Regular Board Meeting

001Now wider and wider our circle expands. We sing to our far away lands. People are people more people are people more people more people are company. I have had singing. I have heard singing. I have had I have had joy and I have had sorrow. I have had trials and I have have had triumphs. But there has always been singing. So I will not keep silent. No, I will not keep silent. I must keep singing. I must keep singing. I will keep sing. [Music] Dino blow. Oh, I've been working on the railroad. All the live long day. Oh, I've been working on the pass the time to pass the time away. [Music] Windout blow your horn. [Music] Dynow blow your heart. Someone's in the din. Someone's in the I know someone's in the dining on

002the old [Music] sing on the old bos I'm singing five fiddle I f I fiddly I strum on the [Applause] old sing. Lauren. Okay, I'll say hi to people later. Yeah. [Music] Sing the [Music] I [Music] met you know I can't get the melody out of my head. [Music] Oh God, you sing we all sing. [Music] Such a lovely song. [Music] Sing a new song. We all sing when I see the [Music] sing. You hear it? [Music] I can't get the melody out of my mind. [Music] Sing a new song we all sing [Music] songs [Music] together forever. You can never leave me. Let's get married, baby. Have you met my mother? Someone please take me away from this. I can't get the melody out of my [Music] life. Every single one can sing. I

003sing you sing. I sing. I sing you sing. We all [Music] sing. Such a lovely song. I sing you sing. We all sing a new song. I sing. You sing. We all sing. I sing. You sing. We all sing. I sing another song. I sing another song. I sing another song. When I [Music] sing to sing. [Music] Victory once more. We have the man to crash again. The gang is here to whistle and to cheer. The red and white must put the game in the bag and heroes will be made. Red ros fight. [Music] There is no place like Eastern dear old heart where the girls are the fairest and the boys are the squarest of any old school that is not. There is no place like Easter where they'll do or die or die.

004We'll all stick together in all kinds of weather and dear [Music] old and for the east and high for so bright for a team that we all cheer. We'll beat every team in the world as soon as ours are cheers for the red and the royal loyal to our The keystone of strength. The hills where the green forest grow and the air forks bring a message of all the great rivers. All h the pride of our heart school our high school so dear we ware the strength of our lives now and passes inies and sports we seek honor and truth and grow by the friendship we share. What moment of crisis in classroom or blended in prayer? All hail the pride of our heart. Our high school dear. We pledge to your welfare the strength

005of our lives now and ever [Music] as we sing all your praises in voice loud and strong and for our motto for the good of each other will ever be in the future as well as [Music] Oh hide, our high school so dear. We pledge to your welfare the strength of our lives now and as [Music] [Applause] three times. [Music] All things shall perish from under the sky. All things shall live. All things shall perish from under the sky. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live to die. All things shall [Music] under shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live to die. All things shall perish from under the sky. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live. Music alone shall live never to die. [Applause] Okay, thank

006you everyone for being patient and thank you for our musical group and entertaining our our audience this evening. Okay, if we could uh rise for the pledge of allegiance. United States of America and to the for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Say you see by the dawn early light. What so proudly we held at the twilight last gleaming whose stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallently streaming and the rockets spread glare. The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star spangled yet wave for the land of the free and the home of the brave. [Applause] Mr. Scholansquez, thank you so much for joining us this evening. Do you

007want to say a word about your group? Is this a select group or did you just Yes, this is uh one of the audition ensembles at Eastern Area High School. This is our Ferris and Squares. Uh a couple of the songs that we sang tonight we will be singing at All City Chorus this coming Friday at the middle school starting at 7:00 p.m. Uh there's no admission fee. There are no tickets. Uh all are welcome to attend. Uh they will also be performing on Saturday at Roxberry High School in New Jersey at the Roxberry Invitational. I believe this is the 32nd year of the event. um in the seventh year that we'll be sending a group from Houston area high school uh to perform at that event. Um so uh yeah, thank you very much

008for having us tonight and letting us perform and have a great meeting. Thank you for having [Applause] Okay, Mrs. Ramirez, do you have roll call? Okay, thank you. Next, we'll be moving moving on to our superintendence report. Good evening everyone. Couple of announcements today's and a couple of um honors that we would like to share forward and then a few presentations as well. So kind of a busy agenda for my part this evening. I would like to start um by making an announcement. We will follow up with a um edited calendar next month and I know Mr. um Guyer will also put some information forward as well after tonight's meeting. But we want to make sure that the public knows that graduation will be held on June 9th. We had one snow day this year,

009a traditional snow day, which makes our last day of school, June 10th. Um, however, we are going to keep the graduation date as the original date, which is Monday, June 9th. And so, Mr. Guyger will put that information out shortly. Um, it will be at Cunningham Stadium, and he'll put all the timing and details out about that. And we will have a corrected calendar now with the last day being June 10th, Tuesday, June 10th, but graduation being um remaining on Monday, June 9th. And so I want to make sure everybody hears that now so you have the ample time for planning. Um students, if you are here for class, please feel free to have a seat. You're welcome to filter in and we will uh sign your agendas at the end of the end of

010the night if need be. Some seats out in the hallway and there are some seats in the hallway that you're welcome to bring in. Okay. So from there I have four recipients that I would like to talk about this evening. I know not all four are here but I am going to read some information about all four. As you may recall that we have undertaken our profile of a graduate and Mr. Cuck who um isn't able to join us this evening along with a number of other community members, staff members, board members have been working with our students and staff on the profile of a graduate now for about two and a half years. And you'll recall and maybe have seen these little magnets that talk about our six competencies that were identified by the

011community and the team um being those soft skills that we want kids and students to gain while they're here in East Area School District above and beyond the academic and enrichment pieces that they have. So, as a reminder, those six competencies are effective communicators, innovative problem solvers, empathet empathetic, excuse me, collaborators, creative and critical thinkers, continuous learners, and empowered citizens. As part of our profile of graduate work, the discussion that came out of the team most recently is that we wanted to um extend this com this conversation beyond the four walls of our school district and put it out into our community and have examples of our alumni and students and staff who exemplify these um uh characteristics. Tonight will be the first opportunity that we have to award some of those recipients. I will

012remind everyone to visit our website um district website and the profile of a graduate website because the nomination forms are available there. And so as we have more applicants there is a process in place that we review those applicants and then select a handful each month to recognize here at our board meeting. So this evening I have as I mentioned four that I am going to read. I know that there are a few not here and a few that um others are standing in for this evening. So, our first um our first recipient is not in attendance, but we do have Miss Jamala McN, who is one of our employees here, uh to receive the reward on behalf of her relative. And so, that recipient is John Pinto. John was a 2000 graduate of Eastn

013Area School District. John graduated um from Eastston and is a member of the Eastn Philipsburg uh football hall of fame. John completed his football and wrestling sorry competed in football and wrestling in college and he continued to support EAHS athletics through speaking engagements sponsorships when possible. John is a lawyer with a law firm VSCP Law. His focus is representing indivi individuals and family families in catastrophic personal injury claims. Under the competencies, as an effective communicator, Jon excels in making complex legal concepts accessible and fostering open and transparent communication. As an empathetic collaborator, John is driven by his passion for representing the most vulnerable members of society, infants, and young children. Innovative problem solver. John is constantly thinking creatively to address and address the challenges of his clients, ensuring that his strategies are both effective and

014sustainable. Um, creative critical thinker. John developed new strategies and refined old ones to ensure his clients cases are handled with the highest level of expertise. He thrives in high pressure situations and always finds ways to think outside of the box. Continuous leader, John is always seeking to improve his knowledge and skills which not only benefit his clients but also inspire his colleagues. John's leadership extends beyond his legal practice as he actively mentors others in his field. John has served as a guest speaker and actively contributes to educating the next generation of lawyers. An empowered citizen, John is deeply committed to serving his community, ensuring that ordinary people have a voice in the legal system. So, on behalf of the Eastern Area School District, Miss McN, if you wouldn't mind coming forward, we we do have

015um an um certificate of recognition for John and we hope that you will pass on our appreciation and gratitude for him as an alumni and the service to our community. Thank you very much. Sure. So, on behalf of John, Miss McNally is going to say a few words. Thank you. Um, sorry, I'm accepting on his behalf. He couldn't be here because he's currently caring for a newborn um and in court proceedings in Philadelphia. But he asked me to convey how honored he is to be nominated as one of the alumni of the month. Um, his time at Easton has shaped who he is. He feels that rover tenacity is a part of him that's been an integral part of any success that he's had. And he's extremely proud to tell people where he's from and

016looks forward to continuing to give back to his alma mater to help the next generation of rovers reach their goals and achieve success. Thank you. Thank you. Our next recipient is a staff member. It is Mrs. Dedra Hakeime, one of our principles, assistant principal at the high school. Uh, Miss Hakeim and I go back quite a long ways from her teaching career and so it's my honor to be able to u present her with this award. So, Miss Hakee is the assistant principal at East Ner High School. Dedra um started in East High School or East School District in 2001 as a long-term sub. She taught fourth grade and second grade as well as title one math at Cheston. Dedra then taught fourth grade at Shaunie school for years before becoming the assistant principal at

017the East Area High School. Dedra then took a position as an acting elementary principal at Shaunie and then moved to her current role as the assistant secondary principal uh principal at the high school. Her competencies include as effect as an effect effective I need to get these competencies myself. I think as an effective communicator, Dedra excels in fostering open and transparent communication with students, parents, staff, and the wider community. Dedra is thoughtful in her approach and ensures all voices are heard and valued, thus cultivating a culture of trust and collaboration within the school environment. As an empathetic collaborator, Dedra stands out as a model of empathy. She builds strong, supportive relationships with all, taking the time to understand each person's unique perspective. Her genuine care fosters an inclusive environment where all feel respected and supported.

018As an innovative problem solver, Dedra demonstrate demonstrates a remarkable ability to think creatively and implement practical solutions. Dedra displays innovative strategies to address both immediate concerns and long-term objectives. As a critical um creative and critical thinker, Dedra consistently exceeds expectations in her critical thinking, showing unparalleled uh dedication and making a profound impact. As a continuous leader, Dedra commits to continuous professional development and lifelong learning, sets a powerful example for others. She seeks opportunities to enhance her skills while motivating her colleagues. And as an empowered citizen, Dedra dedicates uh is dedic excuse me, Dedra's dedication to growth ensures the school and district um may their high maintain their high standards of educational excellence. So again, on behalf of the district, your um colleagues and peers who nominated you, we congratulate you for this award and have

019a um certificate of recognition for you. And you are certainly not obligated, but welcome to say a few words if you would like to. You're welcome. Thank you. Okay, our next nominee is an alumni. It is Caitlyn Cohen, a 2010 Eastn graduate. Caitlyn graduated from Easton and is currently the vice president of development, leaders um leadership giving and strategic partnership for the River Crossings YMCA. Um Caitlyn's competencies include the following. Effective communicator. Caitlyn exemplifies the qualities of an effective communicator while serving her community and her ability to inspire others. Empathetic empathetic collaborator, Caitlyn approaches leadership approach to leadership is deeply rooted in the understanding of unique needs and perspectives. She fosters a collaborative environment where diverse ideas are valued and integrated. Innovative problem solving. Throughout Caitlyn's career, she has um has designed and implemented creative

020strategies to overcome challenges and unified teams, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness. Caitlyn's efforts have led to the success uh successful execution execution of philanthropic campaigns. As a creative and critical thinker, Caitlyn consistently challenges herself and her team to think outside the box, whether in developing new strategies for fundraising or addressing challenges within the organization. As a continuous leader, Caitlyn is committed to her own professional growth while inspiring and mentoring those around her. Her leadership emphasizes the importance of lifelong learning and seeks opportunities to improve her skills and encourage those around her to do the same. Empowered citizenship. Caitlyn volunteers her time and expertise in a various leadership roles that um help strengthen the nonprofit sector and support others within the commu community of leaders. Miss Cohen is not able to be with us here this evening

021and she asked for uh the following statement to be read on her behalf. Thank you for the honor of receiving the school district's alumni of the month award. I am grateful not just for this recognition but for have um but for have learned the character values and life lessons that guide me today in the Eastn Area School District. I am now and always proud to be a Red Rover. Though there are so many teachers, classes and moments in my time at Eastston that have greatly influenced my work today. I specifically like to thank the East Area High School teacher, Miss Chris Hudach, for teaching me how to find and follow my voice. I hope to continue to give back to the Lehigh Valley and Eastn communities who have given so much to me over the

022years. And so again, we will make sure that Miss Cohen receives her award, but on behalf of the district, we certainly thank her for all that she has done for our community and our Thank you. And our last but certainly not least, um our last recipient for this evening is um Miss Zumbrea Negron. Zumbrea is a parent uh is the parent and family liaison at Eastn Area Middle School through communities and schools. Um Miss Negron has been with us for a little a little while at this point and we thank her for her years of service and her competencies include the following. Zambrea shines through her work um as she bridges bridges cultural and langu language gaps to ensure all families feel heard and supported as an empathetic collaborators and um consistently goes above and

023beyond to meet the needs of her students and their families. Um her depth of understanding of the challenges that families face allow her to offer personalized support and guidance. As an innovative problem solver solver, Zera demonstrates uh a remarkable ability to think creatively and implement practical solutions. She displays innovative strategies to both to address both immediate concerns and long-term objectives. As a critical and creative thinker, she works tirelessly to build strong relationships between students and families and the community in which she serves. As a continuous leader, she is the corner she is a cornerstone of the East Area School District providing invaluable support to the students and families while creating an environment where they fe feel valued and heard and as an empowered uh citizen she dedicate or her dedication to the Eastn community and

024the East Middle School contributes to the success of all of our students. Uh again on behalf of the district we congratulate Miss Negron and Miss Negron not only works here for for us and with us but she also um is the employee of communities and schools and their CEO Mr. Tim Mulligan is here today uh to represent that organization and certainly to represent and support uh Miss Negro while she's here and would like to say a few words as well. So I'll invite uh Mr. Mulligan to please come forward. [Music] Thank you, Superintendent Piaza, and thank you to the school board for this real wonderful honor for Sabrina. Um, Sabrina, it's a real honor to be here to celebrate with you. Uh, at Communities and Schools, we really believe that, um, at the cornerstone of

025what we do, it's about building trusting relationships. And for the time that I've known Sabrina over four years serving in this district, um she's somebody that I know goes the extra mile to build that trusting relationship. She's working with families that really are um often marginalized and um maybe don't know how to lean into the school and Sabrina's there as as uh uh Superintendent Piaza said just that listening ear and um and just helping them to navigate uh when sometimes the language isn't their first language or when the culture is different or when there's other barriers that are that are hitting them. So, Zabrina, we're just really thankful for all that you do. And I also just wanted to say to the school board, uh, communities and schools, we've now been serving in this district

026since 1999. Um, you've been a wonderful partner for us. We really uh enjoy the opportunity to be in the high school, the middle school, elementary schools and and being that that welcoming presence and working collaboratively with you so that every student can succeed in school and in life. Thank you for the opportunity for us to be here today. And Zabrina, again, congratulations. Thank you. I'll be quick. I just wanted to give thank you to all of you. It's at times really challenging, emotional. Um, but I put all my heart in it and it never bothers me to receive an email for me to make a call to do like a translation interpretation. I do what, you know, I just like to help and I give you like all my the best I can. So, I

027really thank you all for having that opportunity of me being here and helping our families and um students. Thank you. Thank you for all you do. [Applause] Congratulations. Okay. Thank you. Um a couple more shoutouts before we go into a couple presentations. So, I do want to recognize we heard our coral group here earlier. I also want to recognize our high school jazz band who performed um at the finale at the finals at the steel stacks for jazz competition. I may not get the numbers correctly, but I believe it was 28 uh school district jazz bands that came down to I think it was eight. Um and among those eight, Eastston was certainly ranked as the superior um superior performance had a and had a number of standout um awards as well. I'm sure Mr.

028Valentine and others. We'll talk about that in the future, but I had the opportunity to see them this weekend. I also want to um give a quick shout out to Shaunie School. Again, we will speak about that at a at a later date as well, but we uh just received word a few uh days ago that Shaunie School was acknowledged um as one of the leading elementary schools in the state of Pennsylvania. And so that certainly comes with a lot of hard work and effort on both behalf of our of our our staff, our principal, um but also on the students and their parents. It doesn't come by an indivi one individual. It's a you know, it's a family um village that's raising the the children there. And so we certainly are very proud of

029Shaunie School um for this accomplishment. And so we will honor them at a future date as well, but wanted to let you know that. And a quick shout out to both our high school and middle school plays, Curtain and Beetlejuice, that wrapped up this past weekend for the middle school and had the opportunity to see those plays. And again, some outstanding performances um on both accounts. Beyond that, um April 2nd, which these uh next couple we won't see see uh this board or the community prior to. So, April 2nd is paraprofessional appreciation day. And so we take this opportunity to thank our pair of professionals and remind all of you to do the same as you have the opportunity to work or see them. April 4th is our school librarian appreciation day and April 7th

030through the 11th is national assistant principal week. And so again um as you see these individuals certainly ask that you take the opportunity to congratulate them and thank them for their support and work within our school system. Um at the that I am going to turn it over I think to Mr. Riel, Dr. Schultz and Mr. Guyger who is going to do a presentation on a program um a pilot program that they're asking my permission to start and certainly have my blessing called the RAD program. I'm not going to steal much of their thunder, but I am going to give you a little bit of context as to where this um is coming from and why I've asked them to present to the board. So the RAD program, as you can see, are rovers achieving

031diplomas. And part of the impetus of this program and the conversation that ensued to get us to this conversation today is that um unfortunately like all school districts, we have a number of students who end up dropping out of school before they attain a diploma. And so as you know, the high school, Dr. Schultz, uh Mr. Riel started to dig into some of that data which they will share. They really felt that it was imperative that we as a district start to acknowledge the fact that we have students who are dropping out um because any any one student is is one too many. And so if there's opportunities us for have more students graduate with a diploma, the more successful they will be. And so part of the reason that they're here today is to

032talk about that program that they're going to pilot this year with a small group of students um for the remainder of the year, but also then provide us some feedback as to whether it's a program that we should continue while we are mediate mitigating whatever that root cause is. And for students who drop out of school, there are quite a number of root causes that may be, you know, due to things that we can um uh can support and change here within our systems and some that maybe we can't. But it is our responsibility to make sure that we're looking at um that our at our educational programs and demographics of students who may not be succeeding based on the way that we are presenting things and then therefore trying to give additional opportunities. And

033so without stealing their whole whole conversation, um you know, I wanted to let you know that I applaud them all for thinking critically, for recognizing that um not all students fit the mold and not all um one shoe doesn't fit all. And so that sometimes we have to think out of the box and for this particular um group of students are going to talk about this is them thinking out of the box. And I applaud them for that creativity. And so I ask, you know, that you go ahead and present. I think they're going to do it right there from their seats. So at that, I'll turn it over, I believe, to Mr. Guyer to start. All right. Thank you, Miss Piaza. Appreciate the opportunity uh and a time to speak a little bit about

034the the program. As Miss Piaza said, this is a pilot program. Uh we're excited to get started uh with the RAD program, which, you know, for the 80s children, the RAD, you know, really kicks in there. But um again, you know, it's a pilot program and and ultimately our goal here is to support students, especially those that are in danger of dropping out. Um uh it's it's one of the things that we understand is that when students become credit deficient without some intervention, there is a high likelihood uh as they fall further and further behind that dropout becomes the option. Uh and we really feel like in instituting a program such as uh the RAD program will really intervene at a time when students students need it most. uh and our ultimate goal is to

035help and support the recovery of those credits uh to make sure that that choice of dropping out does not become the first choice that they look to. Um so we do want to make sure that we provide those supports. I do want to be very clear that this is an opportunity. This is presented to the student to the parents and guardians. No one is mandated uh to be a part of this program. Rather, it is an opportunity we're offering them as an intervention. Um so this is definitely something that we want to stu the students and the parents to see as a benefit um to their child and not something that we are forcing upon them. Um so it's very important that they that they know that and that they are in agreement and and

036they are wanting to be a part of the program. So this process does include a conversation with the child with the parent and an agreement um to become part of the RAD program. Um as Miss Piaza said this is a collaborative effort. Um so you'll hear tonight from myself um Mr. Riel in student services and Dr. Schultz from special education. It doesn't move with me. Okay. Sorry. So, um what you what we're going to talk about obviously any any decision- making within within our realm. We really like to use data to determine the best move and the best decisions uh to be made to support our students. So we'll look a little bit at the data um the purpose of the program the guiding principles that we are using to identify those students um that

037are going to become a part or at least have the opportunity to become a part of the RAD program uh the program overview what the schedule for those students will look at and what our plan for roll out um of this program is going to be. So as we look at the data here and we'll go through um with the four-year and fiveyear cohort. So graduation rate, you know, and and what we're looking at over the course of the last couple of years in conjunction with the state average, uh you can see that obviously uh we have seen a little bit of a dip. Um and again, in comparison to the state average, we have seen a dip. Uh the good news is over the last two years, we have also seen that trend start

038to go back up. But I think all of us who sat down to collaborate on this also don't believe that that increase is is enough. Uh we don't want to settle on that. We want to continue to work uh and serve our students and make sure that those uh that are in that situation are getting what they need to make sure they make it to that graduation rate. And we want to continue uh to to improve as we go forward. So the four-year graduation rate that is obviously students that come in with their nth grade cohort go through the the opportunity and graduate within four years. The state of Pennsylvania also now recognizes a five-year cohort um that allows students who might fall slightly behind um but still agree to achieve graduation um within that

039five years. And again, you can see our data here um from 2021. And again um rates are affected by many different things. Um certainly we understand that COVID had an impact on students. Um and we can see here that the trend again uh we do see a dropping trend although a little bit of recovery in 23 24 and we want to do what we can to continue increasing that trend of both our four-year and our five-year cohort um in terms of of graduation rate. Again, another piece of data that we took a look at which is our retention data. Again, what's important to know is that retention is not dropout. These are students that are are retained in a grade level at Eastern Area High School. The way that our our system works is based

040on credits per year. So as students go through 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade, they need to achieve a certain number of credits, 5.5, 11.5, 17.5, 24.5 as they go through. And when students do not achieve those credits by year, they are considered uh retained uh in that grade level. In many cases, they could catch up and still graduate on time um through either a credit recovery possibility, taking additional courses. Uh but again as you can see the numbers here in 2122 coming off of of COVID uh we did see a large number of retentions and we are seeing those retentions um decrease over the last couple of years. We want to continue that trend but more importantly target students within that 135 um and make sure that we are doing and providing the resources for

041them uh that are necessary for them to be successful. So our dropout data again as you can see we did spike in 2022 23 um to 92 students. Uh we did see a decrease in in uh the 23 24 school year. And again these are the students specific or the the data specifically that we want to uh work with and make sure that we are doing what we can uh to support our students uh and reduce the dropout numbers uh that we see here. Um and again it's very important to to understand that what we are trying to do is a proactive approach to our students that are currently in our system. As Miss Piaz has said we know that this is not the only piece of work that we have to do. Uh the

042larger piece is why we are supporting these students in the high school level um in this in this program. There's also another piece that goes to root cause to identify students so they don't get to the point that they need this that they need a program such as RAD. Uh so we continue to utilize a process um within our school. When a student is thinking of dropping out, they do meet with a counselor. They do have a conversation around what their decision-m is, what are the reasons behind it. Uh and we know those reasons can be many and varied um that that come to us. But part of this is also not just uh to identify students for this program to put measures in place to prevent students from needing the program. uh and that

043is the larger picture uh and and the work that we still uh look to do as we open and and work forward to help our students in this program. Dr. Schultz, thank you. So, the purpose of our Rover's achieving diplomas is to create a safe, supportive environment removing barriers to educational stability. And we thought that it was really important to define what educational stability is. So, what is it? It's having consistent attendance, advocating for assistance and support, receiving support for engagement and collaboration. Student is empowered by their own learning. They are designing and achieving realistic goals, and they're earning credits to graduate from EASD. And all of these components are what we're going to build the foundation for the RAD program on. We want to make sure students understand that educational stability and being safe

044in their environment will lead to their success. So the overview of the RAD program again it is designed as an opportunity for students and again highlighting the idea that is just that an opportunity if students wish to take it uh that are at risk of dropping out. Uh the program overview they are going to work um both virtually and in person. Um we do as all of you know we have uh both in-person learning and cyber learning in the east school district. Uh and we do know that at many times when uh the students in that struggle take on our our cyber learning, they sometimes will do better with that in-person support as well. And this program offers kind of a a middle ground between those two learning modalities. Uh so they will learn through

045the virtual setting u but they will also have in-person support um in the program. They will also receive individual and group counseling um in the time that they are with us in the program. um social emotional learning u will be provided by BCBA um within the program as well to continue uh working not only with those students academically but within their social emotional needs to ensure that they have um you know the support in those areas as well which we know for many students it isn't always the academics the academics are completely capable of but they they need a little bit more support in those other areas uh there is going to be obviously a piece of accountability um this is an opportunity for students but they have to meet the expectations ations that we

046set for them. Um those expectations will be set for them through a signing of a contract and understanding what the program has to offer and an agreement that they will rise to those expectations. Um including in there would be their own personal goal setting um and identification of their goals because again they may be different from student to student um as we go through the program. That will be all part of the conversation that we have with the student and the parent um in offering the opportunity so that they are aware of not only the program expectations but the expectations they set for themselves and that we work to make sure we support that they get to. So our guiding principles uh this this these uh items here will guide everything that we do within

047the program. Obviously we've we've mentioned number of times dropout prevention is certainly a number one focus of the program. personalizing the learning. Again, East Area High School is a very large school and there's a lot going on and for some students that creates challenges and barriers. Uh and what we want to do is make sure in this smaller setting that students have a more personalized learning experience uh where they can be met their needs can be met on a much more personalized level. um credit recovery and again obviously to prevent the dropout prevention and to help with the credit deficiency. Offer an opportunity for students to make up credits that they have missed in a in a supportive environment uh in which they can have the support uh from a staff member uh as well

048as um social emotional supporting as well. Reintegration again very important point. The idea of this program is that these students gain their credit recovery and they're reintegrated back into the high school. It is not meant to be a program they remain in. It is meant to be a support and intervention to provide them the opportunity to get back. Uh because what we know again if they are so far behind that they feel it's going to be impossible to make up that choice of dropout becomes a more likely choice. Uh and what we want to do is prevent that by allowing them to uh to get back to where they need to be and then re reintegrate them back into the high school. But importantly reintegrate them back with the supports they need to continue being

049successful at the high school. What we don't want to do is reintegrate them back into a system they struggled with and not have the supports necessary um for them to be successful back at the high school and ultimate goal of hitting that graduation um which we you know obviously want to continue to work towards. Again, the social emotional piece will be a big part of this as referenced by the staffing uh and the counseling opportunities that will come along um and as referenced the educational stability. again um as we'll talk a little bit about in some cases um the students just need that extra structure um to ensure that they are getting the educational stability um that they need uh to be successful. So how students will be uh qual or will be identified and

050and qualify for this program again the program is available for students 9 through 12. Um our pilot program will start with a very small group of students in order to uh make sure that we uh work with those students and that we identify uh the needs within the program. Um but the things that we are going to be looking for this will be done primarily with the assistant principles, their counselors um through a CST process where they meet regularly to discuss students. Um but they're going to identify those students that are um attendance is inconsistent. Um so they're either not attending school at a high level. um they're coming to school late regularly um or there are other types of attendance inconsistencies um that come up for that child. They are credit deficient. In other

051words, they have fallen behind um where they should be with their with their uh peers. Um and again, that credit deficiency is now causing um an issue for those students to be successful moving forward with their cohort. Um we're going to identify those students who have lost in some way, shape, or form the desire to access their learning. Um so these are students that may be attending school but are not coming to school for the academic p purpose um or are avoiding class or school um in general. Uh this and again I want to overemphasize this is not a disciplinary placement. Um this is not about a child's behavior. This is focused on credit deficiency um and ensuring that they stay with their cohort or catch up to their cohort um for academic purposes. Okay.

052However, we do understand that in in some cases the discipline comes along with some of the reasons why they are struggling. Um but these are not disciplinary concerns um that we would have placing them in this program. These are disciplinary issues that may include not being at school, cutting class, going late to class. They're avoiding the learning environment probably because they recognize the challenge and the barriers that they're experiencing in those learning environments. Um so it is not a disciplinary placement. However, we do know that some of those low-level disciplinary issues do sometimes lead to that credit deficiency. Uh, and we want to make sure that we're going to support students um in that way. Thank you, Mr. Guyger. So, when we started looking at this program, we obviously want to do it um in

053a way that is cost-effective for the school district and also meet the students needs. So, the first thing we wanted to do was define what it looked like in terms of the staffing. So when we look at the number of students that are going to be in there, we wanted to provide a mental health type of component. I always call it counseling with a little C. And then we wanted to have some type of teacher that was going to be internal in the program that understood behaviors and was going to be able to work with students. Um in those discussions, the most flexibility we had with those schedules was looking at um Dr. Schultz's department and student services and looking within those ter internal organizations to see how we're currently utilizing our staff members in

054there's a different way to be able to utilize it than we currently are. Um we have a behavior specialist in the school district that was working and and running groups. Well, those groups were contracted out through Valley Youth House at no cost us. So, we were able to take an existing staff member, reallocate them to be able to utilize them to be attending MTSS meetings, CST meetings, all those acronyms in education. So what we ended up doing was saying that same person that is seeing those students and hearing the difficulties we're having, it would be great to have them for part of the day within this this program. Still being able to be at the buildings, still being able to help out the building levels, but then be able to reallocate those internal resources to

055help out our students to be able to run groups with them, design a program that is efficient for them along with goal setting. We have to correct and teach some of those behaviors which might not have been taught before or no longer learned any longer. We also decided that based on the schedule, it was the easiest to reallocate a a partial um special education teacher that has the background, has the skill of working with students with with needs and then also understands of the the way to motivate. Sorry to simplify, I needed somebody that would had a coaching mentality background to be able to be in there. um somebody that could listen, somebody that was going to be tough, somebody that was going to tell the kids what needed to happen and be there alongside

056them to learn with them at the same time. We had a staff member that had those qualities. Um and we were able to reallocate for half the day into this program. That person was co-eing in classes. We kind of moved him over to here. He will still have a full uh uh class load, so he's not going to be deficient in terms of that. He still has the same expectations as any other staff member in Eastern Area School District with the same number of preps and everything. Um that kind of gave us our initial staffing for the uh students. The administration obviously that's going to oversee this program. you see on the right hand side um there will be an administrator in that part of the building working from that location and I'll kind of

057go over location a little bit every day to ensure that work is being done that students are on task that there's no concerns or problems um it is really important that we the staff members feel that they are um they have the support and immediiacy to be able to address any concerns that that kind of come up and that's what's goes on with the pilot program because we may have to make shifts and changes on the dime based on what we're seeing in the classroom. The schedule for the day, again, very unique, very different than what we've seen before. Students will be busted to school, is a shortened school day. Um, is a shortened school day for a reason. Our students um can work as quickly as they want to through their curriculum because it

058is online. We are not looking at necessarily seat hours. We're looking at completion, but also the hours within the classes. So, they are only with us from 8:30 to 12 every day. So, they will get dropped off, they'll be busted, they'll be dropped and taken home. During that time they were with us, they're going to be working and completing work the entire time they're here. They are then expected to go when they leave us to go home or go somewhere and at some point complete another additional hours. So if they want to go and get a job and work for part the part of the day in the afternoon, they have the accessibility with this calendar to be able to do that and do their coursework at night. In the end, the hours will still

059remain the same with the 990 hours that we need for high school education because they're doing it on their time. We're providing the support in the morning and then they can go and do what they need to do in the afternoon or go home and do do the uh online curriculum that they normally would. The school week is a little bit different. Also, we decided to do something where it was going to be a Monday through Thursday schedule primarily for all students, giving them Friday off with the idea that they can absolutely come in Friday. We'll provide transportation, but we also wanted to partner with our current cyber program to offer them the opportunity if we see students that are struggling in cyber to have them come in person on that Friday. Again, where the

060location is is fantastic. Kids can get breakfast, they can get lunch, um we can provide transportation. So, it's really a partnership with the existing cyber program and then also this kind of I would say addition uh addition of a cyber program. Um it's really best practices in terms of providing those supports. Um and still mimicking the idea of what a normal school day looks like, providing lockers, a classroom form, the whole nine yards. It's not the old days of going into a building that's excluded from everybody else. Um they will be in a building in in um in our middle school on the far side of the middle school, the old Palmer, whatever. However, you know that building the far side away from everybody else. Um which is extremely important through our discussions to to

061provide them that learning environment that looks very similar so they can transition back and they are seen as being valued members of the Eastern community. At the same time, our rollout plan, we've been discussing this for several months. Um, you know, we've been in discussions with Mr. Guyger, um, um, with Elise at the middle school, with different administration here, having those discussions on what needs to happen. We have had discussions with the school counselors, uh, with Mr. Guyger, with um, the assistant principles at the high school to see who they identify. They have the relationships with the students. This is not a top- down initiative in terms of fall choosing students to be a part of this program. They have those relationships. They know who has that motivation to still learn, but they just have

062barriers right now. I mean, if we can talk to a 17-year-old that only has three credits, that's a tough mountain to climb. And I think it's our job and our responsibility to help them get there and figure out ways around it. Um, many of our students have been identified already. Um, the ones that have not are on a on a list. Um, we're going to start this program between eight and 10 students that are that are in this program. So, it is going to be a small pilot program. We have over 30 students that have been identified as suggested by the building administration to be part of this program. Uh we will keep those students on a wait list to determine what next steps are at the end of the year when we kind of

063revisit this program. Um any students that have an IEP and I want to be very clear that these aren't students that only have that are identified as having individualized education plan. These are general education students and also students with an IEP. So, we have both ends of the spectrum in ter terms of learning and I think that's why it's important to have that in-person assistance along with our cyber program. Um, classroom setup, it is in the faculty lounge of the old Palmer side of the middle school. Um, it is a unique space if you've ever been in there. So, I think it provides them a little opportunity. We did buy uh out of a grant purchase a couple flexible seating for the students in there. So, it did feel a little bit more like a

064college loungeish, but we do have desks for those people that need that traditional learning with the teachers desk in front and the rows. Um, so we provide both opportunities for them. The schedule, like I showed before, it it it really has been completed at this time. We have to reach out to transportation to establish what those routes are going to be um and get that and probably tomorrow we'll be able to do that. Um, the additional students that are going to be added for our openings, we will be contacting them tomorrow after the board presentation. we wanted to wait. Um I just wanted to share a student that was notified to be in this program and is waiting for the start date of next week. So far they um he has completed three classes online

065in the short amount of time he's been there because he's so excited about this opportunity that we're providing him. So I think it's something as simple as that as that motivates us moving forward to see that doing something a little bit different can really go a long way with some of our students. Um, nursing services is something real simple. Um, we move we're we're going to have two nursing suites now at the middle school. We only had one before. So, I moved a a staff member over there. So, now we're going to have a sixth grade nursing suite, which is actually the old Palmer side again. We'll have that open for sixth grade only, then a seven and eighth. But now they can help out with the RAD program. And also now the the parents

066at the middle school should be very happy now that we have two accessible points to be able to go see the nurses as opposed to one room that was limiting the number of students that were coming in there. Um and communication, you know, will be be open. Um I was very we were very transparent with um Miss Jones at the middle school. You know, we are going to oversee this program. This is not going to interfere with anything they currently have going on with the middle school. These students will be escorted from the moment they get off the bus in the morning to the classroom. The bathrooms are in the classroom. That's the beauty about having the faculty lounge. They are not going to co-mingle with any of the other students. They will eat lunch

067and it'll be dropped off in the classroom. So, the whole idea is that when students come in, they're sequestered in their area all day. They work hard and they get out and they go do what teenage kids do in the afternoon. Um, if we see that they want to be there five days a week, we'll make we'll figure that out for them. But again, it's just an opportunity to do something a little bit different that hasn't been done here before and be able to help kids and we're really excited about it. That was a lot. I'm sure we answered all your questions, but if you happen to have any additional ones, we're more than welcome to be able to to to do the best we can to answer. Any any questions? Just one quick question.

068the students that you're mainly targeting for this, these are going to be students who agewise should be looking to graduate. Is that my understanding? Because we're not even saying that these kids are seniors because some of them, as you said, may only have a handful of credits. And so, you know, and then this program will take as long as it takes in order for them to achieve graduation. Is that the idea? or get caught up to the point where they feel that they want to come back to their to their their grade level class that they're they're assigned with. Okay. And be that's my hope for them that they they want most of our students want to be part of that graduating class. I mean, the thing I've heard since I've been here, the value

069that our students have for a diploma from East versus the other tracks that they could possibly go, um, you know, we do have the opportunity for some of our students to go to Bucksmont and get a Bucksmont diploma. I would say primarily the students because they've gone through our system, they want an Eastman diploma and this is kind of figuring out how again to be able to make that work for them. Um, and still have accessibility to summer school programs and stuff like that that our other students do, but the amount of work they can do when they're strictly focused on putting their head down should be pretty exceptional. Yeah, I would just add, you know, the the age of the student doesn't necessarily matter. It's about how far behind they are in their credits

070and their deficiency and getting them to where they are. What we recognize and in having conversations with students, they get to a point where they feel like it's not possible to catch up now. And we want them to know that it is. Um, and again, if they don't choose this program, we still have other we still have credit recovery. We still have summer school. They can choose those things. We just are offering this as an opportunity um that is going to be a little bit more supported because they're going every day with an adult in the room. Um, so I wouldn't say that their grade level or age is so important. is just their deficiency in their credits that we know are weighing on them and we don't want that to become the reason they

071say I'm not going to do this. Uh we want them to know that we are here to you know a lot of districts will have re-engagement after students drop out and and try to bring them back. And I think you know we want to make sure that we are engaging the students before we get to that point um to try to provide them an opportunity that they don't feel the weight of those credit deficiencies as a reason to not continue. Thank you. Any other questions? No, I just want to say I think Thank you. Yeah, as I said, I applaud the three of them for really thinking about it and taking the initiative. You know, the hope is that we um you know, one that we learn from the pilot program to then expand it

072as necessary, but the ultimate goal is to not have to have a program such as this because we've have mitigated whatever those root causes are for students um and have them, you know, uh traverse high school education with the rest of their peers in a in a pretty typical way. But the schedule is is is as it is because we know that a high school schedule does not work for all for all kids that they have other obligations for their families. Um and so we have this opportunity to try something different and we thought that this you know would give us that opportunity to test it out. The other thing I will say is if we do see that we need to continue this that one of our goals is to move it back to

073the high school when when and if appropriate. Um this year we didn't do that quite frankly because there wasn't it wasn't the space to have that common space every day every period. And so rather than using that as a barrier or an obstacle, we decided to move it um where we do have space. And we may find that that works out better or we may find that we want kids back in their home school so there isn't as big of a transition going back. But we didn't want to allow that to be a barrier for for non-start. So, so we appreciate your listening today and your support of that. And then our final presentation underneath uh superintendent report is uh Mr. Trent who's going to give the board and the community a first look at

074our um at our budget for the year. I will remind everyone that typically first look is not the prettiest look, but there within there there are lots of um suggestions and um considerations for the board. Um and then here on now each um each meeting he will come back with a further uh further update as to the work that is being made until it until which time we approve a budget. So Mr. Shren. All right. Thank you very much. Uh good evening everyone. Uh Gina, could we go to the first slide? So I think it's important to start every budget cycle with the goals of what you want to achieve with that budget. And I think every situation dictates different goals. Um, my first goal this year is to have the correct mounts and the

075correct count lines. And I know it seems like it should be simple. It should seem be common sense, but it's actually more difficult than you think it is. Um, Eastston has over 3,400 account lines right now. And being new to the district, it was very important to me to make sure every single account line had the correct amounts. And I had a lot of help. I was able to meet with all the directors and the principles. They gave me at least an hour of their time. Uh, gave me background on their lines. Um the executive team we met and made sure every salary was correct, every salary line. Um every person was in the correct line with the correct number. Um next goal reduce cost as much as possible. That's usually the goal with a

076lot of budgets. Um in this case it's not about you know trimming certain lines a certain percentage but looking at contracts seeing what we need maybe what's duplicated. um making sure that if we're budgeting a certain amount for the IU, it's the correct amount that we're not over budgeting and that gives us flexibility in other lines. Uh the next goal, which I think is important for Eastston, is to maintain the fund balance, which I'm going to talk about in the next few lines. Um fund balance is very important. It's the difference between our assets and our liabilities. Gives us a cushion, gives us surplus if we need it, and then set up the budget for success in future years, which again important in everyone, but we need to look at fiscal year 27. Right now

077we need to look at fiscal year 28 and fiscal year 29 especially as we move forward with the capital project for the new high school. Uh next slide. All right. So to talk about the fund balances which I think is one of the big goals for us in this budget is to make sure everything is correct there. I don't need to read the numbers but you can see those are the audited fund balances at the end of the year for 2020 2021. Uh we know that we don't have the 2024 audited fund balance yet. The audit is still in progress and obviously we don't know what we're looking at for 2025, but the key is it is trending down and we're getting to a point where we have to make sure that we do protect

078the fund balance going forward. Especially as I said the project, we want to make sure our bond rating maintains the correct level. Um could you go to the next slide just to look at the previous audited balances just to kind of make sense of how it's happening. If you look at the column all the way to the left, you can see under the general fund, our revenues were lower than our expenditures. And that's what happens. That's how the fund balance decreases. So, one of the key things is trying to get those revenues equal to those expenditures and not overexpending. Um, and if you go one more slide, it's kind of smaller. That's the way the page came out, but that's the the fiscal year 23. Now, one of the key things, too, is we're we're

079using fund balance in our our revenues as well. So if the previous slide had 38 million, you can see the second line from the bottom is the fund balance restated and it's at 33. So that means 5 million was used and then an additional 5 million was used. That's where we saw that budget drop from. So again, one of the key goals is to make sure we preserve that. Next slide. So to go through the projected revenues, um so we have three main revenues, local, state, and federal. So to look at the local revenues, we know that taxes make up most of that, but we also have interest on investments, which this district does do well. They they pursue very very aggressively getting the best interest rates and making money off of the money we

080have. Um rentals, athletic events, tuition, and then miscellaneous revenue is really any district, any money that comes into the district, we count as miscellaneous revenue. We're looking at about 142 million, and that's based on a 2% increase on taxes. So that's what that number is based on. Next slide, please. Um, these numbers will be zeroed in when I stand up here and talk about it again in April. But these are what we're looking at with the different increases. You see every percentage point is about 1.159 million. So if the board decides to go up to a different percentage or lower the percentage, that's what our revenues are going to decrease by for the local revenues. Next slide. So the projected revenues for the state. So state aid is uh state revenues are to state aid

081the grants and then we receive state share money as well for what we put towards employees retirement that's projected to be about $60 million next year. Next slide. And then federal revenues. So in the past however many years you've seen esser up there. We are no longer budgeting esser money. The esser money doesn't exist anymore. So that does lower the federal revenues over what we've seen in the previous years. um what makes up the federal revenues, most of it's ESSA, which is the Every Student Succeeds Act. Uh the title monies, we're still trying to I think Dr. Draper figure out what's going on with some of the title monies. If we're still going to have all of them, I budget the the title monies or any grant at 80% of the anticipated amount just in

082case it comes in lower than what we expect, we know we're still covered in the district. All right. And then we have additional revenue that could be available or that will be available to us this year. So, since I've been here, in the three months I've been here, I hear the word TIFF thrown around a lot. Um, so that stands for tax increment financing. It's basically when local bodies get together. It's a joint investment in the development of an area understanding that the shortterm gains aren't going to be there. That's going to be paid towards that bond. But eventually, it'll be paid off and we'll see that money. And this is the year we do. Um, it's about it's going to be over $7 million. I have to narrow down how much exactly it's going

083to be, but um that's that's what the TIFF is and it is available this year for us. All right. And then the next additional revenue um Raymond James gave a presentation and showed what the bonding and what the savings would have to look like if we do a $300 million capital programs financing. You can see all the way to the right at the top dollars appropriated. We had 17.4 4 million in this year's budget. If we are going to pursue the $300 million capital programs financing, it'll be about $19.1 million that's in this year's budget. So, there is an increase in what we have to to pay towards this. Now, what has been recommended and it's the the board's prerogative and up for discussion. Doesn't have to be today obviously, but you can see one

084and a half% represents the increase. So the recommendation would be if we're serious about pursuing the project, you have your standard increase which would present 2% maybe, right? That would be for your operating budget. Operating budget means all your day-to-day expenses, everything outside of the the special fan financing and then you would add one and a half% on top to cover what's going to be needed for the high school. So this is something that'll have to be up for discussion. I do not have it in my revenues right now. I don't want to presume, but that's that's that's the additional revenue source that's being looked at as well. So, next slide. So, your revenue sources added up uh local, state, federal are the ones we always see that everybody's used to seeing. Subtotal would be

085205, which represents a number similar, a little less to last year. You have to remember ESRE isn't there anymore. And then the additional revenue, how I have it broken down is the TIFF and the capital projects being paid for by the TIF. Just to have it broken down, that's the additional 7 million. So we're looking at 212.5 million in revenues. Next slide, please. So then if we start breaking down the budget, so obviously the category we spend the most money on is going to be staff. So you have your salaries right now 83,851,000. Our benefits which could include health, dental, life, it's their retirement, it's their social security. Everything outside of the staff salary but we still pay for them is 57 million783,000 purchase services which are and I have it written at the bottom

086services that are provided by personnel who are not on the district payroll. So that's how we have to look at those 45.9 million and then everything else the supplies the property the bonds $32 million. So our total budget comes just under $220 million. Next slide please. So to look at the budget in a nice little piraphph you can see 64% of the budget is spent directly on staff. An additional 21% is spent on professional services. So to 64% you know obviously it represents a big number but it makes sense the biggest expenditure we have is people that's that's just what we what we have and then 15% is represented by supplies property and the bonds. Next please. So what we're looking at, so I have two lines on there just to look at how you

087would look at it if you were just looking at local, state, federal, which we're not, but it would come out to be 205.5 million versus 220 million. The revenues for all sources though, including the TIF, not including if we commit extra money to the bond, uh would be 212.5 million. So we're looking at it right now, and as uh Miss Piaza said, it's not always the prettiest. When we first look right now, we do have, you know, ideas, but right now we're looking at about a 7.4 million deficit and it would have been 14.4, but the tiff is in there, so which is good to have. All right. So, how do we close the budget cycle? So, the first and most obvious one, the hardest ask is increase the tax levy. It's currently budgeted at

0882%, but we saw what happens with each percentage that's increased. in conjunction with that add one and a half percent that could be on top of the 2% to the tax levy to account for capital projects. We will be utilizing the tiff. Um the district is exploring offering health insurance buyouts so cash payments in le of health care to eligible employees in the hopes of uh decreasing the medical expenditures. um analyze all district contracts and do away with unnecessary contracts, which is something the executive team has been working on. It's been productive um over years, you know, especially with what with ESSER contracts kind of just started to come up and pile on and we've started to look at that and you know, adjust everything there. review staffing needs, which would be with any budget

089slide, but you know, it's always important to review your staffing needs and see the impact on the on the budget. And then work with the insurance broker for a cost savings plan to the district. And that's something that's in progress right now. We're doing everything we can to make sure the health benefits are the most costefficient for the district. And then review assets for potential sales to increase fund balance. It could be technology, it could be real estate, it could be anything that we have as an asset that's not currently being utilized. could help that fund balance problem. Um, that's just a sample of how we're looking to close the budget cycle. I think come next month, there will be a lot of definitive answers of how it's being done, a lot of programs in

090place and numbers to offer, but that for now is is what we can offer up. Uh, any questions? That's the next slide. Questions? Yeah. Uh, uh, quick question. Do you know what we're paying out on charter schools now? I do but I don't have it in front of me. I can provide that information. Okay. I have I have that in a spreadsheet. I actually have that spreadsheet so I will send it to the board. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for So I have uh several questions and Jack, thanks for uh putting that information together. I appreciate the timeline uh that you've been here to be able to uh try to analyze and put us in a position where we can start talking about the budget. Um but you know, you started off with the the

091whole discussion about the fund balance and the uses over the years and I just want to review you talk about trying to maintain it and I know your slide stopped at the end of the last audited year. And I just I think when we're talking about the budget and the cuts and the history that we need to talk about what occurred over the years um and especially the last few years that and these are audited numbers at fiscal year 2012 there was just under $18 million of reserves and this does not count the capital projects or the capital reserve. Then by we went through a capital plan. We we renovated five elementary schools, built two new elementary schools, built a stadium, brought programs back, added full day kindergarten, kept the taxes at 2%, and by

092the end of fiscal year 21, that reserve that we had to use hopefully was for a down payment for the high school was under just under $43 million that was being built up through through proper budgeting and and uh you know, conservative, but we were bringing programs returns back and we added all those capital plans since a audited year fiscal year 22 we used 5 million of that fiscal year 23 we used another 9.2 2 million. Now again Jack said that the 232 24 year is not audited but at the finance committee numbers were thrown out there. There was budgeted numbers of almost 5.3 and then the additional short for fall estimated for fiscal year 24 and Jack I actually lowered your number that you were estimating to another five million. So in that time

093since fiscal year 21 we would have used $24.4 million of those reserves to balance our budget over spending whatever term you want to use. That is in addition to the millions and millions of dollars of ESSER revenue that we were you spending as well. Then you move on to this year 2425. We talked about this last year budgeted I know it's budgeted to take another five million out of reserves but again in the finance committee discussion there was estimated another additional short shortfall for this year of $7 million. So based on our spending and our um revenue for 2425 it was projected we're going to take another 12 million out of fund balance. So add one more year in four budget cycles we would have taken we're estimated to be taking over $36 million out

094of that $43 million from four years ago. At Jack's best numbers or numbers for today, we're looking at possibly another six million, excuse me, for 26 uh 2526. That brings a total to over $42 million of basically elimination of the district reserves in five years. I I don't know what to say. that that is very I don't I didn't want to start using adjectives on on that uh basically that the spending the plan um you know it it we we have to do something we have to do now Jack you have two months to do a budget to do a proposed budget um you know a couple years ago the CFO stated that we're going to fall off the financial cliff this year well I think it started last year When asked about what do

095we do? What's the plan? One of the board members asked what's the plan? The former superintendent said this is public. That will be for the new superintendent to figure out. Well, sorry, new superintendent. You're here. Um there's just a number of things that we need to do immediately. We should have been doing. All the warning signs have been out there. I don't know what else to do. Um Jack, what I'd like to ask uh moving forward or Jack the administration um you mentioned about a a projection for moving forward. Um we'd like to see based on this spending and again at 219 in or 220 of expenditures for 2526 estimate what's going to be for the future years and where we're going to be with that revenue. um the final numbers on the 2324, you

096know, please check those numbers and I gave you a copy of this. Check those numbers that I'm talking about. If see if it's better than that, that's great. But it's still 354 $40 million that we exhausted for overspending in the last four years. Um, when you talk about the tax um the tax impact when you have the you have the dollar amount difference, but uh there used to be a a slide that would the the impact on the homeowner on the average assessment. Yep. And I was going to have that in the next Yeah, that would be good to see. Yeah. The next I mean I I missed this part. I said questions, but there was one more slide, but there will be an update in April. Sorry. And then before we even get to

097the final budget. So, so I guess at this point it's obvious that we're not going to be approving a a proposed or preliminary budget till May. I mean, you're going to need time to to get through. That is most likely, which is fine. We have until May 31st, obviously. Um, so I don't know, ladies and gentlemen. I just don't know what more to say that we we have been talking about. Um but that that uh depletion of the reserves um I think we have to make some very serious moves and discussion about how we bring us back to financial stability. This is not stable. Even if we cuts and we don't do this, we don't do that. This is not stable. How do we We can't We can't make a We can maybe make cuts

098to reduce the impact on the taxpayers, but we can't make enough cuts unless we decimate a lot of things to bring us back up to where we once were. And I agree with you completely. And as you said, there's two months. I mean, we'll do what we can in two months, but it's not going to be enough. And I think administration understands that this is now a two-year process and we're looking ahead at fiscal year 27 already. We're looking ahead at everything that needs to be done. So that and I will say I agree with you completely with what your figures are on the fund balance. Um we we and that's why it's one of my you know objectives is we have to figure out a way to maintain the fund balance, put money into

099surplus. I mean that that that's why there was the the obviously the fund balance slides up there. I will say the 220 million figure is a real figure. That's what it's going to cost to operate the district next year as we currently operate. As we currently operate, that is correct. So that is a real figure. That's not, you know, I didn't shave off 10% off of Ken's budget. And I mean, it is a real number that the district will operate with. So that's what we have to look at. And the two options are bring revenue up. That's that's not going to happen or figure out ways to bring the expenditures down. And we are currently looking at ways coming in the next, you know, year. There may be tougher measures that may need to be

100made that are going to require, you know, board action and approval. So, if it comes down to getting the fund balance into a place where we're healthy, then that may be where it's at. But we have two months to and we we and I think with what we have in motion, we are going to shave money off of those expenditures expenditures. We are it will be brought down. The gap will not be $7 million. We know that. But we don't have any of those completely set in place yet. So that can't be reflected on the board until it is. Right. But it's good because but but like you what what you're saying I agree with. We have to figure out a way to get the fund balance to the point where we're not using it

101because we're not going to have it to use anymore. $500,000 on a $200 million budget is a very unhealthy. Yes, number to be at for for reserves. That is correct. Can I go back up to that slide? Sorry, you know, I skipped ahead. I said questions and there was another slide. So, um, we have a finance committee. I'd like to review budget numbers, like to meet, you know, frequently. Um, meetings with board members. If anybody wants to schedule a meeting to talk one-on-one about the budget, schedule a phone call if you have questions that you didn't want to ask here, maybe you didn't feel would be a good question or just that's fine. Schedule something one-on-one. We can speak. Um, I'm going to meet with all the staff members to finalize their budget. So, I

102met with them once. It was a preliminary. I gave my numbers. They told me this should be higher, this should be lower. Uh the feedback was excellent by them. I'm very grateful they gave me their time. Um I'm going to meet with all of them in the next couple weeks. This time I'm going to go to the high school, go to the principal's buildings because I'd like to see the schools and meet with the principles there. Um but that'll happen. I'd like to give a an update to the budget in April with hopefully well not hopefully it will happen the final budget presentation and the adoption in May. Any further questions? No, I I just had I was just looking at some numbers just um I was surprised the one when you're looking at the

103salary and the benefits, you're looking on page uh 13. Uh salary and benefits account for about 64% of our budget. That's actually lower than I would have guessed. Uh, so at least 36% of of maybe, you know, the salary and benefits are things that we really can't do much about because it's mostly contractual. Um, so look into that other 30 36%. I don't know what we can find in there, but uh I think it would take a lot of work. I don't think it's a magic wand. Like you said, a two or three year process probably, but that was just uh one thing that stood out with me. The other that stood out with me is that salary and benefits combined are now at a 6040 split. 60% is pay, 40% is your benefits. So,

104uh I don't know if that's good or bad in in the whole scheme of things, but that really sounds like uh it's approaching a 50/50 split almost in in that. So, I don't know if that's that's just something that stuck out on me when I when I was looking at the numbers. So, just two general comments I I just wanted to share. So, thank you. And and uh just to reiterate, I I know Mr. Cinn Manetta had brought up a lot of uh uh uh numbers and information dealing with the past few years. It um you know you're up there by yourself. You know, you've only been here a couple of months. So, uh just to reiterate with the people who are here um you know, Mr. Trent has only been with us a few

105months and he's really uh been working pretty hard to to really get not just acclimated to a new job and a new district but obviously with the obvious challenges and he's been very I I commend him for being very uh forward and very open uh to presenting the challenges as well as listening uh to any kind of suggestions and and comments that that um that we're going to provide and then will be provided to you. So thank you for the uh information. Thank you Brian. Thank you for acknowledging uh Mr. Trent. He has only been here a short while and has done an incredible amount of work. Um and we still have an incredible amount of work to go. Uh I just want to make a couple comments to your comments. Um just so you

106know, part of the uh number that you said to dig into is that 21% and we certainly can continue to dig into that, but part of those are all the contracts that we have. So our IU, our um uh CIT, North the community college, the library. So part of that is included in those numbers as well. And so certainly there are still some spaces in which we need to investigate and kind of look at, but there are some fixed costs in there as well. Um I also wanted to mention that we did I did just send the board the cyber numbers that you had asked for. So, you'll have that to peruse and and certainly Jack can include that as necessary for your information as well. Um, and then I wanted to just make a

107comment a little bit about our federal funding, particularly as it relates to um the deconstruction or elimination of some of the services at our um federal department of education. Um most of you know from reading the paper that that's been slashed in about half at this point. And so certainly that has some impacts on education and that yet to be realized. One of those pieces is we do think so far based on meetings that I've attended or others have attended that our um our title one funds for next year will be level set. Our title two funds are likely to be diminished and title three and four are yet to be determined. We think that they will be level set for next year. We've also been given um you know advanced notice that that will

108likely not be the case for ne for the following year. That following year we may see um lesser funds coming into districts still yet to be determined. And there is certainly some conversation um from the federal end of of um the government that some of this money that is um being funneled away from the federal monies that come out may be um put into state level funding in terms of readylearn block grants or other grants that they provide. So, we're hopeful that um you know, we will still have some funding that comes into the district over the next several several years, but we cannot count on all of those dollars just yet. And therefore, Jack has put them all at the 80%. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Jackie. Thank you very much. And thank you

109for your indulgence. A lot of really important information. Um but that concludes my superintendent report for this evening. Thank you. Um, again, I'd also like to reiterate uh for Mr. Trent to thank you for the time that you have put in. I know it's it's a lot of due diligence on your part. So, all right. Next, we're moving on to reports. Uh, Colonial Intermediate 20, Mr. Snider. Yes. Thank you. I'm going to queue up. I have a 30 slide presentation to queue up here regarding the history of the IU uh and and the future and and where we're going with the IU. Uh no, briefly just two points. Um I did email out the uh newsletter at the conclusion of last month's meeting. So you got that in your inbox uh February 27th. And just

110a quick overview, one quick highlight of our last meeting was that um Amanda Secretrist, uh director of the team Northampton Special Olympics, um she was at our meeting with several of her, uh Olympic athletes, and they did a uh a presentation uh to the board highlighting Special Olympics and some of their other events and highlighting some of the uh good things those athletes have been doing. So uh those are the only two things from the IU uh in tonight's report. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have anyone from the public library? Okay. Career Institute of Technology any I don't think we really discussed too much. It it was um you know just going over the Skills USA and some different uh events like that. Um potential building projects. Yeah, it was more of the more

111of adding some of the programs. Yeah, some of the programs and that's already been discussed by us. So, um, next we have Northampton Community College. So, Mr. Fenel there. I'd like to make considering our budgets on the agenda for this evening. Sure thing. Okay. Foundation for Eastern Schools, Miss Seago. Uh, thank you. No um report attached, but just a couple items. Um, we will be having our district pizza night in April. So, uh, continue to look for flyers and more information about that. And also just want to let everyone know that the foundation is currently looking for a new executive director. Um, like to thank Caroline for her years of service to the foundation and the job is currently posted both on the East website as well as on several other um, job posting sites.

112So, if you know someone who might be interested in working for the foundation, please do encourage them to apply. Thank you. I will add that we are also looking for new board members. So if anyone is interested in being part of that nonprofit organization as a board member, you can certainly reach out to Miss Siago or myself as well. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Uh Charles Shren Science Technology, we have no report for right now. Um our student report, Mr. Mattis is here. Hopefully they won. Yeah, we won. That's why I was a little late late. Uh, hi everyone. We had our student council meeting last week. There were not any major concerns and each class is working on fundraising right now with the seniors also working on prom. Special Olympics was a really good

113success. The volunteers and the participants all had a great time. We are still currently planning for EA AG and EHS day. We are looking to get as many students involved and included as possible. The senior class and executive board also began meeting with the principles about graduation details. And that's all I have today. So, thank you. Okay. Any other association reports? Mr. Capone. Um, so good evening. Um, during the month of March, EAEA was able to purchase a book for each of our school libraries in celebration of National Reading Month. Um, and NEA's ReadAcross America program. Um we were able to send some EAEA officers to visit um what ended up being four of our buildings to read some of these stories to our students um as part of that celebration as well as PSA

114treasurer Rachel West visiting one of our buildings last week. Um, the books we donated all came from the ReadAcross America 2025 book list and included uh Malita Full of Treasures, The Book That Almost Rind, and Aloha Everything and were selected um by each of the school's librarians to complement the selections that were already available in that school's library. Um, I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the success of the NEA walk-in event that took place on Wednesday, March 19th, um, organized in partnership with the district, EA, and the Eastern Education Support Professionals Association. It was part of a nationwide effort to show our collective support for public education, our students, and our schools. The event was a powerful and positive action that reinforced our shared mission, ensuring that our schools remain strong, well

115supported, and prepared to meet the needs of every student. On behalf of EAEA, I want to thank everyone who participated from our district leadership to our dedicated educators, support staff, students, and families. Your support and engagement made a difference, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the best interests of our schools and communities. Thank you. Okay. Do we have anyone from the PTA? Okay. All right. Um Okay. We have next we have public to be heard on agenda items. So, anything on the agenda? If you want to come up to the podium, sign in, let us know where you're from. Okay. Seeing none, uh, executive session report agenda item. Agenda item. Yep. On agenda item, otherwise it's till the end. Okay. That's all right. Right. Next, we had we uh had executive

116session held on February 25th regarding personnel negotiations and agreements and also on March 11th for personnel negotiations and contract. Okay. I'll need too soon. That's okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right. Next, I'll need approval on the minutes. Motion to approve the minutes on the following meeting. special meeting February 18th. Academic standing committee meeting February 18th, athletic standing committee meeting February 18th, buildings and ground safety security standing committee meeting February 18th. Educational technology and student support standing committee meeting February 18th and the regular board meeting on February 25th. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next we will take uh 7A resol uh a resolution for reorganization of the business office. Motion to approve the attached resolution outlining the reorganization of the business office. Any questions or discussion?

117All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Next, I will take B, C, and D together. B, motion to approve the finance officer job description as attached. C, motion to approve the purchasing agent job description as attached. And D, motion to approve the bookkeeper job description as attached. And I might as well do E. Uh, motion to approve the accounts payable clerk job description as attached. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we will have uh retirements. Motion with regrets and best wishes to approve the following retirements as presented. Motion second. Any um questions or discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Okay, I will take G, H, I, J, and K. G. Motion to approve the following resignations as presented. H. Motion to approve the following leave of absences

118as presented. I. Motion to approve the following contractual salary increment as presented. J. Motion to approve the following administrative transfers as presented. And K. Motion to approve the following tenure award as presented. Second. Any questions or [Music] discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Next, we'll take L M and N. L. Motion to approve. Motion to elect the following temporary professional employee contract TPE as presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. Motion to elect the following LTS long-term substitute as presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. And N election motion to elect the following support staff as presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. Second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we'll take O,

119P, Q, and R. O. Motion to elect the following coaches presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. P. Motion to elect the following volunteer coaches pres as presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. Q. Motion to approve the following changes to the contractual EPFED stipens as presented and R. Motion to approve the following support staff substitute as presented pending receipt of all forms and documents required by the district. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? Quick comment here about Barry Snider, personal role model of mine growing up sonic coming back again for another year. recently lost his wife in great tragedy, but good to see you again, Mr. Schneider. Thank you. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we'll move on to academics. We

120will take A, B, C, and D. A, excuse me. Motion to approve the field trip request as presented. B. Uh, motion to approve the Da Vinci Science Center membership invoice as presented. C, motion to approve the Generation Next agreement as presented. And D, motion to approve the Keys to Literacy Professional Development and Materials contract as presented. Second. Any questions or discussion? Uh, I have a couple questions or comments. um on the field trip request request forms. Uh some of them it's just basically the uh completed all the way the number of subs. Um up top it says says zero, but then on the bottom there's a dollar amount and it also says it looks like it's $100 a day for the cost of a sub, but it is more than that, isn't it? That $100

121a day. Um And then the the the pay by some boxes are not checked. Some some of the forms are not checked. Says other but doesn't specify what the other is. And I just a couple questions on some of the contracts. Um the generation next it said the contract was effective January 1st and we're just doing it now. for that one. That is correct. We were late in receiving that, but we had continued the services through. Okay. The uh keys to literacy 40 over $41,000 for customized training plan and it expires April 8th already. Um I'm not sure. Again, we're looking at and I have questions on the bills, too, but we're looking at trying to mitigate and limit the the over overspending or the uh the budget shortfalls for this year. And we're doing

122something at this stage of the game for this year. $41,000 is a big hit for a month or so of a contract is necessary. Are we looking at all of these things as necessities versus convenience or or once? Right. And so I appreciate the question and I would say that yes um this came about. We originally had a um an agreement with the con with the IU to provide these services and we made a commitment to our teachers to provide key solitary training which we started in the beginning of the school year and we had our remaining sessions scheduled for the rest of this year. And what ended up happening, there was a change in staff at the IU, which did not allow them to be able to send any more coaches or trainers to

123to finish out the training for the rest of this year. So then we were faced with just cancelling the remaining sessions where we had already started what we had promised for our staff or we could reach out to the actual company who provides this training. And so we decided to go that route because we did have funds remaining in our ready to-learn grant that we could use to finish out the rest of this year. The goal moving forward is not to use them again next year, but to um provide the professional development particularly only at the middle school, which means that the high school will not re receive that training. And we selected the middle school because they are designated as um a cascading CSI school. And so we're looking at moving into the school

124improvement process with them. And after speaking with the building principal was very much in favor and saying that it was a necessity. So we wanted to honor that commitment at the middle school. With the high school, what we're planning to do is the part is contract. Not only will we be getting eight days of professional development for the teachers, but it also comes with a trainer trainer model. And so we're going to be able to train 10 interventionists, assistant principles, and or coordinators so that we can then also do that training in house. And so the goal is that next year we could do some of that training ourselves, but then also partner again with the IU and start fresh so that we wouldn't there wouldn't be any cost to the district moving forward. Well,

125thank you for that. So between what the IU what they did beginning of the year and this 41,000, what's the total cost for this program? Well, the IU we it was no cost to us. It would just be this cost here that we would have. Oh, even though they did the services earlier in the year? Yes. Okay. So, and I will also respectfully ask that when you're talking about grant funding and you know we're doing some things that oh paid for by by grant money or ready to learn again necessities looking at there's other ways to spend that money. If we need to do something with salaries we can do salaries with ready to learn money um and maybe not do some of these services that are not a necessity. Again, you guys make that

126decision or that recommendation. I just need just want to just keep reiterating that we have to look at everything at this point. Understood. Yep. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Anything else? Okay. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Next, we move on to athletics. U varsity and JB baseball trip. Motion to approve the varsity and JB baseball trip to Boston, April 24th, 26, 2025 as per attached. Second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we've got budget and finance. We'll take a financial matters. Motion to approve the financial matters as presented. The treasures report, the monthly student activity statements for East Area Middle School and High School, the bill register, regular check, and AC. general funds, special activities, capital projects, food service, and the Eastern Public Library. Motion second. Any questions

127or discussion? Uh me again. So, couple of questions. Uh ANA limousine. We paid for the bus or whatever for a trip to Hershey. uh two trips, but there's a 20% gratuitity included in that. Are are we paying I know our buses, some of them don't make it to can't make it to Hershey or maybe they can, but we have a limousine service. We're paying the bus the cost of the bus and a 20% gratuitity. Um just curious about that. Um looking at uh Amazon, I mean that's a big number every month. 19,000 on this month's bills. The Amazon process, are they pre-approved or is that done and ordered and then we have to pay it? Question. What was the question? Are they pre-approved? So, Amazon, when that comes through, I know we've been doing it

128for years. Just seems like this number just gets higher and higher and higher. Um, are they like preapproved or do people just order from Amazon and then it's done? It's already done. We have to pay it. It would be the second you just said and we're and it I've actually already started speaking with my staff on how to to change the Amazon process because we do spend a good deal of money on Amazon. There's things that are beneficial to buy off of Amazon, right? There are things that may be too easy to buy off of Amazon. So, that's that's an internal discussion that's already happening. Okay, thank you. Um, what does, uh, Claudia Boyd do for $4,500 a month? Claudia Boyd is a longstanding um, um, contract with us. She is our language interpreter, so

129she does all of our interpreting for IEPs, for families who are non-English-speaking um, for the district. Okay. Thank you. Um, we did talk about this previously, the Bucksmont. Uh, I mean, we $36,000 in February. I know there's student placements there. 126,000 this month. We were uh I think it was requested for like an analysis between like they rent our building. Uh, what is the rent? Is it are we getting discounts because they're using our building or renting our building or is that part of the rent discount? uh but we'd like to see an analysis on that. So we'll be okay sorry. So we'll be providing that in the next week or so. Okay. Um and one of the things that are going to be included there because they are asking to renew their lease for

130one uh for one additional year at this point in time. And so we're having that internal conversation as well as what do we do to try to level set that a little bit better. But one of the things that certainly was pointed out um as an advantage there is that they do pay all the utilities and so we need to keep that in mind if we no longer rent that facility that those utilities would come back to us. But your point is, you know, heard and well taken. There are some pieces there that we need to consider as we're renegotiating that contract. Do we do we have um like our full slots? Do we get to sell off like we do with other programs if we don't use it? Um, are we using the the

131the full amount that we can with them at at any kind of discounted rate or do we have reserve slots? We we have reserve slots from a year-to-year contract. Um, right now we're full with all of our slots. We It's not like um Colonial Academy where we can lease them out to somebody else. Um, we've had a revolving door. We've been pretty full in there all year. Um, but recommendations for next year would be reduction of slots over at Bucks. And there's no is there's we're getting rent from them. So there's no discount on the tuition rate. There is a discount on the uh tuition rate based upon the contract. I mean every year it goes up but based on the the initial contract it was 25 slots at a discounted rate. Um with our

132we've exceeded those 25 but they still have given us that discounted rate for those slots. Okay. All right. Thank you. Yeah. [Music] Um, Brett Denovian Associates, $4,600 a month for consultation. What is that for? So, Brett Denovian Associates, they provide services for our classrooms in the form of board-certified behavior analysts. So, they conduct functional behavior assessments, they go in and do observations of students, they help with behavior plans and implementation. So that is what is provided. That money does come out of access. Okay. What's Yeah, access. Thank you. Uh and the last question I have for this list, uh Glenn uh Cuck, KOC, classroom observations that you do. Yeah, it's it's the same thing that Brett Denovian Associates does. They just focus on a different a different population within our buildings and access. We we

133do access and it's they're out of access as well. All right. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? All right. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Next, we will take the Colonial IU joint purchasing paper bid award. Motion to approve the Colonial IU 20 paper copy paper janitorial product bids for the 2526 school year as presented. Second. Any questions or discussion? I do have a quick question. I can't leave Mr. Case out. Um Ken, last at the last meeting, the standing committee um the uh engineer reef talked about why the bid came in at half of the estimates. something was uh found to be not necessary during the the walkth through and that was taken out of the bid because the first estimate was like $6 million and now it's coming in under three.

134I mean there was there was two things. Um the uh the low bidder for the project, they withdrew their bid. Uh they missed something on bid day. Uh so they we received a letter from them saying they're withdrawing their bid. Um the uh the bids that came in were all relatively close. I mean the the bid tab is attached Yeah. uh to the document there. And then we also reviewed um some of the reasons why we thought or CHA thought uh that the bids came in at as low as they did. Um the estimate that I think they had was a little over 6 million and you know it came in significantly lower than that. Right. Like half. Did a reef say something was seen not to be necessary during the walk through? It there

135was there was some uh masonry work that that they included in their estimate. Uh and during the time of the survey when they were putting the contract together uh they were able to reduce that scope on the masonry. So that was one of the the items that they listed uh when we were up on the roof uh actually putting uh the drawings and specs together. So there was some you know reduction in scope which accounted for uh the lower prices. Okay. But it the masonry. Okay. I just didn't remember or if he mentioned what exactly it was. Yeah, it was it was the masonry on the power walls. Yep. All right. Thank you. Okay. All right. Any other questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Next, we will take the career

136institute of technology motion to approve the career institute of technology budget for the 2526 school year as presented. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? All right. Next, we will have motion to approve the 2526 Northampton Community College budget as presented. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we have buildings and grounds safety security. Motion to approve the EMS partial roof replacement project as per attached. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? I guess I jumped the gun on that agenda, didn't I? So excited to talk to Mr. Casease. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Next we have educational technology and student supports. Uh we will do ABC and D. So A motion to approve the Colonial IU 20 contracts, five job

137training contracts as per attached. B motion to approve the -ate project, firewall and UPC equipment as per attached. C. Motion to approve the EISD K to2 school guidance plan as per attached. And D, motion to approve the updated Apple iPad lease as per attached. Motion second. Any questions or discussion? N. Okay. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Next, we will have other business. A motion to approve expulsion hearing waiver form number 36724 as presented and B motion to approve motion to accept the residency adjudication and recommendations as presented. Second. Okay. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Next, we will have public to be heard on non-aggenda items. Okay. The board recognizes the value to school governance of public comments on educational issues and the importance of involving members of the public in board meetings.

138The board also recognizes its responsibility to conduct the business of the district in an orderly and efficient manner. The board has established the following guidelines to govern public participation. The public may comment at two points within each voting meeting. The board shall require that the public comments requested at the beginning of the meeting be for comment on agenda items. The superintendent report is not considered an agenda item. Public comments at the end of the meeting shall be for general comments or non-aggenda items. All statements shall be directed to the presiding officer and no participant may address or question individual board members. Public comment is not a question answer session or debate. The public is permitted to comment but should not expect response from the board or administration. The president may interrupt or terminate a participant

139statement when the statement is too lengthy, redundant, personally directive, abusive, obscene or irrelevant. Personal attacks on board members, administrators, or district employees will not be tolerated. Mr. Feno, thank you. So again, I waited to the end. Uh just wanted to say thank you on behalf of the board of trustees, Dr. Ruth and myself on approving our budget. Uh you know, it's greatly appreciated every year when we come before you and we also appreciate all the students and everything that you do send to us. Uh, as always, we hope to always continue that outreach to uh gain more of the students to come out there because again, seeing the success as you talked about in your RAD program that they graduate from here, it's just as important that we see them uh, you know, continue on

140whether it be at another institution or at ours. So again, thank you for your vote, the support. Thank you, Mr. Fenel. Okay, is there anyone else? Okay, please sign in. State which already signed in. Okay. Please state which municipality you're from. Okay. I am from Palmer. All right. My name is John Gman. Oh, thank you. I live at 2638 Steven Street in Palmer. And with me is my wife, Jade Woo. We are the parents of an East Area High School freshman, NC Aubrey Woo, who has been missing for 74 days since the night of Friday, January 10th. Aubrey is an exceptionally talented, intelligent, and bubbly social butterfly. Aubrey is also extremely determined to fulfill her dreams of attending an Ivy League university and passionately participates in the Future Business Leaders of America mock trial and

141Latin clubs. Aubrey's absence from our life for these past 74 days with no contact with her friends, family, credible sightings, has devastated us. For over 10 weeks, we have been desperately trying to raise awareness and correct misinformation festering in corners of the internet. We feel that our trusted institutions are more focused on us staying quiet and hoping that we will just go away. We will not go away. In fact, we are prepared to get louder and more aggressive in our fight for justice for Aubrey. Aubrey deserves your attention. Aubrey deserves your support. and our family deserves your empathy for what we have had to endure throughout this nightmare. We are here tonight to ensure that everyone on this board, the parents of Eastern Area School District students and the East community at large are aware

142of the many dangerous events our daughter experienced in the last nine months at the middle school and high school. We hope that telling Aubrey's story will motivate you to take immediate steps to remedy significant shortcomings in our school district. These gaping lapses of security, accountability, and headscratching decision-making places all Eastn Area children in the gravest danger. Last May, shortly before her eighth grade graduation, Aubrey and many of her classmates were using a dating and chat website called meetyou.me from their school district issued iPads. This website would best be described as something as if Omegle and Snapchat had a baby. It allowed our children to interact with adults from all over the world. The very same adults we would never expect to have such unfettered access to our children, especially not while they are safely within

143the confines of the eastern area school facilities. However, I am frustrated to report to all of you that that was indeed the case. Further, one of these men whom our daughter came into contact with on this website first enticed her to meet him at her bus stop where he provided her contraband. Within a week of their first meeting, this man escalated his brazen and criminal behavior and he picked up our daughter from the front door of the Eastn Area Middle School. That day, as Jade and I sat nervously waiting on our front porch for Aubrey, who was over an hour and a half late from her normal bus stop drop off time, we had no reason to believe that our daughter was in fact being sexually assaulted by this man within a mile of our

144home and a shopping plaza parking lot. The details of this assault, his presentation of drugs and guns to our daughter, would only come to light after several police interviews. One of the things that scared us deeply was that this man was able to pick her up directly from the middle school front door. Despite protocols in place by this school district for picking up children who normally rely on their bus service, we had to listen to our daughter describe in detail how the Eastn Area Middle School security guard walked her right to his car and opened the door for her to enter a 25-year-old man's car. Can you believe that? Yeah. The failure of trust, security, and protocols by this secure security security professional led directly to our daughter being violated. The next day, we took

145several steps as concerned parents and citizens. We called the school. I won't use their name since I've just heard your instructions. We we did speak to her guidance counselor, principal, Pennsylvania child Youth Services, and the Palmer Police Department. We specifically advised the school leaders of our concerns, not only for Aubrey, but for all of her classmates, because as best that we could see on her iPad, there were up to 20 of them using this website. We assumed that many of these children would be in the same grave danger of being violated, traumatized, or worse from their access to this website. We also alerted the school leaders to the students usage of shared documents on the school's Google software that they were abusing to communicate outside of normal channels. And we had in fact saw several

146of these discussions directly related to sexual activity on the Eastern Area Middle School campus between students. The school leaders would later call us back and advise us of their decision to pass Aubry for the remainder of the eighth grade and they would quote handle the matter. They never spoke to us ever again. More recently, shortly before the winter break, a classmate at Eastston Area High School submitted a troubling referral directly to child Youth Services and the Eastn Police about our daughter, an upper class male member of the varsity wrestling team and an alleged compromising photo that was already circulating amongst the upperassmen at the high school. For us as parents, we were never informed of this matter from the high school leadership, the guidance department, CIS, Eastn City Police Department, or the Pennsylvania Child and

147Youth Services until the day before Aubrey left our home on Thursday, January 9th. In fact, it was not until after Aubrey was already missing that her principal would admit to us that he solely in his discretion interviewed our daughter alone in his office sometime around December 19th. He made this heartbreaking and troubling decision as a male leader to interview a 14-year-old female about what amounts to child pornography. My wife has seen the photo. And based on that conversation, he agreed with our daughter's assertion that it must have been some kind of AI faked image. He never felt obligated to report this conversation to Jade and I. Oddly enough though, a week prior, this same male principal made a point of calling us before pulling our daughter out of a classroom. And then as a followup,

148and it's on my phone for any of you that want to see it, he follows up with a text message to Jade and I, discussing this potential bullying issue that involved upper class female students, but he wanted us to take note that he met with Aubrey, quote, with female security present. Let that sink in. A conversation around bullying and fighting has a female security present. Not something Jade and I ever asked. In fact, I would say, and I know, you know, head principles here are not talking about him, but you could probably attest we have a good relationship with Aubry's principal. We trust him and he failed us and he failed her. But he made a point of having that conversation, interviewing a 14-year-old girl about a compromising photo that involves her and a varsity

149wrestler. An image that was already circulating through the school. Girls were outside her classroom to beat her up. Boys were touching her in the hallways. And none of you told us. None of you. None of you have called us since she's been missing. I don't recognize any of you. 74 days. Where are you, Eastston? Lastly, our daughter had come home in early December asking us to press charges of sexual assault against an upper class male student she claimed had intentionally tripped near her and groped her breast while standing up. We were aware that a week or so later, there was this incident with several older female classmates standing outside our daughter's classroom waiting to fight her. A boy left that classroom to go to his principal for our daughter's safety. Frankly, had anybody and the

150school made Jade and I aware of the compromising photo, the bullying, the groping in the hallways. We could have connected dots and prevented this. However, not being informed, we went into a conversation with Aubrey on the night of Thursday, January 9th, and Aubrey desperately tried to deflect the seriousness of the matter and the incident at school because she was aware of how it was going to let us down as parents, and it violated our trust and belief in her. She went on to mention something that I greatly disputed with her on behalf of this man. She said, "Mom, John, it's no big deal. I already talked to my principal about principal about it and he knows it's an AI fake photo, so it's it's a non-issue and you guys should drop the issue." She cites

151the fact that of course we know that her principal would follow up because he's so diligent and we have such a good working relationship with him because Jade and I were there in the summer before school started to meet this principal to talk about how do we work in partnership for our daughter and keep her safe. At that time, as I think most parents in our shoes would have, we dismissed Aubrey as just lying to us and lying about her principal. But little did we know, she was actually telling us the truth. Since Aubrey has been missing, first it has took the efforts of not one but two Eastn City Council members to get our high school to send out an alert to the parents that our daughter is missing and endangered. We would anxiously

152wait another six weeks before the head principal and I'm sorry but we did talk about it. M Mr. German if I could. We've already allowed I have two twice the thing so if you could just please wrap up I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Solicitor for soliciting me. Thank you. We would anxiously wait nearly six weeks before the head principal would finally reach out to us. We have now been rejected on several occasions asking for the school to please host a community forum for the concerned parents, the confused parents who could use information. We've asked the school district to print us flyers to help spread awareness about Aubrey. We've asked them to speak to students, so many of them who have critical information about our daughter. And as members of the PTA, you

153notice there was nobody here who spoke during that section, but Jade and I are members of the Eastn Area High School PTA. We are the mo we are most disheartened to see how little anybody in this school district we're giving out awards for the Eastern Way. I heard you use the word superintendent takes a village. Where's our village? Where are you? I promise you, our daughter will never attend another single day in this poorly run school district. But all of you will be held fully accountable to the law criminally and civily regarding your failure to protect Aubrey Woo and the other thousands of young children of Easton who appear to be in grave danger with the lack of protocols, lack of empathy, and lack of security. This board should be ashamed to sit here today

154and condone such epic failures of your duty to our community. Not one of you has reached out to us. Not one of you. Shame on you. Good night. Have a good day. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the public who would like to be heard on non-aggenda items? Please write your name, state your name, and which municipality you're from. Yes, my name is Maryanne Garris, uh, class of 75. I was here back in November to talk about nominating former student athlete and head boys basketball coach Jim Hutnik to East's Wall of Fame and to submit over 100 nomination forms. After that meeting, a WFMZ reporter posted an article about this online. Since then, people have approached us at basketball games, restaurants, even in the grocery store, asking if there has been any announcement or

155how they could be included in the nomination process. Tonight, we have even more forms to submit, now including Eastn Mayor Sal Panto and his family. Community support has really been overwhelming. Jim's successes in high school athletics and coaching have been well documented. There is no question that his accomplishments fall well within the category of various coaching accomplishments listed on the wall of fame online list of past inductees. In conclusion, it's hard to imagine or understand how the wall of fame committee members can deny that. Seriously, let's be fair and do the right thing. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else from the public who would be who would like to be heard on non-aggenda items? Okay. All right. Seeing none, do we have any other business from board members? No. Okay. Seeing none, uh,

156call for an adjournment of the meeting. Motion. All in favor? Any opposed? Okay. Meeting adjourned at 9:09.