001I now call to order the reorganization meeting of the Wallingford sore School District Board of school directors I would like to take a roll call of holdover school board directors Mr B Mr bis here miss Amino here Dr Downey here Randy here Dr Huff here Mr cudas here Mrs lent here Mr Sullivan here Mrs wman here all nine hold over board members are present please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all written notice of this reorganization meeting was mailed to each School Board director on December 2nd read please be advised that the Wallingford swathmore Board of school directors will hold their
002reorganization meeting on Monday December 7th 2020 at p.m. at that time the board will elect its officers for the period of December 7th 2020 through the first Monday in December 2021 because of the order specific to Delaware County from secretary lines regarding Gatherings of more than 10 people the meeting will be held using the procedures for for a remote meeting pursuant to board policy 00 6.1 as part of the appical procedures as outlined in that policy School Board directors will be asked to confirm their attendance both audibly and visibly at this time no comments were received in response to items for action on the agenda let's move on to nominations for election of temporary president may I have a nomination for temporary president I would like to nominate chapen simino are there any other nominations
003for the position of temporary president hearing none I declare the nominations are closed as the nominations are closed and Miss tamino is the only candidate nominated I move for chapen smino's election by acclamation for the position of temporary president all those in favor please say I I the meeting will now be run by the temporary President we will take up nominating our president for the ensuing year so may I have a nomination for the office of president I would like to nominate David grandi are there any other nominations for the office of President okay hearing none I declare the nominations are closed and as the nominations are closed and as David Grandy is the only candidate nominated I move for Dave Grandy's election by acclamation for office of President all those in favor please say
004I I I and now I turn the meeting over to our president for the ensuing year thank you chapen uh that takes us to our nominations for vice president um and I would like to nominate Kelly wman for office of the vice president uh are there any other nominations for office of Vice President okay as the nominations are closed and Kelly wman is the only candidate nominated I move for Kelly walkman's election by acclamation for office of Vice President all those in favor please say I [Music] hi all right Kelly wman uh is our vice president so that takes us to uh our nominations for assistant board secretary uh may I have a nomination for the office of assistant board secretary I would like to nominate Michelle Downey any other nominations for office of assistant
005board secretary hearing none I declare the nominations are closed as the nominations are closed uh and Michelle Downey is the only candidate nominated I move for Michelle Downey by acclamation for office of assistant board secretary all those in favor please say I I I all right uh Shel Downey will be our assistant board secretary for the next year included on our agenda is a listing of IND District committee representatives and out of District Representatives these appointments are made by the president and do not require board action but I do want to to read them uh so everyone is aware of uh appointments to various roles uh first is our diversity equity and inclusion committee Mr Ballas Dr Downey and Mrs wman will serve on that committee our education committee uh will include Miss samino Dr
006Huff and Mrs lent finance committee Dr Huff Mr cutus Mr Sullivan and Mrs wman policy committee Miss simino Dr Downey and Mrs lent Wellness committee Mrs lent and Mr Sullivan and the workload commission uh myself Dr Grandy and Dr he uh we also have appointments to out of District representative roles uh of which I will read those as well we have the Delaware County Community College Mr ballis will serve in that role the Delaware County Intermediate Unit uh Mr cutus will serve in that role Delaware County school board's legislative Council Miss Sino will serve in that role and psba liaison Mrs lens will serve in that role uh so that takes us to uh our school board meeting calendar uh for calendar year 2020 2021 uh do I have a motion to approve the school
007board meetings for calendar year 2021 so moved Jerry B thank you Jerry uh do I have a second second chapen Simo thank you chapen uh any discussion okay uh Miss Fagor can you please take a roll call vote Mr Ballas yes I miss simino hi Dr Downey I Dr Huff hi Mr cutas I Mrs lent hi Mr Sullivan hi Mrs wman hi Dr Grandy I the motion passes 9 to Z thank you Miss pagora uh so that takes us to audience recognition for response to topics not on the agenda this evening uh and given we're back to Virtual um we have our called in comments and I believe we have some uh this evening to read I'm going to ask Kelly uh to read this okay um we have six called in comments to read
008this evening uh from from Kevin Henry on in pardon me uh Melanie's way in Wallingford PA I currently have a sophomore at Strath Haven High School I've written to the board and Dr hilden a few times recently but wanted to continue to show my support for some full day schools at the high school for the spring 2021 semester please understand that my support for full school days is not a criticism of the school board the administration or the teachers but a request to review and amend the hybrid model to make it work better for our kids the current hybrid model of 2 half days a week is not working for our kids in fact it's so disruptive that many parents are choosing to keep their kids home full-time as opposed to using the confusing and
009inadequate hybrid model on the half days I see many students scrambling to get to and from school and back on a zoom class this model is just not conducive to effective learning the school district put a lot of effort in into getting Sports back on the field and on the rest of and on the court which is great great and especially great for those kids playing sports but what about the rest of the high school kids who don't play sports academics need the same or I would argue greater priority most of our neighboring high schools have implemented a hybrid model that allows for at least two full days of school a week while closely monitoring the community and school related covid transmission rates surely Strath Haven High School can do something similar Health departments have
010confirmed that virus transmission rates are due to community spread not school spread Dr Dr Tanya Altman from the American Academy of Pediatrics has recently stated that our focus should be on opening our schools as the benefits far outweigh the risks Dr Altman states that on the days kids aren't in school they tend to gather without masks the high school students are suffering quietly and not so quietly by being at home so much I ask the school board to support an updated High School hybrid model that includes some full days thank you for the opportunity to speak to you our second letter is from Dana pickup on syes Lean in Wallingford I'm calling in support of the work being done by the Wallingford swore school district teachers during this unprecedented time we have three children in
011the district one in fourth grade at Wallingford Elementary School one in seventh grade at the middle school and another in ninth grade at the high school our family has been over overall very impressed with the work being done at each level by the teachers and staff during this unparalleled moment surely we all agree teachers parents and students like that this is a less than optimal moment in education never before if teachers had to reinvent the wheel every few months yet this is exactly what they're doing there is no playbook for our teachers to reference no template or historical framework to turn to yet our wsd teachers are working hard in a way they have not before and in a way parents may not be able to see as clearly as we did before covid I
012want to thank the Wellingford sore school district teachers for all they are doing at this moment moment and for what they did for our students from March until now Advanced Thanks goes to them too since surely there will be more Reinventing ahead of them and for us before this pandemic is over during these very challenging times we applaud our teachers for doing their best and thank them very much thank you so much for your time our next letter is from Corey Hull in University Place in sore I'm the parent of two children in the district one in middle school and one in the high school I'm also a graduate of stth Haven High School where I participated in participated in sports all four years I was there my call today though is not about sports
013but rather the seemingly endless discussion by the board of Sports at the complete exclusion of any discussion about the other activities our children are missing out on I've listened to every board meeting since the start of the pandemic and month after month I've seen Sports be the primary focus at the last meeting the school board spent one hour and 53 minutes discussing High School winter sports that's 51% of a 3-hour 42 minute long meeting in contrast the Performing Arts were only discussed for 2 minutes which is less than 1% of the discussion when the loss of other activities was brought up by one board member member Not only was the discussion completely shut down the topic was never returned to Mr Clancy has done a wonderful job with the unimaginable Logistics of managing Athletics during
014covid and he has become a regular speaker at board meetings unfortunately I can only recall one meeting over the summer where the Performing Art have been discussed at all as a former athlete and a parent of them I do not discount the value of sports our children are missing out on many activities outside the classroom which make up a well-rounded education and sports is certainly one of them but all students are suffering children who participate in Music Theater Visual Arts speech and debate the list is endless to see Sports discussed meeting after meeting when every single other activity has either been cancelled or severely C curtailed but never mentioned is disheartening at best the Wallingford swur School District educates several thousand children in grades K through 12 and to be generous maybe several hundred Place
015Sports at the high school level so why does this one topic deserve so much time and energy meeting after meeting since the start of hybrid learning students at Strath Haven High School has only only has in-person learning for two half days each week many students at the high school have shifted to online learning as a result of these half days how can can the the board devote all this time and en energy to sports when they cannot find a way to get these students in school for two full days a week the board has been asked by our state and federal authorities to do the unthinkable and to make important decisions with very little guidance I cannot imagine how difficult your job has been over the last few months I thank you for taking on
016this very difficult task on behalf of our community I ask that you please keep your focus on running the school district for all children not a sports league for the select few thank you the next email comes from Michelle Kelly on West Country Club Lane in Wellingford I would like to thank the coaches and teachers for a successful fall Sports season it was truly amazing I also would like to thank Jennifer lent for bringing up winter sports on the agenda at the last board meeting although others were not prepared or knowing it was coming I'm truly disappointed that our winter athletes are not allowed to attend attend school in person as a district we are placing emphasis on on an inclusive environment yet we are excluding students that are proud to be part of our
017school these students when they're participating in athletics we know where they are we know who is there we know what these students are doing and they are being supervised using very defined guidelines keeping these students at home is completely counterintuitive to the overall District strategy you are simply excluding high school student athletes from in-person learning I'm also truly disappointed in our lack of Forward Thinking as most of our board board members want to delay or ignore major decisions the second high school semester is coming at the end of January the spring season for sports is coming too graduation isn't far away and the new school year is just around the corner what are the board's recommendations what are our options how will you communicate with all of us in the community our children are impacted
018by these decisions and not making a decision is a decision I'm asking you to please consider our students our teachers and our coaches needs and commit to a plan focused on moving us forward because if you do nothing when the rest of the world is moving forward we will be moving backwards thank you our next letter comes from Heather Heather solivan Blue Hill Road Wallingford Pennsylvania I spoke to the school board in a prior meeting in Dr hilden on the telephone about the need for the hybrid high school students to be in person for two full days instead of only two half days one face-to-face class per subject per week is not enough they're already on campus for half the day let them have more time with their teachers who are already on campus as
019well if lunch is what is preventing this doctor hen had a great solution to plow through the four blocks without lunch other school districts are doing this I also have other suggestions I'd be happy to discuss so what Andor who is preventing this from happening and what is your plan going forward to make this happen thank you for your time and our final uh letter comes from Emily Moyer on ho place in Welling uh dear Schoolboard I want to thank the board for approving the work that is happening towards the goals of diversity equity and inclusion this is a busy and hectic time for our teachers and administration due to issues of covid and remote learning but lessons of inclusion are centuries overdue in this country it's disappointing to me to hear a small minority
020of parents be dismissive of these efforts or fail to recognize their scope this training is important to provide our teachers with resources to help our our children develop strong positive identities and especially those who identify with a non-Christian religion a non-white race a non-binary g gender or non-heterosexual orientation I appreciate these ongoing efforts and consider the time and energy very well spent as a parent and Community member I want you to know I'm supportive this of this as I can be thank you that concludes tonight's uh funding comments thanks Kelly um just want to thank those individuals who um you know called in their comments and those who continue to communicate with the board um related to that last comment Kelly I don't know are we um I know are we prepared to give any
021further Updates this evening just diversity equity and inclusion I know we don't have a full board meeting this evening but I'm wondering if if uh you wanted to Brad an update in that regard sure um I wanted to share an important update um with the community um on November 23rd the board V voted to approve a contract with Tom ster and Associates to perform an equity audit of the district ster and Associates is a highly respected uh educational consulting firm in our region and was recommended To Us by Leading or leading organization on equity and education as well as District Personnel who have worked directly with Mr seer in the recent past on November 25th uh leadership from the WSS big idea group met with our Dei committee and shared concerns expressed by some community
022members about whether ster and Associates was best positioned to perform this work uh noting a lack of racial diversity in The Firm senior leadership team and limited information available on the firm's website about their experience performing Equity audits we subsequently learned um that others in the community have sent uh an eblast to their membership also encouraging them to reach out to us expressing their concerns on this and related matters um while we are confident that ster and Associates has the expertise and experience to perform a high quality Equity audit of the district the Dei committee members also recognize the benefit of re-evaluating potential partners for this work to determine whether there's a qualified partner that also represents the diversity within our district the administration's confirmed that ster and Associates uh will cancel our contract without
023penalty and we will therefore re-engage efforts to identify a partner for this work there's a high demand across School District districts for firms with the experience necessary to conduct educational Equity Audits and so it should be noted that this decision will delay the completion of the audit which we' plan to begin here in December and conclude before the end of the school year um I also would like to add um that an equity audit seeks to evaluate equity and education through a truly inclusive lens and that's one that evaluates equity in terms of race and ethnicity disability status gender identity income sexual Orient ation and more um and so as we work to identify a new partner for our Equity audit um I want to assure everyone that we'll be evaluating uh candidates through this
024Broad and inclusive lens moving forward we we thank the community um and those who reached out to us um directly to have this conversation it was an important conversation and we do appreciate that great thank you Kelly for that update um and and just to let everyone know in terms of our um you know remaining actions for this evening so we will adjourn this reorganization meeting in a moment and then we'll have everyone stay on for a special uh meeting to cover one item for Action this evening uh so we'll do that in a moment um before doing so you know this is um you know this meeting uh is our annual reorganization meeting and it does feel like the first step toward wrapping up the year 2020 uh and I think we can all
025agree that 2020 has been an exceptionally difficult year uh certainly one of the most difficult years our district has faced uh families and students are up against extraordinary challenges our teachers I think as our called in comment said earlier are having to reinvent over and over again uh to adapt to these times and I know our administrative team is working harder than ever to lead through this rapidly evolving situation but I also I don't get a chance to to say this publicly enough but I want to give some special thanks to my fellow board members um this is not an easy job right now uh I know many of you are giving a great deal of your time I'm really appreciative of all of your contributions um we certainly have a lot of work to
026do together um and as work uh we will do in partnership with our district leaders staff and our community um we do have a great team and I think we will make great progress and when we turn the calendar to 2021 which is just a few weeks away I am hopeful we can begin to slowly returned to some of the routines we enjoyed back in February uh before Co arrived it will be one step at a time but I think we do at this point have reason to be hopeful vaccines are on the horizon this winter surge that we're going through will be hard but I think we can all see there is a light at the end of the tunnel now and a few months ago that tunnel felt very long and it certainly
027feels shorter uh today but we do have still uh some difficult months ahead to get through this winter um I'll also say that you know I know that uh emotions can be raw during times like this again we're up against big challenges and my hope I know again we're not quite to 2021 yet um but my hope is that in 2021 we can come together to make this great School District which is the core of our community even better um we need to work with one another we need to collaborate and we need to take on these challenges and overcome them together and I look forward to working together with all of you with everyone in the district and all of our families uh over the next year in Partnership so thank you uh all
028of you so with that I am going to again adjourn this meeting but uh right after that don't go anywhere we are going to begin a new meeting um so this meeting is adjourned uh and now I call to order the December 7th special meeting of the wallingford's wathore school board to order and in opening again as you're willing and able please rise and join me in 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 and Miss Fagor that takes us back to our roll call so let's take another roll call you're muted you I apologize Mr Ballas here miss Amino here Dr Downey here Dr Huff here Mr
029cutas here Mrs lent here Mr Sullivan here Mrs wman here Dr Grandy here Mr Burman I'm here Dr Palmer here Dr gry you have nine voting members present all right thank you Miss Bora um so that takes us to audience recognition for response items for action on this special uh meeting agenda I do not believe we have any uh can we confirm that Kelly that that is correct okay um so our single item for Action is in personnel which is the approval of the proposed 2021 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the Wallingford swathmore school district and the Wallingford swathmore Education Association effective July 21st 2021 through June 30th 2024 as stipulated uh do I have a motion so moved Kelly wman thank you Kelly uh do I have a second second I think I've got
030Marilyn there so uh uh any discussion all right Miss Fagor can you please take a roll call though Mr Ballas i misso i Dr Downey hi Dr Huff hi Mr cutas hi Mrs lent hi Mr Sullivan hi Mrs wman hi Dr Dr Grandy hi the motion passes 9 to Zer thank you Miss vagora um so that takes us to the end of our special meeting again uh I want to thank uh all of you um we will be back in one week uh so I will see you all then for our next regular Dr granny I'm really sorry to interrupt but I had had my hand raised after the other public comments were um were read and I I was just wondering since I don't see any area for new business tonight if we could
031talk just very briefly address why this board is not um slated to discuss the Performing Arts and why we are asked to discuss Sports so that the community can understand a little bit better why we are discussing Sports and why we are not discussing performing arts and um those other typ of clubs and activities I don't know if Dr Palmer would be best to answer that question but I think it's something that would be valuable if the community understood why those conversations are and are not happening in these board meetings well I can I can jump in there and I can let Dr Palmer jump in if she'd like but um I think we are planning on having that discussion a week from now um at our next board meeting I think that there was
032certainly some unique safety issues that had some pressure to address related to Athletics that I think ended up uh consuming a fair amount of discussion but um I do want to come back to other extracurricular activities more broadly including the Performing Arts and um get an update uh from the district uh to the board and the community a week from today okay thanks so much all right anything else otherwise this meeting is adjourned thank you for