001to order. And first off is the pledge of allegiance. If you'd all stand, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Mr. Bishop, could I have a roll call, please? Certainly. Uh, Director McCormack here. Director Sharmmet here. Director Chaffrani. Director Cunningham here. Director McCarrick here. Director Fluki here. Director Prago here. Director Bieber, and Director Penny Packer here. Thank you. All right. Introductions of staff. We have Mr. Bishop over there as our business manager, Georgie Fischer, our HR director, Dr. Fina, our assistant superintendent. Bethany is our substitute. Kyle today. Hi, Dr. Roach. And our student representatives. and uh we'll move on to board president's report. So, I got a chance the last
002couple nights to go to the middle school and it was great. Got to see some singing and some uh band playing and a lot of really great art. And I think I say this, this is the probably the seventh time I've said this or eighth time that the art in our school district amazes me. even from the little kids to the big kids. I always thought it was the best thing my kids could actually draw things. I can't draw a stick figure. So anyway, um I'll turn it over to Dr. Roach. I know we have a lot to get to him today. Your turn. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I look forward to Superintendent Port. Before I forget, I want to make sure that I know he hasn't heard it enough, but Mr. Blake's
003birthday was yesterday, so I want to make sure Mr. Blake, you know, he said that every school he went to had a cake or cupcakes. So, so yes. Yes. Sorry. Sorry, no slide, but um All right, couple things. Uh again, it's uh as the school year is uh is wrapping up here, some great things going on in our school. So, we had a spring signing day. So, a couple pictures there including a board member uh for uh signing uh with their student to uh to go on and and show what showcase the schools are going to be continuing their talents at studying and athletics. And the lower left picture is also uh for um for marching band. So, we t we also had a separate signing kind of for marching band and uh and musical
004pieces that are going on in college as well. So, it was a nice event there in the uh um the high school library. It was interesting being there. It was very quiet. I mean, I know we're in the library, but I think people felt bad clapping real loud, but it was a it was a nice process and we really proud of our uh our students. Um, and then we've already started our welcome to kindergarten programs at both Herford and and Marboro. Um, and I know we have some more going on next week, but getting our students a chance to get ready for kindergarten. I appreciate the the efforts that all of our administrators I know Miss Malone is there with the bus and I think Mr. Germany. I was there to talk about food service
005and really a team effort with our principles to to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible as they're heading through this um big transition. But a lot of excitement and that will obviously continue on throughout the course hopefully sooner than later but into the summer to get ready for the start of next school year. Last Friday was prom. So again, a lot of uh one of those other So you see the kindergarters coming in and then you see heading out to junior and senior prom. So, um, it was a great great night for for everyone to get up, get a chance to dress up, enjoy, and make some some great memories. So, we appreciate Mr. Flanigan, the high school administration, and and putting on uh giving a safe night for everyone that uh had a
006great time. So, I want to share some of those pictures. These look a little different than prom uh in terms of the four five color walk led by PTFS. And you can see the lower left corner somewhere raised around 20,000 total. that does not include some of the costs that go out for that, but definitely a great event that seems to be now a staple there at the uh at the fourth and fifth grade center on that back field. Um I'm not sure how they would jump in my car to drive home, but um definitely a fun a fun piece that you can see all the color in the area that's that's there, but a great great event um outside for the students. Couple other events here, third place environ for for the high school,
007elementary, and middle school songfest participants. and then uh spend a day with a positions assistant combination between uh LVHN and D sales getting our students out to learn and have some additional experiences. So again, lots of great things going on kind of every day in our school and hopefully continue to share those. May 1st was National Decision Day. So I know we showed you the signing piece, but this is all many of our students uh in the library showing showcasing where they're heading off to uh to next year. uh and whether it's college, career, military, or other pathways, this seems to be May 1st across the across the country um where uh people are sharing their colleges. So again, we're proud of them and um Mrs. Penny Pecker, I know you had asked last time
008about some of the information. We'll continue to promote that information on the website and get it out there. Yep. Artsfest. So these are pictures from days uh one and two. Day three is taking place. So as long as Mr. McCormack says, "Madam President, can I please take A through Z?" Um, you can probably catch uh some of the tail end there. But the high school kicked off tonight uh today and tomorrow and finishing up with orchestra I believe at the uh at the middle school for the elementary middle school. But again agreed with Mrs. Cunningham in terms of seeing the artwork and uh getting a chance to hear the hear the concerts and I'm excited and u never really thought about it until you see the the parents in the audience waving to their kid
009and their kids kind of like kind of be cool but still wave. It's fun. It's really fun to see uh the experiences. Actually Dr. friend and I had to slow some kids down. The doors open. They were sprinting with their with their instruments to get down to the to the calf to get ready and like take your time, take your time with no rush. So, it was great. Again, there's these are the items that are taking place uh tonight at the high school and finishing up at the middle school. So, a great week. I know it was tough. I did hear some maybe was maybe purposely heard it in my ear shot of the parking issues with the with the softball last night and the baseball. Um, but I think everybody and I did hear
010some some students that were like, "This is great. I can go see volleyball. I mean, I can go see softball and baseball on the same night." So, I guess you could look at it whichever way you look at it. Um, in terms of the information that's there. Um, on Wednesday, uh, Mr. Flanigan and I'm sure a couple others from the high school attended the Western Montgomery um, uh, career tech center uh, for the National Technical Honor Society. So, we had four students that were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society. It looks picturesque off off the deck there behind it. Looks like Toy Story um in terms of uh but we're again proud of our students uh that were there to participate in and uh at the Western Center and I'm sure Mr. McCerrick will
011have something to say as well. Today was our Special Olympics uh down at Springford. So we had our our team uh of our middle school and high school students. So here's a couple pictures of our students getting ready. And the one on the lower left, you can see Mr. Thrush with his hat on and our students walking out to introduce us. uh as as our team and uh and then a couple in in the stands with some um with the tents there to keep that going. And I did hear Mrs. McCormack that I have a I have a video on my phone, but I can't get it in here. But they did have a parade through the high school, a little pep rally, and walk them out with the marching band out to the to
012the um to the buses and the excitement on the students faces is just this is their day, right? This is their opportunity. It was really cool. Yeah. And fortunately, we get to do this in-house on May 20th. Um Dr. Fina and Mrs. Giblin have organized with Mr. Thresh and the team to do a mini uh Special Olympics uh on our campus at 8:30 in the morning out on the in the uh stadium area. Um and it's really really a great opportunity to um to uh see our students in action and it's a great overall day. Some teachers say it's the best inservice day. They get to just look at kids and have fun have fun and cheer them on and it really is an uplifting day. Couple things that have taken place last week and
013this week are n school nurse day, school lunch hero day, happy school principal day. We have some principles in the room so let's give them a round of applause and congratulate them and thank them for all they do. And then we have our teacher appreciation uh day and week and I know the the buildings were were celebrating that so doesn't go unnoticed and trying to celebrate everyone and keep everyone uh motivated here as we get into March and we're heading towards uh towards the end of June. So, I just want to recognize all the work that happens every day. We appreciate it. This is a sneak peek of the new website, the front page of one of the front pages of the new website that's coming in 2526. Um, again, this a little bit of
014a little bit of a new look. Um, there'll be multiple pictures scrolling through this top part. Mrs. Janowski asked me to share that. Um, we'll be ready for the start of the school year. Not sure exactly sure the exact date it'll launch, but we'll let everybody know. a lot of work behind the scenes to clean up the website and make it a lot more interactive and and for our families. And she said definitely the the school lunch calendars will be top-notch. You'll see it right away as soon as that seems to be the hot hottest item uh coming out. And then finally, reminder about graduation. If you remember last year, we moved it up. We're going to keep it at 5:00 and on June 3rd and hopefully not have to use the rain. Uh we're
015trying to call in some good weather. Uh and there will be a live stream available that started a couple years ago and we're continuing that uh with the help of our students and the class of the high school. So that's the graduation. That's it. Okay. Thank you. All right. Well, we'll move on to our student representatives to the board reports. Ruth and Chris, you're on. As Dr. Ro mentioned, the high school arts fest starts tonight. The recital and jazz band are being showcased and tomorrow will be band and orchestra. Um keystone testing starts on Monday the 20 the 12th. Key the choir spring choir concert will be May 15th at 7:00 p.m. Um the ready day link crew is hosting is for n rising 9th graders and it's a presentation and tour on the 22nd.
016The junior class has three fundraisers for the end of this year. We have Rita's water ice on the 19th, Kona's water ice at great outdoors day, and all the powderpuffs um proceeds go to the junior class, which will be also on May 16th. Academic underassman recognition was on the 30th of April. The final MCIU meeting with our student panel was last week of April where our student leaders met to recap this year and discuss ways to be inclusive for all students. We collaborated with other students from other schools and we planned for a more inclusive and leader built like group I guess. Um special Olympics pep rally today um was in the morning. Um our team was able to go to springboard as Dr. Ro mentioned. May 20th, we have our UPSD Special Olympics in
017the morning for our athletes. And the baloria is on the 1st of June at 3 PM at New Ghanian Hoppin Park where the choir will also be performing. AP testing started this week and it's going to continue in through next week. I personally have three to study for and take. Uh you got the senior trip. It's going to be on the 22nd of May and then the following day is going to be great outdoors day. the um clubs at the end of the school year, they started having their meetings to elect new officers, and that's going to be happening this month. Senior rewards is going to be on the 20th at 6 p.m. The Western Center graduation is on the 21st at 7 p.m. at Springfield High School, or yeah, at Springford. The blue and
018gold ceremony is going to be on the 28th at 6 pm. Our athletes and band members going on to college for their sport or their uh musical instrument were celebrated on the 23rd at signing day as uh Dr. Ro mentioned. College decision day was celebrated on uh May 1st. I was there. Um Dr. Ro mentioned it. I'm going to be going on to Penn State for engineering. And then um for the seniors in the class of 2025, we will all be graduating on June 3rd um of this year. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to Bethany. If you could give us our solicitors report and Sunshine Act announcements, please. Sure. Just one quick announcement. There are two uh periods for public comment tonight. The first is limited to any items that are on the
019agenda for a vote. And the second is for any item that is or may come before the board. There are signup sheets in the back of the room and they can be turned in up here before the comment periods. That's it. Well, that was quick. Thank you. Okay. Uh we'll move on to presentations and discussion policies for first read. We have three of them. Uh any questions? No, I have a question. All right, Liz, I just had a question about the flag one. Um, I didn't know in the title or the policy number or whatever if we could add United States flag, United States National Flag. And then also I had a question about um like if a student declines on the Pennsylvania General Assembly website they say students may decline to recite the pledge
020of allegiance and may refrain from saluting the flag on the basis of religious conviction or personal belief. The supervising officer of the school subject to the requirements of this subsection shall provide written notification to the parents or guardians of any student who declines declines to recite the pledge of allegiance or who refrains from saluting the flag. So I don't know is that law or what is that agenda? We have that option in there to good. I mean, I would defer to to the solicitor, so I don't want to uh speak for her, but um there is an option in the proposed policy. I mean, there were very few um revisions to that. Um but it did add language. This policy revision added language that the US flag must be displayed in classrooms um in accordance
021with school code. Um and the other revised language was related to uh students who decline opening exercises which is their right to decline that in chapter 12 um of school code. So that that is in there. I'm sorry. I guess do parents have to be notified according to this if they decline? Like I didn't know if that's I I don't I don't believe so. I'm not aware of that because the the citation in here is to the law which specifically states that students have the option. Anyone else? Thank Okay, we'll move on to our 2025 2026 proposed final budget presentation. Mr. pressure. Okay. Uh so this is the uh proposed final budget um for the 2526 year. Uh I'm sure you're all aware. Um but I just think it's important to mention this is the
022proposed final. This is not the final. So, the uh the uh motion that's on the agenda for later tonight uh as a recommendation from the finance committee, the proposed final um any tax increase, if there's a tax increase, can go below what is voted on tonight. Um but my experience and I believe the history here as well has been you can't increase. So, this is the worst case the maximum tax increase. It could be anywhere from zero to what we're voting on tonight, which is the max at 4.9%. Um, so just want to make sure that we're all on the same page. Um, starting off there. So, this is where we've been. Finance committee has reviewed all these um uh different budgets that we've gone through uh in detail starting back in November uh finishing
023up in March. And then we did have the discussion at finance uh in April which is where the recommendation for 4.9% is coming from uh tonight. So here we are tonight and also we do have two more finance committee meetings uh to discuss anything that might uh that any board member may want to look at in more detail, have more time to talk about, review if there are any changes. Um but yeah, if if anyone sees anything in here that they uh want to have some more discussion about uh that we can certainly bring that up. I don't want to speak for Director Cunningham, but let us know and we can certainly put that on the agenda uh for finance to review. Okay. Uh so just real quick, we always talk about act one and
024the budget process. This vote tonight is outside of act one. This goes back to, I believe, 1949, uh when school code was put in place. Uh the key here is the 30 days prior to the adoption of the annual budget. So we're required by law to vote on this now. give us 30 days, give the public 30 days to review it before the board votes on a final budget uh in June. So, just a quick snapshot here of enrollment. What you're looking at there, the far right, uh that gray bar is enrollment. It's actually ADM, which is essentially enrollment as of June 30, 2024. So, that's 3,183 students. If you look back at the tallest bar was uh June 30, 2020 and that was at 3,396. So we've had um a little bit of a
025declining enrollment. It's also important to look at that green line uh there in the middle. Um our students that are categorized as low income has uh crept up since well basically since the pandemic for sure. Uh special ed red line there is also slowly creeping up as well. Um so just a couple of uh factors to take into account here. So the independent fiscal office which is a state um office of the of of the budget uh nonpartisan office will take a look at and project many things. One of them being the act one index. So they take a look at the base index. You know we we do qualify for the adjusted act one index. So you'll see that 4% right up there. Um, for upper perk, we are allowed um by PTE to
026increase up to 4.9%. Uh, we could probably spend an hour and a half talking about that calculation. If anybody's interested, we could talk about in finance. Um, but the takes a look at the base index and what they're trying to do is project out uh for the next four years. So, this was done in October of 2024. They're taking a look at their uh November projection here and just showing uh that it their projections actually are increasing a little bit from uh from a year ago. But what they're looking at there is uh a 20% reduction in four years of the act 1 index. So going from 4% in uh 2526 down to 3.2% in 2930. So they're looking at a decrease in that act 1 index moving forward. So now talking about the 2526
027budget, just looking um just a little graphic just to show the revenue side of things. Uh the blue line there is uh the current year that we're in 2425 and then the gold is uh the 2526. So you can see uh some increases there in in local increase in state which we'll get into more detail later. Um and then if you have really good eyesight you can see the federal line uh there as well. Uh a little more specifics here. Local revenues. Uh we are funded 67 and a half% locally. Uh state revenues come in at 31.5% and then 1% is federal. So expenditures by function. This is kind of like the the main buckets that we look at. Uh so when we look at these uh pieces of the pie, it includes the salaries,
028it includes the benefits of these different areas that are within our budget. So obviously the big slice of pie there is is our uh regular instructional programs just regular classroom items uh at 39.6. Our special education costs are at 14.4. Uh the next largest slice of the pie is over here and that's uh our buildings and grounds at a little over 7%. And then up here is our uh debt service at 6.7%. Now, taking a look at what what makes up those uh different buckets or different slices of the pie. Uh salaries at 39% and benefits uh down here at 24%. So, you know, just taking a look, personnel, people make up over 63% of our of our budget. Uh the next one here, largest piece of the pie is our other purchase services, which
029is going to include our transportation, our tuition costs for kids that are uh that are out of district, and also our charter schools, which we'll certainly talk more about a little bit later. So, speaking of charter schools, um so this is the format that we took a look at with the budgets. It takes a look at the 2425 budget and then where we are with the 2526 budget. Uh, so I'm not going to touch on every one of these lines in the next three slides. Um, but I'll try to pick the highlights or low lightss. Um, so you're looking at charter schools right there is a $900,000 increase. Uh, that is a projected increase in our tuition rate of $3,000 for our non-special ed kids and $5,000 for our special education kids. The calculation of
030the the tuition rate is it's really your budget divided by your ADMs. So, we talked about declining enrollment and budgets never decrease. So, when your budget goes up and your students go down, that just makes for a higher tuition rate. Uh, as far as students, we're keeping it relatively flat with the number of students. This is all just based on the tuition rate um increase. Scholarships looks like a large increase, but this is the expenditure side. Uh, so that $14,900 increase. On the revenue side, there's a $14,900 increase. So that's that's a net zero for there. So we lump uh a few admin budgets here together, school board, superintendent, business, and HR. Uh that's a 10 and a half% increase. So a few years ago uh during the pandemic, it was almost impossible to find
031substitutes. So that was bad for kids, bad for staff, but it was good for our budget. Now we're able to fill those sub positions. good for kids, good for our staff, rough on the budget. So, that increase really is uh mainly bringing our subline up to uh where we sort of expect to land this year. Uh I did want to point out that special ed pupil service line, um that increase is not in special ed. special ed actually there was a slight decrease in our special ed budget but that uh is under pupil services and it's for our um our western center our tuition to the western center so uh the number of kids that we're sending which is great is increasing again that's a that's a hit on our budget um so we are
032sending more kids there we have to pick up more of the cost so need to touch on facilities uh there's obviously a large increase there 12.5% uh that really is coming down to two line items uh that we did discuss in in finance in more detail but it's repairs uh and it's also uh our electric rates. So PICO takes a look at your five uh takes a look at the five hottest days over the summer and says oh here's how you perform on those five days. That's what you're paying going into the next year. So unfortunately we didn't do so well on those days that they picked. Um but now uh Mr. Roorbach and I are aware of this and his team is aware of this. So uh we're going to certainly pay much closer
033attention. Unfortunately that's what we have to pay uh moving to next year. So hopefully we can uh sort of correct things moving into 2627. Um and just the repairs I I mean it's just the equipment. These are repairs that are needed. So um there's not much that we can do there. you know, we're going to obviously do the best we can, but uh that's a tough one. So there you can see also salaries and benefits. Uh salaries are are just a again we talked about the 64% is is the people. Um so that's the projected increase in salaries for uh for next year. Benefits are mainly driven by salaries, but it's also uh this number is driven by a 14.8% 8% increase uh in our medical and prescription renewal for next year. Um so we're
034we're having a shoulder a bigger burden there on on our benefits, the transfer to capital reserve. So that's new this year. We talked about it and I'll have a little bit more detail uh in a in a future slide, but um we took a look at the five-year plan that we have for all the roof projects that we have throughout the district. uh in finance. We talked about, you know, do we need to borrow money to to sort of pay for this? Um and then we talked maybe there's a way to sort of self-fund those uh projects that we have over the next five years. So, uh I kind of came up with a plan and it it meant transferring $200,000 every year for the next five years into the capital reserve. It's we have
035a little over nine million in there right now, but that 200,000 will build it up enough to to pay for those projects um every summer for the next five years and and give a little bit of cushion because, you know, I'm trying trying to guess on what construction materials are going to cost in four years from now. So, that was a plan. It was put in there. Um you know, we could certainly discuss it more. Um but that will would be huge to try to get all those projects done. the budgetary reserve. Uh that's for those sort of unknown, no idea, couldn't have projected that these costs are going to pop up mid year, but we do have uh some money set aside for any of those uh possible expenditures that pop up. So there
036you can see uh it's the expenditure budget goes up to uh just about $85.4 million, which is an 8% increase on the expenditure side. So just a couple of notes. Uh we did talk about budgetary reserve. Uh so when this presentation is posted hopefully tomorrow you could click on that link March finance committee meeting uh to get back to that spreadsheet there that we that we discussed in that meeting. Uh there are a couple of new staff positions that are included in this budget uh it's a new autistic support teacher uh for for our kids that that have some additional needs and also two pair professionals that go along with that with that classroom. We also have some athletic coaches uh that we have included in this budget. So, here's a little bit more of
037the detail. There's your autistic support teacher. This that includes your salary and your uh benefits for that teacher. Uh two power professionals. The board did approve bringing back indoor track. So, we do have a coach uh listed in this budget as well. And then we also have a boys and girls assistant coach for basketball, track and field, and soccer. So those are the the new positions that were included in the budget. Not going to go through every line here, but uh the finance committee and those of you that have been following along uh recognize this format. So it takes a look at the preliminary budget. So what was presented uh leading up to the March meeting? any um well, so this is where we are right now. And then these are all the adjustments that
038were made. So really the focus is right down here. We've been able to reduce the expenditures by uh just over $322,000 since March. Oh, there we go. Okay, so that was the expenditures. So we'll move on to the revenues. Um the real estate taxes are increasing to $46.2 $2 million, which does include the uh 4.9% uh millage increase. Um the earned income tax, uh we we talked about this at finance. Uh the recommendation there was to increase it by another $225,000. So I had already increased at 50,000. So that'll bring us up to the 4.775 million. That looks like a good number. It's not a conservative number. It's not an aggressive number, but it really just looks like it's a good number uh for next year. we are going to uh exceed the $4.5 million
039this year uh in earn in earn ear earned income taxes. Uh so just some reductions there in transfer taxes and delinquent taxes. Um new to everyone uh sort of mentioned this at finance but didn't do anything with it but I did increase uh the interest revenue up another $150,000. I think that's also another good number. Not aggressive, not conservative. um we are well beyond the 700,000 that was in the budget for this year. So um I I I'm almost positive we're going to exceed that million50 this year and I think that should be a good number next year with possible rate increases I not rate decreases I should say either coming at the end of this calendar year or into next year is is the last I heard for the projections there. Um so local
040revenues are going up to 54.6 million which is almost a 5.6% uh increase. So state revenues, the basic ed and the special ed. Uh all I did with those subsidies from the state is bring those numbers up to where we are for this year. Um we it's been very quiet at the state budget level. There's just no talk about anything. So really have no idea what they're going to do at the state level. Um we are everybody's required to have a budget done by June 30th, but somehow the state usually gets away with waiting till later. Um the other subsidies right there. It's it's a it's a few subsidies, but the the biggest one that we need to talk about is the transportation subsidy. Um we're going to bring in about $2 million in that
041this year. We had 1 point between 1.3 and 1.4 four in for this year. So, I'm going to bring that number up um up to around the 2 million. So, that that factors into that increase there. So, the gaming relief, we can certainly talk more about that, but it was just released on May 1st uh that the state has allocated. It's just over one, yeah, $ 1.025 billion to be released from the uh gaming fund, which is up from the 931 million that was released for this year. I think that's just proof that the house always wins um because they are making money um which is good for our taxpayers. Um so then uh social security and retirement reimbursement we are reimbursed for half of of those payroll expenses that we have. So for every
042dollar of salary we pay uh into social security and retirement but the state does reimburse us for half of that back. So there you're looking at a 7% increase in state revenues. Um, and that's all due to uh the items that we just talked about. So, federal uh what I what I typically do is reduce our title grants by 10%. So, those allocations are based on uh the number of free and reduced kids that you have and it it could fluctuate year to year, but without having the allocations, I usually like to just reduce them 10% and go with that. I'm hoping we get those allocations soon. Normally they come out early April, but seems like it's been delayed the last couple of years. So, um, and our access, uh, funding for special education, um,
043projecting projecting it just to be flat. So, there we have our total revenues are increasing, uh, right around 5.9% uh, in total. Again, little snapshot of of the revenue changes since the preliminary budget. Uh obviously it includes the um the worst case scenario tax increase um but the revenues did increase by over $2.6 million since uh since March. So here's some of the the notes just from the revenues. Uh I did need to decrease our tax collection rate just a a well point4% uh which is just where we were pretty much this year was it it had always been around 98 but it dropped off a little bit uh for this year. So I just decreased that. Uh we talked about earn earned income tax and interest revenue. Uh and also there's no state budget
044yet. So, this is where we were um back in March uh with no tax increase. It was a $7.4 million deficit. With a $4.9%, we have a deficit of just over $4.4 uh million. So, just taking a look at millage rates in the county for this 2425 year. Uh it's really hard to see, but we are right here at 27.834, 834 um which is the the fourth lowest in in the county. So here that last row um is where we are for this year and then giving just a 10-year look back of um increases in millage rates. And here you can also see these last two columns. You have the base index at four and then our adjusted at 4.9. So you can see uh where it's been over the last 10 years and where
045the adjusted rates were as well. So the average assessed property um at 126,051 for the 2425 year that tax bill would have been $4,115.66. uh with this worst case scenario max increase uh budget uh that number would go up to 432256 uh and that would be a $26.90 increase. So this is where you can see the gaming relief. So that 931 uh million that the state released for this year was $281.88 88 for our taxpayers when with that bump up to just over 1 billion. Uh that number increases to $32748. Um so you know that is the homestead farmstead approval process. Uh that's done at the county level. When I take a look at our municipalities and sort of, you know, where we stand, uh, I think the winner is upper handover, which is right
046around 64 to 65% of all of the properties in the township are approved for either a homestead or a farmstead. Most of the other ones are right around 50%. Um, but, uh, at the county, the county approves those and the application process is all done, uh, through the board of assessment office. So, just a few open items here. Uh, we've talked about a few of these already. The unknown state budget, uh, final allocations for federal grants. I have been and will continue to take a look at the revenues just to see if there's anything else that that could possibly be adjusted uh before we get the final budget. Um, and we have and will continue to take a look at the expenditure side of it as well. Um, just to see if there's anything that
047pops up that we can that we can reduce. So just to reiterate, this is the uh highest worstcase possible increase. Any questions? Questions? Okay. No. Thanks, Drew. Thank you. It was lovely. Yes, it was lovely. I was gonna say yes. Okay, we'll move on to public comments on action items. And we have one uh Randy Baps, would you come on up? You need to turn the microphone back on if you would. Thanks. That totally would have gotten me. All right. Good to see you all again. Uh I just wanted to thank you all for the time and work that has gone into this budget. It is not easy to balance everything right now as we have seen. Um I have caught up with the finance meetings and I see that there have been some careful
048choices made trimming where you can but still trying to protect the things that matter like student mental health and making sure that every kid feels like they belong here. There's been some push back that I've seen on things like social and emotional learning programs and inclusion work. Uh, but that is part of helping kids succeed um and feel like they belong at this school. What's frustrating is that some of the loudest criticism doesn't seem to be about outcomes or helping kids. It feels more like paring propaganda points. I don't think things like empathy should be a lightning rod for controversy. So, in short, thank you again for trying to do what is best for the students of the school district and making the tough decisions in your role, which I honestly don't envy. So, thank
049you. Thank you. Okay, that was the only one I had for public comments on action items. So, we will move on to an approval of tonight's agenda. Motion to approve the agenda. Second. Uh, yeah, we do need a modification to it. I'm sorry. Um, when we get to item 2A in the supplemental positions, um, we inadvertently left out Tessa Kisel and Danielle Stannick. So, they would be added to that list for approval if that's okay with everyone. For mentor, yeah, these are our teachers that are veteran teachers mentoring our two number two supplemental positions. a mentor teachers and they would be added in to their Yes. Sure. Tessa Kiesel and Danielle Stanic. And hopefully I said them right. I said them for spelling purposes, too. Okay. So, now are we still good with the approval
050of the agenda? Motion and second. Okay. Yes. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? I I Any opposed? Okay. All right. Oops. All right. Next, I'd look for an approval of the minutes of the April 10th motion. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Thank you. We don't have anything under old business, so we'll move on to new business. Madam President. Oh, yes, Mr. McCary. Motion to approve the personnel report in its entirety. That's the retirement, the resignations, the appointments, and the leaves. Second. Okay. Including our two additional mentors. Just so I say it out loud. Yes. Okay. All right. So, we have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Thank you. Congratulations to Judy Fitzgerald. Yes. Her retirement. Yes. Always
051a good thing. Uh we'll move on to action items. First we would have the motion to we'll go right into it today. Motion to approve the upper percume school district 2526 proposed final budget in the amount of 85,397519 with a millage increase of 4.9% resulting in a tax increase of 5.02% 02% and to allow for discussion over the next month and authorization for official advertisement of its availability for public inspection at the following areas until June 19th, 2025, which would be here at the ED center and on the UPSD website. Motion second. Any discussion? Hopefully, we will cut it down over the next few weeks. So come back next month to find out what the final number is and come to finance. Yes. So I yeah I would encourage everyone all board members to be
052at the finance committee meeting. Um we've got to find ways to figure this out folks. It's not just this year, it's next year and the year after that. And you know fiscal stewardship isn't oh we'll just raise taxes. We've got to figure out some creative out ofthe- box kind of thinking ways to move in the right direction. And Trina, I just want to mention last year you sent us an email in May and you suggested some cuts in all the departments. Do you think you could hammer that out again? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And uh just so we can, you know, consider it. But um folks, we got you know where we're heading. Yeah. So let's not fool ourselves. So please come to the finance meeting and we we've really got to pound away. So thank
053you. Yeah. I was going to say in addition to that, Peg, I wanted to thank the administration for going through and shaving off. They did a lot of work to um look at programs that maybe weren't being used and and pull stuff out. So, I do appreciate that. And I'm going to do another deep dive as well. And just for the record, the next finance committee meeting is uh Thank you. Thank you. Because I wrote down 69. Uh May 19th. I'm having a heck of a time. June 9th. Yeah. May 19th and then June 9th. Um that'll be our last uh before we have to vote on the final final budget and they would both be at six o'clock here at the Ed Center. Okay. Any other discussion? All in favor, could I request a
054roll call vote, please? Sure. Mr. Bishop. Okay. Uh, Director McCormack. Hi. Director Sharid. Hi, Director Chaffrani. Director Fluki I. Director Prago I. Director Bieber. Director Penny Packer. I'm voting no as a matter of principle. Thank you. Director McCarrick I begrudgingly and director Cunningham I. Passes 8 to one. Thank you. All right. We move on to item B. Motion to approve the Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center budget for 202526 in the amount of 9,175,61. Budget increase is 6.55%. Cost to the upper Percuan School District is 2,7598 which represents an increase of $247318 or 9.84%. Motion second. Any discussion? The student enroll the student enrollment that you described in the presentation. Yes. Like a five-year rolling average of that dictates the proportion. Yes. Our portion has been increasing over the past few years because we brag
055about the Western Center too much and we have more people going down there. We're we've overtaken Spring for's number of students and Potts Grove is still lagging behind and they are upset because they cannot get enough people accepted down there. We had about um 30 students get unaccept not accepted this year, but they've made strides and great improvements down there in all the programs over the past few years. Anyone else? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay, motion carries. Uh, next we'd have a motion. President. Yes, Mr. McC. Once we have the budgets out of the way, could I make a motion to do C, the agreement with the Canteen Group for the placement of four vending machines at the Upper Park High School. D. Motion to approve the addendum to the agreement between the
056Upper Park School District and ESS for substitutes. E, the service agreement with MCIU for professional development. F. the 2526 Montgomery County IU Intergovernmental Agreement for Shared Student Services and G approve the 2526 school-based access services contract with the MCIU. I'll second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion's carried. Mr. Flanigan, vending machines. I know you're worried about it. We're good. All right. Well, I know there was a lot of talk about it, so we're waiting for a while. Probably want that to be a separate motion, but there was a lot of excitement. Yes, I can imagine. All right, next move. President. Oh, yes. Motion going to carry. We do. H the approve stipulation settlement the stipulation to settle the real estate assessment appeal. I the motion to approve the three-year con
057three-year agreement with Bucks County IU. J approve the revised agreement with new story schools and K approve agreement with the environmental control system for supervision of air monitoring analysis for the upcoming asbestous abatement pro project any discussion hearing none all in favor I I any opposed okay motion's carried madam president item L approve the environmental cost controls systems as the district's adher designated person for the period of 3 years. M the agreement with pediatric therapeutic services for speech therapy services. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? I. I. Any opposed? Okay. Motion's carried. We'll move on to our financial reports. Uh Megan Moyer, you would be so kind as to turn the microphone on. And hello. Hello. Um, attached to tonight's agenda are the April's financial reports that include the operating reports, payroll and
058cafeteria reports, and the G general fund list of payments totaling 1,535,48.71. Also included is capital reserve list of payments totaling $2,778.30. Any questions? Of course, if anyone else has any questions, I can hold off. I have a bunch of just I thought it would be nice to talk about them. Um, on uh April 22nd, there's um listings for Cargill. Can you tell me what we what we use Cargill for? I wasn't sure about that one. Cargill is for the road salt that we used over the winter. Okay. All right. Well, that was an answer. Yeah. Um, I also noticed just as a a comment that there were a lot of $25 um to c to different people. I'm assuming they're chaperones for prom. Actually, it's refunds for um the eighth grade field trip. So, there
059you go. Okay. See, that's why I asked the question. That was close. Um on May 8th, there's 3 thou $36,44 to Kelly Services. Um, are are they substitutes for I'm assuming they're substitutes? Actually, we pay Kelly services now for um PTS, the pediatric therapeutic services for the occupational um therapy. Okay. So, it's kind of like they merged or either Kelly services bought out PTS. Gotcha. Not sure what happened. Okay. All right. Uh uh on 58 there's also for Seal Master which I'm assuming what it was $2,267. Um I'm assuming it was a repair of some kind. It's um white paint for the fields. Gotcha. See, this is why I asked the questions. Yeah. Um, also there was a charge for Walter um, and I Walter Dorm uh, for HVAC for $9,815. I'm assuming that's is
060that four or five? No, actually I'm guessing you're trying good guess. No. Um, the bulk of it was for Herford split system installation and the other one was for the wood shop leak. I think the HVAC leak. Gotcha. Okay, I'm almost done. Um, do you know um on 58 we paid Whistler Pearlstein for and it said other services uh it was $25,047. Yeah. What the heck? This was Yeah, this is our last meeting. Yeah. Um I just wondering um if you if you know what the span of time is. Like I know they don't bill every time they do something. I know it's um January's January. Yeah. And the bulk of it for like special education and then there's like policy right to know different small things like that. Okay. All right. Um I only
061have two more. Um, do we have um a year-toate total on cyber charter tuitions? Yes. I know I asked you for that ahead of time. Thank you. Yes. You don't have that off the top of your head. I know you don't, but thank you for looking. She was rich. I know. Oh, I know. They're just rolling. No. Um, so the total for the year to date is 3,125,233.14. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. Um, and one more last one. Um, in the year-to- date report in account number 2750, which says non-public transportation, um, it's $576,000. Do you know um I'm not sure what transportation's in there. I don't know whether that's our charter schools or our non-public schools or if it's our sports. Right. Um, nonpublic all. So, it's all except for what's going actually to
062school. Exactly. Okay. Not athletics. Right. There you go. That's the one. Okay. I'm done. All right. Anybody else? Do we need to throw a vote to that? Um, somebody want to make a motion to approve? I'll make a motion. Yes. Oh, sure. Sorry. Yeah. Yes. It's in in total. Yes. Uhhuh. and thank you for doing that. Okay. Um, no other questions. Okay. So, I'll make the motion. Thank you. Second. All right. All in favor? I. Any oppose? All right. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. All right. I don't think we have any new follow-up items. So, we'll move on to public comments. And Randy, I put you back on top. So, if you want to come on back up to and turn on the microphone. This is very helpful. I appreciate that. Okay. Yeah,
063it's on. All right. So, this is a comment about comments. So, hopefully that's not too redundant, but I think that it's very important to have the public comments section of these meetings. I think that in some school districts, I've heard that they don't do it. Um, I appreciate those who come here very frequently, keep on top of things, keep the rest of us informed. I was a bit surprised to see an article in the town and country going after one of those who really keeps us informed and I find is very honest. Um, and you know, I hope that that doesn't discourage anybody else from coming up to speak about public comments. Uh, there's a lot of parents who aren't here tonight. I mean, it's arts week. Like I I told people to come and
064they're like there's an orchestra, you know, that's tonight. So lots of parents are very busy with their kids and everybody in the community is a whole part of the picture, but it's also important to remember that sometimes parents can't come. I had to cancel some plans with my kids tonight because I said, "Hey, I got to go to this fun meeting." Um, you know, I I should come more, honestly. Uh but it's like you have to remember the people who can't come are a huge portion of the those that you are representing. Um and I do want to mention one more thing. Um I would like to see over the next year less of a uh sort of doubling down. um if somebody makes a mistake um you know perhaps back channeling to uh a
065union or something like that and maybe maybe they didn't didn't mean any harm in it. Maybe they they meant well just own it. Um that's called accountability. We don't need everybody jumping back and forth and all the drama. Um, we all make mistakes and you know, I think that I'd like to see just less doubling down on things and sometimes just saying sorry, you know, I didn't know that it won't happen again. That's what I tell my kids when they mess up. So, all right, that's all. Thanks. Thank you. All right. Next up, Sally Worth. Oh, Sally's not here. Oh, okay. Thought I saw her. Yep. If you would just turn the microphone on. You can leave it on when you're done then. Oh, yeah. There you go. Thanks, Jim. Okay. I I like the
066spirit with with Randy spoke. Uh I was very uncomfortable at Mr. Prager's comments at the end of the school board meeting last month. I believe his comments toward Trina Sharmitt were nasty and unnecessary. I never trusted you. Now I will never trust you. I remind Mr. PGO of one of the board of directors code of ethics, which is to work with constituents in a spirit of harmony. I've worked for 33 years in psychiatric and prison nursing. I've been bullied. I didn't know how to respond at the time, but now I know. It is my responsibility to speak up. Trina has been harassed and bullied and it has to stop. Mrs. Bastone has made many false accusations about Miss Shores Schmidt. I will respond to just a few. One, Mrs. Baston accused Trina of directing others
067to speak for her and to defend her. Trina hasn't asked others to speak nor defend her. I just can't sit quietly and hear Trina be falsely accused and slurred. Number two, Mrs. Bastone accused Mrs. Charmid of attempting to break confidentiality in bullying cases. Trina was not being obstreporous or attempting to break confidentiality when she asked for more information in order to aggregate data to find common factors in bullying cases. She asked that the names be redacted. Trina is a board director. It is her right to request information. Number three, Mrs. Baste accused Trina of trying to undermine the science curriculum. It is a board member's right and responsibility to know what is in the curriculum. Mrs. Charmitt is taking her responsibilities very seriously. It is her job to ask questions in order to gain understanding
068in order to make decisions. I think Mrs. Bastone has charmmit derangement syndrome. The board needs to be vigilant about the content in the curriculum. China and Qatar have had much influence in the curriculum in our major universities which has contributed to the anti-democratic and anti-Israel ideologues. We don't want these ideas all in our class. I have to stop you. Your three is up. I'm sorry. My goodness, the time's too short. I know it goes fast. Thank you. Just real quick, I just want to remind everybody that this comment period is limited to items that are before or could come before the board. Just a message. Thank you. She did. I did during the solicitor's report. Thank you. All right, we'll have Paige Conowski. Hi. I'm going to pivot a little bit. I'm going to jump
069right into it. All right. Hi, my name is Paige Konabowski. Uh I'm a mother of two upper Burke students with one student to follow. Uh, and this evening I wanted to discuss DEIA. Um, I have an increased concern as to how some community members and some board members understand DEIA. Yes, there is an A. And I'd like to review what it is in actuality. D. Diversity. People with different backgrounds, socioeconomic status, race, gender, and ability. Every single one of our students should be supported no matter where they came from or who they are. E. equity, equal opportunities and protection. This looks like the existence of girls sports, various teaching methods for students at different levels, including special education. This looks like school counseling, tutoring, advanced classes, and gifted programs so that all children have the
070opportunity to be supported, supported, challenged, and succeed. I inclusion, special education, special Olympics, different abilities in a classroom, pure tutoring, accessibility to learning materials like braille, text to read, speech to text, and cultural and linguistic inclusivity. Accessibility ADA compliance, ramps, synits, and again closed captioning, adaptive keyboards, braille, sensory toys, and differentiated instruction. DEIA is the reason that women can go to college or run marathons. It is the reason that IUs exist. It's the reason that a teacher or a doctor cannot get fired for becoming pregnant. It helps challenge gender expectations so that men can become nurses and women can enter STEM. DEIA promotes an inclusive environment, helps interpersonal relationships, and improves teamwork and communication. It promotes leadership for all. White women, as all of you are up here, have historically gained the most from DEIA
071initiatives both in education and employment. It is embarrassing to me as a parent and a community member that there seems to be a limited understanding of how these programs help our children and ironically have helped gain your seat on the board today. I could go on, but I'm I'm going to remain focused. My concern is with the current administration's NDEI portal, which is not law and raises constitutional issues depending on how it is used against groups or individuals. This is used as a tool to report district instances of DEI with the retribution of losing federal funding. As a schoolboard member, it is your responsibility to protect our children and that includes financial responsibility. In full transparency, which is your responsibility, if I or members of the community are to find that you intend to eliminate
072resources, curriculum, or plan to write policy to obey in advance to an inherently discriminatory order, or you report the DIS, our district, this district, for any instance of DEIA, with the intent to threaten the district into a corner where they have to choose between serving our students or losing the very limited federal funding that we are already struggling to budget. I will ask that you look at our community members in the face and explain to them why their taxes are going to skyrocket. Paige, and then I will call. Your time's up. Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you. Um, Billy Hoyer. Oh, there you are. Try a lot of people. Did I get it right? You did. Okay. I'm pretty good at that. My name is Billy. It's usually loud enough. Um, my name is Billy Hoyer.
073I'm a Herford resident. I just want to say, uh, thank you to everybody, especially for tonight, for keeping things transparent. Uh, I want to thank Dr. Roach and Mr. Bishop specifically, uh, for the work and cuts. Uh, I come from logistics and quality background, so the very fine line item detail, uh, I know how stressful and how frustrating and how that can be, and I appreciate your time on that specifically. I know there's probably more people involved. I do appreciate it. Um, I'm here today because I'm asking that as we look to make cuts that we also look at additional revenue. That we do that through uh resolutions, through phone calls, through emails, anything that we can do to our uh local, state, and federal electors so that we can find more money that we
074can bring home. I know that we brought home uh $400,000 for the Western Center where my stepson goes for diesel. Um, if there's money that's being given, there's probably more money that we can get. Um, to be clear, I'm not looking for handouts. Handouts, by definition, are something that you don't work for or don't deserve. Tax money, by definition, is money that we've worked for, and our district absolutely deserves it. Our neighborhood and our community deserves it. So, I'm here today to charge you all because you have the responsibility. you have the authority, you have the voice to make those decisions, to make those calls, and to take action, that we be proactive instead of reactive. It looks like that through this budget that we'll get through by uh unfortunately going through a lot of
075our savings. Um I'm hoping that, you know, we'll get through it, but then what about next year? What about the year after? What about the next part that becomes obsolete? What about the next permit that we need? What about the next emergency that we are prepared? I trust that you will do this. As it's been quoted before, we do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. I trust that you can do it. Our community is relying on you. Our students, our families, we are all relying on you. Thank you guys so much for your time, for your efforts. God bless. Thank you, Jan MadiRaa. And just turn the microphone on. I'll say it first. Thank you. Dan Madiraa Red Hill. Many of you know I am Trina's sister and I'm
076very proud of that. I know her heart. I know her character and I know her drive. I know her desire to leave anything she gets involved with better than when she found it. The behaviors that I have seen the last few months during these meetings are repulsive. To use information that was obtained from a long-term personal friendship with someone against them is disgusting. We can all choose to disagree, to believe differently, to have different opinions, but attack to attack someone's character is unacceptable. We're constantly preaching anti-bullying and inclusion. But the amount of bullying that I have seen taken place in this room on a personal level is unacceptable. We all have our own personal beliefs, whether it's religion, politics, or what we feel is acceptable for our schools. And we're constantly preaching anti-bullying and inclusion.
077And personally, I am so grateful that none of our children are in this room to witness their parents' behaviors. We all claim to be here for the same reason. That is what's in the best interest of our children and our community. It feels like we have lost sight of that and have turned it into a personal witch hunt. A personal attack against a person that doesn't agree. Someone who is willing to stand up and challenge what she sees to question and not just follow the crowd. I have seen individuals stand up here and degrade her. I have read newspaper articles, watched Tik Tok videos, and seen posts on Facebook. Not once has she fought back. She stands up for what she believes in and she what she feels is in the best interest for our
078kids. This has become personal. I know the majority of you won't give a second thought to what I've said, but I hope that there are some of you that will go home tonight and think about it. Thank you. Thank you. Susan Curley, come on up and turn the microphone. Thank you. Hi, I'm Susan Curley and I live in Marboro Township. Um, I came up and I'm probably the last one to talk about some of the behavior of certain board directors. Um, so I won't I won't do that again. However, I want you to be aware that some of us are very disappointed in certain ones that have decided to speak their mind at a public meeting about a certain board director. Um, we do have two students here. We are we are supposed to set
079examples for our students and there are some that come for various reasons. I want to leave you with this thought. Love your neighbor as yourself. We all make mistakes. I'm first to admit that none of us are perfect. And I I do appreciate as I think most of us do all the time you all spend and it's best, but I would like for you to try not to let those things happen anymore. Thank you. Thank you. Uh last I have Sharon Baston and turn the microphone on. Hello. Wow, that was ridiculous. Um, yeah, I think we all know why I'm standing here tonight. Um, last week a letter to the editor um to the town country went after me personally. The author was furious that I dare speak against Mrs. Charmitt. Let's be honest, the
080letter came from a running mate, someone who attends the schoolboard meetings on a rare occasions when there's a drama. And yet somehow it includes details you know you'd only know by being here in the room. So while I'm sure the hatred toward me is real, I find it very hard that he wrote that letter alone. Trina, do you feel better now? Or is this just the first step in your revenge tour? I'm not going to stand up here and claim to be a victim. I spoke up clearly and directly. I expect push back. But if you're gonna come after me, don't behind hide behind all these people. Put your own name on Oh, no. No. No. I get it. No, no, I'm still going. No, you let them go after me, so I get to
081go. So, I do want to address some things in that letter. It's the Okay, I'll speak down. The letter accused um me of being truthful. That is false. I stand by everything I said and I have the receipts for all of it. Second, this isn't about partisan politics. The board is made up of members with both a range of political views and most of them work together. Well, I do not support Trina's vision for this treat district. As a taxpayer, a parent, a community member, I'm allowed to say that out loud. I also respect that your opinions differ than mine. Just like you said, a little back and forth is warranted. What isn't okay is your shady contact conduct and repeated attempts to undermine marginalized children. Last meeting, I gave numerous examples, which leads me
082to my next point. Thanks to the right to know process, I obtained emails that you sent to the lead negotiators of the teachers union. While you worded them carefully, it is clear you were trying to insert yourself in a process where you did not belong. You wrote, "I am not on the negotiating committee, but I will speak up and vote." That might sound harmless, but it's not. You campaigned by attacking the union. You're not even a member yourself despite being a teacher. You singled out educators for using pronouns in their email signatures. You've had over a year to build relationships and understand teacher morale, but you waited until the 11th hour to show concern. That's a pattern we've seen many times. You consistently don't participate in months of collaborative work and then you show up
083at a final vote in grandstand. We saw it with a science curriculum and we saw it with a comprehensive plan. In my opinion, morale wasn't the concern. It was a late attempt to dig up some dirt and grandstand on god knows what. At the last meeting, I asked the reasonable members of this board to speak up when it matters. Tonight, I'm asking community to do the same. Taxpayers invest a significant amount of their hard-earned money into our schools, and these schools have immeasurable impact on our children. That means every community member should have a basic understanding of what's happening here and be ready to speak out when something isn't right. It's clear there's an effort to silence me with intimidation. It won't work. I will continue to show up, speak when it's necessary, but I
084should not be the only one. Thank you, Sharon. Okay, we'll move we'll move on to board comments. Do we have any board comments? Yes, that will go ahead. Okay, I do have um a couple things to say. Um first of all, thank you to my sister. That was very kind. As a board director, I take my duty to stay informed very seriously. Um as Sally mentioned as well, thank you, Sally. I could and in fact it would be a lot easier to show up and just vote second on every motion and rubber stamp everything administration asks for but that would be a dereliction of my duty. My oath is to provide governance and oversight not just to approve everything. I must ask questions and ensure that the district is running effectively. So on that I
085think Sharon Baston and I agree. Throughout the year, I've requested information in regard to many different things. And I will say that for most things, administration has been wonderful in helping me with those requests and have asked for a lot of things. There are three key ideas where I've reached some blockades for various reasons. I've asked about the socially emotional learning curriculum called Second Step. I've asked about the teacher induction program. and I've asked to be provided with more detailed information about the district's handling of bullying and harassment. These are reasonable and necessary requests, but they've been met with some delays and some push back. Regarding the SEAL curriculum, I requested access to specific materials, but delays and difficulties have kept me from from receiving full details. While Second Step covers important topics like bullying
086and social emotional regulation, there are some pervasive concerns that the SecondStep curriculum contains content that doesn't align with the values of this community. As a board director, I asked a couple months ago to see this curriculum. I was told it was online, but it wasn't. And then then it was, but only titles of units. After I questioned that, I was able to see summaries of the units, but they all revolved around short video clips that weren't available to see. Um, last Friday, um, board directors were given a code to see the content and play the videos. Um, so that's good. Um, I just that led me to think of some other questions like how long has this been in place and does this indicate that no board directors wanted to see the curriculum before it
087was approved? Um, that made me also wonder because this was approved before I was on the board. So then I wondered how and when it was voted in and who voted it in without having access to it. But I can under I can understand, you know, some of that. I mean, maybe it wasn't even available. So, I don't know, but um I think this could be a lesson to us as board directors to try and remember to request digital access to things when we're approving things moving forward. Um the SecondStep program has evoked a lot of questions and concerns from community members and it would be better to avoid having to revamp curricula after the fact. Um, I want to emphasize that even though I have these questions right now, like, and I'll dig in
088if needed and maybe at the next EPS meeting, some of that could probably be addressed easily. I am really grateful to Dr. Fina for figuring out this method so that we have access. Um, I do know Dr. Fina also said at some point that there was a unit that was included in this program that was uh removed um qu ra like early on maybe after it was adopted. So um if perhaps those concerns from the community are still about that and I I have access now so I can check and make sure that that that stuff was that that unit whatever it was was removed. Um, in regard to the teacher induction program, I requested details on teacher training to ensure compliance with new federal guidelines, particularly regarding DEI and CRT related content. The Department
089of Ed has made their canned program optional, so our district can handle that in a way that aligns with the new federal guidelines. Our district has not yet created this material, but Dr. Fina has kindly agreed to give me those materials. Um, and she I'm sure she'll offer them to the whole board to review before they're presented in August. Regarding behavioral issues in the district, I have also raised questions with regard to bullying and harassment. admin has indicated that student behavior is an issue that needs attention and therefore I've taken steps to ensure I am as informed as I can be on this issue as a director and um an ad hoc committee was also formed to mitigate this issue I've asked several times to see pertinent information in regard to the scope and types
090of bullying and harassment that have been occurring and also I was inquiring like about how it was handled um things of those things of that nature. Um, up until today, I've been denied access, but I'm happy to say that recently Dr. Roach has agreed to meet with me um to figure out if there's a good way that I can have access to information um while also respecting the administration's duty to preserve confidentiality, which is exactly what I've asked for in the past. But I'm hopeful that this discussion will result in better access for me to have a better understanding of those issues. So, I'm happy about that. Um, the bullying ad hoc committee is currently or they they will be soon gathering data on bullying and discrimination through a survey that will be distributed to
091students, teachers, and parents. There's three different surveys. While I've raised some questions about the structure of the survey, particularly regarding its legal compliance and the potential for certain questions to influence responses, I want to emphasize that I appreciate the committee's work and the intent to engage the school community. I trust that the goal is to collect honest, constructive feedback that can help guide meaningful action. I also hope that the data gathered will be interpreted with care recognizing that survey responses reflect perceptions which while important may not always align with observable events for a fuller pe sorry it may be helpful to consider this survey along other data sources that are more evidence-based which is um what I'm working to compile um regarding concerns about the promise of confidentiality of this survey and the responsibilities of
092school staff as mandated reporters. I'm confident the committee will proceed thoughtfully and ensure any actions align with legal requirements and best practices. And I already know that's in the works. It's well established that student behavior and academ academic achievement are closely linked. When behavior is supported and managed effectively, we free up resources and attention for academic priorities. For instance, this could end up reducing the need for measures like assigning teachers to bathroom duty or investing in initiatives that may not directly impact learning outcomes. Don't get too excited. I'm not getting you out of bathroom duty yet. No. Um it's just a a one of the thoughts that I have. Instead, we would consider u maybe proven researchbacked strategies such as um I know and I know we already look at stuff like this, but maybe
093another look like smaller class sizes that have consistently demonstrated success in improving student achievement. Ultimately, my goal is to ensure that we use our resources as wisely as possible to support both student well-being and academic excellence. I'm not claiming to have all the answers, but I'm committed to asking thoughtful questions and working collaboratively toward real lasting improvements. The truth is all these items end up relating to our budget, which I know is at front of mind for everyone here today. My job on this board is to follow as many trails as I can to help the district improve and reach its goals and benefit our community. As a public school teacher myself, I support public education and I want it to be the best that it can be for our families. Last, and sort of
094unrelated to the topic of social issues and academic achievement, I want to comment on the athletic program here at Upper Perk. I watched the last facilities meeting and I saw that director Penny Penn penny pecker became agitated and I guess maybe left the meeting at that time. I don't know if you came back, but maybe she will comment on that. I don't know. But it sounded like the topic was in regard to various options to fund portions of the athletic program, which um Billy Hoyer was just talking about a couple minutes ago, like different options of for funding. I wanted to just acknowledge how much I appreciate our athletic department. Our coaches are professional and our teams do very well with what we have to offer. personal beneficiary as my daughter has taken up pole
095vaultting this year for her first time. And guess what? Not many schools actually even offer pole vaultting. It was fun this season to attend some of the meets and see all of our talented track students and coaches in action. If you haven't been to a meet before, I'd encourage you to do it. It's a sight to see as there are a lot of things happening at once. It takes a lot of workers and I definitely see volunteers. Plus, I see students just jumping in to help at all the different events. It's a fantastic show of sportsmanship and athleticism. That being said, I would like to encourage further discussion about possible ways to bolster our athletic program, and I know with certainty that cost is a factor, but as a director, I'm hoping we can find
096ways to raise the program to new heights. You get it? Pull vaulting. Okay. You're welcome. with creative financial solutions that won't place additional burdens on our taxpayers. I know it's a a dream, but maybe we can. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to working collaboratively to improve the district and make informed decisions for the benefit of our students, teachers, and our community. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes. I would like to address the questions that you uh brought up. Uh yeah, put on both of them. There you go. Because uh I apologize for my voice. My allergies are making me raspy. But I will remind you that you were asked to be on the committee. And your response was because I was appointed the committee chair that you did not want to be
097on the committee. You found it disgusting. So you were not on the committee and you had the opportunity though to attend committee meetings where we were making decisions. One of the decisions we made was to go to the student leadership to design the survey. If we don't listen to our students and what they're experiencing, how can we help them? That was the intent of the survey. The students and Ruth was on that that survey and she was very forthcoming to Dr. Fina about what the students were looking for and what they needed. Now, you're suggesting that the questions that were there were leading. You refused to tell me and Dr. Fina what questions you were concerned with. However, you said you didn't have time to review the surveys. So, I'm going to go through the
098timeline. April 17th, we had the ad hoc committee meeting where we reviewed the survey questions with the committee, administration, community members, and some of them are sitting here, and we approved the survey with some additions. Friday morning at 8:21 a.m., Dr. Fina revised the surveys submitted to the committee along with parallel surveys for teachers and parents so we could get a fuller picture of the experience of the students. Friday, April 25th, oh, forgot one. April 24th, at the workshop meeting, I gave a report of the ad hoc committee outlining all of these steps. Friday, April 25th at 4:19 p.m. the board update went out with all three surveys included in the format for QualricS. Friday, May 2nd, one week later at 3:02 p.m., you requested a PDF or Word doc of the surveys. Monday, May
0995th, at 10:35 a.m., Dr. Fina provided you the PDF. Then Wednesday, May 7th, that was yesterday, you sent the leading questions email, and I have all of the emails right here if you want me to refer to them. At 3:48, Dr. Fina requested clarification. At 4:57 p.m., I responded again. Request for clarification. Thursday, May 8th. I believe that's today. At 2:57 p.m., you continued to push for your own revisions, citing rush to get these out and input from Thursday, May 8th. You wanted Kyle to talk about the confidentiality which we had already addressed and he did respond and he said we had followed the guidelines and in fact the data that we might gather from the survey could help us not have the problems that we're having with potential litigation. So when you say that
100the survey questions were leading and you would like to write new questions, I'm sorry. This was what was decided by the ad hoc committee with full support of the administration and the students who we are trying to help. Thank you, Leah. Um the Yes, you want to hear from students. I didn't say that I was going to reward I'm sorry. Excuse me. Hold your false news. I didn't say that I was going to reword the questions necessarily. There were a couple things you said in there that weren't quite right. I work a full-time job, ma'am. And when committees get together to put like they put a forth a recommendation, then it goes to the rest of the board and then it's our job to look at it. It's uh if I can attend another committee
101meeting, I will try, but I trust the committees are going to do something and present it and then we do get a chance to respond. So hopefully um I will have a time to I will have some time to look into that a little bit further. But I I said again um I said earlier and I'll say it again. I do appreciate the work of the committee and thank you who anybody who's here who um worked on that and yeah I I see the value of it. I I had a couple questions and concerns which is absolutely my duty to perform as a board director but thank you. I am not questioning your duty. I'm questioning the timing. This survey is scheduled to be dropped on Monday. And today is when the bulk of the
102questions come in about the survey. And this isn't the first time that you have asked at the last minute. We go back to the comprehensive plan which already been approved and it was going to be dropping in three days or four days and questions were raised. We cannot do business this way. We have to do business in a timely fashion where we have time to review things and there was time to review these things. It was April 25th and you did not respond for a week. I know you're busy. I know you have a full-time job, but guess what, Trina? I'm retired and I have never been busier than I am in my life. I believe it right now. I believe it. Thank you. What was the date those surveys were sent out to the
103whole board? I can't remember. Couple weeks ago, it was 25th they were put in the board update because it was over the spring break finished up on the 17th and quite honestly the board update was already done for the 18th because we were off and it went in on the uh the 25th. But remember the discussion at the committee level was do we want to do the survey before the end of this year to replace the climate survey or are we going to wait till October November to start it next year. I think the question was to replace the climate survey. We had a small window here. We knew from the students the feedback was put it online let us get it on our phones and that type of thing. So that was why the
104timeline was tight there was to get data collected before the end of the school year to value the seniors as well as the students that are living it right now as opposed to waiting till September October. Again that was a the decision at the committee level based upon the recommendation to get that um the data this year uh in this school year. Thank you Dr. Roach. And if you recall before that meeting on the 18th or whatever it was I did request a digital copy. I'm pretty sure I did. Do you have it written down? You may have I know we just we discussed having let's have the committee walk through it because of the logic. That's right. We wanted to walk through to make sure that it wasn't out of context that there was
105a description at least to the people that were at the committee. So at least at the committee level let's walk through because on paper the logic you can't unless you're intuitive with all of those questions. We just wanted I think I believe that's right. We wanted to make sure we had at least the initial conversation uh to describe the logic that if you said yes, boom, it went over here type of thing. Yeah. So that was a tightened timeline. And as far as the um comprehensive plan, I I started asking I went to all the comprehensive plan meetings and I started questioning um the questions that I had. I asked them as soon as I had them. So, thank you, Trina. I'm so thrilled at your excitement over athletics. It, you know, I know a
106little bit about intercolastic athletics. You know, I'd love to talk to you about it. So, and I'm not going to share why I left that meeting. I have some pictures. Oh my word. You got to see. I I'd love to talk to you about athletics any any time. So, let's have at it. Um, I do want to go back to a a remark you made early on in your comments about Second Step and your concern that it doesn't align with the values of this community. What are the values of this community? Uh, I just please I can excuse me. Excuse me. I think what I said was the community had some concerns that it it does it may not Oh, I wrote it down. Okay. It doesn't align with the values of this community. What?
107I'm just asking what you mean by that. That's all. Well, I I in my head. I'll explain what's going in on in my head. How about that? Are you ready for it? I'm sitting down. Okay. Um I I guess since a portion was removed, the administrators would agree that at least that portion wasn't in alignment with what the district wanted. So that that portion was removed. not what the district wanted as opposed to I'm still trying to understand what you mean by doesn't align with the values of this community. I I'm what does that mean? Just excuse me audience. This is board comment. I just please all nine of us represent this community. Okay. So, you know, you you go ahead, Peg. I can't speak to like this unit was removed before I was on
108the board. I don't I I if somebody wants to talk about why that unit was I'm just trying to understand your comment. That's all that's all that's all I was talking about that there was concern and I feel like it it it was I think it was addressed. So, okay. But I as far as your comment goes, I just, you know, please remember we all represent this community. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Thank you, P. Well, thank you. And anytime you want to talk athletics, let me know. Melanie, I just have a couple other things. I want to piggyback or kind of backtrack on from Dr. Roach's report and uh the uh graduation numbers. And Alexis did get a hold of me after the last meeting and she sent me the the web page from last year
109and folks I I missed it and I want to you know own that of course. Uh but when she rolls that that out again this year she'll let us know and folks take a look at it. It it's phenomenal this the successes we have going on here. And the only other suggestion I would make Dr. Roach and I already shared this with you is when that gets rolled out if we can just do a page or a half a page in the town and country with those statistics because it didn't happen if it wasn't in the town and country. I'll put a I'll put a letter to the editor the original and and I will gladly fund that that ad. So let let's celebrate who we are. Um the the other recommendation that I have
110or suggestion I should say uh is a a friendly suggestion that at graduation since we're starting at five o'clock maybe we could put out some picnic tables and families could have uh dinner before graduation. So just a thought. And then finally, folks, as I'm sure the board members are now aware, having looked in your folders, we are only 10 short days away from the Red Hill Band concert. And that that is our annual spring concert. Thank you. It is free admission. So 2 o'clock May 8th 18th May 18th 2:00 at the high school auditorium. We are celebrating our 125th season. And so the Red Hill Band is a an iconic uh yeah institution and we will have displays in the lobby um that you can see the history of the band and uh no I
111did not play in all 128 25 years but lot we have many alumni as you know play in the red hill band and it's uh quite an institution so I I invite all of you to come bring your significant other bring your families bring your knitting. Um, and please celebrate 125 years with us. So, thank you very much. Okay, thank you. Um, do we have other comments? Hopefully, I'm last. Okay, not to prolong this, but as Peg said about commenting on successes at the middle school concerts at the middle school yesterday for the elementary schools. It's amazing what they do there. Mr. Bennett has my unending admiration. You know, I listened to the fourth grade orchestra first. There's about 100 kids in that. Uh they started out with We Will Rock You. Wasn't the rendition
112I am used to, but it was good. Um then we progressed to the fifth grade elementary school and uh they were you could see the improvement as they go through the grades. Again, Mr. Bennett has my admiration. Um, another 100 kids in there. Took count of a percussion session. Oh my god, there were 14 in the fourth grade. There were 21 in the fifth grade. Then the middle school concert started after that. Um, they were all wonderful. And the art show there was wonderful. Also, my wife likes some of the tile works and asked um the teacher who was in the gym. I think it was Miss Drum, uh about, you know, if they're not claimed, she'd come in and clean some of those up because she'd like to put them around the house because
113we don't have little kids doing that anymore. We have to wait a few more years for our grandkids to start doing that stuff here. But, uh, wonderful evening. We're planning on going back to the high school tomorrow because we couldn't make it tonight for the middle school because of this meeting which was quite important. If you paid attention to their one of the key slides in there about the finances, pay attention to what the act one index is over the next few years. It's tight now. It's going to get tighter over the next few years. Not a great outlook for us. And then um as Dr. Ro said, the Western Center had their National Honor Society inductions the other day. They had 12 kids there. We had a couple of the upper perk kids for
114him there. Um, one of the things he wasn't there to hear about, but he may have heard through the grapevine is every year I talk about CPAC, the cooking competition for the culinary group down there in Philadelphia. They've got a number of schools going down there. Mr. Flanigan was there at the lunchon the other day and he heard this also. We had two students who got full scholarships. Okay. Over,000. You'll hear more about that later on. So, I'm sorry I wanted to steal that thunder. this. But um all of our kids in all of our schools, whether it be elementary school, middle school, high school, or the Western Center, are doing great. They've got great opportunities. Hopefully, we can continue funding those. Um but again, I caution you over the next few years, it's going
115to be get in harder for us to do some of these things. Thank you. I have one comment and I just have one. I'm going to reserve my other ones for another time. Uh we were one of our audience members was discussing um resolutions and what can we do to make sure that we keep our funding our federal funding right at the moment. And um I was talking with Dr. Roach and we came up with he gave me a couple samples of um letters that go to your representatives um and a resolution. So, when I get a chance, I'll make I'll I'll scan it and copy it to everyone. It's one from a different school district, but it'll give you the idea what they're looking at and what other districts are doing. Yeah, we'll just
116chop it off the top. Yeah, that's that works. That works. Uh, and if no one else has a comment, I would entertain a motion to motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Okay. Thank you. Uh meeting adjourned and thank you all for being here.