Donations were secured from Plymouth Tube, Carroll-White REMC, NIPSCO, and Pulaski County Community Development to help make this possible. The program is part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program. Students will work on experiments in February and March, and then on April 28, will find out if one of their experiments will, in fact, travel to the International Space Station.

Students from the Robotics Team demonstrated two of the robots they built, explaining the different competitions they attended and the amount of time it took to build each robot. Teacher Brad Moore added that the students spent many hours fine-tuning each robot and have competed at many events against larger schools, doing quite well.

Katie Budd, AP Biology student, reported on her trip to the Science & Humanities Symposium, March 7-9. Katie presented her research, “the effects of weather and temperature on the presence of green and blue bottle flies ”and the results. Her project placed fourth out of 85 submissions.

Superintendent Dr. Klitzman observed that kindergarten students enter the school's program "basically as nonreaders.” In the past, with only a half-day program, all teachers could hope to accomplish was to lay the groundwork and set the framework for true reading and teach the students a set of sight words.

Now, thanks to EPCS's full-day kindergarten program, all of kindergarten students are actually reading books. Klitzman also noted that at this time full-day kindergarten is still not fully funded by the state. Seven inkdergarten students read a book(unrehearsed) to each school board member.

In other busines, Dr. Klitzman reported on the following items:

• Attendance as of the second nine-weeks is as follows: ES — 96.8%; MS — 96.0%; HS — 94.62%. All buildings encourage attendance on a regular basis. There are now two count dates which will have ramifications on funding.
• Graduation Rate: WCHS graduation rate was 91% — very good compared to others throughout the state and the area. However, the numbers are skewed in that some of the students counted as not graduating are still in school and should not be figured as part of the graduation rate.
• Transportation: The two new buses are in, inspected, and on the road.
• Legislative Update: There is much activity in Indianapolis. Full-day kindergarten is now a grant; and Prime Time funding is no longer. EPCS will only receive $75 per student for their book rental for those students on the free lunch program regardless of the actual amount of the book fee. A two-year budget is being proposed and collective bargaining is to be folded within the budget; all funding will be received fiscally. The voucher system is expanding. There is more state control over our school systems at this point; Klitzpman said "we need more local control again." The state is placing more and more mandates on the school systems, with less funding. A preschool program is being proposed to be funded; and Klitzman oberved that full-day kindergarten is not fully funded, so how can a preschool program be funded? Also, a uniform attendance policy is being proposed. Klitzman asked school patronts to "please contact your representatives!"
• The ISBA Regional Meeting will be in May due to the Legislative Long Session.

ACTION ITEMS:

• The Condition of Funds Statement indicated that all corporation funds had positive balances. The General Fund Comparison Statement indicated that 45.4% of the yearly appropriation remained. All claimswere approved as presented.
• Bus drivers were approved for an electric stipend as presented.
• The MASE Trust Agreement has not been reviewed in quite some time, so the MASE attorney has reviewed and revised the agreement making minor changes. A resolution was approved as presented to make the changes.
• Personnel: Middle/high school custodian Larry Link was approved for retirement. Link has been with Eastern Pulaski Schools for 37 years. Dr. Klitzman commended him for his service and his dependability.
• Dr. Klitzman’s contract was extended and will be advertised, per statute. The board voted 4-3 to approve this recommendation. Board members opposed were Joe Cunningham, Terri Johnston and Rhonda Heims.
• Field Trips: Girls basketball coach Jeff Wagner and boys basketball coach Kyle Johnson were approved to once again take their teams to D-1 Camp at Spiece Fieldhouse in Fort Wayne, July 12-15 and June 21-24, respectively. Girls softball coach Jenni Belcher was approved to take her team to a softball team camp in Bowling Green, Ky., June 24-26.

During principal reports, elementary school principal Jill Collins reported that the elementary school's Open House and Science Fair will be March 14, from 5 to 6 p.m. The next family fitness event will be on Saturday, March 16. On April 5, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office will visit the elementary to educate students on the use of the 911 system.

Middle school principal Ryan Dickinson reported that ISTEP testing was last week, and the students were well prepared. The One-Man Volleyball Convocation last week on bullying and making good choices was a hit with students. Dr. Klitzman was thanked for coordinating the event. The Middle School Science Olympiad Team has qualified for state finals in Bloomington.

High school principal Rick DeFries also thanked Dr. Klitzman for coordinating the One-Man Volleyball Convocation which he said was very beneficial for students and community. Tim Roth has been named as the coach for the North Football Team. Senior Zach Shidler was nominated to play on the team. Winter sports are now over. Athletic director Bill Ball was commended for coordinating the Boys’ Basketball Sectional. Junior students attended a college fair at Kankakee Valley High School on March 7. Winamac High School is now a Riley Corporation. To become a corporation $1 has to be raised for the entire enrollment — WCHS raised $2 per student.

The next school board meeting will be Monday, April 8, in the Distance Learning Lab.