March 2nd, 2026 School Board Public Meetings

001Okay, we'll start with roll call. Mr. Antonio >> here. >> Mr. Badger >> here. >> Mr. Goolson >> here. >> Sorry. >> Miss Keranikis >> here. >> Mr. Kelly >> here. >> Dr. Morris >> here. >> Mr. Strauss >> here. >> Mr. Walker >> here. >> Mrs. Ginsburg. Reed Harris >> here. >> Hayden Morris here. >> Great. Thank you. And now we'll do the pledge of allegiance. And I have maybe one or two helpers this evening. Maybe help us. Thank you, boys. All right. and welcome this evening to all of our guests. Uh looking at our agenda, we first list out our prior meetings and we met on February 2nd for our regular public board meeting. February 9th for our finance committee, February 17th for policy as well as board educational equity oversight, February 18th

002was a special public board meeting, and February 23rd was our work session. Then we list out our upcoming meetings. On March 10th, we'll have both facilities and transportation as well as finance. March 17th will be our board education equity oversight committee community conversation at the Penland Woods Community Building and March 23rd will be our next work session. All right. This evening we have a number of wonderful presentations and we're going to start first with Stony Creek. All right, good evening everyone. My name is Kelly Carter and I am the principal of Stony Creek Elementary School. Behind me I have Rachel Guttenberg. She's our assistant principal. Next to her is Katie McCarthy. Katie is one of our second grade teachers. Next to her we have Susanna Johnson, our reading specialist. And finally, there are two very

003excited fifth grade boys that are here to challenge you by the end of the night. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Stuck Bobby and Mason Green. So, as you know, this week marks ReadAcross America in all of our elementary schools across the country. For Stony, there's a very special tradition that starts today. And that tradition is called one book, one school, where every student from kindergarten to fifth grade and every teacher from the nurse to the PE teacher unite together and read one special story. And what we've learned is the power of stories have the power to unite us. So what does this look like? For the first week of ReadAcross America, we do several different activities. And during those activities, we engage in these wonderful conversations where we have sparks of curiosity, sparks

004of empathy. And our hope is that those sparks carry from the classroom into the dining room table late at night at home. And then from there, we build those bridges and connections between each other. So if you walk down our Stony Creek Halls right now, you'd see little pictures of a character. I'm not going to tell you who it is yet, but all of that excitement builds till the very, very last day. And I'll close this presentation by telling you something fun that's going to happen on Friday. I'm going to turn it over to Rachel Guttenberg who's going to tell you a little bit of the history around One Book, One School. So, good evening. Last year was the first year that we started the One Book One School initiative at Stony Creek, and it

005was very exciting. We chose to do the book A Boy Called Bat, which features lots of themes that are very important to us at Stony, like friendship, including others that have differences, compassion for animals, and empathy. And if you look at the pictures on the left side of the screen, you'll see some really cute um animals that were incorporated into that assembly that culminated our one book, one school. So, we had um a woman come and she brought her animals. And the reason why is that the main character of The Boy called Bat was a skunk. And so, the kids actually got to see a live skunk and some got pretty close to a live skunk. Um which is probably a very unique experience for many of us. Um so that was really really a

006highlight. Um, this year we have distributed already a copy of the book to every single teacher. The kids don't know what it is yet, but they'll find out at the end of the week. And the teachers follow a calendar to read the book at the same time throughout every single classroom. So whether you're in kindergarten or fifth grade, you are reading the same section of a book at the same time. It's a chapter book that we've selected. And something else that's really engaging for all of our students and teachers is that different staff members from across our school have recorded readalouds. So the students in let's say a second grade classroom instead of getting read to by their teacher every single day for the book might get read to by Mrs. Carter or by Mrs.

007Johnson or by their former kindergarten teacher. So, it's a really great way for the kids to get engaged with the book and really show that community spirit of One Book One School. I'm gonna turn it over to Mrs. McCarthy. >> Thank you. Um so the committee of one book one school provides readytouse slides for all the teachers um for each chapter of the book and um for each chapter it includes vocabulary extension activities and it also includes um discussion questions for after they read it and the videos that were discussed earlier also for each chapter available on there. We also offer optional extension activities for all of the chapters. Um they include digging a little deeper into the story and skill building such as things that that that the teachers might already be doing in

008the classroom and we're they can extend it and include it with the book as well such as um summarizing or sequencing or compare and contrast. But then we also provide extension of fun activities, even more fun activities that include um how to draw uh videos of the characters in the book or um or maybe it would be a craft. Um encore teachers can also participate since the whole school is reading the same story. If the gym teacher wants to play a game that's inspired by the book, they can do that. If the art teacher wants to do a craft based on the book, then they can do that. Teachers can choose as many as activities as they like to do with their class that best fit in with that with their class. And then on

009Friday um of throughout the calendar we follow the reading the reading calendar and every class reads um a section of the book and then by the end of the week there's um over the morning announcements we have a um they read a trivia question and they share trivia and the students get very excited about finding the answer for that and um predicting what the question might be or and then coming together as a classroom community to come up with the answer themselves. And then we also um I also find that they students get very engaged in the small details as we're reading the story because they really want to get that Friday trivia answer and then the teacher just needs to be very quick at dial so that they can call the office and be

010the fifth caller to get down there. So, as you've heard, um, we really build a lot of excitement throughout this month. Read across America week really is more like ReadAcross America Month at Stony Creek. Um, here are a couple photos of what you might see in the hallway at Stony Creek. Currently, we have pictures all over the hallway of the characters and different illustrations from the story. We have vocabulary words with their definitions underneath all throughout the hallway just to really generate that excitement because as we said the students are not aware of what the book choice is yet. So we're really trying to build some momentum and some excitement. I do want to highlight the um illustration at the top that is was done by a very talented second grade artist and um we've

011highlighted some of his illustrations around the school as well. So he's really excited about that. So, as we said, we've really worked on this whole shared reading experience throughout our whole school, which has really helped have us even come more together as a community. We have the kids participating in buddy activities where a kindergarten class may meet with their fourth grade buddies and do all kinds of fun extension activities related to the book. um staff is collaborating about different ideas and things that they can do to help share this experience across their students through the recorded readings. Um it just models awesome reading fluency and just gets the kids really excited about who's going to be reading the next chapter the next day. And then of course we have spirit days throughout this week where

012kids are just, you know, getting excited about reading in general. Today was wear your pajamas to school and cozy up and read a good book. Tomorrow we're celebrating vocabulary day where students will choose a fancy vocabulary word and dress up um to show their word. Um Wednesday we have everybody's invited to bring a special book from home and just sort of share that experience and we're just really excited about kicking everything off on Thursday. >> Ready? Thank you. >> All right. But I just wanted to acknowledge this event happens because of a strong committee of teachers behind the scenes who have met countless times and planned countless hours to make this occur. So we wanted to acknowledge Mrs. Rosenberg from kindergarten, Mrs. Heiner from first grade, Mrs. McCarthy of course in second grade, Dr. Molinic

013in third, Mrs. Tetian in fourth, Mrs. Reese in fifth, Mrs. Jones our librarian of course Mrs. Johnson our reading specialist, and myself and Mrs. Gottenberg. But all this wouldn't be possible without strong support from our home and school association who purchased all of our books in order to make this happen. So we owe them a great deal of thanks too as well. And now I would like to introduce our two special fifth graders and they've got a challenge for you because we haven't yet revealed to the general public yet what our book is for this year. So they're going to give you a series of three clues to see if you guys can guess what our book this year is for one book, One School. Um, hello everyone. My name is Dean Bobby and I'm

014a fifth grader at Stony Creek Elementary. One book, one school is super fun because everyone in the school is reading the same book at the same time. This means you can talk with about the book with your friends from other classes or even other grades. Another fun thing is the trivia questions on Fridays. They read a trivia question on the morning announcements and the fifth correct caller wins your class extra recess. As you can imagine, this becomes super competitive. Last year, we had assembly at the end of the book and it was awesome. We can't wait to start this year's book. And now, Mason will give you some clues to help you guess what book we will be reading this year. Um, clue one. Our book is about a very small main character, much smaller

015than you. Main character loves adventures and discovers something with two wheels. Clue two. This character is not a cat, dog, or human, but you might see one in a house, hotel, or even a school. Clue three. The story takes place partly in a hotel, and the main character meets a human boy. The character can do something amazing. You can ride a motorcycle. >> So, those are our three clues we practice where you would raise your hand and you make a guess and the boys would call on you. >> Go ahead, gentlemen. >> So, >> uh, is it Stuart Little? >> The guess. >> Any other guesses? Ready? Nicely done. >> Our story is >> All right. >> House in the Motor. >> We weren't sure if you were going to get it, but we're so

016excited that you did. So, our book this year, so if Stony Creek families are listening, sh don't tell your children yet. But on Friday, we're going to do the great reveal that our book this year is The Mouse on the Motorcycle. And our hope is to embrace those themes of adventure, friendship, responsibility while we're doing all of these special things like vocabulary braids tomorrow. And I promised you when we started off that I would share with you our finale event. All I'm going to say is this because I know Stony families are listening right now. All the children are going to leave school on Friday going vroom vroom. Thank you for letting us share one book, one school. >> Thank you so much. That was a wonderful presentation and I'm really excited for my daughter

017Jazelle for those of you know don't know um she goes to Stony to share what she's learning um in the book at dinner time. Um who has comments or questions? Deian. Oh, I thought you were raising your hand. I love this concept, though. It's really cool. >> Yeah, really, really cool presentation. It's awesome. I'm a parent of two Stony kids. Vocabulary day is a big day in our household. Um, so my kids and my wife are currently at home working on their costumes for tomorrow. And, uh, I'm excited. I'll be there on Thursday to read with you guys for Reading Across America. and students. You guys did a great job. So, thank you guys so much. >> Yeah. And Dean and Mason, do you want to give us any hints as to what your word

018is for tomorrow? Do you already have your costumes ready? Are you going to keep it a secret? All black and I have twinkle lights wrapped around me because I'm the word illuminate. >> Thanks for the awe. That was true. >> I like that. I always love the creativity. When I see the pictures posted online of the different words, I'm like, "Wow, why didn't I think of that for my kids?" >> Mrs. Godenberg, what are you going to be? >> PPD. I'll decide when I get home. Halloween basket. >> Anyone else know what you're going to be? >> Um, I am going to be silent and I dress as a mime and generally don't talk for the first hour of class. Oh, so it's very we use a lot of sign language. >> Remember last year

019I was the word fragile and I wrapped myself in bubble wrap. >> Oh, I love that. That's very clever. Yeah. Well, this will be it's always fun. >> I'm monochromatic. As the reading specialist, I'm always trying to find opportunities to teach multi-le. So, I am monochromatic tomorrow. So I will be head to toe in all the same. >> Fun. Well, yeah. I look forward to seeing the pictures online. Awesome. Well, did anyone else have any questions? No. All right. Well, thank you again for the presentation. And as I always say, you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting. There are cookies. Oh, with pictures. Yes. Yes, pictures. Sure. Okay. >> Okay. Oh, in front of it. Thank you. All right. So, now we'll move on to our North Monco Co Technical Career Center

020Honor Society inductees. >> Thank you for that, President Ginsburg. So every year we have the opportunity to recognize some of our most accomplished students at the high school and the students being honored tonight had the distinguished themselves through their work at North Monco Technical Career Center. Last year we shifted this presentation to these recognitions to our student board representatives and we're so pleased for them to take the lead on this again tonight. It's just so meaningful that our students get to be lifted up and celebrated by one another. That peer-to-peer recognition is so special and so powerful. So with that, I'll turn it over to Tatum and Reed. Thank you. >> Good evening. So these two students being recognized for National Technical Honor Society have shown exemplary skills in the four core objectives of NPHs,

021career development, leadership, development, service opportunities, and recognition. One of the first inductees I want to recognize is Daria Gonzalez. One of the few female students in automotive technology, Daria has consistently demonstrated courage and resolve, stepping into roles and fields traditionally dominated by males. Last spring, she purchased a car as her first project to apply what she's learned to the real world. Through her technological school studies, Daria has developed a keen understanding of automotive mechanics. We are very proud of her accomplishments. The second student we would like to recognize is Ricardo Vasquez. Ricky, as he's known by his friends, has a dedication and passion for learning. He reports being fascinated by science in a variety of facets, including ecology and microbiology, appreciating how each area deepens his understanding of the world and how it functions. His

022curiosity is continually renewed through his studies, fueling his optimism and motivation to expand his knowledge, particularly in the development of medicine. Through the North Monco Technical Career Center Health Careers Program, Ricardo is gaining valuable hands-on experience and essential skills that will prepare him for success in the medical field. Ricky likes collaborating with his peers and growing both academically and professionally. He aspires to pursue meaningful career in healthcare where he can make a progressive and lasting impact improving human health for others. >> Thank you. >> Great. Thank you so much and congratulations to both of them. Did anyone have any questions or comments? >> Oh, Steve. Yes. >> Uh first off, congratulations to both of them and thank you guys for the presentation. Um just a note that as we mentioned I think at the last

023meeting one of the efforts uh at North Monco is expanding the health careers uh program via some uh renovation at the school. So just noting that uh since Ricardo Ricky is in that program. >> I have a question. What is the Monco medical studies program prepare someone for specifically or is it a variety of things? It's a variety of things. Uh they have a a relationship with Abington um where they go through a a number of different skills trainings. Um it could be health aid all the way to uh preparing for a nursing career etc. >> Yeah. I want to give a few plugs. Uh, as you know, Steve and I are the reps for North Monco for uh us for Wasah Hickin and it's such a gem what happens there and kudos to these

024students who are you know really making way in their fields. I mean, I love that a woman's excelling in automotives and, you know, um, one of our students is really taking advantage of the health services area. Um, it's not just, you know, carpentry and cosmetology. There's a whole whole slew of areas that they specialize in. um they are having so many different partnerships with you know becoming um a medic uh kind of becoming a PT assistant. I mean like the amount of opportunities that exist there are phenomenal and they all come with some sort of internship, paid internship um that help these students also get handson training. So, um I think it's a really beautiful thing that we have this as an option for students who might want to consider that route and congratulations to

025two of our students who excelled in their areas. Thanks for sharing. >> That was great. Anyone else question? >> Just a quick thanks to Marie and Tatum for delivering the report this evening. And uh how about we uh give a round of applause for our two winners. Anyone else? All right. Well, thank you again. Um, and now we'll move on to our annual state assessment report. We're so grateful this evening, Dr. Gardner and Dr. Schmidt. Uh, Dr. Schmidt is here with us tonight joining Dr. Gardner for this presentation. So, we'll turn it over to them. Thank you very much. Okay. Right. Welcome everybody. We are here to do our annual state assessment report uh where we'll walk you through uh our state assessment results. So the purpose of tonight is just to give you a

026high level overview of what does it look like in our district for the PSSA results, Keystone results, and we'll also walk you through a comprehensive look at how we approach assessments and what we do with those assessments and data throughout our district. Uh we are going to look at a historical review from 2021 to 2025. Uh we will bring up and I'm sorry to in advance the word COVID a few times tonight. We're just out of it, but it's still impacting state test results for this last year, the class of 2025. And the subject areas, English language arts, uh, which is also our literature, our mathematics, which is also algebra 1, and then our science and biology. So with tonight's discussion beyond understanding the state assessments we will also do our normal comparison to our

027demographic peer group which is based on a multiple factors that you'll see in a second uh including surrounding districts and how do we perform compared to those districts. Uh we'll look at our ELA literature math algebra 1 and science and biology. Again that multiple measures of data. One thing that we're really proud of here in Wahhicken is teaching to the whole child and that we look beyond the state test results to look at multiple measures that Dr. Schmidt will go into as well as action steps to support our students. It all starts with our federal law, the Every Student uh Succeeds Act. And it's a requirement that is a federal requirement across the country. So many times we'll we'll be asked where do these state tests come from? uh they come from federal law and

028federally we have to give tests in every single state once in grades once every grade one time per year in grades three through eight in ELA and math one time in high school and then for science you probably remember from the previous years it was grade four and eight and then once in high school uh last year or previous years we worked up to it with the steel standards then we moved that starting from last year to grade five. Uh this fits better for the PA core and PA steel standards because they are K through five standards than six through eight and then our high school. So it aligns a little better with our kind of flow of the standards. Uh our teaching and learning team as well as our school principles and our teachers

029have been working up to this with the PA steels and the implementation of the past few years. The Keystone exams are probably one of the more interesting pieces of this legislation because the scores get banked until 11th grade. So, for example, if you have a child in eighth grade taking algebra one, they will take the Keystone exam in addition to the eighth grade math PSSA. But that Keystone algebra 1 exam will be banked until 11th grade. And at 11th grade, it's reported. Same thing biology. If you have a ninth grade student who's taking biology, that score does not count for the district until they're an 11th grader. Literature a lot of times 10th grade that again will be banked until 11th grade. That is where you will see some wonkiness when we get to the

030line graphs uh around COVID and impacting that because those scores are banked for multiple years. Our demographic peer group. So what we see here is we have five districts. Colonial School District, Hap Horscham, North Penn, Springfield Township, and Upper Dublin. And these have been the five demographic peer groups we've compared our data to over the past several years. This is based on multiple factors. The percentage of race and ethnicity, students from low-income households, the student teacher ratio, spending per student, and the geographic proximity. So, this will give us a good idea of how are we performing to similar districts? And that's a question we get a lot. how are you performing with similar districts? And you'll see that tonight and you've seen that annually in this presentation. So, we're going to start our data journey

031tonight with English language arts, which is your reading and writing standards. Now, for this first line graph, we'd like to walk you through what does it look like to start before we get into the data. Just so you're familiar with the format, on the left hand side or the y-axis as our high school students like to call it, you'll see the percentages there. On the x-axis, which is the horizontal, you'll see the years 2021 all the way to 2025. Your bottom gray line is the state. So for all of Pennsylvania, what is the proficiency average? Your middle line, the orange one, is our demographic peer group. How are those five districts doing on it for the average? And then that top line is our blue whistening. And what you see here for ELA for grades

032three through five for that band we scored last year at 73.9% proficient or advanced. For grades 6 through 8, 77.4%. And our Keystone exams, which again are banked until 11th grade, what you see there is an 84.6. 6%. And with that, I'll turn it over to our action steps. Uh oh, let me say one other thing. I apologize. If you have questions at any point, feel free to jump in. Uh we will be doing the action steps at the end of each one of the subjects so that we can stay right in the loop of what it looks like for each subject area. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Dr. Schmidt. >> Uh thanks so much, Dr. Gardner. Good evening, everyone. Um as Dr. Gardner mentioned um as we shift from the data

033to the action steps um the slide that you see here is going to appear after the data is presented um for ELA, math and for science. Um that's intentionally done because the areas that are listed on that slide are um represent our core systems and supports within our framework for continuous improvement across the district. Um and so with ELA in particular, um the action steps um that we've been taking are grounded in strengthening our systems that impact literacy instruction across the district. We continue to refine our multi-tered systems of support placing emphas emphasis on strengthening our core instruction um ensuring and ensuring that our um targeted supports for students are responsive to those needs. We have data teams that are analyzing our diagnostic and benchmark data to identify literacy skills strengths and areas of need.

034and principles then work with their grade level teams to develop goals and action plans um and collect data to monitor progress towards meeting those goals throughout the school year. Our curriculum review process for ELA is actually just underway. Um we're going to be placing emphasis on curriculum review for K to 5. Um, and as we move through the curriculum review work, we will be guided in part by the Pennsylvania structured literacy requirements. Um, re which really place emphasis on systematic, explicit, and evidence-based practices in the instruction of foundational literacy skills. So, we're talking about uh phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, um building comprehension, and I'm forgetting one, but I miss lost it there for a second, so fine. Um and so, we're going to be doing that work with our curriculum review cycle. Um we're also

035going to be taking a look at the alignment with the Pennsylvania core standards and also evaluating curriculum materials. um doing some work with our instructional practices, um looking at assessment tools. And so these are all components that are going to help um um strengthen the cohesion of our language arts program um across the district, particularly at the elementary level. Um professional learning opportunities continue this year. Um we've been doing some work around literacy routines, vocabulary acquisition and application across the different content areas, um and with writing. Um, you actually heard from Sony Creek about some of the the amazing applications that they've been doing schoolwide uh with their one school, one book. Um, and so that's just a great example of some of the amazing work that's happening in our schools. Um our instructional coaches

036and our reading specialists have been providing embedded uh supports for staff um in the area of lesson design. Um developing um complex reading tasks and writing task um supporting those differentiated uh needs with students with different tools and resources um and also utilizing formative assessment data to um inform learning and support student needs. So, they're just some of the action steps that we've been taking um again to to further strengthen and enhance our work in language arts. I'll turn it back over to Dr. Gardner. >> Any questions about English language arts? >> So, I I'm just wondering, so I I know like when I get my students scores, like my children's scores, I can see like kind of a breakdown of like the different areas like where they did well, where they may need to

037see some improvement. And I know I think anyway the teachers get a copy because I think at the conference they usually have a copy there. So as far as like the differentiated needs you mentioned are they looking at that as part of like that approach in in working with the student like what specific needs they have like where they scored poorly where they may need to to work. group. >> Um, sure. The so our our teachers are utilizing that data. Um, the the thing that we always keep in mind is that the PSSAs are assessing the the standards and the concepts and skills um that are taught and assessed in the prior school year. And so the PSSA data and those areas are a point of reference for our teachers. So they're you looking at

038that data as a starting point. Um, as I mentioned, we're looking at our diagnostic and our benchmark data. So, our local assessment data to provide us also with um information that's going to guide the work that teachers are doing in their classroom with those differentiated supports through small groupoup instruction based on the standards and the concepts that they're going to continue to build off of but continue to move through in the current school year. >> Sure. Yeah. And I recognize they're from the prior year. I'm just worried like students take these tests at the end of the year, then they have an entire summer with no instruction in many cases and then they start out the next school year already possibly like some of those weaknesses and having no instruction. So, I just want to

039make sure our stu our teachers are looking at those areas of weakness and trying to make sure they're focusing on those with those particular students. >> They are and that's where small group instruction and those differentiation strategies come into play. um teachers are helping to um remediate and provide support with some of those prerequisite skills. So the skills that they would have learned last year um so that they can continue to to build and develop those literacy skills >> and like more larger scale like just looking at like the other districts that we're comparing ourselves to. Do we have a sense like of again like I see those breakdowns on the reports that I get. Do we have a sense of like particular areas where we're overall weak and we really need to put more

040attention into particular areas um rather than just broadly like working on everything. Is there like particular areas that we're like really finding that we're we're in? >> Sure. Um so in language arts um uh one of the areas that has stood out to us are standards that are um fall under the literature genre. And so we think about reading literature texts um and responding to questions where students are analyzing um the author's purpose, author's point of view, um language and vocabulary that the author is using to convey meaning and tone and theme. Um they're the areas that um for us in terms of the standards um stood out in our um most recent data um as areas of need as compared to some of the other standards. Um, as I mentioned, vocabulary acquisition, that's also

041an area that that stood out to us where we need to do some additional work. And so, we're doing some targeted work in that area. >> And and not to I don't want any obviously any schools name, but do we notice any differences amongst our schools? Um, we have four elementary schools. Do we ever notice like particular schools have different strengths over other schools that we may need to focus then on? like having instructional coaches work with a particular school on certain aspects of what we're teaching. >> We are we are doing that work and we're also working with the building principles. Uh we work with the principles principles on looking at that data building understanding and building their capacity around the data and the standards. Um, so as the instructional leaders in their schools,

042they're able to lead and guide their staff um and do some targeted work relative to the specific areas of needs within the building. >> Thank you. Other questions, Joe? >> Um, a few comments and then and then a question. Uh, first off, um, the peer uh, comparison group I think is is good. It's something that we added several years ago um for us to look at in comparison to our own uh state assessment data because the the state average is like way too low of a bar. There's 500 districts in Pennsylvania. The vast majority of them have much higher poverty rates, higher English language learner rates, and it's just not like a fair benchmark for us to judge ourselves by. So the so the peer group is um a set of districts that are not

043just you know in our neighborhood so very close to us but similar levels of like per student funding similar levels of um demographic uh diversity um low-income students special ed rates etc. So um that I think is a is a better judge of like how we're doing relative to more to peers that are more like us as opposed to the overall state average. And if you look at that, we consistently perform a little bit above our peer group, which is great, and I think the district should be uh applauded for that. Um, one thing though to note is that if you look at our overall percentages, um, about 75% or so of our students are proficient in ELA, um, across grades three through eight, which is great, and it's a figure that most districts across

044the the state would be envious of. Um, but if you looked at our data and you disagregated it, you would see like 30 plus percentage point differences between our white and Asian students and our black and brown students. And so when we talk about like educational equity in in our district and trying to focus on that as a system, I mean that's part of what we're trying to get at. The overall averages are great and should be like commended um and again I think would be uh the envy of a lot of other districts but we as a system even though overall we're high performing we do have room for improvement um and significant room for improvement. Um the final question I the final comment I want to make is it's the question to you

045guys is that um given the fact that we we continuously and systematically you know review what we're doing take a look at data um and try assessed our performance and impact on students um what I'm noticing that it's sort of like a flat trend overall across all grade levels. Um our proficiency rates are are are generally pretty high which is great but there hasn't been much movement in terms of overall improvement over the last several years. And I guess do you guys have some thoughts or theories uh behind that and what are you guys thinking about doing differently to try to uh move the needle on the indicator? >> I can talk about statewide. >> So thank you for that question. Uh statewide that is the reason that we are moving toward literacy as a

046focus. Uh and the Pennsylvania Department of Education uh Dr. Schmid had mentioned already about coming out with a list of different programs, different approaches, uh refocus on phmic awareness and a lot of those conversations, Mr. Antonio were based on flatlining across the state where we're making progress but not the progress at the rate. So we're always looking to improve and I think that's part of the curriculum review cycle that you'll see is looking at how do we improve not only for every student but that disagregated data as well. related to that. Are you guys familiar with um what they're calling the Mississippi miracle and literacy rates down in the state of Mississippi and the different approach they took to their literacy education? So, um I don't know the details, but just at a high level,

047I think the state of Mississippi its literacy rates um were I think like 47th out of 50 states across the US. Over the last several years, they took a a statewide different approach to how they do literacy education statewide. I think it might have had some of the buzzwords you mentioned phenemic awareness or whatever. They shifted that several years ago and I think now they they shot up to I think top 10 um in literacy rates uh statewide um across the US. Um so some researchers have been calling it the Mississippi miracle. I'm just curious as to whether or not any of the directions or things that we're contemplating, you know, dovetailed with some of the things that they did in Mississippi. >> Yeah, we'll look into that. I'm I'm guessing there's a foundation in

048the science of reading. Uh, and that's probably what moved them forward, but we'll look into it. Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? >> Comment question. Although I do think it makes a lot of sense to look at our peers. I don't know if there was ever any thought about looking aspirational or maybe looking at folks that are or schools that are really performing on the higher end in our state and seeing how we kind of what the the delta is between them and us. So like you know your RDNERS etc. and seeing how they fall along these scores. that was part of the presentation. >> Sorry. Yeah, I think looking at the the high performing districts, if I remember correctly, I think that was something that was integrated in presentations in

049past years. So, it's certainly something that we can take a look at. >> I just had a quick question. Amy was touching on, you know, pulling out student data to look at that to see where we can improve. Um, even the best teachers have some weak spots with teaching. Are you able to look at their classroom data, particularly in elementary school where they're expected to teach everything, look at the classroom data and say this is where the classroom is a little bit lower. This is where the teacher maybe needs some, you know, additional support with a certain subject or area of a subject. >> Um that it is data that we have and again I um we we work with our principles um to build an an understanding around the um instructional practices, those literacy

050practices in the classrooms. um and as they're doing observations and doing walkthroughs through the classroom, those are opportunities for um our building leaders to um provide feedback to teachers around those instructional practices. Um and as I mentioned, our instructional coaches and our reading specialists are really instrumental in providing embedded support to teachers. Um and so if if students or if teachers um need some additional support, they are connected with our instructional coaches um to to you know enhance those practices in the classroom. >> Great. Anyone else? I just had one other quick question. This is easy though. Was it Waha Hicken or the state that moved science from fourth to fifth grade? I'm just curious. >> Uh thank you for that question. was the state, >> okay, >> that moved it. >> My kids were

051the ones that got caught taking it fourth and fifth. So, it I felt it. It's fine. >> Yeah, we we'll get to the field test and in the science portion of it. So, yes, >> I have a question. Do we have any programs to help parents understand their individual child's data and how do you like work with the school? >> We have programs like that. >> Yeah. Can you explain what you mean by program? Um, parents get their individual child's data, right? >> Yeah. >> Um, do we have anything to help them understand how to interpret this information and how to work with the school or their individual teachers to help their school, their students, their kids improve. >> Some parents might need that. >> Yeah. So, we uh just in terms of interpreting the

052report um when the reports are sent home, there's there's general information that's provided about uh what's contained in that report. Um but as far as um how to support students um we um are are encourage our families to reach out to teachers. Our teachers are connecting with families um and talking about student progress um during conferences. Um and I know that our teachers have um strong communications with families to um provide supports and things that they can do to help their students develop those literacy skills at home. Um, but our classroom teachers are really essential in in helping um to help our families, help our students at home. >> Yeah. And I'll just add to that the that's one of the big advantages of a standardsbased report card is that you can really drill down

053to what every student can and can't do. Uh where other districts may just have a category and then that's a general that we don't really know when we have that communication with families. Uh so we're really proud of our standardsbased report card here and we say again that we can have those conversations with families and say it is this one area that we need your support and here's how and the teachers and principles and building level leaders work with the families to do that. >> I'm glad if you like standardsbased report cards because as a parent I appore them and I think a lot of parents share my sentiment. So if you guys can get something from them that's great because I really can't. Thank you, Dean. Okay, we'll continue on our journey then. We'll

054move to mathematics next. So, when we look at our PSSA proficiency trends, uh grades three through five, we are at So, just to be clear, I just hit 50 everybody. So, my vision is not as good as it used to be. Uh so, that is 78.8. Is that correct? Thank you. And we don't have a laptop. So, 78.8% in grades three through five. Grades six through eight that is going to be 58.82%. And our algebra one is our 68.3%. Now I do want to make a note about our keystone algebra one trends. This class of 2025 last year with our 11th grade uh actually the class of 2026 uh who we have here today is the last year for that algebra keystone where they were exempted from that keystone because of COVID. So they would

055have been in seventh grade at the time. So any students who were taking algebra in seventh grade would have been exempted from that test. Uh and unfortunately the state in their infinite wisdom and I'm sure you've heard this for multiple years counted those exemptions as not passing. So it actually worked against you. So that's where you see the high level achievement early prior to co because those students weren't impacted. There weren't any exemptions or banked tests with those exemptions. And then that's where across the state you saw the drop. And now we're starting to see a steady increase again, but we still had exemptions in there from those students who were super accelerated and fully confident they would have gotten advanced on the one test, but they weren't counted as proficient or advanced. And this

056will be the last year that we'll see that for the keystone in algebra one. And with that I will turn it over to Dr. >> Before we move on can I just ask a clarifying question then for that previous slide. >> Yes. >> So in those in 23 24 and 25 >> those years if they were exempt >> or they then they got like not a not passing grade. So that is dropping our averages. So can we actually look at the data and pull that data set out and actually look at those like carve out that non-passing to see >> can you normalize it? >> So we could and in previous experience we we've done that I'll say but what's hard here is you don't two things happen. You don't get a a view of

057compared to anyone else because you can't pull it out for anybody else because you don't have access to that data. almost okay in that instance like it it's almost like can we have two views here one where we're comparing ourselves apples to apples and then we're to our peers and to the state and then we're comparing ourselves to ourselves and then we're taking out the kind of comparison lines just to see how we're trending. So >> yeah, so that might be helpful because >> it's looking good. It's looking like we're rebounding and we're kind of like picking up some momentum here, >> but it would be nice to see if we could pull that data set out and see how we actually look when we take that data out. >> Yes, we can look into

058that. I'll say confidently being new to the district and looking at the trends in the academic grades and AP scores that that would be a high percentage for the students who took it would would pass it. this presentation next year, you're going to see that line probably go up into the 80s because now we're getting our data back. Essentially, >> we'd expect some growth there. I will say though, just to caution everyone, uh students were impacted by COVID and online learning. So, across the state, we're still seeing that students although they're making growth, they were not making the same growth because we had to accelerate learning coming out of COVID for multiple years. uh because online learning, mathematics probably took the biggest hit out of any subject where online learning was just really difficult for

059kids to learn math. So although yes, we should see an increase, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up that it's going to shoot up to where it was pre-COVID for a few years at least. >> Do do we have a sense or a projection of where we want it to be, right? Are we shooting for 82.8 again? Are we shooting? I you know, I know you said we're probably not getting back to 96, but do do you guys have like a goal or a number in mind? >> Continuous growth. I'll say I'll speak to that. And we're always trying to improve. So, we're looking at the data. Uh we have and you'll hear in the action steps a new math program that we're excited about and approaches to teaching mathematics. So, it's a it's

060an exciting time in mathematics. >> Another question about the data. um going going back for uh 10 years since I've been a board member, there was always this um uh interesting dip between um our math proficiency rates and grades three through five and then when they got when the kids got to the high school, I mean middle school. So if you look at and >> that uh that gap persists and it's still pretty big. So um when you look at our math proficiency trends 3 through five it's um in the 80s7s uh 2025 it was about 79% which is great that's like pretty good overall and the overall trend has been kind of trending upward which is good u but then when you jump to uh math in grades 6 to 8 um if you

061just take a look at 2025 um it was 79% um three through five average but then if you look at the middle school math it's 59% %. So it's a 20 point a 20 percentage point drop. Um and then if you just look back in previous years, there's always a significant drop off when they go from fifth grade when they go to sixth grade. Um I remember several years ago u when this is being discussed as the dis at the district might going back maybe like eight years or so uh there was some discussion about that the math curriculum used in elementary um was different than the math curriculum used at the middle school. So there was a hypothesis that the different approaches to teaching math just basic addition, subtraction, division because it was different

062in your elementary than we went to middle school it switched up that that possibly contributed to the big gap. And so I think since then we've done we've done something to try to align um the math curriculum, you know, K through eight at least. Um, and assuming that was done, which I believe it was, it's it's strange to me and maybe a little bit troubling that that huge gap or drop off when the kids get to middle school still exists. So, I guess do you guys have some uh thoughts, theories, and uh what are the action steps associated with with that? So I will say with the gap I think what's interesting when you look at grades three through five here uh all three and just kind of picture all three where they are on

063the graph and now picture where all three move for six through eight across the board in Pennsylvania in our demographic peer groups and for ourselves as well. Uh so the Pennsylvania Department of Ed has really been taking a hard look at these assessments to be honest over the last 10 years to see is it measuring the same at the same rate that we're seeing in the grades three through five. Uh it's an interesting hypothesis and I would say something we would look at uh but based on the same thing happening in every district on these two line graphs then what we're really looking at is how do we improve as whis hicken and how do we improve in that instruction and that's some of the work that's been happening and some of the shifts in

064mathematics that you'll hear about in a second during the action plan >> and we started using a new curriculum this year K through five correct Corct. Are we also using a new one? I forget. It's six through eight. >> Okay. >> You want to speak to that? >> Excuse me. >> Um yes. Um so we adopted um Illustrative Mathematics. That's the the core resource that we're using in K to 5. Um in six through eight, we adopted amplified Desmos. And even though the resources are different, the design of the instruction and the practices that that teachers use to build conceptual understanding are consistent. Um so that's what we're really excited about is that um the way students are learning and engaging in math starting at the elementary level that's going to carry through then to

065the middle school level. Um and so yes, this we're one of the very exciting things about this year is that we are um implementing our new our new curricular resources and our revised curriculum. Um so it's a very exciting year for us in this first year of implementation. um our math action steps are focused on that first year of implementation in order to um strengthen our student outcomes and also ensure high quality implementation. Um that implementation is key because it really sets the ta the stage for the work that's going to continue to happen in future years. Um and so when we think about our multi-tered systems of support in math, um core instruction is at the forefront of our implementation. And so we're working on instruction that's happening in our classrooms and then the

066um supporting teachers with the strategies and the tools that they'll use to support students with those differentiated practices. Um, similar to ELA, we are analyzing our our local data, our benchmark data, and our principles are working with their data teams to develop goals and action plans um and monitor our progress towards meeting those goals. Um, with this first year of implementation, our primary focus um is on fidelity of that implementation. And so, we're working with and looking at and supporting teachers with pacing. We're looking at um consistency of those instructional practices and the way that we're um using gathering data and using data to inform instruction that's happening in the classroom. So, how are we um checking to see where students are in terms of their skills developments? How are we using different formative tools

067um at the end of lessons, our unit assessment data? How are we using all that to in inform our instruction in the classroom? Um, professional learning has been um, an essential component of the implementation this year. Um, we've had a a variety of professional development opportunities for teachers and for our building leaders um, at the district, the school, and the classroom level. Uh, we've been supporting teachers with understanding the the construct of the units all the way down to the lessons. um supporting them with um problem based learning, supporting them with um fostering math discourse, questioning strategies, um I mentioned those differentiated supports and using different tools in the classroom and then also using that formative assessment data to um inform instruction. Um our instructional coaches have been really essential in this work. They have

068been uh not only providing professional development but also partnering with um teachers and getting into pretty much every single classroom to um and planning lessons uh modeling lessons co-eing lessons um and meeting with teachers to reflect with them and and offer feedback. Um so again a lot of work that has been happening in this this first year of implementation to support the shifts that we um have put into place to to build consistency in this first year um and to set us up for success moving into next year. >> I'm sort of curious because you know I have not seen a practice math PSSA test so I don't know at the K through five level like how their questions are structured. Are they more like like word questions? Like they get a problem to solve?

069Are they actual like where they have to like read the paragraph? Is it like actual math equations? Like what sort of problems do they have to solve in those tests? >> Uh it's it's a on the PSSA it's a combination thereof. So some of the the the problems are um basic computation or understanding conceptually understanding the relationships between different numbers. Um, but a lot of the questions um include a lot of language and um uh and they're they're problem based. And for students who maybe struggle with reading, the math assessment is a heavy read. Um there's a lot for students to to work through, not only just with the multiple choice questions, but also the open-ended questions. Um so the resource that we have many of the problems are um they build in conceptual understanding

070um not only in the lesson but as you move through the different sections of the unit. Um and so depending on the concept or depending on the standard that's being addressed again some of the questions the students see will be um very explicit in terms of a concept or a skill um but it will build into problem based experiences. So that's what they're seeing in the classroom and so that's going to be represented on the state assessment as well. >> And that's what I was kind of wondering because my understanding of illustri illustrious that's what it's called is that it sort of um was more like problem solving and that more practical based that you're trying to solve problems. It's not really like learning, you know, we learned math tables for multiplication, but this is

071more practical applications of math, which is great because, you know, I often hear from my kids like, when am I going to ever use this? And you actually are learning like how you're going to use it by actually applying it. But I wanted to make sure like how we're teaching it is actually going to be, you know, how they're testing on it as well. not that we're teaching to have them be tested, but that they're not learning something that's not going to be that's not going to translate to the test. Then >> everything that they're learning in the classroom is aligned with standards and the standards are what are assessed on that state assessment. Um, and Amy, to your point, the the the shifts that are happening is that we're building conceptual understanding of moral

072math. And so the way that I know the way that I was taught in school is that it was um you know rote memorization of like facts and procedures. Um and so we're trying to help students build meaning through that conceptual understanding and we're building that classroom community, that mathematics community. So students are building and learning from one another, not just from the teacher. Um so it's just really exciting and it also offers um a lot of different access points for students because they can um you know build connections based on their own entry point as opposed to um learning that looks the same for everyone and everyone is at the same starting point and having to build that conceptual understanding which again was was how I was bought. So >> long ago. >> Can

073I ask this really quickly? Is the I know that the MI elementary school PSSA is untimed meaning they can go into a classroom and take their time to finish the test. Is the middle school PSSA timed or untimed? >> So every state test is und >> Okay. Thank you. >> So I I have a question. So I I want to go back to what Joe brought up about the drop between fifth and sixth. Do you think the new um framework that we're implementing this year will help improve that or is it too early to tell? I um I mean I think it's too early to tell in terms of what's would happen next year. Um but the where I think it will help um is as I mentioned we're we're building conceptual understanding with math

074and when we think about the standards the standards at the elementary level and then the standards starting in sixth grade um there's a jump there's a jump in complexity there's also a jump from um more of a focus on concrete skills to more abstract skills um and so by having a resource that supports the building the conceptual understanding. So why the why behind the math, the why we're doing this as opposed to the steps that we take to get from problem to answer are going to be really important for students to then be able to look at problems um and be able to analyze those problems based on their conceptual understanding, not a procedure that they they've memorized. As far as the question about the timing timed aspect of it, there are some students that

075just don't do well with standardized testing, don't do well with sitting there for a set period of time answering questions. Um, how do we deal with that and how does that affect scoring? Um, so I'd say one thing is that, um, leading up to the state assessment, we're building stamina with students throughout the instructional day, all day and throughout the year. Um, so for students being in a situation where they they really have to to focus for that long period of time, there are things that we have in place just as part of our regular instructional program to help support that. um with the Pennsylvania assessment, there are um accommodations and things that we're able to do to support students if they um are not able to um you know be directly focused on the

076assessment, but those accommodations are very clearly outlined for students and that their those accommodations are part of the practices that are in place with students throughout the year. So, it's not something that all of a sudden happens on testing day. There are supports that are provided to students who regularly need those supports throughout the year. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Okay, we will finish our data journey in science and we already heard earlier about some of our students taking the science PSSA two years in a row uh fourth grade and fifth grade. So two years ago was the last year of the fourth grade science PSSA. As we like to say, they sunseted the fourth grade science PSSA and brought in the fifth grade science PSSA. Uh as well as for the eighth

077grade science PSSA, it changed fundamentally in the way they asked the questions and the standards that they were asking. So it would be completely unfair to measure that as a year where students are expected to know and achieve. So they field tested the entire test for both grades five and grades eight last year and that's the reason we don't have a graph for those two tests here because they were field test field tested. Uh this year is the baseline year. So we will get a report this year. Uh everyone is eagerly anticipating what that will look like. Uh we have done a tremendous job through the leadership in our teaching and learning department to get our students ready over the last couple years of transitioning to the PA Steel standards. Uh so it will be

078interesting to see how students achieved because with the field test last year we also did not receive any results. So we don't know how our students did on the field test. It was a pure field test from the state perspective. Uh so that will be this year that we will be getting those results for the first time with it. uh for the Keystone Biology, they field tested PA Steel's items on that test, but because it is part of the graduation requirements, uh those scores were reported. And what we see there is a I'm sorry, 68 68.7% proficiency rate on the biology keystone for this past year. With that, we'll go to our action steps with science. Um yeah, so in the area of science, our action steps are grounded in um continuing to um refine

079our instructional practices relative to the Pennsylvania steel steel standards. Um so we're in our second year of implementation. Our curriculum cycles continue to go and go and go. Um so last year was the first year of implementation for science. This year is our second year of implementation. Um, and so the work that we've been doing with teachers, um, continues to focus on our core instructional practices in our science classrooms, um, specifically related to, um, helping students develop that scientific inquiry, scientific reasoning, um, and being able to, um, think about their scientific processes relative to the concepts that they're learning in the classroom. Um and similar to the other areas, we have our local assessment datas, our curriculum based assessments. Um so our um grade level teams are taking a look at that data, analyzing that

080data and and making adjustments to their instruction in this second year. Um our professional learning um has primarily been focused at the secondary level just given the immense focus that we've had on on our math implementation. Um but I'll get to that in a second. Um at the secondary level, we've been doing some continued work with our um middle school and high school teachers around phenomena based learning around that inquiry approach um and designing opportunities for students to collect and analyze data um and apply their findings to those real world applications. Um, with elementary, I go back to math because many of the practices that we have been focusing on even in our science classrooms um, in the year prior, the questioning strategies, the student discourse strategies, um, the investigatory opportunities, many of those opportunities

081run parallel to the work that we're doing now. So even though we're not doing targeted professional development in science this past year, again, we've been focusing on math, the instructional practices that we've been working with teachers on in math are directly related to the work that they were doing in science previous year. So we're just building on those very strong practices, just applying them in a in a different content area. And again, our instructional coaches, uh, one of our secondary instructional coaches has a science background. And so, she again has just been really instrumental in working with and supporting our middle school and high school teachers, um, with their second year um, and and refining those instructional practices. Yeah, I'll say just to piggyback on that, the three words you hear a lot uh around

082this approach to learning is curiosity, flexibility, and being dynamic. And that's what we're trying to cultivate with our students is this flexible thinking that it isn't the way many of us learned that if we didn't know how to do it by memorization, we just threw our hands up. And that happened in math and science for a lot of us. rather now we're cultivating that thinking of curiosity to be able to ask questions and it is pretty neat to be in classrooms and to see teachers ask a thought-provoking question to start and then every question after that is Amy how did you get that explain to us and then Joe what resonated with you from what Amy said explain what she said in your own words like that that encourage this cultivation of thinking in a

083classroom so that When students do come to a test, they have no problem attacking that test because they're thinking dynamically as they approach a test. >> I do want to say that my um my kids in sixth grade science absolutely love the class and how it's set up. It's very um experimental. They do everything is very hands-on. Um so I'd like to give a shout out to Mr. Lake and Mr. Klouse in the middle school who are doing a really great job. I know. So although I will say on a sour note, those biology scores really do concern me. Are we working on that? >> So I will say you you will see across the state again impacted by COVID. It is really hard to learn science when you can't do hands-on learning for the

084better part of two to three years. So we're starting to see an increase again in different approaches. And we expect again growth there now that students are in the more dynamic classrooms and getting back to hands-on learning with science. >> Yeah, I have to agree with Deian. Um my kids are loving science in the middle school right now. Um and Mr. Class Yeah, Leah has Mr. Class. She loves him. Uh so yeah, it's been great and she has like huge projects she makes um as part of this. So yeah, it's been wonderful. So, we do like the approach. Yeah, the the scores are concerning. I would agree. Um, all right. Any other questions, comments? I was just commenting to Michelle that method seems like the Socratic method in law school. So, love it. Yes. All

085right. Well, if you have any questions, is there anything? Is there more to the presentation? >> Yeah, just a few more slides just to share with everybody. We always like to share the PA future ready index uh as just another resource that our school district leaders use, our teachers use, our community members use, school boards can use to look at data across districts, across schools and make comparisons. Uh we do use multiple assessments. So although you heard a lot about state assessments tonight, we use multiple measures within our schools. And that you heard from Dr. Schmidt about drilling down not only the individual students but at the classroom level as well as schoolwide and with that our teachers are constantly reflecting on data. I think that's one of the most exciting things about education today

086is we have access to so much data both qualitative and quantitative for students that our teachers can meet every student where they are. the school administrators have conversations both with those teachers and with our directors about how do we meet the individuals, we meet the group, we meet the grade level, how do we improve our practices to help students and the district level. This is what informs our professional development that you heard a lot about tonight. This informs decisions around where do we want to move as a district? What curricular resources do we want to choose? How do we create these dynamic thinkers? And we're looking at this data all the way through from these multiple assessments where state assessments are a part of that conversation. And with that, we will open up to any

087last questions that you might have. >> Just one more question about the biology test. >> Um, similar to the what I was asking about the math test, like how how is that structured? Is it open-ended questions? Is it multiple choice? >> It's a yes. It's a combination thereof. Um and the the Keystone exam is divided into two modules. Um one is focused on cell and cell growth and I don't I forget what the other one is. Um >> more on the physical science side. >> Yeah. So it's they're very broad categories. Um and once we get into the high school level um again there's a shift and there's there's a greater emphasis on content content. So when we talk about like cellves there's there's a vast array of content that's associated with that particular topic.

088Um, so there's a lot for students to to learn um to be successful. Um, but certainly our teachers are doing a a tremendous um amount of work to again refine their practices and support them as best as possible with that with that Keystone exam. >> So you said something about it's a data richch environment, but what tools do you guys have or use to analyze that data? uh we have a a data warehouse in the district uh and so we utilize that data warehouse to um and that's a place where we import um all kinds of different measures. So we have our state assessments, our local assessment data. Um so there are opportunities for um for us for our building leaders for teachers to um to triangulate that data and look at the the different

089data points to again not only see how students are doing on the state assessments but also to see how other um more formative measures that we have throughout the year um help to inform how students are doing relative to those standards. I'm going to put a plug in to make sure that we at least consider Tableau, Spotify or PowerBI to make it more easy for people to look at these things. >> We we can look into that. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> All right. I'd like to thank Dr. Schmidt and join me to wrap up. Thank you very much for the work you do and all of our directors and principles and we appreciate all the support that you give us as well as our community members. Thank you. >> Thank you so much.

090Um all right, so that ends our presentations for this evening and we'll move now to our first public comment period. Um, the board values public input and provides opportunities for community members to share comments during board meetings in accordance with board policy 903. Uh, there are two public comment periods during each meeting. The first public comment period is limited to agenda items only and the second public comment period is open to comments on any school related topic. Comm community members are encouraged to begin using our public comment process um online. We have an electronic blue speaker form. Um in addition, we do have our forum here in person and you can still raise your hand online and um again we limit our comments to three minutes and uh we'll allow five speakers on the same

091topic. So we'll begin this evening. Oh, we have two people with registered online. Let me bring them up. Oh, they're both second common period though, correct? Yes. Okay. First public comment period. Carmina Taylor. >> So before Amanda starts timing me, I want to say that on the on the blue sheet I had policy uh the item 18.10, but after seeing the state assessment test, I'm going to talk about that. and because you don't allow people to talk about two different subjects in one time. So, I'm speaking about the state assessments. Uh, good evening. My name is Carmina Taylor. I happen to be the daughter of a 1950 Amber High School graduate. I graduated in I mean my mom graduated 1950. Just want to note that she was president of the senior class in 1950. I

092graduated in ' 89. my son graduated in um 2012. I just want to point out that once again, the state assessments did not disagregate the data. They're much more stark. White and Asian students make up 76% of the population. Blacks make 9% of the population. So, when you aggregate the data, you don't see the real issues or the real numbers. I just want to point out that um when you talk about the whole student, I think it's important to remember that on the equity dashboard, the 11th graders of last year that were black, which are the class of 26, um 85% of the 11th graders last year that were black, had GPA lower than a 3.0. Let me repeat that. 85% of the 11th graders last year that were black, male and female, had a

093GPA 3.0 below. Below 3.0. The black athletes that played football this year had a cumulative GPA after 11th grade 1.7 1.9. So please tell me how you're looking at the whole student. Um, what you lack is cultural competency, cultural proficiency because the greatest stark of disparities are amongst black kids. What another thing that attributes to it is poor administrative leadership that has occurred in the last 10 years. Joe, all of you except for Noel, Mr. Goolson, and Dan have been on the board less. So to come to this point after three terms, two terms, three terms, and not demand that you disagregate the data is shameful. is shameful. You're not improving the mark. Noel, you had said what? Somebody had said, Dan had said something about establishing benchmarks. Just want to let you know that

094Narstown, they created benchmarks for their PSSA data. Oh my god. So, they looked at their 16% proficiency rate and made a mark that in three or four years they were going to improve that. PA Literacy Coalition, Mississippi Miracle. Um, they were 49 in the country. They're number one in the country. The PA Literacy Coalition has asked the state or asked the state for $100 million for ill literacy across the state. They only got 10 million. They're looking for 50 million. I just want to say lastly that the pack in uh the whistle hicken equity pack asked told me that I needed to compare the um whisten state assess the whisten state assessments with the state and tonight Joe was saying we shouldn't compare it with the state PA future ready index has a six-year trend

095for literacy just want to point that out it's ridiculous that I can't talk further I'm going to email all of you the data data that's disagregated for black students in this district, middle school, I mean elementary, middle school, and high school. Thank you, Carina. Period. It's dis. >> All right, we'll go on to our next speaker. >> Oh, that's a problem. >> Thank you, Noel, because that would have been awful. >> All right, we'll move on to our next speaker. Um, Jim Jquack. Are you you're both speaking? It looks like >> you want to go first, Eric? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, I'm Eric Rudolph Lauren Township. I sent you a follow and email to kind of document this and I want to just share it back with you to put on record if there's

096any questions you had or clarifications uh feel free to ask. If not now, anytime you like. Uh so school board u we wanted to follow up regarding the middle school boiler project. Uh us along with other neighbors uh provided comments at recent board meetings. In this regard, we have listened to the February 23rd working meeting and unfortunately we did not hear, you know, of the boiler project in that session. I for some reason it didn't get discussed during the working session. So, we don't really fully understand the status uh of what's going on there. What we note that the project is now referenced at about a $1 million project. What we have not been able to locate is the documentation describing the sustainability analysis if any was performed by the district and CHA as referenced

097in December. Given that boilers are typically 25 to 30year assets, the decision really commits certainly commits the district to a long-term fossil fuel program. It's not green and that's a strategic objective, strategic goal of this district as stated. So we'd appreciate it if you could clarify whether the following were evaluated during the design development whether the design specifications are adapted to be more more sustainable solutions i.e. hybrid or solar geothermal solutions. It's not always all or nothing. You you can get a boiler you can get them set up to be more compatible as backup to those systems. Are they energy code compliant with is there an energy code compliant path defined right now for the 2021 Pennsylvania UCCC? And then is it aligned with the future district sustainability planning? I know we're behind in the

098planning or not having getting it done, but you have to start now. And why not? Okay, I think we felt a a level of schedule compression but in this email we offered you alternatives how to get out of that issue in in known ways but also the next thing is to understand whether there's a grant or incentive in eligibility that has been you know evaluated addition additionally uh null asked in the December that the board be informed of the results of the boiler inspection. So the neighbors uh have not been able to find the engineering report in the board docs and please direct us uh to where that was shared if it was produced and given that at the presence then there's no indication that the current boiler condition not be maintained during the time

099period to install an appropriate sustainable solution. Let's use this time wisely to explore more efficient and less costly long-term alternatives before committing to a 30-year climate change and financial liability. The board has a rare opportunity and an ethical duty to make the right decisions here and an undeniable sustainability and financial reasons and even more importantly to teach the right lessons to our students and allow them to be proud of the school board members for making such a bold decision. Thank you. And thank you Beth and Zephy for closing the doors. It was a little bit noisy. All right, we'll move on now to um Jim Jacqu. >> Good evening, folks. I uh wanted to let you know that three months ago, Eric and I and our McGomery Road neighbors were thrilled when the board overwhelmingly

100voted to support sustainable projects for the boiler unit, placement of boiler. And uh so we were great, we're going to move in that direction. And yet here we are three months later and the plan that has been designed by Mr. Bricker who instructed the engineers to move ahead on a gasbased boiler. So we're sitting here going what's going on here? Uh there's no record of any change in the board's decision 8 to1 decision between those two. So what is the explanation for this side job that Mr. Bricker is moving ahead with on a gas unit? And so it comes down to that right now is it before it gets too far along to back off of for the board to get an answer to that. And I don't know whether you all know about this,

101whether you can just tell me, well, I'm mistaken, or whether you don't know about this either, but somebody better get to the bottom of it right away. Are we good about that? Because you're looking at me like I'm Can somebody indicate they're aware of this or not? And you do that, shake your head. I mean, don't leave me Harry. I lose sleep over this thing. All right. And if this is true that Bricker decided to move all in on his own way, I suggest the board consider removing him from any responsibility for this project and getting someone more amendable to this because he already has other writings about all sustainable project anti from the get-go as if he has some moral based objective. And if any of you have seen that, you would recognize what

102I'm talking about. If you haven't seen it, I'll send it to you. >> Thank you for your attention. >> Thank you. >> Yes, we have like a We must be online, right? I forgot to ask you that. That's okay. Yes, we have Mark Cayman. >> Mark, you can go ahead and unmute yourself. >> Hi, Mark Cayman. Whip Township. Uh, agenda item 1810. Uh, to those on the board inclined to vote for the amendment to 903, policy 903 that would bar non-resident WISK and alumni from speaking during public comment period, shame on you. You cannot bear three minutes listening to someone who happens to have deeprooted connections to this district and valuable life experience and perspective, offer critique, raise questions about publicized stats, and try to hold you accountable. Those of you who ran pledging transparency

103and accountability and who claim to stand for democracy, this amendment, which is intended to censure your critics, as we see happening on the national level, only tramples on those ideals. Comment from the public, including from alumni, is part of the legal and democratic framework that requires public bodies like yours to operate openly. You only stand to benefit from hearing from alumni. They are the product of the district's work. They can speak to how well the district prepared them for life beyond Whiskin. gaps in academic, social, and extracurricular preparation. What services or support were especially valuable or lacking? They offer a unique lens into district culture over time, perspectives on how policies have evolved, past initiatives that worked and those that failed. This amendment tells our students and our community, pay no attention to these important

104experiences and perspectives. I hope this board sees how deeply flawed and troubling this is. I don't care what Sultanic has told you or how he tries to frame this. The proposed amendment eliminating the ability of alumni to speak at public comment is not about needing to conduct meetings in orderly fashion. Non-resident alumni are not storming your doors trying to disrupt and throw these meetings into chaos. Your intentions are quite obvious. This amendment is so clearly about trying to silence one person who for her 3 minutes of aotted public comment time offers perspective and challenges the board with the goal of improving the experiences of WIS students. This person, by the way, who was recognized at the White House just a few years ago for her decadesl long service in fostering unity, addressing social justice, uh,

105addressing social injustices, excuse me, and strengthening community ties and civic engagement in Pennsylvania. You may not agree with everything she has to say, but this individual is somebody who you should have in who you should want in your corner. a WHIS alumni whose accomplishments and community involvement, at least in my view, should be celebrated, but certainly who at a minimum you can spare three minutes to listen to. She deserves that. We all deserve that and we all stand to benefit from it. Public engagement is a core democratic safeguard. I know you'd prefer to stick to your own scripts and hear only flattering comments from friends that Amy has asked to come and feain interest and support, but as elected officials, you must govern you. Providing structure time for public participation, a public meeting is not

106optional. But even if it was, the public comment period is one of the primary ways that citizens, including non-resident alumni, can directly participate. So to those of you supporting this amendment that would preclude non-resident alumni participation in public comment, shame on you. Shame on Sultanic and the rest of the board for even proposing it. Thanks. >> Right. Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else online? We have no hands raised online. All right. and we have nobody else registered in person. So, we'll close our first public comment period. And we'll move on now to uh the board president report. And this evening, I have noformational or action items. Uh superintendent report, noformational or action items this evening. Assistant superintendent report. >> Noformational items or action items. Thank you. >> All right. Board solicitor report.

107>> Noformational or action items tonight. All right. Thank you. Board secretary report. >> I am seeking approval for the agenda items 11.1 to 11.4 with no changes from the work session. >> So moved. >> Second. A motion's been made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? All right. Seeing none. All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? >> Motion passes. Thank you. Uh Tim board treasure report. Tonight we have the January treasures report for your approval with no changes from the work session. >> So moved. >> Second. >> A motion's been made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? >> Right. Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. HR report Danielle. >> Good evening everyone. Changes from last week's agenda are marked with an

108asterct and can be found in bold in the details. Items 13.1 and 13.2 include additional retirements, resignations, appointments, extracurricular changes, and volunteers. Item 13.6 is an addition of a mentor for a new teacher. All other items were reviewed at last week's work session and have no other changes. This evening, I'm seeking approval for action items 13.1 through 13.7. Thank you. >> Second. >> Motion seconded. Any comments or questions? My only comment is it sounds like you're you have what I'm getting over. I hope you feel better. All right. If there's no comments or questions, um then we'll go ahead and vote. All in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Right. Motion passes. Thank you. Uh communications committee Zephy. >> Good evening. There's noformational or action items for this evening. >> Great. Thank you. Curriculum and

109technology. Deian. >> Yes. For your uh voting action tonight, there are four items under the curriculum technology committee section. I'd like to begin with item 15.1, the K to2 counseling plan for 2026 through 2031, which was shared as anformational item during last week's work session. This item has been listed as an action item, so we'll be including it for approval this evening. Uh 15.2 and 15.3 remain unchanged from last week. Uh for 15.4, for the ratification of the district's laptop purchase was not included in the work session agenda and therefore is being brought uh forward tonight for approval and rather than waiting until the original scheduled July of this year to purchase laptops, the administration, as outlined in the memorandum provided to the board elected to accelerate this purchase to avoid significant price increases projected

110for February and then again in late spring. This action also aligns with our shift to a five-year replacement cycle for student devices and utilizes capital reserve funds with reimbursement plan for the 2627 fiscal year. The district realized a savings of approximately $200,000 by purchasing earlier this month as Dell's updating pricing um was as of February 19th of this month or last month rather. So I'm seeking um approval for um items 15.1 to 15.4. Uh any questions? So moved. >> Motion's been made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? >> Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Sorry, I did want to say a quick thanks to Tim for moving on that and saving us that much money. That's that's amazing to to realize that savings. That's a position, a teacher

111and a half or whatever. So, thank you so much. Again, I'll give Jason credit for him really monitoring the prices and bringing it to our attention to make the decision. That was very helpful for us. >> Yes, thank you and thank you for that report. Uh facilities and transportation, Joe. >> Uh good evening. We have two items this week for a vote. The first is 16.1, which is the approval to award the middle school boiler pro plant to Hersburg Mechanical. We uh reviewed and discussed this at last week's work session and it remains unchanged from last week. 16.2 is the approval of the proposal from Eastern Lift Truck Company uh to purchase uh replacement scissors lift. Um that was also reviewed and discussed at last week's work session and is unchanged. So uh this evening

112I'm seeking approval of agenda items 16.1 and 16.2. A motion's been made and seconded. Comments or questions? >> I have a question. What was the outcome of the engineers report? The assessment. >> The engineer. Are you talking the inspector? >> Yeah. >> Inspector was going to look at the current boiler and give an assessment. So the inspector looked at it and he said if we weren't replacing it, basically he would have to shut us down. He was very happy with the fact that we are actually replacing it. He saw that it was on our agenda and we have the extension through the rest of this year. >> Thank you. >> Right. Any other comments or questions? See, >> I'm sorry. When you say the inspector said if if we didn't replace it, they would shut

113us down, meaning shut down the middle school >> boiler, which would then effectively shut us down until we replaced it in the winter time. Obviously, we could get through the summer without a boiler. >> Any other questions or comments? All right, then. All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Right. Motion passes. Thank you. Finance Committee. Steve, >> we have uh uh item 17.1 through 17.9 for approval tonight. Uh 17.1 through 17.8 are the same working session last week. Uh 17.9 was described uh by Mr. Sultanic last week and that's simply the transition of uh the education group within Fox Rothschild uh moving over to um the education group of uh McNees Wallace and Nurk. So I'm seeking a motion to uh approve items 17.1 through 17.9. >> So moved. >> A motion's been

114made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? Right. Seeing none. All those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Um policy committee. No. >> Tonight we um we're trying we're going to vote to approve just the first reading. It's not the final approval on these policies, but I'm looking for approval on the first reading of 18.2 through 18.11. Um we'll be bringing these back for the final vote, second reading and final vote on April at the April 6th meeting. Um, no, I think you meant approval for items 18.1 through 18.10. >> Yeah, I'm sorry. Yes, 18.1. >> And, um, given some of the I think focus on number 9003, I'm wondering if it makes sense to seek a motion to approve 18.1 through 18.9 first and then do a separate

115motion and vote for 18.10. >> And I would like to add to that if I could. I think we should break out that one the one on 903 into two separate issues. One being the addition of the new uh request for public speaking and the one about the uh resident alumni non-resident. >> So do we want to keep in the motion then the portion of it that's for the form? So include 1 through 10 and 10 just the form aspect and then the section regarding who may speak carve that out for a separate motion. Is that basically what you're suggesting? >> Yes. That's what I think we should do. Joe, do you agree with that? >> I mean I think um what would be cleaner is we just we have a motion and vote on

116items 18.1 through 18.9. >> Sure. >> Take care of that and then we could address 18.10. 10 for policy 903 more more specifically. >> Yeah, I agree. >> And that's fine as well. Okay, so 18.1 through 18.9. Do I have a motion? >> Second. >> All right. A motion's been made and seconded. Do we have any questions or comments regarding those items? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? I motion passes. Um, and now 18.10. Do we have a motion? I can I point of order kind of thing. Should I wait to make my individual comments? I will wait. >> Comments are after we have the motion. Yeah. >> And I get the the motion's going to be clear as to what we're moving here. Can are we able

117to bifurcate and have to have it broken out as uh Norel had suggested or do we have to vote on it as a whole? >> You have to vote on as a whole. >> As a whole. Okay. All right. All right. So, we'll have to vote on it as a whole and if it fails, then go back to the drawing board on it. If it passes, it passes. >> Okay. So, do we have a motion? >> Second. >> All right. A motion's been made and seconded. Uh comments or questions? >> Okay. Um I' I'd like to actually kind of read some of my thoughts on this whole topic. Um I want to begin by stating clearly that I am not advocating to silence critics. Um, public service requires listening to disagreement and strong institutions make

118space for dissenting views. Um, non-resident perspectives can absolutely be valuable, particularly when the board is discussing matters related to his district history, alumni engagement, long-term strategic planning, or other topics that may implicate the alumni community. However, policy 903 currently pres as currently written presents a structural governance issue. when combined with the five speaker per topic limit. Um is one of 22 public school districts in Montgomery County. Um to the best of my understanding, the other 21 districts limit routine public comment eligibility to individuals with a current and direct connection to the district. current residents, taxpayers, parents, or guardians of enrolled students, current students, and in some cases, district employees and vendors seeking to do business with the district. Whiskin appears to be the only district that broadly extends this privilege of eligibility to non-resident alumni

119for all topics that may come before the board. Public comment at board meetings is a limited public forum. uh the board is has the full authority to define the structure of that forum including who may participate provide the rules are view provided the rules are viewpoint neutral and reasonably related to the orderly conduct of district business I don't believe there is anything unlawful or refining eligibility to uh to participate uh with subject matter relevance and governance current governance impact when public comment time is capped the board has an obligation to safeguard meaningful access for those most directly impacted by its decisions. Ensuring that the limited speaking time is focused on individuals with a present-day stake in the district operations is a core governance responsibility and as elective representatives the board's foremost duty is to the

120residents of the district who entrusted it with the responsibility to govern prudently and in their best interests. It's also important to emphasize that the discussion related to specifically to speaking during board meetings while official business district business is being conducted. Non-resident alumni like any member of the broader public can can continue to have numerous other avenues to share feedback. The question before us is not whether voices may be heard, but how limited public comment time during formal governance proceedings should be structured. A balanced approach could be to permit non-resident alumni participation when the agenda includes matters specifically related to district history, alumni engagement, or when board expressly invites non-resident alumni input. For routine operations, for routine operational, financial, curricular, or personal matters affecting current students and taxpayers, eligibility should be reasonably limited to those current

121in the with a current district connection. Such a structure preserves alumni voice while pro while while recognizing that board meetings are convened primarily to govern the district as it exists today for its current residents, taxpayers, parents and students. This reflects my perspective and my perspective only on the governance and meeting structure and any policy modification that I'm suggesting here would of course be subject to legal review and feedback from the district solicitor and then public vote or board vote. Um this goal the goal is not exclusion but it's al more alignment and aligning participation with governance responsibilities maintaining efficient meetings and protecting equitable access within a limited public forum for those current residents within the district who are eligible to vote for us into these who voted for us into these roles. That's all I

122wanted to say. >> Right. Thank you. Other comments. >> All right. So I also just have a brief comment um regarding the policy. I am for the proposed recommended speaker language. The recommendation is that only speak uh stakeholders be able to speak at board meetings. That's taxpayers, students, employees of the district. Originally, I think our board saw this recommendation as a minimum rather than a best practice. But now, I feel the language of only stakeholders should be our policy. It is in the best interest of our um taxpayers and active district residents to be given priority to speak and present or ask questions at a board meeting. This will help ensure fairness, especially um on hot topics when speakers are limited to five per subject. I'd also like to remind the board that when speakers

123ask questions, time is taken to answer those questions on board dock. I'd like to ensure those questions are coming from people who have an active role in the district and to help ensure those questions are being asked with the best of intentions. While we welcome info input from the public, board meetings are intended for official business and are not a form for extended discussion. There are other avenues for addressing concerns and resolving issues. Lastly, as many of you know, I'm an alumni of Solderton. I care deeply about that district. I went back and I coached the high school swimming team for several years. I have a niece and two nephews currently in the district. Their policy states I cannot speak at the meetings and I am 100% okay with that. I want to leave current

124Sadderton issues to current Sadderton residents. I have once emailed the administration and board to express concern about something and likewise as a member of this board I've received emails from alumni of West Hickin over the years on various topics. I value the opinion of those alumni. However, I don't think we need a special carveout for alumni. Um as null stated, we would be the only district to have that who are not taxpayers to speak at the board meeting. We have a receptive administration to address concerns and for our meeting, I think it's in the best interest to vote yes on the proposed changes. >> Great. Thank you, Dian. Anyone else have comments? We probably should do a roll call vote. >> Mr. Antonio, >> yes. >> Mr. Badger, >> yes. >> Mr. Goolson, >> yes.

125>> Miss Keranikis, >> no. >> Mr. Kelly, >> no. >> Dr. Mr. Morris. >> Yes. >> Mr. Strauss. >> Yes. >> Mr. Walker. >> Can I just confirm we're uh voting to approve the current language? >> No. >> Mrs. Ginsburg. >> Yes. >> Uh six. Yes. Greener. >> Right. Thank you. Uh the motion passes. All right. Then we'll move on to um our board educational equity oversight committee. Paul, >> we have no items for this evening. Thank you. >> Right. Health, wellness, and safety. Dean, >> yes, there are noformational items or action items tonight. >> All right. Thank you. Uh extracurricular. I know we had a report last week, but anything new to report? Nothing new to report, but just want to plug again the unified sports program um that's currently being run in conjunction

126with the Special Olympics. >> Thank you. All right. And for MCIU, um similar to what we reviewed last week with Jeff, we did review something very similar um during our meeting with the MCIU about transitioning our contract to MCNE. Um, and we also, um, there is a new program, and let me just a lot of windows open here. See if I can find it. There is a program the MCIU is offering. Um, it's a leadership program, and I'll email information out to the board. Um, uh, they're offering it to local leaders. Um, it is a couple thousand dollars to do the program, but they are asking if we can share it out to our different organizations um, for people that may be interested in enrolling. They're hoping to have um leaders in the community that

127enroll in the program and sort of then create this like network within the community. So, I'll send some more information out about the program, but they have two different program offerings and I know the windows open somewhere on my computer. Oh, there it is. Um it's called the leadership mco and the two opportunities are um lead forward leadership track and that's designed for emerging and midlevel professionals preparing to step into broader leadership roles and then the signature executive leadership track and then that's designed for executive and senior level leaders ready to expand strategic influence and regional impact. And the reason that it is a little bit costly to do the program is they are going to be having it at different um venues throughout Montgomery County so that it can move around throughout the county

128um for the benefit of those participating to have it at different locations. Um so I'll send information around in case anybody's interested or knows anyone that that may be interested within your network. Right. And that is my report. And then um Monaco >> nothing new. >> All right. and PSBA. All right, then we've got we've got to our second public comment period and again the board values hearing public input. Um there's uh two public comment periods. The second one is for any school related topic. Um you can go ahead and register online on that electronic blue speaker form and we do have two speakers that did that this evening. Uh we also have our blue forms here in person and you can raise your hand and um again I'll just remind everybody we do not

129engage in uh dialogue with speakers when appropriate. We will post comments on board docs and please limit comments to three minutes and we allow five speakers on uh the same topic. All right so we have uh Cleo Norcco. >> All righty. Good evening everyone. I understand this portion of the meeting allows comments of any related topic. What I'm addressing tonight is absolutely school related. Students voices is school related. Equal wait equality in schools is related. How advocates are treated in the school district are related. Um sorry. I'm speaking tonight because what I'm witnessing in this district is completely concerning. When students speak up, when parents raise legitimate concerns, and when certain individuals step in to advocate for children who do not know how to advocate for the response, the response should be more collaboratory. Instead,

130what I'm seeing is resistance, deflection, and now what appears to be efforts to remove or silence someone who only offends you guys, which she only speaks true facts. That's not leadership. That's intimidation. You cannot promote equality in presentations and then punish advocates in their practice. You cannot say that students voices matters and then marginalize the adults who amplify those voices. Many students, especially those who have IEPs, such as myself, feel outnumbered and when you don't know things, I feel like the school district takes advantage of that. I have multiple times reached out to Dr. Dwan in regarding setting up um a public meeting for the African-American community in hopes to meet together to see how we can bridge these gaps together. Unfortunately, due to I guess timing and things like that, things have always come

131up. Um as a parent who has two children sitting here right now and they're listening to you guys, they're literally in disbelief at the lies that they're hearing because they attend there. I have a sixth grader sitting here, Aubrey Jackson and Aaliyah Jackson who is in seventh grade. Both of them are completely in disbelief at the fact that you guys are lying, saying that certain things are happening at school that's not reality. They're saying in just this meeting alone that they're testing the way the teachers teach them and then the way the things are put on the test are two completely totally different things. So I think that you guys' data is false and I think that needs to be relooked at. Thank you. Right. Thank you, Cleo. All right. And um online we had

132um the speakers that registered in advance. We have Lindsay Bales. Good evening and thank you for your time. My name is Lindseay Palis. I'm a speech therapist, mom of three, and a community lead for PA Unplugged. PA Unplugged is a statewide coalition working toward a cultural shift in the approach to electronic devices during childhood and adolescence. As a part of PA Unplugged, I have spent the past 15 months working to engage our community in shifting their habits around tech and tech use and how they manage tech in their homes. The overall response has been positive and people have shown interest in making a change. However, to make a cultural shift, we need to see changes in both the community where our children are being raised and the schools that are educating our children. A big

133piece of the work at PA Unplugged has been pushing for statewide legislation for bell-to-bell policy defined as a ban on all personal electronic devices throughout the school day from first bell to last bell with exceptions for documented medical and learning needs. I'm here to represent a growing number of parents in our community, but also across the state of Pennsylvania who are hoping to see a bell-to-bell ban in schools. A bell-to-bell ban will reduce distractions during academic time, increase school connectedness, decrease bullying, and foster independence and problem solving in our students. Research shows the mere presence of a phone reduces cognitive capacity. Smartphones and their apps are designed to be addictive. Research shows that it takes approx approximately 23 minutes for an adult to refocus after involuntary disruptions from phone. If this is the case, what

134are we asking of our children? Additionally, nonacademic times during the school day are meant for students to engage in real time in-person interactions so they can build critical social skills. Let's give our children a chance to engage with each other and build relationships without the distraction of the online world. Let's give our children the opportunity to solve problems and advocate for themselves without contacting their parents or guardians first. These are the skills that build resilience and capability to function as an adult. A Bella bell ban is now supported by PSA, NASRO and Pasro. 75% of teachers indicated they supported a bell-to-bell ban in a recent NEA survey. 24 states have passed legislation enforcing a bell-to-bell ban as well as a growing number of districts across the state of Pennsylvania. To be clear, I believe technology

135can be used as a tool and for leisure. However, clear boundaries need to be established in both the home and school environments. I support the ability for our schools to teach children how to use technology and digital wellness within the school's established boundaries that are intentional and established by dad and research. A bipartisan bill passed in the Senate 46 to1 and received Governor Shapiro's support. But I keep asking myself, why are we waiting? Please consider starting a discussion about a bell-to-bell ban within the Wisah Hickin District in an effort to give our children six to seven hours a day without the distraction of what is happening online. Thank you. >> Thank you, Lindsay. Um, no one online. Okay. and uh Rachel Lawrence Heckler. >> Hi, my name is Rachel Lawrence Heckler. I'm an Amler Burough

136resident as well as a parent of two Lower Gwenned Elementary students. Um I'm actually just going to piggyback on what um Lindsay has said. We've been working really diligently with the PA unplugged group um both for screens um when it comes to cell phones, but also we're kind of moving beyond that and looking at the role that screens are playing in our children's lives at school as well as at home. And one of the things that we're hoping that you start to consider is um tech use in the classroom and how a number of these edte uh both apps and devices are becoming a distraction for our children. Um there are all these conversations going on amongst a number of parents who are very frustrated with the fact that their kids are bringing home these

137devices. They're fighting their parents. They're claiming they're doing their homework. meanwhile, they're looking through YouTube videos or and they're finding a bunch of workarounds. Um, and that they're spending too much time staring at screens, particularly right before bedtime. It's having detrimental effects at home, but also in the classroom where we have these amazing teachers in our school district. I have witnessed them firsthand volunteering in the schools and hearing great reports from my kids. But sometimes these devices are becoming distractions even at the elementary level. I love that this district has eliminated the one-to-one device program for kindergarten and first grade. It has made a huge difference in what I've seen with two different kids who have had the different policies as far as how much screen time they're getting in the classroom. Um, but a

138lot of edtech um is being targeted to these kids thinking, oh, we're going to make something fun and exciting and we're going to gify it and the kids are going to love learning, but we're not really looking at the efficacy of some of these programs and whether or not we are actually seeing the results or is it getting these kids really excited and then the next thing you know they're looking at um a boring old book that they don't want to actually spend the time on. um and in particular free time. Um a lot of it is being devoted in the classroom to you can read, you can draw or you can actually um look at these screens and play these games. And in a time when literacy skills are going down, one of the

139things that is most crucial is giving the kids that space to be able to read and also to encourage them. Um, at the middle school level and the high school level to not have this constant distraction in front of them, which I know I get distracted by my own devices and I have a fully full brain. For our young people, it's even more difficult. Um before I run out of time, I'd just like to ask the board to consider more parental input, more transparency about how much time our kids are actually spending on devices, looking at the eC efficacy of some of these programs, doing more professional development for par um teachers so that they can learn how to kind of move away from some of this tech reliance in our classrooms and opportunities for

140community conversations about um with parents and how we can get involved in having a conversation about how we can move forward as a district because it is becoming a nationwide trend and we want to be ahead of this rather than behind. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> We have no hands raised online. >> All right. Um Carina Taylor So I think you guys should clarify to the community or the people watching that that was just the first reading of the policy. Am I correct Joe? So that means that there's another policy reading. There's a second one and then you vote on that one and that then becomes final. Right? So I came prepared with my notes. I just I'm gonna speak more than three minutes, but um February 18, 2025. I looked up because last

141weekend I posted a lot about what your decision was and I said, "Here we are a year, less than a year from you when you adopted the policy to add um alumni. It's literally 11 months. It'll be 11 months or more since you approved of it." I did a right. I did a question. I asked a question at a board meeting. Why did you add alumni? And I was told at that time because alumni added value, right? And I'm fully aware that we're the only district. And does that mean that because we're the only district that that is wrong? No. The law provides school districts to adapt 903 to each of them. If you look at all of the school districts in Montgomery County, they all have a different version of 903. I think one

142of the differences here in in the Hickin is do you realize Noel and and and Dan that when donations come in from alums to this district the fundraising coordinator gets 25% of that 25% off the top of a donation from an alum. I was at a Hall of Fame um ceremony and alum told me that the district approached them with for a $350,000 press box. They wanted an alum to donate that money. The fundraising coordinator would have got $35,000 on top of her salary during that time. It went from 10% to 25%. So, I've been personally encouraging alum not to give to the district because we do have v value and we are very unique. So, I just want to go to the timeline. I went to look at the minutes from the February 17,

1432026 meeting. new format in terms of how you present it and um don't have enough time to break it down, but I'll post it on Facebook. I'll send it to you. But interestingly enough, this is the first time in all the years that I've been here that you break down why you're analyzing this policy. Funny that you put up the Pensbury School District Marshall versus Amiso Amu Amuso federal uh law case that the parent from um Pensbury won, but it was about speech. It was about first amendment rights. Um, I have tried to be very respectful. I'm much more um tainted than most people because I've been doing this for 20 years. But I think that you should also consider that since last year, I have been the only alumni that has spoken. So when

144you remove the language, you're removing me. Period. We have a very unique situation. Everyone that graduated in the 80s and in this school district, we still are family. Mr. Hickin is unique to that. So, I'm going to go on um to basically say that this was the first reading. There's a second reading. People are going to be upset. But here's the thing. It's not an indictment on me. It's an indictment on all of you if you follow through with this. >> Right. Thank you, Carina. Um and Eric Rudolph. >> Eric Rudolph. I don't really have anything prepared, but I do want to uh close out with kind of a lessons learned, okay, from this kind of first experience of listening to you all talk about a long range plan uh and the idea to embrace

145sustainability. We had a unique opportunity when one of our largest assets, okay, had provided us with the opportunity to invest money and in a way that could be adapted into a sustainable solution providing all what all of us want. Okay, is a green and sustainable future. Okay, that's the life net for all of us as a as a community and as a society. More importantly, it's an opportunity for the kids to learn. okay to appreciate that they have to do something now. Okay. And we just missed that opportunity. We missed that opportunity because I think we were given a false choice. There are rental mobile boilers out there because boilers break all the time and they roll a trailer up and you have your boilers and you're up and running. And that's available and that's

146actually safer than what we have. If you have a boiler unit in a trailer outside your building, you have the number one thing in safety. You have it segregated. If something happens, you also at a place where it can disperse any refrigeration, any gas, any fuel. We have to take lessons from this right now because when the next thing goes, like Steve's concerned about the roof, okay, over at the lower, are we going to think about that and say, "Oh, how do I make that a sustainable solution? Do I want to make put solar panels on that? So, I'd kind of round it out and say when we as a district chose, okay, to look at sustainable solutions, put it into our 10-year plan, we have to act on that now because we've been sitting

147on it for decades and time's running out. And we have the opportunity now. And I would really ask you all to stop dealing with a single engineering firm and get real and get some people in here with different views that you participated that you put your thoughts and your vision into what you want for our community. All those roofs are home for solar cells. All those parking lots are home for solar cells. we would be making money, not spending it. So, I don't know what went on with this decision, but you didn't have to make it. And if you can turn it back, I would urge you to turn it back because I did not hear anything and I spent hours trying to find your debate during the working session and I found no evidence

148of it. And I don't know how we as a public or that you have a right to carry on something that we have to live with and that our our children will have to live. >> Thank you, Eric. Anyone online? There are no hands raised online. All right, then we'll close our second comment period. Are there any board comments this evening? I have something, Amy, I want to just quickly um shout out because I follow it so closely. The swim team Reed Harris was the district champion in the 200 and the 500 freestyle. He's seated first for states, no pressure. And then he also has his relay team of team Babar, Mason Latchford, and Dean Bowers. They're going in the two and the 400 freestyle relay. Teammate Alex Ponomev made the 500 free and Susie

149Minnik made the 100 brushstroke. Did I miss anyone? So they leave for Bucknell next Tuesday. Good luck. I will be watching on PCN network. So congratulations and best of luck. Um I also wanted to quickly um I just wanted to say something. when we hear the um this this the report every year on um how whisten is doing in the standardized tests and we talk about sometimes we hear about the opportunity gap or the achievement gap and I I just wanted to say that I' I've read several books on this one of them was called despite best intentions which um was recommended to me by Dr. Chrisfield, if there was a magic bullet to this, if there was a fix to this, we in every other district would implement that. And I just like when

150I think about all of this, I just think about, you know, we are aware of the issues at Wahhiken and we are more transparent than other districts with regard to the data. That doesn't make it easier to solve. And I I just I just wanted to like say that because it's really hard. We want to fix it just as much as anyone else. this board. I know that there's we will continue to try to do that. Um I don't have the answers. I haven't heard any answers. So that's just something that I wanted to say. The other thing I wanted to say is I don't like not responding. Like I'm a chitchatter and I like conversation and when I hear people say stuff, it's really hard for me to not just respond. But I do

151that because I'm trying to be professional. I'm also trying to be fair. Um, when I hear concerns that people bring, I do follow up with Dr. Dwan or Dr. Gardner to make sure that things are being addressed, even if I don't say that here. Um, there's a lot of things I would really like to pay. Um, but what I want to say is that I do really care. Um, and you know, shame on me. Duly noted. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Deianne. And congratulations, Reed. >> One very quick thing to uh kind of piggy back on what Deianne said. The work that we're doing is really, really hard. And a really wise woman told me a while back that we forget that we're working against things that have been going on for not decades

152but a long long time. And to expect change overnight is not really possible. But I do agree with what Deianne said. We're being transparent. We're working really hard. We're trying all the things. We're kind of pushing wherever we can and we are trying and I yes today we looked at averages but our website has all the breakdowns. You know our equity dashboard has a plethora of data. No other district to my knowledge and I haven't checked recently so don't quote me. I don't think many people are or districts are doing that. So I do think we're we're trying really hard. We're being very mindful about what we're doing with our students. I do think Wussah Hickin is a great school district and we will continue to do better and that's all we could do. So

153that's all I have to say. Thank you. >> Can I ask the bar board reps one quick question? How would you guys feel about a bell to bell cell policy where they would be in the lockers or like away the entire day, not even available at lunch or breaks? Can you speak to that? Yeah, personally for me, I would be in favor of a ban. I mean, you go to lunch and like it is evident that most students are on their phones for the majority of lunch. Not to say that there isn't conversation going on. So, personally, I will be in favor, but I know there would be a lot of push back from other students who are very committed to their online lives. Let's just put it that way. Oh, I wouldn't say I'm

154like committed to my online life, but I know like during school, I do like try to do a lot of like outside work on my phone. So, I feel like that would kind of like take like kind of put me at a disadvantage in a sense. Like I know I'm always even if I'm like at lunch, I'm like, you know, like try looking up things for school or I'm like me talking to my family members about stuff like I know like family come like if I didn't have my phone during the school day, it would kind of like be kind of like like not like life or death but kind of put me in like a stressful position. So, I think that it's a good idea. I know that we shouldn't probably be on our

155phones all day. And I think that having that no screen time and having like constant access to our screens when we're not in class isn't like always beneficial, but I do think that in a sense like we still should have our phones like on us, but maybe like looking at different ways to like give us ways to like not always just be like going straight for our phones. >> I don't know. I think it's something to explore. I I personally like the idea, but it's always interesting to hear from you guys. Thank you. >> Well, thank you everyone for your comments and um I would just note this past weekend was the middle school the seventh and eighth grade musical. I don't know who all I know Paul was there. I saw Paul I think

156at every show along with me and it was absolutely amazing. So, um I'm looking forward to now this weekend seeing the high school's musical and in a few few months the sixth grade musical. So, a lot of things to look forward to. I had to find somebody else to get tickets from. Well, any other comments? All right. Seeing none, a motion to adjurnn. So, >> moved. All right. All in favor? I >> We're adjourned.