001Mr. Antonio here. Mr. Badger here. Mr. Blefeld here. Miss Kavachi here. Mr. Goulson here. Miss Keranikis here. Dr. Morris here. Mr. Walker here. Mrs. Ginsburg here. Isabelle Dcasta here. Great. Thank you. Would everybody please join me for the pledge of allegiance? Go to welcome everyone to our April 28th work session. And uh first we list out our prior meetings. On April 7th we had a regular public board meeting. April 21st we had both health wellness and safety and our reach committee meeting. And then 4.2 we list out our upcoming meetings. On May 5th we have a regular public board meeting. May 12th finance committee meeting. May 27th a work session. And June 2nd a regular public board meeting. And then we have one presentation this evening with the Hickin High School monthly highlights. So one
002very exciting thing we have Minithon which was this Saturday and the neat thing is that we're privileged to have it every single year. I know that other schools don't have it every single year, but and they raise a lot of money, but this year we broke our record by $30,000, which yeah, like on the paper, it's like wow. But then they we realized by how much we had, we hit $81,17649. So that's insane. Um, and then for this high school robotics team, we went to Worlds, myself included, and um, was an awesome experience. I was able to help out a Chinese team on our alliance. So, alliances are randomized. You don't really get to pick who you want to team with until you're in the final round. And it was like a really interesting experience
003cuz we had a Mexican team. We were all trying to figure out why this robot wasn't moving. And then we figured out after the match um that it was a short my coach was like, "Okay, you should like still go help them out even though like we're not gonna play with them anymore." So after that match, I went up to them. I spent like a good hour or so trying to figure out and I was like, "Oh, wait. It's a short cuz the aluminium was touching one of the wires." And after that, they were able to compete in their matches and actually like show their cool robot. like they they worked so hard up throughout the year just for them to have a short at the world competition. Um and then we ended I believe
004probably like semi- finalists in the in our own division. So there are eight divisions. So we were in like Archimedes division and unfortunately we did get eliminated because our robot partner got stuck on what we call the barge which is imagine like two pillars and like a net on top where you put like these huge dodge balls which are called algae and we all got a yellow card somehow because the rules say that if one robot on your lines suspends itself on any part of the field the whole team gets a yellow card. So unfortunate way to get out, but we were still able to show our division how cool we are. And we actually did win the excellence in engineering despite that, which um is really nice. We typically always win it, but to
005win it at the world level is very different from winning it say like at a regional level. So that was really neat. And for sports, another school record was broken in the javelin, girls javelin with um Brooklyn Compass throwing 118 feet with 4 in. So no idea how she does it, but that's really insane. That's cool. She's also sixth all time for discus and seventh for shot foot. So stellar athlete, phenomenal on like on paper, that's like huge. But then you see you when you see her throw, it's like so majestic. you see like that javelin going far. Oh my god, it's so cool. Um, and then for girls lacrosse, they've also been doing really well. They've had so far as the time of I checked the newsletter, 11 wins and zero losses. I know
006they had a game today, but I did have to leave for track practice. And for HLA, we have the speaker series, so kids can come in during these meetings and learn about, you know, what career options there are. say like you don't you don't know what to do like these adults immigrated in from countries and like they showed they showed their successful stories so I know one of them is um I believe a business in entrepreneur which also like really cool so yeah and we're going to continue with that and hopefully continuing that the next year so yeah thank you um anybody have any comments or questions yeah Isabelle I'm curious where was the world competition at Houston Texas Cool. Did you enjoy Houston? I did. It was really hot and then only for me
007to come back to semih hot weather here. But yeah, it was really, really nice. Any barbecue? What's up? Barbecue. I did not know. Any other questions or comments? All right, seeing no, we'll move on. Thank you again, Isabelle. All right, now we have our first public comment period. Um, I don't have anyone registered in person. Anyone online? There are no hands raised on mine. All right, then we will move on uh to the board president report. Um and the first item I have is approval of a service agreement with educa educational leadership consulting for professional development for the board uh not to exceed 1500. And this is the training that we'll be doing with Nancy and Amy come June at our board tree and we'll be voting on that tonight's review on campus. All right.
008Any comments or questions about that? There's actually no contract attached or at least I don't I don't see it. We have a contract just Okay. So, yeah, just Okay. Any other questions? Right. Then we'll move on to superintendent report. Jim, thank you. Just one item to review. It's the much awaited revision to the 2425 school calendar. As everybody knows, we have so far to date used just one emergency weather closing day. And we're going to assume that's it. Which means that next meeting on Monday or yes, it's coming Monday, we'll we'll vote to revise the calendar, officially have the last day of school become June 11th, which is one day earlier than it currently is. Any comments or questions about that? How will we push this out to everyone? because I know that this I
009mean I feel like it's a little it's getting like a little later. It's only like going to be a month out by the time we pass it. So, as parents are planning for like child care and vacation, I just want to make sure. Can we get it out this week or do you have to wait till we vote officially? We'll we'll get it out the minute we vote officially. We have a roster of people who have called our office and it's about 150 now. Jones, I'm not sure. But, uh people are very interested in this. We've told them this is the likely outcome, but we can't be official until it actually support action. Well, I know, but we're not going to vote no on what we have to do anyway. We can't just like be
010like, "Oh, we're not going to skip that extra day. We're gonna I mean, we're voting yes on it." Like, okay. Yes. Okay. And it doesn't affect any school events like last year, I think it did affect field day, one of the schools. If it it might I think it was a middle school event because now the three half day or dismissal days are all the same week. uh Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Last week, last year went to Friday, Monday, Tuesday was a little bit of an off, but if it does, we'll get word out soon. Yeah. One other question for you. I know there was some sort of change at the state level that it's now like not days, but hours. Um how does that affect our schedule like moving into like next year, the following
011year? Are we going to make changes like that? Yes. the the state used to require a a minimum number of days and also minimum number of hours and if for some reason you didn't hit it then you get penalized. Now the state allows for admin number of days or so for our purposes our calendar is still under E2 but that could moving forward change in some fashion if so desired but it does it's not reflected in this one or in next year which is yeah we need and if it were to be changed I mean so the 2526 school calendar this coming year is already been set and if we wanted to change something after that policy. Thank you, Jim. All right. Um, assistant superintendent report. Good evening. I don't have anyformational items and no
012action items. Thank you. Thank you. Board solicitor report from just for review as a for vote for next week is a settlement agreement between the family and the district, the terms of which are laid out here. Um, and of course, thank you, Michelle. Any comments or questions? Seeing none, thank you. We'll move on to our board secretary report. Tim, there are four meeting minutes for approval. March 31st minutes from both the communications committee and the work session, the April 1st finance committee meeting, and the April 7th regular board meeting. Great. Thank you, Tim. Any comments or questions? All right. For treasure report for this month, we have the approval of the March treasures report. Great. Thank you. Any comments or questions? All right. Seeing none, we'll move on. Thank you again. Human resources. Danielle. Hi.
013Good evening everyone. Um for your review tonight are eight items under section 13 of the human resources report. The first two action items include resignations, retirements, appointments, changes of status, leaves of absence, extracurricular changes, and volunteers. Item 13.3 is for the approval of our continued agreement with PEN behavioral health for our employee assistance program, also known as EAP for our staff members. Um, it provides mental health services at no charge. um a confidential service free to our employees um should and their families should they need to take advantage of that. Um 13.4 is for the approval of job descriptions. 13.5 is the approval of the annual salaries for staff in our confidential group for the 2526 fiscal year. This includes four of our staff members here at CO. 13.6 is the amendment to Mr. Timothy
014Bricker's contract approving his annual salary for the 25 26 uh fiscal year um per the original contract agreement. 13.7 is an amendment to our contract with GHR um general healthc care resources. Uh they're a partner in staffing classroom assistance um and subs. And finally 13.8 8 is a new agreement for custodial substaffing services with SOS um also known as school operations services group. Uh this will will help to um fill in some vacations and some vacancies uh for our custodial sub staffing um much needed and and they will be very appreciative. So um so that is all I have tonight. Thank you so much and that concludes my report. Great. Thank you Danielle. Any comments or questions? Hey, thank you, Danielle. Um, in the GHR contract, I'm not familiar with all of the acronyms. Um,
015would you happen to know what an RBT, BCBA, COA, and SLP are? There's a lot of acronyms. Sure. Yeah. You wouldn't Yes. I'm really good at acronyms. RBT is a registered behavior technician. Coota is a certified occupational therapist assistant. Um BCBA is behavioral uh board certified behavior an analyst. Board certified behavioral analyst. Uh what was it? Speech language pathologist. Nothing. I'm just wonderful here with us. Well, now you've given me a challenge. I don't know what the CF following SLP stands for, but we can certainly get back to you. That's what I'm thinking. Thank you for Thanks for the question. That was impressive. Thank you. Um I just wanted to comment also. So I was disappointed when I had heard Mrs. Brown was retiring from the middle school. She puts on the most amazing performances
016every year. But I was really happy when I heard that Miss Carson from Stony Creeks is taking her role at the middle school because she does amazing performances at Stony Creek. I mean, all of our music departments do, but um I was just happy to hear that we would have somebody continue uh in that role that is is great. So, good choice. All right, any other comments or questions? All right, then we'll move on. Thank you, Danielle. All right, communications committees. No new updates for this week. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Curriculum and technology. Um there are several things and I'm gonna let Dr. Dwan take it because she's going to more eloquently explain it than me. It would be my pleasure. Thank you. We have noformational items this evening. Uh but we do have
017seven items for review for which we'll seek approval on May 5th. Item number one is um to seek approval to purchase Chromebooks for kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Um, as an update, we did have a um a pilot for kindergarten and first grade to explore the idea of tablets in the classroom. The outcome of that pilot um was to move forward with Chromebooks uh for the students instead of moving to the the the pilot approach, excuse me, the tablet approach. Um but I also want to point out that the purchase for kindergarten and first grade in this um action review item is going to restore a shared device model. As we know part of the budget process last year included moving away from the onetoone device at the K1 level. Um and uh Mr.
018Falcon was able to get a um a a cost that would allow him to purchase in the shared device model but at a 2:1 ratio which will be very beneficial for our K1 teachers in thinking about their approach to using the devices in the classroom but also will not be the 1:1 which we understand was the the intent and the plan. Um the purchase for grade two as a part of this item is u maintaining the district's standard one onetoone ratio at grade two. Grade two was not a part of the conversation for shifting away from one one and so they'll maintain one one. Um item number two is approval and this is an annual approval of the appointment of the school physician and school dentist. Item number three is for approval of one student's
019outplacement services as indicated in the chart. Item number four is the approval for us to seek permission to request an act 80 exception for our high school seniors calendar. Uh for this school year, the seniors will fall short of the 180 instructional days that we have as a part of our plan for this year as indicated in policy and we can talk about that as Dr. Chris mentioned. Um and so because of the school closing on February 6, um the seniors will have 179 instructional days. And so we'll seek uh exception from PBE. Item number five is for approval of the revised plan courses and instructional resources following the curriculum review process when we had um these uh items on for the 30-day review as you may recall in the last board cycle. Um, and
020now though you'll see the costs are listed in the chart. And I want to point out that amounts that are indicated with an asterisk reflect not only the purchase of text books, but also includes the cost for six years of digital licensing and student consumables, which we call the workbooks that students use in those programs. And so those amounts won't all be expended in the 2526 school year. It's be spread over the next six years. But this allows us to see what the total cost will be for implementing the new curriculum following the curriculum review cycle. That six-year time frame aligns with the curriculum review cycle. So just to explain why six years, it also helps us to lock in today's pricing uh for those physical and digital components of the new math resources. So
021that is a vote. Item number six is for approval of the curriculum and instructional expenditures for next year um specifically for the assessment and software renewal. And item number seven is for approval to accept donations from the Wahhen Education Opportunities Foundation. We off um and so this list is inclusive of a donation to our high school science department um which includes the $20,000 Lockheed Martin grant as well as a couple of educational grants um including um requests from Sony Creek for adaptive physical education equipment. um the request from the high school for um a mural to be painted. That's going to be a uh that's a request from the art and library departments. And then um from the high school marching band, you may recall at our last board meeting, the we all student uh
022student board reps were here and they talked about um one of the grants where they would be donating funds toward the purchase of a new marching band trailer. So that include that's included in this list of donations that we'll be seeking the board to approve to accept. Any questions? Right. Thanks for the overview. Um Dr. Jan, um just a couple of things on 15.7. So one, is that correct? Like the very first thing is $14 and equipment back. Okay. I was like, is that a type? Thank you for the question. That is correct. And it's because the donation of the equipment that we received was valued at $19,986 and so what was remaining is $14. So the actual cash donation is going to be $14. Um the rest was equipment valued at 19,8986. So thank
023you for the question. Yeah, I I thought it was a typo. And then um just curious for and I'm sure we've talked about it in the past and I just can't recall how do we off donations grants kind of get allocated? Is it by request or do people put in like h how does it work? If you could just give us like the two kind of second two second. Yes, I can do it. Um thank you for the question. So um some grants are predetermined and have stipulations around them. For example, the Loheed Martin grant um is it goes through we off but Loheed Martin has stipulations around how those funds can be used and it's specifically intended to target science equipment at the high school level and so that's one element. So there are
024some grants like that. Aside from that, um there are grants that our schools, our teachers reach out to. We often they submit an application to request grant funding for uh new ideas that they want to explore, new uh approaches to things that are going to help them in the classroom. So, um, so yeah, the the grants are out there and available and, um, we are making sure we're doing our best work to keep our building leaders informed so that they can be encouraging teachers to explore opportunities throughout the year. Thank you. And and sorry, one additional question and uh any curriculum changes or updates etc. apart from these board meetings, are there other ways that we're publicizing that with families with regard to um other pathways? So um I'm thinking about our board curriculum and
025technology committee meetings that we have. Um we had some conversation about what that might look like next year and perhaps potentially increasing. we had just one this year because there was the bulk of the content was in the fall. Um and so that there wasn't a need for additional committee meetings this year, but there may be some next year. Um, aside from board committees and board meetings, we've been thinking about the math revision, the curriculum revisions to the math program and having some conversations around what that will look like to inform families about the curriculum changes and really targeting helping parents and caregivers to know how to help their students with the new curriculum resources. And so that's something our department of teaching and learning uh we've been exploring and having conversations about to see
026how to ensure at the school level those experiences and opportunities exist. Um and so thinking specifically about implementation of new curriculum resources that's what our our intention and targeting efforts will be around. Thank you. So Dr. one. Um, I know we give parents the opportunity or anyone to come in and review any new material, but do we put out there like how you go about that process? Like, do I just walk into this building and say, "Hey, I want to review the material. Do I set up an appointment?" Like, how do parents know what to do? When we put those items up for 30-day public review, we'll usually reference how to do it, to reach out to the Department of Teaching and Learning, and I think I might have shared the phone number or an
027email address. Um, at this point the 30-day review period is over, but um, typically that's and and parents and caregivers will reach out to the Department of Teaching and Learning. They'll give a call over and set up time to come in to take a look at the materials. Um, on the website that information is available as well. So, that links to the board meeting um, the board agenda items also, but it's also on the Department of Teaching and Learning's website so that families know how to access and where to go if they do want to explore the resources closely. Thank you. Yeah, and I wanted to add to that the imagine illustrated math that we're using, it looks like K to 5 for next year, they have a pretty robust website in terms of like
028looking at the material. I found it really pretty helpful. So, you can look online there and sort of see some stuff if you miss the review period. So, that might help be helpful. Great. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? All right, seeing none, we'll move on to facilities and transportation. Joe, thank you. Um, we have seven uh action items for consideration this evening and vote for next week. I'm going to ask Tim if he could give us a quick run through of each of them, please. Sure. Uh, the first one is to obsolate items that are no longer useful here at next one we have is the approval of Pure Veritoss to complete a facilities condition report. This will be going through all the different buildings within was a hicken identifying all the machinery
029and equipment as well as tagging them. The next one we have is to approve CMG of Easton with the middle middle school chiller wall construction. Um we also went out to bid for food service equipment and we are recommending to approve Singer as the winner of that bid. We also have two playground improvements for inclusion. Shady Grove being one and Blue Bell being the other playground. And then finally, we have change order for the Blue Bell expansion project. Thanks Tim. Um I have some questions about 16.2 um the feasibility study with Bureau of Veraritoss. Can you um explain to us how we um selected that firm and I guess what some of their qual qualifications are? Sure. So, Beritas is a company that one of the different respondents that we got. They became one of
030our three finalists based on the presentation that they provided us. The presentation was reviewed by uh Mr. Russell and CHA also participated in that review. They then these three finalists then were interviewed. We went through different interviews asking questions asking about their process and really the thing that stood out for Bureitos in all this process was that this is their own function. They're not looking to try and get our engineering job. They're not looking to become our architect. They're not looking to become anything else. They this is only want to do the facilities condition assessment. That's all we're really looking for them to do and support us with the rest of the stuff will be built out differently once we get that date. They did prove to be the best in the presentation as well
031as in Okay, great. Um Tim, in addition to a facilities condition uh for each of our buildings, are they also going to be taking a look at building capacity and capacity utilization? So, they're not going to be dealing with building capacity or capacity utilization. That would be a different study for that. They're just strictly focused on the conditions of the buildings themselves. And this will be walls, sidewalks, everything. It's a really comprehensive. I've actually used them once before and they did a really good job there with regards to gathering the data. And um how do we expect to use the information that we get from? So, we're going to use the information we're going to work with CHA and we're going to use that to create a 10-year facilities project priority list. Obviously, the board
032will be involved in trying to help us guide us through which projects they feel would be the priority, but this will help us identify which areas of need stand out the most. They're also going to be able to tag with scanning devices each of the equipment so that when maintenance is performed on them, we can scan that and update the maintenance. And the preventive maintenance system that they have also integrates from their system right into the one that we have now. and we can then create a preventive maintenance program with regards to work orders through facilities. All right. Thanks. Any other questions on 16.2? Not on I I do. Yep. Deputy, thank you for that overview and I I think this is a very important project for us to be embarking on. I do also
033want to understand how this will dovetail with capacity because I do believe we may be we may be having real capacity issues sooner than later and I want to make sure that we're not doing this exercise in in isolation. Thank you. of capacity because I do feel like we need to be a little synergistic in how we're thinking through our capital projects. So I do also urge that we kind of think about doing that piece of this exercise before we embark on any real tenure planning in my opinion. Thank you. And Tim, my question was how often do we have to have these kind of um surveys done? Um they're good for five years definitely. Uh it really depends if if you're updating it as you go. It really is what and what you're doing
034will impact it. Let's say you going to just continue to do the maintenance. Well, you're probably going to have the mason tree is going to eventually have to be looked at. So, depending on how you're updating that in your plan will really say how you have to do it. Um, building an addition will change. Changing out a lot of the equipment will change it. Putting a new roof moves that stuff out 20 25 years. Um, at a minimum I would say we'd be good without any really need to go out again for five years. and and Tim the contract talk or the proposal talks about report delivery in 70 days. So I'm assuming then in when we come back in the fall is when we get the readout from this. I'm trying we when we
035come back in the fall is when we'd get the readout from this if they're going to provide the report in 70 days. Yes, that's the timing of it and so the report is also online. So it's everything is maintained online. So you can start adjusting different values and updating all that. So that'll be available to start 10ear plan. It's not going to be in the 10 year plan in 70 days. That's going to be used to start. Thank you. Um thanks Tim. U moving on to 16.3 the dub the middle school chiller sound control project. Um the the price tag is is uh well it was much higher than at least I expected. Um so I was I'm curious like how much how much of the high cost do you think is due to the
036current uncertainties with all the tariffs or is it this wall really just that expensive? So there was an underground storage tank that did present some problems that we have to we could not put a block wall up. We did explore potentially removing the underground storage tank, but that would create another issue given to its proximity to the existing chiller. So, we went with a different wall structure that met the sound. Even though that being said, price is much higher than we had expected, even been thought at. We can't say specifically how much the high cost is due to the uncertainties and tariffs, but it's definitely impact. Uh it definitely plays a big role in in what's coming in. Um and sort of a follow-up question are and the whole saga with the with the sound
037and the and the chiller and the wall and all that is um kind of confusing for me. So I guess can you clarify? Are we currently in violation of any lowered sound ordinances because of the the chiller? So the 7 pm to 7 a.m. sound ordinance is where we are over on that depending on which study imately once it's put up and done final study to say where we stand with regards to that. But we are somewhere between one to four dB above the sound ordinance depending on the report and timing. Originally, we were thought to be a little bit higher, but when we confirmed with the ordinance with the township, we were found to be about one to three. Okay. So, we're we're a little bit over the sound uh I guess limit per
038lowered. Um what's the does the lower whatever uh I don't know regulations say what the remedy or penalties are for being over? I do not know what they are. U and I and they have not given us any idea they would be. They could find us for being over the ordinance, but I have not. Okay. Um yeah, I mean the the number is eye popping. So I just want to understand how obligated we are to uh it would be a daily fine and it would add up would be would be my expectation. All right. Um other questions on the chiller once this is done is that is exact that's what the uh modeling by our acoustic expert has showed that we would be under the ordinance. Will we be under by a certain amount or
039expected amount or we going to be up against it just in case this issue comes up again? So the material that they're putting on is supposed to lower it between five to 10 dB. So we would be below. So below um so we're one we'd be four below. If we're three we'd be two below minimum. We should be we expect it to be a little bit further below. We're going to expect closer to the 10 based on the materials that we added approved. And we also have the option if we want to to put additional padding on the other walls to even dampen it further if necessary. They would not be new. I had a few number higher than I expected, but looking at the other two bids, they're seems much higher, like 30 to
04060,000 more. like in the line items. Could you tell like why they were more expensive than the one that came in the lowest? Uh, it's going to be where they're sourcing their materials from and their profit margins. That would be the only thing I can say because the amount of work is pretty much the same. They're going to put the post in their walls in. So, I'm assuming it's their profit margin and their cost materials and alternate one, two, and three. What are these different alternate amounts? So, we were planning if we had to phase it in for different items, but we're not going to do to take it. Just going with phase. Okay. Those were just options in case we And then where exactly is this wall going? What is it going to look
041like when it's up? Like, how tall is it? The wall is 14 feet high. It'll be about four to five feet. The chiller from where it stands currently. There's currently a fence right there. So it'll be right about the same and that like 145 that's gonna take care of the sound or good portion of it. That's what the expert said. I wish it was 10 because it would have been cheaper but we had to go to 14. Thank you. Tim have a question. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, two questions. one. I'm assuming that the contractors have I'm assuming the contractors have used this application in other projects before. Assuming that's the case, what is their confidence level that what they're expecting to achieve will actually be achieved given the price tag that we now have?
042Because this is this is it's a fair question. Um, so Harrison Acoustics is the one that's really coming up with the design and they're going to be the ones responsible for ensuring that we get to that level. Um, he feels extremely confident at at the 14 foot that this will do it. It will push the sound up. So the sound's going to go up more that come straight across. Some of it will bleed over which is the sound that will be the residual sound that comes over. um he thinks will be closer to the 10 decel somewhere between a seven to 10 decel range. Okay. Um second question is again given the price tag do we know what the useful life is um left on the current system is this something that we won't have
043to revisit in another 20 or 30 years or is this something that will need to be replaced at some point in the relatively near future and that we need to reinvest what we're going to spend this time another good question so as I understand it was put in seven years ago From the explanation I was given, it's got it's about 25 years. We have about another 18 years to go. And then last question, I'm sorry, one more followup then. Um, in terms of the other alternatives to potentially upgrade or replace the system, I know when we first started talking about this, it was a substantial difference. I don't remember what the numbers were, but given where we are now, is the difference between a replacement now versus what we'll be paying this time still and
044given the useful life is in your calculation. I don't want to speak for you. Is it still a fair investment given what we know now? So all things being equal, I would say yes, given the fact we have 18 years with the existing HVAC unit, we would stick with that. We would probably get a price I think we would normally look for like about 7 $800,000. Don't quote me on that. I'm just giving you an average for me. But again, that's before the tariffs. That's before we have to go find the parts. hell. We have to wait for the parts to come in because there's there's supply chain issues that are going to start coming. The tariffs don't change. Um, we'd also have to look at the location, the timing of when to pull it.
045I definitely think, as much as I hate to say this, believe me, I looked at every option under the sun to avoid this. From pulling the tank out to putting different type of fencing in, we had we did a lot of other studies. This is the only one at wefield that's going to actually meet the needs and be least costly to district. Thanks. And Tim, you did say it's going to direct the sound up. I'm not a sound engineer, but it will just go up. It's not going to bounce back towards the school. That would be disruptive to the students. So, I'm going off of comparison acoustics. The walls, the sound. So, the the chiller's eight feet high. you're going to be six feet over. So, the sound's going to come up and hit it
046and it's going to be directed mainly. There will be sound that bleeds over. That's just the way sound works. But the way that they're the way the acoustic guy was explaining to us, the amount that bleeds over will be a lot less than what's just coming directly across right. We already put sound blankets on just as a reminder to everyone on the system. So that's the sound blankets themselves were already provided a five to six decel depending which one we look at. Thank you. Tim, one last question regarding the the chiller wall. If after we spend the $370,000 to build the wall, it's all done and they do a sound check and we're still not below um who's liable for that to remedy that? Do we have to pay more or is the is Harrison
047Acoustics or the the construction firm liable to make it right? I would have to defer to an attorney if anyone in the construction because of it being sound would have any I'd have to look at the contracts with them to see if there was anything right now. I don't see I wouldn't say anyone would be on the hook for the way the sound migrates if it doesn't work as long as it's built to the design specs. If it if it's built to design specs and it's still not um below the lower wind and sound ordinance, if they're not on the hook for it by default, that means we're on the hook for it. So then that means we have to potentially pay more. I would look probably the Harrison Acoustics insurance to see if there
048was something there. There was anything in the contract that we had. There are other things we can do cheaper than actually will have to sue some padding system. It is very unlikely that this will come with a guarantee. Joe that's unfortunately. All right. Can we Oh, sorry. my temp as a taxpayer and a board member I it's hard to spend this kind of money and then just be one or two decibb below the ordinance because I think what we heard when the neighbors of Montgomery Avenue came in is that they would like to see the noise substantially reduced and you know I don't know that that's possible given what you're saying but are we giving it to spend this kind of money because all I see is I want this to go to education. Um,
049are we giving it our best shot to make that those neighbors happy? That is the ultimate goal. I think I I want to make sure that they feel like we've done our part. Okay. So, first thing is the money is being spent out of capital, not general fund. So, it can't be used for educational purposes. It is m it is there for construction and maintenance of the buildings. That money is a separate fund and what we what the other funds that are in the general fund to cover education salaries. This has no budgetary impact other than the fact it's being spent out of the capital. So it would not be anything associated with this. Each year we transfer a portion over there for these types of situations so that we can manage construction projects and
050needs the district as they uh with regards to what the reduction is. The reduction again I have to go back to the expert says it will get us under the the ordinance. Um all I can will it make everyone happy? It'll it should get us under ordinance but um we've been told that no unless we get it to zero they won't be happy which is not possible. That's just not physically possible. Will we be under the ordinance by enough that that it would make Well, sound. Yes. We've also done other things. So, we've also changed the timers on when the chiller runs. We also set down the capacity levels to be lower. And remember, when you're testing this, you're running at 100% capacity. So, Mr. Russell has already changed some of the groaning functions of
051the chiller so that it is not running above at at the 100% capacity in the evening. Uh we started it an hour later than we did previously. So I think we start at 6 now versus 5. There's we'll get this poll out to my neighbors also letting them know this is group and we get the timing of I mean the big thing to let before I let everyone know is I also need to get the timing is the when it's going to be done because that's their main concern. But we'll get that all out to them. But other than the fact that it's should knock the sound down. Whether they find that acceptable at their homes I can't say. Sorry, last one, but this um and noted that this is coming out of capital uh
052our capital budget, but there's, you know, we have tons of capital projects that we need to think about. So, is there any way we can put in our contract some shared risk language to ensure that we have a positive outcome in the close of this project? I don't like I I get it. That's not something you can answer right now, but I've I've done projects in other places, not in construction, where, you know, we put in a risk clause or some other type of clause where, you know, if we don't meet certain requirements, then, you know, we have different financial arrangements. Can we think about uh maybe looking at some creative ways to ensure that we have a successful project and we're we're paying out this amount of money to like for a successful project.
053That's all. I have a question. Taylor, can I just ask one question? Um you said earlier that we are one to three dB surve. Yes. You said that the blankets reduced it by five dB to that number. To that number. Is there a way to use that same technology to reduce it another four to five dB? No. Whether it's thicker or different types of blankets that would either save the cost or show. We already know that it's a success in using the blankets. there's something additional that can be added to that to reduce it the rest of the way. Now, we actually loo looked at that. The blankets that are put on is actually a laser designed cover that goes over the chiller to reduce the cost and it's measured and it's a specific material.
054There's a we got the largest one you can buy. Try and dampen it down. And again, it's really the night time. At night time, the volage drops five dB and we're only in this one sound. So, right, but that's what spend this kind of money on a wall as opposed to something we've already seen a positive result at. My question was, is there a way to use this technology to get the rest of the way there? And you're telling me that we've gotten the best of the best that you can use in that regard? Yes. Unfortunately, that is the best of the best that we can do. I believe we should definitely get below the well more than one or two. I think we should be closer to five. But there are two components. There's
055are we within code and are we appeasing the neighbors. The likelihood is we will be within code. The question then becomes will they care because they if it become if it's within code but it still bothers them they may come back to us and say not good enough. And um you know the question is if we're simply going by code, we're following the law. And if and if we're simply going by that issue, then the concern of people who may not like it, but they also live in an area that people change the, you know, the way things noises and different ordinances are different. And so, you know, I think we have to look at it from the perspective of are we following the law? And if we are following the law, then I think
056that is what you have to determine what we do. And if this is the only way that we get to compliance with the law, then that is what we should be doing. And if it's well, it's still not appeasing us. Well, that but that's we can't do you know there are lots of people who don't like the look of things and this you know and sound and and you can't always get to what everybody wants but you that's why there are ordinances in place so that there's a uniform code as to what is acceptable. So as long as this does that then I think you know you you want to save price of any kind of litigation legal costs or things like that and and I think what we have to do is ensure that
057whatever we do uh ensures that we are within the code by which we have so the sound blankets are the biggest that we can get. The goal is to get us below the ordinance. The other things that we've done to try and help sound to help with the neighbors with radars that is the timing when it goes and what capacities it runs at. So we've done a lot of different things there. If someone hears it and and it's still bothersome to them, but we're below ordinance, there's really not much do, right? And so the numbers we're looking at, the goal by the company and what they're building is to get it within code. Okay. Any uh any other final questions on the chiller wall? questions on any of the other uh facilities items. Yeah. One
058on 16.5. Um Oh, no. 16.4 for the food service equipment. Um are we getting any extended warranties or anything along those lines for those equipment? Um these are kind of very big pieces of equipment that I hope we don't need to replace very soon. So, just curious about that. So again just uh before I get into those funds are coming from the food service account again are not coming from general fund just so I know there's a lot of prices associated with that these equip these equipment pieces do come with warranties whether we've opted to get the extended warranty I defer to our facilities and our people associated with that and get an answer for you if they've chosen any extended warranties and I have a question also about that food service item. Um, so
059for the one at Stony Creek, Stony Creek's kitchen was just redone when we did the expansion. Is this something that's replacing an existing item there or is this something new? We need a new reaching freezer. I will be honest, I have to get an answer for you on that because I did study for the middle school Sam Wolf, but I did not I did not study for the food service equipment. No worries. Yeah, I'm I'm just curious to see if something died, we had to replace it and didn't have like warranty anymore or what happened there. I I will look into And the other question I had is, you know, this comes up every time we're doing these um getting rid of obsolete equipment. How do we still have VHS, DVDs, CD players? Like, how
060do these things every time we get rid of them every single time and we keep finding more? Is that what happened? They must be going to my house because I got tons of I got a lot of VHS at my house. I don't know. Yeah, just strange. It comes up every single time like, wow, how do we keep finding this stuff? Um, and then stadium turf. Like, are we getting rid of that or can somebody actually repurpose that? I'll have to get an answer whether they can repurpose that. I have no idea. I don't know. They could repurpose the term. Yeah, I didn't think so. When I saw it, I was like, "Oh, wow. That'd be great if we could repurpose things." So, that was all the questions I had. We could sell. All right.
061Um, any questions in any other facilities items? the facilities condition. Those should all be in before that is done. If not, they will be provided this list. So they do know. So they'll be coordinating with Mr. Russell and the supervisors at each of the buildings to go through the buildings. this information will be available. Good question. Tim, just one more followup on the chiller. Would you be able to send to the board the uh latest estimate on replacement for the chillers whenever the last estimate we might have received, right? An estimate for the replacement of the chiller. Yeah, whatever. I know that was investigated before. If you could just share that with the board maybe via email. Sure. Be helpful. Was that that the new chillers would be new chillers would be less loud? Was
062that the thought that you had? Yes. Is that like accur accurate like now newer chillers are produce less noise? You don't not. We just put one in a blue belt, right? We're not having this problem with any other That's not running yet. Is that running yet? You said I'm sorry. No, that is not up and running. that'll be up and running on the first. Okay. So, after the first, we'll have a sentence of whether or not the new one is quieter. And there's Well, there's also different ordinances. So, the sound ordinances over at Whip Paint are different than the ones over here. So, the so the numbers are actually higher over Whip. So, we could run a louder one even though that one's quiet. So, and it's newer. So, yes, the thought process, you know,
063without knowing the size and capacity. Obviously, blue belts new addition is not the same size as the middle. So, I I wouldn't say that just because one's quieter, the other one's quieter. You would think just intrinsically just the fact that you have a new chiller, it's eight years newer or seven years newer, it would be quieter. I can't say that without checking people that know what they're doing. The the contract, they should be rated for sound when they from the manufacturers. So, whoever the contractor is should be able to tell us what the expected noise level will be based on the manufacturer specs. So, we can look at that and I don't know if there's I don't know if we look at other systems, not necessarily a direct replacement for exactly what we have. There
064might be new or updated systems. I'm not asking you to reinvent the wheel. I know you've done a lot of work on this. So, I'm just asking what you've looked at and what's been considered. I know that Wade was working on this too. I just don't have it readily available. So if you if you could forward what you have at least we'd have something. Yeah, I'll get some information on for you. Okay. Thank you. I Joe. Yeah. Can I share one final thought on this? Sure. Less of less of a question, more of a comment, and I think I said something to this effect during one of the finance committee meetings. It's like I understand that there are different funds. I understand that there's a capital reserve fund. I understand that that money is coming
065from food services, etc. But as a taxpayer, I'm paying money and you know, we all decide where that money goes. And so technically, yes, I know this money is allocated here and that there, but the money is still all affecting what we're able to put in the education fund. And from a taxpayer perspective, that is how I feel. I know that that is um that it's very like rigid in in some thinking and that's fine but like I think I think someone sitting on the other side of the table would would just say that and I just want to recogn I just want related to 17.10 10. I just wanted to thank the Odell family. That's quite a generous contribution to give um that amount towards new uh uniforms for our girls lacrosse team. So,
066I did want to just publicly say thank you to that family. 17. Oh, that's finance. Oh my goodness. All right. Well, never mind. I'll All right. So, that's a good segue to move into finance, I think. Because I scrolled too fast. Okay. Okay. and and hopefully the chiller issues will be resolved uh when we meet a year from now. Um okay, for the finance committee, we have 10 items. Uh nine of those are for review uh and discussion and vote next week. One of those is for a vote tonight. Um the first two are our regular financial reports and list of payments. Um 17.4 uh through 17.8 8 are all um orders of settlement against uh revised assessments of property taxes. Uh 17.9 is acceptance of a contract amendment for the nutrition group for our
067food service. Uh 1710 Amy is the uh very generous donation from the Odell family for uh girls across jerseys. Um, and I'm going to stop there before we go to uh 17.3 where we do need to take a vote. Are there any questions on 1712 and then 4 through 10? Yes. So, thank you for that overview. I um this question, Jim, is just for long-term um planning and thinking. I see five assessment appeals. One has no budget impact, but one of them has 190K plus uh of an of a of a deduction. So, I'm curious to see if we're keeping tabs of all of these kind of appeals and how that is impacting our overall bud budget for next year. like just moving forward like how much is this going to reduce our revenue moving
068forward not for today just something we should just keep like a really laser focus keep tabs on it I don't know if we need to like look at it quarterly or something but it does make me uncomfortable when I see these large numbers like okay 2,000 here and there fine but one's 190 the other one's 50 the The other one's almost 50. Like these are large amounts. So I just want us to keep a very strong kind of uh look at this. Thank you. And Jim, looking at those that looks like they're both No, I it's more is that just like trends? Do we have any idea? So there ones that were actually experiencing the lower ones typically the commercial and then there's some higherend properties that have had some appeals due to increase income
069ratio which basically you take that or eight times the assessment that gives you what your property values are applied at. So that that's really is there's some that have felt for tax. We've negotiated. We've gotten appraisals. We've done our due diligence. It's not that we just settled just on conversation. We actually do a lot. I have a good background in this. So, I do know where they end up done with it. Um, we also have the right to do the reverse appeals. They come into place. We look those also. We have some people. So, apply for higher bases. Great. Thank you. Okay. Um so 17.3 uh we've had many discussions in the finance committee around the budget for the 2526 school year. Um thank you to the administration for getting information on that budget out
070to the community uh and with sick and families. Really appreciate that. So, what we need to do tonight is uh actually vote on the draft of that budget to be able to send to state and make available for um so I'm asking for a motion to go ahead and approve draft budget. So move been made and seconded. Are there comments or questions? I know Alex. theme floating around out there from people about the fact that we're seeing um some issues with our budget this year that we've had to go to the max number because of um our decision not to follow president's order in terms of the mandate. Can you explain what's happening in Pennsylvania right now and how that has impact our budget at this point? So there yes I am aware of that
071rumor and I can unequivocally say it's completely false that our funding issues challenges have nothing to do with the programs we may or may not have in place uh in the in the schools. It has to do with inflationary pressures especially in transportation and healthcare. that has to do with meeting the needs of students with special needs that are more than normal year and and and inflation in general salaries health benefits go up inflation it goes up the cost of things go up and the act one index is set exactly at 4.0%. So we have things major cost elements in the budget going up two or more it has nothing to do and I've also heard um you know and not heard I know that we're removing the chos temporary positions to begin with um
072but no one in with none of our teachers or staff are losing their jobs in some district those individuals in other positions correct Yes, that's correct. We were able to craft a a plan where no existing employee lose the job, which is a actually a fun accomplishment in this day and age where other districts nearby in McGomery County have multi-million dollar challenges still. They are not in yet and so they won't in the end of their day be able to say that no one employees. And something else I had heard about was the cuts in the K through five pace classroom. It looks like we are keeping on board the 12 pace that we currently have. And actually looking at the top, we're adding additional staffing to program. Correct. So we're not losing really anybody
073in their area. We're gaining. We're certainly hiring more staff to to meet the needs of the PACE program. the the way that those classes will look next year will be slightly different in that there won't be an automatic two classroom aids in every classroom. There will be an automatic one plus an automatic floater in each building. So it would be one and a fraction depending on where the floater is at any given point in time as compared to the now current model which there is one teacher two aids and however many one assistance. So the model is changing slightly which is why we're able to keep the cost down slightly because it's going to be now one in every classroom plus instead of an automatic two in every classroom. Great. Thank you Jim. Any other
074questions comment? I have I just have another comment. I think as you know a taxpayer it's hard to see um a tax rate increase of 4% and then no to that what I'll call um lovingly call I have a couple of these general education students or non special education students it feels it feels as though maybe they're losing something in a way like maybe they don't have the the TOSAs or whatever and I I it's hard to process because I also feel a a little bit sad about the kind of the cuts we had to make. Um there are and I'm going to talk about this a little bit later in the PSBA report, but there are a lot of unfunded mandates and we have to meet those those mandates with education dollars from the
075local taxpayer called 80% on the local taxpayer. And so when we have to do that, something else has to give. And so I feel like it's not a fair model. Um, so it's just it is hard and I I feel I feel that way as a taxpayer and a parent. Um, so I just think it's important that people have an understanding of, you know, kind of that the model is flawed versus, you know, maybe the first thing I would think is, oh, the school board's being uh, you know, not responsible with my tax dollars. And that's that's not at all the case. In fact, I feel like we're we've crafted and the administration has crafted very responsible budget. Um, it's just when costs are skyrocketing and you only have and you have to that has
076to fall 80% on the local taxpayer, you're going to see your taxes increase like this. So, it's just it's a very hard funding system that we're dealing with and that that to me is the real issue. So, I just wanted to point it out. And Jim, um can you just explain also um because not everybody got to come to our great finance budget workshop meetings. Um the new supervisor of special education and the new student services clerk, those roles and how they're going to help that department. Yeah. And so one of the things that that of course comes along with an expansion of any program, in this case the PACE program, is the need to make sure it's functioning properly, make sure it's properly supervised, and also make sure that the all these new employees
077are led in a way that makes them optimize this experience in that classroom for the children. That can't be done as you add more programs and keep leaders leadership levels constant. So the additional supervisor is needed for leading programs and ensuring quality while the clerk is needed for all the paperwork that is associated with the items. Great. Thank you, Jim. Any other questions or comments? All right, then we'll vote. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? Passes. All right. So that was finance committee. So we'll now move on and nothing else, right Steve? That was all your report. Good. Okay. Thank you. Um policy committee report. Marshall. Thank you. There are noformational items action items. We'll be looking for approval of 18.1 through 18.10 uh which will be the second reading. Thank you Mark. Any comments
078or questions? Just one comment um and maybe this is something I could bring back um to Kristen and like for communications. It just occurred to me like we Marshall and the team goes through this very rigorous process of updating our policies but if people are not um aware that this is happening it might uh be missed. So perhaps maybe uh an idea I had was we kind of have communications kind of push out about these updates to ensure students, families, teachers, everybody's fully up to speed of of all these updates. and not to like reiterate or kind of like put every detail in there, but to at least bring light that there's been some updates and for, you know, for people to know where to go find them. Um, it is just a thought. Um,
079and if there's appetite, I could definitely bring that back to the communications committee to figure out what's like a an appropriate way to kind of share this out. Um, like just more broadly, yeah, I mean, I don't think there's any issue with making sure that many people see it. These meetings are always public. Uh, they're advertised. all the policies changes policies are also also presented anybody. So I agree I mean let's make sure that as many people see them as possible but like every other change we make to anything else that's presented um nothing is done or kept in anybody who that is also not made but there isn't one I don't believe we have So I'm um personally I would like to retain the language in policy 903 on the public commentary allowing representatives
080groups. What do you mean you want to? It's in it's in there. What do you want? What do you want? So the the language is currently being uh recommended to strike be anyone representing a group in the community. I'm sorry. I think we're we're losing sight. The policy changes, anything that's being considered is attached to Yes. Correct. I'm I'm I'm talking about specific I'm not understanding if if the policy language that's being proposed, we've already looked at twice publicly in meetings as well as public policy committee meetings. What are you missing? No, I'm I'm I'm I'm not missing anything. I'm I'm not missing you. I think I think your public spray out policy is I'm not making anything. Oh, I thought you said where's the lane? No, no, no. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you
081said you didn't have it. No, no, no. That was my intent. I'm I'm I'm making a comment on specific policy 903 the public uh commentary during board meetings policy. Right. and the and I would prefer to retain the language that's currently stricken that says anyone represent school district that's my no I appreciate that any other comments or questions thank you for your report Marshall we'll move on now to racial equity over time thank you Amy um on April 25th First, we had a uh virtual REIO committee meeting and uh in that meeting we had a presentation from the administration on belongingness. Um Dr. Dwan, do you mind giving a brief update on the progress that we've made as a district? Sure. I don't have the specific details in front of me for tonight's overview. Um
082but there was rich discussion around looking at the um the data for student the student survey data as well as the staff survey data. Um Miss Lour did a wonderful job providing updates on this year's outcome um and comparing that to prior years. All of that information is readily accessible on our website on our equity dashboard if anyone is interested in taking a look at the specific outcomes. Um and of course the evening also included opportunities for the committee to ask questions and you did very rich questions, good questions. Um but you also provided rich insight um and ideas and suggestions for administration to consider as we move forward. Um Miss Lour also reviewed the dates um presented as proposed dates for next year's sequence of meetings with the racial equity oversight committee. Um, and
083yeah, it was a good night as always and great opportunity for rich conversation and good insights from the committee. Thank you. Great. Thank you. That's all we have for tonight. Great. Thank you, Paul. Any comments or questions? Thank you again. Uh, healthfulness and safety James. Yes. Uh, we held a meeting uh on April 21st. There are several agenda items disc uh discussed and we are currently preparing the minutes and supporting materials to present next. Thank you Jean. All right and report oh actually sorry any comments or questions? Thank you. Uh report of board representatives um extracurricular Marshall. Uh there's nothing new to report this even. Thank you. Um for MCIU, I did want to share um there was a Wista Hickens student that recently competed in a national competition through the MCIU and got second
084place. Let me scroll down to the information about it. So the competition was NTI. I'm not sure what that acronym is. all these acronyms. Um, anyway, it's a national math competition open to middle school students that are deaf or heart of hearing and enjoy mathematics. And each year the event begins with four regional competitions and then leading to the national one. And uh, up to 25 teams per region gather and face off in fast-paced competition and answer a variety of challenging math questions. And all of the students are deaf or heart of hearing and 15 years or younger. And um yes, so there were three students from the MCIU that got second place. And one of them was Tyler Schaer. He's a sixth grader here at Hicken. So I just wanted to congratulate Tyler. And
085I'll share out with the board. I have a picture of the team that uh went out for the competition. But that was just really exciting news to hear that um he got second place and that did you say NID? Yes. National Technical Institute for the Deaf. [Laughter] It counts. Um all right. And that's all I have for my report this evening. Um let's see. North Marco. Hi. Um, we had a meeting April 21st. Um, prior to the meeting, uh, we are, uh, there's an ad hoc committee, um, for our capacity issue at North Mona and I sit on that ad hoc committee and that was our third of our fifth meeting. Um, so we did look at a lot of numbers and information. one something that I was really proud of um for the school
086year 2025 to 2026 we have 60 WA Hickin students who applied and 43 who got placed for reference last this year it was 43 applied 28 uh got uh placed previous to that was 40 and 22. So, um, if folks don't remember, this is 25 26 will be our first year with 9th graders starting at the technical career center, which is a really big deal. And I think that has helped kind of like bump up our numbers. Um so with this capacity um issue it it's just we have a large weight list um at North Monto and we're we've been looking at alternative options. Uh the biggest problem is North Penn quite frankly they just have way way too many students interested in the program. Um we were looking at a twilight program. It doesn't
087look like that's going to be feasible and there's not enough interest at this time. Um, we are looking at some off-site programming options and looking at some partners. So, this is probably more of a 26 27 kind of a much longer term. Um and then next month we are having site logic IQ and JKO architects along with MONCO planning commission coming in to tell give us a capacity overview which by the way I think we need to do here um where they will examine the entire the entire building to ensure that we've maximized the space for the programs that we're um that they they also share. So um all good information there. And then our regular uh meeting was just regular agenda items like budget and planning things. But uh we did have a presentation
088from two or three two electrical students and it I thought it was just a phenomenal presentation. Uh they're both doing I call it a co-op, but there there's some other name that's used at North Monco where they spend part of their day working in their in their trade. Um and the one young lady was so impressive. She's done all this very extensive electrical work across the state. Like she goes to all these different places for all these different projects. and she's a a senior uh I think Sutterton I think she was Sutterton student um and one of only female in the program. Um so it was it was a good meeting and uh nothing else to report unless other folks have questions. Thank you so much. Uh Dean PSD. Yeah, I did um I did
089want to provide some information that I think is really timely. Um, I I got the there's a the PSBA, the Pennsylvania Schoolboard Association puts out put out the 2025 school district mandate report. This was an 80page report. So, I'm just going to give you a very brief summary. I could send it to you all as well. But the report highlight highlights how federal or sorry how hundreds of federal and especially state mandates while often rooted in positive intentions like improving quality of education, health, safety, transparency, collectively impose significant burdens on our public schools. These mandates dictate not just what schools must do, but also how they must do it and crucially how much it costs. A major concern is that most mandates are either unfunded or underfunded. For example, special education expenses have soared by
09086% since 2010, while state and federal funding has only risen by 10%. I want to just say that again. Special education expenses soared by 86% the funding only by 10%. Forcing districts to either raise property taxes, cut programs, or dip into reserves. The report categorizes mandates into two types. cost drivers such as employee benefits, special education, charter school payments that strain district budgets and prescriptive mandates when which micromanage operations, instruction, staffing, reporting, and governance. Ultimately, the cumulative effect of these mandates drains resources away from the classroom, limits local decision-making, and pressures districts to make tough financial choices that can negatively affect students. The PSBA calls for policymakers to be more diligent in evaluating mandates and to avoid further unfunded burdens and to work toward real mandate relief so that schools can focus on more fully
091on educating students and not just complying with paperwork. That's all for now. Thank you. If you could share that out, that would be very interesting to read. Thank you. All 80 pages of it coming your way. Thank you. Any other comments or questions regarding that? All right. Um, and do you have anything for your direct? Nothing at this time. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. Then we're at our second public comment period. 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 to talk not to engage in dialogue speakers when appropriate we will follow with responses on board docs. When approaching the podium please
092state your name you miss the top municipality of red excuse me and the topic on which you're speaking and we'll start with in person and we have Carina Taylor. Good evening. I just want to point out something about policy 903. Marshall, I'm speaking specifically to you because you're the chair of the committee. This policy was adopted August 20th, 2018. It was last revised on May 1st, 2023. I was here. I asked I sent a question to the board and I said, "Why did you keep the sentence that's being stried out now?" Your answer and I will find the response was because you wanted the community to be involved. And at the time, I was very happy that you as a board made a decision to keep that sentence in policy 903 because it encourages non-traditional
093groups that advocate for families to participate. I must have missed between the first and second reading when you first asked why were these changes coming up. The NA the PSBA made recommendations. Have you told the community why these recommendations are coming from NSBA? Have you told them it's a closed group to membership organization? So why does this group get to influence how this school board changes its language? So getting back to Steve's point, my point from the very beginning, when you strike strike out that language that you limit community groups, you're essentially talking about an NAACP not being able to come here in goodwill on behalf of people that feel like either their civil rights are being violated, racial justice rights are being violated. There's talk amongst everyone that are public education advocates. If the
094federal government has eliminated the civil rights department of the department of education, where do families go? So, at the county commissioners, the Montgomery County Commissioners meeting, they kind of highlighted all the NAACP chapters in February for Black History Month. And we said, I said that at this time, at this moment, under the Trump administration, there is no local support for people that feel that their civil rights are violated. So, if you take that language out of this policy, you're eliminating groups that can help your families that aren't taxpayers, that aren't alumni, that aren't advocates. I mean, advocate uh alumni. So, I want you guys to discuss it. Share with the public. Why would you take that language out of this policy? It makes no sense. You have to be relevant for this time. So, the
095question is, what happened between May 1st, 2023 to next week, right? It's going to be May 5th, 2025. Will it still be a second reading or will it be a third reading at that time? You're eliminating inclusion. You're eliminating advocacy. and advocacy looks very different. I'm not going to be here all the time. They need help. And I think this is shortsighted to get rid of this statement again two years after it was last um revised. Thank you, Carina. Is there anybody online? There are no hands raised online. All right, then we'll close the second comment period. We'll move on to board comments. Do any of my fellow board members have any comments this evening? I have a couple of comments. uh the girls at uh lacrosse team one. Um I do want to make
096it um I do want us to look into a capacity study. Like I really do think that is something we need to put on the agenda sooner than later. Um I think I think it's it's time. And then I do uh this is just uh personally as a mom like I'm I am really still struggling with the amount of work our high school kids get. Um my kids are doing mock APs after school and there there's multiple days that they're doing this. Last Thursday, my son had five tests in one day and then an AP mock at the end of the day. Like we are overloading these kids. And I know we like it it's it's hard, right? Because we want them to excel. We want them to do things, but there has to be
097a better way to like schedule these things. Um, I I just I just feel like, you know, if they're in college, yes, they might have exams all in one day, but they're probably only going to have four classes, right? Like, they're not doing this kind of extensive uh curriculum and program. Um, I I I'm really um I think it's time we kind of like took a step back and really looked at, you know, how we're structuring things. Um, it it's a lot of stress. It's it's a lot of pressure. So, I'm going to get off my soap box now. That's it. Now, he's happy. Any other any other comments? I just had two. One was um related to communication. So recently I've been hearing you know that maybe our board meetings our committee meetings may
098not the word may not be getting out there that people don't know when they are even though we announced them and they're on board docs. Um so I did tend the one with meeting within we are going to send that information now out to the HSAs so they could put in their weekly newsletters um to the extent that they have a newsletter at whatever level it is. Um, and then also we talked about doing text on the first of the month, sharing out a link to the meetings for that month. Um, and Kristen and I talked about including more information in the list watch. Um, but I didn't know if there were other things exactly maybe in communications that we could explore like I don't know I get my news from Facebook regarding like certain
099things within the district. Like that's what I follow. I don't know what other people follow. So it it one of the comments at Dr. Dwan's uh community meeting last week was I'm not sure all parents are aware of the app and if there's a a way to really promote the app because the app pretty much has all that information on it. Yeah, that's true. Not on that app. So, I'm just thinking if we could like figure out how people get their information like I know different generations get from different places. I'm still in the Facebook era, but some people are in other, you know, social media networks. So, I'm not sure if we can explore that a little bit. Yeah. No, I think there's, you know, we can always do more. We can always do
100better. Um, I know Kristen put out an announcement um LA for this meeting. So, um I think we need to maybe be more u consistent. Um, but maybe like doing an outreach and seeing how people want to get that information might be warranted. So, a valid a valid question. Um, especially if you're new to the area, you may not know even where to like start looking. So, and our our website is is great, but it's very dense, too. So, it's sometimes a little hard to navigate through that. So, I'll take that back to Kristen and we can certainly uh bring that up. I meet with her monthly, so we can definitely think through that. Thanks for for that. Yeah, thank you. And I think what you suggested like doing some sort of like maybe survey
101heading into next year and just finding out how people want to be communicated with. Like some people also comment to me they're you know inundated with emails. They get an email the best thing. Um, so how do people want us to communicate with them and share that information? I think a survey would be a great idea that Thank you. And then my other question, Tim, um, the sound system at the high school, have we looked into what happened like with the musical and why we couldn't hear some people during the musical and if it just needs a repair or if we need to replace the sound system. Has anything been looked into? I have not been associated with it, but I can have someone check into Yeah, if we could. It was may already be.
102Okay. Yeah. I just want to see where we were with that because I felt it was really disappointing all the preparation our students put into putting on that performance and then to not be able to hear some of them. Um just if we could look into that to make sure going forward that doesn't happen for our students in the auditorium. Auditorium. Thank you. And that's all I had. So no one out. All right. Then a motion to adjurnn.