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Warsaw School Board held its second hearing Monday for general obligation bonds for corporation projects.
Randall Hesser, with Warrick and Boyn LLP, said the hearing was to establish the beginning of the legal process for obtaining general obligation bonds.
Chief Financial Officer Steven Boyer said Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) operates and maintains about 1.6 million square feet of building space. Lakeview Middle School is the oldest building, being built in 1962. Studies were done and Lakeview has substantial infrastructure needs. Some of the infrastructure needs includes reroofing, central plant repairs and HVAC improvements.
Boyer said WCS estimates the approximate cost of the project plan to be $11,750,000 with another $250,000 in bond issuance fees.
Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert said Lakeview is the main place WCS is looking at having work completed with the bond issuance.
He said a lot of the facility needs they are looking at have to deal with infrastructure, “so we’re talking about a lot of things students wouldn’t even see or parents wouldn’t see on a daily basis.”
Hoffert said six different architectural companies have looked at what needs to be done at the Lakeview site.
Hoffert talked about four possible options when dealing with Lakeview.
The first option is to build a new middle school at a different site. The second option would be to renovate Lakeview. The third option would be to combine Lakeview and Edgewood middle schools at the Edgewood site. The fourth option would be to combine the two middle schools at the Lakeview site.
Hoffert said WCS was not ready to make an “all-out” decision Monday about what to do with Lakeview, but they are narrowing down the options. He did say the repairs being looked at still need to be made, no matter what option is eventually decided upon for the future of Lakeview.
There were no public comments.
After the hearing, the school board approved several resolutions to go forward with the facility projects and obtain the general obligation bonds.
Earlier in the meeting, parent Ashlee England addressed the board about concerns about a Lifewise Academy class being offered during school hours for Jefferson Elementary School fourth-graders.
Lifewise Academy is a program that offers off-campus religious instruction during school hours.
“And I know that they hope to be in all our schools at some point,” she said.
Lifewise Academy is a school-sanctioned class and the instructors are not vetted in the same manner public school teachers are. The curriculum cannot be viewed without being paid for and is only viewable for 48 hours, England said.
England claimed Lifewise is not transparent or communicative. She also said, as of Monday, they stripped the names of their instructors from their website.
“Parents and communities have the right to know who is working with their children. If there is nothing to hide, why all the secrecy? I know as a parent that safety is always a top priority and this doesn’t feel safe. I just want to make sure all Warsaw parents that Lifewise Academy is not associated with our schools,” she said.
Hoffert said religious-based education during the school day comes out of House Enrolled Act 1137, which encompasses all schools in Indiana. The religious-based education has to be off-campus, the school can not endorse the program or religion. Students attending the religious-based education have to have parent permission, it has to be voluntary and it can be up to two hours a week in length.
WCS does not do the hiring, transportation and doesn’t have anything to do with the curriculum of Lifewise Academy or any other religious programs, Hoffert said.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a resolution authorizing litigation against social media companies.
The resolution authorizes law firm Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP to initiate litigation and file suit against any appropriate parties to seek compensation to the district for damages suffered by the district and its students as a result of the development, operation and marketing of social media platforms and to seek any other appropriate relief.
• Heard an update on the Welcome Center from Tracey Akers, Welcome Center coordinator.
She said her office for the Welcome Center is at the Health Service Pavilion. The Welcome Center was established in July 2024. Since then, Akers said she was able to participate in some coalitions, such as the Breathe Well Coalition. She has also done outreach like attending Tools for School.
During the 2024-25 school year, she was able to help 207 new students. This year, she has seen 139 at the Welcome Center so far.
• Heard about the Regional Advanced Manufacturing Pathway (RAMP) program at the Warsaw Area Career Center from Principal/Director Ben Barkey.
Barkey said the program started a few years ago and gives students the technical skills and industry connections they need for a future in manufacturing. The program is a two-year program, which starts during the student’s junior year. During the student’s junior year, a industry partner will come into the WACC and teaches students for nine weeks. At the end of their junior year, students go to a hiring fair. During the student’s senior year, they do work-based learning with an industry partner.
