001[Music] Call the meeting. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Scott here. Mr. Brad Upgrove. here >> Mr. Roger Upgrove >> here >> Mr. Zawada >> here >> Mr. Brophy >> here >> Miss Dro >> present >> Mrs. Kratz >> here >> Miss Nyman >> here >> Mr. Penarelloo. >> Please 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 which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The board had three previous um executive meetings. one on June 24th, and it lasted approximately 30 minutes and it was personnel. We also had an executive meeting on July 15th and um basically that lasted 70 minutes and again that was personnel and we had a executive meeting today
002on the 22nd based on personnel and it was uh 65 minutes. Uh comment number one there was nobody signed up. I'm at this time going to ask for the approval of the June 24th, 20125 board of school directors meeting minutes. >> I second >> Mrs. Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove. Yes, >> Mr. Roger Upgrow. >> Yes, >> Mr. Zawatada. >> Yes, >> Mr. Brophy. >> No, >> Miss Dirof. >> No, >> Mrs. Kratz. >> Yes, >> Miss Nyman. >> No. >> Motion carries. >> At this time, we do not have a treasury report. Uh, basically, uh, we're waiting for some significant bills to come in and we'll have it at the next meeting. The preliminary report is attached for your review, but again, the expenditures will greatly change once we get all the
003final invoices in from the charter schools and related um entities to close out the fiscal year. I will share, however, that from a real estate tax collection percentage, we have collected 99.35% of what we budgeted for real estate tax collections. So, the comm community continues to show their support of the school district. I am. That takes us down to uh item number five, discussion and information. And we're going to begin with a uh presentation by the PA Economy League. I'd like to uh welcome to the podium uh it's Dr. Canazaro from the PA Economy League and the board had asked that the representatives from the Economy League come back to discuss about a little bit more about themselves and the progress uh of the study thus far. So I'm going to turn it over to
004Dr. Konazaro. >> Thank you so much. Um my name is Kenazar. I'm the Oh, thank you. Um my name is Vinnie Ken. I'm the executive director of Pennsylvania. Um, I have with me, thank you. Oh, there we go. I can hear myself now. Uh, I have with me Patty Morehead, uh, who is our director of financial and data analysis. Um, we're going to be tag teaming this and going through our presentation tonight. Uh, we have some preliminary numbers to share. We'll go through the methodology that we're using. Um, and I would think in the next month or so we'll have the final uh enrollment data and projections uh to share with the board. So to start us out, we are a 90-year-old nonprofit, nonpartisan uh local government think tank. Uh we have done over 220
005enrollment studies over the last 30 40 years. Uh all sizes of school districts, big, small, rural, urban, and everything in between. Um the industry standard as you'll see on the PowerPoint uh is about a 5% plus or minus for enrollment projections we're historically within 1%. Um so when you look at uh what u PTE is providing or what other consultants are providing um we have a very good track record of being very close to what the actual enrollments are. Um we've been to B Boyerstown before. Uh this is our fourth time uh that we've been doing enrollment studies since the late 80s. Um as you can see, our most recent study was completed for the 1516 school year. Uh and we're a little less than one and a half% uh off of what the actual
006enrollments are. Patty, and please jump in as as we're going if you have anything else to to add to. This is what we look at for our report. So we look at population, housing, trends in birth, migration, enrollment, uh progressions, population. All of this is giving us an overall idea of where we are now, what the historic uh numbers are, and what can a reasonable and reliable projection for the next 5 and 10 years um be for enrollment based on current social uh and demographic trends. Uh the big thing that um we will talk about we are awaiting some housing data uh and that will change the numbers a little bit uh we look at um any new trends and development uh in the individual municipalities that make up the school district and once we
007have those numbers we'll be able to project a little bit more of what future enrollment will be uh and what the growth of the district will be. So again demographics uh we look at population and housing um when we are looking at population um the municipalities that make up the district are growing um across the board all the districts have been growing uh except for border town burough uh and the majority of the growth has occurred in Montgomery County in those three districts uh and that the Montgomery County is also the uh municipalities that make up the majority of um students within the district. Also, >> I did want to point out I'm sorry, did want to point out that although Boertown is down from 1970, it went down through um it's like 1980 and
008then it's been slowly ticking back up. So, over the last 30 years, it's it's actually been increasing. We and we take the long-term um look at uh population and demographics. So we really do have uh a big holistic idea of what is going on with municipalities uh not just a shorter time frame. Again, this is a graphical representation. As you can see, uh since the 70s, the the municipalities that make up the school district are uh are increasing. >> And you can see you can see the um biggest growth there is in New Hover Township. And that is um as I've been looking at housing throughout um the district, that's where a lot of the new housing is coming in as well. So even though overall populations are growing um it is not at the
009same rate uh for all age groups. So there is growth with under five there is growth with five to 17 but the majority of the growth is for uh individuals that are over the age of 18. Uh and that has some impact obviously on the school district. Um, >> it's it actually helps with your um finances that that um cohort is growing because that they're the ones that are paying the real estate and earned income tax in the district. >> Good. Nothing here. So, whatever you want to add. >> So, um we look at um migration in and out. So, um you have had both um natural population growth. Um that means that birds have exceeded deaths for about um you've added about 9,000 um residents through that. But you've also had some inmigration of
010about um 5,000 uh throughout since um 1990. >> Housing trends. um these are again reflective of the population. So as we see growth in population, we are also seeing growths uh in the number of housing units within each municipality. Again, these are largely focused on the Montgomery County uh municipalities um which is seeing both the uh greatest number and then also um the greatest increases. Uh we're still looking and we're still awaiting some housing data from the individual municipalities to provide uh up-to-date and current information uh about any new development, proposed development um that's going to occur and that will impact what our final uh projections will be. Um I did look and there's um also housing turnover um we look at a little bit and I think on Zillow there are about 100 or
011there are about 80 houses for sale within the B Boy Bertown school district and um on realtor.com there's 160. So um but a lot of the new growth is in that um they refer to it as Gilbertsville. I guess that's the section of New Hover Township and that seems to be where the growth is. >> It's Montgomery. >> Montgomery County, >> right? >> Douglas. >> Oh, it's it's Douglas. I'm sorry. >> I know that. >> Yeah. I was I was looking at that because I was looking at all your municipalities. I'm like, Gilbert'sville? Wait, that's not in the list. Um but yes, there's they they specifically call out the Gilbert'sville section. >> This is again uh a graphical representation of growth in new housing units over um a 50-year period. So while housing has increased,
012while population has increased, the number of school age children has not kept up with that. Uh so we're seeing growth in housing, we're seeing growth in population, but because there is uh a larger amount of growth within the over 18 um population, folks over the age of 18, uh we're seeing a decrease in the number of students per household. And that has a large effect on uh population or on enrollment projections. Uh if there are 10 new housing units, uh if there's a decrease in number of children per housing unit, then we're going to have less students that are going to be coming into the district uh than we did 50 years ago. So, as you can see, in 1970, you were getting um 80 for every 100 housing units, you were getting 80 students.
013Now it's down to 32 with and that's uh 2023 numbers >> and it's relative if you look at the at the chart it's relatively stable over the last 20 years um but it's still a decrease from um from um past populations. Um okay getting into the actual projections um we have population by age. This is based on the uh figures that the school district provides to P uh PTE on October 1st. Um there was a slight bump in 2010. Um it has remained a bit stagnant since then. Um what's also important to remember is that there has been uh there's a slight increase in the population of 5 to 17 year olds. Uh but with that slight increase and with the slight decrease in enrollment, uh there's actually a lower percentage of students that are
014eligible to go to school in the district that are attending school within the district. Again, this is uh we duplicated this slide, just made it a little different for you to look at, but again, it shows the 80 students down to 32 um students. kindergarten. You are enrolling less students in kindergarten than you graduate the previous year from high school. Um it's been consistent um throughout since uh 1415. Um you know, and even a little bit of an uptick this year. Um you graduated 169 and only enrolled um 500. No, you graduated at 576 and only enrolled 407. This could be um due to your half day kindergarten. So you you I believe you do pick up some of those students in first grade, but um because of the half day kindergarten, we we do
015see that sometimes. Uh looking at trends in overall enrollment, again we see a decrease from the 1516 school year. Um there are slight increases as we go along, but the general trend uh is is downwards. >> And um that significant dip there in the middle, that's COVID, that's 2021. And then you see it tick back up. And actually, if you drew the line straight from from the, you know, and skipped that, it'd pretty much be on the same trajectory, >> right? And we see that throughout in school districts throughout the state um with dips in COVID and then pickups uh in the year after, >> right? So, in the last 10 years, you have lost um 629 total students uh by grade level. So if we look at K through five, 6 through 8 and
0169 through 12, uh each grade bracket is also decreasing. Um they're not huge decreases, but again we are seeing a general downward trajectory when we break it down uh by these uh specific brackets of grade level. >> This just shows the graphically the trends by grade cohort. um K to 5 um K to 5 6 to 8 and 9 to 12 and that's that is how you're still having your students go K to 5 6 to 8. Okay, >> good. So when we do our actual projections there are two main factors that play into it. One is the birth patterns and the second is the grade level pro uh progression. Our birth patterns are based on live births within municipalities that make up the school district. Uh how many of those children um will then
017go to enroll within the school district? Uh and the grade level grade level progression is uh moving from one grade to the next and how are children moving through uh the school district overall. When we're looking at the ratio uh for birth to uh enrollment, uh less than one means that uh for every one live birth, there is uh one there's less than one student that will actually enroll in kindergarten. Uh and we are seeing again a general decrease in um in that ratio. Okay. Uh progression ratios. Patty, if you want to jump in. >> Again, this is the um moving from one grade to the next. So, uh kindergarten students this year, first grade students next year. Um so, uh basically when you have um I'm sorry, you you tend to add students every
018year uh through this. The highlights on here, the green is the lowest um grade progression ratio from 2021 to 202425. So we looked at every year. These are your grade progression ratios as you can see and it shows it showed in the trend. Um 2021 had decreases. They were the lowest grade progression ratios uh throughout it um except for seniors. um and 2220 or 2122 had the highest grade progression ratios uh going through um over the past five years. Um, so what we like to do is we're throwing those two out and we're using um the 22 23 uh 23 24 and 2425 three-year average progression ratios to to um move students through your district um over the year. Um like I said, you add um you add students every year to your cohort. um
019in eight of the 12 steps. And for uh one some reason 10th and 11th grade tends to lose students um in enrollment. So the next this slide kind of shows um or this slide shows um what would happen to a 100 students who entered kindergarten um using each of the different progression ratios. So, as you can see, the low one at 85, they would lose 15 students by senior year. That's 2021. The high one, they add uh students um using that ratio. We're using, like I said, 104. And you can see it's the dotted um blue line going through there. And you pretty much stay pretty even throughout the years. There's a couple ups and downs, but basically you end up with almost the same amount of students. >> Yeah. And taking the three-year average
020takes into account uh any inconsistencies, happenings, events that may have happened in any one individual year uh to give us a bit better, more accurate baseline ratio um to work with. So we use these ratios coupled with uh birth ratios to then give us some preliminary projections. When we're looking at uh the preliminary projections, you see it's a bit of a scattershot. Uh it's using a combination of both the highest and the uh the highest and the lowest um birth ratio grade progression highest lowest highest middle averages a number of different iterations of it to then give us this um if we use the highest birth ratio and the highest grade progression uh you would get that top line. If you use the lowest birth ratio and the lowest grade grade progression you get the
021middle line. Those are really our bounds uh for any enrollment projections. Again, we like to use the averages. Um and based on all that, it's a bit stagnant. Uh we're looking at about 100 new students uh that would be enrolled uh in the school district, but it it's staying about the same. Um one interesting thing when I do look at the uh cohort levels um your K to K to five group is starting to tick back up in the later years at the end you know the the last five years you're you're starting to see slight increases um but it's only a difference of 116 in the 10-year projections we have um like I said these are preliminary and That's why I don't want, you know, we we need to vet these out even more
022when we get more information and uh add them into our report. Um but that's you're pretty much going to stick at that 6100 mark I believe going through. >> Um and that that's what we have. I'm happy to answer any questions that that you all may have. Yes. Well, thank you for that because you were pretty well on the last time you came saying we were going down and and you're still kind of right in there. So, thank you. Uh, one question I do have, you said about with us doing the kindergarten and half days, would you be able to do first grade and project that way without using the kindergarten to see if that made a difference? >> It's the first grade level is taken in into there. So we have a progression from
023kindergarten to first grade. So that takes into account the first grade and that's where it goes. >> It's going to be my assumption. U we spoke a little bit before and it's going to be my assumption that there may be more students that come. Um but I mean it's at 80 about 80% right now uh as it is for um students that are eligible to be able to district to come into the district. I don't know if there's going to be such a huge bump with a full day kindergarten that that you would get such a substantially larger amount of students. Um, but I would expect there would be some some increases based on that. >> Do you have a state average of what that is of expected enrollment of of population eligible population versus
024is there >> I don't we have the numbers. >> We have the numbers. We have not >> I I'll have to go back and look at it, but I'll uh I'll I'll get back to you of what those numbers are. >> Okay. >> Um it it does depend on the school district. Some, you know, some are above, you know, the above the birth rate. Um >> yeah, and it also depends on the makeup of the municipalities that are within the school district. Uh there are some that have very strong um religious schools and they pull a lot of students from the public schools to those um private schools and there's others that don't. Um and I you know we're working in Harrisburg now and there's not as many um the charter schools right are are
025somewhat related to the district and there's not as many private schools within Harrisburg proper. Um so there's more options then they may be able to pull more um than than not. Do you have I just a question for you. Oh, no. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I >> Okay. No, it's I'm just curious. Is this normal that you said 10th and 11th grade we lose students? Is that a typical >> That was my question. >> Okay. Is that a typical thing? >> Is there something that's driving that? We had in Hazelton um it was when they had foreign um students from uh out of the country come in, they placed them in ninth grade >> until they knew where they were going >> when they got until they got their um >> their records from wherever
026>> to come and then they could place them in the proper grade. >> Right. So, I wasn't sure if there was something here or if there was a technical school or some other kind of school that they migrate to. >> Yeah, we see that as well is that sometimes when students are moving from 11th to 12th grade, if there is a technical school, they may leave the public school system uh to then go and do a work study or whatever the case may be. >> Okay. But our but our the kids that attend our technical school, BCTC, they're half so they're in the study numbers. Yes. Yes. >> Okay. >> So, um do these numbers include students leaving for charter schools or >> they do not. They the the your enrollment projections reflect your students.
027Um the 5 to 17 obviously would include anybody who's in the area. So >> they they will they will um implicitly include students that leave to go to the charter school based on uh grade level progression. When you go from one grade level to the next, if students are leaving to go to a charter school, they would be captured in in that number of students that would be enrolling in the next grade the following year. Um so they're not specific that you know we're not going to project out that this number of students will leave to go to charter schools. Um but students leaving are included in those historic projections. >> This kind of kicks off. Um so the special ed extremes that have to go to other schools, are they included in these numbers?
028>> Um >> if they are within the public school system, then they are included. >> Yes. If you count them in your current enrollment projection or in current enrollments, they are included in these. Yeah, they would be our students that we uh would be placing for special education services. Now, placement that's different than disenrollment when it comes to cyber charter or to brick and mortar charter schools. So, there is a difference there. >> And I did get some information actually today that I haven't had a chance to review that um from the district that shows the other enrollments, parochial, private, charter, that kind of stuff. it. This these numbers do include I believe if you have cyber if you have a cyber program they would be included in here. >> Yeah, those students are and
029we do we have some students that are part of our cyber program that are part of you you're capturing those numbers. the ones in which they disenroll to attend a um a separate um whether it's brick or mortar, cyber or or virtual are separated. >> Um we will look at additionally we're going to look at um the enrollments by school at the school level. Um, I need a little bit more information for that. And we will we will do a forecast using, excuse me, the um three-year averages at the municipality level so you can see how the areas will change as well. >> Any other questions from the board? >> Well, it sounds like you're probably about a month out something along along that was. Okay. So, we look forward to to seeing you back
030and after you finalize and for for one final presentation and the report out to the board on on that and which um the presentation will be out there for our community as well. >> That's great. >> Okay. Thank you for Thanks for joining us. >> Thank you. >> That takes us down to item B. And I'm going to invite Dr. Kristen Horton. our director of people services to the podium to give a brief presentation on federal programs. And this has been in the news now for the last uh approximate month with um various programs and what the federal government um is doing or not doing related to some of those. So we want to educate the board and our community a little bit more about some of that and where um our funding is or
031is not in certain areas as it as it relates. So Dr. Horton. >> All right. Good evening everyone. Um just want to go over quickly um our allocations for federal programs um so we're all on the same page with where things stand for the district right now. Okay. Um just a quick overview on federal programs. So the district historically has received funds for title one which um goes towards improving basic programs, title two supporting effective instruction and title 4A which um looks at supporting students and academic um enrichment. So if you take a quick look here, we'll see that title one provides uh financial assistance to ensure that all students have access to high quality education. Um, title two is looking at supporting effectiveness of teachers, principles, and other staff in the building. And so,
032enriching them and also enriching the instructional environment for students. And that title four is looking at well-rounded educational opportunities for our students. That could be um instructionally, academically, also looking at student health and safety. Um, that would be our student wellness if you think of our student assistance program. and also the use of technology to support and improve academic achievement. Wrong way, my sorry. Um, so quickly as we're looking at how the district uses the funds, you'll see here this is how we have been utilizing the funds that we've received. Title one, we typically use most of the those funds for salaries and benefits. And so this um funding goes towards the salaries and benefits of our reading specialist in our schools that are identified under title one. Um also as part of title one
033we have set aside for McKini Vento which is our supports for our students who are experiencing transitions in their living situations and lack permanent housing um as well as family engagement. And real quick, if we go back, I had wanted to point out, just as a reminder, our buildings that are title one schools, you'll see that it's Boyertown Elementary School, Colbertdale Elementary School, Earl and Washington Elementary Schools, and then Middle School West. Okay, as we're looking here at title two supporting effective instruction, um the districts can use those funds in ways that have been identified as um uh researchbased and effective and um instructionally sound practices to support student instruction and move achievement forward. And part of that is through class size reduction. We know that smaller class sizes improve um the instruction um for
034students and educational outcomes. So the district has been utilizing the title two funds to support our additional classes so that we have smaller class sizes in those title one buildings. And for title four, we've been using those funds for our student assistance program. Part of that funding goes towards our contract that we have with the Karen Foundation for our SAP program across the district as well as enrollment fees for students to take AP and dual enrollment courses. Um and so those fees we support uh students who have been identified for free and reduced lunch so that those programs are available to everyone across the district regardless of financial um status. And we are also using those funds for our licensing for discovery education. So this is a uh program um unformed our technology because title
035four part of that is technology to increase and enhance educational instruction. And so we've been using those funds for our discovery education. And then here real quick, um, just to give you a snapshot of what our funding looks like for federal programs, you'll see here in this table a couple different columns. So you'll see for title one, um, I indicated what the district had budgeted. So that budgeted amount is what we anticipated receiving this year in regards to funding for title one programming. You'll see that's 707,54 our projected allocation. So this was the money that we were projected to receive when we received notification at the end of June from the government on how much funding we'd be receiving this year. That projected amount was $763,584. That also is the actual amount that we received.
036So you'll notice here that that amount was more than what we had budgeted. So we had a surplus there in that area. If you're looking at title two and title four, you'll notice that we did not receive an allocation this year. So initially we had budgeted for title two $120,000. Um that was just based on what we had received in previous years. Um and our actual projection that we were going to receive was $136,476. Um, and title four, we hadn't budgeted anything. Um, and we were projected to receive 57,37. Um, at the end of June, um, actually July 1st, we found out that the funding for title 2 and title 4 um, had been cut. So, we're no longer receiving um, any allocation in those two areas. But you'll notice that um due to the
037increase the amount that we received in title one that it offsets what we are no longer getting in two and four because we had budgeted less for title 2 than what we were going to receive. Um and so when you look at this big picture um all in all it's $63,570 um that we are going to um that we have less entitle funding to support programming for students in the district. So we just wanted to make you aware of those changes. Yes. >> Okay. Are we allowed to use the excess in title one >> or the other? >> Sure. So, we didn't really receive an excess in title one. We had budgeted when we were doing the budget um just to have an idea of what we thought we would be receiving and our actual
038allocation that we received from the state was more than we had budgeted for. So, we didn't necessarily get more than what we were initially given. We were given what we were given from the state when those projections came out. So that amount, that 763,000, that's the actual money that we'll be receiving for Title One programming this year. So yes, we can use all of those funds. >> And where are we going to make up that difference? >> So the 63,570 that would come out of the district's operating budget >> and we have enough in there for that. we can we'd be able to look at different levels of um replacing these programs with either other items we can do. Um some of this is involved with staff. We wouldn't be looking at, you know, eliminating
039any staff. We'd be looking at our overall um general fund budget to see what areas that we can um decrease to make up for that $63,000. Um in the grand scheme of federal funds as a district, we were not as negatively impacted as what a lot of districts were. So, it's going to be much easier for the district to manage by just making small adjustments and other line items. So, I'm not trying to turn this into political, but I know with the >> it is um the um like title one is being turned over to the agricultural department and they'll be supplying food. But, you know, it's hard to go and guess what they're doing, but there some of this stuff has been p push to other um parts of the government that seem to
040be more realistic than what they are. So, but we just right now being the budget hasn't totally come out, we don't know what we're getting, but some of this money is being allocated in other places. So um at this point regarding the information that I have for title one the process remains the same as it has been in the past that the application for those federal funds is open. It's actually we have completed that. We're just waiting to submit that final application. Um so that process and how we um indicate how we're going to be using those funds and reporting um on how we're we're using those funds um throughout the process is the same at this point. So I don't anticipate changes in the process andor the allocation and receiving those funds as we
041submit for them. So, um, title two and title four, is that on an annual basis or are those gone for good or how does that work? >> To the best of my knowledge, um, at this point, those funds, um, are are not available to us. There has been a lawsuit that Pennsylvania has taken place in that is trying to have those funds released since they were initially allocated to districts. I don't think there's updates on that right now, but as as time goes on, we may learn differently and there may be changes. So, from our perspective, um we'll be um continuing with the programs we had planned for those funds as if we had them. And so, if that program comes back into place and those applications open, everything is in place just to move
042forward as planned initially. I think this leads to the uh bigger question of this year's budgeting cycle. We're really going to need to take a a look at all the encompassing funding that we've been getting. Now, obviously, out of a $150 million budget, and you can see where these monies are. It's still monies. It's still revenue that was coming in from the federal government. What is going to move forward, we're un it's unclear right now. Um, so there's going to have to be uh probably a conservative look at what we budget and how we budget moving forward as it relates to federal programs to see if if um you know th those that funding will continue. Um, you know, again, this is um there's a lawsuit that Pennsylvania's joined um in relation to this and
043I'm not sure where where this is heading um right now. Mr. Sultanic, any any updates from the legal side that you're hearing um in relation to this? Other than the uh challenge that has been filed by the state department of education, there is uh no additional information and uh following up on the question that was raised. Uh we don't have an idea of what happens next year. We're only dealing with this year. We don't know what the new baseline is going to be for next year in terms of funding. Um uh Mr. Zad is correct that there were original pronouncements saying that other departments are going to be assuming responsibility over different programs and uh we may have to sort that all through. But as it stands right now, we don't have any uh uh
044direction on what's happening. And if somebody tells you a definitive answer, they don't know what they're talking about. Okay, Dr. Horton, thank you very much. That takes us down to item C and um two capital projects uh which had been presented earlier in the year had been included in the budget and we wanted to as those projects are now coming to be we wanted to make sure we had those in front of you. So we'll start Miss Danakola with the facilities the the capital projects. Um so as these um previous were presented at the March 11th I believe committee of the whole meeting um capital and information technology projects um throughout the point that now we're bringing them to fruition and we have final contracts would like to move forward at the um March 11th
045meeting we recommended that the cafeteria and gym floor refinishing um at Colale Elementary and Gilbertsville Elementary School be completed. The proposed project costs for Colbertville Elementary are $11,385 and for Gilbert Gilbertsville Elementary it's $44,20. The discrepancy between the two costs is that Gilbert'sville is um the what they're doing is more of a multi-purpose. So, it's different levels of flooring for the cafeteria section, for the gym section, um and it's a larger area. So, that's the difference between the two prices. Um the -ate IT infrastructure upgrade. This again was presented at the March 11th meeting. Um and it was in regards to a project that would be -ate fundable. The district has since um completed the -ate process and we received approval for 50% funding of the project through. So the net cost to the district
046would be um as follows would be a net cost of $362,14362. this project would be completed by Integra 1 and this amount has been budgeted for within the 202526 IT budget. So both of these items are on tonight's agenda for approval to complete the projects since the two um cafeteria floor coverings. It was a proposal but they're like four months five months old. Is that still going to be held? >> That will still be held. >> Has the price gone up? they they will still be held and they were both um off of CoStar statewide contract pricing so they can hold those prices. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> I didn't I didn't see a amount like on the one for Gilbertsville I seen how many square feet etc etc but not on
047the one for Kersville. >> So the Colbert Brookdale project is a is a single project in that they're using the same flooring throughout the um struct throughout that area whereas at Gilbertsville it's two different flooring two different applications. So, they quoted separately each um each level of flooring with the different prices. >> Well, don't you think it would be a good thing to put how many square feet they're doing? >> Had I worked on this back in March with the former um director of facilities, we probably would have asked that question. But with all the um changes that have happened, that's something that they didn't ask. >> Understand that, but it just seems weird that they wouldn't have the amount of square feet down. >> They just quoted it as a single project because they're
048using single source of materials. Um whereas in the other at Gilbert'sville, it's two different types of flooring um with two different coverage areas. >> And anybody that knows me will tell you I don't know anything about the IT stuff. I can't even turn my computer on. However, what we're having done or buying or doing, is that going to be something that's going to still be in I don't even know the words to use, not in style, but in service or what will be used a year? It's changing so fast overnight >> and we're spending all this money. Is that going to still be like I don't want to say usable, but I think you know where I'm going. >> Mr. Fight can give you an idea of what the end of life would be and
049how the replacement would be operated. >> How long it's going to last, how long we're going to need this type of thing before it changes again. >> Mr. Fight. Yes, that's infrastructural equipment that helps deliver uh our internet content throughout the buildings, both hardwired and wireless access. We are not anticipating wireless uh access to not be needed within the next 5 to seven years, which would be the overall lifespan of the equipment. >> So in five years, we got to do this again for 700. >> Five to seven years it will that that equipment will then again need to be redone. Yes. >> Better fund another party. Sheesh five years. >> This new equipment is going to accept all the technology that we need even as it changes in the next year, two year, three
050years. >> It will. Yes. Cisco equipment is rated for a 5 to 10 year lifespan and that is what we are using. >> Thank you, Mr. Fight. That takes us down to item D. And um just quickly, this is a e signature resolution. Uh this allows me as the year has now turned over, there are a number of things that um were signed um last summer uh as it relates to grants and such. And as required uh in sort of in inside of PTE there must be an e signature only and I need a resolution with act my actual name on that and the board must take a vote on that for that to be allowable and for us to send that documentation to the to the state for all this to go through. >>
051This is something we did before because I don't remember it. Yeah, it it it it's done um whenever there's a changing of the guard of a superintendent. Um and since my superintendency started kind of midyear, um missing a lot of the sign off of the egrant components to this um it would have been done um through Mrs. Torscha u in the previous three years. So you don't have to do it annually. It's just when there's a change over of the uh superintendency. >> How come I never seen any before with vice president on? It's always a president. How come this one's different? >> Uh don't really have an answer for you on that to be honest with you. Um Mr. Sultanic, do you have any idea >> for for tonight so that it could be
052signed this evening? Is is is probably why is that acceptable? >> Yes. >> Okay. Mrs. Kramer must have put that on there for this evening so that uh once the meeting is adjourned, if this is approved, Mr. Zelada would sign off on that. I never seen him. >> Yeah. All right, takes us to item E, esports. If you recall, um, back in, I believe it was our, um, April work session meeting, we had a, um, discussion and a presentation from our esports club and organization. Um to memorialize, we asked if we could provide at some point down the road anou documenting this as a recognized club activity within the CBA. So thisou is for uh that particular reason. Mr. Sultanic's office worked on this document and we're bringing it forward for your consideration. Um, under
053item F, Middle School West Bear Ambassadors. Um, we're asking and recommending to you to open a student activity account for the Middle School West Bear Ambassadors. This is a new group, uh, to whom works with a lot of the back to school activities. They act as ambassadors throughout events throughout the year in working with our community and our families and with students in general at Middle School West. Uh they work through uh a number of fundraising activities and such. This um we're asking for this this evening would be a motion to approve actually opening up the student activity account um which needs to be approved by the board in order to do so. So Mrs. Denola, as you can see, has attached the form necessary um for this. Um we're not asking for anything other
054than just simply opening up that business activity account within their school. And the last item uh we just wanted to share tonight, this is our ongoing uh donation list, which if you haven't realized monthly, there are some great donors within the Bertown Area School District. And I just wanted to review uh that list with you this evening um and recommend your acceptance of that through a motion this evening. The first is approximately $9,500 for bash for stage crew. Um um providing better sound those in attendance for the freshman auditorium. Um this comes uh on behalf of the ed foundation. There is a border town l faculty fund. Uh the purpose of the donation was from the faculty it itself and um donating for books for the school. The Rotary uh club has has offered a
055donation of $800 for youth explorer academy for two students to attend middle school students to attend that explorer academy. Uh again, the Rotary Club um for the 11th graders at Bash, a sponsorship for three high school students to provide leadership experiences for those those students as well. $375 each for that. Colbertdale Elementary, their home and school association would like to donate um uh monies to purchase and include a small storage shed um which would not be permanent, but one that would be um house a lot of their um items. as we've run deeper into closet space restrictions and such, um they're looking for ways to be able to store um some of their items and we've checked with the township about the permanency about this or the fact that it's not a permanent and it
056is approved um to move forward. Uh we also have another uh foundation grant um from the Blairtown Ed Foundation for Middle School East and this is for um 9 square in the air combines volleyball and four square into the ultimate community game that kind of gets everybody playing. This is activity game that can be portable can be utilized throughout the school and different events that they expect to have. foundation, the Ed Foundation again generously um donating $336 to fifth grade. Um and then again this is for some wobble stools, some um flexible wiggle types of core related types of of furniture um for preschool, kindergarten, elementary. We also have again the ongoing foundation donation of $30,000 for and which goes toward many of our counseling salaries. Those things that we incorporate from outside agencies and
057has become a real benefit to the school district and really thank them for that. Um and then lastly, the Bertown Optimus Softball Group would like to make a donation and um of considerable value of $12,000 to rehabilitate some fields, fields two and four at Middle School East, which are predominantly used by the organization itself and um would really greatly benefit them. So again um by policy I bring these forward to you um to make you aware of the acceptance and the responsibility. Most >> did I forget one? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> Don't have that one attached. So my apologies. Um, and the last one is the New Hanover Upper Frederick Elementary PTCA for the donation of spirit wear um, t-shirts for all of the students and staff. Um, so again, you can see the
058generosity of not only our PTCAS at each elementaryaries Rotary Club in the community, but also our certainly our Bordertown Education uh, foundation. um and making you aware as policy you need to you need to uh and we're recommending uh the acceptance and and must carry a motion with that. I don't see any as you take on value and property, it becomes your responsibility as a school district and as a board. I don't really see things here that stand out all that much that would carry that much um responsibility for you. Um, most of these are in programs and services rather than in equipment and such. >> What about the shed? >> Yeah, the the shed becomes your your your property. Um, it's a very inexpensive shed. It's only a couple hundred dollar shed. I think
059the um down the road if that shed were to wear and and seek its time, I think the PTA in Colbertdale would probably um consider replacing it and would be another donation toward that. So I would I would recommend pieces for that. We are really out of space for a lot of their items for storage. >> I know, but if we wind up buying one, we should buy the store. That's why I've been concerned. um I >> because we have this problem, >> right? Fair doesn't remar mean equal, right? And each has their um components and and responsibilities. We're able to manage it appears with some of the storage space in our others right now. Um I'll speak to the principles and and make sure they're engaging with their PTAs about that and if they
060have interest in in donations themselves with regard to to any of those. I'm grateful for everything everybody's doing, but I just >> absolutely >> just wanted to say something because I know we ran into that problem before. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh and I think uh finance reports, we already heard from Mr. Dakola about that. So that takes us down into the um superintendent consent agenda. Under item A, we do have a settlement agreement for uh student 105201. The board has been informed with regard to the details of that. We have a number of special ed under item B 2025s uh 26 special education annual service agreements uh that I've shared information with the board about uh the e signature resolution which I just presented on. We do have as asked by the board an
061updated and amended suburban water technology operator agreement that is a year-long. However, it is again with a 30-day out clause with regard to it. Uh but it does rem remain within one year. We have the approval uh creation of the student activity account for the bear ambassador group which was mentioned. And then lastly the um July donation uh list that I just shared. So, we'd be seeking approval um for item G, approval of the consent consent agenda um for this meeting. >> Have a question. Are we going to need the U suburban water agreement if we're hiring someone? >> We will and we talked a little bit about that at the last meeting if you recall. Uh we still need to maintain that from an operator license agreement. Uh it's something that Mr. Bramble if
062if um the director of facilities is approved this evening, we would be having a conversation about and a uh planning of how we may be able to bring that back into the district. >> But I thought the job description was the same as the previous person. >> Yes. That wasn't listed as a No. No. as a requirement. >> I'll be scrutin >> Mrs. Scott. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove. >> Yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgrove. Yes, >> Mr. Zawada. >> Yes, >> Mr. Brophy. >> Yes, >> Miss Diroff. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Kratz. >> Yes, >> Miss Nyman. >> Here. >> Motion carries. >> Under item eight, the superintendent's itemized agenda. We do have um under item A, we are recommending the approval of the esportsou as as shared um in this meeting earlier. A
063motion second. >> Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Uptogrove. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zawatada. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brophy? >> Yes. >> Miss Diroff? >> No. >> Mrs. Kratz? >> Yes. >> Miss Nyman? >> Yes. Motion carries. >> Under item B, the capital project, Colbertdale Elementary School, uh the cafeteria floor refinishing. Uh administration does recommend approval of this project. >> I'll second. >> Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgro, >> yes. >> Mr. Zawada, >> yes. Mr. Brophie, >> yes. >> Miss Diroff, >> yes. >> Mrs. Katz, >> yes. >> Miss Nyman, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Under item C, capital project, Gilbert Elementary cafeteria floor refinishing, and the administration does recommend approval of the Gilbert Elementary School cafeteria floor
064refinishing project as presented. Total cost of $44,20. Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Uptogrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger Upgro, >> yes. >> Mr. Zawada. >> Yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> yes. >> Miss Dro, >> yes. >> Mrs. Kratz, >> yes. >> Miss Nyman, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Under item D, the capital project for IT infrastructure upgrade. As earlier presented, we are recommending approval of the rate approved IT infrastructure upgrade project um at a total net cost to the district of $362,14362. >> Mrs. Scott, yes, Mr. Mr. Brad Uptogrove. >> Yes. >> Mr. Roger Uproveve. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zawada. >> Yes. >> Mr. Brophy. >> Yes. >> Miss Diroff. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Kratz. >> Yes. >> Miss Nyman. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Under item E, personnel uh administration recommends
065uh approval of the personnel agenda as attached. >> Moves. >> Scott seconds. Mrs. Scott, >> yes. >> Mr. Brad Upgrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Roger UpGrove, >> yes. >> Mr. Zawatada, >> yes. >> Mr. Broofphy, >> no. >> Miss Diroff, >> no. >> Mrs. Katz, >> yes. >> Miss Nyman, >> no. >> Motion carries. That brings us to the second public comment. U Mrs. Donnie Savage has signed up advocating for adequate public education funding from the state. Uh first I owe you an apology because I switched the names up at the last thing. I got you and assassuring and I'm sorry. >> I understand. >> Thank you for that. I've met a lot of people this year that have observed board meetings for the first time and a lot of times they express um disbelief,
066disgust and last meeting was um no exception. All of the board should be embarrassed and and five of you should be ashamed of your role in the board comments at the last meeting. It started with Miss Nyman making a backhanded insult about the superintendent that any of our students would know was childish and mean. Ironically, that was followed by the words, "I thought we were all adults here." Then, three board members attempted to describe an incident that apparently happened outside the board meeting. They seemed to be insinuating that they were threatened, and the board president was very heavy-handed and didn't want to hear about it. Again, the interaction between these four board members was just mean and inappropriate. Definitely not an effective way to address the issue and not the effective decorum expected from a
067school board. Finally, Mr. Zawato read a statement posted by Representative Donna Shur about why she voted no for providing adequate funding to public schools. Why? To what end? Last year, Mr. Zawatada also made a comment purportedly from Representative Donna Shuran arguing against adequate state funding to Boyertown and it was riddled with misinformation. In fact, when I saw Representative Shuran last fall, she agreed that this was not correct information, but that the information did not come from her, but was a misunderstanding of a two-page Republican committee document. Mr. Zada, I ask that you remember that the concern of Representative Shurin is our state budget, but your concern, you took an oath when elected to abide by the state constitution and represent the needs of our students and our community at Boyertown. Recall that in 2023, a
068judge's ruling declared that the state's funding of public education was unconstit unconstitutional and inadequate. The state budget is now nearly a month overdue and I implore you to advocate for the millions of dollars due to Boyertown in terms of adequacy funding and cyber charting fun cyber charter funding reform. Thank you for listening. >> That brings us to board comments. Um, I'm going to ask please treat tonight fellow members and administration with the respect we all deserve. So, I appreciate your comments, but please don't go attacking each other. So, Mr. Uppergrove, >> Mrs. Nyman, >> I'll let it go tonight. >> Mrs. Kratz, >> I just have a quick question. Um, the AI committee meetings, are they just off for right now or did I miss anything? >> Okay, >> Mr. Stout, do you have a
069update on >> They will be re reorganized as the start of the school year. We just we didn't coordinate anything for um this summer specifically. >> Okay, that's understandable. Um I I just wanted to confirm something. It was mentioned at the meeting that I was at at the high school that we were not going to or they might not use an AI detector this year on with student reports. Is that something that's been settled or are we all still in discussion on that sort of thing? >> It's still in discussion. Um the feeling is right now there is a lot of controversy around using one and that's part of what the committee conversations will entail over the next you know so many months. But at this particular point in time, we are not looking to
070put one in place. Um we're looking at um some other options that could be available that could help control the use of actual AI in the classroom. >> So you're still going to have something that is detecting AI for if a student's just handing in a report. We're looking at we're looking at the protocols around the actual use of AI and the allowable opportunities to use it so kids have the ability to you know have at it as an option within the classroom but then also having situations where it's in a controlled environment where they would not be able to use it and looking at um historical perspective on documents and things like that to see if they have in fact used it at different times. So again, it is really the work of the
071committee that's trying to to come to a an agreement with the most efficient and effective way to do that because there's been a lot of lawsuits and things that have been out there of detector use that have um been challenged over time that really have not yielded positive results. >> Okay. So it's still in discussion. >> It absolutely I mean the whole the whole topic of AI is in is absolutely in discussion. >> Okay. Thank you. >> If possible, Mr. st if we can schedule that couple weeks into the school year. >> I will work with Mrs. Petri and we will we will work on a a timeline. Yep. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Off. >> Mr. Brophy, >> Mr. Um, I apologize if I made any statements tonight wrong. It's first time in a
072long time doing this. Um, so and I appreciate the board tonight, uh, treating each other at the respect that they deserve. So, um, and I do want to let people know that Mr. Panorello's aunt passed away and that's why he was not here tonight. So, if you can keep him in his prayers, that would be great. Just the uh under item 11 announcements. Uh we're back on our regular schedule starting August. Um August 12th will be our next committee of the whole meeting and the 26th our next legislative meeting. >> Motion to adjourn. [Music]