Board Meeting

001e e e close enough hey I'd like to call this meeting of the board of directors of the upper perum school district and it would be probably nice if I had my agenda out okay what uh yes I am is that one any better no okay we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance and I'll turn the microphone off e we better yes e e sure is that better no okay is that better success yeah yes yes gold stars for everyone here thank [Music] you Mr Bishop could have a roll call vote please sure director mccor roll call sorry I get thrown off here uh director shmit here director mccarrick here director Bieber here director Cunningham here director Penny Packer here director fluki here director prgo here and director chanan and count for thank you uh our

002staff so we have Mr Bishop who is our business manager and Georgie Fisher HR and Dr finina our assistant superintendent and Kyle Summers our esteemed attorney I always have to tell you Dr Roach of course our superintendent and we don't have our kids yet our Representatives yet there's we do have the uh the representatives Chris Montes will again be back for his senior year and uh Ruth Padilla was just awarded the um voting at the high school so she'll be joining us uh at a future meeting awesome okay great I just saw Chris Montes at the football game all right next we'll do the board president's report and I'm sorry it's a long one okay so fun things I got to go to the football game Friday night it was a win I got I

003worked in the snack stand if anybody has a chance to do that it's really fun um the kids are great I think I remember saying this last year the kids are they say please they say thank you they're just so cute and nice it's really it's a lot of fun um and thanks to everyone who actually mans that all the time I'm just popping in help I went to Community Day uh got soaked but not only to only at the end but that was fun as well uh Mr Freeze was doing Plinko when I was there that was fun the kids were great he's making them do their addition and add up the points uh let's see uh it was fun and so then I want to talk about I'd like to take this opportunity

004to address the letters that many of our community members staff students board members have received recently regarding our Cyber attack that affected the upper perk School District in March of the Year these letters are legitimate they're not a scam now that the investigation has concluded I can confirm that Upper perum School District was a victim of a cyber cyber attack when the district identified suspicious activity on our Network in March our technology team immediately launched an investigation working with subject matter experts to determine the scope of the attack at the same time the team focused on restoring our systems to minimize disruption to teaching and learning for our students staff and faculty first and foremost I want to thank the teachers the staff the administration our students the parents for their support and commitment as

005we didn't lose a day of school in person as a result in the incident we did need to quickly Monitor and adjust without some technologies but our staff and team did an ex excellent job throughout the investigation the school board received regular updates from Dr Roach Administration and the IT team due to the active nature of the investigation we were unable to share specific details but our commitment to transparency remains a priority it's important to note that the district cannot always disclose certain information as doing so could compromise our position moving forward I would think you would agree it was a priority to protect our community and District as best as we could the district also consulted with private attorneys U Mullen Coughlin to ensure all legal and security measures were in place following the

006confirmation of the Cyber attack a thorough review of the compromised files was conducted to identify any potential affected individuals this review and investigation was completed on August 19th 2024 shortly after upsd worked with TransUnion to notify those impacted through written correspondence only individuals whose information was present in the compromised files received a note the district also agreed to provide free credit monitoring Services through cyber Scout for those affected we understand many of you be may be asking why was my information impacted while I don't have a specific answer for each individual case I can share some general context as a district we have had hundreds of employees and users access our work over the years we have over 3,000 students each year and we're involved in working with the local municipalities County and state on

007financial and required reports and Reporting one frequently Asked question we've heard is why am I impacted if I didn't work there but someone else in my family did if you have a family member who worked here and stored personal data on a district device that information could have been compromised during the breach unfortunately there isn't always a clear pattern or reason as to why certain data is impacted if you received a letter you are aware that a dedicated call center through TransUnion has been set up St staffed with professionals to answer your questions if they're unable to provide a specific answer they'll take down your information and ensure that someone will with appropriate knowledge follows up with you while we did not want to begin the school year with an issue from last year the

008six-month investigation required us to wait until its completion before for sharing this information we appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to prioritize the Safety and Security of our community's information so with that I will turn it over to Dr Roach for his uh superintendent report thank you sorry you need that thank you m cam [Music] well welcome back everyone I know we saw each other in August but it's good that school's now open and the hallways are are bustling with uh with our students and staff um so welcome to the 2425 school year and again lots of people sharing pictures and excitement from the first day as well as all the way uh you know up and through the of our perk day this week can see some first day of school pictures

009that are here um definitely you know I know I know in my household that all summer long people were waiting to get that first a outfit ready so it's interesting to see what people choose on their first day no doubt and then we had our first upper perk day where we asked um staff and our our our students to uh to wear the blue and gold and and celebrate up the perk and then some parents here obviously shared some pictures uh but definitely people get into it and I know the staff appreciates uh the opportunity to uh to participate definitely here at the Ed Center too I think it's on everyone's calendar already for the whole year uh as I share each year um the U 10day enrollment is something that that we that we

010all use so I'm just going to give you a quick snippet of last year to this year's numbers um for the board uh in the board update uh tomorrow you'll be getting this same report but this year and the last four years so you can see a fiveyear trend of the 10-day enrollment there are a couple things that may may not be in here when you see the ending numbers on the next slide uh I was informed today that that that does not include 21 out of District students uh in terms of um you know that that are overall there so what you're seeing are the are the the students that are coming in and out or in upola uh in our buildings so you can kind of compare Marell to Marell from um it

011should say 2425 on the left hand side so your left hand side 2425 that's a typo on my part on the right hand side up our side is is last year so 409 this year at marbor was 430 last year 503 at Herford 536 last year 45 464 and 442 and then you see the whole breakdown of um Elementary if you did look if you do look in the fiveyear projected paperwork that's in the board update you're going to see kindergarten HD for half day when that first started so you'll start to see some of the progression numbers there as well here are the middle school and high school numbers um you know 667 there sorry Dr Roach can you go back one slide it looked like the dates on top is at 23 24

012the date up here on the top on the left is is 2425 oh okay got it yeah yeah I put I was put a nugget of a mistake in there to make people are paying attention so I'm glad that we're paying attention yes we good yeah okay so then you have the middle school here on the left 66 676 see that number 689 thank you 689 and then your high school and the overall um you can see down and like I said in the the final report there's also 21 out of District students that are there um so again still slightly down so you'll see the trend for the five years um on the report that's there but I know principles the business office everyone uses these 10day numbers because people that have have moved

013or were planning on moving or are coming in from moving usually by day 10 things are settled in uh for us on certain terms of numbers so that look forward to that report in the board update we have been off to a great um Sports season so just a real quick synopsis of uh as of 99 I asked the athletic department for a quick um highlight of of what's going on with our teams at the varsity level at the high school uh no doubt the buzz in the in the in the area is our football team but you can look at the records from all of our teams and see success all over girls volleyball they won a um a tournament as well as the boys soccer won the L classic Champion Championship so um

014you know you can see some excitement uh tomorrow they're away pretty far I think right Unionville Chads for so yeah that's a quite a hike that's a part of that new chest Chester league so make more competitive games um and then we get into league play after that for football but again I wanted to share all the scores all of the records currently um and the weather's been great to get out to any sport so it's great to get out so again just sharing a highlight there uh this early in the season big announcement I usually don't have big facility announcements uh and uh I can tell you Dr F exploded out of her office with cheers if she had pom pom she would have been doing a cheer with this announcement that we did

015qualify for uh $495,500 but this is for the environmental Grant which is mostly going to be focused at the high school on abatement uh in the project there we'll have more conversations at facilities we're almost let's what 130,000 away from the full project because we had put in for 1.2 so if um if we're that close the conversation at at facilities will be do we just finish it and you can see the bottom there they they they Shrunk the award opportunities for Everyone by that 22% which it kind of equals out there so um if you have conversations um if you're interested in this please come to facilities on the 23rd to uh to dive into it a little more um maybe by the 23rd we'll hear from the other Grant that's kind of in

016that knock on wood by Tuesday so we may have more information uh for the following for the other Grant on the roofing side which is at 2575 um but we're thrilled to hear this and you probably saw it on the news we're only one of three districts in the county and by far got more money than any of those even added up um so great job for uh for the grant writing and and for facilities for for jumping in on that so um there's some some positive pieces of work that has to get done regardless so um as I did last year I just kind of a quick update that we're hosting as as you can see across the county for our entire Community uh flu clinic and vaccine clinic for anyone that's interested the

017link will be shared out in the update uh into the community Blast for our staff they're they're welcome to uh sign up as well and that's on October 7th um again sharing what we do in the community with other districts and in the area Hing people take advantage of that if that's something they're interested in if not then we pass by it Suicide Prevention awareness month that is September and um we'll continue to to Advocate and and support our students and families and anyone in the community with resources and supports um and sharing again as we started a couple years ago all ninth graders will be participating in QPR training question persuade refer training uh during the October 9th I think it's the PSAT day they have a day set up where link crew is

018offset with the c QPR training so uh Mr Flanigan will be sending out a message if there's parents that are not interested in having their students participate that's fine they can opt out of the QPR training but we are offering a zoom QPR training prior to that so anyone that was one interested in simply just seeing the QPR training and participating um as well as if a parent wanted to see what that what their students were going to be going through that's an opportunity there as well um again very s you're not you putting too much onus on someone it's just kind of talking about the signs and actually having the conversation uh if have someone in in uh in distress or and just getting them to someone for help you know they're not making

019them a counselors but they're definitely giving them opportunities and conversations and I can tell you the student sessions get way more into technology and I'm up at 3: am and I see a certain sign what do I do because that's that's their reality sometimes so um they they do have those types of conversations but it's to get people help and be safe and have us not um you know not have anyone feeling like that this is a this is an outlet for them so we're proud that we continue this and we'll push this out through our blast to all families and the community as well if this presentation is shared um and the link is there at the bottom to register for for that as well continuing with the community conversation so I know this

020is uh reoccurring each um each year but we're again continuing to vary the dates and times Carol lias out there was one of the first ones that said you can't do this all at 10 o'clock in the morning so we went ahead and did some afternoons and then we really got a a big uh a big a big burst at a 4:00 one we're going to try virtual one uh coming up in either December or January to again continue to reach out and have conversations with uh with anyone in the in uh in our community open topic no set agenda we provide a um a handout of just things in that could trigger conversations but um the topic has ranged all the way from academics to concerns about busing to concerns about suicide or mental

021health all those types of things so happy to have the conversations and often I'm walking away with notes and getting back to people with answers that I don't quck know off the top but happy to to get that information for them so if you have interest please um you know sign up and then as we finish out my report we're going to continue to promote Unity day it's this year it's Wednesday October 16th we get out in the community uh we're still working on some plans last year we had a um an open free event at the at the Grant and we've reached out again we haven't heard back yet in terms if they're available but we have some other ideas I know the schools take this and run uh and really just try to

022you know continue to promote that positive conversations and and about Unity that's all across the the organization there so if you maybe anyone here on the board wants to take it to where they work and where orange that day keth even if you're working from home you you can walk walk the orange yes and then take a picture and send it to uh M Janowski and I think that yep that's the end of my report okay all right uh let's see we don't have any our student Representatives yet so we will move on to our solicitors report this Sunshine act announcements Mr Summers thank you madam president uh I have no sunshine act announcement uh this evening but by way of regular announcements just um for anyone who uh does not regularly attend uh board

023meetings to be aware of the fact that we do allow public comment from residents and taxpayers of the district who wish to uh provide comment to the board there are two comment opportunities during tonight's meeting the first is only on items that are being voted upon on the agenda action items for tonight's meeting the second opportunity which is closer to the end of the meeting is for just any other matters of concern involving the school district that might not be on tonight's agenda but that members of the community wish to bring to the board's attention um the there is a time limit of three minutes per each speaker during public comment uh I have signs that will I will hold up during each individual's comment to indicate how much time you have left and when

024you're time has run out um and just as a reminder the opportunity for public comment is to uh provide to the board share uh perspectives with the board it is not to engage in in debate or discussion with the board uh and that concludes my report thank you okay we will move on to presentations and discussion first off psba recognition so this year we have two uh honor roll certificates to give out for for board members so the first for the honor rooll coming from psba is for five years of service for Mr Keith mccarrick so congratulations and thank you for your service on the [Applause] board and then in addition we have Mrs Peg penny peeker for her five years of serving on the board so thank you and congratulations take picture Keith can

025you want come up and take a picture come up and get a picture [Music] okay sure all right next up we're gonna listen to some 2024 2025 superintendent goals back to you thank you um so uh four goals to present uh tonight as a part of the conversation I've had with h this Cunningham and Benny pecker to present uh the goals from from my perspective uh please understand that a lot of the work that I do revolves and is supported by the work of the rest of the cabinet team as well the other Administration so some of those things are a lot more specific to me and to the work that I do as well as um you know have it all administrators this whole week we've been reviewing goals and going over uh getting

026ready for the for the school year so first goal obviously the main of a student achievement growth and mental health supports out of each of our districts so I'll be much more involved this year with Dr finina and visiting with the uh beginning mid and end year of the her work with the principles on their goals and at the building level um to make sure that we are providing those resources and supports and another area that I going to that I need to improve on and and and spend more time on is getting into classrooms on a more consistent basis so I'm sure the teachers that are here hopefully in another two months will be like okay we've seen enough now that's good thank you but get just getting in listening talking um it's not

027this is not going to be in in evaluative form I'm not sending out you know forms afterwards but just getting in listening um I've had some teachers that have said yeah come on in and help out and and and be a part of that so that will definitely help me um continue to support the the work that the the teams are doing on their goals so as you know that each of the we have obviously the high school the TSI that's been a an ongoing conversation but each of the principles have goals tied to the work at at the uh from the state level from pde and then our non-instructional and may also have goals that are driven through their their supervisors so we'll continue to work but you know you have to it has

028to be student achievement and growth and then the mental health supports for each of our students next would be um improve Financial transparency last year the goal had was was partly transitioning withdrew as new new to the district and and the budget process and this year we're kind of I'm looking to ramp this up on the financial side and and really getting into looking at um the effectiveness and the cost effective U initiatives that are going on in education we're really good at adding we're not so good at subtraction in terms of taking a look at programs and really getting to that uh what the term that's on here academic return on investment really looking at programs to make sure that the bang for the buck for lack of a better term or the uh

029that you're you're getting out what you intended or are there programs that are not that we you know there could be money in the budget and that they don't know that there is but there could be and this time will will give us opportunity to explore this concept there is a there is an organization that that helps districts work through um a cohort like October through January thing to really be able to ramp through programs right now we're just exploring the concepts and getting more and taking a look at a couple programs to really see that on the curriculum side on the business excuse me on the business side in all those areas so looking at this academic return on investment to make sure that strategically we're being as fiscally responsible as we can really

030getting into the programs um as we head into budget season and then the other is um we have a really powerful tool in this Frontline business analytics which takes all of the information that is submitted through pims to the state and then they download it into a format and um we can compare ourselves to District that are in our area as well as like districts across the state and I think these reports that I plan to share at the finance meetings will be beneficial as you begin to look at you know cost per pupil or um you know number of teachers per per the size of the district but really identifying our like districts pots Grove could be one that's fairly comparable there's definitely districts across that are five schools 31 31,000 3100 students and

031and probably look more like us that we can begin to look at some of those comparisons so at the very least I think that'll be helpful and making decisions heading into uh to budget and as we go through there so kind of expanding that growth uh for myself I I believe Mr Bishop will get into that and learn and learn some as as he's already taken some some steps in that but these are just areas in the financial aspect the huge piece that um you know if there's ways that we can not tax and or not increase taxes and really utilize our budget I'm hoping there's money that comes back from this year from some of those cyber adjustments and some of those other things that were in the budget um that that assist with

032um with the the growing costs that we're working with so that's really that financial and and working with Mr Bishop and and the finance committee so those are the first two the third is again continue to look at efficiency and impact there's been a couple projects that um that need to get better in terms of organizations for so the first one here you see facility and operations working with Mr Howard on the completion of fmx for Asset Management really if we're we're going to talk about getting a 10-year facilities plan this is one of the first steps for us to get that handle on the asset management to know what's there what's it life expectancy and really be able to to uh to move that forward so this has got a lot of capability I

033think it's a matter of putting more time into into the system itself and I'd like to work with uh Mr kwig on an athletic five to seven year plan because I think right now we're like oh the turf's almost done or that floor needs to be re but we don't have a a solid plan and I think we need to sit and have say this is going to be you know we're projecting it to be 26 27 and then if it moves it moves if it goes sooner it goes sooner but I think a plan across the um you know that that the facilities the athletic facilities um I know there's a bigger looming thing which you're going to see on the facilities agenda all the time about the high school and about uh the

034G the Giza study as well as the feasibility from kcba um that is also tied to middle school debt and those other conversations but I think that's needs to be continued the conversation but these are two big areas in facilities and operations um technology just I don't know if everyone's aware that Skyward is going out of life December of 2028 some may be thrilled some some are just nervous about a transition but now's the time for us to have a plan of what that looks like it's not going to be you know December 27 I go oh yeah what what's going on with Skyward so I want to work with Mr Roth and really have a plan may not have it you know not have it selected by the end of the year because even

035if we did we couldn't start transitioning anything in 25 26 because all the companies are filled up um with transitions but Skyward staying with Skyward in a new new um version W cumulative cumulative thank you and there's a couple other vendors we're looking at so again this takes a long time think about every person that touches Skyward um from the business side from the student side and then from the parents side and uh and it's a big you know this is one of the big big transitions um that's that's a part of the district to me this is this is a goal to set up for Success moving forward so that we're not you know that we're not out of life and support and then finally in this area of efficiency and improvements this has

036been ongoing and Mrs Fischer has has done some work in this area but really looking at the evaluation process um for the non pte type of um reports that are mandated and really having a accurate um accurate evaluations that are more meaningful um I think the evaluation tool we're currently using for some support staff groups are I don't think there's much value and there are much conversations but part of this is also engaging the employees in that conversation as well not having it done to them but with them so we're going to look at a couple uh evaluation process again some are set up from pte uh but the ones that we have and making sure that we have uh you know the accountability that we need and the right tools so those are areas

037there of major areas of support and then finally this engagement uh engaging students families and community and honestly this was one of the first probably one of the top priorities when I was hired of getting into the community and building back relationships and doing some of those things so this is why this continues to be here um you know and and and being a part of the the community which I strive to do and try to do it all Taun but and I think that's an important piece um and then as you've seen in the past this sense of um working with students and listening to students and I know Dr F and I last year on our student tour you know that students are very candid and they're they're they're honest but when if

038they say we'll give you this information but we'll never going to see you again I mean they they want to they just want to know that their information is valued and and you know follow back up I mean I remember walking away from a meeting that Mr Janowski and I had and the student was saying they couldn't do something in the transcript or in one of the programs it was a simple checkbox that we came back and we're like why I don't know check okay we went back to the students and like well thank you that's really helpful for for that and that wasn't a conversation they probably would have had with their principal so we'll continue to uh to work with um work with and listen to students because I think there's a lot

039of support uh support that they need and uh in that sense of belonging I think we all would would feel comfortable that our students we want our students to feel that they belong in our schools and there's opportunities for that to improve on and I think our their families as well opportunities that we can uh you know improve on so you can see Community conversations which I just mentioned and some additional pieces there um you'll hear more about the Ed Foundation coming up soon in the board update with the m being updated and then the the Fantastic work our our ptfs does I know Mr Flanigan is wishing he the high school had a ptfs and hopefully trying to start one here this year because it seems to be you how it is middle school

040kids get up to eighth grade and then they're like okay Mom we're good you know they don't but so we know there are parents that want to uh support and be a part of that so we'll work on that um so that is the uh the four goals that uh here to present and share happy to take any questions and um any conversations sure I'll make a few comments um I think some of these goals are great they were lacking for many years but they have been they have been implemented over the past five six years since Dr roosh has been here um Financial transparency was just terrible previous years you know um between the board or our Administration and the board and our business managers now we're doing a much better job in the

041past few years with budgeting and things like that and getting the information that we need um creating the um five to sevene plan for facilities that has been lacking for so long that should have been done 20 years ago I mean that is just common sense and that is why that lack of a plan previously is why we had some issues in the past 10 years some expensive issues you know so this is a much needed um direction that the district is going in and I want to thank Dr ro ro excuse me stumbling over my tongue Dr Ro for doing this yeah um and you know I'm fully behind all of these right now you know it's something that we've been lacking and we're finally moving in the right direction our school our school

042scores have gone down over the past 20 years and I think they're just hovering right now so we need to be moving forward in all of our directions financial planning facilities management and the education of our students thank you thanks I agree with that anyone else yeah Dr Roach I think you hit on it but um the examining the um annual employ employe evaluation process is so you said non pde employees would be included in that or are you I mean I think there's there's administrators that that there's administrators that have pte evaluations and there's some that are not so we have a tool for that and we're going to look to to uh enhance that and then we have all of our support staff and that I'm not even sure I don't want to

043ask Mrs Fischer when the last time that was updated I mean I think there was a 19 in front of it so I think that this needs some and again when when you sit with someone and you go over the valuation and you're talking about again there's all part of evaluation pun punctuality and and things that are just checkbox type of things I think we want to have more meaningful um conversations and I think although sometimes sometimes they're they're challenging to to to improve or have those conversations I think people value the feedback I know I don't again I make the assumptions that um that evaluations should be every year yes that's my that's I think that's generally the the consensus but definitely people when I first got here we haven't I haven't been evaluated

044in an next amount of time and I'm not casting Stones I just think that's a part of a part of what you do on an annual basis to have that conversation so that's just an area that I think needs improve and I think Mrs Char M your question was yeah I think that we're g to include the support staff in those conversations not have a a form that's hey oh by the way we're working this behind the scenes here you go that doesn't help anyone that's not gonna I mean okay I think you know the final product may be not exactly what everyone quote unquote votes for but I think that's that's a part of that um process I'm sure our teachers would love to have a conversation with pde about their tool but doesn't

045quite work that way so um well just to be clear you're saying this would not involve teachers you're not not at this time with with the PD whatever the numbers are right now they have they have a tool that that they work through with their principal yeah and that's it's all mapped out with the Starlet danielson's rubric and the percentages 0123 yeah that's okay I just was wondering if this was including teachers or absolutely not I mean if if we had the power to overrule the PD and and I mean you guys can vote five right now and tell us to do that but um that that was that the intention of the goal right now is not that big of a that big of a goal nor would it be done in one year

046I just wanted to be clear on I got it yep all right this is more administrative that are not pde related um and the um support sta um all right I I had one more question so for goal number four you said you wanted to engage students families in the community in ways to listen to feedback provide opportunities and experience experiences to increase a sense of belonging for students set up a per and advocate in support of each and every student and family um like I I see what you have written down there that those look like valuable things that looks good I just was wondering if you thought about how you would measure um your the results of your your work in that area what's that sorry turn I would like a flow chart

047and Excel sheet I think that's that's sometimes a moving Target I mean we have we have preliminary data if we want to go with climate or pays um on on some of those things um but I think part of that will be conversational and and can work on a work on a rubric I mean that's part of what the conversation or the email I sent back to the board today was talking about what are the when you see these now what are those objectives that'll meet the goals what I don't want to do is I don't want to get to April or May and feel really comfortable about something you go now You' totally missed the vote well I thought it was going to be this way so let's have those conversations now whether it's

048in the next two weeks next month to know that we're all on track and and seeing what that is so I can work on a more defined piece to that that specific goal I mean it could be the number of times we're meeting with students and and some of their feedback I I look Dr FR in terms of some of the the survey information that's available uh in terms of that but I can work on um finding a measure for that sure sometimes that's a gut feeling sometimes it's when you're in there and you hear conversations and people are not they're telling you they they they don't belong my child doesn't belong they don't feel good they don't want to go I mean that that's those are tough conversations when there's sometimes that there's things

049that that we can help uh help them one listen so that they know there's someone there it's not that anyone's ignoring them I think that's part of the overall um probably Middle School and High School experience sure I'm happy to work on a measure of them thank you Dr Roach anyone else okay we'll move on I'm assuming it's going to be Dr finina to the review of upsd health and safety plan no changes and final review there are no changes so ultimately um you know there are no requirements it's guidance at this point um if somebody tests positive and they disclose that we recommend they follow the CDC guidelines there is no isolation we're not no masking um so it's it's basically a reference as it has been since we've returned to you know we

050give the advice to follow the CDC guidance so this will sunset with the U Esser funds which is the end of this month but we need to have it approved in order to liquidate those funding sources I think the last thing we wanted to have was get a report from the auditor saying you guys didn't have that approved for the last two weeks therefore you can't use x amount of funds so kind of compliance formality type of thing that's why we try to be very clear on the agenda no changes it's the final review you won't see it again okay and uh move forward Suns next month yeah well this month too thank you anyone have any questions thank you that's a nice chunk off of everyone's plate I'm happy to see that go all

051right well we'll move on to public comments on AC do we have any more over there I have but um in the meantime rayan you have one for Action items do you have something to say come on up and say which one are you talking about several oh maybe I'm having withdraw from being off the board apparently okay so uh the first thing is Jazelle is retiring um I'm going to ask you all to vote no for that because her exceptional service over the years she was here before I got on the board and she was here after I got off the board so I think she lives here and um I just wanted to say that she was exceptional and I think you guys are going to have a hard time filling her shoes

052um the other comment is the enrollment uh decrease I'm going to go back to we didn't need a middle school just have to say that um thank you for the QPR training with the virtual option I thought that was very good Training I attended I'm going to encourage everybody else to attend that you never know when you'll need it and the virtual option should get you uh more people coming in unfortunately I can't make that date because I already have plans uh and then goal number four and does does belonging kind of mean addressing the bullying issue because I was actually horrified to find out that the victims are treated the same or get the same punishment as the bully and I think that really needs to be looked at maybe that could be something

053that could be measured for goal number four and didn't want to add to you but you know couldn't keep my mouth shut so anyway that's all I got thank you ran that was it any okay the rest of them are regular public comment so we will move on to an approval of the agenda motion second any discussion all in favor I any opposed okay I'd like to get an approval of the August 8th 2024 school board meeting minutes motion oh sorry second any discussion hearing none all in favor okay approved there weren't any Nays correct all right we don't have anything under old business so we'll move on to new business Madam president can I make a motion to approve the Personnel report in its entirety the retirements the resignations the appointments and if I

054can get to the last page here leaves of absence second that's a [Music] lot any discussion yes okay I'll also say Jazelle will be missing She's Been instrumental here for many years congratulations to um to her on her retirement yeah I'll second that and she lives down the street from me so I'll see her more anyone else I just want to state that if there's any question about the high school and middle school detention Proctors all of them all of the listed names are scheduled on the list it's not a list of anyone that's done it in the past seven years it's those are people that are actually scheduled to kind of think thin out the list to make sure if there if additional U detention Proctors are added uh they'll come on the list

055um if if not on this list if they're needed they'll come on as needed yep okay all right anyone else Mr deweer I didn't realize you coached water polo okay thank you dly noted was that as of Monday right so there was a part that said as of 99 sorry and listen and I had I'm the one that had the typo in the 2024 2025 so I get it turn that off okay anyone else just another question oh sorry Mr how do you get the horses to [Music] swim all right all in favor I any opposed okay we'll move on to action items uh motion to approve myself and Peg Packer to attend the PS pasap psba 2024 2025 School leadership conference from October 8th to 6 to the eth in Mount Pocono for an

056estimated cost of $2,136 second any discussion everybody should go think about it next year this is actually my first time so about time right any other discussion all in favor I any opposed okay motion passes um next president yes I make the motion to do B special education services the agreement with Camp Hill school and C the uh approve the agreement with the dual enrollment acceleration program at monco thank you uh any discussion I have a question oh go ahead go ahead I was just going to say I love the dual enrollment program I'm really happy to see this and I think it's great I I teach it myself and I the kids really benefit from it if you don't know what the dual enrollment program is you get college credits at about a third

057of the cost um when you step out like you turn your Castle it costs three times more so yes um I I love that program anyone else I was just gonna say but if you said it it I wasn't sure if it cost or if it didn't cost the kids it's it's my understanding that students who receive free and reduced lunch can um contact I mean if this is yeah through monco uh they can uh contact their liaison and they can look look into the price for them I just wasn't sure I know it's a great idea okay any anyone else all in favor I any opposed okay motions passed we'll move on to the financial reports Miss Megan Moyer I'm gonna be easy on you today oh I'm sorry okay all right good evening

058tonight's a one tonight's agenda are the August 2024 operating cash and payroll reports also attached or is the general fund list of payments totaling 3,962 27690 any questions anybody have any questions that I was going easier I don't have any all right thank you all right uh thanks Megan uh anyone have any questions no uh we'll vote on that all in favor you motion oh yeah you're right that would be probably a good idea second reports okay we have a motion in second no questions all in favor I any opposed okay thank you all right I don't believe we have any new follow-up items and we'll move on to public comments uh rayan while you're on the top of the pile you might as well come on back up it's another agenda item I forgot

059I missed but but anyway Sky well actually it's a Skyward presentation I believe we just put in Skyward a couple of years ago for like $500,000 is that the payroll system as well it's both student and business I don't know the history maybe it was it was before your time May more than a few years ago no we we converted the business part um when I got here in 2015 student was already present but I don't think very long before that so it's within 10 years well you're keeping the payroll system then or is the whole thing going understanding is the that the current program we have is going end of life they have another product okay but it's it's at the same time you're looking at other products as well it's not exactly the

060same I guess what I'm asking is it's the payroll system or is it any it's both business both sides oh boy you guys are in trouble thanks sorry uh Joy deach one up there's a little gray button on the front of the micro if to turn the microphone on yeah I guess relatively thank you thank you um hi so my name is Joy deach I live here in Green Lane um and I just wanted to talk a little bit tonight about Title 9 um I attended the policy Workshop meeting a couple weeks ago where I learned that thankfully all of the students here in Upper perk are currently protected under uh the title n Pennsylvania law federal law which is a great thing um because I understand that this board is most likely not going

061to take forward any um movement on implementing the new title 9 protections that protect uh all genders all um sexual identities and things here in Upper perk I'm concerned because I know that this is due largely in part to um the influence of a group called moms for Liberty which has been recognized as a an extremist group a hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and I think let's be clear for me I think opposing or stonewalling any language that gives any teeth to the tital line protections afforded to some of our students here in Upper Park um of all gender identities we see you and we know what you're doing and we're going to be watching you um you're starting to marginalize and discriminate against children who are already feeling marginalized and discriminated

062against and we know this is about transgender people plain and simple that's what these new protections uh discuss and address and if you ran for this school board with the promise to protect all children you are failing to do that now and you're failing to do it publicly and you're failing to do it with malice and I think make no mistake I understand and I think people understand or are starting to learn that there are bigger things at play here moms for Liberty again an extremist organization officially recognized by the Southern Poverty Law uh Law Center we have three of our Schoolboard members who are affiliated with this group we have seen both photography of them at um rallies and events and whether they are official card car ing members or not we know that

063they have now included upper perk schools as part of the injunction against these title line protections simply because we have moms for Liberty as part of this board board and as part of this um Committee in this community I want to say there are four seats up for election next year I hope that everybody in this room asks themselves do they want people affiliated with an extremist group making decisions for our children and making these kids who feel marginalized and attacked even more so as we move forward it's important to stay informed vote in next year's elections and make sure this hatred does not impact the children here in Upper Park thank you thank [Applause] you next up I have Christina breakway and microphone on you're ready on hi guys I'm Christina brthe I am

064from pensburgh and as you all know I always make it my mission to stand for our marginalized community so I'll be speaking on title N9 as well a recent decision in Kansas V US Department of Education included a limited holding in joining the US Department of Education from enforcing the 2024 Title 9 rule an individ ual public schools in PA that have students attending with parents who are members of moms for Liberty the Kansas DEC decision prevents the US Department of Education from enforcing the 2024 rule only in the schools identified with a moms for Liberty affiliation that's a direct quote from the education Law Center thank goodness this decision does not require any school to stop or change policies or practices that affirm the rights of lgtbq plus students and cannot bar compliance with

065applicable state laws but my initial reaction to this is how dare you the title n was created to prohibit discrimination based on sex under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance it was based on title six of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race color and national origin and all federally funded activities Title Nine was originally created by Bernice Sandler Sandler and was told she comes on too strong for a woman and was denied employment at the University of Maryland after achieving her doctorate so what does this mean it means women who dare to speak up who dare to be great and Elevate ourselves beyond the role of housewife and mother are actually allowed to and subsequently become representation and role models to following Generations so if the Civil

066Rights Act of 1964 in subsequent amendments such as Title 9 and title 6 Outlaw discrimination based on race color religion sex and national origin why would we exclude the lgtbq plus Community public schools have an obligation to ensure that all children including lgtbq plus students have a safe and welcoming environment to learn and Thrive free from discrimination now I don't know who the moms for Liberty connection is that allowed us to be involved in the canas decision but thank you I suggest maybe Focus Less on exclusion and more on our bullying problem and creating a sense of belonging so our children can concentrate on their academics and raise their test scores so that to that person or persons I say shame on you be a better human thank you thank you um next Bob fager

067I have to ask are you related to John fager my son played football I him sorry you're related to John figer I'm related to John figer Bob figer Jr and Jamie figer which all participated on the Upper Park uh school team yes they did yes they did most of you might remember my son went to the University of Pittsburgh on scholarship after playing football with the EP Park team under coach L yes you did y I'm here to address the issue of the data bre that uh took place within the district I understand that the reason that they my social security number got into that mix was because I paid taxes why is my name and any other taxpayers name Social Security being associated to it we're paying our taxes the only folks that should

068have our social security number should be the County government Maybe state and federal governments so with that said maybe you should associate the names of the folks that are paying taxpayer is that there's a PIN number that's associated to that document that we get to pay our taxes or find some other way to isolate the taxpayers I feel bad for the employees of the Upper Park y School District that had all their information violated and not just their social security my understanding it's going to medical records and stuff like that that needs to be secure too and again my wife and I's name are both on that document I got the letter but my wife did not get the letter so it has her information been uh compromised and it should be prioritized I mean

069the taxpayer should be you know I'm retired I have no children in school at this time and as you know most of us that are on social security or know retired kind of hurt it kind of digs into us that we have to pay a school tax you know that so uh I would like that to be said and the document that it came on I could have done a better job I mean that's totally unprofessional what came to me in the mail and I'm sure the other taxpayers came to the mail I noticed on the report here of the uh superintendent's uh report you had an enem on the bottom it had the color of the Upper Park y this is just a black and white thing that it I was going on vacation

070when I received this and it puts a lot in your mind when you're going on vacation this is a third letter that I've gotten with my dat has been compromised so uh I know they're are offering something I already taken advantage of Prior companies that uh have my data and then for the folks in the audience that don't realize this and you folks here on the school board is that you can actually get your Social Security number Frozen but with that said if you need to use it for to get a loan or anything like that you personally have to go to the Social Security office to unfreeze that it's not like with the other uh data collection agencies that are out there so I'd appreciate if you could look at separating us off of

071that number with our social security number I mean I used years ago Blue Cross Blue Shield used to have our social security number right across the medical C they've since gone away from that and I believe the school board and and you board members here have the uh intelligence and and to do something to protect taxpayers of the uh School District thank you for your time folks do a great job have it great even thank you thank you next Carrie or hi Gary or from Green Lane I just want to express how disappointed I am that updating policies 103 and 104 has been halted due to the actions of the extreme stre group moms for Liberty studies show that gender affirming care is the best course of treatment for Trans people in fact a study

072done by Seattle Children's gender Clinic found that trans youth ages 13 to 20 who had access to gender affirming care were 60% less likely to experience moderate to severe depression and 73% less likely to hurt themselves or have Suicidal Thoughts these results were in line with many other extensive studies the new title 9 regulations assure that trans students can receive gender affirming care and still safely attend school some will argue that offering these protections to trans people takes away protections from others but Title 9 is not a pie extending these protections to the lgbtq community does not take them away from anybody others make unfounded claims that these protections for the trans Community puts women and girls in danger it doesn't matter that these arguments have no basis because these arguments are nothing but a

073facade and a way for Ms or Liberty and other like-minded people to conjure up fear so they can recruit more people to join their movement which is rooted in hate unless you've been living under a rock these past few years you've seen and heard the abhorent rhetoric targeting and mocking the LGBT community groups like moms for Liberty are what fuel that fire and in the meantime vulnerable groups like trans kids suffer I want to remind our board of directors that their job isn't just to serve the community members and students to align with their own personal beliefs if you find yourself supporting this injunction then I think it's safe to assume you're too Tangled Up In Your political agenda to serve the on a public school board thank you last but not least Sharon Bast

074oh there you are is that on yep you're good all right I'm also here to express my deep disappointment that the upper perk is not implementing the new tile 9 regulations um I do want to know tell you that the there will had to be a parent that got us on every single one of um of the our schools on this list to for the injunction and frankly it sickens me that there are parents in this District who would go to such lengths to ensure that certain children receive less protection simply because they feel uncomfortable with them especially when it's clear that discrimination and harassment are real issues here as we know from a brave individual who recently spoke before this very board it's also no secret that some of our School members are aligned

075with moms for liberty for the sake of transparency I am requesting that all Schoolboard members use their comment time today to clarify what role they played in getting our district on this National lawsuit it would be outrageous if any of you put your names directly on this lawsuit but based on the comments made in the last policy meeting it is obvious that some of you were involved in orchestrating this I've watched some of you wager Relentless campaign against these children for nine months and frankly throughout your election campaigns even before that it's time to own it the people in this community deserve to know how you've been spending your time because it seems like you spending more focused on pushing your social agendas than actually doing the business of our schools own it there tell

076us tonight your role in getting upper perk involved in these Ms for Liberty lawsuit thank you we'll move on to board comments do we have any board comments okay go ahead Leah Madame President members of the board the administration the community and the Press before every board meeting we stand face our flag and place our right hand over our hearts to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all these 31 simple yet profound words unite us As Americans but do we really pay attention to the last five liberty and justice for all it is our patriotic duty to uphold these words since my election to the board I have participated in most committee

077meetings all board meetings and workshops listening closely to discussions about our district policies many of these discussions raise concerns and about certain groups receiving liberty and justice for all a principle that we pledge each time we stand before our flag yet I hear arguments urging us to exclude or marginal I specific students from that promise as a Schoolboard director I believe liberty and justice for all must be the foundation of our educational policies Title Nine and its 2024 amendments are a key part of ensuring equality and fairness in education protecting students from discrimination based on sex including sexual orientation and gender identity our responsibility as a district is to ensure that every student experiences Liberty in their right to learn and Justice in the fair and Equitable treatment they receive when we pledge liberty and

078justice for all we affirm that every student regardless of who they are deserves the freedom to learn in a supportive respect ful environment and the justice that comes with equal access to education this is not a selective promise it applies to all students without exception it's essential to recognize that transgender individuals make up only 1% of the population and the broader lgbtq plus Community represents just 7.6 %c the current opposition to the title 9 2024 amendments framed around concerns about transgender and nonsense gender students distracts from the true issue at hand the denial of liberty and justice for all Title Nine is about ensuring that all students are protected from sexual discrimination and can thrive in a supportive environment the fear-based distractions surrounding this small lgbtq plus group are part of a broader agenda to

079divert us from the greater goal of reshaping public education itself we must not lose sight of what's really at stake here recently moms for Liberty we've heard was successful in adding our five schools to the injunction resulting from a case in Kansas which prevents our dis district from incorporating the Title Nine amendments into policy this is a deliberate attempt to Halt progress on ensuring liberty and justice for all lgbtq plus students however we must not let legal roadblocks prevent us from upholding the core values of our district and our country liberty and justice for all these five words remind us that fairness dignity and equal opportunity should never be denied to anyone in our schools I encourage you to research the tactics of groups like moms for Liberty and the local Shield of Truth Network

080which advocate for changes that challenge the rights of students based on gender and identity while they push for more Christian voices on the board and a shift of how schools address these issues it's clear that these efforts are efforts are part of a larger movement aimed at reshaping public education to align with a particular ideology but liberty and justice for all demands that we protect the rights of every student no matter who they are while we value A diversity of perspectives within our community it's critical to clarify that schools do not and cannot indoctrinate students into a particular sexual orientation or gender identity these are not choices shaped by curriculum or policy they are innate aspects aspects of who people are our role is to provide every student the Liberty to be themselves and the

081justice of being treated with respect and dignity regardless of who they are are balancing parental rights and student rights is important but we must never forget that our primary responsibility is to the well-being and educational access of all students our policies must uphold the values we pledge when we say liberty and justice for all this isn't just about a legal or political debate it's about ensuring that every student no matter their background Faith or identity is treated with the fairness and respect promised by these five words liberty and justice for all as we Face challenges from court rulings and the pressure from advocacy groups we must remain firm in our commitment to liberty and justice for all we will continue to comply with legal mandates but we will also listen to our community and ensure

082that our policies reflect both the law and the values of fairness equality and inclusivity that form the heart of our District's mission in conclusion while we respect the concerns raised by groups like moms for Liberty The Shield of Truth Network and others our Focus must remain clear creating a learning environment rooting in the principles of liberty and justice for all we cannot allow fear-based distractions over a small percentage of the popul to divert us from their broader goal of changing public education itself our policies will continue to reflect both legal obligations and the core values that protect the rights and dignity of all students five simple but meaningful words that must influence our policy decisions liberty and justice for all thank you thanks Leah do we have any other board comments yes okay um I

083just wanted to give a shout out to the Walt Street Journal uh the board members got a copy of this I really appreciate the efforts of all the students who worked on this I especially like the uh front page article called baray and Bouquet I think that's some really nice alliteration there written by Eden Krauss and Haley Jeffrey so good job to the high school and I really appreciate the receiving this thank you so much that's fun stuff yeah yeah anyone else just a shout out to Dr finina and her amazing grant writing ability grant writing is laborious and time consuming and I don't know how you do it but thanks for doing it anyone else so while we're on the topic of um shoutouts I just want to do a Shameless plug for um

084the board shout outs that we do so I think last year maybe two years ago something like that I challenge everybody to to kind of send me your your board shout outs that you you feel that you know some Ean district and you know the administration a student a teacher somebody want above and beyond and you want to give that person you know some extra recognition that they deserve so I think in the board update or not the board updates the the weekly School updates we see a little blurb about sending uh shout outs to the board but we welcome them all the time and um we'd love to hear them if you want to send them me emails jppro psd.org and I always happily read them here at the board and usually it's a

085a good way to to kind of end the meeting on a positive note that's AB absolutely thank you anyone else okay with that I will call motion tojn second any discussion all right hearing none all in favor I all oppos thank you everyone