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Votes at a glance: Northwest Allen County Schools reorganizational meeting — officer elections, appointments and routine approvals
Summary
The board completed its reorganizational business and approved several routine items including officer elections, treasurer appointments, bond amounts, legal counsel designations, board compensation, and multiple intergovernmental agreements. Key administrative approvals were unanimous voice votes.
At its reorganizational meeting, the Northwest Allen County Schools Board of School Trustees approved officer elections and a series of administrative and routine items by voice vote.
Key outcomes
- Board officers elected: Liz Hathaway as board president; Christie Schlatter as vice president; Darren Vogt as board secretary. Nominations and seconds were recorded on the floor and each office was approved by voice vote.
- Treasurer and deputy: The board approved Patricia Hauser as treasurer and Julie Plaszek as deputy treasurer for the 2025 calendar year.
- Bond amounts: The board approved recommended bond amounts as presented by administration (corporation treasurer: $100,000; corporation deputy treasurer: $100,000; high school extracurricular treasurer: $100,000; middle school extracurricular treasurer: $50,000; elementary extracurricular treasurer: $25,000; faithful performance blanket bond: $25,000). The administration said the district's insurance carrier reviewed the amounts.
- Designation of legal notice newspaper: Northwest News was named the district's designated qualified newspaper for legal notices, as required by Indiana law.
- Legal counsel: The board approved continued use of Barnes & Thornburg (Jason Clagg and Mark Scudder) as general counsel; Ice Miller (Eric Long) as bond counsel; Church Church Hittle & Antrim for policy development; and the Indiana School Boards Association for general legal needs.
- Board compensation: Trustees approved maintaining board compensation at $1,900 per year, foregoing per diem for regular meetings and authorizing $56 for special meetings; trustees will continue to receive employee health and life insurance options as presented.
- Authorization to open sealed bids: The board approved an administrative list of staff authorized to open sealed bids for advertised projects.
- Board meeting schedule and permission to pay claims: The meeting schedule was approved as presented and the board authorized payment of claims between meetings when necessary under Indiana State Board of Accounts guidance.
- Consent agenda: Minutes (Dec. 9, 2024 regular meeting and Jan. 6, 2025 executive session), claims and payroll (subject to audit), homebound and field-trip requests, extended opportunity field trips, and grants and donations were approved as presented.
- School resource officers: The board renewed the annual school resource officer agreement with the Allen County Sheriff's Department for the 2024-25 school year (no substantive language changes beyond staffing updates).
- Perry Hill crosswalk: The board approved an interlocal agreement with the Board of Commissioners, County of Allen, to split (50/50) costs for a crosswalk at Perry Hill.
- Personnel: The board approved the personnel report, which included retirements and staffing recommendations. Administrators confirmed criminal-history and DCS background checks had been completed for recommended hires.
Procedural notes
Most motions were approved by unanimous voice vote with no roll-call tallies recorded in the public transcript. Where recorded, seconds and movers are noted in the board minutes; the transcript records multiple voice "aye" responses for each approved motion.
