001[music] Roll call. Miss Connor >> here. >> Miss Kratz >> here. >> Miss Nyman >> here. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove >> here. Mr. Roger Upgrove >> here. >> Dr. Weir here. >> Dr. Wy >> here. >> Mr. Broofphy >> here. >> Mr. Penella >> here. All present. Will >> you all rise for the pledge of allegiance and send a moment of silence? I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We had no previous executive session which leads us to our January schoolboard recognition month. How about that? >> How about that? >> Well, we are a few days late. This was intended for our our meeting on the January 27th, but um you know January
002um is recognized throughout the state of Pennsylvania as school board recognition month. So we want to make a a certain acknowledgement to our board of school directors um since schoolboard service has been a long and crucial part of our nation's legacy and its commitment to public education. So the school directors are described as ethical principled individuals with a deep desire to serve. They believe in the value of our public schools and local control of public education for the benefit of all students. Today school districts are expected to offer more services along with worldclass instruction with sometimes limit un with sometimes limited resources. These expectations provide a tremendous challenge for school directors who are unpaid volunteers who give of their time to contribute to the schools and communities that they serve. Our schools and educators continued
003efforts to provide highquality continuous education to all students further highlights the key role school directors play in educating our children. It gives me great pleasure this evening in recognizing the board of school directors of the Boyertown Area School District who give unselfishly their time and energy to support and guide our schools and the students they serve. Their efforts reflect the mission of our schools which is to provide opportunities and success for every student. This this evening the district would like to share a small token of appreciation with our board members. At your seats, you should have found a one and only B Boyertown tote bag. That is the one and only tote bag. Um, inside you also find select Bertown spiritware wear items and customized thank you cards that can be used to hand to
004others in gratitude of what they have done throughout the school district. These cards were produced in our BASH advanced placement art classroom and our originals. So you're in holding 10 thank you cards that are original cards designed by our AP arts students. So once again I sincerely thank uh many thanks to our school directors for your time, your effort in planning u and serving the Bertown Ary School District and a special thank you to our AP art students under the guise guidance of BASH art instructor Mr. Deno who took time to help create the thank you cards you've received. So, thank you. >> Student representative report. >> Good evening, board members and meeting attendees. Feels like forever since we've been here, or well, I've been here. Um, we hope everyone has a great has had
005a great holiday and a happy new year. It feels odd to be in 2026 as a member of 2026, but it's a great reminder of how long I've spent in the district throughout my education. With a new year and new goals, we can't wait to see what's in store for the school district. Now, let's get on with our schoolboard report. During the week of December 15th through December 19th, our school held Wish Week, which was very successful and a positive experience overall for students. The goal of Wish Week was to grant wishes to students and boost school spirit before winter break. Each day had a different theme and reward like Duncan, Parma Pizza, and others. Not I, myself, but Audrey enjoyed a smoothie from Waw Wa. Participa participation was high throughout the week and students
006were very excited and engaged. It was a great way to end the year on a positive note. Winter break overall was good and a much needed break for students and staff. It gave everyone time to rest, reset, and come back for a more focused and refreshed new year. Students have come a long way since the beginning of the year, and it's still exciting to see how far we continue to learn and grow. Science Olympiad has been on fire this year. A club that has been very small the past few years has grown exponentially with nine groups placing top five in their events during our regional competition on January 8th. The students in Bash Science Olympiad have been doing great things in their science events. So, we'd like to give them a shot the shout out
007they deserve for their accomplishments. We're hoping to see continued growth in membership and student achievement at states. Last week's not last week but couple weeks ago, students received their course selection cards and are currently in the process of choosing their classes for the next school year. A lot of people have been talking with their friends, teachers, and counselors about which classes to choose, possible internships, and the idea of graduation just a year a few years away. Bash provides a lot of different different options, so it's nice that students can really start thinking about their future and what they're interested in. There are many art and computer science classes, different levels of core classes, and dual enrollment classes. Overall, students are actively discussing their options and thinking seriously about the their plans for next year and
008their future. And course selection is going smoothly so far. Musical tickets are on sale. The the music department has been working super hard in their production of the Drowsy Chaperon and tickets are currently on sale. All students involved have committed a tremendous amount of time and effort to make the production the best it can be. Please consider going out and supporting our talented students in the music department. Midterms were held on January 21st using a modified schedule based on student and staff feedback designed to better support student focus and testing success. The schedule mirrored finals week and gave students dedicated time to test. Midterms counted as 10% of student final grades. On January 21st, students took their ELA and science exams, and the following day, they took their math and social studies. The two-day schedule
009allowed students to take two exams per day and leave after their scheduled exams if they had their own transportation. While students without transportation were able to stay stay for lunch, tutoring, or quest student space until regular bus dismissal. Overall, the modified schedule helped make testing more organized and less stressful for students, according to Audrey. [laughter] For our elementary highlight, we highlighted Boyertown Elementary School this year as they've continued many building initiatives since students and staff returned for the new year. The month of January January at Bees was dedicated to our the bear trait of being considerate. Throughout the building, students were focused on the meaning of the word considerate and how they can demonstrate demonstrate being considerate in the school, on buses, and in their community. The PTO continues to support the staff and students
010of BES through various fundraising activities. And next month, BES will be hosting a bingo ice cream social event for families and friends. Boyertown Elementary School's book vending machine also continues to be very popular. Students can earn vending machine tokens to purchase books by being recognized for making positive choices in the building. This building initiative has improved the school climate and promoted breeding for all students. We look forward to bringing you Bash's best moments next month for February. And as always, thank you all for your time and drive safely. >> Public comment period number one, Mr. Savage Planetarium. I look forward to your discussion about the planetarium dome this evening. Um, like many people in this community, I have very fond memories of the Boyertown Planetarium and our family learned a lot by attending Mr. Der
011Lion's presentations. I would love to see the planetarium resurrected and I'm thrilled that the Foundation for Boyertown Education and other people in our community are willing to provide funds to help that happen. However, as the board, you have to consider that this does require the use of one-time funds as well as recurring costs. So, maybe a good way to think about it is this. Can we do the planetarium project and achieve all the other strategic goals we have? I do sincerely hope so. Or do we have to give up something by moving forward with the planetarium project? If we rank the district's wants and needs by priority and cost, where must we we draw that line? So, while there will be a lot of financial assistance from the community for this, there will be ongoing
012costs into perpetuity, such as a full-time planetarium director, hardware and software upgrades, training, additional staff needed for afterchool and weekend events. considered the costs that are incurred by any event being held in our schools, custodial, security, etc. And if we rent out the facility regularly, I expect we will need additional staff to run the planetarium at those times. Now, more importantly, how does this fit into the district's strategic plan? What are the highest priorities for meeting the district's goals? Our comprehensive plan calls for at least 77% of all students in grades three through eight taking the PSSA ELA to score proficient or advanced. And based on PDE data, I don't think we're close to that yet and we have a lot of work to do. Um also district revenue um in in terms of district
013revenue increases especially those from the state we cannot be assume them from year to year as we've been seeing uh with the fights and the delays in the past year or so. So administration has been and I assume will continue to recommend and advise you on how to really get that needle moving for improving student outcomes and it will take resources and I do hope that the board partners with administration to really understand our district's needs and priorities before voting on the planetarium project to understand if this is an and or an or. And while this project evokes a lot of emotion, nostalgia, and pride for our community, you as board members have the hard job of balancing that with respect to the fisc fiscal responsibility for the long term. Thank you. >> Thank you.
014At this time, we're looking for the approval of the January 13, 2026 committee of the whole meeting minutes. >> I'll motion. >> I'll second. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katrz, >> yes. >> Miss Nyman, >> no. >> Mr. Brad upgr. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Mr. Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Brophy, >> yes. >> Mr. Penello, >> yes. >> Eyes have it. >> That takes us to the discussion and information section. Um, we do have two items to be discussed this evening. First is an overnight trip. And again, um, as I've shared in the past, um, many of our choir competitive festivals do not meet our calendar necessarily as it relates to our board meetings. So, uh, we do occasionally have some meetings that we, um, are going to
015bring to you that we are also going to ask for your consideration of approval on that same evening. So, we have two two events uh, this evening, two trips. Uh, one of which is the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association region coral festival. We do have um, uh, coming up in February. Again, doesn't necessarily meet well within the parameters of some of our meeting times. So, we are going to be asking for your consideration tonight. You can see there the listed costs of uh what's paid by students, what's not paid by students, the registration substitute costs which are accurate and alike. Um and you can see those that scheduled there. The second uh trip is our uh technology student association TSA which has been a very very successful um association for the Bordertown area school school district
016over many of decades and it continues to be a wellattended um association and therefore a very very competitive association for Bertown um both regionally and and statewide and even to a certain extent nationally as Well, so there is a trip um that we are asking for. This is a competition across three days uh includes high school, middle and both our middle schools. You can see the number of staff. You can see the number of students um estimated for those and you can see the cost distribute uh the distribution of costs between both student and the district that's recommended um for this particular trip. Um, so again, this is a statewide competition out at Seven Springs, which is the tra traditional landing spot for this particular competition that Boyertown has gone to regularly. So, um, I
017can answer any questions that the board may have in regards to these two trips. You will see this um, and probably have already seen this slated down in the consent agenda section for your consideration for it to move forward. Okay, thank you. Um, the second item this evening is our planetarium dome. Um, continued conversation. Um this evening what was decided was to bring both um both nonprofit entities back their association the education foundation for Bertown as well as Stellar Dreams and allowed their representatives to speak to um any questions that the board may have in relation you've heard from Mr. Stout a presentation. You've seen a number of figures. We're welcome to pull back that presentation and bring it back onto the screen for the board if if it's so desired. Um we do have
018I believe one entity um wants to avail a video to the board and allow the board to to view that video. So I'm going to ask if um who do we have here this evening? We have Mr. Herb. We have and we have Miss Dirof. if you two would like to both come to the podium or if you want to >> take turns in coming to the podium however to begin a discussion and any thoughts that you'd like to further with the board in relation to um this >> good evening is that >> okay good evening um my name is Greg Herb uh president of the foundation for bertown education if I may uh recognize A couple board members that are here uh with me this evening. Rod Martin from Martin Stonequar serves as our
019vice president. Uh Brian Snyder with Provident Bank is our treasurer and our executive director Jamie Fox here on the end. Again, thank you for the opportunity to come back and readress the Planetarium Learning Dome with you this evening. Just by way of a brief history, your Foundation for Boyertown Education was actually established back in 2013. We are a 501c3 entity which was established to enrich and enhance our students educational experiences. Speaking about last year alone, the foundation awarded over $185,000 in grants to the district to fund programs and purchase equipment tools to support enhance our students learning abilities, which is pretty significant. If for those that watched were at the January 13th meeting, I thought Mr. show's presentation. Uh, as far as the tech ed, the foundation alone has contributed over $220,000 in equipment that
020has really enhanced the learning opportunities for our students at the schools. Our funds come through both EITC contributions as we are an approved EITC organization. That stands for your educational improvement tax credits from corporations and businesses as well as regular donations and fundraisers. The grants from the Foundation for Boyertown Education has really funded a myriad of things. Life skills, STEM and STEAM, science, art, theater, robotics, of course, teched, and much more. We literally have touched the lives of every grade in every building, all elementary schools, both middle schools and the high school. So to turn the conversation to the learning dome, the foundation has spent the last year reviewing and evaluating the ability to bring this shuttered space back to life and transform the former planetarium into a multiaceted learning dome with new technology and
021digital dual lens projector system. The program goes well beyond astronomy and includes subject matters like science, physics, arts, and much more that can be taught in that facility. Moreover, every student from K to 12 within the district will be able to utilize this unique learning environment, leaving a positive and impactful difference. We hope that extends to the community at large with afterchool evening and summer program as has been discussed. While your foundation has funded many of the tech items that were previously mentioned like VR goggles and other technology to enhance students knowledge and experience, we believe nothing can replace the experience and impact of the learning dome. So our commitment as was previously mentioned is a4 million $250,000 from the foundation over the next 5 years. our board evaluate this investment and assess the benefits
022and impacts of the sizable donation before we actually commit it to make this. At the end of the day, we believe the investment will pay dividends to our students for generations to come. Moreover, this investment literally touches the lives of every student in the district as well as continue to play a vital role in our community. I want to refer back to the January 13th meeting as we looked at cost as were referenced actually in the discussion earlier this evening and part of our commitment was to have a 10-year sustainability to the program. Us being good stewards of these funds to invest in this project with the district. We were looking for at least having a 10-year sustainability uh of that program. And the cost for an educator and maintenance was about $112,000 a year.
023And it was referenced that's over 10 years about a million125. It's a large number, but put it in perspective. Our budget at 150 a million year 150 million a year over 10 years would be 1.5 billion with the B dollars. And so that investment comes out to about 0.0000 000 75% of the expenses. We looked at that. We considered that with our investment, but we believe that investment is one worth taking and the impact that it will have. I also want to reference a social media post which I don't do too often. I looked at a post from the meeting of the 13th which a local news organizations have posted on social media about the ability to bring this dome back to life. Somebody made aware me aware of it. I looked at it in
0244 days. Anybody who follows social media, Facebook in particular, there were 650 people who liked or loved the the article. There was over 115 comments. Everyone was positive about the impact and most notable was 135 shares, meaning that somebody shared this article to their own feed. Certainly, while social media should not dictate important business decisions, I think it's noteworthy and believe it gives you some insight and perspective. And most importantly, as I started and found myself reading through those comments, they were fellow classmates of mine, students from this district, uh, residents from the district who felt that this had a profound impact and influenced their lives and quite frankly their career paths. So, I think we have something very proud to be about to be of with that. So again, the foundation is here to
025pledge the $250,000 to help fund this project. We encourage you to carefully consider this and what impact it has to our district and to our community. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have for the foundation. >> I just want to thank you for coming forward. I want to thank you and Mrs. for pushing toward getting this. I believe this is a huge step forward in education for 21st century educational means. Uh what this can bring to Boertown and to the students, I'm not even sure we can measure yet because we haven't even talked about how AI can play into this as we're trying to move forward and make it do the things we want it to do. I know that people have put forward this and acted like
026this is a they they've asked about curriculum. [clears throat] That's the wrong question. The right question is how does this support curriculum and that's what it's supposed and designed to do as far as base services. There are sure there's other planetariums in the country. We can probably find them. There's internet and there's phones and there's other things. and we can ask them what kind of base services do they provide and what do they look like? Uh both of you coming forward to this and and pushing that's $350,000 you're willing to invest and both of you are willing to put your names behind this which shows that you you are committed to it and you firmly believe that the Bordertown community is committed to it. If we say no, I'm going to really wonder what we
027believe education is all about in the 21st century because maybe we don't. Other countries are catching us. Other countries are passing us. We have to change how we think about education and the ways we go forward with it as we move. And this is a step. Is it a final step? No. is a is this great leap forward? No. But it's a leap. And the fact that the community is willing to come here and I believe I feel we're making you beg us to take your money and and I I feel that. I absolutely feel that. And I'm embarrassed by that. Absolutely embarrassed. I saw comments by board members that this isn't needed, so let's not do it. I'm not going to I'm not going to spend money on what isn't needed. Yet, we spend
028money on stuff that's not needed every single time I come in here. Mountains of money. Unfortunately, I read a lot. I sometimes I hate to pick the paper up. I really do. and and uh you sit there and you look and and in the paper it had it had 1.1 million ongoing costs. They're O and M program costs. They would what we would call we would pay on any program that we move forward on. They are not part of bringing the bringing this back. So what you're telling me is if a program comes in that we like we're going to start saying we're not going to do it because we got to pay the teachers and a little bit of maintenance costs. That's ridiculous on a on on a on every level I can think
029of. That's absolutely ridiculous. You two are basically paying for this. When I look the numbers out and I think about how how they're probably conservative in the costs, the cost of the district is nothing. Not 1.1 million, not $112,000. It's nothing. Because when you bring it down to the capital costs, and that's what we're talking about, capital costs, not on&m program costs, you're covered it. So that's like saying to me, here's two tickets to the Super Bowl for free. You want them? And me say, no, I'd rather watch it on my TV screen at home. I just don't know any other way I can go forward or convince eight other members of this board that moving forward this is in the benefits of the parents, the children, the district, border town's reputation, and everything else
030about education we have for almost no money. Thank you. >> I I appreciate your comments and and and know we don't feel like we're begging you to take our money. Uh we work really hard. No, no, I appreciate that. Um we have enjoyed a great partnership. Uh I mentioned 2013 for those newer to the board and backstory is I was here uh these two gentlemen were part of the five of us that founded the organization after a year and a half of of a painful steering committee. And quite frankly, we exist for one reason and one reason only. And that's a great partnership we have with the district. That's the only reason we exist and in totality there's been significant investments and quite frankly we all have that vested interest. Uh we did look at
031the learning dome very carefully because we have never funded something or any physical project. So it was a heavy lift for us uh in particular. Um but um you know again I could also speak as a student one of the the first class of students that was there. I won't do that but I was uh back there the the day that that opened up as a seventh grade student. uh you can do the math on that but I think beyond that it really has become part of the community and know the impact it has on our students and that's what we're about uh in the various aspects uh and covering all parts of the district including something like this. So thank you. >> One phrase that I that I think that you're bringing forward that
032I want to say is that the board should think about in the area of imagination. Don't think what is think what can be. And that's where you need to go if you really are cons if you really consider yourselves people for education. That's what you got to think about. You know what is but think you need to lead to say this is what can be in the future. >> Um you said you're willing to commit 250,000 over five years. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Suppose this really takes off and it's phenomenal. Would you consider donating any more if needed? Certainly, I can't speak on behalf of the board. Um, if there is a particular funding need for something like anything else, we have a grant request process that that follows. [snorts] Um, and so I
033don't want to not answer your question, but quite frankly, I can't commit to the future. Um, we're hoping to again raise a substantial part of that capital cost up front to show our support of it. And I don't know what that would be. I know our experts here with uh JT who spoke at the 13th meeting uh briefly uh and that's really describing you know lose the word planetarium and it's a learning dome in our sense of describing that every in any subject matter can be taught of any grade level uh in that environment. Uh there is software and things of that nature uh that maybe she could better address that you would have available time to time and the ongoing maintenance was a budget item as Mr. Stout had put together in the presentation.
034So, I mean, the facility that's there now and the equipment that's there now uh was fired up for the 50th anniversary celebration of Middle School East. Uh so, it still got fired up. Uh the seats are still there. Um I I think this will last a long time with new seating and refresh and now with digital equipment and part of that cost was including the the the uh maintenance. So I think the board's always happy to entertain, you know, grant requests which really come through the district. >> I mean, Mr. Don Rin has done a phenomenal job when he was here as a teacher down there and the night of the anniversary over at uh East, he was phenomenal there as well. Uh so uh it's education to me. It's not a question. There's educational
035value in this and if we can help one student out of this, it makes it all worth it. This is a new way, a new technique and it might just spark something in that child that has been having issues for years and I think it's a phenomenal thing and I'm glad both you and Mrs. Dar are doing this. If the board rejects it, shame on them. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Arb. >> Miss Darl, >> I had >> I apologize. Did I walk away too quickly? >> Now, I uh am very appreciative of uh your foundation. I'm new to the board, but I'm not new to the community, >> right? And so I am very aware of the wonderful things uh that your board that your uh organization has
036done uh for the students uh in this in this community. Uh I had two children who graduated uh from Boyertown High School and who visited the planetarium and was a part of uh the music program here. So again, um there's a lot of wonderful things uh that I can uh attest to uh that my children experienced here. I'm also an educator uh outside of the Boyertown School District with 23 years of experience and uh knowledge about uh education about uh ways in which children learn and uh develop. And um there's always a struggle as to how do we as a community uh best serve our children with the finite uh amount of resources that we have. Uh certainly um it would be wonderful if we could and was able to do all the great things
037uh that come into our spaces and uh our thoughts uh that inspire children. But uh my concern and I did speak uh in the past um meeting. My concern in hearing uh what I heard last at the last meeting about uh some of the other areas of concern in our community being the performance levels there. There's a lot that is going on in the district that requires funding and uh what I heard about the performance levels uh at the previous meeting was very concerning to me and uh my question about the planetarium and reviving izing this wonderful space uh from the past is okay if if we're expending monies and I'm still not sure what is the amount there's there's so many questions uh that I have about what exactly is the school district um
038responsible for in the funding of of all of this because I'm hearing about the needs of remediation. I'm hearing about the needs of a reading program for our children. That's a lot of money. We don't have a comprehensive reading program for our students. That requires a lot of spending. We need math interventions. That requires a lot of spending for us to be able to provide the supports since co our kids have nosedived and they're not making the gains that other children are making in other districts. And if you don't believe that, go to future, what is it? The uh future ready index, look at the performance levels of our children. And this is across the board that we're having these issues that um Dr. David Heiser and his staff that they've put together this comprehensive
039plan of how we need to lift up the performance levels of our children. It requires money to do that. this MTSS plan, it's it's a over um it's a framework of interventions to bring up the performance level of our students because they're not doing as well as they did back in the days of the planetarium. And so I say to you, I love the idea of bringing the planetarium back to life and doing all of these things, but as a priority, if we're only having an a certain amount of money for spending, I say that we spend it on the remediations and supporting [snorts] the performance levels of getting those performance levels back to where they used to be. And I don't think the planetarium is going to do that. >> Dr. Wy, if I
040could, I appreciate your comments. Were you questioning just for my clarification? I can't answer most of your questions. I appreciate your comments, but it relates to the planetarium. Were your questions, Was there a question in there as far as not knowing what the actual costs are? because we do have those and I wanted to make sure that was not your question or I didn't misunderstand you. >> Okay. I'm I'm wondering uh about the what is the obligation that the district would have in bringing this back to life. And also um as a former um administrator, I know the busing and the scheduling, the master schedules, all these things that need to come into play when you're trying to move children across the district to have access to this space. uh that it is going to
041be taking away from instructional time. There's so many frameworks now that are in place whereby teachers only have certain amount of time in the classroom to address the curriculums and by moving children from point A to point B that you're losing instructional time and how they will be able to make up those kinds of deficits when we do have standards and we have these these frameworks that were not in place back in the times of uh the the planetarium. And I know I'm going off on a tangent and I apologize to you for that. Um, but I just question how is all of that it's it it's not as simple as it seems that we can just bring the planetarium back into life and that kids are going to have the opportunity to get there
042because it is so much more complicated than that. And that's the part the big question mark is how would we be able to do that? >> Yeah, I appreciate your passion. Like I said, I won't be able to answer most of those questions, but I did see someone was so kind uh to pull up the presentation you should have that Mr. Stout put together for the January 13th meeting. And this slide um is actually showing the allocation for the teacher transportation and the annual maintenance uh which was where that 1125 a year 112,500 uh was referenced from the January 13th. If you go back and I know our experts here so I don't want to take a step on anyone's shoes. That was the cost to estimated cost is strictly again underline estimated projections for
043flooring demolition uh you know uh dealing with the aspects of lighting s you know all the aspects of preparing that room and demo demoing the current room as it exists and then the slide before that act that was chairs and there was a slide that actually showed the two uh projector systems and again I'm looking at JT she's the expert I'm I'm up here at the mic. So maybe you want to jump in here, but the recommendation as I understood was for the the uh SSIA technologies, the one on the right side of your screen for $276,000 as far as the hardware cost. So as it relates to and again I appreciate your passion, Dr. Wy, and uh beyond the tangent going back to the planetarium though, I want to be clear because we also
044struggle with this as a board. Uh this was a big investment for us. Uh it we at the end of the day it was unanimous decision uh to put forth this pledge for $250,000 after analyzing what impact we're doing with the district. And our bylaws are very specific. Our bylaws were written by us in a certain way that controls where and how we spend that money and what things we fund. And this falls into that bucket. Um but that was a hard cost plus the chairs you saw and I'll call the demo and refitting of the room. probably not the proper terminology, but uh and then we got to the the total cost annually of about 110 12,500. I just wanted to make sure that part of your question was answered. Is that okay? Thank
045you. All right. Thank you very much, >> Mr. Opter. Oh, hold on, Mr. Herb. >> No, I I think that's all right. I just wanted to say um to all of your points, Dr. WY [clears throat] as far as you know bringing our students up and getting the supports that they need and the money that we need for that the amount that the district needs to cover for this what funds would they be coming out of right you know that paying the teacher obviously comes from one place but any other additional reserva renovations and things that would be the capital fund I would assume right and so that wouldn't help with supporting more teachers and supports anyway because we can't use it there >> yeah that's correct the the reoccurring costs that 112,000 that you
046saw that would be part of the general budget right that would be something that we would budget in annually >> in partion >> yeah um >> in addition to >> so >> the million dollar Um, you know, part of this and when you look at the two options, we wanted to present a couple of options to the board. Um, there's differential in costs when it comes to the projection systems, the sound and lighting, you know, the hardware, really the the makeup of that. So, that's where you see the difference in two prices. I would ask Mrs. Doff, can I just slide JT town in to talk just for a few minutes if I could, JT? And um, Mrs. Moyer, if you could please go back to the slide that indicates the two options on the
047the multitude of hardware. Yeah, that slide. Thank you. And I've asked Miss Town to come this evening just to uh speak to mostly speak to this slide and her expertise in the field of planetariums to just share with you uh really a recommendation. The options are there. Um and the money is different, right? So I'm missing there it is. Okay. So you know just under uh $100,000 difference in terms of of of the the options what make up when we talk about this type of equipment. Yes. This would be through the capital you know projects fund to which we would purchase these these you know we can't do these over years. this is you're purchasing and purchasing that and in one false swoop to to um install those things. And based on the um two
048nonprofit organizations, they would have a fund that we would receive um annually across five years making up um what looks to be well above um or or close to um what the two different options are in terms of that. um the reoccurring cost like I said and chairs and you other small things that we still may not have thought of or as we get into the project a little bit deeper um you know what what the possibilities might be there or other incurred costs but we estimate just over $100,000 of reoccurring costs to to maintain that. So, Miss Town, can you just share with the board a little bit the difference here? You know, we're talking about nearly $100,000 in in equipment um that you I know you and Mr. Stout have visited numerous places
049and um have been tied to kind of coming with these recommendations. Can you speak more specifically to these to and maybe making a recommendation to the board? if if you were a representative scor school board member, what would your recommendation be based on your knowledge of these two types of systems? >> Okay. Sure. Well, there are actually more than two sources in the world uh for digital dome display systems for for teaching. Uh but we've looked at um criteria such as um uh whether the company is uh in the US close by accessible for you know to get help uh when you need it. Um we've looked at systems that offer a 4K resolution display and uh come down to to these two that you see here. Um you know there there's as far as
050uh ease of use uh software capability um uh opportunities for multi-use uh they're quite similar. Um we could also look at compatibility and collaboration with other schools. There are no fewer than 15 Pennsylvania schools that have digital planetarium systems now. And that number is growing and about the same number of Pennsylvania colleges with digital planetarium systems. Uh so there are opportunities for for doing dome casting and sharing and uh educational programs with other places. So so those are some of the um items I've looked at um and talked about with with the school district here. also um you know these two companies listed here. One is a big giant company on the left side option one and uh I had listed it um for the district that they're located in Pennsylvania and Utah. Since the
051time that I listed that, uh, the company COSM has reduced the number of planetarium technicians and trainers at the Pennsylvania location down to one. Um, and still have some in Utah, but they're not as close by as uh as you know, they're not they don't have as many staff close by to help schools in Pennsylvania. And it's the system is more expensive and considering the capabilities are pretty similar with CIA SSIA. They're located in New Hampshire. Uh their software is based on the Skyscan dark matter software and it's uh used in a couple of Pennsylvania schools near here. Um I think that the CIA system might be a good choice. If I were to buy a planetarium uh to be located here, that's probably what I would choose. Questions for Miss Town from a technical
052side? Any? >> What is the STEM aspect of option one that I don't see on option two? >> What is the What was the >> STEM. Well, there's a little bit more builtin stem in the software of option one, but there's certainly some in uh option two as well. And someday uh I can show you a video uh that was provided from uh the CIA company showing some of their STEM uh built-in content. And you know, as far as um shows that are like dome movies, they play on any system. Uh so there's no difference there as far as u what it will play from the outside world. What is the ease of creating something um you know inhouse to you know as as it supports a certain curriculum such as science biology? >> Excellent
053question. Uh you know it there is a learning curve to these systems there. It's um a computer-based system. So if you want to uh build uh lessons, live lessons and content and and uh guide students in doing so, I would recommend a teacher who has very strong computer skills, uh file transfer skills, file backup skills, those kinds of things. Um you know, there's a a good amount of training that comes with uh any of these systems. Uh but even after the training, I would say that it um it really takes a few months to get in a groove where you know how to build a lesson and build a show. You have to do a little bit of practice. You have to build up kind of like maybe with like anything else. uh but yeah
054uh these companies have worked hard to make the software um easy to use so that even students can use it and uh uh we've also looked at uh having a separate computer for students to use offline uh but they could also um develop content multimedia shows uh music shows in the planetarium using the main um keyboard board mouse and monitors. >> So school has its own IT department should be able to work through these problems. Correct. >> What's the problem? >> None. [laughter] >> Okay. >> That's what I'm getting at. >> Yeah. A lot a lot of you know I mean I I've been encouraging uh this district to talk to other districts that have digital planetariums and have are having great success. They're using the planetariums even for math and reading programs. Uh they're
055using them for um I think there's another word for English as a second language now. Um sorry I don't know what it is but uh they're using it in support of English as a people learning English. Uh they're having great success with um special ed students in the planetarium and programs. Um, you know, Mthactton School District in Eagleville, North Penn High School in Lansdale, Allentown Schools. Um, you know, I could tell you more. Uh, those are some three of the close by ones. Aston, Lancaster. So, um, I would encourage you to, you know, find out about those programs. I can, um, research for you and report back if you like. if you can't go and talk to them yourselves. >> Um I saw I want to look at which one it was. There was Eastern
056Lebanon just reopened. >> Eastern Lebanon is another one >> in 2023. So pretty recently is when they reopened theirs. >> Yes, that's a good example. >> So maybe we could learn some things from them. >> Yeah. And it's possible that they have the CIA SSIA system from New Hampshire. I'm not sure. I think so. >> I think the Reading Museum has a planetarium up and running too. >> They do and they have a system from uh Kosum Evans and Southerntherland on the column one. But uh you know if you it's it's easier to have collaboration and compatibility with the places that have your same brand of software planetarium software um just so for sharing file sharing purposes. But but speaking of the reading, uh they do a lot of special events there and uh they
057rent out the facility and the planetarium director does a lot of custom visuals uh because they can, you know, accomplish that in a couple of hours uh in support of uh lots of special events and meetings, rentals. Any further questions for JT? >> Well, thank you for thank you for being here this evening. Sure thing with us. Thank you. >> And Mrs. uh Doff Mr. Dof represents Stellar Dreams as our other nonprofit entity that's um shown interest in helping to support the planetarium. So, Mr. Dar. >> Good evening. [clears throat] Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. Uh just a little bit of background. Uh when Mr. Brophie first mentioned the planetarium, why is it sitting there? We're not doing anything with it. It it lit a light bulb. And from there, I
058took off. Uh I started a nonprofit called Stellar Dream, [laughter] got myself some board members, people that were very interested. The biggest thing I did was go over and talk to Pete Derline. He ran our planetarium for 35 years. So what you're about to watch tonight is the rebirth of a place that once defied science education in our district and we can do so again at a level we've never reached before. Now all this is going to cost money. So I started thinking outside of the box and come up with the idea we're always putting more expense on the community. So let's give the community something back. That's why I started the nonprofit. Well, we started the nonprofit. So, what we intended to do, and I talked to Dr. David Heiser about this, was rent
059the planetarium for all the times that it was not in use by our children in the school hours, which would be evenings, weekends, summers, holidays, and do shows. And at that point, we would have money to pay the district for the use. Therefore, they would have money if there was any repairs or anything else they had to buy because I didn't just intend to use it once. This would be used continuously. Holidays, we would have holiday shows. We would have uh birthday parties. We would have uh we would even have uh weddings if somebody wanted one. Can you imagine a wedding in the planetarium? We have dinner and a show. Uh there's all kinds of activities we could do in there. Uh you wouldn't have to necessarily use the uh cafeteria or anything. Thank you.
060Uh we could just have it catered. There's many many aspects of things we could use. In fact, I was so excited about this. I got prices to use the facility and that shouldn't be a problem. What we would do is have a uh IT person learn and get trained on this equipment more than one so that we could keep using it um all the time when one person wouldn't be able to. We'd have someone else that could. So I would like to turn this over to Mr. Derline and I think he can explain more. I have a lot more I would love to say but we spent a lot of time on this and I don't want to get the people bored. So go ahead, Pete. >> Thank you. Imagine being a child sitting beneath
061a dome of stars, watching planets move, galaxies collide, and questions spark that no textbook could ever ignite. That experience once lived in the Boyertown Planetarium, and now, thanks to renewed vision and community support, it can live again as a state-of-the-art digital learning dome. After the last board meeting, like Mr. Herb, I also looked at the Pottstown Mercury and on Facebook, and the response was overwhelming. Like he said, there were 653 likes, 143 positive comments, 138 shares. And that level of engagement tells us something important. This isn't nostalgia talking. It's community coming together in recognition of the undeniable power of hands-on immersive learning. And one of those comments on Facebook said it perfectly. Learning in a textbook doesn't do it justice. Seeing it in 3D form and sitting under the stars is rewarding. It's something every
062kid should see. Jackie Rothenberger. A digital learning dome does what classrooms simply cannot do. Instead of imagining orbit patterns, students can watch them unfold above their heads. Instead of memorizing facts, they can experience science. Research consistently shows that immersive visual learning improves retention, curiosity, and critical thinking, especially for students who don't thrive in traditional lecture settings. Not just theory, we have proof. Maria Troder shared, "The planetarium was an incredible learning experience that made the school day exciting and memorable. I will always remember those visits." Others went further. Jennifer Nymark wrote that the planetarium inspired my future, leading her to earn a minor in astronomy and teach her own elective course. and Amanda Mayberg credited the planetarium right here at Boyertown with sparking a lifelong passion that led to a graduate degree in astrophysics. And today
063she works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That is the ripple effect of inspiration. One visit, one moment of wonder and a lifetime is changed. And that was with the old planetarium. This modern digital learning dome expands those possibilities even more. Students get to explore not only astronomy and related earth sciences but biology, history, art, emerging technologies. It becomes a shared resource for schools, families, and the wider community. And the most important part, as they've said, we're more than halfway there. Thanks to the Bertown Foundation, Stellar Dream, $350,000 of the cost is already allocated. The vision is real. The support is real. And the only question left is whether we choose to invest in curiosity, imagination, and opportunity for the next generation. Reopening the planetarium and turning it into a learning dome isn't about looking back.
064It's about looking up. It's about looking forward. Let's give our students more than pages to read. Let's give them stars to reach for. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, if anybody has any other questions, we'll be happy to answer them for you. >> Yes. Okay. Not to put Mr. dead line on the spot, but in your tenure here at Bertown, what what did you see with a student that was not learning, not picking things up? What happened after he came down to the planetarium? >> Okay, let me get the make sure I have the question. Once a student gets to the planetarium, >> okay, a student that hasn't been learning, hasn't been picking things up in science or whatever, comes down to the planetarium and sees all of this, have you experienced how that
065took off for somebody that was slow learning or was having a hard time picking up on something? We've had lots of different groups in the planetarium, including specialed classes and successfully working with them in there because things in the planetarium during my time were always interactive. And I would hope that would be true at the learning dome as well. And I'm sure the planet the I'm sorry, the learning dome director will certainly be a part of making that interactive for the students because we want to see how they respond and how they work with that and how they uh move through. I like how you said about special ed because um I had some special ed children that I drive because I drive van and there were a couple of them that are particularly into
066the planets and that and I think that would be an awesome thing for them to do is to go there. Um hold on. I know I have a question for Mrs. Dro, but I think I had another one. Oh, what do you think of those two options? Those two different options. >> I've looked at both and both are excellent. I think you're going to do well with either of those. >> Have you used either of them? >> I have not. I have used a digital planetarium at Kutztown, but that was a totally different uh type of projector that they had there. >> Okay. Thank you. >> My next question then is for Mrs. Deoff. I'm going to ask you the same question I asked Mr. Herb. Um, if Stellar Dreams sees this taking off and
067we need more finances from you, will you commit to more money? I think that depends on how much we get to use the facility because we're going to we giving a commitment to rent it. The more we rent it, the more money we're going to pay to the district. So, uh, I I see a stream of money continuously coming into the district through us. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions, >> Mrs. Dro? You had asked if your video could be shown this evening. >> Yes. >> And the answer to that is yes. So, we're going to put that up for the board. Um, Stellar Dreams has a video that um, I've shared with the board already. Um, however, uh, was asked if it could be displayed this evening. So, Mrs. Moyer, if you
068could please pull that up. >> [music] >> There's a room where [music and singing] the stars still whisper inside these boy town halls. When children gaze with a wonder why and reach for something small. We watched the old life fade [singing] away, but the spark [music] was never gone. Now a stellar dream is rising and it's calling [singing] us along. So let's [music] light the sky again. Let the children [music] see [singing] beyond the end. Every [music] spark of hope begins with a stellar dream within. [music] From the ground here [singing] in glory town to the [music] heavens we sing. Come on friends, [music] let's light the sky again. [music] Once there was a place where the stars came alive, a beloved planetarium, where curiosity soared, and young minds reach for galaxies beyond their own.
069But time has taken its toll. The lights have dimmed, the equipment outdated, the sky has gone quiet until now. A new era is about to begin. A cuttingedge digit star projector is rising from the silence, ready to carry us across the cosmos. >> This system will completely transform our planetarium into an immersive digital classroom. >> Students will be able to fly through galaxies, [music and singing] >> land on Mars, >> dive into Earth's oceans, >> [music] >> and explore physics, biology, and space >> in ways that no textbook could ever match. >> Because it's more than a projector. It's a portal to knowledge [music] and it will benefit not just our students, but our entire community. But we need your help. We're raising funds to upgrade the projector, >> refresh the seats, >> and bring
070hands-on programs to every school in the district. >> So whether you're a former student, a parent, science lover, or just someone who believes in the power of education, this is your chance to make a lasting impact. Every gift is a launchpad. Sponsor a seat, >> fund a field trip, >> or bring an entirely new universe to life. >> Donate now >> at stellardream.net. Together, >> we can keep our kids dreaming, >> discovering, and reaching for the stars because the sky is not the limit. again. [music] Boy, your town shining bright. [music] The one said light. [music] Yeah, we'll live dream tonight. [music] >> Right here, curiosity meets the cosmos. Together, we can make the universe accessible, inspiring, and unforgettable. Your support ensures that this encounter continues for generations to come so the next great discovery
071[music] can begin under our own stars. Join us today and help turn curiosity into lifelong wonder. >> There's there's one thing I wanted to add on there. It says about the website. The website is not live yet until the board makes a decision. That will not be uh made live. It's there. We we got finally got it all done, but it it won't be uh activated until board makes a decision. So, does anybody have any other questions now? Thank you. >> Thank you, Mrs. Derof. Thank you, Mr. Dine. Thank you, Mr. Herb. sharing information. Anything else with the board? I would recommend to the board that um you take some consideration time. I would recommend that we bring this back at our next legislative meeting on the 24th. That would be two weeks um a
072little over two weeks, three weeks, three weeks from now um for your consideration as to whether um this project would move forward or not. And in the interim, if there's any further information needed or necessary, please contact Mr. Stout or myself and we'll try to to get that information in your hands uh as quickly as possible. >> Dr. David Heiser, would it be possible for you to have the Smartboard and the Omni Vision? Could we have a sampling of what is possible with the virtual uh experiences with the Smartboards? >> Um not sure what what it is you're you're driving at. So a smartboard is a flat screen, right? Simple two-dimensional component. Um I think the structure the difference here in that what a dome provides it creates a a different structure visual structure right
073it's an enhanced learning visual learning tool um or enhanced learning space um visually for individuals the smartboards smartboards that and screens that you see in our classrooms do not give those aspects to to things it doesn't necessarily can the depth of what it is that that that a dome delivers in a visual learning experience. >> I was under the impression that the district did have the goggles, the omnivision goggles that give the threedimensional experiences similar to the dome. >> Yeah, they're not smartboards, right? They're they're the goggles themselves. So, uh the foundation purchased those goggles and this is well many many years ago. I'm going to have to find out whether and what operational aspects those are if we could have any demonstration done with regard to those. Um they are individual in nature, right?
074They're not a board that you bring in and everybody's experiencing that same thing. Those are goggles that are individualized, >> right? But you you would need a projection for the goggles is why I thought the smart boards. >> Um yeah, I you're correct in that. I just I'm trying to see what it is. Let me talk to it and let me see what we can do. All right. if I can bring that back for the third to our committee of the whole meeting for a demonstration of information. Um, and we can we can we can share that information. I do not know what shape those um I know what shape our our boards are in. I'm not sure what shape those goggles are in. So, we'll need to find out and whatever updates have been
075or not been done with regard to those treasures report. is there. >> I wanted to speak. >> I didn't mean to clear the room, but [laughter] it's been a while since I've been here and there are new board members. So, I just want to say welcome. Um tonight I'm going to be presenting both November and December treasurers reports. Um beginning with November, um local revenue delinquent tax collection was $122,84842. Earned income tax collection was $526,2287 and transfer tax collection was $1,542.15. Um quite a bit of state revenue that came in in that month. um basic ed funding, transportation, and retirement were both were all for the last fiscal year for 2425. Um this came from the budget um that finally passed unfortunately delinquently. Um, so basic ed funding was 5,660700 $76 excuse me $249,844 for
076transportation. Retirement was 2,977,89321 and the remaining that I'm about to speak about was the 25 and 26 school year. Special ed was $2,47,950. PreK counts was $141,750. And social security was $466,438.3. And for November expenditures uh for salaries, benefits, and professional services, they accounted for 75% of the uh monthly expenditures. And onto December, delinquent tax collection was $41,628.71. Earned income tax collection was $840,372.20 and transfer tax collection was $94,54155. Um, all state revenue that we received for December is currently for the current fiscal year. It's 2,830,353.30. 30 cents for basic ed funding. People transportation was 1,124,296. Retirement was 1,37,516. And prek counts was 1889,000. And for the December expenditures for salaries, benefits, and professional services, it um came to 80% of the total expenditures for the the month. And that concludes my report. Any questions?
077>> Thank you. >> At this time, we're looking for an approval of the treasures report for November 5th, 2025 as reported. >> I'll second call [clears throat] the vote, Miss Connor. Yes, >> Miss Katrz. >> Yes, >> Miss Nyman. >> Yes, >> Mr. Brad. Up to Grove. >> Yes, >> Mr. Roger. Up to Grove. >> Yes, >> Dr. Weir. >> Yes, >> Dr. Wy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Broofphy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Penell. >> Yes. >> Eyes have it. >> And at this time, we'll be calling for a motion for the December 6, 2025 treasure report as presented. >> We're seconds. Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Kratz, >> yes. >> Miss Nimman, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad, up to Grove, >> yes. Mr. Roger upgrave, >> yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr.
078Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Brophy, >> yes. >> Mr. Penel, >> yes. >> I have it. >> Item number nine, superintendent's consent agenda. As you can see listed there, items A through K are um board policies or ARS, administrative regulations that have gone through committee. Uh they've gone through the work session and are for your consideration here as a first read under item L, the IDA uh B agreement. Again, as explained by Mr. Lent at our last meeting is a flowth through agreement for our IDEA funding that must come through the BCIU. Item M is a procare client assignment confirmation and again this is for nursing for a student in our life skills program and Anderson under item N and Anderson school placement agreement that the board has been made aware of. Under item O
079are required bids for our fall athletic um equipment and uniforms and alike. Under item P, uh the overnight trips that were uh described earlier in theformational section are listed there for your consideration. And then under item Q is the donation list um that was described at our last work session. There are no additions to that donation list. So under item R, the uh administration is recommending to the board to approve the consent agenda as listed. >> Per all moves. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katz, >> yes. >> Miss Diamond, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad, upgrad. >> Yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Mr. Brof. >> Yes. >> Mr. Pedro. >> Yes. I have it. >> Item 10. Item 10, the superintendent's report itemized agenda. Uh, under
080item A, we are asking it for your consideration and for approval of the 2026 2027 school district calendar. Just as a footnote that uh we did make those two changes as described by Dr. we're in September that day has been moved uh or excuse me in October the day has been moved to the 12th and in April again the same uh day has been shifted to aligned with a weekend rather than established inside the week moves second >> question [clears throat] >> I have concerns over not having snow days in there. These days, F, whatever they are, >> fed days. >> They're they're What are our children learning? What are our children learning on those days? >> The children have assignments that are listed inside of that that correlate with the time of which, you
081know, their focus is and and and whatnot through that. they are asynchronous meaning they have some days to get those things accomplished and completed. It is um the days are created and have been created by the state to be emergent right as as emergent they're not a regular thing that we need to get done in absence of those we would have to place snow days into the calendar to which would extend a calendar or we would have to make up days beyond those those snow days. So, for instance, you know, if we didn't if we we put snow days in, our calendar would be extended beyond whatever those are if we did not allow fid days. And if we were um you know, in in today's world, if we were then adding snow days to
082the back end of the calendar, um they're well beyond our PSSA testing points. you know, we want to front end as much as we can to meet the needs of and we talk about curriculum and we talk about programming. I think one of the things that has accelerated exponentially across the last 10 to 15 years has been the amount of content and need to and requirement to meet the standards that are necessary and deliver the instruction necessary to meet those standards. A fit allows us to continue that in the moment of time. While it may not be a direct instructional period for that, it does help us to create a continuum of learning during a time period where we don't expect it to be long, a day or two and you know allows us to
083get through that without having to add additional days to the calendar to meet the hours or the day day commitment. So that's really the the behind the scenes. Why is there a fid? >> There is no educational value from what I've been hearing from the kids. >> Okay. Well, >> they would rather have been outside on a snow day having a good time and making that day up if they had to. >> Well, I meet regularly with student advisory groups and and their answers to that are just the opposite because a FID really allows them the flexibility to do everything you just said and create a continuum of learning. Um, while we're not stacking necessarily eight consecutive hours into a school day with a fid gives the students flexibility while they're home to go out
084and if they wanted to do some things in the snow, but come back in during that some of the time in which they aren't and allow them some opportunity to do some learning uh at the same time. So I think it meets both needs of of of what some people may remember to be a traditional snow day. Um I think the world has shifted a little bit where we can use technology to our the best interest of of everyone at the time to deliver a continuum of learning. those students that need that educational that structure of an in-class thing of of a teacher teaching to them and having that help there. This is not helping them >> well and and thankfully we don't often run into these days. We just don't. Right. Last year we
085used one. The year before I think Bertown used zero. This year we've used three thus far. They're emerging days that aren't um that aren't consistent in nature. and allow like I've said the process and continual learning to continue without having to lengthen the calendar days or us to have to you know add on the backend days to the end of a school year well beyond the time of when testing is done and so forth which we know the learning that takes place during those periods of time are probably not as beneficial um as they are during a fid period of time because they're not necessarily in the continuum of of learning when everything has has concluded. So I I I do really defend the the opportunity to utilize FIDS and really from a from a
086a a requirement standpoint, a school district any longer can move to virtual at any point in time as long as it continues to meet FAPE and that's free and appropriate education for our students. We obviously know that we want to maintain as much consistent inschool presence time as we possibly can, but there's days in which it's going to be unsafe for us to travel or we can't get things prepared in time. And this really acts as an opportunity for us to continue along the same path without really losing much in that time period. >> Dr. Dr. David Heiser. Uh, just as a point of clarification from PTE, school districts are permitted five per year. Is that correct? So, they're allotted five per year if you do register for FIDS. You don't need to register for
087FIDS. And you can move a school district into virtual learning any any number of days that you care to. Um, and it still allows for the counting of days as long as you're meeting FAPE. Now in a continuum of learning and in emerging times a FID can benefit us while by by doing those types of things. Long sustained periods of time or a a a consistent flipping of to a virtual is certainly as we we try to meet the needs of all students including students with IEPs on a very consistent basis. Um it that becomes a very struggle point for us to do. We have registered for FID days. So therefore, we're required to put together a plan. It's approved through the through the Pennsylvania Department of Education. It has all the steps of how
088we meet FAPE and all the steps and requirements of our schedule and the things that we're doing with regard to attendance and so forth that go along with that. So, we've used three out of the five days. If we were to go beyond that and um and and have to to take other days, there's other days that we could take um we we also have a requirement to meet either 180 days or 990 hours or 900 hours depending on the level of secondary or elementary. So, we do get into we're we're certainly fine with five fid days and we still have some other days to which we could go virtual, but we start to get into some difficulty when it comes to hours. Most especially with our kindergarten students because we only have them for
089a half day right now and there isn't a lot of flexibility inside there where they're doing transitional time through hallways to get to the next class. Those types of minutes don't count. we have to we we have educational time to which we account for and have to identify annually. So we're fine inside the FID. We would be fine if we were to flip to some other if suddenly we had you know many many many more snowstorms um but we are um responsible to to meet either the 180 days which this calendar reflects 180 days and we're well beyond the hour requirements at both levels right now. And um again kindergarten becomes the one that becomes the closest in nature. And if you don't meet that, and many school districts don't meet the hours or don't
090meet the days, you have reduced subsidies from the state. And and that's where some from some school districts for some school districts, as an example, may give seniors a opportunity to to go out and do a you know, somewhat informal internship for the last three weeks of the school year. um some school districts decide to take that subsidy penalty um due to the fact that those seniors would not meet the requirement set by PTE and doing that. But the school district itself believes that the benefit of them doing that last step project and internship far exceeds what the you know reduced subsidy would be in regards to that. >> Great. Thank you. I'll call the role. Miss [clears throat] Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katz, >> yes. >> Miss Nimon, >> no. [snorts] >> Mr.
091Brad Upgrowth, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgrowth, >> yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Mr. Penell, >> yes. >> Eyes have it. [snorts] >> Under item B, the district vehicle bid award. Um I'm going to have Mr. um Lens uh explain a little of this um when we get to the um question and discussion area once and if the motion gets to the floor. Um but this is the bid award as explained a little bit during the um committee of the whole meeting. [clears throat] So re administration does recommend awarding the vehicle bid for one heavyduty pickup maintenance truck and two 10 passenger MPV school vans to Fred Beans of Boyertown in the amount of $177,69 moves. >> I'll second >> Mr. clients if
092you can just fill in a couple of the details for the board that >> Sure. So, um it was identified that um there was a number of vehicles that had reached the end of their useful life and so I worked to put together um a schedule to address um the replacement cycle to not have them all hit at once. So, pretty much um we're targeting two student vans and um a truck with a plow hookup for maintenance that we put out for bid. Um we're awarding the lowest bid, which is Fred bidder, which is Fred Beans. Um and also moving forward, we'll incorporate into our general budget the replacement each year of um these vehicles so that we don't land that they um have reached, you know, an end of their life, that there's kind
093of more of a desperate need, which is what I came into hearing from from the high school and from the review of the maintenance uh inventory for vehicles. And so, um, this will will get us on track, um, and get these, um, in place. >> Are we we're selling three vehicles to that these are replaced in, correct? Or are we junking them? What are we doing with them? >> Yes. So, the, uh, pickup truck that we're replacing, um, we'll sell it as as as a surplus item. Um, like I mean, it's a bit or something like that. Um, same same with the same with the other vans. >> Okay. So just basically putting out for sale. >> Yeah. There's a a free program called Munis Bid that you it's like a a a Facebook auction
094or whatever type of thing like an eBay, but it targets biders. Nobody knows what people bid. It closes out goes to the highest bidder. They pay all the fees. Um and we would turn over the vehicles to them. >> Thank you. >> Couple real real quick. Um I know we talked about this at the beginning of December. Um, what are the 10 passenger vans utilized for? Is that it during the day? Is that transporting from home to a school or school to home? How are they being used? >> My understanding is [clears throat] they're used for student activities, um, student transports, um, uh, college visits, things like that. >> Okay. >> Mostly before and after school, um, needed. Um it also does take our um special education students to a number of their grow areas
095in the community to when they need to be transported to different areas as well. Athletic teams after school, things of that nature. Um um so they're they're highly utilized um both during a day and after school. >> Thank you. >> What is the lifespan of these vehicles? So, it's a combination based upon the mileage. Like the the a truck that doesn't go a significant amount of miles, um probably you can probably get 10 years out of that. Um just based upon, you know, upkeep and and everything else for that. Um the school vans, um if I'm recalling, some of them are well over uh 10 years. Um for that, I think, um if you get on a replacement cycle, I think it's an every five to seven years, but also then if you replace them,
096if there's still some life left, you cycle them down. So we could potentially use vehicles that um we don't you know feel are at the right place for students but use them for um courier service throughout the district right because that's more localized and going uh further distances as well as looking at any maintenance that needs and you know the point at which the maintenance costs are so much it's in our interest to buy a new vehicle. So, [snorts] three vehicles that are these are replacing are going to be put to rest. >> Yeah, we'll auction them off for for >> Does that happen to be one that's sitting back at a garage right now for over a year now? >> The maintenance one, I believe, is Yes. >> I think that was a mail
097delivery van or something. It's been there for over a year now. >> I'd hope we're not paying for them to have it back there. >> I don't believe so. Okay, I'll call the vote. >> Miss Connor, >> yes. >> Miss Katrz, >> yes. >> Miss Nimon, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Uptogrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgroof, >> yes. >> Dr. Weir, >> yes. >> Dr. Wy, >> yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Mr. Penello, >> yes. I seven. >> Under item C, personnel. Uh, the administration does recommend the board of directors approve the personnel agenda um and the items listed. >> Panel moves. >> I'll secondg >> I see that we're losing a teacher with 40 years. Congratulations to her for being here for 40 years. um also one with 21 years as
098a counselor and 20 and a half years as a counselor and then we have a 24year one for food services. Um thank them for all their service. However, I see we have resignations again half a year, 12 years, three and a quarter years, two years. What's going on there again? Do we know why they're >> Yeah, I can tell you what. >> Mr. Han, do we need to step into an exact session >> for at least one of them? We would. Yes, >> brief recess. >> Sure, >> we can do that. >> Sure, >> Mr. Panorella in order to discuss these. We need to step into a brief recess. >> Does the board need a recess to discuss this? >> I'd like to know why they're waiting. >> Well, that's person personal. >> That would
099be appropriate. >> Okay. Yeah, that would be appropriate for an executive session. Brief recess for an executive session. >> And the purpose of executive session is obviously personnel. >> Yep. I'm going to call roll call. >> Miss Connor. >> Yes. >> Miss Katz >> here. >> A roll call. So yay. Nay on the >> Yes. >> Thank you, Miss Katz. Miss Nyman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad Up to Grove. Yes, >> Mr. Rogers Grove. >> Yes, >> Dr. Weir. >> Yes, >> Dr. Wy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Broofphy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Penelo. >> Yes, >> Eyes have it. >> Under item 11, old business. There is none at this time. >> Public comment period number two, Dia Savage Planetarium. [snorts] >> Hi again. Um my first comments were intended to help you give you
100like a framework and how to think about the planetarian knowing that well I didn't know that there was going to be so much support here for it but um I just wanted to follow up on that again and think about questions or suggest questions you might ask uh such as you know what's the timeline driving this what's the urgency is it worthwhile to learn more to until you know more about your budget and more about what other needs there are. Um, I think it is important to visit a planetarium like Eastern Lebanon's um, and see really what it is because I don't know about you, but for me it's I hear about it, it sounds really, really cool, but it's really hard to put yourself in there in this new technology. Um, and learn about
101what other schools are achieving through their planetariums. Ask them what their outcomes are from that. Um, I would also ask you to work with administration and try to help them elucidate for you the learning outcomes expected um versus the time that the kids would be outside of the classroom or in in the bus. Um, or to tie this to your strategy and your goals. how does this particular thing tie to your the strategic plan you just all worked very hard on and the goals um and how and to help you prioritize this with other expenditures that are needed. And then I think one other thing you might explore is other 21st century technology. Um I've heard this idea of VR goggles talked about. Um, I know my experience with them through my job and through
102a little bit of gaming with my kids is that you're you're there in there. You're actually can be with the other people that are participating. And in my job, the coolest thing I got to do was take these VR goggles and hold a molecule and turn it and make it a little bigger so I could see inside of it. And imagine that. That seems like 21st century technology. So maybe you want to explore what else is available. It sounds like we maybe have some of these goggles available. Maybe they're outdated at this time. I don't know. But just uh I'm I'm adding suggestions for you to look further into this topic. Thank you for listening. Gretcha Planetarium. >> Thank you for letting me talk. Um, my husband and I moved in >> the button. >>
103Oh, what do I have to do? >> Just press that button. >> This one? >> Okay. Well, technology I'm not really very good, but my husband and I moved into this area uh in 1972 because of the good school district. And I hate to say when I read the statistics the other day about reading and math, I thought, well, things have really gone down. But I must admit too, this planetarium sounds really, really neat. But I don't think we're getting the whole picture. When I learned about the statistics about what the kids are learning and the big fancy planetarium, if we only had so much money, it'd be like getting a big fancy house for your family or food for a lifetime. What would you pick? So, I think you've got to look at what
104the kids are really learning when it comes to getting this planetarium. And if we could have both, could we have both? Like maybe could you get historic grants for the planetarium and then put the money from the foundation into the learning system? Uh I just don't want you to overlook and buy the big shiny coin if it's not really helping the kids. So, those are my thoughts. >> Thank you. board comment period. >> Not not at this time. >> Not correct. >> Um I just want to remind everyone to get their tickets for the drowsy shop room. >> Nothing at this time. Thank you, Dr. Wild. I would like to in some way acknowledge uh the people who have all the years of experience in the district as a board uh to do something uh
105I don't know uh in some way to acknowledge uh the years of service that they have provided for this community. >> Nothing. Yeah, I want to thank you, student representative, for um your little speech there that you had. Thank you. I don't have much to add. Um I believe our wrestling team had to wrestle at 7:00 for um districts. Um so hopefully they did well. I don't know the outcome. That's it. Just a reminder to the board again, this was an off week that we rescheduled for due to the weather last week. So, just a reminder to everyone here at the board and our public that next week we'll be back here for a committee of the whole meeting. We'll begin at 6:00 with a finance committee meeting followed by the committee of the whole
106meeting at 7. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> We are second. >> Meeting adjourned.