0012025 curriculum and technology committee meeting. Um, with that, I'd like to say one thing first. Pursuant to board policy 1B.5, all meetings of Salisbury Township School District are audio and video recorded. And with that, I'd like a pledge of allegiance, please. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Um, roll call, please. >> Mr. Gayer, >> here. >> Mrs. Glennister, >> here. >> Mr. Gal, >> here. >> Mr. Hoffman, >> here. >> Mrs. Clinger >> here. >> Mrs. McKelie >> here. >> Mrs. Nemit >> here. Mr. Rickabani >> here. >> Mr. Spinner. >> All righty. Um, and with that, I'll turn the the the evening's events over to Mrs.
002Clinger, or do you want me to keep going on the the agenda for right now? >> It doesn't matter. Whatever you want to do. >> All right. We'll we'll roll right into special recognitions then. >> All right. So, I will get started with that. Um this evening we have multiple special recognitions around the microphone so they can hear us on Zoom. All right. Tonight we have multiple special recognitions. So wonderful to see a full house here. Thank you to everybody for being here. And tonight as superintendent it's my privilege to recognize a very special group of students. Our AP scholars with honor and AP scholars with distinction. And you've heard us talk about AP before. Advanced placement. Um, this isn't just about students enrolling in challenging and rigorous courses, but it's about them committing themselves
003to taking college level work while also balancing a whole host of other responsibilities, whether it's sports or a job or scouts or theater or the arts or other activities. They have to demonstrate not only their intelligence but also their perseverance in being successful in these courses. um be willing to certainly push themselves out of their comfort zones. So, an AP Scholar with honor is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of three or higher on four or more of these exams. So, taking multiple AP courses in a college experience in high school. So, we have four students that we're recognizing for AP Scholar with honors and I'll invite them to come up and we'll also invite you to share anything that you might
004like to share about what you're doing next. So, giving you that moment to think about it if you'd like to share that. Beatric Carrick, did I say your last name right? >> Okay, great. Congratulations, Beatatrix. Lots to be proud of. A couple more students here. Absolutely. You can clap. You can clap again. Absolutely. And we should have Emerson Jua. I'm not sure if I'm saying it again. UAS. Thank you, Emerson. Us. There you go. Congratulations, Emerson. And we have Meredith Kelly. Congratulations, Meredith. And we have Riley Nemits, who is actually on Zoom. So, congratulations to Riley. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, we'll give each of these students if they'd like an opportunity to just say a few words, maybe what you're doing next, maybe what AP courses meant to you, anything you might
005like to share with your parents and our our school community. Um, I'm just grateful for the opportunity to take more advanced courses here at Salsbury. I'm grateful for the kids that surround me in those courses. A lot of you guys are some of my best friends. Um, in the future, I hope to go on to study pre-law, hopefully at George Washington University in DC. Um, and I want to become an immigration lawyer. So, thank you guys. Um, I had a lot of fun in my AP courses. I also have a lot of my best friends in there. Um, yeah, I just always have fun in those classes with the people I'm with. Next, I want to go study microbiology, um, hopefully at Penn State. And I'd like to commemorate my other members of my 4x800
006district medalist team. Um, we we got a fourth place at the PIAA 2A District 11 track and field championship in 2025. Good job, everyone. >> Um, hello. Um, I would like to thank everyone who supported me through um, taking these AP exams and um, I plan on studying civil engineering in the future. OKAY. >> And Riley, we'll open it up to you. >> Um, I've enjoyed taking the AP classes cuz they're a more challenging curriculum. Um, and in the future I'm planning on studying civil engineering. >> Excellent. Thank you for being here, Riley. All right, one more question. your favorite AP course. You can decline. You can always pass. All right. >> Uh my favorite AP course was AP Lang. And that's all because of my favorite teacher, Mrs. Ruiz. Shout out Mrs. Ruiz if
007you're watching. She's also my field hockey coach. I also would like to shout out the district uh the district 11 champions. Um the Salsbury field hockey team. Congratulations to everyone on the team. I love you guys so much. Uh, was this favorite of all time or favorite last year? >> Good choice. >> Um, I think, let's see. I think my favorite of all time would probably AP Computer Science A. It's just really interesting and it's a good group of people in there. We have fun. I also like principal AP Compite principles though because it was also a good group of people. >> I don't have a favorite. >> All right. And Riley, do you have a favorite? Uh, my favorite CLA uh, AP class has probably been AP Seminar just cuz it's a lot of
008fun. >> AP Seminar. All right. Thank you. You may have a seat. We're going to take a photo when I'm finished with everybody. Thank you. >> All right. And we have another group of students to recognize, the AP scholars with distinction. These students represent the highest level of sustained achievement in the program, demonstrating true excellence across a broad range of subjects. AP Scholar with distinction is granted to stu students who score three or higher on at least five AP exams and have an average score of 3.5 or higher on all exams. So, we have three students we're recognizing here. Phoebe Balac for AP Scholar with distinction. There you go. Oh, I'm so sorry. Congratulations. And we have Raphael Karpo. Congratulations. And we have Soladad Lash. Congratulations, Soladad. All right. Same story. Would you like to
009share anything? >> Sure. Um, I'm really grateful that we have the opportunity to take AP classes at Salsbury. I know we had some issues a couple years ago, like running classes and our grade kind of organized to make sure all those classes ran. Um, and we've definitely had a great experience um, in those AP classes. So, I hope they continue to be offered to grades in the future. Um, and just have that to Yeah. Um, I'm in the future I'll be I'm committed to Smith College where I'll be continuing swimming and majoring in government on the pre-law track. Yeah. So, AP is a very is a very um distinctly important program in high school. It's a very um it's a very unique opportunity for for kids like for all like for all self-motivated kids to
010attain college credit and see what it's really like in a college course. And I think that, you know, every kid should, you know, take the chance to or take at least take one throughout their high school career. Um, I guess in in the future, um, I'm undecided between either pursuing a a business or not a business degree, an engineering degree or a biochem degree on a pre-med path. Um, probably at Lehigh University. I agree with Phoebe. I'm really grateful that we got all of these courses to run in the past two years. Um, they're totally worth it. Totally recommend taking at least one because they're just like I don't know. They're different. They're so much fun. And I love College Board. I plan to major in international relations and economics, but I don't know where
011yet. Um, my favorite class is probably AP Seminar because I love Mrs. Newman, but she's not here right now. So, >> um, I'd have to say AP Seminar as well, mostly because it's a very productive class that we always do work in. >> Um, not to continue the AP Seminar love train, but I do love AP Seminar, so I will be saying that's my favorite for now. >> I feel like there's a private joke there somewhere. I'm not sure where though. All right. Congratulations to all of you and thank you so much. So, the students have certainly set a powerful example for all of our learners across the district and throughout the um high school at Salisbury and we're certainly very proud of the efforts and their achievements. Um but I also want to recognize
012the people that are behind you. So all of you here tonight, your teachers, your friends, your sports teammates or activity teammates, um teachers who provide that rigorous instruction for you and thinking about all those late night conversations that maybe you had with families or the car rides or the stressful moments or the prepping for the test and recognizing that support that you received along the way. So thank you also to our to our families um on behalf of the board and our administration as well as Dr. Morning Star and Mrs. Brennan, we want to congratulate you on your achievements and invite you out to have a photo taken for the Salisbury Press and maybe somebody can grab me one for the community update out there too, please. >> Can I make a quick comment, Mrs.
013So, first of all, I did want to point out that five out of the seven are in fact Salisbury swimmers. So, >> Oh, you want to make a shout out? Um, but I also do want to say as a high school teacher and as somebody who also took a bunch of AP classes, it is the students are right and they haven't gone to college yet, but I have. It is by far the best preparation you have for college. Uh, much not to throw dual enrollment under the bus, but AP is is the premier preparation. You guys are going to be ready, right? And you're going to have some flexibility in your schedule. I picked up some minors, you know, just because I had space. So, congratulations to you guys. Oh, we didn't have ice. >>
014Miss Oswald, can you uh please head on up? We have our next uh item on the agenda is um service recognition and we have one this evening. >> We can ask an AP student to show you how to use that if you'd like. >> Did you know that I wasn't an AP student? >> Now, now uh it is my pleasure to recognize Mrs. Angela Mosie for her dedication as an adviser in the Salisbury Township School District. So, I'm going to first ask Angela to come up here. Angela has poured her energy, love, and music into our students since 2008. She has served as our high school band director, high school and middle school concert band director, middle school chorus director, and elementary chorus director. Angela's hard work and dedication has not only shaped our music
015program, but the confidence and joy of countless students. She has set a foundation of excellence for our music program and has created a space where students feel valued and capable. Thank you, Angela, for your dedication and passion you have brought to every rehearsal and performance. Angela's name has been added to the perpetual plaque which remains in the administration building. Congratulations. I put some notes in my phone. >> Well, we have a couple items for you, too. >> Oh, thanks. >> Sure. Thank you. >> And a Salsbury uh polo. And then just so everybody can see the plaque. >> Oh, thank you everybody. Oh my goodness. >> Great. And while Lyn's showing that off, I just like to thank the school board for taking time to recognize my service in this position. It's really a surprise
016to me and an honor um because I just do what needs to get done and enjoy doing it. I love helping the kids grow as musicians and working with the marching band and collaborating with the twirling program and the cheerleading program and athletics and parents and also athletics. It's just really been a pleasure and I wish everybody continued success in marching band. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. Um up next we have our student representative reports. Uh so I'd ask uh we'll start with the um high school and we'll go from there. not work. Is it not working? >> The lights on. >> Okay. All right. I got it. I got it. Okay. All right. That's awesome. Uh, good evening. Uh, I'm Edward Ballick. I'mma junior. And this is the
017report. Salsbury winter sports began this past week on November 13th. We look forward to supporting our athletes this winter. The National Honor Society blood drive through Miller Keystone Blood Center took place on November 11th for students and faculty aged 16 plus as well as the community. Salsbury Theater performed Harvey on the weekend of November 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th. The theater also hosted auditions for the spring musical The Prom this week on the 17th and 18th. Students in American Cultures One took a field trip to Gettysburg yesterday, the 18th. The trip provided an opportunity for students to learn more about the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg. Students in the Stars Club will take a trip on Thursday the 20th to Kataka High School for a healthy living expo. This promotes STAR's goal of
018students taking active roles against drugs and alcohol. Salsbury High School will begin fall break on Wednesday, November 26th. Happy Thanksgiving. >> Thank you. Do we have a representative from LCTI this evening? >> I do not see her. >> Okay. Well, then we will move on to the middle school. our board member who's normally in charge of AV is actually remote tonight. So, she's >> Can you submit? Can you assist? >> I'm really sorry. >> No worries. Yeah, >> talk into it and see if it works. >> Hello. >> There we go. >> Good evening. My name is Eden Closk. I'm in eighth grade and I'm the president of student council at Salbury Salisbury Middle School. >> Good evening. My name is My name is Laura. I'm in eighth grade and I'm a member of the
019student council at the middle school. Recently, lots of exciting things have happened. The seventh graders recently took a field trip down to Kudson University to see Jordan Son and Blick, the author of the novel they reading in Ela, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. During the visit, he spoke about his writing process and the inspiration behind the book. Students also participated in a meet and greet where they were able to ask questions, take pictures, and have their books signed. Their experience helped them deepen their understanding of the novel, and gave them a firsthand look at the life of an author. Some students from various grade levels visited Citizens Big Park as a reward for their participation in the annual schoolwide fundraiser. Those who raised sufficient funds enjoyed a day off to tour the stadium, learn about
020the team, explore the dugout, and see behind the scenes operations. Earlier this month, the eighth graders also took part in shred education where they learned basic skills of skiing and snowboarding. Students practiced important abilities like agility, balance, focus, and proper stance. Overall, it was both a fun and informative experience. Next Tuesday, the entire school will participate in the annual turkey trot held before the Thanksgiving break. Students will have the opportunity to walk or run a onemile course around the middle school and conclude the event with hot chocolate or apple cider. Prior to the turkey trot, students were assigned an excl powerup to complete within a designated time frame. The first 20 students in each grade to finish the assignment will receive a donut at the end of the course. All powerups must be completed by
021this Friday, November 21st. Recently, our eighth graders also took an exciting trip to LCTI where they got to tour the entire campus and explore different career programs. Students walked through areas like engineering, culinary arts, healthcare, and technology, and many others, seeing real hands-on projects happening right in front of them. They met instructors, asked questions, and learned about the classes and opportunities we can choose in high school. The trip help The trip helped everyone get a better idea of future career paths. and the eighth graders left feeling inspired and excited about what's ahead. We are so happy to share with you all the amazing things happening in our school lately. Thank you for your time. Thank you for that. And then last but not least, we have Salisbury Elementary Lucy and Melissa. >> Good evening. My
022name is Melissa Winner >> and my name is Lucy Pascal and we are both in fourth grade. >> The fire engine assemblies were held on October 15th and 16th. We thank our volunteer firefighters who visit SCS to present to the students. The students enjoyed seeing the fire trucks. Friday, October 17th, fourth grade went to South Mountain Preserve for their field trip. They enjoyed the hike and being out in nature. Kindergartener went on their field trip to Valley Fruits and Veggies on October 20th. They enjoyed picking pumpkins and visiting the farm. The book character parade was held on October 24th to start off our book fair week. Stu our staff did a great job dressing up as their favorite book character. Students enjoyed shopping for books during their normal library day. November 11th was our Veterans
023Day celebration. We inv we invited veterans to SCES for a special breakfast. After breakfast, they line the walkway outside to welcome students to school. Upcoming events, parent teacher conferences start on November 24th. The students will have an early dismissal that day. November 25th, school is closed for students. Teachers will hold parent conferences during the day. >> School school is closed for fall break November 26th to December 1st. Thank you FOR YOUR TIME. SHE IS NOT KIDDING. >> I think that was the most excited crowd we've ever had in this room. >> There are and I'm not going to apologize for that. >> You shouldn't apologize for it. I wish we'd had that more often. Um, people don't really cheer for when we go over budgets and stuff like that, so it is what it is.
024All righty. Um, with that said, uh, we'll move into the the meat of the meeting and, uh, Mrs. Clinger, I'll ask you to take over the from here on out. >> Okay. Good evening, everybody. Uh, we have three agenda items this evening, and we're going to start with >> actually before we get started here, it is a school night, so I understand if you all want to take off or if you'd like to sit for the rest of the meeting and cheer us on, I greatly appreciate it. >> And is there a gift for them? Uh >> yeah, please grab a bag on the way. There's something there on >> for students to grab on the way out. >> Thank you to the teachers and parents and guardians who came. Appreciate that. I think Meredith
025has to stay. No, I'm joking, >> Meredith. I was only joking. You can go if you want. I'm stay for a little. >> Okay, I think we can start now. Um, we're going to start with a de demographic summary and Mrs. Pauling will take the lead on that. So, good evening. Every uh year we offer a a look back at last year's demographics uh and a preview of this year's demographics just to give us an idea of where we are uh and who we serve. Uh we tried a new format this year. We tried to jazz it up but at the end of the day it's still tables with numbers. So uh last year 2425 school year uh we had uh 151 uh students and that includes students who are placed outside the district. As
026you know that sometimes the needs of students demand a different placement than here at uh Salsbury. Uh that might be an IU or another program that um we determine is in the best interest of the child. Um so that includes that number and then you can see the breakdown um uh are are there frankly most of the the numbers are pretty stable. There wasn't a whole lot of movement from last year which is um kind of the first time I think we've saw we've seen this much uh continuity for for a while. Um so um you know they're all hovering around the same percentages that they did uh did last year. Um a slight increase maybe in um Hispanic by you know 1.2% um difference. So, um I thought that was interesting to note just
027that it's it it has been changing more rapidly uh previously. Uh economically disadvantaged um we had uh 40%. Now that looks like a sharp decline because in the 23 24 school year if you notice we were 50 over 50% free and reduced lunch. So there's a there's a calculation that's different. It doesn't really mean that we have I know this is the way the state demands we report things but actually this doesn't actually mean we have fewer economically disadvantaged students with um participation in the community uh uh C I I forget what the E stands for >> eligibility there you go community eligibility provision where we offer free and uh free breakfast and lunch to all students because of that they don't fill out the paperwork for uh free and reduced lunch. We use other
028metrics, direct certification for benefits that are received, but that really only kind of uh you know represents our free students, not the reduced. So there's actually a multiplier of 1.6 that we use for all federal grants. And when you look at that 1.6, it's actually um closer to 60 60ome percent. So um just be just to know it we still have to in PIMS when we upload data it's attributed to a specific individual all of these characteristics. So we can't just make up 1.6. So that's why it's it's a difference. um our English language learners um again very stable uh at 88 and you can see the breakdown by uh each school gifted um a percentage point difference um wait sorry I was looking at the wrong line learning support went down slightly but you
029know a percentage point um a slight increase to emotional support and gifted um again very similar to last year 3.5 versus 3.3. Um and the same with autistic support um we did open another program at the middle school. So we do have a few more students but it didn't really change the overall percentage um for autistic support and I've asked this question before and I know you know our program is relatively new in house. Are we having kids move out of autistic support to less restrictive placements? >> So if you mean by move out where they're not in autistic support at all or where they're included more >> included more, you know, their percentages go up, you know, or moved into maybe some sort out of autistic support entirely into something else, you know. >>
030Uh I don't know that we've had any students move entirely out of autistic support, but we certainly have had students that have increased their um their time in regular ed. Is there any way I could get a statistic on that? I know there's privacy issues, so I don't I obviously don't want to violate that. If there's any way you could give me a sense of that in the you know, I'm not >> I can give you a sense. I'm looking at a spreadsheet, so I'm looking at actual students. um changes in going percentage of time in regular ed. Looking at a student who's 54%, looking at a student um a couple of students who are 0%. A student who is 54. Um looking at a student who went um actually decreased some time. So started
031at 92 and then decreased some time. Looking at a student who went from zero to 40% uh 15% 64% um looking at a student who is um this is 2425 data too not 2526 >> um 80 80 >> yeah that's >> I'm sorry that's a 64% 68% 0% so it's very individualized to students needs >> and you know the team is always looking at whether or not students students can increase their time in regular ed um or gen ed. Here's another one 16 to 24% um 12 to 16. So, it's pretty it's pretty varied which you would expect, right? You would expect it to be individualized. >> Is there any fluidity between the learning support group, the emotional support group, and autistic support? Because it looks like if you add them together as a as
032a cohort, it stays roughly the same percentage. maybe as we learn more about autism and individual students that that helps organize and give more targeted support. >> So I'm not sure exactly. Do you mean do kids go from autistic support to emotional support to learning support? Is that what you mean by fluidity? >> Uh more so maybe learning support, emotional support and then as we understand individual needs better. Is is that how we help screen and and provide that support? Yeah, I'm trying to think of like individual cases of kids who have gone from one to the other. I mean, there are, you know, it's an IEP team decision where the student would be placed. Um, and it doesn't matter the diagnosis. It's really about what the student needs. Um, so there could be a
033situation where a student would go from autistic support to learning support or autistic support to emotional support, but it's not really like a progression that you go from here to here to here. It's really about this is the whole child. This is the child's needs. this is what the team thinks the child needs and this is the best programming for the child. >> Sure. No, I'm I'm just excited because it it looks like as a grouping the numbers relatively the same and then with with targeted help the individual need it looks like we're doing that through the autistic support you >> yeah and sometimes some of the autistic support those percentages I read are times where students are going into regular ed so it might or gened or with their gened peers it could be
034lunch it could be recess it could be a special um it could be a morning meeting so it's a lot of it's very diverse based on students students needs needs and the support they need in the in the gened um population as well. And the goal is to get them as much as you can into that population. >> Awesome. That's great. >> Would it be possible at some point for me to see the I'd like to see what they're doing in middle school? It's a little complicated with my schedule now, but it would it be possible for me to observe sometime in the future just to see what's the autistic support class? Sure. >> Yeah, in the middle school. Yeah, because I' i've seen the the one in the elementary school, so I have a
035sense there. But yeah, I'd just love to see what they're doing in there. >> Yeah, we could open that invitation to the board if anyone would like to visit the classroom. >> Yeah, I'll I'll send you an email. >> Um I think there's some wins here with student mobility. Um we are Oh, that went sorry. Well, it went it did go up a little slightly, but if you look at like 2223, it was quite high. And so, anything that's taking it in that direction, 1920 it was 24%. So, um, we'd like to see it lower, but it's it's not not terrible. Before you go to the next one, I'm just looking at the spreadsheet and I realize that I failed to mention it could also be math or ELA or science that students are in.
036And that's a pretty important >> Yes. piece of distinction. >> Thank you. >> Or writing. I actually see that here too. >> Sorry. >> Nope. Okay. Um, charter schools. So, every year we give you an idea of how many homeschooled and uh charter school uh enrollments we have. So, this year we have 178, which is um an increase over last year. Pretty pretty substant substantial increase over last year. Um and then we have a breakdown between cyber and brick and mortar charter schools. So 48 for cyber and 130 for brick andmortar. >> So personally and I understand this is has to be a board ask not a Laraesque but I really would like to understand this better. You know I I feel like I understand it kind of generally but not very specifically. You know
037why are kids choosing charter schools? Why, you know, what what trends do we see either within a year or from year to year, you know, cuz it's costing us, you know, three and a half, $4 million a year at this point. Um, and 10%'s a big number. Like that's that's a lot of kids. Um, and I know that the administration has made some efforts. Um, and you know, you don't know what's going to work until you try it. So is there any way that you know I I am proposing that we request you know a kind of a report on what's going on there you know more of a deep dive into statistics and reasons >> and I'm happy to share some reasons we do track the kids who leave so last year and we
038meet on it we met on it maybe once a month but last year um from I should have brought readers you have your readers It's so small. I printed it. It's so small. Thank you. Thank you, Joe. Um, last year we tracked 15 students. These are strange. This I don't know what that is. >> Those No, that's worse. Let me have those. Thank you. >> It's Yeah, I see that. Thank you. I appreciate it. Beggars can't be choosers. All right. Right. So last year we had 15 students. Um and either the disenrollment administrative assistant asks a question. Sometimes they don't parents don't even disenroll. They just enroll somewhere else. Um so sometimes we don't get any data. An administrator will call and just say you know is there anything else that you can share with
039us in the interest of trying to improve our programming. Um in 2425 we had 15 withdrawals. The answers people gave were a peer group, um mental health attendance, a personality conflict, a residency issue, u wanted a child to see to stay in schools consistently while they seek sought a new residence, left to attend job core, moved and a drug offense. So there were 15 students and additionally four people who didn't respond to our request. So it's pretty diverse in terms of why people are leaving. Um so far this year we've had um and this goes to like August right to now we've had one two um two for attendance two for curriculum or program somebody wanted more arts um three for unknown one for couldn't come to school on time one for went to a
040cyber because there were fewer credits to graduate um one a sibling was in charter two did not like the high school and one did not like coming to school. So again, pretty different reasons for satisfaction. How many elementary kids that are currently in charters and I understand you may know not not know this off the top of your head started in a charter school rather than left? >> I mean I can see the >> I would have to look it up and we only have I have three really good years of data that we started tracking. Um, so I can go back three years, but I did not have time to do that today. >> And do we talk to those parents? Because I know it's a little bit different when they disenroll, right? We
041already had a contact there. But if the family is opting for charter school to begin with, you know, that that could definitely be a different set of reasons than somebody who withdraws. >> Yeah. And I think it's a good it's a good point. Um, so we have sent mailers and asked people to call us. We don't get a lot of communication. I think the elementary school did get a couple of families back when Zach and Brian went door todo to talk to families. Um, thank you for doing that. That's awesome. I mean, seriously, we need to know, right? So, we can be more attractive. >> Yeah. So, um, >> I lost my train of thought. I'm sorry. >> Kindergarten. So, I don't really know. You know, that would take more time because we literally have
042to look up each kid and their bills and what we paid. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I mean it's just you know because that is a different subset like motivations are different across grades. And just on you know one other piece of data we had 11 students reenroll here who were in cyber charter or charter um this year so far between August and really really they're all August and and September but this data goes to November one. That that actually brings up another question. Sorry. Um, do we see I'm trying to think of how to phrase this. If we see a kid, thank you. >> either like go to a charter school or even say like move into the district where they were in a charter school, do we see more move back percentage-wise from cyber
043versus brick and mortar or not necessar you know what I'm saying? Like is there greater dis discontentment with one versus the other? Um, I have a gut feeling, but I don't have numbers to back it up >> there. I know I threw it on. >> The reason I have a gut feeling is because I see every I'm copied on every enrollment and disenrollment. So, when I open it, I can see cyber charter charter. And then at that point, I reach out to the building leader and say, you know, what's the story? And most of the time, they are able to communicate what happened um or why the the parent or child were left. And if not, somebody follows up. Um so that's how we've sort of been really tracking and trying to understand. >> Okay,
044>> quick question. Um you said that you you you try to interview people who leave and go to another school, right? What about you do the same for people coming back in? Why did they leave the charter to make that comparison that >> you know you got all the reasons why? >> That's actually a really good idea. >> Yeah. Sometimes it's um peer groups. Sometimes they've met kids in activities and they want to come back. Um it's a it's a variety of things. You know, we had we actually had um somebody who took a tour just came in took a tour and then saw the library and was like, I'm coming like you know. So, but we've been intentional about sending things out to try to get people to come in and and see the
045school because we do have a lot to offer. Um and and flip side, if somebody really wants to investigate the arts, we we can't offer what the arts academy can offer. Um attendance and graduate graduation credits are a big difference. Um the school that the child went to, we required 26 and a half credits and that school required 21 and a half, I believe. So that's a big difference when you're looking at graduating or not graduating. It's it's a very complex challenge. Um I do think the new remember I said we're getting new school code and they were negotiating it. Well, there's language in the school code about um cyber charter and attendance and students not being able to move when they have an attendance issue to just go somewhere else. Um so I think
046we're probably going to that's probably going to help us in terms of um maintaining students and um you know meeting their educational needs too. Are our graduation credit requirements commensurate with surrounding districts? >> They're similar. Okay. We looked at that quite some time ago. The balance is homeschools. Um we have 30 students uh currently being homeschooled by their uh parent or guardian. Uh and this is a look at our current enrollment. Uh we're up slightly from last year at 1535. Um and we currently have um you know the OD again is the out of district placements. So you can see that you know across grade levels uh we have a few at each level. And if uh anybody would like to learn more about you know demographics the district uh you can go to the
047future ready PA index uh that is a website that's updated once a year. So it was just updated with the 2425 data. Uh and uh the you can see each of the schools, a breakdown at each of the schools and uh more information on uh achievement and other information about about the district. >> Kelly, I'm I'm sorry. Can we go back to slide nine? >> Yeah, sure. >> Do we have any and this seemed to happen when I was here. It in high school it the enrollment jumps up dramatically. Do we have any idea why is that? Is that kids who attended private school coming in that were in the district? >> Uh there are some of the private schools in the area that only go to 8th grade. >> Okay. >> Uh so we
048see some enrollments then. Uh we also see some enrollments um because of sports and other things that kids want to participate in uh that they that they come. But yeah, typically our high school uh the middle school it it usually goes up a little bit like we see some transition especially in fifth grade usually uh and then again in ninth grade. >> Thank you >> Carol. Back to you. >> Okay. Thank you, Kelly. This is your your night tonight. We're moving on to the state testing summary and Kelly will take that also. >> Well, we're going to invite the principles are here too, Carol. Uh, Mr. Brem and Mr. Parliament. So, we'll have the elementary first. Good evening, everybody. Hello, Zach. >> All right. So, I just wanted to uh before we get into the
049the data and showing you some of the the charts and tables for uh the assessment results, just share our process that we go through at the elementary level. Um and some of the sources of data that we utilize when we're looking at information. Uh so, of course, we have the PSSA scores. Uh we assess in English language arts and math. As a reminder, science has now transitioned to uh fifth grade. Uh as as the first assessed year as a result of the the change of standards in science, we also take a look at PE. um which measure measures growth of students and cohorts of students in comparison with other students that are in the same grade level um that started at the same benchmark year in third grade and kind of measuring the growth that
050they've made year after year uh which is a huge indicator of of success um when we look at that information with our our teachers. We have uh the fast benchmark assessments uh and progress monitoring data and in addition to that um we also utilize diagnostic assessments as well. So any students who uh come up as at risk our reading specialist or our math um our comprehensive support teacher Mrs. Casachin will administer a diagnostic assessment to have a a better picture of what skills students still need to develop. Um we are using uh curriculum based assessments in Zern which is our math program. Uh wit and wisdom for English language arts. Um foundations um which is now you fly foundations is what we're piloting in kindergarten through 2 grade which also has some assessments as well.
051We also have behavioral data uh through our student success team through individual positive behavior support plans um or through our data tracking when it comes to um typical office referrals for misbehavior. Uh we also have demographics which was just shared uh and then also information shared by parents which is crucial to the success of students which is a big part of those student success team meetings. We're very grateful for link it in the data warehouse because for some of this data you can see we're swimming in it and unless you have a way to kind of quickly organize it it's it's out of date before you can really utilize it. >> Um so this this slide here is showing uh on the left hand side is English language arts and literature so ELA and on
052the right is math. Um the top col uh top row is the percent proficient or advanced uh in English language arts and you'll see we're at 57.4% right now. Compared then to the state average which is 49% almost 50%. Uh in mathematics uh we're at 55 a.5% compared to the statewide average of 41.7%. And I'll dig into some more of this information in more detail as we progress through. So, I'd like to highlight some strengths here. Our elementary school is 8 and a half a little over 8 and a half% above the state average for English language arts. Um, despite a reduction uh in third grade specifically this past school year, all students met the standard for demonstrating growth. So, that's PE. So, where those students started versus where they ended up uh this school
053year, uh they grew at a a rate either equal to or exceeding other students in the state of Pennsylvania where they started, which is huge. Uh we saw more growth in our cohorts of students in grades three and four this past year than we have in the past as well. Uh some of the challenges is our proficient and advanced uh was slightly lower this school year overall. Um which mostly attributed to to the third grade cohort of of students uh first time that they took the assessment. And I will say each cohort is different. That establishes the baseline um for student growth. So we're hoping to see that growth again with those students this year in fourth grade. Um, we also, if you take a look at our um, ELELLS and our special ed population
054of students, they scored uh, fewer students scored proficient or advanced when it when they're compared to the all student group. Um, which is no surprise really because they are not at grade level standards when and they're taking a test that um, measures what um, what is taught in that in that grade level. However, um, I will share some highlights with those two specific groups of students. That is great to see. Um, this looks like a DNA strand that is un untwined. Um, not to confuse you, each one of those uh lines on this grid represents a different subgroup of students. Uh, I would like to point out um the line on the bottom which we see went really low in 2324 which had an abrupt uptick there. Uh, that is our English language learners. So,
055really happy to to see that and I'll have more specific numbers there as well. >> Uh, what is combined ethnicity and how does that differ from two or more races? >> That's a good question. >> I don't think I I'm not sure it does. I think it just one it starts one year and then >> they changed they changed it was combined ethnicity or and now it's two or more >> or opposite. I can't remember which, but it they changed how they define it. >> Okay, that's confusing, but okay. Not your fault. >> No, these these are all graphs from future ready. >> This is a chart from link. Uh this is involved. So I'm going to take an opportunity to share this with you. Uh so that way you have an understanding of of
056each of the columns and each of the rows. So if you take a look at the first row, uh that is all third grade assessment data for the past five years. Okay. So starting with the 2020 school year uh and the number of students that took the assessment is in the first column. So the number of students and you'll see in 2020 2021 there were 78 students who took the assessment versus now in 2425 up to 94. The immediate next column is the a percentage of students who scored below basic. Ultimately, what we're looking for here is for that number to go down, which it has been. So, we started at 18%, we're now down to 12% there. Uh basic, again, same thing. Uh where we want our numbers to grow is in proficient and
057advanced as well. Uh so the third grade cohort last year um if you look at the last two columns the the first column which is green which is proficient in advance that's the percentage of students in third grade that scored proficient in advance. The number to the right uh the percentage to the right indicates the change. Um, so if we had more kids who scored uh uh proficient or advanced, you'll see the number change to green, meaning that that percentage of students more scored proficient in advance. If it's red, that means that percentage of students less. And then the last column is below basic. So ultimately here, you want to see that number go down. Uh so if it does go down, if it's a negative number, you'll see it's highlighted in in green. Um,
058and again there you can see the below basic numbers going down. The next row is fourth grade. It's the same exact information just for a different grade level. Um, and then you can see the numbers decreasing in below basic and our numbers increasing uh in advanced which is great to see as well. And then the last row which is highlighted in purple is third and fourth grades combined. Uh so that's the the information overall. So between uh 23 24 and the 2425 school year there was a 5% reduction in proficient and advanced in English language arts. Um and there was also a reduction in in below basic as well. I'm going to shift gears now and go to math. Uh our elementary school is 13% above the state average for for math. uh our proficient
059and advanced has increased 11% over the past four years. So kudos to our staff. Um we've received the highest score that we have so far in fourth grade. Um so this is the highest score that they've they've received in the past 5 years even uh pre- pandemic. So that's that's excellent to see. And all of our students met the standard for demonstrating growth here as well. When it comes to PES, some challenges again are fewer of our English language learners and special education students scored proficient or advanced when compared to the all student group. Again, not not a surprise there. Um, and then our third grade cohort, uh, proficient and advanced was just reduced by 1% this school year. So, kind of holding their ground there as far as math performance goes. Again, this is
060uh the same chart that I showed you for English language arts, but this is for mathematics. The red dotted line here through the middle is the state average. So, you can see that we have a our all um our all student group is here. And then they get into demographics. This is white. Uh and then down here, the orange is Hispanic. And then you have your English learners and students with disabilities as green. One of the things to note is pre- pandemic, look how far apart all the dots are. And what we're seeing over time is those dots uh coming more closely together, which to me, you remember these are different students, different Okay, sorry. Um different students, different years. So, you know, one group of kids going really high or really low isn't that
061much of a concern, but when you see this trend over five years, then some of the things that uh the staff has implemented are clearly uh benefiting our students. I do think it's important important to point out too that there just for myriad reasons some groups of kids that just consistently perform better, you know, and you'll you you can follow it year to year to year seeing them perform better and some that just perform worse and you're right that you know taking one year in isolation is a little tough but the trend is the good sign. >> Yeah. And that's why PEOS is important. >> And that's and I was just going to say that that's why PES is helpful because we want to make sure our our advanced learners are are growing as well.
062Um we want to make sure everybody is growing. So that really helps you with looking at the cohort as a as a whole. >> Okay. So this chart is very similar to the ELA chart, just has to do with with math. I'm just going to highlight fourth grade here. Um and I want to point out the below basic column. Um so you will see the the reduction there of students between last year and this year there's a 10% reduction of students who scored below basic which is excellent which helped increase our students who were proficient and advanced. So ultimately we want to see students shifting from below basic and basic to the proficient and advanced categories. >> And I would also say the advanced category here is also growing. Um, that's a that's a nice
063jump there as well. And as um, Zach said, this is our fourth grade. This is two years in a row they've done best they've ever had. So, you know, last year was a great year in terms of their personal best, our personal best with fourth grade, and they did it again this year, which is really um, exciting. >> So, earlier in the presentation, I shared that I wanted to to point out some highlights. Um so fourth grade demonstrated above expected growth which we just saw on that that last slide. Um I do want to point out students with disabilities uh there was significant growth since the 2018-19 school year. So we went from 22 1.5% to now 37 12% proficient and advanced. And just to make sure, these are just kids taking the PSSA, not
064include not including the ones that take the PASSA, right? >> That I would have to check because there's certain reports where when you click the drop down, it's PSSA and PASSA and others where it's specific to PSSA. Okay. >> So, that I would have to check. >> Okay. >> Uh, as far as math goes, again, this is the fifth year of consecutive math improvement for students with disabilities as well. uh from 16% to 35 and a half percent almost 36% proficient and advanced. Um so it's clear that the the practices that we have in place um are having an impact for the positive of our students who typically score um less likely to score proficient and advanced on on the assessment. And then we had significant growth for our English language learners. um were four
065and four 4 and a.5% a little more than that scored proficient and advanced um in the 23 24 school year versus last year uh which is almost 36%. Um just wanted to share some theories of action with you as well. Um whereas we have uh greater numbers of eels um and not necessarily an increased population of special students with special needs. However, um their needs vary um and and may be more elevated needs or specific needs as well. Um we're always taking a look at the pacing of our curriculum and how it fits into our schedule. There was many conversations at the start of the school year when we were looking at this data with teams to say like what should we focus on when we're looking at this data? What are some areas of
066need? Uh some of those that came up for discussion were money uh time and measurement specifically in grades three and four and then also those conversations carry over to previous grades as well u when we're looking at vertical alignment of of curriculum. Um shifting to curriculum we are now piloting youly foundations in kindergarten through 2 grade. If you remember, um, first grade piloted that last year, um, and word spread quickly of how students were, um, improving their skills when it comes to phenemic awareness. So, um, kindergarten and second grade are now utilizing that resource as well. Um, we're always looking at the pacing of our curriculum, building number sense, and background knowledge. Um, and we're in year one of implementing our our math plan. So, we've been sending a number of teachers to professional development
067um specifically related to math. Um text dependent analysis. I know you've heard that language before. It starts in fourth grade. It's 25% of uh the the PSSA and and the score on the PSSA. Um the IU is offering a training specific to text dependent analysis and I've chosen to send the entire fourth grade team to that uh training. difficult to get subs um but well worth it. Um especially the the conversation that they're engaged with other school districts and specialists in this area. Um time is always an issue. Um I would love to be able to add more time into the school day. So uh we had more time uh intervention time available for Matt. >> Careful what you wish for. I know I I know that um we would love to be able to
068mimic the same thing that we're doing with uh English language arts with all hands- on deck. Um but you know due to human resources uh it's just not just not possible and there's not enough time in the instructional day. So some of our next steps here uh is to look specifically at tier 2 and tier three interventions in our multi-tered system of supports. um ongoing progress monitoring and diagnostic assessments. Um we're utilizing classwide interventions, so focusing on the tier one level uh to make sure that we're meeting the needs of students. Um staff, the feedback from all hands-on deck from parents and staff has been really positive. So continuing with that, uh we've connected with great minds to provide coaching for our teachers when it comes to wit and wisdom and the implementation of that.
069Uh we just had a call with the University of Florida as well for the uh implementation of UFly in K through2. Um and uh also refining our phonics instruction in kindergarten through 2 grade as well. >> Uh we have a patent grant that uh the that we we were selected. It was a competitive process, but unfortunately a lot of those uh activities were on hold until the state budget was resolved. So now that the state budget is resolved uh the we hope to get that process rolling and that's really about helping us to integrate our academics and our behavioral MTSS systems so that we can function as efficiently as possible with the resources we we have. Thanks Zach and thank you and Brian for all your leadership in uh and all all that the teachers
070are doing to uh help us uh continue progress. Thank you. >> Now we get to switch to Mr. Parliament at the middle school. >> Would you also like to lengthen the school day? >> I think I'm good with it. >> Um so yeah, so uh the only major we won't go through everything, but the major differences between middle school and elementary are are our data assessment tools. So I think um Zach uses FastBridge at the elementary. We use EXL for our benchmarking and for our diagnostic um uh program at the middle school and also we have a teaming model at the middle school. So um our teams are asked to meet and analyze data and to look at that on a quarterly basis at least and even more frequently for different assessment pieces. I do
071want to say I've been receiving related emails from my sixth graders teacher and I definitely appreciate that you know there ideally sixth graders would be you know doing their stuff independently without parental pressure but I'm glad that you know um she's taken the step to do that so that we can make sure everybody's keeping up with that. So just sharing my appreciation. >> Thanks. Um yeah, so this chart is very similar to Zach. You'll see that um it's it's been very consistent and and the this this uh graph here you'll see it's the percent of proficient for ELA uh buildingwide, right? So you might see a slight dip at the end and I think we dig deeper into that then and look at where does that what pieces within the building or what areas within
072our um our data have caused that dip and then trying to address those as we go. But it's been pretty consistent throughout. So this is a composite of all of the all of the PSSA tests given at the middle school. It doesn't reflect any one grade level. It's a composite. So that's why it's important that we disagregate that data to identify areas that are opportunities for us. >> And again, you'll see that for um for ELA, if you look at the right column again, we've been making some really good gains. And another graph that will come up later will just show that um we're making we're doing a good job with growth within the building within ELA and in math on the below basic category. You'll see most of them are in green which means
073that we're moving kids out of below basic and into basic and shifting categories. So we're making making progress um in ELA. So here ELA is on the left and math is on the right. This is our proficient and advanced um goal from the state and how we compare it to the state average. In ELA, we're still above the state average by a few percent. Um but I will say that all all student groups, just like you saw in the last one, have not made or um or met the the interimm goal that they they set for them. In math, we're still below the state average. We're at 33% buildingwide and at 41.7% but are making significant gains. Um when you look at the next chart, you'll see that we are we're doing really well with
074our growth. Um again what we do then is we look at uh what's working in certain areas and what's working in not working in others and have a lot of conversation within teams and between teachers and try to identify um what's uh what's been working for us and try to replicate that in different areas. So some of our strengths uh we were above all grades were above the state average for percentage and proficient. Uh we exceeded the state growth standard and growth average and also um schoolwide we were above the statewide average for proficient and advanced. Um challenge is is that not all not all student groups did meet the interimm goals. we have to go back and look at and see if there are any any interventions we can put in place to help
075those individual student groups, you know, make the the growth that they need to make. As well, in math, we have fifth grade and seventh grade. Um, we're above the state standards this year for proficient and advanced. All students um met or exceeded the growth standard and were above the academic standard and state average. Our challenges this year were um sixth and and eighth grade still remain below the state average. So we um are digging into that a little bit more to see you know how we can get that ramped up moving forward. So next steps um we have a a liaison we have two liaison within the building ELA and math leaison really work hard to make sure that we're establishing consistency from year to year um and determining what's working analyzing the data with
076us so we can share it with the teams um putting forth different activities to make sure that we're prepared and kids are getting exposure to PSSA type questions and and more uh challenging um questions throughout the year, not just prior to the test. Um we're making we're using EXL as our diagnostic tool. So, we've been I'm glad you said that, Laura. We're trying to ramp up that process, too, and and and continually send out emails to our teachers to set our expectations where we want kids to be able to um to meet or at least um attain two two skills per week or some teachers have even set like a time goal for students to work on it now, too. So, we're trying to build that consistency across the entire building. Um, we've been partnering
077with our uh with consultants from the IU for ELA and from Patan for math this year, which they've been extremely helpful providing professional development to both of those departments. And not just ELA, we've been pulling in um other content areas too to prov to receive the the support and and make sure that there's some consistency across different curriculum too. And then also pacing. And you'll hear this later too, especially for math. Like one of the one of the challenges for being a small school is when you're in a a bigger school and you have multiple teams of teachers, right? They'll have a pacing guide and they make sure that they're kind of on pace with each other and have a lot of conversation. When we have one math teacher per grade, you're you're in charge
078of your own pace. So, we have to kind of make sure we're meeting with them regularly to see where we're at, where should you be at, and you know, what are some of the challenges of making sure that we're maintaining the appropriate pace within within the program and then continuity of program as well. Like, so we we've met and found out that while we're all teaching the same program, there are different approaches to what assessments we're giving, which ones we're not giving. Some feel some of them are pretty lengthy and are taking away from the instructional part and we we are trying to make sure that we have uh continuity and practice within the programming. So the next next chart is our math data. You'll see that it looks pretty good. again, they're getting closer
079together like Kelly mentioned and we're um kind of increasing performance as the years go on for those that's for all subgroups too. So this this uh next chart is not by cohort but it is how each grade is is performing. So you look at the top um the top uh row is our fifth grade and it goes sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade. So if you look across, you'll see how our students are performing from year to year in that grade. It's not the cohort. So when you see that we're making gains or or or um or we'll see a negative one a decrease of 1% in that grade from last year to this year, it's not the same group of kids, right? So to us, we want to see whether there's consist consistent growth
080within the grade level and also whether that cohort is making the appropriate growth because this chart will tell us that if we're maintaining growth within grade level, then something's working with our curriculum and our programming. And if we're looking at the the cohort, um there's another chart like this too that shows how the cohorts do from year to year. We want to make sure that they're also maintaining growth and that we're moving kids from below basic up to to basic. So the data is strong. >> Yeah, I like this. I like this one, right? Like I like all the green over there. And I mean, if you look just at the below basics, that's really pretty um amazing. And every single grade, that percentage from 5 years ago to now is down significantly. So it
081really, I think, is a testament, yeah, to some good work we're doing and buyin from the teachers, right? They're the ones who have to implement it and they appear to be doing it. And you know, while we have room to go, like I I finally feel like that that ship is is turning in the right way in the middle school. >> Well, and we're at we're at a point now I feel like we're we can kind of pinpoint some areas. >> Yeah. >> Rather than looking at it holistically, like where what do we need to focus on at like tier one? >> We we have intervention in place for tier two. We're looking at smaller pockets that we're trying to to figure out why we're not seeing the growth in those pockets. So, it's we're
082at a good good place right now. Can I ask a question about math specifically? Um, I know there's advanced math. Does that when does that start? Does that start fifth grade? >> Seventh grade. Um, and is it just advanced math and everybody else? Is >> Yeah. So, the the in seventh grade there is the seventh grade core curriculum and then we have an accelerated math class um that students uh get placed into off of those the criteria that are in handbook. Has there been discussion about moving back to a tracking model, you know, and putting kids in different levels so that it can be more, you know, I mean, I understand I understand all of the, you know, rigomearroll around that. But, you know, it's it's from a teaching perspective, right? It's hard to teach,
083especially math when you've got one group of kids that's like up here, you know, even in sixth grade, and one group that's kind of down there. we sort of started doing that like I wouldn't call it homogeneous grouping call it that I would call it closer heterogeneous grouping >> because like like you mentioned what we found when we were starting to do our scheduling is that we had the the grade span or between ability was quite wide. >> Yeah. >> Right. So we tried to narrow that a little bit within like groupings in like seventh and eighth grade. So we tried to do that. Um, uh, if you're asking for a different curriculum, different groups, >> I'm not asking for anything in particular. It's just, you know, I in math especially, it's all skill-based, right?
084And it builds on itself. So, you know, a kid that is missing certain skills is not going to be able to move on to the next step. And when you have a class where some of the kids have all all of these skills up here and kids in the same class are like way down here, it's like where where do you aim for? You know, >> we've been pretty strategic. And I will say that our um our intervention is going to help in that >> that that area because we are trying to determine which pockets of kids might benefit from from working on those prerequisite skills. They're going to help on what's happening right now in math. So, we have programming that helps us identify that. >> Great. >> And then we have kids that
085are receiving some pull out instruction and are getting that are beef we're beefing that up and giving them additional practice with support to make sure that they have that that understanding or that baseline understanding so that they can be successful in the core curriculum. >> We're doing some of that work already. We'll see. Hopefully it pays off. I think it will. I think we have >> I think so doing it. >> Oh yeah. Mr. Posh is awesome. >> Yeah. He's on top of it. He has a great process that we meet regularly to talk about and and I'm hoping that we see the gains. I'm I'm pretty certain we will. >> I'm excited to see it, too. We're we're also piloting a tier 2 intervention with um some of our special education students and depending
086on that, you know, that's another there are other options, but we're just we're just starting to get our arms wrapped around uh intervention and um we've done some work with algebra tiles this year with patent and making basically making math as visual and concrete as we can. And so, you know, it's this eb and flow between strengthening core curriculum and then working on, you know, small groups of students and what that pull out looks like for them. >> I will say too also trying to find additional time like so intervention is finding additional time. I mean we look at across the board not just for a small pocket of kids but we realize when when digging into the data farther we would we would find that um that we can't have kids that have a
087large gap in ability like between um and then also give them the same amount of time as everybody else and expect them to close that gap. So we had to find additional time within the day and look at additional resources and and sometimes alternate approaches, things like that to help them close that gap. So I I think what we're seeing in the below basic category, all the the decrease there and kids moving up is is just dividends from the work that we're putting in at at doing those things we just mentioned. >> We have some final highlights. Um, you know, our the eighth graders, we have a one class of eighth graders that takes the algebra 1 Keystone. This year was a real success. We had 84% of those students scored proficient or advanced, which
088was a 14% increase over last year. Again, different groups of kids. So, that may or may not be indicative of what we'll see in the future. Um, but 53% of the kids scored advanced, and that's really exciting. you know, they didn't just pass it, but the real really strong math students uh that are now now in ninth grade. So, um you know, as we hit in the high school and we talk about, you know, some of the areas we're working on just, you know what I mean? That's a that's a very good sign of the students moving there. And 8th grade, um 84% of the students scored uh medium or high on a TDA. So, very few of the kids scored low. They they weren't read. So, we've worked on this. So now we know
089where we are. There are some other areas in ELA that you know need some attention. Um but when you look at seventh grade and uh sixth grade, we have very few kids in below basic. We're talking single percentages. So our our kids have skills. We just need to strengthen their comprehension or their written expression to help them uh you know move over to proficiency. Um when we opened our PEOS report uh for the middle school and the elementary school I can tell you it was very satisfying because it was very blue. So even in areas where we took a dip in an area when you looked at their PEOS report in many cases it was very very blue. Um we have a lot of uh we had a lot of success uh last year. Uh
090so thank you to these guys. Um, I think this kind of captures we're still going to work on behavior, still ramping up intervention, still working on pacing, all the things you just heard us say. We're uh continuing to work on that and um continue to improve. Anything else for the middle school? All right. Uh, Mrs. Morning Star, Dr. Good morning star. I caught myself. Uh she isn't able to be here tonight. So I am just going to quickly go through her slides. Um just a quick thank you to Ken and Zach. Um Ken and Rob for the leadership at the middle school as well. Um as well as the teachers doing the work. A lot of success to share. So the keystones replace what was required in in the in legislation about a grade 11
091PSSA. Um so it's different than uh the PSSA because you can take it again and you're there's two modules and you can bank your if you pass one module you don't have to take the whole test again. you just take for uh the module you didn't pass. So that's different. The PSSA, you go on to the next grade level and you take the next, you know, you don't get to go back and say, well, I I did it. Um so this is this is very different. Um they can be retaken until proficiency is achieved and you have until the end of 11th grade to do so. Uh we do them twice a year. Uh we do them winter for retakes and then we do a spring. Uh the the big assessment is in the spring.
092And I guess just a reminder that the keystones aren't just a test. They are part of the pathway to graduation. There are multiple graduation pathways. Uh and having keystone, you know, good scores on your keystones is three of the five pathways. So um that's just, you know, important to to note. Um here uh this year uh you'll notice that biology is not shown and you there's a reason why Ken didn't talk about science. Uh this year was a baseline assessment and so they don't share those scores. Um so this year it's There's no score to share but uh it is setting the baseline for for next year. And actually, we were surprised that the biology keystone because that wasn't a completely new test, they embedded field test items for the new test, but there was
093still uh the the you know current the old standards uh assessment. But um I learned today actually that the reason why it wasn't published is because there's many schools in the state that have a junior senior high and it would be too difficult to disagregate all of that information and confusing maybe even for the public to understand what it really represented. So they chose not to show it at all and just say you know this is a waiver for this year um to not share it. Um but ELA is green um over here. Uh and we have 75% of our students uh scoring proficient or advance on the literature keystone. Uh and for math uh we're at 34.6% and like the middle school we're in we're we're getting there but we are not past that
094state average. We're not above that yet. So that's still something we're working for. Um this chart will just show you the dotted line is the state average. So the red is the literature. You can see we're quite a bit above the state average. Uh that's a strength for us. Um green, sorry, blue is algebra. So you can see we're below uh in science. Um we are below. Heather has this below the state u average. I got some information today that I thought was different. So, we just have to get together and collaborate and figure out which number is the right one to look at. But my number says we're better. We're about at the state average. So, we'll see. We'll see what fleshes out there. Um, this is looking at different subgroups. You can see
095our all student group is moving up for ELA. Uh, and uh, Hispanic went down. Um and then our other groups including economically disadvantaged combined ethnicity students with disability they all and white students all increased. Likewise on math. Um this is we we saw a downturn from last year the assessment which was a surprise to us because if you remember we put in the foundations class and so we were thinking that the kids who had foundations and then would take this class we'd be have a stronger showing than we did. So I don't know that we've quite figured out why our theory of action didn't didn't work. Um, but it's uh we didn't see as much growth as we were we were hoping for. Although I will tell you that they met the growth standards. So,
096um, so we had we did have a win and in that we hit the growth standard, but we didn't kind of get everybody across the proficiency line like we had hoped. Um, so this growth standard here, uh, this is the we've consecutive years for our ELA. 100 doesn't mean 100% improvement. It means I wish it did, >> but it it is saying that we that students grew more than they were predicted to grow. So they take all of the data that they have about students and they say where how much they how much they think they're going to grow. And all this means is they grew more than expected. And for MET means they grew what they expected. So that for us is good. Kids grew what they expected. They just didn't they didn't help
097to close the gap yet because it's they didn't grow more than expected. Um so yeah, well above um the percent of students who scored advanced on the literature exam is above the state average. And uh I don't remember how how many years it's been since we've been above the state average, but this was a this caught my eye uh that that this year we did uh we met for algebra and it was well above for biology. So I can tell you that because it comes from another report even though I can't share a score with you uh at least definitively uh they were blue. they were very blue and so we had students that demonstrated a a a exceed exceeding the growth standard. Uh when I looked back and I did a look back between
09821 and 25 our our literature keystone has been above or well above four out of the five five times. So over the those five administrations that those five classes you know those uh 11th grade classes uh four out of five times we've been above or well above and the the other year we met algebra where it meets expectations um that's the first time we've had meets expectations since 2021 and if actually the dots in the report line straight up. So, what I'm hoping is that we had a dip and now we're back to meet expectations and we we see continued growth. But again, we'll have to take the long view on that and see if that uh bears out. Biology, we've been above or well above three out of the five uh of the last
099years. So, again, and we were met the other the other two years. So, uh showing some consistency uh in results. Um yes, >> sorry. There's probably better scientific ways to do this, but the current cohort that was tested that did extremely well didn't do as great if you look back in the in the middle school. Was it was there any change in in is is there something unique happening in the high school in English language arts that really >> Well, it was co >> Okay. >> Right. So I'm I'm co had a lot to do with uh where where student students performed in the in the elementary we're able to keep um most of the classes in person for at least half that year. Um but at the middle school and the high school um
100because of the social distancing requirements we did online if you remember and there were a lot of students um what's that? >> Hybrid. >> Yeah we did a hybrid approach. We had to do a hybrid approach. We we really tried in the middle school to make make that work and we just we just it it just didn't work. >> Middle school they came every day. High school was hybrid. >> The middle school's online too. >> Okay. >> All right. Well, >> we'll argue about >> it wasn't the best it wasn't the best situation. >> And uh so I it might be time. It just might be back to routines. Um we'd have to go student by student to kind of get a better a better sense of that. But those are the big things that
101come to my mind of being uh contextual factor factors. >> No, there's an impressive jump with the the current cohort to where they were if you line it back up. >> And again, the literature keystone you get to take multiple times. So this might be just, you know, they have more time to reach that skill set than they did in than they did in middle school. Um, so we're going to we obviously are continuing to work on algebra and foundations. We just did some professional development with patent. We we pulled in the high school. Uh, they want they they were looking forward to it. Um, the patent grant uh paid for algebra tiles for uh three of our teachers um and that they were they are being used at the high school as well as
102the middle school. Um, and then uh biology we are transitioning to new standards. So this year we'll set our baseline and from there we're, you know, we're going to continue to learn and figure out where we end up on that continuum and how we can continue to to improve. So that's it on the on the ed on the education front. We just have a few slides. If that's all right, Carol, I'll just go through them quickly. Um just a couple of updates. We have some programs of studies uh revisions, revised courses. Um I've shared with you personal finance, but life smarts, the career side of life smarts was also going to be uh a standalone half credit class which we're calling career exploration and readiness. There are new career education standards. We are uh recommending
103we combine digital imaging and photography. That was one class. They were two separate classes and we're now combining them for various reasons. Um, and we've got uh the English department has been working on new electives. They've been surveying the students uh and they have new uh electives and that will replace introduction to theater which would be discontinued as being offered. We don't think all three I mean I don't we don't know that all three of those electives will run the the the courses that have the highest in you know interest from students those one those will be run and if you're interested in looking at those course description descriptions there's a uh a link a link there uh we had an English learner celebration so Mr. Brem and our e our English uh our ELLL
104teachers uh had that night. And if you see picture two with that long table with a lot of food on it, that was all of our families and our staff uh providing uh providing food. U so it was a great event where we had students participating uh and helping to um do activities and even translate. Uh there you see one student down here who's translating for a teacher into Spanish. Uh so it's a it was a great event. Uh on November 4th uh we're a polling location and so we use that as a professional learning day. We had um multiple presenters in from the Workforce Investment Board, from the Lehigh Valley um economic corporation, from the IU, from LCTI, and we focus on those new career to work standards. Uh and we had sessions. Uh
105I think the big takeaway um from me is if you see here we at the end we asked our teachers did the things you hear today about what students need to thrive and be successful after high school how does that reflect our does it reflect our prof profile of a graduate like do they align and uh as you can see that's like the highest rate to a to a survey I've had in some time we had 89 responses and a 90 almost a 98% % agreement that yeah, these are these are things that kids need to know and will help them be successful. Um, the 2% that that said no actually said, well, I didn't really see like grow ongoing growth uh on being an ongoing learner be reflected anywhere here. And you know, it
106was fair enough. It was a good good uh a good support. uh some other PD that we've been doing. I mentioned algebra tiles, but we're working on other things with elementary for making learning concrete in mathematics as well as Dr. Jacobe and um uh >> attorney Rodic. Yes, who will be coming in. They did they led a writing a legally defensible IEPs with our teachers. Uh, and what was nice about that is they were able to pull all of our special education teachers together uh at to kind of have some common frameworks for uh how they move forward with with th with those documents. We also did some AI pieces as well as Ken mentioned structured literacy. That's a requirement and items that are in our comprehensive plan that we provide to teachers. So that
107was that was done. Uh just a update on state testing. Uh we're going to be administering the keystones online uh if for the retakes because it's a requirement in the spring and we want to get our you know we want to get in there early and figure out how that all works uh before we before the larger participation in the spring and that's it. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh a lot of information to think about and delve into. Um, and it's available if you look at any of these links and course descriptions. You can go in and and look at it. Um, is there any old business? >> Not old business, but new business. >> Waiting for that. >> I'm going to that next. New business. >> Okay. So, I guess I'm uh I need
108to report that I was elected to two positions. Um, so I'm going to decline the two and accept the four-year position. And that's why we're interviewing somebody at the next meeting. So, >> thank you. >> Not the not the next meeting. The >> at at the next Okay. The meeting in December. >> Yes. >> December 3rd. >> Exactly. >> Any other old or new business. With that said, we we do have uh several um citizen comments this evening and we will uh call you up in the order that we received your names. Uh so, first up, um Maline Dillard. WAS this turned off? Is that on? >> Yep. >> Good. >> Perfect. Hello, my name is Maline Dillard and I'm a senior at Salsbury High School. I've lived in the district since third grade and
109I came to the last schoolboard meeting to discuss an inequitable um education situation occurring in the high school. I'm addressing the same situation today because I've not heard or received any response from the district so far. to briefly recap what's going on, a policy you guys have created to establish this class around a month and a half ago. While investigating the situation, I was mistreated by my principal being called quote snotty and demanding end quote in a meeting with her and my school counselor. I'd like to state again that my school counselor sat in on this meeting and listen to everything that was being said. If I were on the school board, the first thing I would do is fact check and investigate everything that's being said, which would include talking to myself, the principal,
110the school counselor, the superintendent, and anyone else involved. To my knowledge, both myself and my school counselor have not been asked anything about the situation since then. When discussing the situation with my friends, it was brought to my attention that something similar has occurred in the past. I'm about to get technical, so stay with me. If you're not aware, certain classes have certain weights reflect that get reflected in a student's NGA or their numeral grade average. Most classes, like a college prep or regular class, have no percent weight. So the the grade you get in the class is the grade that's reflected in your NGA. Honors classes have a 5% weight and then APs have a 10% weight. Dual enrollment classes, if you sign up for the credit, have a 5% weight unless they are
111an honors or an AP and then you get the weight that goes with that assignment. As I stated earlier, independent studies do not count towards a student NGA, which ties in directly to the current situation. because this situation has dragged on for over a month and a half. It feels both respectful disrespectful to myself and to my statistics teacher to drop the course now. I've had to settle and register for an LRYC 3 credit intro to probability and statistics class to ensure that I receive some of the college credit I was originally hoping for. This however is not an option for everyone as some students cannot learn in an online setting something you guys just discussed in co. So referring back to co times many students had to be manually passed because they could not
112learn in an online setting. online classes. Salsbury's dual enrollment is a perfect solution for these students as they're taking the class in a Salsbury classroom, but still can sign up for the college credit because they're learning at that same level. Online classes like Elry Ce or Cedar Crest College, which I'll talk about soon, are fully structured online classes. Also, Cedar Crest College, the class that I signed up for, is only three credits, while Moravian dual enrollment was four. To top it all off, Cedar Crest College, the top uh college that I want to go to, is in a partnership with Moravian University through their Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges or LVIC. Because of this, Marian Doula Roman would direct trans uh direct transfer um more likely than compared to LRYC's credit, but colleges in
113general are more willing to accept a university credit compared to a community college credit. To continue to discuss about Cedarrest College, I briefly mentioned last time I was here about my principal setting up a partnership with Cedar Crest College for a potential dual enrollment opportunity for the high school. Because spring semester for college is so near, registration has already began for many online classes. Since our meeting with my principal over a month and over a month ago, I've heard nothing about this partnership being established at all. nor have the school counselors whose jobs are to help students discover and use these resources to the best of their abilities. How are they allowed how are they how can they do their jobs if they're not sure how what partnerships we have and how these will allow
114our students to grow? As I mentioned previously, I believe this option was introduced to entice me away from continuing to look into this situation. When reading the agenda for today's schoolboard meeting, I saw item 2.4, four, which is a motion to approve a revised agreement with Salsbury and Moravian University. I find the timing of this revision to be very ironic. Um, but while reading through the agreement, my eyes fell on item 4A, which states that any changes to a dual enrollment course like curriculum or evaluation methods need to be submitted to the university in writing for approval. Please take these uh questions into consideration before approving the revised agreement tonight. To wrap up, according to PA Title 22, chapter 32, section 1B and 2, institutions need to quote provide equal opportunity in admissions and treatment
115of students in educational programs for students end quote and so on. This code is typically referred to as the equal opportunity of education law or code, meaning that all public schools must provide equal opportunity and access to educational programs. This would include dual enrollment opportunities and independent studies. To summarize, if one has the option, it is law that all students should as well. I respectfully request that the school board gives a public response regarding the ongoing situation and what the district plans to do to resolve it. This situation cannot be continued to be swept under the rug. It is simply unfair and unjust for the 45 students who are being left out of an opportunity for college credit which was originally promised to them in the 2025 to 2026 program of studies. Thank you. >>
116Thank you very much. Um, next up, Jennifer Dillard. >> Don't worry, mine's shorter, slightly less dry. Love you. Good evening. I'm Jen Dillard, Salsbury alum, class of 99. I must admit, tonight's a proud mom moment. When your kid knows the difference between right and wrong, when she sees an injustice and continues to stand up for what's right, even when she specifically has been given a solution. That's a pretty cool kid. I'm going to take you on a little trip down memory lane. My husband and I used to play a game of that's me when Maddie was little. Whenever she'd do or say something that was a direct reflection of one of our personalities, we would claim it. her determined investigation into this matter. That's me. I'm the journalist in the family. Her temperament, that's Jay.
117I tell you this story to say that she probably went into that meeting with her principal and guidance counselor emotionally charged, but that doesn't mean that she gets to be called names. It's obviously a sensitive subject, especially after being told Was Mads wrong to be overly emotional? Possibly. Was the principal wrong to call names? Probably. What my child didn't tell you in her lengthy speech is that both SHS faculty and staff came up to her after she spoke at that last schoolboard meeting and congratulated her, literally shook her hand for simply bringing to light the injustice that happened in the high school. It's nice to know those teachers have her back. which she also did not say and what we in the news business called burying the lead. You'll notice I did it here tonight,
118too. But I know you guys are all smart and can do the math. Now, this fact makes me question not only her ethical choices, but that of the board. Did you guys know one of your own was abusing her power? I know a few of you personally, and I know you'd never do that, but I'll tell you right now, sure isn't a good look for the board. Just imagine what the general public would have to say about that. maybe that election two weeks ago would have turned out differently. That's why you may see my name come up for that um empty board seat. I would like to ensure that every student in the district gets an equal education, gets to take classes at the level they signed up for, and to quite frankly prevent more
119corruption in this room. I guarantee you, we'll be back month after month. you'll get tired of us because this little girl over here, she's honorable. That's him. And tenacious, that's me. My hope is that stirring the pot a little bit tonight gets your attention. Have a good night. Thank you, Mrs. Dillard. Um, next up, um, Dennis Angle. Yes, Mr. President, thank you for your time. I have two two really short comments. First comment is uh um the in review I I I understand the importance of a healthy budget reserve. I understand the importance in in the need for one. I also want understand the uh understand uh the comprehensive plan and the needs of the district. The in reviewing the the numbers it it looked to me like maybe the the it was 40 or
12048 I don't know I forget uh 40% in reserves in the budget. I'll just note that the state auditor general uh indicated a healthy budget reserve for a school district is 20%. And I'll just just add that it's it's a hard ass for tax taxpayers to spend more than 20. 20% is a reasonable fair number. I think my opinion look at my own personal budget. I I can never get there. Um but I mean but I think I I think the the important thing to mention here is that I it's a hard ass for taxpayers to support you know more than than the 20% benchmark that the that that's been established by this state. The second point I have is kind of a personal pet peeve. um and some of my neighbors had has had
121the same issue uh to because of the budget situation in the state and and the school district not getting the money. Um I I wanted to to uh make uh partial in installment pay payments based on my budget. However, the tax collector sent me the check back and said and sent and some other people said the same thing to me too. Sent the check back and said we don't take partial payments. Um and and it's you have to do this it has to bail at once or in in the three installment huge installment amounts. Um and and it's not a big deal but I only suggest that in terms of uh cash flow uh for the district in terms of getting the money early or faster. Um, and and I was informed it was a
122state it was some it was a law and I'm not sure where the law comes from or where it comes from the district or or if it comes from the township, but it would be nice if if there was some that would be changed so some flexibility so citizens can help out uh to help out in in those situations and also again would improve your cash flow and you get your money faster. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Mr. Engel. Um okay. So with that that is the last u um last section for that meeting. So we will take a 10m minute break um and we'll be back for the regular board meeting after that. Our next >> I just have one comment. Um, I just want to follow up to Maddie and
123um, Maddie specifically. I actually reached out again to Cedar Crest for theou um, on Monday and was told they're still working on it. So, we are actively pursuing that and there is an update of what's happening with with that. >> Okay. So, our next meeting is November 19th for our next um next curriculum meeting and uh we will what? >> November. >> Oh, jeez. Well, somebody put that on here. It says November 19th. >> January sometime. I'll get that date and get it to you in the next meeting. I don't know. I'm just reading what they put in front of me. Anyway, so we'll adjourn this meeting. We'll be back in uh roughly 10 minutes. All right. Thank you. Take two. Uh, so I'd like to welcome everybody to the November 19th, 2025 regular board
124meeting. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Pursuant to board policy 1B.5, all meetings of Salisbury Township School District are audio and video recorded for this meeting, we did have or before the meeting before this, we had an executive session for the purpose of conversations regarding litigation and board goals. Um, and with that said, I'd like to have a roll call. >> Okay. >> Mr. Gates here, >> here. >> Mrs. Glennister >> here. >> Mr. Gal >> here. >> Mr. Mr. Hoffman >> here. >> Mrs. Clinger >> here. >> Mrs. McKelie >> here. >> Mrs. Nemitz >> here. >> Mr. Rickabani >> here. >> Mr. Spinner >> here. >> Sorry. >> All present. >> All right. So this evening, can I have a motion to approve the the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second.
125>> Any questions? All in favor? >> I >> Thank you. Any changes or additions to the agenda this evening? >> All right. Seeing none, we'll move right into uh citizen inquiries and comments for this this meeting this evening. And we do have one. Um Mr. Seagull, uh the the mic is yours. >> Uh good good evening everyone. You you can pull the mic up so you're not like smack myself in the face here. >> All right, that's a little better. Okay, so I originally intended to make this comment at the previous meeting. However, I was downstairs. My daughter, she's in wrestling, so I came a little late, but I was able to get here on time for this. So, um, what I want to do is I want to just give a shout out to
126Mr. Brem, who's not here anymore. um he took time out of his very busy day as a principal of an elementary school to talk with me for over an hour about the concerns I brought up last time of the meeting about the screen time. And I just want to go on record that that is so very appreciated. It could not have been a more productive conversation. and for somebody to take that amount of time out of a school day because it was during school hours, it was very much appreciated. I would also like to shout out Lynn. Thank you very much for the work you did in looking into the screen time monitoring. I really appreciate that. I know this stuff isn't easy, so thank you very much. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Seagull.
127Um, all right. So, we'll move into uh the rest of the agenda this evening. Can I have a a motion to approve approve the following minutes and those are the regular board meeting from October 15th ops and finance committee from November 5th. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. All right. Thank you. Uh payment of the bills. So tonight we have uh general fund uh food and service uh food service uh student activities funds laptops capital project funds and two bond proceed funds. Uh can I have a motion to pay the bills? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Thank you. All right. uh treasures report. Um so we have treasures report from October 20 uh October of 25
128of the investments expenditures expenditure review of October and also the capital account breakdown for October. Um can I have a motion to approve the treasures report? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? >> I opposed. >> Nay. >> All right. Thank you very much. Report from the secretary of the board. >> Okay. I have a few things to cover. Um, as you all know, the budget was finally passed. Um, looking at what the district will receive compared to what we budgeted, uh, basic ed, we are going to receive 11,572 uh, dollars more than what we budgeted. So, we were almost spot on on that. Uh, special ed, we had budgeted 1,218,000. That is exactly what was improve um, approved in the budget. So, there was no increase. um what was in
129the governor's original budget was the exact amount that was approved for special ed for uh the allocations. Uh a big big change is in our ready tole learn. We received a uh $50,000 adequacy bump in that. Um the ready tolearn amount has not been increased since the 2015 2016 school year. So this is a major thing here. So, um, compared to what we budgeted to what we received, uh, we have $61,000 more than what we budgeted. Um, there's also a big big component regarding charter school and the PD363 and how we fund it. Um there are no answers right now as to how it's going to affect us, what kind of savings we're going to recognize as PDE has not um issued the new PD 363 template form and our software provider CSIU is working
130on updating their report that pulls the data the way it's needed. On Friday, I'll be attending a user group meeting with that. I'll have more information on that, but I'm looking forward to seeing how that all flushes out too. On a second note regarding uh property tax appeals that I had discussed with you all, there was one large um property that uh went before the assessment uh that they were asking for. The appraised value was about $1.7 million. They were requesting 1.1 million. Uh Jonathan from Kingspry was there to represent us. Uh provided information as to why that's not valid. It was approved at 1.5 million. So instead of uh a loss of $13,000 in revenue, it would be a loss of $6,000. And the Board of Assessment Appeals did not make that active until
131July 1st. So it does not affect our current year. It'll be for the next year taxing. And on a good note for the moment, the five commercial um professional park office buildings that went um Mr. Herrera did a really great job representing us. Not one of them was approved. Uh they were all stayed at what their assessed value was, but we're waiting for the shoe to drop for the appeal to come in and for them to go back for a second round and try. But he'll be ready to fight for our funding on that as well. So, and that's all that I have for you this evening. >> Thank you very much. So, curriculum technology, Mrs. Clinger. >> Okay. Um, I have to move items 2.1 through 2.6. 2.1 and 2.2 is a learn well
132agreement to provide services for two of our students for 10 hours per week. 2.3 is the affiliation with Mar Moravian University for for three years. 2.4 4 is a revised dual enrollment with Moravian University from July 1st, 25 through June 30th of 26. Uh 2.5 is a student teacher from Moravian University who is being approved to work with Ann Ruez at the high school from January through April of 26. And 2.6 6 is an overnight trip for the wrestling team to go to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Um December 26 through the 28th for a wrestling tournament. Um may I have a second, please? >> Second. >> Any questions? Okay. All in favor? >> I opposed. >> Opposed. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, we'll move into operations committee. Mr. Spinner, you're with us virtually. I hear you.
133All right. Yes. Good evening, everyone. Uh, greetings from Cortez, Colorado. Uh, tonight on the agenda, we have two items. Uh, item 3.1, uh, about the solar boiler plate agreements and item 3.2 per capita, um, increases. Before we uh before I move item 3.1, I wanted to give uh the administration uh a couple seconds here to provide an update on the uh current works with the legal teams on the boiler plate agreements. >> Um okay, I'll speak in regard that. What you have in front of you are the templates what will be filled in uh as soon as Mccclure sets up an LLC and does the final number calculations on the exact panels what the rates will be all the information will be filled on there filled in on there. This is just giving them the
134authorization to proceed on their behalf to um you know continue with the measurements and getting all of the numbers finalized. In regards to the agreements, we do have uh several issues between Mccclure's legal and our legal council that are still being worked on. So at this present moment, we are not giving authorization to do the solar, but we're giving authorization for them to continue with their next steps to finalize everything on their behalf of it. So that's all that's this is for everybody's uh review of the agreements. >> Thank you, Don. I appreciate the update. So uh at this time, I'd like to move items uh I'll I'll move them individually here. Item 3.1 for the boiler agreements. And again, this is we're looking to approve Mccclure to continue to move forward with the process
135subject to legal review, which may include establishment of an LLC and receipt of file numbers and continue contract negotiations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the district makes no promise that a final agreement will be entered into. Do I have a second? >> Second. Okay. Then questions hearing none. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. And I'm in I as well. Uh at this time I'll move item 3.2 for the per capita uh tax increases. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Any questions? All in favor? I >> I >> opposed and I'm I as well. And that's all we have for operations tonight. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Spinner. Uh Mr. Rickabani, uh finance committee. >> Sure. Um item 4.1, the act one index resolution. Uh the state of Pennsylvania limits
136how much we can increase the taxes with the act one index. Um by adopting this, we approve or we assert that we will not raise taxes beyond the maximum allowed by the act one index. So, uh, do we have any questions? Okay, I guess I'd like to officially move 4.1. Uh, do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Okay, that's all. Thank you. >> And that takes us to personnel. Mrs. McKelie. Uh yeah, we have um just a few items. Uh the employment of uh two new members to our custodial staff and then a number of coach employments and a few resignations. So, marching band, swimming, uh more marching band, more swimming, um wrestling, and then um baseball and football resignations. So, that's all
137we have today. So, um I'd like to move items 5.1 through 5.12. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> Uh, can I make a full comment? >> Uh, I don't know, Tom. Maybe >> it'll be fast. No. Um, I just wanted to again uh uh thank Coach Tras for his work over the past two years with the football team. Uh, having the chance to work with him personally, uh, it was an honor and I appreciate all the work he's done for the team. >> Okay. Anything else? All right. Uh, all in favor? >> I am also an I. Any opposed? Thank you. >> All righty then. Uh, we'll move right into policy committee and Mrs. Glennister. >> Yes. And as usual, we're doing a lot of them. So we have for final reading and
138adoption policy 102 couple 100s and then a two couple 200s and 300s and a bunch of 600s. Um so I'd take a motion to approve the policies listed. >> So move >> second. Any questions or comments? >> All those in favor? >> I I >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes. And then item 6.2 is a first reading and also a lot. So we're starting at 609 and going up to 626. Um does anybody have any questions or comments on those? Okay, we'll be keep getting through them. Thank you very much. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Mrs. Glennister. And we'll move into the student activities report. I think the uh um our students were doing the the bulk of the work earlier. Uh but we have two items to move tonight. Uh
1397.1 the the high school student activity advisors adviserss and student representatives for 2526 and 7.2 is the middle school student activity adviserss and student representatives for 2526. So I will move 7.1 and 7.2. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions? All in favor? I >> I >> Any opposed? All right. So, that takes us to um our report section. Uh the CLIU, Mrs. McKelie. >> Uh yeah. Um a few notes. Um at our most recent meeting which was Monday uh we did have a presentation um about our we've taken two of our programs um which one is which is like a behavioral support program and another is an autistic support program. They work kind of different locations. They've brought them together in the same building in uh center valley which given the
140students that they're serving is a better location. more kids will be closer. Um, and it's kind of it's nice because some of these these kiddos with some behavioral needs are able to interact with the the kids that are autistic and it's really benefiting both groups. Um, they basically whoever they're renting the building from totally gutted it and rebuilt it and like built it back up according to their standards. So, it seems to be going well. Um, we had some feedback from the Southern Lehigh board member, you know, because it's in her district and, you know, everything she's heard has been really positive about that. So, that was exciting to hear. Uh, also, we had a quick overview of our general operating budget. Um, this is, um, this this will come up here a little bit
141later this year. Uh this is the portion of the IU's budget that school districts are required to pay. Um and it basically goes there was a slight change from years prior but it's uh it goes entirely to curriculum and instruction. So providing resources a lot of resources really to teachers and districts. Um so it looks like initially our contribution is going to be a little bit less again than it was last year. Uh Parkland is going up and most of the other districts are going down like you know they use kind of a percentage some sort of model you know and they plug everybody in there. So um yeah that's all I have. >> All righty. Thank you very much. LCTI Mrs. Nemits are you with us? Yes, I am here and I have no
142report this evening. >> Sam is here. >> Sam, I'm sorry I missed you. >> That's okay. No problem. I need you to get back to me sooner or later, Joe. >> I'm I circled your name so I wouldn't miss you. And it looks like I exed out, so I thought I had to skip that. So, >> moral of the story is don't trust my penmanship. Um, so go ahead, Sam. What's going on at Elra? Well, we had meetings on the uh November the 6th and November the 17th. At our meetings, we reviewed headcount for the winner, which uh and the hours. Uh four weeks before the session starts, we are uh minus 6.4% on head and 3.1 on ours. And generally the winter session, uh we don't really get a lot of dual enrollment, hence
143why that's that way. Plus, we're four weeks away. It's it's a fairly long time. and we've seen a surge in applications for both winter and spring. So, we're uh cautiously optimistic that that will change. The spring session, 11 weeks away, uh we're at minus 0.6% on head and 6.3% on hours. That is because uh more dual enrollment uh that keeps continue to grow and we found that uh some of our full-time students are taking less credits as well. uh that we did review the budget which was flat uh by the state but this is what we already were budgeting for uh and had it into our budget. This is a challenge though because we are seeing flat student uh participation and rising uh cost in health care dramatically so this year uh this is uh
144uh testing our our ability to continue to hold the line and we may have to pass along these costs to our students. In addition, next year's budget, what we're hearing from our colleagues uh in Harrisburg is going to be ex uh much worse than this year. Lower funding and it will cause several institutions in our area and throughout Pennsylvania to close. Uh there was and I sent it on to Lynn a really awesome article and Sunday's morning call about the universities. Uh title was how higher education powers the Lehigh Valley. Uh, I'm a like a numbers guy, so I'll give you the numbers, but there's a really great read, and like I said, I gave it to Lynn for each of you to read. It's a short read and a good one. Uh, higher education
145uh supports over 15,800 jobs in the in the Lehigh Valley. Uh, 2.2 billion in annual economic impact, including $119 million paid in state and local tax revenues. Lehigh Valley, Joe, you like this uh I mean Lehigh University alone is reported 1.4 billion in compensated economic impact and is 3.1% of the region's total output which is roughly around 55 billion dollars. There is much more within this article talking about the culture and and the university being part of our everyday lives. So I I encourage everyone to give that a read as unfortunately a lot what universities do and and whatnot are going to be changing as we go forward and once these institutions are gone they're not coming back and that's my report. Any questions? >> I did read I read that article Sam. I thought
146it was well written. >> Yes extremely so. I think uh that that the person who wrote that does a lot better job than I can in explaining the value that all the universities bring uh to the Lehigh Valley. So, thank you Joe. You have a good one. >> You too. All right. Um Mrs. Glennister, PSBA Legislative Policy Council. >> Yes. I have a few things. Um I was reading through some articles. It was really interesting. um something about AI where they said like more educators are getting complaints from parents they suspect were written by AI which apparently take more time for the legal team to look at and they just said it's like so let's see it said it takes um caused school and district staff to sink hours of time into responding to what
147might normally only take a few minutes. One superintendent estimated the complaints that once might have taken 15 minutes to review and respond to can now take three to four hours of staff time, not counting a lawyer's time depending. So, they're using like just I thought that was interesting. Like if you look at PSBA sent a link to that article. Uh, another one I thought was interesting that a lot of um it says schools have have special educators but keep losing them to general ed. So, a lot of, you probably know this, a lot of special ed teachers come in, they maybe get an emergency certification or whatever in that position, they end up leaving and going to a general ed position. But, I guess Pennsylvania is doing something um which is nice where they're having
148um a statewide program to build specialty teachers, career pathways, and having like role-based mentoring programs to try and keep people in that position. So, that was interesting. Uh you probably saw too that they were having a a committee meeting about um considering no cell phones in um schools in Pennsylvania. Yeah. Yeah. Which was also fascinating. >> From bell to bell basically. >> Right. Right. So I don't know where that'll end up but but we're already doing some of that where the where you know >> well um students do still have access to them. It's not the same. >> Yeah. This would be like strict I guess what they were talking about. Yeah. Um and as usual, PSBA has a lot of webinars, some in mostly webinars, some in person if anybody's interested. One's on um
149social media for school boards. That's coming up on November 21st. It's a virtual um webinar. One about how SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the US, is shaping school law this term. That's in December. And then there's another one um there's an AI event that you can join in K, let's see, exploring the real world integration of AI in K to2 education. So, they do offer I try to take advantage of some of them, but they do offer some interesting seminars if you check out their website. That's my report. >> All righty. Uh, Attorney Rodic. >> Hello. I do have something for you tonight. So, um, beginning January 5th of 2026, uh, the school district is now going to be required to notify parents and certain school personnel of incidents when, um, a student is in
150possession of a weapon on school property. Um, currently, uh, you do have to report to law enforcement, you have to report to PTE, uh, but now, uh, again, January 5th of 2026, um, within 24 hours of the incident, um, in a method, um, that is likely to reach parents, guardians, and um, school employees. You need to notify them when um, a a student is in possession of a weapon or an adult is in possession of a weapon uh, on in that school. So it expands our reporting responsibilities. >> I've already drafted those letters and building leaders have them templates at least that can be customized. >> All righty then. Are we skipping the last thing? >> You want to skip it? >> No, that's all right. Superintendent report for >> I can be super fast.
151Starting with a thank you for our our school psychologist as we celebrate school psy psychology week. Um a thank you to our emergency uh partners who helped us with our um chemical spill last week. Um celebrating attendance, strong attendance at all three buildings for the month of October with an average of um 93% 94.86 at the elementary, 95 at the middle school, and 93% at the high school. So that's pretty strong. We did some food tastings with kids. Um some information about bus patrol. This is going to come out in the community update. Interesting um items. You already heard about Veterans Day. Added the dates for our winter concerts. That's also going to be in the community update. As is this and this and that. So that was very fast. >> Was very fast. >>
152Wow. >> That was a lightning round. >> It's 9:33. I mean it is past my bedtime now. Seriously. All right. So, any new business? >> So, just a quick thank you. We know that it's um Chris Hoffman's last board meeting tonight. So, I want to thank Chris for his faithful service on the board. Uh you were consistently present, engaged, and thoughtful. You listened carefully, took the time to understand the issues, and um you know, demonstrated a strong sense of responsibility for our students, staff, and community. We appreciate your commitment to fill that vacancy and the diligence you brought to the process reflected in the seriousness um of how you took your role. So grateful for your integrity, your reliability, and quiet dedication. Thank you very much for serving on the school board. >> Yeah, I
153want to thank Chris as well. I've known Chris a long time. Um, and it was I it was uh not only very helpful to have you on this board, but but a lot of fun uh as well. So, thank you, Chris. Um, with that, there's a whole host of other reports here for you to read over at your leisure. And our upcoming meetings, um, we have our reorganization meeting on Wednesday, December 3rd. That starts at 6 o'clock. Uh, okay. We have our operations and finance on December 3rd as well following the reorg meeting and then we have the regular board meeting following that. So it's the it's an all meetings kind of night >> and the reorg meeting time was changed. Just want to highlight that to six o'clock to accommodate interviews for the board
154vacancy. >> All righty. So with that said, meeting adjourned.