The school board will have a workshop on Sept. 12 to further discuss goals for the new school year. According the school board president Tricia Hackett, the board usually concentrates on one or two school issues during workshops.

Hackett said topics for this workshop will include counseling and reaching out to students. She said, “We want to make sure students feel connected, and a lot of that is through counseling. We did a community survey in the spring, and it still looks like there’s some progress that can be made.”

The board will also set the school calendar for the next three years. “We try to make plans not according to vacation plans, but according to educational plans,” Hackett said.

Senator and senior Alex Chong said that from a student’s perspective, it’s important for the school district to constantly revise and update policies. He said, “Students always change, classes always change, so I think it’s important to look at revising school goals, even if I don’t agree with the new system.”

At the previous Aug. 22 meeting, the school board closed the issue of administrator health insurance. Beginning Jan. 1, school district will pay a smaller percentage of administrators’ health care benefits. To offset the change, it will establish a health care stipend for current administrators.

“Healthcare is sky-rocketing,” Hackett said. “We’re always looking for ways to put more money into the classroom.”

She said that Carmel Clay School is one of the first school districts to address the problem of healthcare. However, Hackett said, this change shouldn’t negatively impact the school district’s ability to attract quality administrators.

“There are many factors that come into play,” she said. “How positive are the working conditions? How high-performing are the students? How supportive is the community? Carmel is attractive on a lot of fronts.”