December 4, 2023

DELAWARE COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION

SCHOOL BOARD MEETING

MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023

6:30 p.m. 

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

MINUTES

Present:  John Adams, President; Lance Engle, Vice President; Valerie Alexander, Secretary; Alice Gillis, Member; Darin Gullion, Assistant Superintendent; and Greg Kile, Superintendent

Absent:  Jacob Case, Member

  1. CALL TO ORDER

At 6:30 p.m. Board President, John Adams called the meeting to order.

  1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

  1. AMEND AGENDA

A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Valerie Alexander to amend the agenda, as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FLOOR 

No comments were received. 

     

  1. UPDATES FROM PRINCIPALS/DIRECTORS

CONSENT AGENDA

A motion was made by Alice Gillis and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the following under Consent Agenda:

  1. MINUTES

Accepted the minutes of the business meeting held on Monday,                November 20, 2023.

  1. FINANCE

  1. Accepted the list of vouchers, as presented. 

  1. NEW BUSINESS

  1. Certified Staff

  1. Resignation of Sacha Burkett, Teacher at Albany/Eaton Elementary Schools, effective immediately.

  1. Classified Staff

  1. Resignation of Amy Ward, Food Service Cook at Royerton Elementary School, effective December 8, 2023.

  1. Resignation of Billie Hammond, Food Service Cook at Delta Middle School, effective December 20, 2023.

  1. Extra-Curricular

  1. Recommendation to employ Bryan Jackson as a Head Boys’ Track Coach (split position) at Delta Middle School effective for the 2023-24 school year.

  1. Recommendation to employ Jonie Crawford as an Assistant Band Director at Delta High School effective for the 2023-24 school year.

  1. Conference Requests/Field Trips

  1. Lance Brand requests permission to attend the CTO2B Meeting to be held on December 1, 2023 at CIESC in Indianapolis, IN.

  1. Elana Camp and Sandy York request permission to attend the IMEA Professional Development Conference to be held from January 11, 2024 through January 13, 2024 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in Fort Wayne, IN.

  1. Use of Facilities

  1. Craig Robbins, 2nd Grade Youth Basketball, requests permission to use the Royerton Elementary gymnasium on Mondays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. to hold basketball practice, as presented.

The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

AGENDA

  1. FINANCE

  1. Purchases over $5000:

A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Valerie Alexander to approve the following (items 1-4):

  1.   Swango Heating & Cooling OP $14,256.00

(DHS HVAC)

  1. EACI ESSER III $26,500.00

(EES Flooring Abatement)

  1. Central Security Rainy Day $52,493.36

(security cameras) Secured School Grant $52,493.37

$104,986.73

  1. People Driven Tech. Rainy Day $20,240.37

Secured School Grant $17,506.63

(security switch upgrades) $37,747.00

The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. A motion was made by Valerie Alexander and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the permission to pay year-end expenses from the 2023 budget and to balance all accounts, as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the Teacher Appreciation Grant ($95,492.11), as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. A motion was made by Lance Engle and seconded by Valerie Alexander to approve the Reduction of 2023 Operations budget, as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. Dr. Gullion, Assistant Superintendent, gave a Monthly Finance Review.

  1. NEW BUSINESS

  1. Certified Staff

  1. None.

  1. Classified Staff

  1. None.

  1. Information and Proposals

  1. Superintendent

  1. A motion was made by Valerie Alexander and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the Security Resolution, as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. A motion was made by Alice Gillis and seconded by Lance Engle to approve the classified pay increase (effective 1st pay in January), as presented.  The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. Superintendent Kile informed the Board about Board Policies- 1st Reading:

F225: Fundraising and Crowdfunding

F325: Debt Management Policy

F350: Reserve and Liquidity Policy

H250: School Library Material Removal Request Procedure

Information only:

H250-R: Collection Development Plan

H250-E1: Removal Request Form

H250-E2: Material Advisory Committee Report

  1. Superintendent Kile informed the Board about the following fundraisers (information only):

  1. None.

  1. Assistant Superintendent

  1. Donations:

A motion was made by Valerie Alexander and seconded by Alice Gillis to approve the following (items 1-4):

  1. Request for Eaton Elementary School to accept the donation of headphones and erasers from Dean Miers, as presented.

  2. Request for Delta High School to accept the donation of $400.00 from Albany Hardware.

  3. Request for Delta High School to accept the donation of $720.00 from J. Thomas Kosar, as presented.

  4. Request for Delta High School to accept the donation of $1,000.00 from William Peckinpaugh, as presented.

The motion was approved 4-0 vote.

  1. LETTERS/NOTES

  1. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS

Alice Gillis – Ms. Gillis stated she’s glad to hear about the schools having Grandparents’ Day and Veterans’ Day programs.  She loves it and she’s sure everyone else out there does as well.  She stated Albany does Halloween and Christmas right, more than any other town she’s heard of. She wished good luck to all sports teams and thanked Dr. Gullion for his financial report.  

Valerie Alexander – Ms. Alexander stated December is a busy month.  She thanked everyone for their generous donations to the ping pong club, tennis team, swim team, and Eaton Elementary.  She stated they are all going to be better for it for those donations.  She wished Mr. Parrott good luck with his busy December.  

Lance Engle – Mr. Engle thanked all those who are participating in An Albany Christmas. He stated DelCom is very well represented, especially Albany Elementary.  He stated December is a crazy month for all the schools with everything going on, but the concerts and programs the schools put on are very important.  He stated those are ways the kids can showcase their talents and it’s important because they get excited about them and the teachers put in a lot of extra effort.  

John Adams – Mr. Adams concurred with his fellow board members.  He stated An Albany Christmas is a big deal and he’s glad DelCom is a big part of that with the kids.  He stated he is thankful we have a place we can hold Christmas programs and concerts.  He’s thankful we have a group of people to make that happen because there are a lot of hours put into that, especially to tear it down, play ball, and then turn around and put it right back up.  He stated it’s amazing and thanked all those involved in doing that.  He commented that’s a big endeavor, but our people also know how important that is for the kids.  He stated for the classified pay increase, any time we can raise the bar a little bit for our employees, we are grateful and want to do so.  He stated we just have to remember we have to live within our means when we are seeing numbers go down on the student side. He commented all that comes into play, but there is nothing that makes this place better than all the fine folks we have employed that make it a great place to be.  He stated there is a lot of work that goes on and they are grateful so he’s glad we could do that.  He commented he’d like to go back and look from the time he’s been on the Board and add up all the donations we’ve received since he’s been doing this.  He stated it would be a lot of money that people have graciously wanted to give us and we’ll graciously take it because we know it’s going to benefit our kids.  He gave a shout-out to Dean Miers, Albany Hardware, Tom Kosar, and William Peckinpaugh.  He stated they didn’t have to give, but they want to and he’s glad they chose us.  

  1. FUTURE MEETINGS

  1. A special meeting for the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Monday, December 11, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building.

  1. A regular meeting of the Board of School Trustees is scheduled for Monday, December 18, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at Eaton Elementary School.

  1. ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Valerie Alexander and seconded by Lance Engle and Board President, John Adams, adjourned the meeting at 6:54 p.m.

December 4, 2023

JOHN ADAMS               


LANCE ENGLE


VALERIE ALEXANDER 



ALICE GILLIS


JACOB CASE