001third. We will start by saluting the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, Ms. Matthews. Thank you, Madam President. Ms. Boykins. Present. Ms. Hall. Present. Ms. Richardson. Present. Mr. Callahan. Here. Ms. Roberts. Mr. Tong. Present. Ms. Cook-Henry. Ms. Ivory. Present. Mr. Wright. Moving on to student representatives, Ms. Ashley Green. Ms. Faber. Mr. Torres. Madam President, that concludes roll. Thank you very much. At this time, uh with regard to comments from the board president, um one biggest thing I just want to say in today's climate, stay as positive as you can as you possibly can. There's a lot going on, um inside and outside of our boroughs, but even
002in the world. And I would say, be the type of person where you know that there's kindness, and you can show that there's kindness. Because we are living in a time where kindness is is becoming zero. No one sees it. So, what I would say is, just be a good steward, and ensure that you always show people that kindness still exists in this world. And that is the comments I have for you today. We will move forward with the report from the superintendent. Good evening, school board members and our community. Thank you for joining us this evening. I do have a few highlights to share, um as well as some celebrations of students and district and community announcements. I want to get us started with some of our student highlights. And if any of these
003students are here, would you please make sure that we know that you are present. I want to start with Alden Elementary, Aiden Mondal. You can see that Aiden is a sixth grade student and all of the accomplishments that Aiden has at Alden Elementary School. Our next student that we are recognizing is Jordan Coheir. Jordan is a third grade student at Ardmore. Is Jordan here? Yes, she is. Yes, she is. Congratulations. Thank you so much for being here, and it's always a pleasure when students are physically here in the building. So, we want to congratulate you and thank you so much for joining us this evening. And you'll see all of Jordan's accomplishments as a third grade student at Ardmore Elementary School. It's okay. Our next student is a fifth grade student from Bell Avenue, Anika
004Anderson. You can see Anika's accomplishments, um and one of the great things I noticed is that she inspires her classmates to do their best every day. So, congratulations to Anika Anderson. Our next student is Tahari Curtis. Tahari is a fifth grade student. Tahari is an innovative thinker, not one day, but every day. So, congratulations to Tahari from Colwyn Elementary. Next, at East Lansdowne Elementary School, we have Similare Adewale, who is a fifth grade student. And um you can see her accomplishments from East Lansdowne Elementary School. Next, we have Azavier Thompson, who is a fourth grade student at student at Evans Elementary School. Azavier, we want to thank you for being kind and being respectful to everyone. And thank you very much for nominating uh Azavier from Evans. Next, we have Parklane Elementary School, Priya Davis.
005We want to congratulate Priya, excuse me, for being recognized. And it's another student who exhibits kindness as well as responsibility. Next, we have Lassad Paliki, who is a fifth grade student at all Walnut Street Elementary School. One of the things that stands out about this student is that she always makes good choices. So, congratulations to uh Lassad. Next, we have Paran Kawai. Paran Kawai, excuse me, who is an eighth grade student at Penn Wood Middle School. Want to say congratulations to Paran. Actively engages in learning through thoughtful participation. So, congratulations to the eighth grade student, Paran. Next, we have Casey Morton, who is a ninth grade student at Penn Wood Ninth Grade Academy. Congratulations to Casey. We have Aleen English, 10th grade student at Penn Wood High School Green Avenue Campus. And lastly, we have
006Darius Stanley, who is an eighth grade student at our personalized learning community. So, let's give all of these students a round of applause. And we are very fortunate to have them in our school district. Some other items that I have tonight where we celebrate success. One of the things we try to do very hard in this district is make sure that students are growing. And so, the NWEA MAP, which is MAP, which is an assessment, it measures students' growth and achievement over time. Um we recently administered these assessments, and you will note that there are some teachers in our district that we want to recognize because their students have demonstrated above average growth on these assessments. So, you'll see from the ninth grade academy to Penn Wood High School, to Ardmore Avenue, to East Lansdowne,
007and to Penn Wood High School GAC on different assessments, MAP language arts, MAP mathematics, and Firefly, which deals with science assessments. We want to congratulate all of those teachers who are named there, and thank them very much for their efforts. It's greatly appreciated. I believe this may be our second year or third year of employee of the quarter, and we continue Third year, thank you. We continue to highlight and recognize employees. Uh we think it's very important to take a moment and pause and reflect. So, employees who are recognized get a bouquet of flowers, an Amazon gift card, a plaque, and a balloon. And it's just our way of saying thank you for what you do, and these individuals are being recognized by their peers. So, congratulations to the six employee uh employees that you
008see listed on the screen. Bravo. Bravo, bravo, bravo. If you were at the Penn Wood Middle School's um showing of Matilda Jr., it was really an exciting event. So, we want to congratulate all of those students who participated, and also thank the uh administrators and those people at Penn Wood Middle School and others in our community who assisted in that effort. I do know that um Mrs. Faber is very critical in a lot of those efforts. So, thank you to our community for supporting the arts in our district. It does not go unnoticed. Next, we want to congratulate our communications department. And it's a communications department of about two. But, we want to thank them for what they've done. They have received uh 11 awards in excellence in communications. So, you can see that the
009entries were for marketing, photography, special purpose publications, and video categories. It is important to note that this is from the 2025 Keystone Excellence Awards, and this is an annual conference that is held. So, again, congratulations to our communications department. Next, we have our boys' track at Nike Indoor Nationals. You'll see that several of our students did place, and you'll see their names and where they placed accordingly. Congratulations to those students, and I thank you to those adults who continue to um direct and lead those students accordingly. And the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council did have the opportunity to meet on March 13th with Shirley Hou of Children First, where we shared information with them about encouraging those students who were in in place to utilize their voices with purpose and remain solution focused. You will note
010that all of us are visiting Harrisburg on April the 14th to continue to advocate for what is needed in our district. So, I do want to thank Shirley Hou for her support. Also, you will note that there are some flyers that Children First is putting out. It is important to note that on the third flyer, all the way to the right, it does explain the amount of adequacy or the gap that we are still waiting to receive in our district, and it equates to 22.6 million dollars that is still owed to this district. And so, I just want to make sure that our community understands that. And we all know that money does make a difference. So, all of us need to be in the fight to advocate on behalf of the William Penn School
011District. Also, we have coming to an in shortly, next Tuesday, March 31st. If you go to the Giant in Alden or in Lansdowne, you can round up. A lot of those proceeds can come to our district to help our food services program. And so, we do want to thank Giant for putting this uh program in place, and [snorts] we have benefited from people rounding up over the last 3 years. The DCIU is having an education career fair on Wednesday, March 25th for those individuals who are interested. And then we also have career night at Penn Wood High School, which is on Thursday, April the 30th, 2026. And we are hosting our own hiring fair at Penn Wood Middle School on May 13th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. If you click on the link at the
012bottom here, you will see that there are opportunities for individuals to apply. Board members and our community, I want to thank you very much for offering me the opportunity to give another update. Mr. Foytik. Thank you, Jordan. >> Oh. Yes. Madam Board members, it's time to vote for the agenda. Sure. Yes, if Board members want to attend and go to Harrisburg, let us know. We will have transportation so you won't have to drive. You can meet us right here at the school. Okay. All right? Yep. Sure. Um, if Jordan is going to be here at the end, can we take a picture or do we want to do that now? I I want to be make sure I'm considerate of your time. >> Yeah. You want to do >> Now is better. Yeah. Is that
013okay? Yes. Yes. And and we want to say thank you so much for all that you do. When he puts this up, it goes through the whole district. So everybody knows who you are and your accomplishments. So we just want to say thank you so much and your support is amazing and keep doing great things in our district. Thank you, Jordan. Good. She's amazing. She's a little basketball player, too. Oh, really? Mhm. Yeah, she be in the gym. Volleyball and basketball, you see her. Oh. >> [laughter] >> You're welcome. Thank y'all so much. Thank you. Oh, me? Oh, okay. >> [laughter] >> Got you. Yes. I didn't want to cuz it's not about me. It's >> [laughter] >> All right, we're going to move along right along on that. All right, so we have our
014oath of office. Miss Zakira Sullivan is not here, uh, but I do want y'all to know she is our new new ninth grade student representative. And, uh, lately we've been having a couple meetings where we've had some weather issues, so we've been via Zoom. Uh, we will get her in here and everybody get the opportunity to meet Zakira. All right, can I get a motion to approve the agenda? Any comments, questions, or concerns? All those in favor? I. All those against? All right. Now we're going to go Can I get a motion to approve the business meeting from February 23rd, 2026? Um, any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing or seeing none, all those in favor? I. All those against? All right, can I get a um, a motion to approve the committee meeting of the
015whole from March 16th, 2026? Uh, any comments, questions, or concerns? Hearing none, seeing none, all those in favor? I. All those against? All right, now we get to the best part, the remarks from our student reps. First and foremost, it's great to see you guys and we're looking to hear, um, so much information. Miss Morgan Askew Green is not here today, so we're going to go to you, uh, Eli Faber, 11th grade rep. Good evening. It's great to be back. Um, uh, the only like main issue is that the morning lines, um, like are still very congested. There's not much else we can do until we get more like, um, security guards and open up a new entrance. Got you. Um, there was the honor roll assembly this morning for quarter two. Um, there's the
016SEL day that's coming up Friday, March 27th. There are college visits to Eastern and Lincoln University. I think they're just for juniors. I'm not entirely sure. Um, and then lastly, the High School Musical 2 is on April 9th, 10th, and 11th at 7:00 p.m. Come see. April 9th, 10th, um, 10th through 11th. Yeah, uh, uh, 9th through 11th. All all at 7:00 p.m. Okay. High School Musical. Thank you so much. Any Did any Board members have a question, comment, or concern? Well, it's good that everything so far that you brought up has been resolved from our last meeting. Um, with regard to the lines, thank you for being understanding of that. Hopefully, uh, we can open up another entrance, but I don't know how likely that is. We are for in fourth quarter now, but
017we'll see what we can what what comes from that. Thank you so much. All right, hello, Mr. Torres, you have the floor. Um, good evening, everyone. So, yeah, there's not really much else that's going on in the high school besides like the honor roll certificate ceremony that took place today. And, um, I mean, the 10th grade class is having a field trip to Wildwood City Adventure Park in Philadelphia. And, yeah, that's really all that's going on. Okay. Nothing major? Yeah, nothing really major. All right, thanks so much for that, Mr. Torres. All right. Uh, with that being said, we're going to move forward. Uh, there are no special awards tonight. Are there any uh, public comments on agenda items at this time? You will step to the podium, uh, state your first name and the
018last name, the borough you reside in, and we're looking to hear from you. You see anything online? All right. Uh, Miss Matthews, do we have any communication? There are no communications at this time, Madam President. All right, we're going to go right to our committee reports. Our first committee, uh, report is read by our chair, Miss Luella Richardson, which is our community relations agenda. Committee report. Committee agenda, A1, the kindergarten registration, which closes on March the 31st, 2026. So this is the parents be aware that if you have kids at the age of five before September the 1st, 2026, you are encouraged to register them for the kindergarten preschool. I mean, the pre kindergarten school. If you are unable to complete the registration online, you can always call the office and there is also a
019kindergarten registration. And then on Thursday, the March the 26th, that's this Thursday from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Penn Wood Middle School, 121 Summit Street in Darby. If you have any questions about the registration process, please call the school at 610 284-8005 extension 123. And once for the uh, pre-registration for kindergarten, you have that certain the um, information, the proof of the child's age, the immunization required by law, the immunization records, proof of residency, and also there was some requested information, but they're not required for the school registration. That's like the student's last report card, the IEP and 504 documents, and the court custody order or guardianship paperwork. A2 is FMFCU ex excellence in teaching award winners. Congratulations to two William Penn School District recipients of the Frank Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union Foundation's
020excellence in and teaching award. They are Miss Nicole Mason, Parklane Elementary School, Miss Jackson Larod, Ninth Grade Academy. They're not in the audience. Are they in the audience? No. Well, congratulations. So the recipients of this award receive $1,000 toward classroom expenses. The recipient also receive a $1,000 award. Both Parklane Elementary School and the Ninth Grade Academy will receive $1,000 each as well. They will be recognized at the FMFCU Foundation celebration on Thursday, April the 16th at the Drexel Brook Event Center. So congratulations to Miss Nicole Mason at Parklane and Miss Jackson Larod at the Ninth Grade Academy. Congratulations. That's the end of my report, Madam President. Thank you very much, uh, Miss Richardson. Are there any comments, questions that we don't Anything? All right, next we're going to go to our education committee agenda read
021by our chair, Ms. Valerie Cook Henry. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. B1 in-state field trips and they include um William Penn or Penn Wood High School, Barkley, Central Office and GAC. Um these students will be going to Bloomsburg, Lincoln University, Harrisburg, PA, and Hershey Park. And the motion is to approve students attending educational fields throughout the state of Pennsylvania. B2, expulsion waiver agreement and the motion is to approve the term of the expulsion waiver agreement negotiated between the William Penn School District and the parents of the listed um student. B3, out-of-state field trips. And our students will be going to United Nations um in New York City and the Camden Aquarium. And to the motion is to approve the terms Ooh. To approve the trip for out-of-state and B4 is the release and settlement agreement
022and the students um here listed, the motion is to approve the terms of the release and settlement agreement negotiated between the William Penn School District and the parents of the students listed. Madam Chair, that concludes my report. Thank you very much. Um Ms. Valerie Cook Henry, uh can are there Well, first we have to hear the Okay. All right. Are there any comments, questions, or concerns? So, the um B2 Yep. It says the expulsion timeframe for the 25-26 school term, it's 26-27. It says that 25-26. I think it's a typo. Where is it? Oh, yes. So, it should say Yeah, it says the expulsion timeframe should be for the 20 Yeah, it should say 26-27. Great. That paragraph. So, we just have to get to that. All right. Um also, I just want to say
023like Joca, like he's amazing, okay? Um I just have to say like you know, for them to go to the Shark Tank in Bloomsburg, I think that is an amazing thing and teaming up with Westchester to go to the UN like our students are entering some real great avenues and I just think that's an amazing thing. Having the uh be able to share your ideas on the Shark Tank uh platform and then visiting the UN and understanding what goes on here. These are amazing things. Even the other trips, too, but I just wanted to point that out um because I think it's an awesome thing. I don't I don't think I remember the UN being that trip up here or Shark Tank board. Um so, with that being said, um if there are no other
024comments, questions, or concerns, uh all those in favor? Aye. All those against? All right, hearing and receiving none. Uh next we're going to go to our personnel committee agenda uh read by our chair, Ms. Wyndi Ivory. Madam President, good evening. Good evening, Ms. Valerie. All right, we're going to go to C3, appointments. C4, changes in assignment. C5, leaves of absence. C7, miscellaneous appointments. C8, tenure awards. C9, salary track changes. C11, modifications to previously approved items. And C12, additions to the agenda. And Madam President, that concludes my report. Thank you very much, Ms. Ivory. Second. Any comments, questions, or concerns? All right, hearing and receiving none. All those in favor? Aye. All those against? All right. Next we're going to go to our property committee committee agenda read by our chair, Mr. Jean Thomas. Madam President,
025we have D1, change order MC001. Motion is to accept change order MC001 for the ninth grade center renovation addition project. The amount not to exceed $2,600,000. Uh I'm sorry, thinking $267,000. $267,000. Uh D2, DCED grant resolution, Penn Wood High School GAC HVAC retrofit project. Motion is to accept the resolution to apply grant application related to Penn Wood High School HVAC retrofit project. D3, the commission's grant resolution, Penn Wood High School GAC electrical upgrade. Accept the resolution to apply for the grant application related to Penn Wood High School's electrical upgrade. D4, DCED grant resolution, Walnut Street HVAC retrofit project. Motion is to accept the resolution to apply for the grant application related to the Walnut Street elementary school HVAC retrofit project. D5, DCED grant resolution, Walnut Street roofing project. Motion is to accept the resolution to
026apply for the grant application related to the Walnut Street roofing project. And D6, DCED grant resolution, district-wide access controls. Motion is to accept resolution to apply for the grant application related to the district-wide access control project. That concludes my comments this Second. Thank you very much. Uh any comments, questions, or concerns? I wasn't at the last property meeting. Uh my question is, we do have a on the change order. Do we we do have a change order manager, right? Is there someone Okay. Yes, Darnell. Okay. You have a project manager that will be facilitating all of those um requests that we need. So, on each change order, are they is the individual required to come before the board and explain the you know, the purpose of the amount and what's going on before the change
027order takes effect? We do that. We discuss that at the property property meeting. The property And this is for changing the refrigeration that's being used in the system. I I said that because I was on the board, you remember Jennifer, when we went through this and I mean we were change order out about nine. Every time we turned, there was a change order. Yes. So, I mean I just that we want to make sure that these are being carefully monitored that we don't have each meeting that we have a change order and the purpose of it because I know with the school that what we had a boulder in the ground and you know, we I mean we we we went through a lot of different change orders. So. Okay. So, I I don't think
028we're going to run into them same issues. Okay. Um but they've been doing a great job keeping me informed. Yeah. I just Thank you for your concern, but you're absolutely right. Change orders cost money. Yeah, I just wasn't at that meeting, so I just wanted to make sure that, you know, we were aware of that. No problem. Thank you so much, Ms. Richardson. And thank you, Mr. Thomas. Um if there's no I'm sorry. Go ahead. Yes. But and and just to allay your fears, Ms. Richardson, those change orders were related to the refrigeration that's um out of date. It That's not being manufactured anymore that we are currently using. And so, since we're already changing systems over, um they're going to change over the existing systems as well. And so, that that's really what the
029change order is is going to uh affect. Okay. Thank you. The only other thing I would add is there is a contingency fund for the project for change orders and I believe this is the first one and this is well within what that contingency fund is. Thank you very much for your questions and your concerns. If that be all, all those in favor? Aye. All those against? All right, hearing and receiving none. Next we're going to go to our um budget and finance committee agenda read by our chair, Ms. Jennifer Hall. E1, treasure supports. E2, list of bills. E3, tax assessment. E4 Delaware County Intermediate Unit General Operating Budget Operating Budget, E5 Delaware County Intermediate Unit Special Education Budget, E6 Delaware County Vocational Technical Budget 2026-2027. And that is all. Excuse me. Uh, thank you
030very much. If I could just need a budget meeting. I can get this Thursday. And this stuff is important. I don't need to tell anybody that. But it's not going to be so good in Harrisburg, right man? It's not looking good anywhere, but But no, you're right. I got it. Um You got the second? Yeah. Yes. All right. And then are there any comments, questions, or concerns? All right. Uh, hearing or seeing none. Jen, do you want to elaborate a little bit of why you say it's not looking good in Pittsburgh? I mean, Harrisburg. Is there anything you want to just I know that I haven't been. So, the the initial budget Um The initial budget that the governor put out on February 4th Um had a minimal up I additional funds for special education.
031Like Uh It was like five It was really small. And then basic education funding, not that much better. So, we are guaranteed our 5 million bump, right? Which we believe has been written into the budget like fair acres. Uh, but if everything else remains flat we will be in big problems if Um I just got to look at the budget presentation for Uh, Thursday, everything's going up. Transportation, food right? And And what my folks are telling me is we should try to lock in contracts as long as we can because it's just going to keep going up. Yeah. So It makes it It's a hard one. It's It's another hard budget. Now, I don't think it'll go till November cuz it's an election season, but it could easily go into the end of August. No
032problem. Thank you for explaining that. We definitely appreciate it. Um if there's no other comments, questions, or concerns, all those in favor? I. I. All those against? All right, hearing or seeing none. Next, we're going to go to our policy committee agenda read by um Well, Miss Yvette, is she on line? Okay, I'll uh policy committee agenda. Oh, our chair is Miss Yvette Roberts, but I'll read for her. Um the F1 first reading of policies 204, 237, and 805.2. Um first reading of policy 204, 237, 805.2 William Penn School District will school district's policy has been written by the Board of Directors and has been reviewed by the superintendent and the solicitor. Each board member has received a copy of the above-named policy for review and follow-up discussion. As required by district the entrance of
033this policy into the minutes constitute the first reading with a second reading and adoption to take place on the next public meeting. All right. And then we have uh F2 uh second reading of policy 218.1 and 805.1. And this motion is to approve the second reading and adoption to William Penn uh School District. All right. Um Second. Yeah. So moved. Yeah. So moved. All right. >> Can I get a second? Can I get a second? Second. All right, thank you. Um are there any comments, questions, or concerns? As you as you see this 805.2 was uh school security personnel. Um 237 was personal devices. Okay. Um And then you had the attendance policy. So, these are the three things that we uh have. Are there any comments, questions, or concerns regarding those three policies or
034the second reading of 218.1 and 805.1? All right. All right, no comments, questions, or concerns. All those in favor? I. I. All those against? All right. Solicitor's report. Uh simply to announce that there was an executive session this evening immediately preceding the meeting uh to discuss personnel. All right, thank you so much, Mr. Khan. Next, we're going to go to Well, at this time uh Mr. Wright is not here at this time, so we're going to get some more feedback later for the Delaware County Community College. Uh what I will say is I've been really up to speed with them. They are having their dinner that is coming up. Every Board Director has probably received the uh email um from them. So, I'll make sure Yeah. Okay, I'll make sure I uh forward what I
035have, but they do have a dinner that's coming up at the Delaware County Community College. Uh so, I'll just send the forward the email. That's the last time when Mr. Wright was here, he was talking about the dinner. Um I don't think he had the opportunity to send it out to everybody, so I'll make sure we send that along. Um if you can attend, uh and I'll and I'll send you the details as well. But if you can attend attend, please attend. And that leads us to our Delaware County Intermediate Unit read by our liaison, Miss Wydea Ivory. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Our School Board of Directors meeting was held on March 4th, 2026, and our summary is as follows. We have the approval of many contracts to enhance our student learning and work
036experiences to support our future educators. So, we approved a contract with Misericordia University for the DCIU to provide clinical and student teaching experiences from March 5th to March 4th, 2029 at no cost. We approved a contract with Rosemont College for DCIU to provide field work and student teaching experiences from March 5th to March 4th, 2029 at no cost. Uh permission for 50 DCTS health health sciences students, four staff members, and two adult chaperones to visit the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia on May 14th, 2026. We granted permission for 160 DCTS medical career students, eight staff members, and six adult chaperones to visit the DaVinci Science Center in Allentown, PA on May 14th. Uh we granted permission for 60 DCTS health sciences students, four staff members, and two adult chaperones to visit the
037Jefferson Jefferson Health Einstein Medical Building in Norristown, PA on March 19th. Uh 60 DCTS health science students, four staff members, and two adult chaperones to visit the Main Line Health Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA on May 19th. Uh students and staff attended the HOSA Future Health Professionals International Leadership Conference in India- Indianapolis, Indiana on They will be attending June 17th to June 20th. We have the approval of contracts with the following school districts and other partners, uh Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware for the DCIU to provide services for early intervention students from October 1st, 2025 to September 30th, 2026. The approval of contracts with Lower Merion School District for the DCIU to provide special education and related services to two students from September 24th, 2025 to June 25th, 2025, 2026. We approved a contract with
038Norristown Area School District for the DCIU to provide special education and related services to one student from January 20th to June 12th, 2026. Uh a contract with the Southeast Delco School District for the DCIU to conduct a search for the position of business manager. The approval to continue to participate in Municibid as a method for disposing of board-approved surplus and obsolete property and equipment during the 2026-2027 school year. Uh no longer up Well, the upcom- DCIU's upcoming, we have the annual DCIU legislative breakfast to be held on May 15th. And the annual legislative breakfast will be held at the Morton Campus on Friday, May 15th at 7:30 a.m. And more details, including the agenda and registration, will be coming soon. And Madam President, that concludes my report. Thank you very much, Miss Ivory. Are there
039any comments, questions, or concerns for Miss Ivory at this time with regard to the DCIU? All right, we're just going to wait for you all. All right, next we're going to go to the Delaware County Legislative Council uh read by our liaison, Miss Jennifer Hall. Thank you, Miss Boykins. Uh the hits keep hitting. Uh so, uh the DCIU at our May 15th, let me just find that date for our breakfast, will be doing a report on May 15th uh at 7:30, we'll be in We'll do a report on unfunded mandates. To that end, I have a nice spreadsheet that I'm going to get Mr. Deans with and try to come up with some numbers. Uh this year alone, we're looking at cursive writing as a mandate maybe uh cases for phones, all of them. Uh
040and Oh, there was one more that was like sort of egregious. Uh I'll remember it. But, these mandates come with no money attached, right? So, when we're looking at a budget, we have to go, "All right, we need to buy 5,000 cell phone cases because this law starts." Um and that is not without cost. So, come to that meeting and have a good breakfast and learn all about those things. Uh we let met on March 11th. Um you know I always love this. I This month in March, the Senate is in session. March 16th, 17th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, and 25th. The house is in session the 23rd, the 24th, and the 25th. They do have a lot of days scheduled for June. So, hopefully they're going to work on our budget. Uh so, we all
041know cursive handwriting. I There is some uh special education code stuff, but all this stuff means we have to make a change without any money. And I'm not saying I'm against any all of it or any of it. Um it just doesn't come with money. I uh CTE will be um expanded in the dual credit. Um mental health supports children will now be a students will now be able to take mental health days instead of physical sickness days. Um how they're going to do that with notes, we don't really understand. Um but I I'm all in favor of mental health days. I So, that's the other one, recess. They're talking about Now, I love recess, and they're talking about mandating 30 minutes a day. Yeah. Well, >> Amazing. It's amazing how it fits in our
042schedule is problematic. I totally agree. I'll comment when you're done, but I totally agree. >> Okay. But, they also um it's grades full day kindergarten to five, and then at least 30 minutes of consecutive lunch from full day kindergarten to grade 12. So, that means a half hour for lunch for everybody. That blows out all our schedules completely. Um right? Cuz I think in the high school they have 20 minutes. So, um swatting, of course, gender-based bullying prevention, uh etc. But, it is a a very busy time uh for our legislators. Um every time we have a meeting uh Kevin from uh PSAB comes and sort of talks to us. I There is a lot of frustration about how things work in Harrisburg when it comes to this education budget. >> Absolutely. Yep. So, that
043is it. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. >> Um I'm glad cursive is coming back. Um for all of you old heads in the building, we need cursive. I You know, as a teacher, when I'm writing and our students don't know how to read cursive, it's very disheartening. Uh our Declaration of Independence is in cursive. You know, so our students, our kids have to be able to to read. So, I'm glad if you were in our last education meeting, the way that our uh the the way that our education department with regard to Miss Dr. Tokley is handling everything, I think we're going in such the right direction with rolling it out and trying to get it get it implemented even though we have a certain amount of time. And then with regard to
044the recess, definitely for recess even at high school. Um and the phones, I do agree cuz now you're going to have to buy pouches. You're going to have to that's money. So, it's a lot behind that. Um but, I do understand your frustration with you're implementing all these things, but you're not throwing money at So, I I get your frustration behind that. Hopefully, everything doesn't get passed. You know? But, we will see. I I Some of them is needed like we need to get that recess going, but that's just my opinion. >> No, I completely agree. I just don't know how you fit it in Yeah. with the out that school day we have. >> remember in everybody went to Pennwood, if you remember even in ninth grade when we were at Pennwood East, we
045at lunch we used to go outside. No. We used to right after we finished eating, we were allowed to go outside, you know? And I think that's so important for today's kids, you know? We need uh some type of outlet. So, I hope things do we figure out a way to go work around this. >> Yeah. Thank you, Jen, for your update. Uh any other comments, questions, and concerns? All right. If there are none, public comments for non-agenda items. Are there any public comments? Yes. I'm Deirdra, and I wanted to say that January was board appreciation month, but it was snowed out, and then we were also affected by weather in February. So, I just wanted to say that at the board members' places we have cards and drawings from students throughout the district, and
046I want to thank them and the principals and teachers for uh getting students to share their thanks to you all for the work that you do. Thank you so much. And I actually was going to comment on that as well. I'm just saying, you know, when you have stuff like this, every year we get a pile of cards, and it means so much. Like gratitude goes so far. It goes so far, and um to me, like sitting here reading things and seeing some of the words, and it's just like it's very heartfelt, and I want to say thank you to the teachers and administration for doing it cuz you don't have to. But, the fact that you do this to make us feel special as board of directors, because when we leave these seats and
047go home, there's always there's not always a thank you. But, to see this and and understand the impact that we have on uh the the lives of others, it means a lot to us, and thank you for doing it. We appreciate it. Are there any other Somebody's online? Oh, hey Ms. Lewis. Miss Mrs. Hall of Fame inductee. You have the floor. Hello. Hi, good evening, everyone. Um so, I um so, I had uh two questions. Number one, when is when are we going to start the um renovations on Bell Avenue? I know that they're supposed to be receiving we're supposed to be receiving a um elevator. When is that going to begin? It will probably begin begin sometime in late spring, early summer. Okay, excellent. Excellent. And then the um second thing, I think that
048um uh you have referred to uh Octavia Tokley as a a doctor. I'm not sure she has a doctor degree yet. Okay, my apologies if I called her a doctor. Give me >> I thought you were going to say like Dr. But, Mrs. Tokley. Mrs. Tokley. My apologies. No problem. Thank you for correcting me on that. I'm sorry. All right. Is that all? All right. Thank you very much. All right. Um the announcements of future meetings, uh we have a property committee meeting of the Board of School Directors will be held on um at 6:30 at on Tuesday at uh April 7th. Our next meeting is a policy committee meeting April 9th, Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Our education meeting is Wednesday, April 15th, 6:30 p.m. And then our next meeting of the committee meeting of
049the whole is on April 20th um at 6:30 p.m. And then we have a budget and finance meeting um on April 23rd at 6:30 p.m. Uh Jen, is there advisory meeting? >> Yeah, that's that's They're all advisory. >> Okay. All right. Awesome. And then our next business meeting is April 27th at 6:30 p.m. All right? Are there any comments, questions, or concerns? All right. With that being said, this meeting has been adjourned. Thank you for your time.