001here. >> Mr. Badger >> here, >> Mr. Blefield. >> Here, >> Miss Gavachi. >> Here, >> Mr. Goolson. >> Here, >> Miss >> here. >> Dr. Morris >> Mr. Walker >> here. >> Mrs. Ginsburg >> here. >> Read >> here. >> Dimada >> here. >> Great. Thank you. Would everybody please join me for the pledge of allegiance? Welcome everyone to our October 6th meeting of the WISHA Hickens School Board. If you take a look at our agenda, you'll see a list of our prior meetings. We met on August 26th for our regular public board meeting, September 22nd for our communication and curriculum and technology meeting. We have our upcoming meetings listed. October 13th is health, wellness and safety. Again on October 13th is board educational equity oversight committee meeting and October 28 is facilities. And
002then um let's see next we have our presentations and that is our recently tenured teachers Danielle. >> Hello good evening. Uh so tonight I am going to do the presentation of our um teachers receiving tenure. This is an annual presentation. Um and just as a reminder in Pennsylvania teachers acquire tenure after teaching in the same public school for three years and maintaining a satisfactory um rating during that time. Uh, additionally, tenure provides greater employment protection and changes uh, their status from being a temporary professional employee to a professional employee. So, that might not mean that much to everyone in this room, but it means a lot to our teachers uh, to get this status. So, this evening um, we're going to honor our teachers uh, receiving uh, tenure. So, first we have Jillian Gianio from
003Blue Bell. Lean H Lean Hman from Blue Bell. Uh Sierra Rose also from Bluebell. Diana Ward from Blue Bell. We did a lot lot of hiring in Blue Bell three years ago. Uh Sydney Lamaro, one of our music teachers at Blue Bell, Lower Gwenn, and Shady Grove. We have Jordan Cohen of Lower Gwennin. Laura Deitriel uh from Lower Gwenn. Tiffany Williams at Lower Gwennon. And then we also have Danielle Peroli at Shady Grove. I have Alexandra Monahan from Stony Creek. Jasmine Shaw Morris at Stony Creek. Paulina Stor from Stony Creek. Shannon Bulver Spence from Stony Creek. Eileen Odo Gordon from Wissah Hicken Middle School. We have Carolyn Bates uh also from Wiswicken Middle School. Michael Martin also at the middle school. And then I have Matthew McKenna at the high school, Carrie Holder also at
004the high school, Sarah Horowitz at the high school, and Elizabeth and Delcato at the high school. So these are our uh presented uh tenure tenure teachers this school year. Um please help me in congratulating congratulating each of these uh achievements. Thank you. >> How wonderful and congratulations to all of them. I see so many familiar names on there. Um my daughter's second grade teacher, Miss Monahan, is on there. So congratulations to all of them and um especially to her. Um anyone else any comments? My kids had Lauren Deitra the first year she was in the district and she came in actually mid year in a interesting situation but saved my kids year. I mean she is wonderful. I love her. She knows how much I love her but I'm just so pleased that she's in
005this district in 10 years. So thank you Lauren Dero. >> How sweet. Anyone else? I also have to compliment Miss Lamar. So happy to see her on here as well. And she's an amazing um strings teacher. My kids had her for strings and absolutely loved her. But again, what an amazing group. Um so so happy for all. Congratulations again. Um all right. Well, then I guess we'll move on from there. Let's see. We have our first public comment period. And let me read my comments here first before I pop. Uh the board appreciates hearing from the community. A maximum of five speakers will be heard on the same topic. Please limit your comments to three minutes. In the interest of fairness and in order to treat all speakers equally. It's our practice not to engage
006in dialogue. When appropriate, we'll follow up with responses from board docks. And when approaching the podium or coming online, please state your name, your municipality resident. And for this purpose public web public comment is on agenda items only. So please state um the topic on which you're speaking. Uh so for this first one um we have uh Jean's Jack Quack. Thank you. Goal number one on your agenda this evening is to quote foster safe and supportive school environments. I'm here to speak on behalf of the neighbors that have appeared before you before and the students and staff of your schools as to uh the middle school chiller noise issue. Given the preeminent position of safe in your goals, I trust that my comments and those of my neighbors will be taken seriously. It has been
00716 days since the noise test by the district's consultant uh following the long delayed installation of the sound blanket at the middle school. Has a consultant's report been received by the board yet or by the district? and and you and you're not going to ask me. Okay, I'd like to hear that later. If not, what is the deadline that the district has asserted to their expert to have this completed? If none, one, why has not a deadline been received given the seriousness of this issue? Given this is the third time the testing has been done and the previous reports have largely been repurposed by the same consultant. It's a simple process which one would think the consultant would only need one day to do this report. When added to the more than three months delay
008between this board's approval of a sound blanket installation at the middle school and the testing and those not being completed until September 15th after passage of the entire summer full of lengthy heat waves and unhealthy conditions imposed on the neighborhoods and the testing being done at an ambient temp temperature 60°. This is what this consultant did. He tested the noise of the air conditioning chiller at 60 degrees. What relevance does that have to a summer full of 80 plus degree days that we haven't appears to me that is further evidence of district's inability to manage this important matter. We request the board to assert its authority to have the district take this matter more seriously and timely. as the board considered seeking advice from an ENT specialist to evaluate the danger level to the students,
009staff, and the neighbors of the current noise level that this chiller produces. If not, why not? I think that's the least this board's duty is to assure that there's no danger to the students. and has talked about this for years. Hope you can move forward. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> No hands on. >> All right. Go to our next um contour, Irene. >> Good evening. My name is Irene Lewis and I live in Lower Winnick and I'd like to address the continuing problem of tutor noise at the middle school through the lens of the three distinct goals of three of the distinct uh district goals that are going to be discussed tonight. One, fostering a safe school environment. Two, strengthening communication and transparency. And number four, ensuring long-term facilities sustainability. Number one,
010safe school environment. You may you may not realize I don't know the full impact that the chillers have had. Neighbors along with summer students and campers have endured a relentless droning sound every weekday this summer from 6:00 a.m. in the morning until 700 p.m. a total of 13 hours a day every weekday while we waited for the acoustic fence to be installed. That fence was finally complete in September. And while it do dull the noise somewhat, the sound is still clearly audible on the fields, through the woods, and all the way to the homes on Montgomery Road. Does this mean safe for the community and would be safer by next summer when children are again spending hours outside in front? Number two, communication and transparency through this process. Communication has been lacking in progress from
011Mr. who is the business manager. Where is the district who is tasked with caring the surrounding community on this issue? The most details that I got from Mr. R. of the health solutions. They were reminders to me to stay off the school property that the spirit of transparency or collaboration that this board has set as a no long-term sustainability. The current measures feel like bandwidth. Machine wear down over time and barriers are not sustainable longterm plan temporary truth and how they protect the hearing help of students and staff who spend long periods of time in front of these units. This past summer, the noise persisted and the building itself was unoccupied. Now the acoustic fence was still pretty when the temperatures are in the 70s when we face 90°. I urge you to take a
012look at the YouTube channel where there are videos documenting our experiences. >> Thank you so much for your call. >> Is there anyone online? >> Okay. Well, I want to say that I'm claiming my three minutes that I was not given last week. It's just ironic. I'm go past three minutes. So, >> Karina, we did wait for you to come back on last week. So, you have three minutes this week and you have three minutes in second period as well. So, I'm going to continue. Um, the bottom line is every time that I go online, you I have no ability to speak. So, of course, I had to come in today. So, I'm going to go past my three minutes. This is all related to the district goals. Now, I'm going to just ask these
013questions. Let's see if you answer them in the question and answer period. Um, the restorative justice needs to be more holistic. Um, inclusive of parents involved. Training the teachers is not enough. I've had too many cases where kids have been involved and you're you're not bringing in all of the components of the people that need uh to be part of the restorative justice practice. How or what steps are going to be put in place to the to decrease office discipline referrals? Um it has been known in the black community that white female teachers um have a bias for young black boys um in terms of discipline referrals. So, I really would like to know how you're going to change that process. What what does it look like? How what what does it look like? How
014do you how are you going to try to decrease it? What's going to be done if the bench benchmarks are on safety are not met? Um what are the cons why are the communication protocols not in place now? And the fact that you have to train district leaders about the protocols makes no sense when you've had a superintendent here that was here for 10 years. um who proposed the portrait of a student process? What are the engagement forms going to look like? How are you defining stakeholders? And what happens to be what happens to the students that can benefit from the portrait of stu uh student process if it's supposed to be enacted in 2027? Um, the other thing that I want to talk about is that I just find it really ironic that uh,
015it was Joe and Amy last week that was all gleeful about the students having a town hall. Um, but you're not um, gleeful about having a town hall with students related to safety, discipline, curriculum in a setting where the community needs to speak to the candidates that are running for school board. So, I just wanted to point out the hypocrisy of those actions. Um, I don't appreciate being disrespected. I was tired last time. I'm still tired. But because of the recent things that have happened to me, I'm not tired yet. So, I think that you should be prepared that I'm going to be relentless in my pursuit for justice for black students, black teachers, black the black community, and marginalized students. And if you continue to disrespect me, I'm going to continue to do what
016I need to do in the courts. I do have a suit right with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and I'll talk about that in a second. I'll go with it. But I should have three minutes reclaimed from last week. Thank you. Anyone else? There are no hands raised online. Hi everyone, my name is Saos and I'm a parent and a resident of Laura Fund Township and the mother of a 12-year-old indigenous female son. I am here tonight because school district presents itself as a district of belonging. But my son's lived experience shows the opposite. His IEP, his disability, and his identity had been disregarded, leaving him feeling unsafe, unsupported, and ostracized. When he was provoked and overstimulated in a cafeteria incident, the assistant principal, a woman of color, immediately suspended him without due process or
017proper investigation, and the principal supported the decision. Written notice was not even provided until days later. This punitive response was not consistent with IDA or with FAPE or with the district's own policies and it reflects a larger pattern. The administrator is known for targeting students of color, especially black boys, with harsher discipline. It is no secret in this district that administrators of color are often put in place as buffers so that when black and brown children are punished, black parents cannot push back as easily because the person enforcing discipline looks like them. Even staff recognize this imbalance. A high school counselor herself admitted she often has to go to her white peers to get issues addressed because when she raises them directly, she is disregarded. This is systemic and and it harms children like my
018son. Even more concerning is the racialized messaging happening inside classrooms. On the very first day of school social studies, the teacher pointed to an image of an enslaved black man whose black back was torn apart from multiple lashes, saying, "This is what happens when we try to run." The class was supposed to be about the colonies, not slavery. In a class of 20 with only two children of color, including my son, that lesson sent a clear message of violence, submission, and fear. My son left that classroom feeling that sex brutality could happen to him today. That image is still hanging in the room. I am calling for it removal at at the very least if it remains then there should be an image of a slain slave owner or a slave resistance so that children
019of color see not only victimization but also strength, defiance and liberation. Without the balance, the only message being sent is one of inferiority and intimidation. And I must point out there are no images of Jewish adults being placed into gas chambers, no photographs of the Holocaust, no depictions of Jews being starved or tortured hanging on the walls. Why then is it considered acceptable to display this torn flesh of enslaved black man? This disparity is not accidental. It reflects who is protected from retraumization and who is not. In addition, students were shown the join or die image of a snake cut into eight pieces used historically to urge colonists to unite against Frank and Native Americans. To my indigenous son, that was a direct message that his people were meant to be destroyed on their own
020soil. Why is there no balance? Where are the images of the Simol people, the unconquered people who never signed a peace treaty with the US and resisted domination? Where are the lessons that honor survival pride and resilience? Whisting cannot claim to value belonging while permitting bias, discipline, and harmful curriculum. Belonging is not a slogan. It requires action. It requires fair treatment and respect for disability and teachings that uplift rather than degrade. My son and every child deserves to walk into school each day knowing they are safe, valued, and seen for their full humanity. Thank you. >> Thank you, SA. Anyone else? >> There are no hands raised online. >> All right. Then we'll close this public comment period and we'll move on to the board president report. And the only item I have is the
021approval of our district goals. And last week we did re review those goals. Did anyone have further comments or questions concerning those goals? All right. Then if there's no further questions or comments, did I have a motion? >> Second. >> All right, motion's been made and seconded. And again, I usually ask at this point if there's any comments or questions. Um, but since there weren't any, um, all those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Superintendent report. Thank you. Good evening. I have oneformational item. Um, I am pleased to share an overview of my 90-day report to the community. Uh, so this is part of my entry plan where I share um where where I share an update of all of the things that I've done as a part of the
022superintendent's entry plan. Uh, so what to do is um walk through the report. The report will be shared with the community in my from the desk of Dr. Dwan newsletter later this week. So I won't spend time on individual slides. There is a lot of text. Um you'll see in the report. The text is intended for people who are interested to read um at length what I'm sharing. But um but I just don't want to alarm anyone to think that I'm going to read through the slides. So that's my heads up. So, it's more of an overview or a walk through a walk through the 90-day report. And so, it starts with me providing um just a note to the community expressing gratitude for uh for the warm welcome for the support from the Wist
023Hicken community um and emphasizes that this the focus of this journey was about listening, learning and and leveraging insights to shape the future. Uh, and so that is what you'll see as we move through the um the as I'll give you a walk through the report here. This image you might recall from last year where I laid out the um the the individual um opportunities that I would have for engagement. Um you'll see little check marks at the end of those that I completed. The bot section is the fall 2025 and beyond. So that's where you'll see continued conversations and updates to the community as well. I mentioned my overarching goals were listening, learning, and leveraging those insights. You'll see that there's a direct relationship between what I learned and um the actionable plans that
024are outlined in our goals for this school year. Um so through those engagement highlights you'll see the various stakeholders um in which conversations and meetings um opportunities to connect with individuals to learn and leverage insights both uh internally as well in terms of staff and um board members but also community members as well. So you'll see that um outlined here. You'll see opportunities that I was able to connect with various community leaders as well as opportunities for engaging uh on Capitol Hill to to advocate for public education or community conversations with our HSA leaders and student voices. connecting with staff, professional staff, support staff, all staff, back to school greetings and communication and visibility. So, this um part of the report is highlighting the multiple channels of communication that you'll um that you'll see throughout
025the year. This is not the only um these are not the only communication channels for the WIS and school district but these are those that are have been launched specifically around my entry plan. I want to underscore the WHIS safety newsletter um which is new this year and that's intentionally um to share updates on safety protocols and best practices. That's something that um was in response to the community's interest around being informed about safety matters. And so the process um included engaging with various um members in our community um from staff to administrators to students to community members, parents and caregivers. And then this summer we spent time looking at the data both district data as well as information that I received from engaging with all of these individuals to help plan with the leadership
026team planning with the board of directors in order to establish goals for this upcoming school year. So, here's what we heard here. I'll spend a moment. These are some themes from the community feedback. Um, when I say community feedback, I'm referring to all of the community engagement that you saw or heard me reference here. But I also want to illustrate the community feedback was also um consumed from the uh parent or family satisfaction survey is another data set. In terms of community feedback, um there was also uh various surveys throughout the year including our belongingness survey. So information from that that was gleaned as well as um opportunities for families and community members to provide um feedback and insights. For example, if they were not able to come to um my community conversations event, but
027they were able to send a note to share their insights as a part of that process. So all of that um is what was um used in terms of looking for key themes from that feedback and you see that highlighted here. The importance of school safety and discipline, thinking about communication and transparency, student experience and supports, curriculum and cultural inclusivity, academic focus and teacher support. And as we look through fall and beyond, we'll see communication plan. We're having conversations about ensuring that we keep the community um updated about the goals and the initiatives that are happening in the district. Of course, I'll have regular school visits. Um the opportunity to observe classroom instruction and connect with staff and students is is a core part of of my role. Um but also continued engagement with the
028community. So having follow-up conversations and meeting with key stakeholders, thinking about those community partners is also very important. It should it's not intended to be a one-time meeting and that's it, but to have ongoing conversations um with those key stakeholders and opportunities to engage with the community in an ongoing matter. So, you'll see information in my newsletter about some upcoming opportunities around that and then the feedback loop. It's so important for for me and our team to always be thinking about and looking for opportunities to receive feedback, but then to celebrate those successes as they arise, to think about opportunities for um recognizing the contributions of our students and staff and and families. Um because celebrating success is also import an important part of the story. And of course, our theme for this year is
029every student every day. And that includes supporting our staff every day as well and making sure our parents and caregivers feel that sense of belonging. And then the district goals, which you have now voted upon um but they were um presented as you know at um at last week's session and then uh approved earlier this evening. uh you would have seen the connection between what we heard from those key themes and the intentional goals that were designed uh for this upcoming school year. So at this time um I that concludes my report. I'm happy to answer any questions. I appreciate the support of the board, the support of our our staff and students, the support of our community at large, and I look forward to um continued conversations and collaboration. I'm really excited about the
030journey ahead. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. And I really appreciate the time that you took to and organize and the thought you put into this in really um putting together the past couple months and figuring out the key stakeholders, who you needed to meet with, what those conversations needed to look like, and what information you needed to gather. and really then organizing information and figuring out what we as a board needed to really look at in the coming year. So, I appreciate you really taking that time and also looking ahead and figuring out what you still need to figure out. Um, so thank you so much for taking that time and and doing all of that. We really appreciate that as a board. Um, thank you. Other comments? >> I would just say
031Dr. an um as a board member and a parent, I feel like your communication has just been excellent and I really appreciate that. I think there already has been improvement and um I've noticed it. So, I just thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> Um I said it earlier, but I also wanted to say that I love Dr. Dewan's uh like weekly minute recaps. So, if you haven't watched those, you should go watch them. They're amazing. Thank you for that, Reed. >> Yeah, Dr. Dwan, just one question like how many how many times do you have to do that one minute recap because you do them straight through and then it's at least the ones I've seen, they're very clean and I'm guessing it's just one try, right? >> It is indeed one try
032and I'm okay with mistakes. So, you might hear a stumble here and there and I think that adds to the humanity of who I am. Um, so I'm not worried about that. I do try not to do any retakes. So maybe you could go look and look for the glitches and the mistakes. >> Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> Great. Anything else? Sorry, this is echoing a lot of what others have already said, but I appreciate the thoughtfulness and, you know, I feel like we're um entering a a new kind of stage and and I'm looking forward to it and I think, you know, in education, we learn every day. So, we're going to keep learning and uh I think we're off to a good start. Thank you for that. It is all
033about listening and learning and continuing to grow. I agree with you. Um and I'm just honored and excited to be a part of the journey. So, thank you again. >> All right. Well, if there's nothing else, um and before we move on to Dr. Gardner, I forgot I wanted to say welcome, Simmyi. It's your first meeting and I wanted to say welcome and I completely slipped my mind. So, welcome. >> Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here. >> Welcome. All right. Well, Dr. Garner, I don't think you have a report, but did you have anything you want to share? >> No, no report. Thank you. >> All right. And Jeeoff, I don't think you have a report. >> I do not. >> All right. Anything you want to share,
034though? >> I don't need to share anything today. >> Um, Tim's not here. So, do you want to give us a report today? >> I sure will. So, yes, I'm standing in for Mr. Burka this evening. So, um, as the board secretary report, uh, all items were reviewed at the work session and there are no changes, lucky for me. And so, tonight I'm seeking approval of action items 11.1 through 11.3. >> So, moved. >> The motion's been made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? >> All right, seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? All right, it's approved. Next report. All right, the next report is the board treasures report typically done by Mr. Bricker. So tonight this uh this that these items were reviewed at the work session and
035there are no changes. So tonight I'm seeking approval of action item 12.1. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Right. Have a motion's been made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? Seeing none, all in favor? I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes again. Thank you. Next report. All right. So for the human resources report, changes from last week's agenda are marked with an asterct and can be found in bold in the details. These include extracurricular appointments and resignations and a volunt and volunteer additions and they are bolded in 13.1, 13.2 and 13.5. 13.9 has also been added representing an employee release and separation agreement. 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 13.9. Thank you. >> So moved.
036>> A motion made and seconded. Are there any comments or questions? >> Yeah, just quickly on the volunteer list. It looked like there were a lot of additions this time. Is that just because was there anything special reason for the There are a lot of new additions, new bolds on the volunteer list. >> So, it's the beginning of the school year. So, uh normally that first wave is a little light and then parents want to get into classrooms and be guest readers and uh help with events. Uh so, you're actually going to see a lot more. So, we we have a really uh heavy volunteer um uh volunteering community. So, uh, this list is going to continue to to be big, which is exciting. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? All right, then. All
037those in favor? >> I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Thank you for covering those reports and for your own report this evening. All right. Then we'll move on to our board reports. Um, our committee reports, communications committee. No new items and Dr. Dwan did a phenomenal job giving the overview last week. So, thank you for doing that for me, but nothing new to report since last week. >> Thank you for that. Curriculum and technology. Dan. >> Yes. Good evening. We are seeking the approval for items one uh 15.1 to 15.3 which were reviewed last week, plus an addition of 15.4, four, which is an extended field trip for essentials to video production, mass media, and animation last trip to New York City. >> So moved. >> All right, a motion's been made in second. Are
038there any comments or questions? >> All right, seeing none, all those in favor? I. >> Anyone opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. All right, we'll move on now to facilities and transportation. Uh this evening we have two items that were reviewed at the work session last week. Uh 16.1 is the approval of a contract for snow removal services and 16.2 is the approval of the purchase of three 10 passenger vans. Um again these are unchanged from last week. So this evening I'm seeking a motion for approval of items 16.1 and 16.2. >> Second. >> It'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. >> Committee. >> Yeah, we're uh seeking approval of seven items tonight. No
039changes from last week's working session. Um first two items are normal uh finance statement approvals. Item number three has to do with waving stadium fees for a fundraiser. And items 174 through 177 are uh acceptance of donations. >> So move to name and seconded. Um do any comments or questions? I would just comment. Thank you for the donations here. >> No other comments or questions. All those in favor? >> I post question. Thank you Marshall. >> We have no information. >> All right. Um committee. >> No action items. No report. To be able to How about safety? >> Yes, there are noformational items this evening. >> Okay. To the report representatives extracurricular. >> Nothing to report. >> All right. Um MC went over last week last week too, right? Yeah. uh PSBI >> um I'm
040going to attend a virtual leazison quarterly meeting this Thursday so I can report back next meeting about topics that were discussed. There's also the school leadership conference at Kalahari in like two weeks or no not this year. I mean I'm fine with that. >> You don't have any plans at this time till all right sounds good. That's it right now. And then for ERC we actually do have a meeting tomorrow. So there great. All right. Well, that then brings us to the second public comment period. And for the second public comment period, this can be anything school related. The board appreciates hearing from the community. A maximum of five speakers will be heard on the same topic. Please limit comments to three minutes. In the interest of parents and in order to treat all speakers
041equally, it's not our practice to engage in dialogue with speakers. When appropriate, we'll follow up with responses on board docs. When Approaching the podium, please state your name, municipality of residence, and the topic on which you're speaking. All right, our first speaker will be Carina Taylor. So I put on the sheet that I wanted to talk about the prejudice that I have ex been that I have experienced and I want to talk about right to knows. I want to point out that when I have come up here three separate occasions over the last 15 years to present an alumni gift to the district. The school board in every iteration of leadership has made me go through hills and mountains and rivers to get it approved. But people that get other things um in the district
042get it with no second thought. For instance, I did a right to know request um about the mural in the middle school that the Jewish community has a problem with. I sent a right to know request to Tim because from my understanding, you can't get anything done in any school without board approval. He responds and says information is unresponsive. That was his response to my right to know request when I asked when did the board approve of the mural in middle school. He said there's no information. But when I asked to get uh the room changed in the aon the art work in the art gallery or in the art courtyard in the high school I had to go through a whole year's process for approval. Second thing, when I started the Winken Alumni Association,
043I um used the logo, the 50th anniversary logo, because I thought there was a connection. Wade denied me and he said that was for internal use. But the Wah Hicken school board, the Democratic candidates used the logo. I challenged it with with he said yes, they didn't have approval. They violated an inter an external policy. But Mr. Sultan gave you Amy the opportunity to ask to use it after you used it. So I wonder why is it that everything that Carina asks, there's all this H and push and pull disrespect, but then when other people ask that don't look like me, that don't want my status, they get everything done when liquidity split. And I feel like that needs to be broken out. So Tim Ricker is not a Wade Coleman. Whenever there was a
044right to know request and I didn't have clarity, um Wade would call me before on simple things for clarity and then answer. Tim does not. So, five people that have done right to no requests in this district, 90% of the right to know requests that should be district information gets denied for no information. So when I think about leadership in the school district and people running for reelection, I'm asking what the hell? Why is it that we don't have the information that we should be asking? And why do you think you should be leading be next? You guys sit here and you laugh about the stupidest things and we have real issues that are going on with students and the community, but you sit here and laugh and giggle. This is a school board. This
045is a school district. And I'm tired of coming up here. I will continue to share with the public how I will show Tim Bricker's um email where he said he he that you guys violated the policy and Mr. Sultanic overrode it and approved it. But I have a denial that I couldn't use the same logo and I'm in a low. You guys aren't. All right. Thank you, Karina. Is there anybody online? There are no hands raised online. My name is settles and I'm lower township. My I am a parent of a student and a resident of lower township. As I just stated, I'm here tonight both as a parent and as a member of this community to raise serious concerns regarding the Wigan Middle School football program. This is not about perspective or fairness. This
046is about safety, equity, and accountability. My son was consistently denied practice reps and then placed into a live game at a position he had never once practiced. When I arranged concerns, the coach's response to me was, "Life is not fair." That is not a teaching moment. That is dismissal of both a child's safety and his opportunities to grow. This district's own athletics policy states that the program is committed to the physical and emotional well-being of students. Yet, what my son experienced was the opposite. He was treated as an expendable, a placeholder for the ambitions of adults more concerned with winning than with mentoring. I must also raise an equally serious concern. My son is indigenous and brown in color. The treatment he has received has been harsher, more dismissive, and less supportive than what I
047see extended to his white peers. This reflects a troubling disparity that cannot be ignored. The border culture within the football program seems to prioritize adult recognition over child development. These are seventh and eighth graders, children here to learn, build confidence, and develop skills. Coaches should be mentors who lift them up, not figures who dismiss them cliches. And let me emphasize the level of commitment my family need. I stopped my son's regular paid activities once we were still financially responsible for so that he could fully commit to football. This program requires 5 days a week, two to three hours a day, a significant sacrifice of both time and resources, to make those sacrifices only for them to be disregarded, dismissed, and denied opportunity is unacceptable. Coach Eber also informed me that he cannot make cuts and
048that with 44 players on the team, he told many children they would not be getting practice, rest, or playing time and they should accept this. In effect, this is a way of him making cuts despite the district prohibiting him from doing so. This is retaliation and it is manipulative and deeply concerning. Children will endure almost anything just to belong with their peers. But that does not make it right. It makes it exploitative. And I am not the only parent raising these concerns. Others have confided that they see the same issues but do not know how to stand up to this program. Just this past Friday, October 3rd, one parent told me her son received no playing time at all in a junior varsity game because varsity players were placed into JB spots and jerseys were
049switched. And on September 26, my son's last game, I personally witnessed varsity players switching jerseys to play in Jav. And I was told directly by the coach that he could do this as long as they did not play the same position the day before. Meanwhile, those same players receiving the bulk of playing time are the ones known for bullying and even participating in the so-called fight clubs in the bathrooms. By rewarding them with opportunity and visibility in the program under coach's direction is giving them inflated sense of superiority over their peers. This is not leadership behavior. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hands raised online. >> Close public comment for the moment. Um before we get to board comment, um I do just have to ask for a clarification with Dr. Hold on for a
050second. So I did address the mural. So just to clarify, the mural that we have at the middle school was not a donation to the district. It was something that was actually uh done by our students as part of a project. Correct. It was not something that needed board approval. That is correct. that mural project was not something that required board approval. There was no donation for the board to accept. It was a studentled project. And so you are correct in your understanding. I just wanted to make sure because we do have an actual procedure that's set forth in our policies and all HSAs, for example, those are what we were proving this evening do follow that procedure for all donations that are brought for the board. >> That is correct. Um over $500 if
051I'm not mistaken. um those donations that are over that amount require board approval. That is correct. >> Okay, great. I just wanted to make sure that was correct. And also as far as um use of our logo, that's just in terms of obtaining approval from Tim Bricker in order to use the logo which my use of it I obtained approval. That's all that's necessary. Correct. >> That's my understanding. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. But as far as again the mural was not a donation from any organization. It was just students. Okay. Thank you. All right. Any board comments this evening? >> Um, this is just maybe like an item for followup really. Um, uh, regarding the the I guess the chiller the middle school chiller sound test. I know that happened a few weeks ago and
052I I wasn't aware like um when we were supposed to receive the results, but I would appreciate some kind of update from Tim just uh how that turned out. That'd be great. Thank you. >> Absolutely. And I know that the process included um while the temperature that day was not at its hottest. Um the process included putting the um the machine at its maximum capacity so that it would be um a a fair assessment of what the sound would be should it be running at full capacity. But I'll make sure Mr. Bricker shares an update in terms of the timeline for when um the board and uh the community members can be aware of the outcome of that assessment. >> Thank you. Any other comments this evening? >> All right, then to move. >> Right.
053in favor.