School board members will meet on Feb. 25 to discuss new policies

and to recognize award-winning teachers and students. According to school board president Layla Spanenberg, the board only has a few new policies to discuss at this meeting, some of which will directly impact students. Policies will be voted on at a later meeting.

“We currently have a policy on early graduation, the only thing that’s different is that the statue number changed (now Policy 5464). I feel like the state is trying to push for early graduation,” Spanenberg said. “As a school board, we feel the best avenue is having a student at home and taking advantage of AP credits. Most students need the safety net of being at home with their parents and in the high school. We’d much rather have our students stay here and enjoy their opportunities.”

Lacey Locke, cabinet member and senior, said she thinks the district should support students who want to graduate from high school early because of specific circumstances.

“In some cases, kids need to graduate early to help pay for college or support their families. College is expensive, and it would give students more time to earn money for it. Students (who graduate early) should be productive,” Locke said.

Another policy up for discussion is Policy 5140, which deals with students who want to withdraw from school. This policy ensures that the high school principal deals directly with the withdrawing student and does not delegate associated tasks to other employees.

Spanenberg said, “Although this is highly discouraged, once you are at that age, there are certain codes that need to be implemented. We had this policy, but we revised it to make it easier to read. It says that the principal of the high school needs to meet and help the student and parents make this decision. In Carmel, that would be (Principal) John Williams.”

In addition to discussing policy, the school board will acknowledge several awards won by students and staff members. Spanenberg said German teacher Angelika Becker will be presented with the Indiana Foreign Language Association’s Secondary Teacher of the Year Award.

“It always seems like she’s winning an award, which is just great. That’s one of the very fun and exciting things we get to do as a school board. There are so many great things going on in the district, we love to showcase that,” Spanenberg said.

Locke said she agrees with Spanenberg, “It’s easy to forget about all of the accomplishments and talents of people in our community, so it’s nice to recognize them.”