PENNCREST School Board (May 13, 2024)

001M be here Mr Benny here Mr Brown Mr Tosi here Mr kuster here Mr Johnson here miss luga here Mr here Mr vaski here the flag of the United States of America and to the it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you [Music] first action item is approval of minutes resolve pest Board of school directors approve the following minutes March 19th April 2nd April 9th April 18th and April 25th 2024 second motion a second any comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same motion Carri um presentation stent representative address do we have a member from Sager town [Music] here hello my name is Natalie slee and I'm here to update you on what is happening happening at Seager Town The Voice varsity boys

002volleyball team had their senior night May 7th congratulations to Grant Anthony Sam Dre Cody Houston Colin Jones Spencer kefir and William Nicholson the varsity baseball team had their senior night on April 21st congratulations to John Grundy Tory mosbacher and Connor Shaw lastly congratulations to softball senior Michaela Oben Raider who got her F fifth home run of the season and pitched her 800th strikeout of her career in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week Sager toown held a theme day throughout May 6th to May 10th Monday was Memo day Tuesday twinning day Wednesday snap a pick and Friday was food thank you to Dr hock for making this happen and thank you to all of our teachers and staff pencrest haq took place took first place are took place on May 1st at Seager toown Cambridge Springs took

003first Seer toown took second Maplewood thank you to C toown staff who held up the event and made this possible the c town team included Travis Peters sad poock Camden jovic Paige herselman zorian Edwards and team captain Brody Evans the team was coached by Mr bamman good job team congratulations to senior Ella Totton and Paige herselman whose designs were selected to for the cover of this year's sown alumni banquet program prom spirit week is next week Monday was USA day twin Tuesday is twin day Wednesday country versus Country Club Thursday camo day and Friday color Wars prom is on Saturday May 18th our theme this year is Marty gr Mass grade red carpet is at 6:30 and the dance is from 7:00 to 10: p.m. at the Rambler in Cambridge Springs the senior of issue

004of the panther press will be released on May 31st our senior sendoff podcast will be posted on May 24th in the meantime our staff has been releasing web posts which you can find on our website and media as always thank thank you for your time we look forward to updating you next month in the meantime follow us on our socials at the panther Press ashs thank [Applause] you we have our cambrid Springs High School student representative sorry sorry good evening I'm M Mar and I will be updating you on what is going on at Cambridge Springs last Friday we had another successful Cambridge cares day students worked on sidewalks painted cleaned up French Creek helped families in the neighborhood who needed the extra hand and more despite the cold sprinkly weather which luckily cleared up

005later all students had fun and enjoyed their prize at the end of the day as they sat on the front lawn today kicked off um prom spirit week as students were encouraged to wear camo prom will be this Friday followed by prom Till Dawn this week is testing week 8th and nth grade students finished module one of their algebra Keystone exam today and we'll do mod 2 tomorrow on Wednesday and Thursday nth graders will be taking the biology keystones and 10th graders will take the English keystones AP testing will also be held this week good luck and good job to all biology 2 and Anatomy classes went on a field trip today to plant trees last Tuesday a group of students visited Penn State Baron for math options and learned a lot while having fun

006with Hands-On activities students and staff celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week by having a baked potato bar with desserts the student L leadership committee was a huge help and played a big role in putting this all together congratulations to our National History Day teams and our robot otic teams for making it to Nationals robotics will be on their way to Nationals this Friday the baseball team is currently away at Youngsville and the softball team is hosting Maplewood today congratulations to Josh Simpson on his district 10 qualifying times in the 400 and the 200 meter dash Josh will be competing with the best of Northwestern Pennsylvania this Saturday in this Saturday's PIAA District 10 track and field competition held at Slippery Rock University good luck Josh the most recent edition of the Pitchfork the Earth Day Edition just

007came out you can always access it online please continue to keep up with our social media Cambridge speaks to see what is happening at Cambridge Springs daily we appreciate your involvement thank you up next paa representative uh M Miller [Music] good evening pest board students families faculty and staff I am Debbie Miller and I'm representing over 200 teachers and educational Specialists here in pencrest I come to you asking for your partnership and putting the needs of our students first and the rest will fall in place Anyone who reads the newspaper watches the news or goes to the store or the gas pump knows that the cost of living is and has been rising not that it is market research but I was at the checkout counter with my husband and he marveled that a king

008siiz candy bar is now over $3 he said it seems like just yesterday that would have only cost $1 50 that's one item but it's more than double so what did we do we decided we could wait for the snacks in the car our family is doing what everyone else does making choices we choose to forego extras like the KingSize Snickers and go with a less or go with a Le less expensive phone plan or ride together when possible and drive the paid off Vehicles rather than buying a new one but what we don't cut back on is our commitments to our work our family and our faith like everyone else we prioritize we know that we first give to the church then we give to the education and the furthering of our daughter's career

009paths and to our community I would venture to say that all the families in pencrest are similar they are going to stretch their dollars and set the same set of priorities to quote one of our great English teachers here in penas Mr molar who would always speak of priorities in his classroom get it straight students he'd say God family English so if we all do the same with our investments God is first our families are second and English or education is third and I believe those top three priorities will bode well for pencrest if we can agree with Mr molar that education is in the top three then we need to set aside other priorities and focus on it I believe that a large maybe not vocal majority of penr families are with me in

010this I know you hear from a more organized demographic that says no tax increase they say four mil or $20 a month on average will cause them to lose their homes why not find a way for another exemption for those who are truly underprivileged and let the rest of us do our part many of us were disappointed to hear that pencrest is being penalized for not doing our part why would we sit here arguing about cutting teachers programs and services all the while letting the state give other districts close by even the money that is for our students why would pest not rise up to the occasion I believe pest is full of families who want to rise up in such a time as this I know there are many taxpayers that not only find

011it their responsibility to pay for the future of their Community but find it a proud privilege to do so just like I could not stop the prices at the checkout from going up I should not expect my contribution to public education not to go up either that would just be ludicrous and in the end who loses students who get crammed into classes and get less personalized attention from the number one determiner of success their teacher your pengest teachers are talented and capable people just don't tie their hands with overflowing classrooms but like I said earlier it's priorities at the end of the day our dollars have to go to what we value most and I hope it is our students thank [Music] [Applause] you up next uh the district would like to recognize uh some

012of our students for for placing in various competitions first uh journalism awards that were won by both sagtown high school and Cambridge High School students um Miss no are any of your students here tonight do you know no I emailed that she's unable to attend Kay asked um so I'm going to announce the names of the students and we'll make sure that they get the district certificates if you are here um feel free to come up and we can deliver it to you otherwise we'll get it to them in school so under journalism from sagtown high school Panther press Natalie slee received second place editorial cartoon I know Natalie's here did we just heard [Applause] thank you and third place for broadcast script writing was Zoran Edwards [Applause] in sixth place for literary magazine artwork

013was Kaylee [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Reynolds she not you see here you want give it thank [Music] you and from Cambridge Springs high school we have kayn Aster second place literary magazine [Applause] poetry next we had a state Contraband qualifier from mwood high school Joselyn Lane um in recognition of superior representation of the school committee Pennsylvania music educators Association All State concert band qualifier on tenor Saxon [Applause] and lastly but not least was our group of students from Cambridge Springs High School from the National History Day competition I'll read off all names and if any of those students are here they can come up and get their certificates charlot Roberts uh junior individual exhibit qualifier Hunters Z ad senior group documentary qualifier Katherine helus senior group documentary qualifier and Emily to senior individual website qualifier so

014this is Catherine Emily em and I can take the others do you mind if I talk about yeah sure I didn't realize you went back sorry and we have the advisor here would like to say a few words hi I'm Bethany Kissle um I'm the adviser of the History Day Club at Cambridge Springs High School um I've got the certificates for Charlie and Hunter and I'll make sure that they get them um all four of these students worked very hard all year and were able to attend the state competition held at Scranton university and um one of the um really amazing things that happened is that Hunter and Katie here um they came in second place with in the entire state of Pennsylvania for their documentary um in in the group senior category which qualifies

015them to attend the national competition held in Washington DC and Katie wanted to say a couple words about um history day and what it means to her if we could take a moment um as she had mentioned my name is Katie and I am a member of the National History Day at Cambridge Springs I would like to give a big thanks to Mrs kle for her gracious dedication and mentoring us I would also like to thank the Schoolboard members who support us in our endeavors and those who help us to fun trips to the state and National competitions we do appreciate your acknowledgement of our history day accomplishments but it is difficult to Recon in light of the fact that the school board is now considering cutting funding from this academic program it makes me

016believe that there may be a disconnect between wanting kids to succeed and actually giving them the tools that they need to do so the penris district website states that the pencrest mission is to provide resources and opportunities to challenge students assess their educational progress provide a system of support and Empower all to become confident lifelong Learners my team is and I are the Pinnacle of this mission statement and yet we sadly learned that next week that the club funding may be ending and this might mean that we may not be able to attend the National History Day competition in Washington DC we worked very hard for this and due to the small size of our group it is difficult to do any meaningful fundraising therefore we have always relied on supportive funds from the school

017board if you want our school to shine in Pennsylvania then please consider what kind of statement it makes to cut funding for programs where Cambridge Springs students have already competed and placed nationally the students and teachers in these programs work hard each year and it would be a shame to see National History Day at Cambridge Springs stop competing after 30 plus years we ask you to consider funding for these current achievements and for the next 30 years to come thank you [Applause] [Music] okay up next we have uh other com comment from citizens uh this evening we have 11 registered uh speakers uh just to review the policy that the that the board has it's 5 minutes for registered speakers and there there is a 30 minute time limit in the policy for the the

018the host public speaking section so um just to try and be able to get all 11 folks in that are signed up um a lot of information may be reiterated um so if you could try and help each other along by um keeping trying to make your comments uh specific so that we can get all 11 people to get in and and um not have to be overly burdensome on you all for for sitting through the entire meeting but uh we will get all 11 folks through um just want to let folks know that so first up we have uh scheduled is Dan Healey from Cambridge Springs um again when you come up just restate your name and Township residence I'm Dan Healey while I'm getting my um stuff together i' just like to say

019it's been a blessing to uh be part of pen crest for 41 years my wife and I live here we raised four children and and six grandchildren who have are now part of the district and we were very pleased with the education with the uh quality and commitment of the teaching staff and and for the way that they loved our children at Cambridge Springs and so I just want to throw that in that uh the district is doing a great job um so ready go um I say no to tax increases that may be redundant but let me say that again I say no to tax increases a $4.3 million projected shortfall in mid May is a crisis when situations arise like this there's a proven path forward where where once all agree on the

020magnitude of The Challenge almost Buy in to bring every possible solution to the table and to bring it quickly um the new tone in the room is refreshing and teamwork and kindness will continue to serve us well during this process yet it seems that if that we've been uh slow to respond with remedy my perspective is purely based on the posted budget presentations and sitting in on some of our public meetings and but I wouldn't be surprised that there must be other bigger solutions that are already in the works so skip through a paragraph uh it's surprising that so many departments are allowed to put out budgetary numbers that are so far from what can be allowed everyone wants more but time for separating wants and needs has long since passed as this is a

021crisis mode some of the normal proven path uh responses to financial crisis are a pause on hiring a pause on overtime a pause on operating budget expenditures a pause on non-essential travel pauses on Capital project spending in my opinion absolutely all of the options that the business unit has pres presented through uh budgetary presentations should be acted on they all seem reasonable they all seem logical both on the expense and revenue sides with exception to tax increases please say no tonight to the form Mill which by any sense of the word is the highest tax increase Allowed by law there's a simple and better way it's been said that when the tough get when going gets tough the tough get going so when 70% of your budget is salary wages and benefits well you know

022where you have to look in obvious an obvious reorganization plan plus an across theboard spending cut in all areas that are not mandated by the state or the federal government is in order the Strategic purpose must be protected while some of the non-essentials will have to go you''ve known this since the moment of ratification so I'd hope that you're already running the gamut of possible scenarios back in the boardroom I understand that most of the increased expenses are driven by the contract and by Biden inflation that has destroyed our economy and now we can see that impact directly on every budgetary line another problem is the impact of Co relief free money was great but Co relief has been the crack cocaine of local governing bodies for several years and is now factored into the

023basis when projecting future expenses in some cases please understand the citizens perspective when inflation hits us we respond by reducing personal consumption we've lost 20% of our buying power since 2020 and that's a low number because that's just based on consumer price index uh corresponding changes in home values and interest rates make it very difficult for a young person of or any person making less than 100K to buy a home we juggle our finances to keep up with ever increasing costs and we are at a Breaking Point our seniors and young families are under great pressure and make difficult decisions every day according to US News 42% of our students and their families are economically disadvantaged some will decide to buy shoes or coats for their children or to pay this outrageous tax increase a

024quick look at the budget shows more wages more benefits more Transportation 30 second more outsourced professionals more Athletics more technology more more more more more while our enrollment is less less less and this downward Trend will continue into the foreseeable future Corrections and right sizing the system will be a challenge this shortfall requires deep Cuts but not that deep this isn't 2016 with your oversight and with the great leadership from our new superintendent we can accomplish this required systemic change needed to meet today's challenges and to propel us forward toward a better future say no to any new tax increase say yes to cost control thank you we have [Music] J please state your name in Township James Ranken guys Mills Pennsylvania if I was the titled my thesis tonight it is Cav Andor buer

025beware first of all I'm not attacking teachers I was a teacher in Houston Texas for 21 years and before that I taught in the Marine Corps for nearly 20 years so I'm not here to bash teachers but we have to look at a few things and one of those things is how are we spending our money in comparison to the product that we're getting yes we have students going to National History but it's only a couple from one school it should be 40% more from all schools on Maplewood Seer town and of course cambri Springs so we need to look at what we're getting as a product the performance level at grade for third graders this is pencrest School District website information for reading is at 50% that means 50% can't read well can't read

026at grade level that's a problem that's a serious problem it's even worse with mathematics being at 177% at grade level clearly technology is not teaching our children I will state this for a fact every one of us is carrying one of these devices called smartphone before the invention of smartphone when I was in the Marine Corps I had anywhere from 40 to 50 telephone numbers memorized in my head that I would call all over the base and different people and that's before cell phones because we called them at their desk this thing I don't even know my wife's phone number because I just pull it up and there it is I don't have to dial it it's there so smart technology is proving not to make our kids smarter so buying more smart boards and

027more smart technology we're going in a wrong direction here we're going downhill and not uphill clearly technology is not the answer yes technology is good yes we need email yes we need cyber security yes we got to protect the kids from this stuff that's on this thing but the bottom line is whatever you're spending in technology is not teaching the kids math is down 17 down to 177% this is 8th grade yours your stats 8th grade 35% at English level at grade level 8th grade 133% math the the big shining star surprisingly and great is science 60% but that's still 40% deficit if you were working for chanock or you wanted to buy a chanock tire a chanock player pair of pliers and they had 40% of the pliers they made defective would you buy

028that brand the answer is no same thing with your car you wouldn't buy a Ford if Ford put out what 30 65% of their cars can't drive you wouldn't buy it sadly What's Happening Here is technology is taking a Forefront yes it's easier sometimes to teach with technology but our kids aren't learning so we need to step back remember what is insanity insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over getting no different results and wondering why time for something new also our student population has already been mentioned is going down down down and I understand there's no forecast for it to go up if student populations are going down so is your tax base your tax base is an aging pool it's a grim fact reality death takes us all one day

029and when you get my age and older death isn't that far away so you want to tax the fixed income people those that can afford to stay will stay those who can will move to Florida just ask California and Texas like I meant the last time my mother used to say you cannot get blood from a beat thank you thank next red [Music] Bryan your your name Township Fred Bryant Troy Township um I have to say I'm pretty disappointed uh with the board I think the board has disappointed the community um without a plan to manage existing resources because we are already running at a deficit the school board has an approved an expensive salary package for the new superintendent and approved an extremely lucrative package for our instructors with one of the most favorable

030health care packages in the country it would appear that in spite of pledges to the contrary the plan was simply to raise taxes to pay for these expenditures the board has been repeatedly warned that if spending was not brought under control there would be tax increases every year for as far as the eye can see and now it's only worse there's no balanced budget in sight and we're talking about a millage increase for this year look at next year look at the year after that you're going to have to keep raising taxes if you don't get control of the budget I called the County Treasurer today uh to get an update there in 2023 there were a 100 nearly 100 properties in the county were sold to pay back taxes this doesn't include foreclosures and

031there are 2,23 properties on the list that are behind in their taxes and subject to uh tax sales the number of properties uh being lost to tax sales is going up with nearly 30% of the county being fixed income retirees or disabled the ab ability to earn more money to save properties and homesteads is very limited a simple way to look at the budget is to take the overall budget and divide it by the declining student population and you will see that we're spending over $25,000 to educate one child on average that is an incredible sum we continue to spend more each year on a steadily decreasing number of students we spend more each year on a steadily decreasing number of students the idea that we're not spending enough is ridiculous when I worked for

032the federal government once a budget was approved each branch and Department was allocated resources for the year and we had to manage the budget if we didn't get as much as we had hoped for we had to go through a budget review process and make Cuts appropriately it should be the same process here the board is supposed to be in charge of this process and should tell the administration provide three or four options to get to a balanced budget and then we'll make adjustments instead it appears the administration provides the board with their requests gives dire warnings of deadlines and the board just capitulates to the administration the board is supposed to be in charge and is elected to represent the taxpayers the administration is supposed to work for the board and should be responsive

033to the board's guidance not the other way around the board now has set itself up for a $4 million deficit and it wants the public to pay for it the budget could be completely balanced by either moving funds from uncommitted funds or a combination of relatively minor budget cuts and those from the uncommitted funds we have multiple expensive positions in the bureaucracy that were not that are not involved in day-to-day instruction these positions were not necessary before pencrest was formed and they're not necessary today with a declining student population the budget uh has a slop or slush fund of nearly a million doll just for undesignated supplies there are also funds designated for infrastructure and equipment that could be slowed or delayed the board should ignore Cries From the administration that the budget has to

034be approved quickly and take the time to balance the budget cuts must come or The NeverEnding tax increases will continue and more properties will be lost to tax sales and foreclosures a 4 M increase is nearly the same millage increase from the last 10 years that is incredible there are many of us in the public who would volunteer their time to assist in making recommendations to the board for sound budget modifications that would not jeopardize the very important task of providing our youth with a great education thank you [Applause] Tom O'Neil just take your name and Township to record please Tom O'Neal what was the other part uh counc president wford County what am I Townville yeah I'm in Townville right I haven't been here long and I I did have some information prepared but

035in listening to the previous speakers I'm going to go off book so I'm going to reiterate I'm not from here if I want to go to my office to work instead of working remotely I got to drive 180 mil to get there I work for a bank in New York melon I'm in data analytics and metrics I'm hearing people throw figures around technology is not the way to go technology is not the way to go the projects I'm involved with are developing Ai and machine learning I did not plan to come here to talk about that what I do want to talk to you about now that I'm hearing this my background where I work I'm in technology it's not going away folks we're not going to get rid of Technology we're not shutting off

036the computers we're not shutting off the networks the feed the cell phones it's not going to happen there are kids why are we not going to put in their hands the things that are going to be out there in the future cuz the jobs we have now in 20 years they're not going to exist they're going to be a whole new set of job markets with skills you don't understand neither do you and neither to I technology Marches On whether you like it or not I'm sorry I did not intend to say this I had some statistics from the Brooking institution and all that wonderful stuff about 0 22 standard deviations are possible in the lack of performance when you increase the classroom size in areas that are economically depressed and it usually affects boys

037worse do we have children here that are male economically depressed then they're the Target that will suffer from an increased ratio students to teachers that's what I was going to go with I was going to bring that kind of stuff then I hear I'm sorry technology where do you think it's going $4 million yeah yes I sign up and I only have one child in the school district when she moves on I will pay I will enjoy the benefits of a social contract and pay for the future cuz if we don't there are kids out there in school districts that are gearing them with technology to prepare them for the future do you want your kids to compete with them or do you want your kids to serve them at the fast food restaurant that's

038a hard reality the point is cost goes up that's education too you don't make eggs cost more but not the education that'll provide the job to pay for the higher cost of eggs 10 years from now I'll pay I vote yes that's my own part I get it like I said I'm not from here I came here I'm from City Philadelphia specifically and then Cranberry Township then up here there were even too many people in Cranberry Township for me I wanted space fewer neighbors more green make my own food drink my own water done with that however I do have internet multiple computers smartphones I am plugged in and I will stay relevant and so will my kids 30 seconds I don't thank you thank you for your time you're wondering why I'm on crutches

039cuz my brain hasn't figured out my body's 39 years old so we're getting there um anyways I'll keep it short and sweet as well I hear a lot of emotions and a lot of things said here um and I can agree with uh both sides really all sides and I would like to just point out a few things uh number one that has been pointed out is inflation naturally has gone insane and um that that is because we know the people in Washington DC do not care about us the people in Harrisburg do not care about us are not going to care about us they are not going to support us so what I'm saying is I'm an advocate for solving problems right here local governing is where is is where the problems are solved

040and if we can come together as a community to solve them that is number one um you know and um I didn't go over a lot of the numbers I noticed that our our uh enr did decline by I believe about 20% in the past 10 years and our special needs enrollment actually increased um about 10% about 9% my my numbers are right which they could be off a little bit um so it tells you another thing what what else does that tell you it tells you well once again there's a reason the special needs um is going up in our society right once again in my mind that points to governments at a state and at a federal level they're not going to take care of a local problem right they don't care if

041there's more special needs they don't care this or that so my that being said I am all for education I am for supporting the uh I mean I'm even for supporting the teachers I'm for supporting um them in every way that we can and I realize we have to come together as a community and figure out where to cut and that's hard that's so hard because you know there's always going to be a difference of opinion there's always going to be a an emotionally charged uh thing there right um I don't have the answers I'm just here to say that I'm not totally for raising a whole bunch of taxes but I'm not against raising some taxes in order to keep the state and the federal governments out of our decisionmaking and this something that

042I I've give a lot of thought recently and I I really didn't um I really didn't understand it all until I started looking at the numbers and and I began to dig a little bit and I I've spoke with some of you in this room about I appreciate everyone's time and doing that um and it's not um I'm not here to Pedal fear right I'm not here to say well this if this happens then this is going to happen I don't know a lot of us things that we don't know I spoke to some people in ear County uh that were involved up there I work in Erie County um and the state did come over and take them over at one point there and did raise their taxes astronomically I mean it put a

043hurting on people and so I would encourage people to just kind of give that some thought right I'm late to this party I don't know all the details of this party it's just something in my head I'm thinking well will the state come in later and and and and raise our taxes anyways I don't know um but they did an eerie they did um does that give us more uh it gives us way less power in my mind to do to solve than to solve it here locally um I'm a traditionalist in every sense of the word I believe in teaching family traditions and the um traditional family at home and keep it in the home and keep all the other garbage the woke agenda out and um that is my number one goal in

044life is is is raising my some already said it here tonight um God first you know God family community and um so I guess in our talking and our decisions and our voting keep that in mind you know will the state come in later will they will they raise our taxes anyways will that give them power over us I don't know that's just something to consider right and that's that's where I stand on so thank you for your time thank [Applause] you next uh Teresa gold [Music] smith please take your name and record Teresa Goldsmith Woodcock Township thank you for allowing me to talk with you and for your service to the district I know the decisions that you have to make are not easy ones but they are important those decisions have consequences and

045we all know that consequences can be positive or negative I'm here as a mother and a teacher I've been teaching for 38 years and a mother for 31 years I would like to address our mission statement and remind you that you should have our students as your number one priority let's take a look at the mission statement pencrest School District mission is to provide resources and opportunities that challenge students assess their educational proc progress provide a system of support and empower all to become confident lifelong Learners let's look at providing resources and opportunities that challenge students how is an Elementary classroom of up to 29 students going to help teachers provide the opportunities that challenge them how can you make a decision on what is best for our students without knowing what is going on

046right now we have repeatedly invited you into our classrooms to see what it is that we really do if you would take the time to come and see for yourself you would make informed decision you could make informed decisions not decisions based on opinions of one or two people or dollar signs I have no thought that I know the best but I do know that in order to make a decision one should be looking for everything looking at everything like when I teach using the kwl charts what do I know what do I want to know and what have I learned have you guys done that one or two sources is not enough um for an informed decision the next part of the mission statement is assess their educational progress have you looked at your

047data and your educational progress in helping this District be the best District it can be in choosing not to increase Revenue into the district or is choosing not to increase Revenue into the district in the best decision for the students who are our future when test scores are not work you think that they should be due to teachers being spread so thin and very little time for one onone help will you blame who will you blame the curriculum the students with 28 other classmates full of individual issues or the teacher and the last part is to provide a system of support and Empower all to become confident lifelong Learners How does cutting the mental health coordinator provide a system of support that will Empower all to become confident lifelong nurs the mental health coordinator has

048given pen Crest the opportunity to increase support supports at um tier two and three for students in need there is a significant shortage in mental health providers in our area and without the supports we provide students could be placed on waiting list for 3 to six months just to get started with an outside service having some supports available to students and families in the school setting can help prevent repeated hospitalization ation self harm and significant mental health breaks and they happen in our schools from my first year of teaching till now I have seen a great increase in mental health needs there are many reasons for this but debating those reasons is not important the importance is getting help for those in need did you know that may is mental health awareness month this is

049especially important to me due to the loss of my son to suicide in 2017 according to um the 2024 state of education report from the Pennsylvania School boards Association an average of nearly half of students 46.4% were estimated to have some mental health need in it is unacceptable not to have this in mind when making the decisions of whether to keep our mental health coordinator or not the question is can we afford not to have this position I know that the budget is important but is money more important that our students needs emotionally and educationally every other school district around Fort lauff um Union City Mash Cash are investing more and more into the mental health of students and teachers however we are cutting it seconds it's O um on national news I guess I'm

050going to go to the end what are we doing for our children what are we doing for families we are cutting and cutting and never investing in the growing many families are leaving this District um when they could they they should be staying but we don't we don't send an image that that PR presents to families they want to stay thank you Robert Skelly again state your name in Township of residents for the record Robert Skelly he field um members of the board I understand the tough decisions that uh you're facing here tonight regarding the future panr school district and its budget shortfalls I would like you to consider these options to help overcome those these situation this short Falls before making the final decisions options like changing rent for agencies outside the school district

051for use of the facilities installing solar panels maybe or even selling off unused property could increase Revenue dollars un understandably tax increase is a never it's never a term anyone wants to hear but it's a valid option and needs to be explored and utilized I would be in support of a tax increase if it keeps this school school board from cutting educators supplies increasing classroom sizes and cutting licenses and computer security measures that keep our ours and our children's information secure from cyber attacks cutting Educators and increasing classroom sizes may help your budgetary dollars today but will it provide you your students with the best opportunity I don't think so programs like Renaissance and stars for ELA and math which help Educators improve test scores and identify students in need of educational assistance do you

052think this cut will help your teachers I don't think so have you considered the impact of larger classes on all aspects of the schools for example the elementary computer lab that is set up for a limited number of students that would need renovated additional wiring computers and other essential equipment to house those increased class sizes how you going to cover those costs did you consider the thoughts of potential homeowners looking to move into the area when they check out pest school district and find overcrowded classes stress teachers due to budget cuts and potential state run board do you think they're going to put their child in that situation nope unfortunately the previous boards before you did not recognize the need to keep up with the rising cost of labor materials and utilities it now falls

053on your shoulders to correct that and to start to recognize and rebuild my last question for you all can this board find a way to utilize methods like renting and solar power and in and install a tax increase so that the taxpayers can share this burden or this budget cut be at the expense of your Educators and students thank you again please state your name and Township residents for record Daniel mccomus Troy Township been here before everybody here knows me knows I don't want taxes increased at all um sometimes it can't be avoided all these guys that's been up here has made some pretty good points even the guy that uh all the liberal clapped for um technolog is not going away we're going to be stuck with it whether we like it or not

054um but and everybody you know uh talking about what we're not getting but nobody's talked about what we have been getting out of our tax money well we have been getting is declining enrollment crashing scores liberal activist teachers socially and politically and sexually indoctrinating our children pornography in the library is gross overspending on on administrative cost there's no way that we need to be spending like 3/4 of our money just on labor we got uh one and A4 million I think for sports there's over 25% of the the shortfall that you got I mean hey I don't want to see Sports go but if you can't afford to pay the light bill you can't afford to go on vacation okay you got to make Cuts how many teachers AGS we got I don't know probably

055too many I when I went to school the only class that had teachers AIDS was the special ed class that was the only one everybody else had 30 kids in a room you had one teacher if you got out of line she sent you to the office or cracked you with a paddle I mean we can't do that anymore maybe if we get better control on classrooms if we could but we got teachers here uh that have stood in the building next door and blatantly and proudly declared how they're going to teach your kids all this weird gay stuff and and they want all these secret books in the libraries and in their classrooms and actually threatened the board with retaliation if they dare do anything to try to stop her from going on with

056her agenda we paid for it did was she ever held to account no we gave her a pay raise and a new computer there's another half a million bucks you know there's so much money that gets spent that it is not necessary to spend as Sports necessary no but they're great is Art necessary no but it's great is music necessary no but it's great those are all things I would not want to see defunded or wiped off the budget only if it had to absolutely be with no other recourse but there are so many more Cuts this District can make millions 50 something million dollars our taxes ain't never went down we've got less kids to educate we got buildings that are setting partially empty we got over a million bucks like I said for

057football but the bricks on this building the mortar is fallen out of them I walked past it on the way in here today I could go up there with my finger and flip the mortar out of I don't know three or four courses of bricks right through the middle of the wall on the far side of this building but we're spending all this money on Sports we're spending all this money on computers for teachers do they need computers I assume they do I need hammers I need screwdrivers I need wrenches I buy my own tools you know why because nobody buys them for me every profession buys their own tools Carpenters electricians plumbers everybody the guy laying the tile in your kitchen he bought that tile saw with his own money you know the guy

058building the addition on your house he bought the tool belt and the hammer that he's carrying with his own money and a property tax increase doesn't hit everybody quite the same if you rent your pro your property tax increase or your landlord's property tax increase is going to affect your rent but it's mainly a tax on those of us that are fortunate enough to actually own a house if you want to raise taxes go to the per capita tax hit everybody cuz then if you're over 18 you're paying man not just telling the old ladies that's living on her social security that her bills go up 20 bucks a month which is another good point you know it's only 20 bucks a month on average well but a $3 candy bar is too much at

059least you're getting something for your three bucks if you buy the candy bar you know we're not getting anything for our 20 bucks so but pretty much I mean these guys covered all pretty good but no Make Some Cuts we don't need any more tax increases we just got one last year we keep getting tax increases we we're doing less and we're paying more not good business plan [Applause] next again for the record state your name and Township president good evening my name is Jessica graph and I'm a resident of vanga burough and currently serving as burough council president I'm here this evening because because I'd like to ask the pentest school board to take a strategic approach now and in the future when making decisions about increasing taxes as a local Municipal official I

060fully understand the challenges of balancing a budget during this time of rising costs and declining populations I appreciate that the board is looking closely at how all resources are spent throughout our district I'm asking the board to consider approval of a tax increase that will maximize the district's eligibility for State funding by demonstrating that pen Crest is doing its part I would like to share an example of how Vango burrow has done this in recent years after moving to the area in 2017 I quickly became involved with the community because I recognized that our town had been experiencing steady declines for decades yet had so much potential it did not take long at all to recognize that the only way Bango burrow was going to be successful was to leverage state and federal funding I

061began to research grants available for municipalities 4 years later banga was ready to break ground on a new park for this region with a total project cost of over $985,000 it was very motivating to work with the Crawford County planning office Cambridge kwago and Bango townships and others knowing that every dollar raised had the potential to be matched by the dcnr rather than simply spend their original stimulus grants municipalities recognized that a contribution of local money toward the park would effectively double the amount of money that we brought to Crawford County in matching funds just like pest Bango struggles to generate revenue from its property taxes in fact there are currently 17 vacant properties about 20% of the total properties in Bango without reassessment since the 60s property taxes have become a convenience fee for

062owners who are not making an effort to improve or sell their homes this impacts Vango significantly just as it impacts pest many people do not realize that a that a town like Venango actually receives more from local earned income tax than property taxes so for the the 17 properties that are vacant and do not have any Working Families residing in them there are no earned income tax revenues for either the burrow or pencrest I have used this example because it is vitally important that pest does indeed generate the revenues necessary to demonstrate to the state that we are doing our part so they will increase their contribution as I mentioned at the beginning I fully appreciate your efforts to be fiscally responsible and I'd be upset if money was being wasted however at some point

063you must generate Revenue if you want to provide a high level of service there are many tough decisions that have to be made now and in the future it is important to find a balance without the only solution being cutting programs resources teaching positions and more again I'm challenging you to make strategic decisions about increasing taxes so the state supports our district instead of sending allocations elsewhere I would also challenge you to take action on the tough but necessary decisions relating to combining of programs at the high school level that would enable us to offer more academic and extracurricular activities I'd be very cautious about continued cuts at the elementary level as a former College faculty member my sections of 30 students thrived and our athletic teams of 20 or more perform better than previous

064teams with lower numbers there is strength in numbers at the high school level as a parent of two kindergarteners and a third grader I honestly cannot imagine getting anything productive done with more than 20 students they simply have too many needs on a final note I'm asking the board to recognize that there are people in the community that support increasing taxes for all of our taxpayers they've had their chance in life for our children the only day that the score was even was the day that they were born from 0 to 18 years of age it is all of our responsibilities to ensure that we provide the very best for them I would like to ask everyone this evening to think about how you spend money are you willing to sacrifice one or possibly two

065dinners out to pay it forward to our children and pay a little more in taxes our schools are merely surviving and certainly not thriving with a 3.7 increase perc increase the median household will contribute $605 per year more to our schools if the board would have proposed a resolution to approve a 7.5% increase this evening it would be an additional $122 5S as a community we need to come together and do what's right for the Next Generation as a board please listen to the people who you have hired to lead your students and teach our to lead your schools and teach our students thank you for your [Applause] time please state your name and count residence for the record good evening and thank thank you for allowing me to speak tonight my name is Mark

066Van Dorne and my family and I live in Cambridge Springs we lived there for the last 18 years a long time ago I read a statement that really put things in perspective for me concerning school districts and that was uh that parents why parents get so upset with teachers administrators and Schoolboard members and that's because you are handling their two most precious things their money and their children and you can see from our audience tonight people are clearly concerned about one or both I am here because I am concerned with both I have two children who did attend Cambridge Springs until their third and fifth grade several years ago though my wife and I were at a Schoolboard meeting where they surprisingly did not renew the superintendent's contract during a public meeting and then one

067of the school board members told the superintendent that's for raising our taxes it was at that moment that my wife wife and I decided to pull our kids from this District because we realized that our tax money was not going to be well spent on bringing uh in and retaining great teachers it wasn't going to be spent on up updating technology and it certainly wasn't going to be spent on doing the best for our children and their educational growth and well-being they were simply concerned about the bottom line and although it seems that there was some who still have that view today I'm hoping that this school board is different because of our decision back then we now now only pay school tax for pentest which we're happy to do because we understand it's an

068investment in our community but we are paying thousands of dollars to send our kids to a neighboring District I have three other families who over the years talking to them they are doing the same thing of pulling their kids from pencrest and paying thousands of dollars to send them to a neighboring District I've talked to other families who are looking for forever home for their for their families for their children but refuse to look in pentest because they not convinced that pen Crest is going to offer the best educational services for their kids a school district to me is somewhat like a business our raw materials that we bring in and our products that we turn out are obviously a bit different but to run a successful business there has to be there are a

069lot of costs to keep the facility safe and in good shape and hiring and keeping good employees and like any business employee cost cost are the bulk of the money spent we need to be able to com uh compete with neighboring districts and hire the best teachers and keep the best teachers to provide the best education for our kids I know that Cambridge Springs lost a very very talented teacher last semester to a neighboring District it was a huge loss for Cambridge Springs but it was a big win for the neighboring District continually cutting budgets and not updating resources to be competitive is not a good way to invest in a business nor Community let alone our children no one wants to pay more taxes including myself everything's expensive enough as it is but if

070the funds are spent appropriately and knowing that it's an investment for our students and our communities and our future then it seems like an obvious Duty we know that the state and federal government are only going they're only going to do so much it's up to us to do the rest I'm sure like any good and informed school board members that you have PL spend you have PL spent plenty of time in these buildings talking to teachers talking to students talking to administrations you know what they need at least I'm hoping you have been in those buildings it's because of this firsthand knowledge that hopefully you have gained that you will make the right vote tonight for our students and their Futures and the future of our communities and bring pencrest back to the Heyday

071when pencrest was the district to teach in and the district to learn in I know you have a couple choices here tonight on what to do and I am hoping that you're going to do the right thing and vote for the four M tonight and invest in the future of our kids and communities I do want to honestly thank each and every one of you for serving your time on the school board and hopefully being in those billions and working with those teachers and kids I know it's not an easy task but voting for the four Mill increase should be an easy task thank you [Applause] can please state your name and Township of residents for record Audrey Bullock Rockdale Township tonight I would like to share my perspective as a student on the budget

072decisions that you will be making as a crucial part of this equation we students place our trust in your decision-making abilities to provide us with the best possible education support access opportunities that extend beyond the classroom and provide programs that will Empower us to be lifelong Learners we also trust that our community will support these decisions for the sake of enriching our education please vote on a budget that balances students needs and local taxpayers wants balance is defined as an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady although I do not have time to touch on all here are just some examples that may show that imbalance between the two increased class sizes will will not help with student performance especially during the formative years there is a greater chance

073for disruption and distraction from students who choose to hide in the crowd and for inattentive students to get lost as a student who loves to learn experiencing these disruptions can be extremely frustrating to the learning environment some students can persevere While others are set up for failure in these conditions cutting down on supplies and resources for students will also negatively impact their education I see it every day in school already for example in my art class we often have to bring our own supplies due to lack of materials and our art teacher often has to provide her students with sufficient supplies and it isn't just art classes advanced math requires smart words for Student Success not believing in technology in the 21st century is unfathomable technology to today allows students to choose the way they're

074going to learn and how they interact with that information denying teachers and students materials such as a Smartboard prevents the use of a tool that is necessary to adhere to students differing learning styles the way I learn best is through visuals reading and writing not all students learn the same way and then there are the opportunities in academic programs just recently three of our academically rooted organizations at cshs earned the opportunity to travel to compete in National competitions these students are showing not only impressive academic achievements but also immersing themselves in knowledge and application outside of their classrooms which enriches and broadens their education limiting transportation for these students to compete will strip them of these academic and creative Outlets which are so important for their well-roundedness and overall success in life there was a

075time when our district supported Extended Learning opportunities outside the classroom did you know students used to have the opportunity to travel French class used to go to Toronto student Senate to New York City history students to Washington DC and drama students to Pittsburgh and Cleveland some of us will never travel outside of Crawford County I am taking anatomy and physiology as a this year and it is one of the most interesting and challenging courses I have taken it has even opened my eyes to the possibility of entering the health field when I'm older as a part of joining that class we have the opportunity to visit the Kadabra Lab at Mercy Hurst University to put a visual reference to what we are learning my peers and I talked about how excited we were for this

076trip and when we were given the news that the district was unable to provide us Transportation on that day I can't even express to you how disappointed our class was these opportunities are so important for students to expand their know beyond just lectures in the classroom resources are also incredibly important to our students education and they are dwindling Cambridge Springs High School library has not received any new books in 3 years and the elementary school hasn't received any in 2 years as a student who loves to read this is disappointing resources resources such as Scholastic and branica database subscriptions have not been renewed preventing students from learning how to use databases used at the college level instead students research the internet which takes a lot of time to evaluate sources whereas subscription databases eliminates this

077students at the junior high level are not learning evaluation skills needed for research I have not completed a formal research papers since seventh grade geography class back when we had the library built into our schedules and were taught how to annotate research and creative biblography since then I have done minimal research work in my classes which is a skill I will need to apply in college tonight I have heard many pleased to not increase taxpayer dollars here are my pleas to you please do not increase class sizes because all pest students should be provided an environment where they can succeed in please do not limit academic programs because every P student should be able to challenge themselves in the classroom please continue supporting educational opportunities beyond the classroom because all penr students should be inspired

078to do more than they ever thought possible seconds please provide educational resources to the teachers because all pest students learn differently when students needs are compared to taxpayers wants there is definitely an imbalance when you vote tonight your decision will directly impact the quality of Education provided to p students lifelong Learners should be given lifelong opportunities and an education worth a lifetime making Cuts affects us some of you say we can't do that to the taxpayers what about we can't do that to our students we are the ones constantly taking the hit please create a balance between us and the taxpayers thank you than that is all our registered speakers for tonight um i' just like to say just a couple things prior to opening up to non-registered speakers is just thank you for everybody

079for your input uh Community input is important and for those of you that have been at these meetings for the past two years this has been the most professionally um spoken group of people that have come up there were no individual iiz personal attacks on the board or on other members within the in the audience um and we appreciate that because the board is trying to model that behavior and I can see as a community that's one of our first steps to come together as a community not everybody's going to agree as we've all said but this evening if you've been here in the past two years there it's been much much better um received than we saw a couple years ago so we all appreciate that and thank you um now we'll go on

080to if there's any um citizens [Applause] that again come up you have of 2 minutes according policy if you can just your name and town residence please my name is Christine renck and I'm from Cambridge Township and I'm here to vote for a tax increase I understand the district's need to find money in order to continue operating but the proposal to cut should be um not an option as a kindergarten certain teacher in another District I see firsthand the impacts of class size larger class sizes aren't just inconvenient for the teachers they have a giant negative impact on both academic success and mental health of students multiple studies show a clear link between similar class sizes and improved academic performance students receive more personalized attention allowing them to grasp concept Concepts more effectively large classes

081leave struggling students behind widening the achievement Gap and increasing the need for special education Services something that is proposed to possibly be cut but the impact goes beyond grades overcrowded classrooms create a stressful environment students feel lost in the crowd their anxieties and learning difficulties often going unnoticed this can lead to feelings of isolation frustration depression and unfortunately in the worst case scenario even suicide I know my son's class went from four classes to three this year and he's had major anxiety issues due to it the student population and needs have drastically changed over the years and even more so since Co students are coming to us lacking Bas basic social and emotional skills along with executive functioning skills they're coming to us in a state of trauma they're grieving they're abused they're malnourished those

082are just some examples more and more students are leaving or are learning are having learning and behavioral impairments due to drug use in utero when you have a class size of 27 many of which don't have their basic needs met at home this all falls in the teachers today alone a child line a student who had been physically abused by his mom 30 seconds spent time with a student at the nurse because her finger was infected all of these things that take up time and they take away from the academics of other students cutting teaching and parap professional positions will negatively affect the students academically which could potentially require more money to be spent on special education services down the road our students deserve academic and emotional greatness they do not deserve to be punished

083with an increase in class size and less attention and support especially when they are C requiring more from their teachers each [Music] day okay hearing none we will move on to the the board uh report for Section six education [Music] report um up first is for approval of the 2024 graduates so first item to request for approval resolve the pen Board of school directors approve the attached list of 2024 graduates from Cambridge Springs High School mapo high school and sagtown high school as well as benest cyber academies so move second a motion second any comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I I oppos say motion carried Mr President I have a point of order I'd like to take as we're getting into the spending portion of the agenda tonight and I just

084want to remind people that in November there were seven people that were running against four people seven people wanted everyone to invest in the school district I.E pay more taxes the four said no more taxes holding the line and at the end of the election the four who were standing up to no tax increase made it that said something to me that the electorate as a majority does not want a tax increase but at this time I would like to make a motion to table some of the spending tonight on the agenda to include the tar and Chip program the psba renewal Barber Institute agreement and also Smart Boards temporarily I'm not against smartboards but at this time in our budget process I think we should wait until our new superintendent is in place things

085I would not cut student travel should go forward Internet Security items that were reimbursed 80% should go forward the Microsoft 365 update which will keep us safe should go forward and we have a responsibility to the printing of the real estate taxes those items should be approved I believe in this motion by tabling these items until we pass a budget and our new superintendent is in place as far as I understand we will not have to reopen vids because it's table and not frozen so the incoming superintendent has a restructuring program in mind I'm sure but by us spending this additional money before we have a budget in place is irresponsible so that is my motion can um can we just get some like from Jordan still on the line is that correct yes just

086to make sure that I I I agree with um like I I i' plan to table certain issues tonight but just so we're doing this like legally legal yeah par like so we're doing it right so I don't know if everyone can hear me or not but uh what you would do is if there's a second to Mr custard's motion you would then entertain the motion to table with no further discussion unless the chair allows it so that motion takes priority um since it was made but only if there's a second to have a clear motion for everyone though just because they they were they were hearing it um and what's repeat your motion sure the motion is to table some of the spending items on the agenda which one to include suspending or tabling

087tar and Chip Smart Boards temporarily till we have a superintendent on board pspa renewal the barber Institute agreement but we would allow student travel because they've earned it Internet Security items that will help protect us can you do the letter the Microsoft 365 update what's that can you do the letters oh yeah 6 I I didn't prepare for that uh but then the printing of real estate taxes was the last one what about so so 7 a b c and d 7 a no not the B student travel would be okay just do the one you want to say right yeah just again just go ahead and do the ones that you're going to table and try to identify those by the letter okay all right and this is seven we in six [Music] so

088speak in the microphone please 6 would table 6f interactive Smart Boards [Music] table the Renaissance Learning student that's 6K would be table M asphalt air 7A Maplewood High School Taran ship 7B would be tabled and 7 C Maplewood High School taret chip alternate bid gutter replacement 7D and all of seven right yes all okay you mentioned psba what that 10 a and I think 10A listed the psba you mentioned that too yes so 10A that's 10A yeah so the cleanest way to do it would be if if that's your motion to table all of those items together then that's your motion if there's a second then you vote on that motion to table just to clarify you could also go back and move to table each one of these individually as well so i' first

089determine as to whether you're trying to aggregate all these together and if that's your motion then you make your motion is that what you're trying to that's my motion motion Al together so Cynthia can you read out just make sure you have it all motion table by Mr kuster 6 a 6f 6K 7 a 7B 7 c 7 D and 10 a I heard 6A no 6 e 6 c e 6 e 6f 6 K 7 a 7 B 7 c 7 D and 10 a okay that's right that's what I add and I just want to make sure that by tabling we do not have to put the tar and chit back in bit is that correct correct thank you can I ask I know we're not it can be um discussion or can't

090but on the one that I would question so David you just to make sure you want to do it the right way you have to make a request of the chair to have motion for discussion on Mr custard's I'm sorry to have discussion on Mr custard's motion to p and then Mr Johnson either allows it or he doesn't under Robert's Rules so what I heard you say is you're going to make a request at motion to have discussion on the motions and table correct Mr Johnson what's your response yes for discussion or no say no okay so the request is denied so now if there's a second to the motion to table then there's a vote is there a second on the motion to table as rent I'll second all right there's a second there

091should be a roll call vote is there a way to ask for Amendment to the motion you could you could but what I would recommend doing is that you vote on the motion to table as presented and then Mr stori you can make a a separate motion so there should be a roll call vote on the motion to Table 6 e f and K 7 a b c and d and 10 a [Music] okay Miss bear no Mr B yes Mr Brown no Mr chossy yes Mr kuster yes Miss Lugo no Mr stori no Mr baski yes Mr Johnston yes five yeses four NOS motion passes so item table yes all those items are table now can yeah can I ask for an amendment to that pass motion for item K and what was the

092pspa one 10 a and item K so yeah Mr what you could ask for is a motion for reconsideration yeah and then you have to vote on the reconsideration first okay I make a motion to reconsider the [Music] tabling he said 6K I'm sorry yeah 6K and 10 a 10 a and um item e is well Barbor National Institute going ahead Circle so those three k e and my space 6K 6E and 10 a yeah 10 a that's why I said 6 e 6K a that's a motion to reconsider yes still need a second yeah how second Mr President can we have a discussion as well so good maybe we have a discussion on that reconsideration so so uh I'm a little concerned about the barber National Institute what that may do if we don't

093have that agreement set forth so I'd like an answer on that um the psba is our board docks which is what we all use we're currently using now um as we sit here and I'd also like to know what that would do to the Renaissance so the the this is the star test this is a tool for the teachers um I assume this is for next year uh I'm sure we're I'm sure there's people at the table Mike Brian you're familiar with the star test um it's how we assess where the students are without the star test I think our growth we won't see any growth uh with the star test in place teachers are able to adequately see worst uh their students are with their reading levels we have kids in Reading levels in

094fourth grade in eighth grade in kindergarten they're all sitting in front of the same class and that star test allows teachers to adequately assess their needs so not approving that tonight those three items I would like to know what the uh drawback would be so if somebody can speak on the barber Institute um the psba as well as Mr Newman if you may speak on that as well what that would do if we do not agree to that make a comment my intention for the motion is only table until our new superintendent is in place June 11th and then it would be I would move to untable it and he with his restructuring idea would after we unted then we would make the decisions I'm just saying while we're doing the budget process let's hold

095off on the spending the government keeps spending spending spending even though we're 31 trillion in debt and our debt we're spending and spending and spending I'm just saying take a break until the new superintendent comes in yeah I'm just asking if that's going to do any harm until that point yeah not not sign that agreement for a month I I can speak to the star the only thing with the star I mean you they'll give us a new quote later I just can't guarantee any of the savings that they've already issued in the current so potentially it may be more expensive because we're in agreement with them I can't guarantee what they'll what about the barber Institute agreement um Can Patty feely could probably address that more so as to that the impact of waiting

096one month so the agreement with the Barber Center is simply an articulation agreement to be able to send our students to the Barber Center it's it's not a financial commitment at this point in time that's built into their fees my fear is that um Mr Ford's coming after the next board meeting so it would actually be August before you would be voting on these things and that may then delay the ability to secure the student seats at at the barber [Music] Center so there's no immediate financial just that we use yeah just simp we sense correct this is just an agreement to send okay that's what I thought there was no Financial AG so what about there I mean there is a financial cost to sending students we send right but this is locking in

097correct our SE and so then the last one so we know that potentially for the Renaissance um I agree we could approve it in the summer uh I just didn't know if that impacted this year uh potentially could be more I think it's a tool that's absolutely necessary uh you know and some of these I agree with you like I I was on the fence on some of these as well and I will be tabling in the future but I just didn't know of any immediate impact that we'll see even with a month uh or two months or that's a good point is August is our next one since we changed the schedule so on the psba membership will that impact board do pspa come up um July 1st so pspa needs to be renewed

098by July 1st and our next voting meeting after the June meeting is August it we need to be decided on at the latest by June those would be my three for that uh real quick may I ask a question it's it's not the table not the vote just a question on the budget legally am I allowed to BR that up now on our budget is there still the $400,000 for the uh lights for the football field lights the stadium lights no that comes out of a capital that's not general fund that's fund 32 not fund that's 32 for the next year budget no oh the 400,000 the budget is to move to fund 32 our Capital project to fund those projects such as the tar and chipping of the parking lot and all that stuff

099it's a separate fund from your general fund well I guess that's what I was asking about the target that's not fund 10 that's not the fund you're voting on tonight for your tax increaseing that it's a separate fund that comes out of the capital Improvement fund now on that Capital Improvement fund what I was going to ask do we take that 400,000 out of the capital fund and use that to buy the smart BS and some other supplies no may I go ahead thank you concerning the bids um I understand where you know what you're what you're doing to table that um again we just we're trying to put our heads around this up like everything along outline if we're not going to meet until August my suggestion to you is just to reject the

100bit as far as my Paving the gutter the tar chip um you're going to push these guys they're looking for that you know we're we're may this work's done June July August we don't meet until August to approve it we're not going to get it done let's cut that loose we we we throw that off until I I don't I didn't catch you before you voted or whatever I was still trying to process but that's my suggestion to you if it's not going to be supported now let's table that till next year do it next year but we do have the authority and ability to have special meetings do we not mhm yeah why could we not have a special meeting to get these unted before August you could do that thank you but the

101the thing is these guys are be booked up that that's what he's getting I'm just saying is just in in respect to these guys here too if we're not going to do it I I can tell them they got they can look for other work and and to a good point you're coming around here mid June mid July and but if we have a special meeting after July 11th when Sean Ford is a superintendent June 11 June 11th when were they supposed to start they would they could have started as soon as school was out I and what I'm saying it's still here may they they're getting it on their books we're going to push it out there another 25 30 days that push out even further back you know I had I had timeline

102stipulations to have it done by the middle of August we're really going to be pushing that that's my that's my opinion to you they're they're going to they're not going to be able to service this this year because they're going to be both which they should be that's the way it works okay um your smartboards are not a 25e spend they are fixtures the the way I would interpret that from your capital budget he's correct a capital purchase has to be extended 25 years in order amount of fund 30 I would just rather spend money on Smart Boards than LS that's all okay thank you thank you so my reconsideration is still in discussion on letter k um the provide that Tool uh at the cost that we have listed the barber Institute agreement uh

103in order to keep our seats uh as well as the psba uh that was my order uh um I agree you know it's unfortunate that we want to get guys going as fast as we can but if we just voted a table I'm just trying to find some olive branch here to keep things going in [Music] place and I and I just want to clarify one thing to to make sure everyone understands Robert's Rules so you know the chair can allow Mr stork's motion for reconsideration but since Mr stori was not not in the majority for the motion at table he was not in the prevailing party therefore there it's not actually a valid motion for reconsideration unless Mr Johnson entertains it so that that's up to the chair but I just do want to

104clarify that for the record yeah ENT so I guess I make the motion for reconsideration thank you Mr President on those letters again 10A K and E 6K 6 e and 10 yes that's my motion [Music] second second second second call M beers yes Mr Bennett yeah Mr Brown yes Mr chy no Mr kuster no spending Miss Lugo yes Mr stori yes Mr baski no Mr [Music] Johnson five yeses four NOS so yes yes so procedurally for the minutes what happens is 6 e k and 10 a or then unted and capable to be voted on again during the [Music] meeting motion good no so what that does is it automatically untaes them and then they're capable of being voted on at this meeting so just 6 e k and 10 a are back on

105the agenda okay okay so now we move on back back on to the agenda we uh we'll start back up at item 6B student travel resolved that the pengest board of school directors approve the student travel listed for the Cambridge Springs High School teams Cambridge High School Robotics and Cambridge High School history Club so move second call for questions D all in favor say I I I oppos same motion carried item 6C resolve pencrest Board of school directors approve the attached resources and materials in accordance with policy 109 move second motion there second any comments or questions any none all in favor say I I I oppos same motion Carri item 6D resolve the panr board of school directors approve the attached resources materials in accordance with policy 109 book donations for mwood elementary as

106[Music] listed second motion of the secondary comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I iOS same motion car okay item 6E has been unted resolve the panr board of School directors approve the attached Barber National Institute agreement so move second motion the second any comment or questions hearing none all in favor say I I oos same no motion Carri okay item 6f was tabled item 6G resolve the pancrat board of school directors approve the attached quote for networking equipment and licenses at a onetime cost of $1,682 35 this has been submitted for eate funding which will result in a discount of 80% of the total cost to the district of which 28$ 24,8 7355 will be the one time R cost so second motion and the second any comment or questions hearing none

107all in favor say I I oppose say motion carried item 6h resolve pencrest Board of school directors approve the attached Microsoft participation agreement for enrollment for Education solutions for the license period June 1st 2024 to May 31st so I got Motion in a second any comments or questions hearing done all in favor say I I oppose same motion Carri item 6 I resolve that the panr board of school directors approve the attached Northwest identifi Cisco umbrella service agreement for filtering and network security for 5 years $ [Music] Move Motion to the second any comment your questions hearing done all in favor say I I poos same motion carried 6j donation resolve P Crest Board of school directors approved to accept the donation $25 from Linda ducher in memory of Elaine Rudy for bwood Elementary School

108library move second Motion in a second any comments or questions heing n all in favor say I I oos same motion carried item 6K was table resolve the pest Board of school directors approve the attached Renaissance Learning student assessment software at $4,355 to be paid out of 2425 budget this is a decrease of $656 6.50 from last year so second Motion in second any comments or questions he done all in favor say I I saying no motion carried section seven s and transportation enre report was tabled on to Section 8 financial [Music] report clarification just from my speaking there are we going tabling or are we going to go reject all bids I I I don't mean to be I just I'm trying to get it for it was Ted but we didn't reject the

109bids I'm sorry it was table but we did not reject the bids thank you for the clarification you saw okay uh Section 8 financial report 8A resolve pest Board of school directors approve the attached Treasures reports we move second motion second any comment hearing none all in favor say I I oos save motion carried HB resolved that the pencrest board of school directors approve the payment of the attached dispersements move second motion and second any comments or questions car none all in favor say I I iose the same motion Carri HC budget transfers resolve pancrat Board of school directors appr the attached budget transfers so move second motions or second any comments or questions hearing done all in favor say I I oppos [Music] say motion carried Mr President point of order as we are

110entering in our proposed general fund budget vote I would like to make a motion that we amend our current budget proposal to a zero M tax increase I suggest we be able to maintain zero M tax increase and balance the budget we heard about balance but the district has not done it for years so I say we balance the budget with a zero Mill tax increase and use the one of the only areas that we control spending Staffing a $2 million went to the staff the union and the staff and so by increasing our expenditures by $2 million I think once our new superintendent is here he will have plans for Staffing cuts that will help us to balance the budget with a zero Mill tax increase so my motion is to amend our current

111budget proposal to a zero mil tax increase item d right or D yeah I'll I'll second the motion and we can have a discussion it's up to president discussion or not we can have discussion so I'll um just quickly give what I what I said last week um I'm a firm believer that um education isn't bought with money and I've watched the budget increase almost $10 million over the last uh about 4 and A2 years that I've been on on the board um and I I don't blame that solely to um bad Investments or bad spending although there's been plenty of things that I've disagreed with that we've spent on uh the majority of what I'll blame that on is is inflation but um we live in that same taxpayers live in that same inflated

112world that the school district is living in um we're at the grocery store and we're not buying that candy bar just like the school district is going to have to make decisions on what they can't afford households are swi thin I said this last week it is nearly impossible to raise a family off a single income anymore it's nearly impossible um Miss Miller said earlier you know that the most important or the um the most important learning a child receive is from their teachers and teachers are very important but the learning that a child receives at home is far more important than what they'll ever receive here they learn morals they learn they parents are obligated to teach their children what is true so the the walls of the home I believe are much more

113important at the end of the day and if I can protect their money then I will I'll protect a taxpayer dollars every day over it we're spending I work in a supermarket I see what people are buying they're buying less they're buying totally different things than they were 3 4 years ago it's it's a whole another world like we're we're living in that world the school district has to live in it too without forcing more on taxpayers yeah for me for me it's more of um control and power we have the state and the federal controlling um a lot of things and for me I'm just sick and tired of doing the same thing what the state tells us to do what the Federal tells us to do like Dave says we love the teachers

114and I hear you guys out there somebody said we're at 50% at reading 70% at math um and actually the lady at the end was saying to be successful we have to do what the state tells us to do basically nutshell i' love to talk to her about that but to be successful we have to come to a community agreement um the teachers got a nice contract um I'm happy for them um they got a great contract and we're we're kind of situating in a 65% we only get State um funding from 65% of the state and only the rest goes from the community a little bit of the federal so as a community we I think for us we have to dig deep in other areas besides just taxes um like for the history

115boosters and all the other stuff maybe we have to Shell out as a community more money uh for certain items and things that we want as a community but to raise taxes there's a lot of people hurting in this community and like Dave was saying I don't believe in having a mill increase I think we still balance the budget hopefully the next month or so we're still working on it so I mean we're not saying we're not going to T have a tax increase but as right now I think we can balance the budget so for me it's it's we we got to stop spending we have a new assistant or new superintendent coming into the coming in June 11 and for me it's it's like let's start fresh what's his vision I'm not a

116tech guy at all but I've talked to teachers I've talked to Amanda about the smart boards I mean they're nice and a lot of teachers like them and I've talked to teachers and stuff like that so I get it this is a tech future but there's also jobs as carpentry electricians and all the other stuff too we can't um we can't omit but for me it's like for me let's let's start fresh with a zero mil M increase nothing no taxes and uh let's start with a new superintendent has a little vision we can we can follow and go from there so I like to add uh to that thank you for your comments um we have had a lot of conversations and there's there is hopefully some good moving Parts uh Mr Ford has

117already been involved in a good way uh which is good to see you want to say ground running uh I I agree 100% with what you said it starts at home and I think one of the discrepancy is where the kids are coming from somebody spoke earlier um we have an increase of kids coming to school hungry abused malnourished uh some are grieving and we have to provide education for them and as that contingency grows uh of course the amount of services we have to provide grows which of course then the expenses grow and that seems to be happening all over that's not just here in penist um part of the budget presentation is what is everyone else doing and I think the two Mill was slightly below what everyone else is doing to meet

118the needs of the students where they're at I wish we could say I wish all the kids were coming with good homes a value of Education that would make all of our Lives easier including ours up here but they're not um they're coming with a lot of problems and and they're not going to learn quadratic formulas if they're being abused or they're hungry uh that takes a lot of services and that's why it the budget has increased for schools all across the area uh it's not just pen Crest all budgets are ballooning and it is a shame that it goes to the taxpayer uh that's a community thing uh that's a community thing and you can't you don't have a solution out there and I don't have a solution we don't have a solution uh

119but if you want to know why it's ballooning uh the contract we approved is Right In step with uh you know the supply and demand what everyone else was doing and I'm I'm excited that that got done as well so thanks for bringing that up as well I see the 2 mil as a good uh jumping off point for now um the Homestead Act that misser brought up uh and the savings that people potentially have versus what this will due to their monthly income is it almost makes it null and void if they've applied for that and we brought that up in committee meetings and so hopefully there's a lot of taxpayers out there that applied for that because now the state's finally getting a kick back to them so that's where I'm at I

120think that's a good jumping off point I think it meets our our community what they want uh for their students I'm tired of walking in and seeing the building paint peeling somebody mentioned the bricks earlier uh this is not you keep cutting and cutting and then expect scores to increase uh and expect students to have 21st century skills it's not a positive correlation like that uh it never has been give me a district that keeps cutting cutting cutting and then sees an increase in you know uh I guess retention of the students it it just doesn't happen unfortunately it's not a place anyone wants to live so or anyone wants to be at including myself in this seat right here with this discussion so that's where I'm coming from is I know the budget's balling

121I know it's getting bigger and I know the student population is decreasing as it is everywhere uh everyone's budget's ballooning it's because they need mental health needs I'm sorry the students are coming in with grave grave things that I hope I never have to go through or my children have to go through uh and it requires a lot of services so that's where I'm at I think the 2 mil is a a sufficient call um for what we have seen in the last decade for pen Crest could I just could I just respond thank you thank you for that um I do not want to do what everybody else is doing I don't want to have to rely on the state to send me more money which also comes from you you're getting hit by

122the school district and then you're getting hit by the state for the money that comes in for us as a district I don't want to do what everybody does and if the state looks at the fact that we have a balanced budget they're not taking us over because we're doing our business thank you but we've brought up numerous times how we're performing and we are comparing ourselves to everybody so it should at least be part of the discussion about what everyone else is doing versus what we're doing and I I'm just going to bring up I one thing we can all agree on in here is if we didn't have to raise taxes this wouldn't be a discussion cuz I pay them too my family pays them uh yeah I get tarff taxes between the

123income taxes and everything else I have to pay now it sucks but here's the deal you guys keep bringing up technology the thing that gets me about the technology is uh gentleman earlier touched on that uh Tom O'Neal uh he did a fantastic job I appreciate him speaking I if he's still here but uh technology is not going away and you said something about electron or uh electrician plumbers and so on so forth those trades are not going away either but the electronics involved with them are getting more and more people are using more and more computer Smart Homes I have my son-in-law who's now in just went to uh Georgia for training for plc's for the for all new uh drives on uh hbac systems I mean computers are taking over I mean technology

124is taking over and it's getting more and more and the few young uh people I'm talked to in the fields they made it clear that they wish they would have had more computer training in school because it's hurting them now people not our age but close that I didn't say it sorry I didn't mean to offend you uh we we we had this discussion on the old board years ago I don't even know if David was on here Mr Johnson was on there and we said if we're going to make this jump into technology it's going to save us in the books so we're either going to do it or we don't and we did it not saying we did it right cuz we didn't time did did not do it right but there again

125we can't control what had happened uh I do have tons of faith in our team now I think they're phenomenal uh to go backwards is going to cost millions of dollars we we can't do that uh we have to keep marching forward at this point we're too far in but the one thing that somebody keeps saying that there's $2 million in Staffing to cut I would really like to know what that is because our staff is smaller now than it's ever been and I would just like to know where that $2 million is I've been going through in my head I don't know where you guys get your number i' like to know where that's oh that that number the 2 million was from the contract the teacher's contract was worth $2 million okay I

126didn't say anything about all of our staff is 2 million no no no no you said 2 million to cut no I'm that's s that's what I heard him say now I'm trying to figure out where are we cutting 2 million sta no no in 201635 teachers were first to balance the budget well it can be done I'm just saying but actually was 28 and the other retired but yes okay uh and we do have we have a bunch retired this year and we're going to have a bunch next year but uh to take away staff I mean where do you stop with the class sizes I mean where is it stopp and that's a one time thing that's what you get this year if you do lay say you cut jobs that's you know

127I don't even know that's going to be what $2 million what are you going to cut next year if we're going L between now and then will you cut the budget's not going down our costs keep going up but we'll have a deficit of Zero no we won't you're not going to have a deficit of zero but hey okay just my bill we good no no no I appreciate all right so just a couple comments I agree with everything that's been said um technology is not going anywhere I'm not a technology guy but um I think we really need to look at I know we tabled it but the $100,000 and smartboards uh the kids going to school for hbac they're not learning that from the Smartboard they're learning at botch Hands-On on a computer

128which these kids do have computers they're not learning that from a Smartboard they're not they're not learning any those technology things about the computer boards smart the the smartboards the motherboards everything in computers they're not that's not what they're using them that's not how they're learning them they're learning at vot Tech if kids are coming to school hungry and I know that they are um the there's a book uh years ago I was involved in a book the book b uh bag program a lot of it was in like the fifth War area well that not because we're not cutting it's not because we're cutting taxes or or raising taxes it's because at home they're hurting for money and the prices of food are going up so it's it's what we're doing here I've heard

129comments about kids are coming to school hungry they are but it's not has anything to do with what we're doing up here our schools get free breakfast uh there's programs for free lunches if we keep raising taxes and I'm not saying we have to do a a zero but a 4 mil no way 2 mil no way maybe a half but the kids kids are coming to school hungry because of taxes and the the whole economics right now okay it has nothing to do with us Dave I don't know if your numbers are correct but you said uh in the last 4 and a half years 10 million or close to 10 something say 9 mil 8 mil whatever okay let's say 8 mil in the last our we heard a lot of people talk

130about our scores not being uh where they should be and you're I've heard the comment saying well if we cut taxes that's going to hurt the kids if we haven't cut them in 4 and 1/2 years why are our scores that low I agree if we cut stuff it would hurt the kids I'm I'm I agree with that but if we've raised them say 8 million in the last 4 and a half years why are our scores low to then it's not because we cut taxes because we haven't cut taxes in the last 4 and A2 years so the comment of well if we're going to cut them now it's going to hurt the kid scores I'm sure it would but why are our scores low now not because we've cut taxes cuz we haven't

131in the last 4 and 1/2 years I I agree we need to I I'm not saying that you know it's is it possible to balance it I'm sure but the four and the two for me is way too much um I just I think there's other things we can look at but that's just my opinion so I'm glad so if I can clarify um I was referring to the not just hunger but the amount of services and needs that kids have whether it's hunger or grief or abuse or any other type of mental setback um I was referring to the amount of services in general I know we feed the kids um we feed them breakfast and lunch for a reason because if they're not fed they will not perform well and if you were

132at the Education meeting we saw that we are in fact um scores are growing in the right direction there's two different methods you can look at it's just raw data and how they're perform foring versus growth and um so that's what I was referring to with the point with scores um and with regards to hunger is that the amount of services and needs that these children have uh has increased and I just want to reiterate the three last the last three years of tax increases the half M was strictly for the bond it did not go into the general fund at all so those tax increases had had nothing to do with the General stock those were strictly on the bonds and I think the one before that was 5 years ago Kristen it was

1332018 yeah that was the last tax increase that went into the general fund so I just want to make clear that we haven't been taking money and put in general fund that's strictly been for the bond the bonds thank yeah I want make a comment on a student the teacher ratio we're at 133 no where we at where we at that's a fictitious I kind of clarify ask a teacher right out there yeah if I can clarify on that so it says on our website 13:1 um if you do the math it comes out nowhere near that um however that is how many teachers we have 213 teachers to the number I can't remember it's changed if few times but yeah it's like 2470 or something like that if you divide that number that is

134how many that would be the ratio of teachers to students that is not classroom size but yes it is the it is the student to teer ratio to add on that um we've talked about an increase in special ed now a lot of those IEPs in 504s require by law require by law small group instruction and in some cases I'd imagine one to one so be aware of that you just can't say you know let's increase class size to something that's typical but with a student has a legal document and if we want to start getting it you can ask Jordan I'm sure if we want to start tangling with the special ed uh legal side of Education we're in some big trouble so those documents have that's another side that's also adding to the

135ballooning uh budget of a school is legally these documents um require small group groups and that's a phrase that's in there and that is a quote from these legal documents that we have to adhere to small group is the phrase so we can't touch those jobs anyway because they are funded federally so we can't get rid of any of those AIDS and the other AIDS um I have the notes in here but we can't fire them to try to help you might get back on your track cuz I kind of stole that from you sorry so 13 to is would be the student to teer ratio I think you're going I I mean going down that direction I'm thinking you're you're saying we can work on the student and teacher ratio and maybe not necessarily

136it it will affect class sizes is that where you're going I heard 13 teachers the teachers out there 23 25 23 okay I know 10 just next he said 27 one class um yeah I'm all for incre increased sizes of the classes especially in elementary 1 through six but um yeah I I think we can accomplish again the budget um I heard these three words I'll just say it PRI prioritize be strategic strategic and be creative I think like most of the people here the five of us that voted um yes to no taxes we we got to be creative I mean we're at a time now where we've like increased taxes like Ryan said for the last four five six years whatever it is and what do we get out of it we have

137a new superintendent coming in he's going to have a vision so let's start from scratch try to balance the budget as best as we can and uh from there I have a a ton of research on the student teacher ratio and what would happen but I would rather hold that till the fin finance committee meeting so we're not here till 11:00 but I think that should be held in the finance committee meeting and we still have a motion on the floor and a second well I think yeah I think um we need to if we could close discussion on this and and vote a lot of this is definitely we got to have some conversation at finance committee meeting we have a solicitor just weigh in to make sure we're doing everything procedurally right yep

138all right yeah so so thanks K there was a motion to amend item 8D on tonight's agenda from a 4 mil increase to a 0 mil increase that's permissible because the millage is going down if it was a motion to raise the millage from 4 to let's say 6 or 8 that would be impermissible because it wouldn't have given the public an opportunity to come and comment on what would be a higher increase so the motion now that's on the floor is to amend item 8D from a 4 mil increase to a Zer mil increase item 8 e is still on the agenda which would be consideration of the TW Mill increase so procedurally you should vote on the amend Amendment first and see if that passes or [Music] not miss Bears no Mr banck

139yes Mr Brown no Mr chy yes Mr kuster yes Miss Lugo no Mr stori no Mr veski yes Mr Johnson yes five yeses or knows yes is pass okay so the motion was to amend it to a Zer mil tax increase so now we will vote on that correct Jordan yes and that's right okay the amended the amended action for uh we 8D is resolve the pencrest board School directors approve the attached proposed preliminary 2425 general fund operating budget at a millage rate of zero Mills and to authorize the business manager to prepare the pte 2028 budget document some move second Motion in a second any comments or questions he R call M bear no Mr benck yes Mr Brown no Mr chosi yes Mr kuster yes Miss Lugo no Mr stori no Mr veski

140yes Mr Johnson yes five yeses yeses get it motion passes so then now Jordan on item 8 e that one is mot now right it is but procedurally it should still be voted on just because it is on the agenda okay thank you so item 8e uh resolve the pest Board of school directors approve the attach proposed preliminary 2425 general fund operating budget and no RS is listed for item ad and to authorize business manager to prepare the PD 20128 budget document we move second motion the second uh any comments or questions roll call Miss Bear yes Mr benck no Mr Brown yes Mr chossy no Mr custard no Miss Lugo gu Mr stori yeah Mr veski no Mr Johnson no motion fail item fails uh 8f resolve panr Board of school directors approved District's

141elected tax collector from collecting delinquent taxes for 2324 real estate and per capita taxes as attached so move motion of a second any comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I I oppose same motion carried item 8 G resolve panr Board of school directors approve the attached agreement with government software services to print the 2024 real estate and per capita tax so move second Motion in the second any comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I I same motion carried 8h resolve Fest Board of school directors approve the attached service purchase contracts for medical services rendered during the 2425 School home move second Motion in second any comments or questions hearing none all in favor say I I same motion carried 8 I donation resolve the P Board of school directors

142approved to accept the donation of $260 from retired teachers in memory of Elaine Rudy for supplies giveway books at the title one event in honor of el so Move Motion to Second any comments or questions Eric none all in favor say I I I same motion carried section n Personnel Report with the board entertain a yes consent agenda on that one uh request approval of all items listed on Section n of the Personnel report as listed second motion and second any comments or questions BR n all in favor say iose same motion Carri okay down to 10 a did we un we on on table that yes okay yeah it's on table okay thank you item 10 a resolve pen CR Board of school directors approve the attached psba 2425 membership renewal and policy maintenance

143program participation agreement 14,000 $139 12 second motion and second any comments or questions what's our expiration date on this you said it earlier um July y any other comments or questions car none all the favor say I iOS same no Carri item 10B appeal of court case resolve that the pen of school directors approv to appeal pen Prest School District V pen Crest area Education Association psca NAA at Crawford County docket number 80224 d122 to the Comm cour second good motion the second any comments or questions uh other than just I'm a little I'm torn I'm torn on this one uh cuz we you know we just approved $225,000 more um for a solicitor this evening in a budget transfer um I worry about we had this discussion of what kind of Precedence this may

144set um so I you know I I'd invite some conversation from my colleagues here because we're getting pretty high on our legal fees this discussed the other night um but I also understand that the Precedence established may also exceed that so yeah from what I heard I wasn't here Monday for the work session before from what I heard there we go what I heard from the from the phone was um it was inherited is that correct no the solicitor was saying most of our legal issues were inherited to his law okay I was just making a point that's when I brought up the budget trans yeah for me it's um just like technology D was spend a lot of Technology for me I'm a traditionalist no but for the safety reasons and the future of

145our school yeah we're going to spend money if you want to protect our board from the community and vice versa all this stuff going on I think we you know it's a good investment for me it's protection for for the school board in the district that's why what do we what do we gain in that uh P practice on contract setting a precedent president of what it doesn't really Mr Brown it's it's so this is what we had discussed with regard to the bement arbitration this is also something that we inherited oh you know I would rest on yeah I would I would rest on whatever I said in the executive session to the board but I'm happy to answer any additional questions about it but that's just for your edification Mr Brown what where

146that came from was last week's discussion on whether to appeal that matter to Comm Court were not to and that's the board's discretion I I just don't understand what when this is going to stop I guess uh that's all how far are we going to go with it I guess yeah I appreciate Randy what what your concern of the transfer and the level of what we're paying as a district to protect ourselves I think uh with the added um amount that we're paying I think it would behoove us to go to the solicitor more before we vote so we don't get into problems but we also have to be reminded that this is the only we're one of the only solicitors who has brought money back into the district that's all I have well that's

147great they brought money and I'm this I like Geor I'm not I'm asking is this a bang for a buck and you keep saying protecting the board but what do I need protected from I don't let myself get in those situations wrong I don't get it wrong decisions wrong voting it it's just potentially a precedent that may be more costly in the future is what we're asking I wasn't attacking out of here um yeah I wasn't attacking no this was not against Jordan right no I was I and and I'll make a comment right because it's out there I am legally allowed to vote on this I am not a member of the PSA contradictory to what was said numerous times so I am legally allowed to vote on this being that PC or PCA

148is member of this but uh any other comments [Music] others motion second okay oll call beers yeah Mr benck yes Mr ground no Mr chossy yes Mr kuster yes Mr Lugo yes Mr sski yes Mr veski yes Mr Johnston yes 81 okay section 11 uh the board me for executive session on May 6 and 13th for personnel and legal um next we have a brief set of public comments from from the district uh the panr school district very proud of our students and staff's achievements and efforts the following items are just a sampling of the many things that help to make pencrest a great positive educational Community please visit each school's website or official so social media sites for updates and happenings throughout our district community at Cambridge another successful Cambridge cares event culminated last

149Friday with students and staff working throughout the Cambridge attendant area on various projects for the community for Maple schools Mr Gardner and Mr Bryant put on the annual concerts for fifth and sixth graders check out the mees social media sites and see some photos of the action from s toown schools the annual sown Elementary School Musical shows were once again a big hit this year again check out the social social media sites and web page of the sown Elementary School for some great pictures of the action and then finally to end of the end of the school year calendar is full of all kinds of exciting events with proms senior Awards field days and more so please visit our school's websites and official media sites as many photos and videos of these great uh times

150will be displayed at this very special time of year thank you [Music] this uh so lastly we have citizens comments on non-agenda items again for registered citizens uh 5 minute uh maximum of first we have listed Chris GCO um please come up uh state your name time residence good evening uh Chris Greco uh Woodcock Township um I would also like to bring uh my booster president up because he was going to be speaking after me um because it's on the same issue if we could have could we do that together or it's going to be five minutes it it won't be five minutes between us both it'll be probably five minutes total okay thanks um I just wanted I've met many of you in your in your families um I also um in the boys

151basketball coach um a teacher um coach advisor um taxpayer and um for about the last 25 years we've run a very nonsuccessful lucrative feeder program for Saturday basetball league and um and where students that are fifth sixth all the way up through High School have learned skills um character responsibility been role models help referee help run concession stand um just this year we received a bill from the district for $3,000 $2,980 something dollars that Mr Dre will talk about in a second and um when I asked for some clarification I got zero um I sent an email to Mr Dixon crickets um I reached out to other assistant athletic directors um they said that was the price of doing business this isn't a business um again we're talking about students um we want to pay

152the custodians their rightful fee and we recognize it on a Saturday it is time and a half and we've done that for 20 plus years um over the last two years cost has gone up on the bottom of a form it went from 30 to 35 to $45 an hour I know um that custodians their overtime rate is not $45 an hour and my concern is where is that money going and that's and that's all I had asked and I i' at the request of one of your board members send it to Mr saborsky Mr Johnston and Mr Brown and I don't know if it was passed on to you um but I just wanted some clarification because it's not about it's not about us making money as a basketball program it's about having a

153safe Saturday environment for 8 to 10 to 12 teams to come we pay liability insurance at the cost of our our boosters and I just I just don't understand and as a taxpayer not to hear a word from Mr Dixon and that just I just don't understand that so hopefully maybe you can get some clarification because the response that he gave my booster president is that's their benefit package their benefit package doesn't increase because they work on a Saturday so that's i' would like to turn that over to Mr Dre at this point thank you so I just wanted to add to that and just to to make sure um I don't know if you're familiar with our our league that we run um I've been involved in it nine years running it for for

154the last seven um it runs January and February on The Saturdays so basically it runs up eight weeks um on those Saturdays and first off I want to make sure the janitors have been fantastic I've never had an issue with the janitors that's not the issue at all um I just wanted to get clarification um when I did hear why it was so much it was that two years ago the board had made a decision to raise these fees to $35 last year and then to $45 this this year um that it was a board decision so I guess my question is um why $45 was landed on for the custodians and also for snow removal thankfully we did not have a bad winner or our fee probably would have been over $5,000 um for

155snow removal we only had to pay for 4 hours one day um for sow snow removal this past year so thankfully for that I guess I just want to find out where that number comes from are the janitors truly getting that full $45 an hour on those Saturdays if so I'd like an application um to sign up and work for those but the the bigger issue is um like you said this has been something that we either Break Even or make a little bit of money on not a lot this in effect will end this league um and it not only affects Sager toown um the schools we've had involved in at Cambridge um Maplewood Union City cochon meville um Jamestown Comm Perry Fort lauff all of those schools in the past and more have

156been involved in this and this will come to an end cuz we can't afford those kind of fees and I understand maybe an outside um Place saying hey we want to rent your facility let's charge them $45 that's fine but when it's our own programs to move it up to that cost and just for a little reference in 2022 we paid 12281 for custodians 2023 we played 93 and then this year the bill was $292 so a huge jump and like I said we're not against the custodians have gone above and beyond for us um I enjoy working with them on those Saturdays that's not the issue it's just I would like a little more clarification on where the 45 came from and just so you guys know for our feeder program this ends it

157because we can't lose money now on paying this fee every year thank you and and one last comment when it did go up um about six years ago because I've been doing it from now about 14 years uh we charged the parents a dollar just to come in and that was to help offset the cost of the C custodians um when their rate went up as an overtime rate I think it went up to $24 an hour at that time and no one boed at that um and again we're thankful for all that they do the mopping of the floors the salt that comes in the shoveling of the sidewalks and it and it's not um it's not an indictment of them um because again as Mr Dre said they do a phenomenal job and

158and I'm about teaching my players and I'm wearing the shirt tonight an attitude of gratitude um we want them to be thankful and be that role model and and I I hate to see the the program that has been successful for almost a quarter Century if you think about that um stop that abruptly just for just for this cause thank you sure um that's all the registered citizens any non-registered citizens wishing to speak this [Music] evening hello James McIntyre with uh heyfield Township president I'm a recent alumni of sagtown high school and a current undergrad student SRU shortly I have to say I am disappointed in the future of this school district one year ago I came to the school board to address certain uh policy 109.2 issues and issues regarding transgender athletes President Biden

159did pass a title 9 uh Edition that recently just came from April mid of April um it does go in effect August but it does not deal with transgender athletes when that time comes there is a policy that does interfere with that and policies that do not fall under that you know uh Title 9 or anything along with that you lose Federal funding so um I know the federal funding is very slight in terms of the budget but why put that on the line when we're already a lot in deficit I would also want to mention the Seer toown High School marching band uh there really isn't one right now they they should be learning right now or getting ready for band camp but that is not happening this year uh there is no band

160director for that there's no position open there's nothing for that um as a drum major for that band for two years and all the awards you see out there um have been won by the marching band uh stuff like that if if you want that to continue at least have some clarification on the future of what's going to happen with the marching band because the boosters and members of that are left in the dust um that is all I have to say thank any other non-registered citizens this evening John ker again Hayfield Township I'm against transgender Sports I do not want women competing with men and men will compe with women thank [Applause] you there none I'll turn it back over you sorry sorry I didn't see that's okay lur Bullock Rockdale Township um I

161just want to thank those of you that did vote um on the no um shows your priority to the students those of you that voted um yes shows your priority towards just the taxpayers I think there are a lot of people up here asking you to um you know find a balance between the two as a parent um of a student that's going to be graduating and one still in the G in in school the opportunities are so limited with the programs and just um when you are going to get creative on the cuts you need to be informed and come in into the classrooms and see the size of the classrooms the teachers teaching and what happens just in order to make an informed decision you have to be informed and to do that

162you need to come into the classrooms you can't be doing research on the computer you need to see what is going on um so I'm hoping when you do get creative that you're looking at things that is for the students and not setting them up for failure because everything that was discussed tonight really as a parent you are setting our kids up for failure [Applause] period non registered citizens this evening okay now turn motion to adj so move fav say [Music] I for