001The first item on the work session agenda is the pledge of allegiance by Stonehurst Hills Elementary students Aubrey Keegan and Bintu Musa Kane and Primos Elementary School students Gemma Rogers and Neiel Sumo. Pledge of Algiance 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 second item on the work session agenda is a presentation by Stonehurst Hills Elementary principal Dr. Desmond Chisel entitled Bilingual Buddies Program. >> Thank you. This year, I am excited to highlight our bilingual buddies program at Stonehurst. Our bilingual buddies program started as a way to support students with a higher level of language proficiency. The goal was to provide another opportunity for students to continue to develop their speaking skills and
002showcase their linguistic ability while supporting our EL newcomers. What started as a program designed to help students foster language proficiency morphed into a haven for our EL students. In our bilingual buddies program, students develop language skills while cultivating meaningful connections and maintaining a sense of community. Over the past year, Miss Bean and other dedicated members of our EL team have worked tirelessly to support the development of this program. Christy Bean is here with me today to discuss more about the bilingual buddies program at Stonehurst. >> Good evening, schoolboard members and administrators. Thank you for the opportunity to share about our bilingual buddies and multilingual mentors programs at Stonehurst. What started as a conversation about encouraging and supporting our students learning English as an additional language while supporting our newcomer students has grown into a program
003that students and teachers are proud to be a part of. Instead of trying to explain the nuances of the bilingual buddies program, I'm going to let the video about the program speak for itself. Bilingual Buddies is a group of third, fourth, and fifth grade students who have a little bit higher of an English level of proficiency. >> Older kids that um know the two language or more than that and helps little kids that don't know English yet. Research shows that students at this level who were given additional opportunity to practice speaking academic and social English benefit from that opportunity. >> And that's why Miss Beans, our beautiful teacher, had an idea and made a little club that called the bilingual buddies. >> We had an influx of newcomer students and we were trying to figure
004out how to get them assimilated. Our supervisors Joanna DeMarco and Eileen Caruso kind of planted the seed by having our students with a higher proficiency level support our newcomer students. Everybody benefited. So we identified third, fourth, and fifth grade students who have a higher ELP and who follow the three Bs. Be safe, be respectful, be responsible at school. They're very consistent with that. >> You have to be nice to people, not get right up, not get your parents called. So when we first started the program, we asked our buddies, you know, think about when you first came to Stonehurst, think about how you felt. So we kind of got feedback from the students about what this should look like. And then we sat down and kind of looked at all of that. And that's how
005we determined not only who would be a buddy, but how we would support them. We have like three main areas really. So on the early dismissal Wednesdays, we meet with all the buddies and all the newcomers. We gather the kids from their classrooms. Our buddies wear a special lanyard that they are very proud to wear which has their picture and it kind of serves as like a little pass to come out to the trailer to work with their newcomer students. My little bunny is Ashley from first grade. Every time when I come to pick her up, she always get excited and run to me for a hug. I always hug her back. She's kind of like a little best friend, a mini version. They sit down in a chair and we stand behind them and
006we have to read a book. >> We also do activities that we feel the newcomers would benefit for. >> We really can customize it to what do the newcomers need. In the fall we were working on letter recognition a little bit and just putting the letters or their name in order and then as they progress we progress right along with them depending on on need. We recently did an activity with the flowers about um petals, stems and leaves. What do flowers have? Can you say petal what's color this like oh this is red oh this is blue and the more they know English the better they speak and they can make friends >> and then every time we have a new student who we think will be learning English as an additional language join our
007school we call one of our bilingual buddies down to the office and they do what's called a welcome walk >> they will help the little buddy to know where they are where the bathroom where's the cafeteria where's the gym where's the art class or other places >> showing them important people and places that they wish they had known when they were new students >> back in the day an announcement they always had to speak English and the buddies never knew what they're saying >> so new last year we started having our bilingual buddies participate in the afternoon announcement so one buddy does the afternoon announcements with Desmond every day um and they repeat the important information in Spanish >> now I'm going to pass the intercom over to Angie who is going to deliver the
008afternoon announcements to all of our Spanish speaking friends. Go Angie, you got it. >> They can't see you. They only hear you. So I I was more comfortable. >> It was my favorite thing to go to the announcement. I would get excited and start dancing. Sometime Mr. Patrick make us to say yoohoo. >> Now she's likeh now >> did you make an announcement just for that? Yes, >> bilingual buddies became so popular with the students that as they started to exit the ELELLL program last year, they were concerned that they were no longer going to be buddies. So, we created a group called multilingual math mentors. They meet every Thursday. They have little bags that they take. They go on their own. >> One goes to a first grade classroom. The other pair goes to
009a second grade classroom. And they work on targeted math skills. They set a timer for about 10 to 15 minutes when they get there. and they work with their newcomers and then they just head back to class. The program kind of runs itself. We check in with our mentors. We just had a meeting where we refreshed their resources because they felt like the students were really learning the skills. So, we gave them some new resources and and off they go. Being bilingual is a skill and it's something to be proud of and you can use it for good to help other people. What I see for the buddies, for the older students, is their confidence. they're just sitting up a little bit straighter and they're more confident and I think it's great for the newcomers.
010We all agree that we see a lot of development in their language and how they're using English um and academic English at school as the dynamics, the size and the needs of our students and building are frequently changing. We hope to adapt this program to meet the needs of the newcomer students while also keeping in mind of those three and four level students and make them feel comfortable, heard, and seen here at Stonehurst. And that's all for today. Yeah. So, you'll notice in the video that buddies wear unique lanyards when taking new students on welcome walks and when participating in Buddy events. We have a lanyard for each of you as a token of our appreciation for all that you do to encourage and support students. We also included an invitation to our student thank
011you breakfast which takes place on Thursday, May 22nd if you're able to join us to celebrate our buddies and mentors. Thanks again. The third item on the work session agenda is a presentation by Promos Elementary School principal, Mr. Bill Rogers titled Autistic Support. >> Uh good evening uh upper Derby community board members and Dr. McGarry. I appreciate another opportunity to put Primus Elementary on display. I'd also like to thank Gemma Rogers and Oath Neil Sumo, who were our student administrators as well this year, uh, for coming tonight. I know it wasn't a big deal, but it does make me very proud to see you here. Thank you very much. Uh, also thank you to the Stonehurst students. You guys did amazing job. Uh being that we are currently celebrating autism awareness month, we felt that
012it was a perfect opportunity to put a spotlight on our staff and students at Primus Elementary School. To start, I would like to share just a brief story that a parent shared with me um probably my third year at Primus. Something that completely changed my perspective not only as an educator, a leader of the but as a parent to be honest. And it was things that we take for granted. The parent had shared through tears. She was thanking us, but through tears that every day her child gets off the bus, she doesn't get to ask him how his day was. And it puts her mind at ease knowing that the the staff at Primus Elementary School does that communicating for her child, whether it's through a phone call, email, or a daily communication log. Um
013she also had mentioned that that through this the buildup of trust that she put in us even though her stu her child couldn't share that was something that put her mind at ease as well knowing that he was in a safe and compassionate place. Um so for this I would like to say that we could not be more proud of the work and dedication that the Primus staff puts into our student success each and every day. This staff takes immense pride in their students and it is evident in all the extra work that takes place behind the scenes. Uh and before I turn it over to our assistant principal, Mr. Cassertano, uh I lastly would like to thank the parents for your trust in us as educators. It's not something that we take lightly. >>
014Good evening, Upper Derby community. Our nine autistic support teachers, autistic support classroom assistants, and personal care assistants collaborate every day to support student success. Together, they play a crucial role in helping autistic students thrive in a supportive learning environment. Our entire Primus community wants to honor their dedication in working every day to help create an inclusive and empowering learning space for all of our students. Their patience, understanding, empathy, compassion, flexibility, consistency, structure, positive, and encouraging attitude are just some of the amazing qualities about our staff. These individuals play a life-changing role in the growth and success of their students. We couldn't be happier to call them part of our Primus community and upper RB family. We hope you enjoy and share in our students success. Primus is very special because we are one of the
015only schools who has the autistic support program. We have some of the best teachers here who work with these children. I actually had the unique experience of student teaching here at Primise. Um I did my general ed placement in second grade with Mrs. Mooney and then I came over here to work in this very classroom and I just absolutely fell in love with the kids and with the job. Originally, I went to Northpin High School and at North Pin, we did the Special Olympics. So, I got involved with doing the Special Olympics and I felt like that really pushed me towards the special ed area. I always thought when I was in college that I was going to be a kindergarten teacher. That was like my dream. And then I came here to do my
016student teaching and fell absolutely in love with autistic support. I have never met a group of teachers who care more about their students. It really is amazing to see they know their students in and out like as well as some of them know their own children. >> Miss Rice and Miss Kirsten help me so much. >> You know, people will say all the time, "Oh, you have to be a special person to do that." I think you have to be a special person to teach in general. Dealing with other people's emotions is a difficult challenge. And being able to help kids regulate their emotions, I would say, is like one of the biggest skills that you have to have to do this job. Our classroom has to be very structured. We have to always have
017structure because our kids thrive off routine and it helps them to work through their day and be able to regulate through their day. We do have a lot of interactive more sensory based activities. Even if we're doing a reading activity, we're still using AAC devices with it. Even if we're doing math, we're using visuals in it. Just cuz some of our kids are non-verbal or limited verbal, they still have really amazing skills. Without school, you won't even know how to do something like math or science. So, so, so that's why they that's why school is important to to every kid on the earth. The kids have a way of embracing life that is different. It's just it's really fun. It's really fun. Like, some people think when they hear autistic support that it's difficult, but
018it's really just a very fun job. The best part about our autistic support program here at Primus is that we do our best to include students in every aspect of the school day. Whether that's morning meeting with a gened classroom. I never really heard of children pushing in to a gened room from autistic support where I worked before. We didn't have any inclusion or children with special needs. So, it was a whole new field for me when I came here. I know my room, we start off, we sit on the carpet for morning meeting and they'll be telling come sit over here, come sit next to me. They know them by name. First, we get elbow bumps and then um we do questions and and then we do Zoom. >> It's a great way for
019our kids to get experience with like a general education classroom cuz it is definitely more overwhelming than our tiny environment and it's also a really great way for the gened population to get exposure to our kids. I think it helps them grow empathy and learn that it's okay to be a little bit different. We get to see a different side of our gened students as well. like they want to take care of them and make sure that the kids that are pushing in are doing everything right and they want to make sure that they're having the most fun and they are always want to say can I help them can I do this can I do that and they really want to interact with them as much as possible and then it's also really great
020because our kids that get pushed out for generate specials um have friends from their morning meeting classroom that they get to go with meeting the music teacher they get to push in with me certain times of the day and they get to experience specials and for me music in a very different way than they do sometimes with their autistic support peers. >> My favorite specials is art because we do arts and crafts. Then after that, my favorite my favorite other special is music and library because I get to get books. So my mom and dad can read me read bedtime story books at night. We have lunch with the general population. We also uh do all schoolwide assemblies with general education. Uh schoolwide trips. We just went to the Philadelphia Zoo alto together. Um they've
021been to the Franklin Institute all together. We'll go to Colin Brook Farm all together. Kids come out to recess. >> My favorite thing is recess. It has slides and swears. >> Our kids love it and the other kids love having them. So the month of April for autistic acceptance month, the whole staff actually wore our autism acceptance shirts, which was a great way to shine light on the children in our building and make them feel so special and included. Showing it's not just the kids who are in our wing, but there's students who are in Jined, adults, like everybody accepting people for their differences and their needs. Just the way we work together to have these kids feel included and special. It's amazing what goes on here in this building. What makes us special is
022the group of people that I work with and the kids that are here every day. We just get great kids every single year and the teachers that I work with are very dedicated to what they do and love our jobs. So I think that's what makes us special. >> Thank you very much. And also thank you to Jason Taylor for his >> The fourth item on the work session agenda is a presentation of the International Mother Language Day poster contest by curriculum supervisor Miss Joanna DeMarco. >> International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance recognized yearly on February 21st in Bangladesh. February 21st is the anniversary of the day four young students were killed during a dispute about the Erdo and Bengali languages. It is a day that was established to promote the preservation
023and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world. Every year since 2014, Upper Derby School District observes International Mother Language Day by holding a poster contest celebrating our diversity. Our annual theme is out of many languages comes one community. In the upper Darby School District, there are over 90 different languages represented. Our teachers take great pride in providing students of limited English proficiency the opportunity to learn English while celebrating their own languages and cultures. We are so proud of all our students and especially those who have celebrated their languages and cultures by participating in this contest. We have at least two uh winners here. I'm not sure if the third snuck in, but our K to2 winner is from Primus second grade. Eekdo, you want to stand up, sweetie? Come here. >> The
024third to fifth grade from Highland Park, grade four, Santos. And the secondary winner, I'm not sure if she snuck in from Beverly Hills Middle School, sixth grade, Emmanuela. The final item on the work session agenda is the UDHS marching band recruitment video. One word I would use to describe marching band, I'd say ambition. We're all very like determined to push ourselves. >> We all work hard and grind to make the show even better than it was. >> Watching people go from not wanting to do anything, throwing their arms around, not wanting to be straight in line to the end of the season, perfectly straight, performing a beautiful show. It has this longlasting impact. One word I would use to describe marching band would be friends. >> It's really easy to form really strong bonds with
025people when you spend so much time with them and you get to know them. >> I've met like around like eight people who I hang out with like every week. >> We're definitely going to be friends for a very long time. >> One word I would use to describe being in the marching band is probably passion. There's a lot of people in this marching band that are really passionate about what they do. When we show up and we work really hard to do our job, >> it just makes you feel like you should keep going and get better at what you do. >> Once you get to the preview and you can show your family and your friends everything that you've worked on and when you get the stage and you win first place four
026time state champions. >> Four time state champions. That's a mark of excellence. But another mark of excellence is our bronze medal finish at nationals for US bands >> with a score of 93.1. It just inspires people to want to be better. That's what pushes us to have such great seasons. It feels so rewarding after everything. One word I would use to describe marching band would probably be fun. Bus rides are fun. Friday football games are fun. Everything's fun. >> I don't think I would like trade it for any other hobby in the world. >> It is a blast. It is a lot of time, but it is time well spent. One word that I would use to describe my event the most would probably be family. >> Family. >> I know it's corny, but it
027is true. >> No matter what the score is, no matter what the place is, no matter where we are, no matter how hot it is during band camp or how cold it is at the end of November, we work hard together. We win together. >> We laugh together. We cry together. >> We're all still together. We also want to be there with each other. It's our own little family. >> Marching band's like really where I belong. And I think it's where a lot of you might belong, too. We want more than a hundred people this year and it's just going to be really sweet and nice to have everyone with us >> and we need you to do it. >> You should definitely join the marching royals. >> Join the marching royals. >> You should
028join the marching royals. >> Um we're doing a my voice carries. Sorry. We're doing a mass uh um push this year because uh not this coming, not graduating this current graduating class, but our next graduating class. We have 32 who are going to graduate out of the band next year. So, we are trying to do a massive push to bring people into the marching band. Um I always tell the story about when I was in high school, uh Upper Derby did an outof league game and came up to little old and high school. We thought we were, you know, pretty hot back then. We had 85 people in our marching band. We're pretty good. Then this sea of purple just kept coming into the stadium. And our little sea of green just sat there going,
029"Oh boy." And um it's been my goal ever since I got here cuz I that was my first impression of Upper Derby way back in the dark ages. And it was and it's something that I would love to be able to uh to bring back again. And I'm trying right now. We're doing the kids were like, "Mr. Bow, we got to do a big push." I'm like, "Okay, well then I'll put it in front of the school board. I'll put it everywhere I can because the kids want the want this that they're the ones who were like, "Are we doing the recruiting video again this year?" I'm like, "Absolutely, we'll do the recruiting video this year." And so I appreciate very much the board allowing us to do this. And in a very strange twist
030of fate, the uh US bands about a month ago sent me a box that showed up very, very heavy. And I was like, "What is this?" And inside it was, "We think we shorted you some bronze medals." So, I have brought in some of the extras from the box of bronze medals. Uh, and I'm uh because we couldn't do this without your support, we want you to also um be a part of our bronze medal team from the national level bronze medal team. So, I'm going to quick hand out hand them out so you guys can get on to the board uh meeting. But, thank you very much again for having us and tell everyone to join the marching royals. >> I want everybody the regular in-person and virtual meeting of the Upper Derby School
031District Board of School Directors will please come to order. There was a close session this evening from 5:35 until 7:20 p.m. for matters to be discussed within the limitations for closed deliberations as prescribed by Pennsylvania Act 93 of 1998. For this evening's meeting, there were personnel and litigation matters. Roll call. Board Secretary, Mr. Rogers, please. >> Miss Britney Williams, >> present. >> Miss Ko, >> present. Miss Deborah Williams, >> present. >> Mr. Osine, >> present. >> Mr. Fields, >> present. >> Mr. Wars Savage, >> present. >> Miss Glenn, >> present. >> Miss Murphy Mercy, >> Mr. Desires, >> present. The district posted this evening's agenda to board docks at least 24 hours prior to the commencement of this meeting. Is there a motion to approve that previously posted agenda? >> So moved. >> Are there
032any amendments to offer? The agenda has been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please signify by saying I oppose. Those abstaining, please signify by saying I abstain. Motion carries. The minutes of the combined work session regular meeting of March 11th and the voting meeting of March 25th are in the hands of each board member and have been made available to the public. I move for their adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carries. The report of the secretary, Vice President Murphy Moresy. >> The report of the secretary is in hands of
033each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for his adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. The report of the treasurer. Director Brittney Williams. >> The report of the treasures in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for it adoption. >> Second. Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. We will now have the report of the student
034representatives, Tesnim Yasmin and Timothy Beiju. Good evening, board president Desawyers, Vice President Murphy Moresy, members of the board, Dr. McGary, and members of our upper Derby community. This month, we visited Stonehurst Hills Elementary School, a school that's clearly built on strong relationships, thoughtful leadership, and a serious focus on helping students grow. One of the most noticeable things at Stonehurst is the tight-knit family vibe within each grade level team. Teachers work closely together, and that collaboration really shows. The building layout isn't exactly ideal. Some classrooms are tucked away from the rest of their grade, but the school is already thinking about how to improve things to bring teams even closer together physically and academically. The leadership at Stonehurst is solid. Mr. Chisum and Mr. Patrick have polarizing styles, but they balance each other out in the
035best ways possible. Mr. Chisum brings a lot of energy and passion. He's intense, and it's clear that he clear he deeply cares about the work. Mr. Patrick brings a more laid-back study presence. Together, they've built a school culture that's focused, calm, and always moving forward. >> Also, just to address the elephant in the room, Mr. Chisum is from Philly, but is somehow a Cowboys fan. Yeah, I know. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's the what? Okay, now unexpected. >> Come on. Okay, we don't have an explanation either. We just had to say something about it. Mr. Chisum actually started his career as a reading specialist at Beverly Hills Middle School. And that background is still reflected in how much he values strong foundational learning. He's all about the classic pen and paper style learning, but also
036appreciates the adaptability of technology. He also emphasizing He also emphasizes teaching students how to manage their emotions and interaction, something that's especially important at the elementary level. One of Sonheart's standout features is how they track and share academic progress. Data is front and center, literally. Bar graphs showing progress in reading and math are displayed in the main entrance for everyone to see. It gives the students something to be proud of and motivates them to keep pushing. It also builds a healthy kind of competition between grades that actually gets kids excited about learning. >> And we can't forget about the students. Their behavior and focus stood out right away. At one point, a first grader saw us walk in and immediately gave the quiet signal before anyone even said a word. It was one of those
037small mus moments that showed just how well the routines and expectations are built into the school culture. Stoner Sills is clearly a place where students are cared for, challenged and set up to succeed with strong leadership, motivated motivated teachers, and engaged students. It's a school that constant constantly working to improve and doing it for the right reasons. >> That's all for this month's meeting. Thank you, the board, and the community for tuning in. Have a great evening. TNT out. >> Taz and Tim, thanks for a great report. The budgeted personnel and enrollment reports have been made available to the board and the public and are recorded as part of the record. No vote is required. We will now have the report of the superintendent, Dr. Daniel McGary. Thank you, board president, Desmond Neuters, Vice President
038Murphy Morsy, members of the board, community, administration, students. Um, you know, first and foremost, Desmond, that's not right, man. I mean, to be put out there tonight by by students for a couple ways, it's just really not really not that fair. And the fact that Ernest isn't here tonight will tell you that, you know, he also has some hours he has to do for his for a superintendent letter. So, you know, first and foremost, thank you for your leadership and and and Ernest as well and the team and and Miss Bean, a great job and the students. Uh and then, you know, Bill, obviously you and and Mr. Castano, awesome job there with the school. It's a it's a challenge. I do want to put a shout out to that Stonehurst also has an autistic
039support program uh in the building and and that population of students that we have both EL students and autistic support students continue to grow and make our district as beautiful and diverse as it is. Um very challenging jobs and I just want to say to all of you, thank you. What you reminded us of tonight more than anything uh and Dr. Manfrey just, you know, reached out to me and shared this. We do a lot of good stuff here that we don't get a lot of credit for and it's emotional. I mean like you can get choked up watching those presentations. I know that Jay does a great job doing it, but what but what you guys do and your leadership and the staff in those buildings, the teachers that work with our kids, it's
040unbelievable. And sometimes when you're up here and we're having our healthy disagreements about what's going on, you get lost in the fact that education is an emotional job. Um, when you work with people's kids and people's children. So, thank you for what you guys do and thank you to the staff for what they carry on out and in the buildings every single day. It was really well captured in your presentations tonight. I know people are here because uh we're recognizing them. So, I promise to keep these comments as as brief as I can, but I do want to highlight a couple things this evening. You know, first and foremost, um again, it's always tough to follow TNT. Uh you've done a great job this year and and I think you're coming to near near an
041end. Time flies. You know, it just feels like yesterday when you guys started this and you guys have been outstanding, just an awesome reflection of who we are as a school community. So, we're not there yet, but but each month you do a great job and I I appreciate that. Um, tonight I just want to talk about continuing to highlight not only just what we did in our work session, but highlighting some of the outstanding work of our students and teachers uh in this in this district. Great work happens every day and we're going to we're going to continue to highlight that. I know it's going to take a little time tonight, but our kids and our community deserve to to see the good work that goes on here every single day. Also want to
042give a reminder that on April 29th, just a refresher, that there will be an important vote on the potential closing of Charles Kelly Elementary School. The idea was that it might close at the conclusion of this school year. The board is not going to do that. They're going to vote on April 29th to decide whether those the Charles Kelly closes the conclusion of the 2526 school year. So, I just want to continue to overcommunicate that process and how to be involved. And then I want to just finalize some of my comments this evening, just give you an update on the budget process, where we are, what the next steps would be, and then I'll close out the report there. So, I'll start this evening with student achievement and ELA honor society student book bento winter
043creative challenge. And just by way of some background, the bento bentos refer to the con um convenient meal boxes used for lunch in Japan. Boxes are divided into several smaller sections, each containing one item of food, which come together to form a wholesome and complete meal. In this creative challenge, students had to read either the ELA big read text, Ania's morufas, the balloon thief, or another thought-provoking text and create a high quality book bento image which includes the book itself surrounded by items that clearly relate to the plot, characters, and/or themes of the text. The different parts of the image must provide a visual description of key aspects of the chosen text. Students were tasked with searching their classrooms, schools, homes, and local communities for items they can include in their book, Bento. This often,
044this is often a complex but engaging process. And I'm here and we're here tonight to congratulate Elise, but for her creativity and hard work. Her work will be published in the ELA Bookworm newsletter. So, congratulations on this creative effort. I don't know if Elise will be able to make it here tonight. We'll pass that award on to her when she gets there. So, congratulations to her and to Beverly Hills. Next, just to recognize the Delaware County Intermediate Unit National Technical Honor Society inductees, and we have seven of them. The National Technical Honor Society recognizes and honors high achieving students in career and technical education programs in fields such as engineering, healthcare, information technology, and many, many others. The Nths members are selected based on academic achievement, technical skills, leadership, responsibility, and commitment to service. Commitment
045to service is probably, I think, one of the more important things that we need to continue to highlight. Being inducted into the society signifies that a student has demonstrated outstanding performance and has the potential to succeed in their chosen field. It is my honor to recognize the following exceptional students being inducted into the National Technical Honor Society. So if they're here, they can come up and then we'll clap at the end. If they're not here, we'll bring those awards to them. Sugilia Ali, dental occupations. Yanu Dwire, health sciences. Janatul Farudus, medical careers. Ryan Ikbal, computer networking. Jade Jaylen Mendoza Pagwa, health sciences. Shireen Santosh, medical careers. and Jaffna Uden, biomech biomed tech and lab sciences. Anybody here? Sure. And I I think I think Mr. Desers, you might have been a part of this this
046next one at St. Joe's if I if I am correct. but the high school analytics and data visualization uh competition. Congratulations to Upper Derby High School team for winning the high school analytics and data visualization competition. The competition invites teams from local area high schools to expand their working knowledge and understanding of analytics by exploring a data set creating visual visualizations from that data and presenting their findings to judges who are academics and industry leaders in business intelligence and analytics. The competition is really about problem solving, finding patterns that may not be obvious, and being able to tell a story about data while simultaneously developing critical thinking, presentation, leadership, and other transferable skills. The students presented their findings about global access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation to a panel of industry experts at St.
047Joseph's University. So, I know that you're here because I know many of you. So congratulations to Ridan Montasir. Come on up. Abdullah Eloqui Fisa Abdullah Mode Ifkar Musharid Torano and Nicholas Fitzpatrick. And I think I think Mr. Schwarz you should probably come up and you know be part of the picture. This this ne next rec recognition I think is is pretty cool. It's the National Art Honor Society Lego Concept Design Competition. Recently, the National Arts Honor Society posted a contest for students to join in order to redo their National Art Honor Society Lego. Our very own Shahil Rahad that redesigned the logo submitted a beautiful design with the help of of advisers, critiques, and other students in Google forms and won the national contest. His design will be the National Art Honor Society's new logo
048for the foreseeable future. So congratulations to Shal getting there. A lot of cool stuff still. 2024 Pennsylvania Bar Association statewide mock trial competition. 14 kids. Congratulations to the student prosecutors. Pretty cool just to say that student pro and we we have youth courts here in the school district too which I think is which is pretty cool. But congratulations to the student prosecutors of Upper Derby High School's mock trial prosecution team who won during the second round by a 3-0 decision for the 24 Pennsylvania Bar Association statewide mock trial competition. 262 teams from 215 high schools across the state competed in in-person in district and regional events. Now in its 41st year, Pennsylvania's mock trial team is one of the largest in the nation. During the competition, eight member student teams are given the opportunity to
049argue both sides of the case before the judge. The students who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer adviserss in preparing for the competition. Lawyers and comm uh community leaders serve as jurors and sometimes judges for the mock trials. The jurors determine the winners in each trial based on teams abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments, and follow court rules. This year's case is pretty interesting. Is a trial to determine who murdered a competitive small business owner, Jeffrey Esper, his dog, and why it happened. Esper was a well-known business owner in Sasaquanic Square in Wisawa, Pennsylvania. He competed with other businesses in a approximately I think it's Wisawi. In approximately one month's time, Esper went from being the winner of a substantial scratchoff lottery ticket prize
050to uh to a murder victim. Modern capitalism, the American dream, and competition are part of the case of friendly competition during this deadly murder trial. So congratulations to Anna Hemling, Malia Chile, Rosco Luniti, Bryant Davies, Phyllis Lyn, George, Muhammad Hawk, Torrance Hemingway, Armen Khan, Christina Kumi, Clara Phol, Tahada, Winter Ringold, Samia Williams, Goodman, Amma W MD, Sumeir Raman. Congratulations. Couple more awesome recognitions this evening. Um, this this next is the National English Honor Society Convention Presentation Award. Um, and I know there's a lot of work that went into this, a lot of time and effort. Just want to say congratulations to the following Upper Arby High School Royal Oak Chapter members for winning the 2024 convention presentation award. This is this is pretty prestigious stuff and a lot of work I know personally went into
051this and and witnessed a lot of that hard work. Just blown away by the the intellect of the kids and and the criticism and the feedback that they're willing to take along the way. So the NA NEHS convention uh presentation award provides prestigious recognition for students who excel in articulating their ideas and insights through engaging presentations which are given at the Sigma Delta 2025 convention alongside other high achieving undergraduate and graduate students. This year's convention presentation award winners traveled to Pittsburgh, PA to give their presentations which is which is pretty cool on will and what they presented on um one of them was on Will Cather's one of ours and Benjamin Allers Sans Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe to students and university faculty from around the world. Think about that. It's
052pretty cool. In addition, in addition, attending students and chapter adviserss are going to meet and did meet with Pulitzer Pride award-winning Natalie Diaz, National Book Award winner Cynthia Kabaduta, and Penn Falner award winner Benjamin Alair Sans. They also participate in workshops led by professional artists and other great activists who are involved in this important work. And this took place and they had a chance to explore, I think, the University of Pittsburgh when they were there at that time. So I I just want to say to both both students and to Miss Beerling who's in the back of the room who want can come up that'd be great. I don't know if you want to come up or not. Um but was taken unbelievably seriously so much for that they reached out to central administration feedback
053prior to going on their presentation and we spent time at the high school and then we came here the day before and then we had kind of a little pep talk before they where they went on on to their presentation. So just want to say congratulations and come on up to Kakar Arman and Sar Brown for all your awesome work uh in this outstanding so so important work and I'll I'll just briefly say that um you know Kanekar focused on the idea of the Uber munch uh and that idea of that always searching for push pushing yourself and not settling for a simple life or simplistic life. I'm not even giving it justice how complicated he he went through the work and what he did. And I know you were recognized and you blew blew
054away the judges when you were there. So I appreciate your presentation what you did. We probably should have you give that presentation as well as Sierra. Sierra covered um molding the machismo or the macho and the idea of what it is in certain parts of society or generally speaking how male bravado in certain cultures in certain ways gets in the way of your ability to show your softer side or to work through and this all went through you know Dante and it went through nichi and just highlevel reading and work that they analyzed in their presentation their public speaking skills just a tremendous amount of work and I think you were held to only 20 minutes is that correct for your presentation somewhere along that line. How long were they exactly? 10 10 minutes each
055that they had to fit this in. Their slides were jam-packed. Just awesome job, awesome work and a lot of public presentation that went into that. So, thank you for your hard work. Congratulations. here we recognize Delaware Valley Science Fair and and the Regeneration International. We recognize our science fair winners. So each year about a thousand students in grades 6 through 12 from Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware make new discoveries that could change the lives and other people's lives forever. and they participate in the Delaware uh Valley Science Fair. Scholarship and prize money are awarded the student winners. The Delaware Valley Science Fair takes top high school winners to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair competition, the world's largest international STEM research competition for high school students in May to compete for more than
056$4 million in scholarships and awards. Top middle school winners go on to the Thermo Fishiser Junior Innovators Challenge. Involves math, applied science, technology, and engineering for rising stars in a national competition. Last week, Nafiza Ara was named one of the only three sophomores selected from the entire tri-state area to represent Delaware Valley at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair. Na Nazifa will present her project, the impact of puzzle solving on memory retention and concentration, a study of cognitive enhancement this May. Pretty cool, right? So, congratulations to her and to the team for that for that outstanding work. I don't know if is she not here this evening? No. Okay, we'll make sure she gets her her. So, just just two more updates. Again, like I said previously, reminder of the April 29th vote for
057the potential closer of Charles Kelly Elementary School. The process has been an ongoing process. I want to thank all the schools involved. Um, this process, if Charles Kelly does close, will will cause a a redistricting that will impact several schools. So, I just want to make sure we continue to overcommunicate what that is and that nobody feels blindsided. If the district does vote on April 29th to close Charles Kelly Elementary School at the conclusion of the 2526 school year, not the conclusion of this school year. Now, the the board this evening will be looking at voting on extending the lease at Charles Kelly for one more year. We will be redistricting students to Stonehurst Hills Elementary School and then Highland Park Elementary School. Highland Park students will be redistricted to Hillrest Elementary School and Hillrest
058Elementary School students will be redistricted to Aronomic Elementary School. Just want to say thank you to the teams, the families, the home and school associations. We've met with everybody that's involved. We continue to have ongoing conversations. I'm sure by now the public's probably tired of Dr. Manfrey's Friday uh blasts that go out that remind you of what's going on, but we don't want there to be anything hidden in full transparency what the conversations are about and what will happen. But just to remind you that the closure, if it is approved on April 29th, will take place at the conclusion of the 2526 school year and not at the conclusion of this year. Just a reminder that that vote will take place on April 29th. Budget update. A lot of uncertainty obviously uh coming out of
059Washington DC as well as the state. We do not yet know what the funding will be here for the Upper Darby School District. Uh we had anticipated that there could be upwards of an additional $9 million in funding that coming from the fair funding and the adequacy funding lawsuit that took place just a few short years ago where the Pennsylvania Supreme Supreme Court ruled that public schools are underfunded and not funded properly in Pennsylvania. Upper Darby being one of the most 100 under underfunded school districts in the Commonwealth out of the 500 school districts. We don't know yet where that's going to land. Um, we'll continue to provide you updates where that is. Out of the federal part of the funding, Upper Darby School District receives funding for title one, title two, title three, and
060title four. Uh, we're hearing that funding for title one, title three, uh, and title four will be level funded. We're not sure if that will remain. We're hearing that title two, which is professional development funding for teachers and staff, allegedly is being cut out of the f federal dollars. So, we're going to have to figure out how we make up for those uh in our budget as we move forward. There'll be budget updates throughout the next couple of months. Just for those who are new to the audience or those who are new to uh listening in this evening, the school district has to have a final budget approved before June by June 30th each school year. Typically, we have to approve a budget before the state approves their budget. So, often we're making a budget
061not knowing what state dollars we're going to receive. and it looks at this point in time that we're moving in that direction. Again, we're not sure what's going to happen. Um, as a result of that, we're probably going to have to pause some other capital improvement projects with this uncertainty that's in play because we don't want to do anything that will get in the way of the teachers and the students in our classrooms. That's our priority. So, some capital projects will probably have to be put aside until we can see what the future funding looks like here in the school district. We'll have continued public conversations regarding the budget over the next couple of months as we work our way toward a final budget adoption before June 30th. Uh, board president Deser, I'm sure everybody
062else is thrilled. That concludes my report for this evening. >> Thank you very much, Dr. McGary. It was certainly a full and detailed report. We will now have an update on the March 25th, 2025 Education and Pupil Services Committee meeting. Uh, director Warsavage uh will read the summary. A detailed summary of the meeting including public comments can be found on board docs. >> Thank you very much, President Dawyers. Um, there were, let's see here, one, two, three items on the agenda for that evening. Uh, the first of which pertains to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment or PSSAs. It was informational. Uh, Dr. for Christine Kelly presented the annual Pennsylvania system of school assessment exam window testing requirements and information for parents and guardians. This topic was like I said informational. The second item on
063the docket for that evening was uh Upper Derby school district registration update which was alsoformational. Dr. Brian and Mr. Dr. Ed Monahan provided information on the reg re-registration process for the 2025-26 school year. The presentation provided details for students who needed who need to reregister for the upcoming school year. This topic was again also informational. Third item on the agenda which will end up being uh board action required. It was regarding policy 114 and that pertains to gifted ed. And that uh ends my summary. Thank you very much, Director Wars Savage. We will now have an update on the March 25th, 2025 Finance and Operations Committee meeting. Vice President Murphy Morrisy will read the summary. A detailed summary of the meeting, including public comments can be found on board docs. On Tuesday, March 25th, the
064the finance and operations committee um presented one um agenda item, the pending PICO work, which isformationalformational only. The district approved an update and update on information recently received from PICO regarding road work in the community and the potential impacts it might have on the district's operations. Uh and that concludes the report. >> Thank you very much, Vice President Murphy Morsy. The instruction and curriculum report. Director Hussein. >> The instruction and curriculum report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for the adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carries. The personnel report
065Director Pentini KO. >> The personnel report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for its adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. The policy report first reading. Director Wars Savage. >> Thank you, President Desawyers. Uh, tonight's meeting features only one policy that's up for consideration for first reading. And just as a general reminder to the public, uh before policy is adopted, it has to go through a first reading, which is about to occur, then a subsequent uh presentation at a future committee meeting before it ultimately goes through a second reading
066and then is uh then is adopted ultimately by the board. And that evening we well right now we are presenting a policy update for 815 acceptable use of internet computers and network resources. And it's adding policy language which refers to the use of multiffactor authentication or MFA which is layman for if you're going to log into a secure part of the network or apparatus when it comes to doing your school stuff you might have to set a password on your phone um activate it with a secondary email. That's what this is pertaining to. So we're just overemphasizing that in this policy. >> The policy report second reading. Mr. War Savage. Thank you very much, President D. Snoyers. The policy report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the
067public. I move for its adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Just a reminder that a policy summary is available in board docs and this is pertaining to let's see here uh policy 114 as stated previously gifted education and how that is delivered and the protections therein are there any other comments from the board. Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor please say I >> I. Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. The supplies report. Director Fields. >> The supplies report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for its adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those
068in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. The facilities report, the use of facilities report, and donation report. Director Glenn. >> Thank you. The facilities report, the use of facilities report, and the donation report are in the hands of each board member and have been made available to the public. I move for their adoption. >> Second. Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. The finance and budget report. Director Deborah Williams. >> Thank you. The finance and budget report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available
069to the public. I move for its adoption. >> Second. >> Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Those opposed, please say I oppose. Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carried. Uh, we are now at the time for collateral assignment reports. Uh, Delaware County Community College Director PSIO. Thank you. Uh, Delaware County IU Director Deborah Williams. >> I do have a report. Thank you. Um first I just came back from a conference with the IU um the NSBA conference. Uh that conference was well attended. Um there were sessions and exhibit hall there were wonderful. Um I just wanted to share about the most meaningful session to me which was a trauma um session on at risk and um
070wounded students and the effect on academic achievement. So that was really well done and I have some information to share with the board separately. um when I have a opportunity to do that. Um but it was a really well worth uh conference. Um and secondly, I just wanted to share some information from the newsletter on the last uh meeting that I attended for the IU and we have one tomorrow as well, but we approved five um contracts to provide services for internet and network services as well as special ed services. Um, secondly, we approved some appointments in DCIU leadership, some new appointments. So, Miss Sarah Christensen moved from the assistant director of teaching and learning there to the director of teaching and learning. Um, and also Miss Kristen uh Galahan moved from the assistant director
071of student services to the director of student services. So, just wanted to share that. Um also we permitted 107 medical um career and health services science students to visit the Franklin Institute recently and also um the DCTS which is the technical school there was going to host some summer camps for students ages 11 to 14 uh from July 7th through the 10th and also July 14th through 17th. You can find information about that on their website. Also, the STEM adventure clinics are going to be held there for middle school students each Wednesday in July and for high school students July 14th through 18th. And that's going to focus on exploring nature, walking softer camps. Um, and then the final thing I wanted to report on is from April 3rd to June 30th, um, the IU
072contracted with mainline hospitals to provide observational experiences to DCTS medical career students at no cost. And that concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Director Williams. The Legislative Council, Director Glenn. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um, our meeting was held on March 12th. I our next meeting is tomorrow morning. So, all of my information is always a month behind and with everything that is moving so quickly, it's very hard to um be able to give you the update the way that I want to. I can say for the meeting that we had in March, we reviewed um some newly introduced legislation for um education programs and academic policies, school governance and parental rights, charter schools, school and safety security, facilities and infrastructure, t teacher and staff policies, student health and wellness, and
073funding. Again, um I don't have updates on those policies yet. Um, I'll probably get them in the morning, but that is our Oh, the one other thing I wanted to mention is the legislative breakfast is on May 16th at 7:30. >> Thank you very much, Director Glenn. The Men Hall Tyson scholarship committee, Director Brittany Williams. >> Yes, there's no update for the scholarship at this time, but I would like to highlight the wellness committee, the lessons that are going that have gone out to families and students. And I also saw that they were doing things for staff members as well. >> Thank you. Home and school vice president Murphy Morrisy. >> Yes. The districtwide home and school was held last night. Um Dr. McGary and um the rest of administration and um several home and
074school um leaders were on this were on the call. The option the op the the topics that were discussed were work the road work that we discussed earlier. Updates G were given to everyone on re registration process, the testing policy um 114 for gifted programming. The the national teacher shortage um federal budget cuts that are proposed. He also went over the difference between title one, title two and title three. Um again title one and title three are not being touched. Title 2 um professional development is currently not in the plan to be funded. We also discussed um a question came up from someone in the call regarding ICE and Upper Derby community and Dr. McGary outlined our procedures for um keeping our school safe and what to do if ICE enters or tries to enter
075a school. And that ends my report. >> Thank you very much. uh for um PSBA. I don't have anything for PSBA directly, but I will report that I attended um the CASPA Coalition of State School Board Associations National Conference last month in Atlanta. Um, I uh attended two um great uh keynote presentations and a number of uh really good um breakout sessions. Overall, I found the uh the conference uh very well worth my time. U Director Fields, do you have any update from PSP? Thank you. Policy Director Wars Savage. Yes, just wanted to briefly update uh the public. You might have heard the I need to play these numbers in the lotto 707. Um, of course, our best intention is to make sure that when we're crafting these policies that they work with full efficacy
076and all those fancy words that we like to use sometimes. Um, sometimes we do have to go back and reme-measure things and reccalibrate and that's what's about to happen for the long to make sure that we have an enduring policy uh that doesn't have to be changed every year that does prioritize first and foremost. No offense to any event curators, our teachers, the students, and the families that attend and learn in our buildings are going to be made the priority in any uh future iteration of the policy. and I will be bringing that to the board in the near future. >> Thank you, Director Wars Savage. Communication Director Glenn and Pento. >> Um, do you have anything? >> Uh, the only thing I want to note from communications is the great letter that um, Dr.
077McGary wrote about Miss uh, Rhonda Briefer from this month for Women's History Month. I just want to thank her for all that she does. You do so much. So, thank you. I want to um piggyback off of what Michelle just shared. Um it was an honor to work with uh Dr. McGary so that we can honor you for Women's History Month. Thank you so much for all that you do. You get I give you a little snippet and you make it into a whole newsletter for us. You do all this work behind the scenes during our meetings and you're very very much appreciated. Thank you so much. Thank you. Moving on to the Upper Derby Arts and Education Foundation. Again, Director Waravage. >> Thank you, President Dorius. Just a couple of things. Um, there's programming
078signups going on. First one that comes to mind is the Shainer 5K. Um, it's a cherished event loved by the entire community. Please visit the Upper Derby Arts and Education Foundation on their website to learn more. Also uh during the meeting on April 2nd that I had the pleasure of attending, a lot of the discussion had to center around the upcoming arts and education center yet to be properly named in Barkley Square Shopping Center. Um I was able to share with the foundation several of the ideas that I collected from uh conversations with the board and the kind of programming that we would like to see there on behalf of the community. And I am also appointed to the I guess the committee uh that suses out and evaluates the grants that the foundation does
079give back to the school district to improve um things in our classroom. So more to come next report next month. >> Thank you very much. Director Waravage technology. Miss Director Hussein would you like to give a report? >> Uh at this time I do not have any updates related to the technology. um next time. >> Thank you. >> You're now at the time for old business. Is there any old business from board members? >> Director War Savage. >> Yeah, just a quick thing. Uh last month, March 20th, I celebrated my 40th birthday and I visited the kindergarten center as well as Highland Park, spending time doing of all things playing video games with the students and the teachers. We played Tao Japanese drum. We played the old school Mario Kart from the arcades. And I'm
080talking like 1981,82. Uh so we're definitely raising our young gamers up, right? And I just wanted to appreciate send my appreciation and my love uh to everyone who celebrated my special day with me in the district. I appreciate you very much. >> Happy birthday, Mr. War Savage. >> We don't know that. >> Is there what? >> Oh, sorry. Um, Britney, director Brittney Williams first. >> Yes, I attended the conference with you in Atlanta. Um, and the COSPA conference and I want to say it was a great conference. We did get to meet a lot of people of course from other states. We got what I found interesting was to see how other states fund their education system. Um, another thing that kind of stood out to me is I did a lot of a lot
081of the workshops I attended was around how the board functions. So, I do encourage us as people that sit in these seats um, we're coming up to a reorganization soon and I would like for us to possibly do a book study um, to help us just with our self assessment piece and just moving our work forward. I do have a book to highlight. is called the schoolboard playbook. It is an easy read. We probably could get this done in kind of like a couple days. Um but something for us to consider as we go through the summer months. Um so that really concludes my time. Thank you. >> Thank you, Director Williams. Uh Director Murphy Morsy. >> Um I just want to give a thank you um to all the people that put in all
082so much work for ReadAcross America. Um, it was fantastic visiting schools. A thank you to all of the board members and administration that went and read with children. It was it was very, very fun. One school was like over the top fun, but it was very, very fun. Thanks. That's it. >> Thank you, Director Murphy Morsey. Is there any other old business? >> Uh, Dr. McGary, >> there are no board members. I just I just want to give a shout out. We had the opportunity to go to the dress rehearsal for Sweeney Todd. Uh the high school play that took place just a short time ago. Um to see it before it actually went out to the full audience. The kids are unbelievable. That was pretty heavy serious content and they nailed it. I mean
083the the performances, the singing, the stage, just great job. And just to the teachers, Miss Wnooki, um Mr. Bruno, just the team that was involved. Um Brian Bashure, great job putting that together. And the kids did an awesome job. So just want to give a shout out to the students. >> Great. Uh, director Pentini Ko, >> sorry, I'll keep it short. Um, just uh, piggybacking off of um, Desiree, I went to Reed at the kindergarten center in Bwood and it was a fantastic time and I did want to call out how great Beauty and the Beast was at Jill Middle School. It was a phenomenal performance. Um, the new seeing um, the play in the new auditorium was really nice. The sign seating is a very nice touch. Um, we love that. So, it was
084a great time. >> Thank you very much. Okay, moving on. Is there any new business from board members? Director War Savage. >> Yeah, just one thing to note on Thursday, um I believe it's fifth block if I'm doing my scheduling counting correctly. myself and a couple of other uh guests from the district will be visiting our family and consumer science team for another quick fire competition which I very very look forward to reporting back on it by the next meeting. Great. Thank you. Is there any other new business? All right, we are now at the time for the public hearing. We will call on Upper Derby School District residents who signed in to address the board in the order in which they signed in, followed by emailed and phoned comments. We would ask that you
085come forward, give your name and address, and present your comments in the 3minut time limit. In accordance with policy 903, the time limit, the time allotted for general comments, both in-person and submitted comments, will not exceed one hour. So I don't have anyone who has signed in on the signin sheet. Uh Miss Buford, are there any submitted comments? >> There are no submitted comments. >> Thank you. Is there a motion for the adjournment of the meeting? >> So moved. >> All those in favor? >> I I >> I adjourned.