North Spencer County School Board ratifies 2025–26 and 2026–27 bargaining agreements and authorizes bus purchase process

The North Spencer County School Corporation board met Oct. 2025 and unanimously ratified bargaining agreements covering the 2025–26 and 2026–27 school years, authorized staff to pursue procurement of three new buses, and approved a series of personnel and program actions.

An administrator presented the bargaining documents referred to in meeting materials as '2526' and '2627' and asked the board to ratify them. The board voted in favor after a motion to approve (motion seconded; vote recorded as 'Motion carried'). The transcript records the motion as moved by an administrator and approved with no recorded opposition.

On transportation, administrators asked the board to move forward with the previously approved bus replacement plan and begin the process of acquiring three new buses. The administrator said the district had initiated the replacement plan and that buying three new buses is the next step; he cautioned there is no guaranteed delivery date but said summer 2026 is the anticipated window. The board approved a motion to proceed with the purchase process.

The board also handled routine personnel business. It accepted a resignation described in the record as a school nurse at the high/middle school, and approved several appointments: Kelsey Lagenauer (preschool instructional assistant), Madison Smith (wound care supervisor), Nancy Haines (developmental preschool assistant), Jennifer Sanger (developmental preschool assistant as stated), and Nick Weininger (middle school assistant wrestling coach). The board approved a recommended change to a lead position that had previously been staffed by substitutes, replacing that interim arrangement with a candidate described by the administrator as holding the appropriate degree and content expertise.

Other approvals included payment of claims (the administrator announced claims totaling, in the transcript wording, $324,000 and $807.14), the treasurer's report, two new student clubs, several field-trip requests, three facility requests and event pricing suggested after an audit (including proposed prices for 'fright night' and a holiday dance). All of those items were presented by the administration and approved by voice vote.

The board also opened and closed a hearing tied to a master agreement application (no public comments were recorded during the hearing) and received a CIPA notice related to e-rate eligibility. The administrator told the board the district qualifies for a 60–70% e-rate discount on eligible computer infrastructure and noted, "We use Securly for our Internet filtering." No board approvals were required for the CIPA notice at this meeting.

In governance business, the board nominated and confirmed Chad Schneers (transcript spelling) as the district's replacement trustee to the Indiana Public School Insurance Trust after a vacancy. The nomination was seconded and approved.

Administrators also reported on capital and maintenance work: summer projects are largely in closeout, playground punch lists are being finalized, one piece of playground equipment is being replaced due to turf damage caused when the sign reflected light at a certain angle, and the middle-school roof project is awaiting moisture-management documentation.

The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn the public session and move into executive session.

All direct quotes in this report are pulled from the board's transcript. Where details were presented in shorthand (the transcript references '2526' and '2627' bargaining agreements), this article renders those as the 2025–26 and 2026–27 agreements to clarify the school-year periods referenced in meeting materials. When an action was moved or seconded but the transcript did not name the mover or seconder, this article notes the action and that it passed per the recorded voice vote rather than attributing it to a specific individual.