Board approves contracts and policies, cancels one teaching contract; finance director reports savings but education fund remains strained
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Summary
Trustees approved several contracts and policies, voted to cancel a teacher's contract per Indiana statute, and heard a December financial report showing the education fund ended with about $1.38 million while the operations fund and rainy‑day fund remain larger; administration highlighted $4.5 million in recent savings initiatives.
The Elkhart Community Schools board approved several contracts and policy changes at its Jan. 27 meeting, acted on personnel matters and received a December financial update showing modest improvements but continued structural strain in the education fund.
Contracts and policies: the board approved the AdTech Consulting contract for final consideration and adopted updated board policies including teacher appreciation grants and compensatory time rules. Administration presented initial considerations for partnership agreements with Ivy Tech Community College and the Radio Research Consortium and successfully sought waiver and approval to finalize a tutoring agreement with MindTrust Inc. DBA Indiana Learns for grades 3–8.
Personnel action: the board voted to cancel a teaching contract after following the procedures in Indiana Code 20‑28‑7.5‑2(f). Administration said the teacher received timely notice and a conference with the superintendent; the teacher did not request a subsequent board conference within the statutory window and the board approved cancellation effective immediately.
Financial update: Ross presented December finances and said the education fund ended the calendar year with an education‑fund cash balance just under $1.4 million after adjusting the budget; the operations fund finished with over $10 million and the rainy‑day fund remained about $6.7 million. Ross reported that roughly 92 percent of the education fund expenditures were wages and benefits and highlighted recent cost‑reduction measures — payroll adjustments, time‑clock software, food service improvements and consolidation planning — that together produced approximately $4.5 million in savings compared with the same period the prior year. He told trustees the district still needs further reductions to balance the education fund and that wage and benefit spending remains the primary driver of the imbalance.
The board said it will continue to consider consolidation and budget actions at future meetings and directed administration to post updated financial dashboards for public review.