001Good evening and welcome to the discussion meeting of the Mount Lebanon Board of School Directors. Tonight is Monday, November 10th, 2025. It's 7:30 p.m. and we're present at room D205 of the Mount Lebanon High School with public participation also available via Zoom. Uh, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Berdick, >> here. >> Mrs. Crrael, >> here. >> Miss Fleer, >> here. >> Mrs. Gelman, >> here. >> Mrs. Gensel, Miss Guth >> here, >> Mr. Hoffman >> here, >> Miss Johnson >> here, >> Mr. Wland >> here, >> all present except for one. >> Excellent. Um, we are excited this evening that our monthly presentation will be uh from Dr. Schuman on special education and student services. Good evening. Um, so first off, uh, I have elected to defer some of my time to next week for
002Dr. Davis and Dr. Schol. So, we're going to keep this short and sweet. Um, but with that being said, um, we have about 25 slides of things that have been accomplished from August to today, November, which is pretty remarkable. Um, so I'm very excited to share these updates with you um, within the student services and special ed program maybe. >> Okay, thanks. Okay, so first up is a review of our enrollment data and the last checkpoint for this was October 1 for our child accounting that was submitted to the state. These are graphs that you have seen before. Um, but what I did include on the bottom with the pencils is that as of 101 here is our current student count and what that equates to in terms of a percentage of our student population.
003Um, for this particular one for special education, I also included the state average, which you can see we are slightly below. Um, with with that being said, if you look at the 10 or 11year uh enrollment data, we have a 45.68% increase in special education. So again, you've seen these charts before in some other presentations, but I wanted to review this because the slides that follow these data um reports are going to show how we're addressing our student populations. I'm going to look at it. Am I doing something wrong? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So the next up is gifted education stats. Um as of 101 we have 313 uh students that are gifted or 7% of our population. 10% increase from 2015 to 2025. So again population has increased for 504 this is
004our biggest increase we have currently 430 students K to 12 or approximately 8% you can see the increase there is 183.01% from 2015 to 2025 and for our English learners or um enrollment data we have 213 students approximately 4% and that is a 58.85 85 increase from 2015 to 2025. So as we can see the last 10 years our student population has changed which means that our teaching practices have to change and our professional development sessions also have to be adapted to the student needs. So here are some items that we presented at the most recent uh Libo summit sessions. Um, so we did provide Alageney County resources which goes under student services, behavior management and building a positive classroom environment, deescalation strategies, first aid CPR, P school and IEP writer which was referenced by
005our tech presentation but now teachers can access all documents on their power school. um ASHA which is generative AI for speech and special ed teachers, epilepsy training, IEP goal writing supporting multilingual learners, trauma-informed classroom practices and foundations. So those were all available in our August PD and teachers could self- select based on interest or assignment area. These were also open to paraprofessionals um so it was a mixture of um staff that were able to attend those trainings. If you have any questions you can >> what is what is ashaw? >> Yes. So that is the speech um kind of like their trying to think when you go to a board um >> that's their national >> national organization. So they sponsor um a training >> American speech and hearing association. >> So what's the artificial
006intelligence? >> So looking at helping students in terms of communicating with using AI tools. So text generators or predictions um using devices um so that those are some of the topics that were covered under there. >> Okay. >> Y are these tools or strategies that are currently being utilized or just >> so these would be like new frontier >> things that are new to the practice. Yes. Um, so if we have students that are getting speech services or if they're using communication devices, these would be additional kind of strategies or things to kind of look towards the future. >> Nothing that they they're bringing home yet. AI based. >> No. No. >> Yes. >> Mr. Stangle, do you just want to advance for her? It's still not working. >> Okay. So along with that um
007we have an initiative with the strategic plan for updating onboarding or pair professional training making sure all of our staff is um receiving the training that they need. So this is just a a snapshot of our template for pair professionals and you can see that we include them in all of our district training that starts on day one with our convocation and our safety plan updates. Um we then transition into department meetings which we have specialized training for them and they get their welcome back and their uh intro to deescalation and self-care. Um the second day they actually report to their building. So they're getting all the building level initiatives and procedures in terms of where they're stationed. And then the LEO summit day as we mentioned there are sessions that they were able to
008select from. um they actually got an additional day of training on the following Monday, which was our CPI, our crisis prevention training. And you can see that we had um groups that did some things on their own and then groups that were doing the full hands-on training because they were a member of their building crisis teams. Mr. Stangle, >> try one more time. >> Yep. All right. So, the crisis prevention institute is new this year. We previously had CCM which was just another model for our our intervention training. Um but they provide a philosophy of care, welfare, safety and security. And that is really the whole approach um to the the training program that we're utilizing. So before we're engaging with students, we're trying to understand the situation, what the student's background may be, how
009to best interact with the student, and how not to escalate the student um while respecting their rights and dignity. So that is the core philosophy. And then it goes on from there in terms of the strategies that we employ. So for our building, we have 10 building teams. We have 92 staff members that have completed a full day certification training for non-violent crisis intervention. We have 217 out of 554 staff members that have completed our three-hour verbal intervention. So a lot of the feedback from the program reviews is that all staff needs this training, not just selected staff. Um so that is one of our time for task options as they complete an online module um to get this training. And then 646 total staff members have completed 1300 training hours from July to October.
010So like I said all of these things that I'm mentioning today have occurred uh very recently within the last 3 months. Um CPI does have some stats there. a 90% increase in staff retention, 75% reduction in suspensions, and 80% um reduction in staff injuries. And all of those are of course very important to us. >> The deescalation training and it's is being offered or mandated to the entire teaching >> required. Yes. >> Body. That's great. >> The the three hours uh the full certification is based on the building teams. >> Okay. and and the the the program that's that's being delivered um proven success. Yes. >> Yes. So it is used I would say nationally different states. >> Um myself and three other people were trained as instructors. So we're the ones providing the district-based
011instruction. >> Okay. Um, and it allows us some more flexibility from our other program that was mandatory in person and so many hours where they're allowed to take some components here online. >> Thank you. And the percentages at the bottom that talks about the sort of positive out >> some of their research. >> That's from their >> their research. Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Just to add one more thing. Um, last year when we created the calendar and we were able to secure those two additional days of training for staff, that really helped us to be able to accomplish this this year. And so when we look at the calendar later on today, you'll see that there's that ask again for this year. It's really allowing us to do some of the
012things that we wanted to do but didn't have the time for before. Um along with uh some of our training updates, uh Dr. Davis and I, Dr. Mitchell and I, uh Miss Burke, one of our inclusion specialists, um we all complete induction sessions. Um and these induction sessions are focused on uh universal design for learning, differentiation, what do we do as next steps when the students aren't meeting their mark or needing additional support? So, what does Mount Lebanon have to offer in your building or in the district? Um, that kind of takes the it to the next level in terms of tiered supports. So, all of our new staff or new teachers are getting this instruction as part of their induction program. Parent sessions. Uh, we had our first one in September and it was
013for OVR early reach services focused at the high school. Um, we do have one that's upcoming um for assist of technology for communication. So, a lot of times we have students with devices that are used for speaking and the parents aren't aware of what apps they're using or how to utilize the the iPad or whatever device they have at home. Obviously, we want them to be using this at school and at home to communicate. So, we um have an IU person that's coming in to do a parent training. Last spring, we had one for the lamp uh which is an app that students use, but this could be open to other apps as well. Um and then new this year is coach sessions. So on August um I did the fall uh coaches group for
014um supporting students with disabilities and athletics which was part of our extracurricular discussion. Um and coming up this week we actually have our winter coaches session. So I went through how to access student records on power school. All of our coaches were actually set up with a class based on their sport and roster so they have access to see all the documents. Um, and then we went over some just tips for interacting with students with disabilities. So, just as an example, you know, my daughter may have a ninth period class called volleyball and the coach has access to the roster and all the documents that go along with those students. So, that was that was new for this year. >> Are there any expectations that coaches are looking into that or is it just kind
015of >> Yes, that was part of my training. So the parents fill out um on the registration form medical concerns, health concerns, any other behavioral concerns, which is kind of like a snapshot. Um but then the coaches are required to check the alerts which are on our power school to see if there's additional documentation to review. So I feel like the parents kind of give them a first heads up and then they have to go a little deeper. Um, as mentioned, I believe last week with our or last month with our strate strategic plan is that Lincoln Elementary now has a new emotional support classroom. Um, if you've able to get the chance to visit, um, being in there is a lot better than these pictures, even though these pictures are really nice. It is
016a calm, welcoming environment. Um, and we have a few referrals that are in process, so it is starting to um starting to grow. And the the plan is is to have a couple locations for emotional support classrooms at the elementary level. >> Um it's based on need. So right now we don't have a need for two, but obviously if that would change. Yeah, >> I thought I saw someone. >> Uh I think it could be for other types of support too, like autistic support or multi-isability support >> and and students at all of the elementary buildings if there was a referral made and it was determined to be appropriate that this is where they would go for those additional >> Yes. >> Perfect. And I think what you're referring to is um when we were
017talking about the strategic plan, the emotional support classroom was one of them, but we also know that we have one open space for our autistic support classrooms. So, um we have schools in line to be the next school in the event that we have an an increase in kids. >> Thank you. >> Are there multiple grade levels covered within that specialized classroom? >> There can be. Um so um PD recommends like a threeyear grades span for um students in elementary classrooms but parents are also able to sign a waiver if they're okay with having you know different students and and sometimes the schedule they're not even in the same room at the same time. Um so it's yes there is a recommended grad span >> and then they also participate in music and gym class
018and all of the things that we would >> Yes. Actually somewhere out for core instruction as well. >> Okay. Um, again, new this year, uh, it's actually next week on the Tuesday the 18th, um, we have an opportunity to join seven other school districts, um, to begin a tournament for students with disabilities and their peer buddies. Um, so next week is our first tournament. It's soccer. Uh, Mr. Beck, who is our adaptive PE coach or teacher, will be taking the students. Um, and we have, I believe, seven athletes and eight peer buddies that will be going with them. Um, so hope to share some pictures on a board update. Um, basketball will be for winter and track and field will be in the spring. So, this is for high school students with disabilities. >> Yes.
019And then another addition is within the district newsletter is our special ed student services monthly newsletters which again was part of our plan in terms of communication. I'm really excited to do these because again we're doing a lot of things monthly that I'd like to highlight along with parent resources. So they are archived on the district website. If you haven't got to see one yet, please check it out. Um and we're able to kind of highlight our staff appreciation days on there as well. Also last week was our school psychologist appreciation week. So giving them some recognition as well. And in between all of that, we are prepping for our cyclical monitoring updates. So our special ed plan was approved. Now uh we worked with the teachers last week to start educational benefit reviews, which
020means looking at students programming over the last three years to see if they're making progress. Um and then they are coming on site for their review uh in March 2026. We have two gifted parent nights coming up. Um, elementary is for parents that aren't familiar with their program or parents that think their child may be gifted. Um, and then the middle school parent night is for parents that are new to the district or they want to learn um, a little bit more about our middle school program if there was a transition from elementary school. We have um, a new school psych intern. Um Haley is on the right in that picture. Uh we are utilizing a FIA grant to pay her a stipen. So you know back in the day where we had a student
021teach, there was no payment related to that. Um we actually get to give her a stipen while she's completing her requirements. Our iPad or I'm sorry, our school sites are moving towards iPads um instead of physical testing kits, which is a little bit different, but all of the providers are moving towards electric electronic scoring. Um, so this is something new and the kids get to interact on an iPad with the school psych. Um, and we celebrated them last week. Uh, we often think about how do we adapt or modify our programming for English learners. This is just a list of all the resources that we use on a regular basis. So believe Dr. Scholo last year um, got us some more pocket talks that give real-time translation support. We use Transperfect, which is an over
022the phone translation service. Global Wordsmiths, which I believe is a local Pittsburgh company, um have come in and have done in-person interpretation for our IEP or parent meetings. Um we have word dictionaries, purposeful scheduling, meaning we're trying to group uh handched students sim in similar groups. uh the new online enrollment that we discussed is going to be very beneficial because they can utilize the translation tool. Um the light initiative which is a group um that allows some of these students to participate. So you can just see um we have a lot of different things going on for our EL learners too. The Bradley Center continues to be a good partner to us. Um this these are our providers for school-based mental health. A clarification point was that these um individuals are not full. They have
023a list of room to grow. So there are no waiting lists. Um we actually have about 39 students that are seeing these individuals. Um and Chuck is our most popular um therapist here. Um but just as an example, we don't really have the need for four um full-time people. It's just that if you're trying to schedule counseling sessions and you're trying not to impact core instruction, sometimes you need additional staff to meet the students at the different buildings at the same time. So, and then this is a slide I'm very proud of. Um you can see that again with our student needs um our support staff have increased but um as of today and we'll knock on some wood um we are down to one part-time PCA position that is open which is amazing um
024and even some of our PCAs that were out on leave have had substitute coverage in the buildings for long term so this is you know a joint team effort um but we have been working very hard to recruit recruit and and train and and maintain our staff. Um and next week uh as appropriate is uh educational support professionals week. So for college and career readiness obviously it starts in elementary school and second step which is our curriculum that we use. Uh weekly lessons have already started to occur in the classrooms. They like to practice those employer soft skills that we hear a lot about. We have schoolwide PBIS lessons and reinforcers and rewards going on. They're starting to collect career portfolio artifacts. And then you can see with middle school, it's personality to career types,
025habits for success. They do their Tuesday talks or other schoolwide initiatives for PBIS. Um and at the high school, um all of the IGP meetings have already begun. There are whole group um I'm sorry, small group career lessons going on in 10th and 12th grade senior meetings. And then uh I believe we already had a financial aid and college admissions nights, parent universities coming up. So a lot of things planned in that aspect and strategic plan updates. Um the emotional support classroom was completed. Um yes, thank you. Check off. And we have um inschool enrichment opportunities for gifted students. So year one was to research. They actually started this process last week. They're compiling a list of K to2 enrichment offerings. Um, and we also, Mrs. Smith had a meeting with the Mount Lebanon Historical
026Society on a research project, which sounds really amazing. Um, we are we have a list of students and other um, special ed placements or programs. Um, we are starting to distribute newsletters to the parents and I also met with um, PTA president to discuss how to include students in field trips and other activities. And then finally um updating the procedures for 504 evaluation. Um the building principles were emailed in October. So that again is in process and that's it. Thank you guys. >> Thank you Dr. Schuman. Cheer. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Sangle for getting the clicker going. Okay. Uh, the next item on our agenda is our proposed policy review, revision, adoption, and retirement. Uh, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Freeze. I know that all of these were discussed this
027evening. >> Yes. Um, this evening in our 6:00 policy meeting, we discussed 11 policies for adoption. They include um a continued discussion of 223 use of bicycles and motor vehicles and then new policies for this month 100 comprehensive planning 113.3 screening and evaluations for student with disabilities 117 homebound instruction 122 extracurricular activities 913 non-school organizations groups individuals 123 intercolastic athletics 123.1 concussion management 123.2 sudden cardiac arrest, 124 alternative instruction, and 138 language instruction education program for English language learners. And with those policies come four retirements of current policies, which are KFAA, use on school property of bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, and other devices. IHBA, Independent Educational Evaluation, IHBF, Homebound Instruction, and IHBEA, English Language Learners Program. Excellent. Thank you. Um, I'd like to open for questions, comments, and discussions of the policies for adoption and retirement.
028Mrs. Gelman, >> thank you. Um, I wasn't here last meeting and so I wanted to share some thoughts and comments that I have shared with a couple board members, but wanted to share it with everybody. Um, so thank you for the opportunity to continue this discussion and it's specifically in regard to 223. All right. So, I fully support our shared commitment to student safety and maintaining strong partnerships with the municipality and all who help keep our students safe. I understand and I respect the concerns raised by our younger students safety, particularly in areas with heavier traffic or limited bike infrastructure. At the same time, our approach should reflect both our governance responsibilities and our broader educational mission. I've seen how biking to school builds confidence and independence when supported by education and awareness. We biked
029w with our kids to school starting in kindergarten when we were living in the city of Pittsburgh. There were plenty of traffic and infrastructure. The infrastructure wasn't ideal, but we were informed and able to make the decision that was right for our family. It may not be the right choice for every family, but it should remain a family decision guided by safety, education, and parental judgment, not restriction. A blanket, a one-sizefits-all restriction feels inequitable since safety conditions vary greatly by our neighborhoods, roots, and family circumstances. This policy is an opportunity to emphasize safety, education, and family partnership rather than prohibition. If the board is not ready to remove elementary kids age limits altogether, I'd like to encourage us to consider reframing or adding language that the district discourages elementary students from biking to school rather
030than outright restricting them while maintaining permission for grades 6 through 12. This shift would promote consistency, respect parental judgment, recognize differences across neighborhoods, and allow us to emphasize education, supervision, and collaboration with the municipality to keep all students safe while also continuing the conversation about the infrastructure and long-term safety improvements moving forward. As a district, we teach safety through education and supervision, not prohibition. We don't ban playgrounds because falls can occur. We teach safe play. We don't ban experiments because of risk. We teach preparation. Nor do we dictate the age at which a child can walk alone to school. Singling out biking, a healthy, sustainable, and developmentally beneficial activity, creates unnecess an unnecessary barrier for families and undermines our goals of teaching safety and responsibility rather than restrictions. From what I can find, only one
031elementary school in the state of Pennsylvania located in Bucks County explicitly prohibits biking to school, and one district discourages it through administrative regulations. Many others leave the decision to families or focus on education and municipal partnerships. Given that our policy affirms the assumption of responsibility by parents, guardians, and students, it seems more consistent to trust families to make the choice that's best for them. So, as long as they comply with applicable laws and safety expectations. Couple questions. Um, one, the policy refers to administrative regulations and designated areas. Um, have these regulations been updated and where can families find them? Um, the middle school mentions them, but I couldn't find simil similar language in the high school handbook, so I thought maybe they were elsewhere. And the policy also mentions designated parking or storage areas, but
032currently only the high school has a bike rack. Are there plans to identify or add safe storage areas at the middle school? And then lastly, I'd like to just go back to that point of encouraging us to to change the language to discourage elementary school students if that is in the purview of of the district rather than restricting it alto together. >> Thank you. >> Additional uh comments, questions. I was also not here um when we discussed this. So to chime in um I was reading through how uh the purpose stated in this um in this policy is that the board regards the use of bikes, scooters, motor vehicles and other microobility to travel to and from school as an assumption of responsibility by parents, guardians and students. So we are we understand that parents
033are assuming the responsibility for that and yet we are restricting them um and and saying you have to be a certain age to do so. And my understanding is that the public safety officers were consulted on this and that they brought to the board table and I watched the meeting but they brought to the board table some concerns. um not having bike lanes was one of them. Um the the varied terrain that kids would be using. Um each one of those things points back to parent respon assumption of responsibility. I'm wondering how um how the how the public safety and the parent it seems like there's two sides here. There's public safety's prohibition and encouragement of us not to allow kids under sixth grade to bike. For example, Washington Road would be the route. Um
034that if I had an elementary school student, she would take Washington Road. And my parent sense would be that I would not allow that. But that's again my parent prerogative to choose that. And that's how we describe it. And the purpose of this policy is that parents assume that risk. So um what very strong language came from the um the public safety officers that led us to make these changes? >> Well, there were no changes. The policy originally was grades 6 through 12. At last month's policy meeting, it was requested that we add fourth and fifth grade. And so we added it and then a discussion occurred last week in or last month in which we shared the concerns from public safety officials. Um I think it's no um surprise that this has been an
035ongoing discussion for us because of the lack of um proper use of a variety of vehicles of our kids that have led to accidents that impact student safety. And I would say we have a variety of role rules that parents may able be able to say I defer to or I would like to be able to do. But as a school district when we know as a community that mobility is an issue. It came up on the strategic plan for the municipality that has not been solved for. For us to sit in front of our community and say we think it's a good idea for people to ride bikes on a busy road like Washington Road. that that is also something that we have to speak up as administration, which we have, and say that
036we have a concern about it. You know, parents definitely have the right for their children to do what they choose to do, but there's other things within the school district that we restrict as well that could be seen as a parent um a parent decision. And so, you know, administration stands with we went back, we talked about this again with administration. And we had a meeting with them 3 weeks ago after our last meeting where they again stated that this was a concern um because we see how children utilize bikes and their parents aren't always able to watch them as they're riding their bike to school. And for me personally and as the superintendent, if we add this and something happens to a kid, regardless if it's the parents purview to allow them to ride
037it, I would feel pretty terrible knowing how our streets are set up, knowing how our sidewalks or lack of sidewalks are set up, knowing that the municipality has already identified this as an issue that they're working on, but there's no solution for it yet. Um, and I think that's why the discussion led in the direction that it was because we have concerns for student safety. And at the end of the day, that's what we're here for, student safety and their education. >> Yeah. I mean, and and I would say like I I totally hear um Mrs. Gilman, Mrs. Berdick, your comments and your concerns. I was ready to support a change to fourth and fifth grade. On a personal note, I have a student who rides their bike daily to and from school since sixth
038grade. Um, and you know, so, so it's not that I have anything against kids riding their bikes to school, but hearing a that we do not have a majority of board support for changing the age limit from the current policy, which is 6 through 12. And then that some of our important stakeholders that we go to for input like the elementary principles and our public safety team were also recommending against it. I think we would be hardpressed to build a majority of board support to make this change right now. which doesn't mean that we as a district cannot be fullthroated partners with the municipality in their ongoing active transportation plan in encouraging them to come up with better safety plans for biking because I think our ultimate goal well I won't say all nine of
039us my ultimate goal would be to allow at least older elementary kids to be able to ride their bikes to school but I as as a board member, I guess I would be hardressed to go against the input of our public safety providers and our the people who are on the ground at the elementary schools every day. So, so can we consider um instead of a blanket one-sizefits-all restriction because we all have different neighborhoods and we all have different proximity to school and we all have different goals that it's it's ch the language changes that just like you said that the district discourages etc. whatever it is that it it discourages rather than outright doesn't allow it. >> Yeah. I mean I I mean I think I'll I'll open that to the table. my personal
040belief and I'm I'm thinking back to our also policy discussions regarding cell phone use for example and there were some calls for different this different that and I think we relied on the policy being a little bit more uniform so that because if it's not able to be implemented then it's doesn't really have the proper teeth behind it to be a polic policy, right? So, I mean, we did make a distinction then for students, age appropriate, safety, well-being that there were things going on in elementary and middle school versus high school that made use of that that many people would say would be a parent decision. Clearly, a parent has bought a device for their kid and thinks that they can use it. um that it's not necessarily appropriate for school for XYZ reasons. And
041I think if we put language that said strongly discourage, but it's up to the par I mean we just have no way. We're just asking then our staff to know whether this kid who's on this bike at their building has parent permission or not. And like Dr. Freeze said even if they do have permission if something were to happen because the municipality isn't really currently set up with bike infrastructure. We know that the particularly elementary go zones are not set up for bike infrastructure. Um it we would still at least I would feel personally like some level of responsibility for that. I don't see the prohibitive language that you're referring to because I see um the board now permit the use of these by students in 6 through 12. It does not say anywhere we
042prohibit the use of bikes in it doesn't say prohibit. So, you're concerned that prohibit should be changed to discouraged, but I don't see where it that is that you're referring to that. And I also what it does say right at the top is that this is up to parents. It's an assumption of responsibility by parents and guardians. So, I think there's still so much wiggle room and it's it's an unclear policy. Are we prohibiting because the word prohibit isn't in there. Are we letting parents assume that responsibility? Yes, because that is in there, but at a certain age. Well, yes, if you read between the lines, but it's just um it's kind of convoluted. I think still the writing of it is is still >> Well, what would you recommend it gets updated to? Because
043we've been discussing it for two months, and I am open to whatever it is that, you know, the board chooses to have this written, but without suggestions, I I can't change it because I don't this is the first time I'm hearing it. So, I'm happy to, you know, we have until next Tuesday or I'm sorry, this Tuesday slashwednesday to give feedback on it. Again, I am open for that because then it has to be shared back with the remainder of the board for them to provide feedback on the updates or the proposed updates. Um, this >> Yeah, I mean, I would like to to resolve this tonight. I know we have time to give feedback, but again, we do have a legal reason that we need to update this policy because there's been a change
044in PA law around some of the other um micromobility devices. We have discussed this is our fifth time discussing this policy as a full board. So I think if there's a proposal for language and then we can go around and see whether people would support that or prefer to leave it as is rather than um having to maybe table it again because we've made a revision that folks can't support. So Mrs. Skeleman suggested language that says we discourage students in g grades K through five from using non-motorized bikes and scooters and permit the use in grades 6 through 12. I think that sends a stronger message not to do it than is currently in the policy. So >> it's just clearer. It is a stronger message. It's more clear. So by emission are we saying
045that elementary kids as currently in the policy elementary kids can bike to school? >> There's not going to be any where to there's no designated parking available though. >> Correct. And and that is part of the question I had about administrative regulations about what what those designated areas are. >> Yeah. Administrative regulations can't be created until we have a policy. We're not going to create admin regulations until the board agrees to a policy. And as soon as that occurs, then we will update it to effectively complement this >> policy. Yeah. No, that makes sense. I I guess I was just looking at the current policy as it is because current like for the middle school exa, you know, from a parking perspective where designated area and parking perspective. So that's that just start starts that
046conversation. >> We we didn't have administrative regulations before. Um this is all new. So PSBA, this is a new policy that we're looking at that will then get an administrative regulation using the National School Board Association. We didn't have administrative regulation. So this administration and board was committed to doing that. So once we have a policy in place, we'll do an administrative regulation for it. I think that, you know, back to Mrs. Fleer's comment. I think we we do need to have a discussion about what this says because when I look at it and it says the board shall permit it means that we're permitting it for these grades. So if you want it to say more explicitly that we're not going to permit it for these grades or whatever else we would like to
047insert that in there, that's fine. This is the framework that's given by PSBA for this particular policy. And so we've been using that framework to help guide our work because there's hundreds of policies and for us to line by line every single policy, we'll we'll never get through them. We know this is an incredibly important policy. So I'd rather get it right right now than have a further discussion a month from now once we have a policy that people aren't happy with it. >> Miss Kramer, what do you what do you think about the absence of that language? Oh, I'm I'm sure that PSBA probably did not include that language so that local school boards could have such a discussion and decide what was best for their community and what and um what worked for
048them. I think the absence is again acknowledging that parents are going to make their own decisions regardless of what we say and what we permit or don't permit in in some cases. Um, I think that this is just acknowledging that we will address it through administrative regulations for grades 6 to 12 and that it is our, you know, assumption that since we're not explicitly permitting it that they wouldn't send kids on bikes in grades K through five. >> Okay. >> Um, but I I agree that it doesn't explicitly say that. But again, I think this is a place where PSBA tries to balance the parental input with what we are going to address and regulate. And again, to Dr. Freeze's point, explicitly allowing it in there when we have stakeholders and administrators who have said
049that this is not what they want, >> right? >> I think is is, you know, >> so it's kind of like trying to balance the entrance interests of both sides. s sort of where I was headed next because we did discuss this over the last couple months and I I think the consensus at the last meeting essentially was is that after receiving the the you know council from the administrators and also the public safety uh officials >> that we just the the community is not equipped to offer a safe environment for elementary kids um as it stands right now. And now if if the um the municipality is successful in it in its endeavor to make substantial improvements to you know uh this kind of transportation um in the future certainly o open to revising
050our position on this. But what I took away, especially from the last meeting, was that the consensus of the board was is that it was it was not safe, right? And maybe more so at some buildings than others, but again, for the sake of, you know, legislating effectively, we want to put in a policy in place that's that's that's district-wide, right? So if that's if that's the position, it continues to be the position that unfortunately in this moment it's just not safe and it's not something that we want to promote, should we put language in there that expressly prohibits it? Should we put language in there that that strongly discourages it or should we rely on that clarification to to be within the regulation, >> I guess, is my question. >> Yeah. >> What what's
051the best as as learned council? What what what what do you think is the best way to handle this? >> Um I think that again we do have the ability to enforce reasonable rules and regulations for all students under the school code when traveling to and from school. If we explicitly do not want K to 5 students riding bikes to school, I think we should say that we don't want it. Um, if the board can't come to an agreement on how we say that, then I think at least the way it's written and how PSBA um, proposes it gives some guidance. We are permitting it for grades 6 through 12. I think the board needs to come to consensus on whether or not they want to explicitly prohibit it, strongly discourage it, or stay silent
052on it. Um, I can't give you a I don't necessarily. >> All right. So, I guess perhaps >> from a liability perspective, >> I wouldn't allow it at all, but that's, you know, that's the lawyer's answer. I wouldn't allow anyone to ride anything. I would put you in bubbles and nobody ride anything. >> So, I I So, so perhaps from from that from from that position, >> I guess the next step is to decide what is the will of the board. >> Yeah. So, I'm going to go around and see if folks have an opinion on stay silent, so leave it the policy as is, strongly discourage or expressly prohibit. >> Can I just ask a question real quickly? So, in regard to PSBA policy, cuz I in my effort of trying to do some
053research, I was looking at local school policy and then statewide. >> Um, I did not see grade levels. I saw I saw the biking policy. I didn't see grade levels at any any of them. None of them had actual grade levels. >> So then my question is um you know if we're putting grade levels in that's where the discrepancy comes in. That's where the transparency is lost. >> And so I think we need to be transparent. I think that's part of our job is being transparent with what our policy is so parents so students know what they can and cannot do or should or should not do. So I think this is important. Um, and so I think that if it's omit by omission, you're like, well then what do we do? What do we
054do? You know, can I do it? Can I get away with it? >> But then it comes down to the designated area and the and on school grounds. What is the policy on? Because that is obviously, you know, we have policy on when you are on campus, when you're walking, you know, you're not allowed to throw snowballs on, you know, there there is administrative regulations, whatever you call. So we need to have at the elementary school, at the middle school with a bike what is allowed, what is not allowed. So I think that it needs to be transparent. >> May I suggest as you pull the board, Miss Fleer, rather than pull the board on how we say it, pull the board on what it is they want to say, right? Do we want to
055>> Well, can I just add one more thing before we move on to that? Because if you read a little further down into the policy last month when we discussed this, we also discussed different things that we wanted to see in the prohibit section. So, the board prohibits the use of skateboards, rollerblades, hoverboards, minibikes, any non-registered motor vehicles, motorized bikes, scooters, one-wheelers, and unauthorized micromobility on school property in grades K to 12 during school hours and where designated except that students who are 16 years of age or older may ride an ebike. So, that's that's the clarification, right? It is like if it's unauthorized, we can add in there if it's the at the, you know, discretion of the board, we can specifically say and elementary school students on bikes if we want to clarify
056it further. But microobility is technically bikes, scooters, electric bikes, electric scooters. It's a it's a it's a wide range of things which if we remember back to that discussion we talked about having more of a blanket because people were concerned that new micromobility would come out in the next month and we wouldn't capture that. So we can add to if we're looking for prohibitory language, it can be added there. >> And I just want to also add that I think it is also important as a community for us to think in that community thought process as well. and we do have a municipality that is aware that we don't have proper bike lanes. They are working on getting a sidewalk. So, I do feel that eventually later down the line, this could be something that
057may come back up to fruition. It'll be a much safer and easier to do. But I think as a board I also think it's important that we think about our municipality since we work so close together and you know they are important and if they are adhering to a no I think that we should really consider that and think about what the next steps would look like for us to partner with them to then we can do our own feasibility study and discuss what biking could look like for our kids and work on those lines. So keep that in mind. Has the m municipality indicated that they do not encourage biking? >> They are working on sidewalks right now. They're not saying that they don't encourage. They love >> I just want to clarify. >>
058Well, the public safety official the public they're not saying that they don't want bikes, but they have been studying this for some time. >> Um, >> but Moon Lebo is working with them to try to get more access to bikes and we don't have it right now and all of that. >> Right. And that's what I'm saying. we don't have it right now. So, since we don't have it right now, why don't we partner with them to make sure that in the future we have a much better plan. Um, you also have to even think about that one rambunctious kid that the parent may be walking the dog while they're leaving and they hop on their bike and they go and something happens. What do we do? Because we don't have the proper system put
059in place for that and we haven't worked with the community. So, I just think that that would be something that we should consider if that is something that we want to leave on the table that then we work together and we can unveil that at a later date with the municipality, with the police, the fire chief, the department, and the district. >> Okay. Well, does anyone else have a general comment? And otherwise, I'm going to just sort of poll where folks are at. leave the policy or edit it. And if you would like it to be edited, how so? >> You want me to go? >> Yeah, it's going to go in a circle. >> Um, so I believe that to vote yes for this is um to vote for an unclear statement that it's
060up to parents, but then it's prohibited by omission. And I don't like vague statements that prohibit things by omission. So, I would vote no on the wording of the current policy. But that said, um I'm concerned about the safety of the children under fifth grade biking to school under the current circumstances. And so I think if we say that this is an assumption of responsibility by parents, then we're saying it's okay to do. And um if we're prohibiting it or strongly um discouraging it, then we need to say that under purpose where we say it's an assumption of responsibility by parents. >> So I'm a no until it's edited. >> Okay. And what what you would suggest was sort of >> saying that's okay. Miss Johnson, >> I agree with Mrs. Berdick. I would like
061to see it stated that it's strongly discouraged. >> I'm a yes. I think it would be like disseminated administrative regulations in the handbook so parents can learn that way. That's fine. >> Same. >> Yeah, I'm also okay with this version of the policy. >> I'm I'm fine with this version. Miss Skansel's not here. So, did you hear? Um, I think I said my piece. >> Yeah, I'm I'm in support of this version. And, you know, just echoing Mrs. CrarAbel's point about the municipality. You know, long term, there's no reason this is not a thing that we we agree to now and then for decades. This is the policy. If anything, it's an opportunity for us to realize that this is clearly important to everybody here at the table as well as the community. The fact
062that the municipality is working on this topic to me supports the need for us to collaborate well with them, communicate well, and also talk about our needs so that we could then, you know, in months or a year when they're done with that work, we can continue to think about this in a real way. But as of now, I'm in support of this as it is. >> Excellent. And Dr. Freeze, um do we have a district representative on >> We do. It's um Mrs. Carlson is our district representative and they just completed their um involvement in the feasibility study, like the first round where they bring out the map and they have the >> um students and families >> basically use it. Yeah, you'll probably talk about it better than I can, but It was
063an opportunity for um elementary school families to give feedback on the feasibility study as it relates to mobility. >> Okay. I saw I didn't know that. Excellent. >> Um but if anybody on the board is also interested in perhaps a a conversation with the mobility board or a deeper dive, um reach out and we'll facilitate that. But it sounds like we have a majority that supports the policy as written. Um, is there any questions or comments on the other 10 policies? >> Dare I ask? >> Okay. Uh, moving on to finance. Um, we have the treasurer's report. Mrs. Connley, >> treasures, >> the treasur's report reflects cash transactions for the month of October 2025. The treasur's report uh is the first um document in the on the agenda and the second document is the monthly
064expenditures and revenue and our projection uh for the re for the rest of the year. The projection is pretty basic because we still don't have a any kind of state funding. So um our philosophy is just to stick to the approved budget. >> Have we heard any updates? Um, I heard Thanksgiving is a new target. >> I heard last Friday nothing happened. >> Yeah, we received a notification that last Friday they were going to vote and then it didn't happen. So hopefully this week we'll get another update. >> Yeah. >> Any questions or comments on the treasures report? >> Just, you know, the monthly reminder to reach out to your state reps. We continue to not have funding from the state. Um, makes it much harder for our local community and it affects all of
065us. >> I took my kids to knock on doors two Mondays ago >> in Harrisburg. A lot of doors closed in our faces, but it's fine. I'm trying. >> You got When you bring the kids, >> next we have the monthly lists of bills. do one. >> The monthly list of bills reflects checks authorized to be drawn between October 16, 2025 and October 31, 2025. All checks have been reviewed by the administration. The superintendent recommends approval of this list. Do we have any questions or comments on the monthly list of bills? I guess piggybacking on on the comments about the treasurer's report and not having state funding, we are paying these lists of bills out of um entirely local funds. Um, so that is a burden and also just appreciative of taxpayers money in order
066to be able to pay these bills because we're not being able to pay these bills out of in some cases where it should come from is the state. >> Yep. Correct. If you look at the year-to- date column, we've amassed about $26 million in expenses um and thankfully have local revenue to cover that, but not indefinitely uh without the passage of a state budget. Okay. The list of tax refunds. The list of tax refunds totals $16,93248 or six refunds for October 2025. The list has been reviewed by the solicitor's office which recommends approval. The list is recommended for approval by the superintendent. >> Okay. Questions or comments on the list of refunds? All right. Next up, we have budgetary transfers for November. >> Budgetary transfers for November total $22,781 for athletics, uniform cleaning, registrations, and
067staffing, health services, staff salaries, and academic competition registrations. The superintendent recommends approval of these transfers. Okay. Questions or comments on the transfers? Okay. Uh then we have our joint p our AIU joint purchasing consortium. Approval was requested for Mount Lebanon School District to participate in the 2026 2027 Alagany Intermediate Unit joint purchasing consortium. The benefit of participating is cost savings realized by the power of volume purchasing. This resolution allows the AIU to combine usage from a number of school districts to maximize bulk purchasing. The AIU works a year in advance in order to adequate adequately plan for the number of participants. Mount Lebanon School District currently purchases electricity and natural gas through the consortium. The superintendent recommends approval to participate. >> Excellent. Questions or comments on this resolution? >> It seems to me that some
068of those rates have been locked in for five years and so um of of course we would continue to participate in this buying consortium because we've locked in the rates um into the future. >> Yeah, they do um a very good job. And I think there's other potential um bulk purchasing that >> we could look at, but this doesn't, you know, require us to go through the consortium, which I like. Okay. And then finally, uh we have a resolution for an agreement with the Holly Consulting Group. The board has asked to approve Holly Consulting Group to provide valuation report services for the district's postretirement medical liability required under the Governmental Accounting Standards Board 75, also known as Gazsby 75. The valuation report will cover the fiscal years ending June 30th, 2026 and June 30, 2027.
069The valuation report will include all of the necessary disclosures to comply with Gazby 75, including the deferred inflows and outflows, the sensitivity analysis, the total OPED liability, and the normal cost. The total fee is $6,800. The superintendent recommends approval of Holly Consulting Group. Excellent. Questions or comments on this agreement? Just noting uh as I look at this, that is the lowest bid that was received. There were looks like one, two, three, four bids and that is the lowest. >> Okay. Uh that wraps up the financial items and next up we have our human resources items. The personnel report, Mrs. Connelly. >> The personnel report details personnel appointments, changes in assignments, leaves of absences, resignations, sbaticals, and retirements to be considered by the board. Excellent. Any questions or comments on the personnel report? Okay. Uh the
070next section for review is our curriculum and instruction. I see Dr. Freeze queuing up the first item on that which is a discussion of our 2026 2027 school calendar. Yes, thank you so much. Um as we did last year, we asked families um students and staff to provide us feedback on the proposed calendar for the 2627 school year. And just some reminders, um, the state requirements, which is act 56, allows public school entities to adopt a school term consisting of either a 180 days or b 900 hours at the elementary with 450 for half day uh, kindergarten and 990 hours at the secondary level. Flexible instructional days can only be utilized when a school building is unsafe due to weather, a law enforcement emergency, or other circumstances, and they cannot be scheduled in advance in
071a school calendar. Um, one of the things that came up last year, people were asking why we are off on election day. And the reason why we're off on election day is because the majority of our schools are used as polling places. And because the size, location, and accessibility of the facilities, it's necessary for us to close our schools in order for um voters to be able to access the pools in an in an appropriate way. And then the employee contract for our teachers association requires staff to work 184 student days, six professional learning days, and four classroom management days. And MLA staff was provided eight classroom management days to choose from during the school year to meet the requirements of four. So you'll see eight options, but they only have to pick four of
072those. And then this proposed calendar continues the practice from last school year or this school year of um going from 184 student days to 182 days and then two of those student days being moved to professional learning days for staff to focus on statemandated training. Some other things for um consideration, an earlier start date allows for more instructional time to take place prior to the exams at the end of the year and to avoid instructional days that are not meaningful. Next year's tenative PSSA schedule is um in the middle of April to the beginning of May. And then the Keystone schedule is that should say 2027, not 2026. I'm I guess I'm not ready to go to 2027 just yet, thankfully. Um and then in May, the Keystone exams take up the second week of
073May through the end of May. And then the advanced placement exam is scheduled for um the first week and second week of May. And one of the pieces of feedback we received from last year's calendar was that um staff, students, families were interested in having uh at least one more day for Thanksgiving break. Some people would like a whole week, but I we can't swing that. Um last year we also provided feedback on when other school districts were starting in the area. And so for Alageney County this current school year, 42 districts um in the county or 60% started the school year the week of August 19th and then 33.4% of schools started the following week with the remaining 6.7 starting September 2nd due to construction within their school districts. We're a little bit different
074than the eastern half of the state because they have um access to beaches and with access to beaches come the opportunity for families to for kids to work and for the beaches to be open until Labor Day. So in most school districts on the eastern side of the state, they do start after Labor Day to allow for um commerce to still take place. So this year we sent out the survey for staff and parents and guardians and students on Sunday, October the 26 with a deadline of Monday, November the 3. From that feedback, we had a total of 71 out of 752 staff members respond with a percentage of respondents being 9.4% of our total population of staff. And then for family and students um 72 out of 700 7,28 with a percentage um response
075of 1%. And this is what we found. So for the 71 open-ended total responses for staff feedback, these were the top five themes. General support for the school calendar was 14%. In favor of a later start to the school year was 45%. favor the earlier start time to maximize learning time was 24%. In favor of a shorter spring break was 45% and then neutral feedback on breaks during the school year was 63%. So those percentages are 63% for instance of the 71 responses not obviously the entire population of those that were um asked to survey to respond to the survey. And then in terms of family student feedback themes identified from the open-ended responses which were 72 and a 1% response rate. 28% had positive feedback on the calendar. 31% were in favor of a
076later start to the year. 28% were in favor of the earlier start to the year. 22% um were in favor of how we're scheduling a longer Thanksgiving break for next year potentially. and then 22% were in favor of breaks throughout the school year. And so what's really interesting about calendars is there's only 365 days in the year. Um but you have to have so many of them that we're in session and they have to have so many of them that staff are in session. And some of the pieces of feedback we received were like we'd really like to start the next week, but we don't want to start on a Monday. So then that becomes you have to find six days to be able to find it somewhere else during the calendar. We really like
077winter break but we don't want to give up any other time or we would be willing to give up spring break part of it but it has to be this part but then another group of people would like it really to be this part of spring break. Um and or you know we're starting earlier which means we have a shorter summer. you don't have a shorter summer because you still have the same number of days in between. You just have it it's just a different start and a different end date. So, with all that being said, um after reviewing the feedback, you know, obviously this gives us um feedback for next year's calendar as well, we recommend moving forward with the calendar as it was presented. There's no way that we're going to be able
078to meet all the needs of all the people. Um however, the calendar this this year. Um, we were able to start back on time. We have a very long winter break because of how it falls. People are really excited about that. Um, I think if we take spring break away, 70 people responded. There's going to be 7,100 people that say, "Why did you take my spring break away?" So, our recommendation is to keep it as is and then just to continue to take feedback and consider it year-over-year. Thanks. I think the response rate either shows that folks are okay with this or are resigned to the seemingly new tradition. >> Yeah, I can't remember. Last year was there. >> Last year we had um LA So, yeah, we had a little bit more last school
079year. So, just to give some context between last year and this year for staff responses, we had 65 people that did year one only responses. Um and then year two we had 34 new people and for both years there were 37 people like 37 returning um people that took the survey. And then for families in year one only we had 138. In year two only we had 51 and then 21 returning individuals that gave feedback this year. >> So there was like 159. It was more than double last year. >> It was more than double last year. >> No >> that's true. Last year was 2% then. >> Yes, it was 2%. Okay. Well, we have nine eight other people, sorry, Aaron, to uh hear from. So, again, the proposed calendar with the highlights of
080the first day of school being August 18th. Um the first day of school for kindergarten being the 20th. Um I think as Dr. mentioned there is an additional training day um in October. This year they did two professional learning days in August. The feedback from the teachers association was to be able to split that up. >> Um so that uh Columbus or Indigenous People's Day goes in the past that has been an inservice day and that returns to being an inservice day. Um three the the Thanksgiving recess is Thursday, Friday, Monday. Uh and then we've got um not quite as lengthy of >> two days short >> two days >> two school days short of uh winter break. >> Just the way the way it breaks this year is quite fortuitous. Um and then the
081last day of school um for students would be June 3rd. So, a couple days earlier. Um, it is a late Memorial Day. Um, >> yes, very late. >> Um, so fairly similar except for some of the vagaries of when elections fall or holidays fall. Um, questions, comments, general discussion on the proposed calendar. >> And I wanted to also note that we are um reaching out to partners. One of the things the family stated was we don't mind the winter break being long, but sometimes we need additional child care. So, we are working out reaching out to our partners to see if anyone might be able to um offer care. I mean, they would have to pay for it, but that was one of the things that families asked for and we're trying to make that
082happen. >> Appreciate it. I like the calendar and I appreciate the thoughtful approach and including um the opinions of I don't know 1% of group people feel strongly they're going to tend to reply and if they don't feel strongly they're going to tend not to reply. So, I think that we can take a 1% response rate for um for what it is that people are generally okay with this. >> Yeah. And I appreciate also I think this is a month sooner. So, we we do get I start getting uh I know you don't know yet, but do you know like the day school gets back? Uh we really don't. Um, but I understand that people are planning. Um, I did tell Dr. Freeze that Libo remembers. So, the fact that we're doing this in November
083means people will remember that we did this in November and expect it in November. >> And I promise that we will do it in November every year. So, out of curiosity, do we know where we got the day after Thanksgiving, that Monday, like where that is from from this year's calendar? Um so we had two extra days um school days that we are off this year because of winter break. So we took those two days and in talking to Mrs. Py um Thanksgiving was one of the ones people had asked for. So we put that on there. And then the other one was the October date for the professional learning on the 12th. So we typically had three at the start of the school year. Rather than doing the three, we're going to do two.
084And then the one in October will allow us to do like more curricular work um once the school year starts to kind of check in for training and stuff like that. >> Right. >> That seems like a good brain break for teachers who have a lot of things on their minds on the few days right before buildings have kids in them. >> Okay. Any anything additional? It's delightful. Uh the next curriculum and instruction item is the approval of graduation requirements and course offerings. So good evening. Thank you for this opportunity to talk about the graduation requirements. Uh so the resolution reads, "The board's going to be asked to approve the 2627 graduation requirements in the course of study options at the regular school board meeting next week on November 17th, 2025. The superintendent recommends approval
085of these requirements. Uh if I may, I'll provide some context of what's being asked of you. Um as a reminder, uh I think the board is fully aware, but for the public that is watching, any recommendations that come before the board is a matter as a function of the curriculum council process. Uh that process begins in the spring of 2025. Uh where departments bring ideas for consideration to the council. uh they they're reviewed at the council and if tenatively approved continued to be developed over the summer and then represented in the fall of 2025. Uh and if they are successful at the fall of 2025 curriculum council meeting they are then brought before this board for consideration. Uh the council consists of all of the department leaders at times the teachers associated with a particular
086proposal all of our school counselors all of the secondary administration and myself. Um so the proposal the proposal before you uh is not asking you to make any changes to the graduation requirements. The 43.6 credit requirement in the course is this the amount of credits per subject area is not being changed. It's not being recommended to be changed. Uh it is more the course of study uh that is being asked to be considered. Uh so I I have four bullet points. uh last year you approved personal finance uh as it was it uh correlated to act 35. So the state of Pennsylvania is requiring all students uh with the class of 2030 uh to have a personal finance class and you approved that last school year. Uh what we're asking of you this time is
087to approve a name change. Uh what we would like to do is broaden it a little bit. Uh change the name to personal finance in the modern world. uh and the reason we are connecting it to the modern world is we would like to use the tools that are associated with personal finance and embed kind of an artificial intelligence uh ethics uh and safety component. Uh so we would like to broaden it a little bit so when all students walk out of the high school uh they've had exposure to AI safety, AI ethics and AI literacy uh by looking at the tools that are used uh in working through a personal finance experience. Uh so we're asking for a name change and that that's the concept behind the name change. Uh the second request uh
088is with that creation of that personal finance course. Uh we had the opportunity then to look at what curriculum exists in our other courses particularly our finance class. Um and we were able then to see what curriculum is going to remain in our the the ACT 35 personal finance class. Uh and then see what happened or what impact occurred in our finance class. uh and our recommendation to you uh is to change the name and the content of the finance class to become an honors class entitled investing in corporate finance. So it would have uh we think personal finance will handle all of the components relative to a personal uh experience by an individual. This will really dive into more of the business strategies, the mathematics involved, the concepts involved in investing in corporate finance.
089So this would be a very specific course associated with kids interested in a pursuing more of a business concept. Uh so we're recommending a name change and a and a content change uh to that class. Uh so when you see these adjustments, you'll see a red line through the class we're recommending uh the deletion of and then the insertion of the new name. Uh the third proposal that we're making to you uh is we have a web page class. We have a web page one, a web page two, and then an honors web page two. Uh we would like to broaden that curriculum from web page to web design. Uh and we would like to take it from three classes to two. Uh which is consistent with how we handle most of our courses in
090the practical arts area. Uh where there's a web there's a there's a level one intro class and then a level two honors class. So our recommendation to you is to number one broaden it from just page development to web design and then make it a level one web design class uh and then a level two honors web design and development class. Um and then the final recommendation that we have uh uh we're asking of for you for you to consider is the addition of an honors evening theater class. Uh for some of our students this is consistent with how our other capstone performing arts programs operate. uh there's an academic experience for students that are interested in I'll use evening this is recommendations for evening theater you'll have the option to take it as an
091academic class or now if you if you accept this proposal an honors class where this where the teacher would give them additional responsibility uh or additional um um content relative to evening theater most of our other performance classes operate in that manner where there's both options for kids in the same class to take it as an academic experience or an honors experience So the request from the fine arts department is to model evening theater after those. Uh so those are the four requests we're making uh of you and we consider the course of study for 2627 question just just out of curiosity. So in that in that kind of reasoning of web design one and then honors web design 2 in the same engineering is like that financial accounting is not like that. So like
092what dictates the first level not honors and the second level honors, right? >> Yeah. So the uh the proposal that came from practical arts relative to >> I'm not sure if I follow your question. >> So you you were explaining how web design one and then it's going to be honors web design 2 because there's currently three courses. There's three course options. >> Okay. Okay, web design one on the books currently. There's web design one, I'm sorry, there's web page one, web page two, and then honors web page. Our proposal is to take those three classes. Number one, change it from web page to web design and make it two classes uh which is uh web design one and then honors web design. And that's similar to as you referenced in the practical arts department.
093Many of those engineering classes are a level one and a level two. You're I think you're starting to look at the business component. >> I'm just asking out of curiosity why the second level is honors and the first level is not both honors or they're not both. That that's that's well just not a big deal. >> Yeah. No, I I think that's a great question. Uh number one, we have a we have great conversations in council about the need for academic course programming for our kids. Uh we want to make sure that that we are keep our course courses and our curriculum available for all students in this school. Uh so we our entry- level class we you know the philosophy has been make it more of an academic experience so all kids can access
094it and see if they have interest in those particular specialty areas and those kids that have interest and passion then you can elevate your expertise and your experience and that's why a lot of the proposals out of the department come forward as having an honors as the second class uh because then it is more for kids that have figured out yeah this is a passion of mine or this is something I'm interested in putting in the additional work for but the to answer your question the level one is usually because we want as many kids to get exposure to it as we can. >> Thank you. >> Certainly. >> Okay. Other questions on the the either graduation requirements or the course catalog edits. All right. Thank you, Dr. Davis and the curriculum council for this
095thoughtful approach. Uh next up we have a college and high school enrollment agreement with Point Park. >> Absolutely excited to bring this to you. This has been a thought of mine for for a number of years. Uh the opportunity to have our high school courses count as college credit. Uh which is what what we're proposing here. So the the resolution would read uh the board has asked to approve an agreement with Point Park University for the provision of a college and high school or CHS enrollment program for students who are eligible. The M Lebanon High School course of honor the course of honors linear algebra will be the first available course in this program for the uh for Mount Lebanon High School students who may receive point park credit upon completion of the program's requirements.
096superintendent is recommending approval of this agreement as well. And I'll provide a little bit of context to this as well. Uh so in order for a college and high school program uh to be um approved at the collegiate level, uh the first thing you need is a instructor at the high school level who has a master's degree in the content area. Most of our educators have a master's degree in education. that would not qualify in a university setting to award high school uh a high school course college credit. So the example here is the instructor of honors linear algebra is one of our few teachers that has a master's degree in this case in math. Uh that is her master's degree. So she has cleared the first hurdle in terms of approval. uh her her
097she has a uh she's you know she ultimately has the teaching degree as well but her master's degree is explicitly in the subject area. That is the first step in these in this approval process. The second step then is we have to submit our course syllabus to the university for their department to review and approve. uh and in this particular case uh we submitted our our faculty members credentials and we submitted our course syllabus to the to point university. Uh they have approved both our faculty member and our syllabus. So um our course as written would be would be uh delivered to our students as it has historically been. Uh and the change this time is we can make available to our families uh the option that if they pay a small tuition fee to
098the university, in this case it's $225, uh you could if you score a C or better in our class earn Point Park credit in addition to our credit. Uh so there's no requirement for a family to pursue college credit. It's just an option available to them that if they'd like to get our class onto a college transcript and then use that college transcript in their, you know, as a potentially transfer credits, uh, in their experience, uh, that's that's one of the things we had envisioned for what's available to our kids. We are pursuing other options. Uh, we have other faculty member who have master's degrees in their content area. So, uh, this would be the first of hopefully at least a series of four or five more that I would bring to you as Point
099Park reviews them and fingers crossed propo, uh, approves them. Uh, but that's the request, uh, for you to consider is entering into this agreement for college and high school program. In this particular case, we're bringing to you the first class that they have approved. The teacher does have a master's degree in the content area and our syllabus has been approved by the university. >> That's great. Excellent. And just to clarify, this is not only curriculum dependent but instructor. So if this particular instructor were to be on leave or >> correct, we would either need to find a replacement instructor who has a master's degree in the content area or for that particular year, we'd have to communicate to the students and families that this would not be one of those options. >> Excellent. And does
100this um agreement with Point Park need to be renewed on an annual basis or as long as that faculty is offering that content or >> That is correct. >> Okay. Other questions or comments? It's exciting. It's a fun pilot. Okay. And then we've got um if you want to take them in order, we have three um school trip requests. Student trip requests. >> Absolutely. Not as equally as passionate about the college and high school program because you've seen these before. Uh but we have three, I think, great trips for for our students. The first is boys basketball going to Jefferson City, Missouri. Uh, the high school administration is requesting permission for the boys basketball team to travel to Jefferson City, Missouri to participate in a basketball holiday tournament from December 26th to December 30th, 2025.
101Students will not miss any days of school and are responsible for the cost of the trip and the superintendent is recommending approval of this trip. >> Okay, questions or comments on this trip? are getting some fanf fair. >> Yes. >> So maybe they are as exciting. I don't know. The next trip is the uh Mont Lebanon High School Hockey Association going to Culver, Indiana. Uh the high school administration is requesting permission for the Mont Lebanon High School hockey team who plays for the Mont Lebanon Hockey Association to travel to Culver, Indiana to participate in the Culver uh Academyy's comp uh cornfield cup tournament from December 12th to December 14th, 2025. Students will miss one day of school and are responsible for the cost of the trip. And the superintendent recommends approval of this trip as
102well. >> Excellent. Questions or comments on this trip? Okay. And finally, >> the third trip is our girls basketball going to a holiday tournament as well in Crownsville, Maryland. So, the high school administration is requesting permission for the girls varsity basketball team to travel to Crownsville, Maryland to participate in the 695 hoops tournament from December 26 to December 27th, 2025. Students will not miss any days of school and are responsible for the cost of this trip as well. and the superintendent is recommending approval of the trip. >> Excellent. Any questions or comments on this one? >> Okay. And finally, we have uh questions or comments from residents. Uh presentations or comments are to be limited to 3 minutes. Uh is there anyone who wishes to make comment? Please state your name and you will have
103three minutes. >> Uh Bruce Slater from 140 Skylark Circle. The first thing um I wish everybody would start talking a little louder. I have hard time. I especially uh Flesher and uh Freeze. I know you're saying something. I see your lips moving. You know, that's about all it is. you you can turn up the volume a lot as if you're talking to uh your your husband when you're mad at him or your kids. Um about the bike riding around here, it it's not a good idea. Um too much volume of traffic, too much speed and u uh where I grew up in the country that was a different story. Uh but around here it just won't work. Uh it'll be stopped as soon as the first accident occurs. I think if you if you approve
104it. Uh the other thing is um I like to see u discussion of what uh summer construction events or update of the uh school buildings and painting or roof or whatever it is like uh used to be like five or six years ago had a priority list ones that we got to do and ones that we maybe we wait until next year or two years down the road or something, but have a public discussion presentation. U I like the way it was before. It hasn't been done recent years at all. U that way it it it's more open to the public. The public knows what to expect and what they're getting for their money, too. Um uh the other thing is I guess the big thing is since doc Dr. Freeze I'd rather call PhD
105freeze because I don't think you should be anybody should be called a doctor unless you're a medical doctor period. you know, there's no confusion. But but anyway, um uh there's no comments about uh anybody that comes to this podium in the meeting at all or discussion on on whatever it is or correction if there's something wrong said or something uh could be clarified. Uh that that's the way it should be done. Um it's an open uh discussion time for the public and and they need to get feedback at the same time and that's school board members, administration, everybody. You know, I uh I I I I'm very disappointed and I think that's one of the reasons people get put off by it if they don't get any response. All right. Thank you. Well, then just
106to issue a correction, we do discuss publicly facilities projects each year in February and will again in February. >> Miss Flecher, can you renew? Can you explain how somebody gets a response if >> just as a Thank you, Mrs. Gelman. As a reminder, we do have a sign-in sheet. If your um public comment requires a response, please do use the comment cards and we will and provide your comment your um contact information and we will provide a response um to your comment >> and certainly anyone who has worked through a doctorate program or a PhD has earned the title doc doctor as the world agrees. Good evening, Danielle Walker. I just had a quick question about the college program. I don't know if I'll get a response, but figured I'd ask. Um, oh, is it
107transferable? And then, uh, do you have to be in like is this a ninth grade program or any kiddo can, you know, jump into the program and get the college credit? So, that's kind of what I was thinking about with that program, but I don't know if I can get a response. >> Yeah, I would fill out a card. I have to get it later. Okay. >> Anyone else wish to make comment? All right. I'm going to announce upcoming public meetings, but I lost my agenda. One moment. Uh upcoming upcoming public meetings. Next Monday, November 17th at 7:30, the board's regular meeting will be here in D205 of the Mount Lebanon High School and via Zoom. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you.