001We're going to call to meeting order. Roll call. Miss Nyman >> here. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove >> here. >> Mr. Roger Uprove >> here. >> Dr. Weir here. >> Dr. Wy >> here. >> Mr. Broofphy >> here. >> Miss Connor >> here. >> Miss Katz >> yes. >> Mr. Penel here. All nine present. Let's rise for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisibley and justice for all. the board had no previous executive sessions. Good evening everyone. takes us to recognition so showcase and I'd like to welcome Miss Allison Moyer our communication specialist to the podium to present this month's recognition. So if I could I'm going to ask Mr. Brunner and Allison to please
002join me. So tonight I have the pleasure of celebrating two of our own. Um the 72nd Boyertown citizen of the year committee saw fit to to name Mr. Brunner mentor of the year for 2026 and Allison as our outstanding high school senior of the year. So um in celebration of that I wanted to bring them here for us to celebrate. I'm going to start by saying there are only 35 tickets left as of 22 hours ago. So, if you're looking to go, get online, grab your tickets for the citizen of the year gala later in April. Um, but now I have the distinct pleasure of celebrating. We're going to start with Mr. Brunner. um as he puts as his titles in his emails, he's the Bash choir director, an AP music theory teacher, and I've
003embellished this king of bash musicals. Um as director of choirs at Boyertown Area Senior High School, Mr. Brunner guides students of all ages, leads them on international performance trips around the world, and even runs alongside them in the West Road Warriors Club. His dedication and influence extend far beyond the classroom. That's how the committee introduces him on their website and via Facebook. I took the liberty of reaching out to some others. So, we're going to start with Casey Casey Dieser. She is a student of Mr. Brunner's. This is what she had to say. Mr. Brunner has given me countless opportunities to get involved and be part of such a talented and dedicated community where I've formed some of my best friendships. He inspires us to strive for excellence and work harder every single day to
004grow not only as musicians but as people. His support and belief in me has encouraged me to pursue my own dream of becoming a music educator as well. What a huge compliment. Cole Major, another one of Mr. Mr. Brunner students has said that Mr. Brunner has provided opportunities for me and other students that have provided us with experiences that will stick with us through our lives. His inclusive and engaging way of teaching allows every class to feel exceedingly enjoyable. He truly focuses on the best for each person and I feel that he helps make me become a more fulfilled student every day. I am thankful for his dedication to not only the academic parts of his teachings but also to the success of each one of his students and the lessons that he helps us
005to understand along the way. >> That's a lot of praise. >> Finally, Mr. Hal, one of the assistant principles at Bash had this to say. Mr. Brunner is a dedicated coral director at Bash who has inspired and mentored over a thousand students through his outstanding commitment to music and education. He demonstrates a deep passion for learning through the kindness he shows and the positive example he sets every day for his students. Through his leadership of the musical, coral, and show choir programs, he creates meaningful opportunities for students to grow both artistically and personally. Mr. Brunner is truly deserving of the Boyertown mentor of the year award. And I'd like to thank Mr. Brunner for being here because he left show choir rehearsal over at the high school to be here and then he's going to
006scoot back to Bash. So now a little bit about Allison. First of all, it made me tired retyping the list of things you're involved in. So made me feel a little older, a little more tired. So, at the high school, Allison is involved in youth and government. She's been in youth and government since 8th grade. It's her third year as a delegation senator. Two bills were passed at Model by the Youth Governor and as part of her senior year, she is part of the YAG volunteer board. She is part of the Burks County Youth Advisory Board and helped to write a grant proposal and allocate allocate money to local nonprofits. For her junior and senior year, she has participated in Science Olympiad. She was a student representative for the strategic planning team as part of
007her junior year. She joined FBLA this year and placed third in public speaking regionals. She volunteers 60 plus hours. She's been in school musicals her sophomore and junior year. She's in drama club since she was a sophomore. She was a treasure her junior year. She's acted in two productions and she is an NHS member who has achieved high honors all years. And then the guidance counselor did put so far. Um her awards include an AP scholar with distinction. She is a national merit commended student award winner and she is a college board national school recognition award winner. Mrs. French, her social studies teacher, had this to say. I'm so proud of Allison and her recognition as outstanding high school senior of the year. I have always been impressed by Allison's intellectual curiosity and unwavering work
008ethic, which came up several times from your teachers. But what truly sets Allison apart is not only her academic excellence, but her character. She leads by example, going beyond expectations, enriching class discussions, and demonstrating maturity beyond her years. Her kindness, responsibility, and respect towards others leave a lasting impression on those around her. It has been a privilege to be Allison's teacher and witness her positive influence in the classroom, in extracurriculars, and in service to her community. She is beyond deserving of this honor. Finally, we couldn't let Allison's recognition pass without a message from Mrs. Kratz, one of our board members and our student representative liaison. I have had the privilege of getting to know Allison over the last two years, mostly through her role as a student representative on the school board. Her board reports
009are timely, informative, and always the most positive part of a school board meeting. Allison's favorite German philosopher, Emanuel Kant, teaches that all people have have inherent worth. Her board reports reflect that belief as she makes sure to highlight the successes of all of her classmates, inclusive of the arts and the athletics. I have also observed her participation in both the strategic and comprehensive planning committees. That's one I missed on that list. In both committees, she took a leadership role in her groups that were mostly comprised of adults. She demonstrated her natural leadership abilities by getting discussions started, keeping her groups on tasks, and sometimes serving as a group spokesperson. I have no doubt that her leadership skills combined with her strong work ethic will set her up for continued success in college next year and
010beyond. Please join us in celebrating Mr. Brunner and Allison on these outstanding achievements. Thank you for the impact that you're having not only here in district but obviously on our community as well and for shining such a positive light on all of us. We appreciate it. So I have some tokens for you. Some some Bertown swag. >> Thank you. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> And for you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So nice job guys. Thank you so much. >> Awesome. Congratulations. and Alison, we're going to put you right to work. Congratulations, Mr. Bruner. Congrat Congratulations, Alison. >> Next, we have the student representative report. >> Good evening, board members and meeting attendees. We're so excited to be back for our February board report. Now, let's get on with the fun events and important
011information for Bash this month. Fundraising February took place from February 2nd through February 27th and is a month-long effort led by student council that brought together multiple student organizations to support meaningful causes within the community. The month began with the MLK sock roll presented by Key Club during which students donated granola bars, crackers, and socks, all of which will be given to the giving tree to support individuals and families in need. In addition, a period poverty drive was held to collect feminine hygiene products, helping raise awareness about period poverty while gathering the essential supplies that will be donated to BASH. Student council also organized a puzzle and book drive, which will be donated to local retirement homes in our community, while FBLA coordinated a canned food drive to assist local families experiencing food insecurity through
012Preston's Pantry. Overall, fundraising February is reflecting strong collaboration among student groups and highlighted the school's community ongoing commitment to service, compassion, and civic responsibility. Bash's musical, The Drowsy Chaperone, ran from February 12th to February 15th and was a great success. The music department and talented singers spent tireless effort to put this show together. We hope that everyone went out who went out to see it went home smiling. Thank you to everyone involved for making the show possible. We wish the cast members some well-needed rest. I know how taxing those practices can be. Not to say they aren't incredibly fun. Spring athletics for 2026 is now open for students in grades 7 through 12. Registration is due by February 23rd for both senior high and middle school athletes. Practices start March 2nd for baseball, March 9th
013for track, lacrosse, and softball. Spring sports are a great great way for students to stay active, get involved, and be a part of our school community. Coming up on March 30th, we will continue the school's newer tradition of holding a culture day to highlight the diversity within our school. Students can set up tables to depict unique aspects of their cultures that not everyone may be familiar with. It's a great depiction of student led efforts to forge togetherness in education. While this event is in March, we thought we would highlight it today as signups for students to make tables for culture day are out now. We hope many students come out to be part of this event led by Student Diversity Union. Last week gave students a nice 4-day weekend with no school on Friday or
014Monday. Friday was a teacher and service day and Monday was President's Day, a federal holiday holiday honoring US leaders such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, giving students and staff a chance to recharge, relax, and enjoy a short break in the middle of the month. Arguably, one of the most exciting events for the senior class is on the horizon, prom. And once again, it's not in February, rather May 1st, but guest forms are out now, and students are encouraged to get their guest forms and obligations done early to make sure they can get a ticket. While I think it's a little early, seniors around town have already been shopping around for dresses, so it's really nice to see their faces when they find their perfect dresses. We know prom takes a lot of prep work,
015so big thanks to the class of 2026 officers and advisers for helping make this memorable event happen. And I just wanted to add uh hopefully everyone had a safe flight, all the seniors on their trips. >> We look forward to bringing you Bash's best moments next month for March. And as always, thank you for all your time and drive safely. >> Public comment period number one, Miss Doff Planetarium. >> I'm going to stay because all I'm here for is to see if anybody has any questions. There seems to be meetings after meetings and nobody asked any questions. So I thought come tonight see if there's any questions once more. Yes not I do have one question myself if I could. If this is approved tonight, what's on the U agenda? Does that mean this is
016over? >> No. >> So, what happens tonight? I mean, this has been going on for over a year now. So, if it gets approved tonight contracts and so that is there going to be another >> then it would come back to be voted on by the board based off those contracts and it would either go through or not. Okay. Thank you. >> At this time, we're looking for the approval of the February 10th, 2026 committee of the whole meeting minutes as presented. >> Motion question. >> Government. I'm questioning the minutes because I abstained and I abstained for a reason because I was denied by you, Mr. Board President, uh the information I needed to make a decision on there. I did not vote no. >> I abstained and I will fill out the form for
017the abstension if I have to. I have no problem with that. >> You've actually voted no on the meeting minutes for a year and a half now. So abstained from that vote, >> but but you've been voting no for every single one, which means that if you voted no tonight of information. >> Okay. What is the point? >> The point is it needs to be on the records. I abstain for lack of information. Oh, Miss Simon. I'm going to abstain because I did not vote no. I abstained and I will abstain from this because they are inaccurate. >> Can I get a point of order? >> Sure. Can Can we have an explanation on what the abstension is and how that's recorded? Um, and I I'm hearing that there's a a memo form. Can Can
018we just get a point of order? Uh just for my clarification, >> sure. If if a board member is going to abstain, typically most districts have a form and we do here as well that indicates for the for the record the rationale for the abstension um to ensure compliance with uh the necessary requirements under the law. Typically, an abstension is because there's a potential conflict and that person is abstaining and they want a record of that's why they abstained. Um certainly if if there was an abstension there should have been a I guess a form completed at that time. I wasn't here for the February meeting so I can't speak to what happened. Um but what I'm what I'm hearing Miss Nyman raise is she's objecting to the minutes and and certainly she's free to
019do that. The board is can take that into consideration and then vote as to whether or not they want to approve the minutes as presented or or as to have been revised. Um, and I'm, as I'm understanding her v vote currently, she's also again requesting to abstain. So, there should be a form completed that indicates the reason for the abstension. >> What happens when a form isn't completed? >> It depends on the reason for the abstension. Um, if the if the form isn't completed, that's an issue that I think we need to we would need to sort out with the board secretary to find out why the form wasn't completed or follow up to get the complete form completed. Do we do we have a copy of the form that here for the board members
020to to consider? >> We do. >> Okay. So, yeah. So, a form should be completed under board policy as well as you know the standard practice for for the reason for the abstension if there's an abstension. So, we have a record of it as well as why it was the abstension was was was raised. >> Okay. My question now is am I doing this for the last minutes or for these minutes? I guess you should do it for both since you're indicating you abstained both times. Again, I wasn't here in February, so I can't speak to what actually happened. I wasn't here. Um, you're indicating you abstained. The minutes apparently indicate you voted no. I wasn't here, so I can't really speak to that. But certainly for today, since I'm here and you're abstaining, you
021should complete the form. Um, if you're indicating you believe you abstained the last go around. >> I did abstain the last time, so I'll need another paper, please. >> Okay. Does that answer the point of order that was raised? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Sure thing. >> Continue with the roll call. Mr. Brad Upgrove. >> Yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgro. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir. Yes, >> Dr. Wy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Broofphy. >> Yes, >> Miss Connor. >> Yes, >> Miss Katz. >> Yes, >> Mr. Penel. >> Yes, eyes have it. >> Takes us down to our discussion and information section. We do have our auditors today. They are going to zoom in virtually uh to deliver a presentation for the 2425 audit results. So, I'm going to turn things over to Mr. Lent
022um who's going to help guide our presentation through the document. >> Thank you. And um so just to give background because I know we have some board members who this is their first audit. So every year the district under goes completely independent audit um to to verify financials and um as I turn it over um to the partner at Barbara Kane Thornton um he will review um the audit as a as a process um you know for that um issuance of an opinion um and then um certainly can take questions. So I see Jeff on the um meeting. I'll turn it over to him and Jeff just advised me I'll advance the slides. >> Sure thing. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me uh on tonight. I'm delighted to be here discussing the results
023of our audit for the year ended June 30, 2025. Uh this was a year where during the audit period, um you know, you had some turnover within the the CFO office. Um, so I guess to to start things off, the first thing I want to let you know is that uh we found that everybody in the office in the district was fully forthcoming and provided everything that we requested. Uh, and we did not have any issues getting the information needed to perform and complete our audit uh, which we have available in draft form right now. Further, I'm pleased to let you know uh that we will be issuing unmodified also known as clean opinions on the financial statements. Uh so that is uh based on the the summary of our testing which is a combination
024of control and process testing as well as transactional and analytical testing. We found that the financial statements I'm presenting tonight are fa materially accurate in all respects. Additionally, because you are a district that expends over $750,000 in money that originates with at the federal government level, you are subject to the Federal Single Audit Act, which requires additional compliance testing to be performed as part of our audit. uh we issue an additional report on compliance with your major federal programs which are a subsection of all of your federal programs based on some some matrices and and calculations for you this year. We looked at your special education cluster which is the IDEA funding as well as the child nutrition cluster which is the national state or the national uh breakfast and and lunch program. Uh and
025we're pleased to to let you know based on our testing uh we also found you were meeting all of the required compliance attributes uh that are part of our testing for those programs. So we were also issuing a clean opinion on that uh to start looking at the financial statement document uh and Matt I'll give you the PDF page numbers just to make it easy. uh PDF pages 5 through eight are the independent auditors report uh which talk a lot about what I just said that we're responsible for designing tests the district is responsible for keeping the books throughout the year and based on our tests of those books we found everything to be fairly presented after that starting on page nine and carrying through page 16 is management's discussion and analysis I won't go
026into details on these pages of the document But I will highlight that these provide a highlevel narrative overview of the district's results for the year. And I always uh if you're looking at it carefully, you may see in the header it says unawudited. And the reason that it says unodudited is actually the reason that I find this to be the most helpful area to read if I'm getting into a new district or looking at someone I haven't looked at in a while. uh because it talks not just about the what that we're able to issue an opinion on, but it talks about the why. Why certain accounts are higher this year, why net assets or net position went up or down. It talks about what's going to impact the district in the future. And as
027CPA independent auditors, we're not allowed to issue an opinion on the future. Uh and we're pretty limited in in the why. So that's why it's marked as unudited uh because it goes beyond the scope of what we're able to audit. Uh but all of the numbers that are within it are compared uh to the financial statements that are audited to make sure that everything agrees. PDF pages 17 and 18 are the entitywide financial statements. So, these two statements look at the district like it was a business uh with all of your assets, including capital assets, the building you're in and the equipment you own reflected as assets and all of your long-term debt and other liabilities reflected as liabilities. That's a little different from your budgetary basis, which we'll look at next. That really looks
028at nearterm resources and use of resources on this entitywide level. You'll see it that as of June 30, 2025, the district had $257 million in assets and deferred outflows, um, which consists of cash and amounts due from the federal and state governments as well as a substantial amount of building and equipment. On the liabilities side, you'll see that your liabilities total $254,000 and there was an additional $38 million in deferred inflows of resources. While part of this is things like accounts payable and part of is it your long-term debt, the biggest chunk of it is the net pension liability, which is your district's proportionate share of the uh shortfall in the funding of the PISA's pension plan. This number is actually down about $20 million from the prior year uh as PERS had a pretty
029good year. Uh so you will see as we get to page 18 uh that it resulted in an overall improvement uh in your de net deficit which you'll see you ended the year uh with a $34 million net deficit. Um but of course that's heavily influenced by the the net pension liability. And whenever we're looking at the net pension liability, I like to remind people especially who may may have only seen the financial statements once or twice before. Pasers has been aware of the shortfall for a long time and has been taking steps including a restructuring of of new employees and how they are um handled through the Pasers plan. Additionally, the state reimbures 50% of every dollar that the district pays into the Pasers plan through its state reimbursement. In a weird quirk of
030accounting standards, if the state sent that money right to Pasers, we'd be able to cut your liability in half. But because they send it to you and then you send it to the state, we aren't allowed to give you credit for that. Um so that liability exists as a number uh to give people a general idea that if if in some imaginary world keys was required to pay out 100% of benefits immediately and every district had to pay in that would be your proportionate share. uh but it's not really a liability you have to save money to pay down because it's being made up through your contribution rates uh which continue to be about 34% uh as well as state reimbursements. So just to to highlight a little bit about that number, give you a
031little bit of information to to wrap your hands around it. Um, as I mentioned, if you go to page 18, uh, you'll see that the change in net deficit this year was a decrease of about $27 million. Uh, and so that was driven heavily by the improvement in the Pasers plan. Uh, which when the the net pension liability goes down, it flows through your expenses as a reduction in current year expenses. Perhaps the more important for your district is the fund level information. Uh so if we go to PDF page 23, this looks at the budgetary comparison for the general fund. Uh so you'll see this was a year where the district had budgeted about $143 million uh in revenue and the the total ended up being a little higher at 151 million. And on
032the expenditure side, the district had budgeted 144 million in expenditures, but through cost savings and and careful planning was able to come in around 134 million. Um, as a result, you had additional funds available and were able to transfer or schedule for transfer about $15 million to go into other funds to help maintain your long-term capital needs and ended the year with an increase in fund balance of about $2.6 million. After this, uh there's a couple more statements which are the food service and internal service fund statements as well as your scholarship and and um uh student activities fund statements. They're a little smaller than the general fund, so I won't spend too much time on them, uh but they are there if you if you're interested. And then beginning on page 29 are the
033notes and the financial statements. Uh the one thing I would want to draw your attention to that is different this year is there was a new accounting standard required to be implemented for compensated absence reporting. Uh so if we flip to PDF page 61 uh you will see under the old rules a district was only required to record a liability at the entitywide level for uh basically earned vested time and compensated absences. So acred sick, acrewed vacation that an employee was eligible to be paid out for at retirement and it was recorded at whatever the retirement payout rate was. Under the new standards, you still do that for anything that you're expecting to pay out during retirement. But for anything that you anticipate an employee is going to use while they're still working with the
034district, we're also record required to report a liability for that at their current pay rates. Um, so your district like like all other districts saw a pretty big increase in your compensated absence liability. Uh, and so you'll see that the the treatment for this was we restated the opening uh net position in the governmental activities by about $4.4 million to implement this standard. Again, this doesn't impact your budgetary your general fund basis and it doesn't change your your practices at all. It's just the accounting for it has been modified um because they're trying to bring all different kinds of governments more in line and get a full picture of of what acred time is out there. Uh the last thing I would draw attention to is going to be uh PDF page uh 70 let's
035do 7 uh7 pages 77 and 78 are the schedule of expenditures of federal awards. Uh and this just looks at at where you're spending your or what federal money you're bringing in. And this was a year where we saw pretty much the final windown of the ESSER money. Um so your district this year spent about $4.2 million and a big chunk of that was um or about $900,000 of that was the last trunch of of ESSER money. Um so going forward you'll see a little less in federal award spending um but still we'll be with well within the single audit threshold. At this point, I would like to open it up to any questions that anybody may have uh about the audit, um about the uh financial statements or anything else that I might be
036able to speak to for you tonight. So if there's no question, so then our next steps would be to finalize this. Um the auditors will actually issue it as of an effective date and then bring it back for uh you know final approval. Um it then has to get submitted to the state as well as to the federal audit clearing house as part of our our process. So um after this point we'll wrap up any final loose issues. Auditors will do their final um review regarding outstanding risk and then we'll bring you back a dated report. >> Between now and then if we have questions can we bring them up at that time then? >> I don't anticipate having um Jeff back from from Barcane. So if there's questions I think now is the time
037to ask them to him. I I still need more time to look at it, especially now after hearing from him. >> Mr. Lance, I think you could um do do we have a particular date in mind when we would bring this back for final approval to the board? >> We have to have it filed by the end of March for federal compliance. >> Okay. um with that. So it would be that that would be approved at the >> legislative meeting. >> So that would be I believe that's the 24th of March. >> Um so I think it would be helpful any questions that the board may have um if you could um get those back to Mr. Lent within the next two weeks prior to the committee of the whole meeting and we can get
038those back to the auditors and we can get those rectified. um and hopefully answered if if there are any questions and uh we can then finalize for the in preparation for the the legislative meeting. >> Anything else from the board? >> All right. >> Thank you, Jeff. Thank you all. I hope you have a wonderful evening. She's saying that's recorded. >> Next we have the treasures report. Good evening. Tonight I will be presenting highlights for the January 2026 treasures report. Beginning with local revenue and tax collections, delinquent tax collection was $37,494.17. Earned income tax collection was $1,196,83429. Transfer tax collection was $157,7541. And for state revenue, we received special ed funding for $82,650 and preK count subsidy was $47,250. And for the category in January expenditures for salaries, benefits, and professional services, they accounted for
039about 81% of the total expenditures for the month of January. That's it for this evening. >> Thanks. >> Any questions? >> Thank you. At this time, I'm looking for a motion to approve the January 7, 2026 treasures report as presented. We are motions. >> I'll second. >> Call the vote. Miss Nyman, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgroo, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgroo, >> yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. Bruofy. >> Yes. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katz, >> yes. >> Mr. Penella, >> yes. >> Eyes have it. >> This evening, under the superintendent's consent agenda, we have a number of items for your consideration. We're hoping to take in one full consent agenda vote. I'll just briefly go through each of these. These were
040um discussed at our last committee of the whole meeting. Again, item under item A, this is has been a annual um lease agreement that we we've maintained with the BCIU for early intervention in the Washington Elementary School for a classroom. Item B, the DCED grant resolution. This authorized us to apply for uh possible funding up to $5 million for the Boyertown Elementary project, which we deem as an emergent an emergency project related to its HVAC. Uh item C, we'll see the three trips that were described at our last meeting. Uh, one of which I'm happy to say our seniors have arrived safely in Florida and I assume are enjoying much warmer temperatures than we are at this time. Um, item D, um, there is a confidential settlement and release agreement that was provided to the
041board um, a couple of weeks ago. Item E is the Burks County Intermediate Unit mandated district services budget. Mr. Lent at our last committee of the whole meeting had explained that to you. Uh we do have the February 20 uh 26 donation list and those three donations as described at our committee of the whole. And items G through item Q are second reads to a number of um 0000 policies and 100 policies that have moved their way through um starting back in November with the policy committee have moved to the uh committee of the whole meetings in in January moved through a first read in January and now are for your consider up for your consideration for a second read. So with that said, under item R, the administration is recommending the approval of the
042consent agenda as listed. >> Panel moves. >> I'll second call the vote. >> Do we have questions? >> Mr. Lince, if we don't get the DCED uh grant, how badly does that affect us? >> Well, we already have funding for it. Um, and we have to commit 25% of the cost as part of it. So, while we hope it would be funded, um, the project would still move forward because of the necessity of of the work from our capital projects. >> Understand that. What kind of financial impact would that have on us as far as any funding or anything else we need to do? >> Any funding would replenish the capital reserve funds that we're funding that project out of now >> so we can move forward. >> Okay, good. >> I'll call call the
043role. >> Miss Nimon, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgro, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Up to Grove. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. WY. >> Yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Kratz, >> yes. >> Mr. Panerella, >> yes. >> Eyes have it. >> Takes us to the superintendent's itemized agenda. We do have four uh excuse me, yes, four items for your consideration this evening. Uh item A is the recommended 2026 2027 board of directors um meeting calendar as listed and uh administration is recommending approval of such calendar for the 2627 uh school year. I'll call the role. Miss Diamond. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad, up to Groof. >> Yes. Mr. Raj up to Groove. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Wy, >>
044yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katz, >> yes. >> Mr. Penelo, >> yes. >> Eyes have it. Under item B, uh as shared at our previous committee of the whole meeting, um the administration is recommending approval of a contract with First Student Incorporated alternative transportation service agreement. And again, this service agreement is um for students to which we transport singularly typically um oftentimes out of district for considerable long distances and provides us an alternative transportation um for those uh individuals. We've thoroughly gone through the contract itself with our legal team and with first student and uh Dr. Horton who's been uh quite involved in this uh contract process with first student and with our legal team is here if we have any uh additional questions for uh this
045particular item. So again the administration is recommending approval of the first student incorporated alternative transportation service agreement as presented and listed this evening. Barroll boo. >> I'll second. >> Call the rule. Miss Nyman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad up to Groove. >> Yes. >> Mr. Roger. Up to Groove. >> Yes. >> Dr. Rear. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Broofphy. >> Yes. >> Miss Connor. >> Yes. >> Miss Kratz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Penell. >> Yes. >> Eyes have it. Under item C, the administration is recommending the board of directors authorize the administration to begin negotiations and discussions with the Foundation for Bordertown Education and Stellar Dreams regarding the terms of their proposed funding and requirements to finalize legal agreements with both entities. Non moves second. >> I'll call the role. Miss
046Diamond. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad up to group. >> Yes. >> Mr. Roger up to group. >> Yes. >> Dr. We rear. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wy, >> no. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katz, >> yes. >> Mr. Panerella, >> no. >> Eyes have it. Seven. Under item D, the administration recommends board of directors approve the personnel agenda as listed. Panel >> moves. I'll call the role. Miss Diamond. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad upgr. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wy. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brophy. >> Yes. >> Miss Connor. >> Yes. >> Miss Katz. >> Yes. >> Mr. Penelo. >> Yes. And I would like just to bring to the board's attention, we do have a retirement. We have Mrs. Lisa Dorenzo, principal at
047Washington Elementary School, who served in the school district for for 19 years, is retiring at the end of this school year. And I want to congratulate Mrs. Dorenzo on a on a happy retirement and uh and uh think of as often here in Boyertown, but we want to thank her for her service and dedication to this district. Thank you. Well, it takes us down to old business. And as we had suggested at our last meeting, um after having a full uh day kindergarten conversation presentation for old business, we uh listed Mr. Stout has had the opportunity to visit um the Antidum School District and a question came up about um modular classrooms and we uh Mr. Stout had the opportunity to snap some nice photos just to give you an idea of what modulars may
048may look like in your mind when we think about those. Um I will say that we've also um partnered with CHA to by what we hope to be our committee of the whole meeting to give us more thorough details about costs and feasibility of placement of modular classrooms at Buertown Elementary School as we had discussed at our previous meeting. So Mr. out. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. David Heiser. I did have the opportunity to visit the Antidum School District, and I would like to thank uh Nicole Sheik, who is the um the elementary principal. Um for those of you that are aware, Antidum had a pretty catastrophic scenario that took place a couple years back where they had flooding that really took out uh much
049of their campus. So their elementary school environment right now is really uh a combination of multiple modular buildings within um this area in in their uh school zone. Uh they are actually in the backdrop of this is a new building that's being uh built that is going to be starting in the 2728 school year. So they are going to be in these portables for 2 years. Uh had the opportunity to go there and uh like Dr. David Eiser said I got to snap some pictures. Um, I'm just going to give you a quick overview of what you're seeing here. I will say that, uh, the one building that you'll see shortly is a building that is a, um, for lack of a better term, a used building that has been used on other campuses and
050the other buildings on their campus, which I think were three more buildings were buildings that were built uh, for the purpose and they got to customize a little bit. Uh, this particular look is looking down a hallway. uh they have 27 total full-size classrooms if I remember correctly that are being served be uh for all of their elementary school students. So this is looking down the the hallway of one of their modulars. You can see on the lefth hand side and the right hand side are um different classrooms that are are in this area. So next slide or next picture please. This is a picture inside of a a classroom here that is um you know a typical classroom that is there. You see that it has their their projector system, their LED board I
051should say, uh plus different kinds of um uh areas where they're storing textbooks and things that happen. Um I will say the one the one the principal talked to me in a in one concern that came about was actual storage within the portables, but they have storage cabinets that are really nice that you really can't see in this picture, but that uh provides the opportunity for materials and whatnot to be stored in the classroom. But this is what a a typical classroom would look like. Um, this is a bathroom. So, I wanted to uh there the building was empty, so the classroom the bathroom was not being used as I took the picture, but I wanted to make sure that you were aware. Uh, in both in all of the portable environments, um, Dr. David
052Heiser has spoken about us potentially attaching the portable classroom to Bertown Elementary School. These classrooms are not connected to anything. So, there's walkways outside of the buildings, which would look different than what we have, but each of the portable classrooms has um gang bathrooms that um there's a a boy's room and a and a girl's room on the other side of the hallway, but I just kind of shot a picture in there just to show you that they look very typical to what a bathroom would be should we need to uh consider that in our project. What was exciting to see uh this is an intervention room. So they had the ability to customize some of the instructional space. Uh this would look like a very typical intervening room that would happen within our environment
053here in our building. So uh it's it's where small groups of students are brought in to intervene and support kids uh where they they need to be met. But this is a classroom that's probably about a third of the size of a regular typical classroom. Again, another style of classroom. This one has round tables versus the uh the rectangular tables that were in the previous classroom. I did want to show just how they um keep their security just like we would have here. They have swipers to get into each of the buildings, but I just wanted to to show that that was, you know, something that they had as part of their uh outdoor safety measures. I did not expect to see this uh environment. This is actually their cafeteria. So they are able to
054support eight classrooms of students being uh supported for lunch in a uh I would call this like a very large group area. Uh what was interesting to see if you can imagine this building was a pretty big rectangle. The cafeteria area was kind of an internal rectangle. The external piece if you look in the far right hand corner and then down that wall were small group instruction rooms. So they were small intervening kinds of rooms for kids. Uh, by the way, they don't cook in this cafeteria. They deliver their food from other buildings within the district. And then, um, Allison, if you go to the next slide, the back section of the hall, the back section of the room is, um, on the right hand side, there's another intervening room, but um, they actually have
055music class within that room. And then the door that goes straight back. And then on the other side of this wall are two full-size classrooms. So, you had the ability to have intervention rooms, a cafeteria space, as well as two full-size classrooms in one portable classroom. So, if you go to the next slide, I believe this is an actual picture inside that intervention or this I should say full-size classroom that's in the back of the uh cafeteria space. So, I was I I didn't expect to see that large space like it was um that they're utilizing it. And by the way, this building here was the used classroom that they've gotten from a another district that no longer needed to use it because you have the ability to potentially lease or you have the ability
056to purchase these uh portables. Next slide. And again, another classroom in the uh one of the portables that has individual desks and then you can see horseshoe tape shaped tables for small group instruction that happens. but looks very typical of a of a regular classroom. They don't have the ability to have enough space in the portables. Um, so they do do art in a cart. Um, I just wanted to take a picture of that. So, the art teacher goes to each of the classrooms to support art class uh for the students. So, I just made sure I snapped a picture of that. And again, another picture down the hallway that looks very typical to what uh you might expect to see in a regular building. another classroom. That's it. Does anybody have any questions about
057what um I was able to observe? I I literally went out pretty much that same week um that we had the conversations at the last board meeting to uh be able to see and I and I want to thank Dr. Matlac, too, who's the the superintendent at Antidum School District for allowing us the opportunity to uh have this experience. and they welcomed us back at any time to see or to ask any specific questions. I do want to say that the timing of the portable classrooms because they were kind of in in a very um lack of a better term like tragic mode to start their school year. I want to say that they uh put the portable classrooms down in July and they were able to start one week late at the start of
058that school year. So in about two months time frame they had the portables placed and then students were uh being supported within about two months and a week or two. Any questions? Good. Mr. Stout. So uh last week uh two weeks two weeks ago, excuse me. Um during the presentation they discussed that we would need a possible possible five portable classrooms. Um, is that all in one building? Is it h how is this configured? Is this one long building? Is it separate sections? >> Yeah. Um, we're going to we're tasking architects to come out and see what the availability and space um would allow us to do on our own um area. in their particular environment, they had, I want to say, three rectangular buildings that had uh multiple classrooms like down typical hallways. Uh
059that big space was about the same size of a of a portable classroom with the exception of of making it as one large area which they utilized for the cafeteria. So if you can imagine, I don't want to say they I'm just trying to remember back, they weren't necessarily square buildings. They were more rectangular base, but they were all similar in size. So they look like four pods that were connected via outdoor um walkways to go between each of the buildings. >> Okay. So each pod then would would contain four units, four rooms in it. >> I'm just trying to visualize that. >> Yeah. So you're always going to be talking even numbers. So five is off the chart, right? Right. We're not we're not going to be doing right. It's going to be a
060four or six model. And we've tked CHA to come out and figure out the feasibility to where we could connect to the building. Unlike Antidum, you know, we feel it's necessary and they obviously didn't due to the fact that they their building was lost. They didn't have something to connect to. So, they made their own building out of portables. We're looking to connect the portables to um make sure that they're secure to the the existing um Boyertown Elementary School and looking to see where the feasibility of doing that is best served. Uh if you know Bertown L off the large parking lot side, you know, to I guess that's toward the east. Um the feasibility of that underneath the portico in the back area to which uh the the feasibility of the possibility of doing
061that seem to be two of the probably projected areas. Um so those would those you you'd have to think of it as one classroom after another. So four classrooms connected and you'd have a hallway. you'd come out through doors, you'd be in the hallway, and then you'd move into those those particular classrooms, and it'd be one one long stretch of of that. Um, so we we we will we're hoping to get some of those specifics back to you at the March meeting, details about what that would look like, what feasibility. Right now we've tasked them with um not including water or sewer hookup that >> Okay. That >> is that due to the fact that we attaching to the building? >> Yes. >> And that that access would not be too far into the building
062to to get to restrooms inside that building. So that takes away a lot of the land development pieces um to that and you're really then tasks with tasked with you know what's the feasibility and then what other types of code require code code requirements might the bureau have of us as an entity if we were to do such thing. So we're tasking with you know power getting power and internet service out to those those those same locations. As you can see, um, you know, when you're in a you you're inside one of those rooms, you really can't tell what it is you're in. It's, you know, looks like a brand new classroom essentially. Uh, you'd furnish it um and it would operate as as an a fully inclusive elementary classroom. So, again, I'm sorry we
063don't have those figures yet, but we wanted to give you some visuals as to what those things look like. Um, that seemed to be a place to be able to visit quickly to be able to do that. Um, and we hope to be able to provide some more information um, early March to you for that. >> So, I guess that leads us to when is the deadline that the board needs to have an answer >> because we've we've got four well other than this the the modular section, we have three other uh sections that we should probably discuss before that deadline. So, what we were hoping for would be a March uh legislative meeting deadline to make some sort of decision as to whether we're moving forward with all day kindergarten, okay, or not. Um,
064again, we hope to provide the necessary specifics on cost structure, feasibility, what we could do at Bordertown Elementary. You were presented with four different options. This was the option that the administrative uh team um thought best served us in really focusing on how do we get an all day kindergarten program up and running by the 2728 school year. And it was the least disruptive model for us to not have to redistrict students, not have to think about primary centers or um you know middle school different types of learning centers with 56 and 78 that were shown and really focus on how do we really move forward as quickly as possible in doing that. The other option that still exists out there is the option of the possibility, which is what we believe is somewhat disruptive,
065is moving a fifth grade from Boyertown L over to Middle School West, which we believe we have the space to do. The challenges to some of that are it's not in elementary setting. So, we have some challenges when you're talking about special area teachers um when it comes to meeting the needs of scheduling and things of that nature. um you know the lunch not probably not so much playground equipment is a challenge. We would have to come back over for for recess and so forth were certainly um with regard to that. So those are you know the first option which we feel is the least disruptive to to gaining that is the one that we've really trying to dive into and investigate the most. But end of March um at the latest we're we're we're
066we would say the you know an April timeline. We're hoping to bring a proposed um draft budget final proposed final budget to you in May with final budget in June for approval. >> Sure. Mr. just out. You had mentioned that some of these classrooms at Antidum are um refurbished or or previously used um and some of these are new. Is the district proposing that we look at both options to find some that were previously used to bring them in and refurbish them? Are we starting out from scratch uh and building new? >> Yes. And yes and yes. >> Sure. No, good. >> Great. um you know I I've asked uh Mr. Lynch who's presented here on the multitude of projects that we do have um coming up um to give us a realistic idea from
067all angles. Uh he said most recently they just um gave a proposal to the Quakertown Area School District. Um there is an expansion to their middle school center and they had to pro propose um modulars for there. So he thought that from a pricing standpoint, he has some real current pricing on what those options would be. It's more investigation that he's doing right now on the feasibility code requirements and everything else surrounding Bertown L. >> Dr. Dr. We were just just I did not look at the buildings with a fine tooth comb, but be going going between the building that was a used building versus the other buildings that were new. Just from the aesthetic and looking at it, they were all very clean, wellkept. Um it was very, you know, it's not like you're
068looking at a 20-year-old car versus, you know, one that's brand new off the lot. Um they really were very comparable. Um in fact, the building principal said that as well, like there wasn't any difference that they really discussed that would have been part of that. So I my recommendation would be as long as you get some sort of warranty and things that go along with the craftsmanship that goes along with it to do what we can to you know be as efficient as we can. >> Sure. Yeah. These these pictures are not what I was picturing from the modular units of the you know early 2000s and 90s. Yeah. So thank you. >> Yeah. Having been in a a district most recently prior to Boyertown, these were highly sought after classrooms both students and staff
069wanted to be in due to their newness, due to their more exact HVAC. Um, you know, which targeted each of those classrooms itself. Um, the heating and cooling systems to those are are really pretty spot-on and and can be a little bit more controllable in a new setting that way. So they were really uh kind of sought after classrooms. Uh and again we we we explained um our recommendation would not be to move a kindergartenner into those classrooms utilizing the classrooms in our current building with probably pushing out upper grades into those other classrooms possibly even some special area you know depending. Sure. Thank you. What's the typical lifespan of a modular? >> In their particular circumstances, they were looking for a three-year window to complete their construction, but I I did not ask because
070they were pretty new uh novel buildings to them. So, I I didn't that would be a question for the architects to see what that that length would be. Um I do know that as you know being at Colberdale for many years um there a lot of people don't realize it but in the courtyard there is a portable that is attached to Colberdale and has been there for many years. >> Does each classroom have its own door? >> 34 I'm hearing from the audience >> have its own door to the outside. >> no those would come down they would come down that hallway back into the building to to exit. there would be an exit right out outside that. Um, typically on that connection piece is where they would they wouldn't have to necessarily come back
071into the building, but they could exit out into the outside from from that. And again, you're trying to limit the the types of doorways. Typical lifespans, um, you know, you go seven years to, as Mr. Stout said, that might be 30 years. It depends, you know, once you you bring those typical um you know, expansion classrooms on, they're difficult to get get rid of at, you know, at some point. Um and, you know, our enrollment for the next 10 years has shown in the study that we we we expect to be project to be pretty consistent. So not with B Boyertown but the other elementary schools. So you know Covertdale's one, Earl's one, Gildersfield 2. The numbers we saw from before. So can we know exactly how that's being done? Because I can't imagine there's
072two empty classrooms in New Hover right now, right? So >> actually, >> are we surrendering to get that? >> Ironically enough, New Hover is is okay with space to add two extra classrooms right now. um just they would have to reutilize like there are some um some intervening types of teachers that don't need to have a full-size classroom but currently might have a full-size classroom. So the um the structure that would happen that probably would have the biggest impact would actually be Colbertdale Elementary School. Um back to the feasibility study that was done for that uh they have a um an art room that's kind of in the back end of the one hallway. So the special area schedule would have to be modified so that art and music would share a space and obviously
073they would not have specials on the same day but they would have to just have specials on alternative days where they would utilize that space. Um that really is one of the other big impacted buildings that can fit. But the current music room, because it's across the hallway from another classroom that share a bathroom in between both classrooms, um they would be able to um put another kindergarten classroom in that space. So, um if if you look back to the feasibility study, I think there might be details in there that talk about the what needs to happen in each of the buildings, but Gilbert'sville has has space, New Hover has space, um Earl has has the space. Again, instead of having a maker space room there, to your point, they would have to give something
074like that up, but it would have to be more embedded in what's happening in the regular classrooms. >> Yeah. I just I don't want to see art in a cart, you know? I don't want to see, you know, making it taking away accommodations for some students to accommodate for this, right? Then it doesn't make any sense putting other people out to >> It's a great point. I would I would never want to see art on a cart either. um the that Colbergell scenario would be such that music and art would have to be scheduled on separate days. So they couldn't be in the same classroom at the same day. Um for those of you that know the Pine Forge building, they shared art and I believe music class for many years up there. Um they
075just scheduled the special days on different days. Um so it would have to uh be a matter of you know making that happen. So that that would be the big difference in that building. >> I went to Pine Forge. We had separate. >> Yeah, they grew. >> Yeah. So, to just kind of wrap up our conversation, we hope to have more information to you in a couple of weeks, more in the details of portables and what its impact would be at Boyertown Elementary. Um, and hopefully we can have Mr. Lynch out here to share uh his knowledge and details about what uh uh what he's come up with and thoughts um for the board. >> Public com period number two, Miss Dear off planetarium. >> Nothing. >> Miss Savage, student learning. >> No question. Thank
076you. >> Okay. Upcoming meeting minutes comments. comment. >> Can I ask another question about the modules? Maybe everybody else knows, but I have no idea how they do those. Do they are they like when they bring in two sides of something on a big truck and they just set them there? Is that >> Yeah. and and you know there's a lot of assembly that takes place on you know on site but they come more prefabricated larger pieces that are connected um and secured and and established at those sites. I it's a good question when Minister Lynch comes here to explain a little bit more in detail, but I think you're on the right path of how and what they they come and and the assembly pieces to those I want to thank Mrs. D Lorenzo.
077Um, had the privilege of talking with her several times and working with her on different things. Um, sorry to see her go, but she's done her time. So, thank you. Just congrats again to Allison. >> Yes, congratulations to Mr. Bruner and Allison. Um, great accomplishment, great award. Uh, wish you the best, you know, taking that putting that on your resume as well. All right. Thank you. I echo the thank you to Allison and Mr. Burner for job well done. >> Nothing. >> I want to thank the uh people that put the musical on at the U high school. That was fantastic. >> Want to congratulate Allison and Mr. Bruner. That's impressive. And I don't have clarification yet for you, Miss Nyman, but I'm told that if you vote no um or I'm sorry, you abstain
078from a vote and the vote is not there's no actual conflict of interest. You're just voting because you didn't have the information you said. Um if there's no conflict of interest, it counts as a no vote. That's why it was written as such. I don't write the minutes, but that's what I'm told. on there being legal counseling and then >> typically an abstension would be because of a conflict which I gather if you're and and as I'm understanding what you wanted to do this evening you're saying you disagree with the minutes from the last board meeting you're saying they're inaccurate so it seems to me that >> more so for the last meeting where >> for the last meeting I wasn't >> yeah I'm not sure the reason for What I mean I I don't
079I'm not sure I understand even what the reason was why you were abstaining. >> Okay. >> As to why the action was being taken. >> It wasn't a personnel issue. It was just retirements and people leaving. It was just us approving personnel. She said she didn't have enough information on it and abstained from the vote. Mr. Sultanic did say at the time that that it does count as a no vote if there's no conflict of interest. >> I don't think he did say that. >> That's >> okay. I I can clarify since he was here and I I since you know if if you know you can't force a board member to vote but if a board member typically and again an extension would be because of a conflict essentially you're not can't take a
080position if your position is and for example in this instance your position is the minutes are inaccurate you're you're essentially saying no I disapprove of these minutes it's not really an abstension it's an abstension is a tool specifically designed where you're unable able to vote because of of a conflict of interest. That said, you know, Robert's rules are clear. We can't force a board member to vote. So, if a board member says, I'm just not voting, they they can do that. I mean, I So, it's and which is what I understand is what the what you're proposing to do here is you you're saying I basically am not voting on this issue, which is why how you're viewing you're describing as an abstension. So, I I mean, I can review with Mr. Sultanic what happened
081at the last board meeting to see to to see clarification on that >> is that does that does that help >> yeah I mean yeah just just so we have clarity >> sure I don't get clarification on that >> didn't this happen before this Mr. Sultanic said it's like a no vote >> so it's happened before and that's what I was explained as how it was taken >> okay >> call Mr. to panic and ask him personally, but >> Sure. No, we we'll get clarification for We'll get I'll make sure we get clarification. >> Okay. Understood. And I and I'll get clarification on on it and and we'll get back to you on that. >> Could we get something in writing? >> Sure. We can get something to you in writing. Yeah. Thank you. Understood.
082>> Just appears that different people in here hear different things. >> So, if we have it in writing, that all goes away. >> Understood. We'll we'll provide something in writing to the board. So, our upcoming meeting dates, uh, March 10th, we have the educational and student services committee meeting here at 6:00 pm and, uh, followed by our committee of the whole meeting at 7 p.m. Both will be hosted here in the um, education center. Okay. Motion to adjurnn. >> We are seconds. Meeting adjourned.