001All right, we're going to get started with tonight's property finance committee. The first thing is roll call and see who's here. Director Christie >> here. Wley >> here. >> Parkinson >> here. >> I'm here. all here tonight. And then no public comment, correct? Okay. First thing on the agenda, as we always do, is the is the meeting minutes. Our last meeting was held on August 25th. Nobody approached me with any comments on last month's. So, all in favor of the August 25th uh finance committee meeting minutes. All in favor say I. >> Nothing on that. And the first thing we'll go over as we openly do each month is discuss the forecast model. >> Thanks Gary. Um tonight I do have some changes to the forecast model for our 2425 year end numbers as well
002as for our 2526 um projections through September of 2025. So for 2425 very very minor changes um a little bit of adjust $148 in salaries a little bit of changing the benefits professional technical services the only sizable one I wanted to talk about was other services an increase in expenditures of $244,000 that is an increase in our charter school tuition that is a result of additional ADMs that were reported from a charter school that we had classified as regular ed and they were actually special ed so when we did the year the sorry the year end reconciliation of our charter schools with one of our charter schools uh we needed to adjust payments made to them. So those payments were made in August but I did charge it back to the appropriate year. Um that
003was a miss on was a combination of both but really was a miss on >> it wasn't the budget we just was in the wrong category essentially >> and different tuition rate. So I actually took a savings last month I thought we were done. I was just going to say I showed a savings a lower number. I'm sure >> I showed a savings last month and then when we got our reconciliation although the ADMs were correct, they were I had them coded as a regular ADM and when we got a reconciliation a special which is a sizable difference in there about nine students that were coded as regular as opposed to special ed. Uh, so we have a slight decrease in or I'm sorry, slight increase in our um in our budget gap for the
004total of 2425 just about $195,000. We go over to the next page which shows page six of the public document um 2526 projection changes for September 2025. As we do every year at this time, we do a reconciliation of the difference between what we have budgeted for our teaching staff and what our actual allocations were, what our actual teaching staff um has come in at. So, when we did our budget based on last year's average teacher salary, we budgeted $84,593. The actual teacher salary for the end of September was $84,125. Now, this happens every year with this what's called nutritional savings. We do our budget. We've got last year's headcount in and then last year's teachers. Obviously, people retire at the end of the year. They technically or normally retire at a higher rate than
005new people coming in. So, the difference between the average teacher salary budgeted for last year and October versus what our actuals were for September this year was $468 per person. We multiply that by our number of teachers, which is 183. We actually have a savings in salaries in budget of $56,000. Next line item down is just the teasers and the social security um associated with that $56,000. So if you put them both together, it's 711,720,000. Um the next items are not very favorable. The next items are reductions in our title funding. Although we haven't received our funding yet, we know that our fundings have been reduced. So we had a reduction in title one of $167,000. We had an increase in title two of 5,875. Decrease in title three, decrease in title 4 and a
006decrease in IDA. So when we net all of that together, our total expenses are going down by $941,000. When I say when we look at the expenses here that I just read, the next item down has also the reduction in revenues that offset that offset them. So although our expenditures are going down by $941,000, our revenues are also going down by $329,000. So that the net impact is a reduction in our gap to $417,000. So what we did is we found out what our revenues were and then we offset those revenues with a reduction in expenditures. anyone has any questions on the changes that were made as of now. Obviously, we're very early in the year. Obviously, this is not a balanced budget for for 2627 at this point. And our gap that we're showing
007right now is 15 $15.1 million that we are showing as a gap. Almost 15.2 million that we're showing as a gap. Um we will obviously it's very very early in the year. Any changes that we made to make to things in 2425 will also I'm sorry 25 26 will also impact 26 27. So when I start looking at revenues when I start looking at expenditures especially salaries and benefits they will have an impact in both years. So although that number is very very sizable at this point we are very early in the game. I also want to let everyone know I have made no changes to Pennsylvania state revenues because the governor still has not approved the budget. So we still have our numbers in that we had from last year. I don't anticipate large
008increases for Westchester, but there is nothing yet. It's status quo as it stands. I have not adjusted any projections for this. That's all I have for model. That's anyone has question. Anybody have any questions? Pretty straightforward. >> So next continuing on, Mr. Skull going to go over the 2627 budget calendar we want to do each year at this time. >> Correct. If I could and Gary, this is actually an approval item. I do request sure that the board approves the calendar. Um although does not necessarily require it, it does require that I review it. I figure if I review it, might as well have approval. Um same calendar as we've done in the past. Um if you look through line by line, everything in September and October work is the same things that we will
009look at budget forecast reviews, we will look at enrollment projections, we look at people allocations um in November, we'll be looking at employee benefits, substitute services, debt service reserve. So all that is exactly the same. The change happens in December. December is the time that the authorities need to decide whether they are going to exercise their right to apply for exceptions or if they're going to adopt a resolution that states will stay within the equipment index index or next year is 3.6%. So as of December of this year, we will need to either state that we are going to reserve the right to apply for exceptions when it will allow us the ability if needed to go above the 3.6% or we adopt the resolution, states will stay within that and then we lose the
010authority to utilize any hack exceptions and increase our military higher than 3.6%. So that will be done in the December time frame and then if we reserve the right to apply for exceptions, we would need to have a preliminary budget on the table for board adoption in January um February at the latest, but we normally do in January. If we do not apply for exceptions and we state that we will stay below the actual index we follow the normal that we followed in the last three years which is preliminary budget in April followed by a final budget in mid all I need right now is that a recognition and approval that this is the path that we're going to follow and the next decision the board would make budgetary any questions from committee on the
011budget calendar it's the same as we normally look at and now for approval so looking for approval for 26 27 budget calendar as stated. All in favor say >> I. >> Yes. >> And that's consent for the same motion too. >> No problem. All right. Moving moving on. The next item we have from Mr. McG is approval of a three-year agreement with Optic Security. Yes, I'm seeking approval for a three-year service contract with Optive Securities um for cyber security services. >> Okay. And looking, this is an approval item also that will also carry forward for full board approval tonight. So, I'm looking for approval of a three-year service agreement about security. >> Carrie, can I just advise the committee before you take your vote? This is a budget neutral. This was included in the budget.
012We're just bringing it forward to the fact that it is a contract. >> Thanks for the clarification. All right. Uh looking for approval for threeear service to security state not to exceed a total price of 95,79 per year. Looking for property finance committee for approval. All in favor say I. >> I. So we're good to proceed and we'll take that forward for the board approval tonight. Thank you, Mr. McG. And we have a couple items from Mr. Ber 2425 capital reserve project awards. >> Okay. 2425 capital reserve project awards project are the only project for this evening is G166 which is the districtwide stage rating project. We're seeking approval to award to Acerson Drapery in the amount of $22,960 for the replacement of some of the implementation or some of the stap and the drapery
013at Judy Middle School. This leaves a project balance of $107,794. Excuse me. This leaves a project balance of $69,246. Thank you, Mr. Bster. I appreciate you putting the table together like that, showing what we spent to date on these projects. Uh any questions on this particular project? Okay, seeing none, uh looking for approval districtwide staging rating for middle school for total award price of 22,960. All in favor say I. >> I good. And Mr. P, one more item. We have the approval of the old project 2223 capital reserve project. >> So the 2223 capital reserve project award is for project G142 which was the westtown for generator replacement. We're seeking approval to award to Donna Rice, excuse me, Donald Risinger Incorporated in the amount of $3,000. This is to uh do a little bit of
014block work and and travel work in the work in the area of the generator that needed to be done in correlation to the generator replacement. This will leave us with a project balance of $38,485. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Mercer. Any questions? >> All right. Seeing none, looking for the property and finance committee to approve this 2223 capital reserve project bid for Westtown Elementary School. Uh the generator work just stated for the award price of 3,000 to Donald Risinger. All in favor say I. >> I nothing on that. Thank you, Mr. and that's it for tonight's meeting and the next meeting property finance committee meeting will be on October 20th and we'll take these three items for approval tonight. I got I got that was I didn't have the Thank you for that right
015now. All right. Thank you. We'll see everybody on October 20th. And just a reminder starts at 7 o' Good evening. I'd like to call to order the September 29th, 2025 meeting of the Westchester area school. First thing is the pledge of allegiance and we have some students here tonight from East Elementary School and Sophie, Aaliyah, Matt, and Kaitlin could come up forward and uh do please. I aliance 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, Dr. your students can go ahead and uh >> provide us an update of what's going on elementary school. >> Good evening, Dr. David and school board members of the Westchester Area School District. My name is Matthew
016Pence. My classmates Sophie, Kaylin, Ta, and I are the fifth grade students representing East Bford Elementary School. We thank you for inviting us to speak this evening regarding the highlights and special events happening at East Batford Elementary. As you walk the halls of EB, you will clearly see our theme this school year is simply but powerful. E means explore, be curious, ask questions, and try our best every day. B means be kind, treat others with respect, kindness, and care. E means encourage, support our friends, and celebrate everyone's success. This model connects directly to our district schools where we practice being adaptable, good communicators, empathetic, responsible, and strong problem solving. In the younger grades, we are building the foundation for these skills. In kindergarten, we are working hard to learn our routines and make new friends,
017which teaches us responsibility and empathy. In first grade, we are building our number sense tool kits in math and learning from different community helpers around Westchester that helps us to ask questions and see how learning connects to the real world. In second grade, we are studying bar graphs and practicing a grow mindset, which means not giving up when things get tough, an important part of problem solving. Our older students are taking our learning even further. In third grade, we are learning about the communities around us and how to form cursive lives. Both help us communicate clearly and be thoughtful citizens. Our fourth graders will be visiting the Franklin Institute later this fall. Trips like this will let us explore science and technology in new ways and they help us. They show us how to be
018adaptable and curious learners. These experiences remind us that problem solving doesn't just happen in the classroom. It happens when you ask big questions about the world. And as fifth graders, we are taking taking our learning to the Pennsylvania Colonial Farm this Wednesday. Here we will be learning the roots of the revol revolution 18th century brought to life for us as we discover how colonial farm families lived and worked through an immersive learning environment and hands-on living history activities. Last Friday East Bradford's PTO hosted their annual color run. Students and families are showered in a rainbow of color on EB's very own color trail. Our PTO does a wonderful job bringing East the East Bradford community together and the color bash is a great way to start the school year in a fun way. This year
019we will be hosting the EBE spirit day on the first Friday of every month. Through these we will be reminded what EBE means to our school. Explore, be kind, and encourage. As we conclude the fall season, the students, staff, and parents have a lot to look forward to. Some highlights include the music department is in full swing and is happy to announce the upcoming musical entitled The Grunch. Auditions start in November and we are excited to perform this story of that teaches themes of inclusivity, community, and the importance of every person's contribution to a group endeavor. This November, we will be hosting our annual Veterans Day. On November 10th, we are hosting a panel of eight veterans from various branches of service for our Veterans Day assembly. Cub Scout Pack 86 will start the ceremony
020with a flag raising in the pledge of allegiance, followed by a panel discussion and musical performances from all grade levels. To prepare for the day, we are participating in a schoolwide philanthropy project to honor all who have served our country. East Bradford is honored to run our Best Buddies program for the second year in a row. Best Buddies is a club that teaches and promotes inclusion at school. It is designed to create friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities through fun activities throughout the school year. This club has brought so much joy to all students. The fifth grade is very excited about continuing East Bradford's 48th tradition of ending the school year with an experience at Paradise Farms camps. Living and working together in an outdoor environment facilitates the need for students
021to develop a true sense of community through mutual respect, trust, and shared responsibility. At East Bradford, we believe that every day is a good day to learn, and we do learn a lot. We celebrate every day we have a good book in our hand to read. We are grateful for our classrooms that are infused with technology from kindergarten to grade 5. We use iPads and Smartboards every day. We thank Dr. Christopher and the Westchester School Board for generously supporting innovative programming through mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts, and for continuing to provide us with technology we need to stay ahead in today's world. Thank you for providing us with curriculums to be curious and explore through new ways. As I close tonight, you got to hear about some of the fun and exciting things
022happening over at East Bradford Elementary. From learning new things every day in our classrooms to including everyone in clubs like Best Buddies and big events such as the color run and the Veterans Day Assembly, our school is the place to be when it comes to learning, growing, and having fun together. We are proud to show how we live by our EBE motto, explore, be kind, and encourage. On behalf of all the students at East Bradford, thank you Dr. Christopher and the school board members for supporting us and helping making helping make our school a great place to learn. Thank you for inviting us to present this evening, and we look forward to a great 2025 to 2026 school year. [Applause] Thank Thank you. Thank you for all four years coming out tonight. You can hold
023up right there just for a second. Thank you for all four years coming out and giving us a report on everything going on at East Bradford Elementary School. That was a very informative report. So, thank you for all the detail. Dr. Christopher and I going to come over and hand you some certificates for coming out tonight. Appreciate you you and uh we'll be right over to shake your hands and hand those out to you. Great job pictures. Take a quick picture. You guys can stand this way. Great job. Thank you so much. [Applause] All right, continuing on. There's no special announcements for this evening. Next on the agenda is a roll call. Mesher, please. >> Vice President >> here. Director Christie >> here. >> Director >> here. >> Director >> here. >> President Director Fry
024>> here. >> Director. Director Parkinson >> here. >> Directors >> here. >> Jackson here. All right. Thank you. Next thing on the agenda is leads us to public comment, please. >> There is one public comment on agenda items this evening. So, I'll read the statement. Now is the time for public comment on agenda items. The board will follow the procedures established in policy 903. All individuals wishing to comment this evening were required to properly register prior to the designated start time of tonight's meeting by completing the information specified in the public comment registration code. Once called to the podium, each commenter will begin by stating their first and last name and municipality. Each speaker must limit their comments to three minutes or less for public comment period. Commenters may not seed their time to other
025individuals. Individuals will be notified by the time clock when their time allotted for public comment has expired. There will be a second public comment period at the end of the meeting for comments from residents following those same guidelines. The board asks that all commentary be direct to the board as a whole. Public comments may be interrupted or terminated if the commentary exceeds three minutes or if the commentary is obscene and or threatening in nature. I'll now call the first commenter and that is J Defonso. Hi everyone, Judy Donso. I think everyone knows me by now. Uh, still living same house, East Ocean. Um, wanted to talk a little bit on the, uh, policies. Uh, I wasn't here for policy night, so I figured I'd catch up now. Um I was noticing on policy 102 which
026I believe was updated because of the uh implementation of the steel standards this year. They've been talking a lot about that um since they were first proposed and I noticed that um there is a standard for sustainability and it's not mentioned in the policy. So I don't know if that was an oversight or or or whatnot. Um but you know just something I noticed. Um I know that uh government and and civics is uh taught to 12th grade. I don't know about moving that a little earlier uh in the curriculum so that kids have that before they are old enough to vote and kind of you know one builds on the other. Uh definitely a life skill uh to have a knowledge of civics and government. Um, policy 815.5 is called electronic signatures. And in
027reading through, I know that parents are sometimes asked to sign electronically. I think uh some of the IEP stuff, and I'm not sure what other um documents they would be signing electronically, but it the policy doesn't seem to be directed at all about parents and electronic signatures. So, I don't know about maybe clarifying that this is electronic signatures for school district employees. I don't know. Um I don't know if there's a separate policy for for parent electronic signatures. And lastly, I wanted to talk about policy 822, which is um a uh defibrillator like we have out in the hallway. Um they're supposed to be accessible. And I've noticed a couple times that I've been in this building that there's a big blue curtain in front of uh the AED, which you know, if there was
028an emergency, that one would definitely be a little difficult to access. So, I'm thinking um we should be mindful or perhaps relocate the AED to um a place where it's not going to be blocked. Um I think the screen is used as a background for taking photos. So, um you know, I mean, I don't know, just you know, in the event of emergency, you kind of want to have things as accessible as possible. So, and that's it for tonight. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you for the comments. Um, the next item that moves us to approval of the August 25th, 2025 meeting minutes. May I have a motion to approve the minutes? I see a first from Director Dietri. I see a second from Director Parkinson. Any questions or comments from the
029board? Right. Seeing none, we'll call for board board members to vote. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. All right. Motion carries. Continuing on, Mr. Cheshure, please note the minutes that the board met in executive session tonight prior to the department finance committee on Monday, September 9th regarding personnel and safety matters. Right. Now is the opportunity for board members to request changes to the board agenda. Any requests or changes at this point. Seeing none, may I have a motion to approve the September 29th, 2025 agenda as presented. >> See a first from Director Wanley. A second and Director Dell. >> All in favor say I. >> I opposed. >> Right. Motion carries. All right. This leads us to the superintendent report, Dr. Good evening everyone. Just have a few highlights for you
030tonight. First, I'd like to welcome our student reps. Uh we're glad to have you here. You all made it. That's always the first first thing we you know, we're always excited to have you here and talk to us about what's going on in your schools. I'm sure Mr. Ogden will have an interesting story about today at Henderson High School eventually, but uh where we did have to send the kids home because of a water break. Uh I do want to welcome Aisha and Jackson and Mera. So, thank you for being here. We're excited to have you. I think everyone's looking forward to your reports more than mine. So, I'll keep going, which is fine. Uh, I did also want to say uh congratulations to um our students who were named National Merit Semi-finalists this year.
031Uh the following students, uh East High School's Arya Gole, Jaden Sam, Alexander Isaac, uh John Arsterster, and Dean Halumbog. I'm going to mispronounce that. I'm sorry. But, uh we're also we're all named National finalists Anderson High School's Ian Chattery and Sidarth Sumesh and Rustin High School's Tanya Dash. So, congratulations to those students. Uh they're about 16,000 semi-finalists nationwide and we're proud of them. That's quite an accomplishment. I did want to also highlight uh last week on Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go to the Phillies game with Henderson High School's choir. They sang the national anthem and uh Dr. Sherlock, the Henderson High School principal, threw out the first pitch, which was anticlimactic in a way. He only threw it about 10 feet to the Philly Fanatic. We were planning to rass him and give
032him a hard time without throwing it the hallway, but it turned out great. Kids sounded awesome. Uh that's the night the Phillies clinched. It's also the night that we saw eight home runs. It was a pretty good evening. I think I had Jimmy home about 11, but it was it was a good time. We really enjoyed it and uh it was uh it was quite a bit of fun uh to go watch the students and hang out with them in the evening. We had about 500 Henderson community members at the game. Uh we had our first uh community book read of the disengaged team. Thank you Darl for coming. Appreciate it. Um we had several uh community members here as long as well as quite a few of our staff members who participated in like
033kind of the first start um of that. our our cabinet team did a great job helping to prepare that and and we had a really productive I I thought really positive evening having conversations about ways we can look at engagement and how we can improve engagement for our students and also how we can support our students as parents in the community. So it was a it was a really positive night last Wednesday. And the last thing I would like to highlight is we did start our wing maker process again this year. So we are getting into buildings. Linda finds a way to schedule us all to get into a building. Usually it's very early is the best way that works and uh we uh kind of go in and these folks have been recommended by
034their administrator or someone else in their school and uh you know then we we vet them and we go actually walk into their their classroom usually with they have kids in there and we actually present them with an award in front of their students and uh it's a really positive and powerful way to start a day and it's probably the highlight of everybody's week who gets to do it. Um, we just have some awesome staff members who are just doing great work and it's really nice to be able to highlight that and their kids are always so excited about it. Uh, this the last couple weeks we had Caitlin Richards at Fugan Middle School, uh, Susan Gray uh, who was at East High School, Ashley Clectner at Westtown Thornbury Elementary, and Sandra Bradley here at
035the Spellelman Education Center who we recognized. We were really glad that Miss Kleener did not go into labor. She is seven months pregnant with twins and we were told that we had to be less surprisy which was a good decision although and her husband was there as well which was awful but uh you know it's just been a really positive way to highlight folks and we're continue to look for ways to do that and provide our staff that just does such great work with the recognition that they deserve. Um, you know, it's really I like when you really surprise them when we all come walking into your classroom. Uh, and usually we Exactly. Usually I say this is an intervention and then we give you an award. But, you know, it's a it's a pretty
036good time and and it's such a great way for us to highlight those folks. We will have them come to a board meeting. We'll probably split that into this year by the folks from the first half of the year and then from the second half of the year um where we bring them in, get a picture, which would be great. That's my report this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Christopher Her superintendent report. appreciate it. And then now for our favorite part of the board meeting. As Dr. Christopher said, tonight we welcome our our new high school representatives, uh, Ashida, Jackson, and Meera. We look forward to hearing each of your reports for your high school. Why don't we just go in order to East Henderson Rustin, if you would. >> Hello everyone. My
037name is Aita Derry and I'm the school board representative for Westchester East High School. I am excited and honored to be able to share all the amazing things that happen at East High School. First, I want to start off by giving some recognition to our student council adviserss, Mrs. Schela and Senora Moreno Davis. Without them, East would not have been able to have such a wonderful pep rally and homecoming. Their leadership and communication allowed the student council to run everything efficiently. I would also like to thank our student council president, Madison Matthews. Her professionalism and problem solving skills allow students at East to have an amazing Spirit week, pep rally, and homecoming. Our spirit week themes included America Monday, fraternity versus sorority, and throwback Thursday. E students really know how to show school spirit because
038they showed up and they showed out. The following day was our pep rally, which included classic games of tugof-war, a relay race, and powderpuff with a new addition of musical spoons. The junior class took the victory for the relay race, but they also won the award for falling down the most. It's okay because the senior class took the win for Spirit Stick and Tugof War while our sophomore girls took the win for Powderpuff. To move on to our athletic and academic front, our football team recently went 4-0 for the first time in 42 years. This is an astonishing accomplishment for our players and our coaches. Our girls and boys soccer team have a game today. So, best of luck to the Vikings. As Dr. were stated. We also had five We also had the honor
039of having five National Merit semi-finalists, Arya, Jaden, Jack, Alex, and Denn. East High School promotes East excellence with all of our students. This includes one-on-one tutoring programs, volunteer opportunities, college application support, and much more. Viking walk for our school allows students to catch up with friends, build rapport with teachers, study, and eat lunch in designated areas throughout our East Excellence journey. We will continue to make sure our values line up with district's portrait of his graduate mission. Dr. Graham's make Dr. Graham makes this possible recognizing student achievements in the weekly newsletter. In the past newsletters, senior Natada Nesco was given recognition for having her article published in the Upper Bucks free press newsletter, as well as senior Jeremiah Bastion, who assisted the attendance office in passing out late passes and building a phone folder for
040his teacher. This recognition promotes our East Excellence values of responsibility, problem solving, empathy, and communication. That concludes my monthly report for the month of September. Thank you for your time. Good afternoon. Uh my name is Jackson Ogden. I'm a senior at Henderson High School. Um and I'm pretty proud to have been a student of the Westchester Area School District for the past 12 years. Go Hillsdale Huskies. Um last night, as Dr. Christopher said, was a pretty special night for the Henderson community. Our choir was accepted to perform the national anthem at the Phillies game, and we sang so well that I think we single-handedly inspired the Phillies to score eight home runs. Um, now this event wasn't just a choir event. In fact, one in every 36 audience members was a member of our warrior
041community. Uh, we all came together to watch Dr. Sherlock throw the opening pitch, which I also agree he did a pretty fantastic job of. Uh, now personally, although I enjoyed watching the Philly fanatic kiss my choir director, um, my favorite part of the night was actually the bus ride up. I got to have a really wonderful conversation with one of my friends about how hard it is to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, especially during this time of of college applications. Um, and as I thought back on that conversation, I uh I remembered how uh easy of how the school new school year really lends itself to comparisons. I see students thinking about their academic performance last year and what new study skills they can use this year. I see teachers implementing
042new lessons to improve their education and I see administrators thinking about how we can improve uh student engagement through cell phone policies and furniture. Um and I guess I should add after our uh first water pipe today, I think Henderson has the most water features out of all previous. >> That's what we're going to call it. Um, now the reason that these comparisons, except for that last one, are a lot better than the ones I fall into making is because they're comparing ourselves to our past selves by these these self-comparisons allow us to uh appreciate our own self-improvement uh and set new goals for the future. So, I'd like to do that for some of my reports on Henderson. Uh, so compared to last year, we've had a great increase in club participation. Our literary
043magazine went from 17 editors to 28. Our esports team went from four competitive teams to six. Um, and our model UN and mock trial teams have had dozens of new applicants to join their teams. Two clubs have also started events earlier than I ever remember them starting. Our mental uh health awareness club had a suicide prevention week. Um, and our drama club has already practiced twothirds of their uh fall performance of our town. Um, in terms of sports, we've had a great year in sports. Uh, our football team also went 4-0, which is uh a big win for Henderson. Um, our cross country is ranked 10th in state when compared to last year's 12th in state. Um, and our sports are also expanding compared to last year. Girls golf started as a varsity sport and
044we've already qualified uh three students for chess months championships. Uh, finally, our school is looking more beautiful than ever. We have new benches in the hallways that students have really been enjoying and our art art department is currently working on a mural to display in the Henderson hallways. Uh I think it's safe to say that Henderson has had an amazing start to the year as we used uh the self-reflection that comes with self-comparisons to appreciate how far we've come and constantly set new goals to become the best school and community that we can be. Thank you. >> Hi everyone, my name is Mera. I'm the representative for this year. I know last time I was here I talked a lot about vibes and the energy for being the first day of school. And with the
045first month of school coming to an end, let me tell you, Rustin has fully fussled back to life. Following our activity fair, which we held last Wednesday, um we've had so much new students create their own clubs, but also join new clubs. And many of our student leaders have started up uh clubs and started up meetings for the 2025 2026 school year. Uh the past week, we also had our honor societ induction. So, NHS, National Honor Society, National Art Honors Society, National Business Honor Society, and Thespian Honor Societies all met to honor and congratulate all new inductees for their hard work and commitment and their various extracurriculars. We also hosted last week uh our annual open house where parents and students walked around the school and kind of attended their children's classes kind of replaying
046that memory of that first day of school and walking through the hallway seeing the teachers seeing their friends. Um I actually helped out that night and I saw some teachers give parents the real modern high school experience. As soon as some parents walked into the classroom I saw one teacher just hold out the cell phone box and made them put all their phones into the box. They said, "No phones out. I'm talking. This is how we do it now." So, that was actually really funny. >> Um, regarding athletics and other fall curriculars, both Western Rustin girls soccer and RHS football are having amazing seasons this year, and I've heard from many student athletes, parents, and also coaches that they're extremely excited to see where the season takes us. Um, following that Friday night kind of
047vibe, Rustin Knights Rustin Knights marching band recently hosted a USA band competition and the Knights performed complex instrumental routines which sounded fantastic. Um, most importantly because I know last meeting we talked a lot about having that principal advisory committee. Uh, Dr. Hunt recently just had our first meeting which we're calling nights of the round table. And so every month we're going to meet uh to share ideas, discuss anything and everything that happens in an effort to improve. Um recently we also brought back RHS TV. So during co we had a little bit of a stint where we didn't do our morning announcements TV live and broadcasted but this year this past week we brought it back. So we now have videos. We have uh our student creatives and film directors kind of putting their class
048experience to good use. And we have videos of all sorts just to kind of engage our students first part of the day. And then this week is Rustin's homecoming week. So Saturday is Rustin's homecoming and our student council has planned a festive spirit week to get everyone excited. So today happened to be red, white, and blue day. I saw a lot of founding fathers pull up to school. I saw a lot of American flags, face paint, face stripes, anything you name it. As long as they were red, white, and blue, they were there. Um, tomorrow, Tuesday, is character day. to dress up as your favorite character. Wednesday we have color wars, some friendly competition between the grades and Friday is homecoming shirts and then the football game. Thank you >> board. Thanks each year for
049a comprehensive report tonight. Thanks and we look forward to the monthly updates. Very good tonight. Appreciate it. All right. Next on the agenda, uh Miss Farra Rita is going to give us an update on the monthly personnel report. >> Hi. Um we have a number of additions to payroll, fewer subtractions for which we are grateful. Um, and I would say that the work that's happening within HR is slowing but certainly not yet slow. Um, so today we had six offers made, three acceptances in, one promotion granted, um, two confirmed start dates. So, we're continuing to see good traffic and really delighted especially about all the supplemental additions on today's personel report. >> Thank you for the updates on the report tonight. May I have a motion to approve this September 29th personnel recommendations as presented?
050I see a first from Director Dri and a second from Director Parkinson. All in favor? All in favor say I. >> I. >> All opposed. All right. Motion carries. All right. Next is is approval of the consent agenda. May I have a motion to approve the September 29th consent agenda as listed? I have the first. Director Wamsley. We have a second director. All right. Any questions or comments? Right. Seeing none, all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> All right. Motion carries. All right. The next thing is our committee reports. We'll now move to our monthly school committee meetings. Reports. U. First up is our teaching, learning, and equity uh committee report. and director. Thank you, Vice President Blocka. The teaching teaching, learning and equity committee meeting uh was held on Sep Monday,
051September 8th. Uh we had one action item that was the approval of the PSBA leadership positions. Uh that was approved three 30. We also had two items for discussion. One was the curriculum resource listing that Dr. Brown presented so many resources that are useful for all of our courses and subject areas. Uh also we had an extensive update and AI update presented by Mr. McGawan. Um he kind of took us through the timeline of getting to where we are now and it's just an ongoing process of learning what the best tools are and the best way to use those tools. All right. Our next uh our next teaching, learning and equity committee meeting is October 13th at 6 o'clock and all are welcome to attend. That ends my report. >> Thank you, Director Dell. Um
052we did not have a personnel committee report tonight. No meeting this month. All right. Next on the agenda is the uh I'll be giving the property and finance committee report. Uh we've held the property and finance committee meeting tonight prior to the board meeting. First thing we did in in the property finance committee as we do on a monthly basis, Mr. Skully, our director of business affairs, reviewed the September budget forecast model. Mr. Scully provided us uh details of the 2526 budget which had an increase in fund balance of 417,000. Our current budget for the 20 uh 20 2026 27 uh budget gap at this point is very early on of course but it's at a 15.1 million uh gap at this point and the administration will continue to look for uh methods to decrease
053that gap and there'll be more updates as we go forward on next month's property finance in subsequent months. The next thing uh tonight we talked about in the property and finance committee was uh looking at the 2627 budget calendar as we do yearly at this time. Mr. Scully reviewed that budget uh calendar and uh as we do yearly we vote in December if we're going to adopt a resolution not to raise taxes more than the tax one index. And for reference this year's tax uh act one index is set at 3.6%. So, this is an approval item to continue on to December until we make the selection on which way we go on the budget uh calendar. So, I do have a motion I'll read and then we'll look uh for that for approval tonight.
054Approval is requested of the 2627 budget calendar. May I have somebody to put a motion table? >> Directors, thank you for first and a second. >> Director Christie, we'll vote for that. All in favor say I. >> I opposed. All right. Motion carries. Continuing on, um, Mr. McGowan, our director of technology, then presented the committee and the rest of the board, um, a re-evaluation of our cyber security tools. Based on the capabilities and functionality and cost, it was determined to utilize optive security to provide this uh, capability to the district. So, I do have a motion tonight for this, too. And again, this motion reads as follows. Approval is requested of a three-year service agreement with Opto Secur LLC not to exceed a total price of $95,7985 per year. Nice. Somebody put it first. That's
055director Wley first and I have a second. Director Christie. So, um, a vote for for the entire board tonight on this. Um, all in favor say I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. All right. Continuing on, um Mr. Burster, our director of facilities, um reviewed the 2425 capital reserve project bid award. The facility operation department is seeking approval from us for project what we call G166 for district-wide stage rigging. This is an ongoing uh contra uh uh effort and this is for stage rigging uh for Fugat Middle School. The project award amount is for a total price of 22,960 to Aerson Drapery. And uh I do have a motion that I'll read tonight for the board. Approval is requested of the 2425 capital reserve project bid awards as presented. May I have a first to directors?
056I have a second. Director Christie. All in favor say I. >> I opposed. Motion carries. And I do have one last remaining item. Uh Mr. Burkster then provided us a review of a previous year's uh 2223 capital reserve project bid award. This was for Westtown Thornbury for some nationary work around the generator itself. And this was for a total award value of $3,000 to the vendor Donald D. Risinger Incorporated. So this again does have a motion here too. Approval is requested of the 2223 capital reserve project bail awards as presented. May I have a motion? So, director Janelle, thank you. And may I have a second? >> Oh, yeah. I thought it was Yeah, you'll second. Thank you. No problem. Sorry about that. And then uh all in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed.
057All right. Motion carries. >> Yeah, that's fine. Okay. And then uh that concludes the property and finance committee. Uh and the next uh meeting will be on October 20th, I believe. All right. And that concludes our report for this evening on property finance. All right. Uh Director Dietri, can you give us an update on the policy review committee? >> I absolutely can. Policy review committee met on September 15th. The committee reviewed a few times sensitive policies and then continued to review section 800 operations. These policies and administrative guidelines appear in tonight's cons consent agenda and were approved with the exception of policy 815.3 lending technology equipment which was pulled at the committee meeting for further review. Our next meeting will be on Monday October 20th and that is my report for tonight. Thank you, Director
058Dietri. All right, other reports. Director Dell, we have give an IU report for this month. >> Yes, we do. Thank you. The Chester County Intermediate Unit board of directors held its monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 17th at the Engle Education Center in West Bro. Dr. Siobhan Levy, director of student services, welcomed the board members to the Angle Education Center and introduced Dr. Shannon Brown, principal of the CCDC uh angle, along with Miss Randa Reneer, assistant director of preschool education services to provide an overview of the programs being offered at the new facility. Dr. Brown have reported that they currently serve 70 students from 10 different school districts offering specialized programs in K through 12 autistic support, life skills support, multiple disability support, and K through6 emotional support. The center operates 10 classrooms evenly divided between
059elementary and secondary levels and provides achievement activity enrich enrichment activities such as art, physical education twice weekly along with sensory fun Fridays. Mr. Reneer reported that the center also supports early childhood education through preschool special education, Head Start, and early Head Start services. The preschool program serves 86 learners in classrooms tailored to a autism spectrum disorder, MDS, developmental delay delays, speech groups, and itinerate services. Head Start is nearly at capacity with 70 of 72 slots filled, offering both daily preschool and family services as well as parenting curriculum. Early Head Start currently serves eight children with spaces for 16, providing infant and toddler care for working parents, including four staff members. The Angle Education Center is dedicated to fostering an inclusive, supportive, and developmentally appropriate learning environment for learners of all ages. With diverse programming and
060strong community partnership. The center is well positioned to thrive and serve as a vital educational resource for families in southern Chester County and beyond. I attended the ribbon cutting and it was exciting to see families in that area to have those services so close to home and to not have to travel so far to get those those level services and support. Uh the next board meeting for the Chester County Air Intermediate Unit will be Wednesday, October 15th at 7:30 p.m. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Director Dell for the IU report. Director Christie, do we have a legislation update for tonight? >> Yes. Um the Ches County Intermediate Unit uh legislative council last met on Wednesday, September 24th. Uh we covered progress on the budget uh which is none and uh legislation making its
061way through the general assembly. Uh Pennsylvania is one of two states without a budget. Governor Shapiro's proposal is now $49.9 billion down from the original 51.4 proposal as a compromise to end the now threemonth impass. The House will be in session on October 1st and 3 days next week. The Senate is scheduled to be in session next week as well. Hopefully, we have movement this month. As far as I know, there's have been no breakthroughs to this point, though. Our next meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, October 22nd. This concludes my report. >> Thank you, Director Christie, for the update on the legislation. Director Parkinson, I believe you have two personnel action items for the board to consider tonight. >> Um, yes, I have two agenda items for board vote tonight. The first is
062approval for the foundation's Inc. agreement to provide temporary HR support at a rate of $50 per hour for the employee and a total bill rate of $65 per hour not to exceed $40,000 per year. I so move. >> Do I have a second? >> Director Dietri. >> All in favor? >> Yes, sir. >> I just ask, can we maybe just give an update how this impacts the budget before we vote, please? I know there's both items added. So maybe just cover both. >> I think that's a good point. >> Yes, both items are budget neutral. So they would be fully covered within the budget that we have allocated. >> Thanks. All right. Thank you for the clarification, director Christie. >> All right. All in all in favor of that motion. Say I >> opposed. Motion
063carries. Director Parkinson, if you get one more. >> Yes. The second uh is approval that is requested for the Allen Learning Partners LLC agreement to revamp and improve competency based uh competency driven hiring decisions across the district at a rate of $800 per day not to exceed $100,000 per year. I so move. >> We have a second director Dell. >> All in favor say I. >> I opposed. >> All right. Motion carries. Thank you, Director Parkinson. All right, next up, um, do we have any comments, um, for residents that signed up tonight? >> Yes, there's one commenter, Beth Campbell. Hi, my name is Beth Campbell and I live in East Bradford. I am here on behalf of my seven-year-old who attends second grade at Hillsdale Elementary. Overall, we're really enjoying the all of the renovations
064that are going on at Hillsdale. She has a really beautiful new classroom with fresh paint and um great seating, but unfortunately it happens to be right next to the bathroom. The bathroom is really nice. It has these really fancy automatic flush toilets and automatic hand dryers. The problem with that is they're really loud and the kids are screaming every time they use them. So fortunately they have a door that they can close but it's been really disruptive to the class day and also the with the students being so loud my daughter avoided going to the bathroom at school for the first few weeks of school. I think it's really environmentally conscious to have automatic hand dryers but maybe we can provide ear protection or education for the students especially these kindergarten and first graders and
065second graders that are using these bathrooms. The other thing I wanted to note is I don't know if you've taken a young child to a bathroom that has an automatic flush toilet, but they don't tend to work for smaller bodies. Any tiny little movement or shift, it causes the toilet to flush. And that can be really startling. Since my daughter was young, I taught her how to take toilet paper and cover up the sensor. But I know that it's such an expense. As someone who has built a business and uh installed toilets, uh personally, yes, and also pay for it, it's a lot more expensive for automatic flush toilets. And I'm not sure that that expense is worth it when we're looking at these kindergarten, first and second graders that might not know how to
066handle the automatic flush toilets. So, I'm just asking that you consider this. and with the many reservations that are going across our district when we're making sure that we're making choices that are age appropriate for the kids that we're working with. So maybe the fifth graders could have handled the automatic fanciness or even the high schoolers and the middle schoolers, but it might be something that uh is not the best choice for our younger kids. Thank you so much for your time. >> We thank all residents for coming out tonight and speaking. So thank you. Our next monthly board meeting is on Monday, October 27th. Do I have a motion to adjurnn tonight's meeting? Director Dietri and I have a second. Director Parkinson. All in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. All right, meeting. Thank
067you everybody for coming out. Nice to meet