Board Meeting

Zionsville Community Schools second fastest growing schools in Indiana!

The annual Board of Finance Meeting was held prior to this month’s regular Board of Trustees meeting. Chief Financial Officer Mike Shafer provided the annual investment update as well as delivered a new report required by state statute on behalf of Superintendent Scott Robison. As part of the new report, Mr. Shafer noted that Zionsville Community Schools (ZCS) Average Daily Membership (ADM) has been increasing for several years. ZCS is now the second fastest in residential enrollment growth throughout all of Indiana. Mr. Shafer said that four of the five fastest growing districts in the top six are growing because of their increasing number of out-of-district transfer students. Mr. Shafer said that if you look at the organic growth only, actual residents, Zionsville is number two, second only behind neighboring Westfield.

Board President Joe Stein said, “The graphs displayed speak to the stewardship and hard work of this corporation from 2010 to now. It is impressive.” He thanked district leaders for diligence and dedication. He thanked the community for ongoing support.

During the mandatory annual re-organization meeting of the board, members ratified a slate of their own officers that matches last year’s roles.  Joe Stein remains President, Debbie Ungar will serve as Vice President, and Jane Burgess will serve as Secretary. The ZCS Board of Trustees officers will hold the same positions for its Board of Finance.

ZCS Superintendent Scott Robison reminded the board of the upcoming “Do-Day” on March 21-22. He said, “Do-Day is a community-wide opportunity for students to engage in service.” He asked members of the board and the community to offer suggestions of suitable places for kids to donate their talents in service.

Assistant Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Kris Devereaux provided the required annual report about teacher evaluations. She said evaluations are based on observations, student learning objectives and data that is tied to state testing with 75% based on the teacher effectiveness rubric. In total, 99% of ZCS educators are rated highly effective or effective. Mrs. Devereaux said, “Strong collaboration and working relationships drive strong results.”

The second Food for Thought dinner discussion will be held January 28^th at the Carolina Grill. Only 21 spots are available. Interested participants may register here.

Superintendent Robison served lunch alongside Pleasant View Elementary School (PVE) food service team members this week. He offered a public thank you and congratulations to staff members who make a difference. He said, “The food service director at PVE told me that when she sees students around town, they often introduce her to their families as their ‘Lunch Teacher.’ This speaks volumes to the strong connections our food service pros make with students.” Robison shared a brief video of his PVE food serving and clean-up chores.

Bond Attorney Jeff Qualkinbush congratulated the board on a successful referendum with unprecedented results. He said the next step is the financing part of the process. As with other buildings in the district, the structure will include a Building Corporation as Lessor and ZCS as Lessee. ZCS is required to maintain the property and pay rental fees to the bond trustee who will use payment to finance bonds for construction. The next step is a notice in the newspaper about a February 24^th public hearing.

Assistant Superintendent and Chief Operations Officer Rebecca Coffman was granted permission by the board to purchase an operational compliance training platform that will both maximize and modernize the ZCS training process. As ZCS grows and there are more training-specific requirements by legislative action and loss/litigation management aims, individual divisions will be able to access and complete required training modules online. This will complement the current approach and be advantageous from a liability standpoint as all employees will have easy access to required training.

In another effort to modernize processes, Mrs. Coffman asked for permission to purchase a platform through LinkedIn that will complement ZCS’s current recruitment strategies. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach prospective educators through traditional means. This online platform will allow ZCS to drill down in an effort to find and fill specific and often hard to fill teaching positions. She said this platform is not only for attracting potential educators but for any unfilled position in the school district.

Chief Financial Officer Mike Shafer was granted approval to purchase six new school buses in 2020. The buses will be propane fueled to begin the district’s conversion to a non-diesel fuel fleet. He was also granted approval to purchase a new dish machine at the high school. The current machine is malfunctioning and unable to be repaired due to age.

Chief Technology Office Dan Layton was granted approval to purchase new Scale servers to replace the original set purchased in 2017.

Superintendent Robison publicly thanked Mr. Wayne Bivens for acting as the district’s appointee to the Parks Board for the past four years. Mr. Bivens said it was a privilege and honor to serve.

The next meeting of the Board of School Trustees will be on February 24^th at 6 p.m. in the Educational Services Center.

####