METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PERRY TOWNSHIP
6548 Orinoco Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46227
(317) 789-3700
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION*
Monday, April 13, 2009 @ 6:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER – PRESIDENT STEPHEN M. MAPLE
RECOGNITIONS
I. Honoring Indiana PTA Reflections Winners — Mr. Oldham
II. Honoring Citizenship Essay Contest Winners — Mr. Oldham
III. Honoring Daniel Smedema, State Champion in Speech Tournament (Broadcasting) — Mr. Oldham
IV. Honoring Wendy Kwok, Pi Week Champion — Mr. Oldham
CONSENT AGENDA
I. Approval of the minutes of a regular meeting held on March 9, 2009
II. Approval of Allowance of Vouchers
III. Approval of February Financial Report
IV. Approval of Personnel Report
V. Approval of Professional Travel Requests
VI. Report to Board on travel beyond 75 miles by certified staff
VII. Renewal of Maintenance Service Agreement for Heating and Air Conditioning
VIII. Renewal of Microsoft Agreement
BUSINESS
I. Tax Adjustment Board Appeal (Resolution #18)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
ITEMS OF INFORMATION REQUIRING ACTION
I. Approval of Brian Knight (PMHS) and Amy Boone (SHS)as high school — Dr. Barnes summer school administrators.
II. Approval of Uniform Dress Policy for Elementary Schools — Mr. Oldham
III. Approval of Donations: — Dr. Little
a. Five Smart Boards to Rosa Parks-Edison Elementary from the PTA
COMMENTS AND CONCERNS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND SUPERINTENDENT
Any concerns or items that individual Board members and/or Superintendent wish to discuss.
* A sign-up sheet is provided for those patrons desiring to address the Board about items on the evening’s agenda, except personnel items. This sheet is available near the agenda on the table provided for Board material. The meeting site is fully accessible. Any person requiring further accommodation should contact the Superintendent at the Corporation’s central office.
In a recent discussion of the pros and cons of school uniforms being implemented in more schools the thoughts below were shared. I believe the thoughts and reasons behind the argument are clearly stated here and express the value to instruction and education are precise.
I know that any effort to address this issue will initiate almost remarkable reaction. But I think consideration should be focused on two factors, placing all others in categories of lesser importance. Those factors are: 1. What guidelines will create the best learning environment for schools? 2. Will established guidelines be reasonable and affordable for all families? Those who pontificate about this being a free country and "you are taking away my freedoms" should be reminded that in the days when those freedoms were established, if students would have come to school dressed like some do today, they would have received 20 lashes and been required to come early to start the fire to heat the school for the subsequent 30 days.
Regardless of any dress code established, uniforms or otherwise, kids will push the limits. IPS has a universal dress code and I can personally attest that it has not made the issue disappear. But I do believe that uniforms make the issue easier for educators to address on a daily basis. My experience has also been that after the initial furor, even parents who originally oppose a dress code later support it. I do believe that if school personnel find ways to assist parents who don’t have the means to purchase uniforms initially (businesses are usually very supportive in providing help here), the uniforms become MORE affordable for parents over the long haul. It is also imperative that administrators find creative ways to minimize disruption. Sending a child home(unless a situation becomes one of ongoing defiance) makes little sense compared to providing a T-shirt which can be obtained free from manufacturers’ overruns to cover the offending top, for example.
What are your thoughts about school uniforms? Pros and cons. I’m very interested to hear different viewpoints intelligently expressed and shared in the comments.
METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PERRY TOWNSHIP
6548 Orinoco Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46227
(317) 789-3700
REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION*
Monday
December 15, 2008
6:30 p.m.
CALL TO ORDER – PRESIDENT STEPHEN M. MAPLE
RECOGNITIONS
- I. Jessi Parrish, Perry Meridian High School, winner of the Holiday Card Cover Contest and recipient of $100 — Ms. Livingston
- II. Margaret Paul, Bus Monitor/Aide, Glenns Valley Elementary School — Dr. Little
- III. Homecroft Elementary Third Place Winners of the Indiana Spell Bowl, Class 4 – Mr. Oldham
- IV. Mary Bryan Elementary First Place Winners of the Indiana Spell Bowl, Class 3 — Mr. Oldham
- V. Gabe Opsahl, Glenns Valley Elementary School, Honorable Mention, Healthy Reasons to Say No Essay — Mr. Oldham
- VI. Emily Ritter, Southport Elementary School, Honorable Mention, Healthy Reasons to Say No Essay — Mr. Oldham
- VII. Jeremiah Gray-Edison, Golden Apple Award from Edison Learning — Mr. Oldham
- VIII. Rosa Parks-Edison, Golden Apple Award from Edison Learning — Mr. Oldham
CONSENT AGENDA
- Approval of the minutes of an Executive Session held on November 10, 2008, a regular meeting held on November 10, 2008, a Public Work Session held on November 24, 2008, and an Executive Session held on November 24, 2008.
- Approval of Allowance of Vouchers
- Approval of October Financial Report
- Approval of November Financial Report
- Approval of Personnel Report
- Approval of Professional Travel Requests
- Report to Board on travel beyond 75 miles by certified staff
- ATS Project Success contract
- A to Z contract
- Brain Hurricane contract
- CIESC contract
- Club Z contract
- Indianapolis Algebra contract
- Mind Program contract
- Princeton Review contract
- Sylvan contract
- V. C. Rowley contract
- Personal Services Agreement, Nicole D. Hull
- Personal Services Agreement, D. M. Blue
- IKON Contracts
- Training Services Agreement, AIMSweb
BUSINESS
- Approval of additional appropriation — Mr. Harris
- Approval to borrow for 2009 — Mr. Harris
- Approval to advertise borrowing — Mr. Harris
- Approval to rollover 2008 tax anticipation warrants — Mr. Harris
PUBLIC COMMENTS
ITEMS OF INFORMATION REQUIRING ACTION
- I. RISE Governing Board (Beech Grove, Decatur Township, Franklin Township, Perry Township) Recommendation Level VII, Grade 6 pay scale, 2 year contract — Mr. Dreibelbis
- II. Ratification of the RISE Special Education Cooperative Agreement — Dr. Little
- III. First reading of the Chapter 1 Policy changes — Mr. Jameson
- IV. Donations: — Dr. Little
- a. $250.00 donation to Perry Meridian Middle School from Cardwell Do-It Best Home Center
- V. Approval of Overnight Field Trips — Mr. Oldham
- a. Out of State Field Trip Approval for Perry Meridian High School Robotic Team, Cyber Blue 234, to travel out of state for robotics competitions
COMMENTS AND CONCERNS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND SUPERINTENDENT
Any concerns or items that individual Board members and/or Superintendent wish to discuss.
* A sign-up sheet is provided for those patrons desiring to address the Board about items on the evening’s agenda, except personnel items. This sheet is available near the agenda on the table provided for Board material. The meeting site is fully accessible. Any person requiring further accommodation should contact the Superintendent at the Corporation’s central office.
The Perry Township School board approved an increase in their operating budget for 2009. An increase of $1,836,418 works out to be an increase of 1.3%. An article in The Spotlight newspaper by Keith Brown gives the details of the meeting and other budget factors that will be facing the township in 2009 because of all the changes and uncertainty tied into the property tax debate issues as well.
The district proposed spending $141,170,074 to serve its more than 14,000 students. That spending level represents a 1.3 percent increase from 2008, with a breakdown as follows:
- General Fund, $93,457,939.
- Debt Service, $15,364,048.
- Capital Projects, $17,439,417.
- Transportation, $10,856,429.
- Pension Bond, $2,179,387.
- Bus Replacement, $667,854.
- Pre-school–Special Education, $500,000.
- Repair and Replacement, $205,000.
- Self Insurance, $500,000.
The district’s budget for 2008 was $139,333,656.
Read the entire article for additional information from the business manager Bob Harris as well as other details on the impact of property tax and other governmental changes that affect school funding.
INDIANAPOLIS - (Monday August 18, 2008) Mayor Greg Ballard will be available for a question and answer session with Perry Township residents on Tuesday. Residents are encouraged to come out to ask questions and share their opinions and concerns. City department directors will also be available.
WHO:
- Mayor Greg Ballard
- Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams
- Deputy Mayor Nick Weber
- Chief of Staff, Paul Okeson
- Director of Public Safety, Scott Newman
- IMPD Chief, Michael Spears
- City Controller, David Reynolds
- Corporation Counsel, Chris Cotterill
- Policy Director, David Wu
- Director of Enterprise Development, Michael Huber
- Director of Bond Bank, Kevin Taylor
- Director of International and Cultural Affairs, Carolin Requiz-Smith
- Director of Public Works, David Sherman
- Director of the Department of Metropolitan Development, Maury Plambeck
- Chief Operating Officer for Indy Parks, Stuart Lowry
- Director of Minority Business Development, Gregory Wilson
- Sherron Franklin with Abandoned Housing
- Douglas Hairston with the Front Porch Alliance
- Khadijah Muhammad with the Ex-Offender Re-entry Program
WHERE:
Perry Township Education Center
6548 Orinoco Drive
WHEN:
Tuesday
August 19, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
There was a public work session this week in which members of the Perry Township School Board reviewed applicants interested in representing the township as district school attorney.
There were a number of applicants:
- Jon Bailey of Bose McKinney & Evans (2yr incumbent)
- David Day of Church Church Hittle & Antrim
- William Groth of Fillenwarth Dennerline Groth & Towe
- John Helm of Schreckengast Helm & Cueller
- John Lewis of Lewis & Wilkins
- J. Lee Robbins of Williams Hewitt Barrett & Wilkowski
- D. Michael Wallman and Bob Rund of Rund Wallman & Robbins
- Thomas Wheeler of Locke Reynolds
There were a few individuals that shared their own opinions about what candidate would be the best choice. Keith Brown has an article in the Indy Spotlight where some of those comments were shared from the community individuals.
In Mr. Brown’s article, he include the 12 questions that were asked of each candidate.
- In three minutes, what is your assessment of Perry Township Schools and our board?
- School law, in many instances, is a specialty area with specific legislation written targeting the public school systems. What experiences, background and training have you had to prepare you to represent the 12th largest school district in the state?
- What percentage of your practice is educational law?
- How many lawyers in your firm represent Indiana school districts?
- How have you or your firm ever represented or held a professional or personal attorney/client relationship with any of our board members?
- Do you serve as insurance defense counsel for any Indiana school liability insurance carrier?
- What is your current involvement in our community or the school district in relationship to legal matters?
- In serving as the school attorney, who would you expect to communicate with in this district? If you are contacted by a board member other than the board president, and that board member asks you to initiate research or provide individual counsel, how would you respond?
- Please review your fee structure and all other costs that may be assessed in relationship to serving Perry Township Schools as their board attorney.
- What other organizations do you currently represent in your practice and how do you plan to allocate your time in serving this board and their needs?
- When requesting assistance, will you be our primary source of contact or will this be done by a junior partner, associate or paralegal?
- Is there any other question that you would like to respond to and we have not posed?