Sorry. Okay. We have some student staff recognition. Thank you, madam president. We have, a few district wide, recognitions and celebrations. And so first, I would like to have, miss Ashley Bowman come on up to the podium. She is our, food services director, and she's gonna talk a bit about, school nutrition services, winning a grand prize in the telecom nationwide. How do you crunch recipe contest?
Miss Bowman. Good evening, board. We applied for a recipe contest with Kelanova. They submitted a contest for any recipe using their Cheez It product. At the time, we currently were offering our peanut butter bistro wash in our high school. So we asked Valparaiso to vote for us as a finalist in the contest, among five other recipes that were entered. And we were notified that we were voted as the grand prize winner.
So we were awarded a thousand dollar grand prize to use within our program. We were awarded, Villanova products, Villanova merchandise, and national recognition on their social media and website pages. Thank you. We got another, feather in the cap with recognition for creativity, a nutritional quality, a presentation, obviously. I'm really hard on. And and, you know, just to wrap a little bit on, this Bowman and her
star department. They do a lot of innovative things, from getting student feedback on menu items to around the world, menus that are district wide in in the elementary. And then even today, having a guest chefs and servers Mhmm. For their Thanksgiving lunch. So we were able to whip up some pumpkin fluff, fluffy, and you know, top
it off with, some little cream and, and a little graham cracker bag. So it was a lot of fun. There's at least two elementary schools that I I know that are students that really appreciate you. I'm glad. Congratulations. Thank you. I'm still waiting on that potato though. I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting. Just Now Yeah.
Hello. What? You can ask a couple more. Oh, perfect. Yes. So be excited about. On November 7, the Indiana Department of Education released a list of nearly 100 Indiana schools to receive the purple star schools designation. The IDOE selected this year's designees in collaboration with the Indiana National Guard. The Indiana purple star schools are recognized for their significant display of commitment to students and families in the nation's military. Schools receiving the purple star designation meet the following criteria. They have an assigned point of contact for military families.
They meet all grade level training requirements for point of contact. They have a dedicated web page providing recognition and resources for service members, veterans, and student families. They host a new military program, for example, veterans day, nine eleven. Public military display recognized for service members. They submit a school board resolution publicizing support for military student and families, ensures military service members and their immediate family members meeting minimum job qualifications for open positions at the school will be guaranteed in their vehicle. The designation is valid for a period of three years, and so we're excited to
announce that, all Valparaiso became schools that received this distinguished designation. And I'd like to call up Caitlin Rooney, who's our, education support specialist, up to the podium, and she's a veteran herself. We're just here in our building and, spearheaded this initiative, in order to get all of our schools. So if you care to talk a little bit about, in the process and and your experiences, that'd be great.
Leading board. Caitlin. I started this over the summer. Doctor McCall tasked me to to get the middle schools and the elementaries on board because obviously, VHS has the hall of heroes, and they were kind of already going with that. So I worked with those kind of schools, and we had another veteran at Evelyn, Amanda Cotton, who spearheaded their schools. So we had, a lot of different ideas for military displays. So we have pictures of family members. We have a military garden. Also, this is, like, about the frictions of service, so students can see those readily
accessible at their schools. So it's really fun. Well, thank you, Caitlin. And, her specialty is And, her specialty is, the standard operating procedures. And so, watching her military training in action, organizing her with Mary Van and getting everyone on board with a lot of fun to start. So congratulations on all your efforts. You're welcome. Thank you. And then finally, I'd also like to announce that all Valparaiso Twin Schools have received The US News and World Reports twenty twenty six best schools distinguished designation.
And so about various schools achieve the best elementary and middle school rankings. Valerie has top 40%, of all schools in the state. And the evaluation for elementary and middle schools is based on state level school proficiency in reading language arts and math. It also considers socioeconomic demographics and student to teacher ratios. This determines whether learning in core subjects is achieved and reviews how well schools educate their students. And so, with the middle school, high schools, and then, of course, the high school
being ranked, seventeenth in the state, along different metrics but similar, we're just, very proud to be recognized. This isn't why we do it. We don't do it for the athletes. We do it for the students and giving them pathways and opportunities, to find their passions and pursue them. But it is also nice to be recognized, by these outside agencies as well. So I wanna bring that to your attention, as well. You're welcome. Thank you. Yes. And we have no one signed up.
We have no one signed up. We were going over, I would Alright.
Motion still carries. Now we are moving on to recommendation of employment candidate. Thank you. Pursuant to the annual code twenty twenty six five eleven point two. We do need to have a separate agenda item, when considering, the standard. The details are in your board packet, and we do recommend approval for this, lay coach position. Is there any discussion for it? Yeah. I would. Motion to approve. Alright. Can I have a second, please? Second. All in favor? Thank you. You're welcome. We are moving on to our financial reports, our performance of budget funds, doctor, excuse
me, mister Jim Oateson. Thank you, dear friend. Each month we present our financial report comparing the year to date revenue and year to date expenditures for tax credit funds and our year to date performance of funds report for 10/31/2025 shows the following. In the education fund, year to date revenue of 45,671,188, year to date expenditures of 47,452,733. Expenditures include the monthly $645,000 transfer to the operations fund. In debt service, year to date revenue of 2,239,195.
Year to date expenditures was $3,952,006.54. All the terms of statements that have been made today for fiscal year, and we will go tax wrong next month. Debt fund. The revenue of $708,032. Your state expenditures of 1,412,039. There is a $102,000 temporary loan and trading day fund to the pension debt fund which will be repaid in December. The operations fund, year to date revenue of $15,940,008.00 5. Year to date expenditures of $19,913,001.92.
Revenue includes that monthly $645,000 transfer from the education fund previously mentioned. The operating referendum has a year to date revenue of $3,147,003.15. Year to date expenditures of $4,000,007.17 $2.41, and there is also a tax drawn next month for that fund. The capital referendum, year to date revenue, 6,172,640. Year to date expenditures of $5,683,500 All debt payments have been made to date and
there's a tax structure that fund as well. The renegade fund, no change, there's no revenue for the year and the only expenditure is the $150,000 temporary loan to the pension fund before that next month. We believe review of the funds shall deposit the financial position. If there's no question, do we ask for approval of the financial reports for October 2025? Alright. I was just gonna say for our young adults in the audience, can you explain the tax draw and why right now it appears that so many of our Certainly. We've seen our most of our funding for our tax draws in June and in
December. Well, we start spending in January, so we have money in the bank that we spend down until we get the tax draw that bounces back up in June. We spend it down and December bounces back up at the start of the year. So we're we're fronting the money until we get paid back from the county. Alright. Thank you. You are welcome. We are going on to contract consideration. This is doctor McCollum. Thank you, madam president. We have, several for your consideration. We have at Harvardville High School, two, concerning, the assignment of athletic officials for various
sports, with Lake County Athletic Officials Association, Northwest Athletic Officials Association, for the next three years. HR imaging partners for school photos, from July 26 through June 29, also at the high school for $7,500 annually. Also at the high school, we have vending services for athletics with Rayna's Coca Cola bottling and continental painting, from August '25 through July, twenty eighth, and that's based on sales. District wide, we have our annual agreement by electrical services for little and preschool, for
over this, the second semester, with $3.35 for me. Secure construction for boiler preventative maintenance agreement up to '25 November 25 to November 27 to $61,200. We do have an MOU with my board, cooperative, producing cooperative. There is no cost to join them, but that gives us buying power, under these items. And then we have, an MOU with say something, through the statement of promise. It's a renowned report system.
Replace our current see something, say something, and it will be banned 27. So So we last school we've said, and we feel comfortable, transitioning to that element. So have you been answering some of the data? Yeah. Could you tell how that works a little bit just for Yeah. Forms writing notes, maybe. Yeah. I certainly can. I've been working with the district safety community since August, really, that I've been involved in the process to decide, to make this recommendation. And the Sandy Hook Promise Anonymous, tip line is operated 247365 like doctor Rookall, said.
Students can report much like they've been reporting already, mobile app, a website, or a hotline, so an actual phone call. When a tip is submitted, it goes to their crisis, their national crisis center, and that is manned by certified and licensed staff members. So those staff members vet out, the tip, and then they make a decision on whether or not it is life threatening. And that follows a certain protocol of phone calls including and up to, notifying 911.
So we get some help families no matter what time of day or night, weekend, weekday. So holidays and things like that too. It's always covered. If it is something that is not a life threatening nature, that's sent in an email or a digest to administrators. And how do how do students get the information to know the number and the whole process? Yeah. Education is a big part of it. They have a lot of resources for us to use to help train families, kids, staff members. A large part of what we do is sharing it out just all over our
buildings, social media, making sure that kids know that it's available to them. Various places in our website, part of our safety plan. Possibly discussed in classroom. Yeah. Definitely. So we're very excited to bring on the partnership, definitely. When will that start for us? We're aiming for January. So we have to follow-up process with them and make sure all the training is in place first, and then we're gonna be allowed to, put it live. Great. Thank you. Yeah. Absolutely. Collaboration. Yes. K. Any other discussion, Paul?
I have couple of questions. One, on the average spending agreement, is this a renewal of something that's been in place before? Correct. And then the this by the board initiative that we're pursuing, the final cost, this is a way of they handle some of the bidding process for us essentially. Is that correct? Mister Olafield, do you wanna elaborate on how COVID will be working? Yeah. There it is. They this one is is out of Texas. And, they elicit bids from vendors from all over the country, and they take care
of the bidding process. So that if we need something that is over the, bidding threshold, they already done the bidding for us, so we just let you quote. And we know that they did their work, it's gonna be the best price we get. We are in the lobby with different purchasing cooperatives with different things, milk, supplies, and so this one will enable us to purchase flight riding portions specifically. I was just thinking, actually, Nami does, her follow-up email that we missed, and we
missed it. This is I wanna apologize to the board for that. She does this for for the audience. She will do a follow-up of the meeting that we have, just kind of summarizing some of the rest of the board as aware of what we discussed. And I know doctor McCall, took some time to explain that to Ashley and I, during our meeting how that process works. So if you guys can call me us. No. I just wanna make sure that as we're approving stuff here, people get a chance to hear what it is that we're talking about. This, I have one grant this evening for your consideration form.
It is the title one b grant. This is a annual grant that we, help manage. Has a total allocation of $35,505.30. We serve as the LEA for this grant. The beneficiary of this is the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center. They use the funds for supporting academic needs for their students that are placed in the juvenile in the juvenile system. This is pretty difficult. The only question I have for the applicant is, what does the collaboration look like?
Because I know that we sponsor the grant. What does that look like? Our collaboration between us and them. Does is there a teacher that comes from our system that supports them? Is there a curriculum? What does that look like? We work in, like, a through and through for them. So, yes, we do meet with them. Caitlin spends a lot of time making sure that they're following all the regulations and the requirements, and they do support, their academic needs through an employee. We employ them, and then we pay through this grant for that, fund.
Good summary. Yeah. It's a nice opportunity to thank Caitlin for all her work on all of our grants as well. So she does a lot of collaborating with them and making sure that they're following following the right regulations. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. So we have several for your consideration. Beginning with, Porter County Farm Bureau donated eight copies of the Indiana Farm Bureau book of the year, White History Minute, for our libraries at the elementary level. And the postal three marine So they approximately 1,000 coupons for a free kids cup
of ice cream or yogurt with one mix in, for student incentives to be used at our elementary schools. Central Elementary, first, there are students in need who received magnitude codes from Michelle Saliva, six winter coats from Delphi and Little, and an anonymous donor, donated two pairs of winter boots. At Cook's Corner, Monosol donated $100 for principal's discretion, and looked like received from Family Express five dozen assorted donuts valued at $59.95 for their student council leap breaking project. Parkview Elementary received pumpkins valued at $335 for their student council pumpkin patch from Heinz
Plumbing. Met Franklin Middle School, their builders club received $300 from the Kiwanis Club of Valparaiso. And the Belvoir Park Foundation donated gift cards for five free admissions to Central Park Plaza Ice Rink valued at $60 for the student giveaways for Red Ribbon. The career center, automotive shop supplies, received $150 and $20. And the culinary program skills USA competition received $40 from the Edwards family and two anonymous gifts of $50 and $100. The bed tech supply, program, received $50 from an anonymous donor as well.
District wide, Fleming Brothers Royal Company, Earnings Shell Giving Fund, donated $127.47 for the use of the superintendent's discretion. School nutrition services received $50 from the John and Ricky Living Trust. And backpacks and stamps program, we received several donations this month. $50 from the John and Vicky Lubeck's Living Trust. $250 from James Rusher the second. $500 from the Valparaiso Sun Sunrise Kiwanis. $125 from Fred and Deborah and Midas, $200 from William and Jean McCall, $250 from
Regis Hess, one case of plastic bags from Menards, so one case of plastic bags from common country market. District also received, for our students in need from virtual labs, 900 winter gear items. Mhmm. This is the season. So, that's a a very broad question. If people are in the giving mode, whether it is items or even just the financial support, contacting our office, and they'll able to reach me, or doctor Hawkins, and
we can talk to them, point them in the right direction, kinda see what fills their soul. You know, if you wanna dedicate food, you wanna dedicate clothing, you know, and we we have a lot of admins already interested in in science with the science program. So just contact our district office, and we we can ask them up with something that those are sold. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? None. Motion carries. I'm sure moving on to the loan business.
We are looking at some board policies, for second reading. I do, wanna say here, that we really wanna just focus on the educational opportunity for military children, and we are going to table the other two, policies. Just need a motion to approve, policy four zero one three point one. Yeah. Closed. First, John, and then we'll have a second. Second. I'm calling in favor. Board. I'm looking for you tonight to request approval to advertise for bids for the network
infrastructure equipment, licensing, and associated cable. We plan to continue to do the replacement of equipment that is nearing the end of life across the district while also increasing our wireless coverage density where needed. This will be funded out of the CPF, dollars, but we'll also be applying for a heater in category two reimbursement, which will cover up to half the cost of the project. With your approval this evening, I'll be back for you, in February. The February board meeting with the recommendation to award the contract. Alright. That was a Kate for a first, Carl for a second.
All those in favor, say aye. Aye. The opposes, they are done. Motion carries. Thank you. You're welcome. Moving on to the morning business. 2526 operating referendum retention stipend. Mister Jim Holyfield. Thank you, madam president. Current VCS employees with a higher date prior to January 1 may be eligible to receive a 1% retention stipend. Substitute, non contracted, temporary, and ECA positions are not eligible eligible for the stipend and are not included in the compilations.
This retention stipend is paid from the 2022 operating referendum. A roster has been provided to the board and with the board's approval, the payment of this 1% stipend will be scheduled as part of the December 5 payroll. We are requesting approval to pay the twenty twenty five, twenty six school year, one percent retention stipend to all will be rolled into place. Any discussion? Better recuse for this one. Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion? Yes. So moved. Second. Second. All those in favor, aye. Aye. No opposes. So that motion carries.
Thank you. You're welcome. Moving on to approval to award Famous Golf Life, work through bible. Thank you, madam president. This is just a follow-up to the discussion we just had. As part of the evening's contract, the board has approved moving forward with our membership application to the National Purchasing Cooperative. Also known as the flag work. Being a member to the purchasing cooperative means that we will take care of bidding on our behalf for purchasers from vendors who have agreements with the cooperative. Our playgrounds themselves, we have to change quotes to buy board for the soft play installation at Central, Flood Lake, and Northview Elementary Schools.
The like, you're on a plug in, let's do it, property that we're trying to belong to your source file that there are no vendors in the source file that do this. We are asking for approval to accept the quote to the soft plate installation in the amount of $858,399.90 from ProTech Servicing LLC for pending our membership in LiveBoard. Any questions? This will remove they currently have mulch. Right? At all three locations. And so they're the only ones that have currently do not have the soft line service that they have to do.
And there is a separate, separate bid that was approved in the prior meeting to remove all that money. Yeah. He said, who's gonna do that job? Alright. If there are no other questions, may I have a motion, please? So moved. Second. Right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. Motion carries. Thank you. You're welcome. Moving on to our '25, '26, 2627, and 2728 school year calendars. Doctor Mccall. Thank you, madam president. The 2526 school year calendar is really just an update for you that due to
our unseasonably early snow day that we have to enact, that we will be invoking the, snow day makeup, that was originally scheduled, for the December. So we will now go to a school on a full day on the eighteenth, and then a half day on Friday, December 19, for students. And then the second half of that day will be staff development, and then we
will be flexing out our, teacher records, half day. So that'll be flexed out over the break. That's a a method that we've deployed in the past when these situations have come up. The do you have any questions on that? No. I'll pass you this later. Thank you. Of course. The twenty six, twenty seven, twenty seven, twenty eight school year calendars, we have a vaulted calendar committee made up of teachers and administrators who, really, work on honing the
calendars and then re examining it every year through, our value structure. And so what you'll see is something that looks very familiar. We're starting, there on Wednesday, kind of easing into the school year, going, three days, and then having a weekend. I think you guys appreciate that kind of rhythm. Right? And so we will have a three and a half weeks and then, a three day weekend with Labor Day. We'll have our half day, staff development day on September 25, as is our rhythm.
And then we'll have our all break on the Monday, Tuesday following on the end of the nine weeks. And so that gives us, four weeks after Labor Day, and then we have the four day weekend. Again, looking at that sort of little standard rhythm going on. Why Monday, Tuesday? We get asked that quite a bit. It used to be a bridging weekend. We just got way back, Thursday, Friday. We do Monday, Tuesday. And that one doesn't follow nine weeks, but it also balances out the break for
elementary specials. So we've gotta gotta keep them on rhythm here. So, we do have the Wednesday before, Thanksgiving off. And so you'll also note at the October, the parent teacher conferences. This year was the first year that we had this a week later than normal. Teachers thought that, by delaying in a week, we would have better conversations and not only with the parents because our report cards are finished, but also our iLearn checkpoints,
are valid. And so there's more data to bring to those conversations and the feedback, was excellent. And so we maintained, parent teacher conferences at the October for the next two years as well based on that. We keep our elearning days on the, election days in both November and May, regardless of whether there's an election because we find that November to be helpful with making sure we've got our e learning claims, in case we have to have, e learning
makeup or, god forbid, a polar vortex again, and we have a on the fly or prepped with short notice, e learning days. So we find that to be, helpful to have. We finished first semester before Christmas break, because of our, dual credit classes. We wanna maintain, alignment with colleges, but also so that we can graduate kids at that, before Christmas break.
So that they can get started on their next app. And finally, we used that end, first semester after Christmas break. Like, always gonna happen. It was it was very awkward, and we'd have finals. And the feedback we received was that it it really wrecked family time, that you know, people would be studying over break and gnashing of teeth instead of bashing of potatoes. And so we we really had that we like that with we really we we
that I mean, start earlier in August. I think that's just the first semester before that so that finals are done, kids and families can enjoy, the holidays together. And then, second semester, you know, it picks up speed. We come back on that Monday. We have Martin Luther King, day off. We have, four day weekend at Presidents' Day, and then spring break is the last full week in March. And that is a countywide unified spring break, because of all of our shared services.
And then we will be out before, Memorial Day, in May. So question. That is October, half day for students k to eight only. Correct. That's the rationale. Parent teacher conferences are for students k to eight only. Okay. And so those are actually Wednesday night, and Thursday afternoon or evening. And so that's sort of flex time. So then the teachers have, half day, Friday in order to make up for the
long day on Wednesday if you're there, till later in the evening. Okay. Makes sense. That's a great question. Yep. So high school is. Correct. Do you have a lot of students graduate in December? You know, we we have a couple of handfuls, you know, I mean, 10 to 12, usually. Then do they come back in the spring and They're what they're invited to and welcome to. Yes. Some do, some don't. Some are already off in the wilderness doing it. So we need a special person. So special something for them before they know just in case they don't come back.
Just That's, rinse and repeat for 2728. I don't know if it's just because I've had time to do this. We always see that this extra calorie. We've done it, intermittently. And we would have brought two last year, but we were doing the, during future conference change. And they're gonna be felt like, let's just put one year out, see how it
goes, and then we can commit to, two years. I didn't recall seeing, remembering that in the last few years. Mhmm. Thank you. Alright, Lord. May I have a motion to approve, all three? So moved. Second, please? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. Motion carries. Thank you. You are welcome. Alright. Moving on to doctor Nick Allison. He will go over our secondary new course proposals. Thank you, madam president, members of the board. In your packets, you have detailed course proposals, four new courses to be added to
the high school. Those courses, the overarching purpose of adding these courses is what we've talked about in the past when we're talking about these new diploma seals. They either fill a gap in the Indiana College Board or they add an AP opportunity where one doesn't currently exist. We know that both of those are going to be significant programs for our students, particularly our current freshmen as they move through high school to earn credits and demonstrate a high level of proficiency, for those new diploma seals, particularly earning an enrollment plus
is the one that we're kinda eyeing with each of those. So, for those who don't have a core packet, I'm I'm just gonna summarize the four courses briefly. Those are an advanced composition class, which will be a dual credit offering. A the AP seminar class will replace the English 10 advanced course. So putting in place a AP course where we already have an advanced English 10 course allows the students another AP opportunity, and that's really important because they need to have opportunities to earn the AP distinguished honors, which means taking five, AP tests and
passing them with an average of 3.5 or better. So we're starting them early, giving those opportunities early on. Third, the earth and space, Earth and Space Science two course. So we already have an Earth and Space, but the Earth and Space two will allow us to add another dual credit offering in science where we don't have currently any dual credit offerings. Those are a little bit harder due to licensing, and the work that we do with the university partners to get certified as dual credit. So that's one avenue that they've been able to find to do so. And fourth is the AP business for personal finance.
So we already have a personal finance course. Personal finance is one of the requirements for the new diploma seals, but about 18 to 20% of our students elect or at least indicate that they are interested in going into some sort of a business degree, when they graduate from Valparaiso High School. We thought this was a great opportunity to add an AP opportunity, to that business department, that will give them an AP point and also help them work towards that AP distinguished dollar recognition. So that's the summary of the four courses.
It makes it summaries in your packet as well as the detailed proposals. I'm happy to answer questions that I can. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Alright. We are moving on to, the guide of upcoming for managing all the information which are the items we've added. No one has signed. Okay. So now we are moving on to Well, thank you. I'll I'll, have my comment really just previewing, next month's meeting, student staff celebration.
We've got results from the elementary statewide elementary, spell competition, and we are proud and excited to announce that, Parkview Elementary, emerged as state champions, Steve Kroning, to Central, who placed second in the state. That's going on all the time. It it went on this past year, which is what led to the decision, to keep it at four SROs this year, and it's still under review. It's it's not a stop, it's done process.
We're in the middle of that to try and make sure we understand what are the needs, what are we trying to do, are there needs that are unmet, or the best way to do that. People have feedback or information on that, they think we need to know, suggestions, let us know. And we'll we'll go from there and hopefully be able to move forward when we have the information we need to make good, thoughtful, and accurate. I think I'd just like to say, you know, the discussion And so one of
the problems that I've also been having in the accounting discussions is that there is commentary that are, you know, schools are on pace. And I think that's something that we all need seriously and, you know, private messes here with town. Right? What the plans are, like, supposed to be with our, you know, what do we measure our place, which, you know, again, is a parent with children's school that we feel better. And I understand that he can't have So, again, just reiterating that, you know, we
are doing our program, and there's nothing that has given me pause, that's to make me feel that, you know, anyone is not doing their jobs or that our schools are not safe or that, you know, there is any cost of concern right now. But I think it is always pertinent to be probably swept up as an appointed
board. And so we're off about appointment, and we need to have, the