Knox board approves student trips, reviews staff-handbook additions and hears warning about lost federal funding

The Knox Community School Corporation board approved multiple student travel requests, reviewed proposed staff-handbook changes and a crisis-plan addendum, and heard district leaders warn that declining paperwork for free and reduced-price meals has reduced reported eligibility and federal funding.

Dusty Minnicks, a high school social-studies teacher, presented an EF Tours proposal for an eight-day Europe trip (Paris, Normandy and London) planned for 2028. Minnicks outlined cost estimates (student price presented at $4,469; adult price presented at $5,209), payment-plan options, liability and cancellation policies (a cancellation fee example of about $300 near departure), and chaperone rules. Minnicks said no payments had been collected pending board approval. The board discussed logistics and the enrollment plan; the transcript records discussion and later approval actions for field trips.

The board also approved a high-school girls basketball overnight trip (depart June 14, return June 16) to participate in a summer shootout; the superintendent and board members discussed transportation and chaperone arrangements before the vote.

On personnel and policy, the superintendent presented five proposed staff-handbook additions: a disciplinary-progression clarification for classified staff (verbal warning at three deduct days, written warning at six, suspension/termination at nine); bereavement usage clarification (90-day window); adding Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday; a transportation-handbook addendum; and a snow-day/virtual-work addendum. The board reviewed these as a discussion item and deferred full approval for some elements to a subsequent meeting.

The board also approved an addition to the district crisis plan that includes behavioral and digital threat-assessment tools and a toolkit to guide the crisis team in evaluating potential threats.

Superintendent and staff reported a drop in families returning free/reduced lunch paperwork that the district said reduced the district's reported free/reduced percentage from about 67% to 42%, which the superintendent said decreased Title I-related funding and financial stability. The superintendent and others urged families to complete paperwork because it affects federal funding and district programs.

The meeting concluded after recognitions and customary adjournment.