\The Indian Lake Board of Education passed two important resolutions at its meeting on Monday, August 19th that will impact the district’s athletics for years to come.
Board members approved an emergency agreement with Final Floors to immediately replace the main gym floor at Indian Lake High School.
Superintendent Dr. Rob Underwood explained that the roof of the gym was damaged by hail from the tornado and then during roof repairs, water got onto the gym floor, ruining it over the summer.
“Since the gym was damaged by the roofers, their insurance actually pays for the flooring, but we have to pay the bill in advance.
“The floor is laid, we pay the bill and then get the costs reimbursed, so there are no costs for the district.”
Dr. Underwood said the estimated cost of the floor was about $154,000. Materials have been delivered and workers are now working. The expected completion date is October 1.
In addition, board members voted to provide all Indian Lake students in grades K-12 with free tickets to athletic events played at Indian Lake during the 2024-25 season.
The Superintendent noted that the administrative team had explored this possibility several years ago and did not consider it feasible at the time, but then decided it was time to investigate the matter further.
“We’ve looked at it again and I’ve recommended to the board that we try it this year to see if it makes a difference in attendance at the Games first. It’s not that we’ve had any problems with students attending the Games, but the more students we have there, the better.
“We want them to be there and enjoy these events. So we’re going to analyze it for this school year and see how it actually impacts the budget and if we can continue it in the future.”
“We are pleased to give our students this opportunity.”
Instructions on how to obtain student passes will be posted in the next few days, and Hometown Ticketing will also be sending an email to anyone who has already purchased a sports pass this year to explain the refund process.
Finally, the board also authorized the district to solicit bids for a possible new bus depot project at the south end of campus near County Road 91.
The potential new bus facility is needed to accommodate today’s larger buses that do not fit in the district’s current bus facility and to relocate bus parking from the center of campus.
In addition, the Board has accepted, approved or extended the following measures:
• the resignation of teacher Eric Finke, effective at the end of their 2023-24 contracts, and janitor Todd Mackesy, effective July 19;
• the leave of absence of Jodi Carder effective for the 2024–25 school year pursuant to Article 17 of the ILEA Agreement:
• one-year certified contract for Kay Schulze, Math/ELA, seventh grade;
• One-year confidential contracts for Valerie Chamberlain, four-hour bus driver; Ethan Fulkerson, elementary school media center specialist; Pam Robson, elementary school second-shift janitor;
• the following employees for advancement in the payroll: Master plus 25 – Amber Barnett; and Master plus 15 – Stacy Everhart and Zachary Overturf;
• a stipend for a van driver to transport homeless students to Jen Ignarski, $20 per hour, as needed, paid from homeless grants
• Lori Carpenter as dining room supervisor, as needed, for up to 2.25 hours per day;
• Pam Scarpella as district PBIS coordinator for the 2024–2025 school year, with a $1,000 stipend paid from Title IV-A or ARP ESSER funds;
• Additional contracts with Donn Volbrecht and Ethan Fulkerson, middle school football;
• the eighth grade overnight out-of-state trip to Washington, DC, June 2-5, 2025;
• to join the annual bus purchasing consortium of the purchasing cooperative 24/25 META Solutions to tender and solicit bids for the purchase of one or more conventional 78-passenger school buses; and
• the list of armed personnel authorized to carry weapons into a school safety zone until the Superintendent has verified that all requirements of House Bill 99 have been met; the Superintendent and/or authorized training provider must submit the list of armed personnel to the Ohio School Safety Center; this list is not a public document.
The next meeting is scheduled for September 25th at 6:30 p.m.
