In other business, the board was presented with several generous donations from community businesses and individuals to benefit school programs and recognize achievement:

• On behalf of Winamac Coil Spring, Joseph and Terry Pesaresi, Daniel and Vivian Pesaresi, Gene and Barbara Huber, Gene and Sherry Huber, Daniel Jr. and Lisa Pesaresi, Anthony and Tina Pesaresi, and Andrew Pesaresi donated $5,000; the Judge Michael Shurn Family donated $250, and John Kwiatkowski donated $250 to the purchase of a grand piano for the high school music department — the total donated to date is $28,250.
• On behalf of the Star City Lions Club and in conjunction with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), $750 was donated to the elementary school to purchase books for students.
• On behalf of the Good Oil Company, Don Good, donated a free car wash certificate to every elementary school staff member for their hard work leading to Four Star designated by the Department of Education.

The donations were accepted and the organizations and individuals were thanked for their generous donations.

Also in other business the retirements of teachers Becky Welch and Rita Murray were approved. Mrs. Welch has been in education for 31 years, all at Eastern Pulaski as a middle school special education teacher. Mrs. Murray has been in education for 38 years — 36 at Eastern Pulaski as a middle school teacher. Both ladies were commended and wished well.

Dr. Klitzman reported on the following:

• The current state legislative session has reached the halfway mark. There is a lot of focus on the Right to Work Bill, but many educational bills have been introduced and are under consideration. They include:  Bill 1189 which would require multiple ADM count days (Dr. Klitzman said this will probably will end with two count days); the bill to start school after Labor Day was defeated for now; Bill 1169 —if an incident involving students happens on a weekend, it could be dealt with at school; Bill 1047Annexation went to a study committee; Bill1205 — the superintendent’s contract would be posted on the school’s website; a bill was introduced requiring schools to include cursive writing in their curriculum; and the Common Core Standards Legislation will go to a summer study committee. 
• EPCS is in its second round of RISE training (teacher evaluations).  The process is very complicated, so the training is needed.
• The Staff was surveyed on its preference of a school year calendar.  No one calendar will be liked by everyone.
• The ISBA Regional Meeting will be March 29, in Plymouth.  The Fall Conference will be Sept. 24-25, in Indianapolis.
• Trent Shorter was commended for completing Eagle Scout status.  Dr. Klitzman sent him a letter of congratulations on behalf of the School.
• Due to funding summer school is limited. EPCS has only been offering Summer PE, but is looking at offering a “blended” class whereby students do most of their work online and meet once a week or every two weeks.
• The Safe Schools Grant Study is winding down. The next phase is to work on the infrastructure portion of the project, which includes a grant for lighting, signage, etc. on the routes to school. 
• Ivy Tech is finishing an electrical class that was offered here and a welding class is beginning Jan. 13. 

Middle school principal Stan Good reported that the middle school has completed its third and final Acuity Testing session for the school year. This testing helps teachers and students prepare for the upcoming ISTEP test. On Feb. 18, the Science Olympiad Team, sponsored by Mr. Slaven, will travel to St. Joseph’s College for competition.  The next band/choir concert will be March 19.  Mrs. Welch and Mrs. Murray were wished well.

Elemenatary school principal Jill Collins reported the first pre-school meeting was held Feb. 9, which introduced preschool students and their parents to the elementary school. The next  Family Literacy Night, Feb. 23, will be a pajama party. Professional development on Feb. 24, will focus on acuity testing and common core standards.  The Lions Club was thanked for purchasing books for the elementary school Reading Is Fundamental Program. 

High school principal Rick DeFries reported that Topics in History is visiting the Health Care Center, teaming students with residents to discuss history. Physics class will be traveling to Notre Dame to participate in an international physics class. He congratulated Dalton Overmyer and Gage Garpow for participating in the wrestling semi-state competition and the girls basketball team for winning Sectional; they will play Bowman Academy on Feb. 18, at 10:30 a.m., at the Regional at Rochester. Winamac will host the Boys Basketball Sectional beginning Feb. 28. 

The board learned that the school corporation's "Condition of Funds Statement" indicated that all corporation funds had positive balances. The General Fund Comparison Statement showed that 52.46% of the yearly appropriation remains. Dr. Klitzman explained although the appropriation percentage is the same, the corporation is receiving less funding. All claims were approved as presented.

Barb Behnke, high school science teacher, was approve for an overnight field trip to take students to a Science Symposium March 8-10, at Indiana State University. The students will be presenters and take part in other activities at the event. 

The next school board meeting will be at 10 a.m., Monday, March 12, at the elementary school.