ASD Committee of the Whole / Regular Board Meeting 03/20/2025

001Good evening everyone. I'd like to call to order the Finance Committee of the whole meeting of the Board of Directors of the School District for the City of Allentown for today, March 20th, 2025. Before tonight's meeting, an informational executive session was held. The purpose of the executive session was to engage in informational updates presented to the board on a number of district initiatives, as well as confidential matters pertaining to personnel, informational updates and discussion with council pertaining to district real estate, and the associated design and finance of new schools, as well as school real estate tax programs. The status of Harrison Wharton Middle School and the relocation of students. The board welcomes and invites public comment. You may address the board on agenda and or non-agenda items. The first opportunity for comment is at the

002beginning of the meeting and is limited to agenda items only. Comment cards must be received by the start of the meeting, which is now. We will not be receiving public cards once the meeting begins. A copy of the public comment policy is located on the table next to the comment cards. According to our board's policy, any person may address the board in accordance with the procedures and limitations of this policy, either on issues presented in the resolutions being considered or other matters affecting the administration, management, or operation of the district. Remarks of a personal nature directed against any individual will be ruled out of order. If you choose to address the board, please fill out a comment card and hand it to Board Secretary Mr. Simonson. Comment cards are located at the podium near the

003door. Once recognized, please come to the podium and state your name and address for the record. Madam Superintendent, do you have some remarks tonight? Yes, thank you. Madam Chair, good evening, school board directors, my team, members of the public, all the families that are here this evening. And I just have a few comments before the Finance Committee, and I'll try to make my comments, the majority of my comments in this session, because I know we have several meetings tonight. And I'd like to call, actually, Dr. Wharton to assist me to provide some updates to the board and the public on the Harrison-Morton, the start of Harrison-Morton Middle School. First, I want to take the opportunity to thank and extend a heartfelt thanks to the administration, as well as the administration of South Mountain and Trexler

004Middle School for being able to support our students, staff, and Harrison-Morton Learning community. in their time of educational need. It was truly a Herculean task that those involved, given the short notice and time frame, we had to orchestrate this move. So what we learned today is that we had to have the sixth grade students leave St. Francis due to some mechanical failures. During the course of the day, we researched several alternatives and to get the sixth grade students acclimated in a different environment and we were able to do that through finding space over at South Mountain Middle School as well as Trexler Middle School. Both schools have given us the opportunity to have six classrooms each, so a total of 12 classrooms. That will accommodate the 120 students. We're going to take the sixth grade.

005We're going to divide it between blue and gold. And there's about 120 students each in each of those cohorts, as well as their respective educators and staff. So we're going to be moving about 120 students, say about 30 faculty members and staff. over to Trexler as well as over to South Mountain. In addition to that, we also had to orchestrate changing in transportation. So our colleagues in transportation, Mr. Andrew Called STA to see what they can do currently there are three buses from Harrison Morton going over to st Francis now that we're dividing the group into two we're going to need an extra bus so two will go to trexler to will go to South Mountain that has been already Arranged the other thing that has to be arranged is Lanta some of those students

006take the Lanta bus So going to South Mountain is going to be a little longer ride trexler should be not much longer than it currently is As such, tomorrow we're going to be asking the students to take a virtual day so that their teachers and staff can prepare for the move on Monday. During this time, we'll also be incorporating the help of facilities to help the teachers pack up their stuff and move it to their respective locations. Likewise, Jorge's team from technology will be dismantling the promethean boards and getting them to their respective locations We will also be asking teachers and obviously that's probably already happened to make sure that the students bring home their devices charging stations as well as our bag if not, we will be able to go into the facility tomorrow

007at st. Francis and Get that information get get that material In regards to the Harrison Morton Middle School proper, the actual school, we're continuing to clean it from a standpoint of what I like to call... almost summer cleaning. We waxed the floors, we cleaned the classrooms, we sanitized all the desks and chairs. One of the classrooms was able to get new flooring and we're continuing down that path. Also, we're doing air quality testing since it is a 151-year-old school and we are going to be purchasing air purification systems for each classroom and each office just to make it a more amenable environment for students to learn. And again, there's not enough thanks to go around to everybody who assisted. We have the central office this morning who had to come up and pivot to a

008new direction after we found out we needed to get out of St. Francis. We have the two building principals over at South Mountain and Trexler who... absolutely understood our time of need and were able to work with Mrs. Ramos to say, yes, we can provide you six rooms in each location. It felt very welcoming. It felt very welcoming for the students who are being displaced at Harrison Morton to know that their cohort and other teachers and other administrators care. So again, major thanks to everybody. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Woodman. I think I just have a few points of clarification. One, they are purple and gold. Purple and gold. Okay. That's very important. Their colors are purple and gold. And right now, we had the school community met with our faculty and staff to inform

009them that we had to make this urgent. to identify additional locations for the Harrison-Morton sixth grade students. I want to thank our team for allowing together all administration for their support. Families are in the process of receiving the letters, so the families who are listening, the reason why we haven't sent you the letter just yet is because we're translating the letter in Spanish as well as Arabic. And so we will get the letters out to you. Tomorrow is a virtual day for all sixth grade students. If you are in seventh or eighth grade, we expect you to show up at your bus stop to go to school at the designated locations. I'm gonna say this again. Only the sixth grade students are virtual who attend Harrison-Morton only. Okay? So everyone else who's in sixth grade,

010that's under the sound of my voice, we expect you to attend the students who were previously attending St. Francis. You will attend school at home tomorrow virtually, but on Monday, our colleagues and family members at South Mountain, as well as Trexler, we're happy to welcome you. So I'm gonna make sure. Thank you, Dr. White. Thank you. Thank you. Do you have any questions about that before I continue? Okay. Thank you. So yesterday, this week. We are really excited that we are able to celebrate our Lehigh Parkway Learning Community. Everyone should be clapping. That was a fantastic time. We're able to surprise the students and staff with an announcement. We had a lot of fun that day, I must say. It was the happiest day to be a superintendent this week, especially. And I want to

011thank our family members over at William Allen High School, the cheerleaders, as well as the band who helped with this great celebration. And Lehigh Parkway was identified by U.S. News World Report as the top elementary school in Allentown. So Lehigh Parkway has exceeded the state average in many data areas as relates to math and science and ELA as well as their attendance rate exceeds 95%. So we're extremely excited about the work that's underway at Lehigh Parkway. I want to commend Principal Hughes and this entire team, all the staff, students, teachers, everyone for a job well done. And I think I was talking to my friend. to Paul Williams in the audience and he said he went to Lehigh Park where he was a student. So he was so excited about this great victory. So some

012great things are happening in our district. Also yesterday. 100 members of our learning community were celebrated and identified as You Are the Light. And each month we recognize students as well as staff for demonstrating that they're the community catalysts or that they are also making significant impact in their learning community or the broader community. Some of them do it very boastfully and some of them do it very... quietly. So there are quiet heroines. And we had yesterday, that was yesterday, 400 people attended that event. And it was a blast. And we want to thank, and I don't want to mess this up, Mr. Singh, if you could help with the name of the Chinese restaurant. He is a... alum of Allen who provided all the food and I mean he prepared a feast for more

013than 400 people yesterday evening just out of his love and joy. Can you tell me the name of the restaurant because I do for the record I want to acknowledge him. Mr. Thor and his family, they own China King. They are Deerf grads. Deerf, okay. He had his Allen hat on though. I thought it was Deerf. He has an Allen hat. It threw me off. Confused. Yes. His children do go to Allen. Okay, that's what I thought. So we want to thank him for his generosity and his love for our school district. And at that same event, we commended members of our learning community who are part of the Superintendent's Reading League. And they did a sensational job of having, rallying the students around and the competition that's happening across the district about who could

014read the most is just exceptional. So I want to thank all the members, all my team members who worked on this effort, as well as everyone who's reading. So we also launched this week Guiding Lights. webinar series which is once above and it's entitled guiding lights empowering families from within and this webinar series focuses on positive mental health and well-being for our families and so and although we offer mental health supports for our students but this particular webinar series focuses on various aspects of having families become empowered to support their children and there's also a coach that you know, for these all relatives, the district's incurring the cost, but it's available to all families as a way, and some of the topics are bullying and how do I help my child cope with, you know,

015middle school years and build confidence. So I want to thank also the members of the Superintendent's Family Advisory Council for your feedback and guidance to help us to select the right courses and the direction that we should go. So I want to thank you so much for the feedback. Additionally, we have some more exciting news at the national level. Our district has been recognized by the American Association of School Administrators as leaders in the work of early learning. So members of our team will present at the National Early Learning Conference that's sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators and that for people who don't know that particular organization is the National Superintendent's Organization. So I want to thank Dr. Frank Kelly who is our Executive Director for Early Learning, Ms. Perkins who's a principal,

016Ms. Seneca that their principals are early learning centers in the district. So and they were a part of an AASA cohort for the past actually almost two years, and so I'm so excited that we were recognized as leaders in this space. So please give them a round of applause. A few more recognitions. As an organization, we've been featured nationally, but also locally at the state level. So the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association has identified us as recipients, award recipients in a few areas as it relates to communications. So we have won awards, the 2024 Excellence in Communications Contest they have each year. And this year, more than 200 outstanding entries were submitted. submitted for rigorous judging and those entries we had and based on those entries we received thank you miss reese for your hard

017work finally in recognition of both african-american history which was last month and women's history month which we know is this one i would like to acknowledge two fantastic and sensational women who are part of our learning community miss tiffany pollock and dr I want to thank both of you for your exemplary leadership and your service to our great community, our internal community, as well as the extended community. So I'm honored to serve with each of you. And as Women's History Month comes to a close, I look at all of the strong and wonderful and sensational women who serve as part of my leadership team. the extended cabinet, our school board of directors, as well as all of our teachers and our leaders at the school level, principals and such, I think the flag team's here.

018I want to reaffirm you, your dedication, your commitment, and all the great things that you do on behalf of our students, families, and staff. The words of Supreme Court Justice are in full view, public stage. Each of us has a role in shaping history. Let's continue to inspire Mr. Turchinick and Ms. Piemontesis and Principal Grillo and Assistant Principal Svends for your hard work. Please give them a round of applause. I must say that Washington Elementary has gone national. I was able to listen to a podcast that talked about all the great things that are happening at Washington Elementary School and the flag team. So it was very heartwarming and exciting to hear people give feedback and hear about, God bless you, all the great things. I want to commend you for a job well done.

019Thank you. I want to thank all the families who are here, moms, dads, grandmas, abuela, blah, blah. Can you just wave or stand and let us know that you're in your family. What an amazing day. We're sensational. We'll take them on the road. We need to get rid of them. So back to you, Madam Chair. Any comment cards on agenda items? No. So we will begin with a budget discussion presented by Mr. Cuff. This is a discussion item. Good evening, school board directors, to members of the public, families, my team. As an organization, we are making our decisions as it relates to finances tied closely aligned to our mission, vision, and core values as an organization. As you can see, these are the demographics of our students in which we serve by percentage based on

020their race. We have approximately 2,600 staff members who serve our students each day. And you see here is the demographic breakdown and the classifications. You see the majority of our staff is representative in our teaching ranks. And our budget decisions are closely aligned to our budget goals, which is closely connected. There's a through line between our strategic plan. comprehensive plan, as well as our leadership evaluations all the way down to the school level, teachers and such. So to increase reading and mathematics, to help to decrease chronic absence rates, to increase our overall graduation rates. and increase language acquisition for our English learners to align our priorities, as I mentioned, to our strategic plan. And in the state of Pennsylvania, we have a district plan in which we are presenting to the board later and to

021create multiple pathways and theme-based schools for our students and staff. Here are the initiatives that we will focus next year. We're going to continue to expand the related arts and athletics as an organization, expanding athletics. We're at scale at the elementary levels, elementary as well as middle school levels. We're designing our new K-8 school project, which we're really excited about. We will begin constructing our family and community resource center. We will continue to implement our new curricula as well as go through the curricula revision cycle and purchase new curricula for our elective areas. Our aim is to expand transportation routes for our families. We had a pilot this year at the elementary level in which we extended the boundaries so that more students will have an opportunity to have more transportation. Again, I mentioned we

022are creating theme-based schools and offering additional pathways and innovative learning environments for our learners. We have a budget creation timeline. As you can see in the timeline, we are here in March and we're presenting to you. We have our friends from PFM who will have a budget to share our financial outlook and answer some questions about our borrowing capacity. In April, we also will present again to you at the Committee Hall meeting, which is the finance aspect. And in May, we will put the budget on display for the public and have more budget discussions with you. Currently, we're in the process of conducting school quality reviews with our schools in which our school leaders and their leadership teams are sharing with us their budget goals as well as their needs based on data for the

023next academic year. Our departments will begin that same process so that we are aware of where we need to channel, of course, our efforts, of course, aligned with our strategic plan. In June, I'm sorry, in May, we changed the date, so if you can mark your calendars, May 15th, we will have our budget form. And that was previously the 20th, but that day is a professional learning day. And so we just want to make sure that we're transparent because the day with students and their, excuse me, families are not in session. So we want to, we removed it to the May 15th. And we will put, as I mentioned, the budget on display for the public to give us feedback, 20 days. We will also create our budget book this year, as previous years, that

024has the allocation, the staffing allocation, as well as the budgetary allocation for each school and department throughout the district. And then we will present the final budget for the board's consideration on June 26, 2025. Thank you, Dr. Burks. So I'm going to be brief. This is the time of the year where there isn't much information coming out of Harrisburg, not much information coming out of our legislatives. A lot of that will pick up in April, pick up in May. Previous meetings we discussed the breakdown of our revenue sources. We were fortunate that we received approximately 67% of our funding from state subsidies, which is phenomenal, which is great for Allentown. 30% comes from local and 3% federal. And I'm going to touch on federal slightly a little bit later on. There's still a big question

025mark surrounding the federal subsidies as we go forward. So I'm going to talk about our cost drivers. And again, with a district like Allentown, like most other school districts, your two biggest... Cost drivers and me salaries and benefits Allentown happens to be a area where we have a high charter school population So that is a that carries roughly 18% of our budget and our debt payment As well. So tonight I want to talk about the first three We have two gentlemen here from PFM who will talk more about our debt schedule and what the impact and what it will look like in the years to come So you'll see here what I did was break out the major cost of our, the major portion of our budget is personnel related. And you'll see here we

026have roughly five or six what we call CBA's collective bargaining agreements. We've actually been working very hard. to provide an equitable and fair agreement with all of those groups. You'll see a lot of the groups, a lot of the ongoing conversations going on with my partner, Mr. Fazio, to finish up their contracts. And you'll see here that next year what we're projecting for salary and benefits, a total projection is roughly $224,952,000. So, again, that's a large portion of our $450-some-odd million budget, and that's the major cost that's coming near. So one area that we're going to talk about also in the next coming months is we, as many of you know, we did a benefit audit. So the benefit audit has actually worked very well, and we'll have some results for you that we can

027present to the board in the next coming months. One area that Cost Drive will talk about is our charter school, and you'll see here over the last couple years. For just everyone's aware when they advertise the charter schools are free They're not actually free actually the home district picks up the charter school costs So you'll see here These are the charter school rates and they charge different rates for students who are in general ed and for those who require special services And as you can see here the increase has been increasing over time And you'll see projected next year. This is just based on Every year your increase goes up for tuition based on what your cost is for your current school year So next year we're basing that general ed would be approximately thirteen

028thousand eight seventy six per student per year and roughly thirty two thousand seven hundred for special needs children So you'll ask what does that equate to as we go forward? That will be approximately 80 to 80 million dollars for us this year this year. We're approximately So that would be the increase. But it's not an increase because of increased population. It's an increase because of the increase in tuition rate. And you'll see here another one of our cost drivers that we're talking about is our cost of transportation. We had a large increase last year, and we switched carriers, and we switched our program. This year, there's roughly... due to contractual increases approximately $500,000 increase in transportation costs. That's strictly through the contractual agreement between us and STA. As we're still evolving our budget process, as

029Dr. Berks has mentioned, we're actually looking at some potential. expansion of our transportation program as she said in our elementary poly expanding that poly also we're looking at potentially increased number of special needs route and this is this is the idea that it would actually shorten the rise for students throughout the district so what you'll see here with those two calls between tuition and transportation again of the 450 million dollar average 150 million dollar budget Those two costs are approximately $94 million between transportation and charter schools. So as we go forward, again, as I said, this is going to be brief tonight because we haven't heard much from the state. We're going to continue to look at our personnel policy. Dr. Burke said we're having our own school policy reviews. We're going to look at

030the transportation policy that I just mentioned. As we keep on going forth, Mr. Knapp is working on all kinds of ways to try to increase efficiency in the transportation department. Hopefully we'll hear more from the state regarding our budget. And last month and probably next month, I'll probably talk in detail about the three major subsidies or four major subsidies which will be running to learn and grant, our transportation subsidy, which should be an increase because of the efficiency we put in place last year, basic ed funding and special ed funding. We'll continue to evaluate charter school costs. That's a fluid area. PESERS, for those who don't know, PESERS is our... retirement system and that is a direct correlation to our salaries. So we'll cover that cost. The one area I want to touch on is

031federal funding. We haven't touched on it much. There's been a lot of rumblings out of D.C., a lot of rumblings on the news, and to be quite honest, no one really has a clear answer or a clear idea of what's going to happen. Today, listen to the news. They're going to, I guess, defunct the Department of Ed. But the response out there was, hey, we're still going to maintain Title I. This is all hearsay right now. Hopefully, I think there is a time frame where the government has to come up with a figure. I believe it's the end of April, if I'm correct. But I'll double-check that. Hopefully, within the next month, month and a half, we'll have a clearer picture as to what federal funding, what effect it can have on Allentown, if any

032at all. So I don't have a lot right now, but that's kind of where everyone is. There's no question to that question. So as we go forward, Dr. Burke saluted. April, we have a budget finance committee meeting coming up. Also, tonight, we have two gentlemen who are from PFM who are going to talk about our debt service. But also coming up in April, we have another set of the PFM team. And they came last year. They're going to come out in April, and they'll talk about a five-year forecast, which is something the board requested last year. So they'll be back to discuss that in April. Any questions? Questions about what he has had to say to us tonight before we move on to the next part of the presentation? No? Five? Yeah. Yes. Well, how

033much was it? $500,000. $500,000. And that's... So this is our first year with STA. I had a couple of questions, but if they come. But I just wanted to make, it's 500,000 more, but we are doing better in terms of what our issues were before with transportation. Is that correct? I believe so. I know this is a budget conversation. I wasn't here for what it was like before, but at the beginning of the year, there was a struggle at the beginning of the year. I think a lot of those things have worked out. So I'm not talking about that. I apologize. It's fine. It's fine. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because, you know, when you speak publicly, you want to make sure that we're dotting our I's and crossing our T's. So

034you're saying to us, this is our meeting, but to the public, there's a $500,000 increase with this new STA, and you still have people who are... for student fans. And so they're saying, see, they're paying more money. And I'm just saying, I want it to be clear that although it's $500,000 more, we are finally receiving the services that we wanted when I got on the board in 2017. So I just wanted to make that clear. It's $500,000 more, and we know each year everything goes up, like the eggs, right? And so we just want to be, right, I just didn't want to put it out there that it is an increase, but at the same time, we have done better with our efforts as it relates to transportation. And that includes some additional services. Yeah,

035I was just about to ask, is that for additional service and also the increase in costs in charter, the increase in enrollment in charter, correct? Because I noticed there's an increase when it comes to our charter projections. Right there. So there'll be an increase in charter school tuition strictly because the tuition rate went up. So you'll see currently for 2024-25, it's approximately $1,300, $500 or $1,300, $600 for general ed and $32,000 for special needs. So what happens at the end of the year... There's a calculation we have to go through where we take all of our budget information that's projected for next year, we run it through this calculation, and they come up with what the projected charter school tuition rates will be. So using that, that's a rough estimate where we project our charter

036school rates will be next year. So the increase in charter school isn't necessarily because they're getting more students. is because the number of their members of tuition increased. What metrics do they use to determine that? It's a spreadsheet that PDE puts out. They take our current budget, and there's certain functions in there that we include in a spreadsheet. It runs through a calculation. It multiplies what should be the standard number of special needs kids and regular kids. and they come up with this calculation. So they do the calculation, and what they do is actually you come up with a preliminary number. Then once your final reports are done, then they make adjustments to the, not to get too detailed or too in the weeds, they'll make adjustments to the actual tuition rate. Then throughout the

037year, you have to do a reconciliation process with the charter schools on the tuition rates. It has nothing to do with you. It doesn't seem like an equitable system because it's almost like saying if there are students per student, they're getting more than our student. That's only the tip of the iceberg. I'll just leave it at this. The funding for charter schools has a lot to be desired. I'll just leave it there. That's the easiest way to characterize it. There's been a lot of discussion. One of the things that was on Governor Shapiro's ticket last year, and it's not only this year, was trying to regulate a standard rate for cyber charter schools, a standard rate of $8,000, because charter schools don't have the same type of cost that brick-and-mortar schools do. But that hasn't

038taken any legs and hasn't moved anywhere, hasn't moved since last year, but it's still out there. Yeah, I think that's part of the problem. Because I'm not against charters at all but when you see something like that can see why people will have that perception because it's not Going back to what Ms. Conover said, I can attest to what you were saying as a parent that has two kids that uses transportation. It's phenomenal. Like I go through zero issues, minor hiccup today, but it's okay. Compared to the three or four times a week last year that I was dealing with problems. So to me, it's much better than. what it was last year at this time with first student. It is. The whole purpose is to improve, to get better and efficient. And it's good

039to know that a lot of people, I believe we've been very successful with using Lancer this year. I think that's been fairly successful as well. So it's good to hear that. Thank you. Well, we've had many successes over the years. We've got a long way to go. But I can remember sitting in this same seat because I don't change seats. You know, seeing where we were and where we are now comparing, we've come a long way. Also, I want to make mention about the 3%. Only 3% of our revenue is federal funds, which, you know, many of us, like, we don't know about this stuff because we just go to work to our prospective jobs and we don't get into these numbers. Like, we only are concerned when we get to the supermarket. And we

040have to pull out our dollars that took us 900 years to make. But anyway, if the government is dismantled, we're going to have some issues. But at the same time, there's other areas who rely. a lot on federal dollars more so than we. And so it will be like a trickle down and maybe you can explain it better than me, but this is what's in my head. It becomes a trickle down effect. So then it starts to affect our state and our local. So my thing is, again, and I can say this, is we need to become more knowledgeable in terms of what we can do. instead of panicking and saying, oh, my God, this is going to happen. Because this is not, we're going to feel some things overnight, but it's not going to

041all happen overnight because there's places and spaces that these things have to arrive before it actually is written in stone. So I said it the best way that I could say it without taking a position. You captured it well. Exactly. You captured it well. I am so glad. STA. STA, sorry. STA. Thank you. I'm very happy with them. I met them at PASBO. They were great there. They're great here because PAS, that's right, first student was disrespectful. They were awful to us. They were awful to our children. They were awful to the district. They didn't care. Now we have someone who cares, who's respectful, and who gives us reports and, you know, just is so much better at making sure customer service. Our customer service is so much better. So if we have a little

042increase, we pay for that through quality. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. Mr. Knapp has done a good job of relaying the thoughts and the concerns from the board and the school district. Great. So if that's it, what I would like to do is that. Can I pass it over to the two? I was just going to say that it may be time to head for that part of the discussion, the financial planning update. Yes, and you guys have to follow me like I follow them. It keeps getting harder and harder. All right. Well, good evening. Again, Scott Scheer with PFM, also Garrett Moore with me as well. And as Jeff had mentioned, next month our other team, led by Ian, will be here to talk more about some of the financial planning

043items. But as you know, Garrett and I are kind of more into bond issues and the debt aspects that we help your business office with. So we'll be brief this evening. We'll kind of go back to earlier this fiscal year, kind of recap a little bit, and then kind of a couple considerations for us to talk about this evening. So starting on page two. There was a lot of planning done by the administration for quite some time for the K-3 project, not only for the kind of the bricks and mortar aspect of the planning, but also the financing aspect. And I would say kind of that planning started quite a few years ago with some of the changes with the financial position of the school district. There were a lot of kind of hard decisions

044made, a lot of good decisions made to turn around the financial condition of the school district and the rating agency and the investors and the bond insurance company. all greatly acknowledge that of the improvement that has occurred. And again, so thanks to everyone here in the room for all the hard work and the decisions that have been made for quite a few years leading up to this point, which led to a very successful financing that we did back in the October, November, December range of last year. So a couple of the key highlights. That we borrowed just a little under 15 million dollars It was a 25 year transaction and the fixed rate that we were able to lock in for the full term of 25 years was just a little over 4% So again,

045very very good interest rate and that had a prepayment feature Which means you can refinance that debt in the future if interest rates warm The next point I think is a real big one and that's where we saw the credit rating upgrade Where standard pours we had them come into town there was a kind of long presentation that we had with the administration and some of the local legislators as well to highlight a lot of the strengths of the school district. It went very well. We probably spent four or more hours and we did a little bit of tour downtown as well. And that ultimately resulted in a credit rating upgrade, two-notch upgrade, which we don't see too many two-notch upgrades, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. So now the district has

046an investment grade rating again of a triple B from Standard & Poor's. Prior to that, and you'll see in the next page, it was a non-investment grade that was for quite a few years, it was a BB+. And so it was very important to get that investment grade rating as we're implementing the finance plan for the K-8 building. The higher the credit rating, the lower the cost of funds, the lower the impact to the school district's budget, which is obviously key in the lower impact to the residents here as well. So we saw a lower interest rate because of that credit rating upgrade, and we also saw other significant cost savings as part of the financing package, too, just for the $15 million deal. We saved about $300,000 on the bond insurance premium, which is

047kind of one of the costs associated with the transaction. And for the next, and again, keep in mind this was just a small piece of the financing for the K-3 building. We still have $100 million or so to finance later this year or whenever the time is right. So that number is going to be magnified by five or more when we get to that next issue. So very, very positive results, and again, a lot of hard work and a lot of hard decisions by the board and by the administration. The next page, page three. Kind of get into just a little bit more about the rating and you can see on the left hand side So that illustration of where the district's rating is now the triple B and where it was before So now

048it's in what we call the good category and the fire to that. There's in the speculative category We also have a positive outlook on the rating which again a two-notch upgrade with a positive outlook rating is very rare in a good way We don't see that very often and what that positive outlook means is we're going to continue to have discussions with the rating agency But there's a one in three chance that the district could get upgraded again here over the next couple years as we continue those discussions with them and show additional audits and improve budgets and other kind of fiscal policies that are implemented. So again, that just kind of gives you an idea of where we were with the rating and now where we are. And again, with that positive outlook, we're

049kind of trying to have as many discussions and put as much on the table as possible to continue to bolster that rating and try to see that even go up a little bit more to lower the cost of the funds even more when we get to that bigger financing. On page four. Kind of a lot of words on here, especially on the right-hand side. The right-hand side is actually part of the credit rating report that S&P did. Obviously not going to get into that. My eyes can't even really read it because the print is so small. But on the left-hand side, in the middle, the second bullet point, where it paraphrases one of the sections of the actual report itself, where it says the upgrade reflects our view of the district's improved financial position resulting

050from consecutive surpluses, partially supported by one-time stimulus funds. And then most importantly, our expectation that management will make the necessary budgetary adjustments to maintain fiscal health. So the actual report itself is quite a few pages. We just show a couple excerpts. And so that's what we're going to get into later in this presentation. Some of the other things to consider to kind of maintain that that fiscal health health and the last point again just to commend the business office and others have participated S&P You know clearly acknowledged the hard work of the management team and administration And definitely acknowledged the local support from the local legislators And state funding here and great partnership that has occurred between the school district and the state The next slide here, kind of a few points about what the

051rating agency says could potentially make the rating go up or what could make it go down. But I think the second from the bottom bullet point and the bottom bullet point are the two key takeaways here where if the district would get downgraded again, which we surely don't expect and don't hope for, that would result in significant impact to the financing cost, not only the upfront cost of the financing, but also the ongoing cost, meaning the debt service that the district would need to pay over the life of that financing. And just to give you an idea, the last bullet point, a one-notch downgrade, so just going down one notch, could increase... the borrowing by about a million and a half dollars. So again, if we're talking significant dollars that, especially with a higher borrowing

052amount, that number could be magnified even more as well. So there is a lot of financial implications with maintaining a good credit rating. Just kind of like our own personal credit ratings, that impacts the loans that we get for our houses or our cars. Same situation here for the school districts. So again... The higher the rating, the lower the overall cost. And if we get a lower rating, it's going to impact the district in a negative way for many, many years to come. Next page a lot of numbers on here. I think the key focus is on the far right hand side So this is the blue and the green are just the sample bond issue step one in the blue is what we actually did and closed right around Christmas time of last year

053and the green is what we're contemplating for later this calendar year, but ultimately at the end of the day column 8 the district needs to get to a run rate of annual debt service and Jeff had just talked about in the budget as far as one of the key drivers of the budget of about 18 19 million dollars And that's with the new debt service related to the K-8 building added on top of the existing debt service of the district. And so over in column 9, that reflects about a 1 mil increase to cover that increase in the debt service. Now, we've been working with the business office here for quite some time on different strategies on the possibilities of how that one mill could be implemented with this financing package. And here we're showing

054it basically over three years, more or less. So kind of a third, a third, a third. And we'll get into a little bit more of that. But again, I think it's just critical that we continue to discuss it. You borrow the money for the K-8 building, very important project. But it does come with increased debt service costs over the next, say, 25 years. And the things that Standard & Poor's really harped on, and we may even have additional discussions with Moody's for the next transaction in addition to Standard & Poor's, is kind of having a sustained revenue source, kind of a sustained dedicated revenue source to be pledged more or less to the debt service related to this K through 8 building. And so then on page 7, I kind of segways into looking forward.

055How could that possibly unfold? And so we just have a couple bullet points on page seven that for the 25-26 budget year that's currently being worked on, the district's allowable index is 6.1% or about 1.38 mils. That's allowed under the Act 1 index, and I'm sure you're going to hear a lot more from the business office over the next several months as you go through the budget process. And as we mentioned on the prior slide, the K-8 debt service for that building is about, one mil. And so S&P kind of really drove home in the feedback that we got from them ways for us to all consider ways to find a permanent, or at least for over the next 25 years, revenue source to cover the cost associated with that debt. And so a couple

056of the options that we put on the table on page eight is, again, to, if you do want to consider... raising the millage rate that would be done over multiple years. And so we have two options here. The first option is where it's basically a 1.1% increase in the 25-26 year, and then a 1.1% increase in the 26-27 year, and then a slightly larger increase in the 27-28 year, about 2.2, to cover the debt service. Now when we look at the average assessed home in the district that would equate to $107 in total increase over that three-year period or said another way about $35 or so a year for the next three years to get to that new new run rate and we have some more examples on the prior page So again roughly $35

057per year for the next three years We'd see that increase or the other option option two is basically about one and a half percent increase for the next three fiscal years And again, that would come out to be the same dollar amount, about $107 in total, or about $35 or so per year. And also doing it over time, doing kind of a multi-phasing approach. It allows us to reevaluate every year. So if you go into the 25-26 year with that roughly 1.5% increase, then depending on how things unfold for the next fiscal year, as you're getting into those budget discussions the following spring, maybe it doesn't need to be 1.5%. Maybe other things are going well, and you can lower that back down. But just from a planning purpose and from a strategy to relay

058to the rating agencies when we have the additional discussions, these are just a couple considerations. And then the last page just kind of breaks it out a little bit more. And we have a table here that shows different assessed value homes. So the example I just gave on the prior page was for $107,000 assessed value home. Here now we break it down a little bit more into $50,000 assessed value home, $75,000, $100,000, $125,000, and $150,000 assessed value home. And you see the implied market values for each one of those assessment examples. It shows... current real estate tax generated from those property tax from those properties what it would look like if this was phased in over three years in total and then kind of the bottom two rows is the the impact in total uh

059from raising those mills over the three years and then basically the per year impact over the next three years so you can kind of just give a get a sense of for fifty thousand dollar assessed value home That would translate into about $17 increase over the next three years. And then on the other end of the spectrum, for the $150,000 assessed value home, that would be about a $50 increase per year for the next three years. So those were the main topics we wanted to discuss tonight just to get everyone thinking. Again, kind of great news about the financing that we did earlier this fiscal year. Now there's more planning to do for the later transaction we're going to do. But as you're preparing for the budget for the upcoming year and we're starting to

060look at the financing for the next piece of the K-3 building, we wanted to have this discussion about what the impacts look like of potential millage increases to cover the K-3. That's right. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Anybody? All right. Thank you. All right. Thank you. We have six action items tonight. Mr. Sang is requesting approval from the board for the DeSales Strategic Partnership Agreement. Good evening, Superintendent Burks and our school board. Tonight requesting the board's approval for the strategic partnership agreement between the Allentown School District and DeSales University as outlined in the agreement. Some highlights, graduate programs, a 20% tuition discount for eligible ASD employees enrolling in DeSales graduate adult studies and certificate programs. There are some exclusions as far as specific health related programs. Also for our staff tuition

061deferment, ASD employees may participate in a tuition deferment plan, allowing them to defer tuition payments until the end of each term. We're also excited to have a 60% tuition discount for eligible ASD employees' dependents enrolling in traditional undergrad programs at DeSales University, and then workforce development support as DeSales University will offer on-site and virtual information sessions for ASD employees to explore program opportunities and enrollment options. Anybody with a question or discussion? I have a question. It's just discounted. Does ASD have to pay anything for its employees? You talk about... Can you talk about what you're saying our tuition reimbursement process with our collective bargaining? So our current collective bargaining agreements with our different employee groups have stipulations already as far as the amount of credits that we will reimburse our employees for. So this is

062a discount to that rate, whether they take the allotted amount that we will reimburse, but it also allows for deferment. So once they... provide us the proper credentials. They don't have to pay out of pocket first for the credits and then be reimbursed. Is that what you're asking? I think so if it's 80%, did you say 80%? So for our employees to take graduate work, it's a 20% discount. So they would pay 80%, right? And what is the 20%? The school is just saying, okay, you get 20% off. That's correct. But the district doesn't have to do anything? I understand the reimbursement part. Yes, yes. But just because you guys went into agreement, it's 80% that they have to pay. Yes. So you didn't negotiate nothing for the board members? I've been saying that. I'm

063just saying, I just could not say it, right? I've never seen another graduate course in my life. I've done there. But we're not talking about you, Audrey. And I do want to recognize Dr. Blamey and Dr. Sixsmith from DeSales who came in support tonight as well. Okay. Thank you. I have no more questions. Is there anything else? Then may I have a motion to move this forward to the regular meeting this evening? I make that motion. I second. We have a maker and a seconder. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Then it moves forward. Now Dr. Whartonby is requesting approval from the board for parking lot improvements at Dariff. Good evening again, board and Dr. Burks. So tonight I'm coming to you to request that Jay Phillips Excavating and Hauling perform contracting service to make pavement

064improvements at two parking lots at Deeriff High School. What's interesting is when I was talking to a few of my colleagues, they can't remember when that parking lot was done. And one was a graduate of Deeriff, and he was actually thinking maybe that far back. But anyway, it's going to be the parking lot off of North Jerome Street, so the easternmost parking lot. And the smaller parking lot off of East Cedar Street, which would be the northern parking lot. So we're looking to accomplish that over the summer. Questions? Then may I have a motion to move this forward? Second. We have a maker and a seconder. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Then it moves forward. And I would be remiss if I didn't thank Ms. Phoebe for going over this with me, too.

065So thank you. So the second one that we're looking at is the Ritter loading dock. The Ritter loading dock is a steel in concrete structure. It is original to the building to approximately 1925. It's seen better days. So that loading needs to be replaced. It needs to have new steps. It also needs to have an accessible ramp to cart things up, obviously. So I'm asking the board to approve professional construction contractors. provide contracting service for the removal and replacement of an existing 1925 concrete and steel loading dock at Ritter Elementary. And this will come to a cost of approximately $241,518. Questions about that or discussion? So did we, I don't know how much it costs to fix a loading dock, so I'm not going to pretend, but did we get like more than one? Was

066there more than one day all bids that we're talking about tonight we're competitively bid, okay Thank you If there's no question or discussion may have a motion so move second and we have a maker and a seconder Hey, so all in favor say aye aye opposed Then the motion carries and it moves forward and now we're talking about the domestic water line domestic water line at Rob middle school So this is also an existing water pipe domestic water pipe leaving the building and entering into the street on st. Cloud Sorry, South cloud and this water line is 1923 So this water line also has to be replaced, and we're taking also the opportunity to install what they call a backflow prevention device. So water entering the building is going in one direction. Water exiting the

067building can't go in that direction. So this backflow prevention device literally stops water from going back into the domestic water, which may impact everybody's water. We are asking the Board of Directors approve RIPNIC mechanical contractors in the amount of $342,444 to make this work happen. Question or discussion? Motion, please. So moved. Second. We have a maker and a seconder. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Then this moves forward to later this evening. Thank you. The next action item will be presented by Mr. Delphin. We're looking at Chromebook Carts. Good evening, Board. So this memorandum is for the five schools selected participating in the Verizon grant. We'll be making a transition into the iPads in alignment with the terms of the grant and initiatives. However, they still need the current Chromebooks. for some activities and testing and

068the purchase would allow for this current Chromebooks inventory to be securely stored. In addition, these Chromebooks will be charged and ready for use whenever it's needed. Any questions? Any discussion about that? Seeing none, may I have a motion? We'll move. Second. Who was the seconder? Nick. We have a maker and a seconder. All in favor for moving this forward? Aye. Opposed? All right, motion carries. And you have a second request of us? Yes, this one I'm very excited about because everybody's asking for it. So I'm pleased to inform that I'm presenting to you the Google Plus licenses for students, faculty, and staff of the Allentown School District. And these Google Workplace Education Plus licenses will provide the schools with the tools, communications, collaborations, and security needed to advance our learning. Any comments or questions? May

069I have a motion? So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Then that also moves forward. Thank you. Thank you so much. Do we have any public comments on non-agenda items? No. Is there any old business to come before the Finance Committee? Any new business? May I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Then we are adjourned. I'd like to call to order the Policy Committee of the Whole Meeting of the Board of Directors of the School District of the City of Allentown for today, March 20, 2025. The Board welcomes and invites public comment. You may address the Board on agenda and or non-agenda items. The first opportunity for comment is at the beginning of this meeting and is limited to agenda items only. Comment cards must be received

070by the start of the meeting, which is now. We will not be receiving public cards once the meeting begins. A copy of the public comment policy is located on the table next to the comment cards. Per our board's policy, any person may address the board in accordance with the procedures and limitations of this policy, either on issues presented in resolutions being considered or on other matters affecting the administration, management, or operation of the district. Remarks of a personal nature directed against any individual will be ruled out of order. If you choose to address the board, please fill out a comment card and hand it to the board secretary, Mr. Simonson. Comment cards are located at the podium near the door. Once recognized, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the record.

071Remarks are limited to three minutes. Any remarks from our superintendent? Thank you, Mr. Nikoloff. I just want to say I want to commend the board as well as all of our staff for continuing to work to improve our policies. I want to thank the school leaders for ensuring that we get all the information at the school level to all of our teachers as well as all of our staff. And so we have a few policies, four policies to present this evening. So thank you. Thank you, Dr. Perks. At this time, we are only taking public comments on agenda items. Are there any comments? Okay. With that being said, we have four policies to present this evening. First off will be Dr. Savoy with policy 822, automated external defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation for a first reading.

072Good morning. I mean, good evening. So this is a new policy for Allentown School District. The good part is the policy will support the practices that currently exist in the district. So this is to ensure that... We are maintaining automated internal external defibrillators and ensuring that we have staff trained in CPR in every one of our school buildings and administration buildings in addition to the other buildings in the district and ensuring that we have at least one person trained in CPR the goal is to have staff trained in CPR not just one person and ensuring that we are monitoring and the the use not the use monitoring the usability like they expire so make sure that we're doing that we're monitoring them and they are all in every building there was one change in the

073beginning it says the board is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for the school building and the suggestion says that it should be the district other than that we are putting forth this as written any questions or discussion No. Make a motion to move this forward to the regular board meeting after this. So moved. We're changing it. What's that? We're changing it to. The board will be changed to the district. So do we agree on that? Yes. I have a second. All right. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. Thank you, Dr. Savoy. Next, we'll have Dr. Wharton for policy 805.2. Good evening again. So this policy is for school security personnel. The history behind this policy came about from PCCD, whom we got a lot of dollars from to

074improve our schools post COVID, during COVID, and moving on. So what the state did is put some guidelines in, you know, for accepting this money, you got to do something. So this something is talking about school security personnel and what they are tasked to do. First and foremost, there is the Act 44 coordinator, safe schools coordinator. Then there's also requirements of this safe schools coordinator, what he or she needs to do in terms of bringing this policy forward and in their daily job. I see this policy as almost a job description for that individual as well as our security officers. So that is really the first reading of this policy. It's not necessarily new. It's new to the district, but it's been around for approximately two years now. It's one of the longer ones. Any

075questions or discussion? May I have a motion to move this forward to our regular board meeting? So moved. I second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Dr. Orton B. And Dr. Orton B. is a busy man tonight. He will also present our next two. First off with 810.1. Thank you. So 810.1. is also a new policy, school bus drivers and school commercial motor vehicle drivers. So basically anybody that drives a school bus or operates a school vehicle such as maintenance and so on. So this policy basically follows federal guidelines and regulations as it pertains to CDL drivers, so truck drivers. Bus drivers have a CDL license too. It aligns with the requirements set forth in the RFP. and transportation that was completed in the two excuse me 2023-2024 school

076year and executed with our transportation contract we were talking about them before sta this policy will guide future rfps and contracts in that regard so this policy will be embedded the next time we go out to rfp for a transportation provider this policy would be embedded with that as well as they are obligated by law to follow this policy as well Any questions or discussion? All right. Make the motion to move this forward to our regular board meeting. I'll make it. I'll second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. All right. We'll move forward to our last policy, A10.3. Dr. Orton-Bee? Thank you very much. This pertains to school vehicle drivers. So think about the coach that's taking the athletic van and driving students to an event. That's what this policy pertains to.

077A little more succinctly, this policy is an extra layer of protection in regards to non-CDL drivers. It also aligns with the requirements set forth in transportation that was completed during the 2020. three school year and 2024 school year and executed in our current transportation contract we do have an other provider that transports special needs kids in vans so this would apply to them it would also apply like i said to that coach who's transporting students or an other individual who's using a district vehicle who's a non-cdl driver So this is also a new. And again, I would be remiss if I didn't thank Mr. Nikoloff for his time of sitting down with us and obviously Mr. Soltanek's group for reviewing these policies as well. Thank you. Any discussion or questions? No. All right. May I

078have a motion to move this forward to our regular board meeting? So moved. All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. Thank you, Dr. Orton-Vean. Thank you for your work on these. At this time, we are taking public comments on non-agenda items. Do we have any comments? Any old business? New business? May I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. We are adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, I'd like to call to order the Education Committee of the Whole. for the Board of Directors for the School District of Allentown for today, March 20, 2025. The Board welcomes and invites public comments. You may address the Board on agenda and or non-agenda items. The first opportunity for comment is at the beginning

079of the meeting and is limited to agenda items only. Comment cards must be received by the start of the meeting, which is now. We will not be receiving public cards once the meeting begins. A copy of the public comment policy is located on the table next to the comment cards. Per our board's policy, any persons may address the board in accordance with the procedures and limitations of this policy, either on issues presented in resolutions being considered or on other matters affecting the administration, management, or operation of this district. Remarks of a personal nature directed against any individual will be ruled out of order. If you so choose to address the board, please fill out a comment card and hand it to our board secretary, Mr. Somerson. Once again, comment cards are located at the podium,

080too, near the door. Once recognized, please come to the podium and state your name and address. Dr. Berks, do you have any comments at this time? Yes, thank you, Ms. Conover. Tonight we're going to present to you the district's comprehensive plan and as I mentioned in our budget presentation the comprehensive plan is required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education but is closely aligned with our strategic plan. Again I want to commend everyone on the board as well as members of our steering committee and all advisory groups because we did a lot of the heavy lifting on this work last year in preparation for the continuous creating our district continuous improvement plan so we have members of our team who will present the plan to the school board of directors this evening I think Ms. Smith

081and Ms. Cantor so thank you and all the my members of my team for all the hard work on this so thank you Thank you, Dr. Burks. At this time, we're only taking comments on agenda items. Do we have any cards? Thank you. Okay, so tonight we have three agenda items. I'm going to ask Ms. Carrie Cantor to come forward. This is the district comprehensive plan that Dr. Burks was just speaking of. Good evening, Board of Directors and Dr. Burks. Tonight, we are excited to present our comprehensive plan. During this presentation, you are going to see a complete alignment with our strategic plan lighting the way, a blueprint for innovation and excellence in 2030. What you're going to notice is you're already aware of everything that we're going to be talking about in our comprehensive

082plan because it aligns that specifically to the strategic plan. And by the way, that's not. It's cancer. It's cancer. It's here. This is Melissa. Missy. Thank you, Ms. Conover. Tonight, our overview is we will go through the process, our priorities, the goals, how we will be monitoring the plan. In addition, there's a few other plans that the state requires as part of this. The professional development plan, the new educator plan, our supplemental plans and assurances. And, of course, we will end with our next level work with the work that we are prioritizing first. Our planning cycle, school districts are required to submit a district comprehensive plan every three years to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for approval outlining goals, action plans, and strategies for continuous improvement. This is actually a roadmap for future planning, innovation,

083and continuous improvement in leadership, teaching, and learning. This comprehensive planning process is intended to be a continuous process ensuring that students are achieving at high levels. See a very familiar slide. There are three phases to our planning. We started with our strategic plan with learning and leading. Then our phase two was the strategic plan. And now we're moving into stage three where we're implementing the strategic plan with discipline, focus, and accountability. Our process. Our district comprehensive plan and supplemental plans were developed with the alignment of the strategic plan. We had more than 5,000 people during a six-month period complete surveys, participate in focus groups, and advisory committees to help support this plan and our strategic plan. The district's comprehensive plan is next level work of our strategic plan in order to turn it into an

084actionable plan that will monitor the improvement of our students outcomes. Our goals, our literacy proficiency in grade three, we will be increasing it by at least 9% by the end of June 28 as compared to June 2025. So we will be taking our PSSA scores that we will receive in June 2025, look at third grade, add 9% to that, and that will be our goal. The same thing for Algebra 1 in ninth grade. We'll be increasing that by 9% by June 28 as compared to June 2025. Our graduation rates will improve by 9% as compared to our graduation rates this year. And the percentage of students who attend 90% or more of school days by 9% will increase by June 2028. goals are aligned to very specific evidence-based approaches for improvement. These are approaches that

085are in our strategic plan. So you will see for ELA and graduation that is aligned to structured literacy instruction. Our math and graduation is aligned to mathematical fluency and conceptual understanding. For ELA math graduation and attendance, we have targeted interventions. For ELA math graduation and attendance, we have instructional rounds and school quality reviews. something that you've heard about continuously over the past year. Another one is data wise, which we have been talking about over the past year and we'll be ending with a system of multi-tiered system of supports. Our monitoring, we'll be monitoring this plan quarterly at a district level. We will be updating the school board of directors. We'll monitor the implementation of evidence-based strategies at the school level, and we'll continuously update stakeholders through all our communication methods and our advisory groups. In

086addition to our comprehensive plan, the state requires a few other plans that are submitted at the same time. So the first one is a professional development plan. The first thing you'll see is the evidence-based strategies that we have in our comprehensive plan we will be providing professional development for because we can't implement them if we're not providing effective professional development. We will also be focused on artificial intelligence for educators, differentiated pathways for teachers and staff with additional support for new teachers, and community of practice for special education teachers and paraprofessionals. The new educator induction plan is also a required plan and this plan has us implementing best practices to support content specific and grade level configurations. We'll implement a data driven mentor selection process. We'll provide monthly support and professional learning opportunities. We'll increase school-led

087support and check-ins for new teachers, and we'll develop feedback loops for inductees, mentors, and school leaders. In addition, there's some supplemental assurances, academic standards, and assessment requirements. So we adopted new curriculum and have written curriculum guides to align to the programs. Evaluation and adjustments are based on data and stakeholder feedback, and we'll review existing curricular for relevance, student-centered approach, and components for being Future focused there's a gifted assurances plan where we utilize a new assessment tool for identification and will increase professional learning for all teachers to support gifted students achievement and student services assurances where we'll those are ones that we comply with local policies and procedures and meet the requirements of safe and supported schools as outlined in Chapter 12. And finally, the work that we will be doing to support the comprehensive plan,

088which supports our strategic plan, provide a foundational understanding of the science of reading and structured literacy. design and schedule the targeted algebra labs and double algebra periods that you approved as part of the program of studies. We'll prepare the learning schedule and supports for our 2025-26 induction program. We'll create the professional development course catalog for the content of the... 526 school year we'll develop a communication plan for all stakeholders we're going to expand data wise to all staff in schools and we'll be moving instructional rounds to school level instructional rounds do you have any questions for ms canter or myself i have one question um and maybe i missed it but how do we come up with the nine percent The 9% research is showing that a 3% growth each year is a solid, reasonable,

089and attainable growth for students. So we took 3% for year one, 3% for year two, and 3% for year three. Thank you. I have a question in alignment with that. Why is it added to third grade versus second grade? Our goal is reading by grade three. Right. So we have it as our PSSA starts in third grade. So our third graders is where we're looking for that proficiency. So you want it to end the end of second grade? If I'm thinking strategic. I want to start before third grade because third grade is where they're going to start getting tested. So if we start implementing some of the stuff in the second grade. We'll be implementing strategies in pre-K, kindergarten, first grade, second grade to get us to third grade. Our metric and our goal is

090third grade. Gotcha. The data lies is going to utilize our universal screeners like the star that we're going to use so that we can monitor those things in the grades leading up to help support the achievement in third grade. Gotcha. Understood. That's clear. Thank you. So we have a lot of educators in the room. What is it called? What is the term? Kids have to be at a certain place at third grade. Proficiency. Proficiency. That's the year that it matters. That's when it's like, hey, either you, I mean, you can still get it at 57, right? Yeah. But that's the year that you expect it to actually have it, that third grade. They said if anything after once, if they don't get it by third grade, it's hard to grasp it afterwards. It's like a

091data, but I'm still getting it. So it's not. I know. if i make madam chair miss smith can you or whoever can assist just to share about our partnership with the pennsylvania department of education in support of our continuous improvement work with the meeting wise if who can speak to that miss ramos do you want to This year we've worked to enhance our technical support with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. So because we have designated schools by the state due to their performance, they provide technical assistance. And Dr. Savoia and I have been working with them to make sure that we're aligned in our continuous improvement, not just in designated schools, but in K-12 as a whole system. We are pleased to report that they've been pretty pleased with our work in working on that

092alignment, and as such, they've offered us the opportunity to go to Harvard to be trained in system-wise, and they're funding three of our staff members to be able to attend that training in May. Come on, Allentown. Are there any other questions? Hearing and seeing none, may I have a motion to move this forward to our next board meeting? So moved. Second. We have a maker and a second. Is all in favor please vote. You know about saying aye? Aye. Any of that opposed? Hearing, seeing none, it moves to our regular board meeting after this meeting. At this time, I ask that Dr. Savoy come forward. And we have two items. One is the 2025-26 internship agreement for counselors at Kutztown University. Second item is 2025-26 internship agreement for school counselors at Lehigh University. So I'm

093going to ask that you, Dr. Savoy, you can just... We can just do them both. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. There are two opportunities for Allentown School District to support local colleges and universities as it relates to student support services within Allentown School District. So in collaboration with the Office of Talent, we have the opportunity to partner with Kutztown University so that... their students who are studying to be counselors or aspiring to be counselors can fulfill their internship requirements in our schools. The one for Lehigh University is for not just counselors, but school psychologists, teachers, and educational leaders, where they can fulfill their practicum and internship requirements in our schools. This supports us in two ways. There is additional staff on site in the student services area to support the needs of our students, while

094the college students, university students are in practice, and it also creates a pipeline for opportunities for people to come to Allentown School District, to join Allentown School District. Thank you, Dr. Savoy. Are there any questions? Yes. Thank you very much for this because I have my son's girlfriend is at Kutztown, and she had to go all the way to Philadelphia to do her internship. Which was you know the way too far and she's right in Kutztown. She could came over here right to Allentown So thank you very much for this. Thank you. Yeah, I have one small question. Yeah, this is this is great I was reading the reporting section Reporting of student progress. I was wondering if it's possible for us to do like a because it's not really clear what processes you guys

095are going to come up with for the evaluation. If we can do like a mid-year evaluation there just to see like how is it working so far, are they acclimated with our students because if these are going to be counselors that could potentially work in ASD, we want to make sure that it's actually going well because I hate when we get to the end of a year and then we hear something is not going well. So if that could be a part of the process, that would be great. Supervising staff, one of our staff members in collaboration with the supervisor of the field experience can have those conversations about the performance of the student. Yes. Perfect. Thank you so much. Sure. I just want to make sure I'm clear about the request. Is it to

096say to report on progress to the board about overall the relationship and how students are doing or just individually? That part. I'm sorry, our students or students who are studying? The studying, the students who are studying. Because again, I think this partnership is because we really want them to come to ASD when they finish their education and work with us. So we don't want, as they're going through the process, things are happening and we don't retain them at the end of the program. So essentially, if we had 10 students, are we trying to retain them to stay in the district? In mid-year, there's seven, eight. I just want to make sure. So the way that I understood, if I may. Number one, it's wonderful that we have those extra bodies who are interested in education

097in the building, and they have opportunities to actually learn from us because we have professionals in our buildings. But I think what you're saying, Ms. Brown, well, is that let's take this opportunity to be able to acknowledge the talent and be able to say, you know. You know this you know not not because you're here and you can apply but we want to be able to say we want you and if somebody's weak we can also take that opportunity to be able to build them because I'm I'm always a fan of building people. You know I hate to see people go out the door. You know I'm in the building business but anyway. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you. Is there any other discussion? No further discussion may have a motion move this item forward to our

098next board meeting. I'll make the motion both items. He's both out of yeah, I'll make the motion for a second all the favor Please let it be known by saying aye. Are there any that oppose? Hearing you seeing them this goes to our next regular board meeting Which is right after this meeting are there any comment cards from the public? Okay, the old business. Yes. I'm gonna go back to what you said about you know Celebrating those who have who who are coming to our school district. One of the people who graduated from our school district, Justin Parker Fields is now at Truxler Elementary School. That's amazing. He was working somewhere else, but he wanted to make sure that he came back to Allentown School District. So Justin Parker Fields, if you hear me, thank

099you very much. If not, you know, we have to celebrate those who are we grow our own. So let's celebrate them. So thank you. Thank you, Ms. Swinney. Is there any new business? Any grass cutters? May I have a motion to adjourn? I make that motion. May I have a second? I second. All in favor, please be known by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? This meeting is adjourned. No discussion. Do we need a short bathroom break? Yes. Okay, so we'll take a quick five-minute break. Okay. Thank you, and we'll be back for the regular board meeting. Anyone can take their seats. We're getting ready to start. Where's the light? Where's Junior? Oh, there she comes. I'd like to call to order the meeting of the Board of Directors of the District for the City of

100Allentown for today, March 20, 2025. The Board welcomes and invites public comment. We may address the Board on agenda and or non-agenda items. The first opportunity for comment is at the beginning of the meeting and is limited to agenda items only. Comment cards must be received by the start of the meeting, which is now. You will not be receiving public cards once the meeting begins. A copy of the public comment policy is located on the table next to the comment cards. Per our board's policy, any person may address the board in accordance with the procedures and limitations of this policy, either on issues presented in resolutions being considered or on other matters affecting the administration, management, or operation of the district. Remarks of a personal nature directed against any individual will be ruled out of

101order. If you choose to address the board, please fill out the common cause and hand it over to the board secretary, Mr. Simonson. Common cause is located at the podium near the door. Once recognized, please come to the podium and state your name and address for the record and kindly limit your remarks to three minutes. We will now have the roll call. Mr. Secretary, please call the roll. Ms. Brown? Ms. Conover? Present. Ms. Harris? Here. Ms. Matheson? Here. Mr. Nikolov? Here. Ms. Noel? Here. Ms. Ortiz? Here. Ms. Sierra? Ms. DiBersio? Here. We have seven members present. Thank you. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a moment of silence. And now we'll have the superintendent's remarks. Good evening school board directors members of the public are all of our team my team in

102all Educators and families that are in a room It was brought to my attention When we started our committee meetings that the public did not hear the district's updates on The status of Harrison Morton middle school So if the matter president is if in the board of you just allow us to for the record, I guess the YouTube recording wasn't happening for the public to see that beginning parts of the meetings. Yes, please. Is it okay if we, if Dr. Whartonby, if you could please. And as Dr. Whartonby comes to the podium, you know, I just want to share, one, I want to thank all members of our learning community again for making pivots and shifts to accommodate our Harrison-Morton students, staff, and all the educators there. As we all know, we can't understate the

103importance of returning to the classroom and that being in classrooms allows for more hands-on learning and immediate feedback to be provided from our teachers to our students. And it also builds a sense of community. And we know that it's very difficult to replicate that online, as well as we know it's been very inconvenient for our family members who are part of our learning community at Harrison Morton Middle School. So we appreciate deeply the flexibility of our students, staff, families, and their resilience. And I also would be remiss if I didn't thank our schools as well as our partners for being responsive in two very unpredictable situations. And so, and I know there have been many people on our operations team who have been working very tirelessly, kind of around the clock to ensure that we're

104able to move equipment and technology and everything else, transportation. So I want to thank you and I want to thank STA as well as Lanta for their level of flexibility in supporting our students and families. And I just want to specifically call out thanking, of course, our Harrison Wharton Learning Community, as well as the Archdiocese of Allentown and our partners at Lehigh Carbon Community College for accommodating our students. And so, Dr. Wharton, if you could please give updates of where we are at this time. Absolutely. And I pair it exactly what Dr. Burke said with all those warm thanks. It's been a herculean task by everybody. So thank you to the community. Thank you for being patient with us. And thank you for being flexible. We learned today that we could not be at St.

105Francis anymore due to a mechanical failure at St. Francis. So given that notice, we also researched several alternative locations to move about 240 kids plus their teachers and staff out of that building to... alternate locations and they were identified as South Mountain Middle School as well as Trexler Middle School. Both of those schools and their administration opened up their school to six classrooms each. So that's where we're going to split up the purple and gold group out of Harrison Morton Middle School. They will be 120. plus their staff will be going over to South Mountain. The other 120 plus their staff will be going over to Trexler. That way that student cohorts together with other middle school kids and they will be able to be educated accordingly. In addition, as Dr. Burke said, both Atlanta

106STA came to the plate again. They originally came to the plate to help us about three weeks ago, and they came to the plate again today to coordinate transportation, pivot, as Dr. Burke said, on where they have to go. Currently, we have three school buses going over to St. Francis for the sixth grade students, but we're going to have four now because we're going to need two for South Mountain and two for Trexler. So we increased it by one bus. Likewise, our partners at Lanta will be able to accommodate us. The South Mountain run will be a little longer, a little more difficult, but the Trexler one should be just as easy as the Lanta bus traveling today from Harrison-Morton to the other locations. In regards to Harrison Morton Middle School proper, we are continuing

107to make improvements to that school. My director of facilities, as well as his team, has, for lack of better words, almost summer cleaned the school, meaning the floors have been waxed, the carpet has been cleaned, the furniture has been wiped down and disinfected, just because it's a great time to do it when there's nobody in the building. Likewise, we are... working with technology as we're going to have a big effort tomorrow to clean out St. Francis, get the teachers out, get the students. They're going to be remote tomorrow. They're going to be doing virtual learning. Teachers will have the opportunity to pack. Just sixth grade students? Just sixth grade students only at St. Francis. No other sixth grade students. And I'll let you carry on with that one once I'm done. So we're still over

108at... The Harrison Morton Middle School, we're doing a couple more things. We're going to also be putting in air purifiers in all the classrooms as well as offices. And then running a barrage of indoor air quality testing again, just to have that confident feeling that the building can be reoccupied. And again, the thank you in the last 24 hours, not even the last 24 hours, the last 12 hours. has been absolutely incredible from central office to the two buildings, to Lanta, to our partners who continue to work with us. It's absolutely been a blessing. It really has. So I thank you. Thank you, Dr. Bortenby. And I just want to reiterate that tomorrow, sixth grade students who... are enrolled at Harrison-Morton School that were just today at St. Francis School. If you are in sixth

109grade, your instruction will take place virtually. The students who are in seventh and eighth grade who attend Harrison-Morton School, who are taking classes at Lehigh Carbon Community College, tell me all the other ones, because I don't have to pull them. Deeriff High School. And William Penn. And William Penn, you are still in session at your schools. We will see you in the morning, just all the great administrators who have been greeting you and Cleric Support staff in the morning, they will see you at Harrison Morton Middle School waiting for you so you can get on your school buses or you can walk to William Penn or walk to those locations. The school is in session, for everyone under the sound of my voice, for seventh and eighth grade students in-person learning sixth grade. Students who

110attend Harrison-Morton School will learn virtually and tell them when they're coming back. Monday, March 24th. Yes, on Monday, March 24th, all students who attend Harrison-Morton School, 6th through 8th grade, you will be back in-person learning. And then we'll, can we talk a little bit, and I don't know if Mr. Rickhouse, if it's okay, Madam President, talk about the family meetings that are taking place. So if people didn't get our letters, because they should be out now, what's going to happen? We did have a meeting with the faculty and staff, and I think we also briefed Ms. Franklin and others about the status of where we're going. So today we had a staff meeting with the sixth grade staff at St. Francis in person. uh... the other members of the has more staff were virtual uh...

111we just explain to them the situation where we are and what our next steps were going to be in addition we're going to have tomorrow at five o'clock p m a apparent meeting at south mountain middle school so that parents who attend that particular because of golden working group will be able to come to South Mountain to view the school and also have any questions answered. At 6.30 p.m., we'll also have a parent meeting at Trexler Middle School for the staff members who are purple and Minutemen so that they can also view the school and have any additional questions that they need to have answered in reference to where we are as far as we're moving toward our new transition, our new place, and as far as the transition is taking place. And thank you,

112Mr. Rickhouse. And the reason that the classes are virtual tomorrow is because we want to have the educators and all staff have an opportunity to prepare so they can get ready for the classrooms and make their transitions to the new locations and help them move materials and so that they get an opportunity to be ready for a new learning space on Monday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Again, I want to thank everyone for your patience. Like I said, it was two unfortunate situations. I am very empathetic to the teaching staff to have to make so many adjustments, especially our teachers and leaders who are at our other receiving schools because they are moving people around. So I know for the... I teach people who are teachers, I taught middle school so I understand fully

113how you must feel having to move out of your classroom and not having your space. So please if you could, I appreciate your patience thus far, but it's not intended to be malicious in any way. But I am the person ultimately responsible for the health and safety. of the students and i did i do not feel comfortable at this point that we've done enough work at harrison-morton to be prepared to reoccupy that space so that's what we have not i know that didn't come out but i want to say that publicly so we're still making some renovations over at harrison-morton we're going to do some additional air quality tests at Harrison Wharton School and Dr. Whartonby, I know you didn't say that Mr. Crenshaw, but we're also putting, researching now, putting in some HEPA filters

114throughout the school to make sure that we have the optimal air quality in the school. So that's why we have not reoccupied. So for everyone who's listening or everyone who's with all the comments on Facebook, that is why we're not reoccupying the space because we wanna ensure that our members of our. learning community or family that you are safe to react by the space can i just say um dr burke excuse me um i just want to say thank you for um everything that you've done that administration has done you guys did a phenomenal job getting this together so quickly and handling the situation so quickly so our students and staff can return i want to thank the principal at south mountain and Mr. Morrow, I mean, I'm hearing that he's been wonderful and I

115wouldn't expect anything less. He's an amazing guy. So thank you to everybody who put this together and got this handled so quickly because I'm sure it means a lot. It means a lot to me to see that these kids are going back in person and not being stuck learning from a screen. So thank you. Thank you. And thank you, Dr. Brooks. Yes, the board shares the same sentiment. Thank you so much. the way that everyone has stepped up and pivoted and even the parents are so supportive and understanding of the changes that are happening right now and they are making adjustments to their schedule or whatever they need to do. So we are so appreciative of all the work that's being done. We are really coming together as a community on this one and rallying

116around each other and making sure that the students have what they need. So thank you guys so much for all the work that you're doing. Thank you and thank the board. Thank you to the board for helping us make those shifts and changes because there's been quite a few of them. So thank you. You're welcome. At this time, we are only taking public comments on agenda items. Once recognized, please come to the podium, state your name and address for the record. Please note remarks are limited to three minutes and the microphone will be disabled at the end of the three minutes. Please also be informed the school board of directors appreciate public comment. However, we are not able to respond to these comments. Administration will address your concerns and update the board on the status

117of your concerns. Are there any comments? Okay, thank you so much. May I have a motion of approval of the minutes? I'll make that motion. Second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Conover? Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Ms. DiBersio? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. Now for our information updates is there an update from the Allentown Human Relations Commission? Yes, the Human Relations Commission is currently exploring the opportunity and possibility of moving to virtual meetings And at least giving access virtually for those who wish to view the meetings Thank you Any reports from the Allentown Public Library? Yes. Circulation is up, and our children's library is bustling. So we're really, really proud of that. Also, as well, our finances. The Allentown Library

118is in need of help. We looked at the Pennsylvania Public Library status of reports for the year. What was it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. For the year and local government and revenue population. And Allentown only gives nine dollars ninety eight cent per per per student or per person. Bethlehem gives sixteen dollars and eighty nine cent and Easton gives twenty four dollars ninety cent. So we are in need. We have a deficit of two hundred thousand two hundred seventy seven thousand eight hundred thirty dollars. So we're asking for the finance committee, well, for the superintendent and your CFOs to look at the budget. I know we're going to be presenting our budget very soon, but to look at it and see if we can help with that deficit. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ms. Harris. Any

119reports from the Allentown Recreation Commission? Is your microphone on? Oh, okay. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Thank you. Yeah, it's very low. It sounds like it is even off. Oh, there it is. Oh, I'm supposed to kiss. Say it again. There we go. We're focusing on the summer programming and hiring college students for the summer. Is it just college students or is it also our students? Anyone could actually apply. Right. Mostly they either return employees or whoever wants to apply. So our students? Yes. Not just our college students, but our students from ASD. Okay. They're able to. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burcio. And there is a report from the Allentown School District Foundation. With funding provided by the foundation, 24 students from Harrison-Morton Middle School participated in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science

120Regional Competition at North Hampton Community College last month. Twelve of these students earned first place and five earned second place, affording them the opportunity to participate in the state competition taking place at Penn State University from May 18th through May 20th. The foundation is also funding their participation in states, including registration fees, busing, lodging, meals, and teacher chaperone stipends. So that's amazing. Supporting literacy initiatives for ASD students is one of ASD Foundation's top priorities. As a result, we are supporting the Superintendent's Reading League. This semester by providing funds to purchase awards and prizes for the school and individual winners of the bundle up with books and other reading challenges. Congratulations to the ASD learning community for logging over 1.8 million minutes of reading time from January 28th through March 9th. That is amazing. And close

121to 100 ASD high school students will be performing at our 15th annual High Notes Gala at the America's Hotel this Saturday, March 22nd. With over 200 guests expected to attend, this event will raise approximately $115,000 to help fund programs for ASD students in the areas of literacy, STEM, civic education, and the visual and performing arts, as well as the administration of graduating senior scholarships. Each of the eight performance groups showcased at the gala will receive a grant ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 to support their activities. That's amazing. Additionally, all the performers, tech crew, and group directors will be treated to a Broadway bus trip towards the end of the school year, funded by ASD Foundation, primarily through our Broadway sponsors. In partnership with the school district, ASD Foundation submitted a game on grant request to

122Iron Pigs Charities in the amount of $609,000. If approved, this grant will fund facility improvement and equipment for ASD's 3rd Street Athletic Field. We expect to find out if this grant was approved in April. So amazing things happening in ASD with collaboration with the ASD Foundation. We're so happy about this partnership and how we're working together right now. We're really looking forward to the high notes gala this weekend Okay, so where is this the $600,000 is that Third Street? Where's that? What facility the Third Street? Yeah, yeah sure yeah, mr.. Your check is going to explain. Thank you Good evening, so that space is along My gosh. American Parkway. So down was one block from Harrison Morton. So that grass field near, there's an old warehouse there, that is the Allentown School Districts. And there's

123a lot of potential there to support student athletes and just even Harrison Morton in that community there. So that's what that grant was for. So it's $600,000 for, are we going to put a soccer field, football? What are we doing? That's support of our middle school, correct? Yep. It would be. Pretty much, and just that community there. So fencing, I believe part of it may have been for electrical and water there as well. Is that the, it's the parking lot, I think, or the field where the... Central Catholic goes and practices football and stuff? It's across the street. So that one is a little further down across the street. This one is right off of, well, it's 3rd Street. Okay. I would love to see the plans for that. Thank you. Yeah. We'll get the

124board further information and the superintendent's report. Thank you. And that ends my report. And now for my report for the Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit. Just a short report tonight. So Project Search and VIP, which is a vocational independence program, it's designed to support students with disabilities in transitioning to independent employment and adulthood. Project Search, a national program originating in 1996, has been implementing locally since 2008. While VIP is a homegrown initiative serving as a stepping stone to Project Search, both programs focus on work-based learning, helping students develop job skills, soft skills, self-advocacy, and independence. Students who must personally desire employment begin with instructed one-on-one support that gradually fades as they gain confidence and autonomy. This program also emphasizes community, safety, transportation, training, and connecting students with adult support networks. With partnership involving over 150 employers, this

125initiative aims to ensure students successfully transition from education to employment, equipping them with the skills to thrive beyond the classroom. So this is a really great initiative that they're doing right now, making sure that all our Our special needs students are really transitioning into the workforce and we're really excited about this initiative and where it's going to go. So just wanted to report that tonight. And now for a report from the LCTI. We meet next week. Okay. Thank you. And now for our student representatives. Alicia Rodriguez, Allen High School. Yeah. Good evening, everyone. On February 21st, 2025, a group of dedicated juniors and seniors from Willingham High School participated in the 30th Annual Sokova Conference held at Commonwealth University Bloomsburg Campus, gaining valuable insight and inspiration. The conference focused on cultural awareness and personal growth,

126featured engaging workshops such as overcoming general awareness and personal growth. and Curtis is sorry, communicating to others with dignity, providing students with tools for success. The event was a unique opportunity for William Allen students to interact with college students, university faculty and staff, fostering a collaborative learning environment. In a remarkable gesture of support, Commonwealth University President, Dr. Bashar Hana, a proud alumnus of the Allentown School District, announced that the all eight juniors and three seniors will receive a $1,000 scholarship to be applied towards their tuition if accepted to the university. On March 13, 2025, 24 students and 6 teachers and staff took a field trip to the Hershey Story Museum in Hershey, PA. The first activity happened in the chocolate lab where students were tasked with creating their own prototype chocolate bar. Each group presented

127their creation and every student was able to create their own unique bar to take home. The second activity was a scavenger hunt in the museum, including a special exhibit showcasing old Hershey history. Our entrepreneurship series continues to thrive. For a few students, they have been given the opportunity to meet with local business owners one-on-one to mentor them to the process of writing their own business plan. A few students have started their plans and are now seeking mentors. This month, in honor of Women's History Month, the panel will feature local female entrepreneurs from Allentown and the surrounding Lehigh Valley. We have a discussion on Tuesday, March 25th at 12.30 p.m. in the William Allen Auditorium. To stagecraft... has gotten really involved in a project to create a library of 3D printed food props. The students have

128taken on various roles from finding existing files and modifying them, to setting and running the printers, to painting the props so super lifelike. This has become their primary area of interest this year, and so far they have created and printed hundreds of food props. Some of them will be displayed at the multidisciplinary project exhibit on April 29th. Ms. Mousley Lowe incident work based students were just presented with a new opportunity to work at Richmar Florist on Mondays. The students are really enjoying the site so far and have engaged in jobs running from filling vases, cutting flowers, sorting vases, and stacking vases in the storage room. The spring sports season is often running at William Allen High School. The athletic department would like to thank the Allentown School District administration and the board for their continued

129efforts in upgrading our facilities. Your continued investment in our athletic programs do not go unnoticed. Spring sports are off to a steady start, especially for boys volleyball, who is 2-0 on the season. Don't forget that the Allen vs. Deer baseball game is April 1st at 6.30 p.m. at Coca-Cola Park. Get out and enjoy a night of ASD baseball, free admission, and concession stands will be open. Also, our track team participated in a meet yesterday. I think we did super good. I'm part of the track team and Kimberly, so I think we did really good. We also have a meet next Tuesday. It's at JVC, so Jay Bird and Crum Stadium. If you guys can come. It's against freedom. Love the support. And our baseball and softball team also opened up their seasons this week, so

130congrats to them, and thank you. Thank you so much. Our next report will come from Kimberly Arias, Building 21. Really quick. Yes, we have a meet next Tuesday. Please come out. And you did really good yesterday, too. I appreciate it. Good evening. As you know, Building 21 is all about helping students find their passion, develop their power and agency. Ultimately using their learning to make an impact. One example of this is our new peer mentoring program. A student-led project in last year's sociology elective identified a need in our building for a program to help students develop adaptation and self-advocacy skills and to combat social isolation. Thanks to a partnership with the Center for Humanistic Change and the work of our teacher, Ms. Justice and Ms. Stevens, our first cohort of student peer mentors have just

131completed their training and are meeting with their classmates. Continuing with the theme of learning for impact, two of our social study classes just held their civic action exhibitions. Our 10th grade advocacy day program from our world history classes celebrated its third year with students continuing. their work lending their voice to fair trade and human rights issues around the world. Our 11th grade held its first ever Allentown Health Fair with students collaborating with and presenting to decision makers from the Health Bureau, Parks and Recreation, Valley Youth and House, and more. Several of the student design proposals for enhancing the health of our community are now proceeding with these local agencies for possible action. One area where our students continue to impact the Lehigh Valley is with their artwork. This month, several of our students traveled to

132Lehigh University to view the Hope and Healing Juried Art Show with several pieces of art on display from our students. Special congratulations to Ori White. whose artwork titled Let's All Look for the Light received a community award. All student artwork from this competitive show will be donated to area healthcare facilities, and many have had complimentary mini meditations designed to accompany the art, turning each work into opportunities for healing moments for all those who encounter them. Learning for impact also means learning to serve. Several of our students were proud to visit Ramos Elementary and volunteer as Ramos Readers in celebration of Read Across America. As our second semester senior capstone projects are underway, we look forward to reporting on all the additional ways our students seek and find ways to serve our community. Our preparation for

133post-graduation life continues with visits to DeSales, Bloomsburg, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, the Pennsylvania University of Art and Design, Lincoln University, Moravian, East Stroudsburg University, and the Automotive Training Center. This coming Monday, our students will set themselves up for these opportunities by taking the SATs. And that's all the news from Building 21. Thank you. Thank you so much. And now we will have the representative from Deeriff High School, Jacey Jimenez-Vazaria. Good evening, everyone. I'm excited to share some updates from Deeriff High School. In athletics, we would like to congratulate our junior wrestler, Giovanni Hamlin, who competed at both the district and state levels, winning two matches at the state tournament, an impressive feat for someone who started wrestling just two years ago. We would also like to congratulate our swim teams competing in district

134relates with. Abe Boyer, Rosanna Baez, Navea Thomas, Dariel E Segura, Cadence Rayberry, Dylan Sevesta, Jacob Williams, Gage Raychard, Ben Carrasquillo, and Chris Dwornyk, representing Deeroff. We would also like to congratulate again our senior, Dylan Sevesta, who also qualified for the individual 50 freestyle event for the second year in a row. We are very excited to see these boys and all our spring sports teams continue to compete and represent in DRO and ASD throughout the season and hopefully post-season. In academics and students programs, we will be holding our National Honor Society induction ceremony on April 11, which is amazing because this year we have a lot of juniors. And last but not least, I would like to talk about Caminos Esperanza, who is a peer mentoring and counseling program designed to help newcomer students deal with

135the isolation and trauma associated with relocation, which I'm honored to be the mentor and founder of the program. The goal is- Thank you. The goal is to help newcomer students create networks of support at Dero. At today's group mentoring section, we ask students to complete a brief survey to access program effectiveness. I want to share what our mentees say in the survey about our program. One of them say that it is helping me to feel confident when I speak English. I learned not to be afraid to ask for help. I don't feel left out anymore. I think the program improved my self-esteem. I have been feeling more confident in social situations. I made new friends. Caminos de Esperanza is planning a parent workshop for the month of May. This workshop will be a way of

136extending the support for our students to families and an opportunity for mentees and mentors to share their experience throughout the year with their family and community. Camino Esperanza is our voices, our cultures, and our safe space. What started as a conversation among friends and my guidance counselor is now turning into a grassroots movement. If you want to be part of this change, we can help. My only goal before I graduate is to expand Camino Esperanza to other schools so that our community gets the support it truly needs. Thank you. Jacey, I'm so proud of you. Wow. Amazing. Oh, my God. She's been trying to talk about this program for a while, and every time I'm like, go ahead, go ahead, go. I'm so happy. You're doing an amazing job supporting your community the way that

137you are, being so selfless. And even the way you are almost running an organization because you're doing assessments. You're doing things that a lot of organizations don't do. So I'm commending you. You are on the right track. And any support that you need from any of us here, we are here to help. Thank you so much. Yeah, show your shirt. Yes. This is also a t-shirt that one of the therapists did. Sorry. So we have our core values. Come on. Let's say. Throw it off. ASD. Okay, come. So we have core values here. Can you read it for me? Connections, belonging, healing. Come on. Yes. She's on my superintendent's advisory council. Credit. Oh, boy, we have greatness in ASD. We really do. Yes. Okay, so now we move on to business. May I have a

138motion for approval for the Board of Directors report? I make that motion. Second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Ms. Tabersia? Yes. Ms. Conover? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. May I have a motion of approval for the policy agenda? I'll make that motion. Second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Mr. Bercio? Yes. Ms. Conover? Yes. Ms. Harris? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. May I have a motion of approval for the Secretary and Treasurer's report? I'll make the motion. I'll second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Conover? Mr. Bercio? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Mr.

139Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. May I have a motion of approval for the superintendent's report? Make the motion. Second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Noel? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Ms. DiPerzio? Yes. Ms. Conover? Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikolov? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. May I have a motion of approval for the personnel report? So moved. Second. Is there any discussion? Speaking of Mike, let's go home. I just listened to the young lady, one of our student reps, talk about connection, belonging, and healing. And as it relates to the personnel report, I was looking at the personnel report. I had a report. At home in my office, but I didn't get a chance to go. So I went through really quick again because

140I had pointed out some things in the personal report that concerns me. I want to vote for everything that comes across. But sometimes when things don't sit right with me, I'm vocal. But my vocalness always come from a space and place where I want to create a resolve. Even though sometimes it doesn't feel that way to some people. But I noticed on our report, this report. There was one resignation. Correct me if I'm wrong because I did some scribbles while I was sitting here. And then there's about 18 FMLA's. Some FMLA's and I took away the ones, the people that were out for like maternity. And so even though we know what FMLA is and we know that folks who work, they're entitled to it in their place of employment. I'm still a real person

141and I understand that people take FMLA when they can't. do it anymore for many health reasons, for many reasons. And so it made me go back to a place and space where for many years I've been saying we need to put something in place so that we can gauge the people who are leaving us and the people who are having a hard time, right? Because, and I'm not saying, this is not an attack on our leadership, but We need to know why people are leaving. We need to know what the issues are. I know Dr. Brooks has held some forums, but I want to make a recommendation, and I'll make it later on. And hopefully the board members can, you know, we can talk about it. But we need to put something in place so

142that we can be better at addressing our personnel needs. And so I just want to make, because tonight we have one resignation. We have 18 FMLA's. I'm going to vote in favor of this because you can't make somebody stay if they don't want to. But there's always reasons why people leave, and there's always reasons why people decide I need a break, time out, I can't do this anymore. So I just wanted to make that comment because I'm going to vote the way that I vote. But when you open it up for new business, I'm going to bring this up again because we look good and we're doing well in a lot of ways. But I feel based on... What I read, because you talk about the data, right? And I can go back years, because

143I'm like a pack rat. I can look at where we were, and I can look at where we are. I think that we need to focus on this. Personnel, to me, is not just the word personnel in this little booklet. And we say every day, all the time, we get better together. So I'm going to talk about that. So I just want to make mention during this time, so I'm done. Are you? I mean, I'm very interested in the conversation because I know with FMLA, that's usually you can't really get any information as to why they're taking FMLA. But I hear what you're saying. So there is some processes that we can put in place before it gets to that place. Exactly. So we can take the vote, but I'm going to bring it up

144briefly, and then we can go to bed and wake up, and we can decide on something. But there's something that definitely needs to be done in my thoughts. Thank you, Ms. Tom. Any other discussion? Please call the roll. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Mr. Bercio? Yes. Ms. Conover? Yes. Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. We have a motion of approval for the finance report. So moved. Second. Is there any discussion? Yes. I'm looking at the finance report and item B, C, and D. They are doing things with our buildings. We haven't had a building committee meeting in over two years. Everything has been shifted now to the finance, but that used to be under building, and we had a separate meeting for that. I don't know

145why it was shifted to that. I know because you got to pay for it, but nevertheless, building that was under the building committee and now it's not. Now it's in the finance. So that's something I'm asking you to look at. Please, thank you. So you have the power to call a building committee meeting. So if you would like that to be a part of the agenda, because it would have to come forward in this format the way we do all the other ones. So that's something that we can look into. It just got put there. And I was like, I don't know what happened to my building committee. What happened to it? And then all of a sudden it's just under finance. I would like to start calling building committee. And those things that are

146coming to the buildings, just facilities, I would like to be able to have that discussed under a building committee and not just finance. Understood. No, that was just a comment. That's it. Discussion over. But you would like some direction on that. This is discussion. She said discussion area. This is discussion. Yeah. We want. Just bringing that up. So you're saying at one point. And I was here, by the way. At one point, it was finance and it was building. And now it's no longer finance and building. It's all in finance. Correct. So you would like to see it go back to building separate from finance. Is that what you're saying? Okay. Yes. Thank you. Okay. That's it. It was just a discussion. So that is the direction. But I don't know that it should be

147a direction. I'm sorry. It shouldn't be a direction. Because we never asked. We don't know when it left. When did it leave the building? Two years ago. I haven't had a building committee meeting. Well, maybe it didn't leave. It was on the paper, but maybe we just didn't do it. One day it didn't show up on the agenda. Right. Is that correct? All of a sudden, everything came under finance. Okay. So then, yeah, when I got it like this, I just want to make that clear. If I may on this issue, clearly the definition of what constitutes something within the jurisdiction of the building committee, there is likely overlap. With the finance committee, there needs to be perhaps some better definition. In our policies as to what is the jurisdiction of the building committee as

148compared to the finance committee. And to avoid duplication in what's being done. I don't know if it's that simple to just simply say that every building and facilities issue. Is reviewed by the building committee and every facilities and other issues is reviewed by the committee of the finance committee or the committee of the whole. So I don't think it's that simple. It was that simple two years ago. What? It was that simple two years ago. We have not had one for two years. It used to be like that. So can there be a sum? I'm not disputing that. I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying that. Within the past two years, we've had significant facility issues right now in terms of building new buildings and the like. And there is a strong nexus between building

149issues and finance. So let's think resolution. Is there possible for there to be a subsector of the finance? Like, say, for instance, Ms. Audrey goes and then after that we say the building. But it's still a part of the same thing. Like a subcommittee type of thing. I think you need to discuss that as a matter of policy and governance organizationally. Thank you. We'll do so. Just for clarity, so are we suggesting that we bring this back to the policy committee to look at our policies and come back to you? I want to be clear for the record what the expectation is. That's fine with me. Yes. So we can go back to policy, but I also want to, When it was changed, it's like now, this is how I'm feeling again, please nobody get

150offended, but I'm going to say what. It's like decisions are being made in one space and place. And so the board does not really have too much of a say until it's actually pretty much done. But if we had the policy, I mean, if we had the building. Committee separate from the Finance Committee and we reported or we met differently, then folks would feel more comfortable. This is what I think I'm hearing you say. If I'm not correct me because I can't speak for you. Right. And if we take it back to the policy committee, you're the policy chair, right? No, that's Nick. That's Nick, yes, you. So then my question would be, Mr. Nickloff, how long would it be before we could have a policy? Come through I think the key issue here if

151I'm understanding. Mr Sultana correctly is that there will be overlap and decisions between building and finance we need to Look at thoroughly and understand that when there is an overlap in which committee will there be an action item? Because we can't have both the action items and then create a conflict So I'm not exactly sure right now how long that will take to look into but that's the issue that we'll look at first So, because my reason for asking that question, because totally understood, but we know that we are working more, right? And everything that we pretty much do, we're creating urgency to do it. So that's something that definitely doesn't or couldn't be put on the back burner. That's something that needs to be dealt with quickly so that we can continue to move

152on with the work. We can look at bringing that into our discussions in April. I can't guarantee that it will go on the agenda in April, but we can look at the policies in our next meeting. Thank you. Yes, and I do want to make this very clear. I did not make that decision. prior to me well our board changes every two years or every other day depending on what right but i just want to make it clear because i don't want someone to think i made that decision and then just put it in no this was in place before i became board person or maybe was even on the board because i don't recall when i started on the board having that meeting so it changed at some point so we just need to

153figure out the best way to move forward thank you any other discussion please call the road mr bersio Yes. Ms. Conover? Yes. Ms. Harris? Yes. Ms. Matheson? Yes. Mr. Nikoloff? Yes. Ms. Noel? Yes. Ms. Ortiz? Yes. Motion passes 7-0. Thank you. At this time, we are only taking public comments on non-agenda items. Once recognized, please come to the podium. State your name and address for the record. Please note remarks are limited to three minutes and the microphone will be disabled at the end of the three minutes. Please also be informed the School Board of Directors appreciates public comment. However, we are not able to respond to these comments. Administration will address your concerns and update the board on the status of your concern. Mr. Secretary, is there any? One comment Leslie Franklin. Thank you. Oh

154Leslie Franklin a a president 2101 Mac Boulevard Good evening everyone first. I want to acknowledge how thrilling the recent Accomplishment of Lehigh Parkway was due to pure grit and determination of staff and students to be their best Also, the news of Harrison Morton students and staff currently at St. Francis being relocated to the two middle schools, Trexler and South Mountain, is really good news. Thank you to all involved with that decision-making for their safety and security. I appreciate it. I am here tonight with the intention to express areas of improvement for the district to consider in regards to students and staff of ASD. Some of these things have been touched upon a little bit tonight, unbeknownst to me. Our current employee systems are out of date and do not have overlapping capabilities. What I mean

155by that is they're not able to communicate with each other, causing some issues for not only teachers and other professionals that use them, but also for administration and for HR. With them not being able to communicate with each other, it makes things a little bit harder. It is my understanding that we are, as a district, looking. at improving some of these systems or switching over to other systems. I just wanted you to be aware that this is an ongoing problem that I would really appreciate having it looked into. Also, third party companies that are hired by the district, some that are responsible for assisting employees with FMLA and workman's comp claims. are causing more confusion and frustration for our employees than they are assisting and guiding. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up

156about that. If there was a streamline for the systems and processes, that would effectively aid individuals when they're dealing with difficult times. Quality instruction is the main goal for our faculty and staff to ensure academic success for our students, but it's almost impossible without proper resources and supports from the district. The focus I am hopeful for is to solidify the foundational objectives of our district to ensure successful implementation of district expectations and initiatives. In the interest of time, I do have a list of specifics. for anybody who is interested. Thank you very much for your time and consideration tonight. Thank you. Thank you. I'm interested. And if Ms. Smith or someone could meet with her. Thank you. Appreciate it, Dr. Savoy. Any other comments? Is there any old business to come before the board? Is

157there any new business? So this would be the new business, but it's kind of old. It's new business because I really want to see something get done. I talked about exit interviews for many years. If we can do exit interviews that our department employees can complete voluntarily. This would include verbal interviews, in-person interviews. I know we talked about surveys before. We'd also want to ask about the reasons for leaving, their job satisfaction, leadership workload, and suggestions for improvement. Maybe assign HR or a neutral third party to conduct the interviews for more of an honest response. We may be able to consider anonymous exit interviews. Again, we talked about the survey. Maybe we could have multiple choice questions, also have open-ended questions, but we have to ensure that people are anonymous. with their response, that we

158want them to be able to give honest feedback. We also, I don't know if we're doing any of this, so if we're doing any of this, okay, I want to have state interviews. I'm considering us to consider state interviews, you know, try to get people to be proactive, to find out what we could do better. What are their thoughts? I mean, something might be. Driving me crazy, but at the same time it may not really be an issue But we never had that interview I had that time to sit down and talk about it so that you can make sure that I see the vision Maybe we can have an employee retention dashboard, create a dashboard to track our turnover rates. Everything we do, we base it on data, right? I learned that since I've

159been here on this board. We're not going to do nothing until we get the data. So we want to be able to have data, but we want accurate data. We want people's reasons for leaving, and we want to be able to look at those trends over time. Because, again, what goes in our students is what comes out of them. And consistency is something that's very important when it comes to our children and their learning environment. Also, again, like I said earlier, we want to build people. We don't want to tear them down. I would also like to see that periodically create a schedule where you can come back and report to the board. Let us know what's going on, how we're doing. And that's the only way that we're going to be able to figure

160out what we're doing wrong and how we can do things better. Again, going back to the personnel report, when I see things like we can't control FMLA, right? But usually people stay home. Well, things happen in people's life for a reason. When people love to be where they want to be, like, I don't want to work, but I want to work, if you know what I mean. I go to work every day, and I cannot work, right? But my environment is not an environment in which it's like, listen, I just can't do this. And we won't know unless we actually put some processes in place to be able to look and see what that is. You know, we've had a lot of people. who've left our district and we're doing well but at the same

161time I still haven't forgot about those wonderful people who left right it's something that we might be doing a little better now but it's something that I don't feel that we've pretty much touched we put enough effort in to find out what we're doing wrong and how we can make it right so I just want to make I'm bringing that to my other colleagues and to Dr. Burks Yeah, sure. And thank you, Ms. Conover. Some of the things that you shared, we do collect when people leave the district. And as you are aware, we can't make people take the survey. And we've had some focus groups with individuals if they are willing to participate. And so, however, in the spirit of getting better together, because as you know, I'm very reflective, and I know that

162we can enhance our overall efficiencies as the way we retain. recruit our talent as an organization and so we are continuing to work and to increase you know our efficiencies in that area but as you are aware this is a national thing people leave organizations at all sectors from education to every sector right now we're in a different place in the workplace and so and I think seeing if someone takes FMLA doesn't necessarily correlate to something's happening with the organization I don't know why these individuals are in FMLA because I'm not privy to know why they're in FMLA. But some people are generally sick in our organization. So FMLA may say that they're physically sick. Or that it's not just, I'm mentally sick, or I'm just misbehaving because I don't want to come to work.

163Because we do have a lot of great employees. And I guess my other question is, I want to understand what data you think will be acceptable because we've presented data to the board as to this what people are saying and there was it was questioned as to whether the accuracy and efficiency and we can hire someone to do it if that makes the board feel more comfortable aside from our team but I want to make sure we're being responsive to your requests so and I want to make sure that you're being responsive as well So maybe we should look at something like a dashboard where people can actually go online anonymously and they can actually answer those questions and they can write their responses and we can get it that way. And maybe it could

164or should be done by a third party so that if someone's questioning the information that's getting to us. Because the goal is I want to hear from the people. I want to know. I don't have to know your name. But I want to know if it's four or five people that's walking out the door because they feel a certain way, you know, in terms of administration. And they feel like they're not being heard or can't it could be corrected, but they're not being heard because maybe maybe it could be a focus issue, you know, like I'm just I'm just going to go this way. And if you're over here, I'm still just going this way. And they're not being acknowledged the way that they need to be not acknowledged. I'm not talking about all the

165videos that we're getting awarded for and all the wonderful. carpet in this stuff in Showcasing these are all wonderful things. These are things that I asked for. Am I right of all over the years? but I want to make sure that we're make meeting the needs of Everybody because if we're no good to ourselves We can't be any good to our students and I want us to become the best version of us so maybe You know, I'm hearing you You're saying, look, I'm pretty much, we've done it all. And I don't know what else you want. I didn't say we've done it all. I just want to make sure we're being responsive that the data that's presented, the board won't say, well, that's not true. And I want to be able to present something that

166it will be, the presentation will be respected and viewed as credible. So what I will do, because I got scribbles and I've been scribbling for a long time, we'll present it to the, and then to you, the board, and then we can. work on that. But definitely, because that makes me, like we heard a lot of wonderful things today. We saw a lot of wonderful things today. And we all can agree that we're moving in the right direction. But again, we need to take care of each other. And I don't want to see not one more person walk out the door if they don't have to. And I agree with you. However, people leave organizations for various reasons. Yeah, but I don't want, I hear you, but in my head that's negative. I'm not calling

167you negative. No, no. I'm owning it because I like to say, okay, well, what else can we do to make this better? People do leave. I don't even want to know why people's not on FMLA, but I know why people go on FMLA because I've lived long enough and I've sit around tables and I've heard those conversations. I've been in leadership positions where people work for me and been on FMLA. And so I know that when I know the world that we live in, I know the pressures of the world. I understand that. So what I'm saying, we need to take in consideration that all this is going on and all of our successes. And let's look at the people who are serving our students and say, what can we do to get better as

168we actually. are dealing with you. I agree with you on that. And we will take measures in place to ensure that we have some safeguards and elevate even our EAP process and have some things we talked about, some employee wellness activities. So I agree with you. Yeah. And I agree as well because the data literally shows it costs way more to have to train new employees. So one of the... practices that organizations are using, including myself, you're making sure that mental health support systems or their wellness support systems are in place to make sure that you're keeping the employees happy and healthy and in a good place because it actually costs more when you lose the employee to have to retrain and develop and do all of those things so we can make investments in

169different areas. And I think we actually just made an investment because I think I forgot what the organization is that's offering our employees gym membership. Yes. Yes. Yes. So we're moving in that direction. Yes, I don't know the whole board knows that by now I put in the report that Lehigh Valley has a network It's willing to offer all Allentown school districts employees free gym memberships and so which I think is an added benefit to our Organization and I said and yes, we have areas to grow however I just and I'll let it go just because someone leaves an organization doesn't necessarily mean the organization did something to them They just want to go do something else their careers. That happens often because people have a lot of movement. I do want to say on

170the teacher level, because when we got the first report, I remember on the teacher level, what really came back was the pay. I remember we went and we, you know, so we're working through. We are working through, but I'm clear. We need help in that area. Absolutely. We didn't get there. We're on the same page. But we definitely need to, and we need to hear from the people who are being affected. We don't need to assume that we need to hear. And I want to hear, so let's figure out how we can put some supports in place so that we can authentically hear what these people are saying to us. Thank you. Understood. Any other business coming forward? We have a motion to adjourn this meeting. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. This meeting

171is adjourned. Everyone have a great weekend.