\The Indian Lake Board of Education passed two important resolutions in their Monday, Aug. 19, meeting that will impact district athletics for years to come.
Members of the board approved an urgent agreement with Final Floors to replace the Indian Lake High School Main Gym Floor immediately.
Superintendent Dr. Rob Underwood explained the gym roof was damaged by hail from the tornado, then water leaked onto the gym floor during roof repairs, ruining it over the summer.
“Because the gym was damaged by the roofing crew, their insurance company is actually going to pay for the floor; however we have to pay the invoice up front.
“The floor will be installed, we will pay the invoice and then be reimbursed, so there will be no cost to the district.”
Dr. Underwood said the estimated cost of the floor is around $154,000. The materials have been delivered and crews are now working. The expected completion date is Oct. 1.
In addition, board members voted to established free passes for all Indian Lake K-12 students for the 2024-25 Indian Lake hosted regular season athletic events.
The superintendent noted that the administration team had studied this possibility a few years ago and didn’t think it was feasible at the time, but decided it was time to investigate further.
“We looked at it again and I made the recommendation to the board that we try it for this year, to first of all, see if it changes attendance at games–not that we’ve had issues with students attending games, but the more students we have there, the better.
“We want them to be there to enjoy those events. So we’re going to analyze it for this school year and see how it actually impacts the budget and see if it’s something we can continue into the future.
“We’re excited to give this opportunity to our students.”
Instructions on how to obtain student passes will be posted in the coming days. Also, an e-mail from Hometown Ticketing will go out to all those who have already purchased a sports pass this year to explain the refund process.
Finally, the board also authorized the district to advertise for bids on a possible new bus garage project on the south end of campus near County Road 91.
The potential new bus facility is needed to work on today’s larger buses that do not fit into the district’s current bus facility and to move bus parking away from the center of campus.
In other action, the board accepted, approved or extended:
• the resignation of teacher Eric Finke; effective at the end of the 2023-24 contract, and custodian Todd Mackesy, effective July 19;
• the leave of absence of Jodi Carder, effective for the 2024-25 school year, in accordance with Article 17 of the ILEA Negotiated Agreement:
• one-year certified contract for Kay Schulze, seventh-grade math/ELA;
• one-year classified contracts for Valerie Chamberlain, four hour bus driver; Ethan Fulkerson, elementary media center specialist; Pam Robson, second shift elementary custodian;
• the following staff members for advancement on the salary schedule: master’s plus 25 — Amber Barnett; and master’s plus 15 — Stacy Everhart and Zachary Overturf;
• a van driver stipend to transport homeless students to Jen Ignarski, $20 per hour, as needed, paid with Homeless Grant Funds
• Lori Carpenter as a lunchroom monitor, as needed, for up to 2.25 hours per day;
• Pam Scarpella as the District PBIS Coordinator 2024-2025 School Year, with a $1,000 stipend paid through Title IV-A or ARP ESSER Funds;
• supplemental contracts to Donn Volbrecht and Ethan Fulkerson, middle school football;
• the out-of-state overnight eighth-grade Washington, D.C., trip, June 2-5, 2025;
• joining the 24/25 META Solutions purchasing cooperative’s annual bus purchase consortium, to advertise and receive bids for the purchase of one or more 78-passenger conventional school bus(es); and
• the list of armed staff authorized to convey weapons into a school safety zone pending superintendent verification that all requirements of House Bill 99, have been satisfied; the Superintendent, and/or authorized training provider, shall submit the List of Armed Staff to the Ohio School Safety Center; this List is not a public record.
The next meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25.