001Good evening. I'd like to call the April 23rd North Hills Board of Education legislative meeting to order. Please rise for a moment of silence and salute to the flag. >> Pledge allegiance 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. Tonight's meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on North Hills School District's YouTube page. Images may also be posted on district social media. Um, I'd like to start with a board member comment this evening. As you've likely heard earlier this week on Tuesday, April 21st, North Hill students along with hundreds of thousands across Pennsylvania experienced significant disruptions during PSSA testing due to a statewide failure of the online testing platform DRC. This occurred on the second
002day of ELA testing for our middle school and all four elementary schools. The system breakdown created confusion, interrupted testing, and added unnecessary stress in an already high stakes environment. I want to commend our district, our teachers, and our students. They were prepared, but the state unfortunately was not. In the days since, the district and I on behalf of the Board of Education have formally communicated our concerns to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, requesting transparency, accountability, and clear guidance moving forward. Specifically, we have asked the state to clearly acknowledge the scope and impact of this failure across all districts, provide a detailed explanation of what caused the outage, and outline the steps being taken to ensure the system is stable for the remainder of the testing window. We have also requested guidance on how this disruption
003will be addressed in terms of student data reporting and accountability measures given the compromised testing conditions. Just as importantly, we have asked for clear direction that we can share with our families and staff to restore confidence in the process. We remain committed to supporting our students and staff and to ensuring that any assessment used to measure performance is fair, reliable, and reflective of true student achievement. And now I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Dr. Manorino and Dr. Williams for further explanation of what unfolded and what we are requesting of the state moving forward. >> Thank you. So a lot of what Mrs. Matthysse had said, we were prepared for this exam. We had been preparing for a year for a digital exam. And so that was the part that was most frustrating because
004we knew that our infrastructure was strong. We knew our our students were prepared. We had tested the servers that we had in this district days before that knowing full well that there could be some glitches on test day. and things were going really well until everybody else in the state attempted to log on. We then have students getting kicked off of their login, test questions not being able to be answered, not being able to move on to the next question. And when we called, they immediately blamed us. It's a local issue. You guys aren't prepared for this. Then they began to realize that it was bigger than just us as the call started to flood in across the state. So the first part of the frustration comes whenever we identify an issue and they immediately
005blame us. And so as we have kids scrambling, teachers scrambling, administrators running down the hall, kids beginning to cry, teachers beginning to cry, it becomes an extremely frustrating situation in a room full of students who are prepared for an assessment that's already high stakes, already high stress. Now you just added stress to it and you want them to be successful. We did everything we could to have a positive testing environment. We sent the message the day before. We talked about get a good night's sleep. Make sure you eat breakfast. make sure your devices are charged because you're ready. We had students sending messages to each other about them being ready, encouraging each other for this assessment because we were ready and the state failed them. And so, as I've said before and even said it
006in my statement, I do not evaluate this district based on 8 days in April. And this is why I value the district's teachers who assess our students, give us valuable data about their student achievement, their ability to read, analyze, and do math, and not so much about what this PSSA says to us. So that's where I would like to put our reliability and data on the people that deal with our children every single day, not a digital assessment that's being sent to a different state who couldn't manage it and they were an hour behind on the clock, which is maybe why they were confused at what the problem was at the time. So I also, as Mrs. Matthysse said, I commend our students, our teachers, and the administrators for their grit and resiliency because for
007their grit and resiliency, they're all advanced. And so I would just like the state to take a look at what this data actually truly means based upon the environment that they put everybody into on a test that we were ready for anyways. And that's the part that hurts when the data comes. So this data doesn't mean anything to me on this test as we move forward. We'll take care of our students. We'll meet their needs and we'll make sure that they move forward in the way that they should. Now, unfortunately, I'd like to ask Dr. Williams to talk about some of the horror stories that she personally experienced because she was in the middle school when it all went down. >> I'm really glad that I'm able to speak two nights later since this occurred
008because I was so agitated. I'm still agitated about this that I actually had to write my remarks because I don't think I can just candidly speak about it and try and keep everything as professional and focused as I need to. So, our students fulfilled their responsibility. They came prepared, focused and ready. Our teachers taught, prepared, and motivated their students to do their very best. Our principles in charge of testing organized, trained, and prepared students and teachers for this assessment. We met every single expectations by the state academically, logistically, and technologically. Let me be abundantly clear. North Hills students and staff did their jobs well beyond what the state requires and I am incredibly proud of all of them. So why then shouldn't we expect the same level of preparation and accountability from the state system
009itself? Tuesday was chaos, not because we were unprepared or disorganized, but because the system failed our students and teachers in real time. So, what does chaos look like during a test day? Chaos looked like third graders taking the test as eight-year-olds for the first time and not understanding why their test wasn't working, asking teacher after teacher, "Did I do something wrong? Did I break my iPad? Am I in trouble because this isn't working? Can't we have real school and not do this?" Chaos looked like students becoming visibly upset, some even crying, trying to make sense of a repeated error message and asking why this was happening. Chaos looked like 75 classrooms at the middle school filled with students where some students couldn't log in at all. The lucky ones that originally were able to log
010on were kicked out 10 minutes later and attempting to concentrate and figure out what was going on and then incredibly frustrated as these 40 minutes continue to go on and on. Chaos looked like students trying to see the submission page at the end of the section of the test. A page that's designed to confirm that all the test questions were answered, which was of critical importance because of the connectivity issues. The students needed that confirmation to know that their questions were answered and they had done the right things. Instead, that page froze over and over and over again. And they were told, "It's going to be okay. Keep logging out. Log back in and try and make it work. And it's eventually going to work." And at the end of that, it looked like students
011finally say, "I'm done." And closing their iPad out of continued frustration. Chaos looked like a staff that immediately had to shift from administering a test to supporting and reinsuring students over and over again during a period of confusion, anxiety, frustration, and tears and motivating them, saying, "It's going to work this time. Show what you know. You've got this." Chaos looked like the principles in charge of the PSSA testing trying to provide guidance and solution to teachers when there was none available because DRC had no answers. Chaos looked like the assistant superintendent calling and calling DRC over and over and over again with no answer for over 30 minutes and then finally being told must be at your end. Oh, whoops. It's not. Uh-oh. I can't log in. Maybe it is our problem. Approximately 2400 North
012Hill students in grades three through eight were trying to complete a high stakes test. And for 40 minutes of time, the system repetitively failed. That's a significant amount of time and frustrations. Students dealt with login failures, getting kicked out of the testing platform, frozen screens, and ongoing connectivity issues long after the 40 minutes that the state said this occurred. Even after the system was partially stabilized, the entire testing environment that we worked so diligently to create was disrupted due to a failure of the state system. Look at the whiteboard right over there. What does it say? 2026 PSSA. Work hard. review your work, try your best, you've got this. That's the environment our teachers created for our students and that was broken because of the failure of the state and it was replaced by fear,
013anxiety, stress and frustration. We as a district were required to ensure our full technology uses usage readiness. Was our technology ready? Absolutely. Our technology did not fail. And that raises yet another important question. Was that same level of statewide testing done before launching this system? There is a clear imbalance when districts are held to strict standards, but system level failures occur without the same level of accountability. Some of my middle school students who are now my friends from this statement alone said, "We're told when to take the test. We're told the types of questions we have to answer and then we're scored and labeled as either below basic, basic or proficient or even advanced. What's the state score, Dr. Williams? >> I'd give them a below basic unless of course there's something lower. This is
014a test designed to measure student achievement that did not accomplish that under these conditions. The testing environment which the state emphasizes is critical and provides us guidelines and trainings on how to achieve it was fundamentally compromised. You cannot expect valid results when students are operating under stress, confusion and uncertainty. So even after Tuesday students came into school asking asking is it going to happen again? Is it going to be like yesterday? Is this test even going to count? This is not a one-day issue. It has lasting effects on student confidence and engagement. We continue to have daily connectivity issues across this district and other error missions messages are occurring. Students are now asking, "Do we even know if these scores are being recorded? Does anyone know if the state got these? Why are we even
015bothering if this doesn't work?" For example, today the toolbar in the test is designed to provide students with assistance in highlighting, repeating directions, calculator access, etc. It has not been working consistently. One of the most explicit skills we teach, particularly at the middle school, is to highlight important parts of a question, particularly in a reading passage. We teach it all year long, as they do at the elementary as a test taking skill. Guess what didn't work today? the highlighter. Students had to log out of the test and log back in. It would work for a couple of questions, then it would stop. So, guess what? Most of the teacher or the students said, "It's not worth it. We're not going to use it." This uncertainty continues to impact motivation, focus, and performance across the entire
016district testing window. A staff member shared a story about her child's testing experience in another district. The student came home and at dinner said, "Hey, mom, you know the woman that's in charge of the testing that talks to the state all the time. Can you call her and have her call the state?" Her mom said, "Well, sure. I can ask Dr. Williams to call the state. What do you want her to ask?" Can you ask her if the testing is going to work tomorrow? Because if it's not, I'm not going to school tomorrow. Yeah, it's going to be okay, honey. You're going to go ahead and go to school tomorrow. Well, it's not just me, Mom. My friends were upset. But you know what the worst part was? Our teacher spent the entire time saying,
017"It's going to be okay. It's all right. We're going to make this work." But it was clear he was very, very sad and very, very upset. And I don't want to see my teacher like that again. It wasn't fun seeing him sad. How many of our students felt that way and were worried about themselves, their friends, or our teachers? Given that this is the first year of full digital implementation, the state must acknowledge this failure and use this testing as a learning opportunity and engage districts and how to improve the system moving forward. And to borrow the words of my very, very smart middle school friends, any response other than that from PTE should be evaluated as lower than below basic. Our students and staff did everything right, and they should not be punished for
018the state's failed system. So, please be sure to remember all this when I stand in front of you in January of 20 of next year with my assessment presentation. Remember how the state failed our students and our teachers on this assessment. But most of all, remember North Hill students, teachers, and administrators were ready. I am so proud of their performance despite the chaos. And in the spirit of my middle school friends, I also agree our North Hills family should have SC should score higher than advanced on their performance. >> Thank you, Dr. Williams. Do we have any other board member comments this evening? >> Um yeah, I I have a comment. um the complete pivot. Um about a year ago, the board um approved a new club, the technology student association, and um last week
019we sent a few um students to the state competition for technology student association. Um which, you know, as as a new club, we kind of you know, nobody was really sure what anything was, you know, how what was going to how was going to work, what was going to be involved. And it ended up it's a um the technology students assa association I have it up here is a national nonprofit career and technical student organization of middle and high school students engaged in science technology engineering and mathematics. Um so it's you know it's pretty comprehensive. There's a lot of of things that were under you know that were being competed that there were a lot of students there that had a lot of opportunities to kind of show off different sorts of skills than they
020would in you know the kind of standard competitions that you maybe think of. And um you know it was because it was new I we absolutely you know were like learning as a as a district what was involved and um Mr. Clark was there as the you know the the teacher sponsor and and he took away you know basically that you know this is a great opportunity for our students and um we want to get more involved. So, um you know, I just I wanted to make a note of that because it is a new club and um it was a really interesting um you know, experience and opportunity for kids and I really do hope that um it expands and more kids get involved and take advantage of it next year. >> That was
021it. >> Thank you. Any other board member comments? >> Yeah, I just want to send my congratulations to the 13 members of the wrestling team that made the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association all academic team. That's the largest delegation of any team in the state. >> Okay. Any other board member comments? Okay. Um, next I would like to introduce Janice Sour who's a corporate engagement manager um, growth specialist from United Way with a presentation for our district. So, thank you very much for having us here tonight. Uh my name is Janice Sers, parent here in the district. My daughter Jocelyn is here. I love to embarrass her every chance I get. So I am here to recognize North Hills um for the second year in a row as a champion school district. You all participated um
022in this initiative that I started last year. It is a champion school district initiative and the main goal of this is to bring together uh students, faculty, community around a common focus on philanthropy. And then we also want the students to recognize that they can make changes uh where they go to school, where they live, where they work. So, uh what we ask the districts to do are to complete three tasks uh as well as a brief video that's going to summarize the work that they completed um with these tasks and the impact that it has in both the district and the community. So, tasks were all completed between October 1st and March 2nd. Uh, two of the tasks were to be kind of volunteer-based and then the third was centered around fundraising for United
023Way. So, North Hills, what did you all do? Um, Mr. Lines and Mr. Weber, they connected me with uh, Salt program, the student athlete leadership team. And, uh, at first I was able to come in and we kind of collaborated and did a presentation. I talked about United Way, the work that we do. I talked about 211 uh, which is our Health and Human Services hotline. 211 counts. We ran some reports that the kids could actually look at the data um from the the contacts that we get to 211 and that helped them to kind of recognize what some of the greatest needs are in the community and in the school district. Um for your volunteer events, you did uh the same things that you did last year, which are very much probably two of
024my favorite things in the district, the trunk or treat in the Hilltop Holiday Town. And for the fundraiser, the Salt students hosted an ice cream sale. Uh they did that last year as well, but this year they raised about $200 more than they did last year, and they raised about $725 that's going back to help local families that are in need in the region. So, um I commend them for their efforts. I commend Mr. Lines, Mr. Weber, Dr. Manina. I know we started this two years ago. Um last year, for any of you that were here, you would remember the very large banner that we had to present you with that you're hanging proudly outside of your school. This year, we have a very small award that we're going to give you. Um, it's a
025very nice award. It's it's heavy, but it's not a large banner. So, um, I know Mr. Lions had said perhaps maybe in the trophy case outside of the athletics, um, since it is the salt program, but we're very proud of you all and I'm happy to present you with this. There you go for both of you. Thank you all. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Next up, I would like to introduce myself with a presentation on a recent trip that I took that Mr. Little is really looking forward to watching. So, in March, I had the opportunity to participate in the 2026 International Education Study Group, which was a project of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association in collaboration with the American Council on Germany. And I'm going to tell you a little bit
026about what I learned and did. Um, so as part of this trip, Pennsylvania school leaders, um, there were 12 of us, visited German education systems. Um and this was funded by the PSBA institute which is a separate financial entity from PSBA. No member dues went towards this trip. We visited um several cities in North Rin Westfailia which is a state in the northwest corner of Germany um including Dusseldorf, Gilson, Bohham, Wupertal and Mans. I'm sorry for my German pronunciation. Um uh and the goal was to identify practices um that we could bring back to the state of Pennsylvania to possibly improve Pennsylvania schools and we focused on academics, operations, facilities, and culture. Um so there's just a couple of pictures of um this this one school that we went to where they had the kids
027made a sign for us and it was really nice. Um and then there's a second school there that won a German school prize in 2025. So, um, why did this school, why did this study group matter for Pennsylvania? Um, this was a really interesting opportunity to learn from global education systems. Um, and we really talked about some common educational uh, challenges that we deal with in Germany and in the United States and of course in Pennsylvania. um including teacher shortages and declining interest in careers and education. Um navigating artificial intelligence in schools including training for teachers and implementation and student use. Um student engagement and mental health and of course cell phone use in schools is a very big topic in Germany as well. Um and there on the left hand side of the screen
028is a photo with uh the head of the state chancellor and minister for federal and European affairs um international affairs and media that we had an opportunity to meet with. So um what did we learn? Um some of the big takeaways I had were that there is strong state level control over curriculum and staffing in Germany. Um but similar to Pennsylvania and how our school districts are uh structured, there's local control over the daily operation of the schools. Um education is a top funding priority in Germany. It's about onethird of the state budget and there's a really great alignment between schools, government, and industry in Germany. Um they really share responsibility for student success and there is heavy employer involvement and workforce developments. Um there's a lot of opportunities for apprenticeships for for students when
029they take um that pathway and um they have the opportunity to do a multi-year programs and earn money and a certificate that they can then take u with them to continue working for that company or go work for another company. One of the places that uh we visited was the North Ry Westfailia Center for Talent Promotion. Um and this was a really interesting um really interesting organization. Um and it is um they did a lot of research on how equal the educational opportunities for German children are when they come from different family backgrounds and economic backgrounds and we're trying to sort of bridge the gap um and opportunities for students that come from different economic backgrounds. So this is funded um funded by the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Education and private donors um
030in Germany and as I said it was launched uh in response to inequalities within the German education system. It's been around since 2011. Um so these talent scouts at this talent center help students identify strengths, goals, and career paths. Um and they work on connecting students to mentors, networks, and opportunities. um they're active in hundreds of schools across the region and they really go in and and help students um identify scholarships that they can apply for and um focus on areas of study where they might need improvement. Um so again, it's funded by the government and the state and um it's it's really um been successful. uh there's a lot of data showing how successful it is um in various students uh with different family backgrounds. So what um kind of opportunities are there for
031our district to look at here? Um you know I think that I have this quote here that uh somebody on our trip said we can learn from others while building on what we do well. We do a lot of wonderful things in our district. Um, I think that continuing to expand career pathway support, which we've already, you know, we already do in our district and we do a lot of wonderful things, um, including the community fair where we have businesses come in and partnerships. Um, so that sort of mentorship and guidance is very important. um and continue exploring our structured approaches to AI and student use of technology which is you know a continued global challenge that um all kinds of countries are learning to to deal with and adapt. Um what stood out most
032for me in the school visits is um first of all they have like a very powerful culture of hospitality and connection. And you can see there on the left hand side of the screen, every meeting we went to, they had um some sort of candy or food for us there. The teachers made us homemade vanilla bourbon waffles at one of the elementary schools we went to. They were amazing. And then um the students in um one of the schools we went to, they each made us a handmade brochure um explaining what their school was like and it was it was really delightful. Um so uh the students are also very eager, engaged and very very globally aware. They have an early and strong focus on English starting in grade one. I was very impressed with
033their English speaking skills there. Um and um you know it it was not my German skills were much worse than the um English skills of a first grader. So, and then what I also thought was interesting um and unexpected for me was just the honest direct teaching of history. There's a lot of focus on World War II. Um I have photos here on the left. These are um called stumbling blocks and they're 4inch concrete cubes um that you see all over the streets um throughout Germany that um have a brass plate that inscribes uh is inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of um Nazi uh persecution from World War II. So, I thought it was very interesting the way that they um have that incorporated into um into their cities there. Couple
034of last thoughts. Um this sign here, I took a photo of it. I know it's not a great picture, but um that was at an elementary school and it translates to dear parents. Um from here on, we can do it on our own. they they really encourage independence in young students and uh they ask their parents to kind of like leave their kids at the door and let the teachers and um and the schools uh take care of them during the day. Um so um and this other photo from another school says, "Our school isn't just about grades, it's about growing as people. We learn to think critically, care deeply, and act responsibly. We build community, respect differences, and try new things even when they scare us. That's where the good stuff happens." And that
035reminds me a lot of what we do here at North Hills. So I wanted to share that. And then um so in uh in conjunction with this visit, we were presented at North Hills with the opportunity to then a few weeks ago um I guess it was April 13th have some um delegates from Germany come and visit North Hills. And so I'm just going to tell you a little bit about that briefly. Um, we hosted a delegation of seven educational leaders from Germany on Monday, April 13th, 2026. North Hills was the first stop on a week-long statewide tour of rural and urban schools across Pennsylvania. Um, and we basically um they arrived at around 8:30 in the morning and and stayed until I believe it was about 1:00. So they were here for a really
036long time getting an overview of US public education and we were able to show off our school. We had some wonderful student tour guides um and the uh delegation heard presentations on curriculum, graduation requirements, AP and college and high school programs and then they were able to learn about North Hills um foreign language offerings. So what was really exciting that came out of that that was unexpected is um we discussed the possibility of a future student exchange program and that's that's in the works now. So that's a great opportunity for our students that take German. Um as I mentioned we had student ambassadors from the high school who led the group on a comprehensive school tour. Um and we showed off classrooms and of course our planetarium and auditorium and and gymnasium. They were blown
037away by our planetarium um and our whole school. that um they uh we engaged in discussions on instructional practices, school systems and educational policy and then we headed over to the administration center where we were treated to a wonderful um lunch from our that was catered by our food services department. So we were able to show off our soup which is very important to me as you know. Um and we talked about uh budget challenges, standardized testing and the use of AI in education. And again uh we exchanged ideas and discuss the possibility of a future student exchange program. So that is all I have today and now I'm going to hand it over to Faith who is going to um take care of the student representatives report this evening. So, there are several events
038coming up at the end of the school year and that have come up that will be going on. The first one that I'm going to talk about today is Arts Alive. Arts Alive is next week. It is on May 1st and it's from 5 to 8:00 PM at the high school. Um, this will feature the works this year from grades 6 to 12. It includes student work in a variety of mediums. That includes pottery, and they're going to be selling off the pottery at that event, uh, paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, and different forms of digital media, including the um, North Hills Game Fest. And then there will also be live music from the music department at that event, and food from the World Language Department. The next event that's coming up is Kicking It for
039Kids. Kicking It for Kids will be very similar to what was held last year. It's on Saturday, May 9th. So that's the following weekend after Arts Live. It's from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. also at the high school. That includes the kickball game on the Hilltop field, the student run booths and games, which is how they involve the clubs, and then the different sports into the event, and then the inflatables, touch to truck, color, the color run, and then the music and entertainment. Very similar to last year. This event was just held yesterday. This is the annual blood drive. It's hosted by the National Honor Society. Um it was on the 22nd, as I said, at the high school. And then we're very grateful to everyone who donated because how it works is that for
040every 25 usable blood donations we receive or we give to them, we receive $500 scholarship. Uh next, we have the annual um National Honor Society inductions. every year. Uh this year an example would be the French National Honors Society. So this was held on March 24th at the high school. We had 35 new students inducted and then it also includes the senior recognitions. There were 17 senior French students recognized. And the point of these programs is that it um promotes students to have excelling grades but also to have a focus on community and a focus on character in their language. Track and field. There were strong showings at last week's Slippery Rock Invitational for track and field. Um there were top three finishes in seven different events during this. So that includes the girls and
041boys relays, javelin 400 meters, and the triple jump in 800 meter. Next, uh we mentioned this, but wrestling, they made the wrestling all academic team with 13 North Hills wrestlers. Um and this is the most from any school in Pennsylvania this year. The point of this program is to recognize student student athletes specifically. So, it points to students that excel in wrestling, but also that have to maintain a GPA of 3.0. So, congratulations to them. And then there are several updates with football and the girls flag football team. So, they're doing their first season now. Currently, they have a record of 5 to three. Uh they are playing tonight versus Fox Chapel at Merelli, which is actually why Jane isn't here because she's on the team. The captains for the team are seniors Danica Deleki,
042Sophia Rodriguez, and Morgan Dudy. And then uh just this last week, sophomore quarterback Emmy Shaw was named the Pittsburgh Postgazette athlete of the week. So congratulations to her. Um and then congrat or good luck on their playoff game. The NFL draft flag football event. This was also with the girls flag football team. They attended this event in order to learn about CPR techniques and to run different drills in flag football. And the event really brings together different girls across Pittsburgh that are involved in football. And it's hosted by the NFL Wives Association and the American Heart Association. And then lastly for football with the NFL draft in Pittsburgh, there are students at the high school um that created a video welcoming NFL fans to Pittsburgh for the draft. So, they went around during the high
043school lunch periods and interviewed students on what they thought of the draft and who they thought was going to be drafted. And then the video also goes over past North Hills students that have been drafted to the NFL. And then it was edited by junior Hannah Billing. And then you can view it on both the North Hills Instagram and Facebook page. And then lastly, the Drama Club Showcase. This is another event coming up. It's tomorrow um Friday, April 24th at 7 p.m. Uh this event for drama club is very similar to like a an athletic senior um recognition. They do the theme this year is the greatest showman. Um and then they'll do the talent show and then during intermission they have the international thespian society where they'll do the senior recognition and then they
044will pass on the um officers on to the lower classes. Thank you. That's all. >> Thanks Faith. Before you um before you go back to your seat, I hear that you've made a college decision. Do you want to tell us about that? >> Yes, I committed to the honors college at PIT for economics and pol political science for pre-law. >> Oh, that's wonderful. Congratulations. >> Thank you. Glad to hear it. >> Okay. Um, next I will move that the board approve the minutes of the March 5th, 2026 committee meeting with action in the March 12th legislative meeting which are attached. Is there a second? >> I will second that. >> Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Um, we do have one person signed up for public comment this evening. So, I will
045read our participation policy. Um, the board recognizes the value to school governance of public comment on educational issues and the importance of involving members of the public in board meetings. The board also recognizes its responsibility for proper governance of the district and the need to conduct its business in an orderly and efficient manner. We would like to invent invite any resident, taxpayer or employee of North Hill School District who wishes to address the board to come forward at this time. It is our policy to strongly encourage such public participation in as much as it provides the board with an important source of ideas as well as informs us of many concerns in the district. The board has limited public comment by a participant to five minutes in duration and no participant may speak more than
046once per meeting on the same topic. Commenters may not seed their time to other individuals in an attempt to extend one or more commenters allotted time. Tonight's meeting is being recorded and broadcast live on North Hill School District's YouTube page. Images may also be posted on district social media. Um Tori Valre, I'm sorry, >> Valre. Thank you. So, Tuesday was a bad day because I am here speaking to bring awareness to an incident that also occurred on Tuesday, April 21st, 2026. The contracted busing company failed to pick up the middle school boys volleyball team from Penn Middle School at the arranged time of 6:00 and did not pick them up until 7:45 p.m. This was not only an hour and 45 minutes late, but it was 2 hours and 15 minutes after the conclusion of
047the day's matches. They ultimately arrived back at the North Hills Middle School at 8:55 p.m. These were 12 and 13year-old middle school students, some of whom did not have cell phones to communicate with their parents. They did not have access to concessions as would have occurred with the varsity game. This was a stressful day as we discussed and heard after a stressful day of PSSA testing. I am here speaking to create a public record, escalate the issue, and connect with the community at large over a persistent problem with this busing company. I am aware and and acknowledge that this will not change anything today, tomorrow, or anytime in the near future as they are our contracted busing company for the foreseeable future. I understand this is a financial decision, but rhetorically I ask, "How long
048should finances take priority over our children's well-being?" They say time equals money. How much time was lost by associate director Matt McInness Tuesday night communicating with the bus company dispatcher? How much time was lost to the coach who lost time preparing for her day job the next morning while she was taking care of our children, which is also her job? Why were two buses assigned to this event? I understand that overtime is an issue and staffing is an issue, but it does not seem costeffective at all, especially when considering today's fuel cost for two buses to drive back and forth. And this is just the lost time on one incident. Mr. Weber did provide to us his version of a clarification via the SportsU app. However, I am not accepting of this explanation and request
049more information than was provided. The tone of the explanation was somewhat defensive, particularly when defending, of all things the bus driver. As opposed to defending our children and their coach, he said the driver made a mistake. But when the boys got in my car, again, 12 and 13 year old middle school students, they called quote BS unquote to the explanation provided, and that's from the mouths of them, but we adults felt the same way. I can read Mr. Weber's explanation if you wish. We were told a number of things that evening that the driver went to the wrong school and then simply left. Now, I acknowledge this is dramatic, but by legal definition, that is child abandonment due to his contracted duty to transport those children. And yes, they were well cared for by their
050coach. We were told that the dispatcher was having a difficult time getting in touch with their driver. We were told that the driver that dropped off them or dropped them off was not the same driver as the one who picked them up. We were told the dispatcher knew the event was taking place at Penn Middle School, yet both drivers tried to go to Penn Trafford High School. Why did the second driver not communicate with the dispatcher to confirm both the time of the pickup and the location after he failed to find the team at the high school? Lastly, we were told at one point it would be another 30 minutes because the driver was stuck in traffic. At one point late in the process, a number of us were preparing to drive back out there
051ourselves. Fortunately, the bus drive the bus arrived shortly after. As I stated before, I am not expecting us to change our bus company, but I am expecting us our bus company to hold their drivers more accountable for our children's well-being. When our children are being dropped off for an event that is a significant distance, that bus driver should not be leaving. Perhaps a solution could be to identify those school districts with which North Hills competes that require the bus driver to wait. This list can be published and readily accessible on the athletics website so any parent may access it as well as providing it to the bus driver the excuse me the bus company in writing so there is no mistake in the future. In closing, I ask that a more realistic explanation be provided
052to us in the form of an email from the school district on why our children were picked up an hour and 45 minutes after the scheduled time. And thank you for listening. Thank you very much. The next group of items on our agenda was discussed um at our last meeting. So, we'll be voting on them as a consent. Um the superintendent recommends and I so move that the board approve consent items 1 through 10. Is there a second? >> He spade. I'll second that. >> Thank you, Mrs. Spade. Any discussion on any of those items? >> Okay. All in favor? >> I will be abstaining from check 82220 under general fund bills. >> I will also be abstaining under that check. >> Thank you. Anyone opposed? >> Okay. Motion carries. Mrs. Spade, you're up with
053personnel. >> Thank you. Personnel items are discussed in executive session. The superintendent recommends and I so move that the board approve items 1 through five. >> Is there a second? >> Mike Sanuchi. I'll second. >> Thank you, Mr. Sanuchi. All in favor? >> I opposed. Motion carries. Uh, Miss Kosera, you're up with policy and legislation. >> Mrs. Matthysse, do you have a state legislative legis legislative report this evening? >> Uh, I do not. We had a committee a PSBA committee meeting um earlier this week, but there's not much activity right now going on that I need to report on in the state. >> And Mrs. Stevens, do you have a federal legislative report? >> There is no current federal activity. >> All right. Thanks very much. >> Um Mrs. Renec, do you have anything on
054Batty this evening? >> I do. Just a reminder that there are still some slots left for the um camp for registration. A couple of them are already full for Batty, but and I believe it was HTML games and the World Plate classes are already full, but please make sure you go check those out. They run from June 15th to the 18th um for students entering the 6th through the 9th grade. There's also a CTE signing day hosted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. So that is next Thursday, I believe, at 4:30. Um it's not just Batty, it's all the CTC's in Western PA and there are 50 students in total who will be participating to declare uh where they will be going in terms of the trades. So it's great to see. Um and then the students
055of the month are done in two months, two month increments and they're the uh two months prior to this one. So students of the month for February and March in the category of automotive technology was Adam Mallister. In carpentry and building construction is Jacob Little DD not Little um right early childhood education is Delaney Flanigan. HBAC there are two um Elijah Zeissman and Brent Drier. And smart EST is Evan Kesler. That's it. That's all. >> Thank you very much. The next meeting of the board of education is scheduled for Thursday, April 30th, 2026, North Hills Middle School LGI room at 6:30 p.m. And I will move to adjourn the meeting. Thank you everybody.