3-16-26 LVSD Board Meeting

001Eric, ready? Good evening. We will now start the committee of the whole meeting at 6:04 p.m. We will begin with three presentations listed on the agenda followed by the monthly board committee updates. Um first is the PSBA question and answer session. you. Okay. >> Good evening everyone. Do do you want us to start? >> Yes, please. >> Sure. Uh so, thank you so much for having us uh especially for the flexibility. We have some pretty severe storms going on here right now. My name is Chrissy Griffith. I'm the chief operating officer of PSBA and I'm joined by Carmen Bloom who's our chief legal officer. Uh we were of the understanding that the board and the district had some questions about PSBA membership and I sent some materials beforehand that we were planning on bringing. I

002believe they were attached to the committee agenda. Uh just to give a little bit of an overview before we turn it over to you to ask your questions. PSBA is a membership association. We serve PA public school districts, CTC's, IUs, and community colleges. We provide education and training. So, uh, workshops, online courses, uh, RQD that I believe some of you went through, uh, advocacy, uh, so we work with legislators at the direction of our membership platform, uh, legal and policy. So, we work with districts to help them make sure that their policies are legally compliant based on what comes out from the legislature. And then we also have what we call HR services. So that's providing things like superintendent searches, uh, superintendent evaluations, compensation studies, and job description services. I also wanted to note that

003we recently started our Pennsylvania School Safety Institute that is in Mechanicsburg and that provides classroom training and then uh immersive reality scenario-based training to deal with anything from a challenging student to worst case scenario of a school shooting. Uh so that is an overview of what I consider our larger highle buckets of PSBA membership and Carmen and I are here to answer any questions that you have. >> Okay. So um my name is Christy Boyd and I have a rather long list of questions. If the board doesn't mind, I'll start with my list since I sent them out to everyone and then you can all follow followed by any questions that are um in the audience this evening. So first question I want to know is what different programs or levels do you offer and

004what are the details and a cost associ associated with each of these programs? >> Did you say the details and costs? >> Yes, please. >> Sure. So well we if you look at our membership benefits there's a very very long uh list of programs and services and our cost isn't associated directly with each individual service. So, membership renewals that go out in April will include two membership options. You're going to have standard and all access. And standard membership is going to cover almost everything that you see within the membership benefits. But what how our pricing is structured is that you have a base dues price and then we have uh alakart pricing that you can choose afterwards. And that's going to be for full board training, required training, a comprehensive subscription package, policy maintenance, and

005the safety institute. So, I'll go through tell me if I'm going uh too fast for you, but do you I'll I'll start with the dues, the base dues. So, our base dues are based off the market value calculation for your district. This is a number that comes out from the DCEED every year and that's put into a formula. So, everybody's dues are different. If you're asking what if you would have renewed this year, your dues would have been that would have been $12,434. Full board training package is $1,000 for in-person trainings. Policy maintenance is $1,525. And then administrative regulations are $1,65. The Pennsylvania School Safety Institute is $1,500. Now, those prices are if you choose standard pricing. If you would choose all access pricing, which is adding a lump cost of $3,500 to your base

006dues, that's going to include all of those uh services at no cost. Sorry, I was I was writing all that down. Okay. Um, >> sure. And I can if if you'd like, we can send uh an a sample D's invoice along if that's helpful afterwards. >> That's what I was going to ask. Could they get something out to us tomorrow by email or something? >> Yes, if you could email that to us, that would be great. >> Okay. >> Absolutely. I mean, I can send that this evening. That's no problem. >> Thank you. Um, my next question is, can we utilize policy services? And then I have two parts to that. Can we adopt policy changes as we see appropriate for our district? And if we do that, can we not utilize the diligent communities

007policy hosting site, but rather use our own? And then the last part of that is how are policy change notifications communicated and how often if other than as needed. So I so yes you if you are a member you can use policy services. So policy maintenance you can choose to include that as part of your services and Carmen can talk a little bit more of the details of that. I I think I heard do you have to use diligent? >> Can we do it without us utilizing diligent communities and host our own policies on our website? >> Okay well so diligent has two parts to it. So diligent going to have their diligent agenda management platform which you do not have to use. If you choose to be in policy maintenance, so us assisting you

008with your policies, you will have to do that through the board docs platform. So that is owned by diligent. Um and that's how we communicate and track things back and forth. And I'm sorry, what was your other question? >> It was how are policy change notifications communicated and how often if other than as needed? So, they're going to be commu communicated as needed. And Carmen, jump in. Uh, we send out a PNN every time that there's updates, but I'll let I'll let her get into the details with you. >> Sure. So, if I understand the question correctly, it's how frequently are policy recommendations made and um how are they made? Um, if I'm understanding that correctly, we issue at least four batch policy updates a year and there are oftentimes more than that. So, it's

009not like one policy um at each time. Um when we're issuing policy updates throughout that, you know, every three months or so. It's several recommendations at a time based on what Chrissy mentioned earlier. If the legislature had an update or if you know there's a there's a change from case law, um our policy recommendations are always based in law. And if there are any recommendations that are based in practice, such as what your district might wish to do, we will identify that for you. So the number can change based on, you know, what the courts are putting out and what the legislature is putting out, but we have at least four batch policies that we'll put out throughout the year. I hope that answers the question. >> Okay. Sure. And then um who would be

010notified who would receive these PNNs? >> So that's locally determined. That's your choice as a district. A lot of districts have it go to the superintendent and board secretary just for management. Um and my understanding is there is a limitation on to um in terms of the current platform's ability as to how many people can receive it. So that would be your determination as to who you'd like to receive that communication. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh the next question is what kind of help can you provide when it comes to safety? the safety. >> Yes. >> So I I mean I think the best answer there is the Pennsylvania School Safety Institute. So we provide uh the training that is required uh for folks. So you can come to uh Pennsylvania or to Mechanicsburg to

011do that training and then we also Carmen can talk about policy updates but you can also come to uh Mechanicsburg to go through our scenario-based uh trainings. I mean, and I I' I've gone through them. It's anything from challenges with a student who's frustrated that you told them to stop uh vaping to dealing with a parent that maybe isn't allowed to pick up their child and they're frustrated at your front door to worst case scenario, there's an intruder within your district. So, I I would definitely say the Pennsylvania School Safety Institute would be the best answer there. >> Yeah. And I'll just add on, we also have additional trainings um as needed. So, for example, last year the legislature updated that your board would receive um a new update in executive session before June 30th

012about school safety updates. And so, we held a training a few weeks prior to that. I think it was in May. Um just letting your um your appropriate personnel know what the new requirements were. Um, and then we're also available, you know, staff are available to help you um, identify the changes and and guide you through that. Um, we have a school safety summit too that we host at least once a year. So, we try and provide a few options for school safety and respond to your needs. >> Okay. And would th those all those trainings be included in our um our b in the what we would pay or would they be an additional cost? So Pennsylvania school safety institute access is included if you so participating in it is included uh if you

013choose to be an all access member. If you choose standard access and then uh choose our services ad hoc, it's going to be $1,500 a session. But things like like what Carmen talked about if we would do a webinar and things like that based on something that came out that that would be at no cost to be just as part of your membership. >> Okay. Okay. Um what different training do you offer other than the initial board member training? Um and then do you offer training such as team building and governance training? >> Yeah. So we have customized workshops on all sorts of different things. Uh we have anything from roles and responsibilities, school finance, uh legal policy. We do have um a board culture training. Sorry, it's going to get loud here for me

014in a minute. Uh a board culture training. So and we can also just do a customized session. So, if you wanted to reach out to our team and let us know some of the things that you're you're concerned about or you think that you need some further education on, we can come up with a customized workshop. >> I would also add we add trainings as needed. So, for example, you know, on my team, we received a lot we've receive a lot of questions around May 1st about the ethics act. Um, so we hosted the because that's the time for filing for your statement of financial interest. So last year we hosted um the state ethics commission for a free training. Um in a few weeks we'll host the office of open records for a free

015training. Um we host we hosted a social media training in the fall. We try and have multiple options uh year round based on what our members are expressing in terms of their questions or inquiries. Um in addition to the workshops that Chrissy mentioned. >> Okay. Next question is um why should we become a member of PSBA and what does membership offer us that we can't do independently on our own? >> Well, I think that I mean I work for PSBA and I love the work that we do. So, I I hope that every entity chooses to join PSBA, but I I the really the only thing that I can say is that you have to review our materials and our services and decide locally if it's going to be valuable to you. I I don't

016think that there's an answer that I can give you that because everybody's so different in their needs. Um, as members, do we have access to training and items for more than just board members? Um, if so, would there be additional charges for that? So, would this include teachers and other staff? >> We don't do uh training for teachers. Now, with our safety institute, we do have a lot of different folks from the district that comes, but a lot of our trainings are towards the board and the superintendent. And Carmen can talk about what we offer to solicitors, but we also offer a board secretaries. We have a pretty robust board secretaries group uh that we provide. They're very active and we provide training to them. That's no cost. If you're a member, your board secretary

017can join that. And then uh Carmen can talk about our solicitors group. >> Sure. So, we also have a separate organization, the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors Association and um for for your attorney. I'm not sure if he's president or not. Um but that would have a separate membership structure and the solicitors meet monthly to discuss issues that are u facing them across the state. We also offer them um a bi-weekly newsletter. We offer reduced CLE. So, it's a one-stop shop for attorneys to receive their school law credits. Um that's something we're constantly working towards. And in fact, this week is our signature event for spring legal roundup, which you all would be able to attend um the board and superintendent as well. Uh which offers continuing um legal information for not only the solicitors, but

018the the board and as well. >> Did you have any questions about that? No. Okay, the next question is, how do you determine what legislation you are going to fight and do you request input from members before doing so? >> Yeah, great question. So, we have a platform that is determined by our membership. So, every year our members, we reach out to our members and they can submit to uh add, delete or amend any area of our platform and that will go through a member-driven process. So it will go to our platform committee who are members and then every member can send delegates to our delegate assembly and that gets voted on in the fall of every year. So we don't decide, our members decide and then we take it and run with it. Um

019and my last question is the digital superintendent evaluation. Can you provide a little more detail on this? I unfortunately can't because I don't I'm not in the weeds with that service. I don't know if Carmen has any more on that, but I can definitely put you in touch or get you the information from the team that delivers that. I don't want to um give you any misinformation or anything like that. >> Okay. If you would provide that, that would be great. >> Board me. >> Yeah, we can provide that to you. Okay. Board members, can you start? All right. Hello, I'm Robert Fryman. I do have a couple questions for you. Um, approximately how many school districts do you represent or are in your organization? >> Did you say how many? >> Yes. >> We

020currently have 497 of the 500 school districts as members. >> 497. All right. Now, uh, going along that line, so you're saying that essentially your your membership includes urban districts as well as rural districts. Am I correct? >> Yeah. Urban, rural, and suburban. Yes. >> All right. Now, question for you. Are the needs of the rural districts and the urban districts the same in terms of what they need that in terms of what they get from you? Well, I mean, I I think that every district's needs are a little bit different, but we also have everything in common. So, I I'd like to think that the information that we put out can serve all of our members. But if there's specific questions that are related to an urban or rural or suburban district, we're more

021than happy to help and take that on with you. >> All right. Um, >> add to that. >> Surely, >> that's sort of I think it's Mr. Fryman who's speaking. I think that's sort of what I was referencing when I was talking about when we put together policy samples and there might be like options for individual districts. Um, and I I wouldn't say it's even rural, suburban, it's urban. I mean, two districts in the same area might have very different needs. We always try and recommend, you know, here's what the law says or here's what might be a best practice, but you have to decide what's best for your local community. you're the ones who are elected in your um local district and so the differing needs are are you know there might be 497

022different interpretations and so we we always try and give you the control to make the choices that are best for you. >> All right, that's that's very good because that's something I was really kind of curious about. uh that a lot of times I'm really wondering when you look at what you provide basically you are going and synthesizing all the legislative requirements is that correct and you make recommendations but do you come and meet with the individual school boards to discuss what we see as our particular needs because you already said that there are there there are 490 97 different schools uh with 497 different different answers. Do you come and meet with us to get a feel for what we are needing or do you provide us basically with a synthesis with a lot

023of boilerplate? >> Well, that's a great question. So, recently Chrissy, I'm sorry if you want to jump in. >> No, go ahead. >> Um so, we've been trying to go to every district over the past two years in our blitz. Um, and I don't remember if we got to Ligonier Valley before you with your membership, but um, we do try and visit every district. Obviously, we're we're only human and we're based in Cumberland County. We do have a small office in Dawson County. Um, but we've had the opportunity to go visit, I think, half of our district so far in that effort. We also really enjoy I mean, I personally really enjoy being able to do our required school director training across the state. So, for an example, I'm going to be in Grove City

024in two weeks. I don't ever get to go up, you know, to Northwest Pennsylvania. I want to see it. I want to learn more about what what's important to you. Um, two weeks ago, we were out at AW Baby in in uh North Hills in Pittsburgh. And I I got to learn more about what you all do in your local communities through that process and through training. So, do we go on a daily basis? I mean, I can't. In my role, we do have outreach uh folks to do, but we do then have our scheduled blitzes throughout the year. We have one or two depending on our needs to be able to hit every district as best we can. >> All right. And my last my last question is actually more of an observation. Now

025essentially the people of this district elect us the schoolboard members to serve without pay to come up with the policies and the implementation of those. Now, in a way, is membership in your organization almost like we are paying you to do part of what the community has entrusted us to do? >> Well, I think I well, if I can respond, I I our CEO always states that we like to consider ourselves the back office for our members. So, to be able to support you in any way that we can. So I in in response to your question, we really hope that we can do whatever we can to make your jobs easier. You often will have full-time jobs, you have other commitments, and then you're layering on this other volunteer thing. So I we do

026hope that we can support you in any way that we can. >> And I I want to add to that. I I I um I think most of our staff and hopefully all of our staff respects you very much for all that you do. and we're always every single day trying to figure out new and innovative ways that we can serve you better. Um so for example, and we didn't actually um get to talk about this in terms of the advocacy piece. We talked Chrissy talked a little bit about the legislative advocacy, but we also have a judicial advocacy program as well. So, when there are court cases that affect school districts across the state, you know, the the my team and I get to weigh in and say to the court, hey, um this

027is going to affect school districts and it's going to affect local control. So, for example, um we had a case um out of the Penrest School District relative to social media and the right to no law, and we weighed in and the the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently cited us in support of local um ability of school districts to be able to um have directors who are, you know, moms and dads, grandparents in the districts, and not have their social media automatically subject to the right to know law. I really encourage you to read that opinion. It was a win for you all. Um, we also weighed in on um a case also out of the northwest part of the state about um a school district's ability to uh impose policies that fit their local communities.

028That was um out of the Commonwealth Court. And um you know, we really really truly value the opportunity for you all to make the decisions that are best for you. I I can't I can't say how much that we respect everything you do. We really genuinely just want to be able to support you. And so, no, we are not we are not um you know replacements for you as the individuals um elected to serve your communities. We would we would not do that. >> That's very interesting. Thank you. It's you provide me with some interesting insights. >> Yeah. Okay. Go next. >> Hi. Is this >> Hello. Okay. Hi, I'm Sarah Rodati and I had a few questions. Um to Robert's point about um rural communities. Um if we have questions, are there consultants that

029we can reach out to for assistance on like our specific needs? >> Yeah. Yes, absolutely. We have I mean you're as a member you're welcome to call any of us at the office but we do have specific outreach consultants. Uh some of them are um remote employees and we also have some exchoolboard directors that are consultants as well. So we we hope that we have the right staff on there that yeah any sort of question that you would have urban rural or suburban suburban or on anything we we have the folks there that can help you get the answers. >> Is that a an is that a included in the cost or is that an additional retainer? >> Oh absolutely conclude included. Yes. >> Okay. Um, have there been any school districts who have left

030PSBA and come back? >> Uh, yes there have. I don't know if I can in the if I could tell you the specifics or and I I shouldn't probably, but yes, we have had districts that have have left and come back. >> Okay. And then um Cameron mentioned there's these batches of PNN's that come out. Um say in the last year, how many PNN's would you estimate came out in 2025? >> So we wouldn't be able to release that because that's for members only. It's proprietary data. But I can say I can reiterate it's at least four separate sets of policies that came out. The specific number is only available to members. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so what if someone notifies you that they have concerns on a policy that was provided like maybe

031it didn't it wasn't um following the legal law. Is there some place that this person can reach out to? >> Absolutely. Um the legal team and the policy team. Um so we work closely together. In fact, the policy team recently moved under um my supervision on the legal team. Um but we are we're always open to our members input. And in fact, we did have um a policy that we put out as a recommendation last year and a few of the solicitors reached out and said, "Hey, this isn't quite landing in terms of how it translates in our district. Can we talk about it?" And we have um taken another look at that particular policy. So, you know, we strive to do the best we can to meet your needs. Um, meet everybody's needs across

032the state, which can be a pretty tall order, but we're always open to feedback and you can reach out to policy and our legal. >> Okay, that's it. >> Um, are there any onsite safety evaluations that you provide? on-site safety evaluations. >> Yes. >> No, we don't currently provide that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> But we do have we do have a great PA schools initiative where we have a learning lab um which sort of it's a like a mini pensi that can that can go across the state. >> Hello. Uh my name is John Fetchwell. My first question is go back to uh how you figure what are membership dues or cost. How do you equate that again? >> Me so membership dues are based off of a calculation of the district's market value.

033>> What's market value of a district? >> What is market value of the district? The market value of a district is a number that comes out from the Department of Community and Economic Development every year. You can go to their website and look it up. I believe it's a calculation based off of property values um and um living wages and things like that. I I don't know the ins and outs of how they do it, but we take that number and we put it into a calculation that then equates to a membership dues. >> Okay. My next question is if the district runs into some legal problems uh from a policy that uh you've created, do you have any liability with the district? >> So, that's a really interesting question. Um because the policies um

034are samples that we put forward to you and we always recommend that you check with your solicitor before you decide to adopt. Um I I can't say that we have had any experiences with um districts um in the last three years since I've been here in terms of those policies. But um that's something I'll absolutely keep on my radar. >> So we're on our own. We're on our own. >> That's not that's not what I said. I said that you have to work closely with your solicitor to determine if what the attorneys and the policy team at PSBA recommend is legally sound for the risks in your own individual district. For example, um in the past two years, there have been a lot of federal changes and so every district h had to make um

035decisions when it came to specifically Title 9 regulations. and each district had to decide what was most legally sound for them based on the risks with potentially competing state and federal law. So that is why we always recommend please check with your solicitor. The solicitor is the attorney who's up close and personal with the risks in your district to know what is most appropriate for your legal risks. >> Okay. Uh you approximately have 73 employees. Is that correct? No, we have about 55 employees. >> Okay, that's different from what your last or maybe it was 2023 or 2024. I looked at your tax filing and it said 73 employees, but my question is how many are uh attorneys or legal advisors out of the out of your 55 staff? Currently, we have two attorneys on

036staff as individuals who are about to receive or >> one is about to receive her law degree and the other is still in law school. Um, in the past two years, we did have three full-time attorneys on staff, but we did shift that to two full-time and then um potentially if our staff um reaches her her JD and passes the bar, we'll have three again soon. >> Okay. Are you shifting some of that out of house? because I see you had uh Levven Legal Group. Uh are they a consultant to you? >> Yes, sir. So, um as with many, um employers, uh attorneys need to seek other attorneys for assistance because of our professional obligations in terms of our competence level and and that also requires a level of diligence. So based on our um

037workload, I as an attorney have rules of professional conduct and if our workload is too high, we will often go to outside counsel to to provide additional support so that we are doing our due diligence as attorneys. So we do have some outside counsel support. U Mike Levin has been our general counsel for some years. >> That's all the questions I have. >> Thank you. The uh intellectual property rights are important. In this case, the policies. If we become a member, who owns the intellectual property rights of our policies? You guys or us? >> I'm so sorry. Can you repeat that one? It was a little bit hard to hear. >> Okay. Intellectual property rights of our policies. If we become a member, does Lincolner Valley School District maintain the property rights and or do

038you guys have it? >> That's a great question. So um when the policies are still in sample form from PSBA, PSPA retains the pol the copyright. However, we have determined um based on um some conversations over the past few months and years that after you do pass your policies, those policies will be yours. Um but up until that point, they are copyrighted material created by PSBA. I hope that answers your question. >> Okay. And one last question. and you guys make recommendations, we still have to have our solicitor review them. Is that correct? >> We recommend that. >> Okay. >> We recommend that. Yes. Whether you have to or not is your local decision. We recommend always having your local solicitor take take a peek. >> Thank you. >> One more question. uh we uh

039are members of a uh vote school and an intermediate school which are members. Do we get any consideration for paying for a third uh of their fees toward our fees? >> We don't have any sort of things like that, any sort of bundles or anything like that. We have separate uh smaller uh schedules for our CTC's, intermediate units, and community colleges. So, no, we don't have anything like that in place. >> So, our taxpayers have to double dip. >> Well, I think it's up to you what you decide to spend your community's tax dollars on. If you'd like to spend it on PSBA, we're we're happy to assist you. But again, that's that's up to your district. Okay. I I have >> How many CTC's do you represent in Pennsylvania? >> Uh well, we don't

040represent any of our members membership wise. I might be able to get that number for you quickly. If somebody wants to ask another question a while >> another I have another question. This is Sarah Rodati. Um to I think Robert or I mean uh Dr. Fitchwell had mentioned um you guys were talking about federal uh during your conversation. Do you provide recommendations um on more than just the state level? Like could you describe the the breadth of your recommendations? >> Absolutely. So um okay. So every single day, um, my staff and I are watching to see what comes out of case law on the state and federal levels. So that would include for the state, that's Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Commonwealth Court, that might be based on, you know, an office of of U open records

041trends that might be based on ethics commission trends. That would be the state. Um, we're also always tracking federal updates. So that would be Eastern District, Middle District and Western District of Pennsylvania along with the third circuit court of appeals and the United States Supreme Court. So uh for example, um the Supreme Court was pretty busy last year. Um, now whether that reflected in terms of policy updates, I I can't really provide that information, but depending on how active the courts are and how active there might be in terms of um additional legislation, we really try every single day to keep up with that uh for regulations too and make sure that um recommendations are passed along for our districts. Um so yes, state and federal. >> Okay. Did you find the number of CTC's,

042>> Chrissy? I think that was about the CTC's. >> Yeah, I asked how many u you are are members with PSBA in the state career. >> I'm looking it up right now. >> While you're looking that up, I have an additional question. Um earlier you said four sets of PNN's came out. Um when those came out like is there one policy on those? Is there 10? Is there you know how what's an average on a PNN of policy updates? >> If I could hear if I heard your question correctly, you asked about how many policy updates are coming out in each PNN. Is that accurate? >> Approximately. Yes. >> Yeah. So I I can't provide that because that's the proprietary membership information. But I can say that again based on how busy our courts are,

043how busy legislation might be, um you know, one court opinion might affect two different policies, three different policies, or it might affect one policy in multiple places. It just depends. Um but we do have a very close collaboration between the policy writers and the attorneys who check the policies before they leave the building and go to membership. Um and uh we are work we have lots of work that's all I can say but in terms of the numbers I unfortunately I can't provide that to you uh it's members only. >> Do you have any >> excuse me do you have any charter school members? >> No. >> Okay. And I'm just confirming I think you did say you still have liaison throughout the state. Is that correct? >> Staff. >> Yeah. Staff leaison throughout the

044state. >> Yes, absolutely. We have uh an experience and outreach team. So there's I mean again you can reach out to anybody at PSBA, but we do have a team dedicated uh to be there for our members anytime. >> Okay. Thank you. Mhm. And I'm not lo my dashboard isn't loading, but I added the CTC number to my list of follow-up things that I'm keeping here for you. >> Any other board questions? >> Questions from the community? Nothing. Any administrators have questions? Okay, thank you very much for your time and we look forward to the follow-up answers and uh appreciate your efforts this evening. Stay safe with the weather out there. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you. >> Thanks for all you do. Take care. >> Bye-bye. >> That was a lot to take

045in. Okay. Um, next we have uh Dr. Capista with the 2629 special education plan. Got a kink of my neck from sitting that way. Oh, okay. Okay. Good evening. Thank you, um, school board directors, Mr. Moles, and the community. My name is Jennifer Capusa. I'm the new director of special education. Mr. Mr. Moles and I started on the same day in November. This year when I came in, uh, one of the first tasks I had was the special education plan. We are in the cycle to have a plan completed, um, to PTE. So, tonight I will be providing you an overview of the presentation. The school board has the full presentation. Uh, if I were to bring the full one to you as community tonight, we'd be here another hour. So, I'm going to do

046some highlights. Um, our special education plan um is uh based on our district. The template that you will see that will be uploaded on to the website is a template from PTE and there are requirements that we have to fulfill through PTE on that template. So, this presentation is really just to give you a nicer version of the template that you'll be able to view as the community on the website uh tomorrow when it's uploaded for view. So, some facts about our district. Um the PTE requires that all special education programs are appropriate, compliant, and effective. Every district must submit a plan every three years. So, we're not all on the same cycle. just happens that this one is due now. Um data used is based on the most current uh accounting that we submit

047uh December 1st. So numbers can fluctuate. Um but this is the most recent is based on our December count. So approximately 263 students receive special education in the district. There are approximately 1300 students in the district. So the percent of students receiving some sort of special education services would be 19.3%. About a week and a half ago, there was a huge steering committee meeting where the steering committee gets to participate in developing the plan uh giving feedback on the plan, giving suggestions and this is comprised of the superintendent, the director of of special education, myself and the director of education. This plan included all building principles. I felt that we were small. We needed to include all of our building principles. Um, selected teachers, both regular ed and special education, schoolboard members were invited, and

048some parents from the district. I've had the pleasure of also speaking to several community members since I've been here. So again, all that feedback is reflected in the plan. The indicators data is distracted extracted from the pen data called cedar. It's the special education data reporting. So you will see that some of the data looks old. That's out of my control. It might come from 2021. It might come from 2023. That is the data that we are to use for the specifically for the plan. The latest data uh most of it is from 2023 2024. So there are a total of 16 data reporting indicators that I have to examine. There were only four targeted areas of improvement for Ligonier Valley. That is not to say that this plan does not streamline the comprehensive plan

049that the district creates or the title one plan that the district um completes. So it has to be streamlined. But in my particular area of this special ed plan, there are 16 indicators and there was only four. So I will go over those and which each area. So the first part, the graphs do come from that Cedar data reporting that I explained to you. So these are not graphs that I created. They're snapshots right from the data so that you can see it what I saw. So data reporting indicates that our graduation performance for students with disabilities is below the state average in the federal target. We didn't meet our target in this area that came from the 2022 2023 existing collection participation and import performance of children with IEPs on statewide assessments. That was

050indicator three. So there are four areas in this section. There's four categories. We were only flagged in one area and there was a gap in proficiency rates for children with IEPs and all students against grade level academic achievement. We did not meet the targets there. The next area of indicator was five educational environment and that is not what you think. It's not the environment like our classroom teachers and how the rooms are. This is um our least restrictive environment that I will talk about later in the report and really it's how long students spend inside a special education service and how long they spend outside in the regular classroom. So there was 54.8 students uh students with disabilities spent 80% or more inside the regular classroom. So there was an 8.4% gap. And I'll explain

051later. This is all determined though with the IEP team. So depends on the child's disability and needs, how long they actually spend in the regular classroom versus in a special education setting. So these numbers can vary, but the effort is to always get the child out into the regular classroom as much as possible. Students in other educational settings 2.2% above the target. So just a little bit. This is of students who are outside in placements. And the third piece, we are actually maintaining lower rates of highly restrictive placements than the targeted threshold. Secondary transition. This is indicator 13. Transition is when a child reaches his for the school year of their 14th birthday. They begin to look at their transition planning. what they're going to do after school, what they're going to do after graduation.

052Uh so this all goes into an IEP and uh currently we are in a monitoring year with the IU. So they are helping us with the area that we did not meet um our target and that's some compliance issues such as measurable post-secondary goals, age appropriate transition assessments and transition services. Our identification method for students with learning disabilities is uh the discrepancy model. So that is where a student is tested by the school psychologist and they find a discrepancy uh between their IQ and the student's academic achievement. There are other methods but um that requires some pretty stringent um training and checklist through PTE and that would be the identification through the response to intervention which we are not there. So, I talked about the least restrictive environment. To give you a visual, there is

053a fluid continuum up there on that diagram, and all students should start out with their non-disabled peers in a general education classroom. Once a child is identified as a student with a disability, their IEP team uh discusses that child's need. And then that continuum can go from the general education classroom all the way to a hospital residential facility and somewhere in between. Um there's a lot that goes on in between there, but to give you an idea, the IEP team discusses their academic um academic progress, their behavioral needs, and the team really um tries to keep students in the least restrictive environment. Teams can meet more than once a year. I know that's sort of a myth out there that IEP teams meet only once a year. Uh they are required to meet once a

054year, but that doesn't mean that the team cannot meet more than once a year to make revisions to an IEP. You'll see on the template in the plan that's uploaded, they have a lot of questions. So, I tried to just highlight some of them. When you go on the website and view it, it has a lot more questions and answers that you'll be able to see. But one of the biggest highlights is what universal practices does the district utilize to address academic and social emotional needs. Obviously, the IEP team is first. We also have supplementary aids and services to make sure that a student is obtaining that least restrictive environment. And these are just some examples. It's not limited to these, but I put several on here for you to see, such as parental collaboration,

055test modification, um, and individual behavior support plans. The district also has the student assistance program, which is called SAP, and we have a liaison from West Morland County. They help with um, interventions and supports for students and families uh, more for mental health needs. And we also have the EWCTC which provides students an opportunity to um to go and explore career and technology pathways that also helps them with their transition plan which goes back to that transition piece that I talked about. In the area of positive behavior support, Ligonier Valley School District actually has a policy 113.2. And when we talk about MTSS, MTSS is not just academic, but it's also in the behavior realm too. And when we look at tier one, that is all students um making sure that they get core universal

056instruction and supports for their emotional and behavioral support. So looking at how we support students with emotional or social needs, especially with students with disabilities. Obviously, they're all our students in tier one. So, they are supported in the tier one with um all the supports that we have. And I'm going to talk about that later in the plan, what we actually have going on here at LVSD. And then tier 2 and tier three are interventions, interventions from counselors, maybe a child with an IEP, uh would need an FBA, which is a functional behavior assessment, which then leads to a possible behavior support plan. And that's just an individualized support for those students. There is some training for students or for staff sorry um for the use of positive behavior supports for deescalation techniques and responses

057to behavior. There is ABA training, QBS training which is our safety and deescalation training and then other trainings that the WIU7 and patent give to the district as well depending on our needs. positive behaviors report in the areas of restraints. I will tell you coming from being a CPI instructor uh teacher and building principal, we try not to ever restrain a child and restrict their movement. But if it's necessary, there are steps through that QBS training where all of our principles, counselors, and selected teachers are trained in that safety and care. And there are particular restraints that have been approved that those individuals can use if we need to. But the rule of thumb is always um to try not to. But there is a board policy and there is training for those of um

058the individuals that are trained that would have to execute that special education support services. I to this is what the template looks like. It's not pretty, but I did take a snapshot because this was the best way to present it out. Um we here at Ligonier Valley School District have the obviously the director of uh special education which is myself. We have the school psychologist. We have um many pair of professionals that work for us every day day in and out and they work closely with students that maybe they're assigned to. Um we have uh physical therapists and occupational therapists and those are subcontracted out through um Campco which is a company that we subcontract out to um guidance counselors and the three companies plus our own. So we actually have four sources for our

059pair of professionals and I put them up there. Ignite interim Aviana and then we also have some district hired pair of professionals. So every three years the plan uh must include one training session on the following seven topics. So in the plan I had to address all seven topics. Um so this is where the plan shows where all that data says all right here's how we're going to improve through professional development within this school district. So the first area is autism. Uh the district is currently involved in the autism initiative at the elementary level through patent with ABA training. Uh I've been working with patent already to look for potential leadership with our teachers because they've been in it so long that they become sort of the stewards of the training and we're going to

060move some of that autism initiative to the high school for additional support beginning next school year for the teachers at the high school for autism. based on just feedback um both from the community teachers and building principles there was a need there so we're going to move that initiative forward to the high school next the next area is the positive behavior support there is a PABBS not to be inu confused with our previous um presentation it is the PA network through patent and what they do is they provide us um building coaches is to go through how to develop a schoolwide be positive behavior support and each building has a team and basically they coach us on that positive behavior support, how to um to present to our students how to work with our families.

061Um, so right now currently RK Melon and Laurel Valley Elementary are involved with uh Patton's PBIS initiative and uh next year the middle school has signed on to participate as well. So we'll have three out of our four buildings in the network which is pretty exciting. Paraprofessional trainings, you have to have paraprofessional trainings. Um now our contracted pair of professionals they get some of their training out from those um c contracted uh companies that I gave you. Um but our district pair of educators in particular they do prov are provided the QBS training along with teachers whether they're regular education teachers, special education teachers, guidance counselors and administrators are trained in QBS and they're all on different cycles but they all get the training. We support right now one and we're looking for a second

062in-house trainer of QBS. So we do not farm out for this. These are our teachers who go and they get the train the trainer and then they come back and work with our staff which I find very valuable to have somebody on site that also knows our students and staff and district. The next piece is that transition piece. Now, just to explain to you on the left, all students K to 12 have to um every district has to have a PA 339 college and career ready for all students plan. So counselors have to have a plan on how they're going to support all of our students once they graduate and that starts in the elementary. On the other side of it, under IDA though in the IEPs, we are required to have transition plans for

063students with disabilities. So actually students with disabilities get two two places where they can actually work on, you know, how they're going to graduate. Um but the IEP is more personalized. That's why it's a individual education plan. So at the age of uh when a child turns 14 years of age, the IEP team um starts to have discussions with the families uh providing the fam the children with surveys on what they'd like to do when they graduate. And that is all also on top of what the counselors already do for the college and career ready. But this again is specific to that child's IEP. Right now, like I said, we are currently in indicator 13 audit. And that's not because something's, you know, we've done something wrong. It's every so often we go through an

064audit and we work with somebody from the AU to go through sample IEPs that they've pulled and then they provide us group and personalized training that's actually going to happen over the next couple of weeks. That person will come on site and work with the teachers on some of the areas that they found that we need to improve. The next area is the science of literacy. Currently the district is already um in letters training which is a fantastic training for all of our teachers on the understanding of um language in the essentials and that was K to8. So all of our teachers are already in that training and we are also getting ready actually tomorrow if it doesn't snow and we don't have a a cancellation uh we will be piloting some things with our

065special education teachers um through the IU with a sixminute solution to help students with reading comprehension and building principles at the elementary and middle school have been invited to that with selected special education teachers. So trainings under structured literacy and interventions can uh really there's a plethora of them. It doesn't have to be these specific but we try to choose the best in based on what the teachers need and what they're asking for and also what our data is telling us what what we need as well. Parent training. So there is a local task force. If you go on to the website there are blasts on different things that parents can do. Um we just had March 10th um lessons learned. It's a transition to adulthood uh for and the the focus really is uh

066parents uh with children with disabilities. This is a local task force. You can go and hear speakers and ask questions. It's kind of a a parent support group. I'm working with the WIU to be a site next year where we can actually host a local task force um either day or evening session depending on what they allow us to do. so that we can be closer to those families here in Leonard Valley. So maybe people can come personally but they also have Zooms as well meetings for parents and we have been blasting that on the website. So those invitations are on the website. The next piece oh and I just want to go back real quick. Um and it doesn't have to be just the local task force. Next year I am going and the

067blended parent engagement is also two one-hour trainings can be offered to parents going over certain topics. Um as Mr. Moles meets with parent engagement um parents uh after the board meetings just you know getting feedback on from the parents what they would like trainings on um and then we'll develop some trainings for parents beyond the local task force for next year for parents. The next piece is the IEP development. Um so really just making sure and this is all compliance making sure that our IEP goals data driven goals and progress monitoring are correct. Uh making sure that teachers are using the data. So right now we're currently we already have people coming on site to work with our special education teachers to make sure that our goals for our our children with disabilities are ambitious

068and that they um you know obviously lead to that transition and post either post-secary education or job placement career ready whatever it is just making sure that we're using um you know data to drive our goals instead of I think I deal. And that was the highlight of the plan. Director board, any questions? Uh should I take questions from the community? You know, we any questions with anyone? Questions? Okay. Feel free to reach out to me if you have some questions about the plan as you view it online. Uh please feel free to call and email. So, okay. Thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Next we have uh Mr. Sutter with the facilities update. >> Good e good evening. Uh just a couple quick updates uh on the projects that we have going on

069right now. Uh the big one is the baseball field. Uh currently we're putting together a punch list. Uh things that we found that maybe aren't quite up to spec. Uh and things that maybe aren't fully completed. Uh we did manage to get our home opener in last night and that was that was very awesome. Uh field looked good. Uh it's not perfect yet, but we're we're we're going to get it there. Uh the uh weight room fitness center project, uh we have a uh occupancy permit, although it's not a full-fledged permit uh because the roof is not on and finished and there's some concrete they have to pour outside. But we're getting it cleaned up this week. going to get the equipment in there and hopefully uh that can be utilized by students. Uh the

070eru project I called to try to get an update on the uh delivery of the air handlers for on the roof. As you remember, we have one currently on the roof uh and the infrastructure for the other ones are is is run, but we do not have uh the units here. There were some issues from the manufacturer getting some condensing coils and we were told at the last meeting that they were going to be assembled and they were going to be here. Uh they're not here. So, um, spring sports is coming and we're rapidly trying to get things put together for it. There's a lot of lot of moving parts to that. So, uh, I think that's pretty much where we're at. Uh, questions. >> Sure. Um, I just need um wanted to ask first

071off um >> Eric Kosix already answered the question about the Groundhog Day down at Weller Field with the goalpost, but do we have the appropriate equipment needed to maintain the baseball field? >> Uh I have some stuff that I'm looking at to get ordered. Uh a drag, a pin drag, and a a screen. But uh right now with the equipment that we have uh we should be we should be good. Now maybe next year we'll look at some other stuff but you know small steps. >> So we have an appropriate mower for down there. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Uh and it's a uh a Steiner. Uh it not only ms but it rolls it, you know, flattens out the turf. So and it's a it's a landscape mower. Not a cup cub cadet from

072Lowe's. No. >> Okay. >> Can I ask a question >> regarding the same subject um since it's such a big cost that we took care of the baseball field? >> Mhm. Did the people who provided all of the equipment like helped with the grass and all of that, did they give any kind of instruction or training on how to maintain the field to make sure that we keep it where it needs to be instead and not let it >> we we actually don't really I I don't want to say own it, but there is some uh some training and some other things that will they'll be coming back in the spring when if it ever gets there and we'll be getting some instruction from them. >> Okay. So, nothing prior to that though >> um

073other than >> during the season or anything >> experience that I've had and you know uh but uh it's the grass was planted and it's knitting and it it looks good and nothing died and everything is but uh >> they'll be they'll be back in in the spring. Actually, Hummer uh is coming tomorrow to deliver some uh top dressing material for Wellerfield, and they'll be here, I believe, on Wednesday to do that. So, >> I'm sure they'll come out and have a look to see how they're doing. >> Thank you. >> Anything else? >> Christie, you mentioned the Gold Post, but didn't say what was going on. Can you give an update? On Friday night, I believe that some of our administration has already looked at uh videos, but Friday night, the wind decided that

074it wanted to take the goalpost and make it a leaning tower once again, Groundhog Day of last year. >> Yes. And we have to get the base dug up to see exactly what what happened. So, I mean, if it it does have a twist to it. So, >> anything else? >> Thank you very much. >> Now, we have board committee updates. Um, we'll start with the governance committee. Okay. So um last month we had met with Eric about tax delinquent delinquent taxes and tonight on the agenda you'll see the motion in progress that we will um vote on to um pro make progress for our administration to pursue those delinquent tax properties. Um, let's see. Next month we will have a presentation by Mr. Kosis to review his analysis of the last several years on

075what's been happening in the district as it relates to costs. And then um as far as policy, our goal uh sorry I didn't put it here but it's it's to create a review process. Um, I had shared uh my my policy or procedure um with the team and I'm waiting for Director Brown to provide her uh proposed procedure. >> Okay. Human Resource Committee. >> Yes. Can you hear me? >> Can you hear me now? Okay. Um, yes. I was just going to say we've already completed one of our goals. I'm just looking for my paper. Um, we've already completed one of our goals and we are still trying to finalize the goal of um, oh my goodness, I lost my train of thought. >> The interview process. >> Yes, the interview process. Um, we've already

076been working on that and we've almost pretty much finalized that. We've talked about that. Um and then the last one is Mr. Fitchwells regarding the um job descriptions. Did you want to talk about that? >> Well, we can we conducted our first exit interview unfortunately of one of our maintenance people for one of the schools. Uh it was very informative. I think it was very productive and uh it was sad that we were losing this individual because he did enjoy working for the district. He did a good job. Um it was just a question of he was offered a lot more money than we were in a position. U but I think that'll be an effective tool for us as we move forward. >> Student success and facilities committee. So, um, we had we had

077a meeting with admin and I believe Dr. Fryman and I have conveyed the expectations for what we wish the building and grounds plan to look like and we're looking forward to an update for an update from Ed and his department in the near future. And then as for our assets list, Ed has graciously given us a list of all the building and grounds equipment. So, that is completed and we'll be sending it out to the board soon. >> Great. Student Experience Committee. Okay. This committee was tasked with um two specific goals to complete by June 30th, 2026. The first is to develop a procedure for families requesting exemption from the participation fees. Director Stephy and I have finalized this goal and will present it at the agenda setting meeting on April the 16th, seeking placement

078on the 20th agenda. The second goal was to develop a policy defining the selection process for coaches, assistant coaches, and volunteer coaches. Director Stephie and I have also almost completed that goal and a couple uh things we have to add to that. And we will present it hopefully at the agenda setting meeting on April the 16th seeking placement on the 20th agenda. And something that occurred during the uh work getting these together, an interesting side note has emerged during both of the goals. And that is how intertwined they are with the definition of the student experience committee. And that is the responsibility for reviewing athletic programs and extracurricular offerings to ensure they promote student development, provide equitable access, and comply with all eligibility, attendance, coaching, and student athletic requirements. During the information seeking process, we

079became aware of the overall 33 non-athletic extracurricular offerings and the 33 athletic extracurricular extracurricular offerings needing attention being updated and then finally adopted by the board no later than June the 30th. Because all of these extracurricular are one-year contracts and become effective July the 1st to ensure the continuity. We're going to be um doing a lot of work to get these this work done on the uh definitions u and the things that need updated on the extracurriculars. That's all. Thank you. Um Director Brown isn't here this evening, so we will get an update from her regarding the school lunch committee next month. And for the senior parking spaces, um my update is that uh Mr. Moles was kind enough to reach out to uh other districts um surrounding us that have programs such as this

080and I have put together a information packet and a um application that has been sent out to some of the um administration to review. I handed a copy of this to all of the boards so that you can see where we are. Uh this is um hopefully going to be something we kick off. I'm I'm hopeful for next year, but it is uh still in the planning stages and hopefully next month I have a completed application and information packet after review by administration. With further ado, at 7:17, we shall adjourn. Is he ready for me to go, Eric? Okay. I hereby call to order the regular board meeting of the Ligoner Valley School District on March 16th at 2026 at 7:17 p.m. Starting with the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag

081of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Secretary, may we have a roll call, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Boyd, >> present. >> Mrs. Brown. >> Mr. Fitchwell, >> here. >> Mr. Fryman >> here. >> Mrs. Hutchinson >> here. >> Mr. Nup >> here. >> Mrs. Croml >> here. >> Mrs. Roberty >> here. >> Mr. Stephy >> here. >> Eight present. One absent. >> Mr. Sister, may we have an executive session report? Yes, we had a discussion about some uh discipline of a staff member. Um talked about some student uh issues um that would be executive in nature. Um some contractual issues um that we had um um number of contractual issues that that we had to discuss

082as well. That would be all >> for the for the minutes. The time executive session was tonight from 5:01 p.m. to 5:57 p.m. The solicitor talked about >> Are there any motions that need amended or added to the agenda? >> We There was one more executive session that was held in the prior week reading to the minutes. >> Uh executive session was held March 9th, 2026 from 2:31 p.m. to 4:02 p.m. at the administrative office. talk there are contract issues, personnel items. >> Thank you. Are there any motions that need amended or added to the agenda? >> Hearing none, there is no need for public comment. Moving to old business, I'm asking for approval to be given to the minutes of the February 16th, 2026 committee, the whole meeting, and to the minutes of the

083February 16th, 2026 regular meeting. >> So moved. Oh, so moved now. Sorry. >> Second. >> Having a motion and a second to approve the minutes. Please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion carries. Are there any items that require follow-up from the previous agenda? Hearing none, we will move now move on to new business. Uh before we be begin public comment, I would like to remind all speakers to re refrain from stating names of students, staff members or other individuals during their remarks to protect the privacy and ensure compliance with district policy. Oh, there are none. Sorry. Before we begin, no. Okay. New business hearing of the citizens. Mr. Secretary, >> sorry. Okay, there are no speakers tonight. Reports, Mr. Secretary. >> Uh, yes. The one correspondence that we we received

084from the insurance company, uh, we will be getting a dividend uh, refund from the 2425 year from Udica, $485 from our auto policy, and then $7,848 from our property. Uh, the checks totaling $8,333, and we have received them, and they have been deposited. Superintendent report. >> Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Um, I'd like to begin by congratulating some of our winter sports that have now concluded uh including uh uh four young ladies who represented Ligonier Valley School District for the swimming uh finals in Bucknell this past uh weekend. Uh in addition, the uh coach Dante Porter and our varsity boys basketball team on their successful season and qualification for Whipfield playoffs. We're proud of the way our student athletes represent Ligonier Valley with effort, sportsmanship, and pride throughout the season. I'd also like to recognize

085our Air Force JRT TC program for an outstanding accomplishment. During their recent unit assessment, the program received a perfect score. Congratulations to Master Sergeant Z and Lieutenant Colonel Scever for their leadership and commitment to providing such a quality program for our students. At our elementary level, students and staff celebrated Dr. Seuss and read across America week with a number of fun and literacy focused activities that help promote the love of reading amongst our youngest students. Looking ahead, I'd like to invite everyone to attend the high school musical, Spongebob the musical. Performances will take place in this very venue on March 26 through the 28th at 7 p.m. Our students and staff have been working very hard and it promises to be a great show for the community. Finally, I'd like to inform our families and

086and community that Monday, March 30th, will be a remote learning day for students. We were notified by Westpen Power of a planned power outage that will begin at approximately 8:00 a.m. that morning, and we've been told will last at least several hours. While the utility company does not anticipate the outage lasting the entire day, they are unable to predict exactly when power will be restored. In order to avoid disruptions to instruction and school operations, the district will conduct a remote learning day. Teachers have been asked to provide asynchronous assignments as families too may be experiencing the same uh power outage. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, solicitor. >> I have nothing for public session, Madam President. >> Thank you. LBA, is there a report this evening? Uh, Director Brown is not here or other

087members have any updates from the vocational school? No. Uh, for the intermediate unit, um, the operations committee um, held a meeting on Monday, February 23rd, which I am a member of, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. to discuss contractual issues. Then on February 24th, uh, the W the IU monthly board meeting was held. There was an executive session from 6:15 to 7:30 to discuss personnel and legal issues. We then proceeded through the agenda. Some of the main notable items were uh once again the Wu Foundation announced dates to remember. March 21st, Champions of Art Show will be held at the Clear View School. April 11th, the foundation bingo fundraiser will be held at Rizzo's. Uh there was an extensive review of the tenative budget for the 2627 school year. There were eight policies approved, three policies

088on the agenda for first read and there was one resignation. The meeting concluded at 8:52 p.m. >> This evening for public relations, we will now have um students from the Ligonier Valley Middle School Student Council, Haddie Nogle and Brook Hart. Hello. >> Hello. My name is Brookart. I'm a sixth grader at LVMS and I am also a student council member. The topic I'm going to be talking about is kindness week. Sixth graders wrote heartfelt letters to their classmates. They also played kindness bingo throughout the week, checking off activities that showed kindness. We also had an opportunity to win prizes if the bingo game was completed. We also enjoyed a cup of kindness, which is hot chocolate with our classmates. Hi, my name is Haddie Nogle and I'm a sixth grader and student council member at

089LVMS. Student council organized fifth grade move up day on Tuesday, March 10th. Fifth graders from LVE and RK Melon came to the middle school. We played games to learn names, then participated in team building activities. We took the fifth graders on a tour and then enjoyed pizza. We wrapped up the day watching LVMS volleyball team defeat East Alagany. Students were nervous about middle school at first, but left feeling excited for next year. Another topic is battlebots. Sixth grade steam classes designed chariots to be driven by a Sparrow. A sparrow is also known as a robotic ball that is controlled by the student Chromebook. Teams designed and named their chariots, raced against classmates, and then completed the races that included straightaway oval and demolition derby. Students use various materials and also had to change their chariots

090many times after bail. >> Thank you. >> Moving into the regular agenda items for this evening's meeting. We'll start with the governance committee. Director Robotti, >> are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Um, directors um, Roidat, it's not for discussion, uh, as far as approving the motion. I just have a question. Um, in light of the, uh, food and everything going up lately, being much more expensive. Is our, um, Mets management contract staying up with everything? if they had to change the food they're preparing serving our students. Where does that stand? Is there has there been a change with that? >> Um that we would have to take back and review. I don't have an answer at the moment unless any administration is available to discuss. >> I'm I'm sorry, what was your

091question, director? >> I'm not personally aware of any shortfalls in the service that Mets is providing due to increased costs of food at least thus far. >> Okay. Um, so it has it will be something that we need to monitor. >> Hasn't been an impact. >> Not as of yet. >> Not as yet >> because I know we're contracted with that. I didn't know if there would be any ramifications came coming back on the district. >> Thank you. >> I'll pause again. Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Hearing none, I make a motion to approve F1826 to F2526. Second. >> Oh, good. >> Having a motion and second, all those in favor of F-1826 through F-2526 indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Hearing none, the motion carries. There's

092no policy legal this month. So, next, Student Success and Facilities Committee, Directors Fryman and Nump. We'll do buildings and ground. Um, is there a motion that needs to be pulled for discussion >> hearing? No objection. Uh, I make a motion to approve motion B 0426. >> Second. Roid. >> Having a motion and a second. All those in favor of agenda item BO426, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Hearing none, the motion carries. Moving on to educational programs. Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Hearing none, I make a motion for E1 1126 through E1826. >> Second, Fryman. >> Having a motion and a second. All those in favor of E126 through E1826, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Would you take those? I'll

093take that >> hearing. None. The motion carries. >> You do that when I do that. You do them both. >> I would like to thank Giant Eagle for all of their assistance in regards to the Ford program. Next, we move on to the human resources committee, directors Fitchwell and Crumbl. Are there any motions that I need to pull for discussion? Hearing none, I make a motion to approve P1426 through P2026. >> Second, Hutcherson. >> Having a motion in a second, all those in favor of P1426 through P2026, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> There any opposed? Hearing none, the motion carries. >> Supplemental contracts. Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? And I move to approve motion S 1026 through S 1126. >> Second. No. >> Having a motion and a

094second. All those in favor of S1026 through S1126 indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Hearing none. The motion carries. >> There is a abstension. There's one abstension. >> I got abstain. Okay. >> On the one part. >> Okay. Student Experience Committee, Directors Hutchinson and Stephie. Are there any motions that need pull for discussion? Hearing none, I move to approve A1226 through A1426. >> Second Chrome. >> Having a motion and a second, all those in favor of A1226 through A1426 indicate by saying I. I. >> Any opposed? Hearing? None. The motion carries. >> Transportation. Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Hearing none, I'd like to make a motion to approve TA-426 through TA--0626. >> Second. Provided >> having a motion and a second. All those in favor of TAO426

095through TAO626 indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. The motion carries. We'll now have second hearing of the citizens and we have three this evening. Starting with Carl Horman. Good evening everyone. Um, so on there I put LBSA um, and I heard there were some inquiring minds uh, from some folks about um, does LBSA, which is the Ligonier Youth Baseball and Softball Association, do we pay uh, rent to the Ligonier Burrow? And I think this has to do with some um lack of uh funding that we've been getting from the school for the high school softball team down there. The answer to that question is no. We do not pay rent to the Ligonier Burrow. That property was built with DC&R money years ago. It's public property. the bureau cannot charge

096uh for the use of that field for LYBSA or for the school. Um the funds that the board used to give uh that we no longer receive. We haven't received these funds in four years. They weren't per se for rent uh for the fields. They were for expenses that are incurred. Um, and I believe it was roughly $2,500 is what the school used to give uh to LYBSA. I think that ended back in like 22 or 21. Um, that was just to help some of the some of the costs um down there. And let me just give you some of the costs so you folks have an understanding what we pay yearly. Um, and I'm sure you can pull your own you can pull your own financials from Weller Field and figure out how much

097that field is going to cost to maintain uh or how much it does cost to maintain. You'll be able to get a pretty good idea what this new $3 million baseball field's going to cost to maintain. And keep in mind that you pay 0 right now for Donaldson for high school softball. So, our utility costs last year were $3,500. Our water and sewage last year was $400. Our property insurance, which covers everything on the property, uh, including high school stuff that they store in our in our facilities, um, was over $1,500. We spray those fields yearly at a cost of $150 a year. Um, we spent over $2,000 in quick dry last year and just under $250 for chalk and roughly $200 to $300 in gas. Uh, we also have a $9,000 Sand Pro down

098there that the high school team uses to groom that field. that we get uh you know we get hit with the hourly rate for that machine. You know they're putting hours on our machine uh that is not being reimbursed back to us. Um we also are looking at doing cost repairs on the on the um um cages this year. The cages alone are going to cost us $12,000 to repair. the high school team utilizes those cages uh every day that they play there and every >> Excuse me. >> We have a minute left. >> Okay. Um every day that they play or practice, they they utilize those uh cages. The other thing that we're looking at doing at a cost of roughly $5,000 is replacing all of the radius fencing down there. Uh that's our

099expense and the little bit of money that we're looking for, you know, to try to recoup and get back into this agreement of $2,500 is not for rent. It's for it's for use. It's to help with these costs that we incur year in and year out. So, I'm not sure who the inquiring minds are. I'm hope I hope that I can answer that question that we, you know, do we pay rent? The answer is no. Um, my phone number is pretty much public knowledge at this point. Four or five of you folks on the board up there have my phone number. So, if you ever have questions, please call me. I'm the VP of that board. So, >> thanks. >> Thank you. Next, Lindo Sullivan. Good evening. Um, first I wanted to thank the board

100um for working in conjunction with primarily uh supervisor Stephanie uh Vera at um the township supervisor as well as the Ligonier Burrow for the bridge construction and the walkway for the students. It is much um overdue. Uh it's just such a great asset and um it really is an example of the valley at our finest working together to keep our students safe and again like I said much overdue and I know it is a joint effort. So I really wanted to thank the board and administration for working with the township and the burrow on that. um regarding PSBA. First, thank you for the presentation. I love getting information. I live love getting information directly from the source. So, that was very helpful. But I'm asking you to please not jump into rejoining because they put

101you under pressure without really assessing your options. I believe as others do that PSBA has lost their true mission and they are absolutely a political group. They through membership from districts they take tax dollars and yes they provide services with those tax dollars but they also pay lobbyists to lobby for their agenda. So, they're doing an inr run around lobbying laws with tax dollars. So, you could say, "Well, Linda, I agree with what they're lobbying for." Well, that's good, but not every taxpayer may agree with what they're lobbying for. And that can always flip on you as well. Maybe some board members want to join another political group who pays lobbyists to influence legislators such as PSBA does and maybe you now don't agree with it. So I'm asking you to just put the brakes

102on and really be thoughtful about it. I think a lot of the services they provide, the Department of Education provides for free. last I before I sold it I owned and I was the head of an educational consulting firm and districts came districts went I serviced a lot of independent and private schools and my when they left I didn't have my in-house counsel send a threatening legal letter PSBA that was their first go-to we're going to sue you that is should be concerned concerning to every school board member that they didn't pick up the phone or send a letter and say, "Gee, could we sit down and talk and could you tell us why you're leaving our organization?" They sent off a threatening legal letter. So, please just really think about what this organization has

103evolved into. They It's been a hundred years. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next, Matt Kaufman. Hello, I'm not with anyone. I am just a constituent that lives here that has some questions, comments, concerns I wanted you guys to look into. Um I'm not an expert in any of this. I just wanted to bring this to you and ask some questions. Um I wanted to further a discussion up um on this maintenance equipment. I'm glad you guys started asking questions about it with the new baseball field. Um, I do have some concerns. Um, to my understanding, this is specific turf. It's going to have specific requirements. There's a lot of tools that I've worked with to help maintain the LBSA fields. I don't see them down there. I don't see training on them down

104there, and I see coaches and players maintaining your field right now. Um, so I just wanted to ask you guys would look into training and equipment. To my understanding, you need a specific grass cutting machine, especially for the infield. You need specific things for line, for the um, like they have a turf master. There's all a lot of different equipment. I don't see it down there. I see a golf court with a rag with a drag. I don't see tampers. I don't see a lot of the equipment that we've had and I don't see training. I see a beautiful facility. I just hope that you guys look into getting some training ASAP. Being we're into the uh spring here. It's going to need a lot. And look into what it's going to take to actually

105maintain that field. I don't think it's truly been looked at. Uh looks like we were getting some rakes. We're getting some bare bones equipment to get it started, but as far as what's actually needed and everything in the in the whole scope of it, it's not there. To my understanding, there was supposed to be a maintenance position for that field back in January that was supposed to be funded. I still don't see that position. Curious where that was at. Um I thought you guys were actually voting on it on this meeting. Did I miss it in the meeting minutes or something? >> Could I answer that? Yeah, we did. We did interview somebody and we have not yet made a decision. >> No, it's on the agenda tonight. We approved the job description tonight. >>

106Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. I apologize. >> So, it's on the job description for tonight. Yes. >> Okay. Well, we're here. We're in March. We're late. We need to get moving on that as soon as possible. But thank you guys. I appreciate the information. Um the other thing that I had brought into I saw you guys voted on uh a middle school baseball softball approved program. I think that's wonderful. This community has need that for years. We don't have a lot of uh school sports in the middle school. That's great. Um when I read through it, I don't understand this uh five-year tiered system and whatnot. And when I started asking questions as far as who the boosters are, no one knows who this boosters are that's required for this $24,000 I think it was for

107year one. Um I don't see anou and every time I inquire about it, I'm curious on who that entity is going to be responsible for that. Um if we propose it and you guys bid on it, I don't want to see that cancel the program. If that's something you guys need partnerships with in the community, I hope you guys are reaching out to them. But I asked different boosters and who boosters meant because that's what was released in the news and I don't see anything. So I have no idea who that is. So I'm hoping you guys are looking at that as a board and as a school to see once what we have to do to get that school program up and running. We we drastically need it. Um >> sir, you have about

10830 seconds. >> It's going to come up. >> No, you have about 30 seconds left. Okay. >> Just before you got your >> Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. I didn't know how long I had. So I appreciate >> three minutes and I try to >> No, perfect. Um >> I'm not exact if I give you a little bit more than three minutes all the time. So I was just giving >> Perfect. I just want to know who the scope who's that's going to go under, who's going to be responsible for that, who we're paying, how them going to gather the money. It's kind of hard to do boosters and stuff when you don't even have a baseball team. We don't even have an individual who's ahead of it. Um is that

109going to be the school? Is it going to be private interest group? Is that going to be another 501c3? There's just a lot of questions to do with that and I'm hoping you guys are working through that. I thought that that would have been prepared December, January prior to the February board meeting, but it's my understanding something happened. I hope we're finding some corrective action on it. That that was all. Um that is all I have, sir. I appreciate your guys' time. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, Mr. Kaufman, I just want to say one thing. The motion on the agenda last month was for the board to approve the implementation of the middle school, excuse me, baseball and softball program. And that was step number one in regard to the possibility of having a baseball

110and softball program for the the gap years between LYBSA and when they come to the high school and it was simply um for the board that first of all they have to approve doing that then beyond that we'll have to continue working on this it was a proposal um a joint proposal and there are two booster booster groups, you know, the the Little League booster group and then the senior high. They're two separate entities. So, we this is going to go back to committee. We're going to continue working on this in regard to financing that. Um the estimated cost was on the agenda at the last meeting. We're going to be looking at that. It's it this whole thing started as a collaborative program between some folks that had kids in the LBSA and going

111to age out. Beth, you know that we'd like to build a bridge. We've been talking about this for a couple years with people coming to us asking for it. A bridge from little the little guys to the big guys because we have those three years in there. So, it's it's a work in progress, >> but nobody talked to boosters about that before that board meeting and no one still is they they walked away from it. So, I'm hoping we can figure this out because typically historically you had that money or you have it before that proposal has been done. There's anou or something. of the understanding neither one of those groups are going to contribute. There will be ultimately anou if we come to an agreement how it's going to be handled but the board

112had to first approve the fact that we were going to add those two activities. >> My question would be also to the board. Did anybody discuss you guys just paying for this? $25,000 is one of your programs. This is kind of common sense. The school would pay for this. >> Yeah, it's going back to committee and we're going to have to be working on that. >> Okay. because I'm hoping the board would $25,000 would be a included stepping stone because there's not a lot of options, especially softball, baseball, and the middle school. There's not a lot of options. I don't think anything for spring that I know of. Maybe one or two. Just it's a huge gap you guys need to fill and you guys have been people have been asking for it for 10,

11315 years. I just I can't fathom how this came about it. When I talked about it back in December and January, this is a done deal. This is absolutely said and we just got to find what how we're going to fund it. And now this fiveyear tier system came out of nowhere. trying to figure it out. Yeah, this is going back to committee and before anything is done, it will be done um through the whoever the groups are that participate in this and try and make it happen. >> Okay. >> Because it's an important bridge that we'd like to see happen. >> Okay. >> Well, thank you, man. >> Okay. Thanks. And perhaps you could help us. >> If I can, I'll happily do it. I'm just trying to figure out if you have different

114donors and you don't even have who's in charge of it, it's hard to make funding happen. >> So, >> it's collaboration and working together. Okay. >> Thank you. >> Do we have any directors who have additional comments this evening? >> Yes, I'd like to make a comment. Mrs. O Sullivan, your comments were very insightful and uh I tend to agree with uh what you explained about how that organization has evolved. Uh, from a little bit of research that I've done, I I got their90 IRS form, they are definitely a $10 million plus lobbying group with very lucrative uh, payments and salaries and pensions and other benefits to their top seven individuals that run that organization. Uh the late the girls with pearls that made the present uh presentation tonight I thought was very poor and

115not well prepared. They never mentioned any legislation that they've rallied for school districts with our PA state legislature. They never had a visit to this school district. I'm going to guess in 15 years, maybe more since going back to 1995 when they first joined. But they spend $680,000 a year on events. I'd like to know what those events are. They're not reaching out. They don't have people coming out and talking to either us or administrators. And as far as experts go and consultants, I don't believe we need any. I think they're all right here. It's the people that make up our staff, our teachers, and hopefully the people that are up here. That's that's what you elected us to to do for you. Not to be part of large organizations that are me too as

116far as, you know, other school districts. It's all me tooism. And u I I greatly appreciated uh your comment. Thank you. I'd like to address a comment to our administrators and t and uh building principles and you can relax. This is nice. All right. You're all getting nervous out there. Uh this past week uh weekend uh through your efforts, we saw the Ligonier Valley School District participate in the America 250th Road to Revolution Quiz Bowl at Fort Ligonier. and I saw the pictures that went on. The kids really enjoyed it. They had a great time. Granted, it was pretty much an inter mural uh effort since we have most most of our teams came from LS uh the Ligonier Valley School District, but we did beat United. So, but I really do appreciate your willingness

117and your efforts to push these effort these activities out to our students because there's so many many opportunities out there that they can expand their horizons not just on the practice fields but also in an academic practice field as well. So, thank you very much. >> Any other board member comments? Future dates and activities. April 13, 2026 at the administration building at 4 pm we will have the committee of the whole agenda setting meeting. On April 20th at Laurel Valley Elementary School, we will have executive session at 5:15 and at 6 p.m. committee of the whole immediately followed by the regular board meeting. At this time, do we have a motion to adjourn? So move. >> Second. No. Meeting adjourned at 7:51