Portage Township Schools “No Place for Hate” program is expanding.
Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said the Greater Portage Chamber of Commerce is creating a program to provide businesses with decals they can put on their doors to show they’re promoting the same values and using the same terminology students are learning at school.
That would identify the businesses as safe and welcoming spaces for the students.
“We use common language and how we treat each other, how we respect ourselves,” Alaniz said.
Next, she hopes to provide families with No Place for Hate pledges like the ones students can sign so the values can be reinforced at home.
“We are more than just a school community. We are a part of the local community,” School Board President Andy Maletta said.
A student-led team promoting the No Place for Hate program plans to take the pledge to elementary schools this year so students can understand the gravity of taking the pledge, Alaniz said.
Jones Elementary School Principal Anyahlyn Dillon and Saylor Elementary School Principal Michelle Hellwege spoke to the School Board on Monday about teaching these values to students.
Students learn not just the academics but how to be responsible, fair, honest, respectful and compassionate, Hellwege said. “We are really honing in one particular value each month,” usually repeated a second time each year.
At Jones, students can earn recognition for showing one of those values, Dillon said. “They’re excited to say this is what we learned today.”
Maletta asked how the schools will measure success in this program.
“That is our next piece,” Alaniz said. “We are able to measure this specifically in terms of behavior as far as preventative measures.”
The staff is focusing on what leads up to inappropriate behavior to help figure out what might cause students to misbehave, she said.
“Now we need to land on what our parameters are going to be” for evaluating the effectiveness of the support program, Alaniz said. Academic achievement, behavior and attendance are being tracked to identify at-risk students and those who might becoming at-risk.
A behaviorist who is returning in early December will work with faculty and support staff to identify what that data collection could and should look like and how to use it to drive decisions, she said.
“This is my wheelhouse. This is what I deal with every day,” School Board member Shaunna Finley said.
In other business, the board approved a $97.1 million budget for 2025 as well as plans for capital projects and bus replacement.
The school district will transfer 11.4% from the education fund, which receives state funding, to the operations fund. The state allows up to 15%, Alaniz said. The transferred money is for utilities, custodial care, maintenance and personnel, “different things that just allow schools to operate.”
The board also approved $6,250 to pay for Indiana School Boards Association membership dues, unchanged from last year.
That’s a bargain, Alaniz and board members said. “I don’t know how a school board can function without the support we get,” Maletta said. “They do a tremendous job of educating us as a board.”
The association offers extensive training for board members but also advice to school officials, including keeping superintendents abreast of changes in federal and state laws and regulations regarding collective bargaining and other issues Alaniz said.
Alaniz said she hopes to get data later this month on the number of hours of training board members have received during the year.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
