##VIDEO ID:p1LbIUZEgmk## um don't can't control that part but we did have about a $15 million surplus um if you drill into the report online the next slide is a percentage a fund balance is a percentage of operational expenditure so just gives you a general idea of of what is our balance versus what we are spending year to year you can see again our trend is is positive over the years it's varied in between sort of that 9% and about 16 177% last year uh in 23 we're at 14.5% so um leveling out a little bit over a couple of higher years but still in a good place this slide is a uh this is an important one uh this is our Revenue slide and basically shows where do our Revenue dollars come from so you can see federal dollars car's dollars Federal um Federal money versus State money and local revenues all itemized out on the start again with the majority of our dollars uh Revenue dollars coming from the state of Indiana the last one is one that we're always happy to share there's no there's no information on it um basically it's a zero balance that is our balance of our operating referendum um since we have no operating referendum there's there's no data to share goe I'll accept any questions if you have them okay board are there any questions or comments Lawrence yes I have several Mr miles um in reviewing yet again the audit information which is very densely packed I would say um there were several questions that I had um that I just would love some additional clarification on um there were several internal control weaknesses that were cited in all of the audit reports um primarily related to um non-compliance issues and um some M material misstatements that were um asked of the district to rectify um I'm hoping you could just clarify on where we stand on some of those um issues that were highlighted in the audit before that's answered could we please because this is from these questions that we received this afternoon that we received around like at 3:30 so just to make sure that admin has adequate time to review and conduct a thorough assessment of any questions I'm going to make a motion to table this until further until they have that same time that not only the questions were able it was a weekend form to form the questions but we didn't we didn't get them till 3:30 Miss Pucket I would just suggest that these have actually been statements that the district has made several months ago to the audit board and it is a matter of public record and so I'm I'm asking for clarification on the uh material misstatements and where we stand on the rectification plan that was requested and stated in that audit absolutely and I thank you for your for your uh questions but your questions deserve the time to research and actually have an ad adequate response the in-depth question that you're wanting I think it's good governance to allow the admin to have the time to get back with you to adequately answer that these these plans were outlined already in the audit report I'm simply asking for an update on where we stand on the rectification I will move that Mr miles can generally answer that um however this is a board of Finance just our general meeting and then that they were very good detailed questions I'll move that we table this to our next meeting because there there were a lot of uh detailed questions that but I was still trying to understand myself so I appreciate that sharing but go ahead if you want to give the absolutely absolutely so just generally speaking um we do go through an audit process annually um we are one of the um roughly 10 largest school districts uh at our size we're subject to a gap uh annual ad audit and we've been in that um in that state for the last oh gosh three three Cycles now uh currently we're going through our 2024 audit um The Gap process requires us to convert from a cash basis to uh uh an acral basis so more in line with what you would see at most businesses um accounting for accounts payable accounts receivable uh construction and process those types of things all of our grants um we have to report that as well what those balances are so a very high level of accountability um at the end of each of those audits we are required um to to uh put together a response and that is also that's part of our action steps um we do we have done that in each of those cases for each line item on there and typically speaking each of those items that that were are brought up either we've got um steps already in place to address those because we've been operating on a lag we're basically with that conversion over to the Gap process um it's much more in depth and it's taken us time as a district to kind of get up to speed not only as a district State Board of accounts was also behind um going through covid short staffing etc etc so um you know it may be that by the time we were audited that cycle could have been more than a year in the rears already so um I would say high level action steps have already taken place on on everything that was brought up um I'm not aware of any District across the state that that has zero findings there's always findings um and to you know to that level um car's money was one of ours that certainly um needed some addressing and and that was a big one for everyone across the state but we do have those those action steps available we happy to share those with the board U that would address I think your specific concerns many of the dates that were stated in the audit report as dates for rectifying have already passed so is it fair to assume that those issues have been taken care of that is a fair assumption we have to we have to and for transparency's sake I'll make known on my Facebook page the questions that I asked of the board as well it's fine and I just want just to make sure that it's public also too that we received your questions at 3:30 today so just again just in good governance so that we're able to work together to receive these items ahead of time so that we're able to overview and to be able to have dialogue these are issues that got that were presented before the board everyone on this de had the opportunity to do similar research and come with similar questions so I would I would just suggest that it's a matter of good governance that we all perform the same due diligence let just hold on let me just it was your Insight concerning that I did not have access to your personal questions concerning what's your thoughts your input because we are a board of five so you are absolutely right it is our due diligence to ask those questions however to receive your thoughts on these at 3:30 today is again a concern of good governance it is not the fact of you it is not the what it is the how Miss Pucket there have been many times on this dayas where you have referenced questions that I have not been cced on as well so I would suggest that it was a it was a professional courtesy that I included every member of this board and as a and as a member two pages of and is a member of this board I suggest that we all continue to ask diligent questions particularly as it relates to finances for this District let me just interject here um we are five people that bring unique skills and talents while yours yours may be the finances mine is governance with our state reps to minimize or diminish that I'll just leave that there but I'm just simply asking you when when a two-page email your questions were good they were thoughtful I am not taking away from that so I'm asking to maybe see it from the lens of I'm not taking away from your questions it is receiving questions at 3:30 and having a board meeting at 7 does not allow me to have the insight into what you were thinking and your thoughts it has nothing about asking your questions it's having the insight into what your thoughts were on that Bo thank you for this input Mr miles has given us an initial um assessment still in this report yes okay Miss done so just one quick point of clarification for um because as I was looking through this I understand that the um average the ADM numbers and I was just wondering if you could I saw noticing that obviously we had quite a few virtual Learners um during covid but saw that there were still virtual Learners in 23 and 24 albeit a small percentage could you share what virtual Learners we are reporting that's a good question go ahead D Mr kosnik explained that that that's coming from the secondary level that's not the CF have the year of Co then you have the year after Co and then more recent years would be our home access students that are placed as an alternative form of consequences for different behaviors okay thank you very much for that clarification and that was that something that we just started implementing then in because I I noticed that in 15 through 19 we didn't have any of those students reported so is that something that is new reporting is different based on the changing virtual gotcha which makes sense because of the co okay thank you so much appreciate that clarification Mr miles thank you for that thank you Mr kusik um as the next piece of this report and our uh Board of Finance meeting it's typical to report back our investment register for the prior year so this is for 2024 and I'm happy to report uh interest earned on investment accounts during the year at 2. 9 million 2.9 07104 uh which is a a pretty significant increase from the 2023 as you will note um certainly our interest environment has um helped to to drive that um higher interest rates um certainly assist us when it comes to Investments we've also had um an increase in the amount of funds that we've been able to invest uh due to our cash balances thank you Mr miles um I do have one question on that regarding the 15 million in 2023 which was went up to 45 million in 2024 can you explain the 30 million gap because and also for the public too like in our board goals we always uh we have a a board goal to maintain a cash balance but this is in fact different correct yes this is different and it's a very good question so this is this is sort of all of our funds all of our cash in one pot if you will um so everything that we hold um we're able to um then keep into whether it's U more of a checking type account a more liquid status um or invested and so prior to this year it was roughly that $15 million um those those Investments are still in place uh but as the year went on our balances grew um some of that's being able to to recover some of those cares dollars that you saw on the other slides that maybe monies that we would have had to expend upfront and then we get reimbursed for so as our cash balance grew to the point in those in this uh in our bank account basically we were able to invest more of that thank you Bard any other questions Miss Dunn so I know I've asked this question and it still myths me to be very honest because as you alluded to in the report um in 2018 was the last year that the state of Indiana used the term general fund and I see that we're still using that term which seems very misleading to the public given that the doe has moved to uh the educa or I'm sorry that the state has moved to education fund and so I my assumption is that on this report when you say general fund that you mean education fund and I'm wondering if for the public we can move to the nomenclature that the state has adopted to make it easier for our constituents to understand um what we're talking about because it is confusing when we're using Lang language that is from 2018 a great question and I'll and I'll probably um not do anything to make this clear by my answer the general fund actually uh referenced here is not it's not the same general fund that you're thinking of uh this uh you can see in years past uh going back to 2021 uh we had interest from bonds and other sources um in total this is um I i' I've maintained the same chart obviously since years ped uh but basically this is speaking in General in terms of um our general bank account so this is not just general fund dollars this interest is earned again off of all of our deposits so is there a term that we could use that would be I guess I probably so for purpos of this it is really confusing as somebody because I think this is to be real honest can be very confusing for members of the public can be confusing for board members as well and it not then for an e genomics course that I took at Georgetown um probably more confusing and so I just think in terms of making sure that we're really clear with what that is I do want to say it's very exciting to see the health of the organization and appreciate your leadership and so um don't want to I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the wonderful work that you do for our district Mr miles um because this really is exciting um but I think it just would be helpful for us to use the same terminology that the state is using noted very good question board any other questions or comments body and then just to clarify Mr miles um for all of our students that are patiently waiting thank you for that um this is done annually for Indiana code and our board policy but also the focus on this is on our Financial Health correct correct in regards to our investments yes Investments and just the General Financial Health of the district as uh this was a step from the state years back because the state was going into the School takeover business and so this was a transparency effort required not only of Lawrence Township again all all districts across the state and yes we do it every January as required by stat thank you I do have one other question along those lines because I know that we all have seen current legislation that is um currently um being suggested to to be for um readings and so forth is just for insurance at no time this is money that is Lawrence Township's money and is not subject to the state taking these funds such as wanting to take percentages of our tax dollars for use by Charter organizations but this money is Lawrence Township's investment for our school district is that clear and correct I think that's important too for MERS of the public to know yes that is accurate so Lawrence Township has been thoughtful stewards of the district's dollars and as such we've gone from $74,000 in this in the district's reserved to now $2.9 million and and I would and I that is Investments that our district has diligently sought that will not be taken by outside entities correct correct and that those those dollar figures that your referen there Miss D um are that is our annual interest uh that we accumulated that year so yes we've seen a tremendous tremendous growth in our annual investment interest very well done very thank you thank you board good questions let me just remind the Board of Education I just want to remind you that no one can come and take your money away from you and we are on our own the money that's in front of you ladies and gentlemen the resources that we have in this school corporation to exist and so it is really refreshing to hear that we've got investment amounts at that level that's a very positive because those are extra dollars that we can use to help support our teachers teers help support our students help support our Corporation there is no one who will come and help us this board here is responsible for the finances of its students our revenue streams are very minimal and the work that we have to do is very important and so the resources we have here are ours it belongs to the metropolitan school district of Lawrence Township I do want to emphasize to the board you are one of only two corporations in Maring County that don't have an operating referendum ladies and gentlemen an operating referendum is is when we have to go back to our taxpayers because we can't pay our bills we are paying our bills in Lawrence Township without that so that is is a celebration a thank you of the stewardship of not only this board with your predecessors before you and the work of every single administrator in the school corporation that works on this daily I'm tough when it comes to money remember that thank you can I ask one other question because I do think it's important for members of the public to understand this especially during this time when there is so much question so many questions about school Finance could you just make sure that for members of the public this money that is in our investments is separate from our rainy day fund that is correct and our rainy day fund currently is sitting at approximat at 14 uh rainy day is roughly 10 million milon and so are these money is this money that we have in invest ments are we able to access this money should there be a time that we need to access this so this would be in addition to rainy day we'd be at about 13 or about yeah 13 million that we would have in reserves if needed to tap into actually you would you would point to um our balance that's on this uh the report I think if I can slip back to it that balance is sort of that's sort of all of our funds available and it shows around 45 5 million because it's it moves month per month and so that would include the education fund as well right okay and that's what my assumption was in addition to the education fund but these are more should we say discretionary in nature as opposed to the education fund I don't know I just um these are operation funds other funds I mean we have a a laundry list of funds that we have across so if you kind of dumped it all into a pot this is what you've got gotcha thank you very much one one additional question Mr miles I app appreciate that the board would like you to have an opportunity to more thoroughly answer some of the questions that I raised um not really questions more just observations of the report um when can we expect those answers and uh can we make that a part of our public information um that is available to the public as far as the the responses that we've already provided um I would those are those are done those take long to produce for you um if I I'd have to look at the specific questions and if there's something that would take more digging then obviously it may take a little more uh research but I wouldn't I wouldn't think more than you know hopefully by the end of the week no the responses we have uh board member Lawrence are public this audit is public information ladies and gentlemen you can go out and look at any school corporation municipality when the State Board of account does our audits it is public information so the responses that we have Mr miles and I submit it will be on the public and so we will give you responses to there we also have to remember the board not all of you are involved in the exit conference usually your board president sits in with myself and as well as Matt miles so you're really a part of that if there are questions about that Miss Lawrence we will have detailed information for you our audit the last audit we just had for our extracurriculars lasted 5 minutes community that means you had a very good audit I've done AUD for many many years as a principal and now as a superintendent for 12 years I've never had an audit where they did not find something that we needed to improve the bottom line is if you have an audited section where your money is missing you as board members in the community would know that we've had some Financial issues that was not inside of our audit at all we had nothing like that uh when there are federal dollars involved and some of my cabinet members know this federal government is very tough if one piece of paper is off they will site us we will correct it we will move forward okay so that's part of the process so nothing we have in that audit the public can see it at any time it's already on the State Board of accounts you know how to do it Google State Board of accounts you can go in and look at any corporations audit we're unique the MSD of Lawrence Township because we're audited every year other school corporations every other year okay because of our size we go through an annual audit so we get a little bit more information than others okay this D works for a district that's large like ours they do it every year also okay we go every year so we'll we'll we'll make sure the board has that thank you thank you Mr miles for that information thank you board for the questions at this time I will close out the board of Finance meeting and now I'll call us to order for a regular board meeting stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance aliance the United States of America and to the for it stands Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all at this time we will move down for the superint award Johnson good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board we're so glad to have so many community members with us this evening tonight we will be honoring our secondary performing arts and to present those Awards we have Mr Dan kosmik assistant superintendent of secondary education thank you Miss Johnson Madam president Dr Smith members of the board we are excited tonight to recognize several students in our Performing Arts areas at our middle and high schools who have uh been awarded different honors at the local and state level up first from bser Middle School director of bands Eric Park um for participation in the uh Indiana band Masters Association All Region band um we'd like to honor Anthony Amos Sarah Ducket Michaela Johnson and Genesis Perez Sanchez [Applause] instrument any parents want to come take pictures you're welcome to come up here as well rights in the middle he got his metal to make sure we can see everybody on each Mr come on in make sure board members we can see all right here one two three cou right please congratulations to our [Applause] Bears up next from Fall Creek Valley Middle School director of band Shannon Jones for all reading all region honor Orchestra we have Maria Meyer on violin for All Region honor band we have Jocelyn imple on clarinet valyria barbar Manilla on saxophone alto saxophone the last one and Cameron cber on trombo congratulations [Applause] see Dr Mah there she is okay there she is make sure we can see everybody all right one two oh I can't see you miss done there we go yeah let me try that again there we go ulations up parents congratulations W [Applause] cats we're going to do a combined LC and Ln tonight from Lawrence Central band director dear Marshall uh we have U Mr uh for sorry this is for all state Orchestra Mr Oliver Heyman who is ill this evening but he made the allate orchestra on French horn and we have bayy Workman who was uh the co-winner of the Indianapolis symphonic orchestra Young Musicians competition on bassoon uh and also was selected as a member of the uh Indiana All State Orchestra and for Lawrence North principal Brett cross so we're going to do a combin schol and from Lawrence North are all regen Orchestra Emily sanon Titus Henson over here and Aiden bowling [Applause] then just a little bit there we go that's great okaye you got a mom thank you congratulations again to all our performing art students thank Youk I look like you [Music] all right thank you students school and parents for coming out um if you'd like to leave it this time we'll be continuing the riveting part of our business part of the board meeting so congratulations all right now we're going to our information items Mr Roger Smith Blue Ribbon update thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh we continue on with the renovations at Belzer Middle School the band room is going back together a couple pictures there of that same room uh the kitchen I told you a couple weeks ago Christmas we blew it up and now we're putting it back uh as they move forward with that renovation B Creek Valley the main gym uh the upper walls are being redry wall and uh uh new material going up on the upper deck there and the commons area they continue to move through that area uh with paints and uh wall coverings Auditorium is complete and uh we'll be uh able to turn that to them for use this week softball uh as weather permits they have been working a little bit out there uh as we look at the softball baseball and the tennis s uh brick work at the new LCC is going up uh you see the ents of plastic around the building that is for protection and heat for us to do the brick work and the exterior green board continues on we're going around the uh uh Southwest and and south side of the building the interior first floor was uh inspected so we're ready to put drywall a lot of drywall up on the rooms uh on the first floor again new first floor uh office areas we have started four rooms in this building to get a jump start to uh this will be our file storage room for the disc at a lower level uh area of this building we'll have these completed and ready to move out of five rooms upstairs in to these rooms for renovation to start uh in June thank you Mr Smith board do you have any questions or comments Florence on the CATE Renovations Mr Smith uh is that temporary space that they're moving into or will that be their permanent location I know you mentioned that we're moving them out of their current location in order to Begin work on the um on the renov what room again sorry you were you were yeah these down this is space uh this was additional storage space we have had here in the building got it okay I've got 13 rooms of uh just districtwide storage that we've used over the years so this has not impacted any students here uh we would able to get a jump start on that so that the timing then getting the five rooms cleaned out upstairs we have to move everything from the second floor to start that first phase renovation apologies for misunder understanding it's a bit like when you have to move your closet in order to be able to you know Roger got a lot of great question board any other questions or comments on the Blue Ribbon updates all right thank you Mr Smith now we will move on to our strategic plan uh spring update Mr Mr kosnik and Dr Brown good evening president Norman Dr Smith members of the board we're so pleased to bring to you tonight an update on our strategic plan our three-year plan and just as a reminder as you might recall we began this work in the 2223 school year where we had both focused groups in the fall and Community meetings uh in the winter um from that work uh we created our strategic plan with six pillars that not surprisingly mirror your board goals in topic areas as we go to the next slide you'll see those pillar areas and tonight we're going to bring you updates from each of the areas different members of our cabinet we'll give those updates and so we'll Begin by asking U Mr notor to bring us the academic achievement update thank you Dr hos Brown and good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board this first slide is an update on our Indiana college core that's a new College and Career credential it's new for the state it's also new obviously for Lawrence Township and just as a reminder it's a series of dual credit courses which result in 30 college credits that can be applied at any State University so this is a significant credential um that can save lots of money as students go on to college um as we're starting um in October uh last fall our counselors are really working hard to get the word out to our students and so took 35 uh elln and LC students to the ICC day at Indiana University to begin the introduction and the exposure to all that earning an ICC credential can bring uh both of our high schools have had a communication Blitz um to parents in a variety of different formats to get the word out because it takes planning of course to make sure that you've got the correct courses to earn the ICC uh the board of education has already been involved as you've approved courses that have become part of the framework for ICC so you approved those last fall and just in terms of the metric the current ICC projections for LC and Ln for the class of 2025 is 53 graduates so in year 1 53 graduates then in year 2 2026 for this particular credential 116 graduates this Slide the metric is to increase High ability programming for our elementary school so that's an important part of our strategic plan and so um again the board has already been involved by approving new dual language hi ability programs at both Mary castle and Oak Landon for this school year also approving new high ability Advanced curriculum programming in each of our elementary schools so we continue to have our self-contained High ability program but we also have high ability programming at every Elementary and these two particular additions have allowed us to more than double the number of students gaining access to Advanced curriculum so in our elementary we have 1,214 elementary students who have access to Advanced curriculum at this time thank you Mr notor we'll now ask Miss Bush to give us an update on our culture pillar Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board in the area of culture I have two areas that we'd like to highlight this evening and the first is increasing access to programs that demonstrate improved student health and well-being and we now have our third cohort of Educators that are being certified in the applied educational Neuroscience course with Dr Lori desel they will graduate graduate with that certification this spring we have had several um trainings for specialized groups just to build capacity for how we support students the most recent being Crisis Support team The Crisis Support team was trained in the prepare model of crisis response in October as you know we've had numerous vaccination clinics held in partnership with Care Source um including covid vaccinations flu shots and all childhood uh required vaccinations and those have been very successful we've gotten lots of kids and their families vaccinated and we have access to not only eye exams but glasses for any student who needs them throughout the district which is amazing we have links to our 211 find help link as well as the Immigrant Welcome Center resources on the LT website and the help me app is up and running which is a part of the CC safety Grant the next area is increasing stakeholder engagement and if you take a look we have increased our parent teacher conference participation to 90% for both ELC and Elementary levels and then for secondary we have increased the number of conferences by almost 500 students and this actually took place on the 17th January 17th we had um an eviction sealing Clinic uh where families were able to come to Lac to meet with attorneys to have their eviction sealed and have their garnishments reduced um to try and help with the housing crisis which we all know is just really impacting a lot of our families we have conversa classes that are being offered at Harrison Hill this year which teaches English or Spanish to families and staff depending on the need and then of course you know thanks to Dr Dana we have our weekly news you can use and we've had two of our five planned uh family engaged events for this year we've had two um parental account parental assistants to reduce truancy meetings we've had two of the three of those and then we have upcoming we'll have two family engagement nights where Dr Dominique Smith will engage our parents parents and staff just to teach folks about what restorative practice means what it is and what it's not and because that's one of our our goals as well to increase education around restorative practice thank you thank you Miss Bush we'll next ask Miss Johnson to give a staffing and people update good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board board um we are proud this evening to bring you one of the particular um strategies that we've been working on in HR to increase staff support improve retention reduce turnover and improve workplace satisfaction among staff and that is through um partic having our employees participate in an exit survey so in 2425 we are in the second year of assessing workplace climate through our exit surveys and interviews um we continue to Monitor and analyze the feedback gathered from these exit surveys with a total of 45 staff members having completed them out of those we've had eight that were related to retirements while 37 were from resignations um HR aims to enhance the participation rates for these surveys and interviews um we've made effort to just make that more visible one example is we doing our road shows and we go around to all 22 facilities and share with the staff that that is something that's in place um our focus in 2025 we are shifting towards analyzing the results of the exit interviews um just finding effective ways when that information comes back from an interview who to disperse it to how can it um impact ideas create change will that up next for facilities we'll turn it over to Mr Roger Smith thank you Madame President Dr Smith members of the board facilities we constantly want to assess and evaluate and increase Effectiveness use of the space to support increase academic extracurricular alignment and opportunities uh we knew we had some buildings that are pushing their capacity level and uh completed that study of the entire District both Elementary and secondary buildings and uh currently monitoring those buildings we did find that again grass View Castle fors Clint and mcit actually the first three uh over capacity mcit were uh nearing capacity uh but priority two we we had our second priority that uh addresses the over capacity issues at cresview Mary Castle Forest Clan buildings and and of course that going out to bid we'll start those projects s in June of 25 and it' be about 13 months to complete those projects and we're in a feasibility study with mcit to to uh address the issues there that we have in that building and also the needed growth that we need for expanded programs we took last THS we took it the board took the tour last Thursday they know it thank you Mr Smith and as we look to maximize technology techology Dr Steve gine will provide an update on technology president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we're in the midst of three very important projects uh first and foremost uh upgrading our data centers that puts us in a good position so that should something happen we have a data center here and one down at the old Eastgate Mall should something happen to one the other one has the capacity to pick up the entire district and carry the load so we can also upgrade our financial uh software munis we can upgrade uh trans transportation and we can position ourselves to upgrade our phone system and comply with the new e911 regulations uh I'll bring to you here in just a few minutes about upgrading our fiber uh that's connecting our build our buildings and then uh as far as the Skyward transition from the SMS to cumulative we've set up a Skyward user group that's a representative group of high school administrators and counselors we meet every Tuesday and it's Pro to be very good we learn from each other we figure out little tricks or sometimes we get together and we submit tickets to Skyward and it's been very good for everyone involved last but not least because none of this can be done without the proper resources is Mr Matt miles so we're the Glamorous behind the scenes to make sure the resources are available to make all these wonderful things happen and as far as the Strategic plan that is really the goal of finances to increase the financial alignment with these strategic priorities and just just a few bullet points to share how we're doing so um one is just basically through salaries and benefits for across the board teachers classified Department chairs admin um the board approved those raises back in the fall and certainly that goes a long way to what we need to do here as a district is taking care of our employees um this the second bullet point there is to um develop a financial plan to make up for Budget shortfalls particularly in our curricular curricular resources um happy to say that was one of the one of the uh um deficits we were able to take care of this past year in 2024 um just over the years um the state or or parent parental funding what we charge in in book rent which we no longer charge um we had a deficit there so we were able to take care of that due to our cash balance in other areas um and then lastly uh second and third bullet points just really what we've done across the board in a in a kind of a um Global Financial Planning aspect and how we bring in our bonds what we do with our um facility planning equipment needs uh through the board support we've been able to put together a long-term plan uh to address those uh Capital needs as they arise as well as just internally meeting just more alignment kind of what Dr gagan was talking about internally to make sure a finance understands what's going on um outside of our four walls and how we can support that and work together to make sure we're achieving budgets and achieving the support needed thank you Mr miles the team the team is happy to answer any questions but I would also want to note for the board and remind you that in addition to the highlights that each uh Cabinet member provided tonight each quarter the cabinet goes through a pretty thorough and robust process of updating our dashboard that's posted online so as early as this month just a couple weeks ago we posted the second quarter update and that's that's located online for your viewing it anytime thank you board any questions or comments this is all great information Florence thank you all for the work that you're doing uh to support um to support this work I I know that it in some cases requires considerable effort for all of your teams so I am very appreciative of that um Miss Johnson as it relates to the exit interviews um I'm wondering I saw that 45 people um participated in exit interviews I'm wondering what like how many people we had retire and or leave the district so that we might infer what that percentage might be and then in addition if you could help me better understand how those exit interviews are offered to um to people departing the district is that something that is sent an email are they participating in face-to-face interviews how how are those conducted um I would say that in my time in HR I arrived in 2020 and there really was formal process in place and so when people would leave they would just maybe reach out and say I'd love to talk to you about my experience here so that was really informal so what I've enjoyed about the Strategic plan is we' really tried to make it systematic and so there is an email sent to every employee when we get a resignation so members of my team whether it's classified or certified they're sending them an email just sending them a link to complete a survey so that's done electronically and then we're able to get those results and So within that surve there is a question as would you like an exit interview so that's on top of the information we get from the service so um out of 45 in this two-year process I would say that from the first quarter of 24 the fall we had maybe two that requested a survey in November and so then it's a matter of you know contacting them by email or phone many of them have left so it's like we want to try to do that in a really timely manner and so then that can if they want to come in and I conducted them also virtually so just kind of talking to them asking them what have been the highlights what would you like us to know what were your reasons for departure would you ever consider coming back and just really kind of getting to know them and so what I'm doing as we go forward is trying to figure out the best way to summarize those and then how to disseminate that information so we've begun a process after we do have an exit interview to figure out um whether it's the principal or a cabin m interess what sorts of details come in I appreciate that and I appreciate that they get the option because I think that could be potentially intimidating for people and likely would lead to fewer people completing some type of exit interview um do you have a sense for how many people have left during that same time 45 put that data together for you thank you has over the last two years over the last two years thank you good question board any other questions Miss D first of all there is a lot to celebrate very exciting things happening in Laurence Township just a few clarifying questions uh Mr notor when you say that the exciting work that is happening um with our Indiana college Corp when you say apply at any State University I'm assuming that you're talking about state-run universities as opposed to private universities yes public universities so that would be public I just wanted to clarify for um people that might think that that applies to Notre Dame or okay yes um so just wanted that point of clarification so thank you um in terms of um Miss bush so many exciting things happening in your department uh in particular I am blown away at hosting the eviction ceiling Clinic that is truly incredible um do you have a sense of how many people were able to take advantage of that you know what I wanted final numbers when I walked away as they were cleaning up it was over a hundred oh my good it was over a 100 and I would like to note that they also said that this was the best setup that they had had so the our facilities are second to none and you know we hear that quite a bit and they were very very pleased with with how things went makes me so so so proud of the work that this district is doing so kudos to you and your team for leading that initiative um I'm assuming but don't want to that the conversa class that's offered at Harrison Hill um for folks to learn English um and Spanish is that open to anybody in the district it is okay that was just a point of clarification um then that is all so thank you very much D can I also add for Miss Bush because she needs Kudos there's a wonderful judge judge bacon who is a phenomenal lady uh I've met with her and Sean meets with her regularly we have to give compliments to our other agencies and partners out there for what they do for us also judge bacon has made it her mission to help our families in Lawrence Township is that correct Sean she has been a game changer for this community yeah and other communities are modeling their system after her so absolutely great thank you for that I do I do have one question since you're up here um the eyeglass is that through a grant the the free eyeglasses how are we you know paying for those so we have no we have generous um Community Partners so we have several different ones we have um we have um a an organization called new eyes where we have a partner they honestly I think they get grants and then our students are just the beneficiaries of it um Molly tavl called me one day and said hey can you use they have something that's called the gift of sight so they theirs as a certificate so there's different different ways that we access the exams in the glasses but we have like three different partners that we work with LensCrafters not not as much as as we have in previous years but it's mostly been um Dr tavl and new eyes is it's just it's amazing that's incredible are there like um things that families have to do in order to qualify or is it just they say I need glasses they say they need it and we get them connected okay great it's great now I love that because it ties into student achievement if you can't see well absolutely well at school so I mean that's AES and the last I'd say the last probably two months we've had a lot of Littles that have requested exams in glasses so lots of kindergarten in first grade so I was really happy to see that too do we offer similar services for our ELC kids or or not similar Services would they be able to get eyeglasses yeah we've had very little yep yeah the preschool is what I'm referencing not kindergarten sorry the very Littles is a very technical term we would be able to do that great this is amazing Bor do you have any other questions um I just wanted to speak to culture again and just say the impact thank you I know we are um taking a part in clld over at bser and the beauty of that is for parents that maybe aren't able to get their child to and from this program which is amazing um it's beneficial to have it within our schools which it also gives them access future forward to the scholarship through clld so just wanted to make that note that that is an excellent program and it's helpful for parents that you know may not have the time or the ability to get to that program so just wanted to speak to that and also if you could just expound really quick one of the things that made my heart sing was the help me app can you highlight that really quick I can and um Stephanie llant can help me with this help me with the help me app so the help me app we launched that in the fall and it is an app where families or students can CH they have three different options there is a piece of that where they can request crisis assistance if they are having a personal crisis so whether that is that they're experiencing anxiety depression suicidal ideation they can reach out for immediate immediate assistance in that way there's also a part that they can reach out for help with resources so food um we have had some people um make requests saying that they need help with housing um so it can be crisis assistance uh basic need assistance and then the third one is if they need assistance from their school so if something's happening where they feel like they're being bullied or they feel like um they needed some administrative support in some way they can reach out on the help me app to message the school in that way thank you I really love that app and so I thought it was important just to highlight that it's extremely important just as a point of note this part will go to the finance um as we were reviewing the CBA the collective bargaining agreement with the compensation increases um that funding is coming this speaks to our financial stability that that funding is coming out of our cash balance correct and it's also a part of we we did the first laser for that or not for that but we did a first laser in 2023 we have a secondary laser um to cover those funds as well can you just touch on that because when you see increase and things getting higher just want to speak to the um stability of finances sure Madam board member um happy to speak to that are from a bargaining standpoint uh we we bargain our new money from the state so that's our education fund money um that we get that's driven by enrollment uh it's also driven by whatever allocation the state is going to give us that given year so the next few months the state's uh back at work and and putting together our budget so that drives our funds that are available for that certainly our cash balance plays into that uh our cash balance was particularly vital in this case in this year um to your point you may recall we we had a 3 million laser that was a new uh cost to the district basically it's a set aside that that we requireed to make um to to minimize the increase of our health insurance expense to employees so without that we were looking at a 37 uh roughly percent increase and and so we were able to use our cash balance to buy that increase down um and have that money set aside should we need it for expenses on the health Healthcare side okay thank you just wanted just that further in depth expounding on it that this isn't anything new that we did something something similar with the first 2023 so just wanted to be mindful of that so thank you you're welcome I had a comment on slide it was number five on the academic achievement um I had the privilege to serve on the high ability Review Committee a few years back and and seeing this come to fruition that it's already doubled is that correct the number of students who have access and one of our one of our um goals as a board and the boards that came before us was to eliminate barriers and just to see that process go in action you know at the time and correct me if I'm wrong only four of our elementaries offered the high ability a lot of students test into high ability but choose to stay at their home school for social or familiar reasons and so having this access it is wonderful um and I also want to give a big kudos to the staff for doing all this heavy lifting too to make sure that all of our kids who test into High ability have that access so thank you thank you I do that reminded me of a question that I had how is the Dual language High ability program going um because we did offer that for the very first time this year um and just curious how how it's been received by the families and how the students are doing it's going well um 70 students so we really um surpassed what we expected um with two sections at oaklandon one section at Mary Castle so the demand from families certainly is there of course with any new program there's growing pains on the staff side there's growing pains on the school side um but we certainly are pleased with how first semester's gone Mr notor do they have to be part of one of our dual language schools in order to qualify for the Dual language program or could they just be a native speaker and test into high ability and prefer a Spanish inversion yes the lad thank you good question board any other this is all a wonderful update thank you everyone oh miss one more I'm Sorry Miss Bush you are very popular tonight you're like the most popular lady in the house um I did just a question because I know preciousness is at Bower and it is such an incredible program Miss bucket thank you for highlighting that because it truly is an amazing amazing partnership and so was just curious is there an opportunity to expand that to Creek Valley or do Fall Creek Valley students have the ability to go to belliser on those Mondays well it has to do with cl's capacity for one I figured as much yeah and um and you know it just depends on who gets in touch with them first you know what I mean it's just um there have been times when they've been able to do both at the same time um it's just that this semester that the capacity just wasn't there excellent because C's model for years ladies and gentlemen was that our kids had to go to them yes and do a little bit of arm twisting and discussion from favorite superintendent here they have expanded their programs out to the schools that coming out so we will continue to talk with c and hopefully they I mean just like any other they prodct they're looking for funding and people to support that really encourage that well and I know that not just the precious myth I know that there's also the programming for our African-American males as well but I was I'm wondering if maybe in just if there is an ability to try and recruit volunteers to become a CLD facilitator in our buildings so um and they would love that they would absolutely welcome that a lot of the people that are facilitators for clld have been there for many many years and it's just such an incredible program so Kudos we work ons um and then I did notice that the dashboard has been updated and really appreciate all members doing that for our community because it is such a transparent way to share the great work that is happening uh peace Learning Center I know that that was part of an Initiative for the 23 24 school year um to work with those peer mediators at the middle schools is that something that is still occurring to continue to to train those students that is in the process right now okay perfect thank you so much really appreciate all your leadership and work thank you thank you board great questions and comments thank you everyone for the work on this um just one little uh housekeeping thing the um just for the public I remind myself this um as well the Strategic plan is done in threeyear increments and then we as a board will be setting our board goals every year for the upcoming school year so um I appreciate both plans and now I will move on to our transfer of funds update from Mr miles thank you madam president at this time I report back to you uh based on our December 2024 board meeting where the Board of Education approved transfers between the education and operations funds that would take place uh on 12:31 at that time we don't know what those amounts are so we always report back here at the end of January so at this time uh you have in front of you both the education to operations transfers and the operations to education transfers and actually went ahead and included uh we had transferred back in June as well we do the same activity June 30 and so our operation to Ed transfer uh in this case is outlined on the report uh as again as well as the uh the to Ops transfer the net transfer was about 8.5 million uh for the second six months of 2024 uh leaving a total transfer of about $6.6 million uh that um is equates to a 12.25% total total transfer uh percentage the the doe allows us to transfer up to 15% of our total revenue our total education fund Revenue our education fund Revenue was about $136 million this year and so the reason we do this and it's a little bit back to your point earlier Madam board member um about the educationgeneral fund and and this allows us to match up expenses uh with where they are being funded so um we do this twice a year uh and it allows us to track um track throughout the year so that we can compare to historical also you know from an accounting standpoint it allows us consistency um to be able to to to watch those funds um again a historical fashion but then we can also uh do this transfer every six months versus you know doing transfers regularly and that type of thing um our total just from U comparison State uh last year's transfer amount was 13.88% thank you Mr miles uh board any questions or comments All right we will move on to 4.4 Mr miles requests permission to approve investment resolution thank you madam president uh this agenda item kind of ties in with uh our Board of Finance meeting um from earlier this evening uh the board of Finance um also uh uh evaluates board policy as it as it relates to our investment policy icies and so every four years uh this resolution in front of you uh must be brought back in front of the board for approval and I will be doing so later this evening this was last approved in 2021 um actually the first time was approved and brought before the board in 2018 uh in essence this allows uh the investment officer to uh make long-term Investments Beyond two years and a lot of times that makes sense just from the uh environment of the investment Market um interest rates and that type of thing and it also is limited to 25% of our Investment Portfolio so we'll bring this back later that's my statute the the yes correct yeah correct and and this again we'll be uh will'll be brought back later this evening for uh for your consideration and your approval thank you Mr miles board any questions or comments Mr Mr miles uh where might the members of the public find where we are invested like where where is that reported out is that that um well we do our annual the the investment report you saw earlier tonight is is a very high level um but it you may recall down below there were some some areas where we had invested certain monies into bonds and those types things that is basically our reporting mechanism for uh and it's up on the screen right now um as far as within uh where kind of a large bucket um high level uh where those funds are being invested doesn't have down to a granular level um that's not something that that uh we put out for the public generally speaking um we do use what we would call a laded approach um basically have Investments that that come du at a different time period based on when we may need those funds um everything that we invest in is statutorily um Guided by the State and also our board policy board policy can be found I've got that board policy number um find the actual policy it's uh policy number 6144 uh which is available on board docs um it tells us exactly where where we can invest those dollars and certainly we work with our professionals to guide us in what makes the most sense um again based on the market so those do evolve over time just making sure we're not overly invested in Nvidia absolutely something like absolutely fair question I do have question because that was an excellent question board member Lawrence uh who does help manage our investments so I work with uh fifth thirds uh investment team okay so they are our investment partner okay thank you very good any other questions or comments board all right we will move on to Dr gagin request for RFP student devices as president Norman members of the board Dr Smith each year we come to you seeking permission to request bids for new Chromebooks for the students as a reminder we issue brand new devices at the sixth and Ninth Grade so we'll be purchasing around 3,000 devices and we have uh with your permission already sought uh the common school loan and have secured the funds with this common school loan to pay for those and so we'll be asking your later in the meeting board any questions what devices are we providing our students with Chrome books yes and we're looking at every um re uh manufacturer out there now very good any other questions if not we will keep Dr gag lineing up there for Action 4.6 okay president Norman members of the board Dr Smith uh back in the fall we uh requested permission to get bids on various eate projects and just to remind you about rate that's a federal program that provides funding for schools and libraries to connect buildings to the internet and then once you get the internet into the building to provide some of the equipment to distribute it um to the students um we have three of these so I'll won't go over the e- rate piece on the other two but uh the first one was eight Network connect connections uh if you recall I spoke to you uh back in the fall that some of our fiber is getting very old um and so the lifespan is about 20 years and that's where we are so we wanted to reach out and 20 years ago the options were limited now we have so much build out in Lawrence that we can go to Providers and ask if we can get into their new fiber line and so you'll see there are eight there we have the Amy beverin to wind Ridge Crest View to Lawrence North mckin and I guess I should back up Amy beverin to whining Ridge will go through verita prew to Lawrence North to zo and then zo also bundled together McKenzie to LC mckenzy to Skyles McKenzie to Fall Creek Valley McKenzie to Crest View and then Fall Creek to Indian Creek and Fall Creek to Winding Ridge just makes a big tangled web for us but that's what we need so we have that redundancy and so uh later on we'll ask permission to enter into contracts with these providers thank you Dr gagin now we'll move on to 4.7 update yes president Norman members of the board Dr Smith as I mentioned earlier we have two data centers we want to make sure that the one here that is our primary is up and going but we have the backup at Eastgate we want to be connected to that and we had to do the same thing is upgrade the the age on that fiber runs all the way down to Eastgate Mall and uh we went ahead and got a 100 gigabyte fiber which is a great big old pipe but if it's got to carry the entire Corporation it's got to have the capacity so again we'll be asking permission to enter into a contract with zo on that one thank you Dr gag line board any questions regarding that one I do have one question how how does our approach to network infrastructure compar to other districts do they have similar I mean is that everybody running giant pipes all over the city trying yes as the demand goes up you just you want to make the experience for the students as positive as possible so you know it's just like at home you don't want that delay you don't want that Zoom call that kind of you know that kind of thing and I know there were some compute issues at one point with McKenzie um in particular with some of our students who are doing some of the more advanced work with McKenzie assuming this is this is solving for those issues yes it's all all U allows us to get that virtual uh situation the the U virtual Network infrastructure is up and going so normal for public schools to do this as a part of Dr gagl mentioned eate just a quick rate because the Board of Education will be visiting the federal government this weekend yes and we need to remind them to keep e exactly so when I do my third one here the total the E rate projects that we are going to request is about $15 million and it'll only cost us 10% of that and so we wouldn't be able to do it and Mr miles would not feel real good about that if we try to do it all so action well information item 4.8 it's your show tonight yeah Dr gagan so president Norman members of the board Dr Smith the final one is now that we've brought the fiber to the building it's to distribute those um distribute that around the bu uh throughout the building a network switch is similar uh to an extension cord like a power strip so you bring it in and then you connect various devices in your home to the power strip it's the same idea with data a switch com is attached to the fiber that's coming in from outside and then every device in the building that needs data gets pled plug into that and so we want to purchase those so that we can continue to meet the demand uh of our students and staff very good board any questions or comments one additional question Dr gine do we have our own network Engineers that are completing this work or do we we use other we have three gentlemen on staff uh the uh the young uh child that was handed over to Mrs L plant uh he is married to Mrs to Mrs kamacho um and those are our system administrators and so they work on the day-to-day piece but we also Outsource uh two Network Solutions who happen to steal one of our best uh Network administrators years ago but he knows he built the he built our Network so it's nice to work with him thank you Bard any other questions or comments thank you Dr gagin appreciate it now we will move over to Mr miles for the financial update thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time I present to you our normal uh monthly Financial reports um we that we do uh month-to month uh both our general fund and the uh Transportation report The Only Exception this this time is it's it's our year end report so um a little more added significance both are in uh happy to report in great great positions um first and foremost we'll look at we've got the transportation fund up there so I'll switch my sheets which is fine um Revenue up uh a little versus the original forecast and expenses down a little versus the original forecast so we'll take that in both areas um ending balance in our transportation fund you see at the very bottom $3,122 710 uh very uh healthy position for our transportation fund and then uh moving forward to the general fund um similarly our revenues exceeded our projected uh based on beginning of the year we were 169 million in Revenue expenses uh 69 million in expenses and just and some change there so um expenses were a little higher than what were originally projected we had some transfers um as we already spoke this earlier this evening uh one of which was uh the um the health insurance laser and so we funded that in part out of our general fund and also our textbook um balance that we also spoke about earlier this evening so all those are included in this year end balance1 6,126 320 uh 16,1 126,000 $329 um about two $2 million uh plus up from our board goal of $14 million we certainly don't want to grow this too large um but it is nice uh certainly to be able to meet the board goal and have a little cushion there as well so um those are our financial reports for December 31st thank you Mr miles you've been popular tonight as well board any other questions about the financial update okay we will move on to our board committee chair reports uh Foundation uh Dr Mall yes so happy to serve as the representative for the Lord Township School Foundation um I think the exciting news coming up is the ltsf annual Gala um it's Friday February 28th from 6:30 to 11:30 um at the Indiana Roof Ballroom and if those of you who know about this event it's a great night to feature the work of the foundation the impact on students and communities and um definitely want to recommend uh checking it out and coming um going out for this event again February 28th and I think tickets are available on the ltsf website thank you for that yes it's a great event raising a lot of money for our students and staff and the work they do and then now I will move on to Lawrence Parks and Recreation Miss Dunn if you would like to share anything I have not had a chance to attend um the meeting I believe uh vice president Pucket attended the January 8th meeting and I owe you a public apology because it was on charge that to my head and out my heart I was to get that to you and so that the onus is on me on that 12 I apologize for that so I can multitask and do both okay let me look and see we have um and look I should have been prepared to even answer this can we Circle back to parts and go to poliy just for the public there's a little bit of Grace we have during uh January because we're switching over our and actually with the Lawrence Parks it's a great connection we have with the city U Miss Dunn will actually go and take an oath of office and officially be part of the city um serving on that board so so it it's a process and we have a little bit of overlap I was able to attend the foundation meeting with Dr malland so we'll we'll do we might be doing a little bit of tag teaming but that's why we're a group of five exactly like a basketball team all right well you know what I can I just pull it up a quick little Parks cap um the Winter Market is at the community center from select Thursdays from 4 to 7: go to cityof lawrence.org for the specific dates um it's going until I want to say the end of February for that one we still have our golden hour the golden hour is also at the community center and this is on Thursdays from 11: to noon um pickle balls coming back here pretty soon I don't have the date on that but you know it's on its way and that's all I have for right now that's my quick recap sounds like a lot going on in Lawrence um Parks all right thank you so now I will move on again to vice president Pucket for policy all right here we go um let me just say for this one Dr har Barger where' he go Dr harbarger yes I have my K CBS ready for tomorrow to have this conversation um but so far I have Neola Neola revision packet uh volume 37 number one cleared division leader reviews this week and is now ready for a policy committee review scheduled for Tuesday January 28th and if all goes well with the review we should be ready for the first reading on February 10th so thank you sir I look forward to meeting with you tomorrow K cups in hand very good thank you board and um now we're ready to move on to our action items so Mr miles we will go ahead with the approval of the investment resolution yes thank you once again Madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time I ask that the board approve the investment resolution as submitted earlier this evening so moved second all right board any comments comments All right we will go ahead and it's been moved and properly seconded let um all in favor say I I I all right the eyes have it all right now we'll move on to action item 5.2 approval request for RFP student devices Mr or Dr gagin president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we request permission to seek bids for new Chromebooks as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded vard um we'll go to a vote all in favor say I I all right eyes have it now we'll move on to 5.3 Dr gag line president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we seek permission to enter into contracts with fiber Network fiber uh providers as submitted some moved second properly moved and seconded board any comments questions all right we'll move to a vote all in favor say I I host all right the eyes have it all right Dr gag line 5.4 resident Norman members of the board Dr Smith we seek permission to enter enter into contract with the network fiber provider to the Eastgate Center data or Eastgate Data Center thank you sir do we have a motion so moved second properly moved Miss dun and seconded Miss Pucket so we'll go to a vote all in favor I I all opposed all right the eyes have it and finally Dr gag line 5 resident Norman members of the board Dr Smith we request permission to enter into contract with Network Solutions for Network switches all right do we have a motion board so move second all right properly moved uh Miss Lawrence and seconded Miss Pucket all right let's go to a vote all in favor all opposed all right thank you Dr gag line we had to make it a little phone all right now we will move to action um item 5.6 approval of board minutes move the approval of the consent agenda agenda items 5.6 through 5.12 all right do we have a second second all right all in favor of the movement to consent agenda of items 5 5.6 through 5.12 say I I all oppos all right now do we have a movement for approval of consent agenda so moved second all right all in favor for the approval of the consent agenda action items 5.6 and 5.12 say I I all right all opposed all right we have approved the consent agenda very good board thank you for the work tonight and now we will move on to administrator and board comments who would like to go first anybody I'll just share wonderful games this week um between Fall Creek Valley and Bowzer the games on Friday with the boys and girls basketball teams and then Saturday with robotics the feel and the vibe in there is just amazing and so it's just cool to see just all of the pride and so just yeah just wanted to share that like it's just awesome that's mine that's awesome to um I have to use your word it was it was an awesome week as well um as far as Lawrence Township work I I received my first set of minutes to review and I was taking a look and I and I'm you know I have the the basketball game in the background and they keep talking about Mark Conley and I'm like wait Mark Conley I'm like Lawrence grad again I just felt like so much pride right um coming out of Lawrence so that was a cool coincidence this done I've asked a lot of questions this evening so I will save everybody time but just want to express the gratitude for all the work that each of you do each and every day I know um second semester it's especially the days of winter can be very long um and arduous and not knowing what's going on uh Mr Smith with the delays and the coldness and everything that is going on so just thank you you all for your continued leadership thank you Miss Lawrence I mean I Echo exactly what Jessica said we've asked a bunch of questions I think all of us want to go home but I do want to say those bus drivers man they do God's work yes they do putting those kids on the bus every day making sure they get there and then having to get hit in the face with the cold every single time so thank you to all of those uh bus drivers out there and the facility members who make sure that our kids are safe every day yes thank you I second all of that that's great um thank you everyone the Strategic plan updates were fantastic there's a lot of uh heavy work going on to move the student achievement forward and I see it we see you so thank you um we look forward to and I'll let Dr Smith elaborate on this but we will be attending as a board and superintendent the equity and advocacy Institute put on by the National School Board Association coming up in Washington DC this next week which I look forward to Dr Smith Grant neb to the microphone big announcements coming you live in Indiana it's winter time that eil basketball Grant neth give him an update on upcoming sectional it is the girls first so let's speak to the girls that's right thank you uh Dr Smith the members of the board president Norman uh it is Indiana and it's late winter so uh last night the State athletic association conducted the girls basketball draw as you sure know we are the reigning state champions Lawrence Central uh so they'll start to defend their title when the sectional starts next Tuesday the 4th of February they won't play until Friday the 7th um this year sectional is at Lawrence North High School all the games are there sectional 10 used to be an eight team sectional they've realigned things there's only five teams now but still five usually pretty good teams LC will play uh the winner of waren in north central on Friday night and Lawrence North will play Tech so that sets the stage for the likely giving U Bolton board material for Warren and North Central but sets the stage for a likely match up between Lawrence Central and Lawrence North Saturday Night February 8th 7:00 p.m. at 7802 egg Road and board members I do know you will be in attendance in Washington DC advocating for our school corporation in our state Dr deadline we hope to bring back the E rate it's important for people to understand the board's role in advocating for resources we don't often get to speak at the federal level but the board has decided to do that there will be meetings with our state um our federal senators and hopefully with some of our representative we've already got one meeting two meetings already established but we'll be there advocating for Indiana and for our school corporation so thank you board this is work it takes time but they will do the work that need needs for our students so Dr gagang now focus on you eate tonight's presentation was why we need to go to Washington DC thank you thank you what a great segue and just a reminder our next uh meeting will be a work session here Monday February 10th at 5:30 p.m. at this time I'll entertain a motion to close out the meeting seconded all right properly moved and seconded we are out okay