001good evening everyone i would like to call to order the july 26 2021 meeting for the westchester area school board let's begin with a salute to the flag i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all roll call mr director aqua here director chester here director durnell here director here director herman here president mccune here director shaw here director spacman here vice president here thank you mr chairshore uh moving along we will entertain a motion for the approval of the minutes of the june 28 2021 monthly school board meeting first by dr herman second by mr gallon any comments or questions seeing none low call please mrs charger director herman yes director gallon
002yes director bevalaqua yes vice president tiernan yes director chester yes director spacman yes director jornell yes director shaw yes mr president mccune yes thank you mr chairshore up can we also add to the minutes that we met in an executive session on thursday july 15th regarding personnel and then again on monday july 26th also regarding personnel with that we'll move to approval of the july 26 2021 school board meeting agenda can i get a motion first by mr bill aqua second by ms chester any comments or questions seeing none roll call please director bevalaqua yes director chester yes director gallon yes director herman yes director spacman yes director journal yes director shaw yes vice president tiernon yes president mccune yes thank you miss cherisher that will bring us to the in superintendence report dr scanlan
003sure thank you mr mccune uh you know there's been a lot of discussion in the country about equity inclusion culturally responsive teaching critical race theory and many other other terms that are related to the topic of equity and at last month's meeting i made some comments at the end of the meeting that have been misunderstood and i accept full responsibility if i miscommunicated i gave an example of an implicit bias as it related to our full day kindergarten program prior to our full day program we did provide a full day program to some of our kindergarten students those identified as being in need of academic support many of these children were from low income families and many were also children of color our change to include all children when we went to full-day kindergarten for
004all students helped improve reading scores for all children and especially the children who would have been placed in a separate full day classroom prior to that our teachers had been worried that our lower income students and our students of color would not be able to keep up and they were afraid to push them they had an implicit bias that simply couldn't they couldn't achieve at high levels as it turns out the kids could i also said that we don't teach critical race theory but i said that in order to teach history we have to have an understanding that race has had an impact on our history and our teachers need to understand they need to understand that in order to teach history and i believe that's been mistaken by some is believing that we are
005teaching critical race theory to students let me set the record very straight and very clear tonight westchester area school district does not have a course or unit of study called critical race theory it does not teach critical race theory this is not part of the pennsylvania curriculum standards and we do follow those state standards critical race theory should not be confused with the fact that race and other identifiers have had a historical impact on our country for example history can't be taught without mentioning how gender ethnicity race religion and or social systems have impacted our citizens for example the american revolution civil war women's suffrages the americans disabilities act that's what i meant in my comments again i apologize if there was any confusion some components of critical race theory are controversial and concerns about
006whether it's being taught in schools have swept the country during the 2021 school year it's not the first time our country and community has had to address a controversial issue and it won't be the last we posted information on our website earlier today regarding misconceptions about equity and education in the westchester area school district our administration believes very strongly in equity in education and we've been practicing this for years for years this was not controversial and it was not political nor should it be we're not trying to make students feel guilty about something their ancestors did or didn't do or feel guilty about the color of their skin we're simply trying to provide every student with the resources they need to succeed and an opportunity to feel a sense of respect safety involvement and belonging
007regardless of the color of their skin or any other identifier the westchester community has historically been part of conversations to discuss issues in a very civilized manner one of dr martin luther king's final books was called where do we go from here chaos or community and our district will be hosting a community conversation about equity and it will be called where do we go from here chaos or community it'll be held on thursday evening september 9th at 6 30 pm at byrd ruston high school our new superintendent dr bob sokolowski and our director of equity and assessment ms dawn matter are scheduling a planning session in august to prepare for this very important conversation they will they will be reaching out to people to help with that planning process another topic is mass guidance for
008the summer and fall that we've heard about now the board did pass back in june it's summer uh program uh and mass guidance and and we are not changing that tonight the past two weeks we've seen varying guidance on masks and maybe you heard about all of that in the news lately as of now for our summer school programs the school district is requiring mass to be worn on school buses but they're optional in schools now we do recommend those who are not vaccinated to wear a mask and some kids are doing that with only one week left in summer school we've had no reported cases of covet in our program dr sokolowski and the other superintendents in chester county are working closely with the health department to monitor any changes in in case counts
009infection rates and vaccination rates in chester county to determine if any modic modifications are going to need to be made to the health and safety plan for the fall and finally this is this is my final school board meeting as superintendent and it's been my honor and pleasure to serve this community the staff the students in our schools i want to thank the community which has been so supportive of our schools and also thank our incredibly dedicated parents for all the support over that time our gifted talented dedicated staff has been amazing always keeping the focus on children helping them achieve their personal best regardless of their race gender or religion as a parent in this school district i've seen firsthand how our teachers can make a real difference in the lives of our students
010they've done that for my children our administrators are in my opinion some of the most dedicated and hardworking people i know they led the district through many challenging times especially during this last year's pandemic i spent a lot of time with our central office cabinet members and my assistant linda cherashore they have become a second family to me i've worked with 46 different school board members over those 12 years and some of them i see are here this evening i thank all of them for volunteering their time to serve our community as school board members are not paid positions and they have to make very very critical decisions for our students the current board has been in place and together just about for the past four years that makes you the longest tenured group of
011people during my 12 years while the views on this board are often very diverse you've come together collaboratively you've been respectful you've worked together for for the good of our students in our community we've had a very difficult conversations over the years and we've had difficult votes on challenging topics such as later start times redistricting approving new school renovations of schools health and safety plans bargaining unit contracts school budgets legal matters and many many other things to linda cherishore my assistant and our board secretary she's kept us all in line she's so organized that none of us ever had to worry about materials being not being ready or website information not being posted thanks for your organization and ability to keep us all human with your creativity and your sense of humor i will miss
012linda very much carol deluca our assistant board secretary keeping the agendas on the screen and pr and from the processor of all the right to know requests that we receive in this school board this was a record year for those processed for those requests many of which were repetitive thanks for your calm demeanor and your ability to treat everyone with respect mr durnell you brought a calming intellectual perspective to some very difficult conversations you're very visible in the community and you're visible to many of our students at student events thanks for your service to our community mr galland i've enjoyed our conversations about trips to tennessee in fact we had one earlier this evening and i may have some more time for those fishing trips uh you brought a keen fiscal lens to the property
013and finance committee something that's extremely important to our community and our taxpayers who are paying the bill for all the wonderful programs here to dr herman you have a long history with our school district as you served as a teacher and this background has helped us remind us that at the end of the day it's the classroom teacher that delivers the instruction to our students not the school board and the administrators that perspective is invaluable miss chester i met you before you were even on the board and you too are visible in the community in fact everywhere i go when people find out i work for the district people ask me if i know joyce chester i've enjoyed our courageous conversations about equity over the years and i admire your dedication to this community mr
014spakman i first met you through your father as he and i were members of the westchester rotary club i've enjoyed our conversations about the farm and we love seeing you as a historic reenactor talking to students in our schools and keeping this region's very important history alive thanks for your leadership in our community dr shaw i remember meeting you and talking to you about the lunacy of standardized tests before you were even a school board member you've always been fair and honest in fact that was at a time you were running one of the clubs during one of the years where we were working without a teacher contract and you were volunteering to help there thanks for your voice in harrisburg on the issues that need to be addressed with public education mr bevalako i
015met you in 2009 when you were you volunteered to be part of the community budget task force remember remember that that committee uh and we had to trim eight million dollars from our budget due to the great recession that was coming in two thousand ten i thank you for your calm and stable approach to solving problems in your keen fiscal sense as the chair of our property and finance committee mr mccune you've served as board president for the past five years and we've had to navigate many great days such as infusing five hundred thousand dollars to operate a full day kindergarten program i believe your quote that night was this is an investment in our children and our future that investment paid off as a year later we saw a 30 increase in reading scores
016and a return of 2.3 million dollars in charter school tuitions making this program change the best academically and financially for the school district in my 12 years thanks for your business-like approach to operating our district you look at the financial lens but as a parent your first priority centers on what is best for the kids ms tiernon not only have you served on the board for 10 years but you graduated from the school district worked in the school district as a teacher and administrator and your father with whom the district office is named after ozzie spellman was a long time president of the school board back in the 60s when eight municipalities had to consolidate to become the westchester area school district in 1966. you're invested in the school system at the deepest level and
017i thank you for your wisdom your history your sense of humor your support and your steadfast leadership always looking out for the best interest of children we all know the phrase it takes a village to raise a child which is actually an african proverb but this board has been the village people of leaders serving in the best interest of all children thanks for allowing me to be part of that village and this journey it's truly been the highest honor of my entire professional career now my wife is not here tonight she's home with our kids but i want to thank her for being an amazing partner during this time she's taken most of the majority of the parenting responsibilities while also working herself so that i could focus most of my attention on the school
018district i'm very much looking forward to having some more time with my kids and my family but what impresses me the most about this school district is the way the community steps up to help children in need whether it's donating for a cause fundraising program through ptos or any other community group or donating time to help children and families parents here and businesses here care very deeply for not only their own children but for all the children we have many different opinions but ultimately we're all dedicated to the students success we all want every student and every family to thrive i firmly believe we have to build from that common goal and that concludes my report that's that's a tough act to follow there uh thank you dr scanlon for your final uh full board
019report on behalf of the current and former board members i want to express our sincerest gratitude for your 12 years of dedicated service and unwavering commitment to the westchester area school district under your stewardship the district has flourished reaching new heights as measured by any and all standards you have always put the students and taxpayers of the district first you have been a truly exceptional leader in our community and your steady hand and calming voice will be missed personally i have greatly enjoyed and learned much from you over the last eight years working together i will always admire your tireless tireless work ethic emotional intelligence and the ability to effectively communicate now i'd like to open the floor uh to my fellow board members who have comments maybe even a little bit of roasting here
020so i will start on the end with mr bevel aqua yes jim i enjoyed working with you on all the committees both as an active engaged parent and also the last eight years as a school board member uh one of my favorites was was working with you with the uh the redistricting in two different times during that time span and uh working with the parents that are very engaged and passionate and they were kind of interesting and challenging times your strong work ethic your excellent communication your highly regarded reputation within and outside our district your respect from the administration the staff the teachers the students and the families is unprecedented your passion for public education is evident in all discussions and all strategic decisions you've made in the tenure with our district your leadership and
021vision for our district has continued to move the district in the right direction and placed our district in a solid position for the future we wish you the best in retirement more quality time with the family and any future endeavors thank you jim thank you mr roblox dr shaw it has been a pleasure and an honor to work with you jim um and to be led by your example of full integrity as well as always infusing a good laugh when we need one so that we know that we don't always need to take ourselves so seriously one of the things i've been most impressed with is your continued capacity to be thinking about the strategic long-term direction of the district so it's one thing to make sure the trains are running on time and many
022superintendents are focused on that but jim you have been consistently focused on thinking long-term how are we going to strengthen this district so whether it was full day kindergarten or creating our own cyber school that is so much better than the other cybers that are out there to knowing when it was time to to you know build a new building to creating the new position of director of diversity equity inclusion all of these things are examples of the ways in which you have planted seeds for us that are going to grow and reap benefits for us long before i mean long after you stepped down and so i just want to thank you for your vision and for your integrity and to let you know i'm going to miss you but you deserve a good
023long retirement you dr shaw miss chester jim you always give me that look what is she going to say i i first of all i just i just like to say thank you for all that you do to inspire our children to be their personal best you know how important the mission is to me and you must have heard me say the mission 92 thousand times since i've been on this uh on this board so i'd like to say thank you and i am amazed at how you know back in my advertising days i learned that i had to have thick skin in order to take a lot of the jabs and be vulnerable to those that i was exposing myself to and the same with you we i know uh and you do it
024with such grace dignity and a smile and still maintain your humor which i find absolutely incredible you don't waver from that i know when i reflect on decisions some of which we have agreed on others which we have not we have done so with respect and with the caring and looking at what's in it for our children and i think that's what we should be doing as a board so i'm hoping that you find rest after you for a couple of days enjoy your you know you won't have 12 000 children to look after you'll have a few less so take a little time to rest and then come bring your energy back to the world because we need you and while i don't feel that it is my um it is my my responsibility
025or my uh to to judge you on the basis of your character i do respect you on the basis of your character i respect uh what you have done for the district i respect learning what i have about you in the last eight years and working with you during that time thank you so much for all you've done and may your retirement be wonderful thank you miss chester dr herman thank you jim for your 12 years as superintendent in the westchester area school district your leadership is beyond anything i have ever seen over my 36 years of teaching and the six years that i've been on the school board i am most impressed with your integrity and your concern about all of our students every student always came first to you in your tenure as
026superintendent your insight and creativity coupled with your dedication has enabled you to lead the way to make our school district not only the very best one of the best in pennsylvania but one of the best in the nation although you have reached an incredible level of success you have remained very humble and we are all very proud of you i wish you everything the best for you and your family it has been an honor to work with you and i will miss you thank you for everything you've done for everyone in this school district thank you dr herman mrs tiernan a little over a decade ago a young tall jim and his wife beth arrived with six-month-old dean and two years 27 months later were surprised by the arrival of grant so here was a
027new young family in our community and jim right away veered from what i had ever seen a superintendent do when we had a budget crisis he said well let's get the community in here to talk about this let's work on this together let's be sure everybody who wants to has a chance to say and think about and look at the data and come to a conclusion and so over months of work the budget was cut back and everybody in the community who had any interest in understanding it had the opportunity to come and nothing was kept back no data was hidden that was the way he ran the district from that time forward so it has been a privilege for me to serve as you led the district the depth and breadth of your experience
028your vision your comprehension of teaching and learning and your genuine regard and concern for our students whether you're jump roping or talking about some chemical formula makes you an extraordinary leader so we are fortunate right now though we have to say goodbye to you to have dr sokolowski and dr reynolds who are going to be taking the baton from you as you take that lap around to lead us into the next decade so i joined everyone else in saying thank you from the bottom of my heart thank you mr steering mr gallon yes well i've only had the opportunity to work with jim for the last four years but i've always found them to have uh this is sincere concern for the students the families and the staff that make up the district he's been
029a tremendous presence in all of our buildings and his dedication and commitment to our district has been unparalleled jim you represented the district with honor integrity during your time as superintendent you've shown great leadership determination and transparency in all that you do especially over the last 18 months when we were going during our transition to virtual learning and then back again so on behalf of the students the parents our community i want to thank you for your service your sacrifice and for all that you've done at the helm of the district and i wish you and your family all the best and i wish you to be able to sleep in on snow days thank you mr gallon mr speakman yes uh thank you as jim said i've known him for quite some time i
030was first starting at the district and all and i've learned him to be a very sincere loyal friend he's always there when you need him he's a good he's a good ear to listen to he'll listen to you and your concerns um i was always very impressed one thing is jim you are always so positive with many situations i remember going on one of the school tours and we did that jump rope thing i think it was uh karen and i and you did amazing and you're like come on randall you can you can do you could be a jump rope star so i was like you know after every little hemming and hauling you know what all right if if dr scanlon says i can do this i can do this so for those
031three revolutions i was a jump rope star because he said i could do it so but that's what happens that when you go into a room you're so honestly interested in the kids and the children and the programs i went on so many school tours and you can be in a first grade class a 10th grade class or whatever all the kids know there's doctor scanlon and and i don't know how you do it but you know their names i don't know my five kids names at certain times but they know who i'm talking about but you you know oh there's john there's ben there's this it's incredible the amount of time you still spend despite all the work you do on the hindsight you know you're in the schools you make yourself available to
032the parents and the students and the uh the teachers which i think is so important because you're not just in your office you're there actually in the classroom which is really how the district should run and does run because you get to see where the improvements and what we do how it affects everything so i just want to thank you for that and i'll always remember those three revolutions as a jump rope star thank you thank you mr speakman mr adele jim as i mentioned the other day i just consider myself very fortunate to have known you and worked with you as school board member number 46 you know i i feel like i got in just in time to get to see you in action and i appreciate your leadership there's so many things
033i echo everything that every other director has mentioned tonight but i just want to point out i really appreciate that although you are very experienced and educated you know i respect anybody that gets their doctorate i have a bachelor's and master's somebody who gets their doctor that's a lot of work and yet i feel comfortable calling you jim and that's that's just who you are uh when we you know even before i was on the school board if i wanted to chat with you afterwards you were always very welcoming and just you love to talk and i appreciate that i also appreciate the fact that you really have a good grasp of the big picture i've said in the whole on all these discussions about equity i said there's two groups of people people who
034feel like we've come a long way as far as equity and then there are those who feel like yeah but we have so much further to go you're in both camps because you really you really have seen our district through a lot of growth and a lot of uh progress as far as equity and yet you know we're not done and you continue to to encourage us in that in that direction and i appreciate that vision that you have and finally just the fact that you never talk down to people you don't you talk to people and you're a listener and you care about people our students have benefited our community has benefited i wish you and your family all the best in your retirement and thank you so much for the opportunity to learn
035from you thank you mr nell jim i will miss our late night and early morning conversations and if there's one thing that's etched in my mind six years ago when i was at the uh henderson graduation uh two young men carried dr scanlon off the field it was like they said that we've been waiting to do this for our entire time at the school and they did it that day and it showed how connected you have been just to almost every student in our building so thank you dr scanlan all right one big round of applause for dr scanlin again okay uh moving forward uh we have public comments on agenda items so i'm going to read a quick statement for everybody uh we have lots of people here tonight which is amazing so i
036imagine we probably have a lot of people also signed in to comment i ask everyone to respect all people's opinions whether you agree with them or not there are two opportunities for public comment the first opportunity is for actionable board items which is now the second which will be towards the end of the meeting is for all non-agenda comments please remember that as per our board policy participants must be residents or taxpayers in the district a district employee or district student participants must provide their name and full address before speaking you will have two minutes after that is all provided to start comments are limited again to two minutes this is not a time for public discussion but a time for comments to be made to the school board if anyone has a question the
037board will refer to the administration for follow-up for those speaking about equity this evening the administration is planning on holding a community conversation as dr scandin alluded to on thursday september 9th over at ruston high school i encourage all of you to attend that thank you in advance for hearing two of these guidelines miss jericho do we have anyone on agenda items no comments tonight on agenda items okay that will move us to approval of the personnel recommendations dr ulmer well good evening mr mccune mr tiernon and members of our board our personal report for the month of july is as follows the removals from payroll we have eight resignations one teacher one custodian two school counselors one caseworker two secretaries and one school psychologist we have no retirements this month with addition to payroll
038we are recommending the hiring of 14 new teachers and seven long-term substitute teachers we are also recommending the hiring of one staff nurse additionally we're recommending the hire of four custodians and one secretary furthermore we are recommending the hire of 15 temporary summer staff in personnel events i communicated one status change in our professional staff two status changes in support staff and three status changes in our custodial staff i communicated nine involuntary transfers in our professional staff eight voluntary transfers in our professional staff and three voluntary transfers in our support staff furthermore we're recommending two sabbaticals in the professional staff in our additional information we are updating one change in hours for a position three start date changes one sabbatical update and three salary adjustments we are also seeking approval for administrators salaries for the
039two 2021 2022 school year and merit performance performance bonuses for the 2021 2022 school year per our act 93 agreement in supplemental contracts we have nine additions to contracts for the fall season and six removals from fall contracts jim thank you for sitting through all my incredibly exciting personnel reports all these years we love you and we thank you for everything i'm respectfully requesting board approval for all personnel matters listed above thank you thank you dr ulmer i'll entertain a motion to approve first by dr herman seconded by mr bedlaqua any comments or questions same none roll call please mr short director director herman yes director bevel agua yes director shaw yes director gallon yes director chester yes director spacman yes director journal yes vice president tiernan yes president mccune yes thank you miss chairshore
040okay that will move us to the approval of the consent agenda i've not been approached by anyone to remove anything but i will pause and see if there's anyone who wants to remove any items seeing that i'll entertain entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda first by mr gallon second by mr dornell any additional comments or questions seeing none real call mr director gallon yes director journal yes vice president tiernon yes director chester yes director shaw yes director spockman yes director herman yes director bevalaqua yes president mccoon yes thank you mr all right that will move us to our committee reports obviously july is a slow month for committee meetings there's a lot going on but not committee reports because i think maybe short here but we'll start off with education and mrs tiernan
041there are two consent agenda items and uh we did not meet in july so we look forward to seeing everyone in august thank you mrs tiernan ups next is people services in mrs chester pupil services committee also did not meet in july so we look forward to seeing you all in august thank you miss chester up next is personnel and dr herman um dr ulmer and i have met in person the past few months it's nice to see each other again um personnel meeting is always very informative very positive and very thorough so thank you thank you dr herman up next is property of finance and mr viva aqua yo good evening we didn't have a property finance meeting in july either our next property and finance meeting will be on august 23rd just prior
042to the school board meeting that's all i had for tonight thank you thank you mr revlacqua that will make us to our additional reports up first is the intermediate unit and mrs tiernan the intermediate unit had off in july just as we did so there's no report tonight thank you mrs tiernan psba report dr herman thank you mr mccune in 2021 october we have a delegate assembly meeting the psba delegate assembly is an association-wide business meeting that includes platform and bylaws consideration financial updates and leadership election results mrs tiernon and i have volunteered to be the voting delegates for this year thank you this concludes my report thank you dr herman appreciate you and mrs tiernon taking that one on all right up next is the legislative liaison report and dr shaw nothing to report
043tonight thank you dr shaw i will kick it down to mr dinell and the equity report just a brief report tonight just to remind everybody of the meeting that dr scanlon mentioned about on september 9th 6 30 at ruston a community conversation everybody's welcome to be there and participate i also mentioned that as an ongoing effort to support the hiring of diverse teaching candidates this year the district has participated in the 16th annual delaware valley consortium for excellence and equity educators of color recruitment fair the hiring process in the district is still ongoing jason tom thompson site coordinator and staff for the jump start program has been working this summer to provide responsive and engaging programming for over 200 english learner students as noted in the daily local and on the district website the program
044formed partnerships tailored instruction collaborated with community resources taken students on external field trips and send all students home with food and translated recipes each week most importantly the staff has worked to give students a positive school experience and a jump start to the next school year please check out the district website for more information about the great things happening in the jump start program thank you mister darnell and up next is the community liaison report thank you it's been a quiet month as well but i will say that today i was at uh stetson for some of the uh tourists from the stark weather students moving up and all of my daughter and the excitement in the school and all was amazing the community is really getting a sense of uh summer summers is here
045but they're actually really excited to get back in school and also the energy was really incredible at the school today so but there's many more things happening this fall i can see you guys in too thank you mr spacman all right we do have one item under other business dr herman i believe you have a motion to make assistant superintendent for the westchester area school district for a four year and ten month term beginning on august 30th 2021 and ending on june 30th 2026. thank you dr herman can i get a second second bye miss chester any uh comments or questions seeing them i'll ask for a will call please dr director herman yes director chester yes director turn now yes director gallon yes director spackman yes director shaw yes vice president tiernon yes president
046what's up director bevel aqua yes director mccoon yes president sorry excuse me no knowers titles don't matter uh dr reynolds we are very excited and and fortunate to have you joining our team i believe dr scanlan wants to make some remarks here sure yeah doc dr reynolds comes to us from the app equinemex school district in delaware the search uh we we cast a national net on this search we had 41 applicants for the position uh dr reynolds has experience in a large district of twelve thousand students in delaware is currently serving as their director teaching learning k-12 has a very impressive resume in terms of work that she's done in her schools for for the good of student achievement i think she and dr sokolowski are going to make an excellent team moving this
047school district forward her husband shanta is here tonight shanta thanks for for joining us and dr reynolds kalia reynolds congratulations we look forward to great things all right i'm not going to read the same statement i just read earlier but we have public comments we're up to now on non-agenda items so again just ask for everyone's respect allow people to speak we do have a two-minute time limit again just asking to state your name and your full address before you get going you'll get your full two minutes so with that said ms cherisher jill dunscombe hello my name is jill dunscombe we moved to westchester area school district in 1996 for the excellent schools my children went to glen across fugit and east graduating in 2015 and 2017. they received a top-notch education and have
048now graduated one from university of delaware and one from temple university additionally i've been employed by our district as a teacher in 2004 i started teaching in henderson high school and i moved to ruston when it opened i am very proud of our district i am speaking today in support of the district equity leadership team and specifically to support dawn mater the directory the director of equity and assessment dominance's assistant principal at ruston when i was there she's an empathetic person an excellent administrator during seventh period lunch duty at ruston high school dawn and i spent many hours in the cafeteria together dawn cares about her students and showed in her actions she would address each student by name and ask questions about school or sports or home and show interest in each of them
049as a whole person students responded warmly to her felt heard and supported by her i have sat in many iep meetings with dawn along with several other teachers counselors parents guardians and the students themselves we work as a team to create the best individual learning environment for each student as you can imagine these meetings could sometimes be challenging dawn is adept at listening to and actually hearing and addressing the needs of parents guardians and students the district activity equity leadership team is important for all students as a district we need to consider and a culturally balanced curriculum for all students and work to identify gaps in our equity gaps and find ways to address those gaps i am proud that i had the opportunity to get to know dawn mater i am proud that you
050the school board chose her as our first director of equity and assessment and i hope that you the people in this room as well as people in the district get to know her as i have known her please trust her listen to her work with her and support her in her vital role in guiding teaching and encouraging advocating for the students in the westchester area school district thank you and again just a reminder uh when when you step up the name and full address that's the board policy thank you alan oliver a line oliver 724 westcroft plays westchester pa so thank you i feel really good because last month when i had an opportunity to present to the board or speak to the board i suggested let's hold an equity session and so you're holding
051that so i don't want to overplay my hand but i want to say thanks thanks for listening i also want to ask like two questions at the equity session why do we choose equity as opposed to equality of opportunity or perhaps why don't we choose or why do we not choose the foundational building block of education being to inspire learning and the love of learning in our children for me equity and equality of opportunity are two vastly different things allow me an example imagine a beautiful field of flowers flowers of every possible form and combination those flowers represent our children what every parent wants is for their flower and all flowers to be watered and nourished by our schools in order for every child to achieve their foolish but to achieve their full potential we
052know that some flowers require more water and attention and we want to make sure that they get all the resources they need in my opinion that's the true definition of equality of opportunity to ensure a stable and level playing field what is equity equity unfortunately is a lawnmower equity will cut down the entire field of flowers and eliminate all differences and disparities and proclaim we have solved the problem we have closed the learning glap that's wrong equity most downs mows down individuals it does not lift them up the only forces that make everyone equal are destructive by nature illiteracy poverty tyranny we do not want that we do not want cuba we do not want north korea we do not want venezuela here equity leads to ruin i look forward to this conversation thank you
053for your time carolyn chester good evening my name is carolyn chester and my address is 111 fur avenue westchester pennsylvania i am a taxpayer mother of three adopted children who needed this who needed special education in the westchester school district i'm a daughter i'm a friend neighbor and i'm a voter i'm coming to you today to ask the westchester area school district to continue your efforts to provide to the children of this community a well-rounded educational experience this includes making sure that in social studies and in history all children regardless of their faith ethnic background or place of birth learned the history of the many gr groups that have my immigrated to this country and the indigenous groups that were here before the mayflower how's that i want our children to be future citizens to
054know as much as possible about the people who live in this country and this world our children must be prepared to function in our society and to be able to communicate and work alongside people of various backgrounds and histories i want them to learn to be excellent citizens of this country and world no matter where they land when finished with the westchester area school district please do more on another matter i am also pleading with you to follow the cdc guidelines regarding covet in addition i feel that vaccines should be required by everyone who can receive them now and in the future should be required of all ages in the meantime although difficult all should be required to wear masks and those not willing to be able to receive their education at home i am
055asking that you provide the most sick the most safety measures possible that that's time i'm sorry i'm almost finished it's the policy that's a good good statement but thank you we got to move on to the next person um man we need to move on to the next person with all due respect excuse me i said we need to move on to the next person with all due respect okay and my last statement is i plan to attend the community workshop in september thank you muhammad low good evening my name is mohammed low and although i live in east fallowfield township which is not in this school district i was a teacher in this district for 30 years from 1979 2 29 of those years were as a teacher of the gifted 26 of those
056in the old middle school gifted program probe in the last three years as the teacher of gifted at ruston high school named in honor of the westchester civil rights leader my great-grandparents immigrated to america from western europe and england in the 1890s so my ancestors were not brought to this country in chains on a slave ship to be sold at auction my ancestors were not taken from their families as children and sent to residential schools where they were stripped of their language their beliefs and their culture my ancestors were not put in internment camps during world war ii my ancestors were not told where they could live and where they couldn't they were not redlined when i turned 16 and my father taught me how to drive he didn't have to say to me if
057you're stopped by the police keep your hands in plain sight and don't make any sudden moves in fact keep your hands on the wheel so in short i'm a product of white privilege what i have experienced based solely on the color of my skin is not equity it is not justice to quote one of my heroes bobby kennedy each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope thank you jessica keough okay good evening my name is jessica keough my address is 275 canterbury drive in westchester my name is jessica kyo and i'm a community member and a special education teacher in this district i thought the topic of equity is perfect for this evening
058as today we celebrate the 31st anniversary of the signing of the americans with disabilities act as we consider equity inclusion and diversity please consider that fair is not always equal each of our students needs something different in order to achieve their personal best our westchester area school district mission statement for example it's quite evident that i use a power wheelchair to navigate the world around me and let me assure you that no matter how hard i try i'm not getting up those stairs this is something that i need to achieve my best equity provides what is needed for each child and yes it's not always equal our job as educators is to educate all students and i thank the district for your commitment to excellence i'll leave you with this quote from the late poet
059maddie stefanik we have we are a mosaic of gifts to nurture to offer to accept thank you sandra shaw good evening and thank you for allowing me to speak my name is sandra shall i live at 606 west chestnut street in the borough of westchester i want to thank the westchester area school district school board administrators for their commitment to equity and culturally relevant teaching and curriculum i have lived in the school district for a long time my son went through the schools here received an excellent education at hillsdale stetson and ruston high school however a good part of what i appreciate about the westchester equity mission comes from having taught in school districts for nearly 40 years that do not have a history of focusing on equity and did not have a an ongoing
060well-organized approach to ensuring equity in the school district in a district with a very diverse student body most and mostly white teachers the teachers approached their students with very good intentions but did not fully understand the reality of the lives of their students or many of the needs that their students had both students and teachers struggled to truly understand each other and teachers struggled to provide robust academic experiences um that were relevant to all of their students it wasn't lack of will it wasn't lack of clarity caring but it was a lack of understanding and knowledge the kind of ongoing equity program that westchester provides would have made a world of difference for both the teachers and the students with whom i worked so i again thank you for your emphasis on equity and culturally
061relevant teaching and curriculum and look forward to seeing these programs develop for further in the future thank you joanne your check good evening my name is joanne your check i live at 1397 springton lane it is the responsibility of a school district to provide an education that matches and enhances every student's unique talents and abilities using equity for course placement can present problems for those in all ranges of the academic spectrum the outcome of admitting unqualified students into upper level classes on the basis of equity is predictable most will struggle resulting in a loss in self-esteem course content will ultimately be diluted and academic integrity compromised qualified students will be prevented from attaining their fullest potential placement in upper level classes should require student student evaluations based on their past performance in related courses their
062potential to succeed and their work ethic race or sex is irrelevant highly qualified and competent counselors in consultation with knowledgeable teachers can assess students abilities in this regard it is educationally unsound to use equity as a sole criterion for admittance into upper level classes as a require retired college teacher i've always supported public education and have never objected to reasonable school tax increases as long as academics is a top priority considering the excessive resources that westchester currently dedicates to diversity equity and inclusion this no longer seems to be the case i suggest that you redirect the time and money you are spending in dei initiatives productive joanne i apologize thank you for your comments academic academics has to be your top priority sarah henkel good evening my name is sarah hinkle i live at 1038
063harem and court westchester i stand before you tonight as a 25-year educator an anti-racist and the mother of a child who will be attending the school dis school in the district for the first time as a first grader first i wholeheartedly support the district's equity mission and goals as a parent of a white child i'm not interested in my son being offered a whitewashed curriculum as i and so many of us experienced growing up it's a disgrace that i only learned of such things as juneteenth and the tulsa massacre as a middle-aged adult i do not want the same thing for my child the only way to dismantle systemic racism is to provide an honest and factual teaching of our history so we can learn from it and do better this can be done in
064age-appropriate ways at every education level please count me as an ally and partner in supporting and implementing your diversity equity and inclusion goals second though my child did not attend school in the district last year i watched with interest as you made difficult decisions in response to the kovit 19 pandemic i applaud your efforts to make database decisions to keep our children and communities safe i implore you to continue in that vein the aap has rebecca has recommended universal mask wearing for students and staff this fall my son attended in-person kindergarten last year and everyone wore a mask daily there was nothing harmful or satanic about this his teacher admitted that though she worried about her ability to connect with her young marine students the class had an amazing connection i want my son to
065have an in-person education but he remains vulnerable and at risk if he's forced to be exposed to children whose parents choose not to mask them please follow the advice of the experts and require universal mask wearing this fall thank you so much jude bennett johnson hi my name is jude bennett johnson i live at 1035 fernhill road westchester and i'm going into 10th grade here at east high school i would like to thank the school board for keeping the initiative of teaching diverse history in our classrooms in my household we have tried to keep the mentality of teaching not only white history but all history so that i as well as my younger brother can use it to better understand the world around us the teaching of diverse history has not made me feel like
066any of the bad things that white people have done in the past are my fault but has helped me understand how those events have affected us all i hope we continue prioritizing diverse history throughout our schools thank you dean johnson okay come down sir good evening my name is dean johnson i live at 1035 fern hill road westchester pennsylvania and i wanted to take this time and opportunity to thank the board and the educators in our district for continuing their initiatives for diversity equity and inclusion this is a very important topic for a variety of reasons which have already been considered and i will not elaborate further i have heard over the course of the last few weeks some misquoting of dr king and i just wanted to remind us that in one of his
067best and under-appreciated speeches in 1968 he called us to a revolution of values and dei is just that paying attention to what's going on around us tracking the history that we see being honest and including everyone and i think as an educator one of the things that i try to enforce in my classroom spaces and that i appreciate is happening in the westchester area school district is not confusing a sense of being uncomfortable or anxious when talking talking about a topic with or confusing that as doing something bad or something that we shouldn't be doing so again thank you all for your continued work in this area erin travis hi good evening erin travis 304 south walnut street in the borough of west chester i'm the proud parent of two westchester school district students and
068i applaud the equity work of our district some people may ask why is a small group opposing this work now work that has been going on for the past 14 years now it is normal and appropriate to have questions about your children's education but we must find the answers to those questions in the information about what the district is actually doing not from tucker carlson not from inaccurate and over fi oversimplified analogies and not from political action committees i believe the district has kept its promise to provide transparency to parents as we work through these equity issues volumes of information are available on the website i spent the last 48 hours reviewing it you can find misconceptions admission and belief statements and timeline policies and procedures and specific curriculum enhancements despite this volume of information
069some may feel a small group feels that somehow white children are going to be made to feel bad this is simply not true and if you read the policies and procedure document it includes specific guidelines for classroom discussions so i encourage you the district has done its job to provide information it's now our job to have evidence-based discussions that are grounded in reality take a look at what the district is doing and ask your kids i did i asked my 13 year old if she was ever made to feel bad because of her white skin she said nope she said she liked learning about different perspectives i asked her why she said i have friends of color and we're all human plus you get to learn about strong women like harriet tubman and then she
070said you know we need to keep hearing these stories because we have to be able to correct our mistakes and for clarification i said define we and she simply said the next generation so thank you for hearing me out i applaud your work keep going nancy hi my name is hold on one second you'll go to the end the end of the list yes because there's an order already we'll add your name to the list we'll add your name to the list but you're at the end of it so all right thank you nancy busserie good evening and and thank you my name is nancy busari and i live at 1259 oakmont court in westchester and i want to thank you dr scanlon for your remarks opening up that's very very helpful information i'm a
071product of public education and have a master's degree from penn state my late husband taught public high school and served as his union president so i have a deep appreciation and respect for the value of public education and the hard work that you do as educators but i am here because i do want to just make my voice heard on my concern as a taxpayer for what may be not yet permeating through the westchester area school district but i am still concerned about this issue of critical race theory as being necessary to understanding our nation's history i'd like to share recent remarks from noted black civil rights leader bob woodson who says that suggesting that whites possess all the power to improve the lives of black americans who are struggling today is profoundly infantilizing it
072offers a cocktail of victimhood and hopelessness that never has nor will fix the inequities it claims to address but he also writes that america is about the free competition of ideas so critical race theory should neither be banned nor um implemented as fact it should instead be debated and scrutinized at the end of the day critical race theory is just that it's a theory and so it should remain as a theory in our school districts from newsweek magazine a columnist professor amy wax from the university of pennsylvania law school and richard vader a distinguished professor emeritus from ohio university writes that parents and teachers must unite in unequivocally rejecting the illiberal and pernicious notion that the repudiation of critical race theory is itself a form of impermissible racism they go on uh to write that
073bringing different points of view into this discussion about the role of slavery discrimination and racism thank you for your comments thank you [Applause] jody no rocky hi i'm jody naraki and i live at 1025 goodwin lane in westchester i'm here today to represent 300 and counting westchester parents and constituents that have signed a petition to urge you to reconsider masks being required for all children teachers and staff in the westchester area school district with medical and developmental exemptions this is a new ball game with the delta variant children under 12 cannot be vaccinated studies in the uk show that 50 percent of children who had delta have long covered long-term covet vaccines reduce the chance of hospitalization and death but do not prevent the spread 100 percent and we have our children in schools we
074believe that the best place for children is in school it's imperative that we provide a safe and consistent place for learning thank you for the excellent job that you all did last year in keeping our children safe uh miss jericho maybe we should call two at a time so that way we can stage them save some some time there if you don't mind we'll have one person speak and then one person sit down the front row there okay that's what he would say megan recob and lynn strauss please okay my name is megan rykob i live at 1337 park avenue 19380. as a parent of a child with an iep i'm alarmed at the rhetoric against social emotional learning equity and education is meeting the student where they are and ensuring they have the resources
075to access their education this applies to everything from cognitive to cultural differences i support our district's equity mission and goals the attacks on equity and sel unjustly erase the experiences of the students who need it special education should be called accessible education it's more accurate there's nothing special about what these students receive the intention of differentiating instruction ieps and 504s is to make school settings and curriculum accessible to students accessible is equitable my autistic child has taken a class called strategies with the incredible miss carney massey a provision of his iep that is described as designed specifically to meet individual social interaction and emotional regulation needs social emotional learning has helped my child build and develop self-awareness personal responsibility and relationship skills part of his class is to better understand neurotypical peers and educators in
076so many ways disabled students are expected to adapt to the world as it is but how amazing would it be if there were a little more reciprocal accommodation all students can benefit from social emotional learning because inclusion requires understanding and empathy of differences it's fitting today is the 31st anniversary of the ada a civil rights landmark we can celebrate by enthusiastically promoting inclusion diversity is a fact equity is an act inclusion is a choice thank you and may you always prioritize that choice as a board also thank you and welcome dr reynolds thank you dr scanlon and i'm looking forward to dr sokolowski being our new superintendent lynn strauss greystone drive all three of my children have already graduated from the westchester area school district they went here from k through 12. i never imagined
077i would head attend a school board meeting after my children graduated i didn't attend barely except for i think once or twice while they were here but i do think we all agree on more than we think we all want our kids to go to school and learn to their best of their abilities we all want our kids to go to school and be physically and psychologically safe we all want schools to foster an atmosphere where all kids are healthy and strong as possible we all want our children to be critical thinkers and to analyze accurate texts and determine their meeting as far as dei diversity our schools are diverse because westchester area school district is diverse public schools must educate all the children in the district equity and inclusion we all know children do
078not start life with the same hand dealt with them we all agree schools should provide free appropriate public education that ensures education and related services are designed to meet individual needs whether some children need more because of systemic racism language barriers physical condition none of us want to hold that child back we all want the same things we all want our children to succeed we all want dei as far as covid we do not know the medical condition of the students in all their classes because of that we need to take care of the children in all the classes that means that people should wear masks and they should have vaccines if they are able but not all students are able to have vaccines under 12 year olds cannot get vaccines if you feel you
079are pro-life you should be pro-mask and pro-vaccine grow life [Applause] and alexis cooper dr beth ann rossica 338 west minor street i was pleased last month when the board voted to approve the health and safety plan making masks optional for students and staff last week i contacted the pennsylvania department of education to confirm that there would be no requirements for mitigation measures for this school year they clearly confirmed that it is up to each district to make its own decisions i have shared the full email with dr sokolowski but i will read a few of the high points from the email now since we are dealing with recommendations this year there will be no attestation process in place at this time for the upcoming school year ultimately it is the responsibility of each school entity
080in pennsylvania to decide all of which should be included in their health and safety plan as a parent it is my responsibility to make decisions about whether my child wears a mask to school regardless of their vaccination status it is not the school district's responsibility nor any other governmental agency's responsibility to make that decision for my family i would like to remind the board that many of last year's mitigation efforts have been proven to be ineffective including wearing masks outside deep cleaning plexiglas barriers and ultimately the wearing of masks at school a local physician who resides in our district shared this insight with me when i asked him about the need for masks for school-age children his comment was children are at risk for feckless actions that are marginally effective in mitigating the effects of
081the covid virus the bottom line is that the cure is worse than the disease this is especially true for school-age children i am happy to share references to support this perspective i implore the board to stick with the currently approved health and safety plan and allow parents and teachers and staff to make their own decision about what is in their best interest i fully support any parent's right to send their child to school with a mask and i am simply asking for the same consideration thank you alexis cooper 1010 olivia court um kind of somewhere what beth was saying my hope which i know is shared by many parents in our community is that school once again becomes a place of learning socializing having fun strengthening community pride within each school and not this hyper
082focus on children spreading germs i understand the need for a health and safety plan especially when cold and flu season is upon us can this district find an approach that balances the needs of its students and staff without punitive measures such as prolonged quarantines can the district also let parents make the call on whether or not to mask our children as we know our kids better than anyone and what they need in order to thrive the school year is crucial the school year is crucial for learning considering the endless interruptions over the past two academic years can the district have a mental health goal of reducing the anxiety that is plaguing our students please let them be kids and retrain their minds to see if there is life outside of covid and if us adults
083can provide a sense of normalcy for them hope for a carefree childhood will be restored thank you [Applause] aidan nestor and nancy wood hi my name is aydah nestor i live at 1216 gallery gale road 19380. our state emergency ended in june the recommendations are just that recommendations they are not mandates they are not laws that have been passed children are not disease vectors they have an over 99.998 percent survival rate from this virus masks do not prevent the spread of covid19 as it says on the boxes i am in possession of over studies that prove from 2021 back to as long ago as 2005. that masks especially cloth masks do not prevent the spread of flu viruses or influenza viruses or covid19 as it stands our children should not be forced to wear masks
084to attend school they should not have to be on the bus which just out of curiosity are our school buses public transportation are parents allowed to hop on the bus and ride it to exton elementary and go to old navy no it's a privately contracted setup right between the school district and the school buses that transport them so i don't understand why children are being forced to wear masks right now on a bus i've heard from numerous parents who have been very upset that their children have come home with soaking wet masks on their faces from sitting on a bus with no air conditioning and just open windows that is a health risk and it's not acceptable our emergency ended in june there is no state of emergency for covet i hope that you take
085those things into consideration even though i understand you're under immense pressure to re-mask our children for this school year i hope that you choose not to do that thank you nancy wood 300 shop shire drive 19382 my four children range from grades 1 to 10 with a combined 24 educational years in this district and counting i know that's not the district record but we sure have days when it feels like it is after hearing scary claims that our district's curriculum indoctrinates students to feel guilty for being white and to hate their country i asked each of my kids what they have been taught my first grader told me how martin luther king was killed because he fought for equal rights my fourth grader brought up pennsylvania's native americans she said william penn treated the lennopy
086tribe fairly but after his death his sons cheated the tribe and stole their land my sixth grader described the berlin conference of the 1800s where european leaders negotiated the colonization of africa with no representation from african leaders causing long-term instability and conflict across the continent my 10th grader mentioned reading a raisin in the sun and described how racial housing segregation and redlining in the 1950s prevented the main characters from achieving their dreams when i asked my kids if they have ever been made to feel guilty or taught to hate their country or told that they are oppressors because they are white i got confused stares and outright laughter our community has heard the noisy accusations and politicization of the anti-crt movement but we have yet to see any evidence of a curriculum that indoctrinates students
087the supposed smoking guns presented thus far have been anecdotal or misinformed at best and misleading at worst let's be real wcasd's curriculum is not the radical marxist program of indoctrination that some are hoping parents will fear this is a mainstream curriculum using age-appropriate factual materials in alignment with state academic standards and the data-driven equity mission uses real evidence of what is actually happening in our schools our community has plenty of real problems to solve we don't have time for manufactured ones thank you john mcdonald torrey mcdonald hey guys john mcdonald at 803 north walnut street west chester borough diversity equity inclusion it sounds nice kind of like puppies and ice cream however the hard truth is that these are code words or euphemisms for division hatred and marxism not sure what it's going to take
088for folks here to really understand this but i guess you can lead a horse to water but you can't force them to drink from it diversity and inclusion happen naturally and organically amongst godly people you don't need to teach it or force it upon anyone let alone our most treasured and naive population our children and if anyone is in favor of pushing this equity agenda or advancing it i'm telling you right now you're going about it the wrong way none of this advance is a positive or meaningful policy it just drives a wedge between us you really want results you want true equity then how about getting behind school choice policies let the money follow the student let families have a choice where their children go that my friends is how you achieve this goal
089but the truth is the teachers unions do not want that politicians do not want that because exploiting people like us taxpayers is too politically profitable and lastly i want to deliver a unifying message i learned a while ago from someone whom i truly admire he once wrote more unites us than divides us this could improve more true during these these times let's not forget that maybe we shouldn't focus so much on the ten percent of what we don't agree on but instead let's talk about the nine percent on what we do agree on let's not be pawns and refuse to be exploited by the governing elites let us stand united against bad policies that seek to inflict harm upon our babies thank you tory mcdonald 503 north walnut street westchester i was nervous to come
090here tonight it's intimidating to speak to a panel of people knowing your commentary will be met with silence and what you're advocating for has been met only with disdain that daring to dissent puts a target on your back and primes you to have your character maligned but despite the fact that this is out of my comfort zone i'm here today because i was taught that when you see something going in the wrong direction you speak out and what's happening to our kids is wrong there's so much to rise up against it's overwhelming from school lockdowns to masking the kids to the predatory nature of equity many of these initiatives likely started out with good intentions as so many things do and i would like to believe that we all have good intentions in mind here
091but there's a reason why there is the phrase the road to hell was paved with good intentions we're going in the wrong direction somewhere along the way the narrative of those opposing crt was co-opted and exploited there are those that feel that anyone who speaks out against it must be hateful racist bigoted and closed-minded when i think that if they took a moment to listen actually listen they would find that we have more in common and agree upon much more than we disagree on the narrative has us at odds with one another when we should be looking to work together and find common ground i feel like we're being told that as parents we don't have the responsibility the right or the authority to stand up we are not pro-segregation or anti-teaching about slavery racism
092or discrimination in the united states on the contrary those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it what we are against is the toxic teaching of oppressed and oppressors of systemic racism rather than individual racism it's discouraging to see us moving in a direction where we are putting everything on race on external characteristics that people cannot change our kids can't advocate for themselves particularly the youngest amongst us they rely on the adults in their lives to be their advocates to stand up when and where they can't and so whether you agree or disagree with my perspective i hope you can understand and respect that i am trying to do what is best for my kids and all the kids in this district and i will go to the ends of the earth
093and i won't stop showing up no matter how uncomfortable i am to ensure that they're not dead thank you thank you barbara i can't read your last name but you live at 971 north new street and priyanka gupta good evening it's barbara myers 971 north news street westchester pennsylvania my daughters attended westchester schools from the 1980s to the early 2000s although there wasn't a formal equity diversity and inclusion program at that time my children were fortunate enough to have teachers who taught them the importance of respecting and building relationships with other children that may have differences from them be it racial religious economic physical or emotional challenges my children were encouraged to reach out to try and understand those difference maybe even make a few new friends i applaud the school district and the school
094board for laying a foundation for children since since then and also to to encourage them also to understand those differences and how they might use them to ev to build relationships and maybe even make some friends i know there's been a lot of discussion confusion and misinformation regarding critical race theory i believe the school district and the board is working hard to sort out the confusion and provide a curriculum that promotes equity diversity and inclusion i encourage them to continue promoting and educating teachers and children about these concepts learning about the triumphs and failures in our american history because if it happened in america it's all of our histories can only make us stronger so that we can have more triumphs than failures in the future thank you [Applause] hello my name is priyanka gupta
095i live at 228 hendricks avenue in exton both my daughters have spent their entire life at student life at wcsd one is now a senior and the other is in seventh grade they both had ieps gieps and are members of clubs like gay and straight alliance anti-bullying women in stem etc they have access to countless in-person and online activities and programs in my opinion each of these services is an element of equity for students countless students use these benefits so their learning needs are met at all levels these programs make sure there are no disparities due to race gender ethnicity ability economic status social status or first language every student has the right to feel safe encouraged and to learn all aspects of life and history the pleasant and the unpleasant but providing such services
096offering diverse courses and teaching history does not add up to teaching critical race theory crt is a college level course based on one research paper about systemic racism though it's fascinating and an eye-opener to confuse it with k-12 equity programs is absurd to label the language history and social studies curriculum of our district as divisive or partial is wrong we want our children to be educated kind well-rounded individuals open to the opinions view viewpoints and life experiences of others to be understanding self-aware human beings motivated to improve society i sincerely hope that wcsd will continue with its equity program and curriculum so our children have the chance to be all this and more on a different note thanks to dr scanlon for all his hard work and i hope you have a lovely retirement you
097will be missed dr s welcome to dr reynolds um hope you have a great time at wcsd and congrats to dr sokolowski thanks so much steph anderson and katrina nolan stephanie anderson 1303 anderson avenue westchester i am here again to share my support and encouraging our district to continue their work in the areas of diversity equity and inclusion i say equity and not crt because these three letters have become meaningless as they are repeated over and over again in the constant backlash of school board meetings around the country and while this topic will eventually quiet down we will see it emerge again in different ways because the issue at hand isn't just about whether systemic racism exists in our society and to be clear it does what we are talking about is at the heart
098of every issue faced by communities of color and our lgbtq communities our jewish and muslim communities and our neuro-diverse and differently abled communities the issue at hand is about people's fear of those whom society has deemed as other historically marginalized groups that are always at the forefront of battles about civil rights and yes those opposed will say see by acknowledging these groups you are making it a thing but you know what whether or not i mention these groups tonight doesn't change the reality of their burdens hardships and challenges that they face each day i'm not speaking out of my own experience i personally don't identify in most of these groups but there are people i know and love that do i spent time with them hearing their stories and bearing witness to their truth black
099and brown friends asian and latinx friends muslim jewish queer non-binary and neuro-diverse friends people who have shared their experiences of being harassed bullied blamed and ignored right here in chester county so despite continued claims no one is trying to make students feel bad but we are acknowledging that the truthful history of america was not pretty or fair for certain populations and the aftermath those groups face in this case people of color still presents challenges each and every day by teaching history factually the next generation will be better equipped to fix the broken parts of our society to make for a more equal and equitable nation for all we need to continue the work and hold the line because the decisions we make now set the precedent for our future a future that i hope is
100not defined by them versus us but rather as we united thank you good evening i'm dr katrina nolan 504 oak circle 19380. i've lived in westchester since 2005. my husband jim and i have a rising seventh grader and a rising second grader as well as a two-year-old at home my husband has been a very involved fern hill parent for seven years now everyone knows jim our children were cyber last year due to family risk factors but we very much want them in person this year with necessary safety precautions while being a mom is my most important job i also have a phd in virology the study of viruses from the university of pennsylvania and 13 years postgraduate work in the field of vaccines two of my children are too young to be vaccinated with the
101rise of the delta variant and the surge in cases in chester county nearly tripling in the past week alone we must remain vigilant i urge the board to consider revising the health and safety plan to mandate indoor masking as recommended by the cdc and aap i will quote the latest recommendation for schools from the cdc students benefit from in-person learning and safely returning to in-person instruction in fall 2021 is a priority cdc recommends schools maintain at least three feet of physical distance between students within classrooms combined with indoor mask wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated on july 19th the aap updated their recommendation for fall all students older than two years and all school staff should wear face masks at school unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit use as a scientist there is
102no other choice masks are safe the study you may have heard cited suggesting that masks may harm children by exposing them to high levels of carbon dioxide was retracted last week it is our responsibility to protect our children and our community including the immunocompromised the pandemic is not over masking can bridge the gap until vaccines are available for our young children thank you for your comments for our time thank you rich eagles jennifer oscar my name is rich eagles i'm a proud resident of the borough of westchester living at 400 south church street a home like many homes in westchester that was once part of the underground railroad we have a long history of dei in our community and we spent 14 years as a school district working towards diversity equity and inclusion and i'm
103here to continue and encourage you to drive forward on that you know mckinsey a famous uh firm that does lots of research published a study that said boards and organizations on the stock market that have diverse and inclusive environments that promote equity outperform their peers that don't by working at our schools with diversity equity and inclusion we're preparing our children for a future where they are going to be more successful because of those initiatives so i'm dismayed to hear people talk about crt and not be talking about culturally relevant teaching which is something that is part of our curriculum where we can incorporate the wonderful diversity of our students in our teaching where my students have the ability to speak of their jewish heritage where they can talk about their experience in the classroom and
104not be shunned not equality so you can't talk about your faith or talk about your background and talk about where you come from equity where my son who is on an iep can be put in the same classroom as his peers inclusion having that equity to perform there with special circumstances and for those gifted students who are able to do just the same and that inclusive environment where everybody can feel comfortable to speak up speak their truth and be powerful so i want to thank you before i finish for having a community conversation so you can bring dei not just from the classroom but to our entire community again so we can celebrate our long history of being that inclusive environment in westchester thank you one more try jennifer oscar okay and then brett bender
105hello jennifer osger 406 anglesey terrace i didn't write anything down ahead of time because i was curious about what other people had to say and i have to say i'm very uplifted and inspired by so much emotional intelligence we may not always agree but i appreciate everyone the way they phrased everything with so much respect so i've been here in westchester since i've been a teacher since 2000 sue tiernan i was under your supervisory um randall spacman you and i shoved tons of mulch all over the place so i'm really proud to be living here and to be teaching here and i remember after a year or two of teaching english i spoke to dr joan flynn on my team and i said well you know what do you teach and she said i teach
106children and i said oh well played i understand that and after a while i started to really deepen my social emotional learning i've been trained out of baltimore i speak all over the nation about trauma informed culturally responsible teaching responsive teaching and what i'm wondering is people who don't quite understand what it means and the importance i would love to reach out to people and have those conversations i'm very appreciative that we do have robust dialogue here in this district after today i feel very psychologically safe that we can come together and have a robust conversation so i want to thank you very much and to people who don't quite understand the importance of diversity equity inclusion i just want to remind people that pennsylvania codes of professional practice and conduct for educators does include
107section 4 and it says 4.5 professional educators shall accept the value of diversity in educational practice diversity requires educators to have a range of methodologies and to request the necessary tools for effective teaching and learning and that's what i feel you all are doing thank you very much [Applause] bret bender 803 west market street in east bradford i just wanted to come tonight because uh having had the honor of working with dr scanlon closely while on the board i would have been remiss not to come here tonight and add my thanks to those of everybody else for the job you've done i doubt when you signed up you knew you would be signing up for among other things a historic recession a global pandemic an overly fastidious board member parsing policy language but all of
108those things you guided us well and with a smile the whole time as i think everybody has commented on i think what maybe wasn't stressed enough tonight though was how you were often the first person sending an email or in the building and the last person to leave so even though you always made it look effortless and easy as you guided us uh it was unbelievable the work ethic and uh dedication you had to the district we are certainly better off for having had you here so i just wanted to say thank you again uh from the bottom of my heart maureen snook i always have to pull this down thank you my name is maureen snook we live at 300 barn hill road westchester 19382 before i start my two minutes can i just
109thank judge bender for marrying my second son walter in a last-minute situation last summer walter is a green beret and he was about to be deployed he hadn't seen his fiance in six months and brett bender called him up and he and his staff arranged in about three days to get the whole marriage license done get them married and they've been happily married for a year and have seen each other for probably about five months now of that year so i just want to say thank you very very much and thank you dr scanlon for all the time effort that you've put into this district okay now can i start my two minutes thank thank you i really appreciate what everybody said and i wish that crt meant culturally responsive teaching but it doesn't it
110is unfortunately an academic theory that i do believe when i've researched it is rooted in division and hate and marxism and racism and i just don't think it's proper for our public schools to be teaching that we've been teaching tolerance in many other successful ways and if parents want to teach that at home i think that's fine for them to do but i'm not sure about if it's in our schools and even though i realize that this is very well intentioned and i believe that if we want to emphasize unity and compassion and inclusiveness and forgiveness and mercy and love that and i am a christian but i think jesus christ is a much better role model then i think abram eben i'm sorry i can't remember the author of the current uh text on
111critical race theory but i just think we can handle this better than an academic theory that really doesn't work that well okay thank you very much janna joyce good evening my name is jane joyce i live at 704 red maple drive 19380 in westchester thank you for this opportunity for addressing the board and the community and thank you all for your service my my children are all passed well past schooling age but education to me is very important still since after all you are raising you are teaching you are developing the leaders that are gonna i'm gonna respond to as i grow older and i so education is always important regardless of your age at the last zoom meeting that i watched they had a really cool picture of three kids you know three different
112sizes and they had the boxes and if they all got the same box some could see some couldn't see so they needed to have a box bigger if they were shorter and a box shorter if they were bigger and that's great but that's not what we're talking about here with crt i think the school board i know a lot of kids i've been in westchester for 27 years that have gotten special education adjustments for their needs and i think the board and i think the school district has done a great job to date in many many cases and i think that that is important but that's not what we're talking about again here america is not perfect at times we've had a very troubled history we have not given we're not giving up and we're
113always striving to protect perfect what we do and what we provide for the rights and privileges listed in our constitution and our bill of rights but um we really need to make sure that we continue that path and not create a new one we don't have to recreate our history we just have to re-read it we have to know what our history is i agree that we don't want to repeat some of the things we've done and i also agree that if you don't know your history you might fall into doing something that you have already messed up once before so i think that it's very important that public education originally was conceived to educate our young people gene we appreciate your comments we're at time thank you we want them all to be good
114citizens [Applause] anita agarian and maia skeets am i first or good all right i apologize for getting up and coming because i thought i would be the last person so my name is anita edgarian i have three kids in the school district last this is my second board meeting last time i came to the board meeting i have to say i grew up doing revolution i have my motherland has been ravished by communism and i through left the islamic country that was haunting us then but sitting through a board meeting that was divided up this right against crt that side for crt was complete nightmare i don't have anything written but i want to ask you guys this is the legacy you want to be leave behind i don't even care what crt stands for
115but dividing families teachers and i'm sure your staff members under something that nobody's clear what it is about it's unfair i resent being here and having to post on my facebook and my text my friends my very good friend aaron who started up and spoke and said what is crt why do i have to worry about it i send my kids to study mathematics literature history and i want them to study every kind of history because that's how i am my house actually as a matter of fact is known as the international house of pancakes you know why because my kids best friends are black brazilian mexican muslim australian english white purple black what are we doing for each other and sir you did a great job for two years 12 years but you're leaving
116a mess you have brought division to us you this is not the way it's supposed to be since when my twin thirteen years old are supposed to save the world they're supposed to be going to college it's your time no yes you are because for 12 years you made a mess and you didn't even have the guts to tell me that you were the chair of the birth and you stood there you said it i want to know are you teaching crt to our teachers and if not what [Applause] history without crt if your teaching [Applause] is move along officers please escort her out this is shameful we've had a respectful meeting up until you you bombarded up there and now you want to monopolize the meeting not happening you're gone hi a hard follow-up
117but you know so my name is maya skeet i have been in this district i don't know eight years or so my address is one zero zero three olivia court and i did set a timer so i can keep on track i've volunteered in this district an excessive amount so most people do know me and they know where my heart is when i deal with equity when i deal with diversity and i'm not looking at the school board so much as i'm looking at the parents when you talk to me about equity and diversity i ask you to live in my shoes i have three children in this district they've been called the n word they've been sent nurses now don't get me wrong when we and when it's been reported to the district or
118whomever the principal is it's been addressed but my opinion when it comes to diversity is you will not understand what it really means for a black person or a brown person or an asian person or an indian person or hispanic person until you have lived in their footsteps or had a conversation with them about what it means to be that person and what a lot of people don't know is i'm actually black and cuban but i've been told that i'm not cuban enough because i'm too black so we all have different levels of racism that we deal with we all have different levels that we are trying to combat or get other people to understand i have worked with dr eberly at fern hill about creating a project called your heritage in a day to
119get kids to understand each other's heritage because we are diverse yes we all live in america but at some point we didn't we all did not originate from this country let's be realistic but it doesn't mean we can't celebrate our differences and celebrate the fact that we are americans and there's nothing wrong with teaching our children the fact that my family came over from africa on slave ships were then subjected to be cotton pickers down in the plantation nothing was more oh i'm sorry my time is up but i don't know if i'm allowed you have 10 seconds go ahead okay i just want to share that i actually visited the plantation because we found out where my family was sold and how much they were sold for there is nothing more chilling than finding
120out that your family was only worth five cents it is important that you understand that the human dehumanization of black people is why we are dealing with systematic racism it builds and thank you we're at time [Applause] metaphor [Applause] that was it that's it mr short thank you um i i appreciate everyone and we all do appreciate everyone that came out and speak and spoke tonight for the most part um they're we all need to be respectful of each other uh be given the opportunity and not try to talk over people uh so as we go forward again just try to keep that in mind um and give everyone their their opportunity to speak and again by and large was done well tonight uh in terms of a meeting closure uh so i reached out
121uh to someone who knows uh dr scanlon best his wife and asked her for a quote about jim's time uh in the district here reflecting back and uh so i have a short story from her as well as a quote to close out tonight's meeting so uh that said on my very first date with jim about 22 years ago he talked incessantly about his new job as superintendent and what it was clear that he what was clear is how he loved being an educator he talked about his years as a teacher a principal and several other positions he's always been so passionate about what he does and has always wanted to make a difference he still talks so fondly about some of his students and has always said that even if he has made a
122positive difference in one person's life then he feels he's on the right track i married jim because he's truly one of a kind one of the kindest people i've ever met his heart is always in the right place and this quote sums up how i feel about jim's retirement to laugh often and much to win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends to appreciate beauty to find the best in others to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child a garden patch or a redeemed social condition to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived this is to have succeeded ralph waldo emerson with that dr scanlon again on behalf of
123the board and everyone in attendance we thank you so much for the count for the 12 years of dedicated service and the position that you've left us in with that i'll entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting first by ms chester seconded by mr adanel all in favor say aye aye thank you again everybody we'll see