Portage Township Schools board approves software subscriptions and summer trip for boys basketball

At its May 26 meeting the Portage Township Schools Board of Trustees approved a slate of contract and subscription renewals and granted permission for the Portage High boys basketball team's overnight trip to Indianapolis on June 26–27.

The subscriptions list read at the meeting included: Renaissance Accelerated Reader (listed in the agenda at about $23,398), multiple PowerSchool modules (several line items with figures read aloud in the meeting record), OverDrive digital ebooks (about $13,000), and other library and student‑information services. The transcript contains several garbled numeric figures; the district read the full vendor list into the record as part of the agenda.

Trustees asked staff to clarify the SmartFind Express line, which integrates substitute‑calling, absence recording for employees and an applicant‑tracking component used for HR workflows. A district staff member explained SmartFind Express supports substitute management, employee absence reporting (which feeds into finance and payroll systems) and applicant tracking for open positions.

The board also approved the Portage High boys basketball overnight trip; trustees noted there is no cost to students because the booster club will cover expenses. Both the subscriptions packet and the overnight field trip were approved on voice and roll‑call votes by trustees present.

The meeting record includes the roll calls for those votes; specific contract amounts for several PowerSchool line items were spoken but are recorded in the transcript with unclear punctuation and should be verified in the district's official contract documentation.