001Good evening. Welcome to the September 10th, 2024 school board meeting. The first item on the work session agenda is the pledge of allegiance by the 2024 2025 student board representatives. Please stand. I 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. The second item on the work session agenda is the introduction of the 2024 2025 student representatives Tasnim Yasmin and Timothy Beju by Miss Stephanie Scitec. Good evening Superintendent Dr. McGary, board of school directors, central administration and upper Derby community. My name is Lonnie Diggs and I'm here with Stephanie Scitec. We would like to formally introduce the student representatives to the board for the class of 2025. Tasnim Yasm mean and Timothy [Applause] Beiju
002Taz is an ambitious and thorough student who has proven repeatedly how engaged she is at Upper Derby High School. She has worked tirelessly for the junior class over the last three years and supported her peers and classmates. Whether it be words of encouragement for a struggling friend or an ear to the floor for student needs, Taz's voice has grown and she has truly come into her own. She is an artist and she has worked diligently to create visual representations of the class of 2025, including homecoming and the junior prom. Although her passion is art, she has a strong foundation in STEM. Good evening. Timothy Beiju Tim is a character, or rather he has character. No one could be more enthusiastic when it comes to his classmates. He has cheered, he has danced, and he has
003painted his way through all of our class and school events. His infectious smile can reach anyone. He loves basketball, works at Playhouse Lanes, and participates in our DCTS program. He has a great hobby in photography and we hope to see more images of our students throughout the district as he embarks on his term as a student representative to the school board for the 2024 2025 school year. TZ and Tim are both born and raised in the Upper Derby community and have metriculated from the kindergarten center through Upper Derby High School. All of their siblings have graduated from the Upper Derby School District. They are the youngest children in their respective families and have a strong interest in STEM and the biomedical field. Both of the class of 2025 representatives are team players and are always
004willing to support their peers. We are expecting them to do great things this year and wish them the best of luck. When I asked both Tim and Taz how their participation may be different from prior schoolboard reps, they explained that they really wanted their personalities to be transparent and they didn't want to be mistaken for immaturity. They have warm smiles and infectious laughs. They bring joy to the senior center, their classrooms, and their classmates. But do not underestimate them. They have great aspirations and dreams for their future. They both understand the magnitude of their responsibilities both to the board and to the students of Upper Derby school districts. They are looking to expand their practice in community service by voicing the needs and celebrating the accomplishments of all of our students starting with our youngest
005at the kindergarten center all the way through the class of 2025 and Upper Derby High School. In closing, please give one more hand to Timothy and [Applause] Tasnine. Tasname and Timothy. We're honored to have you as student representatives for this school year. So, thank you. The third item on the work session agenda is a presentation of the PSBA honorroll certificate of appreciation to school board member Mr. Damen Waravage by Dr. Daniel McGary. Uh we uh don't have Mr. Damian War Savage um in attendance tonight, but we're are still going to honor him in this way. I received a letter. uh time goes by very quickly and uh one of the things that's important and we're going to honor teachers and students is that we honor people that have given their time and work here in
006the school district as a volunteer on school board. Uh whether you're a teacher or a student, it's important that we recognize and we celebrate all the accomplishments that that exist. PSBA, the Pennsylvania School Board Association, does the same thing. Um Damian, if you were here tonight, time flies, is now in his fifth year, five years as a rep on this school board representing his community and as a former graduate. I know how much pride he has in being in our schools and being on the school board. So, there's a certificate for Damian. This is pretty interesting. I was going to tease him a little bit. This is as good as it gets after 5 years. They don't give you a good plaque until 20. So, you have to work another 15. They give you a
007piece of paper for five and then after 20 they give you a better plaque. So congratulations to Damian. We'll make sure we get a picture of him and recognize him again. I know how much this would mean to him. So congratulations to Damian. Thank you for that. And the final item on the work session agenda this evening is the presentation of certificates for 25 years of service by Dr. John Counsel. Great. Thank you so so much. I'm excited whenever we can celebrate excellence which we just did and we will continue to do. Um good evening members of the board, Dr. Mitch Gary, uh, Vice President Williams, um, and to the community. Good morning, everyone. I'm sorry. Good evening. It's been a long day. Good evening. So, during this month, we are honoring 17 members of
008the Upper Derby family uh, who have devoted 25 years of their lives to serving uh, the students and families in the district, eight of which are here uh, this evening. The 25-y year recipients who could not join us uh, will be recognized during an upcoming faculty meeting. Please join me um in welcoming Jackie Bala. Jackie, if you can make your way to the [Applause] front. So members of the community, it's with great joy that we celebrate Jackie Ball's uh incredible milestone of 25 years of service as a beloved educator here in the district. Jackie has been a shining example of kindness and compassion throughout her career at Stonehurst Hills Elementary School. Her colleagues consistently describe her as a teacher who puts the needs of uh of her students above all else. She is known for
009her unwavering dedication to listening to her students concerns and working with them to find thoughtful solutions. Jackie's generosity extends beyond her classroom. She is always willing to lend a helping hand to her fellow staff members, generously sharing both her time and resources to support her colleagues in need. Her willingness to collaborate and assist others is a testament to her exceptional character and dedication to the educational community. Jackie serves as a yearbook adviser and school events photographer for the school's news uh letter and school assemblies. Jackie, Jackie, we thank you for your unwavering commitment and the countless ways and the countless ways to help make a difference every day. Congratulations on reaching a remarkable 25 years. And thank you so much. Please join me in welcoming Christy Coyle. Christie, members of the community. Again, it's it's
010with immense gratitude that we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Christy Coil's exceptional service to the district. Over the past 25 years, Christy Coyle has become an a pillar of our uh community, impacting countless students and colleagues with unwavering dedication. From her early days as a fourth grade teacher at H Highland Park to her influence influential roles at Bwood Elementary School and the kindergarten center as a reading specialist, Christy has continuously demonstrated her commitment to fostering a love of learning. As an elementary instructional coach, she shaped the academic experiences of many, gotten both students and teachers with her expertise. Currently at Aronomic Elementary School, Chris Christie wears many hats with enthusiasm. As a fourth grade teacher, uh, student council co-advisor, UDA union representative, running club co-coordinator, and 24 club co-advisor. She consistently goes above and beyond.
011Her facilitation of induction sessions and mentorship of new teachers further exemplify her commitment uh to the next generation of educators. Uh Christy is described by her colleagues as dedicated, motivated, and resourceful. Uh she is an unspo outspoken advocate for both teachers and students, a lifelong royal who knows everyone and everything about Upper Derby. Her honesty, support, and team spirit makes her an invaluable asset to our district. Beyond her professional achievements, Christy have personal interests that add to her vibrant personality. Listen to this. She holds a black belt in taquando, a testament to her discipline and perseverance. A huge Harry Potter fan and dog lover with two beloved pets. She brings joy and warmth wherever she goes. Please join us in celebrating Christiey's incredible 25 years of service. Congratulations. Please join me in welcoming Gina Davis
012to the front. [Applause] Gina, members of the community, it's with great gratitude, it's with gratitude that we celebrate Gina Davis, who has dedicated 25 years to inspiring and educating students across our district. Gina began her journey with uh with Westbrook Park in August of 2020, but her impactful career and education started long before that at Stoneher Hills at at Stonehurst Hills Elementary School. Her colleagues describe her as calm, cool, and collected qualities that have made her a beloved and highly respected teacher. Known for her innovative approach and unwavering patience, Gina has a unique ability to connect with each of her students individually. Her passion for science shines through every lesson, making complex concepts fun and engaging. She excels at building strong relationships with students, teaching them not only academic skills, but how to resolve problems
013and work together. Uh, beyond her impressive teaching skills, Gina is also known for her love of travel and the great outdoors. And let's not forget her fantastic sneaker collection. I heard about these sneakers, including a standout pair of purple and gold Nikes that reflect her vibrant personality. Gina, your dedication to excellence have made a profound impact on students alike at Stonehurst Hills, West Park, and throughout the Upper Derby district. Congratulations on 25 years of outstanding [Applause] service. Congratulations, Gina. Elementary school is such a place to work. Yes, indeed. Uh please join me in welcoming Rosemary Fel. [Applause] Rosemary. Members of the community, we are thrilled to celebrate a remarkable milestone in the career of Rosemary Fel. For the past 25 years, Rosemary has been an integral part of the Gaer Elementary School community. Teaching both
014fourth and second grade with what her colleagues describe as a passion, an unwavering passion and commitment. Rosemary's impact goes beyond the classroom. She's known as the ultimate teammate, always offering a voice of reason and positivity. Her incredible patience and teacher skills have shaped the lives of countless students. Her colleagues will tell you that as outstanding as a teacher she is, she's a she's even a better person. Rosemary Rosemary's journey Rosemary's journey in education began over 40 years ago. After spending one year as a substitute teacher, she dedicated 14 years of teaching in Catholic school before joining the team at Gaurer Elementary School. Her lifelong commitment to education and well-being of her students is truly inspiring. Please join us in honoring Rosemary Fel for her 25 years of exceptional service to our [Applause] school. Congratulations, Rosemary.
015Please join me in uh welcoming uh Michelene Haley. Micheline Haley. Members of the community, we are thrilled to celebrate Micheline Haley, affectionately known to us as Shelley. Uh for 25 years of dedicated service to our community. Since joining up a Pad Darby family in 1999, Shelley has been a beacon of passion and commitment as our esteemed music teacher and coral program leader. Her tireless dedication has not only enriched the lives of countless students, but also shaped the musical culture that defines Beverly Hills Middle School. Shel's influence extends beyond the classroom. as a PBIS coach, excuse me, uh as a PBIS coach, she um since its inception in our district, she has been uh instrumental in fostering a positive and supportive environment for both students and staff. Thank you. Her contributions uh to committees, various committees
016and school events, including the highly anticipated spring musical, have le have left a mark, an indelible mark on the school's tradition and spirit. Her love for music and the arts. I have more. So, I want to talk about her kids. I have a little more. Her love for music and the arts run deep and is beautifully reflected in her family. As you can see, her daughter, a senior in high school, and her son, a freshman, have both inherited Shel's passion, continuing the legacy of artistic excellence. Shel's dedication, enthusiasm, uh, and support have made a lasting impact in the Beverly Hills community. Uh, thank you so much, Shelley, for your extraordinary 25 years of service. Thank you so [Applause] much. Please join me in welcoming Christine Pacino. [Applause] Christine, it is with uh great pride and
017gratitude that we celebrate Christine uh affectionately known as Chrissy to us for her remarkable 25 years of service here in the Upper Derby School District. Chrissy was born and raised in Upper Derby and a graduate of Drexel Hill in Upper Derby High School. Chrissy began her professional journey with us as an office assistant and receptionist at Drexel Hill Middle School where she uh where she spent over 20 years making a lasting impact. Her dedication continued as she transitioned into the transportation office and then into her current role as administrative assistant to the director of pupil services. Uh throughout her career, Chrissy has exemplified what it means to be a true leader, consistently going above and beyond uh for the community community here in Upper Derby. Known for her knowledge of the district and best practices
018for administrative professionals, Christy leads by example. From day one, she has been affectionately called the mama hen for her supportive and approachable nature guiding and nurturing those around her. Chrissy organizational skills, particularly her prowess with spreadsheets, have been invaluable to the district. The Upper Derby District is truly fortunate to have Chrissy as part of the community. Congratulations on 25 years of outstanding service. [Applause] Congratulations. All right, please join me in welcoming uh Lisa Thompson. Please join me in welcoming Lisa Thompson to the [Applause] front. Again, it's with great pride and gratitude that we celebrate Lisa Thompson's remarkable 25year journey with the Upper Derby School District. Lisa began her educational career in 1994 as a student teacher at Westbrook Park. After completing her uh studies, she embarked on a path of excellence that took her through
019various roles across Delaware County. From substituting around the area and serving as a long-term substitute in Coachville to teaching in the school district of Philadelphia, Lisa's commitment to education has been unwavering. In 1998, Lisa joined the Upper Derby School District. Her journey with us has seen her enrich the lives of students at Bwood Elementary School, Charles Kelly Elementary School, and finally Primus Elementary School. Outside of the classroom, Lisa's passionate outdoor enthusiast. Uh she and her family have explored numerous states, camping and hiking their way through breathtaking landscapes, always finding joy in the beauty of nature. Lisa's colleagues desri describe her as kind, caring, and passionate. uh who was a passionate individual who is not only a hard worker but also an exceptional team player. Her innovative strategies and dedication to supporting and growing her students
020are truly inspiring. Lisa impacts ex impact extends beyond her teaching. She's an incredible educator. Lisa, we are an incredibly Got it. Lisa, we are incredibly fortunate to have you as part of our team. Thank you for the 25 years of unwavering commitment. [Applause] Congratulations. Congratulations, Lisa. I now uh please join me in welcoming Lisa Wilson Robinson to the front. Lisa, [Applause] again, it's with joy and appreciation that we celebrate Lisa Wilson Robinson's 25 years of dedicated service as a cherished member of the business department at the high school. Administrators at the high school have shared that Lisa's classroom has always been a beacon of warmth and inclusivity, reflecting her calm and and kind personality. Her commitment to creating a positive learning environment is matched only by the unwavering support uh for her students. Uh beyond
021her daily responsibilities, Lisa has generously generously shared her time and expertise as a volunteer club supervisor, contributing to the dynamic atmosphere of our high school through various student clubs over the years. Her dedication extends beyond the classroom and into the community for those who share a love of Philly sports. Lisa is a familiar and enthusiastic presence at every home Phillies game. Whether she's welcoming fans at the third base gate or proudly showcasing her team. What was that? Left field. Yes, left field gate. Proudly showcasing her team spirit with Philly's themed attire. Her energy and passion are unmistakable. As we celebrate Lisa Wilson Robinson's remarkable 25-y year journey, we extend our helpful help heartfelt gratitude for her tireless commitment, her inspiring dedication, and countless ways that she have enriched our school community. Congratulations, Lisa. Thank you
022so much. And thank you so much uh to all of our again our uh those who have committed themselves to 25 years of service to our district. Please give them all another round of applause. Thank you so much. [Applause] Thank you so much. And congratulations again to all that were honored this evening. Before we call tonight's meeting to order, Dr. McGary, will you please outline the public participation procedures? Yes. Uh good evening everyone. For those who will stay for the for the full meeting for those who are joining us online, uh we do hold our meetings both virtually uh and in person and we allow participation in person and virtually. People that are in person will be called upon first to speak. Uh so prior to the meeting, prior to 7:30, those who wanted to
023provide general comment would have had to have signed in sorry by 7:30 on this yellow sheet. They'll be called to speak at the end for general comment. Those who want to provide general comments virtually would have had to have done so by calling in at 610-789-7200 extension 2000. Provide your name and address and specifically would have been general comment and you make your general comment. Um you could also email your comments to board uh board meeting comments at upper derbyd.org. Provide your name, address, and the specific comment you'd like to make. Tonight is a comment only meeting. Our question and answer sessions take place at committee meetings. We will call on in-person people first uh followed by uh the phoned in or emailed comments at a particular part of the meeting. Each each report will
024come up. The board will have a conversation. They then open it up to public comment. If you'd like to comment on a specific report before the board would like to move forward with that, you can come up to the microphone. The board will say, "Is there any comments from the public?" You'll come to the microphone, provide your name and address. Uh it's a threeminut comment. The board will take that comment into consideration before moving forward. Those who are virtual would have to send their comment in to board meeting comments at upper dbsd.org uh before the report is finished or phone it in at 610789-7200 extension 2000. Again, address, name, and specific report you'd like to comment on, and that will be taken into consideration and become part of the record before moving forward. I'm happy
025to remind everyone of that again. Uh since I do it every month a lot of times for the last couple of years, I'm happy to remind everyone. The regular in-person and virtual meeting of the Upper Darby School District of School Board directors will please come to order. There was a closed session this evening from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. for matters to be discussed within the limitations for closed deliberations as prescribed by the Pennsylvania Act 93 of 1998. For this evening's meeting, there was personnel and litigation matters. Roll call. Board Secretary, Mr. Rogers, please. Miss Britney Williams, present. Miss Ko present. Miss Murphy Mercy present. Mr. Hussein present. Mr. War Savage. Mr. Desawyers present. Mrs. Glenn present. Miss Deborah Williams present. Mr. Fields. Uh the district posted this evening's agenda to board docs at least
02624 hours prior to the commencement of this meeting. Is there a motion approved that previously posted agenda? So move. Second. The agenda, sorry. The agenda was uh moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. The minutes of the combined work session, regular meeting of August 13th, and a special meeting of August 27th, 2024 are in the hands of each board member and have been made available to the public. I move for their adoption. Second. So moved. That's all right. Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. The report of the secretary, Director Murphy Morrisy, please. The report of the secretary is in the hands
027of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move 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. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. The report of the treasurer, Miss uh Britney Williams, please. The report of the treasurer is in the hands of each board member has been made available to the public. I move for his adoption. Second. Are any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? Seeing none. All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. We will now have the report of the student representatives, Tasnim, Yasmine, and Timothy Beiju. Please. We were told that we didn't do a report. So, so I'll help. Uh, I told
028you we're going to put you on the spot to see how you handled yourselves after our conversation. No, but you're right. There is no report for you guys tonight. More of just a general introduction. Say hello, let everybody know your background, a little bit more about yourself. We already bragged out about you a little bit, but there's nothing like putting you on the spot without having been prepared because that's what the real world's like. So, why don't you just share everybody with a little about who you are, what happened today, and then you can go from there. But you still have to stay the whole night. Hey, so my name is Timothy Bu. It's nice to meet you all. I'm very honored for this position. Um, I didn't know I would get it, but I
029did get it. Thank God. But I'm very excited to work with uh Taz and everyone on the board. So, thank you all for giving me a chance. And I I promise I'll prove myself. You know, I got this. We got this. Yeah. All right. I'm Tazmine. You guys can call me Taz. Um, uh, again, thank you to the board for giving me this great, amazing opportunity. Uh, I'm looking forward to work with Tim and the rest of you guys. Uh, again, thank you very much. I'm very excited to see what comes for the future. Thank you so much for that and for your introductions. We look forward to having your report next time. Thank you. The budgeted uh personnel and enrollment reports have been made available to the board and the public and are recorded
030as part of the record. There's no vote required at this time. Uh we will now have the report of the superintendent, Dr. Daniel McGarry, please. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Um just want to again congratulate uh Tim and Taz for everything. We had a meeting this morning. They got to meet the entire administrative team. put them through some some some questions early on, let them know what to to anticipate. This is such a timehonored tradition. We've had unbelievable representatives to this to the student body. And I think that's an important part. I see some young kids that are here in the audience. It's a huge huge responsibility that these two individuals represent the voices of the students on a monthly basis here. So, they get direct access to the central office team, ask us questions.
031I told them to email whenever they want. Anything that comes up tonight that they have a question about, they can reach out to any one of us and get that information. We've had kids go on to do amazing things uh from this from these positions and we expect the same and we know that we'll get the same. Awesome job meeting with you guys today. You guys carried yourself so well. I'm always amazed every single time we have these meet and greets with our student reps just how poised you are. You know, you're so so mature beyond your years. We're jealous of probably a lot of us to see how well prepared you are for these moments. And for us, it makes us feel good that we're doing a good job. I mean, you represent what
032we do here in the school district. you saw 25 years of teaching recognition and those folks do what they do because of what you become and so thank you for being so polished, so poised and just beautiful kids, your smiles, everything about you. So, thank you so much each month. You'll be on uh so we'll see how you do. We'll give you a grade after that. Um so, good evening everyone. Vice President uh Williams, I know I'm sure uh board president Fields who's not feeling well is probably watching uh at home. Uh to the other board members, administration, teachers, staff, and students. Um good evening. Um also to the staff, thank you for your 25 years of service. Um it's such a refreshing uh part of what we do here. We try to take every
033opportunity we can to recognize and celebrate our staff. My opening day comments and the goals for the school district were to celebrate every small success. 25 years in teaching in today's environment is not a small success. It's a huge success. So again, congratulations to those teachers that could make it tonight and the teachers we're going to honor in their schools. We got together with the teachers union a few years ago uh and created a new pathway to celebrate people at our meetings here. And this this started probably about two years ago as a way to honor our staff and make sure that they know how much we appreciate them. So congratulations to those teachers uh for reaching the 25 mile marker. Um big deal. This evening, I will be recognizing the academics academic accomplish accomplishments
034of some of our high school students, sharing with you our shirt of the year for the 24-2 school year, which is pretty cool. And I'm going to provide you with an overview of our emergency preparedness procedures and some safety considerations that we're going to be reviewing um next month. So, I'll begin by talking about recognizing students. Um, here in the school district a few years ago, we started to budget covering the costs so that all of our students can take the PSAT. That was not a feature that we had just a few short years ago, but now it's a feature where we cover so all of our high school students can take the PSAT here in the school district. And I'm happy to say that in the fall of 2023, we have some unbelievably bright
035and talented students um that the College Board recognizes for their exceptional academic achievement on the PSAT. To be honored by the College Board in this particular area and to be eligible for this recognition, you have to take you have to have taken the um PSAT uh in the 10th or 11th grade in the fall of 2023 or the spring of 2024 as a 10th grader. And you had to score in the top 10% of all test takers. So that's really important. You had to score in the top 10% of all test takers. You had to earn a three plus or two or more in two or more AP exams. So, you had to score above a three in two AP exams, score in the top 10% on the PSAT, right? And you also have to
036be a very from a very diverse background as a student. They're the criteria that we have in front of us today. And so, I want to recognize and if you could save your applause for a second and the students who are were able to be here tonight, if you can come forward, we have a little recognition for you. We're going to take a picture, but if we could hold the applause until all the names are called, that'd be great. Uh, Rakaya Alamin, grade 11. Kenya Breenidge, grade 12. Mustafa Elced, grade 11. Thomas Hung, grade 12. Tama Murphy, grade 12. Muad Newton, grade 12. Cayar Ofi, grade 11. Ofa, sorry. Shalil Rahad, grade 11. Taylor Williams, grade 11, and Tasnim, our very own Yasmine, grade 12. Come on forward. Go get a [Applause] picture. So, I'll
037cut I'll cut the background to this next part. um brief, but it's important that I share this with you. I I lost my dad in January of 2023. Prior to losing my dad, we had a bucket list of things that we wanted to accomplish. And one of those bucket list of things was to go to a Notre Dame football game at the University of Notre Dame. And so, we went out to the University of Notre Dame with him before he passed away. And what he wanted to instill in us, his kids, and his family before he passed away is this idea of pride. pride in what you have, traditions, how important pride is, how important traditions are. And there's a lot of really cool things. I'm sure there's a lot of universities that are cool,
038but this was a particular being an Irish Italian Catholic growing up in the area, Notre Dame was kind of instilled in me to to look up to as a program. But the what what they have, the way that their campuses, the way that they handle things was just really stood out to me as unbelievably impressive. I walked away from that meeting, you know, that event with my dad and my family with this this other concept that Notre Dame does every year and it's a huge deal. They have something called the shirt of the year where the entire student body, whether you're an athlete or not, they have a committee that they put together to build build pride and build tradition where they come up with a theme, a special shirt, and they make it a
039big deal, the unveiling of the shirt of the year. So when I came back from that trip uh to Notre Dame, I always try to take away something from a great institution uh and see what we can do here in the Upper Aby School District. I came back to Dr. Manfrey and Mrs. Simone and at that time Gretchen Kamiso who was our um athletic director and now Russell Bennett and the team and wanted to put together a committee. I think it's our third or fourth year of the shirt of the year. And we try to have an unveiling, try to create pride and this year you'll hear we change things up a little bit again. Um, so I'm not going to do any more talking, but I wanted you to have a little background as
040to why we do this here in this. And here is the shirt of the year unveiling. The shirt of the year just exemplifies what Upper Derby should be. It's a symbol representing not just Upper Derby athletes, but the Upper Derby school district as a whole. Making sure we're all represented cuz we are all royalty. Usually it would just be high school senior captains of each sport meeting together to like discuss the shirt of the year. But this year we've decided to include the middle schools and the elementary schools. If you include younger kids, you can show them, oh, you can become leaders to math. They're our future and we need like their opinion since they're like newer. They have like more ideas. They're creative. This shirt represents not just Upper Derby High School, but all
041the elementary schools in the school district, all the middle schools in the school district, even the kindergarten center in the school district. this campire came in and she was like, "Sure, take a seat." And it was just like a Google Meet. We all got into a big Google Meet together and then just decided um what shirt to pick. We started off with about 20 to 25 quotes, some that were like short and sweet, some acronyms, stuff like that. We got the quotes down to like about five. Miss Paladino called me into her office. She was like, "I think they're doing a vote right now." And that's how we got Rise to Royalty. After the Google meet, we had ideas to like represent and show what it would be like. So, we got kids K to
042fifth and we went to the gym behind the big Royals banner. Rising Royals. You start off little in kindergarten and you rise with the royals and you go up to 12. As you move up through the grades, you're slowly becoming like more intelligent. you're getting used to the world, which is like rising up to royalty because like for royals, we uphold like a certain standard. We have to be on the top of our game at all times, always. So, when you rise to royalty, you're rising to the top of your game. You're basically becoming the best person that you can be. Rise to royalty. Rise to royalty. Rise to royalty. So, again, great job to Jason Taylor and to the team and Russell Bennett and everybody who put this together. A lot of work goes
043into that. All the little things I think do matter. Um trying to create a sense of pride in the school district. We started a rebranding campaign a couple years ago and really it's just taken off. We're all royals now. We're all going to end up going to the same high school. Um and it's a pretty special place. The the purple and gold that we have going throughout everything is great. So little plug, sales plug, get your rise uh rise to royalty uh t-shirt. I had mine on a Friday night at the football game. It fits good. It's a good shirt. It's a good look. So congratulations to the team for putting that together. and we look forward to the the list of uh the shirt of the year uh concepts for next year. Stay tuned.
044Yep. So now I'm I'm going to go through uh some comments that typically we would be going through I'd be going through at a committee meeting in September or October. Every fall we go through a conversation with our public and our board about what our safety procedures are, what our safety measures are. And so this evening, um, the board asked given recent, uh, events that have occurred here in our school district at the high school, and then obviously on a national level, the concerns and and you know, our hearts go out to what's taken place in Georgia, those families in that school district. It's just tragic. Um, it's really disheartening what's happening in our schools, in society today. Uh the board asked me to come forward with a presentation. Um and I I think it's
045important that I I reiterate how grateful I am and we are to the staff, students and administration, the Upper Army police, how they handled September 3rd, 2024 at the high school. The entire administration, the teachers, everybody, right? A staff member responded to a student acting under the influence. She contacted security and administration. Police were contacted and the entire incident was over in under 30 minutes. I have received numerous emails thanking us for the way that we responded, which I appreciate. But I've also received emails questioning why we do not have more security in our schools. Namely, things like armed security, metal or weapon detection systems. And the comments and the questions obviously are understood that people stay on one side of this conversation. As a district, we take safety and security very seriously and the
046administration has reviewed and recommended several safety enhancements ranging from over the years additional cameras, more security officers, additional hall monitors, additional mental health services, additional social workers, additional guidance counselors, as well as we have reviewed armed security and weapons detection systems going back as far as 2018 and most recently ly we discussed armed security and the potential for weapons uh security weapons detection systems in October of 2022. We have a memo of understanding with our local law enforcement. I want you to understand that we have an unbelievable relationship with our emergency responders and our local police department. It couldn't be any any better. And I want to thank Tim Burnernhard and the police who do respond to our schools. Just a great relationship and that partnership I don't think can go without a comment on
047that. It's really important uh that we keep that and we have that we are a year removed from an external safety audit. So this board uh and the administration got together and just a year ago we had an external safety audit done on all of our schools. We can't share that information with the public, but we've had a safety audit done. I'm I'm making sure that you're aware of what has taken place and what we have. This past summer, we held a two-day safety and emergency response training tabletop exercise in this very room with all of our administrators in the district. The Upper Darby Police and the chief of police came to the event, the Upper Darby Fire Department, we had emergency responders, we had the Delaware County Community College involved because that could be
048a relocation area and the community colleges in the area. Um, and we invited all of our non-public schools. So, all the schools in this community were invited to a training that we ran and organized here at the school district um to make sure that our community, our non-public schools and our public schools are aware of how to respond and handle an emergency situation. And that took place over a two-day period of time with an outside consultant here in this room where we did a tabletop review on day one and then followed that up on a second day. I give that that information to you because I want to now go through and and bear with me because this is not a short presentation. I think it warrants a depth of conversation with you to know
049what we do. This presentation I'm going to go through right now is what we would typically go through at a committee meeting in the fall. But the board was concerned. They want the public to know how we handle things. So, I'm going to go through with you a couple things this evening. the language we use and our procedures that we use when we initiate any kind of emergency response, the tools and the vehicles we use to communicate with people because what we've learned through failures in the past of communicating, how can we get information out as quickly as we possibly can because we're fighting these things in our the hands of our kids, in the hands of everyone. And in the past, we did not do a good job years ago communicating and we want
050to improve our communication. So, I'm going to talk to you about that. what proactive efforts and mental health supports this board and this administration has put in over the years to provide not reactive punitive measures, but to try to meet kids where they are, find out what their concerns are, provide the mental health supports so that we guide them in the right direction. Right? It's easy to react. Can we recognize behaviors on the front end? I'm going to talk to you about that. I'm going to talk to you about what threat assessments mean. The requirement that has changed over the last couple of years, it's an actual 26page document that we have to go through. Anytime a child exhibits any kind of suicidal behavior, any kind of threats, we have to put them through a
051threat assessment. I want you to know that that happens on a on a regular basis here in the school district. Um that we have these supports in place for our kids. What is a Title N investigation? Kids that are picked on bullying and harassment is one avenue, but now kids that are picked on based on their gender, uh their race, any kind of sexual uh uh discrimination. There's a title N investigation process that takes place. And then I'm going to talk to you about after tonight considerations the board is asking the administration to bring forward again at the next committee meeting. I need some heads to nod. Everybody okay with me so far in the audience? You follow along? I'm the teacher at heart, so checking for understanding will help. And I'm doing like multitasking
052here. I got like two computers going. So what is a lockout? A lockout is a procedure where we're trying to keep all threats out of our school. I'm not going to read the slide word for word from you, but a lockout is something that can be initiated at a school level. It does not need law enforcement to initiate it. Um it's something that we can initiate at a school level and it's something that we can call out on our own. We don't have to have the police to release us out of a lockout. Typically, a lockout is in a situation where there might be something going on in a home in the community or a small business or maybe a police chase, something going on in the community. We want to get the kids into
053the school and we're going to lock out any entryway into our building. We'll use the main entrance as a way that we can vet who can come in out of the school, but all the other activities in the school go on, right? The regular school day functions inside the building. We're keeping everybody inside, keeping the threat or the perceived threat that might be out in the community outside. We okay so far? Thumbs up. As we do this, by the way, everything that I'm going through in the language, we communicate out. If we're in a lockout, we will put it out on our social media through our crisis go to our schoolboard. Everyone will know that we're in a lockout. There are no secrets. We will follow up too with why we were in a lockout
054in a particular situation. What is a lock in? A lockin is a situation where um we want to keep the kids in the environment where they are. So it might be the need to search a particular student in a particular area. It might be a hallway disruption where maybe a student is sick. There's an ambulance that needs to get somebody and we need to get that child through the hallway quickly. We might put the school into a lockin. The instruction continues. The classrooms in the classrooms themselves function, but we're not releasing kids out into the hallway of the school. We're making sure the hallways are clear and we can handle whatever is going on in the building at that time. Again, this is not a situation where there's an active shooter or a major emergency
055going on. It's just in the event where we may have to have a we have a hallway disturbance or something going on inside the building, we would call a lock in. Okay, this can be released by the school itself, by the principal and the administration in that building. It does not require a police release in that situation. Both a lock in and a lock out can be escalated to the next language that we use in the district which is a lockdown. Lockdown is the most severe thing that we can do. Years ago, prior to developing the plans that we have now where we have a lock in and a lockout, many of you who are here that I know for years, it was always a lockdown and then kids would be locked down in a
056room at sometimes for over an hour. And when you go to a lockdown, that is only can be released by local law enforcement. I cannot release us out of a lockdown. Uh an administrator cannot release us out of a lockdown. Door by door. The upper derby police and emergency response are the only ones who can release us and clear a lockdown in the school district. Are we clear on that? And that can be initiated by uh police uh or the uh building administration uh in that building. A call will go out. we'll hit our crisis go. We'll initiate our lockdown procedures and then we'll begin to communicate out what we have to the public at that time. Lockdown really should be used uh for the most serious perceived emergency in in the building, especially an
057active shooter or some kind of serious event that's going on in the school. Once we're in a lockdown again, we cannot get out of a lockdown unless the police release us. Anthony, am I doing all right over there? Our director of public safety. All right, good. active shooter. Now, if there's an active shooter, we're in a lockdown. In the event of a lockdown, this is what we train our staff and we talk about with our with our students. We're going to talk to you about there are three things we expect people to do. Run away from the shooter, right? Hide, get to a safe place, or you may have to fight back. And so, all of our staff goes through this training. We talk about it. Everybody's aware of it. We go school by school,
058make sure everybody's aware of those those responsibilities and we talk to kids about the idea that there is a run hide fight. Once we have secured the lockdown, it may be in a situation where we're going to have to ask people to step up. If you're in a situation where you can't hide, run away. If you're on campus, we've had it before where we had a lockdown in the past. Students know that they can go with their teacher and run off campus. They may end up at Barkley Square. They may end up in the cemetery at the high school. They may end up down at Landown. Don't worry about it. We have our staff trained. They will go there. We have communication devices that we can bring people back or pick people up if we
059have to. But the goal is to get to a safe place in the event of an active shooter. The ideal would be to get everybody in a classroom, lock down, and be safe and secure. That may not happen. Might be out at recess, might be at a sporting event. So, it's a run hide situation once we initiate a lockdown procedure. Okay. We also have what is called an evacuation which is different than a lock in a lockout and lock down might be a hazardous material a spill something that's going on that we have to get out of the building a gas leak right a fire drill so we have an evacuation plan for emergency responses where we have to take attendance check where everybody is and we use that uh we do that electronically evacuation
060is different than a lock in a lockout a lockdown Right. A few years ago, the county got together and installed in all of our schools what are called what's called a Dell Pass button. In all of the public schools in the district, there is a button that is used only for an active shooter. This button once initiated will then allow anybody to listen into what's going on in that environment. They can hear what's going on. They can talk to you. It's not something you can necessarily have a communication back with, but once that button's initiated, the calvalry is coming. All of the emergency responders will go out from Upper Army police and local police from other areas will be dispatched that there's an active shooter at this location. That button will hit. It communicates out
061automatically and it sends police from all over the area through um through a police dispatch that there's an active shooter at the location where the button was hit. We have these in all of our schools. Communication very important. I mentioned that we have anou which is called a memo of understanding with local law enforcement. This is a state requirement. It is a document that that I sign. We review the board the board is aware of it. The chief of police of aware is aware of it. It outlines how we communicate, how we work together, even how we communicate. So when there is something that's going on that could be considered a crime or such as an active shooter or something like that, I have to vet and we vet what communication and information we can
062share with the police before it goes out so that we do not interrupt or disrupt an active investigation. In the event of a lockdown or a major emergency in the district, communication will come from the school district, but the local police department per our moou really takes the lead in communicating what's going on because at that point in time, if something were to occur, it is now considered a police active police scene, active police investigation, and they take the lead in communication. Again, we're blessed in Upper Derby. We vet everything together. We do press conferences together. We communicate. We communicate 24/7, 7 days a week with our local law enforcement. How else do we communicate? We have a parent link system, which is our system that goes out and sends roocalls and emails. We have
063Crisis Go, which is an app that's on our computers and on all of our phones that we can initiate a lock in, a lockout, a lockdown with a push of a button that goes out to all of our computers, all of our cell phones in the school district. You as a parent can join the app and get the emergency response and you will get communication through the crisis go emergency response. Members of the public can have it. You should also know there's a back end of that system where there's an internal communication. We have all the local police have been joined and asked to be a part of our crisis go app. So when we initiate an emergency response using the app on our cell phones, right, that information is communicated too. So, as we're
064taking role in attendance in classrooms, teachers and staff don't have to call anybody. They can communicate via the phone or the laptop through the Crisis Go app that we can get anywhere and police can get that information and the administration can get that uh information. So, we have that Crisis Go app initiated just a few years ago and the staff does an unbelievable job uh communicating and initiating that. We use that for fire drills, lockins, lockdowns, evacuations, everything. That app is used here in the school district. You should also know that our police have all of our floor plans. On holidays and weekends when kids are not in session, they run drills. They go through our buildings to make sure they're familiar. New police officers know how to go through our schools. They're aware of
065how things take place. We use social media. We communicate through that vehicle. We also communicate on our district website. Another key piece of information in this presentation. I won't put you through it right now. There's a video. This is a um something from the Pennsylvania office attorney of the attorney general that came out a few years ago. It's an anonymous tip line. Anybody can call in to the safe to say tipline to report a concern concern of a child feeling like they were they're feeling suicidal or they're feeling depressed or they're anxious. Someone's being bullied or picked on. Someone is concerned there could be a shooting tomorrow. Someone has a friend who has a gun. They're worried about doing something. 247, seven days of the week, there's an anonymous tip line that we get respond.
066We get communication sent to us around the clock, holidays everywhere, and then we communicate with the police and we have a coordinated effort. This comes in through the attorney general's office. A communication comes to the school district administration. We review what that is. We gather the information. We try to vet and see if we can find the kid, the contact information. We work with police and within minutes almost every single time, we find the child, we find the family, we vet the situation. And this is crucial information that we have here in the school district through this anonymous tip line that exists here in Pennsylvania called safe to say something. That's another vehicle that often presents presents itself with preventing tragedies outside of school and tips coming into our school and our with our local
067police. Just a few years ago, I mentioned all the things that we talked about in in October of 2022 and the school board thankfully uh took us up on some of those recommendations. And at the secondary schools, we have a ID scanner. And I I don't want to hide this information from anybody. Schools were meant to let people in. And there was a period of time when kids were not our school district kids that were trying to get into our schools or a friend would prop open a door because their girlfriend or boyfriend wanted to come into the school for the day, right? Or somebody ordered Uber Eats to the high school and they wanted the food that they wanted because they didn't like was on the lunch menu. That can't happen. So, we initiated
068a a student ID system that started last year where in order to get into our school, you have to swipe in and we have to know who you are when you come into our school. A photo comes up, here's the ID. Now, we have a much better system checking who's coming into our school and who's not coming into our school. So, this has happened at our three high two our high school and our two middle schools. Eventually, it's going to grow into checking people in the hallways and checking students in the classrooms. Right now, it's just when you arrive in the morning, who is coming into our building and anybody who's late coming into our building, you have to have an ID and you have to be scanned in in order to get into the
069school building. We have various entry points at the middle schools in the high school, it was painful when we first initiated this, but I do think in talking to kids and to staff, um, people feel pretty good about where we are and they feel pretty good about having it. I don't know if you agree. I'm not going to put you on the spot as a student um or you two as students, but this is a recent uh safety improvement that we've added to the school district. Some um proactive things that we have, education's great for acronyms, so I won't read this word for word, but we have um a system in place to recognize good behavior. So PBIS is recognize kids doing the right thing and practice doing the right thing. How do we walk
070in the halls? How do we pass the door to each other? We practice how we greet each other every morning. There's practice, practice, practice on good behavior and seeing good behavior and celebrating good behavior, right? There's a reason why we're recognizing your brilliance on the PSAT. Very few people are motivated on their own. Feeling good, feeling successful motivates you. That's why we wanted you to come out tonight to recognize you, right? That hopefully will make you feel like, keep doing this. People see that I'm doing a good job, right? It motivates us. In fact, a lot of the research says praise is the number one thing that changes student behavior. Every kid is a strength. Recognize that behavior. Praise them for it. We also have social and emotional curriculum that we put in place a
071few years ago prior to COVID and coming out of CO. We have social emotional curriculum in our schools talking about pro-social coping skills and strategies in all of our schools in the district that are taught by staff through our lessons. Making sure that kids know who to talk to. If you're feeling a certain way, recognize those behaviors. Positive coping strategies you can use such as working out, exercising, painting, going for a walk, listening to music, right? Take a brain break, take a walk, all these things to work on self-regulation. We have these systems in place thanks to our school board, thanks to our administration here in the school district. We're trauma informed. That means we are all trained. And by the way, during COVID, we trained our police. the school board said, "Hey, let's bring
072the police in. We've trained police and emergency responders that if our police are responding to our kids or um there's an emergency at a home and there's children in there, you should know that kids' brains develop." Probably a lot of you would say a lot of adult men their brains develop differently, but children's brains develop differently. And as a result of that, we should be aware of how they respond to emergency situations. Like how do we respond? And so there's been a lot of training going on to from the way that babies are held when they're born to how they receive being spoken to, how they how they receive to to certain communication. And we've trained our entire staff, our schoolboard is state required to go through some trauma and train training. If you're a
073schoolboard member, you have to go through trauma training as well. Um, we also have teams called tilt teams. Again, acronyms in education. Every building in the district has a trauma-informed team where they're talking about lessons they can put into place, calming quarters, how classrooms are designed, how we can make sure that we have these things in place to be proactive, restorative, and working with our kids. What else do we have? For the first time, I can tell you in a long time, every school in the district has a social worker. Every school. Yep. That wasn't the case. We used to have to share them previously. So, when I talked about things that were considered previously, the board invested money in proactive mental health resources, things like additional social workers. For the first time going into
074last school year, we have guidance counselors in all of our elementary schools. Never had guidance counselors before. We have guidance counselors in our elementary schools. We have additional guidance counselors in our middle schools. And we added additional guidance counselors in our high schools. In fact, guidance counselors in the middle schools and high schools are actually teaching classes with children. And this year at the high school, they're going to be teaching classes with children um on finance, social, emotional health. Uh at the high school, we have teach we've got we've uh guidance counselors just working on teaching and providing instruction at the high school. We also have partnership with child guidance resource center. We have satellite outpatient mental health clinics at the high school, Hillrest, Stonehurst, uh so that kids can get access right there in
075our community if they need to through their insurance provider or whatever they need. We have satellite mental health facility um in in those schools and we also have behavior support specialists and emotional support classrooms in the school district. We run another program uh Dr. Narelli, Dr. Manfrey and I visited Rner School District. This is many moons ago. Uh they were running a program called Speak Up. It's a program run and organized just by kids where kids get together and they talk to adults to people like me, to people like you, to parents about how they're feeling. They organize the topics. They have breakout sessions. And so at the secondary level, we run speak up events at the middle schools and the high school. Stay tuned for what those events are if you haven't been to
076one. I was a little bit how's this going to go? And when I went and visited Rner and I was in a breakout session at Radner many years ago when this happened with Dr. Dr. Manfrey and Dr. It was moving the way that those kids shared and talked to adults about I'm a child. This is how we're feeling as a parent. This is the stress that we're under. This is what's going on. You should be aware. Here's how we want to be spoken to. And it was really moving to see the parents in that room hear that from a child uh and not their own kid. The rooms are set up so that you're never in a room with your own child. And the kids pick the topics. And yes, the topics are rich to
077what they're feeling. We do not control the topics that the kids want to talk about in those breakout sessions. Threat assessments. God forbid there's an issue where there's suicidal threat, threat to cause harm. A kid says, "I want to cause harm to myself or to other people." We have a board policy. We have a state requirement and we go through a very very comprehensive threat assessment process where we screen the child for the threat that we heard. We contact home. We contact the police and we vet everything we can to make sure nothing possibly can happen in that situation. So we do a threat assessment. I want to provide you some information. In 2021 2022 we had 200 we did 210 threat assessments in the district. In 2223 we did 491 threat assessments in the
078school district across all of our schools. And in 2324 we did 331 threat assessments in our schools. So, if we get a tip outside on the weekend or through Safe to Say or in the classroom or a parent reaches out to us, whatever it is, we will screen that child and we'll make sure we're either providing services or supports to make sure that we have everything in place that we can to check the child to make sure that they're safe. Even if it requires a check to well visit on a holiday, we've done it and we've been involved in those kind of conversations. This has become controversial. I'm not here to talk about that tonight, but if you're following what's going on in the news, Title 9, which really was born out of how uh
079athletes, female athletes are treated unfairly in at the higher level, meaning like male sports get more booster money, they have more programs, it's not fair. It was really born out of equal opportunities for female athletes. And obviously, it's also come into sexual discrimination more so now. It's also taking on the responsibility of gender identity, how kids are treated, how they're picked on, and and how that relates to more suicide among children or suicidal thoughts. And as a result, there's a very strict requirement of Title 9. Now, that law was recently changed. Um, there's been some some Supreme Court rulings. I won't go through that part with you right now, but I want you to know we have a very strict Title 9 investigation protocol. We have to maintain a safe learning environment. All of our
080staff is trained on Title 9 and recognizing sexual harassment, sexual discrimination. We have board policies. In fact, just last month, we created our own board policy, board policy 103.2 that even further addresses our responsibility to make sure kids, no matter what, feel safe and secure in their identity in our schools, in this district. If anyone is picked on, harassed, or discriminated against, it triggers an investigation. We put supportive measures in for both place. the person who's accused of being the person picking on somebody else or harassing or sexually assaulting or date dating violence. We put measures in place. We have an investigation that takes place and then it goes from there and police are contacted if need be if there is actually a crime committed uh in this situation. I want you to know just
081the seriousness of the level of the things that are in this school district uh that this board and this administration has put into play. I also want to make sure that you know that per the law we have to make public this information and on our website we have a district coordinator title n quarter who's Miss Kamishha Simpson and a deputy coordinator who's Miss Wendy Elgart they are really the onbudsman here in the school district the ones who oversee what happens but it's a collective effort of all the administrators and different administrators can be assigned to the case to conduct the investigation and then at that point the title 9 coordinator will then move it on to a more serious investigation if need be. But everything is investigated and all the parents and the children
082are provided their rights and how they can move forward with that. All right. In September of 2022 and October of 2022, so in September of 2022, a similar presentation, the one that I I gave you was done at a committee meeting. In that presentation, we the administration talked to the board and the public about potentially exploring new options for safety and security. things like the the student ID pass that I talked to you about, more cameras, more mental health supports. We also talked about exploring armed security. We also talked about exploring weapons detection systems. Um, we did not do that at that time. Um, instead at that time, what came out of that was we're going to put more mental health supports in place, cameras in place, more proactive measures, and we met with high
083school students. there's a superintendent uh advisory group. In that superintendent's advisory group, uh they said, "Hey, Dr. McGarry, here's an idea. Let's create a a course at the high school on student mentorship." And so, we built a course on student mentorship that's running for the first time at the high school. Now, in the first half of the year, the students are taught how to be mentors. In the second half of the year, they're going to go out into the schools and be mentors to the younger kids in the lower grades, providing academic help and mentorship. and that is in the first phase of coming to fruition this year. They were all the proactive measures that the school district has put in play that I think are paying off and they will pay off. A lot
084of the things that we're dealing with in our schools, our kids and our teachers through those relationships prevent tragedies. It's the human relationships and the trust that exists through all these resources we've put into play that keep our schools safe. Are we perfect? Of course not. As I said in my communication, we're always open to exploring ways to get better, right? And as a result of that, um the board has asked me to explore weapons detection systems uh at a at a committee meeting in in September. And in October, um if you could pull that up briefly, I'm not going to go word for word through it, but we brought in a company called Evolve. Um and that company is a company that is used at a lot of places. Um, I believe it's the
085company that's used down in the Lincoln Financial Center. I believe Disney World uses Evolve. Um, it's an open gate system that searches for um, compressed metals that would be in the form of a gun. This is not a metal detector. It's a drastically different situation than a than a metal detector. It is an open gate system. Um, and we did this presentation, we brought the company in in October of 2022. Again, I'm not going to go word for word through the presentation. Um, these are the companies that they work with, how they are checking people in and out. Similar to if you fly, you walk through this open system that kind of scans you and checks you. It has like an orange box that goes around you where it detects where they think there could
086be a weapon. And as a result of that, that would initiate some kind of a search. Um, former board president Ed Brown, who's now the mayor, and I went to visit Reading High School at this time. Reading High School has this in play. We went to reading to go see what it looked like to see how they handled it. I could tell you that that we'll initiate searches and I'll talk about that in more detail uh at the September meeting. But I want you to know that this has been explored. Um how much the increase in gun violence has continues in this country. Not here to talk about guns. That's not my position. I'm not really here to do that. I'm telling you that it's a reality that we're facing and they have no place
087in schools. Like guns making their way in schools, it's not a good situation. And I think be until things are looked at by those who make those decisions, school districts are reacting to how do we keep people safe. Again, as I started this conversation off earlier, schools were always meant to be open, inviting places. Trying to make them harder to get into was not what they were designed to do. They were meant to be inviting places to allow access to kids. So, we brought in this Evolve company and we showed they talked about the types of guns that this will find. It'll it'll talk about like the the types of weapons that are used that they find in most casualty situations. As scary as that is, um how it's different than a metal detector. It's
088an open gate system. You walk right through. It's not like you have to take everything off and put it on a scanner. You just walk through that through that situation. What we know in our research in this in the past is things like the metal in a Chromebook and the metal in a compressed three- ring binder often set off the weapon detection system. So we we know that we talked about that in the past um as something we would we would need to to explore further. Um again this is what it looks like just briefly. I'm going to fly through part of this. We have found out in some of the school districts that have implemented this. Initially it took a long time to get the kids through and then in other school districts our
089former director of public safety you might be watching Lou Gentiel who's now in Florida. He retired he got bored. He's back doing public safety in Florida schools. He's in a school in there where they have this and it takes about 25 to 30 minutes to get 1500 kids in through through these uh this weapon detection system. At Reading High School, it was tough. I had a phone conversation with a superintendent friend just the other day. They're down to 25 minutes to get about 5,000 kids into the building. Uh now um with that with that system that's in place and how they handle things. That wasn't the case to begin with, but they've made efficiencies and changes, and that's kind of what they're looking at now in a school like that. Here's, like I talked about
090earlier, what it would look like to the person overseeing it. An orange box goes around that person. That would give you the area where you think you need to search. Um, and that would be the area that would the the detection system is saying, we think that there is a metal that you know is the type of metal that would be in in a gun barrel or a knife or something like that. Again, it's more targeted searches is what the presentation was about. It's not just randomly searching kids. Um, it gets better. Also, what this would allow us to do is it would also have facial recognition of somebody that they came into the building that day. We have cameras in all of our schools that already have some some software in there like that
091as well. But, this is just another tool uh that's in place here that we could have uh in our schools. It's done electronically. We could also have this out at our sporting events, at our after prom and our proms. I do want to let you know and I'll and I'll slide through this quickly if we can just we can exit out of that. We're gonna have more of a in-depth pre presentation at the September committee meeting about things like cost, human resources, timing, what would the schedule look like if this were to occur? Feelings, right? How do people feel about this? Most of the phone calls I've received, people are saying to me they think we already have it or why don't we have it? And then there are certainly people who don't feel that
092this is a good idea. So tonight is not a conversation where we're making a decision, the administration or the board, but we do feel and we have felt uh that it's something to bring back up to a conversation with you and the board getting the emails that they've had feel responsibility to ask the administration to bring this back up. And so our game plan will be at the next committee meeting, we will um obviously review this just this. We're not going to be talking about armed security at that time. And the board will then take feedback and questions from the public uh about how they're feeling and what they're thinking and and the and and the board will ask administration questions and then some decision will be made uh in the near future about what
093will come from that committee meeting. Um again a reminder this is what the district did decide to do uh as a result of that October 2022 meeting. We moved in a direction of proactive mental health services. And again, as a reminder, at the September uh 2024 meeting, we will be reviewing weapons detection systems from cost to places that we visited, we're going to go down, like I said, to visit the link and talk to everybody we can about how they implement it, how do they handle it, how do they use it, to provide as much information as we can, both the pros and the cons to what this would look like if the district were to move in this direction. So, I'm sorry for such a lengthy presentation to the board and to the public.
094I know it's a lot. Um, if there's any questions that that that the public has outside of this tonight, it's not a Q&A, you can email me. Um, I'll make time to get back to you on that. But again, there'll be more of a Q&A coming up at the next committee meeting in September. Uh, that concludes my report for this evening. So, I appreciate the time to provide that information. Um, and uh, thank you. That's it for this evening. Thank you, Dr. McGary, for such a comprehensive report. We will now have an update on the August 27 uh 2024 Education and People Services Committee meeting from uh Director Brittney Williams. Thank you, Vice President. Um on August 27, 2024, we had a education and people services committee meeting at 7 p.m. Um the agenda goes
095as follows. We started with a Delaware County Literacy Council informational session from um Dr. Manfrey and Dr. Kelly. Um they presented information from the literacy council. They talked about the benefits of the adult English and second language program um in the Upper Derby community and um there was a presentation that was presented. Then we went into the Pennsylvania youth survey pays that was anformational session by Dr. own. Um at that time data was given um for students in grades 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th. Um and that was anformational session. The district went through um the social and emotional learning and supports that were coming from that survey. And then we concluded with a um policies review that did require board action. Policy 146.1 trauma-informed approach. Policy 21 uh 18 student discipline and restorative practices. Policy
096218.1 weapons. Policy 218.2 terroristic threats code. Policy 323 tobacco and vaping products. Policy 351 controlled substance abuse. and policy 8:15 acceptable use of internet computers and network resources. Um there were no public comments at that meeting and that concludes uh the review. Thank you. We will now have an update on the August 27th, 2024 finance and operations committee meeting uh from Director Desers. Um, a detailed summary of the meeting, including public comments, can be found on board docs. Thank you, Vice President Williams. Uh, so a finance and operations committee meeting was held on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024. Um, there was one item on the agenda. It was the 2024 bond issuance update and it was for board action. District administration and PFM financial advisors provided an update on the district's 2024 financing plan. Additionally, they
097would seek authoriz um they would seek authorization to proceed with the necessary steps to issue a general bond obligation general obligation bond for 2024. Um that item was moved forward at the committee meeting and is on the agenda this evening. Thank you. Uh there were no public comments. That concludes my summary. Thank you so much. Uh Mr. War Savage isn't here, so I'm going to go ahead and read the instruction item tonight. The instruction and curriculum report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for its adoption. Second. All right. Any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? Seeing none, all those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposition? Anyone abstaining? Motion carries. The personnel report, please. Uh, Miss Ko, the personnel
098report is in the hand of each board member and has been made available to the public. I move for its adoption. Second. All right. Any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Anyone abstain? Motion carries. All right. The policy report, please. Director Desers. Thank you, Vice President Williams. Um, so the there are two policies undergoing a first reading this evening. As a reminder, these policies must be considered at a future committee meeting and undergo a second reading at a future board meeting if they are to be adopted. The two policies undergoing a first reading at this evening's meeting are 317.1 educator misconduct and 824 maintaining professional adult student boundaries. A brief summary of the changes are as follows. Policy 317.1, educator misconduct. Minor
099clarifications are being made to comply with the 2024 Title 9 regulations. For further information, please see the summary of policy changes first reading from the special voting meeting held on August 27th, 2024. The changes to policy 824 maintaining professional adult student boundaries. A summary is the language addressing discrimination and harassment was revised to more broadly reference the coordination with the title 9 coordinator and the updated terminology from policies 103, 103.2, and 104 and their accompanying attachments. Minor revisions were made throughout based on recommendations for maining approp maintaining appropriate boundaries. Finally, the language on incident reporting was also updated to reflect the current school code terminology based on act 33 of 2023. That concludes my um that concludes the report for the policy reading. Policy report first reading. Thank you. Policy report second reading approval please.
100The policy report second reading 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? I have a I have a comment. There are changes to seven policies for consideration for a second reading during this meeting. If these changes are approved by the board in this meeting, they will be adopted and implemented. The seven policies impacted are 146.1, 218, 218.1, 218.2, 2, 323, 351, and 8:15. So, the majority of the changes for the first six policies are a result of the passage of uh what's known as the school safety and security updates, which is act Pennsylvania Act 33 of 2023. Uh the final policy undergoing a second reading this evening, policy 8:15, uh contains updates um that
101have been requested that have been put forward by the district. With that said, that concludes my comment. Thank you. Are there any other comments from the board? Okay. Are there any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Those abstaining, please say I abstain. Motion carries. There is no supplies report this evening. No transportation report, facilities report. Um, Director Murphy Moresy, please. 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, and I move for their adoption. Second. Are there any comments from the board? Are there any comments from the public? I'm sorry, I do have a comment. Go ahead, please. I just wanted to make um to thank all those
102who did donate um to our school district and thank you for your generosity. I echo those sentiments. Uh again, any comments from the public? All those in favor, please say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. There is no food services report this evening. The finance and budget report is in the hands of each board member and has been made available to the public and I move for its adoption. Second. Are there any comments from the board? Any comments from the public? All those in favor please say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstaining? Motion carries. We are now at the time for our collateral assignment reports. Uh we're going to begin with uh Delaware County Community College Director Murphy Moresy. There's no report at this time. Thank you. Um I will um talk about
103Delaware County um intermediate unit board. Um, we did have a meeting uh last week and we also have one um tomorrow. Um, and there's really not a whole lot to report on except I will give you one report and that I don't know if all of you know that construction is going on at the building and so you can actually walk into the front lobby now if you go and visit and it looks amazing. So, if you have a chance to stop by um in Morton at the main uh building, um you'll pop in and see how amazing that that building actually looks. And you'll see some construction going on at some of the other IU buildings as well. Um so, just pop in and take a look. Um there's also, um, in case you
104didn't know, lots of resources at the IU um for students and adults alike. Um, so I just want you to be able to use that um, use the IU as a resource um, for English language learners, for yourself if you want to take courses or even for your children. Just don't forget about the IU. So I just, um, wanted to be an advocate for that. Um, next, uh, legislative council director Glenn. Um, I do not have a report this evening. I didn't misspoke speak at our last meeting. I said we we don't start our meetings till tomorrow morning. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Menden Hall Tyson Scholarship Committee update at this time. Thank you. Um, Dr. McGary, um, Doc, uh, Mr. Warage is not here. Did you want to give an update on home and school?
105Yes. This past Monday evening, we had a district home and school meeting. We reviewed uh, the August committee meeting information that was already reviewed with the board. That's typically what we do. Um, unfortunately, the way that our last home and school district home and school meeting fell, we usually go through what we're going to talk about at a committee meeting in advance. This time it was kind of the opposite conversation. Every district home and school meeting we we start off by asking any questions that the home and school association has. I want to make a comment. I appreciate the home and school associ association members that can make it out. Damian is always an active participant as a board member on that and the administrators who take their time that don't have to go to
106that meeting always join the principles always join that meeting. They're on there which I appreciate in central office staff. And then I also process through tonight what I was going to talk about. I wanted to get feedback from the home and school and just talk to them about the recent incidents that occurred in the district and one at the high school, see if they had any questions and then process through letting them know that tonight uh the board had asked me to talk about weapons detection system and let them know that I'd be going through safety and security and I provided them letting them know that this the information I'd be discussing is already publicly available and we talked about that. I'd let them know that we'll talk about it again in September and that
107if there's any decision that I will be coming back to the home and school to let them know that what's going on and and to have them have a a say in that conversation. Great. Thank you. Um I'm going to give an update on PSBA. Um there's an upcoming conference in October. Um and I think that's on the 6th and I think director Glenn and Director Desoyers will be there to represent us. I'm sorry. And director KO. Okay, perfect. Um there's also platform u meeting that I will be attending I think along with other reps will be attending that as well and that's going to be online um in November on a Saturday. Director does noise as well. Good. Um, also I just wanted to mention um, some of you probably get PSBA emails um,
108sent to you, but there's lots of resources there. They do different episodes weekly. Um, one focus uh, on security um, and safety in the district and some uh, resources they have there where they explain things to you like information on safety and security, grants, support um, for the district um, just district requirements. So, if you have any questions about that, it's a resource there for us and there's training there for school directors as well. So, if we're not using it, um we can go ahead and use that my PSBA more effectively. I know um I probably could use it even better. So, just wanted to point that out. Um that's concludes my update. Um policy update, Mr. Desyers. Uh no update at this time. Thanks. Communication Director Glenn, no update at this time. Okay. Um
109and Mr. War Savage is not here for our UD um EA update. Okay. That concludes our collateral assignment reports. Um does anyone have any old business? Seeing none, we are at new business. Um and before I have somebody, does anyone else have any new business? Okay. So, under new business, we have uh PSBA elections this evening and I am going to turn that over to Mr. Rogers. So, we will now conduct the poll vote to elect the PSBA officers for 2024. Each board member has been provided the biographies of each of the candidates. And I will state there are a few positions uh that we will go through tonight. the president-elect, the vice president, eastern zone representative, and then three seats for the PSBA insurance trust trustees. Each of the open seats actually only have
110one candidate. So, an effort to ease the actual election, I'll announce the candidates's name and ask all those in favor. Your choices are to say I or I'll ask if anybody would like to abstain. If you'd like to abstain from the vote, just please announce your uh your name as I call it. Before I start, do the board members have any questions? Okay. So, we'll start with the president-elect. We have Sabrina Backer. All those in favor? I I I. Any abstain? So, we'll elect Sabrina Backer. Next is the vice president, Matt Vanoi. All those in favor? I I I Any abstaining? Move forward with the election. The Eastern Zone Representative Holly Arnold. All those in favor? I. Any abstaining? Okay. Next, we have the three seats for the board uh PSBA insurance trust trustees. So,
111we'll start with the first seat, Nathan G. Mains. All those in favor? I. Any abstaining? Okay. Seat two, Richard Freeich. All those in favor? I I. Any abstaining? Okay. Seat three, William S. Puff. All those in favor? I I. Any abstaining? Okay. Thank you. That concludes the elections for tonight. 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. We would ask that you come forward, give your name and address, and present your comments in the 3inut time limit. In accordance with policy 903, the time allotted for general comments, both in-person and submitted comments, will not exceed 1 hour. Our first person we have here is Harum Khan. Is Harum still here? Okay. Do we have any email uh
112comments or doctor? We have a comment from Kevin Cooper located at 500 block of Penn Avenue in Drexel Hill. That comment was received on September 10th at 306 p.m. via email. This is a general comment. The comment reads as follows. The school district administration should continue to review and implement effective safety policies and procedures to ensure the safety of all students. It's crucial to e assess how secure all the entrances are that students use to enter and exit the school. There should be metal detectors to ensure our children and the staff are safe during the school day. We need to ensure there are enough safety personnel to adequately accommodate the needs of the students and we should also hear from the director of safety and security on ways in which they are implementing such procedures.
113Students should also be heard when it comes to their safety. The school board the school district should reflect on whether they feel confident and comfortable with the safety policies and procedures that are currently in place. As a parent of a student attending Upper Derby School District, I'm willing to assist in any way I can. Thank you. End of comment. Thank you. Was that our only comment this evening? Last comment is from Caitlyn McCasky located at 32 River Road in Drexel Hill. The comment was received on September 10th at 7:30 p.m. via email and it is a general comment. The comment begins, with the incidents that have taken place so far during the school week, the first week of school and other safety issues going on in other high schools in different states, is there any
114thought about metal detectors for the high school? Thank you for your time. End of comment. And that uh is the end of our comments for this evening. Thank you so much. Is there a motion for the adjournment of the meeting? So moved. All those in favor? I I meeting adjourned.