001good evening I now call to order the April 24 2023 meeting of the Wallingford Swarthmore Board of school directors as you're willing and able please rise and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance I 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 all right in opening uh missile ice would you please take the uh roll call this evening Mrs dolay here Dr Grande here Mr Henry yep Mrs Holbert here Mr Kutis yes this iskowski Smith here and Mrs Walkman here we have nine voting members here tonight thank you uh next up uh Mr darson with our student Representatives report just like that we've reached the point of the Year where there's a
002countdown on all the whiteboards seniors only have 29 school days until graduation before we can all let senioritis take over though we have to power through a few more weeks of AP exams the exams have been looming over everyone all month but we've had plenty of distractions after coming back from spring break we kick-started the final stretch with Haven heartthrob it was a fundraiser for minithon a club that supports pediatric cancer there were Muppets songs skits but seniors Colin McLaughlin ultimately danced his way into our hearts and was clowned the 2021 to the 2022 to 2023 Haven heartthrob speaking of sick dance moves Junior Prom was on Saturday though it was a rainy evening students still had a blast on May 12th the student council is hosting a Spring Fling a fun festival with a
003dunk tank food activities Live musical performances and more Market calendars and join us from four to six at the orthodontist lot on a more serious note there was a mock crash last week for the juniors and very talented seniors helped demonstrate the importance of safe driving there were also speakers that told their stories and it definitely left an impact on the students who watched over at the middle school students have taken out their number two pencils for the pssas the 8th graders are probably really excited to be taking it for the last time but I don't think they realize that standardized testing is never ending I speak from personal experience the middle schoolers are getting ready for their upcoming concerts in may be sure to check the district website for more information to hear these
004talented musicians speaking of talent the Middle School of speech and debate team hosted at night dedicated to all that they have learned over the past year last week there were hilarious performances and then they all taught the attendees some basics of speech and debate they put together most of the event and it turned out amazing over at West third fourth and fifth grade students put together different science projects and showcased them at the science fair the West students also had Jump Rope for Heart last week the students all enjoyed participating in all kinds of activities in the beautiful weather over at npe students experienced an awesome assembly that explored chemical reactions many of the elementary students also have to sit through pssas but they have Field Days in mayfairs to look forward to there's just
005a little more that we have to get through before the summer but we're almost there and we can almost just breathe thank you so much Mr darson and thank you um saw you at speech and debate night for middle school so thank you for um helping out not just that evening but for being a mentor to the middle school team um and for all your support we really appreciate it with that we'll turn uh Dr Marseille to you and your superintendent's report thank you uh Mr Walkman I you know I'm counting down the days too and it seems like there are different calendar dates um I counted like 44 days left and um I went to West this uh morning hung out with the West team and I saw the number 37 and then now
006uh surprise is like 29 so at the end of the day the theme is there's a countdown individuals are excited and I was told you're counting weekends and all the other days that we don't count so maybe that's why mine is uh is a little bit longer but I'm going to walk through some of my uh updates and um try to take them through a much quicker fashion because I want to acknowledge that we have heard we've listened the board has responded and that means that there was a conversation this community wanted to have with accessibility access right and part of that access was wanting to be in a position where they were better informed that would allow flexibility with some of the challenges of coming to committee meetings as such we are streaming our
007committees meeting so we encourage you to please sign on and as a result we'll change some tenor of how we run our meetings as we have them recorded for your uh Leisure um and may expedite some things through this legislative uh process when we have our our meetings so we have a couple of things um uh that I want to share with you but we know that we have a focused topic um I'm told that um we saved the best for last but I'm also told that Wes is the best so uh so this um this uh this evening I'm really excited that uh Dr Savage and his team are gonna be here talk about the wonderful things that have taken place throughout uh throughout the year but I want to quickly go through a
008number of items and I said earlier some of these items um some not all were discussed at committee meetings especially the ones who the ones that were um that were streamed that individuals can have access to that but want to bring attention to a couple of things that the board um will take action on not the totality but several others give you a little update about the Strategic plan um we've been working on a K-12 counseling plan chapter 339 that the board will take action on and then share a little bit with you about a recent article um that speaks to the challenges um everyone is facing uh in the state of Pennsylvania and one we need to stay ahead of and I think the board uh has made decisions um trying to be ahead
009of the curve versus being reactionary um in terms of their in terms of their leadership so we have a number of items around Personnel that we are going to discuss we talked uh in length at some of our meetings about the shifting Dynamics and the need to bring in an assistant business manager to better support the uh the office and uh someone who has um a different set of skills more Super valuable skills their ability to manage the whole entire office and understand the uh each of those facets we also um are director of Athletics and activities six through 12 where we want to bring Synergy to the middle and high school experience as we think differently about that and then really have the athletic director play a role in ensuring that those non-athletic activities
010and events really have Synergy and connection with that work so we have a candidate that we proposed uh to the board same with the business manager along with an assistant principle and we know that our very own Mr bugler has retired um as much as we love this next candidate coming there's no replacing Mr bugler Right for the work that he's done with his district um but we'll have time to uh to really celebrate and talk about his accomplishments at a later point so I wanted to share some of that we have some uh Staffing Services supports that you're going to take action on which is an opportunity for us to really make sure that um we don't fall into any larger gaps than we are with uh with Staffing we've talked uh significantly about
011our request for a proposal um at our last meeting and the vendors that we're moving forward we're moving forward with um strategic plan we've been having this conversation for a very long time I'm really excited that on April 18th we had the opportunity um to meet um and come together with our planning team there's over 50 plus individuals who are making their way through our five um our five pathways that we've identified as a as a district in the road that we need to take um to present to the board and to the public a um a 10-year vision for uh for impact part of that conversation requires a number of meetings and as you see here we have on the 25th a gap analysis with our team um that is tomorrow um what time
012Dr Conley four o'clock uh four four o'clock so um we're excited for our team uh to come back then we have a May 8th where we're going to do um our smarty objectives uh between May 8th and June 5th I think Dr Connolly's is ready to push out some additional dates for the community to kind of get an update on where on where we are with our um uh with our action planning so please stay tuned as we continue to do that work I said before in March though that at Affairs meeting was not televised in March um we did spend a consumable amount of time talking about the K-12 counseling plan we talked about uh its purpose of what it's intended to do the requirements from the uh the state um what exactly is
013part of that counseling uh plan um and the benefits of the plan so we're um excited to present that um to you for Action tonight and then the last thing I want to um at least um a major piece of this I'll show you some upcoming meetings but um we are we should be um well aware of the teacher crisis and the shortage um that is happening in a recent article in Philadelphia inquire um for those who had the opportunity to read it for those who have not I encourage you to please um look at that and in the 21-22 school year there was only just 4 200. um individuals who earned their state teaching certification that is down 75 compared to 2012 to 2013. so to say that there's not a crisis is really
014a missed opportunity to meet this challenge head on and though the article spoke uh around multiple School uh systems they identified some of the most neediest schools in terms of the numbers well Delaware County lost 252. though that may not be a lodge is a lot for us as you compared to um to our other Regional Partners who have seen steeper declines in that process so what happens to this is you have less candidates moving through that pipeline which means that it's extremely competitive and our core mission is to ensure that we bring the most qualified candidates um to um to our family and Welcome to our family which means that the competition for those individuals is much tighter and we have to stay ahead of the curve but it also speaks to the reason
015why this board approve the relationship in partnership with people bench and the work that they do we know that in order to address um the turnover The increased workload the stress the morale and some of those cultures what would it be like if we created amazing places to work and at the same time create amazing places to learn so as we think about this how do we create strategies that better support the staff who are here right incentivize why you should continue to be here and why we need to think more clearly about your value added to the uh to the organization and I think that when I saw that article I was really happy that the board had already been thinking about how do we create very different systems and how do we stay
016ahead of of that so our anticipated partnership is one of many ways in which we can stay ahead of that but make no mistake about it that we need to stay Cutting Edge we need to make sure that our employees are compensated as well as we can manage in terms of the obviously Financial challenges that is very unique to this uh um to this to this District but find other ways to talk about what does it mean to create a um a healthy uh Workforce that um that focuses on on well-being so I wanted to bring that to this community's attention um that we are committed to staying ahead of the curve we're committed to thinking about how do we better support our staff members uh and our colleagues here so that they stay here
017and they're healthy so that they can support our uh support our children uh in our students um the next couple of meetings I wanted uh to share um our educational Affairs meetings on the third uh we're going to have conversation about the calendar during the Strategic plan uh that will be televised as well we have facilities and finance meeting we're going to talk about the field analysis that was done I've received a rough draft um it's a lot of reading a lot of planning preliminarily I'll let you know that you haven't received that yet because I need to get some clarity from Ela on some of the things that they identified but we're going to present that um then we have a policy meeting where we have second reads on a number of of items
018anywhere from enrollment of students admission of students eligibility of non-student student wellness we're going to talk about attendance area assignments as well um the complaint process accept the use of Technology um and then we're gonna have a conversation about narcon do we have uh that's a second read right I believe second read yes uh and then the first read we have student surveys volunteers and then a new policy around Civility and how we conduct ourselves with each other so I'm excited about those please tune in um in terms of accessibility now you can be in the comfort of your home and you watch all of our committee meetings so that those families who shared with us the conflicts they have in their schedule and that they want to stay abreast of what's happening this is
019a great opportunity uh for hat to have us not necessarily at the kitchen table but maybe in the background somewhere if you're able to you can have that playing uh if you can't pay um intentional um attention to it or deliberate uh attention to it then a couple of other uh District uh dates that we want to bring your attention to so with that concludes my superintendence report excuse me Dr Marseille real quickly the the policy meeting that's covering those that you just referenced is Wednesday um as in two days from now uh is that correct right right that's not on it the policy meeting is the 20th 26th so that they didn't think about my quality no that may be true for May but just just just for for clarity's sake yes yes so
020the next policy meeting is Wednesday and that is the meeting where I made reference to the second reads and the first reads that's what we're going to talk about thank you Mrs doley for that uh for that correction all right all yours is walking we have uh Dr Savage and our Focus topic or Wes anything any any comments no I already said it I was told um to keep saying that Wes is the best because that's the motto hungry humble smart is what I am uh is what I'm hearing that's right [Laughter] oh no you didn't say they're in charge over there I have no idea what you were talking about um my name is Dr Gabe Savage I'm the proud principal of Wallingford Elementary School and at Wes we're a family school and we
021create a peaceful learning environment where all are safe respectful and responsible you talked about the teacher shortage um and we're a little old-fashioned at West we believe that relationships still matter and that if you take the time to get to know people value people and take care of them they'll enjoy staying and working together now this year at West our family school we see ourselves as courageous learners good citizens authors mathematicians artists musicians writers scientists and so much more so this year we focused on providing experiences for students and staff to see themselves and their strengths as well as show courage in their areas of growth the power of yet you know there are so many things you want to know so many ways you want to grow there are so many things you want
022to be so many Milestones you want to see you will get there if you never forget the superpower of the word yet when you first tried to talk you were hard to understand when you first tried to eat you needed a hand when you first tried to walk you fell and fell when you first tried to run it didn't go well but your baby self knew something we often forget the superpower of the word yet somehow you knew that if you kept trying your chances of success would keep multiplying the same is true with every risk that you take you just have to learn from every mistake where you put your effort the goal will be met as long as you remember the superpower of yet and this is outside of our fourth grade classroom
023in our second floor hallway so students are encouraged as they goes into go into a year of some pretty rigorous reading and text dependent analysis that they are at some point going to figure it out that they will get there so how do we start this year for teachers so that they could see themselves um this kind of stuff I geek out on I really enjoy learning strengths this is a working genius kind of test that I gave to all the teachers and it basically works like this the Wonder and invention uh spaces are the people who have like the 30 000 foot view they ask questions important questions questions that move people to say hey we need to solve that I just don't know how that's where the inventor comes in a person who
024has a genius of invention is able to come up with ideas and figure things out and then you start moving into the discernment and galvanizing discernment says that's a good idea I think that's going to work they have an instinct that allows them to say this couldn't move forward and then the galvanizer Every Time I Think of galvanizer if you've ever met Mrs Garr galvanizer someone who says can you tell me who that is again uh Mrs Mrs gar anytime she said get over here do this let's go all right that's the galvanizer and then there's enablement which is more likely you could call it helper someone who comes alongside and then you have a tenacity tenacity think of the person who loves the right to to-do list and cross everything out who loves check
025boxes and doing those types of things so these are the six areas of working genius we worked through it it was a method put together by Patrick luncioni and you have what you would call a working genius strand then you have working competencies and then you have parts of these that you really don't like doing so what we did is we worked through with our teachers and we found our areas of working genes and we talked about working competency and this actually really helped to frame the year and the perspective of teachers to see themselves as lead Learners as opposed to uh just a person who's going to deliver information so they can begin to say where's my genius and then it quickly turned into what's our students genius and then what are their areas
026of of Competency that we can help them grow in so that they can move forward and because I just think this is fascinating so I went through and I just did a look of okay all of my teachers do you have two genius areas which area do they come up the most in and the majority of my staff it was kind of this enablement or helper and tenacity they are people who love to help and love to get things done which makes perfect sense because over on the left that's the 30 000 foot View and then it moves into the people who say yep we need to do this let's go but I have a building full of doers a building full of people who are tenacious about getting things done you might be interested
027to know that I came up on the left side of this I was Wonder asking big picture questions in discernment saying hey I think that's a good idea and that might work and I think that's why we balance so well I come from the left side they are the get it done people so we kind of fit um very well so this is how we started the year as a staff looking at the picture of what makes us us even individually as a grade level team but then as a building to take a picture of what makes West what West is now I'm going to turn it over to Miss Ryan one of our leaders in the building and she's going to share with you how we started the year for our students after that
028perspective good evening I'm Sarah Ryan I teach art over at West I'm also the school-wide theme coordinator so this year our theme was be courageous um this kind of links back to that yet poem that we just looked at we want the kids to be courageous in every aspect not just in school outside of school and a lot of the kids when we first brought it up thought of you know like I was courageous when I jumped off the diving board for the first time last summer which is great because it is but we wanted to teach them a little bit more about the different ways you can be courageous so we've started off the year with these do the right thing even if others aren't that can be a lot harder uh than they
029think it is be willing to try new things even if you might fail the truth regardless of the consequences face your fears and the last one is the most important at least to me it's okay to make mistakes um I think in this culture of technology and this instant gratification that a lot of our Learners are kind of getting used to um you know you have autocorrect on your phone that automatically spells a word for you they're not as used to making mistakes and rebounding from them as easily so I think across our building it's been one of the big things we've been talking a lot about was have courage to try try again and it's okay to fail those are you know ways we learn foreign so this ties into kind of a district
030thing that the teachers have been working a lot on this year during our in-services uh creating a culture of belonging and this quote just stood out to me I thought it was a really nice tie those who have a strong sense of love and belonging have the courage to be imperfect so if you feel a part of you know that family that we talk about at Wes if you feel welcome if you feel like you belong and you see yourself in that building then you're going to be more willing to try and fail and try again and be okay with it um so recently I led the staff during an in-service day and um in an art activity which we haven't really done before and they were all like I'm the worst artist ever but
031that's okay again have courage and um this all ties into our Artisan residence program at West which I know I've come here before and talked about this year I'm beyond excited because we are partnering with a local artist from Philadelphia those of you who flew through the Philadelphia Airport maybe over spring break you may have seen a huge installation of her artwork she is a mixed media artist known for art that promotes belonging emphasizes our shared humanity and creates inclusion within a community with these hearts that are all over the city some of you may have seen them um and they all have messages of encouragement and hope and positivity and love and just awesome things so I thought this was the perfect tie-in to all of the things that we've been talking about tonight
032so um this is actually the installation from the airport right now it's really incredible and actually one of our PTO presidents emailed me from the airport on spring break saying I just made my whole family stop and I took a picture of all of them in front of this window because she was just so excited about it um so here's some of the hearts our staff made during the in-service day with some of these messages your important be you you matter to me was the one Dr Savage made which is now hanging outside his office together we can and you matter so these hearts are temporarily up in our building this artist is going to be coming back and working with our students in the fall to create some of these permanent art installations in
033our buildings so that as students are moving through the building during the day they see these reminders of belonging they belong here they matter to us we care about them and that we value all of their differences strengths weaknesses all of these things so um that's what we have to look forward to at West yeah coming up yeah thank you so continuing on with our theme at West we're good citizens and I wanted to highlight two of our outstanding citizens um all the way over to my right there you have Mr Brett eisenmann who is a fifth grader at Wallingford Elementary School and the reason why I chose to highlight these two is because these are two of the three winners in Delaware County for the making a difference award this year and in order
034to be nominated for the making a difference award um Brett had to show that he had overcome challenges to be successful within an inclusive setting and some of the language that the teachers who nominated him used was bread has made a difference by demonstrating the courage to break through his break through his own learning challenges and become a model student for greater inclusion in our school community over his Elementary years Brett has grown from feeling comfortable only with one classroom teacher and some familiar staff to now independently seeking out new peers while a greeting or a quick back and forth conversation with a peer were previously out of Brett's comfortability Brett has now developed his own sense of confidence with his peers across School settings We Now call Brett the mayor of Wallingford Elementary School
035and over here we have Miss Julian Potts and she was nominated because her students always come first she checks in with every student during morning routine to be sure they're ready for the day she finds audio books for kids with dyslexia so that they can participate in book club she has introduced students to various apps so they can share their thinking and written responses she helps kids find friends so they can participate in the social aspects of school she notices when something's a little bit off remember when I talked about tenacious helpers this is an example of a tenacious helper at Wallingford Elementary and she regularly makes sure that there's a safe place for these students to come to even if it comes down to having a couple extra snacks in her classroom for the
036students so I just wanted to highlight them because not only because I think they're amazing but because their colleagues and the students inside the building think they're amazing and they think they represent who we are and and I agree this is is a picture of Brett our fifth graders do a rope course at the beginning of of each year as a team building exercise ready and then you say climbing climb away Brad we got you buddy so he's doing the obstacle all of the different students are there as spotters to make sure that he doesn't fall he's showing confidence um Brett doesn't have the greatest language he's grown so much but he's confidently getting up there doing it not afraid it's just really awesome to see from The Young Brett who came to Wallingford Elementary
037to the Brett that we get to give to Strathaven Middle School um next year we have many good citizens at West we've participated in um Mom sales to support the local community over here we've had uh students working with our uh grounds and greens committee I believe that's Miss bursting back there where they planted uh vegetables and things in the garden outside of the library area and then also uh third grade tradition we were able to do our Veterans Day assembly um kind of as we did pre-covered where they got to bring in a veteran that they were very proud of and they stood and we honored them we played um the theme song for each one and good and we're acknowledge The Pride from the veterans and to see the pride from the students
038to give you goosebumps every single year so we think it's important to teach our students [Music] our veterans but they're really the value of their family with their family and when they come to Wallingford Elementary they're our family and that's why it's important for us to acknowledge that neither just a few the veterans who came the places packed every single year it's outstanding and I really do think our third grade team for putting this together every single year [Music] we've also talked about being good Global Citizens the before picture that you see is in Pakistan and what we did is we fundraised chains of love and we were able to send over a thousand dollars over the Pakistan and they actually sent us very specific things that they did with the money so we were
039able to show the staff in the community I think I put it in my e-blast as well um where exactly their that money went to so at West we we not only want to understand that we are a family and we have individual gifts and talents but we also have something valuable to offer the rest of the world whether it be financially whether it be our thoughts whether it be our concern to understand and try to help so this is one of the things we try to highlight as well celebrating culture and diversity um we celebrated Diwali we celebrated our Down syndrome awareness you see the socks there with Mrs Garr I don't know if Mr fantozzi planned to do that but Mrs gar is the galvanizer so she told him to and then over
040here we have a Rangoli and that is the color for uh picture art that goes on the floor typically at the threshold um during Diwali and that was actually done by one of our instructional assistants Mrs bonaskevich who is does not celebrate uh Diwali but she is very very good at doing these this is a picture of our Martin Luther King assembly [Music] [Applause] [Music] singing songs [Music] like [Music] we also encourage our students to see themselves as authors and this year we can't do this without the help of our PTO we are able to welcome Lincoln Pierce on the left there who is the author of The Big Nate books we were also able to welcome Jonathan stuntzman who is the author of tiny T-Rex so we were able to have something for our
041second through fifth graders and then RK to uh second graders over here and what we wanted to do is you know you showed a Martin Luther King thing when I was a kid you know my father took me to Martin Luther King things and they would stand up there and say now the Reverend Dr so and so and something went into my head that can I be a doctor one day can I do that I saw myself and when we talk about Wallingford Elementary School and our theme this year we want the kids to be able to see and just get that flicker that says I think that's me I think I can I think I can do that and and and that's a picture of what we've been doing with our our first graders
042in their writing unit so they get to see Jonathan stuntsman and they get to see the tiny T-Rex and then they go and they work on writing their own stories and guess what you're not just a writer you're an author right and I love how he said if you're looking for an idea then go to the things that you love go to the things that you know a lot about that you're passionate about very low but this is one of our first grade students who just like the authors during the altar vids as they get there under the document camera and they read their story and they share the pictures with the rest of the class and this is what um our our whole first grade does and I just think it's exceptional for them
043to see the practical application of the things that they are doing it's more than just learning how to write it's getting ideas from things that you love and possibly seeing yourself in the future are kindergarten students also celebrated natural uh National poetry month they started with a poem from Langston Hughes and this is highlighting the power of visual visualization for students and this is where you can begin to grow that what that where by picturing it inside of your head and then it also helps to build comprehension so that's the pedagogy behind it if I can begin to see the picture then I can go to the picture to pick out the pieces to help me understand what I'm seeing and then once you get those kind of lower levels of comprehension then you can
044begin to put in your inference inferencing and understanding the why behind what's going on so this was a kindergarten picture here and then we celebrated our scientists recently at our science fair this was in Dr marseille's update um we this is only our second year and it it looked like it almost doubled um when we were there it was really very well attended this year um this is a picture of some of our student scientists uh who were able to participate they did this on their own outside of school following the uh scientific method and we just wanted them to explore I love seeing the students outside of the context of what we typically would to see them start moving and things that they're passionate about things that they're interested in we also had math
045night math night was a chance for students to go into experience math on a K-5 level we also had middle school students come down and participate and run stations so we're not only building the West Community right there but we're bringing back those alumni to also share their gifts and talents and abilities as well we also have musicians so one of the things that Miss Haley does is she teaches ukulele in fourth and fifth grade she actually has demonstrated and taught this as far as a pmea as well doing sessions for music teachers across the state but what she does is she takes uh fourth and fifth graders and they then go what she calls a play date and they play and they teach songs and they sing with younger students to help expose them
046and then the younger students are able to look forward to hey when I'm in fourth and fifth grade I'm going to be able to do this I think one of the best parts is seeing the kids who may be on that genius church have a little bit of that that helper in them who maybe have a little bit of that tenacity in them maybe they see themselves like hey I like this maybe this is an interest for Me Maybe I have a gift a talent or ability in this and this is just a beautiful bulletin board it says look how we've grown and if you could see the stems it'll talk about how they work through uh you know phonemic awareness are there sight words or learning number bonds and things like that it's celebrating
047the power of yet it's celebrating the process of what's going on and I wanted to end with this component you know this is from our PTO they went out and they asked you know people in the community their students to to draw hands to put little messages for the teachers but I have to say almost 60 percent of the slides that I showed could not happen without our PTO you think about the science night the math night the author visits the grounds and greens the mum cell the chains for Love The Artisan residence it's because we work together as a community at West that we are able to provide these opportunities for our students which is why I say and my staff is probably tired of hearing it at West of family school we create
048a peaceful learning environment where all are safe respectful and responsible and with that I thank you for your time and I'll answer any questions that you may have thank you so much Dr Savage that's so inspirational um and I would be remiss I know I caught you off to the side there but uh you know my being a West family or myself and uh and my students um I was reminded by my now sixth grader uh to please say hello and how much she wished she was here tonight so she has a tendency of rocking when she's here uh but she said because of what what she what she learned um she's doing really great in sixth grade so please um we really thank you and thank you for all the wonderful work you guys
049do at Wesley thank you any other questions or comments for Dr Savage no great job um I'm I'm Green from ear to here with all the activities and I think it speaks to um the evidence you provide when you stand firm on being a family school and those experiences um and having students see themselves as is extremely powerful so thank you to you and your staff and the BTO for all the wonderful things you guys uh continue to do thank you thank you and good job Abby and Josie who are in the back of the room and you and you didn't even know hey Abby Josie all right thank you thank you all right uh that takes us then to board announcements and um I'd like to report that the board did meet uh this
050evening in executive session uh to discuss uh Personnel items that brings us then to audience recognition for response to items that are on the agenda for this evening's uh for action on this evening's agenda uh so this is a time where we give an opportunity for public comment for items on the agenda we'll have a time later in the agenda for topics that are not on the agenda as a voting matter this evening um it's a time for district residents and taxpayers to speak to the board about an issue that is before the board or may come before the board and it's an opportunity for us to listen and hear perspectives and experiences from our community and while we might not be able to answer a question at the meeting there's always an opportunity for
051follow-up afterward if there's a specific question um with that I don't there's there's a few of us in the uh in the audience is there anyone who would like to um bring speak to the board this evening okay seeing done then uh we will move forward uh that takes us to the minutes uh we have the minutes of the March 27 2023 regular board meeting uh do I have a motion for approval I so uh that that was um Miss WhatsApp and uh first and Miss wikowski Smith for a second uh do I have uh any questions or comments about the minutes and it's the last way to then take a little couple please after Grande Mr Henry hi Mrs Holbert aye Mr kudas hi Mrs dolay aye Mrs vote aye Ms Whitsett um Miss
052wikowski Smith aye and Mrs Wolfman aye the minutes past nine to zero thank you all right next up we have committee reports and so as uh Dr Mercy mentioned and his superintendent's report uh the board is now streaming our uh committee meetings and so they are available live and also then uh hosted on the on the district's YouTube uh Channel I think they call them so they're they're out there they're available um since we began doing that we've had our first meeting of the educational Affairs committee where we were recording a meeting um as well as facilities and finance and so as Dr Marseille said um with that information being available now to the public uh for for review uh we'll be making some minor adjustments I think in how we conduct our meetings and
053um where we spend the time in the meetings so committee reports moving forward uh we will not generally provide the kind of update here that we have been doing on committee reports there are out of District roles that we play so we'll continue to provide those updates for this evening because we're still reminding the public that the meetings are being recorded and are available I've asked the committee chairs for educational Affairs and for facilities and finance to just give a very brief update uh and and again the material from those most recent meetings is available on YouTube and then for our other committee chairs if you could give more of our regular update that we've been doing more recently uh so with that I'm first is educational Affairs I'm forgetting which direction I'm moving I'm
054looking at Miss wikowski Smith if you could please provide an update hi and our uh uh there were two main agenda topics at our April educational Affairs you've already seen the summary of the Strategic plan the details can be found on our website they're easily accessible so if you have you know any information please reach any questions or you have concerns just reach out to us um the second piece that we covered in our education Affairs committee was uh learning Journeys and I just want to say a special thank you to Sugar Brian neuber Michaela Del sordo and Heather Burns because they participated in those Journeys they came they shared their ideas and how they were already implementing their programs in their classroom and what they were planning to do to share their to their
055school so we're we were very pleased to hear from them um the next educational Affairs committee meeting will be at 7 pm and as you saw in in the middle school thank you thank you mrkowski Smith uh next we have facilities and finance Dr Grande I think we had a very long uh three-hour meeting available for folks to watch but you can provide and we'll make this substantially shorter than that uh so yes that meeting was last Wednesday I'm blanking on the date um but the facilities portion of the meeting uh much of the discussion was focused on the space utilization study uh that's been happening in our elementary schools as the district tries to deal with some of the space constraints that we're facing uh at the elementary level um that was a first
056uh in a series of conversations that I anticipate will be having about what our actual plans will be around addressing creating more space we also um discuss what Dr marce already mentioned the custodial Services RFP which is on the agenda tonight and then on finance we just had an update on the current year budget and also the results of the Food Services RFP which is on the agenda tonight thank you thank you Dr Grande uh policy Mrs Holberg foreign so we we haven't met yet due to the vagaries of scheduling so uh we are meeting in two days uh we'll be as um Dr marcase I will be considering nine policies for a second reading and three policies per first reading and the meeting takes place in room b226 of the middle school hope to
057see you there thank you uh Wellness did uh Wellness meet uh not not yet okay we'll move on then to uh Pennsylvania School Board Association of Mrs wikowski's yes and uh Pennsylvania uh School Board Association in April provided us the opportunity for an advocacy day uh Miss Holbert and myself uh attended the the day virtually with our our local senators and representatives in Harrisburg and uh our main topic was discussing school funding so you know we're looking at Governor Shapiro's budget and uh one of the discussion points was how conservative it is in the school budget portion and that uh the reason for that is that he is hoping to get his budget passed on time as opposed to the last Administration uh but what we did learn is that in the 80s 50 percent
058of school funding came from Pennsylvania so that was part of you know how we were funded um today the Wallingford Swarthmore School District shoulders 80 percent of school funding the rest is coming from the state and federal combined so the burden on our taxpayers has substantially increased since that time in Governor Shapiro's budget proposal it appears that any increases in the school budget will mostly affect the 100 poorest districts in the state and I think that that leaves us in the in this precarious position of most of our taxes are on the backs of as you see 80 percent on the backs of our our constituents of our taxpayers and we have to think of ways to help with that burden some of the requests by school districts where similar positions were to relieve some
059of the costly burdens placed on school districts so those are the ideas that came forth requests were made of our legislators to limit busing costs and that maybe we don't look at busing students out of state um maybe we use uh you know we don't cross state lines with our public school students um providing relief for unfunded special education mandates and maybe take a look at some of those mandates and find out what's important and what is really not supporting the students um and to review the sabbatical relief policy it's becoming uh more difficult for districts to actually be able to fill those positions when teachers are taking sabbaticals at this time a request was also made to have the Pennsylvania Department of Education provide school districts with good data on health policy mental health
060Safety and Security procedures that is being used across the street across the state to provide that data will help schools do a better job of doing the right things and not doing unnecessary things so psba is uh proceeding with those requests and psba is strongly advocating that payments to Charter Schools and especially Cyber Charter Schools be reduced to save funds for regular Public Schools so that's that was the information from our meeting and Rachel I don't know Miss Holbert if you had anything to add to that um I just you might you probably know this a little bit better but to clarify the transportation issue it's the this the school districts on the edge of any other state for us that would be Delaware um chartered they can actually um you know receive funding to
061bust the students across the state to Delaware to a charter school and to private schools is that correct that's correct so I just wanted to clarify that for people that we are busing currently students into uh Delaware uh for their education there's like three or four schools that we send our school our students to and that takes a that takes a whole bus driver that takes you know you've got three or four kids and going a long distance it's a very big expense to school districts thank you just note that a few of us attended an event over the weekend where we had the opportunity to see some of our local legislators and had a minute to talk to Senator Tim Carney who I understand was part of that same conversation uh and uh he
062he had our top concerns like right at the the top of mind when we were speaking with him he spoke specifically to me about um and to Rachel I believe too about funding for mental health services and the supports that are needed There He also mentioned plan con funding as well and being back for those plan con funding was a funding stream in the past to um to support construction type projects so he spoke of it as well um and a number of other things but that conversation was was very much on his mind when we met so thank you both for for being part of that thank you that takes us then to uh Delaware County Community College Miss Woodson April 18th the era of the zoom meeting and there was two presentations one
063was on five strings uh School District liaison update and the other was the budget update the the budget update has the budget balancing at 90 million dollars and they had um you can go on their web page to look at it um because it breaks down like the one percent increase basically there's going to be a one percent increase in tuition because um the sponsoring school districts are are not the enrollment isn't High so um there have to make some moves that way and they have um the Delaware County which is for our board tonight to vote on the resolution which resolves at the budget of Delaware County Community College for the fiscal year of July 1 2023 through July 30th 2024 in the form and amounts presented at the meeting totally ninety thousand 42
064rounded off dollars hereby being adopted by our school district as part of the being part of a sponsoring district and then the um on April 3rd the board um did the final budget and the enrollment and and totaled it up for to add to the approval of tonight's um meeting um to support the budget and they have an announcement that there is a new board president Dr Marta Yara Cronin who um starts I think in June and there the trustees um along with joy Gates black who is the president now quarterly cordially invites you to attend a groundbreaking ceremony at the new Southeast Campus which is um where on Lansdowne Avenue and Drexel Hill where the old Bonner school was they've converted that into a DCC campus and it features more culinary um classes and
065uh EMT and the preschool and it's a state-of-the-art building and that's it there's a lot going on there I actually drove past the the new facility recently it's beautiful it's really really nice yeah very very if you want to go out to um you can RSVP through dcc.edu backslash groundbreaking um to let them know that you're interested in coming great thank you Miss Switzer uh Mr Kutis anything from the Delaware County Intermediate Unit um dciu is currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of the healthcare trust fund um they're also hosting a breakfast with your legislators on Friday May 19th um there is currently an RFP out for phase one contract of a three-phase renovation new construction of a Folcroft campus basically the permit process is just about completed too um on April 5th the dciu unanimously
066approved an agreement with Wallingford Swarthmore to provide Staffing assistance with business office operations and I was happy to be part of that thank you Mr cute um for those who may not know that Delaware County um that the trust the healthcare trust fund I mean um is a essentially a purchasing collaborative uh through which the Delaware County Intermediate Unit helps to coordinate and facilitate that but it enables group purchasing of lots and lots of different services and supports many many districts participate in it as well as some local municipalities also uh participate um this one dciu does that for multiple different things but the healthcare trust is specifically for health care benefits and it it enables a school district like us to be much more competitive in terms of rates when we go out to
067negotiate benefit offerings for our staff and it's been it's been quite successful today uh let's see that then takes us to Personnel we have 12 items this evening in Personnel for Action are there any items in the section that anyone would like to separate from the rest right seeing none I'll walk through them uh first we have a new new position the creation of the director of Athletics and activities uh position uh catered or sorry sixth grade six to twelve we have resignations and retirements as stipulated uh we have appointments are stipulated um linnell Mosley director of Athletics and activities six to twelve Kimberly stock assistant principal streatham middle school and I'm do you want did Joanna I'm sorry I'm looking at the dewana Mosley assistant and now I'm looking at Lino it doesn't help
068that you both have the same last name this evening Joanna mostly assistant business administrator um we um as well as non-certified staff have stipulating the agenda we have leaves of absence as stipulated changes of assignment um as stipulated direct payments um as stipulated uh we have 2022 2023 conference requests as uh stipulated and attached we have 2022 2023 winter athletic supplementals postseason also attached we have approval the curriculum math vertical team as attached we have the approval of people share temporary staffing agreement as attached Robert Half Staffing temporary staffing agreement as attached and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit temporary staffing services agreement also is attached do I have a motion for approval uh thank you Mr vote do I have a second second thank you Miss Holbert uh any questions or comments we're looking back
069because I think just for a moment not in this section okay um Miss uh Miss Alaska if you will then please take the work of it Mr Henry all right Mrs Holbert aye Mr putas aye Mrs delay aye Mrs vote um Miss Whitsett hi Miss wikowski Smith aye Dr Grande aye and Mrs Watson hi personal items pass nine to zero so I wanted to um thank you uh the board uh for um the recent passing of those of those motions um uh Tawana Mosley um who we're looking forward to joining us as our assistant business manager uh was unable to to be with us uh tonight but we welcome uh her support and her experience and helping uh take shape of uh some of the gaps um with regards to Personnel in the business department
070but we do have two um of our candidates that you voted on who who are here and um I'd like to have each of them say a few words of of of welcome but we are excited to have both of them uh here we have our um Lanell Mosley um I know we're gonna have to do like DM and LM uh in terms of uh in terms of our process we're really excited for Hurricane Nancy her energy um the committee really loved what she brings to the table um you know when you have a a Community member um who has children in the district a child who just uh graduated last year uh part of the cheerleading team has Athletics has been um in uh in her blood and her family's blood for a very
071long time um it's it's really good to have her uh hear and her experience um 17 plus years as a um as a Collegiate and high school high school basketball coach currently at Penn State um assisting that program so um when we thought about um what does it mean to be a team player passion around Athletics passion of our community great energy great work ethic um the work she's doing at Penn State Brandywine as well um and we're excited to to have her work through some of the opportunities that we have with our 6-12 program so Ms Mosley if you can go to the microphone and say a few words shorter good evening um I want to thank Dr Marseille for this opportunity the committee of teachers and administration administrators who interviewed me and the
072board for their approval Athletics has been a part of my life since I can remember I've been on both sides as an athlete and as a coach Athletics has opened so many doors has put me in front of you guys today I look forward I'm looking forward to this new role as a director of Athletics and activities and are working with our students to enhance their experience with the Athletics and activities Department I'm also looking forward to working with our coaches and activities Personnel to strengthen our our program and our our department with Athletics and activities I look forward to building on to our strong Foundation of Excellence that we have here at Wallingford and improving our programs and working towards exciting new experiences there's so much work that is is ahead of us and
073I look forward to working with everyone thank you thank you very much it's great to have someone from our own community and a parent of a recent graduate and a current young student so that's wonderful thank you all right and next next um I I wanted to have um Miss stock um who is um slated to support the Middle School uh as our next um assistant principal and when we were looking for uh for candidates and um had candidates who have been in the field and um her her passion her commitment to diversity equity and inclusion her work ethic her focus on data decision making um and as a classroom teacher supporter and a leader of instructional of all things curriculum and instruction we're really excited um that throughout the interview process um she moved
074through Head Shoulders over um the other candidates so we're really excited to have her here and in stock if you can um say a few words yeah Kevin sure greetings and good evening board president Walkman vice president Henry esteem board members superintendent Marseille and Wallingford swath of our community my name is Kimberly histock but you can actually just call me Kim I wanted to I am thrilled to be confirmed as Strath Haven's newest assistant principal I just want to I'm thrilled to get started in July um I I have to say that throughout this interview process I've really taken a lot of time to get to know your community and get to know the school to get to know this middle school and I have just been so impressed students are students I always say
075that teachers can be teachers everywhere administrators or administrators but there's something really special about this community it's the hearts it's your commitments that you're making to lifting up every single student that every student can be treated as an individual with a lens of diversity equity and inclusion and I know that that can be difficult and I know that that can sometimes you can face criticism and sometimes you can face hardships while doing that but still the right thing to do I'm so thrilled to get started at the middle school and I'm so excited to work hard for every single one of you thank you so much thank you Dr Mercy would you want to say uh just a couple words about um Joanna mostly I know that she had a commitment um but she was
076unable uh she she had a commitment that she had to keep for this evening but would otherwise be here but I think it would be great um if you could share and put you on the spot to share a little bit no no no background no no I I can absolutely um so um we're really excited to have as we are thinking about the redesign of the business department and some of the things we've heard from our our partners who've been helping us through that and part of that is um the need to um bring someone with a a skill set that allows him to fully understand all aspects of the business department that allows the appropriate delegation of of uh of Duties uh to from the business manager to an assistant who's able to
077um hit the ground running with those without being our mentalized in terms of having one specific Duty as accounts payable or accounts Clerk or accounting supervisor but understand the whole totality of that and also play a supervisor role as that was important because I was one of the things that we heard loud and clear from our partners that we needed that someone who can provide professional development and training uh someone if the business manager passed off a task um they're fully understanding to be able to complete that task um so um uh Miss um dewana Mosley I want to say Miss Moses with Joanna Mosley um is coming from uh the Chester Upland School District for the last two years she's been uh their business manager and quickly moved through and play multiple roles before
078that I want to tell you that she works hand in hand um with the Department of Education so everyone knows uh dewana Mosley at pde um the individuals we spoke to uh who um support her uh said nothing but great things about her work ethic her commitment to uh to students and not afraid to push back in terms of we don't have it right and afraid to do and not afraid to say that to those individuals so we're really excited that she's willing to come to our district in this new role uh uh and learn more about us and what you can do for uh for our department so unfortunately she had a previous uh engagement that if she could break she said she could be here but um she's presenting financial information to her
079community um so she was unable to make it tonight but we are excited that um she will be um part of the uh part of the family thank you all right that then takes us to item where where did I just um I went backwards sorry I am not wearing my glasses tonight because I could not locate them for seeing is not not going so well I'd offer you I offer you mine but these can't help you yeah trust me you don't want these this is a rough night um all right abdulum any um anyone want to separate one from you see nut um first we have the memorandum of understanding with the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit uh this is for the Imagine Learning former engineer Ingenuity um in support of Summer credit recovery and
080then our second item is the summer school credit recovery program uh and I'll just mention it to understand the distinction distinction the administration is recommending that the board approve the posting of four positions to provide in-person instruction and support to identified students participating in the summer recovery opportunity uh do I have a motion for approval thank you Mr Henry second second thank you Miss uh wikowski Smith any questions or comments I will I would like to just comment that um the recommendation I think the recommendation to have uh the in-person support opportunity for credit recovery is phenomenally important and I'm really really excited to see this uh you know for a student that is in a position of needing to pursue Credit Recovery um doing that in self-paced way online can be exceptionally difficult and
081uh so I'm highly supportive and really pleased to see this on the agenda for action any other uh comments or questions or seeing none um it's the last time you please take the world clock Mrs Hobart aye Mr Curtis aye Mrs dolay aye Ms Whitsett hi Miss wikowski Smith aye Dr Grande aye Mr Henry all right and Mrs Wolfman aye curriculum items passes nine to zero right next up in student services we have three items for Action any one that anyone would like to separate from the rest right if not uh first we have Educational Services agreements with three students as attached we have the approval of home bound instruction also for three students and we have the approval of the K-12 counseling plan chapter 339 approval uh do I have a motion for approval
082some uh Miss Holberg and second second thank you Miss wikowski Smith uh questions or comments on any of these items Mr Lee I do um yeah you know with regards to the counseling plan so I just wanted to I mean there's a lot that we need in the district for sure um but we need counseling staff uh you know you get into the weeds of you know what does the American School Counselors Association recommend in terms of counselors in terms of ratio and um you know and by the way I couldn't find any information that was updated post pandemic so I can only imagine those needs are obviously I don't have to imagine I know that they're far greater um and you know you get more into the weeds and it's this you know at
083least 80 percent um more or less the recommendation is 80 of um counselors time should be in direct service of students and so when you look through our plan you know you can kind of see even in buildings where we're approximating that um sort of ratio that's recommended um I think it's 250 to one um it's still kind of unclear to what extent we're meeting that Mark of 80 in direct service of students so again you know just to stress we you know this is a need it's among many but it's definitely a need for our students a brief summary of what the counseling plans in the 339 is so that people that are watching can know what we're talking about we can you um if Dr um McCullough can you come to the podium
084please I want to share that um in even though Dr McCullough will be brief I encourage um individuals to visit um or our at Affairs meeting where we um did provide a matter of fact that was um the conversation of the evening with regards to uh the plan so can you uh for those um Dr McCullough who are unable to make that meeting or may are looking back and looking through that PowerPoint can you give um a version within the few minutes you have about the um what is the K-12 counseling chapter three through nine Planet what is it meant to do sure right uh thank you for the question so the uh K-12 counseling plan it was originally set forth by the state as the chapter 339 plan um they changed the title to
085K-12 counseling plan the focus is to ensure that our counseling department has clear curricular uh components and within those curricular components there's a scope and sequence that matches a calendar so within the 339 plan you'll see a calendar of events that then connects to um a scope and sequence of curriculum and that curriculum is tied to two things it's tied to the ASCA which is the American school counselor Association national standards and it's also tied to Castle's framework Castle having to do with that sort of The Guiding body on scl it includes things about job description it includes again primarily around curriculum and scope and sequence with a heavy focus on preparation for career in college if there's specific questions I'm happy to take them but that's the overview this is the first time that
086schools are schools have been submitting them based on what cohort you're in so this will be our our um are made in voyage and then we'll be asked to make changes annually if need be and in five years will start the cycle over again where we start to look at the data and understand that and then can revise and resubmit as needed thank you okay thank you very much um I did want to um you're fine uh Dr McCullough thank you um you know I want to Echo with um Miss delay's comments um and um which I I second and third and fourth um with uh the board um has and continues to make that Financial commitment understanding that those ratios though they are recommended create a tremendous amount of challenges um and may not
087be able to address the needs so in this um budget cycle the board did um agree to adding an additional counselor next year which we've identified though I'd love to have more um at the middle year experience what um you will hear more is Dr McCullough and her team will be presenting um an additional proposal that um adds extra layer of support with this K-12 counseling plan so there are going to be some reimagining and redesigning that allows us to move closer to that ratio in terms of that 80 percent um and try to find ways to move things that are um they're important our counselors um want to do them but they take away from providing that direct service right so um I look forward and Dr McCullough and her team look forward to
088sharing that with you um at a public meeting and we also already started thinking about what this looks like three years from now and we know that um as we finish this um this budget cycle we will present a proposed final budget in May then the board will approve the budget in June including that is that Staffing for uh for counseling um when that happens we break for the summer and in August and September we are sitting down thinking about what are those high level priority positions and already um counseling is at the top of the list in terms of if there was an opportunity for a position uh and we only could get one then it would be the need for a digital counselor so we support that and we're trying to build a
089pathway uh and obviously the need is significantly greater than it was before so um we're trying to put that together for us so I would Echo those sentiments in terms of the um of the need for that I'd like to just come in um and and I I poured over the the document that were asked to approve this evening and you took a lot of questions from me and answered those very thoughtfully and I did want to know one thing that really stuck with me um Dr McCullough that that you responded to I was asking about um some specific items that were in the plan and why were they not called out um some things that I I didn't see that I thought might appropriately be there within the description of the counselor and and
090responsibilities and what you the way you responded I thought was was really important in by by making certain things simply part of a counselor's job um are we taking away from the the role that everyone within the school system plays and and it's a it's a conversation I've had oftentimes at work where you know if you denote that one person that's responsible for XYZ suddenly it's not my job to to think about the needs and the comprehensively of the student and so forth so I really took that to heart and I appreciated the thoughtfulness that went into that I do also simply I know it's a little bit um adjunct to what we're voting on this evening but um I've seen so much happening in the High School counseling department and um things like a
091lot a lot more conversation and information getting pushed out with respect to Naviance and how you use Naviance and the coffee with the counselors and so forth so there's been um it's whether I just didn't notice it before and it was always happening um or there looks like there's some of it is new too I really really appreciate that time and attention um that's being offered at the at the high school level and I know it's it's it's a lot of work it's a lot of work for the folks that are doing it they're doing it before school they're doing it after school and then doing the counseling job during school um it's it's a significant burn but it very very much appreciated and noticed um any other comments on this section um the different
092uh College uh um no College uh scholarships and and um from various areas within the county and within this school and they're being posted so that you can copy it and and and post it and share it on your own Facebook or social media that can get it out like I know for for me as also being the chair of South media neighbors united we have a Facebook page so I was able to copy and share all that all those scholarship information to to two groups one a page and want a group that that hits the um South media community and um I know that that doesn't seem like it's a counseling service but it is a counseling service and I I just want to commend Whoever has decided to post them all um that
093it's a great move and I'm happy to see that happening yeah I'm gonna just step in real quick I have to say I think it was last week that I went to it was last Thursday or maybe the Thursday before I went to the high school HSI meeting and and um yeah she was there um she's a mental health counselor at the high school and I was blown away I just got to tell you we it's just that um the level of attention and care and dedication knowledge um was just it was just fantastic to hear all the things that she's done all the things that she continues to do for our students the different ways that she interacts and I have a much better understanding of you know the difference between um a school
094counselor and a mental health counselor and they're different roles and things like that so um just wanted to say thank you very much and I've learned a lot this month any other uh comments questions all right seeing none then Miss Eliza feel please take the real caulking Mr Curtis aye this is dolay aye Mrs vote um Miss Whitsett hi Miss wikowski Smith aye Dr Grande aye Mr Henry aye Mrs Holbert aye and Mrs Walkman aye student services past nine to zero thank you uh takes us to finance where we have 10 items for Action this evening is there any item that a member would like to separate from the rest seeing none uh first up we have bills paid to vendors for March 18 2023 through April 14 2023 uh we have as attached we
095have the financial statements for February 2023 and March 2023 also is attached we have budget transfers can't talk tonight either I can't see and I can't talk uh budget transfer transfers through February 28 2023 is attached we have uh the contract for Effective School Solutions uh for the 2023-2024 school year is attached we have the food service contract with the nutrition group we have approval of the cleaning service contract with Nets we have approval of the Dell lease agreement as attached we have the approval of the Apple lease agreement as attached approval of obsolete equipment buyback proposal is attached the removal of obsolete technology equipment also is attached and that's the entire section do I have a motion for approval Dr Grande in a second please was that Miss WhatsApp thank you Miss what's up
096uh do we have any questions or comments on this section just have one comment on the effect of school Solutions actually it was kind of a follow-up on what Mr lay was talking about uh with what services that we need in our school system so I was reading their um proposal because it was a big number and I wanted to see like this part of you know being responsible what dug into I think it was a 30-page proposal but a lot of it was about uh correct me if I'm using the wrong educational terms but improving uh our assistance with tier three oh I'm seeing shaking hands I did read it correctly good tier three assistance in our school which all goes back to what Dr Mercedes talks about a lot about improving our student
097experience so I know how important these things are in the high school so I was happy to see that I know it is a big number but when I was reading the services provided I thought they were super important so I'm happy that we are approving it uh Dr Murphy on the um I wondered if you wouldn't mind commenting for a second on the cleaning service contract um this is something that we did talk about at the facilities finance and Facilities meeting um but you spoke about who participated in this election and uh some of the discussions that and what is going into that contract in response to some of the feedback that we've had from um staff teachers and staff about the cleanliness standards in the building and expectations moving forward yeah sure uh
098thank you so we um we had a good uh committee come together but um same way in which we brought a committee together to review the food service contract but what was a little different for the cleaning contract was we we reached out to members of our support staff um wsespa and members of our our teachers collective bargaining group wica and we asked them to come in and review those um those 10 rfps we did receive 10 requests um for proposal we sent 10 organizations that were bidding for that um for the opportunity to enter into contract with the the district and through uh the scoring rubric that we spent some time talking about at the last facilities the finance meeting and I encourage individuals to to watch that um you know some of the
099things that we we saw were um Mets uh commitment uh and strengthen commitment to uh professional development the way in which the district is moving uh moving forward um their commitment to adding additional staff to provide that um uh level support that they were looking for we liked their um it was really great to see their ability though one of the challenges we wanted to make sure is um if it was not uh match who won the bid how quickly could organizations turn around and return that um in terms of we have a really short window next calendar school year uh so um that helped us out tremendously in terms of um the fact that we didn't have to do that but it wasn't the re the only reason in terms of the criterias while
100we did that there's also we wanted to get an increase in the way in which they were surveying staff in terms terms of their their opinions on the clean into the building and what we're going to change is uh the slavery platform is going to be extended to a larger staff pool as opposed to a random sample with respect to that we also got our commitment that there's going to be um more periodic meetings with um with the building principles with representative from from Mets so that they can hear from themselves some of the things in some of the areas in which we want to to strengthen so it was really good to see that in response to the proposal the answer to those in a way that um rolls them to the top when
101we sat down and went through the scoring sheet with um with our committee so it was good to have other Representatives as well looking through looking through that process thank you I know that's been one of those things that that we tend to hear a little bit about um and that you hear about um is is the the status of the cleaning in the in the buildings and so I was I was pleased when you spoke about it last time that uh we had Representatives um from the teaching staff and from our our support staff as part of the process and that we are getting some additional support in terms of the number of uh staff that Mets will be providing uh Miss Wilbert yeah and just to follow up on that something that you
102just said in terms of like I thought it was really interesting about the the sampling of the um the folks you know how how well they're doing I mean it sounded like it wasn't even close to really truly being like any sort of Randomness to it you know like it was just a convenient sample who's who's around you know and so um I like the idea that they're going to expand you know the number and get a get a wider audience to that all right um with that uh Miss Alaska Phil please take the uh roll call thing Mrs delay hi Mrs vote aye Ms Whitsett owski Smith hi Dr Grande aye Mr Henry aye Mrs Hobart aye Mr Kutis aye and Mrs Wolfman hi Finance items pass nine to zero right that takes us
103to the uh the very special other category on the agenda where we have two items uh we have the Delaware County actually let me ask is it does anyone want to separate either of these items uh first we have Delaware County Public Schools Health Care trustee appointee uh as attached and we have the Delaware County Community College 2023 2024 budget resolution and enrollment report also as attached uh do I have a motion for thank you Miss uh Miss vote do I have a second thank you Mr Kutis uh any questions or comments on these two items none uh missiles if uh you'll take the World Conference please Mrs vote that's what's that aye Dr Grande aye Mr Henry aye Mrs Holbert aye Mr Curtis other items have passed nine to zero thank you uh that
104brings us to audience recognition in response to any other topics uh items that are not on the agenda do we have anyone who would like to speak this evening thank you please come forward um and just state your name the street on which you live and uh we are still uh working with a three minute time limit for comments and we'll give you the heads up as you get close to it thank you thank you hi I'm Anya Smalley and I live on Valley View Road in Rose Valley um and thank you this is the first for me and I have an Irish accent so apologies if I speak fast and you can't understand I love it take your time um but the topic I've heard some great things tonight and I really appreciated all
105the updates I love it when I can come to the meetings um but the topic I wanted to bring up this evening is one that I really felt compelled to speak about and that's about meaningful inclusion and belonging of students with disabilities um I have a son with a disability in the district um and I've we've had some of our own experiences but I know they're not unique you know when I was growing up um I was in a family of I have two siblings we were all College Band students we were all high performing students and our parents sat where you guys are sitting today I never knew anything about disability until my son was born he was diagnosed in the delivery room and that gave me a window into a whole dimension of
106life that a lot of people don't have or a lot of people don't experience um and you know there's there's all such a magic to that there's also the pros and cons to that but it's been it's been largely a wonderful experience um but it's one that's really misunderstood even though it's a completely natural uh condition if you like um and you know when I think about the school district this school district has roughly 15 or 16 percent of students who need some additional care of some description um and if you think about it I'm not a mathematician or I'm a scientist but I'm not a mathematician but that basically means that 15 or 60 percent of students in the district will in turn have children who will have those disabilities and will need that
107type of support when they are when they're graduates they'll be there'll be one in four people in the community who are disabled um and those one in four will be their students their maybe they'll be treating them as doctors maybe they'll be employing them and it's a skill set working with people with disabilities that everybody really really needs um and so I I passionately believe as you can probably tell that everybody needs to really get to know folks with disabilities and be comfortable interacting with them you know I have friends who have disabilities because it's a community that I've become a part of and you know many will say in school they have no friends a high or a high five is as good as they get um and that you know they consider that
108a friend many are bullied thankfully that hasn't been our case but many feel like they're largely most of them feel like they're othered or they're different or they're just made to feel devalued and they carry that with them throughout their lives it's a stigma that sticks with them maybe it's because they're in a separate room maybe it's because they are you know in a separate little area that they just kind of begun to congregate because they're comfortable but it's it's a real issue and I I love to hear all the increased focus on Mental Health I really do these are the folks who need it the most these are the ones who are going to have the biggest issues um and so you know just I honestly believe that my making them feel like they
109belong and they're an integral part of the community that can change and that can be mitigated my son wants said to me as I picked him up from school mom do you think they won't talk to me because I have special needs think about that think about how that made me feel too and I don't use the word special anymore because you know kieran's not a special needs student he's a Strathaven student and and that's and that's just the way it is and I think you know for me there's so many easy ways to address the issue there's a there's a varsity Bocce team here there are a handful of parents there at any given game if that was full and the students were cheering imagine how those students would feel there's you know now
110best buddies in the in the district which is phenomenal and I know my son loves his his best buddy but you know that should that could be used as a catalyst to talk about inclusion generally that that's just a thing that should be natural to everybody you know there's you it could be as simple as not making sure no kid ever sits alone there are building bridges programs out there that help kids learn from the youngest ages there are so many ways of doing it most of them just a natural part of of running a day-to-day you know School District so for me like even though integration with and interacting with uh folks with disabilities isn't naturally sort of a naturally intuitive thing for most people it is a natural part of the human condition
111and all students do better research shows academically as well as socially if they're fully included and fully integrated especially on the on the social side of things so and I just think it's the right thing to do so thank you for your time this evening and letting me bring this topic up thank you very much thank you so much for uh for sharing that um I know I was going to give you extra time because of the accent because I really do love it although that would not have been Equitable but I will um allow that thank you for sharing that and um we hear you and um one of the many ways in which we um continue to strengthen our commitment to this right because part of this work is you hear a lot
112of people talking about it but what is the evidence uh that you are doing that and that is the constant question that we are asking ourselves the board ask Administration what is the evidence of our commitment and what does that look like um we in so many of the pathways that we will be discussing with our strategic plan not in addition to the things that we are doing and we want to strengthen as we look out um we were very intentional the pathways that talk about diversity to equity inclusion and belonging for all children then there is a pathway around teaching um uh learning Innovation how do we really make sure we're connecting with all diverse Learners and the conversation we've been having um with our neurodiversity parents who continue to make sure that we
113are in The Cutting Edge and that their voice voices are heard as well when we talk about inclusion and belonging then we know that there's uh our pathway around wellness and social emotional holistic supports that will naturally capture so much of the uh of what you said and specifically and um we the board just approved uh to uh new members uh of our family and administrators and I want to tell you that um within those questions that they were asked was specific about their stance their philosophy their practice around inclusion how are they going to create the conditions in which they welcome all students matter of fact a very specific question to our director of Athletics and activities was around those activities that sit on the fringes for a lack a better term we specifically
114talked about uh Bocce and how do you become a champion and promote all activities and get an opportunity to what would it look like if you had a program where so many students were coming in and cheering for their classmate without having to sit and though they have their friends with them it looks very different in other Arenas and how do we bring Equity to that so I really want to thank you for your comments and know that um one of the ways in which we continue to work on this is not just a plan but it speaks to the type of questions um in conversations we engage with when we have new members who are interested in become part of our family and the two individuals tonight spoke well to that conversation and their
115lived experience what they want to do and and more importantly their commitment to uh to that and we welcome you to be part of that conversation in Partnership because no student and that's a big period no student should ever walk into a school system and adults unintentionally which I like to think is unintentional create the condition with a feel like they're the other and we have to go to every single nook and cranny of where that is happening and eliminate that because if there is not a safe space here to interact with your classmates where is that safe space and if we're not creating children to have that environment of inclusion and belonging and don't know how to tap someone to sure and say hey come with us or can I celebrate you what does
116that mean in terms of the way in which they grow up as adults and what does that mean their adult life in terms of how they welcome individuals as well so it is a microcosm of our larger community and that's why um we're doubling down on those particular efforts and we welcome the opportunity to improve all of our practices so thank you very much for those and um we I always say this I appreciate the sacrifice individuals make to come to these meetings you could have been anyplace else you sat for a long time um and and I want to thank you for doing that and I'll continue to ask you to uh join us in this work um as a partner um and push us right because I think everyone um who comes to
117the mic wants to improve the district and the community and we welcome that partnership and welcome uh a seat at the table to talk about um uh Solutions and better ways of doing things so I really appreciate your comment thank you thank you do we have any old any new business this evening all right uh with that then this meeting is adjourned thank you