001I called a regular board meeting of the Ligonier Valley School District on September 15, 2025 to order with the pledge of allegiance. I >> pledge allegiance 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. Mr. Secretary, our roll call, please. >> Miss Bennett. >> Mrs. Boyd, >> present. >> Mrs. Brown, >> here. >> Mrs. Gamble >> here. >> Mr. Gilbert >> here. >> Mrs. Mrs. Hutchinson >> here. >> Mr. Nut >> here. >> Mrs. Crawl >> here. >> Mr. Ste >> here. Nine present. Mr. Solicitor, can I have or no, actually, Mr. Secretary, can I have a executive session report for all sessions that were held between our last announced meeting? >> Uh, yes. Okay. There
002was executive session held September 3rd, 2025 from 900 a.m. to 10:50 in the morning regarding personnel reviewing of the superintendent resumes uh act 93 position and a and contracts regarding the transportation. There was another um executive session held September 8th, 2025 from 3:01 to 4:09 p.m. regard regarding personnel superintendent regarding the act 93 uh position and security. And there was one this evening from 5 well 5:50 p.m. to 5:55 p.m. regarding um uh superintendent interviews. uh professional long-term subposition, two supplementals, and uh one professional employee, and also security. >> Can you check the time on tonight's what did you say? Because you said 5:50 to 5:55. >> 5:15 to 5:55. I apologize. I have it written down, right? >> Just like that was short. I was there longer. >> Thank you for that report. Are
003there any motions that need amended or added to tonight's agenda? Okay, I would like to mention that I will be making a request to continue motion E3525 uh due to a potential misprint or miscommunication on the uh letter that's supposed to be sent home to parents. Um I think that's going to require Dr. D and Mr. there's a horack to look at a little more carefully. Uh because the link that is on the paper does not work or >> is that correct, Miss Brown? Some something the link isn't >> it's not as easy. It's not >> okay. So um just be aware when we get to um educational programs I will be asking for that motion to be tabled at that time. Public comments for the agenda items. We have three public comments. Uh Kim
004Dickert Wallace, would you come forward please for >> Mr. President, I think we need to act on the minutes first and then we'll go to that. That was for the public comments on any amendments. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Give me give me just a minute. Uh, under old business, I'm asking for a motion to approve the minutes of the August 18th committee of the whole meeting and the August 18th, 2025 regular board meeting. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Having motions and a second, I hereby ask all those in favor to indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? The minutes carry. Are there any follow-ups on previous agendas from any of the board members >> under new business hearing of citizens? Uh there's a discussion regarding S20. >> Speaking about
005Brian, sorry, Brian Blasco. Um the first page you will see is what he put out to the public um about requesting people come and speak about him. The second piece is a six plus um page email that was sent to my daughter that I will address in a moment. And the third is a copy of my remarks. So I have one for each of you. Um but good evening members of the board. I'm here tonight both as a parent and a student advocate to share my family's experience over two years with a class committee uh under the advisement of Mr. Blasco. If you wouldn't mind uh not to mention any employees name title is fine. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Both my daughters Ruby and Clara served on this committee. Ruby was a member in
006the year 2021 to 2022 and Clara was the class president the following year. Um in the 21-22 school year, the employees um first year as a class advisor, there were significant changes to the school schedule which limited the time for students to meet for various clubs. These changes made it already demanding task of planning a prom even more challenging. While all clubs were affected, the student or the junior class committee felt this especially as planning prom requires consistent time and collaboration. In late fall of 2021, Ruby began sharing concerns about the disrespectful comments and behaviors of the employee towards the committee. My husband and I trust our daughters to handle the situation responsibly offering her guidance only as a sounding board. But on January 7th, 2022, Ruby received an email, which you have will have
007a copy of from the employee that left her very distraught. I when I read the MA email and I was shared with that evening that I'm sharing with you that evening, I was troubled by the tone and several of the comments that I believe were wholly inappropriate and disrespectful for an adult adviser to direct students as he was supposed to be mentoring. I brought this email to the attention of the administration and I met with then assistant principal Mr. Marabido. Shared the email with him directly. He acknowledged my concerns and told me only that it would be shared with the principles and the administrations and check-ins would be done at the meetings. From Ruby's perspective, little changed. The remainder of the year was overshadowed by negativity and criticism by the teacher who repeatedly told the
008students they were not doing enough. The following year, our other daughter, Clara, as class president again worked under the um employee. Early in the year, she began sharing some of the same concerns her sister had experienced. He was dismissing the students idea, spoke disrespectfully, and failed to provide appropriate guidance. Clara at one point spent an entire Saturday arranging the details for a potential venue, timing the bus routes, and preparing a detailed presentation for the committee. When she shared her work, the mentioned teacher refused to even look at the presentation. Instead, he stared at the wall and then finished and told her that the idea was terrible and claimed that the venue which he had visited was old and smelled like old people. >> Kim, this >> two more minutes, please. >> This pattern continued throughout
009the year and at Grand March, he introduced Clara to the audience and then criticized her work publicly even though that it was his own delay that prevented her from getting the materials. I must also raise the concern of practicing bringing my uh his family including children to the prom while being an adviser. Were they clearly were they cleared in attendance? This raises a question of policy and liability in both years. Instead of encouraging students leadership, creativity and independence. This person consistently undermines their effort with negativity, dismissiveness, and disrespect. My daughters and their peers deserve mentorship with guidance. Instead, they were belittled and discouraged. This is state uh this is stated for people who serve as adviserss, administration, and schoolboard members. I'm asking this board to take these serious these concerns seriously and to ensure that
010adviserss and teachers entrust with mentoring our students do it with respect, professionalism, and encouragement. Each student deserves an adult to uplift them, not tear them down. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Um, Dr. Dark Angelo would like to make a couple comments regarding uh what you just brought up. What I discovered um in the school district, we have wonderful students and teachers and the sort of support community and I what I've been discovering over the last six months is we have don't have a lot of systems and I tease with the board. It's kind of like an archeological dig. The more you dig, the more you discover. So, what I discovered in all supplemental positions, and I'm not going to just focus on one, all the supplemental positions, uh, discovered there are
011no job descriptions, no evaluation process. Each of those positions are only a one-year position and people have to reapply, >> right? >> So, I have on my desk right now, and I gave uh to the board an outline of the direction they should go in the future, which was to establish job descriptions, and we already started on those. I have a copy of some information I've received from the Hempfield School District regarding the packets they give out. Whenever someone takes a supplemental position, it has outlined expectations. They have to document the minutes from the meetings, how many students were there, what occurred, etc., etc., etc., and an evaluation form. So, moving forward, I won't be here to see it in place, but I built the foundation for it, and I'm very, very excited about it
012because it needs to be done. So if you see um some of the advisors have changed because if we have concerns we open the position up and see if we have other people who qualify and we award it to the most qualified person. Um we talked to an administration high school principles myself um Justin who is a director of special education and we want to make sure the right people are in the right positions. Is it perfect and no can it be better? You're darn right. It could be better. We just want to do what the best school districts do and that's what we're trying to do. You'll see tonight during my superintendent report. I'm going to talk a little bit about what we put in place. And I'm going to end tonight by talking
013about the superintendent search. And thank you for sharing your concerns and and my my doors always open anytime you want to talk. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Wallace. >> Good evening. I'm Patrick Wallace and I too am here tonight to express concern as to the experience we've had with uh the supplemental arrangements that are are specifically involving the youth and government advisor. Uh, I'd like to focus specifically on the steps as we as parents took to address these issues and the responses received from the administration. In early November 2022, almost a year after the administration was contacted about this individual's uh disrespectful uh administration of this particular supplemental program. My wife had reached out directly to them uh for better understanding and perspective to open up a dialogue about the interactions with our daughter. Instead
014of engaging in conversation, uh this particular individual was very combative and and abruptly hung up on her. Following that phone call, my wife reached out to the principal of of the school and and they met that afternoon in her office. And in that meeting, she was told that there was little that could be done because this individual was doing a very hard job and that planning a prom was difficult. My wife requested to attend a committee meeting so she could observe these issues firsthand. She was told she would not be permitted to do so. Despite these efforts, the problems continued. By January of that year, after more reports of disrespectful behavior, my wife requested a meeting with the superintendent, the principal, and the teacher. She was told there would not be such a meeting, and
015that matter was being handled solely by the principal. When our daughter Clara was again disrespected by this individual in front of her peers, my wife was once again requesting a meeting, this time with me present. Finally, that request was granted and four of us sat down with the teacher and a union representative. In that meeting, we outlined our concerns about the pattern of dismissiveness, disrespect, and lack of mentorship for Clara and her classmates. We expected to hear a willingness to reflect and to work together to improve the situation for the students. Instead, what we experienced was defensiveness and no response from the administration. At no point did we feel that the teacher took responsibility for his behavior, nor did we feel that our concerns as parents were genuinely heard or taken seriously. I share this
016with you tonight not because prom planning is easy. It isn't, but because the way an adult advisor interacts with students matters even more than the event itself. These committees are supposed to be an opportunity for young people to learn leadership, problem solving, collaboration. Instead, what our daughters experienced was being dismissed, criticized, and belittled by the very person tasked with supporting them. The fact that repeated requests for dialogue and resolution were brushed aside until a situation reached a breaking point is also deeply concerning. Parents should not have to fight this hard to have their children treated with basic respect by an adult in leadership positions. We ask that this board take seriously not only the pattern of behavior but also the lack of meaningful administrative response until significant pressurees been applied. Our students deserve better and
017it is our responsibility as adults to ensure that they are mentored professionally, respectfully and with encouragement. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. So now I think we get to our alumni group, right? I have Bella, Emma, Megan. Hi, my name is Bella Palmer and I'm a Ligonier Valley High School graduate from the class of 2025. I'm ready to express my strong support for the adviser that was in charge of the junior class committee and the youth and government program whose character, passion, and work ethic make him a standout teacher at Ligonier Valley. To give more background on myself while in high school, I was part of many clubs including FBA, Spanish National Honor Society, National Honor Society, soccer and track and field. I was also involved in the class cabinet my freshman, junior, and
018senior year, serving as the class president my senior year. My junior year is when I worked with Mr. Blasco the most. I took advanced placement US government with him and as I said, I was a part of the junior class committee. I'd first like to focus on my experience with him as my advanced placement US government teacher. He would go above and beyond for our class to learn in the best ways possible. He spent the time adding a plethora of resources to our schooly page that would prepare us for the AP exam, brought in several public speaker speakers such as lawyers, and took us to an event at IUP called Senator for a day. All this work he put in really helped all of us expand our knowledge on the US government and did far
019more than just sitting there and doing the same boring things every day ever would. To be frank, Mr. Blasco is one of the hardest working teachers that I have had in terms of actually wanting us to learn. His great teaching is evident when I passed the AP Gov exam without studying, which is known to be a difficult exam. I retain everything he taught us better than I would in other classes. In other words, nothing he does is with minimal effort. Before I start talking about him as a supervisor for the junior class committee, I would like to note that I did watch the board meeting on April 21st, 2025, where some of the junior class committee brought up their grievances and will be touching on those some. As the junior class committee supervisor, I attended
020almost all the meetings, if not all, as a treasurer. He was very organized and made sure he heard us all out about our ideas. He made as many of the ideas happen as he could. The argument made from last year's junior class committee that he didn't hear them out is bizarre to me because he didn't give us that treatment whatsoever. I believe this argument could be because some of their ideas were unrealistic or could be due to the lack of their help. On many occasions my senior year, he would reach out to me and some of my friends to help sell cookies because the junior class committee was not doing their part. I would also like to add that there are complaints of not having grand march isn't just because he was ruining prom. It
021is the amount of disinterest. When we planned prom my junior year, we were begging people to do Grand March. And even last year, there was not a lot of participants. At the end of the day, as a supervisor, he had to decide whether or not Grand March was a waste of money. As a treasurer, I would like to make it very clear that Mr. Blasow has never been shady, unorganized, or secretive with the money or budget. Any transaction he made or what money we had, he would discuss and make sure. >> Yeah. Sorry. Um, any transaction he made or what money we had, he would discuss and make sure it was approved by multiple officers. If I ever in the slightest thought there was something wrong with the money, I would have spoken out. Finally,
022the argument that he didn't put any effort in is ridiculous because he was always networking and making sure our prom was the way we wanted it my junior year. Without his work, prom wouldn't have gotten done. Also, I would like to note that I attended both my junior and senior year and they were wonderful events and his hard work showed off. Now, I'd like to speak on his character. He's one of those teachers that truly cares about his students. Anytime I was going through anything, he would generally check in on me, and I would see him do the same for my fellow classmates. Felt comfortable to share with him anything I felt upset or concerned about. One example that showed how much he cares for his students was when my sister and I were rearended
023by a school bus from our school district. Even though I'm still alive and didn't have any lifealtering injuries, it was still a traumatic event and took us both some time to get over it. He was one of the few teachers who I felt like actually understood the multitude of the situation. He would check in on us, give us guidance if we did want to take legal action, and most importantly, he would listen to us vent about our frustrations with the way it was handled. That meant the world to my sister and I because to us it felt very brushed under the rug. In fact, one of my teachers two days after the car accident told me I was quote taking advantage of a situation and putting my classmates at a disadvantage when I asked for
024a fewday extension on a final while I was in fact suffering a pretty severe concussion. I would like you to keep that in mind when you want to question how he speaks to students when I was spoken to like that by another teacher and I did bring it up to our assistant principal and nothing was done. Even during my senior year after I no longer had him as a teacher or supervisor, he would check in on me and ask what new things were going on in my life. Caring for your students the way he does is incredibly important because no student wants to attend a class where they don't feel comfortable or like they have support from their teacher. If I had any doubts in who he is as a person and the way he
025treats his students, I wouldn't have taken the time to write this letter, drive an hour to read this letter, and watch the schoolboard meeting from April while being in college. Last thing I would like to talk about is the way I've seen him treated. It is simply disgusting. I've heard multiple teachers trash and degrade him along with students, more specifically. >> How much longer do you think it'll be? >> Five minutes. >> Um, my last part's quick. It'll be quick. >> Very quickly. Thank you. >> Okay. Um, I've heard the way the students that shared during the meeting in April talk about him and it is flat out mean. Coming up to fellow classmates laughing about what they're doing and talking poorly about him is unrelated to the issues, making me question their motives for
026why they have brought these accusations up. No disrespect to them, but I believe these accusations stem from hate, not facts in the throne power trip of ruining his reputation and career rather than making a positive change in Ligonier Valley School District. He is simply a punching bag because he is not the type of man to snap. So, it's easy for these individuals to hurl insults at not only him but his family. is flatout bullying. If you really want to evaluate an issue within the school district, look at the way you let him get treated. And then I have a letter from my sister that I'll leave in support of him. >> Thank you, >> Emma. Megan, you have comments as well. >> Are we allowed to read? We have letters. Mine's quick. >> Are we
027able to? Okay. >> One of you sent a letter to me. I already gave it out. Is one of you that sent the letter to me? >> Yeah. Okay. Your sister's okay. >> She goes to Alageney. She can >> They have a copy of the letter. Um, each of you can speak. There's just a five minute limit for the for the total time. >> This is under five minutes. >> All right. >> Good evening, Dr. D and members of the LVSD school board. My name is Emma Zeland, and I'm here before you tonight to discuss uh my former teacher and prom adviser. I'm a recent graduate of Ligonier Valley High School and I'm a freshman at St. Vincent College there. I'm a member of the honors college and I was just recently elected as freshman
028class president. During my time at LVHS, I was honored to serve as both sophomore and junior class president as well as being involved in many school activities. In your duty to the school board, you may have heard about me being upcoming leader of the year, Tina of the year, um or any of my involvement uh with the Ligonier Valley CH Chamber of Commerce. I'm proud of the education and opportunities I received at LVHS, which makes this letter deeply important to me. In the 2023 2024 academic year, I served as junior class president, working directly with our adviser to plan prom. From the beginning, I found him to be collaborative, supportive, and committed to ensuring that students voices were heard. Every idea we brought forward was implemented. Um, we brought forward as a committee. It was
029listened to, discussed, and either implemented or improved with his guidance. Uh, he never imposed decisions on us. Instead, he provided structure, advice, and encouragement while allowing us students to lead. I personally can say that all of my ideas I brought forth were heard. Uh, he loved them. He encouraged me to find new avenues for fundraising. I worked really hard to encourage all my other students to be a part of the committee. Um, many of which I hope will come forward and speak. But our efforts that year resulted in a successful, well-loved prom, not just by students, but the teachers who were shopper. I said it was amazing. It was well planned. Um, and I credit much of that success to Mr. Blasco. Uh, this stands in direct contrast to recent accusations uh that Mr. Blasco
030failed to listen to students. >> Sorry. Um, they said that he failed to listen to them and overrode their voices on the prom committee. Based on my firsthand experience as junior class president, I can say these accusations do not reflect the reality of how he worked with us. He treated us with respect, valued our perspectives, and consistently elevated our ideas. My experience with this teacher extended beyond prom committee. I was also his AP government student and a participant in youth and government. He went above and beyond to provide opportunities that enriched our education from extra credit projects to conferences such as senator for a day. I also worked with him as a volunteer on multiple occasions. Um he is an excellent teacher and adviser but also I know him as a person of integrity and
031care. I hold him in the highest regard both professionally and personally. It saddens me deeply to learn that his positions were taken away because of accusations that do not match the truth of my experience nor the experience of my peers. Um the absence of his leadership is already being felt. I have a younger sister who's a junior this year. From the get-go, from the first day of school, she wanted to run for junior class president and she told me there was nothing that existed. And I understand that there's another teacher who's up for the position, but he's also in charge of the senior class. They both have extreme um their roles go from zero to 100 at the end of the school year. I do not feel like that other teachers up for the position
032could do it to the best of his ability. And again, I'm not only defending my experience, but I want the best obviously for my sister, for all the other students. I want them to have such a great experience planning prom as I did. Um, they all deserve to benefit from the same supportive and enriching environment that I had under this teacher's guidance. I respectfully urge the board to reconsider the decision regarding this past prom adviser. One set of negative claims should not outweigh the many positive and truthful accounts of his dedication, fairness, and care for students. Restoring to him to his roles would not only correct an injustice, but also ensure that future students continue to benefit from his mentorship and commitment to their success. Thank you for your time, your service to the school
033community, and your careful consideration of this matter. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Megan Bodcker and I am a 2025 Ligonier Valley High School graduate. In my years spent at Ligonier Valley, I was often geared towards the extracurriculars offered at EWCTC. This was due to the inflexibility of my daily vocational schedule. Although I may be considered less involved in the clubs and committees offered at LBHS, I was an active member in both the Interact Club as well as the junior class committee. I had an interest in participating in becoming a member of the junior class ever since my freshman year of high school. But I was concerned I may be unable to participate due to my schedule. At the end of my sophomore year, I had expressed these concerns to the junior
034class adviser. The adviser had assured me he was willing and able to work with my schedule and fulfill my desire to become an active member despite this roadblock. Due to my attendance at EWCTC, I had little to no time throughout my schedule in my junior year to be present at the meetings held by the junior class. The adviser made a great effort to keep me up to date on the current goals and expectations of the committee. He would send me informational emails and I would stop by his classroom at my convenience to ask questions and inform him on my efforts being made throughout the time. If I took anything with me from my classes with the um junior class adviser, it would easily be one of his famous quotes. It's not what you know, it's
035who you know. This quote has stuck by me throughout my life, not only in high school, but beyond it as well. And today, my presentation is strongly emphasizing this quote and the importance of connections. If I did not believe Miss the adviser of the junior class, was a dedicated, compassionate, and inspirational educator, I would not be standing here today. I once more would like to apply this quote to today's presentation to defend his character in response to a previous schoolboard meeting where false claims and accusations were made against him. I am bringing this information before you today due to my recent knowledge of the information presented on the schoolboard meeting that took place on April 21st of 2025. At this meeting, the 2024 to 25 junior class officers came forward making false claims against their
036adviser. I would like to object these false accusations made by the students. There were multiple claims made during this meeting such as the adviser did not listen to the voices of the students and that he withheld information about the prom planning budget. However, what I took from the citizens input portion of this meeting was a group of biased teenagers who did not seem to get their way. I understand prom is an exciting major event for the upper classmen, but with this reward of planning comes a great deal of work and responsibility. To raise money for the Ligonier Valley Prom, the adviser arranges cookie sales through the school year. The members of the junior class are responsible for this fundraising activity to appropriately plan for the cost of prom. Several times throughout my senior year of
037high school, I heard the adviser asking around for an extra hand for the junior class cookie sales. I always enjoyed working with the adviser in class and during my time on the committee. So, naturally, I offered a helping hand. When I stopped by his classroom, he had informed me the cookie sales had been running so poorly that year due to the committee members refusing to sell them. When I first received this news, I knew I wanted to help the adviser and ensure our 2025 school year prom could be planned accordingly. I spent many months of my senior year picking up slack coming from our junior class committee. Each cookie sale, I would sell between three and five containers of cookies. Meanwhile, it was only asked of the juniors to sell just one. Without the aid
038of the students collecting the appropriate income for the cost of prom, it's difficult to determine the final budget in a timely manner. I strongly believe that it is unfair and unjust of students to falsely accuse the adviser of not taking his leadership position seriously when he was carrying the weight of the committee on his own. Dr. D, I understand that this is not a question and answer engagement, but may I ask if you have recently received any other emails on behalf of the adviser, and if so, have they been shared with the board? >> I share everything with the board. Yes, they have copies of everything everybody sent to me. >> Okay. Thank you for your time, >> ladies. Thank you very much for all of your comments. And I would also like to say
039that uh I'm very proud of the composure in which you ladies held. It's obvious that all of you have a very bright future ahead of you. Mr. Secretary, is there any correspondence or announcements? >> Uh, yes. I have two for this evening. Uh, the first one, I received an email last week from the township supervis uh township uh manager and uh it was to update on the uh bridge and sidewalk project behind the high school. They did apply and receive additional funds, another 588,000 along with the 5887,000 they received before. So it takes a little bit over a million almost $1.2 million. Um the overall project has increased in price since then, but they are still have other grants out there and they still look moving forward to have this project done. So I think
040it was just a good update to the board and I'll keep the board posted as more information comes in. >> Thank you. And the second correspondence uh received from Boliver Burrow. I was approached by their burrow if I would act as their representative for the West Morland County Tax Commission representative. I'm currently the the school board me the school representative at those meetings and um I said I would bring along to the board and if you are willing uh they agreed that they would allow me be the representative. Usually we have one meeting a year and I am able to attend them. So they would vote follow the same vote that the school district would follow. So I don't see any problem with that at all. Then >> um pending any input from our solicitor.
041Uh is there anyone on the board objecting to Mr. Koshious being that representative? I don't believe that that requires a vote. It would not of this board and as long as uh his involvement uh with the burrow does not uh put a conflict in place with the school district, I see no problems with that. >> Okay. I I'll reach out to the representative of the West Morland County Tax Commission Committee collection committee to let them know that uh I will be the representative for the burden. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Mr. Solicitor, >> superintendent. Super >> I'm sorry, Mr. Dr. D. Your report. >> Good evening. Since March, I've been working with the school administration and the board of directors to make recommendations and changes that are fiscally responsible, but more importantly, educationally sound. I
042thought I was going to be here for 90 days and six months later I'm still here. Those changes included an elimination of a teaching position from a retirement a position that was not needed because when we looked at our class size the class size was optimal. So we were able to save money. We also eliminated the dean of students position but we took that person who was math certified and moved her into a position as a math coach. We did that because when I did some research early on, and I mentioned this at the April board meeting that out of the 17 school districts in Pennsylvania, we should be in the top quadrant in our academics and our test scores and we need to address that and we need to get better and we can't
043get better. So, we made that move and moved somebody was a dean of students into a math coaching position. At the same time, we moved a technology integration teacher who we believe is very talented and had a lot of capability and a lot of capacity in the schedule. Moved him to an assistant middle school principal. So, we have stability on top of the hill between a middle school and RK Melon where we now have three administrators. We think that was a great move because he loves our school district, lives in our school district, and will be here permanently. We then moved on and we hired a gentleman by the name of Bubba Futula because we felt like we can take our nest next steps with safety and he's a safety consultant that works for over
04430 with over 30 schools in the area in Pennsylvania. And we began training with our students and staff and if you get a chance you need to ask our students and staff about the training because he's dynamic. We also started a monthly emergency emergency management meeting with many different people that make up that committee because we believe school safety must be a priority. Tonight, we're hiring an additional security guard to cover the middle school. We're also setting up interviews for another security guard that would be at RK Melon. We believe we need to have one security guard in each building. And as I sat through the cafeteria presentations, I hope the same people that are passionate about food, are passionate about security. And between now and the month of May, when the board adopts a
045budget, that's when a discussion needs to be held. If you want more people in the cafeteria, more food, more security guards, you need to convince the new superintendent and the nine board members to pay for those things. They don't come free. Tonight, I'm very excited, too, because as we set up our administrative team to build security, we're hiring a very talented young lady as a director of special education. Her name is Jennifer Capusta, and I believe she's in the audience today, and we're happy about that. She comes from a neighboring school district. She has a doctorate in curriculum instruction, a letter of eligibility. She's a principal in another school district and believes she believes she'll she we she will be a great addition to this administrative team. By doing that, we can then take our
046current director of special education, Justin Zorjack, and move him into a position of director of education where he can focus on academics, our data teams, which is one of our goals that we now establish for our principles, establishing walkthroughs with our building principles to get into classrooms to try to make a difference with our academics to move us up into that top quadrant in the county. He also can focus on grants. So, we're putting together a team. We started in March and the final piece of the team is to hire us a a superintendent of schools that will be here long term. We had 17 applicants for the position of superintendent. Last week, we interviewed five. This week, we're going to interview the final three. We hope to get it to the final one and
047we hope to make an announcement in the near future once we have a superintendent in place and we're not sure how how how long that person will be held in a neighboring school district. But I made a commitment that I'm not just going to walk out the door and when that time comes I'm going to pass a torch to the new superintendent because there's a lot of good things that have happened and there's still a lot of good things that need to occur. So, I wanted to give you an update everything we've accomplished and give you an update on our search for a new superintendent. Thank you. It's been my honor to serve you, >> Mr. Solicitor. >> Yes. I have no uh remarks for public session unless the board has any questions of me.
048>> Uh, regarding our superintendent, by the way, I did reach out to Dr. D and try to propose a contract to him, but he said that uh we would not be able to afford his wife. So, um >> a happy wife is a happy wife. >> So, he's off the table. Linda, do you have any report from LVA? >> I do. >> Well, great. >> I know. >> Good evening. My name is Linda Calp and I am a learning support teacher at RK Melon and I've been there 41 years. So I love my job. Can you tell? I am also the Ligonier Valley Education Association school board representative and I don't think I've spoken for a very long time but I'm here with news good news about our school district to follow up on the
049good news of doc that Dr. D told we have a new LVA president and his name is Dr. Daniel Crack and he visited with each member of our union during the first week of school and he's happy to share with the board that there is a general positive optimistic feeling across the school district. And here is just a snapshot of some of the good things that are happening across our district. At the high school, Mrs. APGAR's Comlit One class is working on an AI, social media, and technology unit. And this would be the first time ever that this class has been developed. And it is a list of ethical and meaningful ways to use AI in the classroom and a list of ways not to use AI in the classroom. Through these class discussions, reading
050and writing assignments, students have been challenged to reflect on their own social media and technology usage. Mrs. Abgar reports that it has been an eye-opening experience for the students. One student even declared, "Wow, I want to pay more attention to life, not what's on my phone." In Mrs. Abgar's journalism class, the students began creating reels. These reels are news stories and important happenings at the high school. Student Aiden Mack has been appointed as social media manager and will work with Mr. Psycho to create and post weekly reels. Major Sergeant Major Oats was busy with ROC cadets this summer and they traveled to the Pocono Raceway and performed color guards for the NASCAR races. and the cadetses got to meet the governor. He then traveled with the cadetses to a leadership camp called Outdoor Odyssey. Finally,
051they traveled to Mid Ohio to the sports car racetrack where they performed color guards and had a photo op with Kiana Reeves and that was exciting for the kids. Mrs. Tricket at the high school is proud to declare that music is coming alive again in all of our Ligonier Valley schools. The high school began music seminars in jazz band and percussion ensembles. She is also in the second year of team teaching with Mrs. Stokovich, who's the music teacher at the elementary schools. And they're proud to announce that music lessons began in both of the elementary schools on the first week of school. And the numbers and the enthusiasm are growing. At the middle school, the music teacher, Miss Graham, reports that around 114 middle schoolers are involved in the performing musical arts and that is
052about 43% of the school population involved. Mrs. Kenna, middle school teacher for ling for ELA, spent many hours this summer as a student. She completed four courses at the intermediate unit this summer. Mrs. Stall, middle school LEA teacher, had a busy summer showing her prize-winning Welsh corgis. And two of her dogs um were in shows across the country and out of 140 top dogs, both of them were awarded top prizes at two of the shows. At Ligonier, excuse me, at Laurel Valley Elementary, Mrs. KS the school counselor is happy to announce that Rocks fifth grade girls is in its it's a girls program and it's in its 15th year. They started out being one of the first we were one of the first schools in Pennsylvania to be part of the program and it started
053with a grant. Rocks is now in 44 states in the country and Mrs. KS is proud to lead this researchbased program with fifth grade girls and appreciates your support in that. In addition, Mrs. KS has the gifted students at LVE and in collaboration with the art and steam teachers, they are creating a scarecrow for the contest on the diamond this October. And at RK Melon, my school, the second grade teachers, Mrs. Baron, Mrs. Mundorf, and Mrs. Stevenson spent time last week learning about the heroes of Patriot Day in an in an age appropriate lesson focusing on bravery, kindness, and unity. The students learned how firefighters, police officers, medical workers, and everyday people can help during very, very difficult times. They learned what it means to be a hero, helping them understand the importance of courage,
054compassion, and helping others. In addition, each student created a patriotic handprint and they used it in a picture of the American flag with red, white, and blue and they were given a chance to reflect on the importance of unity and the appreciation for those who serve their community. Then the second grade teachers also are becoming the students are becoming real world scientists. They are investigating how the slope of land affects the movement of water and objects. With the help of simple materials, water, marbles, and land all around the skull, the students are predicting and observing the ways that land shapes how things move, namely water. These kinds of activities don't just teach science. They spark curiosity, build problem solving skills, and help students see the world in a whole new way. And that's all I
055have. >> Thank you so much. >> I I hope we hear more about things like that. >> We expect report next month. >> I believe we have a student adviser from the high school with us this evening. Good evening. >> Good evening. My name is Connor Fos. I'm a high school senior here currently and I have some more good news. So, Adeline Makoski set a new school record in a in August for 18 holes of golf shooting 80 shooting in 82 at the Penn State white horse. Addie will also be competing in the Whippio qualifier tomorrow at Donagle Highlands Golf Course. The boys golf team won the section for the third time in three years. They also had six golfers competing in the Whipfield section qualifier today. The students are Tyler Jones, Owen Smith, Henrik
056Ellic, Rocco Harris, Brock McKenzie, and Hunter Azo. The specialized education classroom has been partnering with Giant Eagle two afternoons a week. During these visits, two students practice real jobs, including stocking shelves and uh collecting carts. This partnership provides an incredible hands-on experience for our students. The south southern Alageni Museum of Art, SAMA, artists and res residents will soon begin planning and creating a series of murals in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding. These murals will be placed at various locations throughout the valley to commemorate this historic milestone. That's all I have. >> Thank you very much for your report. >> Let me just make one comment. um the special education class going to join equal. I actually saw that they were stuck in the shelves. It was really great to see that.
057>> Really nice. >> They were doing a great job. >> Thank you for having me. >> Uh report from the EWC. I'll give a little start out on that when unfortunately on September 6th it rained. So only about 90 vehicles showed up for the car show out of the expected 400. Um but they still went on. Uh they had some good food there. They had the uh kids were making stuff back in chef's kitchen. Uh they had s approximately 60 raffle baskets. I won two of them. Um, imagine a I got a new motorcycle helmet and a golf pass. Other news at EWCTC is bad news. Two of their three boilers are failing and they are going to attempt to make a field repair to the boilers. Uh Donnie over there, the maintenance supervisor, believes
058that he's going to be able to remove the tubes himself, reolder them, reinstall them, and put those back together. But his life expectancy for the remainder of those boilers is probably only two to three years. And as a partnering school with EWCTC, Eric's already down there smiling, we have to contribute to the repairs of uh some of the things over there at the building unless we are fortunate enough to maybe try to find a grant. So, um, keep your ears and eyes open in case there are any grants that you happen to see out there in the real world involving, uh, repairs to HVAC type things because the EWCTC will be needing that in the near future. Uh, Cindy, do you have any anything else? >> Yes. So last month I told you be prepared
059for a huge amount announcement this month and I I don't know maybe this is just me but we were able to cosmetology has grown to the point where we hired a second full-time teacher and we are now offering all uh ninth grade uh cosmetology students uh full-time in that uh shop which is huge because they have to have 1,250 hours before they graduate. And for our school, it's really hard because uh we're down three days to begin with just because our regular schedule, but then we have so many snow days and you know that kind of makes it very hard for uh the Cosmo shop to get their hours. So it was that this was a huge huge win to be able to get uh a another full-time teacher and to be able to start
060uh the students in that shop in 9th grade instead of wait till 10th grade. Uh some other news uh over at EWCTC. Uh solicitor Mr. Mata is now the solicitor at EWCTC as well. Um so he obviously has some experience that will then tie over to Ligonier and he recently got on with Dair as well. >> Thank you. >> So and now we get to the wonderful news about the IU. >> Go have to follow that. On August 26th, I attended my first uh West Morland intermediate unit IU board meeting. Please note that this assignment this assignment is heavy duty and it's not a duty that I'm taking lightly. Uh we started the evening with an executive session that ran way over where a personnel matter was discussed. Following the executive session, they held what
061they called an informative session where the administrative team reviewed information regarding the parking lot issue at Clear View, which is the actual school. So, everyone is aware the parking lot at Clear View has deteriorated and half the lot is now unusable and they need an additional 56 parking spots for staff. The administration provided the board with a timeline of issues and how they settled them. The problem is that they signed contracts and proceeded with a resolution plan at the expense of each sending district without prior approval from the board. If you would like details on the parking lot issue, please feel free to reach out to me. Um, after an hour and a half delay, the actual board meeting finally started. Per motion SB26001, I was officially approved as an IU board member by a
062roll call vote. As we proceeded through the 14page agenda, some of the main notable items were FS2526005 was tabled, which was a grant permission was to grant permission for draw collective to proceed with preparation of bid specifications and a competitive bid procurement process to install a new PA system in the Clear View School. That job is being completed due to receipt of a PCC grant, but it was noted that the funds of the grant will not cover the entire cost of the project. Uh the IU took out a revenue anticipation note, otherwise known as Iran, in the amount of $5 million at an interest rate of 3.29% from First National Bank. This was done as a result of the impass in the state budget. A comprehensive plan is on a 28-day review. There were 12
063resignations, two of which for retirement purposes, and the approval of hiring three new special education teachers, six policies were updated and are out for first reading. At 10 p.m., the meeting finally concluded. I encourage everyone to pay attention to what goes on at the IU because everything they do directly affects all of us. Again, if anyone has any questions, would like more information, please reach out to me. And Christie, would you like to tell everybody how much time you're given between the release of the agenda and the time that you actually appear at the meeting, considering it was 14 pages long? >> I received it on Thursday evening at approximately 8:00 p.m. I made it through about four pages reading all of the attachments and everything that went into it. I have requested that we
064receive it at least a week in advance so that we can look through the agenda there. If you don't know anything about the IU, please reach out to me because I have a lot of information and a lot of people. I just don't think you understand what's going on at the IU and how it affects all of us. >> Exactly. There there's a lot to it. Thank you for your report. >> Uh Cindy, are you taking the public relations for Josie >> rep from the high school hit >> hit everything? Okay. All right. So, we've already had our public relations from all the various speakers, which is perfect. Starting with our agendas. Director Crumbl, the building and grounds department, please. >> Oh, yes. Forformational purposes, I wanted to read a list. Um, I want to
065mention that Christie has been receiving a lot of feedback, emails, phone calls, text messages about things that needed to be addressed and she brought them to my attention as the committee chair for building and grounds and I was working directly with Ed Sutter, um, the principles of the various buildings, Dr. D. So, I wanted to read Oh, Eric as well. Sorry, Eric. So I wanted to read a list which is very long of all the things that they have completed um to date. So this started in the summer and they moved frozen food from the LVMS and RK Melon several times to facilitate electrical shutdowns. They disconnected power to the baseball scoreboard. They painted curves at LVMS and RKM. They removed damaged goalpost at Wellerfield and installed a new one. They trimmed trees and shrubs
066at RK Melon, LVE, and LVMS. They cut brush around the retaining pond at RK Melon. They dismantled and cleaned up two old sheds at Wellerfield. They set base for new storage at a new storage container at Wellerfield. They painted the storage container at Wellerfield. They hand scraped and painted concession stand at Wellerfield. They placed a bitmous patch around the bleacher pillars at Wellerfield, excuse me. They laid out and painted band practice fields at LVHS. They painted two parking lot slot numbers at LVHS. They moved two pallets of shredding from the basement of the administrative building to the maintenance building. They painted the restroom near the kindergarten wing at RK Melon. They finished painting. They finished a painting project in the lobby at RK Melon. They replaced supply hoses for the water guns at Weller Field.
067They painted a classroom at RK Melon. They painted interior handrails at LVE. They cut low hanging limbs around the football practice field. They took over mowing and trimming at Weller Complex when the contractor quit. They provided paint and sundries for the concession stand at Page Field. They cleaned up and dismantled abandoned equipment at Wellerfield. They cleaned and painted the handrails at LVMS. They installed roll paper racks at LVMS. They installed a new adaptive swing at RK Melon. They replaced and repaired numerous faucets districtwide. They mowed and trimmed districtwide. They installed new mirrors in the restrooms at LVE and RKM. They cleaned and delined six steamers. They cleaned 15 freezer and coil coolers. Coil coil, excuse me, coil cooler coils. That's not easy to say. Moved cash register and wiring at RK Melon. Rearranged serving lines
068at RK Melon. Serviced and repaired vent fans at Wellerfield. Hung new TV and outlet in one office at LVMS. clean and service the vent fans at RK Mill and LVMS, LVE and LVHS. Remove the book room and teachers lounge at LVMS. Added an outlet on the scoreboard at Wellerfield. Cleaned the dryer vents at multiple locations. Moved the clock in the LVHS gym to make room for a new scoreboard. And I think that's all Ed listed. One other thing I will mention that I know happened was when they added the adaptive swing at RK Melon. Um I had mentioned that the walkway to get there was not really conducive for the wheelchairs. So it's my understanding that they fixed that so that the staff and the aids for the um special education classrooms can get there
069safely even during the weather when it's snowy or whatever when they're going outside. And I wanted to note that um I know there's things that are coming up. I know things um weren't always getting addressed with um building and grounds chairs from the past. So keep letting us know, but go through your principal first. Let them know that something needs to be done. Put in a work order. Those work orders will get reviewed through Mr. Sutter and they go down the chain to make sure things are getting addressed. Um, if you find something is not getting addressed, please num, please notify the principal and then if that still isn't working, please call me at any time. Um, we really want to get everything taken care of and I think they've demonstrated a big effort to
070get all of those things taken care of. So, just wanted to share that with everyone. Um, I make are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Hearing none, I make a motion for B1425 that approval be given for the baseball complex change orders as listed. >> Second. >> Having a motion and a second for B14. All those in favor indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? The motion carries. Director Stephy for finance, please. >> Okay. Are there any motions? Any pulled for discussion? like to make a motion approve F8725 through F9225. >> Second. >> Having a motion and a second for the indicated items. All those in favor indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Any opposed? The motions carry. Educational programs director. Mrs. Boyd. >> Um for information, Tegan
071Peltz Palco, pre- studentent teacher at St. Vincson College will observe Susan Partardee at Laurel Valley Elementary School during the fall semester of 2025. Evan Wavorva, I hope I said that right, pre- studentent teacher at St. Vincent College will observe Ryan Podlucky at Ligonier Valley Middle School during the fall semester for 2025. Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Director Boyd, I would like to ask that someone make a motion since I'm not permitted to table E35 so that we can clarify the letter that is being sent out to parents. >> So move second. >> I make a motion to approve E3625. >> We have a motion to table. We need to vote that motion. Yes, sir. >> Have a motion by >> Cindy, seconded by Gary to table E3525. >> Okay. >> All
072those in favor of tableabling E35, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? >> That motion shall be tabled for review. >> I make a motion to approve E3625. >> Second. Having a motion and a second for E36. All those in favor indicate by saying I. I. >> Are there any opposed? >> The motion carries with E35 tabled for discussion at a later date. The personnel committee shall be handled by Director Brown this evening. >> Are there any motions for discussion? >> Hearing none, I motion to approve P6125 through P6825. >> Second. Having a motion and a second. All those in favor, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? The motions carry. The athletic committee. Director Hutchinson, please. >> Are there any motions that needful for
073discussion? Hearing none, I'd like to make a motion for A3525 through A3625. >> Second. All those in favor of the two motions, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? The motions carry. Supplemental contracts. Director Gamble, please. >> Are there any motions that need pulled for discussion? Hearing none, I make a motion for S1925 through S2125. >> Second. Having a motion and a second. All those in favor, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Are there any opposed? Those motions carry. >> Director Nup, do you have anything for the good of the order this evening? >> Nothing at this time. Thank you. >> Thank you. Director Brown, do you have anything for policy legal this evening? >> I have nothing. >> Thank you. Uh, second hearing of citizens. We have
074Helen Sitler asking about cyber charter funding. >> You know, this is my hobby horse. Um, I wasn't going to speak tonight, but I got an email this morning that just enraged me. So, I really want your own rage tonight after I read some of this email to you and um some action from you. Um, a lot of talk about funding and money tonight. Um, there are some answers here, but it takes some movement by school boards to get that money. Um, this came from ED voters. I don't know if any of you get those emails from ed voters, but um, it's an organization that has been tracking cyber charter school funding for a long time. So, I'm reading from that. I will give this to you when I'm finished, but I'm skipping around a little
075bit in it tonight, so I don't want you to lose where I am. So, I'll give this to Eric when I'm finished. This is from the email. As the budget impass drags on, some school districts are drawing money out of their fund balances, savings accounts to pay their bills, which is what I believe this district is doing. Other districts must borrow from banks or take out lines of credit which will cause interest fees interest and fees to be paid back by those districts later. So this is the second paragraph and I didn't know this and this is what sent me over the edge. Charter and cyber charter schools on the other hand are not seeing any interruption in their funding. School districts are required to pay tuition to charter schools whether or not the state
076budget has been passed. That's outrageous. You're not getting your money from the state, but the state demands that you still pay the cyers. That's craziness. It's craziness. >> You see, you see why I'm angry? All right. It gets worse. It even gets worse. Um, this comes from a June report from Research for Action. They note that one particular cyber commonwealth chartermy's fund balance was low. and referred to the recent Auditor General's report which explained and this is a quote from the Auditor General's report. Commonwealth Charter Academy transferred $354.3 million from its general fund to its capital project funds during the audit period of which $196 million was spent to purchase and or renovate 21 buildings. This is a cyber school and they're becoming real estate moguls because they have too much money in their reserve
077fund. That's our tax money. This is this is just so unacceptable. And then it gets worse again. State law limits the unassigned fund balance that school districts are allowed to hold. The PA House has passed bipartisan legis legislation. It was House Bill 1500 that would both place some that would place I'm sorry that would both place the same limit on cyber charter schools and return excess funding that cyers are hoarding to districts where it could be invested in educating students. The Republican controlled Senate has taken no action on this legislation. So you know what my ask is now. Joe Pitman and Kim Ward presently or used to both represent this school district. They're the key players in the Senate who are not letting that bill move forward. The handout I'm going to give you has
078their phone numbers on it. Please call them. The other person that I would like you to call is Leslie Rossy. She has said to me several times, the money should follow the student. This is one of the outcomes of that belief. When the money follows the student, the district doesn't have enough money to put food in the cafeteria, to hire the extra workers, to deal with the boiler at the VOTE, to deal with the parking lot at the IU. This is all tangled up in the same ball and it's all cyber charter deliciousness for the cyers. I'm done. >> I'd like to respond to that. >> Yeah, me too. >> Okay. Um Helen, I actually got that same um email this morning. >> And so I looked through our general fund bills F8825, which we
079approved this evening. In that particular motion, we the taxpayers of Lincoln Valley School District AC actually had 61,7653. >> Let me applause you there. That's the 2425 reconciliation complete. I am not paying any 2526 cyber bills because they if we don't pay it, they withhold it from our subsidy. Well, we're not getting our subsidy right now, so they can't hold it with from anything. So, until Yeah, that was the 2425 year. We got all of our money for 2425 from the state. Those are 2425 closeouts of the school year for the cyber bills. >> But we they were on our bills tonight. Is that correct? >> But that's for the 2425 year. The 25 >> doesn't matter. It's still our tax money. >> I know, but we already got all of our state money for
080that though is what I'm trying to say. 2526. I have not paid any cyber bills yet because they're they would withhold it from our subsidy. Well, we're not getting our subsidy so they can't withhold it from anybody. So, I just want to clarify that. That is from last year to close out. Okay. Well, that's that's fine as a clarification, but nonetheless, that was the taxpayers's money from the Leg School District on F8825 tonight. >> That's correct. Yeah. >> And they still get their money >> from last year from last from last year's clos. We got over our state money for 2425. >> Well, it's our money. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> There's nothing in this email about a flat fee for cyber charters, which is something that Kim Ward said to me she
081was in favor of. I don't know what's happened to that in the budget, but that would be a good thing as well. >> Okay. Yeah. I ju I just want to make one comment. Um, don't get me wrong, I agree, Helen, with you. Styber charter legislation is ridiculously through the roof. But I think it is unfair for you to make the comment that this is what happens when the money follows the child because what our biggest problem in Linger Valley is not ch cyber charter. That's a big part of it. Our problem in Linger Valley is the the commissioner or the the the super the supervisors making all our our profitable land nonprofit. And if we don't soon do something and wershed's buying it up or Melons are buying it up or whatever, all these
082groups that are nonprofit is actually wiping our tax base out in our district. And that is that is probably the the biggest offender of getting our school base. It it's I mean I know cyber charter is big but nonprofit is is huger. >> It's it's a combined problem. >> It is but that's what I'm saying. But I don't think it's fair to I don't think it's fair to make the statement this is what happens when your tax dollars follow the student. I I think that's an unfair state. >> They're tax dollars that aren't fully needed for cyers. But yet we see some one engaging in real estate speculation. We see others taking out millions of dollars of advertising. We see others buying tickets for their kids and families to Philadelphia Phillies games. That's that's our
083tax money. >> I understand that. But that that comes from rotten legislation. That comes from the fact that the legislating legislators are not putting a cap on what cyber schools are allowed to charge. >> But it's because the money is following the child. >> Well, I disagree with you. >> Well, then we can both disagree. >> Hang on, Helen. I have a comment about that. So I think it also comes down to our district and Dr. D has done so much to put us on an upswing. All of those ideas were from him. We voted on them. He brought the ideas. So he gets all the kudos for that. We get the pleasure of saying yes, we voted on that. But the problem is how do we get these students back? >> Yeah. And that's
084what we really need to work on as a board, as a district, is let's get these kids back. Let's get our scores up. Let's make everything more attractive so that we can take a hold of that again and try to get back in line with our budget and everything else because I see Eric having a slight heart attack up there. >> Yeah. And I know, >> you know, I but I totally agree. You know, there has to be some kind of change somewhere. Um, >> and I think phone calls from school board members would have greater impact than phone calls from me. I'll make the phone calls, but you know, I'm the crazy old lady who's yelling about stuff. Um, but you're the board members who were making decisions about what the taxes are going
085to be for next year. >> Well, that was partly why some of us had suggested a slight tax increase because we were trying to come up with the shortfall that we're having. And unfortunately the way we were recording what money we do have >> didn't specify what was earmarked for different accounts. So while the perception was we have approximately $10 million. That's not true. We really don't have that much money in reserve that's all set aside >> and so I believe the plan is to make it reflect what it really belongs to. But that's a >> an inaccurate perception that we're >> sitting on all this money and we're really not. >> And but that's the general, you know, perception of that. >> Commonwealth Charter Academy is sitting on locks. >> Correct. That is correct.
086So, >> thank you, Helen. And, um, the information that you give to Eric, um, we'll have Eric review that. We'll also have the solicitor and Dr. take a look and just try to validate, make sure everything um in in that article is accurate and get a report back uh hopefully from Eric about what what's going on with the budget and things like that. So once again, thanks Governor Shapiro. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Are there any uh comments from any of the school board directors? >> I have one. Go figure. Um, in the interest of fulfilling my responsibilities as a board member with integrity and transparency, I feel compelled to raise a serious concern. As Jen noted, over the past month, a lot of people have reached out to me. One thing that really concerns me
087is a double-digit percentage of district employees have reached out to me with serious concerns or issues within a district. What's even more troubling is that 100% of those employees all said or started their conversation with me with the same exact words. Please don't use my name. That repeated request speaks volumes. It signals a deeper, more troubling issue. When every single person feels the need to protect their identity just to share share their perspective, it reveals something far more serious than isolated issues. It points to a culture of fear or distrust. As a board, we must take this seriously. We need to foster an environment where our staff feel safe, supported, and heard without fear of retaliation. If employees feel they have to remain anonymous anonymous to speak the truth, then we as a leadership body
088are not doing our job effectively. Next, integrity is non-negotiable with me, especially for those of us in leadership. To my fellow board members, I respect different opinions and perspectives. In fact, I welcome them. Healthy debate strengthens our decisions. But let me be clear, our work must be rooted in collaboration, mutual respect, and full transparency. If we are truly committed to serving students, teachers, staff, and the broader community, then we must function as a unified, trustworthy, and principled board. I want no ambiguity sorry on this point. If anyone believes that dishonesty, manipulation or back channeling tactics will benefit them, they are gravely mistaken. That approach will not succeed. Not with me. I do my homework. I research, verify, and pursue facts relentlessly before making decisions. That is my obligation to the public and one I will
089not compromise. Respectful dialogue is always welcome, but only when it's grounded in truth, transparency, and integrity. Anything less undermines the very work that you, or in my case, were appointed to do. Thank you. Anyone else? So, for our future dates and activities on October the 13th, this will be at the administration building at 4:00. we will have our committee of the whole meeting where we set the agenda. Then on October 20th, please remember that schoolboard meeting will be held at Laurel Valley Elementary School. Uh board members, please arrive around 5:15 unless otherwise noted. The six o'clock committee of the whole m meeting will then take place with any presentations and updates. Then we will follow immediately with our regular board meeting. So once again, October 20th will be out at LI at Laurel Valley Elementary
090School. >> And Dr. Kapla, if you'd be kind enough to come on up at the end of the meeting after we adjourn, I want to introduce you to all board members and our administrative team, please. Thank you. >> I will now take any motions for adjournment. So move second. >> Okay, you got somebody on that one, Eric. Okay. All those in favor of adjournment, please indicate by saying I. >> Are there any opposed? Meeting adjourned. 8:10 p.m. Thank you very much, everyone. Have a great evening.