Milan School Board discuss parking, maintenance and tennis courts
At the December 19 meeting of the Milan School Board of Trustees, Superintendent Patrick Murphy reviewed the current needs of the corporation. They are looking at an expansion to the elementary school, the corporation also needs a transportation parking lot, maintenance building along with replacing the deteriorating tennis courts.
Hal Kovert noted there were no changes to the proposed project since the public hearing on December 16, 2024.
Project 1 focuses on the elementary school. They will be adding seven classrooms to the south side of the building and renovating the current office space to allow for more offices.
Project 2 focuses on phase 1 of the Prickel Property located on the east side of the park. Current proposal is to build a transportation building for bus parking and maintenance and move the tennis courts to this area. The possibility of restrooms and concessions area was also discussed. Phase 2 would be moving the baseball and softball fields to this area.
Damian Maggos, with Raymond James, was present to give an overview of the financial conditions for the projects. He noted there were no changes since the public hearing on December 16.
Tim Tuttle opened the meeting for public comment, but there was none. Jeff Qualkinbush, with Barnes and Thornburg, requested approval of the School Board Resolution Approving 1028, Preliminary Determination, Reimbursement and Related Matters. The Preliminary determination to proceed with plans as described, will be published in the local newspaper. There will be a 30-day protest period. The resolution is a preliminary request for approval and in no way obligated to issue bonds if there were to be any changes in plans. This met with unanimous approval from the Board.
At the regular meeting of the Board, Supt. Murphy recognized various groups: Elementary Spell Bowl Coach, Shelby Rowland, along with student team members. The team practiced 750 words once a week for around two months and recently competed with several area 5th and 6th grade teams for a first-place finish.
Coach Langferman and senior members of the high school varsity football team were recognized as they celebrated a sectional championship.
Langferman presented Rising Star certificates to Emma Voss, Trinity Reed, Gabe Riehle and Caleb Dixon. The award is sponsored by the Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP). Each Indiana high school is invited to recognize up to four students currently in the 11th grade who show great potential for continued strong academic achievement.
Personnel:
Jodi Cummings was approved for Homebound Instruction; Makayla O’Brien was approved as a Resource Room Paraprofessional; Harley Bruns as Education and Career Pathways Coach and Carah Allen as Assistant Band Director.
Requests:
A request from Susie Fidler to attend the IIAAA State Conference in Indianapolis was approved. A request from Kris Bushhorn for Milan Dollars for Scholars to hold Denim for Dollars Staff Days during the second semester to raise money for scholarships was approved. A request from Holly Johnson for middle and high school Intensive Academic Needs students to hold a bake sale during school lunches.
The request from Stefani Bedel for the high school band to travel to Orlando, FL, in March for their annual goodwill tour was approved.
The January meeting will be held a week early due to reorganization requirements. They will meet on January 13, but ordinarily the Board will meet the third Monday of each month.
Board member Doug Norman attended his last meeting after serving for 12 years. He said the public doesn’t see the “behind the scenes” discussions, a lot of one-on-one calls, executive sessions and more that are taking place. “Glad to have a group here that has strong opinions but in the end we can still agree that we all want the same thing and that is for a successful school,” Norman concluded. He welcomed Anne Marie Laydon, saying he has no doubts she will do a great job.
Board members at these meetings were: Greg Lewis, Timothy Tuttle, Mike Alloway, Edward Amberger, and Douglas Norman.
Editor’s Note: Information for the above article was taken from the December 16, and December 19 meetings of the Milan School Board of Trustees meetings.
