001good evening everyone and welcome to tonight's meeting of the colonial school district board of directors please raise rise for the pledge of allegiance to the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty i'd like to announce that the board bet in executive session on october 25th to discuss the superintendent's goals and contract that session lasted about 50 minutes the board also met tonight prior to the meeting to review the personnel report additional extra duty position special education agreement and assessment appeal updates we also met and discussed the superintendent's contract the meeting lasted one hour uh dr christian we're excited to welcome some guests this evening we have coach cavanaugh to recognize our outstanding high school golfer coach thanks for coming out this evening [Applause]
002thank you dr christian it's my honor and privilege to be here tonight to celebrate and recognize rihanna gunaratna for her for her incredible accomplishments before i speak a little about rihanna i'd like to take the time to thank the board for inviting us tonight mrs lester uh for helping set this up tonight bill price our assistant coach dr christian dr bakani mr bretts jen frangiosa and the admin team at pw for their support of athletics in the pw golf team rihanna's parents as well as all of the parents from the golf team and the players for their time and commitment this season we're here to celebrate rihanna and i'd like to do my best to try to explain her accomplishments this season rihanna is a freshman this year at pw who tried out for the
003golf team and ended up making the varsity team in her freshman year if that was her only accomplishment it would have been significant but she accomplished so much more our team is a co-ed team that consists of eight varsity players and ten jv players we compete in the suburban one league liberty division in a match each team sends out the eight best players and after the round the top five scorers from each team count in the final scoring to see who wins throughout our season rihanna played in every varsity match and scored in the top five in every match as well at our banquet the other night we honored rihanna as the recipient of our jeff hovis mvp award as a co-mvp of the team and as the keith griffin award winner for the lowest
004nine hole average on the pw golf team this year rihanna's nine hole average was 38.09 and her lowest nine hole score in a match this season was a one under par 35 after each match that we play the scores are sent into the golf association of philadelphia and they keep records of the scores and calculate a handicap differential for every player out of the 24 local high schools that make up the suburban one league including 224 or 240 plus golfers rihanna finished the season with the eighth best handicap differential please remember that this is a co-ed league and rihanna was taking on and beating the boys all season long at the end of the golf season individuals can qualify for the individual tournaments that follow the team golf season these tournaments are separated as a
005girls tournament and boys tournament pw sent four players to the individual tournaments they were evan rosenstein jr brett keenan jr ellie schilt sophomore and rihanna congrats to all four of them first up for rihanna was the 18 hole suburban one tournament where 31 girls from the suburban one league competed in this tournament at five pond's golf course rihanna shot a 75 and finished in third place she then moved on to the district 1 golf tournament where the top 66 girls from district 1 competed districts is a two-day golf tournament where you must make the cut after day one to qualify for day two to qualify for day two you must be in the top 15 out of the 66 girls competing the tournament was held at raven's claw for the girls and rihanna went out
006and shot the 77. this put her tied for 15th place and got her into day two in order to move on to states after day two you had to be in the top nine rihanna started day two four strokes four strokes back from the girl in ninth place this meant she had to go out on day two and jump six spots to qualify for the state tournament this would be a monumental task in golf but one that rihanna was up for the challenge for not only did rihanna make the jump she actually jumped to eighth place and did it by going out and shooting a under par 71 at turtle creek this is one of the best tournament rounds if not the best that i've seen by a pw golfer while coaching here this also
007secured rihanna's spot in the pia state golf tournament at states 36 of the best girls in the state of pa competed in the tournament it was held at heritage hills golf course in york pa on this day on a difficult course rihanna went out and shot an 80 and finished tied for 14th in the state of pennsylvania i'm not quite sure rihanna understands the magnitude of her accomplishments this season going back as far as i could in the archives of the pia golf records which was 1976 rihanna ranks is tied for the third best finish in the state golf course tournament in pw history with none other than her brother dylan although i know she is thrilled to share that spot with him i also know it will be a goal of hers to beat
008him in her future years if i told you about rihanna's athletic accomplishments this year i would be only told you about those i'd be doing her a disservice it can be very very difficult for any golfer in high school missing class for the individual golf tournaments let alone to be in your first year in high school rihanna missed four days this year while competing in golf tournaments and you would never know it she has straight a's and continues to be one of the many excellent student scholar athletes at pw the last funny story i wanna i would like to share about rihanna is when she finished her tournament at suburbans in all my years coaching when players finish their round at a tournament they hang out and relax to see where they will finish when
009rihanna finished her round she was so excited to take up the country club life she ordered a sandwich and tater tots and you know what she did she dove right into her schoolwork while waiting for the tournament to end it was my absolute pleasure to coach rihanna this year and i'm lucky to have her as part of the team for the next three years please join me in congratulating rihanna gunaratna for her incredible accomplishments this season bye i'd like to ask for a motion to approve the minutes as presented in items 4b through 4d from october and november so is there a second adam thank you any questions or comments on the minutes all in favor aye i'm looking for online thank you may i have a motion to approve the financial reports as presented
010in items 5b through 5m for october of 2021. adam thank you second thanks kathy any questions or comments on the financial reports all in favor uh motion please to approve the treasures report for october of 2021 jen second chris thank you any questions all in favor okay uh superintendents update thank you mrs moore we have i have several announcements this evening the first of which though is an important most important one it's our opportunity to recognize four board members it's their last meeting this evening and we want to thank you for your service to the district jennifer dow eunice franklin becker rosemary northcutt and adam shupac have volunteered for the past four years to help the district to lead and support the faculty and staff and administration and most importantly support the students of colonial
011school district we told you four years ago it would only be a few nights a month i was a little under on that one but obviously as things changed and became more challenging what you kept at the center was focusing on students and their success as well as their safety you've overseen the district's growth and supported budgets that include a brand new middle school that'll open in a few months renovations to this building as we welcome just about one of the largest classes in the district nearly 500 students and who helped us navigate through the challenges cobit has presented you've worked collaboratively collaboratively with our faculty and staff and most importantly you and your colleagues on the board have consistently advocated and supported programs designed for student success and achievement thank you for your service
012to the district and we wish you the best moving forward in all of your endeavors we have a uh karen and rosemary are here we have a gift for you to commemorate your time on the board in colonial school district thank you again [Applause] before i move on any comments from our outgoing board members okay secondly i want to discuss with our community those in attendance and those watching on youtube and zoom our current coveted data within the county and within the school district and specifically talk about masking from november 13th to 15th montgomery county saw 480 new coveted cases the 16th and 16th and 17th 300 cases were recorded and i talked to the office of public health today and they are well over 200 cases today so there's certainly been an uptick in
013particularly since halloween our incident rate in the school district is 85.5 in conshohocken it's 100 which is in the high range in plymouth it's 91 and in white marsh 73 with her both in the substantial range positivity rates range from four percent to seven percent which actually put us in the low to moderate range but the incident rate is certainly uh high and substantial the topic of masking has been thoroughly discussed and debated and will continue to be at the local state and national levels the colonial administration back on august 9th recommended and the school board passed a motion requiring mass for all adults and students while in schools acting pennsylvania health secretary beam issued a statewide order requiring madison schools three weeks later at the end of august it is possible that order may
014be lifted at the state level either on december 4th or could last until january 17th where the governor has indicated he would lift the order that is still being litigated and we will continue to watch what happens if the state's order is lifted in either december or january school masking requirements or recommendations will be subject to local control via the school boards which is precisely what occurred on august 9th in 2021 the board will have to consider a variety of factors regarding masking including the following what are the current transmission rates that we're experiencing in our county and in our local district the percent what percentage of our students and staff are vaccinated and fully vaccinated what are the challenges cold and flu season presents which we know will cause challenges in identifying covet cases
015without testing and then we also have to look very closely at what the montgomery county office of public health's requirements are for quarantine quarantining students obviously safety and welfare is a paramount importance but there's also a practicality presently as i talked about on august 9th the current rules for quarantine require that if students are in class together and they're close contact if they're both masked one student's positive if the other student is asymptomatic he or she may continue to stay in class under those current rules which are still in place if we remove mass at this time while we're in high and substantial range those students would have to quarantine those who choose not to wear mass so that's a challenge i'll talk about bussing separately because i know that's a whole separate rule and
016that's been a challenge for all of us throughout the county because of these factors it's my recommendation that the board wait until after the new calendar year to consider modifications to the masking requirement this will allow our youngest students full time to be fully vaccinated if families choose to do so there's no requirement fortunately we had nearly twelve hundred five to eleven-year-olds receive their first vaccination this past week at plymouth white marsh high school this past friday and tuesday they will receive their second dose in december and be fully vaccinated as we approach the winter break waiting until mid-january to consider modifications to the masking requirement allows the board to review the transmission rates at the local and county levels and furthermore provides time for the board to review any modifications that the county office
017of public health has regarding quarantine requirements and that includes for cafeterias classrooms and buses so it continues to be a challenging topic we certainly understand passion on both sides and these are not easy decisions and not ones that i or the board takes lightly i will say this in december we're going to be asking families to voluntarily provide vaccination information this certainly will help us with contact tracing we did it at the high school level this past summer and for our seventh and eighth graders because they were eligible to get the vaccine earlier and we'll be doing that through our emergency cards that folks fill out electronically once again families would have to voluntarily offer that information it's also helpful helpful for us because as we see cases potentially increase during the after the holidays
018and during the winter months it helps our nurses with contact tracing and therefore students are asymptomatic and they've been fully vaccinated they can remain in school questions from the board regarding masking and my comments i think you've laid it all out pretty well and uh obviously you've spent a tremendous amount of time on this and uh i don't have any really any criticism or question of what you've questions about what you've laid out just as we move forward i do want to take into consideration as we're looking at the levels to possibly treat high schools different than the youngers um i don't know if that's as relevant now that our youngers are able to get vaccinated um but you know these high school students are out and about and constantly around their friends and so
019i i just i just feel like there's it's almost almost it's a lot of struggle and and anxiety for these students to to wear the masks in school when they're not wearing them a lot of other places so if we have those high vaccination rates and we know that our younger students are also vaccinated at home i just want to make sure that we're allowing for our high school students to have the best experience that they can knowing that the vaccination rates might be higher in that cohort um sorry my voice is a little out but just as we're moving forward and keeping abreast of that just possibly considering treating the high school students differently that's my only comment other than that i think it sounds great so the next topic i would like to
020discuss on the agenda this evening in item 11h is an item asking the board for to give administration permission to expand project acid and project acet we embarked upon that last spring and that's a partnership between chop and the office of public health where we've been able to offer rapid testing for our employees we've continued that this fall and we'd like to expand it to include students with obviously parental consent it's not something we would do without contacting the parents and obviously getting written parental consent there's two main reasons why we'd like to expand project acid and we have to we've applied to the office of public health and chop for approval to do this testing and it's assurance testing it's rapid tests it's not as reliable as pcr but it is a good it's
021a good indicator in case a student or employee has is positive for covin one goal is to reduce the number of students who quarantine as a result of being close contacts on one of our buses so i'm going to digress from test to stay and just remind families and many of our families know this and i know it was asked at a previous board meeting the rules are different for classroom versus busing when when on a bus even if you both parties are massed uh if you are in close proximity within six feet for 15 consecutive minutes or more even if you're asymptomatic we have to quarantine students as an example just in the past week and a half upstairs we've had a few positive cases more than a few we've had seven positive cases
022in different classrooms so they're not connected to the classrooms but as a result we have 30 plus students who had the quarantine because they were on the bus in close proximity and ces is experiencing as our largest elementary and probably and obviously the fewest number of vaccinated students because they weren't of age you know that's where we're seeing a lot of our cases with the middle school being second and so that's been a frustrating point for principals for parents uh for our teachers we certainly get the students up and on on zoom right away and parents have been great they've been understanding while frustrated understanding that this is something that we have to do the test to stay program would allow us that if we have students who are asymptomatic uh after we get parental
023consent and if i was sitting next to mrs moore on the bus and i'm positive mrs moore could come in on day one and take a rapid test and as long as she is asymptomatic and negative she could continue in school on day three take another one on day five take another one because normally she would be quarantined for a minimum of seven days and then if tested negative could return on day eight this keeps kids this could potentially keep kids in the classroom uh we certainly understand that especially for our littlest students and our youngest students taking a test like this you know you might want to wait until your parent or guardian comes in we can certainly make accommodations for that so we're just getting approval tonight to move forward with putting this
024plan together it's our goal to try to start it on or about december 6 it may take a few more days but we really you know not knowing what the rules are going to be for quarantining and if there's an uptick in cases this is potentially a way to keep students in school the second goal is to test students who are show mild symptoms you know i've had parents call us we've had parents call us and say well my child has allergies but they have a runny nose and and watery eyes and so they've had to quarantine for potentially having coven so if we have minor symptoms and our nurses really do a great job trying to distinguish if it's you know multiple coveted symptoms or if you know a child has a fever and
025whether they need whether they can make it through the day or not and what's appropriate but if we have this ability and we can test students on the spot then they would be able to stay so north penn school district has piloted this they've been doing it for about a week and a half we're in line to hopefully start within two weeks pending board approval along with a few other districts if the board approves it this evening we would do a massive communication blast to our families explaining it explain what the consent means but we've also we're in the process of hiring additional personnel who can administer the rapid test because our nurses are really stretched they would do it under the supervision of the principal and our nurses but in the buildings but we
026really just can't add one more thing to our nurse's plate uh and it's i've been trained in giving it and and so as the administrative team here we've been administering it for uh our faculty and staff uh for their weekly tests uh so we think this is a good thing that will hopefully keep kids in school i wanted to talk about it tonight before the board votes on it and the community would have a chance to speak to it as well that concludes my update okay now is the time for public comments on the agenda drew do we have anything uh there are no hands raised okay um dr christian superintendents report oops there we go item nine uh motion to approve the personnel report in extracurricular contracts is outlined in 9b and 9c board
027action is requested for the recommended personnel changes appointments for promotion employment or transfer they are subject to the presentation of valid credentials employment verification documentation and state mandated requirements is there a motion from the board beth and a second chris any questions or comments for dr christian all in favor great thank you student representatives good evening dr christian school board members and community thank you for allowing us the opportunity to provide the monthly schools student report white marsh elementary was excited to recently roll out a new white marsh prom program which consists of numerous incentives to promote positive behavior and good choices throughout the entire school trial tickets are given to students who demonstrate tenets of proud behavior and students can also earn shout outs for doing something special additional elements to this program will
028continue to be introduced all year long other recent activities at wes included red ribbon week veterans day celebrations treats for troops and a thanksgiving food drive with the white marsh police department's k9 unit as always whitemarsh thanks the entire school community for the generous support during the month of october ridge park practiced two safety drills the local fire department and tim mcdonald helped them for their monthly fire drill and with the support of tim mcdonald ridge park practiced the first lockdown of the year students and staff did an incredible job with both drills students staff and caregivers enjoyed fall festivities on october 28th including the return of the fall parade and everyone was excited for this bit of normalcy both students and staff dressed up and participated in the parade many thanks to mrs cindy
029oh for providing fun music for all finally a huge thank you to the rich park pto and homeroom parents for making ridge parks fall parties a success the plymouth elementary had the elmwood park zoo zoo on wheels come to pe on friday november 5th 2021 for a kindergarten field trip the field trip was sponsored by the pe pto on veterans day plymouth elementary honored the veterans in our community by placing american flags along plymouth road pe celebrated world kindness day on friday november 12th students participated in grade level activities such as giving compliments spreading kindness and writing positive post-its pe is celebrating american education week from november 15th until november 19th this year's theme includes education is a work of heart each day features different dress-up themes including wearing red hearts college gear and sporting
030panda pride additionally students participated in activities during the morning meetings where they discussed their hopes and dreams for the future and created thank you cards for people at pe bus drivers and cafeteria staff were acknowledged with special treats and in response to an in-person visitation day teachers planned surprise videos for families mystery readers were also surprised with read-aloud activities that the students watched during the week the pe spirit team collected over two thousand books to help rebuild the fort washington elementary schools library which received damage during hurricane ida in early september the students worked together to sort books by age level and carefully checked each item's condition this month the spirit team also kicked off its second project of the 2021-2022 school year a holiday gift outreach their goal is to provide gifts to 30
031children whose families are in need this holiday season a wonderful fall parade was held at conshohocken elementary on october 28th students had a delightful time parading in their festive costumes and many parents family members and friends lined harry street to watch the parade the conshohocken police department and fire department assisted by leading the parade and blocking traffic as the school community marched down harry street they were also excited to welcome the pwhs marching band to be a part of the parade after the parade the marching band took time to perform a few songs for the students and also to demonstrate and discuss the many instruments that are part of the marching band the conshohocken elementary helping hands club made treat bags to distribute to the marching band to show their appreciation safety procedures were practiced
032throughout fire prevention week and a successful fire drill was conducted on october 14 2021 the conshohocken fire department visited the school on october 7th and demonstrated fire safety and prevention students enjoyed learning about the equipment that the firefighters used to stay safe the colonial elementary fall parade led by principal rock and assistant principal tauber was a huge success the students dressed in their favorite costumes and paraded around the track at pwhs many parents caregivers were in attendance following the parade the students had a party in their classrooms with many snacks and activities thanks to the generosity of many parents and caregivers the pto will will be providing pretzels to every student in the building the first friday of every month each month trailblazer awards will be given out to three students per cluster for outstanding
033performance in the following areas respect responsibility safety and good choices after the students receive their award mr talbor will personally congratulate each student and they will have the opportunity to take a picture that will be displayed on the bulletin board in the lobby the students who were selected for september and october were so excited and proud of themselves fall portraits were taken on monday november 1st with a retake date scheduled for monday december 13th the colonial middle school from november 1st to november 4th held parent-teacher conferences parents who were unable to attend the scheduled conferences were able to reschedule them for a later date teachers participated in an act 13 presentation and a canvas course the cms building time had begun purging and packing for a february move the student council is now enrolling students
034students should sign up by using the form on the announcement section of their grade level canvas page congratulations to the newly elected officers any questions regarding cms student council can be directed towards mrs penrite's cms students had the opportunity to write anonymous thank you notes for staff and members in light of the american education week other events included pajama day philly sports day team color day twin day and college spirit day scheduled for tomorrow the november book fair was a great success students shopped with their ela classes and were able to purchase books that interested them with the fund raised by the book fair cms is purchasing more popular titles and graphic novels to display in the library plymouth whitewash's fall production of the musical all together now was a big success running both in
035person and digitally from friday november 12th till sunday i'm sorry from friday november 12th till sunday november 14th on that same note auditions for the next musical newsies have begun and will run till the afternoon of friday november 19th anyone who is interested is encouraged to reach out to mr engel in d11 both parents and students had the opportunity to tune in to the ending the silence mental health awareness presentation on the night of tuesday november 9th for the parents and during bonus block on thursday november 11 for the students students were encouraged to visit their guidance and school mental health counselors to seek assistance with any mental health concerns they may have students had the opportunity to participate in deca week this week showing off their club spirit by dressing up for different themed
036days many fall sports wrapped up towards the start of the month however the football team is continuing their season to the district semi-finals tomorrow night the game will be held against bayard reston high school and a fan bus has been offered to students wishing to attend finally winter sports have begun their seasons this week and are excited to begin their games and meets starting in december this is the conclusion of our november 18th student report thank you all for your time and have a nice evening thank you both i will now go on to new business eunice this is a motion to accept and approve the audit report for the 2020-2021 fiscal year as sorry i'm sorry i i can't see the full screen if mr schupak wouldn't mind reading it because i can't see
037it from here i apologize not a problem um this is a motion to accept and approve the audit report for the 2020 2021 fiscal year as presented and approval to submit the pde 2057 annual financial report to pde the district's local auditor bbd llc has completed the audit of the 2021 2020 2021 fiscal year financials and will be presenting and reviewing the audit results in the district financial statements acceptance and approval of the audit results and the district financials will authorize the final audit report to be published and the financial reports to be filed with the pennsylvania department of education okay uh is there a second to adam's motion rosemary thank you any questions about this audit report all in favor great thank you uh eunice do you want adam to continue are you able
038to see the next one i can see the next one thank you sue this is a motion to approve the stipulation to settle the assessment appeal for the property detailed below is there a second adam any questions all in favor great thank you and um we have one more okay this is a motion to approve the attached resolution to opt out of the act 1 timeline by certifying that the district will not raise the real estate tax rate in excess of the 2022-2023 act 1 index of 3.4 percent this motion also certifies that the school district will be unable to use the act 1 exceptions included in the law is there a second yeah any questions or mr zablowski do you just want to explain to people what the limit means that we don't have
039to hit it and what the exceptions are that we're giving up right well the the law was enacted in 2006 to limit school district's ability to raise taxes uh to the statewide limit uh or index is what they call it uh the the index this year is 3.4 percent the exceptions that we're giving up are there's a special ed exception because that's a you know sort of an uncontrollable cost there's also a retirement contribution which is again a mandated uh statewide pension that we have to contribute to which again we don't have any control over that so we reviewed basically the the early uh factors that are going to be imp uh having an impact on the 22 23 budget and we feel that with the positives we're looking at so far and with the
040good year that we just finished with the 2021 year and the 21 22 years looking pretty good we will not have to be anywhere close to the 3.4 percent so by opting out of this timeline it takes a little bit of pressure off we don't have to adopt the preliminary budget which is normally a guesswork in february and we can concentrate on getting some real numbers for the april and then the final adoption in june thank you any other questions or comments all in favor great thank you jen motion to approve the attached hosted services agreement with lancaster lebanon intermediate unit iu13 to provide electronic act 168 services for a term of three years effective december 1st 2021. is there a second second kathy any questions or comments all in favor cathy yes this is
041a motion to approve the agreement with u.s medical staffing inc to provide substitute nursing services as outlined in the attached document is there a second rosemary any questions or comments all in favor great thank you mrs suchland yeah okay i'm very happy to make this motion uh this is a motion to elect dr michael christian as colonial school district superintendent for the time period of july 1st 2022 through june 30th 2027 in accordance with 24ps section 101071 101073 and 10 1075 and motion to enter into a contract to establish salary and fringe benefits for the sorry for the position of district superintendent as set forth in the motion to elect uh prepared by the by the solicitor um dr christian we knew it was a we knew we were lucky when we got you the
042first time and just really happy to you know come to an agreement and that you'll be with us for the next five years and that is a motion okay do we have a second mrs petruno are there any comments or questions from the board i would also like to just uh reiterate what beth said um being involved in the interview when we hired you um it was pretty much a slam dunk and um we would love to see you stick around for five more years work 24 hours a day seven days a week like you always do we're hoping maybe you'll take a day or two off here and there but um certainly i don't think you knew what you were signing up for when you went through uh with the year we've had with
043cove of the year almost two years but we certainly are glad that you are willing to stick around any other comments or questions all in favor all right it looks unanimous you're stuck thank you very much this is a great board to work with and for a wonderful community to be a part of and faculty staff administration and most importantly the strong families that we have in colonial so very humbled and appreciative of your support and we we will continue to work hard together as a team thank you okay [Music] beth this is a motion to approve a settlement and limited release agreement due to student confidentiality this agreement was reviewed in executive session prior to this meeting is there a second chris thank you questions all in favor kathy yes this is a motion
044to expand project asic to include voluntary covit 19 rapid antigen testing for colonial school district students provided parental consent is obtained is there a second chris any questions all in favor great thank you chris sure motion to approve the revisions to the board policies outlined below on a second read basis policy 307 student teachers and interns policy 602 budget planning policy 603 budget preparation policy 709 building security policy 716 integrated pest management policy 130 homework and policy 212 reporting student progress is there a second to that motion rosemary thank you questions all in favor solicitors report there's no report this evening thank you uh committee reports community relations kathy yes community relations met on monday november 8th and um the main order of discussion was about the colonial school district athletics programs uh mr brett's
045came in and provided a presentation for us about the number of student athletes we have participating in our sports and in our clubs um as well as our um extra other extracurricular activities um and just discussed uh numbers and making sure we have our students being involved we're talking about rewriting writing establishing a mission statement for athletics department and uh getting that onto our website make sure that we're all rallying behind our student athletes and having some fun bringing continuing to bring that school spirit i mean our football team is has a big game tomorrow night lots of really fun stuff happening um at the high school um we also went in depth with regard to project acid which um dr christian already touched on and then we also reviewed the fact that our mental
046health services and resources are much easier to find on our website so just want to make sure everybody knows that much appreciated to our staff for getting that done but all of our resources are much easier to find on our website now um our next meeting is i have no idea when when january holy buckets um we'll be meeting again in january thank you okay thank you curriculum beth um the curriculum committee also met on monday november 8th mrs grigatis presented an overview of the beginning of year data um and also highlighted our school improvement plans for the 2021-2022 school year it was really nice we had the opportunity to hear directly from some of our building administrators they came and joined us for our meeting um so thank you to them for coming out
047and um sharing what is going on in their buildings we're very appreciative appreciative of um our teachers and all the hard work they're doing with our students this year mrs gragatus also shared um class size ranges for all of our schools mr james provided updates on the dei meeting and announced that the next meeting will be next week no sorry two weeks november 30th at 6 p.m in the pw cafeteria and then mrs gragatus finished the meeting up by giving updates to the school district's lesson plan guidelines um i also just want to take a moment to thank mrs northcutt and mrs dow and formerly mrs franklin becker for all their dedication and work on the curriculum committee thank you guys and um our next meeting will also take place in january so thank you
048thank you chris facilities sure thanks um at our meeting this past monday um we looked at the five-year capital improvements plan um much of what we have coming up over the next five years is going to be more of a maintenance kind of phase with um roof looking at the roofs and things of the building so it's going to be a lot of stuff that's behind the walls or on top of the roof but um not a lot of pretty stuff like we have with a new building so um but that's going to be what's going on in the five-year plan um and i'd just like to recognize the facilities department for their continual efforts to assist the middle school staff and prepare for the move in february this is a very monumental task and
049it's going to require lots of coordination and communication and the excitement is building thanks chris um eunice finance finance committee did meet on monday of this week i have no further updates beyond the items that we discussed on this agenda and um i wish you the best with with the ongoing management mr zabloski has done a wonderful job along with his team and dr christian to manage the district finances and it's been a pleasure to support them as part of the finance committee oops thank you eunice mrs sutchlin hr yeah i can't see whether i'm on or not but i don't have a report okay thank you mrs franklin becker tech school so i am pleased to report that in addition to having identified our new executive director dr angie king um who will take
050her role formally in january of 2022 she now has a full complement of administrative staff she's hired her replacement as well as a new supervisor of business operations for the tech school so they have a full complement of staff as that transition continues they're also starting to proceed with a number of repairs and renovation activities that need to happen to keep that building state of the art and they just ran some very successful open houses for students who are very interested the new program in exercise and rehabilitation sciences is going full full steam ahead and we're thrilled to see the success of that program so lots happening at the tech school and can't wait to see how the next few years play out with the continued growth there thank you mrs dell yes the intermediate
051unit is hosting the montgomery county recruitment outreach county-wide education job fair on monday november 22nd from 4-6 is for current educators students recent grads and those seeking a career change are invited to speak one-on-one with school district representatives from all around montgomery county about open positions in our school districts including teachers paraprofessionals nurses bus drivers food service custodial and maintenance office and clerical positions candidates interested in attending are strongly encouraged to register online at mciu.org mcro thank you mrs dell anyone have anything to contribute to legislative report okay um municipal this is northcott yes uh conshohocken the borough is pleased to announce that our outdoor fitness court is now open at cliff park the conshohocken recreation services department partnered with the national fitness campaign to bring this world-class outdoor bodyweight circuit training system to the
052borough the fitness court is designed so people of all levels and abilities can get a full body workout in just seven minutes to learn more about the national fitness campaign and their mission you can visit their website at nationalfitnesscampaign.com the holiday registration is now open for conshohocken's annual holiday decorating contest prizes will be awarded to the first second and third place winners in each ward one house will be awarded the best in kanchi prize these prizes include gift cards from various conshohocken local businesses and the application is available on the borough website on december 8th at noon the borough council will be holding a senior luncheon a senior holiday luncheon at the fellowship house on saturday december 11th from 12 to 2 families will be gathering at the community center at the fell for a
053winter wonderland celebration with gingerbread house making moon bounce house arts and crafts games and an appearance by santa registration will end on december 4th or until when maximum maximum capacity is reached and uh last item the borough of conshohocken this year is going to be hosting two holiday-themed drive-in movies at the b field located at 13th east 13th avenue and hallowell street the events are rain or shine but will be canceled in the event of severe inclement weather the names of the films will be announced on the borough website and this will be on december 11th and december 18th it's from 7 p.m until 9 00 pm so the holiday festivities are going to be happening uh very quickly in conshohocken and going throughout the rest of november and all through december thank you any
054other yeah i would like to mention that santa claus has come into town he's going to be arriving on the harmonville fire company fire truck to the plymouth meeting mall this saturday at 10 a.m and the exciting part of it besides being santa claus is the pw marching colonials will be ushering him in so if you come out to the mall at 10 00 10 a.m you'll get to see the plymouth white marsh marching band um and santa claus and the festivities actually will go all the way till noon not the marching band won't be there till noon but till noon they're going to have holiday music balloon twisting special appearances by rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and anna and elsa from frozen and that's going to be at the fountain court at the mall thank
055you anyone else plymouth has a lot of activities also um the outdoor holiday market at the community center is this saturday november 20th from 10 to 2. there will be tables from crafters and vendors featuring homemade gifts for hanukkah and christmas the holiday tree lighting ceremony is december 1st it'll kick off at 6 00 pm at the service and devotion monument at the corner of walton road and germantown pike the holiday lights contest is happening again it's free to enter you can submit your home for his decorations or you can just vote for your favorites registration ends december 13th judging is the 14th to 19th the winners are announced on the 20th breakfast with santa is at the community center on saturday december 18th from 9 to 10 30. santa will be shaking hands this
056year and having his picture taken with the kids there will be a game room and a late breakfast will be served and the school's at activity days at the community center are on the 28th 29th and 30th from 9 to 6 and a variety of sports and crafts for kids will happen each day thank you anybody else rosemary colonial school district education foundation the 2021 colonial school district education foundation annual campaign has begun and runs through december 31st the theme of this year's campaign is inspired by a quote by satoru individually we are a drop together we are an ocean so please join us in participating in our every drop counts csdef annual campaign with the goal of raising ten thousand dollars by the end of twenty twenty one every donation gets us closer to
057that goal and if your company matches your donation that's an added and much appreciated benefit uh as of yesterday the campaign had reached three thousand six hundred and ten dollars in donation information can be found on the school district's website under in the foundation section and also on facebook through the colonial school school district education foundation thank you rosemary um public comments on anything hi my name is claudia ing i live in plymouth meeting when the board revisits the discussion about lifting the mass mandates after the calendar year please keep an open mind and consider all grade levels mass are detrimental to both learning socialization and mental health for every single student regardless of age thank you anyone else mr bugley do we have any comments or questions hands raised there are no hands raised
058at this time you see one okay tracy wattenmaker has her hand raised got it thank you please state your full name and place of residence before commenting please state your full name place of residence before commenting sorry i think i was muted this is tracy watt maker white marsh township can you hear me yes okay thank you so yeah i just wanted to basically echo everything that claudia just said to sort of just give the same acknowledgement to all the children in the school district relevant to the mass mandate and allowing for choice uh i do want to actually call out this is the second meeting where i've actually heard a board member a particular board member you know try to prioritize the high school students it's the second occasion i've heard the high school
059students try to be in a separate determination for not wearing masks i think mrs petruzzi tonight made the comment about how you know all these children are they're together all the time and it's really hard for them it's hard for all students wearing these masks all of them whether you're for the mess or against the mask it's hard so you hear a board member continuously try to essentially segregate out the high school older students perhaps because you have a high schooler who knows you are a school board member and you should be surrounding all school students not just the high school students it's the second time now you've mentioned this it's a little disheartening thank you any other hands raised mr bugley yes we do have one more please state your full name place of
060residence before commenting hi can you hear me yes we can hi this is nina sabins from uh plymouth meeting and i i just want to actually thank the school board for the math requirements they put in place i feel actually so much safer having my children attend school knowing that they are protected that they're protecting their their teachers that they're protecting fellow students and that we're able to keep our students in class every day in person because of these math requirements thank you thank you anybody else that's it at this time okay um board comments um can i make a comment of course great um i'm gonna put i'm gonna try with the video although it's eating out my battery very fast um so just i wanted to just say a few things as my
061board service is coming to to a close i want to thank the administration for all of their work and leadership it's been an honor supporting them through the challenges um both the typical for running a school district and the atypical ones over the last two years and all the accomplishments that our school district has has seen we're very lucky to have all of you and i'm very appreciative for all of your efforts in particular to keep our students and our staff safe over the last two years i want to thank dr christian in particular i'm very glad that he'll continue to be here for another five years i want to thank him for his constancy in the face of every challenge that we've seen in particular over the last two years i want to thank
062him for his commitment to being engaged with families and parents and being responsive and for his love of education if you've ever seen dr christian uh go to a kindergarten class which we got to do when we first joined the board and got to tour you'll you'll see just how much he loves seeing education in action and interacting with our students and i thank him for that i want to thank the cabinet members for leading their department so well i want to give particular thanks to mr lally for managing the many facilities projects that have gone on here in particular the met the middle school construction project um it was a pleasure to work with you as facilities chair chair for two years and mr zablowski um for his strong financial guidance for the for
063the district and i also want to thank our building principals who've also put in tireless work every year but especially the last two years i want to thank our teachers and our staff for sharing their love of education and ensuring our students have both a great place to learn and get a great education while they're there and get to pursue their interests i'm not actually at the meeting because i'm traveling with my kid who's participating in one of the awesome extracurricular activities available to our students at the high school i want to celebrate the accomplishments of the board over the last four years especially updating scores of policies putting in place a policy to protect transgender students and addressing long-needed building repairs in a number of our buildings including the building you're sitting in right
064now and the careful and massive undertaking to build a new school to address the enrollment increases i want to thank the district for being fully committed to dei with the addition of the position of mr james in the district i want to wish the new board great success and fortitude i'm thrilled to see new faces and broader representation on the board coming to us this is a position of great pride it can be very high pressure and it's great responsibility but it can also be the very best temporary job you'll ever have as a volunteer i hope you jump in get to work right away don't feel like you have to sit back and wait ask those hard questions take a stand and follow your values to ensure that our students and our staff have
065what they need i wish you all luck i want to thank everyone for their support and it's been an honor to serve thank you i just want to say thank you to eunice and jen and adam and rosemary for your service to the board um it has not been easy these last two years and i just want to show appreciation for all the hours that i know you've all put in for our students thank you i i appreciate that um thank you mrs epstein and and thank you uh mr franklin becker for your comments too i i would just like to share a few reflections if i may with uh with the community um as my board service also comes to an end um it's you know it's amazing to think that uh both of
066my children uh who are briefly here tonight and are now both old enough to go to school were not when when i first started serving on the board of course that was back when covet 19 was not a word any of us were familiar with unfortunately service on a school board is a is an awesome responsibility never more so than during an unprecedented pandemic when the health of thousands of children and hundreds of employees rests in part on your decisions uh i want to thank the members of our community for entrusting me with that responsibility although people may may not have always agreed with every decision i made i'd like to think it's a responsibility that i took seriously and and tried to carry out with with fidelity i've also unfortunately watched with dismay as
067as many people have as school board meetings across the country have unfortunately descended into rancor and and fights over efforts to promote inclusion and confront the injustices and inequalities that continue to plague our society to me inclusion is not about tearing us apart but about bringing us together to listen to each other to learn how others in our community experience the world including its injustices and to work together to make our schools and our community better for all of us i'm glad that our district continues the work of making room at the table for all members of our community remains committed to educating every child and recognizes that the ability to listen and to learn from each other are essential skills our students need to be successful i'm proud of what the district has achieved
068and the challenges that we've met head on during my time on the board navigating an unprecedented global pandemic while prioritizing the health and safety of our students and employees maintaining our strong educational program while launching innovative new courses and programs like the ib career program keeping the third lowest tax burden in montgomery county and a aaa bond rating through strong financial management working to make our schools more inclusive and to meet the needs of every child including through the hiring of our first dei officer and the passage of a comprehensive policy protecting the rights of transgender students building a new colonial middle school enhancing transparency by making all board meetings and materials available online and continuing to make the district a very desirable place to live and raise a family which raises home values for
069all our residents these are collective achievements of course in which i played only a very very tiny part i would like to thank my fellow board members past and present for your service and dedication to our community it's not an easy volunteer position and there are many other ways that one could serve without the stress and the pressure but i'm grateful for everyone who stepped up to to serve with me i would like to thank the administrative team dr christian and and all of your staff for everything that you've done to keep our students and staff safe and to deliver education during a time of unprecedented challenges as board members we oversee but it is you who lead the district in carrying out its mission i'd also like to acknowledge mr sablowski for his strong
070financial management of the district and his great partnership during my time as chair of the the finance committee i'm also very pleased that dr christian will be sticking around um you know i i really appreciate your um availability to parents um and uh you know and your your willingness to sort of say things directly and uh and and and give your view of of issues um and your commitment um is something i deeply respect um no one works harder for us for our kids for the district i mean mrs moore was right when she said you basically worked 24 7. and so we we greatly appreciate that and i think um you know we also see how seriously you take your responsibilities um and your uh your commitment to to all of our students um
071you know the pandemic is and how you've handled it and worked tirelessly to keep everyone safe is strong evidence of that i would also like to thank our teachers and staff who are the heart and soul of the district you're the ones who come to work each day to teach our kids keep them safe make sure they are healthy ensure that our schools are safe and clean feed them lunch help them through challenges and provide the foundation for them to go out in the world and achieve their dreams sitting up here in this room i've always tried to remember where the most important work of any school district happens and who does it finally i would like to thank my my wife rachel and my children teddy and harper who were here earlier and had
072to go because it's a school night um for understanding my desire to serve and for accepting all the uh the missed dinners and time that comes with being on the school board so thank you everyone i would like to thank the administration for all they have done in the four years i've been on colonial school board i'm grateful to have had dr christian as superintendent not only for the years i was on the board but especially during the most difficult time during covid he has shown the ability to handle any situation that comes his way whether it is financially tightening our belt as he likes to say or telling us we're going to need a bigger boat when he talks about class size projections the summer of 2020 showed us that dr christian without a
073doubt put students as a number one priority in this district we are incredibly lucky to have him as our superintendent at a time when proper leadership is vital to our success my kid's first day of kindergarten at white marsh elementary was when i realized how difficult the job of a public school teacher is mrs hope had just the right mix of caring fun and guidance to make both my kids first experience at public school a cherished memory always remember the teachers are the backbone of the district they are on the front line showing up every day because they know the importance of educating our children they're the ones who are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to do a job where you need to be all things to all people all of the time
074colonial teachers have performed the monumental task of cultivating a relationship with our children under unparalleled circumstances even through a computer screen while things may not have been perfect the teacher showed resilience and a willingness to perform outside the box in a way we could never have imagined just a few years ago as i welcome the new board members my message is this you are coming onto the board at a time when school boards across the country are in turmoil some not so far from here parents are angry and speaking out be patient because when they say they are angry often times the source of their anger is fear we wish we could shield our kids from all the threats society throws at us and that is scary when we realize that that is not possible
075but remember we all have the same objective to do what is best for the kids above all else don't be intimidated stand up for what you believe in even when it gets difficult because it will undoubtedly someone will say the decisions you make are political although it's funny how no one ever calls a decision political when they agree with it in addition when someone says you're pushing an agenda keep in mind that when they agree with you they call it a goal when they don't agree with you they call it an agenda always remember you are qualified to be on this board and your voice is just as important as the other board members don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise my biggest regret is not standing up for myself when some of my
076fellow board members did it to me except that this will be a learning process and remain confident that you will be guiding the district in a positive way you each bring knowledge and experience that will be an asset to the board and students alike as my four years on school board come to a close so does my time with colonial school district my daughter graduated last year and my son will be graduating this year i cannot properly put into words how much i have learned during the past four years on this board i have learned how so many people have such dedication responsibility and commitment to this district i have learned how passionate people can be when it comes to their children and the less they will go to protect them i also learned how
077people can fall into the trap of being driven by their egos and that sometimes bullies don't just grow out of it but most of all i have learned how lucky i am to have been a part of colonial school district not only by having my kids get a wonderful education but also by having the opportunity to help shape the future of colonial for years to come i want to give a special thank you to dave sherman now retired our former community relations coordinator karen burke director of pupil services and special education and kim newell for all their support during my three years as chair of community relations student life committee my work on the curriculum committee for all four years and continued work on the crsl this year have been brought such joy to me
078i am a retired teacher and about two weeks ago i was in center city and in the evening and a young woman came up and said mrs northcutt you were my sixth grade teacher and she introduced me to a friend she was walking with and she said i just remember you reading the line the witch in the wardrobe to us and that is was such a special book to me those memories of what it means to impact the lives of children i have so valued my time on the school board to begin be able to serve the community in another from another side of the education world and it was such a thrill this year last year also to see one of the students i also had at the jenks school who is now a
079parent in our school district and involved in our diversity equity and inclusion committee the cycle continuing on being part of this group and just looking forward to the future and um the continued work to keep our children healthy happy and entering into the new years ahead with the the education that they need to reach their dreams so thank you to everyone any other comments i would like to make a brief comment if you don't mind um i know these two years have been not easy to say the least and we the students appreciate all that you guys do um the people sitting here tonight and some of the board members on zoom we appreciate your continued support and we are excited to work with the new board members that will be coming thank you and
080i just would like to say good luck to the four of you moving on to whatever your next endeavor is and thank you for your time that you've spent on the board anybody else if not this meeting is adjourned you