001e e e and welcome to the great on YouTube the app of Education meeting for Tuesday March 1225 we will begin as we always pledge allegiance flag states to the stands Nation all right thank you the board went into executive session at 5:30 on motion of Mr Abrams second by Miss wall to discuss certain legal and Personnel issues we are now obviously out of our executive session um we have in front of us an agenda there's a couple of items on the agenda that I understand are going to be stricken that our band couldn't be here because of a concert elsewhere tonight um and we do have a number of of um members of the community here to speak during public comment but Dr Bros are there other adjustments we need to make sure items
0025f and 7A have been tabled until April board meeting item 10d tabled until April item 10f there aren't any construction contracts tonight for approval s a yes he said can you say that again please score 5f and 7A are tabled till April 10d is also tabled until April and 10f is stricken no change orders tonight or no contracts I'm sorry sorry I read the wrong line okay so with that we have do have a number of special recognitions which are always I think a great part of our meeting we will start with 5A the Future Farmers of America uh Miss Mets good evening board members my name is good evening board members my name is irel Becker and I'm a sophomore at APPA quinic High School I am a proud FFA member and officer of
003our chapter I want to thank the board members and district for allowing us to visit today whether it's the clothes you put on your back the breakfast you ate the medication you take the gas or electricity powering your vehicle or even the building that we are in the materials that built this these are all products of Agriculture when you hear the word a what comes to your mind for most they picture cows plows and SS which are all large parts of Agriculture but the agricultural industry is rich in so much more groundbreaking lab research biotechnology architecture engineering environmental science and yes the food on your dinner plate are all parts of Agriculture that employ millions and keep over 8 billion people in this world alive today the National FFA organization supports this growing and diverse
004industry that feeds the World by promoting Premier leadership personal growth and Career Success Through agricultural education through FFA in our classrooms we are cultivating through FFA in our competitions we are gaining the skills to be successful in our respective Industries through FFA we are innovating new ways to help our community Through FFA we are becoming the next generation of leaders in America in the month of February during our originally scheduled meeting with you all we proudly wore this blue jacket in celebration of National FFA week occurring February 15th through the 22nd and Career and Technical education month otherwise known as CTE although February has passed I wear this jacket proudly today and I invite each one of you to celebrate FFA and CTE all 365 days in the year more importantly our FFA chapter and
005agricultural education programs could not Thrive without your support know that you are making a difference and you supporting an intrac curricular organization that grows the leaders Achievers and dreamers of Tomorrow we would like to present you each with a sign as a token of our appreciation happy belated FFA week while we give our gratitude signs to each board member I would like to invite FFA freshman Alexander drones to show you how the organization is making an impact on her good evening my name is Alexandra Jones and I'm a current freshman at appoc IC High School my FFA Journey began at Meredith Middle School in the sixth grade both the high school and middle school FFA chapters in conjunction are integral to my Learning Journey in academics technical Education and Leadership growth last month I had
006the opportunity to compete in the Creed CDE at the state FFA convention in March I would like to present my rendition of the FFA Creed to you which encompasses the FFA and the current agricultural industry values the FFA Creed by em Tiffany I believe in the future of Agriculture with a faith born not of words but of Deeds achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists in the promise of better days through better ways even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years I believe that to live and work on a good Farm or to be engaged in other agricultural Pursuits is pleasant as well as challenging for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those
007associations which even in hours of discouragement I cannot deny I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect respect from others I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly with such knowledge and skill as I can secure and in the ability of progressive agriculturists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly with such knowledge and skill as I can secure and in the ability a progressive agriculturist to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national
008life and that I can exert an influence in my home and Community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task thank you e all right well thank you very much I I do think the FFA has the coolest jackets um next on the special recognitions list we have third circuit video contest winner selfa the follow my name is Dr d'angel the principal ofessa High School scho celebrating Excellence Joshua Edward wins first place in the third circuit video contest adessa High School is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of one of our own Joshua Edwards a ninth grade student who has earned first place in the 2024 third circuit video award contest his video titled importance of an American democracy captivated the selection committee with his creativity and Powerful message earning recognition as
009an exceptional contribution among many submissions as a first place winner Joshua will be honored during a naturalization ceremony at the J calb bogs Federal Building in Wilmington Delaware his award-winning video will also be featured at a federal court naturalization ceremonies throughout Pennsylvania New Jersey Delaware and the US Virgin Islands over the next year so furthermore it will be showcased on a third circuit website and relas platforms serving as an inspiration to all across the region congratulations Joshua on this congratulations Joshua on this incredible accomplishment your hard work and talent have not only brought Pride to duck Nation but it also reinforced the importance of democracy we look forward to witnessing your continued success congratulations all right congratulations next we have the Delaware girls wrestling hello thank you uh we're here tonight to honor some of
010our winter athletes um so we will start with our girls wrestling so abin School District offered girls wrestling officially this year for the 2024 2025 season and we're happy to say that we had between the three schools 18 girls participating in girls wrestling we sent 13 of those girls to the Delaware girls wrestling championship first ever in the state of Delaware and we had nine girls finish in the top four or above so tonight we are going to um recognize those ladies all right placing fourth place is Katie enginger from Middletown High School she's unable to be here tonight and Elena wasburn from Appo High School finishing in third place were two wrestlers from Appo High School Izzy Thomas and Addison renan we had three girls finished second um Isabelle O'Brien from Middletown High School
011was unable to be here tonight but from Apple high school we have Hazel Santos and Julia sub chinsky and finally placing first and becoming the first ever state champion for their classifications from Appo High School Vivian Delaney and from Middletown High School Brianna Brown and I'd also like to recogniz coach Gabby curlyy she has been a strong force in getting girls wrestling started in the district um she works with the wrestlers and she's done um two times at our girls in sports day introducing wrestling to the younger girls in this community too so big shout out to the coaches who made this possible the Bel the belt is real that's what they got the belt real congratulations l next sport we' like to honor is swimming uh the state swimming Championship took place on Saturday
012February 22nd the University of Delaware APPA quinic School District had three swimmers top off great Seasons by bringing home medals first we'd like to recognize from Appo High School Grady reading a little bit about Grady Brady was undefeated during the Dual meet season and he broke three Appo school records the 100 breast stroke the 200 individual medle and the 100 freestyle he broke his brother Zach's record hold Don't Clap yet I'm not done I'm not done Brady was also named the Delaware online at the blue hen conference he was named Blue Hen conference swimmer of the meat winning and breaking the bluehead conference records in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle and his brother's record and earning First Team all blue hen conference honors then topped it all at the states Brady
013earned the silver in the 100 freestyle and the bronze in the 50 freestyle and was selected to First Team all state congratulations Brady uh next up we have Andy Keys who is a sophomore from Middletown High School Andy also had a great season earning the most points for her team at the blue hang conference meet she finished first in the 200 individual medley and 100 in the breast stroke she also was on the 200 Med 200 medly relay and 400 free relay which came in third place and earned First Team all conference at states she was on the 200 medle relay and the 400 free relay she finished fourth in the 200 individual Med and brought home the silver in the 100 breast stroke and earned First Team all state honors congratulations Andy and Kira
014Brown is a senior at Middletown High School at the blue hang conference Kira was first in the 200 freestyle second the 500 freestyle and was on the 200 free relay and 400 free relay both earning third place she earned first team blue hang conference at states she was on the 400 free relay and finished fourth in the 200 free she brought him the gold medal she is a state champion first place in the 100 breast stroke and earn First Team all state honors yeah here also broke two school records this year um she bettered the 200 free that was hers and broke the 500 free she was a captain this year and next year she will be swimming at Salsbury University congratulations and our coaching shout out to coach Sandy Prather is here and Coach
015Carrie ring is here thank them for their support get the congratulations to our swimmers I do want to point out that Kira and Brianna where did Brianna go BR they're sisters so the brown household has two state champions and she was a stock for state champion so shout out to that okay now you can go hey our next athletic uh honors go to for Middle School boys basketball so pleased to recognize kwell Bridge boys basketball team as the 2024 2025 District Champion kwells finished their regular season 8-0 and earned the number one seed in The District tournament and in the championship game they defeated Alfred G Waters 40 to 23 to capture their third straight District championship I'm going to turn on to over to coaches Eddie Chavis and Donovan Earl to announce the team
016members all right I'm super proud of these kids um they had a tough season um the biggest thing I love about it always is helping them grow in the young men um that's the main goal um but first person that we have is rahee Banks Jr next we have Daryl Canon next we have Kobe Jenkins Murray Donovan Milton Jones kayen hulo Kevin Corner Kevin is our only player that has won three championships in a row so super proud of him next up we have Willie mlau Jaylen price Amir C Brooks James swiggett and last but not least Bryson Williams these pictures will also be on the website all right congratulations gentlemen all right next on the special recognition agenda we have the Beats maker Awards Dr small thank you Mr forston additionally we will be
017doing recognition for the national board certification also um so I'm going to put those together again my name is Ed small I'm the Director of Human Resources for the school district and we're shifting from students to staff now so I'm hoping for the same enthusiasm for our staff members as we go through this you want to let's practice with the first one with enthusiasm so our beats maker award celebrates staff who are nominated for exhibiting our app quinic beats collaboration communication critical thinking creativity and engagement tonight we are excited to celebrate one staff member and we thank them for being Apple an Apple beats maker it's one staff member because um some of the other staff members were not able to make it for both the beat maker award and the national board certification Awards
018so for the individual who was able to make it a senior secretary from map aqu quinic High School Michelle Davis take your time that round of applause was amazing you guys did an awesome job let's keep it up our national board certification recognition celebrates Educators who have demonstrated the high standards in teaching excellence dedication and professional growth achieving this certification reflects a commitment to Student Success and a deep Mastery of their craft tonight we are proud to celebrate exceptional staff members for achieving national board certification and we thank them for their unwavering dedication to Excellence and education achieving the status of literacy reading language arts early and middle childhood a fourth grade teacher from Cedar Lane Elementary Danielle Moore achieving the recognition of middle childhood generalist a fifth grade teacher from Crystal Run Elementary Kathleen
019olandi achieving the certification also of middle childhood generalists a fourth grade teacher from Old State Elementary Diane Sone achieving the certification of exceptional needs specialist Early Childhood through through young adulthood it's a long title an educational diagnostician from Bunker Hill Elementary Carolyn Henry I appreciate the woohoo with Applause great job I'm achieving the certification of Middle School generalist a Spanish related arts teacher from Bunker Hill Elementary Laura Wright achieving the certification of literacy reading language arts early and middle childhood a second grade teacher from town Zen Elementary School DNE Smith and last but last but certainly certainly not least achieving the certification of literacy reading language arts early and middle childhood a third grade teacher from Old State Elementary Greg Sone oh we have some additional all right picture time not good all right well
020as always our special recognitions are uh really tremendous and fun to watch um and then of course everybody leaves all right next on the agenda we have public comment um this is the portion of the agenda where members of the public can speak directly to the board we will listen but we will not respond or engage um we have six people who have signed up to speak tonight when you start there's a three minute timer that will be counting down your time you have three minutes if at 3 minutes you're in the middle of your final sentence I won't bang you shut but please uh I won't shut you down but please wrap it up at three minutes um and we expect rules of decorum to be followed no insults no name calling uh none
021of that uh again we would have to rule you out of order I don't think that'll happen but I have to say it anyway um so we had do have six people and uh I went ahead and alphabetized the names so first up we have Miss Courtney beard if you could when you speak introduce yourself and um and we will listen thank you good evening my name is Courtney I'm here tonight to address a lack of a parent counsel in our District while parent workshops are well advertised the parent Council itself is not the council is where districtwide special education needs an advocacy is supposed to be addressed yet many parents were unaware of its existence some parents who sought to join the council were redirected to workshops not the council itself this lack of
022transparency has created an exclusionary system that fails to fully represent our community through persistence some of us redirected parents joined the council only to find it lacked structure there were no defined parent roles minimal parent input no meeting minutes and no clear advocacy process in response we work to establish a framework that seemed to finally have developed a collaborative relationship where we could make meaningful change in our district unfortunately our progress was stopped when our leadership opted to attend workshops instead of continuing the council itself this is a direct contradiction of the state Rags State regulation 3125 mandates each School District enrolling any child with disabilities shall on an annual basis contact the parents of each child to attempt to facilitate the creation and maintenance of a parent counil for the parents of students with
023disabilities parent councils will Advocate General generally for students with disabilities and provide person-to-person support for individual parents and children school districts shall collaborate and coordinate with existing parent groups and other information and support groups to facilitate creation maintenance and effectiveness of a parent counsel workshops are not a substitute for a structured parent counsel they do not fulfill this regulation as parents we have come together to formally reestablish a parent Council for our district in fact our members are here today and they will address the board a council as a council we are seeking support technical support a meeting space an advertisement of our Council itself we invite District leadership and decision makers including our school board our superintendent our special education directors to join us in an open dialogue working together to address concerns develop
024Solutions create work groups and build a foundation of trust and collaboration I encourage anyone who hears this and wants to join our mission so please email us at Appo Advocates gmail.com thank you all right thank you very much if you have that written out what you just spoke if you can email that to the board for distribution thank you all right going alphabetically next on the list is Nicole Elliott good evening members of the board my name is Nikki Elliott and I am the parent of an eighth grade appac quinic student who receives special education support to access the curriculum I'm here tonight to speak about the inequities for special education students who are on the diploma track we are concerned about the automatic placement and requirement of AP and honors level courses for students
025who receive special education supports many of these students may not be able to successfully complete these Advanced courses this year all diploma track students were automatically placed in AP Human Geography in ninth grade also in 8th grade students were placed in Algebra 1 which is a ninth grade Common cor standard and considered an accelerated math class for eth graders these placements have negatively impacted many special education students who were not prepared for the level of difficulty and pacing of these courses these students as well as teachers have struggled to meet the demands that the advanced courses require which leads me to ask whether the teachers and staff have been asked if they feel that this is appropriate for all general education students this year I have witnessed the negative impact on my daughter's self-esteem from
026her struggles with comprehending the algebra 1 content her IEP team has worked hard to provide additional support however she still feels overwhelmed with the material and the pace she has cried many tears and consistently tells us that it's just too hard sadly I feel that this school year has been a lost opportunity for her to acquire the necessary math skills that she will need for high school on page seven in the current ASD High School catalog it states students are encouraged to work with their parents teachers and school counselors to select the pathway that best prepares them for college and careers student choice should be consistent with their abilities and their career plans mandating AP courses is not Equitable for all students my daughter has chosen the Education and Leadership pathway at Odessa High School
027for next year within this pathway she will be expected to pass AP psychology as well as the AP exam however acquiring a par professional certificate or working in early childhood education does not require the completion of AP courses in high school we ask the district to conduct a review of course placement policies and to collaborate with staff and families to ensure that every student has access to an education that is both challenging and appropriate for their individual needs thank you for listening to our concerns My Hope Is that they are heard and that we can come together to discuss how Appo can offer alternatives to advance academic mandates for diploma track students who may be unable to success F complete them I would also like to publicly acknowledge and thank Dr Fitzgerald for her diligent
028efforts in collaborating with me and my daughter's IEP team to provide the supports that she has needed to access the algebra 1 curriculum in eth grade thank you okay thank you uh as with the previous speaker if you can email us if you have that in writing and can email it to the board that'd be great and just so I don't have to keep repeating myself if if the other speakers can do the same be wonderful for the record my understanding is that the Mandate is going to end and next year it will be optional for the AP uh ninth grade and and algebra one in 8th grade timing is everything yes okay uh next on the agenda I I think this is still alphabetical but maybe I missed a hyphen Loretta elisis Getty good
029evening board members I am a part of this parent group that hopes to collaborate with the district leaders teachers other parents Etc to ensure our special education kids are being fully supported to their best potential my name is Loretta Getty AKA Ava's Mom I'm here as a concerned parent and advocate for my child along with other students with special education needs in our district a critical issue is the transition planning and the meetings that are there to support our under representative students needs when moving from elementary to middle and from middle to high school myself and other families across the district share some some some of the same frustrations transition meetings are inconsistent some schools offer support While others provide little to none this leaves us parents frustrated students unsupported and increases the risk of
030kids falling through the cracks too often transition meetings feel dismissive rather than collaborative parents should be treated as partners but but many leave feeling defeated I myself have left many meetings in tears being told we don't have the resources instead of Empowering Families to make informed decisions the process often creates more stress and isolation another issue is the lack of clear information families aren't properly educated on transition resources whether it's academic Sports diploma options vocational training or postsecondary programs parents shouldn't have to scramble for the answers these conversations need to happen early and consistently not right before a transition meeting we are asking the district to help create a unified plan that ensures transitioning being standardized across all schools with collaboration happening well before a student moves up parent education on transition options starts early
031and includes workshops and resources School staff of those which who are attending these meetings receive proper training to guide families through the process meetings are conducted with respect transparency and clear plans that actively involve teachers Paras parents and students also families should not have drastically different experiences based on their school that their child attends for example one high school having all the speced resources available and another having only the bare minimum forcing students in a different direction and that's exactly what's happening and it's creating an unfair disadvantage for our kids they already are facing challenges when they adjust from new environments we shouldn't add to those challenges through poor planning inconsistent information and lack of respect for families we urge the district to take immediate action to improve transition meetings planning and give every family
032the tools and support that they deserve our children deserve better and we look forward to working with you to achieve these goals thank you thank you all right thank you Miss Getty next on the uh list Al again alphabetical Lisha Parker good evening members of the board my name is Lisha I wanted to highlight one of the most urgent challenges in our district the ongoing Staffing shortages uh and lack of support in special education as a parent of a student with special needs I am deeply concerned about how these shortages are directly impacting our children's education and the well-being of our teachers and staff who work so hard to support them our kids depend on qualified teachers AIDS and behavior staff to receive the services outlined in their IEPs but without enough support critical services
033are delayed or missed early teachers are stretched too thin and it's our students who pay the price we are losing specialized Educators because they are overwork and undervalued facing overwhelming demands they're managing case loads IEP meetings Behavior plans and classroom teaching often beyond their contracted hours and without extra compensation many parents have shared that their children are not receiving the services promised in their I APS because there simply isn't enough staff the workload has become unmanageable and without proper support burnout is inevitable if we do not address these burn announc and retention issues we risk a continued decline in the quality of services our students receive we want to work together to help find solutions that protect both our children and the get and the dedicated staff to support them including competitive pay and incentives
034to retain and attract special education staff protected time during workday for IEP case management and planning increase per support to help share responsibility a faster more effective hiring process to fill vacancies more resources focus on staff wellness and development when our when our teachers are supported are still our students Thrive without immediate action we risk losing both we urge you to make this a top priority for our kids for our schools and for the dedicated Educators who give them so much thank you for your time and we look forward to working with you all right thank you uh next we have Rebecca rothweiler good evening members of the board and District administrators I am Rebecca rothweiler mother to kin a 14-year-old placed in Algebra 1 this year who has very similar struggles to Grace it's
035been a very large setback for our family this year special education is designed to provide each child with an individualized education plan tailored to their unique needs unfortunately many of our students are receiving IEPs that fail to provide the truly individualized support necessary to address their academic gaps one of our concerns in APPA quinic is that IEP goals are often written at grade level rather than at the student's actual instructional level this does not align with state and federal guidelines when a child is significantly behind in reading or math their IEP goals should outline a clear strategic plan to close those gaps to Foster meaningful progress additionally parents report that requests for evaluations have been dismissed without proper explanation this delays important interventions and prevent students from getting the support they need furthermore many IEPs
036are not being implemented to Fidelity leaving students without the accommodations and tools necessary to succeed despite what's written in their plans as I spoke in October another concern particularly for myself and many parents is the application of LR in our district individualization is also lacking due to the scarcity of small group instruction in specialized settings the Continuum of alternative placements outlined in idea is not being provided while least restrictive environment or lre is meant to balance inclusion with support some students need structured small group environments or B settings to stay focused regulated and learn at an appropriate Pace instead these students are placed in overcrowded overstimulating classrooms making it difficult for teachers to provide the indiv visualized attention students require without these smaller specialized settings students fall further behind behaviors present and student welfare suffers
037we ask the district to reassess its approach to IEP development and supports to ensure that IEP goals are written to close academic gaps based on the students instructional level evaluation requests are handled promptly and appropriately accommodations are consistently implemented across all classrooms small group instruction and specialized settings are provided for students who need them no family or child should have to fight for services they are legally entitled to receive if we work together we can ensure every special education student receives the support resources and individualized instruction they need to reach their full potential thank you thank thank you and finally our uh final public comment marama Suma kaida good evening members of the board my name is marama sumaka I am here as a special education parent and advocate for other parents in our school
038district who share my same concerns our schools are in urgent need of stronger behavioral support from early intervention through high school too many students are receiving structured are not receiving structured intervention curriculum modification and train staff they need to succeed instead of proactive research based behavior intervention we see an over Reliance on suspensions removals and disciplinary action tactics that do not address the root cause of behaviors this is failing our student overboard and teams cannot keep up leaving behaviors un addressed misreported or even reinforced often when parents do seek outside support from well trained highly knowledgeable professionals their reports or suggestions are completely ignored by the IEP Team without accurate data and support School staff will burn out and student will suffer this is a matter of Equity students access and most importantly access to
039a fear and appropriate education right now our children are paying the price academically socially emotionally we must act now providing that Staffing training and strategies that will truly support them to truly meet their needs we must expand Behavior Al teams with specialist train in intervention and deescalation improve data collection by ensuring accurate and consistent observation occur across School settings develop effective functional Behavior assessment and behavior intervention plan that prepares students for real life success reduce Reliance on punitive discipline and instead Implement preventive evidence-based behavioral strategies as parent we are requesting to meet with District leaders superintendent assistant superintendent Behavior leaders to discuss the systemic behavior health issues that Ru as schools District my heart is bleeding here today my son is a second grader who I just took out from the school district because behaviors
040were not addressed I would like to see us partner together to collaborate and effective change thank you all for your time all right thank you very much we have no more apparent comment for this evening but let me do thank everybody who came and spoke tonight uh everyone here on the board listened and I think all of us were taking some notes we look forward to getting your comments via email in writing um and I know that the administration will be following up with each of you who spoke tonight to talk about the issues you raised so uh thank you all for being here so with that we will move on to reports on the agenda and the first item up um this past Friday was the cut off for filing to run for yeah
041nobody ever wants to listen to me right don't be shy all right next on the agenda we have Schoolboard candidates this past Friday was the deadline to file to run uh for Schoolboard as we uh are all sad to uh to know uh Miss wall announced earlier this year she would not be seeking reelection um she seems happier and brighter as the school year uh moves on and I guess her last day on the board is coming uh but we did have four people who uh did file uh to run I apologize if I mispronounce any of these names uh Sanda celesten Brown Brady siglin Timothy Higgins and Henry Chuck Boyce Jr filed to run so we have four candidates at the moment and we will be having a candidate Forum in two weeks here
042in this room Tuesday March 26 at 6 PM we traditionally do that when there's uh multiple candidates in a race we will give each of those candidates three minutes to introduce themselves and then uh we will uh the board will talk about what it really means to be a board member and then uh there will be some Q&A of the board candidates so that is two weeks Tuesday uh March 25th uh here in this same room starting at 6: PM then the election itself is Tuesday May 13th so we have a Schoolboard meeting that night uh and typically the results will come in towards the end of the meeting or or after the meeting inurance uh next on the list uh next on the agenda we have the superintendent report Dr burrow good evening welcome
043everybody thank you for those that stayed uh for the school board meeting we appreciate it uh just a few things going on last week was National School social worker week tomorrow actually is National registered dietitian nutrition day um and then the 20th of this month is World Behavior analist day otherwise known as bcbas we currently have 32 full-time teaching openings in the district most of those openings are um student are excuse me teachers with special education certifications um with a few uh math and sciences mixed in and we have 18 full-time PA professional I will make a note that's the lowest that both of those numbers have been in some time kudos to our HR department and the team and the administrators who are working hard to fill all those positions I will note that
044we are in a national teacher shortage currently um and all districts are having issues in particular in those areas of high needs the HR department has filled 633 positions to date remember that's internal and external hires um in 2526 they've hired five Physicians so far um we have grown 182 students since our September 30th count we're up to 13,790 72 1379 any other questions from the board hearing none thank you for your report and we will move on to Mr Hopkins with the construction update Mr Hopkins okay leis reading so we're starting to move along more now that the weather's turning all of this in the front is out of the building or or off of the site so they're going to start cleaning up this whole area now running the pavement the curves are
045starting to run down this way now the this area is getting cleared out so we can start tightening things up around for a turnover to The District in miday so this has all got to start to push together so everybody's been pulled out and the site's getting cleared up a little bit good Steve as you can see from this side this is the loading dock it's getting poured this week hopefully within the next couple days and this curb is now being installed here that you can't see but it's in going in now go ahead Steve main entrance coming in we're finally starting to tighten up with all the glass around the building this is the glass that shines through the whole front area here this will be the media Center at the top and down
046in the lobby at the bottom kind of the back side of the building a little bit as you can see the glass is tightening up all the site work starting to complete and we're just wrapping All the Small Things up that get us completed to the end of the project that's do here again some of these had openings all the way around it's all tightening up a lot of big glass in this area ceilings are all completing this is the cafeteria right now they're starting to throw the tiles in this is a step system as it steps down this is the tiered seating that comes up this way here this will be your Auditorium and and your plinth area here where there's a projection screen there'll be a projector here that shoots down so you
047can have a learning opportunity here and have the screen and the projector for large classes that's Steve this is kind of your bathroom area here we're going with some stainless steel partitions to kind of help with our graffiti issues and things kind of our first shot say how it work but I think we're going to be in good shape gym floor they're all starting to run down this is the subf floor that goes in this wood floor here will start running in I think these guys are ambitious but they say they're going to have the gym floor across it by Friday which is a lot of work on a short period of time but we're confident this is a completed classroom right now we're set up ready for uh for furniture as you can see
048everything's in marker boards are in everything's getting wrapped up pushing us closer to occupying the building another completed science room with our reels here everything's in epoxy floors sinks everything's completed we're pushing across the building towards the gymnasium to complete the project it starts where the auditorium is we started that way and we're moving towards the gymnasium this is kind of your open area in the front this is one of your Commons areas these areas here will be lights that come down as a decorative element they're not in yet but they're here soon in this ceiling will come and wrap it up have your kitchen area here they're starting to push through get the kitchen element done I think that's an older picture because this is cleaner at this point and most of the equipment
049is in HD that's a redundant classroom I guess I put it in twice I liked it that's go ahead Steve that's it we are on budget and we are on time the furniture comes in miday and we'll start occupying the building we'll take the admin as soon as school shuts down on the 17th we'll move right into the admin right at that building it'll start functioning right from that point any questions does anybody have any questions for Mr Hopkins looks good thank you did you have Dr buros I want to just add one thing next month we'll have the opportunity to uh pick the name of our new uh middle and high school and and pick the mascot and colors for our new high school so exciting uh exciting news coming up it's hard to
050believe uh that that's not that far away that we have to start doing that so tune in and next on the agenda we have board comments and we'll start at my far left Mr Abrams hi good evening everybody I just a couple comments tonight I just want to thank all the parents serving on committees I I know I beat that drum a lot but they they a lot of their time each month to help make our district successful so for the young Su Heroes out there I just want to say thank you um we have four people who have signed up for the board uh that's absolutely wonderful um just know that each and every one of us up here would be more than happy to answer your questions should you have any um give
051you the real scoop of what happens uh how much time is required and again I just want to thank the parents again um on the referendum that we passed I don't think we've been down to 35 open positions across this District in a couple years so I just want to say thank you all right thank you uh Miss dwit evening I would like to um just recognize again the uh National School social workers um for the month um they do incredible work for our students and um I just wanted to get a special acknowledgement to Mrs Sutton a counselor I saw um one we grew up together but two I saw her actually um knocking on someone's door and and checking and see what she had to see um in terms of their due diligence
052so just to kind of see that in action was pretty cool um but thank you for all you do for our um District the care you provide to our students and the commitment you provide to the community that's it all right thank you going to my far right Dr Graham hi good evening um I first just wanted to knowledge I mean obviously they're no longer in the room but the group that um spoke to us earlier uh I think it was six people uh from the community that shared their concerns with us um we all have taken notes and we look forward to kind of following up but I think at the core of that obviously the topic is special education um and I would challenge you all to view that as being the heart
053of what Equity is I think last week um technically I guess last month's um school board meeting uh we talked a little bit about the equity walkth through um and I think I had shared with the community that I had an opportunity to participate in that with um Mrs Calhoun and so it although it was a really really good experience I encourage our leaders to continue to um implore our our Educators to ensure that we're addressing Equity through the lens of special education I said last month that we tend to hear those words diversity Equity or inclusion and we automatically think race and yes that is a key component of it but from the lens of special education we owe it to our students to ensure that that is one of the first lenses that
054we assess Dei through so I just wanted to kind of say that um and I think it it it requires a lot of hard work it requires biases to be put aside it requires for us to acknowledge our own deficits and our own um personal choices that we may make which may not align with what our students always need so I just wanted to kind of just highlight that trust that our leadership um in in collaboration with um District leadership will continue to work really really hard as they do every day to meet the needs of all of our students but certainly with an emphasis on those with special education needs so I thank you all for everything that you do each and every day and I look forward to the continued collaboration of the
055success of all of our students thanks all right thank you Miss wall hello and good evening um the rumors are true I am not running for school board um there are four candidates who are running um I will Echo Mr Abram's comments that anyone who's running for Schoolboard and wants to reach out to any of us including myself about the position or the role please don't hesitate to reach out um I will say that for me the last 10 years of this role have tried to be focused on what is best for kids as you can imagine in the seat there's a lot of different directions you can be pulled in but but I find that you are most successful in this role if that is your focus so when faced with a challenge or
056an issue if you can ask yourself what is best for kids um that has been my driving force so I will apologize I missed the February board meeting I think it might be the first board meeting I missed in 10 years I had a personal medical emergency and was unable to be here so I wanted to apologize for that because of that missing that meeting um I wasn't able to highlight and say thank you to those District leaders who pulled together an immersion meeting to talk to the um cohorts of Spanish Immersion parents who have recently transitioned to the nth grade and who are going to be transitioning to the nth grade soon um I'm appreciating the Consolidated communication that's occurring with those families and that we're giving them different resources to know what next
057steps are um if you're not familiar with our immersion program the um it runs from kindergarten and currently through nth grade in our district and so we've seen the trans transitions from kindergarten to elementary school from elementary school to middle school and now from middle school to high school and so we have examples of how to be successful and areas we can improve on all those Transitions and I would just encourage the folks who are working on that um the only remaining transition sort of for that group of students is when they leave the district so let's make sure they are as successful leaving our district when they graduate from high school as they've been throughout the program um thank you to the FFA for coming and um I appreciate apprciate them trying to highlight
058the importance of Agriculture and agriculture education personally I think we have three outstanding FFA programs in our school district um agriculture means to me I have a child who graduated from the a pathway and is pursuing an agriculture degree and college so is important not only to me personally but to I've seen firsthand how many students it impacts um for college and career opportunities which leads me into a thank you to the district for tomorrow we have a Workforce readiness fair I think we're the only District in the state that provides an opportunity for all ninth grader I mean sorry 11th graders to um start to think about how to be College and Career ready and their various paths um and I think it's great in our district that we focus not only on College
059ready but career ready and what's right for each kid um there's a work for and I didn't bring it with me but a pamphlet that the kids receive about resum writing interview tips and I even really liked it that in there it reminded people like the proper there to use when speaking like there or there and two two and two and just things that if someone hasn't ever pulled you aside and said these things or taught you how to make ey contact or taught you how to follow up on an interview these are skills that the district's taking time to teach our 11th graders which I think is awesome it's at Deltech tomorrow and I don't know how many Community Partners were up to but it was over 50 last time I checked um and
060I want to say good luck we have two teams tomorrow competing at the Delaware postart compet competition um in culinary management a group from ainc high school and a group from Odessa High School so be anxious to hear how those groups do um if you're not familiar with the proart program it is similar to what the FFA does for agriculture what proart does for a culinary pathway and kids are given the opportunity to compete in two different areas so either in sort of a culinary competition which is two um kind of like camp stoves or stove top burners and it's an entree a dessert and an app ier that you're tasked under a certain amount of time and it is the realest thing to Iron Chef I've ever seen in person um but it's really
061handson culinary skills for students the other um competition is a management competition where students work with a group you come up with a restaurant concept and all the way from your discussion to the restaurant concept to a pitch very similar to Shark Tank you um present your restaurant concept so it gives kids who are going into the culinary industry and field a real opportunity to kind of hone those skills it's pretty cool to see in person it's the chase Center tomorrow if anybody wants to go watch and then as everyone knows I love the Arts in our district it's and musical season is in full swing and so the Odessa High School had two very successful weekends of leag Le blonde it was fabulous performance um abmic High School is presenting this weekend once upon
062a mattress and then the following weekend Middletown High School will be performing willly Wonka um it's usually fun for family of all ages it's my understanding that the directors all strive for entertainment mment from kindergarten to Grandma so please bring your families and enjoy some of the efforts of our district and then just on a one more note I almost always hold bagels with a board member monthly since um I ran for school board the first time and this month because of scheduling conflicts I will not be so you can go to Manhattan Bagel or I know that the new bagel place isn't open quite yet but enjoy bagel on your own if you have a question about schools just send me an email so it's michelle. wallao k2. de. us that's all I have
063for tonight I had to catchy two meetings in no no that was very impressive uh I learned a lot um so just very briefly I will Echo the comments of all my fellow board members um and I do want to thank the parents who addressed us tonight um I will also just mention briefly that last month I had brought up uh a request to look at a parent code of conduct um you know by and large I think the parents in our district are wonderful they're engaged they're concerned you saw that tonight with six of them speaking to us but every now and then there's you know all it takes is One Bad Apple so we'll get our first look at a draft code I think next month and with that why don't we uh
064move on on the agenda for tonight and so the next item of business is old business the 2025 26 Calendar second reading for approval Dr feathers Dr Hoover good evening everybody um we are here to do our second and final reading of the academic calendar for 2526 uh just uh again a reminder of our committee members um obviously I want to highlight the the people that do take their time this is after school after a long day um and uh and we get everybody's feedback so I appreciate everybody uh who's on that committee uh again I think I've read these values probably the last three times so I'm not going to read them again but I do think it's important because you know often when we're making those those decisions it's important to come back
065to the values and sometimes we have opposing values when there's a question but you know those are uh good good uh discussions um so before we get into the actual calendar uh we met on our for our final meeting on March 5th we were there to review our final public comments we reviewed the comments we had some discussion and as a committee we decided that we did not want to make any changes to that calendar um and so we're going to present the second and final reading here and it's going to look the same as that first reading um Dr feathers is going to go through that for us so like Mr Hoover said we didn't make any changes but we would like to walk you through um the calendar so we will share that
066so you can see August and September October Steve's going fast November well for anyone who's just joining us we this is our second time third time now reviewing it and we'll be voting on it so if you a regular attender to a board meeting or love to watch us on recording on YouTube then the reason it's going quickly is because we've all seen it before December January February March April May June and then it takes us through July and the start of the school year for 2026 in August and our proposal stops in September of 2026 just wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to see the proposal and see if there are any board questions and then we're here to ask for your approval anybody from the board have any questions president I'll
067make a motion to approve the 2025 2026 calendar as present second motion by Mr Abram second by Miss dwit to approve the 2025 2026 academic calendar proposal as presented any questions comments or discussion on the motion personally I still don't like two weeks of Christmas but such as life I suppose only one um yes apparently um any other questions or comments hearing none hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion carries thank you and thanks again to the committee for all its hard work I know it's not easy trying to please so many different people including one kogan of a school board member next on the agenda we have new business and first in uh in front of us we have the February 2020 uh February 2025 Board of Education
068meeting minutes for approval chair will entertain a motion president go I was going to make motion for the minutes from February to be approved but I need to recuse myself from the vote because I was not in attendance okay so you want someone else to make the motion Mr President I move that we approve the Board of Education meeting minutes from February 25th 2025 motion by Dr Graham second by Mr Abrams to approve the February 25 2025 Board of Education meeting minutes any as presented any questions comments or discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed any extensions I wall abstains as she explained earlier okay uh motion carried next on the agenda we have the monthly financial report for approval Mr Loftus to the financial advisory
069committee met on March the 4th to review the January revenue and expenditure report report and they recommended approval of that report Mr President make a motion to approve the monthly Financial reports for January as presented with the approval of the final advisory committee second motion by Mr Abrams second by Miss Walder approved the monthly financial report for January as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee any questions comments or discussion uh on the motion or from Mr Loftus hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I I any opposed motion carries next on the agenda we have the internal accounts report for approval Mr Loftus Financial advisory committee also reviewed the January internal accounts report and recommended approval of that report as well Mr President I'll make a motion to improve the
070internal accounts report for approval as presented for January financi advisory comme second motion by Mr Mr Abrams second by m Whit to approve the internal accounts report for January as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee any questions comments or discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion carries next we have overnight field trips for approval Mr President I'd like to make a motion that we approve the following overnight field trips trip ID 10546 would you like me to read what they are for as well or just by number um for the benefit of those watching why don't you high school students to the indoor percussion Regional competition in New Jersey trip ID 10555 appc high school students to the indoor garden percussion finals
071in New Jersey trip ID 10584 Middletown students to the indoor color guard and Jazz b band Regional competition in New Jersey trip ID 10562 May 2025 sorry um water students to attend the BPA National leadership conference in Florida those are all for approval and then there is one trip ID 10623 which is can't RS Bridge students to Japan for cultural experience which is asking for preliminary approval okay that's a motion do we have a second second motion by Ms wall second by Dr Graham to approve four trips for approval trip ID 10546 10555 10584 and 105 562 and then one trip for preliminary approval trip ID 10623 any questions comments or discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion carries next we have change orders for
072approval Mr Hopkins yes I have num Miss uh change orders I submitted for approval a couple to go over there's a several there for Asi 35 that for Rise program uh Renovations I guess to the project they probably total about 95,000 overall there's a credit there for uh 27,000 for some heating we took away couple of other credits with that we're asking for approval as submitted Mr go ahead we're talking over each other go ahead Mr President I I move that we approve the change orders as presented second motion by Dr Graham second by Miss wall to approve the change order as presented and as recommended by Mr Hopkins any questions comments or discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion carries thank you next on
073the agenda we have the Personnel report for approval Dr small good evening again the Personnel report for the March board meeting has been presented for your approval we are asking for approval as presented Mr President I move that we approve the Personnel report as presented second motion by Ms Graham second by I'm sorry Dr Graham second by Ms DT who barely be off Miss wall um any question to approve the Personnel report as presented any questions comments or discussion on the motion hearing none all in favor signify by saying I I any opposed motion carries all right that brings us to the end of our agenda uh the financial advisory committee uh will be meeting at 6 pm. on Tuesday April 1st in the finance conference room at the Tony martio building as we mentioned
074earlier we will be having a candidates Forum here in this room on Tuesday March 25th at 6 pm and then our next regular uh Board of Education meeting is Tuesday April 8th at 7th at 7 pm here in this room also on YouTube and of course you can watch all our meetings and stream them at your heart's content um and with that we are adjourned thank you all for attending e for