[0:33] 6 PM, and I now call this meeting to order.

[0:36] Please stand and join me as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:40] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of

[0:44] America and to the Republic for which it stands,

[0:48] one nation, under God, indivisible, with

[0:52] liberty and justice for all.

[0:56] All right. I'd like to welcome everyone to tonight's meeting.

[0:59] Counselor, hello?

[1:01] Yeah.

[1:03] It's important that we remember the vision of East Noble School Corporation, and

[1:06] that is to inspire students to become lifelong learners and positive,

[1:09] contributing members of their communities.

[1:13] With that, we're going to have an introduction of citizens. Mr.

[1:16] Stinson, if you could start us off.

[1:19] Jeff

[1:21] Harper.

[1:24] Matt Heger. Charlie Parker.

[1:29] Ashley Gossett. Crystal Mullen.

[1:34] Blake Morris.

[1:35] Rachel Carpenter.

[1:36] Greg Rice.

[1:37] Brett Carpenter.

[1:38] Eva Carpenter.

[1:41] Madeline Glapier.

[1:43] Scott Tipton.

[1:44] Isaac Benson.

[1:45] Joanna Cook.

[1:47] All right. Well, welcome everybody, and those at home streaming tonight.

[1:50] We're glad you're being involved with our corporation.

[1:54] With that, we'll take comments from the board, or to the board.

[1:57] In accordance with board policy, our allocated time is 20 minutes for the comments.

[2:00] We have five people signed up tonight, so three minutes for each.

[2:03] A reminder, this is our business meeting and is not designed to include a two-way

[2:06] conversation. If the allotted board policy time for your public comments is not

[2:10] enough, please reach out to board members via email.

[2:13] These contacts can be found on our website.

[2:15] We appreciate your cooperation

[2:19] and ask for the following: Please state your name, address, and the topic you will

[2:21] be commenting on. Act in a professional and businesslike manner.

[2:25] Your allotted time may be interrupted, warned, or terminated if your comments are

[2:28] personally directive, abusive, or obscene.

[2:30] All statements are to be directed to the presiding officer of the board, not

[2:34] members of the audience, nor be in response to comments made by the audience

[2:37] members. Please respect what others have to say, and please do not interrupt or

[2:40] comment during their allotted time.

[2:42] It's not a two-way conversation, and once again, is not an open debate.

[2:45] Your individual comments will be taken under advisement by this board.

[2:49] We ask that you do not address or question board members individually.

[2:52] And with that, the first person up to speak is Tara. And Mr.

[2:56] Stinson's going to hand you a microphone, and if you would speak into that, we'd

[2:58] appreciate it.

[2:59] Sure. Good evening. My name is Tara Bovie.

[3:02] I'm a mother, a staff member at East Noble Middle School, and a member of the

[3:05] Kendallville community. I want to begin by saying thank you for taking the

[3:09] time to review the school calendar and consider adjustments that could benefit our

[3:13] students, staff, families, and community.

[3:15] As you consider the proposed calendar, I would like to ask that you

[3:18] consider moving one week of spring break to the

[3:21] last full week of March,

[3:25] beginning March 28th. I believe this change could provide a

[3:28] significant benefit to our students and staff.

[3:31] By having spring break at the end of March, students would return to school at the

[3:35] beginning of April and have two full weeks to get back into their routines before

[3:39] state testing begins. As a mother of a child with an IEP, I know

[3:43] firsthand how important consistency and routine can be.

[3:47] Having those two full weeks back in the classroom before testing

[3:51] would give my child and many other students the opportunity to settle back into

[3:55] their routines, reconnect with the teachers, and prepare academically and

[3:59] emotionally for testing. As a staff member, I see the benefit of this

[4:03] as well. We all know that it can take students and staff several days to get

[4:06] back into the rhythm of school after a break.

[4:09] Allowing two full weeks between spring break and testing would give

[4:13] everyone that time they need to refocus and prepare.

[4:17] I would also like to address the proposal to build the four

[4:20] additional days into the calendar as makeup days.

[4:23] While I appreciate the effort to build these days into the calendar,

[4:27] I wholeheartedly believe there's another solution that would

[4:31] better support our instructional assistants and most importantly, our students.

[4:35] I believe instructional assistants should have the opportunity to participate in

[4:39] virtual learning days alongside teachers with e-learning days

[4:43] when they're used. Before coming to East Noble, I worked in a school

[4:47] district where instructional assistants participated in e-learning days with

[4:50] teachers, and it worked very well.

[4:52] It supported students, teachers, and parents.

[4:55] I have seen firsthand how successful this can be.

[4:58] In my role working with special education students, I have heard

[5:02] the concerns and struggles from students, teachers, and parents when it comes to

[5:06] e-learning and making sure students continue to receive the support

[5:10] they need. Because of those experiences, I strongly believe

[5:14] instructional assistants should be included in virtual learning opportunities.

[5:18] I have seen how it can work, and I truly believe it can work here.

[5:21] I also understand that building additional days into the calendar can be a

[5:24] wonderful option for other staff members who would otherwise miss pay

[5:28] due to snow days. Principals and office staff could work together to create

[5:32] a list of tasks and projects that need to be completed in each building.

[5:37] Those employees could then use those days to come in and accomplish

[5:41] work that often gets pushed aside because there is always something that needs

[5:44] to be done. Ultimately, I believe there are solutions that can benefit

[5:48] everyone while keeping our students at the center of conversations.

[5:52] Thank you for taking the time to listen to my concerns and suggestions.

[5:55] I truly hope you will consider the perspective of someone who works in our

[5:59] schools, is a mother of students, and is a member of this community.

[6:03] I care deeply about East Noble-

[6:04] Tara

[6:04] ... our students, and staff.

[6:06] Thank you. Real quick, Tara, could you tell me, was it you wanted the

[6:10] last week of March to be our spring break week?

[6:15] Okay. That's the only question I have. We can't have a two-way conversation. Okay.

[6:19] But also, could you put your paperwork in the basket at the end of the meeting so

[6:21] that we can- Sure ... review that? I'd appreciate it. Sure. Okay. Thank you.

[6:25] Next up is Brett Carpenter. At the end.

[6:31] Brett Carpenter, I live here in Kendallville.

[6:35] I'm actually astounded at just how low some of you on the

[6:39] board

[6:40] and other administrators will go to fight against those who are

[6:44] advocating for the safety and well-being of the students.

[6:47] And Superintendent Steve Vaughan, you have just joined that

[6:50] group. Speaking of the children

[6:55] who were videotaped engaging in inappropriate sexual activity in the middle school,

[6:59] Steve Vaughan said at the last meeting, "As far as Mr.

[7:03] Carpenter, which has brought this up several times, about

[7:06] viewing a situation on his phone that was

[7:10] brought to him concerns me, too."

[7:13] Absolutely false.

[7:17] You either are completely incompetent or you don't

[7:21] have an ounce of integrity. Every parent that has come to me with

[7:25] a videotape of that on their phone, I have told them plainly, "I don't

[7:29] need to look into the garbage can to know what's in there." I told them,

[7:33] "Absolutely never send that to anyone, but only take it to the

[7:36] police." So you have just totally made that up.

[7:42] He said, and I'm going to read the whole thing, "As far as Mr.

[7:45] Carpenter, which has brought this up several times about viewing a situation on his

[7:48] phone that was brought to him,

[7:51] concerns me, too, because it's as sexual

[7:55] nature that he says that he's viewing sexual activity

[7:59] on the phone."

[8:01] You don't have a problem slandering people, do you?

[8:05] What a shame. I hope everyone on the board that voted

[8:08] for this irresponsible

[8:13] slander,

[8:14] I hope you realize the mistake you made.

[8:17] We could have had Jamie Carroll,

[8:20] a person of excellent reputation, who the whole city wanted,

[8:24] who actually cares about her students, cares about the community, but

[8:28] instead we get this. What a shame.

[8:34] He then says, "I think he's," now we're talking about me, "I think he's

[8:37] obligated

[8:39] to tell the police."

[8:41] How phony can you be? Every single time

[8:45] I have spoken of this issue, the police have been here

[8:49] listening to everything,

[8:51] and they have never once confronted me.

[8:54] Ask yourself why. This community

[8:57] is tired of the scandals, tired of the lies, tired of the

[9:01] slander,

[9:03] tired of the corruption, tired of the lack

[9:07] of transparency from you.

[9:10] Shame.

[9:11] Then he says, and get this, this is absolutely amazing, "I've mentioned

[9:15] as a part about Mr. Carpenter, we have no evidence that anything happened in the

[9:19] middle school." Well, it's too late.

[9:21] The whole community already knows.

[9:23] Every time you say that there's no evidence, you're just proving

[9:27] that you are not trustworthy.

[9:32] Please do us a favor-

[9:33] Thank you for your comments, Mr. Carpenter

[9:34] ... leave our community.

[9:37] All right. Next up is Dwight Miller.

[9:43] Good evening. Dwight Miller, Avilla.

[9:45] I just wanted to speak about the policies that are up for adoption

[9:48] tonight.

[9:50] My concern is that there's many discrimination

[9:54] policies, and the consistency between the policies

[9:57] seems to vary. Some policies require

[10:01] reporting, other policies opt into the

[10:05] may report language, which seems

[10:09] inconsistent. I think that maybe we

[10:12] should get that squared away so that

[10:15] if discrimination is important, then maybe it should

[10:19] always be reported. Maybe we shouldn't have

[10:23] policies that may report and other policies that require

[10:27] reporting, because I think you set staff

[10:30] personnel up for

[10:33] the wrong, "I thought this was a may report.

[10:36] I didn't realize it was a must report." So I

[10:40] just hope you guys can think about that

[10:44] when you're moving forward.

[10:47] Policy 2266 changes the evidence

[10:51] standard of a determination under that policy,

[10:56] and if you're going to take administrative action on a

[11:00] student or

[11:02] a staff member or someone else,

[11:07] I think that maybe you should consider preponderance of the

[11:11] evidence to not be the standard. If we're going to

[11:15] fire someone or give them days off, I think we

[11:18] should feel

[11:20] reasonably certain that it happened instead of

[11:24] 50.001%.

[11:29] And in that same

[11:30] policy,

[11:33] there's an option if you

[11:36] find that an employee has violated

[11:40] it,

[11:42] you can suspend them with pay.

[11:46] I don't think we should be suspending employees with pay for

[11:49] violations of a sexual harassment policy.

[12:02] I'm also not in favor of

[12:05] policy changes that

[12:08] remove appeals process for decisions.

[12:11] So I think that employees or students should

[12:15] have appeals processes if they feel that

[12:19] a decision has been rendered that is wrong

[12:22] I think they should have the right to appeal. That's all I have. Thank you.

[12:26] Thank you, Mr. Miller. Next up is Bill Kane.

[12:33] School board, thank you.

[12:35] Just wanted to

[12:37] explain our appreciation to the school board,

[12:41] central office staffer. It's a pleasure seeing you guys in the

[12:44] community, being out at athletic events, community events,

[12:49] meeting you, greeting you. We appreciate the support that you give to everybody at

[12:52] the middle school.

[12:54] My main focus was we know that there's going to be a vote for the school calendar

[12:58] changes.

[12:59] Obviously, Tara pretty much took a lot of the words out of my mouth.

[13:03] But when it comes from the administrative side, we're asking you to

[13:07] take a look at everything that's in place.

[13:10] We want students in our building. Having two weeks spring break

[13:14] sometimes is nice, sometimes it's too long.

[13:18] But when we look at the kids that are in our building, we need them in the

[13:21] classrooms as much as possible.

[13:24] Going in to one week at spring break would

[13:28] be a huge benefit going into testing, no matter whether it's the

[13:32] last week of March, first week of April.

[13:34] That limited time out of the classroom will make a difference.

[13:38] As a district, we have worked hard to increase our

[13:41] attendance for all of our buildings.

[13:44] We've seen a steady increase, and taking a look at

[13:48] certain days or a shortened week,

[13:51] sometimes we worry because we have to follow state law

[13:55] based on the number of days that a student misses school.

[13:59] And having a shortened week that might only be two days a week or three days a

[14:02] week,

[14:03] sometimes that perception of a parent, "It's just two days, it's just three days,"

[14:08] we take that to heart because we want the kids there, and we also

[14:12] need to follow policies and procedures.

[14:14] So we're asking that you take a look at all those aspects, but

[14:19] the one week of spring break we like, and we know you're not going to make

[14:22] everybody happy. There's going to be people that want two weeks, people that want

[14:26] one week, the difference in the Fridays and Monday switches and stuff.

[14:30] But

[14:32] as a whole for the middle school, we want our kids in our building as much as

[14:36] possible, and that goes back to some of the makeup days,

[14:39] decline in attendance during multiple virtual days.

[14:44] We want their butts in the classroom, is what it comes down to.

[14:47] That's going to be the huge benefit.

[14:49] Whether it's an honors kid, a student with special needs, they

[14:53] need to have that routine consistent, especially going into that state

[14:57] testing. So, thank you.

[15:00] Thank you, Mr. Kane. Next up is Mr. Rice.

[15:09] Thank you.

[15:09] Yep.

[15:14] Good evening, board.

[15:16] Mr. President, I think about last year, I think it was in the

[15:20] summertime, where we had a school board member resign.

[15:25] You wrote out a statement, and I mentioned this before, sir,

[15:29] that East Noble School Corporation

[15:33] maintains the highest

[15:35] standards

[15:37] of conduct

[15:40] and integrity.

[15:42] Does anybody believe that?

[15:45] Brett, do you believe that?

[15:46] Well, if you give me about 10 minutes-

[15:48] Mr. Rice, if you could present to me, you're not presenting to anybody else,

[15:51] please.

[15:52] Okay. And that brings up another issue,

[15:54] where other folks are allowed to interrupt or ask

[15:58] questions during their three-minute addresses.

[16:02] We have it on video.

[16:04] Also, a citizen last week

[16:08] interrupted the business portion of the meeting to talk about the calendar.

[16:11] He was allowed to do that. So we apply the rules

[16:14] inconsistently here, and one has to ask why

[16:18] is that?

[16:19] Is it because you have to be a part of the club?

[16:23] I'm genuinely curious about that.

[16:27] And when we think about the current situation with

[16:30] the empty seat that we see up there,

[16:34] I don't get pleasure out of somebody else's pain.

[16:37] I don't think any of us do.

[16:39] And I hate to see her do that to herself.

[16:43] I truly do. But equally, I really hate what has

[16:47] happened to the victims

[16:50] of

[16:52] what we all know. I hate that.

[16:55] I also hate the fact that we've had a lot of moms out

[16:59] there who has been put in a position to

[17:03] talk to the victim and comfort her, get

[17:06] information from her, support her.

[17:10] It's unfortunate that we, as a community, have to step out and

[17:14] support the victims

[17:16] when you guys won't.

[17:19] You refuse to hold each other accountable.

[17:23] And I'm not saying kick each other off.

[17:25] You

[17:26] have the tools in your war chest, if you will.

[17:29] You can censure any board member. Not

[17:33] censor, but censure.

[17:36] Believe that option is available to you, and that should've been used

[17:40] a long time ago because of the behaviors of the empty seat up

[17:44] there.

[17:46] So when you say, Mr. President, that

[17:50] East Noble School Corporation maintains the highest standards of conduct

[17:54] and integrity,

[17:56] you don't apply it to yourselves.

[17:59] And the community sees it. It's disrespectful to the

[18:03] community, to the people who put you on the board, and ultimately,

[18:07] it's really disrespectful and sends a

[18:11] very bad message to our kids here at East Noble.

[18:15] Thank you for your comments.

[18:18] All right, board.

[18:20] Next up is you've had a chance to review the minutes from the previous meeting on-

[18:26] ...

[18:27] August 5th. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve those

[18:31] minutes?

[18:32] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[18:34] Second.

[18:35] Got a motion from Mr. Durbin and a second from Mrs. Blackman.

[18:38] All in favor say aye.

[18:40] Aye.

[18:40] Opposed the same.

[18:42] So moved.

[18:44] And you've also had a chance to review the claims from August 19th.

[18:48] Any questions or comments on those?

[18:52] Seeing none, is there a motion to approve those as written?

[18:56] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[18:59] I'll second.

[19:00] Motion from Mr. Durbin and a second from Mr. Byerly.

[19:02] All in favor say aye.

[19:04] Aye.

[19:05] Opposed the same.

[19:07] So moved. All right, moving on to personnel.

[19:09] You've had a chance to take a look-

[19:11] One thing, Doug.

[19:12] Sure.

[19:12] It was brought to me, I'm not sure if they couldn't find it or not, or if it wasn't

[19:16] posted, but it just had the first page of the claims, and it didn't

[19:20] actually have the full thing of the claims listed on the

[19:24] website. I don't know if we just missed it.

[19:26] We can look into that.

[19:27] But can we make sure that gets listed every month then?

[19:32] Thank you for bringing that up.

[19:36] So once again, you've had a chance to take a look at resignations, retirements,

[19:39] and there are no retirements. And

[19:44] terminations, is there a motion to approve those as written?

[19:49] I'll make a motion to approve.

[19:52] I'll second.

[19:53] We have a motion from Mr. Timmerman, a second from Mr.

[19:56] Byerly. All in favor say aye.

[19:58] Aye.

[19:59] Aye.

[19:59] Opposed the same. So moved.

[20:02] Reassignments, is there a motion to approve?

[20:07] I'll make a motion to approve as written.

[20:10] I'll second.

[20:11] We have a motion from Mr. Byerly and a second from Mr. Timmerman.

[20:14] All in favor say aye.

[20:15] Aye.

[20:17] Opposed the same. So moved.

[20:19] And then new hires.

[20:23] Is there a motion to approve as written?

[20:26] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[20:28] I'll second.

[20:29] Motion from Mr. Durbin and a second from Mrs. Blackman.

[20:33] All in favor say aye.

[20:34] Aye.

[20:35] Opposed the same.

[20:37] So moved. And we have a carve-out for Jennifer Miller as an applied skills IA at

[20:41] East Noble High School. Is there a motion?

[20:43] Which one? Just this one.

[20:44] Oh, sorry, that was last month. Sorry. My bad.

[20:47] It doesn't matter.

[20:49] I don't remember seeing it, but I had that written down. I didn't omit it.

[20:52] Leave requests. Is there a motion to approve?

[20:55] We do have two leave requests.

[20:58] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[21:01] I'll second.

[21:02] We have a motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mr. Timmerman.

[21:04] All in favor say aye.

[21:05] Aye.

[21:06] Aye.

[21:06] Opposed the same. So moved.

[21:10] All right. There is no instruction tonight, so we're going to

[21:13] immediately go into the business portion of our meeting.

[21:16] And first up is an action to approve an annual trip

[21:21] request.

[21:22] Every fall, we send in annual trip

[21:26] requests for you to approve. These are

[21:30] requests, some of them may not happen, but in order to make sure they

[21:34] can do the planning and see if they're available, we give the whole list.

[21:39] So, that was provided to you

[21:42] prior to the board meeting, so I ask for your approval at this time.

[21:46] I've got a question on that.

[21:48] Yep.

[21:48] I didn't notice we had an issue with the basketball team or a sports

[21:52] team, I think, wanting to take a trip in June or whatever.

[21:58] I didn't see anything like that on the list.

[22:00] No, and that specific trip,

[22:04] coach wasn't aware that he needed to get that in, in previous

[22:07] that much time. So he did get that in late.

[22:11] So, the athletic director did talk to him about that, making sure if they were

[22:15] planning anything to get them in way in advance.

[22:17] So as you see, it's not there.

[22:19] Okay.

[22:21] So if it's something they want to do, they're going to possibly down, but hopefully

[22:26] we don't have to have a special meeting.

[22:27] Yeah. No, I don't see that happening.

[22:29] Thank you.

[22:30] Yep.

[22:33] Any other comments or discussion, board?

[22:37] Seeing none, is there a motion to approve?

[22:39] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[22:42] I'll second.

[22:43] We have a motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mrs. Blackman.

[22:45] All in favor say aye.

[22:47] Aye.

[22:47] Opposed the same.

[22:49] All right, we're going to move on to our board policies.

[22:51] We're going to do these like we did last meeting.

[22:54] Calendar.

[22:55] Sorry. I do have that written down.

[22:58] It's time to talk about the calendar.

[23:00] Guess we've been talking about that quite a bit.

[23:03] Steve, if you could start us off. And

[23:05] I know, board, you've had a chance to look at all three proposals that Steve has

[23:09] presented us with. We have his proposal, we have a recommendation that came from

[23:13] Jen, and a recommendation from Brent.

[23:16] And Steve, if you could frame things out for us, I'd appreciate it.

[23:19] Yeah. So the first calendar-

[23:20] Before we get started-

[23:20] Go ahead

[23:21] ... I would like to,

[23:22] I think listening to

[23:26] the public and thinking more about what we

[23:29] have currently-

[23:31] Mm-hmm

[23:31] ... I'm going to withdraw

[23:33] my proposed calendar.

[23:35] Okay.

[23:36] So you don't have to discuss that, or I don't have to clarify that.

[23:39] We'll just breeze by it.

[23:41] Sounds good.

[23:42] Thanks.

[23:43] Okay.

[23:48] The first calendar I have up is the one I proposed.

[23:51] It's the one I've been proposing.

[23:55] The only difference between me and the one that Jen had proposed was when we take

[23:58] the days off. It's 11-day

[24:01] calendar for spring break.

[24:05] There's a two days before it's beginning of the year for Teacher Day, one

[24:09] day after they come back from Christmas break.

[24:12] And then I inserted makeup

[24:15] days, which the state's requiring to do two there.

[24:19] I think I have three up there. I think I have four that would allow us to

[24:23] just have a standard snow day

[24:27] And then have make-up days later. So that's the calendar that you

[24:31] have seen several times. So that's the one I'm

[24:35] presenting. Once again, that'll put our students in the building more-

[24:40] ... with a shorter spring break before testing.

[24:44] I have a question about

[24:48] why not... So the 3rd and 4th of August, are

[24:52] those

[24:54] the days that they're in their classroom, or is that the

[24:58] first day of the welcome back and in school?

[25:02] The 3rd and 4th are teacher days.

[25:05] Okay. So-

[25:06] 5th would be the first day.

[25:09] Right. So there won't be a welcome back.

[25:11] That's in those first two teacher days.

[25:13] Okay. So,

[25:16] okay.

[25:16] So it's

[25:18] presented the same as it was this year.

[25:19] So that 3rd is everybody together, and then the next, and it's like the-

[25:24] Oh, no. Okay.

[25:25] Parent come back to school night. They have all of their meetings.

[25:28] One of the reasons we made that adjustment, after talking with the association

[25:31] about it, is they like to have a day when they come back just to regroup

[25:35] after the holiday and get ready for the second semester.

[25:38] Especially since we went into a broken semester, and we won't be in the middle of a

[25:42] trimester then. It'll be

[25:43] a definite break.

[25:46] Thank you.

[25:48] And so if we started on the 2nd, but that puts us

[25:53] Wednesday as a first day of school

[25:57] in your-

[25:59] You'll find-

[25:59] If I move it

[26:00] Go down

[26:01] And then...

[26:02] You'll find the closer you get to July, the less the teachers like it.

[26:06] Okay.

[26:08] Okay.

[26:11] I have a quick question.

[26:13] Based off of what Ms. Tara said earlier from the public

[26:16] comments,

[26:18] she had stated that if we moved the

[26:22] spring break week back into March, that gives

[26:26] us two weeks until testing.

[26:29] Maybe I missed it when we talked about the testing, and maybe you addressed

[26:33] this when I was out earlier this month, but

[26:36] I thought we already had a gap for that testing.

[26:39] It wasn't right up against it,

[26:41] basically. You know what I'm saying?

[26:43] So I'm just wondering, I want to make sure we know where the testing

[26:46] falls.

[26:48] And does that vary like for elementary versus middle school

[26:52] versus in high school stuff?

[27:01] So, the second week in April

[27:04] has the

[27:06] three days we will be attending school on those days.

[27:09] Mm-hmm.

[27:10] First week in April. And I was trying to gauge some of that by how Impact schedules

[27:14] their breaks, too.

[27:17] Gotcha.

[27:18] So that lines up a couple of things.

[27:20] As she's looking up the testing,

[27:24] that first week in April lines up with what other schools

[27:28] that are in Impact with us.

[27:30] A lot of them in this area, yes.

[27:33] Okay.

[27:36] Does the last week in March not

[27:42] work

[27:44] for the students in Impact?

[27:46] It does, but most-

[27:48] Because it was 50/50 the way they wanted it.

[27:50] Yeah. Most of the schools

[27:53] are in session that last

[27:57] week in March, and then they got the first week in April.

[28:01] So it would work

[28:03] to take the last week of March off?

[28:05] That's the... Yeah.

[28:07] We could still do that. I mean-

[28:09] That's the-

[28:09] I don't-

[28:10] ... original one we've already approved is like-

[28:11] I don't have any ownership of that first week in April.

[28:14] I mean, it doesn't make a difference one way or another to me.

[28:17] I was more focused on trying to narrow that down

[28:21] away from the two full weeks.

[28:23] So I have some assessment dates here for you.

[28:26] So at the high school, the iLearn Biology

[28:30] ECA assessment starts on April 12th, as does the

[28:33] Geometry ECA assessment. And then

[28:37] at the middle school, the iLearn Summative

[28:41] starts on April 13th, and then in

[28:45] grades three through five, the iLearn Summative

[28:48] begins April 26th.

[29:02] So Steve's calendar really doesn't give us that much benefit.

[29:10] As far as testing. Yeah.

[29:12] Yeah.

[29:12] Yeah. Doesn't improve that for the high school, at least.

[29:16] I like the idea of moving that to the last week of March.

[29:18] Well, that's how we've had it for years.

[29:20] Yeah. Well, but one week.

[29:21] Just shorten it.

[29:22] Just one week. Yeah.

[29:23] Yeah. I'm on that. I can-

[29:25] Only take one week?

[29:26] Mm.

[29:27] Or have...

[29:30] I like our original,

[29:32] the way what we approved before, that there are two weeks.

[29:35] Gotcha.

[29:35] Now. And some people have already planned-

[29:38] What-

[29:38] ... breaks, and it seems like when we would come back, then on

[29:42] April 7th,

[29:46] they would have,

[29:50] well, two days instead... You said the 12th? Am I sure?

[29:53] Mm-hmm. It's the 1st.

[29:54] Two days instead of one day.

[29:58] I didn't know what was the

[30:00] survey when you did the survey and

[30:03] what was there a question about one week, cut spring break down

[30:07] to one week?

[30:08] Yes, there was.

[30:08] And that was a 50/50 because we haven't seen the results.

[30:12] There was about 1,000, about 1,100

[30:16] responses, and it was within 30 points either

[30:20] way.

[30:21] What if you started it off on the 20...

[30:25] Is that the 23rd

[30:27] on a Thursday?

[30:30] And then you have those two days off, and then you have that full week off, and you

[30:34] come back the beginning of April. Then you have the same amount of

[30:37] days that you have currently now. You're just pushing it up.

[30:41] So you have more time for testing, but you still have the same dates, and that

[30:45] leaves time for your

[30:47] makeup days as well.

[30:48] Like Jen's calendar was.

[30:50] I thought-

[30:50] Yeah, but I'm-

[30:51] I thought hers was moving it forward in April, I thought.

[30:54] No.

[30:55] No?

[30:56] No.

[30:57] The only difference between Jen's and Steve's was that,

[31:01] the date that Steve has on the 10th that's off,

[31:04] April 10th-

[31:05] Monday, Thursday, that's right

[31:06] ... she moved that to the

[31:09] 30th of March.

[31:11] Mm-hmm.

[31:11] So boom, instead of having a day at the beginning and the end, you had

[31:15] two days at the beginning.

[31:18] Well, it wouldn't be exactly like Jen's because we're moving it all the way up into

[31:21] March.

[31:22] Right. I'm just saying-

[31:24] It's just that one day that's going to be a no

[31:26] ... that difference.

[31:27] You still have the same number of days off.

[31:28] Yeah.

[31:29] But it'd be Thursday, Friday, then the next week.

[31:31] Not Friday, next week, and then Monday.

[31:34] My eyes are kind of bad. So it'd be-

[31:36] Okay

[31:37] ...

[31:38] March 23rd

[31:41] to-

[31:41] No

[31:41] ... March 31st,

[31:43] and then they'd come back-

[31:44] Oh, I thought hers was March 30th to-

[31:46] No, this is what I just came up with just now-

[31:48] Oh, got you

[31:48] ... when I was sitting here. Not what Jen was saying.

[31:51] Okay.

[31:51] March 23rd-

[31:53] Uh-huh

[31:53] ... then you have those two days off, and then you go into the next week, have that

[31:57] full week off. So you have your week before-

[31:59] Mm-hmm

[32:00] ... and you're not losing or gaining any days that you have on

[32:04] Steve's calendar now. We're just shifting it because you have

[32:08] five days there off, and then you have the 10th off and the 31st, so that's seven

[32:12] days.

[32:13] Mm-hmm.

[32:13] So you just count back five, six, seven, 20... So it's the same days off.

[32:17] You're just shifting it towards March. It's the same days.

[32:19] And you're given more for testing.

[32:21] Mm-hmm.

[32:25] Yeah. Once again, I like that break, or coming back two

[32:28] days and start testing. I think it'd be nicer because the whole thing, in my

[32:32] opinion, was framed out as we're trying to do this for student outcomes to

[32:35] increase scores and get kids

[32:39] direct

[32:41] instruction-

[32:42] Yeah

[32:42] ... in front of teachers.

[32:44] Yeah.

[32:44] So, I like, personally, the shortened two weeks.

[32:49] So why don't we do it right after

[32:52] second

[32:54] quarter or third quarter?

[32:56] What week would that be?

[32:57] That was what you-

[32:58] March 13th.

[33:04] Not opposed to that.

[33:05] Is there a reason that wouldn't be a good idea?

[33:09] Those three full weeks.

[33:10] To do just the week at March 13th?

[33:14] No, not one week, two weeks. Are you saying one week or two weeks?

[33:17] I

[33:18] like the way my calendar is-

[33:19] I do too

[33:20] ... but if you're trying to adjust this one to whatever.

[33:22] Yeah.

[33:23] Yeah.

[33:23] She wants to know if she should put Brent's on here this time.

[33:25] Can we go look at Brent's calendar?

[33:27] Yeah. Put up the last one, if you would.

[33:37] So you're saying do two weeks starting March 13th?

[33:41] Yeah.

[33:43] No, that one doesn't-

[33:43] No, what I was saying with if you were changing Steve's around-

[33:47] Yes.

[33:48] Move it to March 13th. Yeah

[33:50] ... to the dates that are there. But-

[33:50] I would not be opposed to that unless there's something in the way of doing it that

[33:53] early

[33:53] ... and if it'd be best to move our two weeks to the end of the year-

[33:56] To get even more time for testing afterwards.

[33:59] Did you say something, Michelle, that there was some testing before

[34:03] in March? Did that come up last

[34:06] meeting?

[34:06] What are we squeezing there?

[34:08] So in March,

[34:10] we have the SAT, March 1 through March 12th.

[34:14] We have IRA the first week of March, basically the same window, one through 12th.

[34:18] So those would be done.

[34:20] And then right now we have scheduled from March 8th to the

[34:23] 19th, which is a big window, iLearn Checkpoint 3.

[34:29] Okay.

[34:32] That was what, 8th through the-

[34:33] 19th.

[34:34] 19th

[34:35] of March?

[34:36] Correct.

[34:37] And what's that look like? Do you...

[34:39] So-

[34:39] That has some wiggle room. So the state-

[34:41] Okay

[34:41] ... gives us a window on the checkpoints, and then we make it

[34:45] match to where we are in our curriculum maps.

[34:48] So it's-

[34:48] So we have wiggle room with the state, but it would

[34:52] throw us off. We'd like to get to a certain point in our teaching and then do the

[34:56] assessment.

[34:56] How many days does that take to do?

[34:59] It varies.

[35:02] Because the 8th through the 19th is for grades three, four, and five,

[35:06] English Language Arts and Math.

[35:08] Mm-hmm.

[35:08] And then till you break them down into

[35:11] small groups, schedules can go up to two weeks.

[35:16] The teachers would be willing to, the principals would be willing to schedule

[35:19] around what we need to.

[35:21] Okay.

[35:32] This is the-

[35:32] This would be back to the two-week break.

[35:34] This is really close to the original, correct, Brent?

[35:37] Yeah, this-- Yeah, there it is

[35:37] Close to the original. I just adjusted it for the three makeup

[35:41] days or whatever else. This wasn't exactly what I had,

[35:45] but that's all right.

[35:46] But you put a lot of makeup days on the backside if we need them at the

[35:50] very end.

[35:51] If you need them. Yep, that would be your call.

[35:54] Superintendent's call.

[35:57] Only problem I have with them being at the very end is those are garbage

[36:01] days.

[36:03] They're just

[36:05] replacing days. They aren't replacing instruction.

[36:07] I've kind of heard that about the other one, too.

[36:09] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's not-

[36:11] With different superintendents and administrators and teachers that I've talked...

[36:15] I've got a pretty big network-

[36:17] Yeah

[36:17] ... outside of this footprint that I consult with or talk with.

[36:21] Yeah.

[36:21] I shouldn't say consult, but-

[36:23] They start-

[36:24] Their opinions about-

[36:25] Not productive. There's make-

[36:26] No.

[36:27] I'm sorry, Greg, this is not a meeting for the public.

[36:30] Oh, okay. Thank you for your inconsistency.

[36:36] Sorry, board.

[36:37] No,

[36:38] go on.

[36:38] Greg, we have a business meeting to-

[36:41] Be careful

[36:41] ... attend to here. Thanks for your opinion, Greg.

[36:45] Keep going, Brent. Sorry.

[36:46] Thanks for the strong arm.

[36:46] I was just saying that I've got a lot of friends that

[36:50] are teachers, administrators, whatever.

[36:53] When stuff like this comes up, I normally

[36:56] pick their brains, get their opinions.

[36:58] Yeah.

[36:58] "What do you think about this? Does this make sense?

[37:01] Does this make nonsense?" So.

[37:02] Yeah, I got you.

[37:04] So

[37:05] I think we've heard each other's opinions.

[37:07] I think there's a few of us that like the one week, there's a few of us that like

[37:10] the two week. Is there anybody that wants to make a motion to see if anything

[37:14] passes? Is there more discussion?

[37:18] I don't know that there's any one exact calendar for any of us.

[37:22] So I don't know how we could make a motion, unless we're going to accept one of the

[37:26] three-

[37:27] Yeah, we could do that, if someone wants to make a motion on that.

[37:30] Yeah

[37:30] ... so it'd be one of the three calendars.

[37:32] Mm-hmm.

[37:34] What's-

[37:35] Can I see your calendars real quick?

[37:36] Mine or Brent's?

[37:37] Just all three of them real quick, please. It's hard to see the screen.

[37:41] I should have printed them.

[37:41] Joe, if you want to pull up the screen.

[37:42] I would actually make a motion to modify the calendar myself.

[37:45] Which one?

[37:46] What do you have in mind?

[37:47] Steve's calendar.

[37:48] Okay.

[37:50] What would you like to modify it to?

[37:50] I would make a motion to move

[37:55] the

[37:56] week of spring break from,

[38:00] Steve had the 31st

[38:03] basically through the 10th.

[38:06] I would move that up and go the 23rd through the 31st of

[38:10] March.

[38:11] I'll second that.

[38:12] Similar to what-

[38:13] Hang on. Hang on

[38:13] ... Joel had suggested.

[38:15] Okay.

[38:16] I would keep the makeup days the same as what Steve had.

[38:20] Okay.

[38:23] I don't know if there's anything else that needs to be visited with it.

[38:26] Can you repeat that?

[38:28] Yeah, so

[38:30] basically moving spring break to start March 23rd

[38:35] and end on the 31st of March.

[38:39] And there'll be lots of families, again, previous superintendent experience,

[38:45] who will then leave on the 22nd or the 21st.

[38:48] You realize that? It doesn't matter where you start your

[38:52] spring break-

[38:55] Yeah

[38:55] ... you drift and you lose days.

[38:58] So that's part of the theory. If we have two weeks, they're going to miss even

[39:01] more, because you're right.

[39:03] Yeah, if they-

[39:03] They're going to have that

[39:03] ... do two weeks, they typically shouldn't leave early.

[39:07] They aren't rushed. They don't have to get back.

[39:09] But to Jen's point, no matter what, they're going to leave early.

[39:11] Well-

[39:12] It's just some schedules-

[39:13] Drivers are used to them

[39:13] ... "Hey, we have to leave to hit this."

[39:15] So I would just argue that, that's all.

[39:17] I guess my gut is we got to start somewhere.

[39:20] Yeah.

[39:20] I feel like I like Steve's concept

[39:24] of

[39:26] this is going to help have students in class.

[39:28] It also helps

[39:30] the IAs and the others that are in an hourly

[39:33] situation to maybe at least make up three days.

[39:39] Not to say we can't do some of the stuff that Ms.

[39:41] Terra talked about, but from that standpoint, I think we start

[39:45] somewhere and if we've got to modify after next year, we do that.

[39:49] Or adjust, but-

[39:50] I'm not sure if you've thought about, but

[39:53] we have IAs that don't get paid on snow days

[39:58] or weather days, but we also have bus drivers to think about and we have

[40:01] food

[40:03] staff to think about.

[40:04] Yeah.

[40:04] They don't get paid.

[40:06] Why are we-

[40:08] That's what I-

[40:08] ... customizing it for-

[40:09] No

[40:09] ...

[40:10] with the thought of IA? Well, you just mentioned.

[40:12] We're not. I said IAs and the other teammates that are hourly.

[40:16] That would be food staff and bus drivers.

[40:19] They all get those three days back if we have three makeup days.

[40:24] Okay.

[40:24] Not just the IAs.

[40:30] Just my thought.

[40:31] Yeah, in the-

[40:32] We got to start somewhere.

[40:34] Okay.

[40:35] I'll make a motion to second

[40:37] that calendar change

[40:39] that he recommended from the 23rd to the 31st.

[40:43] And then what happens the week of the 3rd,

[40:47] of April?

[40:47] They go back to school.

[40:48] We'd be in school.

[40:49] They go to school. Then that week-

[40:50] You give them that extra week

[40:51] ... they have a full week-

[40:51] 10th is off, the 11th is, 12. Okay.

[40:54] The 10th is-

[40:55] Our 10th would be-

[40:56] The 10th is back in school as well

[40:57] ... back in school.

[40:58] They'll have that full week, about a week and a half before they start

[41:02] testing.

[41:02] There'll be seven days off instead of 10.

[41:03] Coming back from vacation and testing, right? Because that's not going to go good.

[41:07] I know.

[41:07] But you also have makeup days in the middle of the testing period,

[41:11] too. Does that make sense?

[41:13] No, the makeup days are-

[41:14] 11, 12, 13

[41:16] ... the makeup days were 21st, 28th.

[41:19] Yeah, but-

[41:19] Test days around that time

[41:20] ... they're going to go to school regardless of those days.

[41:23] If you don't think that we're not going to use three days in Indiana-

[41:26] The reason we put the makeup days on Friday is because a lot of them don't test on

[41:29] Friday. That's the reason I chose those days.

[41:31] Well, I understand that, but you could

[41:33] work with them to get them ready for the test the following week, if you...

[41:37] That's true.

[41:39] I think Joel is right, though. The reality is, I think the numbers show that we

[41:43] will be going to school those days.

[41:46] If we utilize makeup days.

[41:48] Yeah.

[41:48] Right now there's nothing saying that we have to utilize makeup days.

[41:53] Yeah. But I think we'll probably be-

[41:54] We could use eLearning and the asynchronous.

[41:56] Not even-

[41:57] Or asynchronous.

[41:57] Sure. Sure. But my guess is, I think the goal is to get the kids

[42:01] in

[42:02] school. So, my hope is that we use those and they have a traditional

[42:06] snow day like we did when we were kids.

[42:09] Again, back to my original, let's make them all up. Let's add them to the end.

[42:13] You heard what I said last meeting.

[42:15] Let's go.

[42:17] But I don't think that's where we are right now in

[42:20] our space, so-

[42:22] Yeah

[42:22] ... it's going to take some baby steps.

[42:24] So it sounds like the state may be moving that way, too.

[42:28] So.

[42:32] He made a motion and I second it.

[42:33] He did, and I just think, in my opinion, I think it kind of leads towards

[42:37] what Steve's trying to direct us to, to try and

[42:40] get our kids in school, in front of teachers, let teachers do their jobs so that we

[42:44] can have better testing. Which is, once again, one of our top goals for our

[42:48] superintendent

[42:49] So you guys don't... Oh, I guess there's a motion and a second, but

[42:53] to propose the new calendar to the staff, or the

[42:57] proposed calendar back out to the staff to see what do you

[43:01] think because of testing, what do the IAs think?

[43:04] Because that's what we asked for-

[43:06] Yeah

[43:06] ... for this calendar.

[43:08] Mm-hmm.

[43:09] Steve's calendar.

[43:10] Yeah.

[43:10] Now, we're not going to go back and ask the staff what-

[43:12] I mean, it-

[43:13] ... what they think?

[43:14] We had a principal and a-

[43:17] IA

[43:17] ... an IA in here saying that-

[43:19] We did

[43:19] ... the last week of March-

[43:20] Well, I understand that

[43:21] ... the last week of March and one week of testing would be the best,

[43:25] and we're just keeping the same days and shifting it up, and we just have two extra

[43:29] days there. So I mean, we're giving them what they've just brought

[43:33] up.

[43:34] And I would also say, we're trusting Steve with leading us in the right

[43:37] direction to improve us.

[43:39] So we just got two

[43:43] extra days back?

[43:45] All we did is just shift it up to the week of March to give

[43:49] more time before testing.

[43:51] Yeah.

[43:52] So

[43:53] Mr. Vogel proposed seven days for spring break. It would still be seven days.

[44:00] So any seven?

[44:02] Well, what-

[44:03] I mean-

[44:03] ... the motion is, is for the 23rd. Make sure I have that right.

[44:06] Yeah, the 23rd through the 31st.

[44:11] Okay. What does the motion say? Do you even know?

[44:14] The motion s-

[44:15] What does the motion say?

[44:16] Yeah. Let me state the motion.

[44:17] Thank you.

[44:18] Yeah. The motion is, is that we will have spring break March

[44:21] 2028 from Thursday, the 28th-

[44:25] 23rd.

[44:26] Sorry, Thursday, the 23rd, my glasses are good, through March

[44:30] 31st.

[44:32] Nothing else changes. So instead of having it from the

[44:35] 31st through the 10th.

[44:40] So just as Joel said, it's a Thursday, Friday, then the following

[44:43] week.

[44:46] Which is actually very similar to what you proposed-

[44:49] Yeah, almost

[44:49] ... originally.

[44:50] Very similar.

[44:51] Just it's moved up a week.

[44:53] Do those-

[44:53] And I know you pulled that out, but that was-

[44:55] Do those line up with other schools' vacations as well?

[44:59] Because we have some staff,

[45:03] and it's important to them to have

[45:05] the same. We lose staff

[45:09] because they want to go to their home school where their child is.

[45:12] So I-

[45:14] I'm curious, Jen, you championed two weeks ago to have this switch, and

[45:18] now you want to go back to two weeks. Is there a reason?

[45:21] No, I did not want to...

[45:25] I never wanted the 23rd and 24th the days as-

[45:27] No, I understand that, but you still wanted just seven days rather than-

[45:31] No, I want-

[45:31] ... 10

[45:32] ...

[45:34] If we had to vote on this

[45:38] calendar,

[45:41] after I looked at our original calendar first that I had looked

[45:45] at or I had it sent to me, it was in our email about that, you had sent it

[45:49] to me.

[45:52] It

[45:57] Somehow that

[45:59] just two years ago, we decided that was the right thing to do.

[46:03] Yeah.

[46:03] We have a new philosophy now, and I get that.

[46:08] I'm not

[46:10] into-

[46:13] Change is hard

[46:14] ... I'm not into necessarily making

[46:17] Gotcha.

[46:18] Okay.

[46:20] So board, any more discussion? We have a motion and a second.

[46:24] Any more discussion?

[46:26] Seeing none. All in favor of that motion, say aye.

[46:30] Aye.

[46:30] Aye. Opposed, the same.

[46:32] Aye.

[46:33] Okay, three-three.

[46:35] Is there any other motion, board, tonight?

[46:40] All right. Seeing none, we'll move on.

[46:42] So it stays the 2025?

[46:44] As of now.

[46:45] Okay.

[46:45] Yep, as of now.

[46:47] Okay.

[46:48] All right.

[46:50] Next-

[46:51] Nick, what

[46:53] don't you like, or what would you disagree with, or what would you like to see?

[46:57] I appreciated

[46:59] Brent's version of the calendar.

[47:03] Keeping it to two weeks.

[47:08] Getting

[47:13] a makeup day in there when we can and on the end of the school year

[47:17] if we need them.

[47:21] Kind of a mix of both. You're keeping it to two weeks.

[47:24] I understand that's right up against testing.

[47:27] I'm a big believer in

[47:31] time with family is invaluable. I understand

[47:35] that testing is absolutely important, and I think

[47:40] we need to continue to look at that and strive to be better every day.

[47:45] I just think

[47:48] family time and us giving families the opportunity

[47:53] to have that time

[47:56] is invaluable.

[47:59] Brent, when did yours start out at?

[48:01] Excuse me.

[48:01] But we already voted on that, Joel.

[48:03] If we want to have another discussion-

[48:05] You can't discuss it

[48:05] No, we already had the discussion.

[48:06] Not at this point. We got to continue now.

[48:07] We already had the discussion.

[48:08] May I?

[48:09] Yes.

[48:09] Terry, you would simply want to take formal action to reopen that

[48:13] for discussion and revote. That would be the proper formal way,

[48:18] just so you know.

[48:19] That's-

[48:19] Would that happen this meeting? Or would that-

[48:22] Yes.

[48:22] If we reopen discussion, and then we're going to take more motions if we would like

[48:25] to. However-

[48:27] The motion to reopen the-

[48:29] It's my understanding we're pretty set with what we're set

[48:33] with. So why don't we, if you have more discussion,

[48:37] we can do that at a later time.

[48:39] No, I mean, if you moved it to the 20th, to

[48:43] the 31st-

[48:44] Hang on a second.

[48:45] You just-

[48:46] Yeah, let's go ahead and reopen for discussion.

[48:48] Yeah, let's reopen it, because we've been talking about this calendar for six

[48:52] months. We've got to figure this out.

[48:54] Can't disagree with you, Joel

[48:56] So I'll make a motion to reopen discussion of calendar.

[48:59] Anybody second?

[49:01] Hang on a second. I don't think we need a motion to reopen

[49:04] it.

[49:05] You can reopen it.

[49:06] Yeah.

[49:06] Okay.

[49:06] It

[49:09] has reopened.

[49:10] Discussing calendar. Yeah.

[49:11] Sorry.

[49:11] All right.

[49:12] Yes.

[49:12] Okay. So,

[49:17] I wouldn't be opposed if we moved the calendar to

[49:21] the 20th, because that would be after that first wave of testing,

[49:25] and then it ends on the 31st, and then that would give us that week and a

[49:29] half or a few days before they do other testing.

[49:33] Can I ask a question, though?

[49:36] And I get wanting the kids in the classroom

[49:39] prior to testing.

[49:43] There's a lot of corporations in the northern part of the state that take the

[49:47] first week of April. I think there's some

[49:51] that even take it the second week to get

[49:55] Good Friday as part of their vacation.

[49:59] Should they be adjusted?

[50:01] Are their test scores

[50:04] worse than ours or the same? That's what I'm trying to get to.

[50:08] Yeah.

[50:09] Is this measurable that our test scores

[50:12] improve by this switch,

[50:15] or let's test it and see.

[50:17] There's no statistics to say that.

[50:20] Yeah.

[50:27] Any other discussion?

[50:29] I guess my question would be to Joel, is

[50:34] originally for your reasoning to go 23rd to 31st,

[50:39] what was the value proposition for you with that?

[50:42] Well, the value was

[50:45] that

[50:46] some of the staff wanted the shorter

[50:50] week there, so that gives more time for testing on the 11th

[50:54] to the 13th,

[50:56] and it's after testing up there. It just seemed like it was a happy medium

[51:00] to compromise and meet in the middle there.

[51:03] But

[51:04] also,

[51:06] I'm with Nick too, if we want to switch it to where it

[51:10] lands up there between the two in March and

[51:14] we put those makeup days at the end, which Steve says that's not

[51:18] really the greatest, but also

[51:21] it's time spent at home or time spent on vacation with their family,

[51:26] and that's something, too. So I can swing both ways.

[51:29] But between the 20th and 31st or

[51:33] 23rd to the 31st, I could swing both ways.

[51:37] The

[51:41] value of saying, and I'm not trying to

[51:44] go

[51:49] against your thought process, Nick, but the value of

[51:53] having all of that time in one space versus having

[51:57] time with your family regardless, if you're doing

[52:01] makeup days at the end and you've got three or five makeup days, whatever it

[52:05] is, you're losing it on the end. So people spending time with their family,

[52:10] you can look at it both ways. And I would also say for

[52:13] many parents that aren't able to go on vacation or spend that time with

[52:17] family, now they're finding an extra

[52:20] three or four days of

[52:25] childcare.

[52:25] They've been doing that for years now.

[52:29] I understand that, but you're

[52:32] making an argument that we are getting to spend family

[52:36] time. There's actually a lot of people that aren't able to spend that family

[52:39] time, that some of us might've been able to spend.

[52:43] That's my point, right?

[52:45] Because we made a decision to go to two weeks, whatever

[52:49] that reason was for, was fine. But there are still

[52:53] parents that suffer because they're finding

[52:56] kids would be in school that extra week had we not done that

[53:01] at that timeframe. Now they're actually having to get childcare that they wouldn't

[53:04] have had to get.

[53:06] Additional childcare. So, I think you can look at it both

[53:10] ways on that. It's probably more of a personal

[53:14] preference in that situation versus

[53:18] educationally,

[53:23] I don't know how being in the

[53:26] classroom is going to be detrimental to the kids versus

[53:30] having to prove that it's going to be valuable.

[53:33] Do the test scores say it's valuable? I don't know.

[53:36] But being in and actually having instruction in front of somebody rather than on

[53:40] a computer where it's easy-

[53:41] So important

[53:41] ... to check out.

[53:43] We all do it. I do Teams meetings. It's easy to do other work while you're doing

[53:47] Teams meetings. Trust me, people are checked out when you

[53:51] have,

[53:52] talking to teachers, you have three days in a row or four days,

[53:57] people aren't showing up at that point.

[54:00] So we're losing opportunity with kids, I think.

[54:03] And is it going to make or break us and be the

[54:07] perfect resolution? No. But it's going to be better than it is today,

[54:12] is my opinion.

[54:13] Well, we've done very-

[54:13] That's your opinion. Again, you have nothing statistically to prove that, right?

[54:17] Okay.

[54:17] And-

[54:18] Or do we do away with a full week at fall break, get it back

[54:22] to one day like it used to be?

[54:23] We could do that, too.

[54:24] And then also shorten down the Christmas.

[54:27] That way we can make up if we have blizzards.

[54:29] We've had blizzards around here that takes us out for a week.

[54:33] Yeah.

[54:34] Two or three.

[54:35] I don't disagree that those are other options.

[54:39] It's not an option I'm for. Again, I don't think our system's broke right now.

[54:44] Well, and so this past year we

[54:48] had two weeks

[54:50] and our test scores

[54:54] improved.

[54:56] That's a statistic

[54:58] where we

[55:01] That's what I've been reading from the IDOE.

[55:06] So I

[55:08] like the two

[55:10] weeks

[55:12] for--

[55:14] Yeah.

[55:18] Any more discussion? Does anybody want to make a motion?

[55:23] I make a motion to the calendar, I approve.

[55:28] There's a motion to approve Brent's calendar. Is there a second?

[55:32] Brent, what

[55:33] was your base for your calendar? We've talked to so many-

[55:36] It should pop up there

[55:38] Basically what it was before-

[55:39] There's quite a few changes on his

[55:40] ... questions.

[55:42] There you go. 27th.

[55:46] The same one we originally approved.

[55:49] I'll second.

[55:52] Brent's calendar.

[55:59] We have a motion and a second to approve the

[56:03] calendar

[56:05] noted as Brent's version.

[56:07] Version C.

[56:10] Any more discussion before the vote?

[56:13] All in favor say, "Aye."

[56:15] Aye. Aye.

[56:16] Opposed the same.

[56:18] Aye.

[56:18] Aye. Three, three.

[56:23] Okey-dokey.

[56:23] Say again?

[56:24] I said okey-dokey.

[56:25] That's where we are.

[56:27] Board, let's move on.

[56:29] Steve, thank you for bringing that to us, and

[56:33] if you want to have some more thought and discussion, I am open to it.

[56:38] But right now, this board is at an impasse.

[56:40] So

[56:43] we carry on. Board, we're moving on to the board policies, and we're going to

[56:46] treat those as we did last month. We're going to individually look at them. Mr.

[56:50] Vogt is going to give us the bullet points again before we vote on each one.

[56:54] And the first policy up is 1422.

[56:57] Yes. Board,

[57:01] policy 1422.

[57:04] Almost all of these related to non-discrimination,

[57:08] employment opportunity, anti-harassment.

[57:11] Many of these

[57:12] policies tonight are related to that.

[57:15] One of the points that have been up for discussion,

[57:18] and I got a call from Nick this week about

[57:23] the appeal process.

[57:25] There's two options in there. One was

[57:29] the appeal process goes to the superintendent, decision's final.

[57:33] Another option was to go to the board after the superintendent,

[57:37] and that was an appeal process.

[57:41] The selection that I had made was

[57:44] it ends at superintendent. Reason for that was a lot of it had to do

[57:48] with exposure to the board.

[57:52] So that's what I'm presenting tonight.

[57:55] And what do you mean by exposure?

[57:56] And I thought there was going to be discussion.

[57:57] What do you mean by exposure to the board?

[57:59] Legal exposure.

[58:02] So there's training, right?

[58:05] That director of HR

[58:08] does to do the investigation process, right?

[58:12] Compliance officers.

[58:13] That you-

[58:13] Yep, they go through-

[58:14] Yeah, compliance officers

[58:14] ... Title IX, Title VII. They go through all the title training, and

[58:18] yes, and I've been through that twice.

[58:20] Right. So

[58:22] from our perspective, if we were going to push that to the board

[58:26] level, right? Which I'm not saying we shouldn't, I'm not saying we should, but if

[58:30] we do, you're in a spot where whoever's responsible

[58:34] for investigating that at the board level then has to go through the compliance

[58:37] training, basically.

[58:42] So we've

[58:44] been through different situations, and I say we,

[58:49] I don't know if it's two or three

[58:54] employees. The first one,

[58:57] we just were apprised of the

[59:01] situation, that where it was in the appeals, never getting any

[59:05] evidence.

[59:06] The next one was very public,

[59:09] and so we had a lot of evidence there, but it never

[59:12] made it to us

[59:15] based...

[59:17] It was

[59:18] withdrawn or whatever.

[59:20] So-

[59:22] In the eight years,

[59:26] we've not ever had a case come all the way to the board.

[59:30] I do like it-

[59:31] I just want to make sure-

[59:32] ... coming to the board

[59:33] ... I just want to make sure, I'm not saying we do the appeal, but I just want

[59:37] to make sure

[59:38] the superintendent decides, decision's final.

[59:41] I want to make sure the board has the opportunity for

[59:45] oversight.

[59:46] I think that-

[59:47] That's all I am after. I don't want-

[59:50] I think the, right

[59:51] ... just one person and it's over. I think it's-

[59:53] I think in the last part of the

[59:56] 54 pages, I thought I read there was something

[1:00:00] built in there if the board still...

[1:00:04] That there was a...

[1:00:06] Maybe I read it wrong all the way at the end.

[1:00:10] Let me ask you, Steve-

[1:00:13] Hang on real quick. Sorry.

[1:00:15] Go ahead.

[1:00:15] Do you know what line you're referring to?

[1:00:22] Because if you give us a page number and line, Jen, that'd be helpful.

[1:00:25] And if you want to look for that while Brent's talking, or do you want to look for

[1:00:28] it

[1:00:29] right now?

[1:00:38] There's

[1:00:44] line 15 on page

[1:00:47] 53. "The board retains discretion to

[1:00:51] appoint suitably qualified persons who are not board employees to

[1:00:55] fulfill any function of the board under this policy,

[1:00:59] including but not limited to..."

[1:01:02] Who the compliance officer is, who the decision-makers are, appeal

[1:01:06] decision maker, or facilitator in a formal resolution.

[1:01:09] So we still have

[1:01:13] discretion.

[1:01:15] It's not solely left up to

[1:01:19] one person.

[1:01:23] Mm-hmm.

[1:01:23] That was page 53.

[1:01:27] Mm-hmm.

[1:01:29] Would-

[1:01:29] 15

[1:01:30] ... be valuable to get-

[1:01:31] Yes. Seth, do you have any input on this from a liability legal standpoint for the

[1:01:35] corporation?

[1:01:36] Thank you, Doug, and Aaron, I have input.

[1:01:41] I would suggest to you that given kind of the nature...

[1:01:44] Thank you. Sorry about that.

[1:01:46] It's okay.

[1:01:49] I got no red light. Are we good?

[1:01:50] Yeah, you're on.

[1:01:50] All right. I would suggest, given the nature of the environment of the board,

[1:01:55] we're kind of familiar with some of the tones

[1:01:59] that go on, that the moment that you guys

[1:02:03] make yourselves

[1:02:05] the arbiters of the appeals, you guys

[1:02:09] become quasi-adjudicators. You're exposed to confidential

[1:02:12] personnel and student allegations.

[1:02:14] People begin lobbying the board members.

[1:02:17] The appeals become political. Future litigation can put you in the

[1:02:21] witness chair. From a governance perspective, I can tell you

[1:02:24] clearly, having prepared for this tonight,

[1:02:28] we need to stick to our model. The board sets policy,

[1:02:32] administration investigates, superintendent

[1:02:36] decides, aggrieved parties retain whatever outside

[1:02:40] rights they have.

[1:02:43] That would be our recommendation.

[1:02:46] Taking that on

[1:02:48] as a board, we would not advise that. Thank you for the question.

[1:02:52] So you like how it is written and presented to the board?

[1:02:56] I like the version that does not make you guys the arbiters of these

[1:03:00] matters, because there are significant collateral issues that could come up as a

[1:03:04] result of that.

[1:03:05] Okay.

[1:03:06] About oversight, you always, I think, as a board, have

[1:03:10] oversight of everyone's job, duty, and so if this

[1:03:14] was the superintendent's job and duty, clearly you would have oversight

[1:03:18] over that generally as well.

[1:03:21] Thank you for clarifying that.

[1:03:23] Yeah.

[1:03:24] Any other

[1:03:26] discussion, board?

[1:03:30] Does anybody want to make a motion to approve policy

[1:03:34] 1422 as written?

[1:03:36] I'll make a motion to approve policy 1422 as written.

[1:03:41] I'll second.

[1:03:42] We have a motion from Mr. Byerly and a second from Mr. Timmerman.

[1:03:45] All in favor say aye.

[1:03:46] Aye.

[1:03:47] Opposed the same.

[1:03:49] So moved. All right, now

[1:03:51] 1422.02.

[1:03:54] Yeah. 1422.02 is just rescinding this

[1:03:58] policy.

[1:03:59] Is just voting it out.

[1:04:02] Board, is there any discussion on that?

[1:04:05] Seeing-

[1:04:06] I'll make a motion to approve.

[1:04:08] A motion from Mr. Durbin. A second from-

[1:04:11] I second.

[1:04:12] Mr. Byerly, thank you. All in favor say aye.

[1:04:15] Aye.

[1:04:15] Opposed the same.

[1:04:17] All right, next up, policy 1662. Mr. Voor.

[1:04:21] Yeah, 1662 is also a rescind. They're

[1:04:25] just removing that policy.

[1:04:27] Board, is there any discussion on that?

[1:04:30] Seeing none, do I have a motion to approve?

[1:04:33] I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second.

[1:04:36] Motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mrs. Blackman.

[1:04:39] All in favor say aye.

[1:04:41] Aye.

[1:04:41] Opposed the same.

[1:04:43] So moved. Policy 2260.

[1:04:46] Yes, 2260 is the same question that has

[1:04:50] been brought up, the appeal process.

[1:04:52] Almost all these policies, as you roll through the

[1:04:57] compliance officer and you go through the appeal process, they're

[1:05:01] written almost exactly the same. It's just a different type of

[1:05:04] discrimination or employment process.

[1:05:09] Okay. Board, is there any conversation or discussion on this?

[1:05:14] So we have oversight, you're saying, general oversight of these? Okay.

[1:05:19] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[1:05:24] I'll second.

[1:05:25] Motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mrs. Blackman. All in favor say aye.

[1:05:28] Aye.

[1:05:29] Aye.

[1:05:29] Opposed the same.

[1:05:30] So moved. 2260.01.

[1:05:34] Once again, Mr. Voor.

[1:05:36] Yes. Same story with the appeal process.

[1:05:41] I do want to ask a quick question.

[1:05:43] On this policy?

[1:05:45] Not necessarily.

[1:05:46] Okay.

[1:05:47] Can we-

[1:05:48] Is that okay?

[1:05:48] Well, let's-

[1:05:49] Wait till the end?

[1:05:49] Yeah. No. Since we're discussing this one, let's get a

[1:05:53] motion-

[1:05:54] Okay

[1:05:54] ... and move on, then we'll go what you have to say.

[1:05:56] Okay with that.

[1:05:56] Is there a motion to approve 2260.01?

[1:05:59] I'll make the motion.

[1:06:04] I'll second.

[1:06:05] We have a motion from Mrs. Blackman, a second from Mr. Durbin.

[1:06:07] All in favor say aye.

[1:06:09] Aye.

[1:06:09] Opposed the same. So moved. AJ, what's your

[1:06:13] question?

[1:06:16] Quick question on

[1:06:19] the

[1:06:21] question that

[1:06:23] Dwight brought up in the public comments

[1:06:27] was some areas it says may

[1:06:30] versus requiring, actual,

[1:06:34] I guess,

[1:06:38] bringing it forth or complaint or whatever.

[1:06:41] The consistency of that?

[1:06:43] Yeah. And I guess I want to ask counsel if we have

[1:06:47] a reason why that's separated so that we're making good decisions and if

[1:06:51] we need to revisit one because of that.

[1:06:55] Thank you, Board Member Byerly. I do have an answer

[1:06:59] for that issue. It is called Title IX

[1:07:03] Title IX is the federal law that deals with discrimination.

[1:07:08] One of the bigger concerns actually is going to be the next policy you all discuss

[1:07:11] tonight, that's 2266, and it's right in line with what you

[1:07:15] identified.

[1:07:16] The current policy proposed by NEOLA

[1:07:20] identifies what are called mandatory reporters under Title IX.

[1:07:24] Mm-hmm.

[1:07:24] Those are going to be your teachers and your frontline employees.

[1:07:27] Right. Mm-hmm.

[1:07:28] The policy that you are proposing to adopt tonight also sweeps you

[1:07:32] into that, and students.

[1:07:35] So if you were to pass this policy tonight, you just made

[1:07:39] yourselves mandatory reporters, as well as students.

[1:07:43] If the board has some concern with that,

[1:07:46] as far as putting on additional liability on the students and yourself,

[1:07:50] I think that helps you understand maybe the greater issues at play when we're

[1:07:54] looking at these policies. With the board's permission, I'd like to speak about two

[1:07:58] more minutes on that.

[1:08:00] Sure.

[1:08:01] I think we've gotten into a situation, there's an old saying that a camel

[1:08:06] is a horse designed by a committee.

[1:08:09] I will repeat that.

[1:08:11] A camel is a horse designed by

[1:08:15] a committee.

[1:08:17] We've seen policy kind to bog us down in our work, and

[1:08:21] we have a framework we think would be helpful

[1:08:24] for you going forward as board members.

[1:08:27] The first question on any policy is:

[1:08:31] Is it legally permissible?

[1:08:33] Good news, that's our lane.

[1:08:36] Next time a policy comes down, a good approach would be to say,

[1:08:40] "Does it advance East Noble's mission?"

[1:08:44] That is your lane.

[1:08:46] At the end,

[1:08:49] when you evaluate the third, is there a compelling East Noble

[1:08:53] specific reason

[1:08:55] not to adopt it? That's where the debate should live.

[1:09:00] So when you look at these policies, we should also

[1:09:03] understand they come generally in three areas.

[1:09:08] The first one is going to be category one, this kind of

[1:09:12] stuff.

[1:09:13] This is your Title IX, your ADA, your technical compliance

[1:09:17] stuff. Record retention, mandatory reporting.

[1:09:21] Generally speaking,

[1:09:23] limited debate. Question, are we legally comfortable with this?

[1:09:28] Next policy is going to become... And this is very important we know this.

[1:09:31] This is why boards, we've had a lot of public

[1:09:37] interest.

[1:09:37] For sake.

[1:09:38] And that is local choice policies.

[1:09:43] Facility use, student conduct, calendars.

[1:09:49] Debate encouraged, full-throated.

[1:09:51] Those are the things that you're going to really work on, generally

[1:09:55] speaking.

[1:09:58] With that, these policies tonight

[1:10:03] that came down from NEOLA,

[1:10:05] we reviewed them. They are legally acceptable.

[1:10:09] We have concern, as I pointed out on the one that I just said.

[1:10:14] 2266.

[1:10:15] And then to finally answer your question, those are the reasons.

[1:10:18] Some are mandatory and there may be some discretion.

[1:10:21] I don't want to tell you each one

[1:10:25] because I don't know that memorized, but the bigger spirit of is that that's

[1:10:28] probably why there are some that are mandatory and otherwise there is a

[1:10:31] law that requires it. Thank you, Mr. Mahoney.

[1:10:36] Thank you.

[1:10:38] All right, 2266. Do you have any more conversation on that,

[1:10:42] AJ?

[1:10:42] Uh, no.

[1:10:43] Okay.

[1:10:44] I have a question to ask him for 2266.

[1:10:47] There was a-

[1:10:47] Hang on a second. You're asking...

[1:10:50] Okay, let Steve frame it out first, if you don't mind,

[1:10:54] and then we'll go from there.

[1:10:56] I may or may not answer your question, Joel.

[1:10:59] This one is based

[1:11:01] a lot on non-discrimination on the basis of sex in education

[1:11:05] programs or activities.

[1:11:07] Basically, this is a policy talking about

[1:11:12] sexual misconduct in an

[1:11:16] educational facility. And so

[1:11:20] the way it's written, if I'm understanding our legal counsel

[1:11:23] correctly, that it does place the board in a

[1:11:27] precarious situation and students in a precarious situation.

[1:11:32] So

[1:11:33] while

[1:11:35] it can be approved, it may be needed to be approved

[1:11:39] with adjustments

[1:11:41] to exclude

[1:11:44] the board from any exposure.

[1:11:49] That being said, are you wanting to tell us exactly what you would like

[1:11:53] omitted from this? What lines? Or do you want to table this one and

[1:11:56] come back with that?

[1:11:58] I think after listening to Mr. Tipton, I would like to table this one

[1:12:02] and then bring it back to you next board meeting with some

[1:12:06] more defined language.

[1:12:08] Okay. Board-

[1:12:09] Also, I think on this same policy,

[1:12:12] 2266,

[1:12:14] I've got it circled in here. We don't have a

[1:12:18] date

[1:12:19] range, like a

[1:12:21] time frame.

[1:12:22] What page?

[1:12:24] You mean as far as, just so I'm aware what-

[1:12:26] Like a five-day time frame-

[1:12:28] Got you. How quick to report

[1:12:28] ... or a 10-day time frame. Yeah, how quick to report, and there's a blank in

[1:12:32] there and I don't know if

[1:12:34] we're supposed to-

[1:12:34] Yeah, do you know the page and line?

[1:12:36] Not to put you on the spot, but-

[1:12:37] No, because I've got it-

[1:12:39] Come on ... he's got an old one. Oh, okay then, yeah, don't worry about it.

[1:12:42] The format of it. That's fine. We're going to table it.

[1:12:43] Okay.

[1:12:43] Let's get to it.

[1:12:44] Just so we can-

[1:12:45] Yeah, we'll find it

[1:12:45] ... we'll get the correct-

[1:12:46] It's changed on the new version-

[1:12:47] Okay

[1:12:47] ... that you got-

[1:12:48] Okay

[1:12:48] ... today.

[1:12:49] Okay.

[1:12:50] There you go.

[1:12:51] All right. I still want to ask Mr. Tipton a question.

[1:12:55] On the policy 2266,

[1:12:59] it was selected that we were going with

[1:13:02] the preponderance

[1:13:04] Of the evidence standard instead of a convincing

[1:13:08] evidence standard. Is there a reason for that?

[1:13:11] Joe, can you tell us a page and a line you're referring to?

[1:13:13] No, I don't have the formatted version on me.

[1:13:16] Can I tell you the reason why the board what, huh?

[1:13:19] So there was a selection, I was speaking to Steve about

[1:13:22] it.

[1:13:25] There was a selection made where it talks about...

[1:13:27] Do you know where

[1:13:28] it's at on the-

[1:13:29] You may have... Do you sure you don't have the page and line in front of you?

[1:13:33] I got the big-

[1:13:34] So we're under-

[1:13:35] ... packet

[1:13:35] ... compliance officer's

[1:13:37] standard approved. So what we're talking about, let's use plain English.

[1:13:40] I think, board member Lash, what you're saying is, what is the standard

[1:13:44] under-

[1:13:45] Well, no. I'm wondering why are we using the standard of preponderance, which is

[1:13:49] just a little bit over 50/50, rather than a convincing evidence standard,

[1:13:53] which is, we know for sure that this has occurred.

[1:13:56] I can't... Well, for one, you haven't voted, so you haven't chose that language.

[1:14:00] I think what you're asking is-

[1:14:01] Yeah

[1:14:01] ... what are the benefits or risks-

[1:14:02] Yes. Correct

[1:14:03] ... of hiring, lowering the standard-

[1:14:05] Correct

[1:14:05] ... upping the standard.

[1:14:06] Yeah.

[1:14:10] I can tell you generally, public policy, and we worked on this

[1:14:14] recently on some other issues for the school,

[1:14:18] errs on the side of report if you even

[1:14:22] think, if you have any inclination.

[1:14:26] Given that that is kind of the public policy within the state when you're talking

[1:14:30] about sex abuse and children,

[1:14:32] I think if you're asking me tonight why I think that would be the

[1:14:36] defensible language, because I would want to err on the side of

[1:14:40] caution and have a lower standard,

[1:14:43] erring on child safety maybe, in these type of issues.

[1:14:47] I would want to do further research to see if we can up that standard.

[1:14:51] I don't know. We're going to need to look at employment rights and those kind of

[1:14:54] things as far as what those standards are, but that's a philosophical-

[1:14:58] Yeah

[1:14:58] ... observation.

[1:14:59] My biggest concern is, yeah, I understand what you're saying, the caution that,

[1:15:03] but at the other side of that, we have to make sure that people aren't being

[1:15:07] falsely accused.

[1:15:08] There's always another side.

[1:15:09] Correct.

[1:15:10] And I'm glad you guys are the board to get to balance that.

[1:15:14] Yeah, you're always going to have the if and buts, right? We always are.

[1:15:16] We need to-

[1:15:17] That's a board determination.

[1:15:19] Yeah.

[1:15:19] Right? As far as what you want the standard, we will provide you a legal opinion on

[1:15:23] where you can set it,

[1:15:25] but that's ultimately your determination. That's one of those culture things.

[1:15:30] Do we err on this side or that side?

[1:15:32] I'd like to make a motion to table 2266.

[1:15:37] We'll-

[1:15:38] I'll s-

[1:15:38] ... give Steve time to bring it. And if, just like before, if

[1:15:42] we have any things to add or questions, then we-

[1:15:46] Please get with Steve. And yeah, Joel, sit down with Steve and tell him your

[1:15:48] concerns, and specifically the lines and what have you, if you could.

[1:15:53] Well, that was my motion.

[1:15:54] There's a motion. Is there a second?

[1:15:55] I'll second.

[1:15:56] All in favor say aye.

[1:15:57] Aye.

[1:15:58] Aye.

[1:15:58] Opposed the same. All right.

[1:16:00] More work for you, Steve.

[1:16:02] Yep.

[1:16:02] Sharpen the pencil.

[1:16:04] All right.

[1:16:05] Policy 3122.

[1:16:06] Yeah, 3122. Once again, we're talking, the

[1:16:10] major discussion point on this one, once again, is

[1:16:14] the appeal process.

[1:16:17] Has to deal with non-discrimination, equal employment opportunities,

[1:16:21] anti-harassment.

[1:16:25] And I would recommend that you approve this one the way it's written.

[1:16:32] Board, is there a motion?

[1:16:34] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[1:16:37] Is there a second?

[1:16:37] I second.

[1:16:38] We have a motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mr. Byerly. All in favor say aye.

[1:16:42] Aye.

[1:16:42] Opposed the same.

[1:16:45] So moved.

[1:16:46] Next, 3122.02.

[1:16:49] Is just rescinding this policy.

[1:16:51] Is there a motion, board?

[1:16:53] Make a motion.

[1:16:54] I'll second.

[1:16:55] We have a motion from Mr. Byerly, a second from Mr. Timmerman.

[1:16:58] All in favor say aye.

[1:16:59] Aye.

[1:17:00] Opposed the same.

[1:17:01] So moved. Policy 3362.

[1:17:05] Yep. That one deals with non-discrimination, equal employment

[1:17:09] opportunities.

[1:17:12] Has a question about the appeal process that Mr.

[1:17:15] Tipton has addressed. Ask for your approval at this time.

[1:17:21] Is there a motion, board?

[1:17:22] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[1:17:26] And a second?

[1:17:29] Second.

[1:17:29] We have a motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mr. Byerly. All in favor say aye.

[1:17:33] Aye.

[1:17:34] Opposed the same.

[1:17:36] So moved.

[1:17:38] 4122.

[1:17:40] 4122 is a rescind. The language is covered in another

[1:17:43] policy, so they're doing away with .02.

[1:17:48] Wait, 4122?

[1:17:50] 4122-

[1:17:51] Okay

[1:17:51] ... .02.

[1:17:52] Oh, okay. We're on 4122 first.

[1:17:56] Sorry.

[1:17:57] That's my fault.

[1:17:57] You're good.

[1:17:59] Yeah, that's all.

[1:18:00] You were testing me. I get it.

[1:18:03] That's all right.

[1:18:03] This time.

[1:18:04] Oh, gee.

[1:18:04] Yeah, that's the discrimination process.

[1:18:06] The same question, the appeal question that came up.

[1:18:10] If you're comfortable with the other one on the appeal process, you'll be

[1:18:13] comfortable with this language as well.

[1:18:15] Okay.

[1:18:18] Board, is there a motion to approve 4122?

[1:18:21] I'll make a motion to approve as presented.

[1:18:23] I'll second.

[1:18:24] We have a motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mrs. Blackman.

[1:18:27] All in favor say aye.

[1:18:29] Aye.

[1:18:30] Opposed the same.

[1:18:32] So moved. Now 4122.02 is a-

[1:18:35] It's a rescind

[1:18:36] I'll make a motion to accept 4122.02.

[1:18:40] I'll second.

[1:18:41] I have a motion from Mrs. Blackman, a second from Mr. Timmerman.

[1:18:44] All in favor say aye.

[1:18:45] Aye.

[1:18:46] Opposed the same. And then policy 4362.

[1:18:49] That's rescind as well.

[1:18:51] Is there a motion to approve?

[1:18:53] Make a motion to approve as presented.

[1:18:58] I'll second.

[1:18:59] Motion from Mr. Durbin, a second from Mrs. Blackman. All in favor say aye.

[1:19:02] Aye.

[1:19:03] Opposed the same.

[1:19:05] All right, so moved. Thank you, board.

[1:19:08] Now moving on to discussion items.

[1:19:11] Brian

[1:19:22] All right, board tonight, in discussions, I'm going to

[1:19:26] show

[1:19:27] you where the budget

[1:19:30] has landed for the education fund, operations fund, and both

[1:19:34] debt service funds. This is a process that started back

[1:19:37] in February-ish. I've been working on it pretty

[1:19:41] diligently-

[1:19:44] Thank you

[1:19:44] ... since. This is a little bit different version than what you've seen in the

[1:19:46] past.

[1:19:48] Hopefully, you

[1:19:50] will understand it a little bit better.

[1:19:52] So what you're seeing is, there are three pages.

[1:19:54] The first page is front and back, that's the education fund.

[1:19:57] The second page has the debt on the one side, and the last page has the

[1:20:01] operations fund. At the top, you'll see

[1:20:05] a summary of the dollar amount of the budget,

[1:20:09] the dollar change from the 2026 budget, and that percentage increase.

[1:20:16] So for the education fund,

[1:20:18] it's $30.7 million and some change.

[1:20:22] It's up about $1.46 million from

[1:20:25] 2026. The majority of that

[1:20:29] has to do with rising costs in healthcare.

[1:20:32] Our premiums, we had a pretty rough year the last year or so

[1:20:37] with our

[1:20:38] self-funded plan. We actually saw an increase of about

[1:20:41] 12% our health insurance. The majority of that

[1:20:45] is taken on by the board as the support on behalf

[1:20:49] of the staff,

[1:20:51] and the staff pays a much smaller portion.

[1:20:54] So that's the overall majority. Roughly 56% of that

[1:20:58] is due to healthcare.

[1:21:02] There are some monies in there set aside

[1:21:06] for raises.

[1:21:08] I don't know that we'll realize those, but there is something

[1:21:12] budgeted in there. There's roughly about a half a million dollars is

[1:21:16] part of that $1.46 million.

[1:21:19] It's really going to depend on what happens this next legislative

[1:21:22] session and so forth. So revenues are really

[1:21:26] hard to determine what it's going to look like.

[1:21:31] And

[1:21:33] then over the last couple of years, we have

[1:21:37] sanctioned more programs.

[1:21:40] Also have under-budgeted our ECA stipends, which is for our coaches

[1:21:45] and other programs

[1:21:47] within the school, whether it be robotics or student council or

[1:21:51] what have you.

[1:21:54] So that was about 8% of the increase.

[1:21:59] But for the most part, there's a little bit of a

[1:22:02] board takeaway there at the top that talks a little bit about that

[1:22:06] for the education fund. The debt service fund

[1:22:10] is fairly simple. Those are basically your debt service payments for both

[1:22:15] the debt service and the referendum debt.

[1:22:17] The debt service are basically, call them the mortgage payments on the

[1:22:21] bonds that were used to construct the East Noble Academy,

[1:22:25] as well as renovations to this building as far as

[1:22:29] HVAC.

[1:22:31] Those are needs-driven. It goes right off the amortization schedule,

[1:22:35] so there's not much to

[1:22:38] really play with there. So that shows what those payments

[1:22:42] are. And then the last page is your operations

[1:22:45] fund. Really worked hard with Senate Bill 1

[1:22:49] and some of the property tax reform to keep this increase as

[1:22:53] minimal as possible. So you're seeing less than a 1% increase,

[1:22:57] equates to about 83, $84,000.

[1:23:01] So the total was $9.65 million

[1:23:05] for the operations fund.

[1:23:07] In order to do that,

[1:23:09] we will be purchasing and looking to purchase two buses next year as

[1:23:13] opposed to four. That cuts a fair amount out.

[1:23:17] We'll also pull back some of the upgrades that we do to our

[1:23:21] buildings as far as carpeting,

[1:23:23] purchase of loose equipment fixtures, and so forth.

[1:23:26] So,

[1:23:27] that

[1:23:29] is how we've been able to keep those down.

[1:23:31] Again, property and casualty insurance increases, fuel

[1:23:35] costs when it comes to transportation, those are all real

[1:23:41] increases.

[1:23:44] So going back to the summary that you've received, you

[1:23:47] see the proposed 2027 budget, the approved

[1:23:51] 2026 budget, the dollar change, and the percent change by program.

[1:23:55] Now you'll see some significant increases, some significant

[1:23:59] decreases. We really worked hard as a team

[1:24:03] to analyze our GL accounts,

[1:24:07] to clean them up, to move

[1:24:09] budgeted areas into more intentional areas of where they're

[1:24:13] being spent and so forth. So that's a majority of why you're seeing some of

[1:24:17] that. Also, each year, the state board of accountants typically has some sort

[1:24:21] of

[1:24:24] GL change or object change or program change.

[1:24:28] And we've seen those over the past several years, most significantly

[1:24:32] being 2019.

[1:24:34] But

[1:24:37] there have been a few along the way as well.

[1:24:40] So that's why you're seeing a majority of the dollar changes.

[1:24:43] What I had mentioned before, and what you'll see in the board takeaway up top, is

[1:24:47] the primary reasons as to why you're seeing some of those increases.

[1:24:51] So, this is just the preliminary

[1:24:56] review to give to you. Next month will be the public hearing,

[1:25:01] and then the following month we would bring this for adoption.

[1:25:05] So once this is finalized in the proper formats, it will be advertised

[1:25:09] on Gateway, as well as on our website per

[1:25:13] Indiana code. And so we'll have that advertised at least 10 days before the

[1:25:17] public hearing, and then we'll have the public hearing, and then

[1:25:22] Bring it back, potentially at the October meeting for

[1:25:26] approval.

[1:25:28] Okay.

[1:25:29] What falls under these other special programs?

[1:25:32] Is that the 12,900 that you're referring to?

[1:25:36] Yeah.

[1:25:37] That's mostly your special ed

[1:25:39] programs.

[1:25:45] The question with that, you have

[1:25:48] new in the percent change.

[1:25:51] Mm-hmm.

[1:25:54] Some of those are new categories. So if you're looking at the operations fund, for

[1:25:57] example, the 11,420-

[1:25:59] Mm-hmm

[1:25:59] ... that is a

[1:26:01] new program number that we moved one of our staff members into from another

[1:26:05] one

[1:26:06] in order to align with

[1:26:08] the object codes and programs.

[1:26:10] So you might see-

[1:26:11] Different accounts

[1:26:11] ... a reduction in something, but you're adding that, so-

[1:26:15] Right

[1:26:16] ... okay. Yeah. But what do those programs look like?

[1:26:19] I

[1:26:21] mean, what is the special program?

[1:26:23] You said that that's-

[1:26:24] That's your special ed classes

[1:26:25] ... like what's-

[1:26:25] Like mild, moderate disabilities,

[1:26:28] applied skills

[1:26:29] Just different classrooms?

[1:26:30] Yes.

[1:26:30] Okay.

[1:26:31] So the actual budget itself is about 120 pages long.

[1:26:34] Okay.

[1:26:35] About 2,000 lines.

[1:26:36] Okay.

[1:26:36] This is the summary by program. So you have fund, program, object, and then

[1:26:40] location. So this goes fund and then program,

[1:26:45] the object location breaks out more deal into life insurance, health insurance,

[1:26:49] salaries, turf, perf-

[1:26:51] Okay

[1:26:52] ... all that stuff.

[1:26:53] All right. That's a very

[1:26:55] general label.

[1:26:58] Yes.

[1:26:58] There's a lot of... Okay. All right.

[1:26:59] But the thing to understand with it is that this money that

[1:27:03] was in here was actually in a different bucket

[1:27:06] last year that we aren't- For most of them, yes

[1:27:08] ... since. Okay.

[1:27:11] Yes.

[1:27:11] Yeah. We're not all of a sudden spending 1.6 million-

[1:27:13] Yeah

[1:27:13] ... new-

[1:27:14] Yeah

[1:27:15] ... for our SPED programs.

[1:27:18] Any other questions, board?

[1:27:21] No.

[1:27:23] Brian, if board members have any questions, obviously they'll be reaching out to

[1:27:26] you.

[1:27:27] Yep.

[1:27:28] And

[1:27:30] that is one of our main responsibilities, the oversight of this budget.

[1:27:34] So board, I encourage you to dig deep into this if you're interested.

[1:27:39] But Brian, thank you so much for putting this together.

[1:27:42] I know this is a big part of your job obviously, and the time you

[1:27:46] spend on it is

[1:27:48] done intentionally and thoroughly, so we appreciate that very much.

[1:27:52] So thank you.

[1:27:53] Thanks.

[1:27:54] Thank you.

[1:27:56] Board, moving on.

[1:27:59] Board policies. Imagine that.

[1:28:03] What you got, Steve?

[1:28:04] The booklet of board policies you've received now,

[1:28:09] while it is thin,

[1:28:11] it has to do with artificial intelligence.

[1:28:16] It will cause a lengthy discussion, I'm sure.

[1:28:20] But the packet is small and

[1:28:24] should be able to go through that. If you have any questions about that, please

[1:28:27] call.

[1:28:29] I would also like to mention, starting next month, I'm

[1:28:33] developing a team to go through AI policies for our

[1:28:36] district from K to 12, and I have some

[1:28:40] people that have already volunteered to be on that team.

[1:28:44] So we are working towards that.

[1:28:46] Steve, how will that tie into these policies?

[1:28:48] Is there

[1:28:51] concern with that? Does this need to be done first?

[1:28:56] Or

[1:28:56] is there committee work done first?

[1:28:58] Or no, they're congruent, they're

[1:29:01] different?

[1:29:02] Well, the committee can form some

[1:29:04] guidance. The policies are going to be what drives it.

[1:29:08] Okay.

[1:29:08] So we have to make sure we're staying compliant with the policies that are passed.

[1:29:13] Okay.

[1:29:15] We will pass these policies. We'll get some input from the committees,

[1:29:19] but at the same time, they'll be understanding what our policies that we passed

[1:29:22] are, and that's what's going to be implemented.

[1:29:23] Yeah. I knew they were coming.

[1:29:24] Okay. All right.

[1:29:26] A lot of times in our policies you reference

[1:29:32] the specific

[1:29:34] EN code. Do these have EN codes attached?

[1:29:37] They might. They probably do, yes.

[1:29:40] Okay.

[1:29:41] As you notice the new booklet you're receiving of policies, they

[1:29:45] have a page number and a line number.

[1:29:46] It'll make these discussions go a little simpler.

[1:29:51] Gotcha.

[1:29:53] All right.

[1:29:53] Oh, I see. I didn't turn it enough, but I see the EN code.

[1:29:56] Mm-hmm. Any more discussion on that, board?

[1:29:59] Obviously we have some more reading to do-

[1:30:00] Mm-hmm

[1:30:01] ... this month. And

[1:30:03] thank you for your

[1:30:05] dedication to doing that.

[1:30:07] All right.

[1:30:08] Late items. Any late items tonight?

[1:30:10] No, sir.

[1:30:11] All right. Comments from the superintendent. Any comments, Steve?

[1:30:14] Just that

[1:30:15] we've had a nice start to the school year.

[1:30:19] It's going really well. We got a lot of positive remarks from the teachers.

[1:30:24] With two new administrators in the district, they

[1:30:28] have hit the ground running. They're getting a lot of positive remarks out from

[1:30:32] those buildings. Mr. Taggart's in the building today, and so

[1:30:36] he

[1:30:38] can comment on that if he wants. I think it's going really

[1:30:42] well. We got a lot of administrators in here tonight.

[1:30:46] So

[1:30:47] we're just really comfortable.

[1:30:49] Can't

[1:30:50] rest on the first two weeks and we have to keep moving.

[1:30:54] Want to thank for people who talked.

[1:30:56] Obviously,

[1:30:58] Mr.

[1:30:59] Carpenter has left, but

[1:31:01] I'm not sure I've been called that many names in a short period of time

[1:31:06] in my career, but

[1:31:07] it's what he feels, and that's why those

[1:31:11] public expressions are important,

[1:31:14] so that people can say what's on their mind.

[1:31:16] So

[1:31:18] we'll just go on with that. Thank Mr. Miller for standing up again and talking.

[1:31:23] Those are always

[1:31:24] nice comments.

[1:31:26] So that's what I have tonight.

[1:31:30] Thank you.

[1:31:31] Any comments from board?

[1:31:35] Okay. Steve, I just want to commend you.

[1:31:37] I'm hearing really good things about what you are doing and what your team has

[1:31:40] done. Great start to the year. I just think it's great

[1:31:44] that things have been smooth so far, and I know there is always

[1:31:48] noise out there and

[1:31:50] please continue to help lead us and make great decisions for this great

[1:31:53] corporation.

[1:31:55] With that,

[1:31:58] there will be no exec session tonight.

[1:32:00] And our next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, September

[1:32:04] 16th, beginning at 6:00 PM right here at central office, and it

[1:32:08] is 7:31, and this meeting is adjourned.

August 19, 2026

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