001Now call the September 29th, 2025 meeting of the Wford Sophomore School Board order and opening as you are willing. able to rise and join me in the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of Americ. >> Dr. Grande Mr. Henry >> here. Mrs. Hbert >> here. >> Mr. Miller >> here. >> Mrs. Wattman >> here. >> Miss Woodett >> here. >> Mrs. Williams >> here. >> Melsey Smith >> here. >> Eight holding members present. >> Thank you, Miss Mosley. I know everyone hears the uh the echo. I like she's working on it over there. So, we're we're on it. Okay. Moving now on to student representative report. I want to welcome Miss Yang for her first meeting over here. uh and thank you for uh your service to the school district and thank you for
002being here and I am going to let you take it away. Welcome. >> Thank you. Okay. Good evening everyone. My name is Joy Young and I'm excited to be working with Dr. Ner as one of your 2025 to 2026 school board student representatives. A little about myself is that prior to my leg injury, I love being on band front and waving a flag with me around the south. I also enjoy walking to my other extracurricular activities. And while I can't do that anymore, I'm still heavily involved in clubs like science Olympiad, read the Olympics, environ, and speech and debate. Speaking of speech and debate, the team kicked off the season strong at the Yale Invitational. On the speech side, Lana Kelly finaled in original oratory and Maline Garson made it to quarterfinals for dramatic interpretation.
003As for debate, Head Dudley and Colin Foster came out as the champions of public forum, winning the coveted title against more than60 other teams at the tournament. There's no rest for the Haven speech of the day team either as they're aiming to keep the momentum going by hosting the next tournament at Strath Haven High School for the first time postco on October 11th. Fall sports have also been off to a great start at the high school. The Haven football team has won five out of six games, all by huge margins, winning last Friday's game against Marble New Town 34-10. That game was also Haven's annual band night with middle school band members joining with the high school marching band to get the group hyped with a fantastic pregame performance including God Bless America, Ghostbusters, and
004Fly Eagles Fly. Speaking of the Eagles, Strap Haven hosted the Eagles high school football showdown that very same game with Eagles legends Jason Avant and Todd Heramman signing autographs, swoop firing up the crowd, and the Eagles drum line and cheerleaders joining the Haven marching band and the cheer team in cheering for the Panthers as they demolished Marble New Town. Football also isn't the only sport happening at Haven. Marble New Town just can't catch a break from Haven as the girls varsity tennis team both celebrated their seniors last week and KO Marble New Town 7 to zero. Individuals Minor Sedo and Lexi Glass also placed fourth and sixth respectively at the Central League singles tournament and advanced to the district 1 singles tournament. Payment athletic achievements have even broken out of Pennsylvania as senior Michael Spielman
005is currently 19th in the nation for wrestling. And to truly cement that haven runs delo. The girls cross country team ran home with a third place plaque from their first meet at cutstown with Sophie Jackson and Kayla Gaffne sporting varsity medals and Elena Elenor Roberts Diane Jugula and Alexis Qualiieri winning three JV medals. Additionally, at the Delro XDC Championship, Kayla Gaffne placed fifth in varsity and Elenor Roberts placed first in junior varsity. The boys cross country team had similar successes. The Luca Fan Cozy and Colin Kennedy placing second and third respectively at a Central Athletics League meet number two and Colin Kennedy placing 10th at the Delco XC Championship. Not only are we dominating outside of school, Haven students have been busy in school as well. Before school began, student council organized the freshman barbecue.
006The incoming freshman got to enjoy games in the gym, explore the high school, and unite with old and new classmates. The Nether Providence High School class of 1975 also reunited with old classmates during their 50-year reunion, horning the high school a reminiscency about the good old days. Student council also got the school hyped at the pep rally and announced the homecoming theme for this year. The golden hour theme inspired by the movie Tangled would definitely make the dance a golden memory to remember. Another thing to remember is the big success the annual activities fair was. Over 40 clubs presented themselves to the student body on September 5th. The diversity of clubs at Haven never fails to amaze and Dr. I can't wait to report about their happenings this year. Lunches were not just busy with
007the activities fair, but also with the return of wellness Wednesday. Students had fun making bracelets and playing connect for learning important lifestyle habits all while connecting with friends. And as September is suicide prevention awareness month, the organization minding your mind returned for their annual assembly. The high school listened attentively as speaker Tiffany shared both her story as well as helpful resources for Hayden students. And if you didn't have a clue of what the fall play this year is, the high school is put on a production of Clue. Mark your calendar for November 5th where the iconic board game is first sent to jump to life through the amazing efforts of Haven's theater crew. Finally, outside of the high school, SRS hosted a movie night for the community, which was a great way for everyone to
008get connected at the start of the school year. There are so many awesome things already happening despite it only being September. The amazing participation in academics, athletics, and schoolwide activities make it clear that Haven students are making the most of their opportunities and starting the year off strong. Dr. and I are honored and excited to be your schoolboard student representatives and we are looking forward to share the amazing themes our students are accomplishing this year. Thank you. >> Thank you. Excellent for your first time. Well done. Well done. Thank you so much. Uh I did hear through the grapevine that the clubs were trying to recruit our superintendent Dr. Johnson. So I hope they had some I don't know if they had success or not but uh I hope they maybe had some. So thank
009you very much. Uh moving on now uh to exactly that's the superintendent report and Dr. John please. >> Thank you Mr. Henry. Uh I do have a PowerPoint for you tonight, but I just want to say thank you to Miss Yang as well for a great presentation. And I do have a little bit of overlap, not too much, but even just the beginning of my presentation. Uh starts off with uh really gratitude for how well the Eagles hometown showdown that came off on Friday night. We really wanted to make sure that it was a memorable and safe event for our families and our students, our community members. I don't know if you've ever thrown a party for 3,000. Uh but it does take a lot of planning and preparation. And I just want to give
010a shout out to Lenel Mosley, our athletic director, for the amazing preparation that she put into it. She knew that this would be something our students would remember for a long time to come. And I think that um she really fulfilled that goal and it was a really happy and joyous event. Uh when as soon as we get my slides up, you'll just see my first uh image which is um from the actual uh event as well. um as we uh had the the legends who Miss Yang mentioned with us as well as uh we also had middle school band night that night and so it was an important night for our middle school students and our high school students to come together. Um some other highlights really for our students were that we had
011a clinic um that was run by the Eagles cheer team for our cheerleaders. Also a clinic with our band performers, our band students with the drum line. And so just really being able to have that combination of uh learning events as well as what you saw at the stadium was what came together for our students on Friday night. And again, I just want to give a really public shout out to our athletic director, Miss Lonel Mosley, for all the planning and organization that went into this event. So uh I really want to take you uh to the classroom first and foremost. And one of the things that I'm pleased to update you uh the community on as you're watching tonight's uh streaming session is that we have kicked off our school board and superintendent school
012visits this year. And so once a month a small group of of board members and I are visiting schools together and it's really an opportunity to take in the types of things that are coming before this board. So, uh, contracts that this board has approved, policy matters that have come before the board. Being able to sit with a principal and talk about the actual these these real issues that this board is taking on month after month, I think really helps to improve my decision- making and board decision-m together. So, in September, uh, we had a chance, several of us had a chance to go to the middle school. And, for example, when we went to the middle school, we looked at the adoption of the reveal math curriculum, which is something that the board voted
013to approve a few years ago. And just this past spring, the the board voted on a new curriculum for world languages in the district. And so, we got to go to the world language classroom. And, you know, sometimes we caught the tailwind of the use of the materials, but at least, you know, gave the board members a sense of what the teachers are adopting. Um, and you were able to interact with teachers, able to interact with principles, and I really want board members to hear directly from our principles, our school leaders in particular about the great work going on at our schools and the challenges that we're facing. Again, just to inform decision-m that have to happen at this table um, every month. And so really excited about getting those underway. Um, in addition, Dr.
014Badock and I visit every school once a month. So we have one school per month with board members every school every month between uh Dr. Badock and me. And one of the things that I want to call out from our visits just since school has started is the really um just thoughtful and dedicated implementation that our teachers are applying to the new curriculum that we have that you all just improve purchase of last spring called arts and letters for English language arts. These are two pictures from SRS that I took when Dr. Badic and I went last Friday. You could tell it was a Philly's pride day. They sort of missed the Eagles message somehow that we were hosting the Eagles uh hometown showdown a little later in the day. Uh but why this picture
015is important to me is this um adopting arts and letters is it it it's an investment in both equity and excellence because this is an opportunity to make sure that every student grades K through five in Wallingford Sworthmore has access to the same high quality literature experience and we are giving our teachers really you know that that that gift of something that they can use well um so that it doesn't matter which school you go to it Doesn't matter which teacher you had as you come up through our system as you enter the middle school all of our students will have had the same opportunity to you know learn rigorous interesting highquality um you know learn you know the the literature that comes with this program and the learning that goes with it. So, I
016wanted you to see that, you know, in two classrooms at SRS side by side, uh they're um taking on this book that's about this the story of a migrant um a migrant farmer's family's uh journey in 1940 um in America. And these are first graders. Uh and it's a really high quality text. It's really engaging, beautiful artwork. And the final thing that I'll say about this new curriculum that I love is it really combines art, science, and literature. So, I shared with the board in one of my weekly updates recently that I saw second graders at NPE, for example, uh painting using chlorophyll. And so, they were learning about trees. And the teachers literally went home, blended leaves in a blender and brought in pigment for the students to paint um pictures with to learn
017about words like pigment, to learn about words like Orville in second grade. And again, that is just excellence and equity coming together for our students. The final thing that I'll say about this is I've been really pleased to see the way in which our special education department and our curriculum department are working together to make sure that all students have access to this opportunity and this program arts and letters it's a it's curriculum resources um and it's really for our teachers to make sure that we are owning it and making it meaningful meaningful for our students and the resource comes with um ways in which you can pre-teach and retach concepts for students um who are English learners students with disabilities. And so there's a there there resources to draw from the curriculum to make
018sure we're reaching all students. And I'm really pleased to see the way in which our teachers are taking that on. And I'm really grateful. This has been a hard lift and I'm really grateful to see at every school and every classroom in the elementary level how much our teachers are just just leaning right in and and moving ahead. Um, when I think about the buildings, right, we've got what happens in the classroom, that relationship between teachers and students, but we also are focusing on the buildings around the children, right? The walls around the children, the roofs above the children, the electrical systems, everything that comes with our capital plan. So, I just want to, as a reminder, uh, on June 18th, this board voted to adopt a framework for our capital plan, which really helps
019us prioritize which buildings we are taking on in which order. And we have publicized a summary of that capital plan. It's available on our website and we're just pushing it out uh anywhere we can get it to just to help the community uh just know and be informed about our approach to improving our buildings. And of course the first building that we're taking on to improve is our high school. And so uh I just want to explain a little bit about what's happening with our high school renovation project. Uh it really begins with the selection of our construction management firm. And what's important for us as the superintendent and board members to know about, anybody in our audience, people watching at home, is there kind of three key partners who will work with us on
020this high school renovation project. The first is our construction manager. And think about the construction manager about that is that person who's our eyes and ears. When we begin construction, we will have um a representative from the selected construction management firm on site every day making sure that the gates are open, that the contractors can get in, but that cement truck is coming down Providence Road. You have that person who knows we're expecting cement today. We're ready for it. That pad is ready. We're ready to pour cement. These types of things that the construction manager will stay right on top of. So, their their eyes there are eyes and ears. they're staying on top of making sure that we move the project along from beginning to end. The second important partner is the architectural firm
021and the architectural firm also brings the engineering experts that we will need for this project. So the architectural firm will be the one that will of course do the designs and really by listening to us first though what is it that we really need this building to become for our students? What can we afford? and they will help us determine what will actually get designed in terms of the the the the architectural drawings for the building. And they'll work really closely with all the engineers. We're talking about civil engineers, mechanical engineers, um the all of the work that has to be done behind the walls and to get the building, you know, securely on the ground and to work with the the township around um you know, the permitting that needs to be done. So
022that's the second important partner is the architectural firm. And then of course the third important partner is the general contractor, the builders who will come in and renovate and hopefully add some of an addition to the high school. Um are is that the people who will come in and actually you know do the building. Um so that first step that we're at right now is the selection of that of our first partner, the construction management firm. And so I just want to walk you through the process that has got us to this point. Um in July we put out a request for proposals and we when the proposal deadline came we had six firms who responded to our RFPs our RFP we interviewed four of the firms and we selected a firm called CHA as
023our finalist and that's who we are recommending for board approval tonight. CHA came to representatives from CHA came to our facilities and finance meeting uh earlier this month and were able to meet with board members and give a brief presentation about who they are uh and what their uh approach would be to our project which is so important. And so before the board tonight we have the contract for approval and there there are two parts to it. Um, there's the first phase, which is our preconstruction phase. That's the uh requested dollar amount of $273,000 that we would ask to use for our work with CHA to contract with CHA on. Uh, and that's really their uh they would begin with us right away, right? So, with approval tonight, they would jump in and help us
024with our selection of the architect, for example. Um because we haven't opened our buildings in a while, we really want their expertise to help us to guide us with those elements of improving the high school that relate to making the building warm, safe, and dry. And so what is above the ceiling tiles? What does our plumbing look like? How much of the electrical has to be improved? These are the types of questions they can begin to guide us on as we work with our architect. And so that pre-construction phase is um obviously the the first part of our work with CHA. And then uh the second phase that we're asking for approval on is uh 1.455 million for the construction phase. And what's important about this is that to move ahead to the construction phase
025would require board approval. So we are um approving both num requesting to approve both numbers tonight. But this issue of moving to the construction phase will come back before the board for board approval before we uh are able to give them the green light to move ahead and the whole project to move ahead to the construction phase. So I wanted to explain where we've landed with this contract because it's evolved a bit since the facilities and finance meeting. So I just want to be really clear and upfront about what is important for tonight and I know we'll have some good deliberation about this important discuss this important step that we are looking to make for the high school renovation. The second part of this project is the selection of like I said our architectural engineering
026firm. So we have put out another RFP for an architectural engineering firm. That RFP closes this Thursday. So we're coming to an important and exciting deadline. We're really curious and uh and really excited to see which uh the architectural firms that are that are in this area step forward and and are interested in this project. And the good news is we've seen kind of a healthy back and forth through the RFP process uh to see that there there are architectural firms who are interested in us. So no surprise this is a a great project and we can't wait to see uh which architects are interested in working with us. So first we had a deadline for any questions that architecture firms might have for us and we posted our answers on the website on our
027website. So there are 14 questions that came in. That was a healthy amount of questions and there were requests to do a building walkthrough which was not a surprise. So on September 18th and 19th we opened it up for any firm to come and walk through the high school with us. And so four firms two per day just took us up on that and showed up and arrived with their teams. And Mr. Maloney, Mr. Benzing and I walked them through the high school. And it was just a a really great way to kind of see the building through an architect's eyes. Um, and just see what they were noticing and what they were asking us about. Uh, and so just really pleased that we had that opportunity. And um, like I had mentioned previously with
028if there is board approval tonight for the CHA contract, they will then jump in right away and they're ready to go to help us in that selection process of the architectural firm. And I'm, you know, right now this is a really important decision about the architectural firm. And so while while we have worked diligently to get this process underway, um I think that coming back before you in October will be premature. I have a feeling we'll be coming in November uh to uh to ask for approval for a contract for an architectural and engineering firm because I think it's very likely that we will want to do some site visits once we narrow down the number of firms who apply. I think it'll be really healthy for us to get out and see what have
029they done to buildings that are similar. I know we were talking most recently with CHA about, you know, thinking about buildings that have done a renovation, right, that we need to do to make the building warm, safe, and dry. And then what has a an affordable addition like um that has really responded to the needs of the community without being, you know, just, you know, u something that is, uh, you know, looks ostentatious. We want something that is really modest and in keeping, as Mr. Benzing said as we walked through the architects the high school with the architects, we're a Quaker community. Uh, and we need this building to continue to reflect what we value the most, which is the relationship between our teachers and our students. So, that's what's coming in the high school
030renovation project. I did just want to lay this out for you a little bit tonight and explain where we are. And of course, when we get to that item on the agenda, I'll of course be glad to answer any questions from board members. Just a couple of other quick updates for you in terms of what's going on in the district. Um, we do look ahead for to our new budget and this relates to the high school renovation project. And so recently we learned and was mostly presented at our uh finance meeting earlier this month that the anticipated base index rate the equid index rate for the 26 27th fiscal year is estimated to be 3.5%. And so it's just good to know that that's the number that is being propo, you know, proposed so far
031as the anticipated rate. And I want to just sort of highlight where we have some pressures on the budget for us. And I know that we'll expand upon this further particularly at the upcoming facilities and finance meeting. Um but and and even beyond that, but there are some real you know sort of you know key tensions on our our budget right now when we think about that index rate. Uh first of all it's important to note that you know the the rate has been falling right so we were at uh above you know 5% you know 4% and now five above 5% 4% and now 3.5% over the past three years and we didn't have to you know we didn't go to the max of the index because we had carryover money that we could
032apply. we no longer have those carryover funds. And so we are living you know within uh the revenues that we are bringing in every year. And so when we think about what is uh you know some of those those pressures on uh our our budget as we look ahead are things like fixed costs. So the increases that we have contractually that we're obligated to play pay that we want to pay to our teachers um that we want to pay to our staff that are you know we know that we settled all of our contracts last year and so those are fixed those can't change uh we want to make sure that we we will obviously that is first and foremost our obligation to the next thing that I have on the list are essential costs
033so they're not fixed but they are things that are will be up for consideration as we move forward about do we consider these things to be so essential that we need to invest in them. So for example, our cleaning contract is coming due this year. We will go out to bid on a new cleaning contract and will that will we need to invest more in cleaning for the upkeep of our schools. So that would I would put in the category of essential costs. And if we decide that we need to invest more that of course is like I'm saying sort of a a tension a pressure on the budget to figure out you know what how do we balance all of this just like our own budgets and then you know any of the educational
034improvements that we want to make such as you know investing in curriculum and you know the the areas where we know we want to have even more of what I showed you about arts and letters. think about what that might be look like for science, for social studies, other curriculum areas that we might need to invest in. And then finally, um just like I mentioned before about the high school renovation project, uh we know we need to invest more in the capital in our in the buildings themselves, and that isn't something that we've invested as much in in the past. So when you think about we have a declining source of revenue, less carryover funds and this this combination of considerations for our budget, it means that we're probably going to have to have some
035different conversations about the budget as we go forward about prioritization about how do we maybe reallocate from within our budget to make sure that we can achieve the priorities that we have for our students. So, I did just want to put this out there tonight to begin to have this uh discussion to um further sort of illuminate where we are right now. And I know we'll go deeper when we have our next uh finance meeting in October. So, and then like I said, just a couple other quick updates for you. Um oh, sorry, a little bit more about about budget, but I think I've gone over that. I would just call out the last line that I have there uh which is that Miss Mosley is really committed to making sure that we do everything
036we can uh to vote on the school year 27 budget at our May meeting instead of our June meeting. And so we are excited about um what that could mean in the way of um being able to sort of move up the timing of our hiring decisions to get out there earlier for um confirming positions for new staff members, for example. We think that means a lot for talent development in the district, about diversity development within the district. And so, um, just know that everything we're doing right now is really lining up for that. And I'm very pleased Miss Mosley has already informed our administrative team about the phasing, the four phases of our budget and the timelines for that. And so, we're excited about taking that on and being ready for as best we
037can hitting that May that May deadline that we set for ourselves. All right, I promise I'm just about to wrap up. Um, I have launched my student advisory council. This is something that I made a commitment to doing when I interviewed for this position. So, I just wanted to um update the board that I put out on APB to high school students uh to ask uh if who would like to step forward to help to advise on the matters uh that come before me quite frequently and I had more than 50 responses from our high school students. I chose 12. I worked to make sure that it was a representative group of group of students across grade levels, across identities, across expertise and experience that the students brought to bear. And interestingly, um I I
038knew some of the students and so I thought it was important for me to deidentify the students to take their names off and just use numbers. And so I went through and I did, you know, my take of like what did I, you know, who stood out to me. Uh I was really looking for students who talked about a district-wide perspective because Mr. Benzing has his own students who advise him. And so I wanted this isn't about just the high school. This is about a district-wide perspective. If you've gone through our system, help me understand, you know, what you experienced along the way. Or if you're new, what was it like to transition in? And I asked the students to write me a little bit about themselves. Interestingly, I did that review, then I asked
039AI to do it. Um, and it was sort of interesting to see what came out of that just as by way of comparison. And then Mr. Benzing and I finally compared notes to make sure that I wasn't selecting students who who are already involved in many many different high school activities. And so I think I've come up with a great list. My first meeting is in October. Um and I can't wait to get started. And I just listed here some of the things that I asked them in a poll recently to tell me what they might be interested in in talking about at our meetings. This is these are just some of the things that I put on the list for them, but of course I left room for other and I know I'll get
040some great feedback from students as we go forward. So with that, um the final thing that I have to say tonight is uh I am launching what I'm calling community conversations uh starting in October. Uh and this will be sort of our first run at just having an open forum, an open session for any community members to come and tell me what's on their minds about our school system to really raise any questions, any concerns, any feedback. But I chose for this first one to try two different times. uh one in the morning and then one in the evening. Thinking that if we only do the morning for example, it really says something about who we think might be available. And even though I know parents are kind of stressed all the time, I know
041I was. Um that you know by having two different times hopefully we can get uh you know as many different families to come out and and just bring their questions, learn about district initiatives and connect with each other. So looking forward to getting that started and just starting that discussion. I'll certainly report back to the board about what I learned along the way. So, uh, Mr. Henry, I went a little long tonight, but I do hope it was important. >> It was. Thank you so much, uh, Dr. John. That was great. Uh, and also, I do want to on behalf of the board congratulate Miss Mosley and the whole staff and yourself and and, uh, all the team that that pulled off Friday night's uh, event. That was amazing. So, uh, and I and I
042people really had a lot of fun and I think you you said it well uh, earlier. How often do you throw parties for for any, thousands? Was that Yeah, that's a lot of people. So well done to to the district and the staff and it was amazing and the community really had a good time. So I just want to congratulate everyone involved in that because that's not every day we had to do that. So uh thank you for that. Uh all right, moving on to board announcements. The board did meet in executive session prior to the meeting. Uh the only other announcement that I I wrote for myself was I just wanted to remind the board and anyone watching and uh anyone here uh that the NP that the NP turkey trot signups are happening
043uh the turkey trot is Thanksgiving morning 9:00 I think actually 9:00 for the 5k something's happening earlier the walker the kids are going earlier if I'm not mistaken but the uh the the deadline for the discounted rate is October 1st so if you want to sign up before October 1st. I think it's uh $30. So, I just wanted to publicly u give them a plug for the turkey drive and I will be there. I don't know how much trotting I'll be doing. Might be more walking. We shall see. But that will be there. Um okay, moving now on to audience recognition and response for action items for action on the agenda. We will have a time later for items not on the agenda. Uh, as a reminder, public comment is a time for district residents
044and taxpayers to speak to the board about an issue that is before the board or may come before the board. It's a time for us to listen, hear their perspective and experiences from our community. But we can't answer questions at the meeting. There's always an opportunity to follow up after meetings if there is a specific question because we want to give as many people as possible wish uh that wish to speak a chance to be heard. We'll continue to follow our three-minute timeline. We don't have a lot of people here this evening. So I don't want need to go on on and on about the three-minute time limit, but uh we do try to uh ask people to stick within that three minutes and and try to finish up your final sentence around the three-minute
045mark so we can move on uh their next speaker. Um I do want to remind any speaker that uh that this is not the appropriate venue for discussing matters that directly relate to any individual student uh whether your child or not or any concerns about an individual staff member. This is not the place for that. So having said all of that, is there anybody who'd like to speak about items on the agenda? Okay, we have small group tonight. So that's what I thought. We will have a time later for items not on the agenda. All right. Uh moving on now to the minutes. Next item for action on the agenda tonight is approval of the minutes for the August 26, 2025 regular board meeting. Do I have a motion for approval? Mr. Wman, thank you.
046Do I have a second? Second. Mr. Miller, thank you. Do I have any discussion about the minutes? >> Okay, see none. Miss Rosie, would you please take a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Sorry, Mrs. Delay. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Hbert. >> Hi, >> Mr. Miller. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Watman. >> Hi, >> Miss Wet. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Williams. >> Hi, >> Mr. Kelsey Smith. >> Hi, >> Mr. Henry. >> Hi. Motion passes 8 to zero. >> Thank you, Mosley. Now, moving on to board committee reports. I want to remind everybody that uh our educational affairs, facility, and finance and policy committees meetings that were held are all available for viewing on our district YouTube channel. Uh so I will jump down to wellness advisory. Mr. Le, you have a report. >> No. >> Okay.
047Thank you. Uh now moving to the Pennsylvania School Board Association and Mrs. Wowsky Smith, please. Hi. Um, uh, Dr. As as, uh, of this week, um, there are several state Democratic lawmakers who are pushing to pass a bill that require the state to create an inventory of school facilities across uh, the Commonwealth to document building conditions. So, I don't know how timely this is for us, but at least they're beginning to gather the data. um in a culture under culture of safety. PSBA in their quarterly report uh reviewed a book called right kind and right kind wrong by Emily Amy Edmonson and uh this is they're recommending a guide book uh about teaching about student failure in addition and that's allowing students to fail really in addition to provide steps uh that students should take
048admin include the importance of creating a safe classroom that allow from learning mistakes so that if parents are interested Um, also they're offering an AI toolkit to schools and that uh Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that reviews media is offering an AI toolkit for educators and parents. The toolkit includes templates for implementation, professional development of materials and guidance on AI policy and compliance consideration for school districts. So that is uh from common sense media and then unfortunately the US department of education has uh eliminated funding $30 million for teacher training. So those teacher training resources will not be coming to the uh states when supporting our new teachers. And then uh ongoing internet security um and continues to be a very serious threat for schools. Um according to the nonprofit center for internet security 2025
049uh where education meets community resilience 82% of reporting schools experience cyber events uh between in the last year between 23 and the end of 2024 with more than 9,300 confirmed incidents in schools alone. So, uh, as we continue to look at our budget to continue to support those security efforts because not supporting them is very expensive. >> All right, that's all from PSVA. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Smith. Excellent report. Thank you. Uh, all right, moving on to Delaware County Community College Leazison. Mr. Miller, do you have anything for Steve? >> The report is attached to the agenda, but folks should take a look at it because it does have the total enrolled students by school district broken out. So it's an interesting way and Chris work with some rest. >> Great. Thank you
050so much. All right. Uh now moving on to the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and Mrs. Holder. >> DCIU is in the midst of a multi-year multi-sight construction project. Right now most of the work is being done at the Marvel site to upgrade several rooms and the kitchen/ cafeteria area. um and also to create needed changes to the entrance way and expand lab space. This work was supposed to be done by the start of the school year, but some items are still being completed several weeks afterward. Um the Marple Center primarily serves special education students ages 3 to 21 and also has specialized classrooms for autistic support, life skill support, and multiple disability support. DCIU is also at the beginning of a condensed search for a new executive director. If you have perspective on DCIU or
051what should be considered during this search, please go to the DCIU website, choose DCIU executive director search at the top and then click on the community survey button. The survey is open until October 3rd. The applicant window closes October 12th and we hope to announce our selection on or by November 25th. >> Thank you. Uh and now moving on to Delaware County School Board Legislative Council forum. >> Um the full report will also be attached with the uh the minutes for today's meeting. Um just a couple of things that important to note that the report um for September was produced at the end of August and so a little bit has um happened since then but at that time a lot of the um the focus was on both the state budget um lack of
052a state budget I guess is the right way to say that um which is still the current state um just in the two months of July and August school districts were um not provided with $1.75 billion in payments that school districts should have received in those two months. Um so a really tough time for school districts uh in terms of planning. Um on the federal fund side um the US Department of Education did release funds to states that had been withheld uh prior to that time. Uh, and while that was shared for Pennsylvania received their funds, because there is no state budget providing formal authorization to then disperse those funds from the feds, those funds also have not gone to school districts. That's $230 million that should have been distributed to school districts um that
053the federal government did provide late um that has not been uh dispersed at this point in time. Uh let's see. There's a lot of information about the the budget impass and the differences in terms of what has been proposed and so forth. Um and I think everybody that can just we all need to follow that one on our own probably trying to figure out when are we ever going to get a budget in uh in Pennsylvania. Um the uh Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to confirm Dr. Carrie Row, Secretary of Education. um she was uh uh nominated by a governorship. Um so that again that was early August um and I need to get an update to make sure does anybody here happen to know whether she was confirmed at this point in time. I'll
054I'll have to check that and and uh share that there's a few different bills um in here as always that have been introduced. Um one I did want to call out is a student cell phone restriction bill. House Bill 1814 would ban students from possessing or using cell phones inside school buildings during the school day. Must either place phones in a secure lock box upon arrival or keep them in a locked pouch that cannot be open until dismissal wasting limited exceptions. Uh so we are going to continue to see those across the country um and also here in Pennsylvania. And I think that's that's it for today. there's uh anybody that's interested in those bills can take a look at the report. >> All right. >> Thank you, Mr. Wman. Moving on to personnel. We
055have uh 14 items for action personnel. Are there any items on this list anyone on the board would like to separate from the rest? Okay, went through them real quick. We have resignations and retirements as listed. We have appointments listed. We have leaves or leave of absences as listed. Change of position. Features eligible for tenure. Direct payments. 2025 20226. Mentor appointments. 2025 20226 conference requests. 2025 2026 curricular supplementals. 2025 2026 activities supplementals. 2025 2026 fall athletic supplementals. 2025 2026 winter athletic supplemental. I think that's all right. All the items in the section are attached or described on this one. >> Oh, sorry. And the Saturday school and the 2025 2026 chamber of base hours and that's all. Sorry, my paperwork. Yes, I wrote down the throw and there was 14 of them I missed the
056last two. Thank you for that. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All items in the section are as attached or described in the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve? >> Thank you. Do I have a second? >> Thank you, Mr. Uh discussion on any of the items under personnel. >> I'd just like to congratulate as always the teachers that are up for tenure. That's a major milestone in their professional pathway. So congratulations to them. >> Yes. Thank you for for pointing that out. Uh I'll go down. Any further discussion on anything under >> Mrs. M. What's that? Please. >> Are these voting on Saturday school? >> It's under It's one of the 14 items under uh It's one of the 14 items listed under personnel. Yes, ma'am. Well, I I missed the point of pulling
057it out because I want to vote no on >> So, you want to go back to where I asked if we had any items under the list if anyone wanted to separate from the rest. You want to go back to it? >> Okay. Um, that is letter M, I believe it was. >> Yes. >> We're gonna we're gonna check >> Yeah. How do we go since we passed that Kyle? How do we how can we go back [Music] and hold a change of the way that we're put together? Okay. [Music] The short way of doing this, perhaps the abbreviated way of doing this would be to simply have the people that moved and seconded simply agree to make the change at this point. Although technically it is once it's moved and seconded is a board
058that makes the decision, but we can certainly do it that way for this >> and I don't hear I don't I don't see a major objection. Uh so Mrs. Williams and Mr. Hbert, do you have any objection to to amending what you seconded and approve? Okay. I didn't think so. Okay. Uh so uh we're going to remove letter M and vote on that separately. So we're going to go back and is there any further discussion on the 13 items or the 14 items minus the letter M? Uh any other personnel items other than letter M? Any discussion on those? Mrs. Williams did go in a second what you said perhaps to Sing yesterday's eligible for 10 down the board. Okay, seeing none, Miss Mosley, would you please take a roll call vote for all the
059items of the personnel except for letter M. Thank you. >> Mrs. Dele, >> I >> Mrs. Hbert, >> hi >> Mr. Miller. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Wattman. >> Hi, >> Miss Woodet. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Williams. I >> missowsky Smith. >> I, >> Mr. Henry. >> Motion passes 8 to zero. >> All right. Thank you. Now, moving on. We're going to uh letter N specifically. >> Uh do we have to we have to take a we need a motion to approve? Okay. Okay. Uh do I have a motion to approve letter M? >> So, Mr. Walker, thank you. Do I have a second? >> Second, >> M. Williams. Thank you. Uh any discussion on letter M under personnel shortly? [Music] >> Mr. Mil, I just want to clarify what we're voting on. We're voting on
060the um rate per session for the teachers that would cover Saturday school, not necessarily the number of sessions or the number of students in Saturday school. Is that correct? >> That is correct. We are voting specifically on the rate to pay the staff member who is there on Saturday. That's correct. Thank you for that clarification. And what's you have any discussion? Um other than I am voting no on the the amount to be given because of the position I take with Saturday school. So um I'd have to vote to approving. >> Okay. Any further discussion on letter M? Okay. Seeing none, Mr. President, let's just take a roll call vote for personnel matter number letter M. >> Mrs. Dele, >> I. >> Mrs. Hbert, >> I. >> Mr. Miller, >> I. >> Mrs. Watman, >>
061I >> Mrs. What's that? >> Nay. >> Mrs. Williams. >> I >> Mr. Kelsey Smith. >> I >> Mr. Henry >> I. >> Motion passes 7 to one. >> Okay. Thank you. Now moving on to policy. We have one action one item for action under policy. Um all items in the section are attached or described in the agenda. Uh there's policies for first reading. Uh there is also administrative regulations. We are not voting on those. Those are there for everyone's information. Um, do I have a motion to approve policy item A? >> So move. >> Mr. Le, thank you. Do I have a second? >> Second, >> Mrs. Walker. Thank you. Any discussion on policies for first reading as listed? >> Mrs. Le, please. Yeah, I just wanted to point out that uh for policy
062903, so this is a first read obviously. Uh and I think it's safe to say that we're still sort of taking in some of the feedback that we received from the community at our committee meeting. Uh we're still processing that and we're also taking a look at how other districts approach this particular policy. So this is a first read, you know, to continue. >> Okay. Thank you. Any further discussion on policies for first reading? Okay. Seeing none, Miss Mosie, would you please take a roll over for policy? >> Mrs. Delay, >> hi. >> Mrs. Hbert, >> hi. >> Mr. Miller, >> hi. >> Mrs. Watman, >> I set >> I >> Mrs. Williams, >> I >> missy Smith. >> Hi, >> Mr. Henry. >> I >> Motion passes 8 to zero. >> Okay, thank you.
063Now, moving on to curriculum. We have uh two items for approval in curriculum. Uh are there any items uh that anyone on the board would like to separate from the rest? Those two item. Okay, seeing none, we have uh two items are uh approval for brain popup and PIAA trips. Uh do I have a motion to approve items under curriculum? >> Mrs. Smith, thank you. Do I have a second? >> Mrs. Herbert, thank you. Any discussion for those two items in the curriculum? Seeing none. Uh, Mrs. Mosley, would Miss Would you please take a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Dele, >> hi. >> Mrs. Hbert, >> hi. >> Mr. Miller, >> hi. >> Mrs. Wattman, >> hi. >> Miss Woodet, >> hi. >> William, >> I >> Mrs. Wowsky Smith. >> Hi, >> Mr. Henry.
064>> Hi. >> Motion passes 8 to zero. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, now moving on to student services. We have one item for approval on student student service services uh which is the educational service agreements as listed. Do I have a motion to approve this item A under student services? So move Smith. Thank you. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Mr. Miller. Thank you. Do I have any discussion under student services? Seeing none, Miss Mosley, would you please take a roll call? >> Mrs. Zer. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Hbert. >> Hi, >> Mr. Miller. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Watton. >> Hi, >> Miss Witet. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Williams. >> I >> Mr. Wowsky Smith. >> Hi, >> Mr. Henry. >> Motion passes 8 to Z. Okay. Now, moving on to finance and
065facilities. We have item eight items for approval under finance and facilities. Are there any items under finance and facilities that anyone on the board would like to separate from the rest? Okay, seeing none, we have uh bills paid to vendors August 1st through August 31st, 2025. We have financial statements August 1st through August 31st, 2025. We have the treasures report August 1st through August 31st. We have >> Everdriven Technologies LLC. We have Power School Connect SIS. We have Dell Financial Services Agreement. We have the SHMS disposable of instruments memo. We have the construction management contract. Do I have an approval? Uh oh, sorry. All the items under the section are attached or described in the agenda. Do I have a motion to approve all the items under finance and facility? >> So move. Thank you.
066Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Mrs. C Smith. Thank you. Do I have any discussion professional things? >> Yes, please. I just want to clarify that I believe it's the ever driven technologies contract that it it's a little unclear if you just read what's here but it's not not creating some new transportation system for like everybody outside of our district or anything like that. It's just really for one student if I almost correctly >> and Miss Albert um had a chance to look into that a little bit further as well. And that is actually could be for more than one student. Um particularly if we had a situation where we did cover our own drivers. So we have our you know we are um you know fulfilling our obligation to make sure that
067we are offering runs to our drivers. But there are times when we end up being short because of perhaps driver illness calling out for you know understandable reasons and we need to make sure that we have sort of a backup plan for getting students to school. our own transportation director sometimes goes out and drives. Um, and others have stepped up to drive as well, including Miss Mosley did it one time recently. And so, uh, we need a solution that goes beyond, you know, those moments when we're really calling up our own staff to have to, uh, take on some of those driving responsibilities. So, we're pleased to have an external vendor that we can call >> a backup >> backup. And particularly for students, this is these are not driving our bigger buses. This would
068be for driving for example the student to improve special education school or private school. >> Okay. >> Further discussion on anything under finance and facilities. Mr. please. >> So regarding item G the disposal of the instruments at uh the middle school. Can we know a little bit more about what throwing away might look like? Yeah. What is that? >> It's a really good question. So because those musical instruments were purchased using public funds, we need to make sure that the public is notified when we are going to dispose of materials or resources we can no longer we no longer have any use for and have no resale value. And so in this case we are getting rid of some uh very antiquated um musical um equipment. And uh the verbiage in the memo is that
069they would go into the trash. The good news is is that we have an agreement with a recycling firm who has agreed to take these instruments. So I think it's good news that it is not that you know just the landfill. This is a recycled material which was I think important to uh to make sure that we have >> that's great. Thank you very much. >> So one second we're going to go down for discussion going down. Mr. Miller please. >> Yeah. I want to thank Dr. Johnson for a really informative part of what we're voting on tonight. I just want to re-emphasize to the public, you hear it online and watching it on YouTube later, uh what we are voting on is a construction management firm, not a general contractor, not an architect. Uh
070that this that this construction management firm will help us manage both of those pieces. And we are approving the very first trunch of money and approving the cost of the second trunch, but we have not approved the expenditure of that trunch. I just want to clarify that. But Dr. Johnson did a great job and I might as well say right when we're voting. So, thanks. >> Yeah, that's a that's an excellent clarification. Thank you, Mr. Miller, for doing that. Uh, Musk Smith, please. >> Yes, thank you. Um I just I just have a a report that as being part of the process I think I want to clarify for our community a little bit more about the process what we went through to look at CHA and how um we feel about moving forward about
071so you know about how this process is uh came about. So, um, the board agrees that, uh, within developing our long-term plan that this is the right time to address our facility needs, especially at the high school. We have experienced, we have at this time an experienced administrative team in place to oversee the completion of this project with a clear understanding of the financial in implications to our community. Dr. Johnston's leadership has already proven invaluable in our selection of a firm to help manage this project. His own experience with renovation and a thoughtful approach are ceremonical. As we look at the scope of this project, the focus is going to be not just on what we can see and as he as Dr. Johnson already uh said, it's also going to be what we cannot
072see at this time. Our infrastructure in the high school is failing us. Pipes are corroded and systems are failing. The older part of the high school has infrastructure that's over 50 years old. And uh because of this, we're having chillers that cool overheated rooms and that rooms are not receiving heat air. So there is uh it it's not functioning. And even the new building, the new part of the high school is 25 years old and is in need of updates to create energy efficiencies and safe environments for our students. We're also mindful of the contribution each family makes in the form of taxes. Miss Mosley, our business director, has already put in place and CHA has agreed to flat fees rather than a percent of the project. Because of the volatility of the marketplace, Dr.
073Johnson and his team have developed three plans at three point uh price points, ensuring that we are good stewards of taxpayer money and that we do not exceed what we're able to afford in the budget. We're fortunate to have Mr. Maloney, our facilities director, as he has experience overseeing renovations and he does ask the tough questions. He constantly asks, "Is this the most cost-effective way to solve the problem? And what are our other options?" So, in addition to already providing us costsaving measures, CHA is a leader in sustainability that will provide what works for us. It may mean for us meeting lead standards without the expense of getting lead certification. So we might do the work but the certification costs a lot. Those are the decisions we're going to have to make. Renovations are complex.
074There will be complications as we open the roof and see what really is inside. We will need to make tough decisions ahead on what we can complete and there will be disappointments when we need to eliminate those projects that exceed what we can afford. As you have heard in their pres as you have heard in Dr. Johnson's presentation, we promise to keep you informed every step of the way. So my question at that is how often I So thank you. That's that's Peps part one. But also I have a question at the end of this and that is the communication process. And I think one of the things as board members our our responsibility is to make sure the community is knows where their money is going and knows every step of the way what
075our process is. So can you talk about specifically how we can expect if we choose CHA or our project manager what that looks like? Are there scheduled dates that we can tune in? >> Certainly. Uh, thank you for all of that, Miss Matsi Smith. And I think that, um, what's important to know is that CHA is ready to engage with us. They're ready to engage in the way that we need them to, which is really through robust stakeholder engagement. And that was another aspect of their proposal that really drew us to them is that we wanted to make sure that they will help us with our design process, with the building process that's responsive to the wants and needs of this community. And so we we see a few things happening. First, uh there will
076be upcoming community engagement opportunities with the architect and our construction management firm with CHA to be able to hear more about what do people really value about this building, what do we most need to address and how can we do that in a way that we can afford. uh so uh an initial uh amount of community engagement related related to the design portion of this project will certainly be a place where you will see CHA's presence and then on an ongoing basis the contract stipulates their presence at uh board or facilities meetings depending on the schedule that we create with them uh to make sure that depending on which where the need is the greatest and I think it's primarily going to be at our facilities meetings where we need um to have that engagement
077with CHA that's my experience from my past is that uh to have our construction management management firm with us when we go deep on the subject uh particularly in a committee meeting is and that's you know tele you know that's publicly available one uh community meeting but there is more community engagement frankly uh would be what we really want to see happen and the contract stipulates that so we will certainly work out the details with CHA but the contract sets us up for that that deep community engagement uh to help us with the design process and the ongoing engagement with our board at both our uh either the the facilities meetings or our plan I'm sorry facilities meetings or a board meeting depending on what our need is. >> Thank you Dr. Johnston. I have
078one additional question if we can you know my statement question question I can put on a little hat different hats. Um let's talk about the decision makingaking process and that is at what point I mean there are time questions there's going to be scope questions there's going to be money questions at what point is the board I want to make clear where the board is engaged in each of these steps along the way I want very clear confirmation that CHA a is going to engage us as part of the not just communication but that the board is going to be where their responsibility comes in. >> Thank you Mr. Couch Smith. The the important thing about this contract is that it's very clear that any changes to scope including time or funding have to come
079back before this board. So there will be day-to-day decisions that you'll want to entrust the administration to make with CHA. And so the the contract imagines uh that you would uh you know that those types of decisions would be delegated to me and the administration. But anything requiring a change in scope of this project including both the timeline and the funding and particularly funding that would go you know any contractual increase or change for CHA has to come back before this board. It is not a decision that the administration can make. >> Okay. Great. Thank you. I just I just want to make sure we're really clear about the board function, board responsibility. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Miss Woodet, did you have any comments or discussion, please? >> I I think it's important
080to note that during the facilities meeting, C HA said something maybe you can remember, Mr. about them having their he would have his cell phone number for community members to call him directly if they have a concern and then then he would relay it to the superintendent so that the district is involved in what's going on. But that's how transparent they intend to be with engaging with um managing the construction and the architects and the contractors. So, um I thought that was a a good thing that he said and he guaranteed it. It was a question someone had and that was his his response. >> Well said. Exactly. Jamie Lynch is our lead representative from CHA. Uh very knowledgeable in this work. Uh we really appreciate his expertise and his um creative problem solving as
081it comes to our project. And I know that one of the things that stood out when we interviewed him was exactly what you said, Miss Whitet. uh when we conducted the interview with CHA, he said in his experience, it's really important for the neighbors to have his cell phone number because when there's dust, when it gets loud, um if there are vehicles uh that are interfering with everybody's here in any way, shape, or form, he wants to be on the front lines of that communication of that uh that phone call. And so he uh like you said um committed to providing his cell number so there could be that direct conversation with that person who's in charge of like I said when is the cement truck coming when does this the gate open um you
082know to the construction site all of the ins and outs they are the first line of uh communication and so I was I too was very pleased about his willingness to be so deeply involved with our community. >> Yes. And he did he did mention that he would um let the people like he he named like Allen Street which is close, you know, so that if the drills and and the noise and for pets that might be afraid, then they let homeowners know what's going on before it happens. Any further discussion on item number five? Mrs. Del, please. >> So, ju just real quick, Mary Joe mentioned sustainability. Actually, I wanted to also thank Mary Joe for um participating in the interview process so that board members had a presence in that process that really
083was helpful. Um yeah and just you had mentioned regarding sustainability. So I I had some questions just in terms of understanding how sustainability would feature in the management of the project. But um in kind of learning as I go here, I'm I'm learning that so we have the the manage the construction management contract and then we have an architectural and engineering contract. So um it sounds like some of the language that you might see related to to sustainability would feature in that contract. the second contract as opposed to this particular contract. Um, and that, you know, there's there isn't necessarily anything in this contract that precludes us from pursuing things like sustainable design features and what have you. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Any further discussion on
084your facility and finance? I also want to thank uh Miss Mrs. Matathi Smith uh for all her work, your excellent report just now, by the way. That was a great summary, but I really want to thank you personally on behalf of the board for all your uh time and effort you put with uh the the selection board. Uh that was I know how busy you are and for you to make time. There was a number of meetings. I mean a lot of meetings which I appreciate you doing. Uh and it was really helpful to have you there uh to report back to the board. So thank you for that. Uh I really appreciate that. Also, I want to thank the entire selection committee. That's Dr. Johnston, Miss Mosley, and Maloney. And am I missing something?
085And Mr. Benzy, of course. I'm sorry, Andy, if you're watching. I apologize. But yeah, thank all of you for that. That that was a lot of work to to narrow that down and, uh, go through all of the RFP. So, thank you for that. Uh, if there's no further discussion, which I don't see any, Miss Mosley, would you please take roll? >> Mrs. Delire, >> hi. >> Mrs. Hbert, hi. >> Mr. Miller, >> hi. >> Mrs. Watman, >> hi. Miss Woodet. >> Hi. >> Williams. >> I picely Smith. >> Hi. >> Mr. Henry. >> Hi. >> Motion passes 8 to zero. >> All right. Thank you. Now moving on to other. We have one item for approval under other which is the PSBA election for 2025 uh as listed and the uh candidates are listed
086as well. Uh do I have a motion to approve uh the one item under other? >> So move. >> Mr. T. Thank you. >> Second. Second. >> Mrs. Hbert. Thank you. Do I have any discussion? Mrs. Walker, please. >> I just want to note um that the candidate for E4 sectional advisor is local to us. Um she participates in the Delaware County legislative whatever whatever. Um she she is amazing. She is so engaged um and student centered. So we're really happy to see her and on this list >> and >> y please fantas please go ahead. I just wanted to say that the role of PSBA, PSBA in addition to supporting the board is also our leazison to our legislative representatives and PSBA in their larger role really works very hard to support schools to
087work with our uh senators and representatives to bring the best budget to they're working really hard on getting what we need for schools and to make sure that schools it working hard and getting more, you know, focusing on facilities, focusing on what kids need. So, the slate today is for people who are going to help us uh support us as a board and to work as our uh leg legislative representatives. >> Thank you for that. Any other discussion? Okay, seeing none, would you please take a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Deer, >> I. >> Mrs. Hbert, >> I >> Mr. Miller, >> hi. >> Mrs. Watman, >> hi. Miss Witet. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Williams. >> Hi. >> Missky Smith. >> Hi. >> Mr. Henry. >> Hi. >> Motion to pass with 8 to zero.
088>> Thank you. Moving on to uh audience recognition for response to topics not on the agenda. Uh everything I said earlier still applies. Uh three minute limit. When you go up, please say your name and street of your home address. Is there anyone who have comments uh for items not on the agenda? Okay. Being none, do we have any old business? Any new business? This meeting is a journ. Thanks everybody.