001thank you come on good evening everyone I hereby call to order the October 25th 2022 meeting of the Westchester Area School Board tonight it is our honor to welcome three students from Greystone Elementary School some of you have to turn on here yes their principal Dr Kevin Fagan and their families who are behind them or around them or just standing back taking pictures I would like you all to welcome Dr Fagan and would you stand up when I call your name so that people can recognize yourselves Dr Fagan joy alada and her family Matthew bird and his family then David tumor and her family so families all right you may all sit back down for a minute while I tell you something about who these people are um they are all from 1195 Aram Avenue
002and they are the Grizzlies that was a name that was adopted by the parents and the students and the teachers who all got together and said yes we want our 400 and we used to be more but now it's 450 students to be the Grizzlies now why in heaven today would you want your small children to be known as Grizzlies Grizzlies are family oriented Grizzlies care deeply about their families that's why you don't play around with little baby Grizzlies that think they're cute because their mother is not going to appreciate you Grizzlies are fierce Grizzlies are tough and Grizzlies love salmon now some of the students here said that they really preferred halibut and cod but I don't know if they're real Grizzlies if that's the case Dr Fagan said he chose these three students
003listen to what he said because of their positive attitudes because they are example for other students and each is I'm sorry I just got my eyes fixed and now I can't see anything much each is an unassuming leader of the school so without saying I'm the president or I'm the dictator or I'm the queen you just are recognized by other students who respect you as Leaders that's a good thing so I would like you three students to come up now and leave the rest of this room in saluting our flag I pledge of the United States of America is relationships over here we're a little slower than you are but all right tell us about what's happening at 1195 Aaron Avenue my name is [Music] Matthew Byrne and I'm in Miss Bushman thank you for
004having me here tonight um happy to share with you some highlights of our kindergarten kindergarten and through second grade classroom kindergarten is excited to visit Sugartown strawberries at the end of October they are engaging purposeful play better to better learn about fall themed fire safety and farming pumpkin apples Etc Kindergartens kindergarten is recently had an awesome visit from Fame Fire Company who were good enough to show us their trucks and talk about safety kindergarten students are enjoying our new math centers and in the time set aside for exploring with mass manipulatives in the new curriculum first grade completes monthly theme projects the students designed buses to help mow Williams pigeon get to the to this is good build skyscrapers in in the creations and next up will be fences to stop the creepy Carrots from
005escaping we celebrated our first piece of published writing as authors and illustrators who followed the complete writing process our books were drafted edited and even published with a cover we just finished off applebeek we learned about the Apple life cycle read lots of fun stories did an apple taste test in the highlight of the week Apple volcano experiment second grade recently enjoyed the class field trip to Lynnwood Gardens where students had the opportunity to see to see the exhibit and have some free time they loved it I know degrees second grade has been celebrating voices in literature for Hispanic Heritage Month read read and make connections to books like too many tamales three little three little javelinas and a rally is a dreamer we are simply batty about books during our science time they have
006been learning all about the importance of soil and housing nutrients help soil growth can you imagine if we didn't have soil the trees here's a soil fact did you know that a teaspoon of soil drinking came up to 1 billion microscopic bacteria wow thank you for having me here tonight [Applause] my name is Ava tuba from Miss fenway's class thank you for having me here tonight I'm happy to share what's been happening in grades three through five third grade has recently been studying whether creating weather instruments they are very excited for their upcoming field trip to Cherry press farms and third grade is also learning cursive for the first time our fourth grade is getting ready for their field trip to strong water Research Center on October 26th recently they zoomed with environmental scientists to
007learn more about how we can keep our water healthy and this month fourth grade celebrated the Hispanic Heritage Month with read aloud and activities like a directive drawing of Frida Kahlo fifth grade I'm usually conducted experiment using the scientific method by designing and testing paper airplanes Dr Fagan would like everybody to know that his paper airplane did excellent in the competition and some of us are fighting flatly in an upcoming field trip to I'm flying King of Prussia where we will learn about horses we are very excited for this trip we highlighted important people who have made a positive impact in the world through our Hispanic Heritage Month presentation to conclude our unit with fractions we designed a mosaics by determining area with fractions and combining them to make it visually again thank you for
008having me here tonight foreign school year welcoming about 535 grisleys back to school our fall has been busy in the classrooms as Matthew Davis died and we've got a lot going on outside the bathrooms too a couple of weeks ago we held our second annual grade students the fundraiser organized by the PTO during which the students Aviation and friendly competition which we've raised over twelve thousand dollars that will vote for cool things for all the students the Family Fun Run with colors was held at cni and attempted by over 450 Grizzlies this past Friday we had a trick or treat event 400 Greystone students and families attended it was a great time this Friday we'll hold our Halloween parade in classic parties we feel very fortunate to have the love and support of so many
009we are looking forward to a great fifth grade here at Graystone before I go I wanted to recognize that veterans fans approaches when you Grizzlies wanted to extend their gratitude to all the local server Nation thank you for having me here tonight foreign you three know an awful lot about what's going on over there at Greystone don't you especially K through two you know a lot of details about what they're doing can you go over and visit them uh my sister isn't it my cousin is in first grade um and you're related to everybody I guess that's great so I want to thank you and Ava and Joya for your thorough report and it's clear that you're very happy of there being a Grizzly whether you like salmon or not so big thank you to
010for coming and and telling the community and the school board what you're doing and what it's like to be a Greystone grizzly mm-hmm so I'm going to come Dr sokolowski the superintendent Urban and I are going to come and do these just like a high school diploma we're just practicing okay I'm gonna walk over here to Matthew shakes we should turn around congratulations Ava so congratulations now you take it in your broken hand here and yeah thank you Miss Joya no no we did a lot of practice here that's why we do this so you're ready for 12th grade so you take that congratulations [Music] we're going to take some quick pictures [Music] one more great job [Applause] next on the agenda is rolled off to the board Mr chair Shore please as president here
011after Chester here director General here director Plumbing here director Herman here director Shaw here president Tiernan here Ruby here Sean Joseph here CJ here and that leads us to public comments on agenda items and Mr Jennings take it away thank you president it's here and this evening we have no registrants for public comment on agenda items and a little later on we'll have eight public commenters on non-agenda items I was also asked to announce that there is a Mercedes SUV in the parking lot that has its lights on popular all right thank you very much this will move us to approval of the minutes for the September 22nd uh that's last month's school board meeting May I have a motion to approve all right Mr durnell and um Miss Fleming is a second questions or
012comments about the minutes from the 22nd of 27th of September then would you please take rule director General yes director Fleming yeah director wormsley yes vice president yes director Shaw yes director Chester yes director Hermann yes next we seek approval for the October 25th that is tonight's 2022 school board meeting agenda and Mr chair would you add to the meeting minutes for this evening that we met as a board an executive session on October 17th for personnel and negotiations and tonight October 25th on personnel may I have a first to approve tonight's agenda Mr billal Aqua is the first Miss Chester is the second Miss Kershaw will you please call the vote vice president yes director Chester yes director General yes director yeah director Fleming yes director Williamson yes director Shaw again yes excellent and
013this leads us to the superintendent's report and of course our senior members of the board Dr sokolowski senior huh thank you everybody for being here tonight uh I do have a brief update on a number of happenings and good news across the school district upcoming in November we will be celebrating American Education week the week of November 14th since 1921 American Education week has been celebrated in schools across the country as a way to generate support for public education and this year is part of American Education week I'll be inviting board members to meet with Henderson High School students to have an opportunity to visit classrooms to also have an opportunity to experience the new lunch and learn and just have a better understanding of what high school life is like for our students and
014thank our teachers our enrollment update as of September 30th for the 22-23 school year we are at 12 146 students this is yielding an all-time high of age eligible students in the Westchester Area School District of 79.3 percent that's up just a tick from last year last week we recognized national school bus safety week by participating in Operation Safe stop we teamed up with our local police departments crafts school buses the Chester County Department of Emergency Services to educate and remind motorists that passing a stop school bus when children are loading or loaded unloading is dangerous and illegal I'd also like to thank our incredible bus drivers and our transportation department for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our students safe as they make their way to and from school uh during the
015month of October we've celebrated National principles month and I want to join our entire community in thanking all of our principals and assistant principals across the school district for their tireless work serving our students our families and our teachers last week also in the good news area Niche released their ratings for school districts across the country these comprehensive ratings reviewed nearly 500 school districts across the Commonwealth and our rating improved from 26th to 25th across the state this place is the Westchester Area School District once again among the top five percents of public school districts in PA back on October the 11th uh the Westchester Area School District hosted the first annual mental health share fair right here at Spelman the event provided the opportunity for families and community members to learn more about the
016various social service agencies within the district and across the county information about a wide range of mental health challenges including addiction anxiety and eating disorders and Wellness Resources including successful practices from employee assistance was shared at the mental health share fair I would also like to acknowledge and thank Mrs Kate Coulter our supervisor of pupil services for organizing this impactful opportunity for our staff and for our families it's my honor to share that the Pennsylvania Arts Education Association recognized the school district as an outstanding visual arts program we are just one of 39 districts across the state to receive this uh an upcoming we have on Saturday November 5th the annual gifted Peck craft fair program will be held at East High School that will be held on the 5th from 10 a.m to 3
017P.M and this district-wide event raises funds that go towards gifted scholarships for seniors as well as grant opportunities for teachers to use their gifted education program and finally I would like to recognize a board member the Pennsylvania School Board Association honors members who have made long-term contributions to the district it is my honor to present our board vice president Mr Gary vavalakwa with a certificate of appreciation for eight years of service and dedication to the school board [Applause] okay congratulations thank you and Mrs Tiernan that concludes our report uh at this time I would like to move to hearing from our student Representatives uh and we'll start Emily with news from East High School hello everyone thank you for having me tonight October is definitely a busy month and East starting off with our biggest
018event being homecoming on the week of October 15th student engagement Spirit Week all grades showed full school spirit by participating in Pajama Day decade day bikers versus Surfers and Country Club attire it was amazing to see students from all grades engage in spreading unity and passion for our school the week ended with Friday's pep rally and our homecoming game leading into Saturday's homecoming dance with 986 students dressed in formal attire to enjoy a night of dancing and socializing with friends we would like to thank all teachers volunteers and students that made this week such a success moving on to our music department East had over 20 students participate in our first ever Chester County Corral Festival last Friday at Immaculata University students from Henderson East Unionville Kennett and abing Grove participated in a full day
019rehearsal then performed a mini concert at 6 PM it was thrilling to see students from East be able to Showcase their musical talents alongside fellow Scholars from neighboring districts looking at our art Department students enrolled in digital classes have now been upgraded with new computers a photo printer and new digital drawing tablets in order to further enhance their artistic abilities in addition to this our national art Honors Society has been keeping busy they had held a senior Gene decorating session on our pep rally and renovated our front entrance with chalkboard to incorporate our students passion for art within our campus they are currently planning our annual holiday card contest thank you to all National Honors Society members that admitted our seniors in curating their dreams in your genes in regards to our athletic department we
020would like to congratulate all players and coaches of boys soccer volleyball and field hockey team for qualifying for the district one playoffs in addition to all the events occurring at Easter is always our mission to make this a better place for both students and staff while spreading positivity in response to this Mission East had our monthly K-9 visit last Friday where students can enjoy the presence of dogs in either their lunch and learn or during any open Period they may have this allows students to take a break from their academic responsibilities and enjoy a stress-free environment in addition to East prioritizing the students mental health teachers are also a huge priority in response to this East hosted a yoga session for all staff members on the 7th of October to express the importance of self-care
021looking at our business department East Deca is holding their mock competition at Immaculata University this upcoming Friday to prepare our first year members for the district competition in addition to this he's easily reached over 240 members not only being the largest Club at East but also the largest involvement we've had in the numerous years lastly youth would like to recognize our Viking leaders program for their efforts to Mentor an AP underclassmen in transitioning County School today all leaders engaged in a mindfulness training with officials from the YMCA in order to learn Stress Management to reflect this on to our mentees our Viking leaders will now be meeting with all of their freshmen on a bi-weekly basis and are currently planning their friends getting activity this concludes these report thank you for your time [Applause] started
022the clubs and trips 16 students from Henderson myself included attended inaugural year of County Chorus held at Michaela University where we learned sclerances in just one and then moving on to business and Foreign Relations um Deca from Henderson is also going to the PA about competitions foreign Festival Warrior guides and the tour store to launch this month the 13th annual Fall Festival will be held on October 29th with hayrides face painted a book fair the musical petting zoo pumpkin patches a truck or a treat similar to one house operation and more I myself will be going as a purple man the foundation has also started wear knives which will have its second event on November 12th and lastly from the foundation toy store which is a hybrid toy driving charity event we start collecting toys
023in November and we will come up with December 17th distribution over 5 000 toys um chasma former left fielder because we've been playing against Affiliates in the world series starting this Friday foreign [Applause] Emily as soon as I walked in looked at my report just to look at sports sections uh sports are fun and it's that time of the year right now all sports are probably has the most going on so it's a big jump but I'm going to start off with homecoming which was probably our largest event of October it took place on October 8th and I would say it was a very large success an awesome week leading up to it with our spirit week themes being red white and blue day business casual day uh oh well but and then class shirts
024on Friday and then in the cafeteria on Friday Mr R Scott along with the photography club put on an awesome photo booth where kids just during lunches or study halls could just jump in get their pictures taken they're like professional level photographs they're awesome and then they could be airdropped right to the person's cell phone it's awesome getting home that day seeing them on Instagram and everything students love it and probably the biggest pep rally which was amazing last year a little iffy outside for the first time getting back into school you know they did their butt we hit the nail on the head this time and it was fantastic we started off with our pie eating hunts that's what the two Heats of five and the teachers got in on the action too so
025it was two sets from freshmen two sets from sophomores two sets from Juniors two sets from Seniors and then two sets of teachers and then we always have the tug of war between sports team That's a classic that happens every year a lot of fun students enjoy that and we've had our homecoming course kids there are 10 people elected to homecoming Court each of them have an escort and then they perform a skit at the pep rally our winners and homecoming king and queen this year were Nick long and Hannah betcheck the final part of the pep rally and what I thought was the most neat about it was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge put on by Best Buddies starting at the beginning of the week there were eight teachers that volunteered and they had
026a bucket this would be placed at the entrance during the morning of the day and then in lunchrooms during study halls and lunches basically it was whichever teacher had the most donations was the one that ended up getting dumped that ended up being Mr deal on 12th grade English and our video videography teacher and the money the proceeds that from that went to Special Olympics and the bocce ball team which is ran in comparison or ran jointly with best buddies and I have to give a shout out to our student council president Abby demeribus who really put this all on herself and she did a fantastic job now I'm moving into sports and we have football currently standing at a record of seven and one and unlike Henderson we did win our homecoming game um
027and then the boys have their final home game and regular season game and is also their senior night this guy right and that will be playing Unionville moving on to boys soccer they had their senior night where they celebrated 11 seniors they are also the chest month American Champions and they are currently playing Council Rock Sabbath in the district one playoffs first round and it's a home they were the fifth seed I believe in district one so congrats to the boys girls soccer were also chess on American champions their final record stood at 10 6 and 2 and the ladies are also playing right now at Downingtown East field hockey um a little rocky this year I'm not too much to highlight that other than they had their pink light to close out the season
028moving on to volleyball they celebrated their senior night with a win or they celebrated five seniors and then golf Sam Feeney finished 10. PIAA state championship and other events we had National Honor Society induction not just National Honor Society but art Honor Society and business Honor Society and then NHS will also pronounce National Honor Society is launching their new peer tutoring program and New Student mentoring so students who feel like they need tutoring can get that tutoring for free from fellow students who start are within NHS they fill out a survey in which they feel comfortable with I did this so I know but which subjects they feel comfortable with in tutoring and they can do that during lunch and learn like we talked about earlier and during the day or after the day whatever
029student really needs it and then we had our best buddies field day field trip that to a place that Jake Robert s dance team had a fundraiser at Westtown format Elementary School and then model un went to UVA to participate in the VA moon event this past weekend special recognition I have to give out to Natalie Monahan and Anika chaudry for outstanding delegation and then Emma Bowers and Rachel stutter for best of Delegation that upcoming one event that I had to highlight coming up towards the end of October into November is that we're going to be booing the elementary schools within our theater pattern that's a little one thing that student council is going to do don't tell the elementary schools out I told you guys that but that's coming soon that's all we got
030from Ruston roll nights and we'll see you next month I don't know if we're going to continue the seating arrangements the boys from um having conversation between reports what kind of pie pumpkin that was all pumpkin No Blueberry no it got real messy it was a lot of fun okay it's a lot of fun and a lot the English teacher got the eyes on the head yes and in peer tutoring CJ did you provide the tutoring or did you get it during I'm a member of NHS so NHS members sign up for which subjects they feel comfortable in two different students can then sign up if they need the help excellent all right what subject do you tutor uh history Civics I guess government all right so we thank you three again we're going to
031have to get you uh Sean closer to the mic because you speak eloquently and clearly but until I get my hearing aids it's really hard for me to hear you I just got new eyes but I'm working on the ears praise talking a whole person that can function in this room however I need help until then so thank you three for coming I want you to have a thoughtful question for us I want you to have a thoughtful question for the Westchester is school board members when you come back again you're not just here to entertain us you know perhaps you can ask us something that you would like to know about all right we thank you for coming and staying for the whole entire meeting and we are going to get back to the
032interesting business of the school board now Dr Ulmer your uh approval of personnel recommendations in your report please yes ma'am good evening Miss Tiernan Mr Mr matlocka and members of our school board our personal report for the month of October 2022 is as follows with removals from payroll we have two teacher resignations with additions to payroll we are recommending the hiring of one teacher one school counselor one long-term substitute teacher one secretary two special education paraprofessionals and a second shift custodian we are also welcoming to our developing our new capital program manager at our warehouse Mr Damon Gonzaga comes to us from the school district of Philadelphia and we're thrilled to have him on board Mr Gonzaga if you are here could you please give us a standard awake welcome to Russia in Personnel events
033I communicated five status changes one in our support staff two in our non-vartheiding staff and three in our custodial staff I communicated one involuntary transfer in our professional staff and one voluntary transfer interpersonal staff furthermore we are recommending three sabbaticals in the professional staff I'm also recommending one unpaid leave for a member in our support staff in additional information we have one last day update 13 start date updates two salary adjustments the request for two approvals for two men memorandums of understanding and the list of compliance of drivers and AIDS provided by crafts buses and On The Go kids buses we've also updated the 22 2022-23 wcasd game workers fees and added seven teachers to the tutoring list for homebound 504 or instruction in the home in supplemental contracts we have 13 editions to contracts
034for annual supplementals and seven additions to the winter season furthermore we have two adjustments for annual contracts and two adjustments for winter contracts I am respectfully requesting for approval for all Personnel matters in the state above thank you thank you Dr Ulmer may I have a motion to approve Mr bevel aqua and the second from aha Dr Shaw thank you very much thank you sorry Stacy all right so questions or comments on personnel again we would like to welcome you Mr oh you can you don't have to stand up again that's enough thank you thank you for coming and uh we look forward to seeing you soon question no questions or comments would you take role please yes director Fleming yes director Chester yes and yeah you're right now yes president Tiernan yes commission repairs
035thank you next is approval of the consent agenda no one has requested anything be removed from the consent agenda for tonight may I have a motion to approve Mrs Wadley thank you so much second that would be Mr Fleming thank you very much questions or comments on the consent agenda no let's take the vote director Wilson yes director Plumbing yes director General yes director Chester yes director Herman yeah director Shaw yes vice president yes thank you moving now to the school board committee reports versus education with Dr Shaw Miss Chester so we are combined pupil services and education committee meeting was held on October 10th we data data everywhere we reviewed the pays data the PA youth survey many of you may know some of you may not that this survey is given every two
036years to the same cohort beginning with sixth grade recommend Tampa the same students so for this survey 246 081 students participated of the Lost 1072 school districts in Pennsylvania in our district we had 3043 students that participated and the purpose of the survey is really to take the Pulse on students and their their attitudes and knowledge and behavior dealing with mental health use and Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs violent Behavior and overall we found that in many areas there was a decrease in negative behaviors the mark the majority of the uh the areas that were increased were still below the state and National rates one of the areas of focus we determined would be working with the younger grade levels on intensifying the protective factors it appears that um and so the emphasis on reducing
037risk factors all the mental health supports and so on have been working so that's that was good news our protective factors of those positive behaviors are much higher than our risk factors ninety percent of the students in fact reported feeling safe at school the report Highlights Highlights can be found under the October PS committee meeting agendas and the full report I could not find that on the website I assume that will be there soon if not there I saw the older report but not the newest after which after going through all that mountain of data we reviewed and might not say that we will revisit this from time to time just to kind of get the pulse of where our students are and what supports we can provide our students we reviewed also the 21
038um the 2021 satnap scores the advanced placement scores data is listed by High School it was um the app the data was disaggregated by high schools and by years 2018 19 20 21 and 22. most numbers as we know did during the pandemic some have rebounded but most haven't yet breached the pre-pandemic level um there also seems to be a radical difference in the numbers between the schools and I think that's something that as a board we need to to look at s.a.t numbers test taker numbers were down we discussed uh the fact that college at many colleges are not using these scores anymore for acceptance replacement so that may be playing into that into the reason those numbers are are lower than they used to be um the good news that is that the
039Westchester scores for English reading and writing and math surpassed the state and National scores so that's something that we can apply ourselves in our district floor however there seems to be still a a great gap between um uh the chilled students of color and and other students in fact there's the largest gap is between that of black children and Asian children uh with the scores for English reading and writing being uh 70 17 lower for black children and 20.5 percent lower in math so that's definitely an area of improvement that we are going to look at and work uh and so after reviewing all the data um that's a shame that you weren't there because I know how much you loved Adam doctor um we approved the Deborah Advanced Behavioral Health contract we reviewed it
040approved I think it was the second reading for the 137 committee so that was the first reading I believe for the for the home education programs and then we reviewed policy 913 uh non-school organizations and policy 913.2 dissemination High School non organizations they had minor changes language changes so our next meeting is on November 14th and we look forward to seeing we invite you too we look forward to seeing you all seeing you out there thank you that's our report thank you both for that data driven report um Dr Herman did you tell me you were were or were not having a Personnel report I'm just going to congratulate the new hires and I'd like to thank Dr Almer for his work with the personnel report and handing over the other items at the end
041on the agenda to Dr Mr Beval aqua very good thank you thank you and Mr rival Aqua property and finance please yes good evening property Finance fee was held last week on October 17th as we do each property finance committee meeting Mr Scully reviewed the budget forecast model and she just recruited his model from a month prior the net of all changes in October resulted in a 22-23 ending fund balance increase of 1.4 million Scully review the forecast model millage and calculations which has a tax increase for Chester County at 4 percent in Delaware County of 4.1 percent the allowable act 1 increases for this year the administration will continue to review the projections as we do standardly for potential savings to reduce the millage impact between 23-24 budget we were coming in each month
042Mr Scully reviewed the enrollment projections for the 23-24 and advised the committee that the projections at a total of 12 140 students which represents a decrease of six students Mr Scully reminded the committee that these projections would be used to plan for building budgets as well as staffing needs so Mr scholar reviewed the student market share analysis and noted that the district's percent of total students 79.3 percent of some Pulaski mentioned that previously in his report which is the highest percent since Mr Scully reviewed the 2324 building budget allocation also is known as PPA which is a pupil spending analysis report the recommended PPA factor for the 23-24 school year is 146.78 which is at 9.3 increase from the 22-23 factor which was at 134.20 . the committee recommended approval of the 2324 building budget
043allocation and I do have that as a motion tonight anybody following eight uh so the motion that I'd like to make at this point approval of the 2324 building budget allocation approval is requested for the per pupil allocation factor of 146.78 per weighted pupil for the 23-24 fiscal year the waiting factors will be one for full-time kindergarten and Elementary School 1.02 for Middle School 1.35 for high school students the fixed activity expense budget totals 612 360 for all six of our secondary schools which includes 154 350 for high school and 49 770 per Middle School the total 23 24 building budget allocation is two million six hundred and seven thousand six seventeen I so moved all right could we have a second please Mrs Johnson thank you questions comments no we're ready for the vote
044yes you have more yes continuing Mr burster our director of facilities have been presented to the property Finance bid results for previously approved capital reserve and capital funding products pricing for playground replacement for several wheel entry schools we have the reserve fund is for equipment only no installation included the committee recommended approval of the bids for the capital fund projects in the amount of 243 412. in the capital reserve fund of 38 737. the installation of the playground equipment not to exceed 61 000 263. activity approved that and that was already in our budget the next item is diversary then reviewed the 2324 Capital funding capital reserve projects also known as the fund 30 capital projects you do have this there's a motion for tonight so this is D6 on the agenda approval of the
04523-24 Capitol Point project approval is requested for the 2324 Capital fund projects not to exceed 1 million three hundred ninety one thousand 129. I subtle thank you and a second thank you questions comments about those expenditures ready for the vote vice president yes director firming yes director Herman yes director Chester yes director Wamsley yes director Shaw yes director General yes yes and one more yeah continuing on yes the Mr burster then reviewed the fund 27 capital reserve project committee recommended approval of the capital fund projects not to exceed 1 million three hundred ninety one thousand and 129. the committee recommended approval of the capital reserve projects not to exceed 4 836 000. and the utilization of two million four hundred forty three thousand one Twenty Eight from the fund balance of the capital reserve funds
046to support these projects for tonight this is D7 in the agenda approval of the 2324 capital reserve project approval is requested for the 2324 capital reserve projects not to exceed the amount of four million 836 000 funded by a general fund contribution of two million three hundred ninety two thousand eight seventy two and a one capital reserve fund balance of 2 128. I assume thank you and a second Mrs Fleming and comments questions no we're ready to vote vice president yes director Fleming yes director Wamsley yes director Chester yes director General yes director Herman yeah director Charlotte yes president yes meeting that everybody's welcome to attend us on November November 1st and that concludes my report this evening thank you thanks very much coughing that was it did very well all right starting with director
047Darnell let's hear about the cciu this month thank you president the Chester County Intermediate Unit board of directors held this monthly meeting on Wednesday October 19 2022. at the Technical College High School Pickering campus in Phoenixville the following items were discussed Dr Joe Fullerton introduced Mrs Aaron petters principal of tchs Pickering and Dr Patricia Binkley assistant principal at tchs Pickering who gave an update on the animal science program the presentation began with a video highlighting the students and animals in the program Mrs petters then highlighted the increase in student enrollment from 34 students in the 2020-2021 school year to 51 students this year Mrs petters gives a lot of that credit to the instructor who started with us last year and through her experience her connections and her instruction the enrollment has increased allowing for
048the program to offer more animals more more certifications and more affiliations and more experiences some of the certifications that our students are offering through the animal Science Program our first our pet first aid through the American Red Cross OSHA through career safe PA beef quality assurance program daily Leaders of Tomorrow and youth for the quality of care and care of animals according to the results of the 2022 pde 408 survey taken 58 of the students in the program plan to continue their education at a two or four-year college or university it was also mentioned that Co-op and internship opportunities in the animal science field is usually restricted to age 18 and above however the tchs Pickering has been very fortunate to have several local partners who have provided our students with these experiences lastly Mrs
049peders describes some Target professions that are identified on the pde 408 survey veterinarians vet tech technicians zoologists equine trainer foreign owners animal nutritionists and dog trainers K-9 units she closed in saying that there is such excitement at tchs Pickering with the with this program and that the students have great hopes and dreams that are really moving along in a great Direction Dr Fulton then addressed the board to let to let us know that overall tchs Pickering has seen its highest enrollment in several years enrollment is at 535 students with 96 of these students being full-time there are 17 programs offered at tchs Pickering nine of which offer dual enrollment credits Mr Samuel and director of student services introduced Miss Jen Russ preschool special education PSA teacher on special assignment and Miss Vanessa tool Head Start
050education supervisor who gave an overview of the Early Childhood programming at TC Mr Ewing first gave some quick facts about both the psae and Head Start programs both programs are both federally and state funded the primary mission of these programs is to help students prepare for transitioning into the school into the school districts your Early Childhood care and education program supports high school students in understanding the general Child Development and gaining exposure to the different types of child care programs through Theory and field experiences the Head Start in preschool special education programs offer Hands-On experiences for the Early Childhood Program students to learn about and Implement current teaching practices and techniques the board approved several Marketplace contracts with school districts including one with the Westchester Area School District professional learning facilitation and coaching the next
051cciu board of directors meeting meeting will be held on Wednesday November 16th at 7 30 pm at the Educational Service Center on Boot Road in downtown that is my report thank you did you have any trouble finding your way home from Pickering well I'd been a Pickering before but not in the dark yeah no it was getting dark it was earlier with some it was downstairs I found that the biggest challenge getting getting there was fine in the lake but then when it got dark I ended up in different places every time I left there even with the GPS even with it all right thank you um Dr Herman are you doing a bsba report a very short one okay thank you president here now Dr Saul President Pierce and myself to representing the Westchester
052area school board at the psca delegate assembly on November 5th and that's coming up quite too that includes my report thank you legislative liaison Dr Shaw okay um there are only six session days scheduled for the 2122 legislative session which ends on November 30th 2022 and any legislation that does pass by the end of the session will expire and will have to be reintroduced in the 2223 legislative session in order to be enacted um every month the Chester County School Board legislative committee meets and our meeting this month is tomorrow so um I'm sorry I don't have any updated information for you right now but the next time we meet we will have elected a new governor and potentially many new legislators so the board will be changed the legislative policy board will be changed
053there'll be lots to talk about that concludes my report thank you very much and back to you Mr durnell for Equity report thank you president Tiernan on Thursday October 20th Dr Tyrone Howard personally led a professional development session for our staff entitled equity in action this program introduced our Educators to the important role that race and culture have on teaching and learning School Personnel also explored important data Concepts and knowledge designed to increase racial awareness and improve cultural confidence participants learn strategies resources skills and approaches that can create inclusive classrooms for all Learners Dr Howard also provided the same learning opportunity for our administrators yesterday on October 24th the school district recognized the holiday of Diwali celebrated by millions of Hindus Sikhs and jains Families the festival gets its name from The Grove or or
054a valley of clay lamps Deepa that Hindus light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual Darkness one example of District celebrations is the inaugural Diwali event at Henderson's South Asia Student Association sassa held on Friday October 21st the event was held in the school library and members from the Sasa presented information about the volley and facilitated activities like cleaning painting clay Diaz of the candles clerk who played jars and drawing rangolis and if you're not sure what they are Google Rangoli is they're beautiful designs that are created as they're bright colors especially for Diwali um the the Moby mentoring our black and brown youth is up and running this school year the program consists of a group of community leaders from the Charles A Melton arts and education center who
055Mentor young men from East Henderson and Rustin at the Mountain Center the students and mentors meet every two weeks to discuss topics that range from educational to cultural and Civic the program is a valuable community resource that aims to close the achievement gap for young African-American students finally take a look at the Westchester Area School District Equity newsletter dated an email out on October 5th 2022. this Edition will give you a great introduction to Dr Yuna Martin The District's interim Equity director the newsletter highlights the pillars of the district's Mission belonging Care community and gratitude the newsletter also illustrates many of the ways diversity equity and inclusion has been celebrated in our schools and in our community this month including Hispanic Heritage Month Yom Kippur and Bali that ends my report uh Mr Janelle I
056I wanted to also have the opportunity to introduce our interim director of equity Dr Edina Martin uh you know welcome to your first word meeting thank you um would you just restate you said belonging Care community and gratitude thank you alrighty thank you all you Liaisons for being out there and keeping the board and the community aware of what how how our district is connected to the larger World which of course it is and these people spend extra time um exploring what is happening just outside the Westchester School District so we thank you the last item on tonight's agenda is comments from residents on a non-agenda items I always want to forget that other business I know I know I apologize okay Mr bevel Aqua you are going to propose to votes that we need
057to approve agreements going forward so if you would take that away that's correct and on the agenda if anybody's following it's under 10 other business and 10th grade the motion of States as follows approval is requested of the amendment to the agreement between the Westchester Area School District Board of Education and the Westchester area education support professionals Association and a second for that Mr Grinnell this is a big one is there any comment or question or just a question that was stated differently since our agenda is that it it doesn't say Board of Education a number sorry it just as you stated it differently that it's post here number three okay yes you got a special dictated version approval of the amendment to the agreement between the Westchester area school district and the Westchester area
058education support Professional Association yes yes all right we're clear on that yeah and we still have a second yes thanks with no further questions we'll vote vice president yes director Darnell yes director Herman yes director lonsley yes director Chester yes director Fleming yes director Shaw yes president Terry yes and one more of your business yes the last motion is a number 10-4 approval is requested of the proposed agreement between the Westchester Area School District Board of Education in the Westchester area education support professionals Association for the period July 1st 2023 to June 30th 2028 by suddenly what he did was reverse the two groups he put Board of Education before the education support professional but it's the same words is that all right okay do we have a second for that one Mrs Fleming then
059we're all in agreement that's what we're voting on es okay vice president yes director Fleming yes director Chester yes director Herman yeah sure now yes director Williamson yes director Shaw yes president yes thank you now comments from residents on non-attended items Mr Jennings thank you presidents Aaron now is the time for public comment on non-agenda items persons wishing to make home a comment were required to properly register prior to the designated start time on tonight's 7 PM meeting when public commenters names are called please approach the podium and begin by stating your first name last name and municipality public comments are limited to three minutes per person the three-minute time clock will be projected on the screens located throughout the room the board asks that all commentary be directed to the board as a whole
060public comments may be interrupted or terminated if the commentary exceeds three minutes or if the commentary is obscene and or threatening in nature all persons attending this meeting are expected to conduct themselves with decorum and civility in addition to refraining from abusive and profane remarks please also be respectful of all persons and public comments including those comments and opinions that differ from your own distracting and disruptive behavior or other actions which interfere with the orderly conduct of this public meeting will not be tolerated we will now call the first of eight speakers just uh before we begin I know that two of our three student reps share with me that they have to leave shortly going to Michigan yeah correct all right so it just uh be mindful that our students may have to excuse
061themselves for the meeting tonight thank you Constance Holloway West Whiteland Township I have a daughter who currently attends Westchester East High School over the past two over the past two years two school districts in Chester County Union bill and Great Valley have made national news for hiding student gender transitions from their parents for hiding student uh gender transitions from their parents having this occur in two two districts so close to home made me wonder could the same thing be happening in Westchester Area School District unfortunately a document obtained from the right to know from a right to no request filed in May of this year suggests that this shameful practice May indeed be occurring in Westchester Area School District the form marked confidential right here is titled gender support plan and was attached to an
062email to Gene Myers on February 16 2022. the email States that uh states attached to the forms that we use when a student wants their name changed as is written on the form the purpose of this document is to create a shared understanding about the ways in which a student's authentic gender will be accounted for and supported at school there are several aspects of this supportive document that should terrify any parent in the district here are some sample questions from the gender support form or guardians of this student aware of the support of and supportive of their child's gender status if not what considerations must be accounted for in implementing the plan if the student's Guardians are not aware of the child's gender status how will the home school Communications be handled student will use
063the following restroom on campus student will change clothes in the following place what are the expectations regarding rooming for any overnight trips are there lessons units content or other activities coming up this year to consider such as Social Justice units and pride events let me make one thing perfectly clear we are not co-parenting with the government this is not the Soviet Union of communist China you do not have the authority to determine what parents deserve to know about their child's health so to clear up any confusion I am asking you now in front of this audience does Westchester Area School District hide a student's gender transition from their parents [Applause] thank you for your comments uh one of the things that I can share those plans are very specific they are very personalized I can
064share with you that when I was in principal at Henderson High School there was a student that was transitioning to gen to a different gender and that was something that this particular student was very uncomfortable sharing with one of her parents that that is something that is very specific and we are and we execute those plans in the fullest protection of our students from Alexis Cooper soon Alexis Cooper West Goshen Township um before everybody began I made a lot of posters about what I want to talk about and I would really really like you guys to read them after the meeting I will set them up um it'll make more sense after my speech there are seven books in our school libraries about underage students about underage student teacher affairs book number one twice female
065teacher seduces her 12 year old student detailed in flashback scenes as the character tries to reconcile what happened to him as a high school senior teacher Grooms her student using pornography and there are some scenes describing sexual acts between the student and his teacher book number two consent a 17 year old high school senior is groomed by her High School music teacher and what starts off as piano lessons and coaching leads to an affair the protagonist loses her virginity to her teacher the novel contains a few detailed sex scenes written under the guise of erotic literature number three Faith a high school female student with a supernatural power investigates teachers and coaches at her school who are drugged and raping high school girls at parties number four lies you never told me it's an audio
066book in The District in the high schools Russian has labeled this book as highest rated um if you do if you look under the Student Book search a high school female student has an affair with her Drama teacher and is written as a love story book five everything beautiful in the world a high school female has a crush on her art teacher which leads to an affair the student loses her virginity to her teacher after they drink alcohol and take a weekend trip together she refers to herself as a pervert in the novel book six Pretty Little Liars High School female student who is a minor sneaks into a bar hooks up with a guy she later finds out to be her teacher once the school year starts the student and teacher continue having a
067romantic relationship book seven triple shot buddies in love a high school female has a crush on her English teacher and has her High School female friend tried to get the teacher to date her by having friends write notes to the English teacher over social media the female pretending to be her friend starts having her own feelings towards the English teacher the novel is written as a romantic comedy as a parent I find that unsettling that schools in this community have the subject matter available to minors I want to know how you feel about the high schools continuing romanticized fiction books about high school teachers Crossing sacred boundaries with their students how do you reflect on the district there's seven books in the high school libraries about romanticized sexual relationships between students and teachers I just
068don't understand like why is this there thank you [Applause] Mike Leonard Road Lakewood Road West Whiteland the right to know request confirmed that this past August Fern Hill Elementary School teachers were trained on exploring gender identity in the classroom on August 24th third house principal took the Twitter to celebrate the training by declaring today we learned all about gender I read the trade and while teachers did learn how to introduce gender education to kids who still believe in Santa Claus they didn't really learn all about gender they didn't learn what happens once we get beyond the pronouns and the name changes and the kids grow older they decide to continue down the road to gender transition the medical realities such as puberty blockers stunning brain development or freezing the growth of the pelvis in a
069pre-pubescent state cross sex hormones possibly destroying the ability to orgasm later in life or how during a double mastectomy the nipples are repositioned which requires severing the duct that supplies breast milk to the nipple yes killing the ability for a woman to breastfeed ever again and then there's the harsh reality that suicide rates go up 20 after gender affirming surgeries you know the dangers that come from mutilating a perfectly healthy body well the good news is I think that I can help the district the recent months I've had the privilege of getting to know two Brave members of the transgender community Sarah Higdon is a transgender woman in her early 30s a seven year Army veteran bronze star recipient and Chloe Cole is an 18 year old woman who started puberty blockers and testosterone at
07013 had a double mastectomy at 15 then decided to de-transition at 16. now both of these Brave Young Women recognize the dangers of gender ideology being promoted in schools and it begun speaking out in the face of terrible hostility her efforts Chloe now receives regular death threats that's where we are as a country right now well it won't be silenced in fact I'm happy to say that both women have agreed to come to Westchester Area School District and share their experiences with staff and students at an assembly at no cost to the district there is a storm brewing and that is the growing number of young men and women who realize they were manipulated they were manipulated at a time in their lives when they needed the guiding hands of responsible adults now Westchester has
071a chance to do something special here and get in front of what's coming by being one of the first districts in the country to host an event like this the transition Community is growing and all of us need to listen to them they have a lot to tell us I'll be following up in the coming days to discuss this event further thank you [Applause] Nancy wood East Bradford in July 2020 the school board reviewed findings from an extensive Equity audit conducted by the University of Pennsylvania the 64-page report included numerous commendations highlighting the good work our district was doing in progress already made it also provided 46 recommendations Each of which included detailed action steps it was a road map for continued Improvement the board voted unanimously Republicans and Democrats alike to sign a resolution
072committing to a sustained and transparent effort to systematically uncover areas of inequity prejudice and discrimination and to identify and Implement Solutions the web page containing that resolution is now gone from the district's website also gone are pages that contain the facts and misconceptions about Equity Equity related curriculum revisions data on hiring goals and practices data on student achievement and disproportionality professional development opportunities and numerous parent and student resources by itself I wouldn't read too much into website changes websites undergo overhauls all the time but there's a larger context here at last week's board committee meeting it was evident that there is a significant disconnect between the board and the administration regarding how to move forward with Equity leadership we're in a difficult climate in which we're over a year now our community has endured a
073sustained politically orchestrated attack against Equity work in our schools School Board candidates in the last election targeted our schools and teachers with anti-crt propaganda these candidates were endorsed by the Republican Committee of Chester County who used paid political ads to Target our schools the Westchester NAACP characterized these attack ads as appalling disrespectful and unacceptable you've witnessed yourself in these meetings the attacks against Equity of all forms delivered with a shocking level of callousness and often in the presence of students who have come here to plead for help take it in this context recent events raise a concern that there has been a weakening of the district's Equity mission in the face of pressure and attacks over half of the senior District administration roles have changed hands through retirements or resignations in the past 18 months
074and let me be clear I have the utmost of respect for the new members of our Administration but with so much turnover we are in a time of organizational vulnerability at a time when we simply cannot afford to be on Shaky Ground Equity work is hard and the problems that the equity Mission needs to address are long-standing and slow to correct we need strong leadership and a United unwavering Focus I urge the board and administration to revisit the equity audit recommendations and work together to reaffirm the district's commitment and resolution thank you [Applause] Melissa Bennett West Goshen I just wanted to take a moment to appreciate the superintendent's listening sessions for elementary schools in early summer and middle schools in early fall I know that some of those were small in attendance but it's great
075that administrators took time to invite feedback from families I know there were notes taken during those sessions and I'm wondering how will the district utilize that feedback will you ever share in a more comprehensive public way what you heard from those families and of course no names or identifying characteristics of individual sharing but themes or questions or whatever that came out anecdotally I'll share that I participated in two sessions one Elementary and one middle school and overwhelmingly I heard an appreciation for the ways the school tends Beyond academics and a desire for more care in Social and emotional realms I continue to be grateful for the ways the district gives time energy training and resources to social emotional learning trauma-informed care and diversity equity and inclusion it's definitely making a positive difference for our students
076and our families I also heard from people in attendance that one of those sessions got tense around a question about safe space for lgbtq plus students and I'm wondering how information about that session gets shared with the board or the community and how we continue to track or acknowledge or counterbalance the hostility in our community towards the lgbtq plus Community students and families Among Us there has been a consistent concerning pattern of attacking the lgbtq plus community at least since the spring and we know probably has been longer even if less consistent related to the attacks on the lgbtq plus Community I'm concerned about the semi-regular occurrences of racist incidents within our school district one this fall being the air drop of a racist image in an assembly at East High School does the District
077track any of these kinds of incidents to look at Trends and patterns and if we don't can we of course we can never share personal information about individuals but it seems there's some we can log and we can see a need instead of approaching them as isolated incidents see them as pointing to a larger system I hope we as a district can continue to do everything in our power to create safe spaces for all our students free from intimidation from attacks and from bullying thank you thank you Melissa for your comments I just want to share that back in August I did share with our education committee uh an overview of the listening sessions that we did help hold at the elementary level over the course of the summer and I would like to we
078in the month of September I did hold the listening sessions of all three middle schools and I can share and I will share it once I have the the sessions with the high schools as well a report to our education committee but some of those pieces that came up earlier this evening about the pillars of equity definitely came out in those listening sessions and that's something that's thematic with our school district this year and that's caring and community because all of the schools parents expressed just a great degree of gratitude for our teachers for our administrators for all the Care and all the efforts to bring our community together on on behalf of and for our students so I look forward to continuing that the high schools as it's going to be the winter that
079will probably be inside thinking in the library is in a very comfortable format with our high school parents thank you I just be interested in reading all like a whole summary of all the reflections just because I know you took notes so it I suppose that's right to Noble staff Anderson West Goshen over the last few months there has been a rising complaints expressed at board meetings with a heavy focus on curriculum books and school clubs curriculum books and clubs and activities that have been in our school for decades in many cases it seemed to be suddenly and newly thrust into the spotlight both locally and nationally the common theme of these complaints is that certain content and school activities are not only inappropriate for students but actually harmful the ensuing calls to action have
080included bands to access to certain acts to ban access to certain books changes in curriculum and the shutting down of supposedly offensive clubs and activities the concern I raised tonight is that at the core of the issues being raised is an attempt to impose a specific morality which is rooted in dominant religious beliefs on public school happenings we're defining things as appropriate or inappropriate but on Whose terms we have such a vibrant and diverse community that it would be a huge disservice to many ethos and religions represented if the district gives Credence to these complaints by aligning our curriculum activities in both with that of a very specific and narrow morality I appreciate that we have District policies and procedures in place to address complaints and concerns but I struggle to understand why we are
081seemingly take it to a new level the district has been in my opinion over generous with the southern scrutiny which is now being utilized for every library book curriculum book and club that someone raises an issue with because these complaints should not shave a basis when it comes to books for instance we have a system in place it's called a choice if a book you disagree with is in the library your kid fortunately doesn't have to read it they or you as a family can choose not to read it or take it out if a book you disagree with is part of the curriculum your child doesn't have to read it we have a system in place that allows you to work with the teacher to select an applicable alternate text the same Choice applies
082to school clubs and activities no one is required to participate in any club or activity it's a choice if a student or family does not align with or disagrees with the club or in school activity they have the freedom not to participate giving voice to these complaints also serves to diminish the hard work and expertise of our district teachers and staff who utilize and facilitate these resources on a daily basis if this is the case why are we still having a conversation because it seems like Choice isn't enough instead what I observe being advocated by these complaints is the revocation of choice to allow only those options that stem from a very specific and narrow morality not only is choice not enough but there seems to be an obsession with taking away the choices and
083access of others which is quite the opposite of Freedom the kind of this kind of oversight will not cut it in a vastly diversely beautiful Community like the Westchester Area School District I want to thank the district for their steadfastness and responding to these issues and hope you continually reaffirm your stance on having representative literature and curriculum not Banning books and supporting activities that represent all students representation matters and while we may have disagreements about what is appropriate or not we have choice and we cannot allow the very specific and narrow morality of some to be imposed on all Amanda Greenberg hi I'm Anna Greenberg East Ocean um before I start I want to ask anybody that has a minor here um I advise that you remove your minor from the room during this all
084right good evening I'm here that you to ask that you revise or create a policy on how books are purchased and put into our schools we need one policy that applies to all the schools in the district because it's currently inconsistent are Librarians and Educators ordering books because they're told to or because they've seen a recommendation I doubt the book oryx and Craig was purchased after someone actually read it and thought it would be quality content for our students origin Creek reviewed by booklooks.org was rated quote not for minors end quote yet it was purchased with our tax dollars and put into our school libraries this book contains alcohol drug use sexual activity with children trafficking children for sex suicide and explicit bestiality do you find this to be pedophilia I do here's some examples
085from the book page 59 quote let's pretend I'm here with you big button all getting ready to suck your brains right out your dick page 118 quote it was hot as hell outside the two of them watching porn in Craig's room still they dutifully lit up a joint and started surfing they checked into tart of the day which featured elaborate confectionery of usual orifices then went to Super swallowers then to a Russian site that employed ex acrobats ballerinas and contortionists whoever said a guy can't suck his own dick then they went to Hot Tots a global sex trotting site somewhere from page 118 the locations were supposed to be countries where life was cheap and kids were plentiful where you could buy any of them you wanted this was how two of them first saw
086oryx she was only about eight or look date they could never find out for certain how old she'd been then her name wasn't oryx she didn't have a name she was just another little girl on a porno site she was small boned and exquisite and naked like the rest of them with nothing on her but a Garland of flowers and a pink pear ribbon frequent props on the sex Kitty sites she was on her knees with another little girl on either side of her positioned in front of the standard gargantuan male torso a life-sized man Shipwrecked on an island of delicious midgets the three of them were going over the guy with their kittenish tongues and their tiny fingers giving them a thorough workout to the sounds of moans and Giggles the giggles must have
087been recorded because they weren't coming from the three girls they looked frightened and one of them was crying every so often he froze frames by now he had a small Archive of them sometimes he'd print them out and give a copy to Jimmy page 166 quote the brother would be sold to a pimp they said a pimp for hairy white foreign men or bearded Brown men or fat yellow men and kind of men who like little boys they described in detail what these men would do they laughed about it he would be a melon bum boy they said that's what boys like him were called firm and round on the outside expired why are you allowing pedophilia your time has expired thank you [Applause] foreign thank you thank you um at the beginning of the
088night there was a mention of the Cherry Crest farm field trips my daughter look she had a great time I can't wait to hear more about it but my comment tonight is about one of the concerns I raised about earlier this year about gender ideology back in February my comment focuses on the recent gender training at Fern Hill Elementary back in August I object to this training and requested not be implemented again I have several reasons for my request first being the trainer trainer has a Twitter page and she is a self-described this District should not be hiring radical activists two the books in the training I find them to be very controversial and inappropriate one of them I had Jazz promotes the idea that a young male who knows nothing about the world but
089who believes in the tooth fairy can somehow know that he has a girl's brain simply because he wears long hair and playing with dogs Calvin another book in that training is more of the same but in reversed in my opinion these books are inappropriate unnecessary and having manipulative messaging I don't want my daughter's exposed to this more broadly another reason is the concepts promoted in the training gender identity expression non non-binary queer pronoun selection the gender bear where x marks the spot of the genitalia all with the stated goal of quote challenging gender limits on these Concepts to be unpopular instill confusion again or controversial and unwanted we know they're unpopular because the Pennsylvania Department of Education has a website promoting these policies until recently they scrub this website about a week maybe a week
090or two ago I sent you that when Dr Scott see and it just coincides with the uh the coming of the election in a few weeks if the district is hiding its promotion of this ideology before an election this District should not be training its teachers we know these Concepts instill Mass confusion they undermine The Language by which we all communicate by destroying the meaning of words pronouns like they are no longer plural right knowing the word they meaningless those who say there are more than two genders cannot tell you how many they are there are rendering the word gender meaningless those who say that a male can be a woman cannot Define what a woman truly is making it a word woman meaningless we know these concepts are controversial their Mass promotion coincides with
091the rise of the multi-billion Dollar General affirming care industry which you heard about earlier tonight that encourages chemical castration and surgical mutilation this is no longer about tolerance than being inclusive rather it's about celebration and recruitment in order to sustain this injury at least in part finally we know these concepts are unwanted in elementary schools and I know that because I don't want them and I know I'm not alone all my children learn academics I don't want them and so I did not send them to school to test gender limits so please keep this training keep this ideology out of our schools thank you thank you [Applause] this is turned into you do you mind if I uh just share a statement regarding some of the concerns that parents raised tonight regarding the transgender training
092professional development that was offered back to Ferndale in August and I know that many of you have seen or heard of the Westchester Area School District's Mission before but I would like to take a moment to re-share that with you all now our mission is to educate and Inspire our students to achieve their personal best and one of the most important elements of achieving this mission for all of our students is understanding the serious impact that positive School environments as I described above have on our students academic and lifelong success and the development of inclusive School environments has been called into question in a few articles that appeared about Fern Hill's Elementary summer professional development sessions these articles spreads concerns about transgenderism and gender terminology and the instruction of our youngest Learners and I understand
093that many of us did not experience School in that way when we were growing up um but there is a need for this this is a reality uh we do have transgender students in our schools and we are best preparing our students our teachers as well the feedback that we received from staff on the following training was also greatly appreciated is 94 found the learning relevant and practical and 97 founded provided opportunities to think critically and creative and we know that this is much harder for our students to learn the valuable skills they will need in the future like Reading Writing math and so much more if they are not able to come to school knowing that they are safe respected and valued this responsibility to help our students and family achieve their goals and
094dreams is one that we do not take lightly and it is one that we will continue to strive toward as a district thank you foreign excuse me we're not going to tolerate at first from the audience thank you excuse me thank you all right summing up the meeting I wanted to comment on the fact that Dr Herman and I and several other people went to Fern Hill on Thursday as part of a visit that had been set up some time ago and it's part of what the board does we go and visit schools for about an hour sent me the principal meet students go in and out of classes depending on which kind of school it is Elementary is a little shorter High School is usually half a day but it gives us a chance
095to see what is happening in a way that sometimes we don't get to see sitting in a board meeting getting reports so almost all of us have had the opportunity to do this when I went to Fern Hill I could not have um predicted that I would be so engaged by the number of very small to fifth grade people from two different schools um Glen Acres has some classes over there and because of their construction and the way the entire building fit together the way students of all kinds of backgrounds and abilities and um uh appearances work together in every single classroom so there was a there was not just a special education classroom for kids with particular needs I saw those kids in a classroom where they got special help but I also saw
096them in regular classrooms interacting with students who were learning because they were being with children that they might not have had a chance to get to know better so I saw belonging and care and community and gratitude from the principle to every single teacher and there were all kinds of teachers in that building it was um an eye-opening affirming visit so that I think if sometimes all the board got to hear was uh comments and questions and concerns we would have a pretty Grim picture of what was going on in our schools what we actually see in our schools is an incredibly vibrant um caring community of very different children all together so I wanted to say that I didn't this is not a quote from anybody and it's not a speech about any particular
097thing it's what I came in with because I showed it to ah before we came in but um when we say diversity we're not just talking about racial diversity we're talking about the kind of diversity that we want to get our kids have we want to have our children have the opportunity to see and live because they're going out into in a world that's going to be diverse they're going to be all kinds of people um we can protect them in many ways when they're very small but very quickly they are ready to meet different kinds of people and get to know many different kinds of things so I would like peacefully to leave this meeting and uh I'm calling for the meeting to adjourn do I have a first Mr Darnell and a second
098Mrs Fleming all in favor okay meeting is adjourned thank you all for coming will you comment on the pornographic