Crestwood School District Regular Meeting -- January 15, 2026

001calling to order regular meeting of the Crestwood School Board. Please stand if you're able for the pledge of >> allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Oh, sorry. I thought that was going to be on the agenda. I forgot. We have a roll call. Mrs. Otto, >> Mrs. Bibla >> here. >> Mrs. Chaitito Zagoric >> here. >> Mrs. Mr. Gallagher >> here. >> Mrs. McGovern Copcho >> here. >> Mrs. Romanition >> here. >> Mr. Namy >> here. >> Mr. Seitzki >> here. >> Mr. Patty >> here. >> And Mrs. McCertie >> here. Nine members present. Thank you. Executive sessions were held on December 29th, 2025, January 8th, and January 15, 2026

002regarding contracts, personnel actions, and pending litigations. And we'll be seeking approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held on December 4th, 2025. December another on reorganization on December 4th, 2025 and December 29th, 2025. >> Can I get a motion to approve the minutes? I make a motion. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call. All in favor? >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Thank you. Um before we begin, um I'd just like to um ask for a moment of silence um in remembrance of Mr. James Kaiser who was a longtime I believe 38-year teacher in this district and uh Mr. Bruce Ienbro who was a bus driver both recently passed away and would just have a moment of silence in their honor. Thank you. Okay, we'll be moving into our student

003reports. Gabriella White. Thank you. Good evening. I'm Gabriella White. I'm a junior representative for the Crestwood student government. On behalf of the student body, I would like to welcome the new board members. We can't wait to see what amazing things you accomplish in making our school a better place. I'm excited to present to you all the amazing things that have h have been happening around the Creswood campus. Both the boys and girls wrestling and basketball teams have fully begun. The girls basketball team beat Lolltock, a former state champion, 50 to30. Our boys team recently had a tough fight against Hazelton, which resulted in a win. I would also like to congratulate the success of the girls wrestling team. They continue to make history as they tirelessly fight their way through their season. They had junior

004Emma Self and senior Rachel Shoemaker receive major achievements of 50 wins. Not only this, but they recently competed in the Wyoming Valley Wyoming Valley Conference Tournament and they bec they came out victorious. They had junior MSF, senior Alexis Richmond, and freshman Emerson Seltzer come out as conference champions and against tough brackets. I would also like to congratulate the other varsity placers, Samara Bailey receiving second and Rachel receiving third. The boys yet again came out victorious in this tournament as well. They had Mary Bibla and Micah Engelman receive first place. Nathan Wneski received third and Mason Ford and Hunter Konchnik received fourth. This season, the boys team has gained Michael Engelman, who is currently nationally ranked. The varsity competitive cheerleading team has recently placed second at districts, securing their spot at PIAA competitive spirit championships. They

005also received multiple bids to nationals where they will be competing a brand new division and defending their finalist title. They've been non-stop preparing for both competitions. We wish them all the best in their upcoming trips. Not only are the winter sports making us proud, but the spring sports have begun their preseason training and preparation for their new seasons. The track and field team help sorry the track and field team held their interest meeting and have had a large number of participants. The boys volleyball team have begun their open gyms and are excited to defend their second place district title. The clubs here at Crestwood never failed to exceed our expectations. One club in particular continues to spread positivity throughout the campus. The Avidum Club not only lifts others up but continues to better themselves simultaneously.

006They also they recently had had their students attend the talk at Northwest High School last month and have been holding monthly meetings with their kids. Last week the students wrote last week the students wrote future letters to themselves. At the end of the month their student leaders will be going to Lancaster to attend the Avidum conference. Their founder and head student leader Allison Zevaki will be speaking at this conference as well. The French club has started off this year with a bang. They have they hold monthly meetings where they partake in various activities that anyone can attend to learn more about the French language and culture. Their next meeting will be a movie night on January 20th and they will be showing a monster in Paris. The Crestwoods Future Business Leader of America chapter has

007also been doing amazing things. They successfully completed their support local business campaign as as a part of the FBLA national program that promotes entrepreneurship and American enterprise. Kreswood is one of only 100 schools that received this go that received this digital medallion nationwide. They also competed at the regional tor regional competition where they had multiple participants qualify for states. There has been an increase of pop an increase of participation within the STEM programs as well. The science Olympiadia team has opened up to middle school because of the interest in their competition. They have started composing their events in order in order to do well at the regional competition. PJS has also been vigorously preparing their experiments and presentations for their regional competition in February. The theater program has been excelling above and beyond. They recently

008closed their fall production of High School Musical starring junior Oscelia Stemer as Gabriella Montes and freshman Johnny Click as Troy Bolton. These students these students work hard to continue to impress and entertain the Crestwood Secondary Campus. They also they also held their auditions for their spring musical, the Adams family. They are excited to showcase their talents and provide once another amazing production. The junior class has voted on a prom theme. The theme of the 2026 prom will be city of the stars. Whether it's in sports, clubs, or the classroom, Creswood students continue to push beyond their limits and make our school proud. We surround we're surrounded by so many amazing people from classmates to teachers to staff who support one another and lift each other up every single day. Thank you for your time and

009have a wonderful night. >> Thank you very much. Next we have the superintendent report. Malazo, >> thank you. Good evening everyone. Um there is a lot that joined us here today in person. So it's great to see everyone here and happy new year. It's our first uh board meeting since the new year. Um I get the pleasure of announcing our sixth grade soaring comets. Um we were a little backed up because we did not have a December meeting. So I have uh soaring comets from November and then also December. Um, for those that are not aware of our soaring comets, it's a a program uh that we instituted a couple years ago to continue to highlight um a variety of attributes from um our students and our teachers uh do the nominations and they provide

010uh just a small piece of why they were chosen to be a sixth grade soaring comment. So I would like to start with November. out Miss uh when I say your name, I've already mentioned it to the students, but when I say your name, you're more than welcome to stand in your location or if you want to come to the front, I will let that up to you. So, our first comment from Rice Elementary is Shane Detliar. So, Shane, uh Miss Petroski, Miss Clem, and Mr. Copsho wrote the following about you. Shane is a bright, easygoing, and genuinely enjoyable student to have in a classroom each day. As Miss Petroski likes to say, he is cool as the other side of the pillow, bringing that calm and confidence and steady positivity that makes him a

011wonderful role model for his peers. He loves a challenge, especially in math, where he eagerly works on extension pro uh problems and pushes his thinking to the next level. He is a great partner to collaborate with and is always willing to help his classmates when they need support. Academically, he shines across the board. Miss Clem notes that he is creative and thorough writer and consistently has a positive demeanor in ELA. Mr. Copsho shares that you are a very hard worker. You're diligent, conscientious, and full of science ideas. He also brings thoughtful, meaningful questions to social studies discussions where he's assisting kindergarten students, engaging deeply into the class or spreading positivity through his mellow, friendly nature. And Shane truly embodies why um why he really does soar. Not only is he an exceptional student, he is

012also a well-rounded young person who enjoys hunting and playing soccer, bringing the same enthusiasm to the interest outside of the classroom. So congratulations Shane Deweiler. Also from Rice Elementary for November, we have McKenna Dutro. Hi McKenna. So, Miss Petroski, Miss Clem, Mr. Cop Show wrote the following about you. McKenna is an exceptional young person. She exemplifies the heart and the spirit of our school through her kindness, empathy, and her passion for learning. Her character shines in the way she cares for others. She has taken a classmate who is undergoing cancer treatment under her wing, offering steady friendship and encouragement during the most one uh one of the most challenging experiences a child can face. This is really hard for me to read without crying. Uh whether she is a peer tutor uh cheering her up

013or on the difficult days, you're walking with her during recess so she never feels alone. She shows a depth of compassion and well beyond your years. Her academic stance is equally strong. You're a student not only excels but does the uh I'm sorry, excuse me, not only excels but does so with genuine curiosity. Miss Petrosky's math class, you tackle those new concepts with confidence and a willingness to try new strategies, asking those thoughtful questions. In Mr. Copso's science class, you're very inquisitive. Nature enriches the class conversations, consistently pushing deeper uh into learning. In Miss Clem's ELA class, she stands out as a leader. Your writing demonstrates uh strong analytical thinking, and you support classmates through a collaborative effort. Both Mr. Cops show and Miss Petroski are especially excited to share that in addition to your

014academic excellent and your compassionate heart, you are fantastic softball player and a wonderful teammate. So congratulations McKenna. Okay, next I have a fair view for November as well. So please join me with Haley Stimple. Is Haley here? There she is. Haley's favorite subject in school is ELA, where you enjoy learning, reading, and growing as a student. Outside of school, Haley stays active and involved and plays both basketball and softball. In your free time, you can often find do things that you love, such as playing basketball and playing catch. When asked what she loves most about Fairview Elementary, you share that the very best part of our school is the teachers and through the recognition that shows her appreciation, kindness, and positive attitude. You also serve as a school community bus patrol helping others demonstrate responsibility

015and leadership. So congratulations Haley. We are very proud of your hard work, your dedication and positive example. Keep shining bright just like a soaring comment. Austin self is Austin here. Okay. Uh he's not here but I will just read again what the teachers had wrote for Austin. Austin is a sixth grade student who enjoys social studies. He is an active outside of the classroom playing soccer and spending time playing outside with friends or with his dog. Austin values the welcoming environment at Fairview Elementary. Not not that the teachers and fellow students are the best part of his school experience. In addition to his academic and extracurricular activities, Austin has learned some German, demonstrating curiosity and a desire to broaden his school skills. So, we congratulate Austin on your achievements and contributions to our school society.

016Congratulations. Okay. Sorry. Um, then I have for December, we're going to go to February. I'm sorry. Excuse me. For December at Fairview. So, Henry, are you here? Henry, go. Oh, there he is. So, Henry, congratulations on being a soaring comment for the month of December. You have a positive You are a positive member of our school community who brings energy and enthusiasm to each day. When asked about your favorite subjects, Henry shares that he especially enjoys the specials. And those and if those don't count, he'll take math or ELA as his top of his list. Outside of school, Henry stays active by playing soccer and participates in Boy Scouts. In your free time, he enjoys playing soccer at home and spending time playing Roblox. When asked what he likes the most about Fairville Elementary, Henry

017said fun day and the last day. Which definitely brings smiles to many students faces. Henry reminds us that he has many talents and accomplishments. So many that we can't even realize yet. So congratulations. Okay, our sixth grade soaring comment again from Fairview for December, Zoe Zore. Did I say that right? Zoe. All right. Uh, so Zoe A Fairview Elementary is excited to recognize you as the sixth grade soaring comment for December. You are a very hardworking, positive student who shines both in and out of the classroom. Your favorite subjects are science and ELA, where you enjoy learning, reading, and exploring new ideas. Outside of the school, Zoe stays very active in cheer, basketball, and volleyball. In your free time, you love doing nails, painting, flipping on the trampoline, and spending time with your friends. When

018asked what you most enjoy about Fairview Elementary, you shared that how nice all of our teachers are and make sure that it is a great place to be. Zoe is also proud to serve as our bus patrol, showing the responsibility and leadership each day. One accomplishment Zoe is especially proud of is learning how to do a back handspring and a back tuck, which takes dedication and perseverance. Congratulations, Zoe, on being the December soaring comment. We are very proud of you. All right, from Rice Elementary for December, we have Ava Storm. Is Ava here? There she is. So, Ava, Mr. Junis um wrote this about you. Mr. Junis selected Ava Storm for this month's soaring comment because of her motivation, strong work ethic that she has shown so far this year. Since September, he has seen

019you have an incredible growth both in and out of the classroom. At first, she would rarely participate or contribute to the classroom discussions. However, that participation along with her confidence has certainly grown over the last few months. in class you are very highly motivated and attentive which impresses me the most Mr. Junice and Ava uh through is how hard you work each and every day. As mentioned, she is not only consistently engaged, but gives 100% to each and every assignment and activity. All of her assignments are completely accurate and on time, and she works extremely hard on everything that you do. Most recently, the children had to complete an argumentative essay that admittedly can be very challenging. Ava attacked it headon and not surprisingly was incredibly focused and determined. She would ask for help when

020needed, but did not make that majority of independently. And needless to say, she did very well. Furthermore, Ava is kind to all of her peers and does well both socially and behaviorally. She is a joy to have in class. And after seeing all that Ava has achieved in the first few months of school, I have no doubt that she will continue to accomplish amazing things throughout the remainder of sixth grade. Congratulations. And our final uh soaring comment, we have Robin Galles. I'm going to say that wrong. Robin here. No. Okay. Uh Miss Nicholas wrote about Robin uh again for the Soaring Comet for December at Rice Elementary. He is a sub a superb student and young man. He is polite, respectful to adults and peers, and is stoic and calm, displaying that great effort with

021quiet strength. He rarely needs assistance, but he asks for help only when necessary. Robin has a strong work ethic and will complete his assignments well on time and with much success. He is motivated by good grades and works diligently to his highest potential. He is a core group of friends and participates in soccer. He is a role model for others. He soarses beyond and above. We are so proud of him. Congratulations. So, those are our soaring comets for November and December. Families of the Soaring Comets, you're more than welcome to stay here with us. Oh, and you're also more than welcome to leave. Um, I just have some district highlights. Sorry, uh, Miss McCertie. Just a few things here. Uh, friendly reminder that there is no school. That's right. Students, as you're leaving, no school

022tomorrow. Uh we have an act 80 day. Uh that's a professional development for our staff. Um again, school is closed for our staff on Monday, January 19th, in observance for Martin Luther King Day. Also, quarter 2 ends projected barring any snow on February 3rd. And with January being schoolboard recognition month uh month, I have something to read that I would like to share for the school board. Public education is a cornerstone of community with nine out of every 10 st uh students in the United States attending public schools. Access to highquality public education is crucial for our children's success. It takes a team of dedicated people, our teachers, our administrators, our staff, parents, and other community members to provide that education. Board members of your local school board are a key part of this team

023and making informed decisions that shape our public schools. Schoolboard directors are elected to govern and make informed decisions on behalf of the public schools for the benefit of the students and communities. In honor of their time and dedication all year long, January is designated school director recognition month. As public servants, school directors devote on average of 10 hours, I think that's more than that, uh each month to board business. From voting on budgets to adopting policies to conducting comprehensive planning, school boards are fueling innovation and fostering brighter futures for our schools and our students. Board service is unpaid and school directors are often motivated to pursue out the role of a desire to benefit their community and give back or to improve educational outcomes for students. About 41% of school directors serve in the district

024they once attended. When our public schools are strong, our whole community is strengthened. This month, I would like to recognize our school directors for their commitment and effort supporting the public servants by showing your appreciation for all that you do to help our students in school succeed. So, please join me in showing our appreciation to our Crestwood School Board of Directors. That concludes my report. >> Thank you, Mrs. Malazo. Excuse me. Um, we will begin with presentations. Thank you for your patience. Um, we'll start with ICS. Just test that. Perfect. Okay. Um, is this on? >> Great. Thanks. Uh, appreciate your time. Uh, very happy to be here to talk with you folks. Um, I'm John Young uh from ICS CMTA. I have Doug with me and Mike and we're going to talk a little

025bit about uh services that we provide to help schools learn a little bit more about their facilities, plan for the future, and maintain their educational environments over time. Uh, I'm going to go through and talk a little bit about our company and a little bit about the process that we talk about with facility condition assessments. And we're totally prepared to talk about really anything facility or school related. Uh this is a list of our services. I won't run through them all, but uh suffice to say we're very comfortable discussing uh facilities, planning, uh design, implementation, construction management, and so forth. So, uh we really have a suite of uh services that we can offer, and I'll talk a little bit about that as we move forward here. Just some of our bonafides. Uh we're we

026have an office here in Pennsylvania about 60 strong at this point, but we're really a national company with a lot of acclaim. Uh but the town that you'll see uh you know getting references around here uh is is very local. Uh we do have a lot of references particularly up and down this eastern side of the state. a lot of happy uh clients, you know, as nearby as Hazelton, uh Wils Bear, and so forth up here down through the Lehigh Valley and closer to Philadelphia. Um you know, a lot of folks that can bear witness to the uh product that we deliver. Uh I'm going to talk here about uh a couple things and bring up uh Doug to talk in just a moment, but we do understand that you have some ongoing issues here

027at the district that uh we feel that we can help with very readily uh and bridge you through to get to uh a better understanding of uh what you need and how you could proceed forward and how you can fit that all into a budget uh going forward. Um, I'll bring up Doug now to talk about uh that need for a broader understanding of facility conditions. >> Thank you. Which button am I using? Down button. >> Thank you. Hi, good evening. I'm Doug Taylor. Uh, a little bit about myself. I um started an architectural firm uh worked for a large school district in Bucks County as a facilities director for about 11 years and uh have been uh in the construction management project planning world since. So a lot of experience all of that was

028with public school systems. So um that's my background personally. um the planning that I wanted to talk about tonight and uh really pertains to um building assessments and how we can help the district uh moving forward. Um our process is a data-driven process. Um I'm not going to read all of the slides to you. our uh our data all lives on uh I our CIP3 which is a web-based um program which is also accessible um to whomever the district wishes to provide access to you know that software. So our planning starts uh with questionnaires. We want to learn as much as we can about the district. So, we're going to uh reach out, send questionnaires to the uh maintenance team, to the principles, uh to administration, and collect as much information as we can about

029the buildings, uh the the sites, the properties, any issues that you may have experienced. Anything we can learn um upfront uh would be beneficial. Then we um obviously come out, we do with our integrated team of professionals um building assessment. So, we'll visit every site. Um, essentially without reading all of this, it's curb to curb, it's the building envelope, it's the roof, it's the building interior, it's the MEP systems, the infrastructure. We look at every component um to assess the conditions and record what we what we find. So, we talked about the um information we collect the surveys um as I mentioned any existing reports that you may have uh demographic information if that's something that we're uh we want to consider looking at um with you as well, any plans that you may have

030uh that we can utilize ultimately for our takeoffs when we identify what the needs are and we start to assign values to uh to the work. The other piece of this is developing um very important data. A comprehensive uh list of deficiencies is then developed as we analyze the conditions of the building. We then uh assign a cost to each one of those deficiencies. We look at the age, the life expectancy and uh that starts to form the database that we can utilize to fully assess the building conditions. And this document is just one of the many tools that we can use to convey uh what our findings are after we develop this list. So we can present this uh obviously to to you the board to administration uh and to whomever um you wish

031to share the information with. And you can see this is uh basically uh anything that is green is within its useful life expectancy. Um anything that's with within five years of of its end of its useful life is yellow. It's kind of that red, orange, yellow, green uh process. Um anything that's at um at its or expired kind of life expectancy is red. And you can see the age of the components listed within each box. It's just one of many ways to share with you a snapshot of the conditions of your facilities. So with that, um we develop what is the as the first step of developing a five-year plan for the district. And these are basically showing kind of warm, safe, dry issues that are identified within your district over a 10-year period. How

032those costs would shake out each year if you were to do every item that were identified. Obviously, no district can afford to do that. So, we take this information and then we begin to uh work with the district collaboratively to first of all, it's basically a direct replacement cost for each item that is identified. But if there are things that the district desires to do beyond that, we can incorporate that in the plan. Um any athletics or any um air conditioning or things that are above and beyond a system replacement could be incorporated in the plan. It's a 10-year plan, which is about half of the uh life cycle of most components in your building. Um so we're taking a real hard look at at the condition of your building um 10 years into the

033the age of those equipment. Then we begin to to build the plan um system by system and work closely with you to uh look at what your budget may be and how we can start to sort these out into um maybe combining projects. If if there's issues with ceilings and lighting and we know there's issues with hydronic piping above that might be a package. So, we start to talk about how we would incorporate this work together and develop an ultimate plan and assign values to that um year-over-year. Um it does also allow the district um to be proactive, right? Instead of being responsive to uh potential emergencies, it's a proactive approach u minimizing unplanned projects, emergency projects, and you know, unnecessary spikes in taxes over time because we haven't planned appropriately. So, we'd be really

034excited to assist you in developing a plan like this. Um, I want to turn it over to Mike so he can talk a little bit about how we actually develop the plan. >> Hi, good evening. Uh, Mike Spataphor with ICS. Very similar uh background to uh what Doug did with the exception of the facilities director. I stuck with construction management for for projects. So then this last slide that we're going to go through here, I'll give you a quick uh walk through the process. We think for your district, uh we could put a plan together within a 12week period. And I'll go through these real quick. I won't go through each individual item, but the first phase of this, the one through six, which is the data collecting. So that was the what Doug had

035mentioned about sending out surveys. We'll work to get um information back from uh head custodians and facilities department principles, everything that's known. We'll also talk with the administration about ideas or objectives that they have. Um sometimes security throughout the district needs to be brought up to be consistent all the way. So those are one of the things that we would pay more attention to when we were doing our surveys. Um, we would, um, collect all of the survey information. We would perform the site visits that Doug had mentioned throughout the buildings and we'll put them into our spreadsheets. We'll begin to assign values and costs to that. and that will will be done with you as the administration to kind of give us guidance as to where you want us to focus on whether it's

036purely a maintenance driven plan or if you have enrollment issues that need to be addressed those kind of things. The uh the second phase of this would be the refinement of so we're going to come back to you with a very rough draft of all the items that we've collected. We're going to start to assign costs to those and then we're going to start to break them apart. That is also the time where we'll work with the business department about what the funding strategies are going to be. Will this be something that is there's a cap on it every year. Do we go or or do we need to do bond for anything that's going to be in the plan? So that's one thing that's important to work into the plan is how is it

037going to get paid for? And then the last the last phase here um is the preparation of the final which based on the findings the parameters the conversations everything that we've talked about the funding strategies we will sort those into a five-year 10-year plan and that can be sorted by dollar amount by school by uh category like let's say paving. If all of your buildings are kind of at the end of their useful life for paving, we would do a district-wide paving project and try to save money on the economy of scale. So, those are some of the strategies that we incorporate into that plan. Um, I'm going to turn it back over to John to close it out and thank you for your time. >> Yeah. Uh, thanks so much, gentlemen. Um, I know

038that was a lot. We tried to be respectful of your time and ran through it. uh you know as I had mentioned earlier uh the planning services facility assessments uh the guidance kind of on the short term for facility related is just part part of we what we know you need as a district in general to maintain your buildings uh we do have that suite of expertise we're very happy to uh answer any of your questions I do want to point out that when we show those charts the red yellow orange green that's a simplification of things right there's a lot of hundreds of rows of information in that software that kind of bring you up to, you know, being able to say, "Hey, this system is 20 years old." Maybe some portions of it

039are and some point aren't, but it really highlights the areas that need more investigation, right? So, we're going to give you a bunch of bonafide facts. We're going to have those interviews with the staff, the questionnaires with the staff to really bring in the understanding that you can't read off a name plate. Understand that these are challenges that the district's seeing that maybe aren't as evident. It's always good to talk to the boots on the ground and and then finally, you know, you saw a big number on there that was a larger district necessarily, but no one ever looks at that final number at the bottom of that spreadsheet and says, "Hey, you know, where do I sign? Let me write you a check." So, it's always a matter of seeing what can be deferred,

040see what can be valued, see where the priorities lie. And that's where that warm, safe, dry comes in, right? if your roof's leaking, that's going to be a bigger priority than if your windows are 50 years old, even if they're a problem in and of themselves. So, it's that type of prioritization and that type of value engineering that kind of the experience the team has can really uh uniquely bring to the table. So, with that, we're glad to take your questions. >> I have several. >> Great. >> Um, my first question is, um, do you have have you have districts similar to our size? Uh because I saw you in a lot of districts, but Hazelton works very much much much larger than ours. So >> yeah, scale we have some districts that are in

041the you know 1,200 to 2,000. We certainly have the 8,000 to 10,000 so forth. Lower Morland would be a good um example of a district that's just a little bit smaller than this. They have one uh elementary school. They have a middle school. Um they have a high school that's new. They actually were planning on getting rid of one of their schools when uh when they built their new high school a couple years back and they had to keep it and that was where you saw some big numbers. You had this building you were going to retire. So uh very it's why those capacity and demographic studies could be very important especially on the smaller side for the smaller side school district. >> I'm looking at Yeah. the cost associated. Yeah. >> Yeah. Because you

042don't have as much room to kind of flex into different areas. So we're very familiar with that situation. We're also very familiar with situation where a district is getting an increased enrollment, an amazing increase in enrollment where they have to, you know, necessarily build new schools or find out what the real capacity of a building is and what they're what how the school's being used. So that capacity study is part and parcel to any good feasibility study. >> So second question is grant writing. Do you participate in the grant writing for these projects? >> Yeah, we certainly do. Uh the most prominent I guess that everybody's talking about right now is the the school facilities grant that PSFIG. Uh I think that we have about seven school districts right now that we're in the process

043of supporting through that. So as you know there's some technical things bidding information that you need to get. There's things that you have to do as a district on your side passing resolutions crafting letters and so forth. So, we've actually contracted with a a grant writing uh company to support our clients, you know, that that's uh folks that we're doing this type of services for to really cross the tees, dot the eyes, and then go advocate for those submissions, right? So, it's one thing to put this all together and make sure that it's all well done. hugely important incidentally because if you don't you're going to ask you questions and you know maybe you don't make those deadlines as time goes on but these folks are actually going to go ahead and lobby for our

044particular projects with the folks that are making those decisions at the DCED >> the um there there's two other companies that we've kind of uh or at least that I'm aware of that do this I don't know if they're similar to yours that's why I'm asking because this is all new to me right >> um site logic I know reached out to Mrs. Malazo to do a presentation. Is that a similar do they do a similar uh program as well as verbi is am I saying that right or vera >> uh bureau of veratas? >> No no no uh verb v e r e b y >> I don't know them necessarily uh certainly familiar with site logic. Site logic has uh you know their own reputation for doing uh similar performance contracting construction management

045uh services. >> So they doing are they parallel to what you're doing? Is it the same? Well, we wouldn't directly compare ourselves if you will, but uh you sense of the services. Okay. So, getting then the reason I'm asking that so the analysis that you would provide for the district would be a free like everything you're doing initially is a free analysis and then you come in and present that to us and then we hire you or are we paying for that analysis? >> No, that would be something we would have to give you a proposal for to do. >> So, you're not doing the analysis ahead of time? No, I mean what we would do typically on a on a risk basis would be more of what we call an opportunity assessment. It's not

046to this level. It's specifically focused on mechanicals and it's uh not as deep of a dive. Uh and there's not like a an access and ongoing support of that if you will for like capital planning and so forth. It's more of like hey these are you know some highlevel understandings of the mechanical systems in your building. uh not a feasibility report, more of an opportunity assessment. That would be something that we would undertake as an at risk, right? A feasibility study like this is, you know, many hundreds of man hours. It's not, you know, a couple folks coming up to buildings taking a quick look and so forth. It's a deeper dive. As I said, there's going to be uh you know, all sorts of capacity analysis, interviews with staff, questionnaires, a lot of interaction

047with the administration, fitting planning to budgets and so forth. So, it's it's a richer experience, if you will, >> and um you know, many folks uh find that beneficial, but the >> So, my last question to that then would be the cost. >> Yeah. So, we have I and I apologize I don't have that ready for you today. We were brought up here a little bit on short notice. I think we talked to Dr. Patty about this uh last week. So, I don't have that for you uh today, but I'd be happy to provide a proposal to you that you could take a look at and make some comparison for. >> That would be fantastic. >> Certainly. >> I just have a quick question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> You mentioned um doing surveys with our

048staff. >> Yes. Do you come in and do your own inspections in case they don't mention something or? >> Yeah, they're really to augment our site analysis, right? So, we're going to go in and go to the boiler room. We're going to be in a plant. We're going to take a look through a a typical classroom, right? It's not um like investment grade audit level. We're not going to go count lights, but we will go and look at a typical classroom, see what the lighting is, how the what the terminal units look like, see the general conditions of things, take a look into when the last renovations happen, talk to the principal about capacity, as I mentioned, talk to them about the site issues they may have. Hey, we really need a playground here, water

049gathers here, you know, when it when this happens, you know, we have these sort of constraints. Our common spaces are inadequate or there's no par. uh some things along those lines. So some of those things are very readily el evident. When you walk in, you walk into a into a mechanical room, you can s look at the boiler plate and see a lot of information about it. You can look at your energy bill, see a lot of information there, but you can't see always unless there's very diligent records. Uh you know, how often this is a maintenance nightmare in this particular room or for these particular sets of products. So, we want to go in and see what the problems are there that aren't evident to someone just coming through with a notepad and taking

050pictures and doing that type of analysis. >> And you would recommend anything that they maybe did not mention to you? >> Yeah, a thousand%. So, um, as I mentioned, a lot of experience in the room here with me, uh, running facilities and understanding them. So we're going to look at those systems as they were kind of laid out there and do that analysis, populate that software with row after row of not only bonafides but narratives, right? And then from there we can take that and do the scenarios where we say hey we have to match this to a budget, right? So then we go back and say well what are our options for valuing this? What is an option for deferment? What rises to the top by priority? not because of these understandings of the

051age, the relative understanding of the conditions of those things, but the priorities of the district and what the boots on the ground are telling us. So, um, yeah, it's definitely not we'll take your word for it. It's much more analytical than that. But you can't ignore either sides of that coin to have a full understanding of your facility needs. Could you talk a little more about the process you go through to analyze potential plumbing problems in particular sewer that's underground under building? >> Right. So, um, understanding that that would be an issue and giving an approximation of cost for some specialized, uh, like at that point, it probably would be beyond the scope of analysis to go in and scope a sewer line necessarily, but we would have the understanding of who that you could

052reach out to and maybe if it was significant project, who what the best path for that might be or companies that you might contact to do uh, a deep dive into a particular system. Right? So this is kind of not destructive testing. It's not uh analysis by taking things apart. It's more of an assessment of age and understanding of needs. And then if there were individual items that were more short-term that rose to the top, the team here is very familiar with how you find the answers to those in an economical and efficient manner. >> Please. >> So let me offer also. So part of this is just one of many services we provide. We're on retainer with many school districts. So, we are the um eyes and ears for the district. We're the day-to-day

053if there's an issue beyond what the maintenance team can handle. They will give us a call. We're on call for those clients and and we assist them in addressing whatever those issues are. Having this plan in place also allows us then um to your point. Um if there's a project that we want to move forward with, we we our team has that project documented and we can help you with the bid process. We manage that process. We award the bids. Uh we report costs to you. You obviously ultimately award the bid and then we manage the project for you. Those are typically summer projects, capital improvement type projects. But when we get it into that project and each one of those types of projects, we do our homework. So to your point, we we do

054u uh investigate any physical things that we need to investigate when we document a project to be sure. So we have this plan. we have what we believe to be the cost of the of the project. But then we confirm that because now instead of having hundreds and hundreds of line items in this capital plan, you're saying, "All right, let's focus on on this specific project." So we'll come out and we would for that project perform the camera work, make sure that the line is clear or it isn't clear. Is it an asbestous containing pipe? Do we have to have it tested by um an environmental consultant to make sure that before a contractor opens up a floor and identifies the pipe and realizes, oh, this is, you know, I sh I shouldn't touch this.

055I need someone to help. We want to make sure that we're avoiding those kind of issues. So, we do our homework up front and then we um manage the project. So, that is part of what we do as well. >> In the same lines, I'll keep you up there tailing uh Mr. Benz, um, in regards to I know with a lot of projects I've noticed in our district, we've had some change orders, things like that in the scope of it. So, if you guys are taking care of our bid process and the and and getting the scope of it, what if there I mean, will you manage that that that doesn't happen because it seems I feel like we seem to have change orders or is it just the nature of the beast that >>

056So, yeah. So, I there's no way I would ever stand up in front of you and say there won't be change orders on a project because there's just things that aren't they're unforeseen. Um, things happen. Part of what I'm saying about doing our homework helps minimize the number of unforeseen issues on a project. So, we like to do our homework if there's physical investigations that need to be performed. If we know we're going to punch through a wall and we're not sure what's behind the wall, we may as part of that planning say, "Hey, we'd like to bring a mason mason in, open a couple uh bricks or blocks, we want to see what condition is behind here so we know how to document this so we're not guessing how we're going to document a

057project." And then we'll have that wall restored and we can then document that project based on what we believe is actually happening, not what we think could be happening during construction. Um there are ways to uh minimize the impact of those costs to you and also timing to you. So we have strategies that we implement uh with unit pricing and other things in place. So, they're competitively bidding some of those things that could happen during construction and they competitively bid those unit prices with quantities so that we can then either uh utilize those during construction or get a credit back at the end. But they have to be mindful that they might actually have to use that unit price. So, they're they're competitively uh bidding that potential extra cost depending on what the project type

058is. Thank you. Well, uh, thank you again for your time. Uh, we'll work to get that proposal together and we'll be in contact. And thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Mr. Barrett, >> you're up. >> How are you? >> Good evening, everyone. Uh thing. Little irony when he was talking about the you know where this is going. He hired a uh a lobbyist consulting firm to take care of the grants for the statewide work that he's doing. We didn't know. We've only talked on the phone. So, I had no idea that that was him and he's the one we're the one that he hired. So, um it's a little irony here tonight, but um my name is Nathan Bareric. Uh I am educational consult and educ consult. We

059also house Total Grand Services. Um I really appreciate the opportunity tonight to come up and talk about our service. As you hear, we do have a little niche business that helps educational institutions. Uh we have 48 school districts across the Commonwealth. um seven out of Lazernne County itself. We do the educational consulting for and uh grants are broken up into four separate cycles throughout the course of the year. Um what I do is I analyze school district needs. I'd meet with the superintendent, director of facilities or wherever the design is and um analyze what those prescriptive needs are of the district and robust database that we have for grants. It's not just limited to the basic ones that you hear from a federal standpoint or a state standpoint. There's philanthropic, there are community, county, so

060on and so forth. A depth of uh opportunities, financial opportunities for districts is something that we have access to. It's like anything else that people do, if you do it every day, you you you find a way to get those needs met. Um so, but the grant writing isn't the only part. Uh half the reason why ICS hired us is because as he said the back end of my business is I'm the lobbyist uh for your applications. As most people know that districts can't hire a lobbyist themselves, but we hire total grant services on their lobbyist. They head down to Harrisburg and network your application in any of the 16 agencies at the capital to make sure that the right eyes get on it. And while we're writing that narrative, we exclaim the need for

061that particular district and kind of tailor make it to the criteria of the demands in the grant. So, um, maximizes success. Um, some of the opportunities that have been recent was last month there was a Commonwealth Financial Authority meeting and we were six for six on awards. Um, a lot of times when I'm making these presentations, I made one last night in Perry County. People ask me, "What's your success rate?" I can't break it down into success rate because I'll give an example is Pittston area school district. We asked for $1.2 million in last school facilities improvement. We got 943,000. So it's not a,000% but we had an award. The district walked away with money that wasn't on the backs of taxpayers and I contin continually grind that out for districts. We have a team

062of authors uh all educationalbased. Most of my authors that work in the firm, they're uh doctors in education, so they're very familiar. They're at the executive level um of of districts. So, understanding what you're trying to do when you're trying to piece a budget together and then um it becomes easy. The language is easy for us. When we meet with a um superintendent or a designate, we can get right to work. There's no uptick. There's nothing that we need to know. and we could probably from the years of service doing this uh be able to spring right into action and most of my team when we getting off a meeting the initial intake meeting is um we brainstorm afterwards and we usually have about three or four remedies for each of the needs of the

063district. So um that's it in a nutshell. Uh again on the back end, what sets us apart from any other grant writing firm is the backend lobbying that does create um a pretty good formula for success. >> I'll ask the same question. What's the cost of the district? >> $2,000 a month. Okay. Uh the lowest return of investment was 10 times what they had invested. So uh we're $24,000 a year. The lowest that we had in 2025 was $250,000. That's public record. That's money that's spent. You can But you give your references. >> You don't offer like a refund if we don't get any grants. >> We we we would have to sit down and we would have to refigure out what I'm doing wrong. But um right now, uh the formula is working. So,

064um I hope I never have that conversation with any of you and I don't plan to. But, um I I certainly have found a formula to bird dog some money for you. No other questions. >> I have some literature. I don't know how you felt about paper, but I could leave that with Superintendent. >> Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. >> Good night. Okay. Um, public testimony on agenda. Our public guests are reminded that the public testimony is limited to three minutes. Any person providing testimony to the board during a meeting should state their name, spell their last name, and add their municipality. If speaking for an organization, the name and identity of the organization. Good evening. Happy new year. Um, I would like just to add a comment to this. I know it's

065not a public agenda item because of the gentleman who just left. Just remember he talked about the grants last year from public school facility grants. Everybody who applied last year got money. So, just keep that in mind. Um, it was supposed to be a competitive grant, but everybody got money last year who applied in the state, including Crestwood, if I'm not mistaken. So, so to keep that in mind. Some of the people that do that also work on a percentage basis. If you get if they do the grants for you, they get a percentage of certain things instead of a flat fee. So, something to keep your mind and think about. Um, I would like to talk about finance. Uh, the two item two and three. Can anybody just tell me what is Commonwealth Associates

066LCC LLC? What is that? >> Natasha, can you remember Mr. Molazo? Can you take that? >> Sure. Um, so it's an independent uh evaluation. >> Oh, so that was an an IE done for somebody for through that organiz organization. Okay. Got it. Got it. So that's part of the consent agreement that you're doing with a stu a particular student. Got it. Um, ju just, you know, in reality, anybody who's been in education knows that no district's immune to special education due process complaints. You know, in this district particular, you had a lot of changeover in central office and those types of things. I think Miss Malazo, you're like the fifth superintendent in the last 10 years. Um Tom, you may be third or fourth business manager in the last 10 years. I think you've gone

067through five. I think you're on your fifth special education director and one of them I think was unqualified or certified for it. And then also in the meantime when you're trying to find somebody, I think Mr. Gorm stepped in in those in those cases to try and keep things together. So with all that changes, you know, and and the questions that came up. I saw the no newspaper article and the questions that you asked the other night made me start thinking about questions. So what is the special education council used in in Crestwood right now? Who supports that one or you have a due process complaint? King Spry, Sweet Tucker, Stevens, bless you, >> Levine or Lavine. Leavine, I know I was saying. >> Yeah, Lavine. Okay. Um, what was Jack's role as a special

068education in in special education due process litigation if anything or or help to resolve and mitigate it out when he was here? Uh, we we had a separate uh delineation from um district solicitor was separate from special education. So, we've always had at least since I've been here uh a separate lawyer for special education. >> Okay. So, Jack had no involvement is what I'm hearing you say. I would say no, but like very minor if >> I thought I heard Tommy in the other night in the worksh you talked about when the the fees that were paid for the attorneys that the numbers that you were giving that you were giving to the public that that that included the um claimants attorneys and Jack's fees. >> Excuse me. Uh the numbers I reported were total

069legal fees which would have included Jacks, but then I also broke out specialed legal fees. >> Oh, so so the total fees included Jacks in there. >> Correct. Okay. Cuz I was going to ask you what there's also an increase in just the attorney fees over the last four years that you gave. What what particular is causing that? Have you done any analysis on that? >> Um Chris, am I I don't know if I could take that. >> Just so you know, we did not >> direct litigation. I guess I could say some things that I know are public that there were um >> there were certain grievances filed related to furlows that required legal support. Um, there are other non-related special ed uh things that were filed that that drove up costs as well.

070I can't get into any detail, nor do I know all the details. >> That's fine. That's fine. That's enough. I appreciate it. Um, so with that being said, though, as I went back and looked at agenda items in the last two and a half years, I only went back two and a half years, meaning half of this year and the other two two years. I believe I found seven due process complaints that were settled here in 2023 24, a high of 13 in 2425. And this year I think including the two tonight if you approve those would be seven. Um and I and Nancy you were asking a lot about questions about you know have you done any analysis of these types of things. So that would make me question those types of things too.

071So, um, when when that the special ed complaint comes in, who is it that usually reviews that and goes through that process? Because we've had such a transis transition in this district, who goes through that, looks at that, and analyzes what the actual complaint is from the the the complaintant's attorney. Um so the the complaint comes in um our special education um supervisor um notifies me or depending it could be like this year we have the assistant to superintendent we go through that process together and then works directly with uh Levine our special ed lawyer. >> Okay. So, so obviously the special ed lawyer has conversation back with the complaintant's lawyer and they look at doing an analysis. I'm assuming the special ed attorney for the school district does an analysis on risk of taking

072it to actually a due process hearing or not. So through that risk analysis that I'm you're shaking your head so I'm saying that's yes. So through that risk analysis, have you been able to find out what seems to be some of the triggers or components of each litigation that may be common threads that go through those analysis of of those different uh due process complaints? You don't have to go into a lot of detail because we may be confidential and I understand that. But has that been done and and are you seeing common threads? >> So um Miss McCertie had mentioned that the administration is really doing a deep dive right now on analysis. So at this time I I don't want to say anything that's not correct. So I just need I'd have to

073get back to you on that. >> Right. So but I I >> and I'll just jump in here. I just in uh defense of Miss Malazo based on the discussion we had the at the work session we have now moving forward having an an actual work session and I provided an agenda that they will provide. I think a lot of these questions you're asking a lot of the analysis will be done in projection for that. So we are like we should have more answers coming forward but unfortunately we don't have them now but once we get all those and I think the team is going to work on doing a full deep dive of of what you're talking about actually analyzing where the problems are and what are the strategies to move forward >> some

074of the common threads I've seen in some of my review back of agenda items I seen that you had agreements that go with news story news usually has students with autism special needs and students with autism or ES students you had keystone behavior health that again is another placement dealing with students with autism. Uh Gregory Center, another placement dealing with students with a autism. You know, you had I know you had an agreement with Cara Car Cara Smitten. That's an independent evaluation. I know who she is. So, I know I know who that is and those type of things have. So, so right there in three of the ones that I did over the past years that looks like placement options and dealing with different things or dealing with students with autism that that low

075incidence population of students with autism. And it's a very sensitive need group of parents that have that. Yeah. and and the parents are are very obviously looking out for the needs and best interests of their kids. So I think that's probably at least one of the places you need to start looking at in those low incidence populations. What is it? And you go back and look at all the complaints that were settled and do that depending on the attorney representing the district. Some attorneys when when the complaint comes out will give you back then information on why you need to settle it and why they believe you need to settle it and and then they'll tell you what the weaknesses are in the district. That should have been read by someone done know that. Okay.

076Someone in the district should have read that before it went to the board level to get approved and you could have had that initial information and used that information. Okay. Some special ed attorneys if it actually goes to dual process hearing, we'll do a three-year look back. They'll say, "We want all the documents on that kid for three years and then here's why we think it should settle." And then obviously you have information there that goes and and you can use that to help you analyze what is it you're doing wrong and provide professional development then in the meantime to help support those types of things. Another question I had that came up and I you know it just was the the amount of a uh placement I got to find it. Here it is.

077In July 2023, we had a agreement settled with a a student ID number so and so the cost of $142,454.39 for the wood program. Where's the wood program? I'm not familiar with that. What is the wood program? >> I'd have to look at that. I believe I know which one it is, but I I don't want to misspe >> now. The I did re I did research a wood program and I found it in Langghorn. >> I don't want to misspeak where to start. So if that's out of Langghorn, was that for residential placement then? >> I'm not I'm not 100% sure, but that is my recollection. >> Okay. So So So those are some of the things that would be concerning to me, you know, where we're having placements of somebody who's for $150,000

078approximately for a student for a year to educate them. So we need to fix whatever it is that we have going on here. We had one agreement that was 92,500 over a two-year period for a student, but it didn't know what specific program it was. It was said it was over a two-year period and and one of the things I heard I believe Tommy you said in the in the other night was that sometimes the the m and again I may not have the exact words the money went to the claim it do we know that that's ever happened >> that was not special ed >> okay so this one is not special ed then that you're talking about the two years over the two years >> I don't know about that one but my

079comment last week when I or that I made when I was looking at the costs over the last couple The ones that were made to claimants were not special ed. >> Okay. So, we've paid money to parents for other issues in dealing with >> I didn't I didn't say parents. >> Okay. >> We we were looking at legal costs. Yeah. >> Overall, so a lot of the information you saw was blended between special ed and just general legal, >> right? Yeah. And I'm just I'm just talking about this one agenda item in July 2023 that I'm sorry it was in February 2023 where it was 92,500 paid over two years to a student and they had the numbers on it again. So that had to be special ed because you had identified it as a

080000 numbers I'm thinking. So I was just trying to figure out what was that that you had a two-year o owing of pay of a claim over a two-year period. It had to be probably a program that you placed a student in. So again, those are things that you already know. You already have documents there. you should have been doing a legal d uh dive in that already beforehand. And here's one of the things I found interesting in the comments the other day and I maybe I misheard it because um I thought I heard Tom, you say that over the past three years, you've kind of highlighted the increase of these special education costs. Did I hear that accurately? Okay. And and I think Natasha, I heard you say that you're aware of all the

081complaints that come in the district, but you you that that what was said by Tommy the other night was the first time was kind of on your radar. That's my words, not yours. Would that be accurate? >> A radar as >> meaning that the the increase in those fees was first time you kind of were hearing about it at the work session the other week, last week. >> So, we did not ever put this kind of analysis together. So, at that time, yes, this, you know, he put it together in December and we're all looking at it right now. But I have never asked Mr. Benz to trend or myself to trend or do an analysis. No. I don't think that's my point. My point is that you two work in the same office. Business,

082you used to be the business manager, >> superintendent, and and I'm not sure if the conversations are happening there. That should be happening. Or if they are, someone's not paying close enough attention. If I had that many dis due process complaints come across the table, I would be thinking that I need to start looking at I if I read them all and looked at them all and heard and knew that they were coming somewhere I'd start be looking at what's what's the problem. We have a problem here. Now, I get it. There's a lot of transiency that's happened in those key positions. But the consistency that we've had has been your leadership at as superintendent over the last four years. So that I I'm gonna I'm gonna put it sometimes I'm be I'm difficult to

083hear I that I'm putting that back on you because because you you you knew they were there. You you sat in every meeting and listened to them. Hopefully you read all of them and what they what the outcome was of that and and there had to be red flags. I only did a two-year look two and a half year look back. You did more than that in your your analysis of of data of the the fees. So I didn't do any further. I would have went back to far as yours. I'm sure I could have found more, but I chose not to. So, I think there's a lot of things that you can look in. One of the things is breaking down relationships of pe of your of the the parents. If they lose confidence

084in you, you know, it's going to be it's you're going to you're a lost cause. You lost cause and you had a lot of transition that they may cause some of that loss of confidence. So, that's one thing. Obviously, you have a lot of due process complaints to go back that you could have looked at and probably should have looked at before now and to see what the areas are and what those concerns were, but you have a lot of work ahead of you. I wish you luck. Um, and and I appreciate you taking the time to listen to me. Thank you. >> Thank you for the discussion. There's no more public testimony on agenda items. Um before we move into committee reports, I'd like to invite um the case group. You had some things

085you'd like to present to us. Please do. Yeah. Just hit the button on the mic there. Thank you. >> It's green, so I think it's still on. Is it on? Okay. I'll try to stick my three minutes. Okay. First of all, I'd like to wish everybody here happy anniversary. So, CASE is this spring for 2026 celebrating its 30y year anniversary and it was started by the school board 30 years ago. So, may not have been you, but still school board. So, congratulations on 30 years. Um so I will introduce Linda the case coordinator and another um uh case uh coach u Michael Swick but I'm going to talk about just the review of 2025 the fall session. So we do fall and uh spring and fall and everybody has the revenue and expense in front

086of you I think. Um so my name is Denise Weiss Wis. um listed as the registar and we had a fairly good fall season. We usually tend to do much better in the spring. People don't like to drive in the bad weather. They don't like to drive in the dark. So, typically our our spring sessions are better. And this actually is evident here. Our fall session, we had 194 total registered students. We had a total um course uh roster of 22 and that's uh the ones that were not canceled. So we started out with more but we had to cancel for low registration. So we had a successful roster of 22. I thought that was pretty good. Um you can see that there there is a loss for fall um of $117, but in there

087it should be accounted that the state farm insurance premium went up $165 from 2024 and it wasn't anything that we did personally. So the way it is is we're a club and we're in this big massive group and there was a cost increase had nothing to do with Crestwood or case. So we did get hit with that. That was $165 extra. And the left side is all of the expenditures that the Crestwood area school district actually pays out to keep Case running. Um and the goal of CASE is always to make it self- sustaining with just a little bit of extra profit. and we're pretty much on track. The other thing that caused the loss this semester is it was our first ever semester where we had online payment. It was a pretty big success.

088We had 60% of all the registered students pay online and then 40% was cash and check whereas previously it was 100% cash and check and all those checks had to be processed by uh someone in the administrative office. So it's cut the workload down for the administrative office because you don't have to process 194 checks which is a big bonus I think. Um so 60% in online payment. Um, but again, we have to pay for that service. So, that was $157. But down at the very bottom, you can see that because we did so well in spring for the year, we're still at a total net gain of $1,666. So, it's basically in line with the direction of case where you want to be. It's self- sustaining. Um, and the only thing I would like

089to do is say is I'm very proud to be part of it. Linda and I work very very hard all year. We're already working on fall. We didn't even start spring yet. The brochure is not out and we're already starting on fall and I'll let Linda talk about that. Um, but do you have any questions about the revenue and expense or the online payments or anything else? Okay. I'd like to introduce Linda Keiesel. She's the coordinator and she's going to talk to you a little bit about what we have planned for spring 2026. Hello. Um, my name is Linda Kiesel. It's Kie Lel. Um, just wanted to thank everybody um through the past 30 years for for having case. Um, we hope to have another 30 years. um wanted to just go through one of

090the things the questions that we had is whether one of the um one of our case team one of our case uh case team members had suggested uh can we do anything with um NEP or WBRE to have case be advertised? Is that something that you would permit? Um I would I can only speak for myself which I guess is beyond on behalf of the district. I have no problem with um having WBRE WNP here. The only thing I would ask if it's planned if you could just let us know um and I would assume it would be after school hours. >> Oh no, not be present. Just have our um >> the events advertised. >> Yes, absolutely. Oh yeah, like to do a piece like a Yes, absolutely. >> Yep. Yep. Absolutely. And if

091if you need to use the district for that piece, just let me know and we'll uh we'll accommodate you. >> Okay. And I guess one other thing that we had questioned which I think Denise put in her email was whether or not in in celebration of 30 years whether or not we could give um two credits case credits to two students. One for online registration and one for paper registration. That would be a total of $60. >> Yes, that would be fine. I would just notate it on your P&L then. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And I guess um the other thing, this is just something I I wrote up real quickly. Um as we celebrate 30 years, we hope that we've been able to continue the vision that Elellanar Nash who who started case um

092had when the case program was developed and that she would improve uh excuse me, approve of the improvements that we've made in the registration and payment process. the mission remains the same for case and um to offer learning opportunities to promote the interests and needs of the community. Um, the other thing is Denise is going to be sending out u a survey to all of the students uh the case students particularly over the past fall and >> emails. >> I'm sorry. >> With emails, >> the ones with emails. Yes. Um and asking for some feedback um as well as any recommendations for for classes. And I will put this out to the board that we're always looking for additional um instructors and if anybody has any recommendations um they can always contact me. The brochures

093are around. Natasha has the information and we we welcome any feedback and suggestions. So thank you. And we'd also like to introduce Michael who's one of our newest coaches and he is also um a pro bono instructor of which we have 11 proono instructors for the spring. So thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Michael Swick. That's S SWICK. Um I'm was a I've only lived in this area for uh two and a half years now. Um, and this was like my first kind of foray into uh a social life and seeing what this area has to offer. Um, and it's been wonderful. And so, so much so that uh last semester I taught a class about barbecuing. Um, this come upcoming semester I'm going to be doing uh two separate classes as well

094as uh being one of the coaches for basketball. Um, if you look and see at your um little thing, basketball actually accounts for almost half of the revenue for Case. Um it's been a successful program. Um one of the gentlemen who's been has been doing it since basically the inception in in the 90s still here in his 60s. I don't know how he does it. He plays basketball seven days a week and is a a walking miracle really. Um um but unfortunately with that age we're trying to get more younger people into it. the other night um Denise came in and looked around and you know we had and you know the average age has gone from you know high 30s to like low 20s now because we have so many people we have a

095lot of Crestwood alum that are playing um which brings me into my second thing is um in one of the ways that we've been generating revenue is offering a halfp price discount um halfway through the semester um this has been because a lot of times people can't do it for one reason or the other for instance we have one student who is an alumni whose name is literally hanging in the basketball uh gym, Chris Facini. He uh he had a baby which was wonderful, but as you can imagine, took some time off and then, you know, things stabilized and then came back for half off because and just offering that half off uh raised almost an additional $300 for the the program just by doing it. Um I know also she was saying with the

096square that 60% of people paid with Square. Uh with basketball, it's actually kind of the opposite. Mo most people paid cash or check. Um and the reason for that is is twofold. Number one, almost everyone who plays is a former player has been playing and so they just kind of show up and on the first day and just like, "Oh yeah, here's here's the money here. Here we go." And then secondly, the other way that the way that we get new players is like I play in another league and sometimes I'm playing with someone, they're looking for a game like, "Well, hey, come up to, you know, Crestwood on Monday or Thursday." and they just kind of show up with money and we get them registered and to go right there and then. So, um

097like I said, we're continuing to build this out. Uh we'd also like to thank uh the school board, but also the the janitors and custodian staff because they're really the ones that make it possible for us. Um and they're really uh really responsive to us. They help us out a lot. Um some of us even have their numbers. They text us to let us know like, "Hey, there's this going on or that going on, so we can use the middle school or the high school or whichever one, you know." Um, so I just wanted to get that on the record too, how how supportive the staff here has been and how much we really appreciate that. Um, other than that, we like I said, I just wanted to um let you guys know what's going

098on with basketball and we hope to continue to provide that this, you know, degree of revenue in the future. >> Thank you. >> Happy anniversary. Hitting middle age. Hope things don't start falling apart, right? God bless Simon Bens Bzinski for all those years. >> Okay, we'll be moving into committee meetings. Financial planning. Mr. Gallagher. >> Good evening. I'll be uh seeking a motion for approval for these following seven items. I'm going to run through them here. Uh the first is just uh the check run and and paying the bills and ratification of check numbers uh 9159 uh 9218 to 9272 uh in previous discussion and executive session. I'd also like to add check 9217 to that. Uh this also includes the transfer of 3.6 6 million uh from people's security to bank general fund and

099check numbers to include uh 9273 to 9347. Can I have a motion to approve that? >> Are you going to open up for discussion? Is that >> Yeah. Have questions? >> I don't know. Is that how it works? >> I because I have a couple questions. That's the reason why. >> Okay. >> Um and I not for you, Sean. I'm hoping Tommy or can be answered. Um, there was I just went through a couple of the items I had questions on. Um, Wyoming Valley Children's Association. Is there a reason? I'm not sure why we because I thought that was through early intervention. >> I'm sorry. >> Wyoming Valley Children's Association. We paid them uh $7,000. And are they I thought Wyoming Valley Children's Association was through the early intervention program. So, we would that would

100be through MAWA, you know what I mean? Not through our district. >> Do you want to go to the next one? >> Okay. Um uh then I had Lancaster Lebanon. We were paid them. >> That one I can answer. Yeah. Um we buy our Microsoft licenses for the laptops that administrators use that run on Windows through a consortium that's managed by um the the LU and Lancaster Lebanon as well as uh various servers for different systems that require Windows. We get it cheaper buying it through them than buying direct. >> Fantastic. Okay. And that number's been going down too because we've been moving away from Microsoft, but we still have >> um I also um I had some questions regarding I did see there was a lot of special ed costs being paid through is

101that a regular occurrence how that does it like a monthly thing we're paying to special ed because I saw like Graham Academy was 47, Newtory was 38, um LU was 52. Is that like how it works? Is it like a monthly or do we pay it quarterly? How does the numbers work there? >> I'm sorry. >> They appear on the agenda as the incidents come through and then as far as payment goes, we get an invoice and you know, we have we have a little bit of backlog right now, but when we get to it, then you know, we get it. >> So, we'll include that in the analysis that we're doing. >> Yeah. Special ed so I can understand it better. >> It's not like you're going to get a, you know, a bunch

102in January and a bunch in July and nothing in between. It's throughout the year. >> It's throughout the year. Okay. >> Yes. What was the name of the one that you wanted me to look up? I'm sorry. >> Wyoming Valley Children's Association. And you could pay it, but just get back to me on it because I only I only got to look at this today. I apologize because I was going through the check that now. >> Yeah. And then the last question I I just also want to note, I did see Levin was >> almost $19,000. So that would be paid in regards to anything related to special ed. >> Correct. >> And again, how often are we paying live in? >> It's the same thing. It's always rolling. Okay. Yeah. >> All right. Thank

103you. have to be like a couple months for >> that's what I was wondering. Do we pay him like he puts a couple months together? But again, you'll get me an analysis for this school year. >> When you see a check for any particular vendor, whether it's legal or not, if there's multiple invoices from that vendor that's on one check, you'll just see that one check. >> Sorry, I'm new to all this. I apologize. I'm trying to learn the system. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Any questions from the public on that one? >> Okay. Seek a motion motion to approve item one. I'll make the motion. >> Well, I don't want to I want to I don't want to approve one through seven. I want to explain them. Is that okay? That works. Like

104to get a little better understanding of it. Yeah. >> Second. >> You get a second for that. >> Second. >> Okay. >> All in favor? I >> I >> opposed. Okay. Uh I'm going to put two and three together since they're related to this the the uh same situation. Uh we had discussed this in executive session. I'm recommen seeking a motion to recommend the approval for the agreement with student 111555 for this school year and uh consider and seeking a motion to approve the uh agreement with communication associates for the same student in this school year. Any questions about that? Okay. Can I seek a motion for that >> motion? Second. >> All in favor? >> I I >> I'm sorry. Excuse me. Um was there I'm sorry. Maybe I missed something. Are you um

105you removing those? Is that what? >> No. >> Okay. You are you're making a single motion to approve them? >> Yeah. Um procedurally we should be going through the agenda in >> committee and then >> we can add >> toate because They're adding on. >> Yeah. So the motion >> add for an item that's not on the agenda already number >> if you're adding a motion to add it on. Yes. >> And then and then you'll vote on it. >> Yeah. >> The vote but the vote for that will happen when we after we go through all the committees. So, um, so we're introducing, uh, each committee will be introducing the items, but the vote on them will come after they've all been introduced. Okay. >> Does that make sense? >> So, you explain them

106and then >> Okay. Sure. >> And take questions. Yeah. >> But go back and do that one for the check right now. >> Okay. So, so I'd like to a motion to add the approval of check 9217 to add that >> motion. Second. >> So, do we have to roll call that >> public comment on that particular >> is there any comment on okay >> Mrs. Bibla? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chaitor Zagoric? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mr. Gallagher. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGovern Copcho. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romanian. >> Yes. >> Mr. Namy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stiski. >> Yes. >> Mr. Patt Mr. Patty. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. McCertie. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Okay. So then we'll just move to I'm seeking approval through items one through seven financial committee. I

107have a motion. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Okay. And you roll call. >> Yep. Mrs. Bibla. >> Yes. Mrs. Tytor Zaguric. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallagher. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGovern Copcho. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romanian. >> Yes. >> Mr. Namy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Seitzki. >> Yes. >> Mr. Patty. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. McCertie. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Transportation committee. Mr. Patty. Uh, I need a motion to recommend transportation committee number one. You'll see a recommended consideration approval updated driver's list for 2025. Can I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Mr. Gallagher. Second >> second. >> Mr. Permission. All those in favor? >> I thank you. >> Do we >> So we have to have a a work session first, correct? like open up for public and then we we can

108have the voting session. So, first we're going to do um public comment on transportation. >> I don't think >> it's a procedural. Yeah. I think >> yeah I think >> right >> so we will >> we will take >> announce a voting session >> can I make a suggestion >> so the suggestion is going to be to change our format a little bit >> love that >> um my suggestion moving forward is how was this this is advertised as a voting meeting. Correct. >> Right. I know what we've done in the past and I've made this suggestion to the previous board um but I'm going to make it to you all as well and you can either consider it or reject it. My suggestion is that we keep public comment first. Obviously that needs to

109be first. List all of your voting items. I don't think you need to present them and then take questions during if you've taken questions at the outset of the meeting. Right? So have public comment at the front of the meeting on all items on the agenda. Make sure the public knows that we we're switching the format a bit. So now is the time to come up and speak to any item that they wish to speak to at that time. And then when you move into your meeting, you're going to just simply present and vote and move on. Present and vote and move on. So when but but Chris or Mr. Sleser if you're adding something then when would be the opportunity for people to ask questions for that >> you would if if you're adding

110like we just did >> you make the motion to add to the agenda if that is supported and voted and it's favorable then you would take a moment the president would take a moment and pause and say this is a new item are there questions on this particular item before we vote on it. Does everybody like that? >> I I guess the only question Anna made a good point that um like for instance I didn't have I didn't know those financial questions. So if you're doing that in the beginning then I can't ask then I >> you she can ask any questions anytime. >> Sure. >> Okay. You're talking public. >> The board can ask questions anytime it likes. >> It would only be the public time >> would be limited to the to the

111block. >> So what if like the public has a question as a followup to something we've asked then? You always h the president always has an ability to open the floor if they want. >> It just Well, >> just knowing how I have approached >> the the podium. >> That's our new >> is everybody okay with that? >> That's just my question. >> Yes. >> Ju just as a matter of background. Um the reason we had the public work session and then the voting session is because for many years there was no work session the week earlier like there is now. So that was in lie of what we did last week. So frankly when that got implemented I thought that this work session was going to go away but it never did for years

112and we've continued it. That's where that's the genesis of it. Understood. >> Is it common practice for it to go away? >> It's common it's common practice to have >> that we come in here and we vote. >> You've got committee meetings. >> Yep. Every school district I've been involved >> and there's no work session. The committee meetings are your work session really. And again, it'll just streamline. >> There's a lot of redundancy, I think, in our current process. >> What? Agreed. >> And if the person comes up, for example, on agenda item 52 at the beginning, they can speak on wait till then. Then we have all their information before we vote on all the agenda items. >> That way, we can make a conscious vote. I got to tell you, >> as long

113as we're open to the public recommenting if we need to, that's the only thing I would want to caution us on that we are being cognizant if there's something being said like I just did during that we could have the public comment on that too. >> Yeah. >> So, we could start that right now. >> Are there questions on the new process? >> Not on the new process. You have another question. >> I just wanted to congratulate Kay Robbins on her service to the district as a school bus driver, her retirement after over 50 years. >> That's pretty amazing. Congratulations. >> Now we're at policy. >> We will move to policy. Mrs. Romanition. Um there are no items on the agenda, so we just keep moving. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Human resources. Mrs.

114McGovern Copcho, >> we're doing it the new way. Yes. >> Okay. I make a motion to approve items one through six. I so move. Is that right? >> You have to add seven. >> Add seven first. >> That seven. Can you help me out with that one? >> You could add that. >> Yes. >> The HR or the harvest. >> The motion add to the agenda. the um a non-disclosure agreement with Harvest >> NDA agreement with Harvest. Um Harvest is an entity that the district is considering uh working with with regard to uh human resources related uh services and consulting. The NDA is not a binding agreement with regard it doesn't it doesn't uh there's no cost attached to the NDA. It's simply a non-disclosure agreement that's necessary to provide information to Harvest uh before

115the district is to consider any any potential work with this entity. >> Thank you. >> And uh in executive session, we did meet with Harvest previous to this meeting. Um we had a long discussion about some needs of the district and um so that's what this NDA is reard is in regards to. So, um, if we'd like to add that as a motion, um, we will make a motion to add that. >> Yes. And the motion would be to authorize the president to execute the NDA. >> Motion second. >> Yes. >> Oh, no. All in favor? >> There's no money. It's okay. >> Yeah. I >> I >> Any opposed? All right. Now we can move on to voting for >> I make a motion to approve items 1 through seven. >> Motion. >> Second.

116>> Mr. Gallagher. >> Either one. >> We're harmonizing. I know >> raise your hand guys are throwing me off just sorry >> Mrs. Bibla >> yes >> Mrs. Tytor Zigur >> yes >> Mr. Gallagher >> yes >> Mrs. McGovern Copcho >> yes >> Mrs. Romanition >> yes >> Mr. Namy >> yes >> Mrs. Skaviski >> yes >> Mr. Patty >> yes >> and Mrs. McCertie. >> Yes. >> Motion carry. >> Before you move on to academic, uh, >> no. >> I just want to, um, congratulate Miss Brogna on her retirement. Um, she's been here for 20 years, amazing educator, huge loss to our district, but I do wish her well. And as I say, every time we have a retirement, we're always looking for subs. So, you're always welcome back. And again, thank you for

117your time here, all of your hard work, and your passion with our students. So, congratulations, Miss Broman. Thank you. And I second that academic programs committee. Mr. Stitzki, >> I make a motion to approve items one through five. I so move. Can I get a motion? >> Second. Thank you. >> Mrs. Bibla, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chaitoric, >> yes. >> Mr. Gallagher, >> yes. >> Mrs. McGovern Copcho, >> yes. >> Mrs. Romanition, >> yes. >> Mr. Namy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Skaviski, >> yes. >> Mr. Patty, >> yes. >> And Mrs. McCertie, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Co-curricular, Mr. Namy. Thank you, Madam President. Uh we'll be seeking a approval and a motion for items number one A through G as well as items number 2 through 8. Uh prior to any motion, uh

118I'd just like to make a public comment regarding uh if you take a look at our point number three, recommended consideration for the approval of free entry for our Crestwood staff. uh publicly like to thank Miss Jill McGovern Cupshow. She was the original author for that and that certainly does not originate from my original chair. Thank you, Miss McGovern. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. With that said, I'll be seeking a motion >> for those second. >> Mrs. Bibla, >> yes. >> Mrs. Chaittori, >> yes. Mr. Gallagher. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGovern Copcha. >> Yes. To 1 A. I have to recuse myself for B and then yes from 1 C through G and the remaining numbers. >> Mrs. Romanition. >> Yes. >> Mr. Namy. >> Uh yes. However, I will recuse myself from number

119four, the recommended services by True Green. Uh, Mr. Skaviski, >> yes. >> Mr. Patty, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCertie, >> yes. Motion carried. >> Physical plant and construction committee. Mrs. Reminician. >> Um, I am making a motion to table item number one until I do a full review of the project. So, can I have a motion? >> Motion >> and a second. >> Second. >> Do we need a roll call, Chris, or >> Yes. >> roll. Okay. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chait auric. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallagher. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGyvern Copcho. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romanition. >> Yes. >> Mr. Namy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Skavitzky. >> Yes. >> Mr. Patty. >> Yes. >> Mrs. McGovern. Um, McCertie, sorry. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Technology Committee, Mrs. Chad Zagaric. I'm

120going to make a motion and seek a second for item number one. >> I'll make the motion. >> Second. >> Mrs. Bibla. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Chaitito Zaguric. >> Yes. >> Mr. Gallagher. >> Yes. Mrs. McGovern Copo. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Romanition. >> Yes. >> Mr. Namy, >> yes. >> Mr. Skaviski, >> yes. >> Mr. Patty, >> yes. >> Mrs. McCertie, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Behavioral intervention health and safety committee. Mrs. Bibla, >> no report. >> Thank you. Uh, intermediate unit 18. >> Mr. Amy, >> we have no report at this time. However, the meeting has been scheduled and we will give you a report at that time. >> Very good. Thank you. Best of luck on that. >> Thank you. >> Uh Wilsbury Area Career and Technical Center. Um Mrs. Chaders Gar,

121would you like to take that? >> Uh the minutes are on file in the superintendent's office and on the district website. And the next meeting is on Monday, January 26. So we'll have more information after that. Thank you. Um, >> did we have to go back and vote on your stuff? >> We did. >> Is there anything else? Any other business we may have forgotten or done wrong? >> I'm sorry. I'm asking a question from an experienced person on the board. >> Do you want us Do you want to >> No, there's no public test. I just on the on the next date, I don't know if I say it now. I cannot be available on the February 19th because I'm at a a show in Florida for our business. So, I don't know if

122you want to if we can just continue with that without me or do you reschedule? I don't know how that works. If a board member can't attend the board meeting, >> uh, generally we do not reschedule um board meetings. Uh, that's fine. I mean that's just I want to make it aware because I didn't know the protocols just that I will not be able to attend that meeting. I'll be out of town. Yeah. >> I don't know. Is that something that is often done with boards? >> I mean typically and not if it's one member but it's up to it's the board's prerogative what every board wants to do. >> No, you're right. >> Oh, I didn't know. Oh, sorry. I apologize. I missed a page in the back. Um, we do have uh public

123testimony on non-aggenda items from the public. Okay. >> All right. >> Well, uh, I make a motion to adjourn. Can someone make a motion to adjurnn? >> I'll make the motion. >> Second meeting. >> Ajourn. All in favor? Yes, everybody. I need your picture. >> And I You know, you know it, Mrs. McGovern Cop. You know it. And I need a lot of signatures. >> Yes.