001Next meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Roll call. Miss Bibla here. Mr. Champy. Mr. Chor Zagoric here. Mr. Webbby here. Miss McCertie here. Miss Campbell here. Mr. Nardone here. Mr. Boon. Mr. Murray here. Eight members present. Thank you. Executive sessions were held before the board meeting on June 19th and June 26, 2025 regarding contracts, personal actions, and pending litigations. Tonight, I will be seeking approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held on May 15th. I'll also be seeking the approval of the treasures report from May 2025. Superintendent's report. I do not have a report. Thank you. We'll now continue on with our committee meeting. I want to remind our public that your comments are limited to three minutes. Please, if you're going to provide comments, please come to the
002podium, state your name, address, and if you're speaking for an organization. We'll start out committee reports. Mr. Nardone, financial planning. Thank you. Um, I'm here and Mr. Webby's here and Mr. Champy is missing. I'll be um seeking approval for the minutes of May 15th. May 15, 2025. Oh, that's a motion. Okay. I'll be seeking approval for items. Well, first I want to amend item 15. I'm going to make a motion. Is this on? I'd like to make a motion to amend item 15 on the financial committee. The motion reads 2.5%. I wish to make a motion to amend that down to 2.2%. And I wish to make a motion to change the expenditures from 49 million $674,470 to $49,727,593. This is a onetenth of 1% increase representing $53,123. I'd be happy to answer any questions
003as to why we think this makes sense. Do I have a second on that motion? Can we have some discussion on that? Sure. So, has there been any changes to the revenue side of our budget since last reported? There has been changes to the revenue side and if Mr. Vins would be happy to share those changes. Sure. Um there's actually two changes on the revenue side or actually three changes on on the revenue side. Um the first one is the assessments that came in from the uh the county for the nine municipalities that came in late last week was significantly higher than what we had last received in January. Um almost all that was in Wright Township uh to the tune of about $8 million in assessment increases which at an aggregate level that uh
004equates to about $100,000 in in um extra revenue to the district and again like 90 some thousand of that came from Wright Township and almost all of that was driven by the single development on um Church Road between St. Jude's and a ANR wood I forget what it's called Woodrest maybe or so the the old sanctuary. The old sanctuary. Yeah. Yeah. So, that was the big one. Um the next one is the White Haven Pocono uh revenue that we get from Wilsberry area. Our students who live in White Haven Poconos's um who are actually are live in the Wilsberry area school district. We we've been getting about $280,000 a year in revenue from Wilsberry area. Uh when we ran the invoice over the last week, that number dropped to like 240. So we had that
005means we had more uh kids graduating and not as many kids coming in to backfill them. So we adjusted that revenue down from 280 to 240. And then the third adjustment on the revenue side was we increased the assumption for adequacy gap to be getting 82% of the states of the governor's recommendation which had been uh lower than that last week. So Tommy, what was the amount at 82%? Um, I don't have that number in front of me right now, but um, 1.6 1.7 in that neighborhood. And why did we why did it get changed to 82%. Last week we discussed 100 or 75. I do know that 16 18 school districts are taking the full adequacy gap that's budgeted. Everyone's indicating that that's going to be what comes through. Why would we not go
006to 100%. that was based or Rick you want to take that? Yeah, I'll take that. So last week and prior we were discussing 75%. And primarily um from a financial management perspective I felt I feel that to anticipate 100%. is a little bit of a gamble and if you base a budget on that and it falls short then we're going to adversely affect the financial s uh situation at Crestwood. Tommy and I discussed the conversations we've had with other school districts and yes there are a lot of them that are banking on 100%. Okay, that doesn't change the comfort level of us gambling as a school district. Is 75% too low? I don't know maybe it is too conservative. So in conversation with a few people Tommy I had a conversation with Mr. Boone we
007thought somewhere between 80 and 85% was my target. We settled we just ran some numbers and settled on 82 feel comfortable at 82. Um I talked to a couple of other board members they felt comfortable with 82. So, we're moving it to 82 in my in our analysis to ensure that we're not taking a gamble, but we're not being ultraconservative. This will allow us, you know, if we get 82% that'd be great. If we get more than that, that'd be better. So, my calculation is that's we're adding about $56,000 to the revenue with that. I don't know. And that would leave us an increase of $116,000 to the revenue side. I don't have that exact number, but that's certainly in the ballpark. So, I agree. We're raising revenue $116,000. Now, on the expense side, I
008see it was increased. What were those increases on the expense side? So, yeah, the increases what what I added was um a new administrator to the budget to be hired halfway through the year. Um not specified for a specific position, but the the cost is in there. Um the expenses, we reduced the inflation assumption from healthcare from or down to 6 and a half%. Um, there was a a stipend in there for an employee who has since moved on to a different role that won't be paid for next year. So, I removed it. And then I added raises to two new Act 93 hires that came on midyear. Their salaries were in there, but the raises weren't. So, I added those. So, those were the four changes. So, that totaled, as Mr. Nardone said, $57,000
009increase to the revenue side to the expense to the expense side. Excuse me. 53,123 or something. 53. So 54,000 onetenth of 1%. Yes. Right. That that means overall we netted positive gain to the revenue side of $62,000 and you're recommending a 2.2 tax. What was on% 2.2% and what was on the table or on was 2.5%. What is that in dollars, Mr. Benz? From 2.5 to 2.2 calculator and do it. It's.3 time $230,000. Correct. That's 69,000. Yep. 38 times 230. already did 231 but and a third of it would be 70. So I do have a question. And um do you feel confident that the numbers that you put in for teacher salaries including the new hire potential new hires that we're looking at tonight that there's not going to be a big difference in
010that? So the budget is built um for all the the new teachers that are being hired based on the actual amounts that were offered and and subsequently accepted. So those actuals are are built in there. Yes. And on the adequacy gap, the other 18% that's nearly $200,000 of potential upside. If everything goes perfectly, forget it. But why was 82 the number? Why isn't 85 the number or 90? I mean, I that certainly wasn't discussed. You can ask that about any number between 75 and 100. Okay. Through our basic conversation and comfort level and forecasting, I'll I'll look at maybe being 18 points wrong on the 100%. I don't want to be 25 points wrong. And I don't you're being wrong with the taxpayers's money. Pardon? You're being wrong with the taxpayers's money. From the standpoint
011of the taxpayer money, we have a tremendous need of staff in this organization. We run skinny. We need We need a We need more administrators. We need more We just need more administrators. We'd love to have assistant principles and we have that built into the budget. No. No. We have an additional an additional staff person for a half a year. That's what we built into the budget. An additional staff person for one half a year. Whether it's building and grounds and that was additional to what was built in explained at last week's work session. Correct. Yeah. Yes. So Tommy, can I just have clarity? Would 2.2 put us at a balance? What the exact numbers from this point forward? Would it put us above or would it put us at I the way it's it's
012structured, it's exactly zero. Revenue equals expense to the dollar. The only differentiation would be that 18%. Well, w with it at 18% it balances if it came to that. Yes, Tommy. But you just said we were I was looking at a $7,000 difference. We had 62 to the good and 50 and 69 add additional to the expense side. So that's a $7,000 gap. How does 2.2 balance? I could get you a spreadsheet if you want that breaks it all down, but it it balances to the to the dollar for all the for remember there's four items, four expense items in there. So, with the over $200,000 in the adequacy gap going a a 2.0% tax increase is certainly within the realm of possibility. Theoretically, more than theoretically, we're we're now we're talking about even this
013much more smaller of a difference. We're not talking about the full 18%. Well, I guess the only way to really get comfortable with this is I'm not comfortable with how the 82% came out, right? That wasn't really discussed. That was changed, right? Certainly wasn't discussed with me. I'm not comfortable with last week. We're at 75 or 100%. Right? I talked to five superintendent that were all planning and budgeting at 100% adequacy gap. I talked to two state legislators that said everything that they're seeing is that's going to be what it is, the same as last year, the full adequacy. And here we are under budgeting by over $200,000 in our revenue. I just trying to understand the thinking there. Why would we at least just split the difference in half? It's a fair opinion. Last
014last year we raised taxes 2.0% 0% and this year we had a $1.5 million surplus and we're going to raise taxes higher than what we did last year. The year before we raised $2.4% and we had almost $2.7 million budget surplus that we spent in June and July or June and reduced it to under 1.7 million surplus. So I understand the importance of building up the surplus and the fund balance and and that surplus Tommy when we talk surplus that's all cash correct in what context are you mentioning surplus here so this year's budget had $ 1.5 million surplus that is all cash correct that that would be cash the bottom line so all cash so last year's surplus at the end of the budget season would have been all cash correct and it was
0151.7 No, I believe it was 1.374. Okay. 1.374. So, in two years, we're potentially adding $2.8 million cash surplus to the budget. You're adding cash surplus to the no to the cash reserves and to the fund balance. To the fund balance, but to the cash reserve. And again, growing the fund balance and the cash reserve is important as you expressed many times. But is the difference of 2% of a tax worth additional burden on the taxpayers forever versus a 2% to at least just match what last year's tax was? I I think uh we discussed this maybe two months ago also that it does build towards our cash reserve and works towards the goal of not having to take out a tran every year which is costing us $90,000 annually uh in interest alone. Uh
016and that's that's a burden on the taxpayers that we're hoping uh in the long run to alleviate. So I think we're working towards a goal of saving 90,000 a year in the long run. Also remember most of this surplus we're having is from health care difference which can change in three months. Okay. And we also have more and more teachers this year than other year going on the retirement end of this health care which we have yet to see or understand what is that is going to mean from a finance standpoint. So I would also argue these schools that are doing 100% what's their fund balance? Do they have a more stable health care? I mean there we can't really say apples to oranges when he compares to other school districts when it comes to
017finances and healthcare. And I think that's something that has to be taken in account. It's not just like we misbudget and oh hey we found $ 1.5 million because we messed up on these numbers. Healthcare came in under 1.2 million and like I said it can change in three months. Um, healthcare came under $900,000. Correct. Was 5.7 in or it was 5. We're we're trending to come in under budget in healthcare closer to 1.5. So then our surplus will be much greater than 1.5. I I already gave you my projection for the surplus. That's factored in. So then healthc care is not coming in at a 1.5 under the budget. Last week you had it at $900,000 less than the budget 1.5 is the projected surplus for the whole budget. Yeah, it it it was.
018Now, we have a another item on the agenda tonight to do a $500,000 cash reserve or capital transfer which would lower that if it passes, right? But we were talking strictly on the healthcare. So, healthcare came in under how much? It it didn't come in yet. It's a projection because we still have two more. The projections coming in at what? 1.5 less than budgeted. Yes. So last week when you gave us a surplus of 1.5 million that has changed. So now are you telling me that number has gone up? 1.5 is the projected surplus other than the 500,000 tonight which would reduce it to one. That's the projection. You did not say that last week because the $500,000 was not talked about last week. Correct. I would not have known that that was going to
019happen last week. So now the 1.5 goes to one. Back up. If I go to last week, you said we had a $1.5 million surplus of which of which $900,000 was projected to come from healthcare say reduction in billing. Those were your words. 900,000. So my question is where you getting the 900,000? I believe last year's budget for healthare was 6.7 and it was expected in last in last week's meeting to come in at 9 or 5.8. Yeah, I I'd have to get back and that's what I have here in my notes last from last week from your presentation and discussion. Yeah, I'd have to get back. There was other savings into the budget that led to that surplus. There's puts and takes all the time. Yes. So again, your numbers aren't jing and I'm
020looking at this and saying that the surplus is a lot higher than what you said it was last week and yet here we are bickering over 2% of a tax increase. your um your comment regarding the healthc care reduction that we don't know that that is a trend is an is it a one-year isolated event that the the numbers I ran indicate that are we're still trending up on healthcare I totally agree we're not talking about the trend or where it's We're talking about what was seen in last year's budget. No, what you're saying is because we our budget came a little bit less last year in the healthcare. Why are we going to do a tax increase at all? Why are we going to do 02 over the 2% that you're suggesting? And the
021reason is is because it's it's just financially inappropriate to forecast based on one or two isolated events. And that's what got this Crestwood school district in a problem historically. So how and we're still running really skinny on our on our administration and we have budgeted for improvement on that. So again my question is what's the difference between this 02 and going in the adequacy gap which leaves over $200,000 still potentially to be added to the district of 82%. The same as that leaves 7.1 million potentially cost to our healthcare on the high side, right? Not a that healthcare could be on either side. Not not 4.7, not 5.8, not 5.9 on the high side. Calculations tell me it's going to could be as high as 7.1 given our trend lines. Okay. So, we're not putting
0227.1 in and we're not putting 4.1 in. We're coming in with a reasonable expenditure for a variety of costs to run a $50 million organization. And to argue about 210 of 1% when you have a really skinny administrative staff, I think isn't appropo to have a a decent financial forecast. That's all I'm saying. No, we can we're going to disagree on this till the day we die, but we did not lower the healthare the healthc care budget number stayed the same. We budgeted in the last fiscal year at we we lowered the inflation rate down to 6.5% from last week. You lowered the inflation rate. So that's another reduction to the expense line. Correct. That you didn't mention. I mentioned it. You mentioned it. And how much was how much lower is that? 34,000. I
023I don't have that written down. I don't think it was mentioned. I mentioned it. It's for strategic financial planning. So that's another $34,000 available. Yeah. All I'm saying I'm not suggesting a 0% tax increase. I'm saying we should at least match what we did last year. putting that extra reoccurring expense that goes on forever. We're not reducing what we have planned for health care. We're not consuming the savings. And I do would like to see what the detailed surplus is because it is way different from what you had said last week in the meeting that we're talking about being fair to the to the community, taking care of our students, and putting this district's balance seriously. We're not reducing, we're still growing our cash balance. We're still growing significantly our fund balance. So to match
024last year's tax increase, I think is the least we could do for the taxpayers. Any other questions from the board? I'll make a motion to amend item do I have any questions from the public? Sorry. Hi, Nancy Romanian. Um, do I my address too? Do I put do I have to say my address? 442 Ice Harvest Drive, Mountaintop, Pennsylvania. Um, I just had a couple questions. First of all, I did want to make a point that I did for my notes from last week have 1.5 million that Tommy did mention for that. So, I did write that down as healthcare. So, I had that in there. And then I also had a note that Tommy said 6.5 in reduction here, too. So, I'm trying to take as many notes as possible during this to understand
025the process. My question is on the 2 act 93 um I didn't what was that about because I didn't have anything on that from historical who were the two act 93 that are getting an increase that weren't from last week to this week. Questions need to be on finance. So, act 93 they go section at a time. Okay. there were I guess you're well then there's two you said two act 93 increases like I thought you meant on the agenda right so that's what I'm saying within that expenditure part that was I was wondering what those increases were for the two act 93 people like what was that about to my knowledge we had two additional people put on act 93 two additional personnel put on act 93 that were not on the current act
02693 agreement so when were they hired One was um hired in March and one will start July 1st. So if it's July 1st, wouldn't they be not I thought the budget started July 1st or we're starting July 1st and they're getting an increase already. I guess would be my question. So I mean the amended Act 93 is for the 2526 school year which they were not on. It was a act 93 is under a current two-year agreement which year one was this current year and year two is 2526. Well, Nancy, what like confused? So, did we hire them before we could have waited to hire them? Two, no, two people already working in the district. Uh, I'll give you one example. The other one I'm I'm not really not sure on. Our athletic director, our
027previous athletic director had his own contract. that position is now in the act 93 with the administrators. He previously was not in the administrative contract. He had his own. So that's where the two act 93 uh positions are. They're already employed in the district. It's just a shift of where they are recognized. Oh, because I thought our act our athletic director wasn't resigning till July. So why would we double I say why would we double dip? We're not double dipping. We're just reclassifying. Let's call it reclassifying from non act 93 to act 93. Oh, so that's Dean Ambossey's increase. It's not Well, Ambosi is gone. Okay. And the new person new person did not get an individual contract which Ambosi had. New person is now part of act 93 which is the administrative agreement. And
028part of that is uh background. So they were hired at 8 81,000. Correct. The new person. Yes, it was uh it was AD and uh other other duties with it. I think uh school safety and security even though we have school safety and security already so paying him more for that. Yeah, those duties shifted from one person to another. Okay. And so, but he's getting an increase automatically even though he just started with the district. Correct. Someone said correct. I'm just pointing that out. I think that's I think we should have waited to start him then maybe till July 2nd and not had you're starting him higher than Ambosi but he has more responsibility than had you're giving him an act you're giving him an increase a 3% increase from my understanding from what was
029just said the increase is because he's taking on the extra role no he's going is he going from 81,000 to a salary increase is that what I'm understand no he's he's starting at 81 period that's it I believe correct Tommy so the when I mentioned that earlier understand they're based their base salaries for both those positions were already in the budget when I presented last week. Um the increases that they're both due effective July 1st were not. So that's what I added. Not their whole salary, just the salary increase. So they he is going in a salary increase from 81,000 to an increase. Correct. To 80 what now? As for the act 93 agreement. I know. But my point is maybe we could wait to start him a week later and not pay. I think
030the point is is he getting a raise for being here a week. Thank you for clarifying that more likely. I think that's what she's saying. Is is he getting a raise for being here? Yes. Well, I wouldn't say for being he's eligible for a raise. He's eligible because July 1 happens. He's eligible. Yeah. So, that goes through the act 93 agreement. So, we could have made a decision to hold off, I guess, would be my point. I just trying to find ways to save money as Mr. Macker is as well. You know, it's still taxpayer money. All right, that's all the questions I have. Thank you. Can I be recognized? I'm not a board candidate. and I came in late. Robert Mororrow, Mau 65 Charter Drive, Mountaintop. Uh I just have a suggestion. Uh and
031it's a process suggestion. I don't want to get in the middle of a lot of numbers here, but you have two items under the financial uh group. And my suggestion, well, they are uh to to approve the uh career and tech center budget and to approve the LIU 18 budget. And my suggestion to you is that I don't think it's a good idea to wait until the night that you approve the overall budget. One budget is up 11%. That's at 714,000. Up 11%. The other item does not even mention what the percent increase is. If it is, just gives the $955,000. But these are these are two chunks of uh change that and uh they s both organizations service our kids. I just don't think that it's out of line to ask folks from these
032institutions to come before you and present their budget and not in June. It can be done in April. It can be done in March. Those figures are pretty pretty standard. I've been in other places and I've seen this done and I think it should be done here. I think it's really kind of ridiculous for people to just give you some numbers and then you go ahead and accept them. There is a monthly meeting uh of the superintendent at the IU. I'm sure some of that was gone over at that that meeting. To my knowledge, the vocational school does not have a monthly superintendent meeting. So that was probably not gone over. So my suggestion is ask for this. These people serve our kids and I don't think it's out of the ordinary to ask for
033that. So thank you for listening to me. It's a process suggest to not get in the middle of the of the numbers right now. Thank you. Just to note, we do have two board members that sit on the CTC's board and attend their monthly meetings. I'm well aware it's called the joint operating committee and those board members facilitated information back to the board on those numbers. Now, I don't argue with you. It'd be nice to have someone from the CTC and LIU come up. I I think that's a great idea. I think it's part of their job because they do both provide tremendous services to the district. So, I I certainly could see where that's a huge benefit. I I'm sure someone from the LIU would come up if I mean with enough notice if
034if we wanted to discuss it would be up to the group. I'm I'm making the suggestion. I've seen it done in Lehigh County. I've seen it done in Carbon County. It works well. I I will say as far as like the LIU estimated here, that that is for services for our kids in the district. That that's not a overall budget of LIU. That's not just like a blank check we write them. It's for services that we we use. Just I understand that. Yeah. Okay. But they should they should delineate those uh services because there's a wide range of uh services in that 955,000. I'm not saying that you don't pay attention at the meetings. Oh, it's a very wide. I'm sure you do. But again, I think the more you know, the better it is.
035Thanks for listening. Any other questions from the public? Seeing none. Do I have a second? Committee. Second. All in favor? I I No. Motion. It's It's committee, so only committee votes on it. This isn't the final vote. So, that did pass. And that will be the amended motion during the voting session. It did pass. I didn't hear you. Okay. Correct. So we can move on now. Right. So I'll be seeking approval to the amended one through amended 15 and 1 through 28 I believe. Do I have a second? Do I have to do that? That's right. That for the rest of them, right? Second. All in favor? I I now we can move on. Oh, thank you, John. Moving on. Uh, transportation committee. M. Mccertie. There's no report. policy committee. Mr. Boon, uh, no new
036items at this time. Human resources. Mr. Biba, I'll be seeking approval of items 1 through 20. Any questions from the board? Any questions from the public? Good evening. Tom Stitzky. I live in Walden Park. Um, you're all talking here about saving money. Look at some of these salaries that you're bringing these teachers in. 70ome thousand, 77, 94, 88. I mean, uh, you didn't consider hiring, you know, teachers at a college. Uh, you know, I I said, why why didn't you, uh, list the, uh, salaries for the public? I'm curious. I'll answer that one. Um, for the salaries, because we're in contract negotiations right now. So, if you actually look at all like even in co-curricular, we don't list any salaries because I don't know what they are, right? I I mean, I'm a teacher. I
037understand what you know, step six, you know, bachelors and all that stuff. A lot of the public does it, but that's high. You're you're put putting high-end money out. I mean, there's one here, masters plus 13, 88,000. Uh, masters plus 48, step 16, 94,000. Uh, I think one of them is an administrator, but you're bringing in another teacher. And I know for a fact an elementary teacher, uh, bringing somebody in at 88,000, I bet you got about 70ome applicants at least for an elementary teacher. So, I mean, now's your chance to, you know, trim some of that salary and save money, but you're just filling out the people who left basically. As a former teacher, I sat in on those interviews. Uh I think maybe the board in general but our committee in general uh
038supported the fact that we wanted to hire the best for our students and basically uh there were some very good candidates uh on all levels. Uh but 15 years experience versus out of college there's a little bit of difference and sitting in and watching them present many lessons etc. I feel very comfortable that uh we're getting a a lot more bang for our buck than the public realizes. There are some extremely well-qualified candidates here. I was very impressed. In fact, after one round, I I said I I wish we could hire both of these people. Uh we're we're we're dedicated to our students, and I think we're getting the best that we can for our students. I mean 90% of the people hired here over the past probably started out fresh from college. You know
039what I mean? Yeah. So what what's the trend all of a sudden? Why all of a sudden when we're cash strap are are you spending this kind of money and and one of them is a principal's uh spouse. Is that correct? Uh yeah, one is that's correct. Right. Yes, it is. I I had to look. Uh you didn't know that going into the interview? Excuse me. You didn't know that going into the interviews? Uh, I knew it during the interviews. I mean, there's a lot of people share the same last name. Okay. I suspected it might be. I wasn't sure. Uh, and once these presentations were made, okay, I from an educator's standpoint, I am very comfortable with what we're hiring and what we're getting for our money. I know a girl that lives in
040my development. Uh, she got hired by two other districts. didn't get hired here, but uh you know she got hired somewhere else and is probably going to make you know bottom step. I mean this is your chance to trim some money and it was also a chance to hire the best. That's my opinion versus that every year. I mean is this a trend now? On some levels uh on some levels we did not have firstear applicants either. Okay. on some of these levels. We did not get that. So, we had to go with what we got. So, were they that much better than the It was that much of a difference that we're going to throw him an extra $30,000. Okay. In my opinion, yes. As a former educator, yes. Okay. I think you missed
041that chance. Didn't you have everyone um under uh Mrs. Nat Mrs. Malazo's uh recommendation, didn't everyone have to give a lesson? Yeah, they they went through a stringent uh process. Uh I I'll just give you the high school level. They met with department chair and teachers within the department. Then they went and met with uh administrators and board members. And then they presented a mini lesson and then all three groups got together and it was and it was collaborative uh discussion of all three groups who we thought would be best for the Crestwood School District and its students and that was our opinion. I mean Mr. I hear you talked about the corporate world before you hired people, right? Um, and fired them, I'm sure. But, uh, somebody coming in with less experience than somebody
042coming in with 20 years, obviously the person with 20 years experience is going to do a lot better in the interview. Correct. I wasn't part of these interviews. No, I'm just saying in the business, you know, talked about it in and you're right, in corporate America, I have hired over 4,000 people and I looked at hire individuals who had the skills and the ability to do the current job, but not only that, but those that are capable of moving into next levels. Okay. So I usually in corporate America I hired not for the job at hand because I wanted to be able to promote. I'm talking about administrators, supervisors, managers, VPs, those kind of guys. You hire for the future. I'm asking for the interview for the future. But in the interview process, a person
043with 20 years experience is going to blow away somebody right out of college. Not necessarily. I think so. Okay. The one point I want to add speaking for myself is over the last couple years we made a conscious effort and spent a lot of time looking at the development of our students whether it was PSSAs whether it was Keystones and seeing where we were having not the growth that we'd like and we're not worried about comparing ourselves to other schools. We're comparing ourselves yeartoear in the growth that we expect to see or would like to see. And when we have an opportunity to bring in students that will positively affect those students and their growth and their learning, it's an opportunity that it's hard to pass on. And we're willing to invest money in that
044part. We're investing money in our students to give them the best opportunities to achieve their goals. And everything is individual. Chitzky, when I finish, you certainly can can talk. Um, no. So with with that there were many teachers. We had no shortage of teachers applying. You see stuff in the press about there being a shortage of teachers. Crestwood does not have that. We have multitudes of people applying. There was differences between newly out of school teachers and the experienced teachers with 15 plus years experience. I personally feel my opinion is that will make a difference in the classroom. that will make a difference for our students and give them the best opportunity to succeed and give them a a better chance to score and achieve their goals. Whether it's business, whether it's vocational, whether it's
045technical school, whether it's college or what have you. We're preparing our students for the best possible outcomes. And that starts with having the best possible teachers. So, we went in that interview. We did not consider who was the cheapest, who was the most expensive. We said, "Who's going to best prepare our students? Who's going to be the best teacher?" And we had several teachers. We had several teachers with great experience and opportunities. And there was a lot of discussion. There was many people in on interviews. It was not board. It was principles, administrators, it was everybody's input. And there was a lot of discussion back and forth. Very similar to the tax discussion tonight. Those kind of discussions are positive for the district and achieve positive outcomes. And I I would like to point out
046all you may have looked at salaries and said exorbitant some of these candidates took huge pay cuts uh to teach at Crestwood. They're they're taking pay cuts to come here and we're getting great experience on top of that. So I I I I think it's a good investment in my opinion. Mr. I'd like to ask you uh not on this round. They were strongly considered but again uh interviewed by three different groups uh collaborative effort. I understand that other districts don't always recognize the steps when they hire or they may pay a percentage. I'm just wondering, do we always recognize steps and is that in a contract or anything? Just curious. Uh I checked with all the superintendent and um there is a wide range. Some do have some uh disparity and um it's the
047discretion. Okay. So, we don't necessarily always do this or always do something different. We can always make the decision. Okay. Dolores Dolores Gagaris for Summit View Drive, Mountaintop, PA. I would like to talk about the uh the new uh ad that I think was handpicked with a 17% increase for Mr. Ambosi. I believe was making $65,000. And one of your favorite sayings, Mrs. Malazo, was uh you like to bundle without extra pay. So, you could have brought this gentleman in without that extra what was it called? safety and then just gave it to him without any cost and say this is your new assignment bundling. That's how I look at it to save money. uh and I didn't know about that then the the increase that uh from 65 from M Jambosi he went to
04881 and now he's going to come up to another uh increase in a week and then in the 2526 school year he's going to get another increase and why not he's ad he's is he listed as an administrator so Miss Gagaras I don't recall ever saying I think you said my favorite saying is to bundle. I don't recall saying that. I actually am not in favor of putting extra work on administration. Um but I I don't recall ever saying that. Um the number 20 um now that we're at that section, the amendment to the act 93 um is for the director of human resources which is uh was a prior position that used to talk about Mr. Dean with the solicitor in HR. he was a contracted employee. So when she was hired to replace
049the director of HR, um that we never added uh that position into Act 93. So um that position that was contracted now needs to be put into act 93. So that's number one in that uh amendment. And number two is the athletic director now is athletic director safety and uh security coordinator. Um that is where Mr. Ambosi was a contracted employee. Again, no his last day I believe is July 7th. Um the new AD has started. He's been uh on cap campus working. He started Monday. I remember Mr. Mack asking you last uh Yep. So he has did he start yet? And you said no, he would start Monday. Yep. So he started. So, it's it's procedurally that we need to add them into the uh into the agreement and because right now there's no
050direction on any kind of um benefits within that any kind of structure for payroll, any kind of structure for them as an employee here for the district. So, it's a procedural step that we need to, you know, put them into their proper agreement. I was under the impression that Mr. Ambos's contract ran until January of Yes. And then if you remember, I believe that was last month that he uh changed his uh retirement to July 7th. He changed his July 7th to accommodate I'm not sure. I I don't know why. Uh okay. I uh did Can I Can I Before you go on to your next topic, do you mind if I answer what you said about the athletic director being handpicked? just because I've been getting a lot of uh feedback on this. Um
051both Mrs. Bibble and I received a lot of pressure from people in the community to hire a person who they obviously liked. They wanted him to have the job. He had no experience. Um and Mrs. Bibble and I being the head of human resources, I was head of co-curricular. We agreed we were going by experience that that we were not just because someone knows somebody, somebody's referring someone, they were not going to be picked that way. And I found it very strange then that all of a sudden because we were going with experience all of a sudden it came out with well this person's handpicked this person's handpicked that that was not the case. We we had a committee we we interviewed who had the most experience. I don't know if Mrs. Malazo called this
052person said do you want to apply? I don't know. But as the superintendent, if she did and she was looking for people with experience who might be interested in this job, to me that is part of a superintendent job or any management job. If my clinic has a need, I try to reach out to people that have experience who I think would be good at the job. But I'm telling you, we met with a committee. Mrs. Bibble and I were very firm on it. We are very firm to many people that the person with the best experience and then the person with the biggest agreement with the committees and with the administration would get the job. So this was not a handpicked person in any way. How does the person get experience? They have the
053experience. They've worked the job. Well, they had to start somewhere at one time. Mrs. Why would you? But why would we do there's so much on the plate of an athletic director? If we have people with experience, why would we say no and hire someone with no experience? What is so what do you have to learn to be a athletic director? A a lot. A lot. And you may start at at some place as uh maybe an assistant athletic director. We've had uh that here in the past and that would be a starting point. Uh that's that's where the experience comes from. And we were hiring the the athletic director, not an assistant. If you know, if we had assistant that that that would be a starting position. I would not start someone at the
054top with no experience. A lot of scheduling. A lot more to it than that. An awful lot. Well, I know Mr. Mry, you at one time you said one was some of them are worth over $100,000. You had made that comment. I had made the comment that other districts pay their ads well over $100,000 and they have multiple ads. They'll have one ad and they'll have several assistant ads. That was my comment. Okay. But uh what was uh for that position uh that was given to the the new athletic director? What was uh Mr. Perenton paid for that because that was his uh previous position? I honestly do not know that when Mr. Qualia was here, he appointed him as the safety and um security coordinator. And I I can't answer that question, but it
055should be written somewhere. I I'd have to get back to you. I do not know. But I would like to know at the next meeting what the difference is because Mr. Peron at that meeting said our district was like a everybody looks at it at a palace on the hill that we don't have what other districts have. I will look into that for you. Well, not with how Mr. Peron was a position that he he meant that we don't have to fight. We have good kids. We have a lot of good kids. Thank you very much. Any other questions? Seeing none. academic Mr. Boon. Uh we'll be recommending consideration and approval of items 1 through 7. Questions, comments, input from the board, public. Seeing none, we'll move on. Thank you. Co-curricular, Mrs. Campbell. Thank you.
056Um I will be seeking approval for all items uh listed under number one um both under cheerleading and band. Any questions from the board? And any questions from the public? No. Seeing none. Thank you. Physical plan. I'll be seeking approval items one through three. Questions from the board. Questions from the public. Seeing none. Step up, please. number one that you're looking for. What what you're looking for the description and the scope of the work. So, um that is the restoration. It's a continuation um of the restoration and roof project. It's going to be the facade area in the front and then also some cement work. No. Any others? Seeing none. Thank you. Technology Committee, Mrs. McCertie, I'll be seeking approval for item number one. Are there any questions from the board, from the public? Seeing
057none. Thank you. I'll be seeking approval for item number one. Any questions from the board? Questions from the public? Seeing none. Thank you. Lu update. Mrs. Campbell. Thank you. Uh the minutes are on file in superintendent's office and on the website. Um the next LIU meeting. Um I could get that date for sure. I believe though it is going to be August Yep. It is actually August 6th. So, it'll be August 6th at 6:30. Yes. In the uh LIU auditorium. Thank you. Uh CTC Center, Mr. McCertie, thank you. I would like to recognize two students from Crestwood. Um received some outstanding class awards. Uh and these are graduating seniors. Um Colin Haleva uh in the drafting program received an outstanding class award and um Kylie Briggs in the health assistant program also received the outstanding
058class award um and includes OSHA certified and CPR cert certificate. So, I just want to thank those students for um making Crestwood look good out in the community. Um the minutes are on file in the superintendent's office and on the district website and the next CTC meeting is scheduled for August 18th, 2025 at the CTC starting at 5:30 p.m. There will be no July meeting. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move on to public testimony of non-aggenda items. We will limit your testimony to three minutes. Please again come to the podium, state your name, address, and if you're affiliated with any organization. Are there any non-aggenda items from the board? Any non-aggenda items from the public? Seeing none, we will move on to our voting session. Roll call. Mrs. Bibla here. Mr. Champy. Mrs. Chor
059Zagoric here. Mr. Webbby here. Miss McCertie here. Mrs. Campbell here. Mr. Nardone here. Mr. Mr. Boon here and Mr. Mri here. Eight members present. I so move and seek a motion a second for the approval of the minutes of the regular board meeting held on May 15, 2025. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. None. I so move and seek a second for the approval of the treasures report for May 2025. Second. Roll call. Miss Bibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. M to Zagoric. Yes. Mr. Webbby. Yes. Miss McCertie. Yes. Mrs. Campbell. Yes. Mr. Nardone. Yes. Mr. Boon. Yes. And Mr. McCry. Yes. Motion carried. Financial planning. Mr. Nardone. I make a motion and seek a second for items 1 through 28. Uh maybe reiterate item 15. Change 1 through 28 as amended earlier on item 15.
060Do I have a second? Second. Roll call. Miss Bibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. Miss Chhatur Zagoric? Yes. Mr. Webbby? Yes. Miss McCertie? No. To number 15? Yes. On the rest. Mrs. Campbell? Yes. Mr. Nardone? Yes. Mr. Boon, under item one, I recuse myself on check number 8465. Yes to all other items. And Mr. Mack, yes. Motion carry. Human resources. Mrs. Bibla. I make a motion for items 1 through 20. I so move. Second Miss Bibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. Miss Chhatur Zagoric. Yes. Mr. Webbby. Yes. Miss McCertie. Yes. Mrs. Campbell. Yes. Mr. Nardone. Yes. Mr. Boon. Yes. And Mr. Mack. Yes. Motion carry. Before you continue, I want to congratulate uh the retirement of Mrs. Endavage and thank her for her 29 years of service. And then I also want to congratulate um the teachers here that
061have been hired. I know some of us uh some of them are with us in the back row there. Um I want to congratulate you, welcome you to Crestwood and uh we look forward to you uh starting us in the next school year. So congratulations to everyone and a special congratulations to Miss Indavage on her retirement. Thank you. Academic programs, Mr. Boon. Uh need a motion uh to recommend consideration and approve items 1 through 7. Second. Miss Bibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. Miss Chor Zagoric. Yes. Mr. Webbby. Yes. Miss McCertie. Yes. Miss Campbell. Yes, Mr. Nardone. Yes, Mr. Boon. Yes, and Mr. Macker. Yes. Motion carried. Co-curricular. Mrs. Campbell. Thank you. Um, I make a motion and ask for a second to approve the items all listed under number one. Second. Miss Biblau. Yes. Mr. Champy.
062Mr. Toragoric. Yes. Mr. Webby. Yes. Miss McCertie. Yes. Miss Campbell. Yes. Mr. Nardone. Yes. Mr. Boon. Yes. And Mr. McCaffrey. Yes. Motion carried. Physical plant. Mr. Webbby. I make a motion and seek a second on items one through three. Second. Roll call. Miss Bibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. Mr. Mr. Tor Zagoric. Yes. Mr. Webbby. Yes. Miss McCertie. Yes. Miss Campbell. Yes. Mr. Nardone. Yes. Mr. Boon. Yes. And Mr. MRI. Yes. Motion carried. Technology Committee. Mrs. McCertie. Make a motion and seek a second for item number one. I so move. Second. Roll call. Miss Fibla. Yes. Mr. Champy. Mr. Toragoric. Yes. Mr. Webbby. Yes. Miss McCertie? Yes. Miss Campbell? Yes. Mr. Nardone? Yes. Mr. Boon? Yes. And Mr. Mackey? Yes. Motion carried. Behavioral health and safety. Mrs. Chagar Zager. I make a motion and seek a second
063for item number one. Second. All in favor? I Iost. Thank you. That concludes our uh meeting for tonight. The next regular scheduled board meeting is Thursday, August 21st at 6:30 here in the secondary campus. Motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. All in favor? I I opposed. Meeting adjourned.