Mt. Vernon Board of School Trustees

Mrs. Bond shared the following Good News: 

1. MVHS won a Gold 2021 College Success Award from GreatSchools.org for their excellence in preparing students for college and beyond. The “gold” signifies a multiyear track record of college success as determined by college preparation and postsecondary data.

2. Mr. James Cochran, MVHS JAG Teacher, was recently selected as a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by the National Society of High School Scholars for being an exemplary role model for students. He was nominated by a student for his outstanding dedication and commitment to excellence in the profession.

3. Homecoming night was celebrated with a win, float parade and Gehrig Slunaker and Madison Swingle being named the King and Queen, respectively.

4. MCE successfully opened the new cue for parent drop-off/pick-up today, keeping the cars off the road.

5. Through their many fundraisers and work efforts, the Marauders Athletic Club donated $30,000 to support Mt. Vernon Athletics.

6. All five schools earned a “Highly Effective Schools” Accreditation from Solution Tree. This significant achievement reflects all five schools’ commitment to reaching and maintaining the highest levels of educational quality. They earned this by maintaining and growing identified areas having the biggest impact on student learning and growth which are directly aligned to the Professional Learning Communities at work and the High Reliability Schools framework.

7. MVHS Girls Cross Country advanced to semi-state as a regional runner-up, and Boys Cross Country brought home the regional title.

8. MVHS Football team is the back-to-back Hoosier Heritage Conference Champs for the first time in program history. Community Connections

9. Special thanks to Hancock Regional Hospital and Wilburn Medical for donating medical supplies for the MVHS Health Science classes.

Mrs. Lockwood introduced Haley Frischkorn, ENL Coordinator. Mrs. Frischkorn shared Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation is now considered a large population district with over 100 ENL students. Since 2016 with 16 students, we have grown to 102 students in 2021. The high school has 18 students representing 7 different languages, the middle school 20 representing 8 different languages, Fortville Elementary 14 representing 6 different languages, McCordsville Elementary 24 representing 5 different languages, and Mt. Comfort Elementary 26 representing 7 different languages. This year we have 28 new students, 11 of which are new to the district, 11 of which are new to the country, and 6 that are new kindergarteners. We have two staff members working extensively with English Learners. The district has ten teachers working toward their ENL TOR Certification. We currently have three teachers with ENL licenses. The challenge is to provide the required 30-45 minutes of supplemental ENL services to each student every day. Mrs. Frischkorn stated they are also working with several students who are no longer in the ENL program, but are currently failing one or more classes. With the lack of support at home from parents who do not speak English, she is also working with them by pulling them into an academic support period to get them on track. She stated we do not receive funding for those students, but they are still in need of assistance. 

Dr. Parker introduced Misha Belyayev, an architect with Lancer + Beebe and Jim Gulley, Project Executive of AECOM Hunt. 

Mr. Belyayev presented two different options for a new transportation center and the pros and cons for each option, as well as the location for the new elementary school. The hope is to create a bypass road around the campus for more options and a bus loop in order to serve multiple buildings at the same time. Option 1 would position the new transportation center in the corner of the newly purchased property and Option 2 would include a new transportation center attached to the current administration building. The pros of Option 1 would be a new building tailored exactly to the current needs and bus traffic would be on the outskirts of campus leaving the middle of the campus flexible for future developments with a possible future connection to Fortville Pike. The cons would be larger development costs and empty square footage at the administration building once Pre-K moves out. The pros of Option 2 would be that we are reusing some square footage of the existing administration building with utilities nearby and leaving the periphery of the acquired property for future developments. The cons of Option 2 would be that buses are concentrated in the middle of campus and would leave no room for new development in the middle of campus. Dr. Parker commented while it is an additional investment to move the transportation center to the northeast corner, because of our growth, the assessed valuation is allowing us to do construction easily under our current debt service tax rate. 

In regards to the location for the new elementary school there is really only one option in being across from the middle school football field. This will allow a long stacking distance from W 800 N with visibility from 200. This will also allow room for future expansions/campus development, as well as the possibility of sharing facilities with the middle school. 

Dr.  Parker presented a first reading of 10 new board policies.  These are brought as adjustments or new policies going from School Wellness to Public Comments and Concerns.  These were made available to be the board digitally for review and discussion. Dr. Parker stated after this there are no more in the que; however, our attorney will be providing some additional policies to consider, as well as the next legislative session always brings a slew of policies to consider.  

Mr. Elkins reminded the board at last month's board meeting they had given approval for Verkler for the Mt. Comfort Traffic and Parking Project, as well as authorization to sign a contract with them for that project.  Mr. Elkins therefore asked for approval of that traffic and parking contract.  

Mrs. Walls made a motion to approve the Mt. Comfort Traffic & Parking Project Contract, Mr. May seconded, and the motion carried 5-0.