Academic achievement at Indian Lake Schools was the highlighted at the regular rescheduled board of education meeting Monday evening, with IL Director of Curriculum and Gifted Services Kelli Tebbe-Miller reviewing the state report card numbers recently released by the Ohio Department of Education.
Indian Lake Schools earned 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars on the new rating system. Tebbe-Miller explained that Indian Lake is exceeding or significantly exceeding state standards. That ranking puts the district in the top tier of districts in Ohio.
The director of curriculum and gifted services said according to a recent article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Indian Lake ranked 56th in Ohio out of 607 districts.
She explained there’s a lot to celebrate.
“We saw performance increasing from the previous four years in almost every single area. And if you look across county comparisons, we had the top scores in a lot of the academic areas in third- through 12th-grade. We’re really proud of that.”
Some of the areas of excellence included a five-star graduation rate, five-star gap closing rate and five-star progress scores.
Tebbe-Miller said the district met the early literacy standard and had exceptional achievement across the board. Dr. Underwood attributes this success to the hard work of the Indian Lake staff and a community that supported in-person schooling through the pandemic.
Also during the meeting, the board extended a five-year contract to Dr. Underwood, which begins Aug. 1, 2023. Members said in his time as superintendent, “he has improved the culture, report card results and fiscal standing of the district.”
Indian Lake Music Boosters President April King also presented. She explained that the boosters raise money through concession stands at events and that money is used to enhance the experience of every student involved in the band, choir or music education at Indian Lake.
King also presented Superintendent Rob Underwood with a $2,000 check to go toward new risers for the choir and show choirs.
Dr. Underwood updated the board on the year-long ILMS/ILHS roof and EIFS project, stating it should be finished in the next few weeks.
Members then voted to advertise for bids for a potential air conditioning project to update HVAC at the high school.
In personnel matters, the board recognized the upcoming retirements of long-time educators Lisa Reese and JoAnne (Brademeyer) Earl. Both teachers plan to retire at the end of the school year.
Finally, the board officially commended Washington Township Police Chief Rick Core on his 33-years of service to the township and district. Chief Core will retire at the end of the month.
“He works tirelessly to make sure we can have school everyday in a good, safe environment and I just can’t thank him enough for the work he’s done for Indian Lake,” Superintendent Underwood said.
In other action, the board:
• accepted the resignation of Jeff True, middle school custodian, effective Oct. 7;
• accepted the Community Connections Grant of $3,500.00 for Jana Core’s Green Energy Machine and $818.85 for FFA Ag Building;
• accepted the $300 donation from Mary Royer to the Joshua Keith Memorial Scholarship, the $100 donation from Quest Community Church Indian Lake to the Athletic Program, and the $10,400.00 donation from the IL Athletic Boosters to the Football Program;
• approved the advancement on the salary schedule for additional training to the following staff: master’s plus 15 — Ryan Lillard, Morissa Sweeney; master’s plus 25 — Alice Weygandt; and master’s plus 45 — Troy Shively;
• approved the following student trips: FFA overnight trip to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., Oct. 3-5; FFA overnight trip to National Convention in Indianapolis, Oct. 25-27; FFA overnight trip to State Convention in Columbus, from May 4-5; and the June 2023 Europe Trip headed by Brian Sutton the trip was originally board-approved for June of 2021, but had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic;
• approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Lake Association of Classified Employees to allow Paraprofessional Assistants to serve as substitute teachers in emergency situations for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years;
• approved the agreement to provide equitable Title I Services to a non-public school through the Midwest Regional ESC for the 2022-23 school year in the current amount of $2,845.33 that may be adjusted as Title I allocations to the district are adjusted; and
• approved the resolution authorizing the transfer of monies from the Bond Retirement Fund to a specific Permanent Improvement Fund.
The next meeting is 6:30 p.m . Monday, Oct. 17, in the board office.