001I hereby bring to order the May 28th, 2025 special board meeting at the Ligonier Valley School District administration building with the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation indivisibley and justice for all. Mr. Secretary, roll call, please. Brown here. Here we will begin with a hearing of the citizens. There are two listed. Uh Christy Boyd, stay here. Yeah, that's fine. We don't have a microphone, though. Um first off, I know you guys have a very very hard decision even though it's today. And there's just a couple things that um I wanted to say. U as a community, we all want to ensure that every student has access to a well-rounded education. One that includes not only academics, but also music, sports, and arts. When
002it comes to spending priorities, we must ask, are we truly putting students first? I've heard concerns about a proposed $6 to$14 tax increase. If that small increase is considered too much for our families to bear, then how can we justify continuing to charge students $75 activity fee or as it's known in community, the participation tax just to be involved in school plays, band, or sports? What about families trying to access dual enrollment opportunities which open doors for college and career pathways? These programs are life-changing, yet they often come with cost bears that hits our most vulnerable families the hardest. If we're serious about holding the line on taxes, and I agree we must avoid placing undue burden on the community, then the next logical question is what is the school board doing to cut costs?
003Have we looked at where money is going? Um, some examples are why are we paying an advisor to help plan the prom more than we pay our boti coach? Could this role be filled by a volunteer? Uh, what are the projected cost to the district insurance premiums following recent claims? Will rising deductibles eat further into the budget? We can't ask families to make sacrifices while avoiding those tough conversations about the district's spending. Every dollar we spend should reflect our values and our values should be rooted in opportunity and fiscal responsibility. Please know I support honest, transparent discussions about how we spend our current dollars and who we prioritize in the process. May I say something regarding that? Christie, I just wanted to say you brought up a really important point that I wanted to add
004on to whenever you mentioned the dual enrollment enrollment program. I'm not sure if you're aware or not because I wasn't either until my daughter was in it. It is free for all students if you get free or reduced meals. So, everything is taken care of all the credits and everything. What about the person who's right on the verge of getting free? Yes, I don't know about that, but I just wanted to add that for anybody else who might not know it is covered. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you for being uh Sarah Rod. Good morning. Um, my name is Sarah Rodani. I'm a parent in the district. I'd like to express a growing concern about how this board is functioning and how it's affecting the quality of decision-making in our district. I'm not discussing whether
005or not we should raise taxes, but I'm addressing the leadership of the board. Today's vote raises a simple but important question. What specific data did each board member review before making their decision? From the outside, it appears decisions are being made based on personal preferences or polit politics, not an evidence, analysis, or community impact. It seems more members think that they can show up, vote, and leave. That's not governance. That's not leadership. The role of a board is to understand the issues, engage with data, listen to stakeholders, and make informed decisions in the best interest of students, staff, and community. A recent example makes this concern real. At the last finance committee meeting, Chair Steppy had to leave early and asked Director Gilbert to continue, but both Director Gilbert and Director Brown also said they
006had to leave. Ending a political discussion with no resolution. That meeting required a decision to avoid violating school code. Abruptly walking out raises serious questions and feels more political than responsible. What's more troubling is the contrast. have seen directors stay in curriculum meetings for three hours or education committee meetings for three hours, spend three hours in a principal's office or community guidance materials, and devote three hours to the baseball field project during a board meeting. But when it came to finance, a core function of governance, suddenly everyone had to leave. Something just doesn't add up. I believe I heard someone say they are praying the 0% increase works out. And Director Gilbert thinks that the state budget will be nice, but where's the data to support these decisions? Hope is not a strategy. And I
007recall Director Gilbert saying that he doesn't want to rush decisions like with the curriculum pilot or the PSBA vote, which resulted in a copyright lawsuit, which isn't. You can't selectively speed up, slow down based on what outcome you want. The community deserves transparency and leadership. If board members aren't doing the work between meetings or explaining their votes, they're not fulfilling their responsibilities. Thank you. I'd like to comment on Sarah's statement if you just give me one moment to find me. There's a letter to be from a student. So this student says, "Students need better chance to learn." As a high school student, I see firsthand the impact outdated textbooks and poor athletic facilities have on our education and well-being. It's frustrating to be told education is top priority when our reality says otherwise. In some
008of my classes, we're using books that are full of outdated information and falling apart at the seams. It makes learning harder and less engaging. On the athletic side, our gym equipment is worn out and the field is uneven and is not safe to run on. Students are constantly expected to do their best, but how can we when the tools we're given aren't good enough? Our education and physical health matter. It's time for schools and leaders, local leaders, excuse me, to invest in better materials and facilities that reflect the value they claim to place on our students. Written by Sydney Hyman in Living Township. I'd like to also comment food for thought from our own students. Um Christie or Sarah is the meeting you're talking about the finance meeting where Eric gave out the first plan
009for the budget for next year? Yes. Okay. So first of all, we had already been in that meeting for two two week uh hours whenever Mr. Stephy and Don and I left. Um second of all, this is the thing you have to understand about the budget. When the budget comes in, it's really too late to fix it. And our district has been suffering for years from an administration who has no plan. There are no systems in check. There is no anything. So until we get to the place that we have a five-year plan so that these buildings are going to get fixed in five years or this is going to get done to the parking lot so that we have a finance plan. When it comes down to budget time and we get down to
010Eric's proposal, there is little that we can do to change that at that point in time. Therefore, the decision about whether to raise taxes or not raise taxes has to come from the raw data, not projected data. It has to come from past raw data, which is what we hopefully all are basing our decision about next year's budget, the one we're going to talk about today on. Now, I know that we have talked about and Dr. D has already put in process a plan to get plans to address, you know, like a five-year goal, a five-year strategy. It is it has been very negligent um on the school district and previous boards to just bring money in and spend it willy-nilly and fix band-aid everything instead of having a plan. And we're working on doing
011that, but it doesn't happen overnight. You're a current board member. You're responsible for holding the administration accountable. you just can't put them under the bus. You have a job to do yourself to hold people accountable. And the data that you're talking about is the um so there is a whole year before a budget needs to be passed to look at cost savings and looking at if if things need to be cut or if things need to be added. It's not a it shouldn't be a last minute decision. I understand that and I agree. But you have to remember under previous administration we were in the black about everything. You know we have turned a new corner and we are now just beginning to dive in to everything. This board never functioned like a lot of
012school boards do where you are in meetings you know four four times a month several times a week out previously. Did it happen? No. So that's not going to happen overnight. So, we're just starting to work that all out and figure out how the system all works. How many years have you been on the board? I've been on four, but in the first two years, um, the control of the administration did not allow us to be involved in absolutely anything until we finally put our foot down and said, "Hey, I am not passing motions that I don't have a part of, that I am not going to be in and talk about, that I'm not going to create, that I'm not going to know the information of." So, we really just got that freedom two
013years ago to do that. I think they're a good good addition to our to our district. I have another comment. While we discussed previous board um decisions, I will remind the the audience that we have not a tax increase for the past four years. A part of which Miss Brown, Mr. yogurt and Miss Bennett were part of that board. So to sit here and criticize previous boards, they are part of that previous board. So it's easy to go back and criticize when you're not in the majority, but you don't want to look at that when you are in the majority. Additionally, I'd like to say she's talking about um decisions that are made willy-nilly, to quote her, um because they weren't included in the decision making process. I can assure you that myself, Mr. N,
014Mrs. Hutchinson, and Mrs. Gamble were not part of one discussion that happened outside these walls regarding the PSBA decision. We were not included in the discussion about how the documents would soon become the policies and how that would transpire and who was going to handle the policy writing since we were no longer going to be able to access PSTA. It was at that meeting right after the school year began that there was a vote to accept the leaving of PSBA. In that particular vote, I know that I knew nothing about how PSBA was going to how we were going to handle the policy changes. No disrespect intended, please. Mr. Ella was going to handle the policy updates and things like that which is fine except when that happened then things got very arai as everyone
015knows and that's not his fault it's just it was the process in which everything happened. We weren't part of that discussion at that meeting. Miss Brown leaned over to me and said we got this under control. Joe's going to handle this. That was the first night I found out about that. So, if you want to talk about transparency and you want to talk about decisions being made by previous board members when she was not on the board to sit there and listen to all of the information that was given to us as sitting board members at that time. It's really inappropriate to do that when you were not part of those conversations. Just because things were structured differently back then didn't mean that we didn't have conversations. Did we have as many meetings back then?
016No, we did not. But they certainly could have spoken up as well. And whenever Mr. Gilbert did suggest um a change in the way his supplemental committee was structured, we did make a change. So, I just want to point that out. It's not very black and white like it's being explained to you. We did not pass taxes for the past four years. We felt it was in the best interest. We have not had new curriculum for many, many years. How can you operate on that and as Miss Fman stated in her letter, expect our students to do their best? When um Dr. D mentioned 17 out of 17, the public was outraged. But that's partly our fault as well because we wanted to not increase taxes and I feel looking back that was irresponsible because
017we're not keeping with the spending trends. We're not keeping with the most upto-date curriculum and I feel like that hurt our students. So I just wanted to say thank you everyone. So, we will be doing interviews with candidates for the school director vacancy. Uh, that is obviously being handled by the policy legal committee under the chairperson um, Mrs. Brown. I'm going to ask Mr. Mata to uh, explain the procedure and then ask Dr. D to add anything that he believes Mr. Mata omitted or needs to expand upon. So to start with, thank you for everyone attending here today. Um unfortunately we have a vacancy because of the loss of uh of Joe. Um and uh we we need to act on that. Legally we have 30 days from the date of um of his passing.
018That would be when the vacancy would have occurred. Um and we are in that time frame right now. we would have to take an action today to do so. If the board does not take that action um then any electorate um from the school district can can file with the court of common please of West Morland County and they would take jurisdiction of that appointment. Um, historically over the last few years, even though we have a new president judge, I'm assuming they will follow the same process, um, that they will have all of the judges of West Morland County meet and, um, sorry, my thumb. Um, they will meet uh, as a group and they will then take an action to appoint a member of the electorate to this position. um in other uh counties
019and and maybe previously to the last few years um motions judges have made this decision, but over the last few years I've had this happen on a few occasions and all of those times the uh the court um had all of the judges of the county make that decision. This appointment, no matter if the board makes it or the court makes the appointment, um will only be till the reorganization meeting in December. There will be another position open for a two-year term that um will happen in the general election. If that would have happened prior to the primary, it would have just been an open seat and it would have been the normal process to go through that uh anyone could file a petition to run with it being the general election, both the Democratic
020party and the Republican party um of the school district, not of the county, just of the members of of those two parties from the um school district will end up uh picking a candidate. to place on the ballot. Um there are other parties out there, independents and so forth that could go through a process as well, but it's a little bit uh more lengthy and I don't think we need to go into that here today. Um if anybody has any questions about it, I'd like for everybody um to have that opportunity. Um so I'll ask the the chair if anybody has any questions of me of the process. I'd like for everybody to be comfortable with what the process is moving forward from here. So if I kind of missed a point or you have
021any uh concern, I would be more than happy to answer that. Does anyone have any questions for legal counsel regarding the appointment process? Thank you. Uh and one one other thing technically and I don't think that that will happen today but um if these the candidates that we have here the board could select somebody. did not have to go through the process of um advertising, asking for resumeumés, asking for letters of interest, and moving forward. Technically, they could actu and appoint somebody that did not put their name in and is just an electorate in in the community um that that they are aware of. So, I don't think that would take place, but I wanted to make that clear that they don't have to act just from this group, but I believe that that is
022the intent of the board. Mr. Madam, could I ask just a clarifying question? So, if we happen to select a candidate today, at what point does that candidate become an official member of the as soon as he would be sworn in? There are some people that believe that the solicitor, and I've known this in the past, can swear people in. I am not licensed to give the oath. um if we had a notary here or the magistrate is close and that person um would be able to be sworn in, it's as soon as they take the oath. Okay. But technically, and I know that that there may be people that that have done that in the past, and I'm not being critical of any of my colleagues, I don't believe it's appropriate for for to
023do it unless they happen to be notaries. Um some of them may be notaries as well. I am not. Um, so we would have to have a notary or the magistrate. Normally what I do is as soon as they there's a candidate picked, I'll have uh um I'll have a oath put together with their information. They can go to the magistrate's office and get some. We do not need to be present for the No. No. Uh no. Um, in that the the I would have to sign off, the board president would have to sign off, and then the the judge or a notary um would fill in that the the part of the petition and get it back to us. We have to have that on file showing that they were sworn in. Okay. Thank
024you. Dr. D, do you have anything to add? Yes. Yes, please. Uh, in the consultation with Mr. M I think that the process you're having is a transparent process and have a public meeting the proper way to do things. So I had the opportunity to uh speak to the six uh applicants we have present today and told each one of those folks that uh the board would like to ask them one question. Uh the question is why are you interested in the position and what knowledge or relevant experience do you bring to the position? We also felt it would only be fair that we would have the six applicants take five minutes each to respond to that question. Again, are you interested in the position and what knowledge or relevant experience do you bring to
025the position? We'll give you approximately five minutes to respond. We thought we would take the applicants in order. Christie was first as far as receiving the letter. Sarah was second, Kevin Mack was third, Salad was fourth, prime of fifth, and Kim was sixth. And we thought it would only be fair if we would have those uh six candidates, five candidates, Christian stay, and then have each person come in. That way they don't respond in front of the other applicants for some thought that maybe Donald or six would hear some things and borrow some of the information from other applicants. So, we thought that would be the fairest way to pursue. That's all I have. So, uh, of the six applicants that are here, Christie, you can stay because you're the first one. Would you kindly,
026uh, step outside? Dawn will monitor the door. Um, and we'll bring you back in uh, as your turn comes up. Thank you, Christie, if you wish at the end of the day, so initiated Dr. D's phone call yesterday and because I can ramble on, but most of you know that. Um, I just wanted to thank us for calling and I prepared a statement. This isn't your normal type interview. So, um, tell me when you go and go ahead. Okay. Um so I'm going to compare what the um the board is like the goals or not goals the duties of the board and I'm going to compare it to my past experience. So the board is tasked with establishing strategic goals that guide administrative efforts. Prior to my retirement I collaborated with senior management to implement
027annual quality objectives which are also goals. In the third quarter I developed and presented goals to senior leadership and the CEO once approved. In the fourth quarter, these goals were communicated to middle management, ensuring alignment and focus at the start of the new fiscal year. This structured approach could be adopted at the school district and what would be your third quarter the board sets goals fourth quarter present them to the superintendent and then the superintendent would then roll them down to the um administration so that on day one of the Q1 of the first fiscal year they could go and start working on um the next is the board is responsible for conducting annual evaluations of the superintendent and overseeing hiring decisions when necessary. In my previous roles, I ensured that goals were clearly communicated
028and prominently displayed with updates communicated monthly in company newsletters and on monitors. This transparency facilitated straightforward evaluations. Were the goals achieved and if they weren't, to what extent? This documentation made the eval pro evaluation process clear and objective. Additionally, as a manager with direct reports, I recognize that the hiring process is not merely about filling a vacancy, but about selecting individuals who align with the organization's goals, culture, and value. This perspective is crucial for a schoolboard director who plays a pivotal role in hiring and evaluating the superintendent and other key administrative personnel when needed. My experience ensures that I approach these decisions with a structured, fair, and strategic mindset. policy development and revision. Commend you Cindy for this. Since departure from the PSBA, I have observed the significant task the board has undertaken in this
029area. One in which I possess firsthand knowledge and experience to contribute over my career. I was tasked with maintaining compliance with evolving standards such as ISO as ESD. I understand how changes in one policy can affect others creating a ripple effect. Establishing a designated review cycle ensures policies remain current and interconnected issues are addressed promptly, keeping all documentation up to date. The board is responsible for monitoring the budget. During my tenure at Sony, I was responsible for maintaining four separate budgets, ensuring each remained on track and aligned with departmental goals. Now, as part of running the branded J Boyd Memorial Fund, our nonprofit, my responsibilities have expanded. I oversee all financial authorations ensuring compliance with applicable regulations while maintaining a balanced budget. This includes grant tracking, financial reporting, and strategic allocation of resources to maximize
030our impact. The board is responsible for guiding curriculum decisions. In the everchanging world of electronic requirements and testing, there was need to constantly update or replace testing and inspection equipment. Similar to curriculum, we had established intervals for reviewing and testing equipment to ensure it was still relevant and reliable. When new equipment was needed, sales pitches were listened to and what I will call test drives were implemented. This was done to ensure all equipment worked as communicated. I believe the same approach should be applied to curriculum. Why invest money into something until you know for sure it's going to work? Piloting curriculum is similar to my past experience with evaluating and updating testing and inspection equipment. Curriculum decisions should undergo piloting to ensure effectiveness before full implementation. This approach allows for assessment and ensures investments and
031educational tools are justified. Ensuring legal and ethical compliance. The board is responsible for um staying compliant with state federal education codes and ethical standards. As previously mentioned, I had to keep up with everchanging standards as well as customer contracts in the world of electronics and safety. Compliance is non-negotiable. In my previous roles, I was responsible for ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations, particularly in industries where safety and quality were paramount. I'm committed to upholding the high standards of compliance to protect our students and community. A forwardinking school board is essential for our district's success. This entails proactive planning, establishing clear timelines, and implementing data-driven strategies that not only support student achievement, but also align with long-term district objectives. Additionally, instituting regular maintenance schedules for all district properties will enable us to address issues promptly,
032preventing costly repairs in the future. I'm committing committed to fostering collaboration among all stakeholders to create an educational environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. Christian that's five minutes. I'll let you please conclude because we're going to try to stick to a tight time frame of 5 minutes. I just want to say that I'm interested in this because there's 1,360 reasons and that's the students of Lar Valley School District. Thank you. Sorry to cut you shortly. Thank you. You want to leave or do I please? Yep. Yeah, please. Floor is yours. Floor is mine. Okay. A little nervous. Um, hello. Good morning. My name is Sarah Rodi. You may have seen my ballot in the May primary election as a school board director candidate on both the Republican Democratic tickets. While I did
033not secure the Republican nomination for general election, I am proud to have earned the spot on the Democratic ticket. To stand before you today, I am reconfirming my comm commitment for serving on the school board. I am running for school board because I believe our students deserve a district that puts their needs first. Over the last year and a half, I've watched with growing concern as the current board majority shifted toward a more politically driven agenda. The focus has too often been on ideology and personal interest rather than what's best for our kids, our teachers, and our community. That's not how governance should work, especially when it comes to our schools. I would be honored to bring my experience and integrity to the board and work together to find solutions that move our district forward.
034While each of us holds just one vote, that doesn't diminish the power of collaboration or the importance of working with a shared purpose. We may not always agree, but we must be willing to put differences aside for the good of our schools. Together, we can ensure our district is on the right path for today and for the future. The platform I stand behind is putting kids first, ensuring fiscal responsibility, respecting teachers and staff, and ensuring safe and modern facilities. My children, who are six and eight years old, are fourth generation Ligonier students. I married my high school sweetheart who graduated from Ligonier Valley. I'm a Mount Pleasant area graduate. I believe deeply in our public school system as both a parent and community member. I'm fully invested in the long-term success of our district and
035I'm ready to begin on day one. The qualifications I have, although my background isn't in education, I consider this a significant advantage. It provides me with a fresh outside perspective that is essential for focusing on the critical operational and strategic challenges our district faces. I obtained a a BA in business administration and an MBA with over 15 years of experience in compliance policy development and risk mitigation. I bring a strong background in project manage project management and team leadership. In my current role as a consultant, I lead a team of three individuals and advise investment firms on how to build and strengthen their compliance programs. I've conducted audits, developed internal controls, and advised on regulatory risk. Additionally, I'm no stranger to high pressure situations or tight deadlines. I've led teams through demanding projects, coordinated across
036departments, and delivered results even when timelines were tight. I also specialize in risk mitigation and program testing, which means identifying issues before they escalate. Whether it's declining enrollment, budget constraints, or academic gaps, we need a we need board members who can anticipate challenges, work collaboratively with others, and develop thoughtful, proactive solutions. These issues can't be solved in isolation or through political agendas. They require teamwork, transparency, and a shared commitment to what's best for our school. Thank you, Sarah. Thanks. Hi, Kevin. You have the floor for approximately five minutes, please. Thanks, sir. I shouldn't need that much. Keep it short. Uh, my name is Kevin Mack for anyone that doesn't know or remember. Uh I've been I was a board member for eight years here at the Living Valley School District. Uh spent about seven of
037those years also over at the B Tech. Uh I feel I would uh make the remaining months easier. Uh since I I have served, I inversed in many of the um board operations, school district operations. Uh I've kept an eye and uh been active uh keeping an eye on board functions in in the board over the past few years that I've uh since I've been off. Uh I still have one child enrolled in the district. I have uh two that went through the district. Uh and I pride that uh that Ligonier Valley has a great education system. Uh even with some of our our downfalls and financial wos which every district has seen in the county and the in the state. Uh I'm uh definitely a concerned parent, concerned citizen uh in regards to public
038education and uh all the district children need to receive as earlier stated need to receive a a the best education they can and put as much effort into sponsoring and and paying for some of their some of those fringe uh folks that we can. Uh budgetary concerns. Uh our facilities are some of the best uh they have been the best uh over the years. They definitely are aging and uh need some work as any building as any home uh would. Uh so we definitely need to uh delegate some of that budgetary concern to our uh buildings and facilities and supplies uh for our teachers and students. Uh I'd like to maintain a zero tax increase. Uh as uh Miss Crumbl pointed out earlier uh I was part of the board that remained uh zero increase
039for four years due to COVID due to the lack of income uh due to the instability of the workforce. Uh those were our major uh takes that uh maintained at zero%. Uh I think we can still to a degree maintain that but also uh we may need a minimal increase. Uh and that's always a thing. uh a lot of prices, a lot of tariffs and other things have increased the price of what we do and use on a daily basis. So there is, you know, that possibility. I would like to look into that those financial figures and uh dive a little deeper into that. So say I'd like to have a zero but uh there is always room for some negotiations and movement on that uh as the budget goes forward. Uh I continue to
040listen to our constituents. Uh I have many folks out there. I I believe I had quite a few right-hand votes in the past primary without even asking for any. Uh but uh definitely praise uh uh and listen to their concerns uh for the public school system and today's children that are coming out of the school system and also the young ones that are going into the school system. Uh I feel that people that who uh enter the younger children uh the K through uh you know five uh grades uh really have a big concern and need to be listened to as a public uh to maintain a a great educational and educational excellence that Living Valley's stood for over the years. Uh the board uh has made great strides and in furthering the district's aspects
041in education, financial responsibilities and other things. I'd like to help continue that trend uh in educational advancement in our uh faculty, staff, uh public and especially our students. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Kim. Take care. All right. So, what happens ahead of the table, please? So, you have the floor for about five minutes. Five minutes. Okay. Good. Well, the main reason that uh I'm here was to try to finish some of the work Joe had started. And uh I don't know all the specifics on everything that he was working on, but that's that's what I would hope to be able to do. He was voted on to the board as you all were and uh I thought if I can help uh uh with his legacy then uh I would I would do
042so. You should also know though that uh I am my own person and I would my background in business taught me that you need to get input from everybody that you can because you can't make an informed decision if you're not informed. So, as a board member, I would feel obligated uh and I would want to whether I was obligated or not to get opinions from everyone on the board about the critical issues that that you guys are facing. Uh I I don't see this and I'll just say it this conversation instead of hearing all about what happened in the past. That's the past. And what we need to focus on is the future, the present and the future for these kids, the teachers and the parents. Uh having been one for kids in school.
043It's it's critical. Now, I had a a a situation happen to me back when I was in high school. Catholics have something called religious release time. At least that's what we called it in New York. And uh as a high school student, I was asked to go and teach a class on for these kids who were getting ready to get their confirmation. And uh so of course I volunteered and I went and it was a underprivileged, if you will, area of the Bronx that I went into to do that. And I got to see firsthand uh because I didn't know anything about the public school system in New York. I was in appropriate school from kindergarten actually through college. Uh what a bad system uh was doing to these children and it was it was
044horrible. They would come in the way I did from school. No school bed, no homework, no paper, no books, no nothing. They're done with school. Here we go. Meanwhile, I'm getting, you know, two to three hours of homework at night from grammar school on up. And I thought, these kids, uh, which were, most of them were Hispanic, don't stand a chance. How are these kids going to compete in the future? I I felt terrible for them. They all, by the way, graduated and got their confirmation. But it it wasn't easy because they could have cared less. When I walked in to that classroom, half the students were facing this way, okay? And the other half were facing this way. I don't know. Maybe that's what they did in class. I don't know. But in any
045event, I don't know if I've answered your questions. I've been here for 19 years. I've uh I've got a a grandson graduating, thank God, and I have a I have a granddaughter getting ready to come into the public school system here. So, I'm still very concerned and uh I would dedicate myself to helping with the procedures that have to be written uh with the long-term plan that I can't believe there isn't one. Uh what's the other thing about long-term plans? You got to take them down from the shelf every once in a while and take a look at them. Okay, so I'm done. I'll have you for five minutes for me. I know. Thank you, Sarah. Thank Thank you for your time and for your consideration. S Hi Robert, you have the floor for about
046five minutes for us and answer the first question keep on contracted big asked me why do I want to stop and I ask people my whole career my whole life all 70 years I've been basically spent the field of education from the time that I learned how to read to the time currently working at the education department at for living there. During that time, I've gotten to see education go through trends. I've got to see what good education is. I got to see what bad education is and what has actually helped. Uh I feel from what I have been able to experience in my career and have my resume in front of me there that I bring to the table a very unique perspective. It's one thing to be able to say I want to
047help education but it's like going in and saying I'm going to be a doctor without having any training or experience with that. I have been immersed in education both as a student, as a parent, as a professor and as a teacher and that has given me perspectives and looking at what goes into education. When I was teaching college, I noticed that my students were coming in there with very very poor reading skills, poor analytical skills. I wanted to know why. I was offered the opportunity to go and change my career from teaching in college to teaching in public schools. And I took that opportunity and quite honest with you, it was the best best career choice I ever made in my life because I got to see what was happening. Probably thought it was poor
048teachers. That's not the case at all. We've got good teachers. We have excellent teachers. What I found makes or breaks a school district is the administration, the school board, and the principles. And that became very, very evident. And I also got to learn what how how students are working uh in terms of learning. And the thing is really kind of fascinating is that even though we live in a technological age, one of the things constant is the speed. And in many cases we become so trendy oriented in regards to what we think is good education and what isn't. We often lose sight of thing that we are here for and that is the students. We are here to help serve them so that they can learn the five basic fundamental uh principles of what makes
049an educated person. the ability to read, to write, to speak, to listen, and to problem solve. And all too often we let other issues cloud the when you look at it, we often become so dedicated to technology that we realize that in many cases we're bringing in elements that are actually harming our students. I was re really very interested uh this past uh this past year in looking at how was education during the colonial period and for my work down at Fort Laneir. It's really kind of interesting that they were very into p pen and paper what you saying where they didn't have computers. They have computers now but it's really kind of interesting because that whole avenue brought me into taking a look at what is what's wrong? Why do you have such good
050technology and our reading abilities are going down? And journals that I checked on the psychology, psychiatry are all saying the major problem is that we were getting our schools too focused on technology. I mean approach that things such as write is basically the same is the same principle that on athletic field that you go and you will practice things over and over again. So it becomes muscle memory. writing actually printing goes and creates that muscle memory that helps them with reading learning to read. That's the fundamental key right there and that's the thing that I see that I can actually help bring to this is my experience at working at both both ends. Now granted my my experience has been in the field of anthropology which a lot of people say I get along better
051with the dead than I do with the living. That's probably most likely but the thing is the thing that I've looked at is that my field of anthropology it trains me to look at the world as a system a series of interrelated parts and not to just look at one aspect of it to really say how does this affect and change what we do as a group and that's the thing that we need to do as a school board is to look at how is one fundamental area change ultimately going to go and affect all the others whether it be a baseball field whether it be curriculum design whether it be budget what is the impact on the thing that we're responsible for which is a student with those five basic uh fundamental skills. So
052in the remaining 47 seconds I have to myself here I really would like the opportunity to once again serve I brought I was brought up in a Marine Corps family. I served in the Coast Guard auxiliary and to me service before self has been something that has been very very important to me and to have be on the school board and and go and help our students learn to be the citizens that we need to have the fund the fundamentals of reading reading writing speaking listening and problem solving will ensure our our our success. Thank you very much. Thank you. So that would be fine. Hello. Hello. Good morning. Hey, you have the floor for approximately five minutes, please. Okay. So, um I am not typically one to write something and read it for babies.
053So, but I did because I just wanted to make sure that you heard my heart. Um, so my name is Tim Dickert Wallace. I have made Laganir my home for the past 23 years. Um, and I want to thank you very much for the time and the opportunity to talk to you u about my interest and uh my qualifications for filling this position. uh and extend the apologies for those that served with Joe in his passing. Um I proudly called Blade home for 23 years as I said before, not only because it's really beautiful here. Um but the people and the people have my heart. Um the values and the great environment that it's been to raise my children here. I have raised a stepdaughter and two daughters that I share with my husband. top
054three are successful graduates of this school district from um kindergarten through um education has been a guiding force in my life. I'm going to say that it's more of a calling for me than a career because if you look at my resume, um I've been in a lot of different situations and I've served on a lot of different um capacities not only in this district but in education as a whole and over the years I've held various roles um and I've always u not only in the district but in different parts of education and I've always approached my work with one goal in mind doing what's best for students whether I was in a classroom collaborating with colleagues supporting families or students and um students and families have always been um my heart as well.
055um you can see I served as a school counselor and uh that role I was very um excited and able to advocate for families and students and what needed to make um them more successful. Now as I look at the district moving ahead with new curriculum initiatives, leadership transitions and ever evolving educational needs, I believe my experience can be an asset to lead the way forward. I want to lend not just my voice but my understanding, my insight and dedication to the work that lies ahead. I know the challenges and I know the heart of this district and I know the importance of thoughtful forwardthinking leadership. As I move through this period of change, including the transition or the return of Mr. Caner to the superintendent role, I see an opportunity for stability, vision, and
056collaboration. Navigating a leadership change is never simple if that's what needs to happen. But it is clear if but with clear communication and trust it can be a time of growth and renewed focus. I want to be part of that process and not just sit on the sidelines. I don't know many of you I know some faces here but I am not a sideline girl. Um I am a get in there roll up your sleeves kind of girl. Um so one of the reasons that I feel uniquely qualified for this role is my strength in relationships. Um I really value building relationships and also connecting people in those relationships and I've had the privilege of forming deep and lasting connections in this community and I understand the value of listening, respecting different viewpoints and working
057together to reach common goals. I also bring a very current perspective to the table. I have been in the school building as recently as last year. I have a strong um I have a strong connection um to the families and the community at 12 and understand those needs. Also, I'm sorry. Five minutes. Let me ask you something on your resume. You mentioned that you were a counselor 2020 to the present. Oh, sorry. That's a mistake. So, it was last year last year. I Yeah. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to cut you off. That's okay. So, thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Heat. Heat. name at the same time. Can we just do them like top to bottom one at a time? I just do them interviewed just through each one. And before
058you before you begin your motion, I'd like to open up the time for anybody that would like to have public discussion. regarding any of the candidates. You can discuss anything you'd like. Um, and the board has the choice to either take a motion for an individual name voted up or down. If you would need to have five votes to be successful, if that person did not get five votes, they could move to the next motion that is made or they can have multiple names in one motion and see if anybody receives votes. That's the board's baritative on how they'd like to vent on the motion portion. But it must be five. You have to have five votes, correct? Five affirmative votes. make lotion sauce. You can do however you'd like to send this committee. So,
059I think the easiest way to do this is just to like go down through the list of everybody's names, right? Just start with Christie as you interviewed and we will bring each person up for that seat and then do a vote until we are done and then if we get a tie, we will revote. Does that make sense to you? do whatever you'd like. Okay. All right. So, I am going to start the motion process for the first mo motion to appoint Christy Boyd to to fill the vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Somebody I was gonna say somebody has to second it. Yeah. And then Mr. Secretary, I need a roll call vote. Second. NJ Miss Bennett. No. Mrs. Brown. No. Scamble. Yes. Mr. Ger. No. Yes. Mr. No.
060Yes. Mr. No. questions. Was that a three to five? All right. All righty. Moving on. I am going to m make a motion to appoint Sarah Roitati to fill the vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Second. Roll call vote, please. Mr. Secretary, no. Yes. No. Substanc. Thank you. Moving on. I motion to appoint Kevin Mack to fill the vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Second. Roll call, please. Mr. Secretary, no. Yes. No. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes. Yes. Mr. ST. No. Motion is not carried. Moving on. I motion to appoint Salvador Vela to fill the vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Second, yes. No. Mr. Gilbert. Yes. No. No. Mr. Ste? Yes. Oh, she does not carry it. Moving on. I
061motion to appoint Robert Fryman to fill a vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Second. Roll call. SP. Yes. Yes. No. Gilbert. Yes. Mr. Sinson. No. Mr. No. No. Mr. Yes. She does not care. Moving on. I motion to appoint Kim Dickard Wallace to fill the vacated school board director position in accordance with PA code 315. Second. No. Yes. No. Yes. Mr. N. Yes. Strong. Yes. No. motion. Therefore, with there being no winner in this position, it will be moved to the court of comment, please. Well, somebody would have to file a motion of comment. I make a motion for that. No, you can't do that. You've got to do that with the court of comment, please. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you meant that. So a candidate that is interested
062in in being appointed would file it. Normally what happens then is they leave anybody file off of this way. They'll have one motion. The first person that gets down there if if you know one of you that the names that are here would go down to the court of common please and file and then an hour later somebody else came in and filed they would merge those into one action item. They would set a date and time and then the judges would uh meet in the courtroom. Um, and I've seen them handle it various ways. Sometime they just do it off of your resume. Sometime they just do it off of who um shows up and would like to speak. So that's what the court and I don't want to opine on what the judges
063may do because each judge that's handling it may do it a little bit differently and we do have a different president judge than the last time I was there. So, they may handle it in a different manner, but I I believe that that that's how it will be handled. It'll be one motion. They'll set a date um to have that hearing and not make a decision. I Is it okay for me to take a comment from someone in the public for questions? Sure. Oh, it's a public hearing. I've been there that it's been um controversial. So there's, you know, uh, anytime it goes to the court, right, there's some controversy that this body could not make a decision. So it's an opened, um, how you find out, I don't believe that it's advertised, but I'm
064sure that it's going to be public in some manner. Um, yeah, the court will the court will give notice of that once somebody files a petition. Thank you, Mr. M. Does the court have 30 days to process this or may it take longer? Do you know? Are they bound by the same guidelines as we are? Yeah, they're bound by that they're the judge and they get to make whatever decisions they want. I'm not being rude. No, there's no they usually though. Um again, it's, you know, somebody's going to have to wait till tomorrow. Um because technically you still have tomorrow to take an action. Um but we can't because we wouldn't have it. properly advertised and so forth. But tomorrow, somebody can go in um file that and they'll schedule some time. They're usually within
065a few weeks. They try to um again we're getting towards the end of the uh sum or beginning of the summer here. So, um what the judge's schedule is like, I'm not sure what the documents. How was the court notified there's a vacancy here? Does that happen? I can I'll I'll call the president today just to tell I will call him and say, "Okay, it appears that you're going to be getting something from someone." Okay. I didn't know how that pro Yeah. And if um if for any reason that he gives me any u notice of uh a change in in what they're going to do, I'll make the board aware. Okay. Unfortunately, I don't know how I would make the whole public aware, but I'm sure that uh that everybody will have access to
066a board member that that will be aware. But I'm willing to um if if if you hear of an issue and anyone has a question about it, don't hesitate to call my office and and I'll answer whatever question I can help with. Okay. Seeing that the policy legal for Joe's vacated school board position uh has not passed, we'll move on to the finance committee with Mr. Stafing. Okay. And Mr. Koshis, obviously you'll have to fill in a couple of those as we go along, please. Well, boils down to whether we have a tax raise or not. I recommend we put in zero. That's my motion. Yes. Second. Second. So I'll do the roll call. I'll read the numbers in it right now. So the first number would be for the expenditures would be 36 million
067363,12. Revenues would be 35,30, 271 and the use of fund balance would be1332,831. and said that should 8.5.9 mills with a zero tax increase. Can I ask a question to Mr. Coaches? Um, are you able I don't know if you compared that, but are you able to tell us what other costs will need to come out of that fund balance that's not currently assigned? like we discussed and things like that are budget well of of their car fund mountains right now there's 7 approximately 7.1 million committed in funds for capital projects uh Paser increase benefits increases and any technology addition because that's what's currently committed in the fund balance and there's unign about 2.7 million 2.8 going to unassign balance which means it's not assigned for anything. So even though our fund balance says 7.1
068mill Okay. Okay. Um do we have any planned expenditures that we know are coming out of that fund balance in the next year besides the things? Uh that's all the right now. Okay. And that has to be voted. as I just want to see it. So, there's a motion and a second for a zero mil increase. Roll call, please. Mr. Secretary, yes. Mr. Brown, yes. Campbell, yes. Mr. Yes, Mr. Yes, Mr. Yes, Mr. Yes. Motion carries, please. Go ahead, Mr. Gilbert. I see there's no um opportunity written here for comment. Are you going to permit that? Yes. I was just going to ask if there's any board comments even though it's not for Thank you very much. You read my mind. Okay. Oh no, no, don't say that. Be careful. You may not want to
069read my long and pro having having voted for a zero increase. Um I there's a number of reasons for that. Number one, there are consequences in missing budget deadlines as Mr. Mata pointed out to us at the last meeting. Secondly, um we could have the loss of a spending authority and legal and financial risk with all this which you know legal cost us money financial as well. Um operational disruption since payroll audit service audit services and potential legal consequences. I would not want any of our staff in this district or vendors that we use to not be receiving their money on time. Um we did have from the superintendent and also from the business manager um a recommendation at our finance meeting. They both recommended uh on May the 14th for the board to consider
070two bills and their recommendation at that time was based on operational cost deficit and future planning cost to our aging facilities. I think you kind of alluded to that Mr. Kosas just a moment ago. uh two meals would have been $360,000 and then the board would choose you know the options within that and having said that I felt it was time to compromise and pull together for the good of this school school district for the students the staff and moving on Mr. Kosas has been in in regard a little bit to Cindy some of your comment earlier on um that there's never really been a plan in this district for uh maintenance of buildings and strategic planning. It wasn't called that but Mr. coast from the time he arrived at the Lincoln of High School
071District. I don't I don't remember how many years he's been here. 2000 2020. Okay. So, I know it's been a while from that time on and I've been on the board during that time. He has always had a plan in place for the building um revital revitalization, maintenance or whatever. And you always presented that to the board for consideration. So, thank you for that because you have worked very hard to keep our physical plan up to where it needed to be. Obviously, there have been surprises, cost us money just like anybody's home, but thank you for having done that because that always was a plan in place. It wasn't quote unquote a strategic plan that was developed by the board, but we had administrators to to work in that uh process, including the maintenance supervisor,
072which who you worked with very much. So going forward, I do believe in according to a lot of guidelines that Dr. D has established and he has great background many many years. I'm not going to tell how many years you've been around doing this sort of thing. You mean arm twisting is that whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. But no, in in your um evaluation of the school district, you have come up with a lot of ideas for us to proceed with going forward and I endorse those. you've shared those with us as you've gone along starting with six weeks in kudos to you. So having said that, I would like to say, you know, we will continue, I hope, with a lot of your recommendations because they're very sound principles for managing a school
073district, whether big or small like any Thank you, Mr. I want to echo some of the things that Irma just said. Um, and yes, Eric has probably had a plan in the back of his head for the last five years. And it would be nice, as Sarah mentioned in her comments earlier, we need to have a committee that has the plan. And as Justin has put together for us for the curriculum, we need to have a spreadsheet. I use the spreadsheet term loosely, but basically it says here's the age of your building. Here's the age of your roof. Here's the age of your heating system. And it's got to have an idea as to what these replacement costs are going to be down the road. expected date, hopeful date, emergency date, you know, whatever it
074might be. So that that way whenever we say to the public, hey, we've got $9 million in a bank account, they understand that money is used for the plant. That's just not sitting there for us to go use willy-nilly at any point in time. Um, I spoke to an administrator in this building recently and the term that they used, and I'm not going to say who it was, the term that they used was, I'm surprised that the previous administrations have been flying by the seat of their pants for this long. And I hope for as long as Dr. D stays or we find someone to fill Mr. Caner shoes if he decides to not stay. We don't fly by the seat of our plan plants anymore. We have a plan. It's in place and it's
075locked down. Um and of course as Irma said, we we can't have enough praise for Mr. Sutter. Ed Sutter goes around these buildings, finds pieces of plaster chipping off the wall, comes up with a way to fix it, and gets it done. So, Ed Sutter is definitely an asset to our community, and I'm I'm glad that he's here. Um, now, a little bit of my little soap box here. Why are we here? Why are we doing a budget at the last minute? This kind of thing. I hope I hope Governor Shapiro sees this YouTube video because he needs to get his craft together because we wouldn't be in this position if the state would get their budget done and then that way they can pass those numbers on to Mr. Koshious and Mr. Kos can
076give us some solid guidelines. That's right. So, will the state ever do that? No. They never have it in the past. Right. Okay. But that's just my little soap box saying, "Hey, Shapiro, figure this out." So, um, because it is a shame, 500 school districts around Pennsylvania, and I bet you every single one of them come May, June, July are all sitting around going, "How much is the state going to give us? How much is the state going to give us?" And Mr. Koshious is over there with his Excel spreadsheets waiting for an email. somebody at the Department of Ed saying, "Here's your number." He's got three screens up there with all I know there there's a budget cut. We're taking one of your screen, you know, the unknown that Mr. presented. I know. I
077know. And it's a shame the state budget the special education contingency funds title one title two idea allocations charter reform which has not been happening we banking for at least 10 years perhaps and also the subsidy that we bought last year isn't in the budget. So you know these are all anybody can go online and see all these budget items that we have been talking about and And I know I've had conversations with our representatives and unfortunately they just say we know we know we know and nothing ever gets done, nothing ever gets accomplished down there in Harrisburg. So thanks Shapiro. Hope you're watching this. So, do I have a motion to adjurnn? So, move second. Oh, just about next meeting next meeting. Yeah, we have to change the change. Yeah. Um, Mr. Just go
078ahead with the meeting date. Just looking at the calendar. Won't we get the advertisement Friday in Friday? 30 days. We have to be in public, but we we have it on uh actually we'll put it on our website today in the proposed proposed budget. We have to be 20. We're probably more looking like June 30th, that 5th Monday. That gives us a little bit more time to see if the state budget does pass. So, we're just going to move our regular meeting. So, just go from the 23rd to the 30th. Yeah, that can go for everybody. Same time, same place. The same regular just a week back. And I was going to ask Mr. that we'll probably have have a finance committee meeting the 23rd the 23rd or 24th. Um we can probably the budget
079set just leave it blank give updates to where we are with any cost savings or anything with the state budget we might have. Okay. Try to get it done in the last notice make a form decision on authority if anything. Yeah. Okay. So 24th 24th then 24th 25th maybe Tuesday. Yeah. I'll I'll I'll double check and I'll get right back. We'll get back to the fourth week. All right. We'll do a final announcement on that. So, for right now, we're moving the Jul uh the June 23rd school board meeting to June 30th. Same times, same place. That'll be at the high school uh 5:15, 6:00, and 6:30. And um a finance committee meeting will be announced on the website either the 23rd, 4th, or 5th. So, keep an eye out for that. Um, we will
080be moving into an executive session for a personnel item uh after this meeting. Do I have a motion to adjourn today's meeting? So second. Having a motion and a second, all those in favor indicate by saying I. I. Are there any opposed? Meeting is concluded at 11:15. Thank you very much everyone.