001Before you start, I apologize for my attire. It was jersey day at school and I didn't have >> I mean I wish it was the other team. >> I was going to say I was LIKE >> OKAY. All right. We will call the meeting to order if everyone Oh, wait. Sorry. I have to say anyone recording for the public. Okay. Thank you very much. We got to do Let's do the pledge. We're all out of order to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mrs. here. >> Mr. Hershey >> here, >> Mrs. >> here, >> Mrs. Phillips >> here, >> Miss Rodriguez >> here, >> Mr. Shippers >> here, >> Mrs. Taylor >> here,
002>> Mrs. Um, welcome everybody. So nice to see so many people here tonight. Uh, so thanks for being here on such a beautiful evening. Um, there is some upcoming meeting dates to announce. Um, there's a committee of the whole meeting next Monday, May 4th at 4:45 in the community boardroom. There is a finance and budget workshop May 13th at 5:00. Also in this room, there's a board of school directors meeting on May 18th at 6:00. also here. Um, there was an executive session held before tonight's meeting for a legal item and there's an executive session after tonight's meeting for a personnel item. We are fortunate to have two students here this evening, Vivian Cron and Leah King, and they're going to give us the student representative report. So, thanks for >> Okay, so for activities,
003this past weekend, the drama club performed a drowsy chaperon for the Wyoming and Burks County theater communities. We are so appreciative of the board members who took the time to support this group of 75 high school students. It does not go unnoticed. The music department enjoyed a week in Boston. While there, the group attended a clinic at Boston University, attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and saw Beauty and the Beast, which featured a Reading High grad as Lumiere. Art Club is still working on their memory project. This year, they are making portraits of children in Honduras. It would conclude on May 4th. Student council completed their class shirt display in the cafeteria. Two lock display cases were hung to display shirts from years past with room for new ones moving forward. The sophomore class is hosting
004a clothing drive May 2nd and a sweet ride at ice cream fundraiser. The model Senate Senate visited Harrisburg on Wednesday. And for athletics, girls lacrosse is off to a great start. The record is 11 and one with a key victory over Southern Lehigh. The track teams have enjoyed early success at their recent meets. Headliners include Lily Palini, who broke the school record in 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles in back-to-back meets. She broke her own record after setting it, and Zier Jones, who jumped 63, placing in top 10 in the state. In swimming, Charlie Rogers finished fifth at the PIAA Division 3 finals. And three boys won Brooks County singles titles last week. Parth, Carson, and Cooper Pender. >> Okay, thank you so much. appreciate that. You're welcome to stay, but I'm sure you have um
005plenty of other things to do outside. So, thanks for being here. We appreciate that. >> Sounds great. Alrighty. Uh we are excited this evening. Uh we're going to highlight lots of different people today. Um, and first I would like to pay homage to the YMC Hills Elementary Center mural that has been created. And this was um it was one of my dreams um all throughout um the renovations at the hills to be able to continue to add beauty to that school. And when I talked with Mrs. Heist Albright said, "Do you think anything could happen here? Could we make that outside even more beautiful? Um, I think we might have another artist in the community named Mike Miller who might be up to the task as well to collaborate with us through total experience learning.
006And not only that, um, how could we fund such a project? And with that, I want to certainly thank Stephanie Herbine and Waif for putting the funds to use to make this a beautiful project. So, we are thrilled because this is truly um a project that really brings together so many in the community and I think for um all the community to enjoy as well. So, there is an incredible five minute little video clip, but I want to introduce Kristen Heisalbright, our wonderful elementary art teacher at the Hills, Mike Miller, our total experience learning partner and former WP art teacher, as well as Stephanie Herbine, Dr. Red K, and Mrs. Kursakosski, our Hills administrators. So, does anyone want to kick off and by saying anything before we play the video? It's up to you. >>
007I >> go ahead. >> I just want to thank for the invite to be able to do this project first of all and Wayne for the support and how much I love working with Mike Miller um and um through total experience learning and works community murals. I think that the kids did an outstanding job and um so we put together together a little video and it highlights um the students and all the different um pieces that went into making to making this >> sure I'm looking at you over I was trying to think of what I wanted to share but my experience doing murals is mostly like middle and high school and then adults. >> So, this was the first one that was really working with this age group. And Kristen was I feel like
008I learned as much as the kids did on this project through Kristen's expertise. And now I've gone and done three more elementary, you know, murals and feel very confident, but they look very similar to this one. The other thing I was just thinking about is just like spanning my life career. I feel like this project is sort of a neat book end because the first mural that I did with the the mural material which I use frequently is the Odyssey mural that's on the hills and it's 20 years old this year. So people often ask me like how long is this mural going to last? And I was like well the first one I did is 20 years old and it still looks pretty good. So, and then the other neat book end is just
009work, you know, coming back to why I'm missing and seeing so many former students. And then I don't know how many people know, but Kristen was a senior my first year of teaching here as a long-term. So, working with her, you know, doing this project is just, you know, I don't know. I can't explain it. >> Yeah. just so >> and when I was speaking with Kristen she see I don't have a lot of experience with murals like I teach elementary art but murals is a whole another experience and project and and so Mike to hear that you learned something from Kristen I know she learned something from you and that just shows that you know we're all lifelong learners and different opportunities and that present that are presented to us and and we can
010take that and we continue to grow. So fantastic. I just love because people will say, "Are all the students really going to get involved? Are they really going to have their hand in it?" And you're going to see from this video, all of our learners across the board, K through four, really did have a piece of this experience. So that's truly an artist and residence. That's truly providing an opportunity for everyone to say, "I had I had my hand in that. That was partly me." So, I think that brings the community together as well. And I have to say this, you'll notice it at the end in the credits, a call out, a shout out to some of our former uh our former employees who are volunteering. You're going to see some familiar faces throughout
011the video as well. So, retirees who've come back and help, I think they are part of the Mike Miller fan club. >> Enthusiastic help. Yeah, that and that was essential with acrylic paint with kindergarten. >> Yeah, we had the we had the best. >> Yeah, it was just Yeah, it was always what a great team. >> Yeah, such a pleasure. >> So, Mr. G, do you think you could hit it for us? >> All righty. Thank you. It's not Any thoughts, comments? Great. >> Thank you. Fantastic. >> Makes such a difference to you there. Thank you so much. >> What are you gonna do next? >> It's great to see you back, Mr. Miller. Yeah, thanks. >> Thank you so much. >> Again, thank you to Wade for uh accepting this idea as a grant
012as a grant application. We appreciate that. We appreciate their partnerships. And uh really again to Mrs. Albright, to all of our staff, our volunteers, Mr. Miller, and our students, administrators, teachers, thank you for bringing this to fruition. So, we're delighted to have it there. So, thank you so much. I don't think the kids will ever forget that experience. So, >> and hopefully, you know, the last mural is 20 years, hopefully 20 years from now, bringing their kids to school. >> That's what was neat was there was kids of students who worked on the Odyssey mural that are involved in this generation later. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you again. So, we're going to continue with some good news. Um, this is an opportunity again kind of a a brainchild of of some of us. We've been
013wondering, you know, how can we recognize the hard work of our employees and um, you know, and not just administrators choosing certain people, but actually can we put together a program where peers are highlighting and recognizing their peers? And so we have now the Spartan spotlight. So, um, if you could turn that over to the slideshow. We have that slide, a couple slides ready for you to share our, um, Spartan Spotlight. So, this is the first rendition. Um, and as you can see, we have a newly installed plaque here, um, in the CVR in the community boardroom. And we also have the same plaque that has been displayed at the Madison Hills Elementary Center in the office, the West Reading Elementary Center, as well as the Junior Senior High School. So, we have four plaques
014all all displayed around the community um our school community so that folks can see. Um, and this again, it was a brainchild, but it isn't going to come to fruition without um Dr. Langal, the Wild Well Committee. You're going to hear how they played into this as well. Um, so Dr. Langal and I are going to team here and and we're going to share a few slides and then recognize our inaugural group of Spartan Spotlight winners. So slide two, you're going to see the different nomination categories for our awards. We have the teacher excellence category, the support staff excellence category, we have a category that I that recognizes leadership, another one that recognizes innovation, and a final category that recognizes customer service. So those are the five areas that we are going to recognize tonight.
015One employee in each of those categories. Okay. Um so Dr. Michael, if you want to share a little bit about how this came the process coming to this point. >> Um I would just start by saying I don't think Dr. Wood gave herself enough credit for this. Uh when she was transitioning into the role, I'm not even sure you were superintendent yet. We sat in my office and were brainstorming um ways to better focus on employee morale um and just everybody's overall well-being. And um we've spent a lot of time researching kind of best practice and how to do this. You can do it in a lot of different ways. Um and we really wanted to try to find a way that would be most meaningful to those that were nominated. So, um, about I
016think it's three months ago, four months ago now, we provided a Google form to all of our staff with those five, uh, nomination categories and some questions to answer. The nomination categories and the questions were developed by our YO well-being committee. So, it's myself and then a few representatives from each of our school buildings. They're all professional staff currently. We are looking to kind of expand that into having some support staff help us as well. So we collectively I'm the only administrator on the team but and I was part of the development of it but once we developed the rubric then I became hands off. So our all of our winners here were chosen by their peers. I didn't have any input in it. No other administrator had any input in it. Um, so since
017this was our first introduction to this award, uh, we did choose one winner for every category, but moving forward, we'll just choose one winner to present. Um, and then again add on to the plaque there. Dr. Woodard already already shared that the plaques are posted in all of our buildings and then in here. Um and then each time we have a winner, we will invite them to a schoolboard meeting so that we can um share with you why they were nominated and just celebrate them in another in another way. So our first award winner is our teacher excellence award. So this award honors teachers who inspire learning, create inclusive pra classroom practices, and make lasting impact on their students academic and personal development. So Miss Schwarz, she's somewhere here. There she is hiding. Um, if
018you want to come up and be a little embarrassed, I apologize. Um, so Lauren is one of our junior senior high special education teachers and she was nominated by another junior senior high special education teacher, Jen Manetta. So what was said about Lauren? This is the first time you're hearing this. Um, Laura goes above and beyond for each student who she supports. She has helped several of my students academically to pass their classes. She does this with a firm kindness. She also helps me out whenever I need it by covering my classroom when a meeting runs long. She's always willing to go the extra mile without hesitation or complaint. Recently, one of my students was not passing her class. She needed to present a speech to pass for the quarter and earn a half credit.
019Lauren helped the student prepare for the speech and ensured that she was getting everything completed on time. She gen then worked with the general education teacher to arrange a time when the student could present the speech privately to each of them. She did this during her only prep period of the day. And I can echo that that Lauren is one of my special ed teachers that I can call at 10 o'clock at night and say, "Hey, can you write a quick IP?" Um, and she never hesitates and she's just willing to jump in and help anybody. So, congratulations. Spartan spotlight for teacher excellence awarded to Schwarz. Congratulations. >> Next up is our support staff excellence. Uh, this category actually had our largest number of nominees, which was pretty exciting to see. So, uh, Jennifer Kohler
020is one of our par professionals at West Reading, and she was nominated by Amber Gley, who is the admin assistant in the office there. Um, Jen is consistently positive and always willing to lend a hand. I can also echo that because I've moved Jen a few times and she will nod and then I think give me a little bit of a hard time but then she's willing to go. She supports our teachers wholeheartedly and truly cares for our students. Jen is a hardworking, dependable member of our building who demonstrates great integrity in everything she does. Rec is truly lucky to have her. She doesn't just need to be asked to help out. Before you know it, she recognizes a problem and begins to solve it. For example, lost and found is always overflowing. When it's
021a mound of nonsense, she folds, organizes, returns labeled items items, and improves the ability to search through it again. Another example is when a student comes to school late. She will go down to the calf to get a breakfast for them because she's concerned about their ability to function academically without eating something. When she sees me running out of time or involved in something, she jumps in to get the weekender bags delivered. All of that and more. Congratulations. And next up is our leadership award. So this award honors those who foster collaboration, promote positive change, and lead by example, making a significant impact on students, staff, and the overall school community. Dr. Corey Jones is our winner, and he was nominated by multiple K through2 staff members. I do not have any of the quotes
022about him up here because I was 100% certain I would not get through it without Pride and I probably bring all of you with me. So the big deal with this award is moving forward we are actually going to rename this award the Dr. Corey Jones Leadership Award. So to celebrate Corey um he doesn't like anything to be about him but we are going to have up there on the plaque it will say Dr. Cory Jones Leadership Award moving forward >> and we did share this with uh Ally Jones and she couldn't be here this evening but she is extremely honored that the staff would have thought to nominate him. Um she just said this is exactly what this community is and it never shock ceases to amaze her. Um so she is so thankful
023for this. Um and we will certainly gift her with the certificate um and uh you know make sure she sees the flag when she's ready. So, thank you. >> Okay. Yeah. So, the innovation award, I love innovation and uh what's going on in the classrooms? What is it out there? So, of course, we and again, I have nothing to do with this, but her peers note the innovation that Miss Andrea Koopazeski displays on a regular basis. So, our innovation award goes to Andrea Koopazeski, the Westing Elementary School sixth grade science teacher. She was nominated by Robin Klein, the West Reading Elementary School fifth grade science teacher. Andrea takes chances and implements innovations in science education. She's piloted the garden, which is an AI powered vertical indoor hydroponic system that grows plants, vegetables, and herbs, and
024fruits in just two square feet without soil. And I have to say, I've had some of the lettuce and such, and it's tasty. Uh, better than anything you can get in the grocery store. Um, Andrea wrote a waif grant, and now fifth and sixth graders are enjoying watching and learning about new kinds of plants. So the amount of vision and and and thought and innovation that comes from this woman is incredible. Um and you know we certainly have big ideas for the West Reading Elementary playground when it comes to vegetation and the garden and again the amount of work that she puts forth in securing grants through wave also is wonderful. So congratulations to Andrea Koopazeski innovation award winner. All righty. And our final award is the customer service award. This award celebrates those who
025go above and beyond to create a welcoming, positive, and helpful environment, ensuring that everyone feels valued and supported within the school community. And it is with pleasure that we introduce the customer service award winner, Allison Heer, the administrative assistant at the hills. Alison, she was nominated by Suo Jowski, third grade teacher at Wack. From the moment you walk through the doors, Allison sets the tone with her warmth, her professionalism, and her calm presence. She manages countless responsibilities each day. Answering phones, supporting families, assisting staff, coordinating schedules, handling student needs. You're tired just reading all of that. All while making it look effortless. What makes her exceptional is not just her efficiency, but also the care and compassion that she brings to every interaction. She treats every student with patience and kindness, especially to those who
026may be having a hard or tough day. She supports teachers behind the scenes in ways that often go unseen, anticipating needs before they're even expressed. When challenges arise, she handles them with grace, with discretion, and a solution focused mindset. She's organized, dependable, and incredibly knowledgeable about the inner workings of our building. She makes everyone feel welcomed and valued. Our school runs smoothly because of her dedication, and the community is stronger because of her commitment. Simply put, she goes above and beyond every single day and our school is a better place because of her. I share with you Alison Heener customer service award winner. We just want to say congratulations to our five inaugural recipients. We are excited. We're going to be getting the word out, do some spotlights on social media, um, and share some
027of this information because again, we are proud. We are proud of our employees. We want to recognize them, all of their efforts. And also, we want to thank those who nominated their peers. That's really important. We want to think ahead for the next round um that we do, you know, encourage the nomination process among our our friends and our peers. So, thank you all. Um, I don't know if anybody wants to say, but congratulations again. >> Congratulations to all the winners. We're really so fortunate to have all of you here at Wing. It makes such a difference for our schools and our community. So, thank you so much. And finally, um, let's see here. We're going to turn it over to Dr. Langel to talk about yet another award nominee, the Annie Sullivan Award. So
028each year um the PCIU puts on the Annie Sullivan award um and they allow each of the 18 districts and the two CTC's to nominate somebody. So Annie Sullivan for any of you that don't know was Helen Keller's teacher and um so the purpose of the award is really for someone who promotes inclusion and innovation and um has a knack or just a natural ability for working with students with special needs. And each year I kind of rally around some of my team members and say, "Does anybody have any ideas for the A Sullivan Award?" And this year I didn't really do that. Um I just strongly had uh someone in mind and it's someone that I don't know other than to see him in action. So this year I nominated Austin Lecher, who is
029one of our seniors. Uh I don't know if any students have ever been nominated, but I sent it in and they didn't tell me I couldn't do it, so I did. Um, and so we had the awards ceremony a few weeks ago. Austin and his parents were able to join us for that. It's kind of funny because he, our boys baseball team, which he is on, was playing BC that night. So, he came in his uniform about halfway through the ceremony. He would be here tonight, but they are playing Hamburg. So, um, but otherwise, he and his parents were will be would have been here. So, I'm just going to read to you what I wrote to nominate him so that you can get to know a little bit about Austin. I was honored to
030nominate Austin Lecher for the Annie Sullivan Award in recognition of his outstanding commitment to inclusivity and his unwavering support of students with special needs. Austin is a senior at Y Missing Area Junior Senior High School and has made a significant impact on our school community. Austin is enrolled in rigorous courses while balancing many other commitments. He's a three sport athlete training both on and off season. He participates in our best buddies club, has an internship, and is a playground leader during the summer. While this may sound like I am describing many other high school students, I'm going to share what sets Austin apart from his peers and even apart from some adults. Austin has innate skills to make others feel accepted and included. These are skills that some people work their whole lives to learn.
031During his sophomore year, Austin joined our unified botchi ball team, a program that pairs general education and special education students as equals. At the same time, he joined our Best Buddies Club, which allows special education students with low incident disabilities to spend time with their general education peers while promoting inclusive practices. For anyone attending one of our botchi ball matches or a best buddies event, Austin will stand out as a leader. He goes out of his way to make others feel positive about themselves. He uses positive language along with physical gestures that are age appropriate to help all students feel like a typical teen. He frequently drives some of our special education students home from meets or practices when their parents are unable to pick them up at the end of the day just so
032that they can attend that event. This past year, Austin was a unified ambassador presenting with one of our special education students on the power of inclusion. He's worked our holiday shop to help students with special needs sell products that they make as part of their transition instruction. He also supports our students at our very own version of the Special Olympics that we call Spartan Challenge. You'll find him running a 100 meter dash with a secondary student or sitting in the grass cooling off with an elementary age student. As a member of our football program, Austin singlehandedly supported a student with autism to acclimate to become the team manager. This student struggles with social interactions and confidence and Austin helped him to feel like any other member of our team. He's been integral in developing and
033implanting many initiatives for inclusion week and other inclusion activities. With all of what I have already shared, the biggest thing Austin has done is bring others on board to behaving in the same manner he does. Leading by by example, we have some of our most influential students joining Austin to further promote inclusion and developing true friendships with students who would otherwise struggle to find friends. His circle of followers is greater than he even realizes, and the ripple effect he has created will go on long before his tenure, long beyond his tenure at Wing Area Junior Senior High School. Because of this, his actions have positively influenced not only individual students, but the broader school community by fostering understanding, patience, and mutual respect. What makes Austin's contributions especially meaningful is that his leadership comes not from
034a power of authority or position of authority, but from his role as a peer with empathy, patience, and maturity well beyond his years. It can't be emphasized strongly enough how he demonstrates skills that many adults spend years learning, listening without judgment, adapting to individual needs, and advocating for inclusion in thoughtful and respectful ways. Austin embodies the spirit of inclusivity through both his words and his actions on a daily basis. I can think of no other more deserving candidate for this award and he consistently demonstrates a genuine commitment to ensuring that every student feels seen, supported, and empowered. So Austin sadly did not win. Um but our Y missing team that was there, we decided that if they waited until everybody read this to the room to decide who wins, Austin totally would have won. We
035had people in tears. Um, so welld deserved, but he was up against some some pretty tough competition. Um, but again, I can't emphasize enough how he has created kind of a movement of some of our most influential students to promote inclusive practices. Thank you very much, Dr. And you see Austin anywhere in the community or at a game, make sure you congratulate him because he is welld deserving. So, >> will that go up on our social? >> We should have that out there. Yes. As far as the intelligent award. Yep. >> Okay. Great. Great. Congratulations to him. Excellent. >> All right. So, that's kind of our um recognition piece of the of today's evening >> agenda. So, um we will be moving on to our liaison reports. So, you are welcome to leave if you
036would like to go enjoy the rest of the sun although they are fascinating. >> Thank you so much everyone for being here. Congratulations. So nice to see such a great >> Thank you. >> Enjoy your night. Okay. Um, so we'll get started. Um, BCIU report. Uh, Mr. Hers. >> Thank you. Uh, we met on April 16th. Uh, apart from the usual approval of calendars and receipts and whatnot, we also learned about the Andy Sullivan award and all the nominees. And I was also sad that Austin did not win, but represented why Missing Well, of course. A few of the things to share. Um, the employee of the month this month is was Lindseay Fero, who is a prek count teacher at YMC. That was pretty exciting to hear. Uh also uh the chief financial officer,
037Lucille Gallas, this is her last meeting. Is she heading into retirement? So there's a bit of some changes going on in the upper leadership at BCIU, another one of the senior level leaders, is set to retire here in a couple of months. And the last thing I would share, although this apparently went on parent square today, I saw is that the 12th annual camp connect is coming up in the summer and that is a free briefment camp for children and teens ages 6 to 16 who have experienced the death of someone close to them. Um, but again that was all in parents today. So that's being word is being put out for that. And our next meeting is Thursday, May 21st. >> Thank you very much. Um, BCTC, Mrs. Torres. >> Thank you. April 22nd
038was the last meeting. The next meeting is May 27th. Um, at the last meeting I attended, we heard from teachers who attended the International Builder Show, who was Mr. Carrie Eckard and Mr. Matthew Huck. We went to the show and brought back a lot of resources and contacts for building supplies and opportunities for funding for BCTC and looking into grants to help support more opportunities for our building and construction programs. There are currently over 300 students on the wait list with nowhere to go with the students which led to some plans for expanding some programs. Some of those are adding electrical teacher opens up 46 student opportunities, adding maintenance storage, horicultural build porticulture building, um, and renovating to expand the carpentry building, protective services, adding certifications such as drone pilot licensing, telecommunications, which is 911
039call center, Adding two carpenter teachers, which adds 10 opportunities. Adding the HVAC teacher opens up 46 student opportunities. Hiring vet assistant teachers um for vet instructional assistants opens up 46 opportunities and plumbing and heating expansion for new water systems and environmental technology water wastewater management. And that program will most likely happen between the year 28 and 29 school year. Um that would expand to add 46 opportunities. So all in all the plan for expansion will add an additional 194 opportunities for our students um without opening new facilities. And so they're getting really creative with the opportunity part and opening different programs and expanding programs. That's all I have for you. >> Thank you very much. Uh Burks EIT, Mr. >> We did not have a meeting. Our next meeting is June. >> Okay. Thank you.
040Um and Weski. >> Thank you. We uh Wave did not have a meeting in April. They had the blue and white party which I think was just last >> a week ago Saturday and they raised over $110,000. Um, the Waif scholarship selection is this week and the scholarship ceremony is May 28th at 6 PM in the auditorium. The fire and ice picnic is May 30th from 3:00 to 5:00 at the West Reading Pavilion. And after June 30th, they plan to revisit the brick project at Flannry Field. And I've somehow lost track of when the next meeting is, so I have to get back to you on that. Thank you. >> I think that's everything. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, back to Mr. Hershey for legislative report. >> Uh, a couple things to share
041from state news. Uh, Pennsylvania House lawmakers approved uh, the general appropriations budget, but the budget bill headed heads to the Senate and of course the Senate is raising concerns about proposed spending um, which is an increase of the previous year's budget. Um the budget is due June 30th I think as we all know and hopefully they can be a little quicker than um also the Pennsylvania Department of Education announces grants to provide an accelerated pathway to certification for special education teachers. Uh so that's pretty exciting. And then another one from the state is that the 2026 PSBA state of education report uh was released for the 10th year. Um, this report is a benchmark for understanding the challenges and opportunities shaping districts across the Commonwealth. That's state news. And then there are 45 House and
042Senate bills making their way through. The House reconvened today, April 27th, and the Senate reconvened last week. >> Thank you very much. And PTA, Mrs. Phillips. >> Thanks. Um so the week of the 13th to the 17th PTA hosted the um staff appreciation week and apparently it was very successful. Everything went really well. So kudos to everybody that helped out with that week. Um May 21st is remake learning day over at the Hills and the last PTA meeting will be May 27th 9:30 over at Thank you very much. >> Okay. Um I don't believe there is any public comment. So we'll keep moving on the agenda. Um over to routine approvals, minutes, and the payment of bills which will be done um by voice vote. It is recommended that the board of school directors approve
043the following. March 23rd, 2026 school board meeting minutes. The treasurer's report for the month of March 2026. payment of bills for the month of month of March 2026 as listed in the financial packet. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> All those in favor please say I. >> I. >> Opposed please say nay. Motion passes. >> We are back to the superintendence report. Dr. Water. >> All righty. So, before we get into the action items, uh just a few things to share. Again, the month of April always signifies the start of a busy busy spring season. Um, so not sure how many of you know, but over the break I was honored to be invited to participate in a trip to MIT and the Stanley Center at the
044Broad Institute. uh several administrators from um the region of Pennsylvania, not just act I think I was the only uh superintendent from Perks, but there were a couple others from surrounding counties and then also some administrators from total experience learning um were able to to take us um on this trip to MIT and the Bird Institute. The Stanley Center is a portion of the Bird Institute and it's supported by the uh philanthropy of Theodore R. Stanley. He was a Reading High School graduate whose transformational investments in mental health research have had a global impact. Um his family has has donated um upwards of a billion dollars. It's an incredible investment. Um and uh he is no longer living but his sons um maintain that trust and um Dr. Adele Shade is serving on that that
045board. Um, so there is that connection there. He happens to also be Ted Stanley happens to be um the cousin of Melissa Jamula. So those of you who are longtime Burksians know that she was a former superintendent at school district. Um, so obviously strong familial ties to our county and our region. Um, we are looking at how to uh reconnect Ted Stanley's legacy and the Stanley Center's work back to Reading and Burks County in very meaningful and future focused ways. Um, so I got a chance to tour uh the Broad Institute and got a chance to spend some time at the Stanley Center specifically. um also participated in a simulation called operation out outbreak um which is not your average tabletop exercise. It's a dynamic interactive platform that fosters collaboration, critical thinking and preparedness in
046the fight against infectious diseases. Um and so there are opportunities for us to bring those experiences to our students here. So I'm looking forward to doing that in the next year. Um and it's really uh very very interdisciplinary. So I see that working very very nicely um at I think the middle level the seventh and eighth grade there's some of the interdisiplinary opportunities that we want to do. Um in addition um you know I just hopefully I I toured many very very impressive labs um and tried to understand what was going on. to be honest, it's it's incredible uh the work that that is being done in in these laboratories. Um but ideally, we will be able to form kind of a pipeline from Burks County to the Broad Institute, opportunities for students to go
047spend some time there, several days of a residency in the summer, um not this summer, but ideally beyond. um just introduce students to the medical research at a at a younger age, but then also perhaps being able to do some stuff remotely from here. So, ideally, we're looking to be able to grow that P pathway and that pipeline partnership. Uh I also want to express my sincere appreciation to the PTA for the thoughtful staff appreciation events that occurred during the week of April 13th. Um, I know that it takes an army to pull off each one of those activities. So, thank you all to to to everyone who contributed and made that a very special week for our staff. Um, also publicly, thank you again to the elected officials and the burrow managers and the
048missing area school district board members who attended the most recent town and gown meeting earlier this month. I truly appreciate the open lines of communication between the burrows and the school district leadership and the efforts to work together to create some safe environments for our students and our families. Last week, Mr. Ber and I attended this year's last council on legislative action colum meeting at the IU. Uh that session featured Miss Hannah Barrett who's the executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, PASBO, and she provided an overview of Paso's legislative priorities and also current updates from Harrisburg. While the information she shared includes a multitude of challenges, um her insight will help support our collective advocacy efforts. Um, last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend Ktown University's Early College Academy ceremony.
049And this ceremony honored 68 seniors from across Burks, Lehi, Montgomery, and Skooal counties who completed this year's program. To be a member, one of those 68 students, um, they would be accepted into the early college academy. They would take six credits in the fall and six credits in the spring. So they attend Ktown University on campus Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings. Similar schedule to the BCTC. So that kind of morning session in the fall two courses in the spring two courses. Um many of those folks, not all but many, also then do a a teacher internship program the Tuesdays and Thursdays when they're not up there in their home districts. Um, and so it was fantastic because I think they um had I believe 90 well I think was just all but one student who started
050who's going to be finishing. So I think 68 or 69 um so that's very successful. They'll get those 12 credits some of whom I think it was 30ome who will metriculate to Kutztown University. Um and others will metriculate elsewhere. Um but they were celebrating the the Golden Bears. Um right. So um those who are currently and then potentially those who will be future as well Golden Bears. Um I was invited um I was kind of spearheading among the superintendents who spearheaded the start of this. This is the second year. We grew from 38 to 68 uh students who who were successfully uh completing the program. Next year there are 97 students who are participating. um more districts are involved and I'm pleased to share that we will have our first wine missing area student who
051is going to be um a student in the early college academy and that's Quinn Feny Long. So excellent. I got a chance to see Quinn. We got our pictures taken. He got is inducted. So it was a really wonderful ceremony. Um there is the education track which is where everyone where that actually the idea started came from grant funding to try to come up and you know identify more future teachers. Um but also in addition to the education track there is the general studies track as well. Um and so there are students of those 97 who will be participating in that track. Um the excellent news was the featured speaker was uh secretary of of education Dr. Carrie Row. She was there right straight from Harrisburg and uh she announced while we were there that
052KZtown uh University was receiving over $800,000 in additional grant funding. And so all of the credits, the tuition, the books, the fees, transportation if necessary, um is all being covered by that grant funding for those students. So it's a wonderful way to to get um you know your your collegiate career started. Um, and also for those students who may may not be sure if that's the direction they want to go, it's an excellent opportunity for them to be on the college campus and work with the college professors. And I got a chance to listen to several student speakers and it was really really um heartwarming and enlightening um and a lot of pride you know for those folks who finished the program and a lot of excitement for those who are entering for next year.
053So, I'm excited that we are going to have our first WD student there. And then um I have to echo um and certainly congratulate our high school drama club um with the presentation of the m of the drowsy chaperone over the weekend. Um I got a chance to attend on Friday evening. Um it was a pretty crowded audience Friday night. Um and I heard Saturday equally so. Um it was a very entertaining um show filled with humor, singing, dancing and um certainly kudos to the cast, the crew, the directors for a phenomenal performance. So that concludes my update. >> Okay. So with that, I guess that concludes my report. Now we get to go to the action items, don't we? Okay. So moving on to finance and facilities. It's recommended that the board of school
054directors approve and ratify the following finance and facilities items. There is quite a list numbers 1 through 15. I'd like to um certainly shout out Why Missing Area Education Foundation for the uh donations $3,7345 for the author visit to West Ready Elementary or um that's also part of that one book one school initiative uh and the Doour Club book that they are reading right now celebrating I believe the author day is next Thursday. uh $250 for the advisory gratitude journals and $8,139.71 for the West Ridding Elementary Center playground garden. Again, continuing to build that um vision. And then I also want to certainly mention the resolution to request the following funding for the solar for schools program grant for Wing Area School District. You'll notice that the junior senior high school would receive a grant
055of $360,000. West Reading Elementary 100,500 and the Wy Missing Eagles Elementary another $360,000. So kudos to Mr. Boyer and all of his efforts to acquire that um the funding moved Mr. Are there any questions or any discussion? I'm sorry. >> Okay, Mr. >> Mrs. Frenza, >> yes. >> Mr. Hershey, >> yes. >> Mrs. >> yes. >> Mrs. Phillips, >> yes. >> Miss Rodriguez, >> yes. >> Mr. Shippers, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Torres, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sinsky, >> yes. Motion passes 90. >> And moving on to personnel and policy, it's recommended that the board of school directors approve and ratify the following personnel and policy items as presented. Numbers one through six. >> Thank you. Second. >> Any discussion? >> Okay. Welcome, Mr. Square, please. >> Mr. Hershey, >> yes.
056>> Mrs. >> yes. >> Mrs. Phillips, >> yes. >> Miss Rodri, yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Shippers, >> yes. >> Mrs. Taylor, >> yes. >> Mrs. Torres, >> yes. >> Mrs. Zinsky, >> yes. >> Mrs. Fenzi, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> That concludes my report. >> Thank you very much, Dr. Witter. >> Um, is there any old business? Mrs. Taylor, >> I did have a question. I see Mr. Captain Sally just left. Um I would just wanted to circle back to the entrance at the junior senior high school where we are with that. I know when we last had a presentation it it kind of grew to a more extensive project and we talked about coming back and looking at a smaller um update. So I was just wondering where that stands. Yes. So,
057we did make it a smaller project and um the board had decided to agree to um add the installation of that glass >> channel wall. Yes. Um and kind of separate that into an enclosed area. Um we thought that that potentially could have happened over the spring break, but it's taking a little longer to get the glass panel um created in the right dimensions. And so it looks like it will be done over the summer. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> So we'll be ready to start the school year with that smaller enclosure there. >> Excellent. >> I have a question. >> Yes, that's Thank you. >> Two weeks ago, I think we had a finance and facilities meeting. Maybe it was three weeks ago. >> So did PPNL come out yet to the fields
058at Flary Field? That's the question I have. >> We were having trouble getting >> getting the electric hooked up out there >> and the hold up. I think I remember hearing was that they weren't responding to us. >> Correct. They were out last week. Um, and then when they inspected the conduit that they owned to, uh, run the wire, the new wire in to connect the actual electricity to their hub, um, they tried feeding the wire through and there was already wire in there and they couldn't get the new wire through that conduit. They are back out today or tomorrow and it will be up and running. um this week. >> Okay. >> So, they were out. They didn't get the mission accomplished. They'll be back this week. >> We feel good about them coming
059back and we stayed on them to get them out, right? >> Yes. I think they actually had the conduit exposed today. >> So, we know that they were working on it. We just didn't get it all tomorrow. >> Thank you. >> Well, and we can probably get some kind of update. What up? >> Thank you. Yeah. >> And then the paving is also occurring. >> That should I can't see how we finish this week because weather dependent. Um but they are making progress, significant progress. Thank you. Any other old business? Any new business? Um the right to know request, there are a few of those that are listed there. Um any other updates from organizations? We have any this evening? Um in that case, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn unless there are any
060questions on second. All those in favor? I I >> All those opposed. Passes. Meeting is a journ. Don't forget we have an executive order.