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Portage Township Schools board meeting, Sep 28, 2026

43 min

Phones in school ▶ 41:24Reading and test scores ▶ 14:18

Click any moment below to jump the video to that second. Video length 43 min.

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Portage Township board holds public hearing on 2027 budget 0:00

  • The meeting opened with a public hearing on the 2027 budget, the bus replacement plan and the capital projects fund, where a district staff member said the school pension debt fund would close at the end of this year after its bonds are paid off in December. 0:00
  • No one spoke for or against the budget, and the hearing was closed; the staff member said the board would consider approval of the budget in 2 weeks. 0:24
  • The board considered motions to approve a transportation stipend and the 2027 general bond resolution R14⁠-⁠2026. 25:56
  • In a later report, the superintendent said the high school renovation bid had been awarded. 38:10
Item by item (15)
  1. Public hearing on 2027 budget 0:00
    • A district staff member said the education fund advertised budget is $57,603,258, the operations fund is $25,167,236, debt service is $12,131,150 and the rainy day fund is $4 million. 0:24
    • The staff member said the proposed 2027 transfer from the education fund is $6.2 million, about 10.7% of revenue, down from $6.4 million in 2026. 5:57
    • The bus replacement plan for '27 to '31 shows the purchase of 4 buses per year at prices of $187,000, the staff member said. 10:58
    • No one spoke for or against the budget, and the public hearing was closed. 12:11
  2. Opening and good news report 12:11
    • The regular meeting was called to order with the Pledge of Allegiance. 12:59
    • A student presented a good news report that included staff awards, a classroom coffee cart and a 91.3 pass rate for district students that the student said exceeded the state average. 14:18
  3. Construction projects update 16:31
    • A presenter from Skillman Corporation said crews began underground utilities, completed demolition on the 2nd floor of the existing elementary school and milled about 75% of the asphalt at the new middle school site. 16:43
    • Asked whether the storm affected the timeline, the presenter said a few weeks were lost waiting for NIPSCO before demolition but that the time could be made up. 19:31
  4. Superintendent's consent agenda 20:30
    • The consent agenda included the personnel, donation, claims and facility use reports. 20:30
    • A speaker asked whether school supply donations arrive throughout the year, and a staff member said donated supplies normally last through the year. 21:46
  5. Board consent agenda and minutes 24:00
    • The board's consent agenda included the minutes of the September 14th discussion meeting. 24:00
  6. Board reports 24:28
    • A speaker reported that the RDC met on the 24th of September and that the RDC director would schedule a meeting to review a grant in the amount of $250,000 and make a recommendation at the meeting on October the 22nd at 4:30 at City Hall. 24:37
  7. Transportation stipend 25:25
    • A staff member requested a $2 per hour stipend for bus attendants' drive time when driving the van or SPV for McKinney-Vento students who need transportation outside the district's borders. 25:38
  8. High ability grant acceptance 26:13
    • A staff member said the district's application for the Indiana Department of Education's High Ability Grant Program was approved in the amount of $67,448. 26:19
    • The staff member said the grant supports assessments to identify high ability students, professional development and curricular planning. 26:19
  9. Bereavement leave handbook revision 27:10
    • A staff member asked the board to remove handbook language in item 4.10 under which a paid holiday within the 5 days of bereavement leave counts toward one of the days. 27:19
    • Asked how long the language had been in place, the staff member said probably forever. 28:11
  10. Energy tax credit consulting agreement 28:45
    • A staff member said the administration recommended a consulting and managed services master agreement to support the district's pursuit of the federal renewable energy tax credit tied to the geothermal system in the Ellsworth Middle School project, at a not-to-exceed engagement of $112,000. 28:54
    • The agreement would have a not-to-exceed engagement of $112,000, the staff member said. 28:54
  11. Graduation night overnight field trip 30:03
    • The board considered a Portage High School overnight field trip to Six Flags Great America for graduation night. 30:03
  12. Contracts and subscriptions 30:28
    • The contracts included a website content management software subscription for $14,500, a ClassLink Analytics Plus agreement for $1,812.50 and PowerSchool plugins for $11,683. 30:28
  13. General bond resolution 31:49
    • Resolution R14⁠-⁠2026 establishes the amount to be borrowed, the maximum term of repayment and the maximum interest rate. 31:49
    • The resolution also approves forms of the 11th supplement to the Master Continuing Disclosure Undertaking and the Registrar and Paying Agent Agreement. 31:49
  14. High school renovation bid awards 33:15
    • A staff member said the district received 38 bids on September 16th, 2026, and that the total project cost is $8,512,903 across 10 bid categories. 33:24
    • Asked how the bids compared to the budget, a staff member said the project is definitely in budget and not over budget. 35:53
    • The superintendent later said the bid had been awarded. 36:49
  15. Superintendent report and questions 36:44
    • The superintendent said the district did not need to make up any days based on Indiana Department of Education calls and that 8 of the district's 10 kitchens were inspected by the Porter County Health Department with no violations. 36:44
    • The superintendent said the middle school groundbreaking is October 20th at 4 PM. 38:50
    • Asked about the new cell phone policies, a staff member said feedback from teachers and principals has been very positive overall. 41:24

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Who spoke

Who spoke

We can’t yet tell who is speaking at this board’s meetings.

Video: posted by the district as “09/28/26 Regular Discussion School Board Meeting”