get through this. First, I'd like to talk about something that I referred to at an earlier board meeting, secondary special education staffing. We continue to be at a crisis level, special education.
We are down one intense teacher. And and, again, I am only speaking at the secondary level, right now because that's what I'm familiar with. Right? So we're down one intense teacher, one mild teacher at the 1012 Building, and one mild teacher at the freshman division. Paraprofessionals at the 1012 Building, there are three mild openings, one behavioral support opening, and one intense opening paraprofessionals. At the freshman division, there's one mild opening, one behavioral support opening, and one intense
opening. The young adult program has two paraprofessional openings. I wanna be very clear. Students are getting their minutes, and they are getting their supports. Your teachers and your parents that are here are working very hard to make sure that they are getting the supports, and services that their IEPs, allow and that they need. But your teachers are tired, and we're struggling. We are stepping into places, that makes it hard for us to continue where we're
at. I'd like you to try to think outside the box. I think I brought this up before, the signing bonuses like you did for math and science. Just looking at the openings right now, there are 11 math and science district wide openings. There are 11 special ed k through 12 openings, parity. Perhaps an additional differential, while we're in this crisis level for paraprofessionals. We know they are underpaid. K? Quickly, teacher contract, thank you to ETA and the members of the negotiating team for
working through a very, very difficult financial year. However, I wanna say as a community member, as a teacher, we are looking to you to make additional sacrifices. This is really painful for me to say. There are too many admins. There are too many supervisors. Some of them are my friends. They're my mentors. I count on them, but there's too many of them. And there's a couple of new policies this evening, and I'm running out of time. So just real quick, the one I wanna address real quick, the student staff relationships.
I know it's a first reading. There's no carve out in that for family friends. Like, Like, if I get a call, hey. Go pick up my kid who happens to be a high school student, but it's a family friend. I need to know that I'm okay picking them up, and also hugs. It says no hugs. How about what's important in that situation is consent? Those were just some of my thoughts on that. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. That was the only, public comment. So we'll move on in the agenda to alumni excellence. Doctor Hough. Oh, yes.
Popping up the car. Nice. Good evening, president Scott, member of the board community. Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing David m Finley, who currently serves as a chairman and chief executive officer of Lakeland Financial Corporation in Lake City Bank, headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of both the bank and the holding company. Lakeland Financial Corporation is a $6,900,000,000 publicly traded Nasdaq, Global Select, all the the big the big the big places where you can invest. Holding company headquartered in in in Warsaw.
Lake City Bank is its largest single subsidiary. It is the sixth largest bank headquartered here in the state. Lake City Bank operates 55 offices in Northern And Central Indiana, delivering technology driven and client centric financial services solutions to individuals and businesses. From September 2010 to April 2014, mister Finley served as the president and CFO of that company. He joined as a chief executive president and CFO in September 2000. And from 1995 to 2000, mister Finley serves in various capacities with Quality Dining Incorporated,
a publicly traded company located in South Bend, concluding as a senior vice president and CFO. Very accomplished career. Mister Finley began his career with the Northern Trust, Northern Trust Company in Chicago, Illinois, serving in several capacities from September 1984 until March 1995. And now I just would like to take a short vid look at a short video of mister Finley and the incredible impact he has had both on the Elkhart Community Schools and Elkhart Community. I'm David Finley. I'm a class of 1980 at Elkhart Memorial High School, and I'm a product of
a k through 12 education starting with kindergarten at Mary Daly Elementary School in Elkhart. I'm chairman and CEO of Lake City Bank, and I'm sitting here in Elkhart High School's branch of Lake City Bank. And it's kind of reflective of of how I feel about Elkhart and I feel about the Elkhart Community Schools. This, this has been the neatest thing for us to have a branch here in the high school that, that can help us understand what next bankers. You know? I and ended up at Weston, which is now a playground.
I think it was the second oldest school in the system, and, finished my my third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade experience there. Went to Westside Junior High and then, on to Elkhart Memorial. And and I I think that what my experience has proven and and really when you look at that, my my siblings, Cam and Anne, and, and all my other friends from Elkhart Memorial High School is that this was a a wonderful place to have grown up, gone through k through 12. It prepared us exceptionally well for what we encountered in college and beyond.
So, there's there's always been a a soft spot in my heart for the Alcar Community Schools. I can prove that I was, an active swimmer and tennis player at Alcar Memorial, but I I don't have any accolades to lay behind me on that. I I guess that's the thing that I'm most proud of is my engagement, with the monolith, the yearbook for Elkhart Memorial High School at the time, which I, was the editor of in my senior in 1980. I was very involved with Genesis, the student publication, news magazine, and model for all three years I was here.
Missus Dean, Janice Dean, was the head of the publications, Genesis and model, at the Alcon Memorial High School, which I was very involved with. And and, she was probably the person that took the most time to help develop me, personally and and, and help me understand where my path might take me, which strangely enough, even though I don't do, anything in publications today, I still write the Lake City Bank annual report letters, and, and I can give missus, Dean credit for that. Coe Strain, missus Strain, who was in charge of all of the theater production work,
and and missus Strain had a a strong impact on all of us, that were active in the theater here at Elkhart Memorial High School. And and I was never very good at anything related to theater, particularly tap dancing. But she was always patient and and and allowed me to be engaged in the theater, and not at the highest level, but enough that it was it was fun to be a part of. Well, personally, Elkhart will always be the the place that I came from. And and when, I joined Lake City Bank in 2000, I have to admit that, I I got tired of going around Elkhart where we've had a presence since 1990
and having people look at me and say, oh, you're Don Findlay's son. And and I I felt like I was not creating my own identity, but following his. And it didn't take me long to realize that being Don Findlay's son was a good thing for Lake City Bank and a good thing for me. And, and the Elkhart Community Schools really provided me with the launching pad, to achieve what I have in my career, and personally and professionally. I've got two great daughters. Both are products of the Warsaw Community High School, system here in Indiana. Audrey's 33 and and lives in New York City, went to college there and has stayed there, lives in Brooklyn.
My, younger daughter, Blair, turns 30 this fall and, lives outside of Chicago in Evanston. So they haven't quite seen the light of of the the value of coming back to Northern Indiana, but we keep talking about it. I love my job at Lake City Bank, and so I love what I do, and and for good or for bad, it it absorbs most of my time. But when when I'm not, when I'm not working, in the summertime, I enjoy golf, and in the wintertime, I enjoy, traveling. I was just talking to one of our retail bankers here in the branch, about
the preparation that working at Lake City Bank in Elkhart High School has given him for, his desire to pursue an accounting degree. And and I think that that's a great example of, what you need to do when when you're at, at the high school level. You you don't have to know what you wanna do when when you get up, and you have to prepare yourself for that next step. And, and I I think that the the, the best thing you can do is is be open minded to any career path. When I left this building as a graduate in 1980, my plan was to become a dentist just like my dad.
And now here we are, forty five years later, and, a d plus in biology my first semester, freshman year at DePauw, precluded me from ending up in, in dental school and ended up in banking. So I think the advice is if if you focus and you know what you wanna do, that's great, but if you don't, don't worry. There's there's always the opportunity to to develop your path later. The engagement that we have at Lake City Bank, with Elkhart Community Schools is, really something I'm quite proud of because having been from Elkhart, attended Elkhart Community Schools, and
now we get to be a bank for the system and have a a a brancher in the Elkhart High School is really neat. It's something I'm really proud of. And at this time, I would love for mister Finley just to come up and share a few words with us about his experience in Elkhart, but also to accept just a very small token of our appreciation for all the things that you do for our school community. Now, mister Finley. Thanks, Paul. Let me get out of here. It's your time.
Thank you very much. And and I particularly to the people in the audience who laughed at my pictures and, and and the gentleman beside us, sitting my mom my my mom, Judy Finley, is in the back. She's a 1953 graduate of Elkhart High School. So she's the she's the best Finley graduate from an Elkhart school system in the room. But it it was as as the first picture of me came up, the gentleman back there started laughing. And he said, I didn't know I was sitting beside a celebrity. And and what he what he should have said with a lot less hair than he had in 1980 when I was in those pictures, I really said in, in
the video how important it is for me to be connected to the Elkhart Community Schools and for Lake City Bank, which I have the the luxury and the pleasure to be able to lead to to be very involved with Elkhart Community Schools. It it means a lot to me personally. It means a lot to our Elkhart team, to be, so involved with this system. We've got a lot of Elkhart Community School System graduates in in Lake City Bank. We employ over 700 people, and more than 60 of them came from the Elkhart Community School System, which is pretty neat. The video talked and and doctor Hough talked about the bank being headquartered in Warsaw.
I kinda like to pretend like it's headquartered in Elkhart and Warsaw. I didn't wanna make that. Well, you got a branch already. But but but, it it's an absolute honor, for me to be here, to be recognized by the school board and by the system, and particularly for my mom, who's been, as as she said, we went to dinner tonight. She said, something about, her her career was not quite as, glory glory filled as mine, but, but she did okay by us. So thank you, doctor Hough. Thank you, school board and this board of trustees, and and thank you, mom.
And thank you all. You should have your mom come up and get a picture with you too. You should have your mom come up and get a picture with you too. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you again. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, doctor Huff. Those are always, enjoyable enjoyable, awards. So, next, we have the Elkhart Area Career Center report. Mister Sossaman. Welcome. Hey. My old man reader's ready here. I'm, a proud Elkhart alumnus, much like the Finley's in the back. I, attended Riverview Elementary, so go Tigers.
Pierre Moran, who's here being represented this evening tonight as well. Go Warriors. And then, Elkhart Central grad, in 1993. I I joke at times with people when they talk about the the, school system. I have spent forty of my fifty years in the Elkhart Community Schools, most of which as the educator, but, there were some good years as a student as well. First thing I wanna do is recognize the folks that came out from, the career
center today. We have members from all aspects of our seven buildings, office staff, teachers. We have, folks that came over from the childcare area. I just wanna make sure that we recognize that those folks came out. So thank you. I appreciate that. Yep. Please please stand up so we can see. Yeah. Please stand up. Yeah. Please stand up. They're putting the pressure on me tonight, so I have to do my best. I talked to mister Anderson earlier. He told me that sixty minutes was just right for the length of time for
this. I thought that's what he said. I I've been working on this for a while. I had it down down pat. So, hopefully, we'll keep it right to around five or six minutes so we're not taking up too much time tonight. As I mentioned, I'm a proud alumni. I've had the privilege of being a part of the Elkhart Area Career Center for eleven years. Five as a teacher when I started the robotics program here many moons ago, and this is my sixth as an administrator. And I've seen the difference that the Career Center makes in students' lives.
This year marks fifty four years of the EACC's history, more than five decades of innovation, community partnership, and hands on learning that prepares students for success. I'll share this briefly. This is our agenda. We're gonna go through our school wide goals, our outcomes, the impact that we have in the community, and what we like to call the EACC difference. Guided by our comprehensive local needs assessment, which happens every two years and we're in the midst of starting this year, we are we strengthened our at risk team, which
originally included counselors and administrators, adding, several aspects of ESL, special education, and general education intervention instructors to better support each and every learner. That foundation has led to strong results across all areas this year. You will notice on this slide there are two things: concentrator status and student retention. These were our two goals for the past year. Concentrator status was 82% from the year before, and we exceeded that with ninety three
percent of EACC learners meeting that benchmark in 2425. Twenty three twenty four's rate was 78%, so this is a major improvement when it comes to that statistic. The addition of targeted supports through our at risk team played key roles in helping more students complete pathways and qualify for graduation. Our student retention improved as well. Our goal was seventy eight percent and we reached eighty three percent, up from seventy five percent the previous year. This growth comes from expanded work based learning opportunities, aligning our industry certifications and post
secondary credentials with the new diploma requirements with a look at increasing seal attainment and credentials of value going forward and maintaining a clear focus on the return on investment for our students that attend the career center. More students are seeing a value and staying engaged and finishing their programs. To go along with this, we have many student outcomes. Students continue to earn valuable credentials. 21 of 30 pathways now offer state certifications.
507 state certifications were earned, and over 1,200 total certifications were earned in this past year, with four more programs coming on board. Students also earn 9,170 college credits, saving families more than $2,100,000 and completed 211 post secondary certificates. I wanna add to this that we're only counting the technical certificates and, certificates of
value because, we cannot claim the associates. Those get claimed by the high schools because we need those high schools, and they need us for those credits as well. Our SkillsUSA students shine 14 national competitors with four top 10 finishers, and and that included a third place in CCMA, from a, first year Bremen student who is back this year and hopefully going to compete for us, plus 14 gold, 19 silver, and
17 bronze medals at the state level. We're heavily involved in career building and community engagement. These continue to grow. We had 84 volunteers join us for our employability skills panel. 207 volunteers conducted 1,700 mock interviews in one day. And to go with that, we had 65 businesses participate in our career fair. We've been as high as 90 before. Space has been a a challenge for us, but we're working on that, and I
think we're gonna get back up there. We're also reaching younger students. We have a, regional grant that we've, got that we will be working with Beable's world of work curriculum, and this is for fifth and sixth graders in the county. We also have transfer VR headsets that are giving seventh and eighth graders immersive career exploration throughout the county as well. We were involved in three summer camps and over a $120,000 in community donations helped
make all of this possible. Now the the fun stuff, as I say, we're super proud of of all the things that have been accomplished at the career center, but we wanna make sure that we make note of these as they are, really special. We're proud to have several milestones. Beth Davis, who probably doesn't want me to tell you this, but she's in the second row if you're looking for her, is our school system's secondary teacher of the year and continues to lead excellence in criminal justice.
Our new pre law program led by RJ Butler partners with teen court and other local businesses for real world internships. The surgical services program, the only combined program in the region, is funded entirely through Perkins dollars with partnerships from Goshen Health, Beacon, and our community foundation. And most importantly, in this time of financial stress, did not cost the district any money whatsoever to get started. Finally, this is and this is a reference to a to an I don't know
if you guys remember this, but several years ago, there was a presidential candidate that talked about his August or nine nine nine. Some people may remember that, but it was a tax program that he talked about. But we have a triple eight ourselves. We had eight students enroll in the early childhood apprenticeship pilot program that the state put out last year. Of those eight students that enrolled, all eight students completed that apprenticeship. And this year, we have eight more students enrolled. In just one year, we've strengthened supports, expanded opportunities, and deepened community partnerships, all while
honoring fifty four years of EACC excellence. These results reflect the dedication of our staff, students, and partners, and the belief that when education and industry work together, our community thrives. Thank you for your continued support and for helping us shape the next generation of skilled and confident graduates. Thank you, Scott. You did a wonderful job, mister Sassman. Any questions? You did a wonderful job. Thank you. I think the career center is the gold standard for, CTE program and life changing
programs in not just Indiana, but in the Midwest. And I love, being able to brag on all the things that you do, in a great staff. Miss Davis, I see you hiding around the corner, but wonderful. Even this past Sunday, you also and I'm sure we'll talk about that later. Well, I was gonna start off with the apology. A lot of people don't realize this. We moved our, open house, to the first semester, which is it was new for us. It worked out well because, schools are, scheduling their students, and it really kinda makes
sense for it to happen in the first semester. The one thing we didn't plan for is, every single year for those redwoods like me who have been around, they know that with the open house comes weather, and it happens inevitably every year. This year, we brought the weather, and I apologize for the two I've been having it three times, and three times has been the snowstorm over the past. Yep. So, so we just moved it to November. That's so necessary. Appreciate it. Prepared for that going forward as we do that.
Very well attended, and Yes. And the kids had a great time. I I I owe them I allow them to cut my hair, but I'm gonna hold that off until my very last day working at Elkhart Community School. I respect that. My daughter's in the first year program, so you may wanna hold off for two years. So Thanks. There you go. Great job. Thank you. Next on agenda, we have the, Pierre Moran report from, mister Hemmerlein. President Scott, members of the board, and doctor Hough, members of the community, good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak this evening and highlight some of the great things
that are happening at Pier Moran, and give a general update. You know, the first slide that that we have here, it's a great day to be a warrior, and that's not a filler statement. I spent thirteen years at Pere Moran, as a teacher. I started there in 2002, spent some time with with mister Anderson at Elkhart Memorial as an English teacher, stepped out of the district, for administrative opportunity, and I promise my my bio is is short here. So I started my my administrative career, and and when the position at Pier Moran
opened up for, the principal, principal's position, that is the only job I was looking for. Pier Moran is a special place to me, and, I'm very appreciative of of being afforded the opportunity to come back and be the the principal and lead the school community. So when I say again, it's a great day to be a Warrior, I I I truly feel that. There's some tremendous people, throughout my career that I've spent some time with, people I I consider mentors, people I'm working with now who are truly tremendous individuals. And some of the things to highlight with it's a great day to be a
warrior is there's no better, example of that than our sixth grade transition. And the teachers that that came over. There were nine teachers. A a few of them are here with us the this evening in true middle school style. We've tucked ourself back in the corner. So I will, pause and, you know, I'd like to to recognize them and draw attention to to the whole staff that's here, but but our sixth grade teachers who are in the back, who who really in this transition, we we had nine sixth
grade teachers who were placed at Pier Moran through the staffing process. If we go back to, late winter, February, March, early spring, they were Six grade teachers. They were placed at Pere Moran, and on the first day of school, we had the nine, same nine sixth grade teachers. That that is a testament to them, the commitment they made, and to have them on board and the work they're doing to to help me as the principal to help, you know, my assistant principals, our our student services to provide us the guidance that we need. Boy, we have two hundred and thirty sixth graders brand new to the building, and
we absolutely need their guidance on procedures and what do things look like. And, you know, we're sometimes used to the 14 year olds, and now we have 11 year olds. And and, you know, when they come with tears in their eyes of I don't know where the cafeteria is, it's like, well, this is a new one for us. So, but but we handle it. So the six straight teachers are are are absolutely tremendous. They they're doing a phenomenal job for us, and and I wanted to make that statement of, you know, they they make it a great day to be a warrior. Our kids are very lucky. Our student services team, for the the things that they have done with the master
schedule and the complexities with adding an entire another grade level and some different electives and and courses and and things that were brought in. Custodial staff, you know, my last day as a principal was at the June, and and I spent some time in July coming in, and that's when the real construction work be began with some of the the demo work. And and I would walk in, and you wouldn't recognize some of, the custodial staff covered in in dust and ceiling tile debris and taking the goggles off. And, hey, mister Emerline. How are you doing? It's like, holy k. You guys are doing the heavy lifting here for us.
So, beyond appreciative, of all the the folks who, again, make it a great day to be a Warrior. We we we have numerous things, and I'm not gonna turn this into a a, you know, an Emmy Award speech, not that I'll ever make one of those and and thank everybody. However, I I think the the true people that we need to thank in this whole thing and and it shows a lot of support for the Peer Morant community is the parents, you know, believing in us, sending their their students to Peer Morant, and the school community and and believing in the transition and and what was gonna
happen and and what we're able to do. So, again, I I truly believe it. It's not a filler slide with pictures. It's a great day to be Warrior. Pier Moran is a special place. We have a lot of special people. And, again, the sixth grade transition is is the highlight of that, and the people that make up the Pier Moran community, truly make it special. So if we move into some of the the academic components of this, and really what our jobs are with with our students, we have we have three goals that
that we're working on. Goal one and two revolves around the iLearn with ELA proficiency and math proficiency. Last year, we we didn't make much growth with with ELA. We we did grow, which I I will show the slide here in a second. Our second goal, this is a proud moment that we we wanted to go up by 5%. And, again, that's our goal this year. We actually went up by 6% on math iLearn proficiency levels. So, a huge shout out to, our math teachers, counselors who are working with the students, parents, all the work that everybody put in to, get those proficiency and and
mastery rates up. And then our third goal, being attendance. We've heard it said by, here this evening. We've heard it said by, I will repeat again what numerous principals say. We we cannot provide education to students if they're not there. So we are working very, very hard to support our families, to support students, to make sure that they are attending school. Social workers do a great job of reaching out as do our counselors, our assistant principals. We have an attendance team that they meet weekly, and credit to them that it
was going to be a biweekly meeting, and they decided it was probably better that they not at my direction. They decided they wanna meet weekly to keep keep track of students and where they're at, and and how do we how do we make sure that that that they're attending school? If we look at the the graph, if we go back to 2019, and I promise I'm not gonna review data all the way back from 2019. It's just a a speaking point and a testament to the work that that is being done. If we look at the, I learned ELA performance, we see nearly a steady decline. The dashed line in the middle, that is the overall school performance.
And for the first time since 2019, Pere Moran has showed growth on the ELA, iLearn. And again, another huge testament to the, the the the staff and and everybody working hard at this. There's a little bit of a decline. There's reasons for this with with our seventh grade staff, we had a teacher who was on leave and and, you know, we had some tremendous substitutes, retired teachers that stepped up and they helped us with those things. And we are continuing to work on this. Our big focus is on tier one instruction, and big thank you to the the
district for recognizing this and doctor Hough and doctor Rausch and and mister Anderson with the textbook adoptions that we've made this year and the training that we're providing the staff, tier one instruction and and where we are in the classroom, that that is gonna make the difference with our students, and and we we've made that investment in them and and very appreciative of that. This is the breakdown of of our different subgroups of students. If we look at the, blue, then I'm gonna call the the other gold yellow.
I I have a type of of color blindness that, I always credit my wife for picking out my ties and making sure I match and look appropriate in public. So the the gold is yellow that's on the right. That is the 25 I learned results. And if we look across in the eight subgroups, most of them, many of them have showed a gain. So year over year from, '24 to '25, we are showing improvements based on, our different subgroups. And this is just the English portion of it. So, again, this this breaks it down. This breaks it down by grade, and we're looking at, blue being last year, the
yellowish gold, whatever color you you place on that, what what it actually is. We can see that we're making gains. We're we're improving. Why in the ELA portion of this, we didn't hit overall 5%, numerous subgroups have showed considerable gains. And recognizing our staff for, again, being the first time, in a number of years that that Pere Moran has shown any type of growth. They've they've done a tremendous job figuring some of those things out, curriculum wise and and classroom wise. The same thing.
This is the same type of graph with math performance, and we can see we we've seen some considerable growth, but it's the same thing. There was a decline from 2019. 2024, things kinda clumped together, and it really went up. Seventh grade math, has been doing a tremendous job. That is really the the I don't know. This is all a bright spot, but seventh grade math, the growth that we're seeing in our seventh grade student is pretty substantial. Same breakdown, considerably more growth, excuse me, with math, the yellow's goal that that is
on the right. We can see just visually how much improvement that has been made from '24 to '25. And, again, the breakdowns, visually, we can see how much growth, that has been made with all of the subgroups. And sorry. Preemptively hit that. So both of them, that there are some highlights that that, you know, we're getting to that, if we look at the ELA cohort data, if we look at where those students were in seventh grade and how they performed in eighth grade, that cohort group sold a 5% growth. So it's showing that when when they're at Pier Moran, our our teachers are doing
a good job with them, and and we are, we are able to get those students to, improve and and try to get them to the level they need to be at to to to be successful and move on to high school. And as I said, it's it's a growth for the first time. Wasn't necessarily a substantial growth, but it is a reason to celebrate that in a number of years, PeerMarin has seen no growth. Math, again, we we went above the proficiency rate in our goal, our proficiency rate goal, which is, 5%. We were at 6%. Seventh grade, proficiency rate was 9%.
Eighth grade was 5%, and seven of those eight subgroups showed growth. So on both of them, that that's something to celebrate and and for us to highlight. The academic data on iLearn is trending upwards for us, and and we're in a we're in a good place. Again, with textbook adoptions and curriculum, some of the professional development that the staff is going through, there's no question. We we will continue to to grow and go up. Our last goal was was student attendance. Our goal is 95%, which is the the dashed yellowish gold line.
Somebody can set me straight at some point and tell me exactly what color that is. But, I always go for varsity gold, but it it it whatever you make of it. Most of our our subgroups are above 95. And, again, our attendance team is doing a great job of of monitoring that, and making sure, our students are coming to school. And another visual representation, last year, this data was ran, at the end of end end of October. So this is it's changed a little bit.
But the blue, at this time last year, we were at 93%, just shy of 94%, 93.74. And then, on the right, we currently stand at 95.9%. So that is a significant growth, of nearly, nearly 3%. So we were at 96 for for quite a while, and and we're we're we're trying to get ourselves back to that rate. So, attendance wise, year over year, we we've made considerable improvement as well. And, again, hats off to to our families and parents for ensuring that their students
are are attending school. We we need them there, and we want them there. Other academic opportunities beyond the iLearn, because students don't just come to to school really excited about the iLearn all the time. They come excited about some of these things. So some of the academic opportunities we've had so far this school year, college go week, Pictured down in the left, mister Adams coordinated some some a lot of different things, but our students love the the college trivia at lunch, and there are some prizes for that. And and, you know, it's amazing when you put out a a college mascot that
we all know that, our students are boy, they're hitting out of left field. They have no idea who the Hoosiers are or, I don't know why. Are you saying what is the Purdue mascot? And they're they're coming up with some random animals and but, really, I don't know. You guys coming up with some of these things. We've had a manufacturing day. That that was a a great opportunity for our eighth grade students to to see some of the things that are out there in in our community, not just out there, but but our community specifically. Indiana Career Explorer, students are exploring different careers based on interest and and, you know,
their skill set. And, one of the things that that I put on here, it's not a a large program, and she's here this evening. It's Kendra Wardlaw, who I see her probably looking down right now and and not wanting to be recognized for this. But, I wanted to bring this up that that sometimes this wasn't a small opportunity, but it but it's something that that I think is is a tremendous academic opportunity for both students at Roosevelt and the Pere Moran students. Based on the lessons she taught, her students, traded children's books. And then she coordinated a trip over to Roosevelt, with the teachers so those students
can go over and they they can read to the first graders. So the the mentoring piece and the connections they're making with the first graders and, you know, why we see them as the little sixth graders at at Pier Moran, Boyle's first graders seem as the old kids. And to have them come over and read to them, that that is really something special. So, you know, everybody did a tremendous job providing our students with these various academic opportunities. Again, more so than just coming in and and sitting in a desk. The Warrior Way, brings in some of the behavioral components of this and and, not
in a disciplinary way, but celebrating and recognizing our students. The golden feather award, that is very similar to a positive referral. The month of October was, bullying awareness. And so the theme that we put on a golden feather, which if we if any staff member saw a student, being empathetic or standing up for somebody else or or exhibiting the kindness, It goes above and beyond just picking a pencil up off the floor. They're awarded a golden feather. It's nothing big, but the parent engagement on our our Facebook page and social media,
when when you see your son or daughter that did something great in school that you might not otherwise know about, that goes a long way. Take a picture of them, and they they get a small little token of our appreciation or prize they get to pick out. And and, it also allows our our teachers and staff to recognize those students in a way that's not just grade based. Quarterly incentives, students have to earn a quarterly incentive. The quarterly incentive that's being planned now, it's based on on growth on the, iLearn checkpoints. We have, we iLearn checkpoint one.
We've taken both opportunities. So there's a first opportunity, then we have an opportunity for some interventions and reteaching. 70% seventy seven percent of the students at PureBrain showed some type of growth. Might not been growth on English and math. It might have been on a, some sort of, just a particular standard, but seventy seven percent of our students showed some sort of academic growth from those opportunities. Sixth grade, this is something special as well. Ninety seven percent of our sixth graders showed some sort of growth between opportunities. That that is a tremendous accomplishment by those teachers and students.
So the quarterly incentives that the students earn that, We make it very accessible to all our students, and and it's something fun. Something fun too. They they can spend time in the in the gym. They did, we, you know, thank you to Chartwells for helping us with. We did a little cookie decorating. To them, it was just smearing frosting on a on a sugar cookie, but, my face is lit up with with smiles. And then the growth awards. The growth awards, we just had those, here recently, and there are four awards that that students were or could receive.
You can receive an award for academics, attendance, excellence. I don't want to say or growth because a student can earn all of those. At the growth awards, we had two twenty seven students earn awards and 229 or excuse me, 292, I wrote that down incorrectly, 292 awards were handed out. Students were recognized for, earning all a's and b's for, level of attendance for excellence. Excellence really is, what we would think of a student of the month or student of the quarter, students who who've who've really shown those things.
And the growth award, we wanted to recognize the students who might not ever achieve a grade above a c, but they work hard for that c. The students who we all love having in class and are just great people, but they've showed tremendous growth and and showing the values of Pierre Moran, respect. Maybe they don't have any missing assignments, but they started the year with with quite a few of them. So we wanted to recognize all of those students and for the great things they're doing, and we had a great turnout for that. That that was a that was a good time, to get parents involved in a
positive way and to recognize their students. So those are the the those are some of the the incentive things, and we we label it the Warrior Way. That's not just a a cute little a litter of term, trying to think what what do we call the entire system. So at Pier Moran, we we we feel and and, you know, this shows that that things are trending upward. We're giving our students opportunities. We're recognizing our students. Academics are are are trending upwards. So I appreciate the opportunity to to highlight those things.
Thank you. One more slide. Oh, sorry. I I do have one more slide. Yeah. Thank you. This is the addition that, it shows my tech abilities. It took me a while to put the stars in in in the back. So, I guess I I put it out of my mind. I was a little traumatized as I try to figure that one that one out. Guess I'm showing my age that, I use legal pads and pencils, to write all my things out. Our student achievements. Holy cow. I almost forgot this one. The cheer team, they placed first. They had two, cheer competitions, and at both competitions, they placed first. That's a combined middle school cheer team.
Northside, Westside, and Pier Moran. It's an awesome accomplishment to go to two and and come out first in both. Sixth grade volleyball and football, they both had undefeated seasons. Boys soccer, they finished second in the big eleven conference. Athletic participation, and this is a big one as well. Athletic participation, at Pier Manor increased by 48%. So students are they're showing up and and they're getting involved. It's something we we need more of our students to do, get involved. Three students were selected to the Indiana Bandmasters Association all region honor band. And then we had eight students were selected to I do not have any music
background knowledge. It was explained to me the different types of concerts and what they do, and I kinda had to smile and nod my head. And and, you know, I might have been able to play me and kazoo at one point, but talking through orchestra and strings and all those sorts of things, that's not it for me. But we had eight students. So, to have all those students be able to perform in the all regional honors bands and orchestra, our kids are doing some some phenomenal things, and they're representing the the the district and and the Elkhart community very well. So now thank you.
I appreciate it. I'll be very brief. Mister Hamlin, I just want an outstanding, presentation, and thank you for your leadership. And, Pierre Moran, you're doing amazing things down there on the South Side of town. What I appreciate most about this, you can have increased academic achievement and have joy in school too, And you did a really good job of capturing that in your presentation. It takes everyone, and your teachers have bought into all the things that you are, trying to lead to get students from not just a to b, but for for
into life changing situations. And so I just wanna tell you thank you. I know it's hard to capture all the things that you're doing in fifteen minutes or so. I noticed that you put a lot of gold on there for Notre Dame. I'll hold that against you next time. But I do wanna say that the the people that you brought here are just a small small testament and a small testimony of all the great things that are happening down there. But I know that wouldn't happen without you. So you and your other administrators there in the back and to your teachers here, we just want to publicly say thank you for all that you do and all that you will continue to do for our kids.
So great presentation. Next on the agenda, we have, mister Chandler, the, prior to academy report. Alright. Thank you for having me, esteemed board, president Scott, doctor Huff. My name is Eric Chandler. I'm the proud principal of the Pride Academy. Just a little bit real quick because I know we're crunch for time. This is pride's fifth year in existence. Right now, our we have three general education classrooms, K 223, and 45. Each room has a special ed para in there, and we are also working sorry.
We also have on staff 12 total people, a social worker, a security person, and our secretary along with a transition coordinator. This is our mission at pride. The mission of pride academy is to foster a paradigm shift that cultivates an innovative mindset for students and staff and the community to bring safety, structure, and a sense of belonging to every student in classroom by uniting educational neuroscience with the power of teaching. So for people who don't know, we receive students. They come to us from all 13 elementary schools.
They're referred to us if they're having difficulties with behavior, and I'll get into that a little more. This right here is our fifth and sixth grade graduates from last year, and our vision is to be a place of innovation, safety, and belonging. I know at this point in time, especially for, Indiana, we talk a lot about assessments. And so one thing that we like to keep our kids and reminding them is that it doesn't fully assess your abilities and what you can do.
Some kids are great test takers and they can study for it and do it. Other kids, their anxiety when it comes to tests, they are just off kilter for a while. And so we try our best to get them to set that foundation for learning, academically and behaviorally, because the goal is to get them to go back to their home school. And so once we help them with those strategies and interventions, that's the next step. So I'll talk about our school improvement goals. These next two slides, we would like to be proficient and increase up to 50%
this year for ELA and math. For pride this past school year, our first three years, for iRead, we had zero students pass, but this last year, we had 30% pass, which was pretty big to us. As you can see here, we had two second graders, that passed. One third grader, a fourth grader, and a fifth grader. And so one thing that we did last year, and we're doing it this year as well, we had UFLY that helps that we implemented, to help with small group
interventions, because a lot of our kids have missed the structural time due to their behavioral issues. And so by doing uFLY, and this year, Hegarty and some of the skill stuff with CKLA, it's we're trying to shorten that educational gap that they have from being out of the classroom setting. One of the big four things that we have, that we work with is our MTSS process, and this team meets every Thursday so we can discuss behavior and academic interventions. We also talk about employee employability skills, self awareness, self management, communication, problem solving.
Because a lot of our students are not able to have or do not work well with others at this point in time, so we're trying to get them to be in that classroom setting and be able to problem solve without acting out in some way shape or form. And so, zones of regulation curriculum, we use this to help the students figure out how to regulate their emotions. We also make sure that we are up to pace or in sync with their homeschool with the pacing guides in the curriculum. Here's our attendance from last year from August to October.
A big reason, our kids love coming to school. But part of the reason sometimes you see dips, has to do with behavior issues or it could be from appointments or illnesses. Like right now, a lot of our staff people are sick and so they're on the menu watching from home. And so as you see, I think that is first grade. September was kinda rough with the sickness or kindergarten, I apologize, at 62. But then we definitely were close to ninety and up.
October is kind of that time you get Halloween and things of that nature and fall break. Students kinda get antsy, so that's where some of that stuff dips. This year, our attendance is pretty comparable, right now. So kindergarten, we had no students in August, but right now we have two. So that's why that kinda dips. But, you know, we try our best to keep our kids in school. We try every intervention there is. So working with the parents and, you know, our social workers especially talking and discussing,
like, what can we do to keep them with us. Here, is our referral comparison from August to August and October 2025. Now as you see the big jumps, especially k through three, a couple things that we need to make sure that we remember. We are taking those referral numbers from their homeschools, Because let's say hypothetically, Woodland, and I'm just saying that because it's all Jeremy. Say one of the students that we have is having difficulties.
And for I want people to understand too, when we're writing referrals, it's not for, like, just breaking pencils or ripping up paper. It's from eloping or from using their hands on feet hands and feet in the wrong way or things of that nature. So right now, like, our kids, especially k through three, they just have really big emotions. They don't know how to self regulate, and so we're trying our best to help them figure out those ways. That's where the zones of regulation, talking with our social worker and giving them time
and space helps with those things as well. I know that's a big jump, but, like, it's just hard to define sometimes some of the actions some of the little ones do sometimes. So, you know and we remind them whenever they come back, like, it's a clean slate. You're starting new. Nothing is held against you. We still love you. We're just trying to help you stay safe, and that's the biggest thing. Here's some captions of our students at this time.
MTSS, I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. Small group, and then we have PLCs on here. We are getting, PLC coaching from Sarah Henry as long as as with everyone else in the district. I apologize. And then as we talk about our MTSS process, we meet every week and discuss a classroom because the range right now is from eight to 10 students in every class. And so we look through their behavior charts, we look through their progress monitoring, and we try to figure out what's working, what's not working, and how can we meet
this child where they're at. And I think that's the biggest thing. We have a bit of a luxury because our class sizes are smaller even with lots of activity. We are able to try our best to help them wherever they're at. So when we look at behavior goals, we also use the Panorama playbook, which a lot of people in the district are using and that has all kinds of, interventions for attendance, behavior, academic, developmental stages, and for different tiers. And I think the one thing to remember when we talk about pride, we have
a lot, if not all of our students are tier three students. And so we try to get them to, like, sit with a whole group when they're trying to do the lessons or sometimes it might be a small group where they're getting that on grade level curriculum, but it might just be like our four, five, six room for or four, six, or fourth and fifth room. You know, small group fourth graders doing that curriculum, fifth graders doing that curriculum, and then talk about how the interventions will work later on, in the day.
Zones of regulations, especially for kindergarten through second, we talk about, like, you can tell us how you're feeling. Like, why are you mad? Why are you upset? You know, because sometimes home life is different or they could just be mad somebody took the Legos from them. Like, it just depends. And so how do you talk about it without using extracurricular verbiage and things of that nature and try to figure out how we can best get you regulated so you can come back to class and do what you need to do? I think we also have a zones of room time out room where in this
room, there's, like, kinetic sand, a crash pad, a trampoline, things of that nature, almost like minds in motion back in the day where you can get your energy out in an appropriate way. The way we have our setup, like, as soon as you walk in, you figure out what color you're at, they check your pulse rate, and then they talk about how can we get you back into green. And so after that ten minutes, you sign back out, you talk about where their pulse rate is at again, and then if they're ready to go back.
Some of the resources and community partnerships that we've used previously, Bowen Center, Oak Lawn, Love Way, Crossroads Counseling, mister Pierri is fantastic with our kids, Cowboy Ethics. In previous years, we've been to Kircher's, BizTown, and Pottawatomie Zoo. So the students on the left, the student on the right, it was his last day and that's his best friend.
And so they had, like, a little going away thing. The student on the right, he is going into his second year at his home school, and they still talk on the phone, every week. And so the big thing is for people to remember, like, within pride, like, we make those connections, those things that last a lot longer, especially even, like, we get emails from kids in middle school right now who may be struggling a little bit.
You know? We have a couple high school seniors, which is crazy to me because when we first started pride, we were k through eight, and talk about how they're doing and what their next step is gonna be. And so it's those type of things helping them find that passion for learning again because sometimes things just don't work out the way they planned especially in the homeschool. So when they go back or if they graduate to the next level, it's them remembering, you know, how do they handle the triggers, what works for them the best
way, and how they can, stay on path to get their diploma. So in conclusion, one of the biggest things we talk about all the time, are we doing what's best for kids? That's the bottom line. With the 12 of us, that's all we have right now. So it's always talking about, like, you can't be mad. You can't you can't have the ego with it. So say hypothetically, you know, miss Davis has a better relationship working with Johnny than you work with Johnny.
You know, being able to tap out at certain times when you get to that frustration level and then be able to come back and have those restorative conversations. And so that's a big thing that we do. That's what we harp upon, especially with the kids so they have those conversations too if they, like, disrespect the student or appear. And here's my favorite slide. That's our staff this year for our pictures. Yep. That's it. Appreciate it, miss Chandra. Good job. Out of the, wait. Let me go back. I took a a a a some notes.
One of the things I wanted to thank you for sharing the some of the data and some of the outcomes that you're having down there and much appreciated. How many total students are there at pride? Right now, 30. 30. Possibly 32 by the end of next week. Thank you. Yep. Good job. Yep. Quick question. Yep. When when you get a referral and you mentioned that, because of, some behavioral issues and miss missing instructional time, there's large educational gaps. How do you assess or determine, you know, how large the gap is initially when they are referred to pride?
So we we get a lot of the data coming from their home school and we then we try to figure out. And so it's any, like, progress monitoring or small assessment. You know, it could just be reading a passage or something like that trying to figure out, like, where they are. Like, for our kindergarteners right now, the gap is not monumental because they're just starting school. But if there certain aspects continue, then it could become larger. Yep. Good. Thank you very much. Yeah. We're good. Guys. This would excellence of Elkhart. Thank you, president Scott, members of the board, doctor Hough, community members.
I'm grateful for the opportunity to share highlights in the areas of academics, arts, and athletics. Up first at the human service services school of studies, students are putting life skills to the test through a real world budgeting simulation. Students selected careers, manage household expenses, and navigated unexpected financial challenges, getting a hands on look at the realities of adulting. Our freshman division pre AP world history students brought history to life through a lively trade route simulation set after the fall of the Constantinople representing six nations, students debating,
and negotiating how to navigate the Ottoman Empire control. In the area of arts, Bristol Elementary's fourth graders brought poetry to life with a classroom poetry slam. As part of their poetry unit, students wrote original poems about meaningful memories and shared them aloud using expression and tone emphasize their ideas. It was a great showcase of student voice and creativity. Last Wednesday was the middle and high school band festival. Hundreds of students, musicians delivered outstanding performances and packed the Northside Gym.
The evening began with the Elkhart High School pride of Elkhart marching band, the Elkhart High School jazz band, and the combined band featuring students from all three middle schools. In athletics, the Elkhart High School varsity's girls basketball team opened their season with a win against Fairfield last week. Tonight, we wish them the best as they take on Concord followed by their home game on Saturday, November 15, against Maryville High School. Last week, Elkhart Community Schools PE teachers gathered at Elkhart High School for a presentation from Indiana soccer on Futile, an adaptable version of the traditional soccer that can be
played in multiple ways. A key highlight of the program is its accessibility. Using different equipment, ball sizes, colors, and rules to ensure students of all abilities can participate together, PE teachers also had the opportunity to receive specialized equipment tailored to their students' needs. And up in our future happenings, November 12 will be the fall jazz concert. November 15, the Hellcart High School's fall play. November 16 is the stuff a bus event at the Cobblestone Martins. And November 26 to the twenty eighth will be our fall break.
As always, please be sure to follow our district and school social media pages as we share each day the excellence of Elkhart Schools. Thank you. Thank you, Wendy. Next on the agenda, we have the, consent items. Do I have a motion? So moved. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion, and I have a second. Do I have any comments from the board? You do. Hold on. I have to back it up. Okay. So the public has once again donated $5,515. Our unified track received two donations of $2,650, one from the athletic club and anonymous
donor of $1,150, and one from just the athletic club at fifteen hundred. George Smith donated, which I think is great, 86 cookbooks to the Elkhart Career Center for culinary class number two at $1,465. And Ruoff Mortgage donated, which is Walter Cortez, donated $400 from Mary Beck to receive staff shirts. Ava Roberson, donated miscellaneous makeup and nail products for our cosmetology class at 500. And once again, the career center was gifted a silver sponsorship of $500 from burn
snips equipment in care of Grace Sobczak. So at $5,515, we received multiple donations again from our community. And in looking at our personnel, the career center has a teacher retiring from cosmetology, and that is Amy Stutzman. After twenty two years and watching multiple programs grow inside the career center, she did a phenomenal job. I bet had the most wonderful honor of knowing Amy for years, and she has done really well with things that you don't think about.
Like, you're doing curriculum, curriculum, curriculum all the time, but Amy has really grown the young men and women in that program and the barber crook program on retail and communication with the public. That's something that Amy is really gifted at because a lot of stylists leave. They're thinking that they can just make money and there you go. But they have to really know what it is like to work one on one with somebody and have that ability. So even though, like, it's it's great for Amy that she's retiring, it's a great loss, but that cosmetology department is just flourishing with new teachers.
And, another one that is retiring after seventeen years of service in the athletic department is coach Buck, Brian Buckley. After eight years of total service in the Elkhart High School, we say goodbye to Buck as he goes on to his next adventure, and you never know where Buck's Buck's gonna show up. He finds a way. But I think it is amazing to know how many students, athletes, and just in general, people that Buck has touched from going down to the state level and hearing people continually talk about how amazing it is to have Brian Buckley representing the high
school, all the way to the amount of donations that we have received because of Buck for our athletic department. It is phenomenal, the community partnerships that Brian Buckley has developed, and they will stay because of their respect for Buck for our school system. So we are very fortunate. And for those of you that don't know, he's also had to step in, like, multiple interim coaching roles, which I wish I would have seen, like, him have to jump into, like, a volleyball or a track or some other role like that while doing that. But after watching him run around seventy hours a week doing phenomenal work, it is
exciting to see that he's onto the next adventure. A great loss. However, he has such a love for this school that everything that he has done leading up to this, he will continue to grow for Elkhart Community Schools. So farewell to you, Buck and Amy, but thank you to all of us for the opportunity we had for them to serve our community. And with that, sir, I am done for now. Thank you, miss Mullins. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Next on the agenda, we have old business. Under old business, we have contracts. Mister Akins?
You are? Good evening, president Scott, board of trustees, members, doctor Huff. The administration presents the following contract for final consideration, Beable Education. Thank you. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and I have a second. We heard a little bit about Beable, in the earlier presentation. Do we have any questions or comments from the board? I would just like to say that I think this this is a really unique tool for our kids to have. I really like that it has a a way to connect parents to it too
and involve parents in the process and expose kids to, so many different things that they're interested in that they don't know where that might lead them from exploring careers and stuff. So I I think as we continue to, invest in our in our students, with things that will help them in the future and to expand their horizons, I think this is a good opportunity to do that and can helping them connect dots to what they're learning, what they're reading about, and involving parents in that process too. So thank you for finding this.
Anything else from the board? I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Next, we have, new business and, we have the Elkhart Area Career Center programming proposal. Mister Akins. Good evening. Here this evening to to propose a third session at the Elkhart Area Career Center. Basic overview, we have a handful of programs at the career center, where access is difficult for students. And so trying to get creative with our approaches to serve students in those areas
where it does not necessarily make sense to be able to do that throughout the instructional day. And so in this space here, we're looking at, how do we do that without expanding facilities? How do we do that in a manner that, if we see this be something that resonates with students in our partnering schools that we can scale up in other areas, in ensuring that we have, that sustainability and how it supports the workforce, efforts that we are trying to provide. Generally, what what we're looking at here and and more specifically is a general structure
for programming. So most EACC programs, as you may or may not know, operate in two hour and forty five minute sessions during the instructional day. In this space here, we would be looking at three hour instructional times four nights a week, with a virtual check-in, on Fridays to ensure that students are able to keep up on the necessary, content that goes along with the programs. It would have increased lab time, as we look at smaller sessions. The the one outlier would be our cosmetology program. Our cosmetology program currently meets for four hours and fifteen minutes, per instructional days.
We'd be looking at four hours a evening, Monday through Thursday, and, at five hours, bump that number right there, on Saturdays to eight to 01:00. The programming times that we're listing for the general programs, the the point of contact will stay the same, but we may have to make some slight adjustments to when that start time is based on our partnering schools and dialogue. But as you can see, there there really isn't a loss in the instructional time, whether it's during the evening hours or during the traditional time, and more importantly, it makes sure that students have access to programming.
When we look at it, it's it's gonna be very much like you would expect to see, in our daytime programming. This hands on opportunities, in person instruction, making sure that our students have access to instructors, in the mentorship that they need. Reinforcement like it is done during the day would be delivered through probably a Canvas based modules, to ensure that students have access not only when they're in our labs, but also outside of it. To to run all of our programs would have to have a minimum of 10 students, that are enrolling in a program to justify us doing so, and we'd cap
those at twelve to fifteen. Part of the goal here with the four instructional days is to ensure that those student ratios stay manageable to really, help support that development of the skills. And in cosmetology, we really need to make sure that we stay at that twelve to fifteen because we wanna bring those students back for a second year. And if we're bringing them back for a second year, we need to make sure that we can manage first and second year in an evening session if that's the route we choose to go. The instructional time, like I said, pretty much the same as we see during the daytime. This is how we've arrived at this, and I think board members that have been
with us for a while have heard me talk about this in the past as we've looked at some creative solutions on how to serve students. These are things that we've talked about. Really, the driving need that we have is cosmetology and welding. It does not make sense at their current time to invest in increased facilities for our cosmetology program. But the reality is, currently, we turn away twice as many students in our cosmetology program that are qualified as that we can serve in a first year basis. So how do we create that opportunity for students that wanna access that program, without
having to look for a private placement? Private is usually gonna come around $20,000. So our our model and what we do, makes a lot of sense. Welding's the other. For those of you that ever had opportunity to tour our facilities, you hopefully recognize that our welding facility is state of the art. It's unmatched in anything that we'll see in Northern Indiana or Southern Michigan. It is about a $1,000,000 facility. It does not make sense for us to try to build that out and create a secondary. So how do we utilize the space that we have? Things I like to point out is that's a high wage, high demand field, something
that we work hard to ensure that students have access to meaningful careers after they leave us. Those are the two most pressing needs that we have. We also have our eyes on potentially utilizing that new, shiny, beautiful facility, the Diesel Auto facility, if the need would would have it, and then also looking down the road. Right now, we have a lot of students that try to access our dental program. That would be a one year program based on dental assisting certification, in our pre nursing. Our pre nursing program has grown like crazy. If you're not aware during the day, we have three instructors assigned to that program.
We serve about a 120 students, and we still have a waiting list that we can't get to. Both diesel auto service and pre nursing dental, we would try to solve those problems during the instructional day. But if we have permission, and we can roll out cosmetology and welding, I think those would be things we'd have an eye on down the road. Why this makes sense? We have existing staff members that are ready to jump in, and this would be an an extension of their day. It doesn't mean that we need to go out and seek another full time staff member with benefits. It's something where we would have some additional pay and space.
So it's very cost effective compared to going out and running a full time session, and getting that staff member. The other piece is is in areas where we may not have that staff member, this could be a great pipeline tool for the Oak Heart Area Career Center. It's very difficult in certain career pathways to attract new instructors to the field. So how do we potentially get somebody in a, more small reduced role where they can kinda try it out and see if this works for them, and hopefully that creates a a sustainable pathway to a full time instructor position. You can see there the breakdown of of how the instructor piece would happen.
One of the pieces that needs to be considered is cosmetology because of their increased hours. They have different contracted hours than any other instructor that we have on campus. So in order to manage those additional hours, we would be looking at their Friday day, but actually being flexed to an extent where they would be coming in later and leaving at their normal time instead of doing the extended hours Monday through Thursday, and then those hours would be made up on Saturday to balance out. Administrative oversight.
Obviously, we've seen mister Sassman, between mister Sassman, myself, assistant principal, Kelly Blair Kincaid, and our program manager at adult education. We've had these conversations on how we monitor and manage these overnight extensions. So this isn't another administrator that we're looking for. It's us getting creative with our schedules to ensure that we have that support during the evening hours and on those Saturdays to cover it. This blended approach once again would be cost effective, and still allow students access and ensure that we have the oversight that we need.
These are the things that we've gotta get our handle on. Obviously, this is our first step if we're granted approval. I would be pushing this out to our partnering schools in an email, our monthly email communication to our superintendents and principals. We have talked about this in the past as possibilities, and they would need to get creative on their student end. Students presumably, would have a later start time in those situations. We believe also this will open up more opportunities for work based learning. As we find that in some of our pathways, there's increased opportunities during the evening hours, and how could we leverage those to ensure that students have access.
Transportation would be the responsibility of the student in these spaces, obviously, as we operate after school, and so there's some stipulations, on how students access what we're doing. That is basically it. I I went rather quickly as I know we've had a pretty full agenda to this point. Are there any questions that I can field? First of all, can we be we have questions? Do I have a motion on this proposal? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion to second. Now, mister Ivory, question? No question at all. Just a just a comment. I stopped counting, after ten when you mentioned the word access.
And to me, that just highlights how critical providing access to this opportunity is. And so I just appreciate the willingness to be in to being able to adapt and adjust some of those accessible hours, to provide these opportunities. So I'm just saying thank you for for for for being willing to adapt and adjust. Thank you, mister Avery. Mhmm. I do. I I I do have a question. So tonight in this proposal, we are basically voting on and authorizing additional sessions, for the career center. You mentioned cosmetology, initially cosmetology and welding.
I just wanna make sure that we're we're giving you the the okay for additional sessions, and the programming may change depending on student need or or the additional, programming, for these evening sessions. Is that? Yes. I I think our intent would be to start with welding and cosmetology, see if there is an interest from the partnering schools and students, monitor how that goes throughout our first year before we identify other programs that this would be a potential model for. And, second question, you addressed the, the staffing, and administration.
Are there any other staffing that, you did not mention as far as maybe security, anything of those? Yeah. When we when we've talked with, when we met and talked with, doctor Rausch, mister Anderson about this, we verified that we have security on campus already assigned through 07:30. So there's not a security issue there. I think the only consideration is potentially as we look at support personnel, possibly a para TA on how we might flex those hours, where we can have that support available as needed during the evening. But that would get some creative scheduling with the people that we already have within
our ranks. Having nothing further? Kelly? Yeah. Okay. So is it still you're running the cosmetology and the welding program as it is? This is in addition because we have so many students. Absolutely. Our AM and PM sessions would not change whatsoever. So if you have a student that's lacking in hours, say, in cosmetology, do they have the opportunity to use these evening or Saturday shifts to maybe increase their hours or catch up on their books? I think, potentially, that would be something we'd look at. Okay. But right now, I think we're looking first for approval and then trying to make
sure that our model Sorry. No. No. No. Sorry. Sorry about that. Being very honest with you. I think and then and then trying to make sure that we support that model the best we can. Right. And then For how that potentially could help some of our daytime students if there is, you know, and I wouldn't even limit to cosmetology. You know, we may have some students that are really working horse hard towards certification and welding, and maybe they're not getting the the lab time that they need. How could we possibly support that without overwhelming and taking away from the students that are accessed in the evening hours? Okay. Great. So we have our regular daytime program, but we're using this to increase our programming
because of demand, and you're giving access to students to have this ability. Correct. So we're just growing. That's the goal. Alright. So going back to my question, we're we're approving the evening sessions to be determined by need. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. As you mentioned that, there's a minimum of 10 students required to run each session, have we thought about the possibility of somebody getting into, say, the welding program going, hey, getting burnt on my hands and my feet that is not for me, and then it falls below that 10 student, what would happen to the other nine students
at that point? I don't think we would fold the program at all. What I'm saying is is that for us to run that program out and as of count day when our dollars are received, we we need 10 for this to be economically viable. Once we get past that count day, we run. I mean, that's the way it is. Mhmm. Awesome. Thank you. Yep. Absolutely. Friday evening, I had a an opportunity. I was with a group of, individuals, and it's called the Sagamore Institute, and they're a think tank out of, Indianapolis. And their message to us was the, Heartland, defense, and what they're into is shipbuilding.
So if you're gonna build a ship, what do you need? Need welders. Right? And so, I responded to them accordingly about, you know, our program. They were kinda totally unaware of, you know, the capabilities of Elkhart Community Schools. And, so, obviously, I was singing their pray our praises here, and, they promised that, they would get back to us on what else they would like to see and maybe we can get them in here for a tour. So, and also to that, effect that, it's probably yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of
this thinking of Edmund Fitzgerald. And within the Great Lakes region, you know, the shipbuilding has been gone for fifty years. So it's with all the water we have surrounding this, it's about time we brought it back and all the other resources that go with it. And Elkhart Community Schools, I believe, is an instrumental part of bringing that back as well as the, defense of our nation. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. You're still up.
Ignite. I'm here. Ignite. Elkhart Area Career Center agreements. Administration recommends board approval of the Elkhart Area Career Center agreements with its feeder schools. Do I have a motion for the, Elkhart Area Career Center agreements with their feeder schools as presented? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Correct. Do I have any questions for miss Reikens? No questions? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Miss Brander, we have SEA four four two presentation. Yes. Good evening, President Scott, members of the board, doctor Hough.
The administration recommends board approval and public posting of curriculum materials in compliance with senate enrolled act four forty two. Do I have a, motion? Motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions for miss Brandon regarding, SEA four forty two? Hearing or seeing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Lindsay, contracts, and these are for initial consideration. Yes. The administration presents the following contracts for initial consideration.
The first one is with Basher Children's Home to provide direct counseling services for identified students, on an individual basis for up to five hours per week. Do you have any initial questions from the board regarding, the bachelor children's home, contract? If not, this is for initial consideration. Please reach out, prior to the second reading if there are any. Second, we have the Elkhart County Youth for Christ. Yes. So, for this contract, Lifeline provides would provide interns that are employed through Lifeline to provide academic achievement support I'm sorry, academic enrichment support at Mary Beck, Monger, and Roosevelt
through the full service community schools grant. They would provide that support through, 12/31/2025. Thank you. Again, any additional or any initial questions, for miss Brander? Seeing or hearing none, if you have any questions before it comes back up for second reading, please reach out. Thank you. Next on the agenda, mister Hixenbaugh, we have the tentative agreement. Thank you. Good evening, mister president, honorable board members, doctor Huff. On 10/30/2025, the administration reached a tentative agreement on a master contract with the Elkhart
Teachers Association. On 11/05/2025, ETA ratified this agreement. And on November 7, a this board conducted a public meeting for purposes of discussing the terms of the 10 tentative agreement. In relevant part, the agreement provides for no increase in teacher compensation for twenty twenty five twenty six and no increase in premium costs for, teachers in terms of the health and dental plan, all as was agreed to by the parties. Consistent with the requirements of Indiana law, public comment took place earlier at tonight's meeting.
So accordingly, the administration recommends ratification of this tentative agreement, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you, mister Hixenbaugh. Do I have a motion for the tentative agreement? So moved. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and I have a second. Do I do we have any questions for mister Hixenbaugh regarding the tentative agreement? Seeing or hearing no questions or comments from the board, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Next, we have professional benefit administration contract, mister Hixenbaugh.
Thank you. The administration requests authorization to enter into an agreement with Professional Benefits Administrators Inc. In summary, the proposed agreement calls for PBA to provide third party administrative services to the school corporation's group health insurance plan, and then I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, mister Hixenbaugh. Do I have a motion for the professional benefits administrator's contract as presented? So I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion. I have a second. Do I have any questions or comments for mister Hixenbaugh regarding this contract? Hearing or seeing none, all in favor?
Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. And lastly, mister Hixenbaugh, we have the Paid Health LLC contract. Thank you. The administration requests authorization to enter into an agreement with Paid Health LLC. The proposed agreement calls for Paid Health to provide professional services related to select drugs and products in support of the School Corporation's group health insurance plan. And, again, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, mister Hixenbaugh. Do I have a motion, from the board for the Paid Health LLC contract? Motion. I have a motion. Do I have a second?
Questions or comments? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, mister Hixenwal. Thank you. Doctor Hough, we have board policies, to be presented. Good evening, president Scott, members of the board community. Tonight, I'm bringing you first readings of several board policies, policies, for your, initial review. I'm going to be a very poor replacement for Doug who typically would go through these things. But tonight, we have policy twenty two ten, which has to deal with curriculum development. This update keeps our curriculum process current and focused on student learning.
It is outlines how courses are reviewed, added, and revised over time and clarifies the superintendent role in that work. It also gives us space to pilot new ideas that support students while all ensuring all we meet all state and local expectations. Thank you. Alright. I'm gonna also go through policy twenty three forty, which is field and other corporation sponsored trips. This is a replacement policy that modernizes how we handle field trips, extracurricular, and overnight travel. It also tightens our safety protocols, our supervision, our transportation expectations, especially for trips outside
of state. This goal is to keep these experiences meaningful and safe for students while protecting staff in the district. The next policy I'll go through is policy twenty three seventy, which has talks about educational options. This revision expands learning beyond the traditional classroom. It covers opportunities such as online courses, internships, independent study, credit through the military service. Each option will have a clear plan, teacher oversight, and document learning outcomes. It also connects to how our flex program giving students more flexible pathways to graduation. Alright. Next, we have policy twenty three seventy dot zero two, which is, our flex program.
This new policy creates a flexible schedule for juniors and seniors who need another route to graduation. It defines and qualifies such students balancing work and recovering credits. It set clears expectation for attendance, coursework, and behavior. Students must complete at least three hours of instructional daily and since they engage through work, training, and college coursework that intends to keep more students connected to school and future ready. Policy fifty four sixty two is retaking a class. This new policy establishes a consistent process for students who need to retake a class to improve their grade or meet diploma requirements, outlines how how a request is made,
when a retake is allowed, and how to the new grade appears on transcript and is spared and system recovers, improves, and move forward successfully. And I I have, Policy 32 as well? Thirty two twelve and twenty four eleven? Twenty four eleven. Guidance and counseling? Oh, shoot. I have the guidance and counseling up there. I can go through that. This evening, looking at policy 32, thirty two thirteen for student staff relationship. This policy further defines how the the relationship between student staff. As I mentioned earlier, there's some things I would actually like to bring back to
the board, revising this policy. I think, some of the things that were brought up by a by one of our teachers actually probably needs to be looked at, so I will be hopefully pulling this off off this recommendation. Alright. That would be my recommendation to the board. Is the poll is the poll, 323213? Yeah. She made some very valid concerns, so I think our team needs to clarify that a little bit for Alright. And is that the same for, twenty four eleven guidance and counseling? Correct. Alright. So we'll pull 2411 and 3213.04
ACS off, the the policies as presented and, for further consideration. Yep. And we'll come back, and you'll vote on the other two, in two weeks, and then we'll bring the other one back for first reading in our next board meeting. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Next, mister Rhodes, the common school fund loan petition. Good evening, board president Scott doctor Huff. The administration seeks confirmation of the submission of the fall common school fund loan petition. Thank you, mister Rhodes. Do I have a motion for the common school fund loan petition as presented?
Motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and I have a second. Any questions or comments from the board? All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Thank you, mister Rhodes. Doctor Huff, you are back. Thank you, president Scott, member of the board and community. Tonight, I'm presenting the proposed, criteria that will guide Del Clark Community Schools consolidation work. Our resolution formalizes the process used to develop these criteria and expectations, how we communicate and apply them moving forward. This step represents a community to transparency and consistency. The criteria are grounded in verifiable data, enrollment trends, facility conditions, academic access, and financial
realities, and shaped by feedback gathered during the State of the Union, addresses and meeting. Sorry. Not address. Meetings. Adopting this resolution signals to our staff, our families, and community that the board is unified in this approach. Decision will be made through clear criteria, public information, and steady leadership. I appreciate the board's collaboration and thoughtful conversation that have brought us here to this point. This process has not been easy by any means, and but it positions us to plan responsibly for the long term strength of Elkhart Community Schools. This evening, I'm looking for your approval to continue this work, to look at consolidating
schools. Thank you, doctor Hough. Do I have a, a motion on the proposed resolution? I'm gonna move. I have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. I have a second. Any, comments? I will make a comment. I'm not, gonna read the entire, resolution like I did last time, but I think it is important to to at least get on the record the guiding priorities that is contained within this resolution. This criteria shall reflect the district's key priorities, and they are maintaining students access to rigorous instruction and well rounded programming, exercise fiscal responsibility and long term sustainability, assessing, facility
condition and operational viability, promoting geographic and demographic balance, and ensuring efficiencies in staffing and service delivery. These will be the guiding priorities that, this resolution will, take into account when basing, the decisions for consolidation. So I thought it was just important to to to get those out there. Do we have any other comments or questions regarding this resolution from the board? Seeing or hearing none, all in favor?
Aye. Opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you, doctor Hall. And I'll give you a second to make it back to your seat. Thank you, sir. Lots of paper. I I I don't wanna have to go through any more of this paper. Take your time. Move forward. Turn it over to me. Yes. Sure. Yes. I'm George. People have been here for a very long time, so I'll be very, very brief for the comments. But there's a lot of activities that are going on across the dish the district. This past week, I had the opportunity to attend Moxie, event that is hosted in
Elkhart County over at the, the Hoosier Hall of Fame no. Arby Hall of Fame. Sorry. And the Elkhart kids did great. It is a great program. So if you have an opportunity to talk to kids about entrepreneurial spirit, Elkhart's definitely leading the way. Those kids were outstanding. So I know that you were there, as well. Mister Ivory, I I thought it was a wonderful event, and our kids are really representing our district really, really well at that time. Yesterday well, not yesterday. Two days ago, we had college goal Sunday, and we had the Elkhart Career Center open house. I think, tonight, you just you another testimony of just how great we are at
the career center. But I also wanna give a special shout out to Lacey Curry, the counselor, who is leading the charge at the Elkhart High School. We had a packed house of families, going through the FAFSA, here on Sunday. It was wonderfully well done. Very proud of the work that's being done. So hats off to Lacey and her team doing that work. Additionally, Cleveland Elementary was awarded by the in IDOE, the purple star by, for their support of military connected families. That is a huge deal. Not every there are only a 100 schools in Indiana who received that award. This award says a lot about who they are as a school.
As a district, we wanna make sure that we definitely honor and celebrate our military family's commitment to making sure that, it's just when I think when we talk about, service and as many of our families are go overseas and you have people here, who are supporting them, the schools do a really good job of wrapping around them. So Cleveland, missus Carmichael, thank you for your work in leading that charge and getting that recognition for your school. Additionally, I also wanna thank all the military staff that serve Elkhart Community Schools. We have a very significant portion of our own staff members who have served, and
serve wonderfully in military. So I wanna tell you thank you on this Veterans Day, but we really need to say thank you every single day for the work that you do. We also need to, thank coach Ross. Last week was inducted in Indiana Volleyball Hall of Fame, downtown in downtown down Indianapolis on November 7, so I wanna just give a huge shout out to her. That's a very big deal. I have a hall of fame coach for with over over thirty years in that, and coaching volleyball. And to get that type of recognition, it it's awesome for for her and also for the district. I shared it was a lot. The Indiana Excellence Awards, next on November 21, I'll have, the privilege of going down
to, Indianapolis to, where Kathy Enfield will, be recognized by the IDOE for her work as the, classified employee of the year. That is that is outstanding, for for her. But, we also had some late breaking news for our school district as well. There will be another employee, who who won a pretty prestigious award by the IDOE, one of only three in the state of Indiana. I wish I could tell you who that employee's name is, but I think that state would come in and say some things until it's officially recognized on the what's
this? Friday? The fourteenth. Huge honor. This person will be recognized for their work in literacy, and for literacy development and for academic outcomes. So I I just wanna tell you, very proud. Elkhart had four individuals that are recognized by the state, Indiana counselor of the year. We had the Indiana State youth worker of the year, Indiana rise employee of the year, and also won the, excellence in educational award winners. That person will be officially announced this Friday, so, stay tuned for that. And then lastly, I wanna close out. This is more this is not off script.
I just wanna talk directly to the people in this room and anybody who's watching. Everything that we saw today had to do with work through and with a teacher. It is important, that we not only publicly recognize that work, but we also plan to recognize that work in a monetary way too. This is not a for me, this is not something that I want to to experience ever again, not being able to provide increases for our staff. That is not something that anyone wants to do.
For the last year, the team has been working and really ready to make some of those necessary changes. I thought some of the ideas that were brought up during public comment are really things that teachers that we should look at. It is not lost on me the work and the value that our teachers that that they do. When I came to Elkhart in March 2024, but really in January, one of my commitments was to make Elkhart teachers, administrators, classified staff the highest paid in our area. We need to make sure that we are able to hold on to that promise
of doing those things. So I'm committed to doing doing that work. So over this next year, I look forward to, partnering with many of our stakeholder to make sure that we are having a very different conversation next year. So I just wanted to make sure I I I I put on the record for that. This is not a something I ever wanna experience ever again. So I'll turn it back over to you, president Scott. Thank you, doctor Huff. Anything, from the board tonight? I will add on to that with Kelly's Corner, and I'm going to add into
we've already talked about the career center, but there is a very special teacher at that career center that I've known for many years. And I've watched her in different roles, but she is very charismatic in what she does, and she has a deep passion. So tucked behind HPS, tucked inside of the early learning center is Peggy Delang, and she is running a program called registered teacher appreciation program that Scott talked about real briefly, but it's amazing. Something to think about is that these kids go in and they get mentored to be future teachers, and they have an opportunity to work side by side.
But we keep talking, doctor Hough, about all the great things we offer our students, like dual credit opportunity and, on job learning aspects as we look at what we're gonna do for our future, you know, students students that are coming into the career center. But our second year students inside of Peggy's program all completed their child development associate associate credential while enrolled there. We were one of few schools, one of the only in the state that had all of our students complete that while working, while receiving their dual credits, while mentoring,
while doing all of that. So here's another kudos to to the two of you plus Kelly Blair of all the things that you do, but to have Peggy Delaine leading the charge. And if you've never been into that section of the building, she is dynamic with those students, and they are so engaged with her. So Kelly's Corner says, Peggy Delaine, we are so fortunate to have you, and keep bringing on more student teachers to our community. And as we look forward to more sessions with Kelly's Corner, I have many things coming up, soon to be bus mechanics, soon to be Nancy and her early learning.
So this has really grown into something phenomenal. So celebrating Elkhart yet again. Thank you, Kelly. Yeah. Any other comments from the board? I'll I'll just make a a quick comment to that onto what doctor Hough, mentioned. We I would also like to recognize, you know, we do have some dedicated, staff and teachers and administrators here, and I wanna recognize that as well. It's very disheartening to know that we can't do any raises this year, but I am committed along with doctor Hough and the rest of this board to ensure that we don't get here again. So I wanted to go on record also to say that your work is recognized,
and we appreciate what you do, and just wanna say that. Thank you, mister Ivory. And I'll just, I'll end with this is, you know, I I concur with what they both said. I wanna first thank the ETA and the negotiation team from administration, to, you know, go into this understanding and have a true understanding of kind of where we are budget wise and financially. It never makes it easy. Again, it's never the intention. You know, we we've we've heard of the accolades, the hard work, the student achievement, all the awards that are being handed out to to the teachers and staff, within
this district. And I firmly believe that this district is the best district in the area, and I can make an argument, for the state of Indiana. And we want to recognize that both with the awards, but also, you know, financially. And so, you know, we recognize where we are, and and, you know, the the negotiation team recognized, that as well. There's a plan, a strategic plan. We will turn the corner on this, and, I think it was both echoed by doctor Huff and and miss Reiry that, we have never been in a position like
this again where we can't, financially, increase and award our staff for the hard work and the and the great things they achieved. So, again, thank you for the, the bargaining team and the ETA, for getting us, to where we are tonight. So thank you. And with that, meeting adjourned.