The West Lafayette Community School Corporation board voted on multiple operational and fiscal items during a public meeting, approving the 2026 school budget, referendum spending plan, capital‑expenditure and bus replacement plans, and a resolution to reduce 2025 appropriations so state auditors will certify the 2026 budget. The board also approved an engineering agreement related to replacing the chiller at Happy Hollow and advanced several policy updates; one complex policy (C200) was postponed for additional legal review.

Lede
Board members voted to approve budget and planning items necessary to finalize the school corporation’s 2026 fiscal plan and to let bidding and design work proceed on a mechanical replacement at Happy Hollow.

Nut graf
Taken together the actions preserve the district’s near‑term operating and capital plans, authorize design work needed for a building mechanical upgrade and set internal controls so the state can certify the 2026 budget.

Body — votes at a glance
- Consent agenda: Approved (motion to approve carried). The board approved routine items bundled on the consent agenda. The board recorded the consent vote as passing; a recorded tally earlier in the meeting for a consent action read 6 to 0.

- Happy Hollow chiller — engineering/architect agreement with Creative Engineering Solutions: The board approved moving forward with an architect/engineering agreement for design work associated with a chiller replacement at Happy Hollow. The agreement amount presented was $50,400; the administration said that figure aligns with an industry standard (roughly 10–12% of estimated construction cost). (Motion to accept the proposal; motion passed.)

- 2026 budgets and referendum spending plan: The board adopted the 2026 school budget for education, operations, referendum, rainy day and debt service funds and approved required forms and signatures. The board separately approved the referendum fund revenue spending plan (administration indicated this follows a roughly 60/40 split between categories). Recorded votes on these items were 6 to 0.

- Capital expenditures and bus replacement plans: The board adopted a capital expenditure plan (a working document subject to cash flow and timing) and a bus replacement plan for 2026. Members emphasized that many capital items are funded through a previously approved GO bond and that timing will depend on cash flow; recorded votes were 6 to 0.

- 2025 budget reduction resolution: To enable DLGF (state) certification of next year’s budgets, the board approved a resolution decreasing unused appropriations in the current year. The motion passed with board approval recorded as 6 to 0.

- Policy actions: The board advanced a batch of policy revisions. Several policies moved forward after first or second reading and votes (for example, B175 and B225 were approved). Policy C200, a substantive draft, was postponed to let the policy committee coordinate with counsel and incorporate lawyer feedback. One proposed change about email and electronic communications drew extended debate; a narrowly defined addition was rejected while the broader policy packet ultimately passed as recommended by the policy committee in most cases. Where the transcript recorded a split vote, the minutes note those tallies (for example, one policy item passed 4–2).

Quotes
“Please approve the engineering architect agreement as presented so that design work can be finalized and the process for competitive bidding can commence,” the administration said when presenting the Happy Hollow recommendation.

Ending / next steps
The administration will finalize contract documents and move toward competitive bidding and implementation for capital items as cash flow and project timing permit. The board asked that feedback on first‑reading policies be submitted by October 20 so the policy committee can compile recommended edits ahead of the next meeting.